766 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



without honey, but in quantities so small as not to 

 allow the sweet to come out, as it were. He said 

 that often people asked him what made the food 

 prepared by him taste so smooth and so rich. 



Stephen Anthony. 

 Waltete, Auckland, New Zealand, Oct. 13. 



Hard Candy for Cold-weather Feeding. 



Where can I buy the prepared rock candy that is 

 used to feed bees in midwinter? In packing my 

 bees for winter I found three colonies short of 

 stores, caused by the long warm fall, with no hon- 

 ey coming in, as they were heavy with stores when 

 bought the last of August. I am afraid I can not 

 make it myself without burning it. 



HOME-MADE WINTER CASES. 



This is the way I made my winter cases: A loose 

 bottom-board was made. The two cleats that the 

 boards were nailed to extended out 5 in. on either 

 side. The case rested on these projections while 

 the bottom-board extended up one inch inside the 

 case. This made it moisture-proof from below. 

 The case proper was a little over 2 feet square, con- 

 sisting of a skeleton framework on which I nailed 

 boards extending up and down — thin boards that 

 came from the refuse boxes procured at the grocery 

 store— % and K inch stuff. These boards were only 

 from 2 to 3 or 4 inches apart, as they were only to 

 keep the packing from pressing against the tarred 

 felt. An entrance 2 in. deep by 14 long was made 

 and bridged over. This case was covered with 

 tarred felt bought of Sears, Roebuck A Co. A tele- 

 scope cover was made, and covered with tarred 

 felt. The hive was placed on a prepared bottom- 

 board bridge, put in place to protect the entrance, 

 the open spaces at the bottom of the case being cov- 

 ered over with some thin Js-in. boards, and a little 

 straw put in at the bottom of the case. Then I 

 filled it up with clover chaff level with the top of 

 the case. It gave me 2 in. of packing on the front 

 of tiie hive, from 5 to 10 in. on the back and sides, 

 and 12 inches on top. The telescope cover must be 

 weighted down or it will blow off. The felt, being 

 black, absorbs the heat and turns water like a 

 duck's back. I give them a tilt of about an inch or 

 two to run the water off the top. These cases cost 

 me only 15 cents each. 



Jonesboro, Ind., Nov. 25. C. A. Neal,. 



[We do not believe you can buy the rock candy 

 that you refer to, for it would cost too much to ship 

 It, and most bee-keepers, therefore, prefer to make 

 their own. You would not have any trouble in 

 preventing It from scorching if you follow the di- 

 rections given in the ABC and X Y Z of Bee Cul- 

 ture. Boil the syrup until a drop of It. when al- 

 lowed to fall Into cold water, will become brittle 

 and hard. You can try a little of the syrup first ; 

 and then if it has no scorched taste, nor dark color 

 when cold, you can be pretty svire it is all right. 



If you prefer, you can make the soft candy by 

 mixing pure pulverized sugar in good honey that 

 you know is free from disease, until you have a 

 stiff dough. Then place cakes of this in shallow 

 wooden butter-dishes or pie-plates over the brood- 

 frames in empty supers. It is pretty hard work to 

 mix this dough in great quantities; but for only 

 three colonies it would, perhaps, be the easier 

 method, all things considered. — Ed.] 



An Unhappy Experience with Bees. 



I have been much interested in Cleanings; but 

 as 1 have given up bees for ever I shall not need it 

 any more. I went into bee-keeping enthusiastical- 

 ly, and the bees occasionally went into me in the 

 same way. There seemed to be almost no limit to 

 the swelling one sting could raise, and the swelling 

 was not content to remain in one spot, but was a 

 movable affair. For example, when I had a sting 

 on the top of my head 'which, by the way, is not 

 bald, but plentifully supplied with woman's crown- 

 ing glory, without the aid of "rats" too), the swell- 

 ing moved in ridges down my face, each successive 

 day appearing in a new place. 



I also had the experience, with some variation, 

 which is mentioned in the A H C book, where it 

 says, " Not one person in ten- thousand is affected 

 in this way" — burning and itching intolerably 

 from head to foot, covered with great red blotches, 

 accompanied by the most intense nervousness, 

 which lasted all night. That experience was the 

 result of two stings— one on the face and one on the 



neck. Notwithstanding all the stings and discom- 

 fort I finished the season; but— no more. 



While I appreciated Gleanings for a bee-keeper, 

 I am not a bee-keeper. I have sold my entire apia- 

 ry, and do not even care for honey to eat. 



I know of nothing in the world that can upset 

 one's calculations better than a bee. Mrs. Com- 

 stock says, " You always have the fascination of an 

 unsolved problem." She might have added, " You 

 always have before you something that is ' boss ' of 

 the situation besides yourself." 



Of course I know that, to a great extent, it is pos- 

 sible to control bees, and make them do as you 

 want them to; but while you may control their 

 work largely, you never can muzzle the angry bee. 

 To illustrate, we had an experience last summer 

 which I do not care to repeat. Our horse had just 

 been so badly injured by being kicked by another 

 horse that it was nearly impossible for it to walk a 

 step. It was necessary for it to get to the stable, 

 about a quarter of a mile away. While we were 

 trying to get it along slowly, a meddlesome bee 

 from an apiary in the neighborhood, some hun- 

 dred feet away, came buzzing and circling around 

 the horse, evidently bent on stinging, and it finally 

 did nip the horse a glancing sting, and made it 

 kick In spite of its injured shoulder. The result for 

 me was an attack of nervousness that necessitated 

 a call on the doctor. 



Nobody had been near the hives nor done any 

 thing to anger the bees. That bee was hatched de- 

 praved. 



I said then that, if the Lord would forgive me for 

 keeping l^ees that time, I would never repeat the 

 offense; so I have sold out; and if I ever do dabble 

 in any branch of apiculture again it will be to 

 write an article entitled " Why Women should Not 

 Keep Bees." But, of course, nobody would pub- 

 lish it. 



You would find it hard to beUeve, from my pres- 

 ent position, what almost boundless enthusiasm I 

 once had on the subject of bees. I think now it 

 was due to the fact that I am a woman, and bees 

 are a mystery; and woman and mystery, you well 

 know, are said to be synonymous terms. 



However, in spite of my lack of enthusiasm I 

 wish you success. Mrs. Henry A. Gooch. 



Batavia, X. Y., April 20. 



[Lest we might be accused of giving undue prom- 

 inence to the rosy side of bee-keeping, we are pub- 

 lishing this letter, believing that it will serve to 

 show that even bee-keeping has its drawbacks. 

 There are some persons so constituted that even an 

 occasional sting may bring serious distress; and 

 we frankly advise all such to leave bees alone. In 

 all fairness, however, we must add that, in all our 

 experience of over forty years, we could almost 

 count on our fingers the cases like the above that 

 have come under ovir observation. In most in- 

 instances the amateur can so protect himself that 

 it is practically impossible to be stvmg. Then, any 

 way, the system soon becomes immune to the ef- 

 fects, so that no discomfort at all is experienced. 



We feel certain, after reading this letter, that the 

 bees kept were of a very irritable strain, and that 

 they were probably allowed to rob during jjeriods 

 of honey death, so that they were vindictive, when 

 oi'dinarily they would have been quiet. In this 

 connection see the editorial on p. 580, Oct. 1. — Ed.] 



Fastening Foundation with a Pyrographic Outfit. 



Did you ever fasten foundation in brood-frames 

 by pyrography? My daughter has a pyrographic 

 outfit, and for two seasons we have used it, and like 

 it very much better than the wedge or hot wax. 

 My frames are all wired, and have a board to fit 

 inside. I^ay a full sheet on a board, letting it ex- 

 tend about Ys inch over the side. Turn this down ; 

 lay on the frame; run the imbedder over the wire ; 

 then set the frame on the top-bar; put the board 

 on the other side; press down the edge against the 

 top-bar with the thumb: run the heated platinum 

 point along, and you will have a fine fastening. 



Chapman, Kan., Oct. 4. H. A. Koogle. 



[We have never tried a pyrographic tool for fast- 

 ening foundation, but we can see that it would an- 

 swer the purpose very well. A light soldering-cop- 

 per with a sharp point might do, although there 

 will be more or less smoke owing to the burning 

 wax when the copper is put back to heat for the 

 next frame.— Ed.] 



