Fbbeuary, 1921. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



lOl 



Tin Tube We are advised to go 



Passageways. around and rake out the dead 

 bees which drop down and 

 clog the entrances. I did a lot of raking last 

 winter and decided that I would try to do 

 away with it this winter. I have entrances 

 from two to six or more inches above the 

 level of the bottom-board, and I am hoping 

 to be able to leave them without attention 

 until spring. These entrances were made 



with a one-half inch bit, and there is a tin 

 tube which connects with the outer entrance. 

 The hives are well packed with six inches 

 of oat chaff on all sides, four inches on the 

 bottom, and over a foot on top. If it is de- 

 sired to use the lower entrances during the 

 summer the upper entrances can be easily 

 closed with a stopple. Carl E. Johnson, 

 Pomfret, Vt. 



The Talkfest.— By Bill Mellvir 



(With Apiiloijies to Walt Mason.) 



Our State Convention was a go, we bee- 

 men lined up in a row and paid our dues 

 with greatest cheer for membership another 

 \ear. We came from near, we came from far. 

 Such things as distance cannot bar real bee 

 cranks when they want to meet and have a 

 talkfest — what a treat! Now some were 

 great and some were small. Some had ten 

 hives, some none at all. Some knew a little, 

 others none; a few had knowledge by the 

 ton. Old Jimmy Jones from Eoeky Dells 

 was there full size and wearing bells. Old 

 Jimmy is a little raw, but he can ply his use- 

 ful jaw. He talked all day, he talked all 

 night. If others talked they had to fight, 

 for Jimmy alwa_ys had the floor and belcheil 

 forth wisdom with a roar. Now Jimmy 

 caught a swarm last year, thus starting on 



a great career; and now, great whiskers! he 

 can talk, so one can hear him for a block. 

 This trip has cost me many beans, which I 

 dug up from my old jeans; I paid out rubles 

 by the score, and all to hear old Jimmy 

 roar! Bill Jinks sat back within the crowd 

 and never chirped or peeped out loud. Eight 

 hundred colonies has Bill, and yet he sat 

 there calm and still. Now William is a live- 

 ly one, producing honey by the ton, and he 

 could give us dope so grand if only Jimmy 

 could be canned. As I 'm returning to my 

 home, I 'm like a bear with festered dome. I 

 paid out cart wheels by the flock, but didn "t 

 get to hear Bill talk. Oh, wise and noble 

 president, if you were worth just one red 

 cent, you'd choke off Jimmy on the dot and 

 make him can liis tommvrot! 



