1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



117 



place over all our wide shade-board, and that ends 

 the job. 



You will see that we make the cap rim serve the 

 double purpose of surplus in summerand protection 

 in winter. Further, that the liltle bridge and the 

 roujrh board-rim are our only outlay; that the saw- 

 dust i> just where we want it when we are through 

 with it in the spring; that the chaff or shavings 

 {ibove are easily held in a small bin. The board-rims 

 are piled up out-doors. 



We have now used this method three years, and 

 alongside of costly boxes made all nice and light, 

 and painted, and it is as perfect in its results as the 

 more ccstly and complicated method. The earth 

 does not dampen the sawdust. The rain does not 

 wet it. We have not described this plan without 

 first knowing that it was cheap, practical, and as 

 safe as any out-door method of wintering. We have 

 found planer shavings fully the equal, if not supe- 

 rior, to chaff, as an absorbent and protector, and 

 with us they come much cheaper. We maintain 

 that walls of sawdust are better than chaff because 

 they are a better conductor of heat. Chaff walls are 

 better than a dead air space, just in proportion as 

 they are a better conductor. A wall that is a partial 

 conductor is capable of absorbing heat from the 

 bees, which would otherwise escape by circulation 

 through the entrance, during a higher degree, of 

 temperature; also of absorbing much heat from 

 every ray of the winter's sun that strikes It. Dur- 

 ing the breeding-time of spring, are these slowly ab- 

 sorbing walls of much value. No side absorbents 

 are required when the whole top of a flat hive is ex- 

 posed to them. We think the day is close at hand 

 when side absorbents, division-boards, side storing, 

 and short or deep frames will have but few if any 

 advocates. We consider the L. frame by far the 

 best shape; but if only equal to other styles, we 

 would as surely adopt it as we would have a wagon 

 tracked the same width that other folks used. 

 Every implement I ever saw or heard of, that was 

 made to accomplish many objects, was like the 

 stove-hook, pie-tin holder, glass-cutter, tack-ham- 

 mer, screw-driver, and, and -(ours is lost; it never 

 was used)— good for nothing really. The hive is no 

 exception to that rule. 



In this article Lhave given you my reasons for the 

 opinions I have been forced to hold, from actual ex- 

 perience. James Heddon. 



Dowagiac, Mich., Feb. 13, 1881. 



In regard to the comparative cost of sugar 

 or honey, I would add, that even granulated 

 sugar can be bought now for only 94c. per 

 lb., in New York ; and as 1 lb. of sugar 

 makes H lbs. of very fair syrup, the cost is 

 only about 7c. per lb., while good white 

 honey ought to bring at least 10c. Perhaps 

 this difference would hardly pay for uncap- 

 ping the honey and feeding it after all, un- 

 less we were pretty sure the honey was not 

 as good food for the bees as sugar. — In re- 

 gard to the chaff hive, I would remark that 

 our honey reports for a few years past seem 

 to indicate that the chaff packing is about 

 as important in summer as in winter. If one 

 stands up while he handles the frames, 

 by leaning against the edge of the chaff 

 hive he can reach down into the lower story 

 almost as well as if no upper one were in the 



way ; but where the frames are handled a 

 great deal, as in queen-rearing, and one sits 

 on a stool, he can certainly get along faster 

 with a one-story hive only. I do not like the 

 idea of those great roagh'boxes. and the task 

 of patting tliem on and taking them off every 

 spring and fall, friend H.; bat very likely it 

 may suit you and a great many others, bet- 

 ter than tiie more expensive and permanent 

 chaff hives. I should be inclined to give 

 chaff the preference over sawdust; but if 

 you succeed in wintering your large apiary 

 clear through in that way, we shall have to 

 say as we do with friend Doolittle, that suc- 

 cess is the best proof we can have of whose 

 ideas are the right ones. Let us know just 

 how many you save and how many you lose 

 by May first, will you not, friend 11. V 



ONIONS AS A HONEY-PIiANT. 



f' WANT to pi mt an acre of onions. Would 

 the "English multipliers," or potato-onion e 



not 

 sets, 

 be the best and surest crop for first season? or 

 would you think the Fiat Italian Tripoli the best in 

 seed or sets? I know this does not belong to bee 

 culture, but I thought you could give me the in- 

 formation, and price per bushel or barrel of sets, 

 and might furnish them cheaper. I got Early- Am- 

 ber sugar-cane from j'ou for just one-fourth what 

 seed-stores sell it at. G. A. Willis. 



Enfield, 111., Jan. 21, 1881. 



As I have had no practical experience 

 with onions, I submitted the above letter to 

 neighbor IL, and here is his reply :^ 



The multipliers, or potato onions, are an old stand- 

 by; come off early, and are good for summer and 

 fall markets; but it is more work to set them out, 

 the sets cost much more* than the black seed, and 

 they will not yield nearly as much per acre. The 

 great onion crop of the world is raised from the 

 seed. I would not recommend the Flat Italian Trip- 

 oli, as they grow too large and coarse, and are apt 

 to crack open; are not good yielders or keepers. 

 The best and safest varieties, in our opinion, are the 

 Yellow Danvers and Wethersfield Red. The land 

 must be very fine and rich; manure from under an 

 old stable is best. Sow in drills about 14 inches 

 apart as soon as the ground will work, in March if 

 you can. In raising seed, select the onions of a fair 

 size; these with small tops; plant in drills from 3 to 

 5 inches deep; hill them up as the tops grow heavy, 

 to keep from falling down; they make a beautiful 

 flower-bed, and the honey will glisten in the large 

 white blossoms from morning till night. The seed- 

 stores sell onion seed from ?3.00 to $5.00 per lb. 

 With the experience I have had, I think it could be 

 raised for 25 or .50 cents, at a fair profit. H. 



Boys, would you like to be told of a plan by which 

 you could be almost sure of having any business 

 man in the land hasten to do your bidding with alac- 

 rity almost as soon as you made your wishes known? 

 Well, it is partly accomplished by having a reputa- 

 tion of never ha\ing been dunned. I do not mean 

 that you should never go into debt, but that j^ou 

 should always make an agreement as to just when 

 you wish to pay, and then always be on hand with 

 the pay, unless frcchj granted permission has been 

 given you to let it run longer. 



