1881 



GLEA:S"INGS IX BEE CULTURE. 



233 



our bees, we should raise the sections built full of 

 comb, or nearly so, at the sides, to the top as fast as 

 full boxes were taken from the top, placing the emp- 

 ty sections at the sides as far as possible. Thus we 

 worked till 1ST7, discarding the tieriug-up process 

 more aud more, and adopting the other. At this 

 time our hives were about equal, being half for only 

 top storing, and half for side and top storing com- 

 bined. As the season of 187T closed, we found that 

 ISo lbs. was the hcut done by any of our colonies that 

 had been worked with top boxes only, while three of 

 those worked on the side and top storing plan com- 

 bined, had collectively produced the large amount of 

 890 lbs. ; one giving :30ii, another 301, while the third 

 gave28fi; while those stocks in our combined hive, 

 taking the whole together, had averaged 2J0 lbs. 

 each. This was a clincher in favor of the combined 

 plan, and to-day all tieriug-up appliances arc out of 

 date in our apiary. AVe now uge the Gallup frame 

 exclusively, for wo have become convinced that 

 more surplus honey can be obtained by its use than 

 by any other; still, there is no trouble in ■working 

 the L. frame on the combined plan. We also were 

 forced to the conclusion some time ago that , if we 

 wish to make the most box honey possible, the 

 frames in the brood-apartment must be full of 

 brocd (Jiof honey, nor tmply vomh) at the time the 

 honey harvest commences; if not, the first storing 

 will be done in the space luioccupied with brond, in- 

 stead of the bees going into the boxes, AVe have 

 found, from experience, that, if there is room in the 

 brood-chamber for the bees to store from 6 to 8 lbs. 

 of the first honey gathered, they are very loth to en- 

 ter the boxes. Instead of going to work in the boxes 

 with a will, they will crowd the queen with honey to 

 more or less extent, whenever such conditions are 

 present, to the end of the harvest. But let them 

 have every available cell full of brood, and the first 

 honey gathered will go into the boxes, thus inciting 

 an ambition to store in the boxes rather than in the 

 brood-chamber. To this end, if we were using the 

 L. frame we would use but 7, as 7 L. frames give 

 about the same brooding space as 9 Gallup. If 10 L. 

 frames are used (as a rule), the two outside frames 

 will be filled with honey, and bees will not travel 

 over a frame of sealed honey to go into boxes at the 

 sides, as quickly as they would enter them if the 

 brood was close to the boxes— on the principle that 

 the further from brood the boxes are, the less honc}' 

 will be obtained. To sum up, if we wish a good 

 yield of box honey, use so few frames in the hive 

 that the queen keeps them literallj' full of brood, and 

 so arrange your boxes that they come close to the 

 brood, both at the sides and on top. As fast as full 

 boxes are taken from the top, raise those partly 

 filled at the sides to the top, putting the empty boxes 

 at the side. To use friend Heddon's words, we 

 would say of this plan, " I am not prejudiced in its 

 favor because I adopted it; but I adopted it because 

 I was prejudiced in its favor." G. M. Doolittle. 

 Borodino, N. Y., March 24, 1881. 



If I am correct, the above is one of the 

 most valuable of friend D.'s contributions, 

 and I do not know why so few use side- 

 storing boxes, and raise them to the top 

 when full ones are taken off, unless it is that 

 it is some trouble. There is no way to get 

 large yields of comb honey without care and 

 trouble, that I know of; and, for that mat- 

 ter, any thing else that is really desirable. 



baitible: no. 4. 



LAKE GEORGE, .VXD LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 



j^l'TILL keei)ing our e3-('s upon those mountains, 

 ^> and our foot still upon historic ground, we 

 ranil)le from our county due westint*^ Warren 

 county. Hej'c, fifteen miles from an apiary, is lo- 

 cated the lively and growing town of Glen's JFalls. 

 The noble Hudson here dashes over a barrier cf 

 black rooks, forming a iMi'ttu'escjue fall, and a spl«u- 

 did wati'r privilege, of which the enterprise of ni lu 

 has made abundant use. Here are located a number 

 of saw-mills, and thousand-^ of logs are annually 

 floated down from the up))er Hudson to feed the 

 never-ceasing demand of the maiuifacturer. Glen's 

 Falls is the head of railroad navigation. If you 

 would travel further north you must seat yourself in 

 one of the many stages that ply here for the trans- 

 portation of the thousands of summer tourists who 

 visit that beautiful and world-renowned sheet of 

 water,— Lake G.eorge. Sometimes, when we wish 

 for a few days of relaxation from the cares (^f home, 

 several families will club together, hire a cottage 

 near the lake, and spend several days in fishing, 

 boatiug, aud htinting. The waters of this lake are so 

 transparent that the bottom can be seen from the 

 boat for many feet in dojirh. A few years since, at 



< j|e of 

 .■%edii 



seen half subm(!%ed in the gravily bed of the lake, 

 twenty feet from the surface. The waters of this 

 lake seldom get entirelly frozen over until late in 

 January. 



We would like to invito you, friend Novice, and 

 your wife aud your children, and any number of our 

 brother bee-keepers, even to a whole conventiou of 

 them, to one of our autumn vacations here. We 

 M'ould guarantee you one of the finest fish chowders 

 you ev<H- sat down to. The ladies of our party share 

 the perils of the deep with their husband-j, and be- 

 come expert fishermen — no, flshorworaen sounds 

 better. How the children love to skim over the sur- 

 face of the waters in our light boats! Wouldn't you 

 shoufc, though. Master Ernest? wouldn't Blue Eyes 

 plunge her hands into the clear water, and toss it 

 aloft in the sunlight? How you all would make the 

 welkin ring, and the rocky shore resound with a 

 rousing boat song or a gospel hymn I 



Although we leave our bee cares at home, wp cer- 

 tainly see all the bee-hives around the houses we 

 pass. Libbie— that's my better half— says I can see 

 a bee-hive through a house, a barn, aud a stone wall. 

 That beats the Philadelphia lawyers, who can only- 

 see through a brick. 



This region, we should think to be a good honey 

 locality, from the number of hives we saw along the 

 road. On account of the many mountains, the soil 

 does not receive high cultivation ; but the forests are 

 filled with chestnut and basswood. The honey raised 

 here is most ly on the old plan— in large boxes, and 

 a market is found in the village of Glen's Falls. Wo 

 are not much acquainted with the bee-keepers in the 

 vicinity of Glen's Falls; but within the corporation, 

 James T. Burdick has a fine apiary In Simplicity 

 hives on the hexagon plan. Mr. B. supplies his 

 neighbors with bee-hives, sections, etc., which th« 

 aforesaid saM-mills saw out for him, and the public 

 are supplied with honey in the most approved shape. 

 Mrs. B. is also becoming quite an export in bee man- 

 agement, and will not allow her husband to get bet- 

 tor posted than herself. 



This region is also noted f®r it* vast fiejtls of buck- 



