issl 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



503 



than to run any risk of wronging anybody 

 else. Money or property that comes from 

 wronging another can never make one happy. 



"WINTERING ■\VITH SErTIONS ON. 



There is considerable said about wintering- with 

 empty sections on. Empty boxes have been put on 

 box hives here lor j^ears, and counted the best way 

 to winter bees by many. I know of one box hive out 

 in the orchard without any other protection, and 

 sometimes durin<r the winter the wind blew otf this 

 empty box, and it was left off till spring, the holes 

 in the top of the hives still open, and the entrance 

 at bottom of hive opi'ii one-half inch, the width of 

 hive, causing- a draft or current of air through the 

 brood-nest most of the winter. Said hive worked 

 well in spring, and swarmed about two weeks earli- 

 er than most bees around here. 



Limerick, TU., Sept. 7, 1881. E. PKiiCi'. 



LOCL-VT HONEV, ETC. 



We have had a fearful drought, and crops are 

 nearly a failure. I extracted 500 lbs. of locust honey, 

 i>ut have not taken a pound since. Yesterdas' and 

 to-day they have been bringing in some buckwheat 

 honey, the first this season, and it seems quite a re- 

 lief to lay the feeder aside, after having it in con- 

 stant use for two months. 



Gleanings is a very welcome visitor, and is re- 

 ceived each month with all the pleasure of an old 

 friend. If, however, you are going to be responsible 

 for all losses incurred through some scamp who 

 manages to get an advertisement in Ule.vnings, 

 and give ever.v fellow a smoker who says he has quit 

 the use of tobacco (please send largest sized Bing- 

 ham— eh?), and, I might add, take back all goods 

 that we awkward chaps can't make go, I am afraid 

 you can't keep it up to the present standard. By 

 the way, how many of these smoker men, I wonder, 

 have sent in their cash? C. G. Knowles. 



Portland, Meigs Co., O., Sept. T, 18S1. 



You give me more credit than I deserve, 

 friend K. In my efforts to overcome the 

 natural selhshness of my nature, I may 

 have been injudicious, and possibly care- 

 less ; but to guard against such mistakes, 

 God has sent good kind friends like yourself 

 to give me warning. The Tobacco Column 

 has started quite a wave of reformation in 

 the riglit way, and now a great many are 

 breaking off 'without asking for any smoker, 

 as you will see by the letters. Would you 

 break such a public promise, friend K., if 

 you had once given it V 



polled; how to qet it out of combs when in 

 excess. 

 In September Gle.\nings,H. A. Davis asks how to 

 get pollen out of combs. I have done it by soaking 

 the combs for a day in water, and then washing out 

 with a force pump with a sprinkling nozzle. If he 

 has not a pump, any tinsmith can make a tube 11 in. 

 long, l'/2 diameter, with a strainer soldered in one 

 end. Use a stick with a leather tacked around it 

 for a plunger. I have one of them, and it works 

 well, but not so fast as the pump. Stand the combs 

 on their edges to soak them, or they may break out 

 of the frames. The water to use with the pump 

 needs warming a little, as cold water makes the 

 combs brittle. The water must not be thrown in 

 the cells with too much force, or it will knock the 

 bottom out of the cells in new combs. After wash- 



ing, put the combs in extractor, and throw the 

 water out, and they will soon dry. 



Please request Frank Boombrower to tell how he 

 prepares his liees for winter, and hnw he gives them 

 water. E. I). Howixr.. 



New Hampton, N. V., Sept. i:., 1881. 



Those who are troubled with an excess of 

 pollen will doubtless prolitby jour ingenious 

 plan, even though it is considerable work. 



A <'eE.4.P COMK CUPBOARD AND FUMIGATING KOOM. 



The time has againarrivcd when all surplus honey- 

 combs should be taken away from the bees and 

 stored away for another season. As many like my- 

 self have not a nice tight room exclusively for combs 

 wherein to hang thein, let me tell how I do manage. 



I procure a large dry-goods bo.v which has tight 

 joints, and one side open; place it on end In the 

 sliop, woodhouse, or even out of doors, if well cov- 

 ered. On the inside I then nail cleats to each side, 

 a little below the top; then make frames of lath, 

 ripped in two, or something similar; each end of 

 which rests on the cleats thus: 



In this frame I hang my honey-combs, and then 

 slide it into the box on the cleats. Just below these 

 combs I nail othercleats, on which I put frames the 

 same, and so on down to the bottom of the box, each 

 pair of cleats holding several frames of combs. 

 Then having the box calked and waxed tight, I hang 

 the door (formerly cover) on hinges with wire hooks 

 to hold it shut. To the edges of the box where the 

 door comes against it I tack a strip of cloth, so that 

 when it is shut the box is almost air-tight. Thus not 

 a very large box will hold several hundred combs. 



To fumigate them, remove a few combs from the 

 front bottom tier; take an iron kettle, put in 3 or li 

 inches of coal ashes; then about a pint of live coals; 

 place the kettle where the comVts are removed; drop 

 on to the coals about J4 lb. of sulphur to 40 cubic ft. 

 of space; shut the door quickly, and in one hour 

 every worm in those combs will trouble no more. 

 Combs treated thus about June 1st and August 1st 

 each year may be kept any length of time, I think. 

 They should be aired for a day or so before being 

 given to the bees. S. C. Perry. 



Portland, Mich., Sept. 1.5, 1881. 



Very good, friend F. We have just had 

 quite a time with some of our combs, which 

 we have taken from the bees in August and 

 September, preparatory to doubling up. We 

 placed them in the vacated house apiary, 

 which shuts tolerably tight, but we have had 

 to brimstone them three times, and I am 

 afraid a sharp looking would find now and 

 then a live worm yet. Your plan is right, 

 and is sure to do the business, and better, 

 perhaps, than a larger room. 



MAPLE SUGAR FOR WINTER STORES. 



Will it be safe to feed maple syrup or sugar that 

 tastes and is somewhat " buddy," or perhaps a little 

 sour, to bees? Having a quantity on hand, and bees 

 requiring food, I wish advice before making the 

 venture. Frank Chase. 



Springville, Erie Co., N. Y., Sept. 14, 1881. 



Maple sugar, if of e.xcellent quality, might 

 do for wintering bees, but as it always con- 



