532 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov 



pay for the privilege of advertising, and surely you 

 owe them the same protection from crooked custo- 

 mers. Gleanings for Oct., page 503, gives a case of 

 crookedness. I have been doing business, advertis- 

 ing and dealing with entire strangers for about 

 eight years, and I am pleased to be able to say that, 

 in all that time, I have found only twi> customers 

 that 1 know or believe to have practiced fraud (a 

 pretty good showing, is it not?) Jos. M. Brooks. 

 Columbus, Ind., Oct., 1881. 



Many thanks for your kind words and sug- 

 gestions, my friends. I knew, before I 

 started the idea, that you two at least would 

 be in favor of it, for in all the business you 

 have both done, I have never, that I remem- 

 ber of, heard a single word of complaint of 

 either of you. Square men will most em- 

 ])hatirally vote for such a list; but those 

 who know their past records have not been 

 square with their customers, will fight terri- 

 bly against it. I presume you little imagine 

 what a shower of invectives will come down 

 on the bald head of your old friend, should I 

 attempt to carry out even a part of the pro- 

 gramme you propose. I spoke of adverti- 

 sers only, because the list would be so very 

 large, did it embrace purchasers as well. 

 Shall we not rather jjublish the names of the 

 '•dead beats," and say nothing about the 

 good ones V Suppose you, friend Brooks, 

 write to the two who defrauded you, that, 

 unless they settle up, you will have them 

 published." If they have any defense to 

 make, propose arbitration, and' publish only 

 those who decline arbitration, or who won't 

 answer at all any way. There is another 

 class, who are so very slow in fulfilling a 

 promise, that it seems it would be a great 

 kindness to the masses to tell them kindly 

 they must be published as " slow coaches," 

 unless they brighten up and do better. In 

 answer to hiend A'iallon. I would say that I 

 want nothing for my trouble in the matter. 

 The fact that I am helping the supporters of 

 Gleanings will be pay enough. Neither 

 have I any objections to speaking right out, 

 after the delinquent has been fairly notified, 

 and neglects to do any thing in the matter. 

 What are the wishes of our readers? 



FKAGMENTS FROm AN ABC SCHOLAR. 



ALSO CONTAINING SOME QUITE IMPORTANT HINTS 

 rOK THE VETERANS. 



fWANT to second the remarks of Mr. Hutchin- 

 son on page 319, July No. of Gleanings in ref- 

 — ■ erence to building up an apiary in a hurry, and 

 reaping no benefits from it the first year or two. 

 Although I am but an A B C student in apiculture, I 

 started out with the intention of making the bees 

 pay all expenses, and I have done it. Last year my 

 two swarms gave me two more, and 130 lbs. of sur- 

 plus honey. Now I have 13 colonies and 510 lbs. of 

 surplus, worth $70.00. 



HAVE THINGS READY. 



This thought came into my mind while reading 

 Geo. W, Burridge's article on page 327. Now, in- 

 stead of running after a hive when a swarm comes 

 out, 1 have my hives all set on their stands in 

 advance, nicely leveled up, and frames handy, so 

 that, if a swarm issues on the Sabbath, as fully one- 



half of mine do, I can take care of them in short 

 order. 



I use the Roop hive with double walls, so they do 

 not heat up much inside, and the bees go right to 

 work. 



SAWDUST FOR PACKING HIVES. 



I see a good deal in the papers about using chaff, 

 leaves, etc. Now, I use dry firm sawdust, from the 

 re-saw in a planing-mill, and I am of the opinion 

 that it is the best yet. It absorbs the moisture, and 

 keeps a very steadj- temperature. 



HOW LATE TO BREED IN THE FALL. 



Friend Grimm, on page 323, tells us how late queens 

 should be permitted to lay in the fall, if they are to 

 be moved into the cellar. Now, will some one who 

 dors H'infe)' bees outdoors tell us about fall breeding? 

 My bees bred till November last year, and com- 

 menced again in February. All came through the 

 winter too. 



TRIALS IN QUEEN-REARING. 



I think this matter is not confined to Illinois. I 

 have 2 colonies that are making the third effort to 

 Ret a laying queen. After the first failure, I placed 

 pieces of new bright tin near their entrances to 

 quiet them, but a second failure was the result. 



SWARMING BEES BV TELEPHONE. 



You may laugh at the mere mention of such an 

 idea; but, listen to one who doc:< do it. I purchased 

 a dollar telephone of Perry Mason & Co., Boston, 

 last winter, also 300 feet of copper wire, and put it 

 up according to printed directions — the wire ex- 

 tending from my house to my father's. Now im- 

 agine my surprise to hear, when the bees began 

 their summer's work, an occasional sound as loud 

 and similar to that made by snapping your finger- 

 nail against a goblet. Now, this wire passes over 

 one end of my row of hives, and whenever a swarm 

 issues from a hive within a couple of rods of this 

 wire, the tap, tap, tapping, that we, at both houses, 

 hear 50 or 100 times per minute, soon brings some 

 one to the scene of action. I was aroused once when 

 half asleep, just in time to see which hive they 

 came from. Now, I am so thoroughly convinced of 

 the eflBciency of the accoustic telephone as an aid in 

 swarming bees, that I shall put one up next year to 

 run parallel with the row of hives, so as not to be 

 more than 20 or 25 feet from any of the hives. To 

 make it convenient for my wife, I will put one 

 diaphragm in the kitchen, and the other in the sit- 

 ting-room. The wire needs to be drawn " taut," and 

 not to make anj' short angles. 



QUESTIONS. 



Would it be safe to wax a syrup or vinegar barrel 

 to ship e.xtracted honey in? 



In waxing barrels, could you not use less than 30 

 or 30 lbs. of wax, by putting hot water in with it, to 

 keep it warm? 



Is it possible for even a dollar queen to be jet black, 

 and her worhrrs too? I would like to know. I thought 

 best to put the above question on this slip, as some 

 might think, if it were in print, that I had bought 

 such a one from j^ou. Now, I call the dollar queen I 

 bought of you last fall a black queen; but I may be 

 mistaken. I know one thing: she pays the best of 

 any queen I have. You may, if you choose, answer 

 this in Gleanings in such a way that no one will 

 think you have been suspected of making any such 

 error. F. A. Palmer. 



McBrides, Mich., Aug. 11, 1881. 



I too, friend P., most emphatically indorse 



