j82 



GLEAl^lNGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



to the front, and the short end of this side down, for 

 an entrance. A strip ^i of an inch square should be 

 7iailed to each outside at the bottom, and project '.P.i 

 Inches in front, and a board 3!4 inches broad nailed 

 on thl3 to cover the entrance-way. To hold the 

 frames togethei" and in place, and av,'ay from the 

 front and back of the box, strips should be nailed, 

 two on tSiC front, one near the bottom; and one on 

 the back near the bottom. A strip is inch square 

 should extend from side to side, ?J. inch from the 

 bottom, and two inches from the front for the end 

 of the frames to rest on to keep them from drop- 

 ping out Avhen you lift the box. A notched strip 

 should be made to slip over the upper end and back 

 of the frames after they are in, to hold them in place 

 and awaj' from the back. To put the bees in, set 

 the box on a board or the cover of the hive; lift the 

 frames one by one, commenciuf? at the side, and 

 slip each frame down in the notches prepared for it, 

 putting the bottom of the frame toward the front of 

 the box, and the front end of the frame down. This 

 can be doiie easily without hurting' the bees. The 

 only diflicalty will be with the last comb. If the 

 comb has projecting points, these should be cut off 

 with the honey-knife, and it willg-o in readily. After 

 the fi-ames are all in, slip over the lops of their up- 

 per end, the notched stiips to steadj'them. Then 

 brush the bees out of the hive and set this box in 

 the center of the 10-frame hive, with the cover of 

 the ontrancc-wity tight against the front end of the 

 hive. Put a cldth over the tops of the box, All in 

 around it with chaff ; put on a second story, and till 

 as before with chaff, piling it up over the cloth cov- 

 er; or better, put on a third story and fill it with a 

 chaff cushion so that you can open the hive at pleas- 

 ure. This gives a tall narrow hive, well protected, 

 with the honey at one side, and above the bees. It 

 gives them ample room to cluster away up out of 

 the C'^ld from the entrance. It overcomes the ob- 

 jection to the Langstroth hive, that it is too shallow 

 for wintering; it does away with the objection to 

 the chaff hive, that in the summer you have to lift 

 the combs one by one out of the upper to get at the 

 under story. This hive can be taken down, and the 

 bees and combs returned to their old place in a few 

 minutes. The boxes can be put away in the shed, 

 and every thing made ready tor summer work in a 

 few hours. Give it a trial. 



M'lroy, Pa. Rev. J. "W. White. 



Many thanks, friend W. ; but your idea is 

 substantially the same as that given in some 

 ot the earlier volumes of Gleanings. If I 

 am correct, quite a number tried it, but for 

 some reason it has been abandoned. I made 

 a test of it on one weak colony that was 

 dwindling ; but as it didn't seem to save 

 tliem, I let it drop. I used no box, but stood 

 the frames on end, put blocks between them, 

 and after the bees had waxed all together, 

 covered the whole with a sack of bagging. 

 Since you revive the matter, I feel it would 

 give about as good protection from the 

 weather as a chaff hive, only that 1 should 

 be a little afraid the bees miglit get above 

 some of the honey, and starve on empty 

 combs in the very top of the hive. I wish 

 the matter might have a more thorough test, 

 for it would be a very great saving of ex- 

 pense to those who have only Simplicity 

 hives to winter in. "We could make these 

 boxes quite cheaply. On the other hand, 

 bowever, it would be quite a task to prepare 



a hundred Mves thus, and then have the 

 whole to put back in the spring, and put the 

 boxes away, while the chatt' hives are always 

 all right, both winter and summer. 



i/j^ "pcMms" 



This department is to be kept for the benefit of those who aro 

 rilssatistted; and when anything is amiss. 1 hope voii will • ' talk 

 right out. " As a nile. we will omit names aiid addresses, to 

 avoid being too personal. 



■\VR(1TE Mr. Burch. tellinpr him to send me on mv bees, if 



he thoutrlit it would not make any dirt'ereiice ill tneir win- 



toriiiij 1 1 had before told him I did not want them, but 



^ wanted my money back). To-day I received a card, sayiijjr 



if I wanted thein lie would ship at once, but advised me to wait 



till spriiipr This is perfectly satisfactory to me. 



You ask ini if 1 think you should be responsible for money 

 sent by tho.sc who aie not yu\n' subscribers. As I presume this 

 is meant to include myself, 1 will tell you what I do think, and 

 first will quote you one of your own texts. "He that doeth 

 rightcousne.-s, is righteous ' ' Ordinarily spi'aking, I would not 

 hold the imblisher responsible for his advertisers' wrong-doing; 

 but in the case of one like yourself, who pretends to such a very 

 sujierior degree of holinos i .'i, and also of his great influence 

 with the Lord. I would mn^t a^suniUy hold you responsible for 

 every cent sent by one who had been a subscriber, and who had 

 sent money before j'ou published tlie artic'les reflecting on the 

 intention or ability of any ot your advertisers to fullill their 

 promises. But you know very well that your whole oljject in 

 oflering to jiay Mr. B 's debts, or those of any one else, was 

 simply that you might make vour readers exclaim, " What a 

 very good man Mr. Hoot must be! for he will not see any ot his 

 sub.scribers sulfcr so long as he can kelp it." And tliis, top, 

 when I do not think you had the most remote intention of pay- 

 ing a single dollar But then, this is just of a piece with every 

 thing t have ever seen from .vou in the two years I have watchelt 

 your course in Gleani.ngs. There is not a single line written by 

 you, whether in Our Homes (which, bv the way, should nroper- 

 l.y be included under the heading of Humbugs and Swindles, for 

 if it is not a swindle it is f\iiin lirst to last a grand humbug) or 

 in an.y of the other dcpartuients, but. if rightly understood, is 

 intended solely for the praise ot A. I. Root and his wares. If I 

 could afford to do so, I would like to continue m.v subscription, 

 for the sole purpose of watching tlie developmeiit of what I am 

 very much inclined to think will one day prove to be a much 

 greater failure than thiit made by Mr. Biiicli; and when it does 

 come, if ever, I do not believe that your creditors will fare as 

 well as tlio.se of Mr B. I would like to write a great deal more, 

 but as my time is Morth something to me, and I doubt whether 

 you will read even this much, I will now bid you adieu. 



J. P. BVRNB. 



Foster's Crossing, Wai-ren Co., O., Nov. 17, 1881. 



In our young people's prayer-meeting last 

 Sunday evening, a lady said that we should 

 thank God for our enemies, because they tell 

 us of our faults, which friends never do. If 

 that is so, it seems to me I should be very 

 thankful indeed for the above letter. Let 

 us see if we can not find something good in 

 it. One strong point is, that we should be 

 very careful indeed about doing or saying 

 any thing that might induce anybody to 

 think we are claiming to be holier than oth- 

 er folks, iiesides this, friend B.,you have 

 given me about the biggest stirring-up I 

 ever had in my life, in the way of a resolve 

 that 1 would get out of debt. Perhaps it has 

 given friend Buich a similar determination. 

 I am going to commence to-day to cut down 

 outgoes and expenses, and save the coppers; 

 and i/oujust. sec if I break down. As a gene- 

 ral thing, I think it well to keep cool and 

 not get stirred up ; but 1 do not know that 

 it would hurt us a bit, a great many of us, if 

 we got considerably "riled" when twitted 

 about our finances, if we only kejH riled long 

 enough to have every thing lixed up snug 

 and trim. Now, boys, who of us will pre- 

 sent the best record for being straight, care- 

 ful, and prompt? Eriend Ji., if you ever 

 come our way, please give us a call ; it may 

 be that your letter has been the means of do- 

 ing me more real good than any one I ever 

 received in my life, even if I was " boiling 

 for a. fight " when i first read it. Do j'ou re- 

 member, friends,'' Count— it— all— joy,"etc.? 



