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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15 



BEE-HIVES IN GERMANY. 



Surely there is great need of a Lang- 

 stroth in Germany. So far as I can learn, 

 there are practically no top-opening bee- 

 hives in this country. In general agricul- 

 ture Germany is away to the front; but in 

 bee-keeping she is surely away in the rear 

 of America. Most of the hives seem to be 

 straw, and generally of the pattern of our 

 box hives, which surely are now an ana- 

 chronism, and ought in this age to be rele- 

 gated to the junk-pile. True, there are 

 movable-frame hives. The frames hang on 

 a rabbet as do ours; but instead of being 

 raised or removed from the top they are 

 drawn out at the end. Some hives which I 

 have seen are a meter (about 40 in.) long; 

 and to draw all these frames out at the end 

 after they are well glued in by the bees 

 must be a task to try even the proverbial 

 patience of the Deutcher. I believe that 

 when manipulation must, of necessity, be so 

 laborious and difficult, it would be likely to 

 be all too rare for the good of such bee- 

 keepers as had foul brood, to say nothing of 

 weak and queenless colonies, of bee moth 

 ravages, and the nameless other conditions 

 where inspection is loudly called for. I 

 have been told that many still use the top- 

 bar simply, so that upon removal the combs 

 must be cut free each time from the side of 

 the hive. I have also been told that the 

 great Dzierzon always used such hives, and 

 that he was remarkably expert in such ma- 

 nipulation. It seems unbelievable that a 

 man who could discover the law of partheno- 

 genesis could ever be induced to use such 

 hives after he had seen a Langstroth hive or 

 even read a description of one. I wonder if 

 Europe has many such bee- men as the Da- 

 dants and the Grimms. Have we not taken 

 the cream of the land? 



msommi 



In establishing apiaries this spring do not 

 overcrowd your location. Leave plenty of 

 room for an " off " year. 



' ' A thing that can be done, but has not 

 been done in the past to a great extent, 

 would be to direct our attention more to 

 reaching out to secure better markets, to 

 educating the people to know the difference 

 between good and inferior honey, and to ed- 

 ucating all in a direction of producing a bet- 

 ter and more uniform article," according to 

 R. F. Holtermann, in Canadian Bee Jour- 

 nal. 



Bee-keeping, poultry-raising, and truck- 

 growing make a combination hard to beat 



when it comes to making a comfortable liv- 

 ing. While some of us have a leaning to- 

 ward specializing in one line alone, yet I 

 know of several instances where, if one 

 failed, either of the other two could be re- 

 lied upon. Now is still a good time to de- 

 cide whether to give this combination a trial 

 the coming season. 



In making preparations for the coming 

 season's work, do not overlook the keeping 

 of a small note- book in which to jot down 

 and keep an account of important items as 

 they happen throughout the season. It is a 

 good idea to make a memorandum of all 

 important matters as one stumbles on to 

 them, or they may be forgotten. It pays. 

 Bee-keeping is just as much business as 

 keeping a store; yet very few would try to 

 keep a store without keeping books. 



Chaff hives are unknown to Texas bees. 

 Six colonies lived in such for three years in 

 the experimental apiary of the Texas Agri- 

 cultural and Mechanical College; but as the 

 bees did not seem to appreciate these costly 

 homes— at least so far as could be deter- 

 mined—they did no better than the colonies 

 in single-walled hives. They were cast out 

 of them and put into regular hives. The 

 unwieldy chaff hives were stored in an ante- 

 room of the bee-house, where they are only 

 in the way. 



THE ADVANTAGES OF LIGHTER GRADES OF 

 FOUNDATION. 



The lighter grades of foundation, rightly 

 used, are better for all purposes. It seems 

 like a waste to use heavy brood foundation 

 and medium brood in wired frames, yet 

 many are doing so. Suppose that a pound 

 of light brood foundation, averaging ten 

 sheets to the pound, costs 50 cents. That 

 would be sufficient to fill a ten-frame hive- 

 body. Medium brood, at 48 cents per pound, 

 would fill only eight frames, necessitating 

 an extra cost of two sheets, or twelve cents 

 per hive, or ten cents over the cost of light 

 brood foundation. While the difference of 

 a single hive-body does not seem a great 

 one, it amounts to a saving of $10 on every 

 hundred bodies in favor of the lighter grade. 

 The comparison is made on the supposition 

 that both are used in wired frames as many 

 are doing. If unwired frames, with medium 

 and heavy brood foundation, are considered, 

 the difference between these two grades 

 would be about the same as with the other 

 two in wired frames. The heavy brood 

 foundations, running six to eight sheets per 

 pound, although not requiring the wiring of 

 the frames, I would still consider more ex- 

 pensive than light brood with wires. 



I have always been in favor of wiring 

 deep frames. The expense in the beginning 

 is slightly more; but as lighter grades of 

 foundation can be successfully used, and the 

 danger of combs breaking out in handling is 

 eliminated, my frames are wired. I have 

 used with much satisfaction home-made 

 foundation running twelve L. sheets to the 

 pound. This was used with four horizontal 



