1014 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1 



hard sudden jar on its opposite corner on the 

 ground in front of the hive; this dislodges 

 every bee; then I throw the cover upside 

 down behind me to that 20-cent nigger, and 

 if there is any scraping to be done he does 

 it; and when I get through with the hive he 

 slaps it on. 



While I was taking off the cover my help- 

 er has blown a stream of smoke across the 

 top of the frames, so the instant my hands 

 let loose the cover the frames are ready for 

 me. With that Coggshall-Hochstein brush 

 I pry out one frame; brush the bees back 

 into the hive through the opening made by 

 the frame, and put the frame of honey into 

 an empty case on the wheelbarrow. This is 

 all the brushing of bees there is to be done 

 —one frame in each hive. The next frame 

 is pried sidewise until you can get your 

 thumbs behind it; then lift it out, tilt it 

 backward until the top-bar points to the 

 ground; then from about a foot above the 

 hive strike with the frame a sharp hard lick 

 on the back edge of the hive, and every bee 

 will go down on to the top-bars of the lower 

 story. The rest of the frames are used the 

 same. You want to be particular to strike 

 the frame on the end-bar just as close as 

 possible to the projection of the top-bar. or, 

 in other words, make the blow come where 

 the Root Company puts the staple in the 

 Hoffman frame. It may sound as though 

 this would be hard to do; but with little 

 practice one can almost do it without look- 

 ing. Of course, your frames and covers 

 want to be well made and nailed. As to 

 scraping out brace-comb, etc., from the 

 hive-body in a honey-flow, that is utter 

 foolishness— a waste of time. An empty 

 frame will always go back into a place va- 

 cated by a full frame. 



I don't ask you to adopt any of my meth- 

 ods, but I am always willing to give any 

 one the benefit of what little I know, es- 

 pecially young fellows and new comers. Do 

 try a 20-cent nigger next season to do your 

 scraping. Besides being a great saving to 

 the bee-keeper, it gives one a millionaire 

 feeling to have a little nigger following him 

 up to do his scraping. 



Now in regard to that*Hochstein uncap- 

 ping-device, I am not the father of it. That 

 is a get-up of my son; but as I use it in my 

 three apiaries I suppose that I belong to 

 that class of bee-keepers who know very 

 little about practical bee-keeping. 



From what you say about this uncapping- 

 machine I am sure that you never used one; 

 or, if you did, you probably got some wood- 

 butcher to make it— one of those men, I 

 mean, who are born to carry the hod; and 

 you know a good thing badly made is worse 

 than none at all. 



You say you have never seen any place 

 where it was necessary for you to put knives 

 into water to uncap with. Of course you 

 have traveled a great deal, but there may 

 be a few small places yet left where you 

 have not been. 



If you will go to Putnam County. Fla., 

 during a good orange-bloom you will not 



only find it necessary to put your knives in- 

 to water, but will have to have it hot at 

 that. I may be mistaken, even in this; and 

 you may even there be able to do without 

 water, for I have seen men extract, without 

 even uncapping. 

 Punta Brava, Cuba. 



WINTERING BEES IN THE CELLAR. 



Do Not Use Smoke, nor Jar the Hives so as to 

 Break the Cluster; Keep Them Quiet. 



BY W. S. GROW. 



After reading in the March 15th issue of 

 Gleanings so many different opinions by 

 different bee-keepers in regard to cellar 

 wintering, mid- winter flights, etc., I think 

 giving my experience in cellar wintering 

 may not be out of line. My bee-cellar con- 

 sists of a small portion of the house cellar 

 partitioned off in one corner with two thick- 

 nesses of inch lumber. It is made mouse 

 and rat proof, and very nearly air-tight. 

 The size of it is 12X14 feet by 6 six feet 

 high. It contains at present 150 colonies of 

 bees which are wintering very finely. I am 

 an advocate of the tight bee-cellars with no 

 ventilation, with all rays of light shut out, 

 making it absolutely dark. 



I will say right here that my success in 

 wintering is largely due, if not wholly, to 

 very careful handling in the act of placing 

 the bees in the cellar. I strive to get a day 

 some time during November, when the mer- 

 cury stands from 28 to 35°, with snow on the 

 ground, as I always use snow to stop the 

 entrances if possible. 



About the first of November, I take a day 

 when the hives are not frozen down to the 

 bottom-board. I go to each hive, and, rais- 

 ing the front end carefully, I place a large- 

 sized tooth-pick under each front corner, 

 which keeps the hives from being frozen 

 down when I come to carry them in. In 

 carrying them into the cellar I place two 

 colonies on my bee- johnny, or carrier, bot- 

 tom-boards and all, so as not to disturb the 

 bees. Then my hired man and myself carry 

 them to the cellar very carefully, keeping 

 step so as not to jar them. When we reach 

 the cellar they are picked from the bottom- 

 board and tiered up thus, five high. 



I — II — II — I The same cover is 



LJ U l—J used in both summer 



D n nD and winter. By the 

 I I |~| III I I I accompanying plan we 

 Mil I |~1 I I do not even break 



ithe cluster or disturb 



D D D D n D Dthem. I never use 

 any smoke in putting bees in. In fact, I 

 never have any occasion for it. On the 

 other hand, if I had put my bees in as the 

 most bee-keepers do, with a rush, using a 

 block 2X4 or something else to stop bees in 

 with, and bang around the hives and wake 

 them up out of their pleasant dreams only 

 to glut themselves with honey, etc. , I should 

 expect, about the last of February, to see 

 polka-dot hives (which gives the practical 



