1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



449 



you will have fuel enough to last a whole 

 season, even if you have a large apiary. 



Coal ashes make an excellent bedding for 

 entrances. They keep down the grass, pack 

 well, but I did not suppose they would also 

 keep off the ants. In a large yard the 

 cheapest and easiest thing to put up is a 

 rough v.s board about 8 by 10 inches. Run 

 it up against the entrance, or attach it to 

 the hive. When the lawn-mower is run 

 through the apiary, lift the board up, cut 

 the grass down, and replace the board. 

 The trouble with coal ashes is that weeds 

 and grass will in time push up through 

 them. — Ed.] 



GLEANINGS, FROM COVER TO COVER, ALL 

 good; SMALL SECTIONS FOR SOUVENIRS. 



You request the readers of Gleanings to 

 state which department is most appreciat- 

 ed. Well, now, I shall be obliged to decide 

 that "I don't know," just as does Dr. Mil- 

 ler when he doesn't know. When I get 

 Gr^EANiNGS the first thing I do is to run my 

 finger down inside the wrapper, and "off 

 she goes;" glance at markets, advertise- 

 ments, and settle down to business on 

 "Stray Straws." I'm always sorry when 

 they are finished; and so I continue clear 

 through to the other cover, always feeling 

 sorry that each department isn't longer. I 

 could get mj' dollar's worth from any one 

 department, without the other departments 

 at all, though that would be like a hungry 

 man at a banquet with only one short course, 

 with an appetite and digestive capacity for 

 a full meal. 



It seems some people read Gleanings as 

 some people eat a meal — "eat the best first, 

 and so have the best all the waj* through 

 the meal." Well, that's all right; but I 

 should be afraid of skipping a "course" 

 somewhere which would contain a good 

 deal of the digestive elements to go with the 

 rest, just as was that last "course" called 

 "Toast" at the bee-keepers' banquet at 

 Denver last fall. That reminds me of the 

 honey served there that evening. Can you 

 tell me from what plant it was produced? 

 at what price j'ou could furnish the sections 

 (those souvenir sections)? I think of pro- 

 ducing sufficient honey in similar sections 

 for a treat at our farmers' institute next 

 winter. 



I hand you a program of a session held 

 last month at our town. You will notice 

 on the third day's dinner I put up the hon- 

 e}', and they relieved me of 93 lbs. (comb). 



Hull, la. F. W. Hall. 



[These verv- small sections could not be 

 made for less money than the regular stand- 

 ard goods. While the material will be 

 very much less, the labor of adjusting ma- 

 chinery adapted for the larger sizes would 

 be enough to offset the difference in cost of 

 material. 



Perhaps you are as eager to get informa- 

 tion on the subject of bees as I am to get 

 hints on handling automobiles. 1 read my 

 two journals, devoted to that subject, from 



cover to cover — even all the aivertisements. 

 But the first thing I dive after is the depart- 

 ment of questions and answers. If I ever 

 get to be a veteran in the horseless business 

 I suppose I shall be able to pick out articles 

 here and there that will cover departments 

 of knowledge entirely new to me. The 

 small-section honey to which you refer was 

 produced in Colorado; when or by whom I 

 don't know. — Ed.] 



CARR'S method OF WIRING. 



After reading "a simple method of wir- 

 ing frames," on page 247, I made a similar 

 wiring-board; but instead of using two 

 nails under the top-bar I use a %-inch 

 strip the full length of the top-bar, nailed 

 to the board; also nail a thin strip like a 

 bottom-bar to the board for the narrow ends 

 of the end-bars to rest upon, and one at 

 each end of the frame to prevent end play. 



"instead of five nails for the tension I use 

 three staples; also two staples inside of 

 the top-bar, driven into the board. I like 

 the end-spaced frames, and it seems strange 

 that any one would do without them after 

 giving them a trial. I first used them in 

 1897, and have since added them to all of 

 my old frames. I also use two of the sta- 

 ples in each hive-body to make a bee-space 

 between the wall of the hive and the first 

 frame. 



The plain division-board, as now made 

 \iy the Root Co., is as near perfection, it 

 seems to me, as can be. I use one in each 

 hive-body on the side opposite the two sta- 

 ples mentioned, and alwa3's work from that 

 side of the hive. H. M. Cakr. 



Cranfills Gap, Texas. 



how to place HIVES IN THE CELLAR IN 



SUCH A WAY THAT THE DEAD BEES ON 



A NAILED BOTTOM-BOARD WILL BE 



NO HINDRANCE. 



On page 948 F. B. Cavanaugh asks about 

 putting bees in a cellar with tightly nailed 

 bottom-boards. The answer says that if 

 that is done you should clean out dead bees 

 occasionally with a crooked wire. Now, it 

 happened that I got hold of many Lang- 

 stroth-Simplicity with tightly nailed boards 

 in trying to winter in different positions. 

 I finally got to putting the front end three 

 or four inches higher than the back end, 

 with the front toward the wall, and it was 

 all right. Bees dying in the hive during 

 winter work toward the rear end of the 

 hive, and all goes well so far for winter. I 

 have put in between 300 and 400 in over 20 

 different cellars, always the front rnd at 

 least two inches higher, and I would not 



