832 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1 



for any one else, but I don't know that it 

 would be right for me to go on Sunday, and 

 I'm not going." The reply was, "Why, 

 after coming these thousands of miles it 

 would be wicked to go back without seeing 

 all these wonderful things." But that 

 wasn't remarkably convincing. I conclud- 

 ed it would be easier to go through the rest 

 of life with a feeling of ignorance as to some 

 of Nature's wonders than with a feeling 

 that I had been doing something I didn't 

 know was right. But I put in the time lively 

 Monday morning seeing what I could. 



James Hilbert, after putting his bees in 

 cellar, leaves doors open till too cold to keep 

 them shut longer. That's good practice, as 

 I know from experience. Not only do I do 

 that in early winter, but in spring as well. 

 Some bees fly out to their death, but I be- 

 lieve the inflow of pure air more than com- 

 pensates. If you want to see how it oper- 

 ates to have doors and windows open in the 

 middle of March, with outside temperature 

 from 29 to 65 degrees, see p. 299, ' ' Forty 

 Years among the Bees." [I was under the 

 impression that friend Hilbert was the only 

 one who practiced leaving the door open 

 clear up into cold winter weather. It seem- 

 ed to me, as Mr. Hilbert explained it, that 

 it was in conformity with good practical 

 sense. — Ed.] 



I'm so glad of your offer, Mr. Editor, to 

 furnish me the kind of metal spacers I want, 

 p. 792. I've been trying this long time to 

 get you to do that. That you may make no 

 mistake, let me tell you again just what I 

 want. A wire nail with a head i\ across, 

 and % inch thick, so that automatically it 

 will drive to the right depth and leave the 

 spacing % inch. How soon may I expect 

 them? "Conditions?" Oh, yes! let's see 

 what were the conditions. That I should 

 put in a half-day with M. H. Mendleson, 

 and then "not agree that metal-spaced 

 frames for extracting are not to be tolerated 

 for even one minute." Well, say; I'm just 

 a bit afraid I can't come up to the condi- 

 tions. A lot of those California fellows not 

 only object to metal spacers but to any kind 

 of self-spacers, and quite likely they know 

 what they're talking about. [When you 

 have fulfilled the conditions, you can have 

 what you want. — Ed] 



Just while writing these Straws, I re- 

 ceived by mail three very interesting pic- 

 tures taken by W. Z. Hutchinson while in 

 California. One gives the special car that 

 took that lot of bee-keepers from Chicago to 

 Los Angeles with the said bee-keepers stand- 

 ing beside it, colored porter and all. An- 

 other is a fine view of the Los Angeles con- 

 vention, taken from the court-house steps. 

 But the one that thrills me is a view of that 

 wonder of nature, the Grand Canyon. I 

 didn't suppose he could get such a fine pic- 

 ture of it. Makes me wish I could sit there 

 again for a few hours and drink it in. [Yes, 

 indeed, they areavery finesetof pictures, and 

 no one can form any conception of their clear- 

 ness unless he buys the set from W. Z., at 



Flint, Mich., who, I believe, has them for 

 sale. This may seem like a free advertise- 

 ment; but when a man takes pains to study 

 art and carry it out into modern photogra- 

 phy, so that it compares with the best photo 

 work in the country, a little commendation 

 of this kind, I am sure, is not misplaced. — 

 Ed.] 



Objection has been made to the new 

 smoker lid or nozzle that it gums up so as 

 not to go on easily. Just what I found. 

 With the first day's use the trouble began, 

 and it kept getting worse until in a few 

 days it wouldn't close at all. Then I 

 cleaned off the soot so it would shut; and 

 ever since then if it made the least objec- 

 tion to going shut I pushed it clear down 

 with some emphasis, as if to say, '* Shut 

 your mouth and keep it shut," and during 

 all the weeks since then I think I have not 

 cleaned it again. Don't let it get the up- 

 per hand of you, but insist that it must go 

 shut and clear shut every time. [The 

 hinge to the new smoker-lid on the 1903 

 model did not have quite the proper crook 

 to make the cap or nozzle stay squarely on 

 top of the fire-barrel. The least little de- 

 posit of creosote would aggravate the mat- 

 ter unless it were crowded out of the way 

 in the manner you describe. The 1904 

 smoker will have the hinge corrected. — Ed.] 



At one time I reported that, with Lang- 

 stroth frames, brood was reared quite close 

 to the top-bars; but I thought this might 

 be only early in the season. This year I 

 gave the matter some attention, and found 

 the same rule to hold until the bees began 

 to store honey in all parts of the comb in 

 September. [This is something that varies 

 according to the season, and, I suspect, 

 somewhat to the locality. The heavier the 

 honey-flow, the more the brood will be 

 crowded up next to the top- bar. Elsewhere 

 you speak of having an extraordinarily 

 good run of honey. We had a very meager 

 flow here. When the nectar comes in very 

 slowly the bees are apt to deposit it near 

 the brood, crowding the queen downward. 

 If it comes in with a rush, they are more 

 inclined to put it all above, if they have 

 room, leaving the queen to have free sway 

 below. I am satisfied that you have a 

 much better locality than we have here 

 around Medina; for I recall several seasons 

 where your honey-flow was continuing on 

 and on, while our bees had been trying to 

 rob for weeks.— Ed.] 



You KNOW I told you we'd been having 

 a great flow of honey "in this locality." 

 Now that the season is over, perhaps you'd 

 like to know what some of the best colonies 

 stored. Heretofore the biggest yield I ever 

 had from a single colony was 192 sections; 

 this year it was — come to think of it, Mr. 

 Editor, I don't know that I'd better tell 

 you. You might not believe it, and then it 

 would be hard to get 3'ou to believe some 

 other things I'm more anxious to have you 

 believe. [I think I can appreciate how 

 you feel. This last summer our compa- 



