308 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1 



definite cases like these; for if such are pub- 

 lished, even without the names, those re- 

 sponsible will be more careful in the future 

 how they deal with the producer, whose in- 

 terests we feel bound to protect. — Ed.] 



Quite right you are, I think, Mr. Editor, 

 p. 156, in believing that the direction in 

 which the hive faces has little to do with the 

 amount of honey px-oduced. Yet your argu- 

 ment that the sun is brightest in the middle 

 of the day, if it favors any thing, favors the 

 northern entrance. For that northern en- 

 trance gets the benefit of the sun at the two 

 cool ends of the day, and in the middle of 

 the day it's hot enough anywhere. A little 

 as the darkey said, ' ' De moon am more i;se- 

 ful dan de sun for it shines in de night when 

 it's dark, and de sun shines only when it's 

 daylight." 



"How WOULD honey and butter frozen 

 together answer during the winter as a food 

 for the gods?" page 239. Why "frozen," 

 friend Morrison ? I never tried the freezing, 

 but I've eaten a good deal of it thoroughly 

 mixed (fii'st warmed), and it's fine. Try 

 anywhere from one to eight ounces of honey 

 to a pound of butter. [Freezing the honey 

 and butter was suggested to enable us to sell 

 the combination at the same price as butter 

 — in the same package as the latter is usu- 

 ally sold, and by the same 7nen, thereby 

 greatly widening the market for honey. Of 

 course I would label it honey and butter — 

 just what it is. I prefer as much honey as 

 butter.— W. K.M.I 



Baking or roasting in tireless stoves is a 

 thing I had studied over, and supposed it 

 was impracticable until given by H. H. Root, 

 p. 156. No, Huber, I'm pretty sure no one 

 else has given any thing of the kind before. 

 It's great. The one objection to a fireless 

 stove was that it could be used only for boil- 

 ing; and now you have done away with that. 

 The best bread in the world is probably that 

 baked in an out-oven. A fire is built in the 

 oven, swept out, and the hot bricks do the 

 I'est. Why not have heated soap-stones or 

 fire-bricks ? Have an asbestos lining so as 

 not to burn your hay or excelsior; put in 

 your hot stones, and your chicken in a self- 

 baster, and go about your business. 



German price lists offer 5 and 10 pound 

 packages for sending honey by mail. Ab- 

 surd that I can send a 10-pound package all 

 the way to Germany for less than I can send 

 it to the next town, five miles away. When 

 we get to electing our Senators by the direct 

 vote of the people we may have things dif- 

 ferent. [If President Roosevelt had not so 

 positively given out that he would not again 

 run for the presidency, we might hope that 

 some of these needed reforms, through the 

 action of his "big stick," would be brought 

 about. Yes, the time is coming, and must 

 come, when our Senators will be elected by 

 the direct vote of the people. When that is 

 done, and a good big brainy President with 

 "the big stick" is in the chair, the millen- 

 nium (in a political way) will be at hand. 

 God speed the day. — Ed.] 



For a hive-stand I'd like to try a pair of 

 triangular prisms of cement or stoneware, 

 each prism perhaps three inches longer than 

 twice the width of a hive. Lay the prisms 

 on the ground parallel to each other. Level 

 them, and set on them a pair of hives. Rest- 

 ing on the sharp edges of the prisms, I 

 should expect the bottom-boards to last about 

 twice as long as when set on flat board 

 stands. [Your scheme is not bad. Such ce- 

 ment prisms could be constructed very cheap- 

 ly. All one would have to do would be to 

 make a wooden V-shaped trough of suitable 

 size, pour in the mixture, and, when it sets, 

 carefully dump it out. To facilitate the op- 

 eration the trough should be greased with 

 crude oil; and after each "cast" it should 

 be scraped and reoiled. During winter wea- 

 ther, when the bee-keeper has nothing else 

 to do he could make up quite a number of 

 these forms. — Ed.] 



Much interested in that 8xi-inch win- 

 ter entrance, p. 246. Would you change it 

 for a very strong or for a very weak colony? 

 How would a 4xi-inch enti'ance do? In the 

 8xi entrance do you prefer the i-inch down 

 at the floor or at the top of the ^ space? 

 [The size, 8Xi inch, is for the average-sized 

 colony. Any thing under the average has a 

 proportionally smaller entrance, the reduc- 

 tion being made in the length. Any thing 

 over the average will have a larger en- 

 trance. But in all cases we preserve the 

 depth i so that we may more successfully 

 resist the encroachments of meadow-moles 

 and mice at outyards. Our experience has 

 shown that half-inch entrances will let in 

 some mice, and so will a §-deep one that the 

 pests have gnawed. At some of our out- 

 yards we have had some four or five colo- 

 nies, the combs of which wei'e literally rid- 

 dled and the colonies destroyed. — Ed.] 



We are making a strong effort to mail 

 Gleanings earlier than heretofore, and we 

 also hope to wrap each copy so that it will 

 reach each subscriber without damage. 



indoor wintering at MEDINA. 



This is showing up somewhat better than 

 it did earlier in the season. Remember that 

 the colonies are on ventilating hive-stands a la 

 Hershiser. At fii'st the conditions seemed to 

 be unfavorable; but after providing a little 

 more ventilation, and dividing the bees into 

 two cellars, the conditions improved very 

 materially. The bees are quiet, and there is 

 no indication to show that there will be any 



1 



