536 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15 



chambers, compared with all the rest, would 

 be considerably in excess of two per cent, 

 but how much higher we would not venture 

 to say. But every day we are surprised to 

 find how many there are who use divisible- 

 brood-chamber hives. — Ed.] 



In my time I have smoked bees on taking 

 from the cellar, or shut the entrance with a 

 cJoth wringing wet, but I think it isn't often 

 necessary. This year Philo carried them out 

 with never a wet rag, nor a puff of smoke. 

 It took him five hours to take out the 166, 

 placing them at an average distance of seven 

 or eight rods from the cellar. Temperature 

 in cellar at beginning was 52, rising to 66 at 

 close. Some bees Hew out at the outer cellar 

 door, but gradually disappeared, going, I 

 suppose, into some of the hives. An impor- 

 tant factor was that the cellar had been wide 

 open the night before. 



Soft maples bloomed March 21, with 

 thermometer at 75, but I was away and did 

 not get the bees out of the cellar until March 

 23, with highest thermometer at 78. Only 

 four of the 170 were dead; and the curious 

 thing about them was that, while there was 

 plenty of honey, they were clean of bees, 

 combs, bottom-board, and all, and I am puz- 

 zled to know whether the bees deserted them 

 before they were carried into the cellar or 

 after. [We ai'e having unprecedentedly 

 warm weather here for March, and we are 

 fearful that old Dame Nature will make up 

 by giving us a cold spell that will kill the 

 brood later on. — Ed.] 



Last pall I tried to give my bees enough 

 honey so there would be no question about 

 their weight this spring. But for fear of 

 some oversight I "hefted" them all to-day, 

 March 25. I lifted very few indeed from 

 their stands. When' I pulled on a hive to 

 the amount of about 40 pounds, if it didn't 

 come up I let it stay down. What's the use 

 of breaking my back lifting an extra 10 or 20 

 pounds when I know the hive is more than 

 heavy enough? If it raised from the stand 

 with what I thought was a 40-pound lift, I 

 weighed it. If it weighed less than 38 pounds 

 I opened it. There were only five to open, 

 and they didn't need honey. 



The effort to secure an anti-spraying 

 law in Illinois will probably turn out a fail- 

 ure on account of the opposition of fruit-men. 

 They say they can not get through spraying 

 in time unless they begin at least a little be- 

 fore the blossoms fall. It is just possible that 

 the fruit-men may gain by this; but I don't 

 believe that their gain will be as great as 

 the loss to the neighboring bee-keepers. [The 

 trouble in Illinois is that you have a large 

 manufacturer of spraying-outfits who has for 

 years been sending out literature broadcast, 

 advising fruit-men to spray during fruit- 

 bloom. So persistently has this advertising 

 matter been sent out that your fruit-growers 

 have come to be permeated by the idea. 

 Mr. Sprayingoutfitman has been labored 

 with, and been informed that all the experi- 

 ment stations in the countxy advise against 

 spraying while trees are in bloom. But he in- 



sists he is right; and the last we knew of 

 him he was still sending out spraying-in-bloom 

 literature with his spraying-outfits. — Ed.] 



J. A. Green thinks no foundation heavier 

 than "extra thin " should be used in sections, 

 p. 468. Possibly, possibly. I have used no 

 extra thin for many years, although using 

 full sheets, and have had no complaint. 

 Here the harvest has a way of letting up now 

 and then, even in the best years, and at such 

 times the bees have an unpleasant way of 

 digging down extra thin fovindation. Be- 

 sides, extra thin doesn't do so well for bot- 

 tom-starters, and I can't afford to do with- 

 out them. [Our records in our foundation 

 department show that there is two pounds 

 of thin to one of extra thin super foundation 

 used by the comb-honey producers of the 

 country. So, doctor, you are not in the 

 minority. To the ordinary consumer the 

 difference between a comb of honey built off 

 from thin and extra thin is not apparent. It 

 is the discriminating bee-keeper, however, 

 who notices the difference. — Ed.] 



E. D. TowNSEND, in Beview, springs an 

 idea worth thinking about: In a heavy flow 

 honey stored in very deep cells will not be 

 of so good quality. So he favors extracting- 

 frames with | top-bars and end-bars, spaced 

 If in., and then when uncapping he cuts 

 down to the wood, leaving a | comb to re- 

 turn to the bees. [Mr. Townsend is correct; 

 and the same principle applies to comb hon- 

 ey. A tall section with a large amount of 

 surface, theoretically at least, will have bet- 

 ter-ripened honey than the same weight of 

 comb square in form but thicker; or, in 

 other words, a 4X5 If plain section having 

 a thinner comb than a H square section of 

 the same weight should have a slightly bet- 

 ter honey. While the actual difference is 

 very small, yet if there is a difference it may 

 be the proverbial straw that breaks the cam- 

 el's back in favor of sections with thinner 

 combs of larger surface. — Ed.] 



Complaint has reached this office from 

 some of our subscribers, of the non-receipt 

 of certain issues of Gleanings, and in some 

 cases numbers so badly mutilated that even 

 whole pages were missing. Uncle Sam's 

 mail clerks are none too careful, as every 

 publisher knows to his sorrow. We are 

 making preparations to mail Gleanings in 

 fiat packages more securely wrapped, and 

 trust hereafter the numbers will be received 

 in better condition. We will gladly replace 

 any missing or mutilated numbers on re- 

 ceipt of a postal card advising us to that 

 effect. 



