40 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 



"hinged the other way,-' you see that the 

 saw could not have free play. We have a 

 temporary beveled platform which can be 

 screwed to the table when desired. A de- 

 scription of this saw can be found in the 

 ABC book. 



A "friendly" letter. 

 Friend Root: — Kow natural it comes to say so! 

 for I fancy every bee-keeper recognises you as a 

 friend the first lucky day he erets hold of Gleanings. 



That is just exactly what I want him to 

 do, friend Y. 



Will you set your type-writer at work to answer a 

 few questions? 



nONEY-PLANTS FOR THE ROADSIDES. 



What would you advise for the planting of waste 

 places along the railway track? Ttiere are acres of 

 such hereabouts in grass or weeds, and it seems a 

 pity they shouldn't be covered with honey-plants. 



For the purpose you mention, I think I 

 would have Bokhara, or some of the other 

 sweet clovers. I am told, however, there 

 has been a strong protest in some of the 

 States, by the farmers, because bee-men 

 have sown sweet clover by the roadsides. 



HORSEMIXT IN CULTIVATION. 



Monarda punctata — that's his name; he's the fel- 

 low I'm after; not for the railway, but for the gar- 

 den. Can I get some seed, and hotbed it for a year 

 or two, and perhaps acclimatize it ov-en here, where 

 your bee-hives get buried in a six-foot snowdrift? 

 How would friend Carroll like that? Do you think 

 It will hurt them — the snow, I mean? IE it does, I 

 can't help it; for I believe in chaff hives on summer 

 stands. 



Monarda, or horsemint, will grow any- 

 where, nay friend, and I should not be sur- 

 prised to see it thrive as well in Canada as 

 it does in Texas. The great obstacle to its 

 cultivation is, however, the rank, unpleasant 

 flavor of the honey. If we could develop a 

 variety yielding honey free from this objec- 

 tion, it would be one of our most promising 

 plants. The more snow, the better ; if I 

 could be sure of having my hives covered 

 with soft snow just as it falls, from fall un- 

 til spring, I should hardly ask for any better 

 winter protection . 



If you were a beginner, and were a little nervous 

 about your stock, whether they had enough to last 

 them through, what would you do? 



I would give them " Good candy," as di- 

 rected in tJie Remindery of our Dec. No. 



I had two colonies in the spring; increased to sev- 

 en by division and natural swarming, lost the best 

 swarm of the lot besides, and made over 200 lbs. of 

 honey. Some of them, I know, have lots of honey; 

 but some I am not so sure of. 



But why did you not make sure of it, 

 friend Y.V or, if you choose, why do you 

 not make sure of it now? If I didn't know 

 my bees had food, I rather think I should 

 shovel off the snow and s-e-e, even if it is 

 winter. 



GETTING OUT THE WIDE FRAMES AND SECTIONS. 



Friend R., why do you advise broad frames for 

 sections? Bee-keepers don't swear, I know; but I 

 am sure they sing sometimes when they have to 

 pull ten of the "contraptions" out of a two-story 

 hive, and scatter them all over the yard when they 

 are getting down below, and have all kinds of trouble 



getting the filled section out. It won't do; they are 

 too much trouble. We must have something a good 

 deal easier. Do you keep ;4-pound sections? [Yes.] 



Your whole trouble in getting the sections 

 out of the wide frames is because you don't 

 go at it right. New hands are often want- 

 ing a hinged top-bar, or something of that 

 sort ; but no old bee-man has any trouble in 

 the matter. In the first place you must 

 wedge up your wide frames, just as I tell 

 you how in the A B C. If you just hang 

 them in, as you do the brood-frames in the 

 lower story, of course you will have trouble; 

 for your bees will fill the whole right up solid 

 with honey, just as they ought to do, and 

 then four yoke of oxen (if you will excuse 

 the expression) might be unable to pull them 

 out, without pulling the frames and honey 

 all to pieces. The right way is to put in 

 your frames, and wedge them over to one 

 side — your wedges, of course, being between 

 the other side of the hive and the separators 

 on the last frame. As the space occupied 

 by the wedge is about |, of course no comb 

 will be built in it ; and when the hive is 

 full, you can, by removing the wedge, have 

 plenty of room in which to loosen and lift 

 out your frame. After the fram'^' is out, 

 shake or brush off the bees ; lay it down 

 with separators uppermost, and then slip 

 the whole frame from the sections ; or, if 

 only one or two are filled, take them out as 

 directed in the ABC book. Now please 

 bear in mind, all of you, if you just hang 

 your wide frames of sections in the chatf 

 hives, or Simplicity hivos cither, as you do 

 the frames in the lower story, you will have 

 lots of trouble, and may be more too. 



B-E-E-S-W-A-X. 



What shall we do for beeswax when the supply 

 gives out? Do you think paraffine will ever take its 

 place — in the brood-chambers, of course, for no- 

 body is going to eat the stuff? Tell me truly. 



IE this Catling battery of questions hasn't frighten- 

 ed you, we will expect to hear from you in January. 

 Long life to Gleanings! can not do without it. 



C. w. Young. 



Stratford, Ont., Can., Dec. 1.5, 1S83. 



I once gave my opinion as to what to do 

 when we couldn't get beeswax ; but some 

 of the brethren almost "flew off the handle" 

 about it, so I think I won't suggest any 

 more. Paraffine is just as good to eat as 

 beeswax, and a great deal whiter and clean- 

 er. 1'he worst trouble I know of with it is, 

 that in hot weather it melts and lets the hon- 

 ey fall down. It is true, wires will fix it; 

 but if I should advise wires in comb honey, 

 I don't know but these same brethren would 

 eat me up, instead of the parafline, so I think 

 I won't advise. At present, I think we shall 

 have to scrape the surface of the whole earth 

 for beeswax, and I think a silver knife will 

 be about the best thing to do the scraping 

 with. We are now offering 28 cents cash, 

 and .30 in trade. Who will sellV Come again 

 some time, friend Y. 



HOW TO hive bees THAT ARE TOO HIGH IN A TREE 

 TO REACH. 



Last summer I had a swarm alight ori a large limb 

 of a tree, 25 ft. from the ground. I could not climb 

 very well, so I took a IC-ft. pole and tied a bunch of 

 small beech twigs on the end of a pole so that the 



