372 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



''One piece, 18^8 x9'8'x%, each side of each end 

 made ?i" beveling, lor easy adjustment. One piece, 

 JsXjsXWJi, nailed on the first piece, like the top- 

 piece of the movable-comb frames. By this divider, 

 the size of any hive may be diminished at will." 



Now turn to page 96, of the same book, and read 

 the following: 



"By means of a movable partition, my hive can 

 be adjusted, in a few moments, to the wants of any. 

 colony, however small; and with equal facility be 

 enlarged, from time to time, or at oiice restored to 

 its full dimensions." 



As the Langstroth patent had a long life of 21 

 years, and then died, root and hraucli. Oct. .5, 18V3, 

 nearly ten years ago, it seems to me that anyone 

 ought to enjoy, without molestation, the legal right 

 to make, use, or sell a division-board made and used 

 "substantially as described" by Mr. Langstroth. 

 But they who think otherwise will probably pay a 

 royalty of some kind to Mitchell or his represen- 

 tatives, and perhaps it would not be best to deny 

 such the privilege! M. M. Baluridge. 



St. Charles, 111., June, 1883. 



Thank you, friend B., for calling attention 

 to something I knew quite well, but have 

 strangely overlooked, in the many times I 

 have exposed the Mitchell fraud. Those 

 who- have defended Mitchell ( there are a 

 few who have attempted a sort of defense 

 of his course ) would do well to consider the 

 above. 



LETTER FKOM DR. B1.A1VTON, 



THE MOST EMINENT APIARIST IN THE MISSISSIPPI 

 VALLEY. 



''E copy the following from the Plant- 

 er.^'' Journal, published in Yicks- 

 burg, Miss. : 



I herein send you a tabulated statement of the 

 apiaries of Judge Harriman and Messrs. Adams and 

 McLendon, of Chicot County, Arkansas, and Mr. 

 Vaught and myself, of Washington County. Miss. 

 The labor and shipping-cases are not deducted 

 from the proceeds. 



We consider the season of 1883 as more than an 

 average one, but by no means extraordinary. 



Judge Rarriman's report is excellent, when you 

 consider the great loss of swarms; his apiary is in a 

 grove of forest-trees, and he failed to clip his queens' 

 wings: and besides, he neglected his bees, owing to 

 his judicial and plantation duties. 



Bee-keepiDg is a science, and requires a great deal 

 of study with a reasonable amount of enthusiasm, 

 hard work, and strict attention. 



One man can attend to one hundred colonies. 



With comb foundation as a guide, that the bees 

 may build their combs straight; with the movable 

 fi-ame, to manipulate your combs and bees with 

 ease; the uncapping-knil'e and extractor, to re- 

 move the honey by centrifugal force; the smoker 

 to quiet the little workers, and the queen-cage to 

 control and introduce your queen — with this fur- 

 niture, so to speak, you are prepared for work; 

 and without any one of these, you will certainly 

 fail. 



Honey should be taken from the hives almost as 

 rapidly as the bees gather it, at least every ten days; 

 and when they are bringing in the nectar rapid'i/, I 

 extract from every comb that has any honey, even 

 in the brood-chamber, and when not capped over; 

 running the extractor slowly enough to discharge 

 the honey without throwing out the eggs and larvte. 

 In a few hours there is enough honey stored for 

 feeding the young bees. When the honey-flow 

 slackens, go slow with your extractor, and never 

 extract when the flow ceases. 1 ripen the honey by 

 evaporation in large tanks covered with cheese- 

 cloth. 



I ship in new cypress barrels of 53") pounds net, 

 and comb honey in 28-pound cases. 



We never plant any thing for bees in this rich 

 alluvial country. Every tree, shrub, and plant 

 yields more or less honey. I have never known 

 bees to be atilicted with any disease. 



To make a specialty of bee-keeping on a large 

 scale, there is nothing that pays more for the cap- 

 ital invested; but do not suppose there is no hard 

 work in it. The bee-keeper goes to church in 

 swarming season only when the sun goes down. 



These figures seem extraordinary; yet they can 

 be exceeded by the gentlemen, with their present 

 experience and a good season. 



O. M. BL ANTON. 



Greenville, Miss., Feb. 8, 1883. 



"XUNATIC" BEES, ETC. 



ALSO SOME ITEMS FROM GEORGIA. 



f«! AM somewhat inclined to write a letter about 

 % bees, as I hope to gain a little Information by 

 — ' asking a few questions. I will begin by saying 

 that some of my bees seem to be fit subjects for the 

 lunatic asylum. At any rate, if I were to see people 

 act as foolish as these bees do, I would decide^that 

 the asylum would be the proper place for them. I 

 will try to tell how they do. I have only two hives 

 at present, which seem demented. They spread 

 therasc Ives over the front of the hive above the en- 

 trance, nearly as thick as they can stand, and move 

 back and forth as if they were raking hay. This 

 movement they keep up incessantly through the 

 day, and, for aught I know, through the night too. 

 If they were as industrious at gathering honey, as 

 they are at this raking business, I should be better 

 pleased with them. What does it mean? Somebody 

 please explain. I have seen such actions among my 

 bees before this year, but I have never seen any de- 

 scription of it in any bee book or paper. 



