GLEA.N1NGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



'iOS 



.;>ther property-, and siieh has Iwon the •c«sto«n hero over 

 ^iiice. K an assessor does not kjww his duty, it secais to 

 -lis every l-ojal<utizeii should tak« pride In abiding by Ihc 

 ■iiue spirit of the laws that proto<?f and Rovcrn us. If he 

 -is out of pocket thereby, ho is at least ;iddini; his mite 

 tovfai'd maldng a nation th;ii will stand, in spite of all the 

 ."orrupting influences tliat may threaten it.] 



1 see you have opened » de^iartnient in GLEASiyos for 

 .iiLSwering question.s. Uravo .' 1 <;ou.ld now swing my 

 iliat. What is the space beneath the metal rabbet and the 

 inner end of hive fori' Can not a hive of /i inch lumljer 

 1)0 used with satisfaction without doubJing the ends, by 

 i-ibbeting out top of ends to is' in-nh V And if that would 

 .'lot do, why would notanielal rabcR^t fastened on with 

 JimaJl screws to the end of hive do, without tlie inner end 

 ^Hiard ? Can you gi\c yoc.r readers the gist of the receipts 

 ,iu the candy book, without foinpflling then to pay each 

 lUeii- 50c for the siunc? 1 think such information would 

 iw very acceptable to the majority of your readers or their 

 families. Ai.kx. Wiliiee, Sandwich, Ills. 



'The space beneath the rabVy;ts is to allow of the screws 

 Jjoing di'awii up slightly, should the hoops ever shrink so 

 jnuch as to allow them to get Iwisc. Hives can be made 

 <ii' ?>; inch stuff, but it is nvlher close work.; remember 

 bees will lill up with propolis any place they can not 

 .!*rawl through .freely, and the channel in the rabbet must 

 he large enough to allow tJieiu to promenade through it. 

 If the rabbet is fastenetl on the end of the Live it will bo 

 :fUways killing bees unless great caro is u.scd when the 

 i'rames are lifted out, or you will have bits of comb built 

 Jv'tween the ends of the hive and ends of frames. We 

 have had hives in use .'overal years, that have onbodied 

 .-til these points. The instructions we have already given 

 Ml legard to candy making will usually .suflice; but it is 

 ijutte asatisfaetdon to knjvr the reasons and full details, 

 iJtat are gi^en so pleasantly in the book mentioned.] 



•Just a word to those who are doubtful as to the success 

 >i bee-keeping for the future. To me the prospects were 

 /loyer brighter. The fact that unwarranted extremes have 

 ■been advoc:Ued, was proof positive that some, as we now 

 ■»ee, would fall back to the other extreme and under-csti- 

 jinate the real position. All this will tend to place bee- 

 keeping upon the lirm and sure basis wo have abundant 

 roerSOE to expect it will occupy. 



L. C. Root, Mohawk, N. Y. 



1 now have 24: bee-less hives, and the 25th contains the 

 remains of four stocks all doubled into one, and placed in 

 the cellar, more from feelings of humanity, than from any 

 liojie of profit from such dilapidated stocks. So my apiary 

 ihat now makes the air voctil, presents this equation : No. 

 !if stocks=fl5 — 26=70. Bees carrying in natural pollen. 

 D. P. Lane, Koshkonong, Wis., April 12ih, '7(>. 



A queen which wo had hatched Feb. 27th, has sealed 

 brood and plenty of egg.s ; showitig conclusively that she 

 !.•> fertilized. Staflks & A^■D^KWS, Columbia, Tenn. 



[Queens have been occasionally riiuse<l in March in our 

 'wn locality, when the weather was very favorable, taut 

 wo think it unsafe to offer them for sale here before .lune ; 

 .'jon might perhaps safely (igrce to furnish them a month 

 "*rlier.] 



Commenced last spring, with four weak colonies ; took 

 :«l»ut 200 lbs. extracted honey, and increased to 10 (Colo- 

 nies. All but one are doing nicely at this time. 



E. T. FOGLE. Uwt.svilic, Ind., April 11th, '7G. 



Took my bees, C3 colonies, <mt of cellar on the nights of 

 !ho 7th and 10th. IVuud tlicin all in fine condition iiii- 

 inirently, ihouLh I have i;(it <ipciicil ai d taken the sliaw 

 out of the hives. In !hc cellar th.cio aio ln;t fov/ dead 

 lues on the ground. IN'o co'.ouics dcsicrlcd their hives in 



their first Uighl- Last fall I put them all in as perfect a 

 conditiou as I knew how to do, and they seem jiust ns 

 hoa.!thy and strojig now, carrying in pollen nicely. 



L. C. AxTKLii, iloseville. Ills., April llth, '70. 



Please give us some ideas concerning vinegar fr-om hon" 

 ey; whether profitaljlo or cot, and its quality as com- 

 pai-ed with cider and other oommucial vinegiirs, and 

 greatly oblige a subscriber, who appreciates the tone of 

 your journal but who wishes no !jame published. 



[We ha\e nothing farther to sdd to our remarks on 

 page 15G, of Dec, No. Can any of our readers tell us, it.' 

 reganl t-o the quality *• We will staj-t some at once, from 

 bothc)o^<r and hnden honey, and report nextmozith. 



1« there any Canada thistle seed in your Akike cloverV 

 Would not » lasnp nursery made b.>' fastening a two quari 

 pail into a six quart pail dud tilling the spa-e with water, 

 answer the purix>so, cutting out the queen ce?ls and hang- 

 ing them in i L. Z. JoyKS, G;iJva, llLs. 



[Wo most certainly will avoid .any risk of .sending out 

 Canada thistle, or other dangerous seeds ; and to that end. 

 we puirhase se>ed raised in our neighborhood. The twc 

 pails will answer very well ; but one great aim of the lamp 

 nursery, is to avoid cutting the combs as we .sre ohl/.go<l to 

 do in separating the ceUs. Wo think your arrangement 

 Should at least be lurge enough to take in one whole winl).J 



I am a now uiemljer c£ your family, as you «)meliines 

 term it, and would like lo ask yon if I had better make my 

 hives for side boxes. I usj 10 frame L. hive with a capac- 

 ity of about 4.'' lbs., box honey, above the frames. 



W.M. R. Edwakus, Skaneateles, N. Y. 



[We believe it is pretty generally agTee;<l th*t side boxes 

 lave no particular julvantage over lop boxes, luiless it be 

 that a greater immbercjin be put on at the start. Ihereb.v 

 avoiding the neocssity of tiering up, etc., while the work 

 is in progress. By removing uU hut 7 fraices in. th(> Uni • 

 versal hive, we can put 20 section boxes at the fides, Iw 

 sides the 30 on top ; and it we are to accept Doolittle, the 

 7 frames are better than a greater number for the bnxKl 

 apartment, when the bees ai'e at work in the boxes. ; 



Will it make any difference about the foundations 

 (liong's) being put into frame.'! so that two sides of the 

 Hexagon shall be horizontal instead of perpendicular a< 

 the bees build it ? [No ] Ik) you con.sider the candy de- 

 .scribed in Gleanings equal lo a«y other feed in thr 

 spring, to stimulate breeding ? [Tes.] Will it pay to (ill 

 the boxes entirely with Iho foundatio:u ? [Not been ful- 

 Ij tested.] J. F. Spau/jjens, Charles City, Iowa. 



I have successfully wintered some two comb nuclei, 

 and think it pays; as I found one of my best stocks 

 qucenlcss. I can give my plan for wintering them if 

 you desire it ; it might not work so well in a cold win- 

 ter or in a colder climate. 



AiJ.NKK Ai>LKN, St. <Jcorge, Kan., Feb. 14th, '76. 



[Tell us it the two comb nuclei came clear thronrjli 

 all right. If it could be managed, it would certainly 

 bo a great achievement; but many are the failures 

 that have been made in attempting to winter acoa- 

 sidcrablc number of such.] 



How many pounds of candy will it take per month, 

 for one colony of beea ? 



Wm. L. IIirlisoek, Coles Creek, Pa. 

 ■ [A heavy colony with no stores, would require, per- 

 haps 10 lbs. of candy from Sept. until April ; and from 

 April 1st until June 1st (supposing we have the moat 

 unfavorable >veather that can be expected), they 

 would not require, to exceed 10 lbs. more. With sucb 

 provision, wo hardly think starvation possible; and if 

 hair your candy should bo left unconsumed in the 

 si)ring, it will be all right for the next season.] 



