CS76 



-G-IiEANIlN'GS TS BEE 'CLT.TTJRE. 



115y 



'Combs. JFrom the exerieuce we have had, we 

 ishoukl think they would iu 48 Ixiurs more, 

 ;liave<:la?iiagcd>com>bs to tlie^amount of -^^OfOO.; 

 'but we w-ere up early ki the .morning this time 

 .und were oa the •wat-ch for them. In a -oonple 

 • of hours tyhe thiiee hs.Kid»red oambs 'vvere -carri- 

 ■ed to the teee^iou-so — it w-^as a pity they didn't 

 ^all die, for we-copald then have fumigated theai 

 iin the bouse apiary just as ui^celyas -could be, 

 Hvithout eveii distui''oiug a comb — a roll of 

 :sulphur was ixit into a kettlo of coals and 

 (before »ooa cveiy wi'b had come to a staod 

 .-still and its aivchitect was, much to our satis- 

 ifactiou, in the 'OoM oaibrace of ■tSeatli. Poor 

 fthiugs, Jtseecns a pity tl>eir cealcouM iK)t 'be 

 liurned in somo useful direction-, like that of 

 «ome otSier folks. Where are o-ar anglers? 

 .'See page 27, Vol. I. , 



JS'ow, when we fo«nd that all Uicse -500 

 'Combs must be quickly inov^ed to the other 

 ibuilding, the pi'obleni was, where to jviit them, 

 ■or hang thesn (up rather. We ccukl put up 

 ipoles it is ts-ue, but we have of late, sueh a 

 aiorrorof any more traps to be mov-ed about, 

 'that we dislike bringing a single bit of board 

 duto the .apiary. After a little 'V>ogitation," 

 we looked iateutly at tiie division Ixiards and 

 tiinally stood the flrst one in a corner of tlie 

 a'oom and auotlvir at Hie right distauce to 

 diaug the combs on them ; then anotiier and so 

 ■ou, the length of the room. When one tier 

 was completed another was put directly over 

 dt, autl thus we had them all compictly ar- 

 a'auged in a. small sjjace, yet not touching each 

 ■other .at all. And best of all, wheu a visitor 

 "Comes ia, the appearance presented is not 

 suutidy. 



9tli, — The Universal section boxes ai-e just 

 fl^eautiful, and it looks now very mach as if 

 !the combs would be built straight and true on 

 "the wooden bar, without any guide of any 

 ikind .; for the wood top bar furnishes a much 

 an ore inviting place to start combs ou, than 

 •does the quilt that covers it. At present we 

 ■cannot give a very flattering report of the 

 nnauuer in which the foundations were desig'U- 

 ■ed to l)e fastsenetl in the frames. The trouble 

 is that as soon as til ey begin to draw np the 

 walls the comb is stretched as it were, so that 

 •Jt bags or bulges. It looks very much now, 

 ■as if the foundations would have to be attach- 

 ■ed by the top only, allowing both sides and 

 ■ends to expand as much as they may. After 

 the large .quantities we iiavc sent out, it seems 

 rs'rauge so little is known about the best waj' 

 to use them. 7'lio jiaraffiue and burgundy 

 pitch, have not proved a success after all ; but 

 ■one lb. of home-made yellow wax will .temper 

 ■ih7-€e lbs. of paraihne making it work ?)eautiful- 

 ly, while if we use the Ix-st white wax — at 

 least such as we buy for absolutely pure wax, 

 of the was bleachers — we are obliged to use 

 iico lbs, of wax to one of paraffiuo. 



Jnoic lit/i, — Yesterday we had but -i<s colo- 

 nies, and one of those queenless. It is true, 

 we did get down so low as that:; the last four 

 became so small that they lost their queens, 

 and tiieu we doubled them all up into one. 

 They kept ou dwindling until after other 

 stocks were working in l>ox€s. Nearl}- half 

 the remainin.g 4S are but nuclei, but thay are 

 at work on the clover (inely now, and to open 

 'IP the season's campaign, the Quiuby hive 



sent out a rousing swarm t©<lay. Now, evea 

 after this swarm was hi'ved and had sent to 

 the deid moTC workers tlraii any two stocks in 

 the apiary, tke'old hive kept on at work, with 

 almost tfoe same force as before, 'for they had 

 I>een 'for a couple of days rather inclined to 

 loaf on the front of tke hive. Before swarm* 

 iug, they stored i^)' .vmps 50 lb.?, in boxes, and 

 there arc Ijees enocigli left to keep the work 

 going right along. What do you suppose an 

 apiary of iOO stocks like this one would 

 .amount to ? and this is the Quiuby liive that 

 we have trie<:l 4 seasons, and heretofore, un- 

 successfully. Although our esteemed friend 

 who iuvente<l it is departed, his works bid 

 fair to keep him in kind remembrance manj 

 ■days. 



We have made and sent owr friends 100 lbs. 

 or more of the Ifoundatioos, but fear a part of 

 them will not prove satisfactory. We hereby 

 notify the<n to send in their bills for damages, 

 if such is the case, and we will either pay then? 

 or send them better ones. The burgundy 

 pitch was discarded because it required so 

 large a quantity as to darken, as well as to 

 communicate a perceptible taste to the jmraf- 

 £ne. A small amount of yellow wax — 1 part 

 in 4 — will temper the parafline so that it works 

 beautifully; but with the white wax bought 

 for perfectly pure, of tke wax bleachers them- 

 selves, we are obliged to use iu>o parts of wax, 

 to one of paraffine. This looks very much in- 

 deed as if the white wax, were <twt wax, but it 

 may be well to exercise charit}-, for the 

 bleaching process certainly raises the melting 

 l)oi2it, and ?/««/ likewise change its tenacit}'. 

 Well we were going along beautifully, put- 

 ting pieces into the hives meanwhile, whick 

 worked as nicely as could be desired, until 

 our very hot weather of the l-Oth and 14th, 

 when we were alarmed to tiad the cells 

 stretching themselves downward into ovals 

 instead of hexagons, and it was really amu- 

 sing to see the troubl^ed look on the countenan- 

 ces (V) of the young bees as they surveyed the 

 work, after repeated attempts at patching up 

 and repairing. The sight of their discomtiture 

 created some merriment among our juveniles, 

 but we gave a faithful promise to the bees, 

 which same shall be extended to our patrons, 

 that hereafter they should have material that 

 would stand a degree of heat fully eciual to 

 that of yellow wax at least. 



We can get pure white was for -50 cts., and 

 foundations made of this will doubtless an- 

 swer every purpose ; but unless the paraffine 

 can Ix' worked in we cannot well make the 

 price less than ^1.00 per lb., whereas if the pa- 

 raffine can be made available, we hope to be 

 able to furnish it in quantities, as low as 50c. 



Many are the questions asked in i-egard to 

 the best way of fastening them in the frames 

 and l^oxes ; as yet, }>erhaps no l>etter way has 

 been devised than the one we have sevei-al 

 times given, viz., making a board that will 

 slip inside the frame half way, and after the 

 sheets are laid in this, fastening them' with a- 

 hot Vvire, or brushing melted wax along the 

 edge. With our sections, the board can be 

 omitted, and the edges along the top bars of the 

 sections, and the outside ends, are all that 

 need cementing. 



IGiV^ — Fnrthe:- experiments show that one 



