?'87g 



^LEAKINGS IN BEE CCLTCRE, 



243 



arlher test, but if it sho',v3 no dextrine then iiroceed 

 to test it for tra<;cs <of sulphuric acid by dissolving a 

 (iittle of tbe hxjney in distilled water in any clear glass 

 vessel, after which pour in a drop or two of chloride 

 •of barium. If «ianv.factured glucose is present, a 

 TThitish precipitate will be found, but if pure honey, 

 dt will roiuain just as clear as before. Care mjist be 

 .taken to keep everything as clean as possible and to 

 wash everything afier making one t«st, before making 

 ^another. 



Before -closiag, I wish to refer to t-lie beautiful gold- 

 ■en grains that can be seen jSoatlng around in the hon- 

 •ey. under the microscope: these are in such perfect 

 •condition tliat they can be referred to the plants fr,>iai 

 which tiie honey wiis gathered. Thus a -close student 

 c.voulu be able to tell from what plant any fcami>le of 

 ilionej' was gatiiered, I suppoised till lately and indeed 

 stated such to be a fact, tliat extracted honey con- 

 •tained no pollen, but I wo«ld now be ready to con- 

 "icmn, as aianufactured, a sainple containing none. 

 H. E. C'.UKRV, Cincinnati, Ohio, Aug. iTlh, '7f'. 



In regai-d to waxing th« barrels, if tliey are 

 anade warm in tlae sun, aud the was — not less 

 tliun a gallon- — is pi-etty liot, it can be done 

 jjerfectly secure, without the trouble mention- 

 ■td above. We are inclined to think paraffiue 

 innch better than wax, as it melts easier, and 

 when melte<l, it is as fluid as water, running 

 jnto every crack and crevice, aud even through, 

 ?.f the barrel is inclined to be leaky. It sticks 

 much better than wax, is even mare durable, 

 and it goes much farther. We can furnish it 

 at 20c per lb. for this purpose. 



imUlElsD NOVICE :-A 

 n our bees in shape for " 



-As it will soon be time to jjut 

 ' winter, we concluded to give 

 you the lesults of our experience for the past two 

 er thrte winters. 



We choose this text '"Bad Eggs" hoeause on two iin- 

 liiortant things we learned valuable lessons. Some years 

 ;igo we were engaged in the con fcctiouery trade and dur- 

 ing the winter season we used a great laany eggs. We 

 jiut them in bbls. with a solution of salta nd lime. For two 

 or three sea^ojis f hey were put down as we purchased 

 them \vithout any test as to whether they were good or 

 fcad. Ji;si as some be':-k-eepcrs do tkeir bees. Well, of 

 course they came out just as you might expect, good and 

 J}ad. JvM a.s tbe bees do. Well, a;fter a wliile we applied 

 & test to separate the good from the bad and the result 

 was, nearly every egg kept well. We have been testing 

 ?3ees for winter stocks on this principle, and the result has 

 been very satisfactory. From all quarters more or less 

 Siees are reported starved to death in wintering. V/ell 

 Sir. Glejlxixgs, in our humble ojanion, letting bees 

 •starve is about the meanest thing a bee-keeper can be 

 guilty oL I certainlj" would be ashamed to have ray 

 aieislibors k'low that I had starved some of mj'cows, and 

 yet many of our stocks of bees to date have paid more 

 clean money than a fiftj' dollar cow, &nd shall I put 

 them on siiort allowance for winter ? ICo sir ! I will 

 supply them with abundance enough to last tliem till 

 June 1SV7. Now brother beeketi:ier put up good eggs 

 and you will take out good eggs. 



We will now tell you, what we want in a stock of bees 

 for winter. We do not want the hive crairmed full of 

 bees ; we use from 7 to S and 9 frames for winter, size 1.3/2 

 yiii}i outside measure, and in the cold days ol November 

 if we find from five to six ranges of comb filled with bees 

 ifs fdl we desire. Again, we want honey enough between 



.11 >Mrc-p rr.mhs 1o l->t 'br^ l>Of >; (ill cpii;-!- '^-^ llv-v --nv 



not be compelled to move to the right or left in search of 

 stores unless the weather is suitable f''ir them to do so. 

 Some stingy bee-keeper wants to know how much honey 

 they will need to last them from October till the following 

 June. Ayell. not less than 35 lbs-, and 46 will do them no 

 liarm. It is just -fun to overhaul stocks in April, that 

 have plenty o: honey and see the amount of brood they 

 have. Besides, shou'.d they have too much, some may 

 ha^e too little, and you can use it to good advantage. We 

 have got through with feeding bees in spring and consider 

 it waste of time. 



Again, bees should never occupy a larger -space than 

 they can keep warm ; for that part of lie hive that is 

 cold, will always be damp. Those bees you read about 

 that starve with plenty of honej in their hives died be- 

 cause they couli not keep warm and expel the moi^sture, 

 or because there were not bees enough. 



We have made section fraiaes s success, some stocks 

 have filled three cases, of 40 lbs. each. The only trouble 

 we anticipate is that the queen will spoil more or less in 

 almost every one of them. Such has been our experience. 

 Is there a remedj" ? 



Cutting winter passages ui the combs, in our experience 

 does not amount to anything, providing your stocks are 

 well supplied with bees and honey ; as such stocks are 

 not coin].>elled to ramble all over tlie hive in search of 

 Iionej in unsuitabJe weather. J. Bittlee. 



J.ackson, Mich. Aug. SOth, 1S7G. 

 Our ideas exactly friend Butler, if we ex- 

 cept the one single item of too raauj^ bees. 

 We never yet had a colony too large if every 

 thing else was in keeping. Give us the mam- 

 moth swarms, and then perhaps they may 

 need the 40 lbs of honey you speak of. In 

 such a case we can look for swarms when 

 fruit trees are in bloom, and then for the sec- 

 tions filled Vvith pure clover honey. 



FKOM ACROSS THE OCEAN. 



^\EAR GLEANINGS;— I have been so successful 

 /jjv) with my bees this season, having obtained from 



' several hives 1 cwt. each of comb honey, that I 



intend to go in for bee-keeping more exclusively next 

 year, and write to ask you for a little information. 

 Enclosed is Si,5C for Volumes I and II of Gle.vnixgs, 

 which I hope will assist nie in the matter. I have an 

 open field of about an acre, bounded on one side by a 

 15 feet river and wish to set up in it, say 25 hives next 

 spring; the Eiovable bee house is ready built and the 

 hives are to be grouped aiouud it. Would you salt 

 and gravel the ground where the hives are to stand, 

 and set up the the latter, say 10 feet apart ? I have 

 found that my hives do best facing south, and as they 

 are all double cased there is no need of shade, but 

 nevertheless I intend to grow shrubs between them, 

 it only to prevent the wind sweeping through. What 

 plants would you recommend j* 



My hives have alvvays beer, painted all of one color, 

 but 1 have found the bees during honey gathering en- 

 tering any hive indiscriminately; also when I dis- 

 turbed one the bees in it would flock into the next 

 one. I tliink the boxes had better be painted difl'erent 

 colors if only to prevent young queens getting lost, 

 v;hat color is best ? 



I use a frame hive, inside measurement 17 inche.-, 13 

 wide aud ll^i deep, and a bottomless frame with a 

 strengthening bar across, nearly half way down. I 

 find this frame very strong and serviceable. 



Every drop of honey is extracted in autumn (even 

 from brood combs) and sugar syrup is very gradually 

 foil (l-cra instend, causing the hives to be filled with 



