1877 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



n 



OUR OW!V APIAKV. 



CilAKK DIVISION llOAUns, HOW TO MAKE. 



i||riE bt'cs that are wintered on six coinb.s, 

 chart" cusliioiis at oacli side and over tliem, 

 are in tlie most lieautit'iil condition to our no- 

 tion, of any we have ever seen under any 

 circumstances. It is now the (!th of Dec, and 

 we liave had some nearly zero weather, yet the 

 bees in the liives mentioned arc clustered clear 

 up to their chatl' cushions on all sides, and we 

 ha\'e even in winter a hive full ; although they 

 are c()mi)elled to cluster on sealed honey, it 

 causes them no inconvenience for it is witriu 

 sealed honey, not cold. These chaff cush- 

 ions for the sides of the combs, are made just 

 enou,ii;h larger than a frame, to close the space 

 close and tight at the ends, and to come a lit- 

 tle above t!ie tops of the frames. To prevent 

 the ohalf from settling down to the lower side, 

 and from inilging the cushion in the ci^utre, it 

 must l)e taciced througli the middle with stout 

 thread, or small twine. We are inclined to 

 think these cushions will prove the most ef- 

 fective and convenient division boards ever 

 devised, for they will fit any hive even if 

 daubed wiih propolis, can he easily taken out 

 or moved, and they are soft and warm for the 

 bees. Ours are thick enough to occupy the 

 space of two combs, and for winter, six good L. 

 combs are sufficient for any colony. With 

 the honey in this uumloer tiiat is ordinarily 

 scattered through ten combs, there can be no 

 possible danger oi the bees getting over to one 

 side of their hives, while their honey is on the 

 other. 



GETTING .\W.VY FROM TnEIK STORES ; REMi:DY. 



This latter trouble we believe is es- 

 pecially characteristic of a ten frame L. hive. 

 The id( a that bees can not winter on sealed 

 honey, we believe is pretty generally exploded, 

 and that they die in wintering because they 

 have too nmcJi honey we believe most agree to 

 be more theory than practice. That the Ital- 

 ians frequently so fill the hive in the fall as to 

 prevent the (jueen from keeping up the popu- 

 lation, no one seriously doubts, but a good 

 colony of bees put on solid combs of sealed 

 honey about the time they cease gathering 

 will so far as we can learn, consume enough 

 to have a safe brood nest before severe freezing 

 weather, give us tlenty of bees, .\nd we 



WILL take all the RISK OF TOO MUCH STORES. 1 



It is quite likely that any ordinary hive 

 would winter very well by having the tv,'0 

 outs-ide combs (on each side) replaced with 

 tliese chaff cushions, and a good thick one 

 above. It has been several times suggested 

 that a thin cushion be put between the end of 

 the hive, and the end of the frames for winter, 

 making virtually a closed end irame, and this 

 may be done very readily, when we winter on 

 six combs. If the back and front of the hive 

 were made double thicKness and packed with 

 chaff, the foregoing w(juld make a pretty ef- 

 fectual protection. With suspended frames, 

 perhaps the most exposed point is the rabbets 

 wliere the frames rest, and we know of no ef- 

 fectual way of protecting these except having 

 the upper story longer than the lower. This 

 we accomplish nicely with our chaff hive, 

 .»Tid .«o t.'tr Ave have found them to work with 



much less trouble than any other ; heavy 

 combs of honey are handled in the lowr sto 

 ries even with greater lacility than in the or- 

 dinary hive, for we can rest against the eaves 

 of the hive while raising and replacing them, 

 ami no upper story to lift ofl'and put back at 

 any season of tlu; year. The hints we have 

 given in regard to chaff packing, will apply 

 any time during the winter, and if it really 

 will check spring dwindling as seems the case 

 now, we can well attbrd to "tuck them up'" 

 even as late as April or May, if it has not been 

 done sooner. 



DISTURliING ISEKS DURING COLD WEATHER. 



Neighlwr Blakeslee does not put his bees in 

 the cellar until the first good fall of snow, for 

 j he loads them on his sled and draws it 

 ; close to the cellar door. Well, our first snow 

 this year r-ame at a temperature 10 degrees 

 above zero. This he said was just right, for it 

 vvould keep the bees quiet. It didn't though, 

 for they boiled out at the entrances, and ob- 

 jected every way they could. We told him 

 how L. C. Root lets his thermometer down 

 through a hole in the floor to avoid disturl)ing 

 the bees, and asked if he did not fear to move 

 them when it was so cold, but he says he 

 kiwics it don't hurt them. What do our read- 

 ers say ? 



HONEY THAT WON't CANDY. 



Another strange feature ; you remember thr 

 hives that were piled up three or four stories 

 high ? Well, many of those heavy combs werc' 

 built on fdn., consequently they vvere very 

 nice comb honey for table use. Well, one or 

 our grocers had a pan full of broken honey 

 that he was selling for 25c., and we told him 

 we would furnish him all the broken honey In; 

 wished at 30c., and would give him a much 

 nicer article than any he thee had. As this is 

 clear honey and no sticks at all, it sells very 

 well among a certain class. Now what do 

 you think y The honey from these frames tha- 

 were in the hives perhaps a couple of months 

 after being capped over, does not candy at all, 

 even though left in a li(|uid state below a zero 

 temperature. It is so thick that a jar full may 

 be turned over without even ruflling the sur- 

 face when thus cold, and -yet it is like clear 

 gla?s. For table use it is ahead of any honey 

 we ever — the fact is, our regular diet at pres- 

 ent is a pitcher of ice cold milk, nice bread 

 and butler, and comb honey cut out of these 

 frames. Is it superior to that built in the sec- 

 tions? To be sure it is, for they were nearly 

 all removed from the hives as soon as tilled. 

 Are milk and honey wholesome V I walked o 

 miles to that mission Sabbath school and back 

 yesterday, and part of the way through snow 

 drifts and a snow storm, aye, and darkness 

 too, for the last two miles, yet my strength 

 failed not. I feel like being rash enough to 

 say I will never extract any more honey until 

 it has every bit of it been sealed ; and if keep- 

 ing it in the hive several week^ more will pre- 

 vent candying entirely, don't know but we 

 shall do that too. 



HOUSE APIARIES ; VENTILATloX. 



\ryth — With the heavy colonies we have now 

 in our house apiary, we tind the walls and 

 ceiling not only damp, but at times literally 

 dripping with water : in fact just as our out 



