48 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



SUGAK FOK WINTERING. 



Oh ! yes, here we are, but not among "Blasted 

 Hopes" as yon probably may think, although bee 

 hnsiness seemed like very poor business when 

 we last wrote in 1875, that out of 30 colonies only 4 

 had enough honey to winter and the remaining 

 scarcely any. After feeding two barrels of sugar (A 

 coflfee) they were put into winter quarters in pretty 

 good condition, and wintered with very little loss. 

 In the past season we have more than trebled our 

 money expended and doubled our stock ; have 50 

 colonies all in good condition and probably could 

 have realized more if we could have had time to 

 devote to them. But after Father's death we had to 

 care for the farm of 250 acres, leaving us little 

 time to devote to the bees ; but being greatly en- 

 couraged, thiuk we will devote more time to them 

 in the luture. Wardbll Bkos. 



Uhrichsville, Ohio, Jan. 14th, 1877. 



SEPARATORS, AND NO SEPARATORS. 



Our bees gave us about 100 lbs. of honey to the 

 hive last season, mostly extracted, and one increase 

 from two. They appear to be all sound now. We 

 got about half the sections with the tin separators, 

 tilled during the season. No, not filled, but with 

 some lean comb honey in them, that looked as poor 

 as Job's turkey that had to lean against the fence 

 to gobble, as we boys used to say. The separators 

 are separated and in the scrap box. They may do 

 for box honey to glass but not for sections for us. 

 They take up too much space. J. J. Whitson. 



Valley Mills, Ind., Jan. 15th, 1877. 



The matter of separators or no separators, is 

 destined it seems to be another of the vexed 

 questions. Doolittle, Moore, and others who 

 raise much comb honey consider tliem indis- 

 pensable, and they certainly are if we are go- 

 ing to glass the honey after the sections are 

 filled. If the honey is to be sold near home in 

 our own neighboring towns, or to our neigh- 

 • bors, there will probably be no need of the 

 separators, unless we find it will pay to have 

 all exactly of a size and thickness, even at the 

 expense of having a little less of it. The fdn. 

 makes the cakes very even without any sep- 

 arator, yet without them there will be bulges 

 in one and corresponding depressions in its 

 neighbor. We at one time decided as has 

 friend W., that we wanted no more of the 

 "lean" ones, but after the "fat" ones bumped 

 each other, and got to leaking, we began to 

 thiuk we would rather have the former, and 

 have all exactly alike, with no protuberances 

 to get broken off and set dripping. 



I live in a very poor honey district; had 14 old 

 stocks and got but one swarm. Drouth very long 

 and severe ; only took 2C0 lbs. box honey— L. hive. 

 I winter on summer stand— no packing, no upward 

 ventilation— come out all right in the spring. 1 have 

 given no upward ventilation for 10 years or more. 

 I like it by far the best. I give plenty of lower 

 ventilation — have hole cut in the centre of bottom 

 board 2x4 inches, covered with wire cloth— fly hole 

 I inch by 2- H. Thomas. 



(ilen Moore, Pa., Deo. 26th, '76. 



roiHONING BEES BT CHEAP MOLASSES. 



I want to Ivnow if candy bought from the store will do 

 to feed bees, or -will the flavoring that is in it be injurious 

 to them? Some two or three years ago I fed a small 

 quaniity of black molasses which ended feeding, bees and 

 all, fi>r it killed them ; I would advise your readers 



against feeding molasses. It seems that wintering is rs. 

 great hobby with you northern bee-keepers and I want 

 to know if they will winter as well in frame as in box 

 hives ; if they will, we don't ask wintering any odds, for 

 I never knew a colony of bees to freeze to death here. 

 Some i>eople are so careless that they will leave the lid all 

 warped and twisted so that you could almost run your 

 hand in and they seem to come out as strong as any in 

 the spring. How do you keep the ants away from your 

 hives ? or don't they ever bother you ? They have troub- 

 led me more this fall than ever before. There is also ,1 

 bird here that we call the Bee Martin which catches 

 thousands of our bees in spring and summer. But the 

 worst enemies we have are worms and starvation. Bee- 

 keeping is a new thing here and if I can't induce people 

 to take Gleanings or learn something about bees, tha': 

 Mitchell and his gang wiU soon stock our country with 

 their humbug hives and moth traps. As the neighbors" 

 boys rail me king bee, I suppose that name will do here. 



King Bee. 

 We were so careless as to lose the address of 

 the above, yet the importance of the item in 

 regard to molasses, should be well understood. 

 Cheap molasses amounts to the same thing as 

 burnt sugar, and both are a sure poison, as we 

 have mentioned heretofore. Frame hives prop- 

 erly prepared, we believe have all the advan- 

 tages of any box hive. By all means use every 

 aid to keep your neighbors so well informed 

 that they may not be duped by swindlers. The 

 flavoring in candy does no harm, more than to 

 make it expecs-ive. 



I h;ive taken 36(K) lbs. of honey from 20 of my best hives 

 and have sold it at an average price of 20c. per lb. I 

 made very little box honey, it sold as low as 20c. per lb., 

 and some at 12,'^ c. per lb. That does not pay one for 

 their labor. W. Bence, Newberj, Ky. Dec. 29th, ISTi!. 



And so extracted honey is still ahead, in 

 some localities at least. 



SECTION BOXES, BBST SIZE AND SHAPE. 



You use, I see, 8 in a Langstroth frame. The frame 

 being 2 inches wide and the sections 4>4 square. It 

 seems to me these are rather small. Suppose you use 

 6 only, say ne.irly 5K inches long by AX- 



A. Fahnestock, Toledo, Ohio. 



The matter has been often mentioned, was* 

 well considered, and we are prepared to fur- 

 nish the oblong sections, when wanted. Our 

 reasons for preferring the small ones are, a 

 small package, seems in much the greatest de- 

 maad, a square cake of honey is nicest to lay 

 on a plate without getting over the sides, and 

 it is better to have packages no larger than 

 will be used at one ordinary meal. After a 

 plate of butter or honey has been many times 

 on the table, it becomes untidy in appearance ; 

 if small, it can all be used and the plate or 

 dish cleaned with the rest of the dishes. If 

 you were passing a market you would hand 

 over 35c. at once for a nice cake of honey, 

 when you would pass it by if it were a half 

 dollar or even 35 or 40c. ; this has been many 

 times proven. Again, we always strive to 

 have as few dimensions about hives as possi- 

 ble. If we cut all our stuff for sections of one 

 length, we can have this exact much easiei', 

 than if we have the height one size and the 

 width another. The differcuce in expense of 

 the two sizes, is but 50c. per thousand. 



