70 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



.raM 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUtlE. 



Published Montbly, 



EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. 



MEDINA, OHIO. 



Terras: Sl.OO I»er Ajinum. 



iTncluding Postage.] 

 For Cl^ib Bates see Last Page. 



3S^EEIDIlSr.A-, 1>yL.A.-R. 1, 1877- 



l?i-ethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and 

 one convert him ; let him know, that he which con- 

 verteth the sinner Irom the error of his way shall 

 riavo a soul trom death, and shall hide a multitude of 

 sins.- James, 5 : 19, 20. 



OtTK new price list and circular will be mailed with 

 the next number. 



Tix has come down, and we are feeling particidarly 

 friendly besides, so we have reduced the price on corners 

 to 75c. per 100 : metal cornered frames, 5c. each. AVe 

 shall also, this season, give a honey knife with each ex- 

 tractor. If yon ha\'e a knife already, the price of the ex- 

 tractor will be $1.00 less without it. 



You can curve the blades to our honey knives to 

 suit your taste, by simply springing them them in 

 your hands. Use a cloth, and be careful not to cut 

 your Ongei's, as you move it on a close curve toward 

 the point. If you afterward prefer it straight, you 

 can take out the curve by the same process. 



The TForW! has been sold to t\\eMaciazinc, so that 

 we have now only three Bee Journals in America. 

 "We furnish the three for S4.00, and for Sl.50 more, the 

 British Bee Journal a,\so. Those who have sent us 

 money for the World, will receive the Magazine in- 

 stead, and if .already subscribers, their time will be 

 extended another year. 



The Quinby smoker has been very much improved 

 since last season, and is now a very pretty as well as 

 durable implement. Stronger leather is used, it is 

 more securely put on, and the smoker can all be tak- 

 en apart, when any part fails. Price $1.50; if sent by 

 mail, $1.60. Mr. (^uinby was generous enough to give 

 this invention to the world; shall we not in return 

 lorbear copying it, but rather let the profit on it go to 

 his own family, even though not restrained by law ? 



$0%^ mid §ti4n^. 



IE are far b:'.ck in this old country. Bar frames 

 yjl'^l were almost unknown in this quarter till last 

 year when I got this society set to work. By 

 letters, lectures, and meetings of bee-keepers we managed 

 to work quite a revolution. Our first exhibition was a 

 grand suc^cess and some of our exhibits would not have 

 disgracetl the Centennial itself. Wo are to have a, second 

 this your and offer about £ 15 in prizes. I shall scud you 

 our schedule and rules when printed and yon will see our 

 ideas. We regard these exhibitions as the very life of the 

 movement for improvement. In a highly cultivated re- 

 gion like tliis with very little natural pasturage and pre- 

 (^arious sumraor weather wo cannot hope to equal your 

 results, but wo will do our best. My first attempt to reap 

 the Luxest harvest of super comb (Vioi honey), from one 

 hive gave me over 103 lbs, so I do not despair. Wo know 



"a leetle" about extracting, queen rearing, and \r.\x 

 foundations. We do not fancy cellars or clamps, for win- 

 tei's are not very severe. My bees have been Hying al- 

 most every week during the winter— quieter the botlfr 

 however. One ''chalf" hive is the quietest of all. AV«r 

 consider hives made of t inch wood doubled with % iiich 

 dead air space between as quite sufficient for open nir 

 wintering, Avith quilt of course. 



California comb and extracted honey is sold in Dun(l<<- 

 but I wonder why the latter is still liquid, while all uf 

 ours is almost solid enough to slice with a knife. 



Wm. Raitt, Liff, by Dundee, Scotland, Jan. 30th, '77. 



Which way d« you have the combs built in the aid«> 

 storing boxes, parallel, or at right angles to the brooi} 

 combs, or is it no diflference ? [No difference' 

 Which way in the upper boxes? [No difference.; 

 Will half inch lumber be as good as thicker lumber 

 for a hive, provided it be well painted and set in ;i 

 good shady place ? [No.] In using side storing;- 

 boxes do you consider it essential to have them on 

 both sides of brood combs, or will they work as welt 

 if only on one side ? [Both.] Are 6 combo [L..] sut- 

 flcient for brood chamber to winter on putting chair 

 around them and leaving them on summer stands ? 

 [Yes.] Are H combs sufficient for brood chamber for 

 summer for raising box honey ? [Yes.] Is dry sugar 

 or candy as good to stimulate for brood rearing in tlit- 

 spring as sugar syrup ? [Afraid not.] Is it nearly a,i 

 good 'i [Vcs.] Do the bees enter the stele boxes from 

 .s/o^s below them or at the s/c7c of them f [Both.] !>•> 

 you consider side boxes an advantage ? [Yes.] 



John Agau, Kendall, N. Y., Jan. 20th, lS-77. 



How would it do as a cure for after swarming to have u 

 quantity of fertile queens ready so as to put one in the 

 old stock immediately ."ifter swarming? [First rate, and 

 if you had pure queens to put in, you would be O. K. on 

 Italianizing, but look out that they are not killed, j 

 Could the queen tehatched and fertilized in a small hiye. 

 say about inches square, holding two or theee suyill 

 frames of brood and honey ? [Yes, but small hives don"t 

 j)ay ; better use full sized frames.] Would not the fer- 

 tile queen thus introduced destroy the young quesii"* 

 in the old stock, and begin laying, Ihus saving a gre:it 

 deal of trouble and time ? [She will generally.] After 

 swiirming gives me more trouble than wintering. 



I would like to know something about clipping queens' 

 wings. How much of the wing do you cut off ? [Tip of 

 one wing.] How of ton do you clip them ? [Only once. 1 

 Do the (pieens not get lost when they come out to swarm V 

 [Sometimes if not watclied.] Would the swarm find her 

 if she were put in a cage and on a rake stuck in the 

 ground near by P [Not always.] If two or more swarlns 

 came off at the same time and the queens were caged 

 would tiiey find their resixjctive queens ? [Not always. : 

 Will bees do as well in this climate, in the sun, as in tin- 

 shade during the summer ? [No.] According to fldver- 

 tiseraent I infer that you can furnish sections 6x6x3, for 

 $10.25 per 1000, am I correct. [No; above would bo 7- 

 cubic inches ; price per iOOO $12.20.] Do .you put tin sep- 

 arators between any wections except those which yau 

 wish to glass? [No, unless it be those in the lowi r 

 story, to keep the queen out.] Be patient, only a few 

 more. Do new oak barrels require waxing? [Yes.] 

 Should they l>e bunged tight as soon as tilled ? [No.j 

 Shoidd tliey be kept in cellar or dry room when honey is 

 put in, in the I'oro part of the se;ison ? [Any whciv if 

 waxed.] 



Last season was a ixnn- one for honey in tliis section. 1 

 began with 23 swarms. incre:iscd by natural swarming t'> 

 45. Took about (100 Vos. of honey, 2(X) extracted, balaiuv^ 

 in section fi-;(incs. I'lwked in cliafl" for winterinsc. llaM/ 



