1877 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



121 



for it or not, as they I'eel <lisi)Osccl. I have no fear but 

 that our people will cheerluUv pay for the papers, If 

 they are jiroperly prepared ancl up to the times. They 

 will for tc(^ present, constitute a part of Gi-eanings, 

 ami if our readers will parclon the seeminjr repetition 

 of a iiart ol them, we will try to give } on for the bal- 

 ance of it, matter that none of you have ever seen 

 leforc. 



FOOT-POAVER SAWS. 



*-;r^l NCLOSED find balance for the saw. It works nice- 

 'PJI ly ; the worst fault I find with it is, that it has not 

 the 40 horse power engine behind it, like the saw I 

 h ive been accustomed to using ; still I find the more 1 use 

 it the easier it goes, and really I don't know how anything 

 could be got up, that would work any nicer or easier with 

 foot power ; and then the changes can be made so quick- 

 ly. I don't expect to do any very heavy jobs with it, but 

 I find it is very convenient to have in the shop. The saws 

 do not run exactly true, still they do not wabble enough 

 probably, to injure the utility of the inaehine. I think 

 the collars are slightly imperfect. I supjiose it is very 

 difficult to get them uerfectly true, and probably Mr, 

 Barnes knows just how they are, and does not send them 

 out till he gets tbem as nearly true as he can. 



J. P. MooKE. Binghampton, N. Y., April 19th, '77. 



MAKING SIMPLICITY HIVES WITH A FOOT-POWER SAW. 



Make an iron guage frame, such as we advertise, just 

 the size of the outside of your hive, and cut the cover 

 boards so they will just slip inside it. Make the side 

 boards so they will just slip in it lengthwise, and the end 

 boards so they will just go in crosswise; both are to be 

 just 2^2 inches wider than the depth of your combs. 

 When these boards are all square true, and exictjii :.like, 

 lis a small platform on your saw table so that yon can 

 give a true mitre to the ends of both side and end pieces, 

 then with the same platform moved so as to set ov^r the 

 saw, cut oil the strips that go round under the cover, 

 with the mitre and shoulder we have illustrated. Make 

 the rabbet around under the cover, and in the end boards 

 for j'our frames to rest on, and your hive is ready to be 

 put into the iron guage frames, and nailed. If these 

 guages are just right, all the hives you ever make, will be 

 jiiit right. 



Pex^taiiiiiig to Bee Ciiltui'e. 



[We respectfully solicit the aid of our friends in 

 conducting this department, and would consider it 

 a favor to have them send us all circulars that have 

 a deceptive appearance. The greatest care will be at 

 all times maintained to prevent injustice being done 

 any one.] 



RS. LIZZIE COTTON has succeeded in 

 getting very plausible reports in both 

 the Scientific American and the Praire 

 Farmer; they are so worded as to call forth 

 much inquiry, and a statement that a large 

 apiary produced $50. per colony, makes it 

 quite an item. Many will entrust the money 

 Id a woman, who would not think of doing it 

 otherwi.se, and on this account we think the 

 press should unite in having her promptly 

 shown up. The wonderful book she advertises 

 has of course never come out, and although we 

 2et replies from her frequently they are always 

 evasions and excuses. Although she makes 

 fair and positive promises she has never yet 

 that we can ascertain, returned any of the 

 money sent her. 



I had supposed till lately that N. C. Mitchell was decKl, 

 according to his own words or rather writings he should 

 have been some four years ago. I took his journal some 

 2 or .S years and he has kept sending me circulars and 

 promising many great things he could and would do for 

 me if I would take an aKoncy ; and finally promised to 

 deliver me rouiih ami re; dy hives complete for §2,00, 

 with a great many fixtures attached so that queens could 



be raised and fertilized witl.out leaving the hive. 

 I do not now remember half he promised but finally I 

 sent him J;20,00 and after waiting .3 or 4 months and wri- 

 ting some half dozen times. I got a rough and ready hive 

 (without any of the extra fixtures) from Ohio with §2,00 

 express to pay. After writing some half dozen more let- 

 ters and receiving some few excuses, he wrote me saying 

 that he would be at my jilace very scjon if he lived, when 

 he hoped to make all things right and satisfactory, and 

 that was the last I hciird from him or my 820,00. I will 

 send with this a few scraps of his writing, (most of them 

 and all the circulars have been destroyed) and his receipt 

 and premium list. C. T. Smith, Trenton, Ills. 



Below we give his great receipt for bee-feed 

 for forcing them to build comb. This he has 

 sold for from 10 to $30, for each receipt, and 

 we are told he has taken over $100,00 from a 

 single neighborhood for it. None of these 

 fellows seem to have brains enough to origin- 

 ate a single new idea ; after they get the mon- 

 ey, it is the same story over and over again of 

 slippery elm and sugar from our friend Flick 

 of the "Ambrosial," clear down to Mitchell. 



Friend M., is not putting such a "good 

 thing" under lock and key like hiding your 

 light under a bushel ? 



receipt for feeding BEES. 



Our friends will remember that we promised each sub- 

 scriber our process for Feeding Bees, to force them to 

 build comb ; and we have also found that the bees will 

 live upon it, and if ar)ything, prefer it to honey, not only 

 for the manufacture of comb, but also for feeding the 

 young brojd. And we are led to believe that the bees 

 prefer it to honey for every purpose ; and by feeding it to 

 the bees, all the honey may be taken from the colonies as 

 fast as i-'iithered. 



Bees should not be fed while they are gathering honey, 

 only in the evening, and then no more than they will take 

 up during the night. On days when they can not fly out, 

 they should be ted, and by doing so, bees can be made to 

 turn out an immense amount of honey to the colony. 



Take at the rate of Ave lbs. of common brown sugar, 

 two gallons soft water, one tablespoonful of salt, ten 

 grains cieam tartar; put all together, bring to a boil, 

 skim, and when nearly cold add eight ounces pulverized 

 slippery elm bark. Stir it up well, then feed in the hive. 

 During the summer use but four pounds of sugar. 



Bees that are fed in winter should have plenty of up- 

 ward ventilation. 



Bee-keepers by following the above receipt will find it 

 invaluable. We ask one favor of each one receiving this— 

 to put it under lock and key ; let no one see it. 



Yours Truly, N. C. Mitchell. 



One of N. C. Mitchell's agents is canvassing this county 

 for the Adjustable Hive. He claims a patent on the di- 

 vision board, close flttnig with woolen cloth on the edges 

 to keep the bees from sticking it. Are not the chaff cush- 

 ions much better ? I am thankful for the light which 

 Gleakings gives when such men come round. 



Wm. A. Towle, Orleans, Ionia Co., Mich. 

 Every bee-keeper knows the inside of a hive 

 is very soon covered with propolis ; the cloth 

 lined edge ot the division board is very nice in 

 a clean new hive, but how about moving after 

 it is pushed down into the sticky propolis ? 

 When the gum gets hard, it sticks to the wool- 

 en cloth and your division board is about as 

 secure as if nailed. 



DOOI^ITTLE'S SYSTEM, HOW FAR WE 

 CAN AFFORD TO FOLLOW HIITI, &c. 



5iiip|?pN'DER the above heading, page 97, W. P. Hogar- 

 IjU ty asks, "How do you get those 12)8 inch cases 

 ^ — into a 12 inch hive ? " Novice says, "brood 

 apartment is 12 inches but the rest of the hive is wi- 

 der." Now (his is so in a certain seni-e, but it would 

 be better understood if staled in this way. The whole 



