1877 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



;3.i7 



III usins; tho chill' hive, wc are obliged to lift 

 out the 11 pp I" IVainz-i a-< b^'tore, l)iu vu have no 

 upper story to lift oil'. Tiiere is no loose thiiiir 

 about, aud the whole inside is as simple, clean 

 and Tree from '• traps and co;;-\vheels," as is 

 the inside of a " bran new"' tul). Now comes 

 the question: Is it not more inconvenient to 

 reach down so deep to lift the frames out, than 

 if the upper story could be lifted oil' out of the 

 way? Well, it is somewhat; but the chart' 

 hive is substantial enough to allow us to lean 

 our body aijainst it, while lifting out the 

 combs, and since becoming accustomed to it, 1 

 rather prefer to work with it. On account of 

 cheapness, I prefer the Simplicities, for all 

 new colonies the tirst season, and for light 

 hives to be moved about the apiary during the 

 sunimer time. 



■ i«i ^ 



FOUNDATION FOii COMB HOr^EY. 



WE clip the following from the reports of 

 the National Convention : 



A. J. King haiJ recaiveil a bos of white clover honey 

 Irom Nos-iCt! in his suipijinj; ca3e. It was beautifii! lo 

 1 )ok upon, 'out wnen using it he found that the foun- 

 dation used was thlcli, and not thiuned out by the 

 bees one particle. He did not think its use in boxes 

 coulil bo tolerated. 



T. G. Nesvui'in remarked that he had similar expo- 

 rience to Mr. King's. Novice also sent him a case of 

 hjney to dispose of lor him, which, upin being u<ed, 

 proved to have a regular fish bone in it, (the line k 

 toundation in ics original state) and tliat such, if used 1 

 in that way, would injure the sale of comb honey. If | 

 used in boxes it should be exceedingly thin. i 



We read the above, with perfect astonish- 

 ment, the more, as the cases of honey sent 

 friends King, and Newman, were built in &ec- j 

 tion boxes containing bat a narrow strip of 

 fdn. under the top bar. The honey was sent 

 them to test the shipping qualities of our ship- 

 ping boxes, aud not because we had not abund- 

 ant demand for it at home, at good prices, as 

 we have heretofore mentioned. For fear some- 

 thing had escaped our observation in the mat- 

 ter, a card was sent Stair & Co , who have 

 sold considerably over a ton of it for ourselves 

 and neighbors. The following is their reply : 



With all the hoaev we have sold this s3ason, in sec- 

 tions, both for y 'U and others, we have aot had one 

 word of complaint tibout fdn., either from our retail 

 customers, or from dealers : a very conclusive evi- 

 dence that those dealers had no complaint from their 

 customers. VV"e did not, at any time, withhold the 

 tact that it was made on artificial comb fdn., and yet, 

 instead of any oujections, all who tried it wanted 

 more. For our part, we can not conceive of any dif- 

 ference between pure wax, whether made into comb 

 before or after melting, as the melting process does 

 not affect any cliemical change in the substance. Let 

 the fdn. be made of pure wax, as thin as practicable, 

 and we predict that no one will find fault. 



STAIR & Ken DEL. 



Cleveland, Ohio, Nov. 8th, 1877. 



It would be foolish to spend time arguing 

 such a matter, for the fdn. is now in the hands 

 of thousands, and they can, in all probability, 

 tell whether they want it or not. The honey 

 that our friends condemn, brought 25c. readily, 

 and a part of it was sold for <J7 ; a crop like 

 Doolittle's could easily have been sold for 35c, 

 yet his built on natural combs — as we suppose 

 — only brought 20c. The following is just at 

 hand : 



Taurber paid Mr. Doolittle 20 cts. per lb. for the 

 lioney to which was awarded the S50.00 Gold Medal. 

 Thay paid me 2.1 cts. lor the 90 lbs. I exhibited in com- 

 petition, Mr. Thurber wishing one case to send to 

 friends in Entjlrind, aud the other two to distribute 



to Irlenils about N. Y. Citv incluiang members of thn 

 ))re8s. Thj ho,,ey 1 exliliiite<l \vw built upon Comb 

 Foundation, v/hich tlie Convrntl;)n (ex(!ei)C pcrnaps 

 Mr. Nellis and myself) ••went back upon," or con- 

 demned its bjiag usud for starters in sui-|>liis bixes. 



^ C. It. 1.SI1A.M. 



Poona, N. Y., Oci. 2".;,li, 187:. 



We have lUled our seclioim, the pa>t season, 

 only about ,1.3 full, because we cannot well 

 ship hives by freight and express sa!e:y, with 

 a larger piece. In our own apiary we used 

 them put up in the sa.ne way, to avoid the con- 

 fusion of having two kinds on hand. We have 

 often, when eating the honey, remarked how 

 far the yellow wax extended below where the 

 fdn. reached, for they use the wax taken off iu 

 thinning it down, to build out the new comb 

 below. Close to the top bar, we often find a 

 thick ridg3 of yellow wax ; this the bees prob- 

 ably leave to give the new comb strength, and 

 a careful examination will reveal much the 

 same thing with most natural comb-i, but it is 

 not yellow like that which our editorial friends 

 found. 



After reading over the above, it has occurred 

 to me uhat perhaps I have been a little " set in 

 my own way," in the matter. I have just been 

 fixing "the ministers" bees for winter, with 

 the chafT cushions and division boards, and I 

 mentioned the matter to him. He agreed with 

 me, that in the honey we examined at their 

 house at tea, one evening in July, no diflference 

 coald be detected between the honey below the 

 strip of fdn., and that above it, but said in 

 some honey they examined afterward, they 

 found the bees had to some extent, omitted the 

 the thinning ; but even then, he thinks it not 

 noticeable enough to prove an objection to the 

 honey by any one. Very thin fdn. can easily 

 be made for comb honey, but it would necessi- 

 tate keeping the two kinds on hand, instead 

 of one. It is a great convenience to use the 

 clippings from the fdn. for brood comb for 

 the surplus boxes, but if the people demand it, 

 we can make sqme drone comb considerably 

 thinner than would be desirable for the brood 

 combs alone, especially for comb honey. 



CLIMBING VINES FOB HONEY FliANTS. 



M Correspondent in your Sept. No. asks if there is 

 J^^ " a climhinc vine that bears honey producing 

 =^=iu flowers." Yes; fcveral. There is an annual, 

 Cardiopermum Haliacabum, cimmonly known as 

 Heart seed, or Ballooo Vine, of the natural ordur Sap- 

 indacoae. The nearly allied oeder Celast.racca;, furnish 

 others, sucli as Celaatrus Scatidens and Staphylea Tri- 

 folia. Tlie later is classed as a shrub, but with train- 

 ing may assume a trailing habit. There is, among the 

 beautiful evergreens of the South, a honey producer, 

 Bignunia Cruci/era, commonly known as Cross Vine. 

 Hees are so fond of this in its season, that liunters, 

 from it, trace them to their " dens " without any other 

 bait. 



The Balloon Vino is especially to be recommended, 

 because seeiis can be obtained irom any tlorisL. It is 

 as easy of cultivation as morning-glories, antl it 

 blooms from May till frost. To promote blooming, the 

 ijods may be kept pinched off. It is questionable, 

 however, whether it is well to train honey bearing 

 })lants over your bse-hives. By a wise natural instinct 

 ihey seem to prefer to pasture at a distance from iheir 

 hiding place, and, as a fact, the flowers near them are 

 most fre(|uented by the workers from other coloni.^s. 

 The singing of these, around the hive disturbs it, as it 

 robbers were about. This is particularly noticeable 

 when you have the top off, and desire them to be ((uiet. 

 An untimely buzz from a stranger over he:ul. asa 

 bumble-bee or wasp, brings them out with "angry 

 like." S. G. 



Holly S;)rins9, Miss., Oct. lith, 1877. 



