100 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



April 



be sure you i)ut it on the same way every 

 time when the saw is used. 



HOU^ MHJCH DOES IT TAKE TO WIN- 

 TER bees; 



^^ffJAY 1st, 1877, I had 20 colonies, and increased to 

 iw!^\ •**'• The tirst of the season was very poor; un- 

 s/i!^ til the middle of June bees did not g-ather half 

 the honey they ate; little was gathered before July 

 15th, when linden beg:an to bloom and from that time, 

 the season was good. I extracted 1750 lbs. and took 

 34 lbs. box honey from one colony. 1 bought 4 colo- 

 nies in Oct. and "wintered them in a cellar made in a 

 side hill. The cellar was 8x14 ft. and 7 ft. high. I 

 put my my bees in the cellar Nov. 28th, taking them 

 out two days in Dec. for a tly. I took them out March 

 7th, all in good order except two. One died and one 

 (lueenless stock swarmed out the tirst daj' after ta- 

 king them out of the cellar. 1 weighed each hive 

 when tirst put into the cellar, and when taken out in 

 March. The following is the shrinkage. 



1 lost 10 lbs. 



each 



lbs. 



Average shrikage about 14 lbs. per colony for 100 

 days in cellar. The entrances were open 5 by Vj in. 

 covers laised % inch at one end for the escape of 

 moisture. Temperature from 42^ to 4(5^— cellar %-en- 

 tilated at bottom and top. My strongest colony lost 

 but 12 lbs. while in the cellar. How is this, Novice? 

 There aie some black bee-keepers living 3 miles from 

 me, and one of them has some pure Italians; some 

 are two banded, some 2;4, some 3, some 3!4 and 4 

 banded (so he says). A good place to get a new kind 

 of bee, but don't let N. C. Mitchell know of them. 

 One bee-keeper thinks the Italians will starve the 

 black bees out. He saw my Italians round his bee 

 pasture and sayS that his bees were driven off the 

 flowers by the Italians, they taking the honey. A 

 good recommed for Italians is it not V" W. A. Eddy. 



Easton, Wisconsin March, Ilth, 1878. 



The above result is just about as the gen- 

 eral average seems to run, and I have not 

 been able to discover that the chaff packed 

 colonies wintered on their summer stands, 

 consume any more than those wintered in 

 cellars, as a general rule. L. C. Root has 

 given some reports in the Am. Agricidhirist, 

 that seem to show a great advantage in 

 this respect in favor of cellar wintering, but 

 I think taking the winter and spring throu, 

 we shall find very little difference. Colonies 

 in thin hives, with but a thin protection over 

 them, often consume enormously, as I have 

 carefully demonstrated ; but we agree, now, 

 I believe^ that this is not the way to winter 

 bees. Why there should be a difference of 

 as much as 10 lbs, in colonies of almost equal 

 strength, is something that I think has nev- 

 er been fully explained. There is a vast 

 difference in the amount consumed by dif- 

 ferent stocks, whether in-doors or out. The 

 report that Italians chase black bees away 

 from the flowers, etc., is current in our own 

 vicinity, among those not conversant with 

 bees. 



SOI<DERlNO IMIPI^EIWENTS. 



MEND YOUR OWN TIN WARE. 



BOUT 20 years ago— is it possible, that 



^v^^ liKju ± zu years ago— is it possible, tna 

 ^ it is really so long V— there appeared in 

 the Scientific American, and several 



other papers, an advertisement headed 

 "Mend Your Own Tin ware," and to the ef- 

 fect that the implements with full printed 

 instructions, would be sent by mail, tor 30c. 

 The signature to the advertisement, was 

 Amos I. Root & Co., Medina, O. The Amos 

 I. Root, was myself, but the "Co." only ex- 

 isted in my fertile but I fear, unscrupulous 

 brain. Many 30 "centses" were sent, and I 

 drove quite a thriving business, for a boy of 

 only 18; I believe the implements generally 



fave good satisfaction, and I should look 

 ack at the enterprise with some degree of 

 pride, were it not for that unfortunate pro- 

 pensity of desiring that the world should 

 think me greater than I really was, which 

 prompted me to think I needed to say "Co.," 

 to induce people to invest. 



It was just about this time that the Amer- 

 ican Agriculturist began to do a thriving 

 business, exposing humbugs and swindles, 

 and the first I knevv, they had my soldering 

 implements held up to view. My little sold- 

 ering iron, or brass, rather, they laughed at, 

 and without even reading the printed direc- 

 tions, they pronounced the little metal case 

 of chloride of zinc, with the few strips of 

 solder, entirely worthless for mending tin 

 ware ; and so I dropped that speculation, not 

 however, without something of a protest 

 that I was right, and they wrong. We 

 should be very careful, before consigning 

 things to the humbug and swindle depart- 

 ment too hastily. I am inclined to think 

 some good resulted, at all events, for very 

 soon after, they got up some soldering im- 

 plements of their own, which they sold for 

 $1.00. They gave a full sized soldering cop- 

 per, a box of rosin, and quite a bar of solder. 

 As bee-keepers find a great many uses for 

 tin and tin work about the apiary, it has oc- 

 curred to me, that I might get up a little 

 "kit of tools" that would help you a great 

 deal, or rather might tell you how to get up 

 your own. Well, liere we are, ready to talk 

 about soldering. 



A 1 lb. soldering copper will cost you about 

 Soc, and a handle for the same, perhaps 10c. 

 It may not be in order when received, and 

 to put it in working trim will be your first 

 job. File each of the four sides bright and 

 smooth, and either with file or hammer, 

 make a nice sharp point to the tool. Solder- 

 ing irons, like lead pencils and a great many 

 other things, should be kept sharp, to do 

 good work. Get a piece of brick, some sol- 

 der, and some rosin. Heat your iron hot, 

 but not red hot, and rub it in the rosin and 

 brick dust. This should be placed in a smtill 

 cavity, in a piece of wood. If you rub the 

 point of the iron hard against the wood, the 

 brick will scour it bright, and the rosin will 

 coat it so that no air can oxidize the copper. 

 If you now melt a little from your bar of sol- 

 der, in the cavity in the wood, it will readily 

 unite with the copper and cover the surface 

 as if it were dii)ped in quicksilver. When 

 it is tinned all over, it is in working trim. 

 Every time you forget and let the iron get 

 red hot, it will burn the solder off, and it 

 must be tinned over again, in the same way. 



If you wish to solder on bright tin, you 

 have only to fasten the pieces securely where 



