1878. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



121 



and affords a ready means of giving the 

 most perfect ventilation in very warm 

 weather, by putting wire cloth over both 

 top and bottom. When bees are ordered 

 from considerable distances. I would recom- 

 mend sending the bees and combs in a Sim- 

 plicity by express, and the chaff hive by 

 freight, for a complete chaff hive all fur- 

 nished and packed weighs nearly 100 lbs. 

 To prepare a Simplicity hive for shipping, 

 you are to put the sheet of enameled cloth 

 into the cover with the cushion and put all 

 under the bottom board. The cover is to be 

 turned over in this position so that the quilt 

 and sheet will be kept safe and clean, be- 

 tween it and the bottom board. Now cut 

 some sticks just right to push in between 

 the frames, wedging the last one so closely 

 that the whole is firm and solid. When the 

 bees are all in, on their combs, lay on your 

 wire cloth frame, over the top of the hive in 

 place of the cover. These wire cloth frames 

 we make of pieces culled from the cover 

 stuff, and thev fit over the hive, just as the 

 cover does. 1Ve use the cheap painted wire 

 cloth for shipping bees. As the express 

 men can see the bees plainly through the 

 wire gauze, they generally handle the whole 

 carefully. 



A frame of lath and strips of inch stuff, 

 is placed under the whole, and strips of lath 

 nailed from this to the wire cloth frame. 

 This makes all strong and firm, without 

 marring the hive by unsightly nail holes. 

 We use two strips of lath at each corner, 

 nailing the edge of one into the other ; this 

 protects the corner of the hive from injury, 

 and makes it very strong. When our cus- 

 tomer gets his be'es. he is expected to carry 

 the hive at once to where it is to stand. Pry 

 off the lath with a screw driver, and lay the 

 quilt and cover over the wire cloth, then 

 push the hive forward on the bottom board, 

 until the bees can get out. /would by all 

 means, have a bushel or two of sawdust 

 stamped down around the entrance, to make 

 it look home-like. After they have gone out 

 and in around their doorway until they 

 know where the entrance is, you can take 

 off the top and take out the combs. Use 

 your smoker, if you are unaccustomed to 

 bees, but do not smoke the poor little fellows 

 more than is neccessary ; they will be friend- 

 ly and peaceable just as soon as they get a 

 fair understanding of matters. You can 

 take out the sticks, at once, or leave them 

 awhile, as you choose ; but be sure you let 

 the bees out for a fly as soon as you get 

 them. One of our friends carried his bees 

 into the house to keep them warm, thinking 

 Italians must be petted like canary birds, 

 instead of setting them out in the yard with 

 his common bees. After a few weeks, he 

 WTOte, inquiring why they died under such 

 treatment. Do not keep' bees confined an 

 hour longer than neccessary. but after you 

 have once let them out. do *rtot move tliem 

 again, unless you move them a mile or more, 

 or many will be lost. 



The next ABC paper, will be hive making. 



Both Jan. and Feb., Xo's are now ffone. We will 

 pay lOe. for either, and sell them foi- 1.5c. 



Wk can furnish the Hand Ripper illustrated on 

 another page, for ?50. With this machine you can 

 rip the siding- for chaff hives by hand without any 

 trouble, and it is the onlj- way 1 know of, in which 

 they can be made profitably by hand. 



If the person who invented the tin feeder shown 

 in this number, will send me his name, that I may 

 hunt up his letter, I will pay him §10. for the privi- 

 lege of making the same, and we will call it by his 



name. 



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Some of our friends have lost money enough to pay 



for Gleanings many years, by ordering from old 



price lists, or by not being posted in regard to recent 



improvements. I am veiry sorry, but I do not know 



how I can help you, if you wiU not keep up with the 



times 



The idea advanced in another column, that honey 

 candies because it is too thick, I think a mistake. 

 Some very thick honey never candies at all, and 

 some of the thinnest linden honey that we ever ex- 

 tracted, was quickest to candy. I think unripened 

 honey, especially given to candying. 



There is no advantage, as a general thing, in pre- 

 paying freight or express on goods, and many times 

 we have, by prepaying, increased the charges. We 

 are now making arrangements to have an agree- 

 ment made and stamped on everj' package, that the 

 charges shall not exceed a specified sum. This 

 charge can then be paid at the destination, and save 

 all dissatisfaction or misunderstanding. 



Nine-tenths of all the hives ordered, are now for 

 L. frames, and as we are selling hives by the thou- 

 sand, it is pretty fair to presume that all odd sized 

 frames will soon be at a discount. We cannot, with 

 our present rush of business, make odd sized hives 

 nor frames, unless at least 100 are ordered at a time, 

 nor odd sized section boxes, unless 500 are taken. 

 The changing of machinei-y makes much delay, and 

 it is quite difficult to make the exact quantity want- 

 ed, without much waste of material. 



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As we are not allowed to write on queen cages, 

 more than to say from whom, I would suggest that 

 we have the following signs. X for a black queen : 

 X X for a hybrid ; x x x for a dollar queen ; x x x x 

 for a tested queen and x x x x x for an imported 

 queen. If she produces very yellow queens and 

 workers, you might put on some more x's. Now 

 bear in mind that a great part of the queens you 

 send me, will be tested in my own apiary, so I shall 

 be able to test both you and your queens, at the 

 same time. 



■ lei » 



How TO FEED GRAPE SUGAR. If you must have 

 the exact proportions, I would say 1 lb. of sugar to 

 a pint of water. If you make it thicker, the bees 

 will get so "logy," with their hea^-y load, that they 

 will fall about in the grass, before they can go home. 

 If in the proportion named, they will go right to the 

 I hive, and the sjTup will not be very likely to candy 

 in the feeders. The wood feeders will do verj- well, 

 or the pail arrangement mentioned last month, but 

 as both these are liable to get the bees daubed, I 

 just now rather prefer the tin feeder described this 

 month. To fill it, dip it all over in a pail of sjTup 

 while held in a horizontal position, turn it upright, 

 and then lift it out. Set it any where you wish, and 

 the bees will get the feed to your perfect satisfaction. 

 This syrup may be fed safely in the open air. for 

 thej- do not care enough for it to fight over it much. 

 They will not trouble it when they can gather honey, 

 therefore you need be in no fear of its getting into 

 the section boxes, or in with your extracted honey. 



