1878. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



221 



look at, or he will tell you he cannot make it. 

 To show you that I am not the only unfortu- 

 jiate. I will append a letter from one of the 

 grem factories where cutlery is made. 



Yours of the 11th received. We must ask for a 

 puttern to make the knives by; a wooden one of 

 t'xact shape and size will do. We cannot undertake 

 to maike odd thinj^s by description; experience is 

 against it. We about "always "come to grief" if we 

 attempt it. John Kussell Cutlery Co. 



Turner's Falls, Mass., May i;3th, 1878. 



The above was in answer to the second 

 <lescription of a honey knife, for W. H. B.. 

 above. AVhat shall I doV A great many of 

 these troubles come from a lack of definite 

 orders ; some of them because we cannot 

 read tlie figures, even after we have, several 

 of us, spent much time upon them, and — 

 hold on, Novice, or y<m will get put in the 

 ""Growlery."' This year, for the first time, I 

 have guaranteed the safe arrival of all 

 queens, and two lettei-s are just at hand, 

 acknowledging safe arrival, but after they 

 were lost in introducing, the purchas- 

 ers think I ought to stand that, as they 

 '■'couldn''t have been verj/ good, or they 

 wouldn't have died." I guess I did wrong 

 in telling about the money you had sent 

 me, and I will try not to complain, for you 

 liave all been very kind to me ; please don't 

 scold any more than yon can help, and I 

 will do the very best I can. Now friend W., 

 do not say any more that I talk as if every 

 thing here was as accurate as a watch fac- 

 tory. They have "troubles" in watch fac- 

 tories, too, as I hai)pen to know ; but I am 

 sorry for them, and for every body else who 

 has to be punished for their own good, as I 

 have been. 



The queen I received was a worthless one ; could 

 not fly, and I think never had; as, after 6 daj-s' 

 trial, a queenless swarm killed her. It has not been 

 any of the time the loss of the !p]..50 that I complain 

 of; it is the iray I harr hnn iisi<l,~icr<rn(jed, swijidlcd, 

 Ini false aiirrrtiscwciits. Now you say, if nothing 

 else will do, you will return the money and let me 

 keep both it iind the queen, and ask if that will do? 

 1 say no, cmphaticaVij ; I wish to be used as a man. 

 I do not belong- to the swine fraternity and do not 

 wish to associate with them. Rational" men, if they 

 make mistakes, hasten to admit them and ask to 

 rectify, as far as can be, known en-ors, and do not 

 try to brow beat— but I have said more than I had 

 intended. H. C. C. 



In this case, I do not see what else I can 

 do, but to sit still and be "pounded". - Our 

 friend will not have his money back, and I 

 presume would not accept of another queen. 

 I certainly did not intend that any of the 

 advertisements should convey false impres- 

 sions, and they have been changed repeat- 

 edly, to avoid such possibility. Some of the 

 letters I have given, were prompted by a 

 sudden impulse, and an apology has since 

 been received for one of tliem. I can freely 

 tVia-give it all, and I hope you can forgive me. 



It may seem, at first glance, that no good 

 purpose can come of showing up the worst 

 side of humanity, as I have done, but I have 

 a kind of feeling, that it may helj) us all to 

 do better. Let us be careful, when impa- 

 tient, and be slow to believe our fellow 

 beings really mean to wrong us. We are 

 careless and heedless, but I believe very few 

 of us are dishonest at heart. May we for- 

 give each other, as freely as God"^ is willing 

 to forgive us all. 



HOWARD'S APIARY, 



fHAVE taken the liberty to send you a pencil 

 sketch of my apiary, only I haven't that many 

 — . stands of bees. The main walk is from my 

 house to the orchard. The 3 hives in the centre are 

 ornarnented very nicely; the beds on which the 

 hives stand are raised six inches hig-h, with sod on 

 the edges and flowers planted between the hives. 

 The walks are made of grravel. 

 Please tell us how you like it. W. C. Howaku. 

 Cnelsea, Iowa, June 8th, 1878. 



AN ORNA3IENTAL APIAKY. 



I like it very much, my friend, and tender 

 yon thanks for a suggestion in the right di- 

 rection. Will those who set their hives 

 down in all sorts of awkward shapes please 

 take the hint, and if they do not adopt just 

 this arrangement, choose something similaa-, 

 or something that will be pleasing to the eye. 

 Will the bees make any more honey, for 

 being fixed up in this styleV To be sure 

 they will, for it will be such a pleasant place 

 you will always be around them, and the 

 more l>ees are petted and fussed with, the 

 more they will thrive. Just think of the 

 idea of showing your friends such an apiary, 

 when they come to pay you a visit. WIk) 

 will send in a sketch of a nicer apiary than 

 the above? Unless we have the Chaff hives, 

 something is rather needed for shade, dur- 

 ing the hottest days. 



m ■>■ » — 



FRAMES, FEEDING, DRONES, ETC. 



MAKING FRAMES AND NEEDED STRENGTH OF TOP BAK. 



^OHN D. WHITE finds fault with your metal 

 Qfjl comer frames, as beins too light in the top 

 ^^ bar. When the frame is filled, the comb is 

 fastened to the frame all round, making- a solid 

 block like a piece of board. When I have bet>n out 

 of comers, I have made frames all of wood, by nail- 

 ing the pieces together in the siime position as 

 when using corners, with fine 3 pennv rails, 2 to a 

 comer. To do this I use all top bar stnfl^^. the sides 

 and bottom being too thin to nail, I make the top 

 bar long enough to take the place of the trp corner 

 and slightly bevel it the contrary way frr m White's, 

 find then, instead of sharpening to asirgle point as 

 Shane does, I imitate the metal corner by cutting a 

 notch in the middle. For a man like myself, having 

 no machinery and few tools, this way of making aU 

 wood frames is simpler than yours, and dees not 

 weaken the top bar. 1 use lio comb guide, but 

 fasten the fdn. to the under side of the top bar, by 

 putting- on a coat of melted wa.x and then rubbing 



