1878. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



235 



and special orders ^vere giveji to the con- 

 trary. I believe nearly all tlie post masters 

 in the U. 8. have adopted a siniilai- course, 

 ;uid if you will show tliis item to yoin- P. ^L 

 and explain the matter with one ot the 

 <'andy cages, I am inclined to think he will 

 do the same. It is a very difficult matter to 

 make these rulinj^s such that they shall do 

 exact justice in all cases, and some very 

 amusing dilemmas liave occurred in trying 

 to obey them to the exact letter. Mr. James 

 \'ick has given us many illustrations of 

 this, but, while lie has shown the absurdity 

 of trying to comply with these requirements, 

 I fear he has not always made it plain that 

 he could have done any better, had he been 

 <'ompelled to take the places and duties of 

 these much blamed othcials. 



SMOKEIIS. 



I have rfhw used the Improved guinby .smoker 

 two weeks, and am led to tielieve that it is equals to 

 the Bingham, and that is praise enough. 



Lansing, Mich., May ], IHTS. A. J. Cook. 



A GOOD day's work. 



1 will give you my daj-'s work for to-day. This 

 luorniry? I mounted my nag, rode .5 miles, trans- 

 ferred two hives of bees, and g-ot one dollar for it; 

 ixot one subscriber for Gleanings; went half a 

 mile further, transferred one more swarm, and got 

 half a dollar for that; got my dinner, and started 

 h( mo; went about one-founh of a mile, found a fine 

 <'olony of bees, in a tree, about 1.5 feet from the 

 ground, working out of two holes about o feet 

 apart. '"How is that for highV" Please find en- 

 closed 60 cts. for Gleanings, one year. This makes 

 12 subscribers I have sent you this year, and I am 

 the only one out ot the 12, that ever took a bee 

 .journal before. Lewis Nigh. 



P. S.— I forgot to tell you, in the right place, that 

 J got home at half-past o o'clock. 



Lamar, Mo., May 2:3d, 1878. 



I can imagine, my friend, something how 

 you felt as yoii rode home. If we could suc- 

 ceed so well every day, we would hardly be 

 titted to appreciate a good days work, and 

 so. I suppose, it is best that we have a great 

 many days when everything seems to go 

 backward instead of forward, in spite of all 

 Ave can do. Who can tell of a better day's 

 work than friend N. madeV Now do not 

 be afraid to talk out, boys? He is probably 

 an enthusiast, or he would not have got his 

 eye on all these bees, and odd jobs of trans- 

 ferring. 



TURNIPS. 



Last year, I procured a quantity of turnip seed 

 iname losti from Scotland, of a sort that would re- 

 main unhurt in the field all winter, for pasturage 

 for sheep. This I sowed in my corn field and tf)bac- 

 co lots, at their last working, so as to save labor. 

 All along, I had a good bite for the ewes, and when 

 ihey shot up to seed, I took the sheep off, and con- 

 spfiuently had acres of pasture that was perfectly 

 <ilivo with bees; in fact, yon oould hear the hum- 

 ming for some distance. The plants grew about 

 4 feet high, and as I had only a few hives of bees, I 

 plowed them imder for a corn fallow again. Had I 

 known its value, I could have saved yfm 2U bushels 

 <»fseed. As it is, I only saved a siiiall lot of fine 

 seed, and if you want some, you can have it. It 

 does not need to be put away from frost at all. 



John Williams, "Englishman". 



Lynchburg, Va., May ITth. 187«. 



SUGAR SVRUP. ETC. 



Last season was good here for bees, until white 

 clover failed. They not only stored no honey after- 

 wards, but C(jnsumed part of what they had previ- 

 ously stored. For the first time, during the 12 

 years in which I liave kept Italians, I was obliged to 

 feed bc«s to winter them. Xearlj- every colony was 



fed frr m .5 to 25 lbs. of sugar syrup, mode as yeu di- 

 rect, without the use of acid. To a part of it, there 

 was added from 1 to 2 lbs. of honey to every IC of 

 syi-up. It was fed verj' late, so late that much of it 

 remained unsealed. In looking the bees (>\er ihis 

 sjn-ing, I find it in much the same condition which 

 it was in when fed. I can find none that is candied 

 in the cell or under the hive, showing that the use 

 of acid, to cut the grain of the sugars is not neces- 

 sary. 



I was about to write you, stating that just the 

 reason why I liked the metal corners was because 

 of their very "siickery .slickeryness," when, in lift- 

 ing a hive p;vrtly filled with combs, honey, and bees, 

 it tipped a little to one side, and all went to the 

 ground in a broken, mashed up mass; so I guess I 

 will postpone the writing till some other time. 

 Careless; Of course 1 was. J. H. Townley. 



Tompkins, Mich., May 18th, 1878. 



The little plane is quite a gem; every person that 

 sees it, wants it. K. V. Ackeu. 



Williamston, S. C, May 27th, 1878. 



I One thing which 1 like about your journal is that 

 [ you say "i." When a fellow means "1," 1 don't bke 

 j him to include me and everjbidj' else, and say 

 j "we," especially if he has been, or is, doing s( mt- 

 ; thing mean. Dr. A. C. W]lli.\m.'-. 



I Hugo, 111., May 25th, 1878. 



' Thank you. I have used I instead of we, 

 because I could not feel it to he right, to 

 give my individual oj-inions in any other 

 way. 1 feel a little guilty, wlien I say ''we." 

 but wlien I say ''1, " I know that I am tell- 

 ing tlie plain simple truth, a.nd when I am 

 doing that. I am not afraid of anything or 

 anybody. I know some of the friends scold 

 a gi-eat deal, because I mix uj) my pronouns, 

 but I do not see how I can well do dift'erent- 

 ly. and convey just the idea I wish to convey. 



fastening foundation in the frames. 

 I think I can surpass any invention yet spoken <.f 

 in the journals, lor fastening n^undation into 

 frames, sections, etc. I do it thus:— 



Here follows a description t)f an appara- 

 tus essentially the same, as the one de- 

 scribed in our price list, under head of 

 "The Melted Wax Plan.-^ 



Procure a tin popper box about 2 inches in diame- 

 ter, and o inches deep; remove the lid, and oppoeile 

 the handle, Ik nd tlie cup so as to form a Md that will 

 run a stream about \a of an inch in diameter; ne.\t, 

 have a tub of cold water to work over, so as to (atch 

 all waste wa.\; also, have another vessel (a coal oil 

 can with a veiy small spout is good; filled witu wa- 

 ter. Take your boards fitting so as to come half 

 way into the frame, and bring the fdn. in the proper 

 place; fill the pepper box with very hot wa.x, hold 

 the frame in the left hand over the tub, inclined at 

 an angle of 4't degrees each way, and pour wax on at 

 the top of the fdn., moving the cup along the frame 

 from one end to the other; then instantly set the 

 pepper box over a lamp to keep it hot, and catching 

 uiJ the oil can of water, pour a stieam of cold wa- 

 ter over the hot wax. so as to cool it quick. Repeat 

 the operation for each frame. If the pepper box 

 becomes clogged at the spout, hold it in the lamp 

 blaze until the wa.x is removed. If hot wax. is used 

 as I use it, I defy any man to put in fdn. any more 

 securely than 1 do. 1 send you, bj' tr-day's mail, a 

 sample enclosed in a small box, so as to show you 

 hf)w neat my work is, as well as secure. I can pu t 

 in from 5 to 7 per minute, 18 inches lop.g. saving ^j 

 of the wax used bv other plans. L. W. IJeits. 



Willsboro, Del., May 2t.th, 1878. 



Thank you, friend 15., for the idea ot the 

 stream of cold water. . The sami)le you send 

 shows the work beautifully done, witliout 

 any mi.stake. but y(ni certainly do use more 

 wax than is used l)y the plan of ndibiug the 

 sheets fast to tlie cnml) guide. The only ob- 

 jection to the latter plan is that so many say 

 they ''can"f. Doing from ■") to 7 per minute 

 is pretty fast work. 



