2(58 



GLEAiNTINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



From Different Fields. 



WHAT A WOMAN DID. 



J?rf-57?E, like many others, have the bee fever. 



We 



W*/' had 5 strong colonies, but wanted more, so 

 \Jj\l we went about ]5 miles and boug-ht another 

 large one, full of bees and honey. It was set in the 

 buggy and came home, when lol and behold! the 

 honey was nnuiing out on every side! The comb 

 had broken down, and the bees were drowning in 

 honey. We opened the hive, and the clean bees soon 

 came out in clusters; but the others were sick. We 

 took them all out, and washed them with warm wa- 

 ter, and put them in thin bags to dry. Those that 

 came out in clusters we put in a Thomas hive; it 

 was a midnight transfer. The queen was in good 

 order. The next mornnig those that we washed and 

 dried were quite lively, and we put them in with the 

 others; »n the afternoon they swarmed. We hived 

 them, and they went to work in earnest. 



We take Gi.eanimgs, and think it is worth twice 

 the money. We also have the A B C, which is very 

 good. IVlRS. H. S.mith. 



New Hamburg, Ont., June 18, ISVH. 



Your bees were suffocated by closing the 

 hive too tight, on such a warm day. Wire 

 cloth should liave covered at least the whole 

 bottom, and it would have been better to 

 have had an opening, similarly covered, in 

 tlie top also. I tear none IJut a woman 

 would have possessed the skill, even liad 

 they the zeal, to have made the best of a bad 

 matter as you did. Keep up the same en- 

 thusiasm the year round, and you will sure- 

 ly have bees and honey, to your satisfaction. 



. I have had the queen go into the sections with 

 separators ! I think they went up in order to get 

 drone combs, as I have tried to keep all such combs 

 out of the body of the hive. 



June 20th, I accidentally killed a queen; 3Sth. I 

 cut out all the queen cells but one, and looked the 

 combs twice over carefully, to make sure there was 

 no other queen or cell ; aoth, they threw out a 

 swarm ; July 1st, I found the cell that I left still re- 

 maining, also some eggs unevenly scattered tlirough 

 the combs ; 4th, the (jueen cell hatched ; 10th, the 

 bees swarmed out, and I found no more eggs. 



Where did 1 he queen with the first swarm come 

 from ? and how about the eggs found ? 



What will the old stock do now for a queen ? 



Lebanon Springs, N. Y. Elmer S. Gooderich. 



I have had some little fear, that using 

 drone comb in the sections might be more 

 apt to induce the (pieen to go into them, but 

 as we have never yet had a c;ise of that 

 kind, I cannot think it a very frequent oc- 

 currence. Were your sections small, like 

 ouisV The queen is much more apt to use 

 a larger section. If you are sure you missed 

 no queen cells I would suggest that some 

 other queen got into the hive by mistake. 

 This they frequently do about swarming 

 time. The old stock will perish tuiless you 

 give them a queen or brood. If the eggs 

 were not hatched into larvae, I should opine 

 that they were the work of a fertile worker, 

 by some unusual treak of nature. 



DIPPING PLATES OF WOOD, ETC. 



Instead of using your dipping plates, which gave 

 me the trouble of brushing, &c., after each dipping, 

 I made some dipping plates of yellow poplar, 8-16 of 

 an inch thick, and use nothing on them but water; 

 it makes sheets of wax which are smoother, and 

 which come off more readily than from your metal 

 plates. Alter the last dipping in the wax, I dip 

 them in the tub of water, and the sheets of wax 

 come oft even too easy. Your plates are always 

 sufficiently wet for another dipping in the hot wax, 

 and if there is too much water on the plates, they 

 don't work as well. Now for the rolling of the fdn. 

 I don't use a brush at all on the top roller, as I have 

 found out that, by giving one turn to the crank after 

 the sheet is out, the bottom roller always applies 

 enough of the starch to the top one to roll another 

 sheet, and so on, without any brush, soap bark, or 

 soap. I made my starch aboTit the thickness of syr- 

 up at first, and as it worked well, 1 did not trv it 

 thinner or thicker. P. L. Viallo'n. 



Bayou#oula, La., June 15, 1878. 



We used dipping plates of wood, long be- 

 fore we used them of glass or metal either ; 

 and, since receiving your letter, we have 

 made wooden plates such as you describe. 

 They work without any soap bark, or brush- 

 ing, it is true, but we have n.ever been able 

 to get slieets of a uniform thickness, as with 

 the metal plates, and have therefore gone 

 back to the latter once more. For small 

 sheets, the wood dippers may answer better. 

 We roll tlie sheets just as you describe. 

 When the machine was engraved, we used a 

 Idush. and I i)resume the brush shown in the 

 engraving gives many the impression that 

 one is to be used. 



At present, 1 lb. sections sell slowly at 18e. per lb. 

 What the price may settle down to, we cannot tell, 

 as there is much honey afloat in small lots, filling 

 up the market pretty effectually. We hope there 

 will be a lietter demand soon. Stair & Kendel. 



Cleveland, O., July 6, 1878. 



STRENGTHENING THE COMBS BY WIRES. 



My friend, the Hon. H. A. Moody, M. D., of the 

 northern portion of this state, among other things, 

 says, in July No., that wires worked into the comb 

 would be a great safeguard against cracking and 

 bending while extracting. To obviate this trouble I 

 wrap a small copper wire around the frames when 

 filled out. two wires each way; and I have no trouble 

 with comb breaking out while handling or extract- 

 ing. The wire can be bought for 25c per spool. 



I find coal oil effectual in removing propolis from 

 the hands. Dr. M. 



Notwithstanding the speculation in buying and 

 selling Gleanings, from and to its publisher, I real- 

 ly don't think I could be induced to take f 1.00 per 

 copy for mine. 



Now, dear Novice, about discontinuing "Our 

 Homes." If you find a want of matter for "Grow- 

 lery," withhold "Our Homes." When I read with so 

 much intense joy, how God blesses your labors, and 

 with such lavishness, I find that I have you con- 

 stantl.y associated, in m.y mind, with the celebrated 

 iSluller. rt is simpl.v marvelous. K. A. Abbey. 



Terry, Hinds Co., Miss. 



I should object to the wires around the 

 frames, because they would interfere more 

 or less with brood rearing, but it would be a 

 very simple matter indet'd, to stretch wires 

 across the centre of the frame before the 

 comb was br.ilt, or tlie fdn. fastened in. 

 Perliaps a thin wire stretched from corner 

 to c(nner might answer, and this could be 

 done, with our frames, without the necessi- 

 . ty of boring any holes for the wires at all. If 

 'the fdn. were ])ressed partly into this, there 

 would be little if any sagging; tine iron wire 

 is very much cheajter, and I do not know 

 why it would not answer. After being so 

 ])erfectly covered with wax, I do not think 

 there would be any tendency to rust. 



I, too, have thought often of Muller, l)ut I 

 shall have to grow a great ways, before lean 

 so thoroughly consecrate my life and busi- 

 ness to the welfare of the needy and the des- 

 titute, as lie has done. Now and then, I 

 get glorious glimpses of the way in which 

 (iod takes care of. and provides for, such as 

 he. Thanks for your kind and cheering 

 words. 



