33S 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



riglit V the bee V or the enliglitened bee-keep- 

 er ? Well, I think the gi-eater i«irt of the 

 fault lies in the hive we have given him. 

 The enameled cloth which I have lately been 

 using for covering bees is as impervious to 

 air and moisture, as tlie yropolis he collects 

 with so much pains and trouble. If the 

 outside of this is allowed to get frosty, it 

 will, most assure^lly, condense the bx'eath of 

 the bees on the inside, and if the outside is 

 but thinly protected from the weather, ici- 

 cles will certainly form on the inside, and 

 freeze the bees all fast in a lump. Now I 

 would have no fear at all in having the bees 

 wax up everything as tigfit as they wished, 

 if I could have their winter apartment made 

 so small tliat they completely tilled it — filled 

 it so fall, indeed, as to be crowded out at 

 the entrance, unless in very cold weather — 

 and have the entire outside protected with 

 some non conductor that would enable the 

 bees to keep the inner walls warm at all 

 times, and I think we should have no damp- 

 jiess. With chaff packing and chaff cush- 

 ions, I have succeeded so well, that I am 

 perfectly willing the little fellows shall tix 

 up just as snug for winter, as their instinct 

 prompts themto do. 



VALUE OF PROPOLIS. 



Altliough this gum has been used to some 

 extent in'medicine, I believe it possesses no 

 particular value over burgundy pitch, and 

 other cheap gum resins. 



know how ft can be so absolutely straight. Tbe wire 

 we use, is No. 'M annealed. We have roade arrange- 

 ments so that we can furnish it at 30c. per lb. A 

 sample ounce on a spool, postpaid by mail, will be- 

 sent for 10c. ; when we get "rigged," we hope to sencB 

 them cheaper. As there are about 4,003 feet to the- 

 pound, the expense of the wire will not exceed Ic. 

 for 10 francos, put in as I figured them last month. 



Nearly 3 years ago, I toM you that fdn. should be 

 made with rollers ; I now tell you — and I am "walk- 

 ing around the staii-way" on it— that if fdn. with 

 wire in it is wanted, a wire cloth should be made 

 that, when dipped in melted wax, is ready for the 

 bees. This will enable you to use yourwax at home, 

 and all you will need to purchase will be the wire 

 cloth. It will require some verj- nice and expensive 

 machinery^ to make it at a ibw price. The wire 

 should be so fine, that the fabric will be something- 

 like lace. 



QUEENS BY MAID. 



A few days ago, I noticed an envelope in our mail, 

 that contained a rather bulky square box. When 

 opened the box was found to be a bottle queen cage 

 such as our engraver has illustrated below, except 

 that wire cloth was tacked over tbe end and top, and! 

 it contained 8 bees and a queen, in perfect health, 

 and as lively as one might wish. 



This 28th day of Sept., we have rec'd our 4.000th 

 subscriber. 



Grape sugar in frames is answering nicely gener- 

 ally, alth'iugh an occasional colony seems to have a 

 little trouble in understanding what it is for. 



In place of the soft saw sets that have given some 

 trouble this past season, we now have some, made 

 of forged cast steel. Price 75c. If sent by mail, 10c. 

 more. 



The asters are in full bloom, and the bees are 

 very busy on them. Strong colonies are storing a 

 dark honey, having much the taste of brown sugar 

 syrup, which I think must be from these asters. 



Our imported queens are all gone, and we have 

 not heard a word from Tremontani, to say whether 

 be will send us the 50 ordered this fall or not. If 

 those who would like one this fall will drop us a 

 postal, we will notify them as soon as the 50 are re- 

 ceived, or we hear from them. I will guarantee safe 

 delivery, on all I undertake to ship yet this fall. 



We have just made arrangements for furnishing 

 painted wire cjoth for shipping bees, at 5c. per 

 square foot. This will also do for queen cages, but 

 the mesh is so coarse that it is not as safe for intro- 

 ducing as the tinned wire cloth, made especially for 

 that purpose ; for the bees sometimes reach through 

 and get the queen by the leg, and either cripple her, 

 or kill her outright. Many of those who ship us 

 queens do use the coarser, notwithstanding. 



WIRE IN THE COMBS. 



At present writing, we have brood, all nicely 

 sealed, right over the wires put into the fdn., on the 

 plan given last month. Although we have combs 

 nicely built out on the fdn. furnished by friend Nel- 

 lis, that made on my own plan is a much straighter 

 comb. It maybe that I was not careful enough in 

 fastening the wire with the fdn. rolled in it, but as 

 it cannot be drawn tight, like the other, I do not 



puunket's ijottL/E queen gage. 



It came from E. B. Plunket, Rome, Ga., and he 

 has sent us another since, with equally good success. 

 The A'ial is a (4 dram, and he closes the mouth with 

 a piece of sponge. 



Now comes the question:— Is it right to send 

 queens bj' mail after they have been so positively 

 forbidden? Was it right to aid the negroes to es- 

 cape from their masters contrary to law, a few years 

 ago? The North thought it was, and the South 

 thought it was not. This is not a law, in regard to 

 queens, it is a ruling of the P. M. G. 



To give you an idea of the state of affairs, I will 

 quote some of the recent rulings: 



" 50. Potatoes, being perishable matter, are n(jt 

 deemed mailable, but if inclosed in sealed packages 

 prepaid at letter rates of postage it would be the 

 duty of a postmaster, m the absence of any knowl- 

 edge of their contents, to forward such packages in 

 the mails." 



The idea that pDtatoes are perishable in any sens . 

 that would leave a possibility of their injuring mail 

 matter, is, it seeias to me, a strange one; for they 

 are only mailed in small quantities for seed, and if 

 uncalled for, only dry up. A few years ago, the 

 mails were specially active in assisting agriculture 

 and kindred industries. If potatoes can now be 

 sent sealed up, why not bees? 



".5:3. The following named articles have been, since 

 our last issue, submitted to the Department, and 

 ruled upon as unraailable. viz: cement, confection- 

 ery in any foi'm, eye-glasses, or spectacles, glass, 

 jewelr.v, having pins attached; salve, sewing-ma- 

 chine needles, soap, steel-pens, stove-polish, sugar, 

 tin dishes, tooth-powder." 



As scarcely a mail comes into anj' town of any 

 size, that does not contain more or less of the arti- 

 cles named above, are not such rulings almost a 

 dead letter? 



"53. The regulation prohibiting the carriage of 

 "flour" or other powdered matter in the mails may 

 be held as not applying to sealed packages prepaid 

 at letter rates of postage. " 



Potatoes and flour must go at letter postage, but 

 tobacco— I presume it will be as well to be mild in 

 the matter, but really, is it not time that a protest 

 was being made in some shape or other? If articles 

 are presented, or put in the mails, so poorly done 

 up that they are liable to do injury, of course, they 

 should be thrown out, and the P. M. is paid for at- 

 tending to such matters ; but must the innoceut 

 suffer with the guilty ?— there isn't r.vm for me to 

 say another word ; I am at the bottom of the la^t 

 page to be printed. 



