420 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



iidt forget to pray that I may not be led 

 astray. May God bless and keep you all, 

 in the year to come. 



GLEANINGS m SHE CULTURE. 



EDITOIt. AND FUBLISHER, 



MEDINA, OHIO. 



TEMItlS: $1.00 PER YEAK, POST-PAID. 



If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live 

 peaceably with all men. Romans, 22d; 18. 



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No more back Vols, or Nos. wanted, at present. 



The Ohio Central Bee-Keepers' Convention, meets 

 at Columbus, O., Dec. 11, 18T8, in the rooms of the 

 State Board of Agriculture, in the State House. 



L. C. Root has promised us a new smoker, to be 

 made on the same plan as his larger ones, but to bo 

 sold for $1.00, by mail, or 85c., by express. From the 

 experience we have had with his work. I think it will 

 be an acquisition. 



^♦♦^^^ 



The friend who invented the little attachment for 

 extracting pieces of combs, as given on Page 350, 

 Oct. No., was J. D. Slack, Plaquemine, La. I fear 

 I have been a little careless many times in giving 

 proper credits. Do not hesitate to speak out, if I 

 have, and I, on my part, will try to do better. 



Bee literature is now destined lo be cheap, it 

 woiild seem. The A. D. J. i? virtually reduced to 

 $1.00 (see friend Doolit tie's advertisement in this 

 No.), the Mofjazinc will probably soon follow suit, 

 and our friend Nellis starts a new journal, in Jan., 

 to be called the Bec-Kecpera' Exchange (see his ad.). 

 This will make the .iournnls come within the means 

 of you all, and will cause a healthy competition that 

 will tend to make the editors all get up early in the 

 morning, and "flax around." 



— ■»■ t m 



I PRESUME your bees arc now already for winter. 

 Be sure that none of the little fellows starve, and if 

 you have been feeding grape sugar very much, keep 

 a close watch over them. While the weather is warm, 

 or if it is in the center of a largo colony, I think it 

 just as good food for them as honey ; but with very 

 severe cold weather, and a small cluster, it is liable 

 to harden in the combs, so that they may starve to 

 death with plenty all around them. 



Please excuse my repeatmg this so much, but I do 

 not wish any of you to make mistakes in the matter, 

 and loose your bees. 



— ■^■•i ^ 



Mr. Langstroth is in excellent health and spir- 

 its, and the vigorous way in which he is overhauling 

 and scrutinizing, suggesting and adding to, all that 

 has transbired during the interval when he did not 

 read the books and journals, would make one think 

 he must have superhuman powers, or he could not 

 hold out very long. Through all his letters runs a 

 broad vein of love and charity towards all human- 

 ity, that has made at least one individual, heartily 

 ashamed of the quarrels and controversies he finds 

 us indulging in, as he comes out suddenly from the 

 long Bleep, as it were, in which his malady has held 

 him. 



As there are some who insist on having the old 

 stj'le L. hive with portico, we are just now rigging 

 machinery, to make a lower story with permanent 

 bottom board, that will take the usual Simplicity 

 hive, for an upper story. The.se can be used inter- 

 changeably with the Simplicity hives, without any 

 confusion. The usual Simplicity cover, fits either 

 story, of course. For shipping bees, for in-door 

 wintering, and for several purposes, these perma- 

 nent bottom hives are perhaps handier than the 

 loose bottom Simplicities. The disadvantage is, that 

 they can never be used for an upper story, and two 

 of them could not be used as a two story hive. Al- 

 though they require some more work, and a little 

 more lumber, the price will be the same as a single 

 story of the Simplicity hive. Drawing.? and direc- 

 tions for making will be given next month, and also 

 in A B C. 



■^^ -♦^^ m 



I BOUGHT a barrel of honey from neighbor Dean, 

 for 8c., and put the following notico in our c.iunty 

 paper: 



Clover Hoxev.— A barrel of nice white clover 

 honey, just opened— to be sold at lOe. per pound. 

 Bring on vour tin cups, pitchers, pails, Arc. 



A. I. ROOT. 



The result was that I sold tho whole, in less than 

 l weeks. As it was quite a little tas'c to wait on so 

 many customers and do it nicelj', making no mis- 

 takes, my mind was turned to the suliject of scales. 

 I have investigated many different kind^ of scales, 

 and have found some that will d ) nicely, but they 

 cost from gsT to .9.5. The little scale mentioned by 

 friend Kellogg, on another page, I think will, per- 

 hap.?, answer every purpose, and I hive made ar- 

 rangements so as to be able, I think, to furnish them 

 to bee-keepers for $1, by express, or $1.~5, by mail. 

 If I cannot get a good article for that price, I will 

 get the necessary machinery, and make them my- 

 self. To get extracted honey out of a oarrel, we 

 take out one of the heads, and either pour or scoop 

 it out; it is then put into the extractor can (the in- 

 side being removed, of course), and the can is then 

 set on a box near the stove. It is set near the stove 

 to keep it melted during cold weather, and on a box 

 of such height, that when the bowl or pitcher is 

 placed on the scale, it will be just under the honey 

 gate. Turn the screw until the dish is just balanced, 

 and then run in honey until the scale shows just 

 enough. One who has never used these scales can 

 form no idea of their convenience, foryou can draw 

 just 10c. worth, just a quarter's worth, a dollar's 

 worth, or any quantity you wish, with precision, and 

 without a drop being wasted. The pitcher is not 

 daubed, and there is no need of getting even the 

 tips of your fingers sticky in the least. With the 

 low prices of everj-thing else, I am very well satis- 

 fled with 10c. for extracted honey; if it is nice and 

 thick, clover honey, our customers are very well 

 satisfied too, and that is the way I like to do busi- 

 ness. _ 



From friend Betsinger's report of tho fdn. mill 

 with copper rolls, it seems that copper will not an- 

 swer the purpose. Mr. Washburn cautioned him in 

 the matter when he ordered it made, but he insisted 

 that he must have copper rolls and no other. For 

 the same reason, I presume copper wire will not an- 

 swer for stiffening the combs, unless we have a 

 thickness of wax at the base, sufficient to cover the 

 wires entirely, as does Capt. Hetherington. This, I 

 think, is out of the question for general use, on ac- 

 coutit of the expense. By touching j-our tongiic to 



