22 
“novice’s” gleanings in bee culture. 
Dr. W. H. Sedgwich, Granvillo. 0. : “What 
will you take to make me one of those extract- 
ors described in Feb. No.? Your workmen in 
Medina know better how to do it than any tin 
smith who has never made one, that’s all." 
But our tin smiths don’t, for Novice 
does it mostly himself, and the freight on the 
articles mentioned in the last two questions 
would more than make the difference in 
expense. Go to work with your tinner 
and show him how. Our time is so fully 
occupied already that some one could 
certainly make them cheaper than we can, 
but to those of our friends who insist up- 
on it, we have promised to make them as 
cheaply as we can. Every bee keeper to 
be independent should make his own hives 
and extractor at home, and the business 
of “Gleanings” is to tell him how. 
Mr. Palmer, of Hart, Mich., replies to our 
question in tho Jan. No:— Mr. Novice: -I 
use simple two story hives of different widths. 
The smallest is fifteen inches wide and con- 
tains twenty frames, ten below and ten above : 
the largest is twenty-two inches wide and 
contains thirty-two frames, sixteen below 
and sixteen above. The frames arc 9xlS 
inches inside measurement. To prevent 
swarming give a young queen plenty ot room 
and take the honey with the extractor. I 
keep the queens wings clipped and if I have a 
choice queen that I want to bo sure and not 
lose, I use Quinby’s queen yard and it works 
like a charm. 
Mr. F. W. Chapman. Morrison, 111., 
answers Problem 1st, and sends us a 
sample of beautiful hard candy that we 
think cannot fail to answer. Many 
thankvS Mr. C. We should have no fear 
of the acid at all : 
It is prepared by adding to each pound of 
sugar 1 gill of water and \V« table spoonfuls 
of “cider vinegar" all boiled together until 
it will harden when dropped in cold water and 
be brittle, about 15 or 20 minutes boiling. 
When cooked pour into pans (greased) and 
when partly cool cut it into shape. You soc 
thereis no expense and but little trouble: by 
pulling and working it makes nice cream 
candy, very white. I have fed it to bees like 
this and have seen no bad effect from its use. 
Do you think there is acid enough in it to do 
injury if fed largely ? 
We presume everybody knows by this 
time what remedy we would advise to our 
frieud who comes next. How his bees 
ran be saved without an extractor we 
don't know. 
The greatest drawback to bco keepers in 
Ibis part of the country is what is called 
honey dew ; it is always followed by dysen- 
tery. There has been three crops of it in 
iwolvo years, and I have lost more bees from 
that cause than all others. This has been the 
ou 80 as far back as 1 have any knowledge of 
bee keeping. My father lost bees from the 
same cause more than thirty years ago. 
Yours, Truly, 
New Salem, 0. Morris Smith. 
Loyd Jones, Halva, III., writes: “I am a 
beekeeper but have only four swarms ; am 
fifteen years old, but that don’t make any 
difference ; I like your stylo of writing and 
your good common sense, but never mind 
send me the “Gleanings." 
Many thanks to our young friend, we 
will try and not “mind” in any way that 
will detract from the common sense lie 
has given us credit for. When we can 
help you call on us, for we have lots of 
work for you and all bee keepers of your 
ago. Tell as about your lour hives ; what 
j| kind arc the 3 T , have you a neat tidy place 
| for them, with everything square, clean 
and business like ? Make everything as 
slick as a banker’s office and when “trade 
opens” be sure and ‘do your pari.” 
W. F- Patterson, Freestone, Ohio, writes : 
“1 fed a part of my bees with syrup, they hare 
come out but little ; tho others have come 
out every chance and soil everything near 
tnem, and I much fear they arc diseased." 
West Lodi, Ohio, Dec. 18th 1872. 
Friend Novice 1 am using the standard, 
two story, Langstroth hive and last summer 
| I found that in some strong stocks, after 
putting on 12 four lb. honey boxes, all an 
eleven inch cap would hold, there would still 
be a cluster of bees outside ; so as soon as the 
bees had got fairly started in tho first 12, 1 
raised them upTTnd put 12 more under thorn, 
thus making them four boxes deep, and I 
found that strong stocks wonld fill the entire 
j 24 boxes almost as soon ns they would twelve. 
| In this way I attained over one hundred 
pounds each, from a number of stocks, not- 
withstanding our old logy hec keepers say 
the season of 1872 was the poorest we have 
had for ten years, I neglected to state in the 
proper place, that when I put on 24 boxes 
j that I took the cover off one cap and then put 
that on the hive and the regular cap on the 
top of it, thus making a three story hive. 1 
have sold ull my box honey at 25 cents and 
extracted at 18 cents. I have 88 swarms of 
bees, all Italians, stowed away nice and snug 
in a house similar to yours. I have wintered 
my bees in it for the last two winters and 
! they come out all right, whilst the neighbors 
bees on all sides have died. Please excuse 
l| the length of this rambling letter, and may 
long lifo and unbounded success in his chosen 
j pursuit, fall to the lot of “Novice." is the 
wish of his friend James Bolin. 
If it does seem that any body should 
be satisfied with such a result, we can’t 
help thinking that Mr. B. would have ob- 
tained 400 or 500 lbs. had he used the ex- 
;| tractor. At the price he quotes extract- 
ed honey don’t seem to be much behind. 
Wm. Witter, of this place, has just lost 
a fine colony that had eggs and brood, 
and plenty of stores of sealed sugar 
syrvjt. An examination shows that their 
brood is located at one side of the hive 
and their abundant stores on the other; 
all their food being exhausted within 
reach, and the weather very cold gives us 
the cause as plainly as if written on the 
hive. When we wintered out of doors we 
lost many in just the same way, and if 
those who advocate “double walled hives” 
and summer stands, will tell us how to 
obviate an occasional case like the above, 
we should he glad to hear it. The double 
walls may prevent the sun from wanning 
them up the first sunshiny day, and thus 
cause their ruin. In a properly con- 
structed hoe house (and we are now col- 
lecting all the items we can for directions 
to build one) the bec-s can at any time go 
to any part of the. hives for stores. 
C, B. Porter, Ann Arbor, Mich: “1 have 
studied hard on your extractor and don’t un- 
derstand it." 
Tell us what you don’t understand and 
we will try again. 
J. Hunt,, Sparta, Ga : “I have spent fifty- 
three dollars and have made as complete 
failure as you ever heard of. I have one 
colony less than half I commenced with last 
year; paid for two queens and lost both. I 
now write you thinking you can put me 
• right/’ 
