95 
“ NOVICE’S ” GLEANINGS IN USE CULT0BE. 
IIKADS or OR MX FROM ]>IFFER- II 
EXT FI El, OS. 
h |V(T J 0. 108.— In your bee house, in winter, 
| y\\ what is the exact temperature you 
s-*' JJ would constantly maintain, if possible? 
The temperature of the general atmosphere 
outside of the hives, I mean, with the tops 
olF. liosmer lays stress on having all mirier 
ventilation, cloned. lie lays so much stress up- 
on this, that one might hastily conclude that 
a perfectly tight-litting {bottom is what ho 
advocates — what ho uses successfully. My 
knowledge of physiology and chemistry 
teaches me that in every instance, a perfect- 
ly tight hive— an air tight hive— would till up 
with the carbonic avid t/nn, from the breath of 
the bees. (i. C. CoBjun, M. 1)., 
St. Johns, Mich. I! 
Our corrcspuiultMit need be under no 
apprehensions that Mr. Jlosmer’s hives 
will fill up with carbonic acid, for, as thej’ 
are of the “American persuasion/' there 
will he ample room for all gases to crawl 
out or in through the innumerable crevices, 
even when closed as best they can be. 
Our bees are usually quitest at about 40°. 
N .. 109.— How shall J free combs from old 
pollen? Will tho bees do it themselves? 
How to separate tho old bees from tho young 
so as to have nearly all young bees in the hive 
at the beginning of winter. All my hives are 
two story and both stories are now filled with 
bees. Tho lower story will not afford suffi- 
cient room for till the bees and 10 sheets of 
comb. The upper story, of course, I shall 
remove as soon as honey ceases. 
.J . 11. Wii son Lexington, Texas. 
September 1st, 1873. 
Novice says your large amount of pollen 
is the secret of the large number of bees, 
and that you should save both by all 
means, (iive the upper story a queen 
and plenty of stores and they will do as 
well as the other. Our bees always use 
i heir pollen in spring, besides usually 
large amounts of Hour or meal. This is 
one ot the cases in which it is desirable 
that both upper and lower story should 
constitute a complete hive when need 1 m», 
( i la simplicity. 
No. 110. — If hives arc kept .'haded from the 
sun, me combs apt to break down in frames 
II inches deep by 1 7 1 wide? (from front to 
rear). J. Uumuarunkr, Jr', Kiinbolton , 0. !: 
Although there would be other objec- 
tions to a frame so deep, (see Prob. No. J 
I and Heads ot drain No. 22), we should 
have no fear of combs breaking down 
from the cause mentioned. We have 
never had combs melt down but on one 
occasion, and then the hive was an Amer- 
ican painted dark brown, nearly black, 
and was without shade. After painting 
the same hive white, we hud no trouble, 
although left in the same situation. 
No. 111. -I wish to know where silver hull- 
ed buckwheat can bo got on fair terms this 
hill, for seed next season. Bees almost all 
died in this section last winter, l only saved 
,,n <; *tand out of forty. Bought a few in the 
spring and, having plenty of cmiiIj, have in- 
creased <ii ;! i stands. Hope to have better 
success wintering this time. 
Jonathan .Sautii, Willow Brandi, Ind. 
Will some, one toil ns whether the silver 
hulloi! is :my boiler than the common for 
to *os. Wo have an impression of ha vino 
heard that its value hits boon over esti- 
mated. \\ e have now only one word of 
ml\ iee to I hose lm vino lost liens win tori no;: 
K-t.'-li-A it. 
No. 112.— Friend Novice AVhnt doc* it 
mean, a queon that doe* not lay an egg ; 
there is neither brood nor eggs in the hive. 
M. Kaop, Poo, O,, Sept. 12th. 
It probably moans they arc short of 
stores, (live them at once enough syrup 
to make them feel good, i. e. All up their 
combs nicely and if Iter majesty dou’t 
straight-way make a whole comb ‘ sparkle' 1 
with eggs it is because s/te is had. The 
former is most generally the trouble, how- 
ever, at this season. 
No. 112. — I think I could help you on the 
pollen question, if wo lived near each other, 
by swapping combs, as 1 have a superabund- 
ance of it. Perhaps if you would raise an 
aero of hemp every yoar, your bees would 
Blither enough potion in the fall to supply 
their wants the next spring. I havo heard 
that if bees arc fed syrup on brown (rye and 
I iniian) bread crusts they will cat all the soft 
part of the bread. Perhaps that might be fed 
in dull weather as a substitute for pollen. 
S. Rowkll, Faribault, .Minn. 
Many (hanks Mr. It. A\ e shall certain- 
ly try the hemp next season, and we have 
made experiments, without success, simi- 
lar to the last, lias any one else ever 
known bees to use brown bread as a sub- 
stitute for pollen. We should like to semi 
the So. 00 to some one. 
No. 114.— Friend ‘•Novice” The pins, to 
designate the condition of the stock* to 
which the queon-roaring cards arc attached, 
as suggested in the last number of ‘‘Gloan- 
ings” answer a very good purpose, so far as 
two of tho venters are concerned. But for 
the center of the circle of tigures, 1 prefer a 
tinned tack and two small pieces of zinc, or 
brass, one of them a trifle longer than the 
other, and arranged like the hands of a clock, 
l.ct the shortest one indicate tho year ami 
the longest the day of the month a queen was 
approved. For instance, supposing a queen 
was reared during the season of ’72, then let 
tho shortest index point to tho figure 2, if 
during '72, let it point to the liguro 3, and so 
on. In that way tho cards, as now printed, 
ea n be made to indicate the age of the queen 
until the year 1001 , and by that time some one 
may study up something better, and perhaps. 
Imre it jHitcnted. J.axks Bolin, West Lodi, O. 
We hud thought of your device but 
considered it rather expensive, and feared 
’twould get ‘‘out of kilter.” We would 
suggest that one of the bent pins be put 
anywhere in the hive to designate the 
year. Imagination can suppose figures 
around it like a clock dial, and we keep 
record thus: Straight up, of course in- 
dicates 12, and slanting slightly to the 
right, 1 : horizontally to the right would 
mean if. and a little above horizontal, 2: 
while below horizontal a little, would be 
1, and so on. The four positions up, 
down, right and left, being plain at a 
glance, a slight inclination from any one 
of these positions would indicate the re- 
maining eight numbers, with little danger 
of mistaking, especially after some prac- 
tice. This is an important item, for such 
records might iie used to indicate num- 
bers for a variety of purposes, for in- 
stance: our friend Shaw desires to in- 
dicate flic hive from which he takes brood 
to rear queens ; as his apiary consists of 
over Kill colonies, two pins might be used 
side by side, and reading the numbers 
designated as we read figures, we would 
have :!:> by fuming both to the right, fib 
by turning both to the left; 63 by turning 
