64 
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 
May 
Gleanings in Bee Culture, 
Published Monthly, 
A. I- ROOT Sc CO., 
EDITORS AND PROPRIETORS 
MEDINA, 0 H I CK 
Terms: 75o. Per Annum. 
For Chib Rates see Last Faye. 
MEDI NA, MAY 1, 1B?4.~ 
A. B.J., for April came to hand March 31st; 
B. K. M., April 5tli, and N. B. J., April 18th, 
all in good time, and all excellent. 
Up to this date, half past one o’clock April 
•27th, the World has not yet shed its “mellow” 
light (as B. K. M. has it) upon us. 
We omitted to mention that the dimensions 
of the side boards for the Standard hive, were 
15x30, that is, the dimensions of the board be- 
fore the strips are ripped off to go under the 
cover. 
We learn R. Wilkin, family and employees, 
have removed from Cadiz, O., to Oskaloosa, 
Iowa, where they expect to engage extensively 
in the honey producing business. May suc- 
cess attend them. 
We would refer the many who write to us 
for tested Queens, to Mr. Cary, whose adver- 
tisement will be found in this No. He is not 
only one of the pioneers in the business, but so 
far as we know, has been prompt and trust- 
worthy in all his dealings in years past. 
We have just succeeded in making a Queen- 
cage both for shipping and introducing. ’Tis 
all of metal, is stronger- than the wooden ones 
of last year, will hold securely an abundant 
supply of food, requires no paper stoppers and 
and can be closed and opened quickly; yet has 
no loose cover, nor anything to get lost. Dia- 
gram and directions will be given next month, 
that will enable any tinner to make them. 
Price 10c., or $1.00 per doz. By mail, 2c. ex- 
tra. _ 
So invariably do we get both favorable and 
unfavorable reports, from almost every local- 
ity, we hope we are excusable for concluding 
tliat there is no very great difference in locali- 
ty after ail. 
If any thing, our Southern friends seem a 
little behind, but we are inclined to think the 
main trouble is, that they have not yet given 
their bees a chance. 'Tis not unfrequent to 
hear of an enormous yield in the midst of a 
neighborhood complaining bitterly of bad sea- 
sons, and nothing for the bees. 
Therefore be of good cheer, for “we shall (most 
assuredly) reap if we faint not." 
how to wivrrit too colonies 
WITHOUT LOSING ANY, 
ray HERE ! there ! don’t t>e hasty, we know 
jj, very well we can’t do it, and therefore 
take pleasure in introducing to our readers 
Mr. James Bolin of West Lodi, O., who will or 
cupy the “Editorial Chair” (not a word of re- 
monstrance friend B.) while we ahem, sit by 
Mo nice while he interrogates. 
FRIEND B., we shall. recognize you as nurlteputed 
authority, on the ground that “the proof ot' the pud- 
ding etch and would like to he inquisitive somewhat. 
In the first place were your colonies all strong in 
the fall? how many combs would there he bees on 
in Oct ? 
No. Some of them were what I call weak, 
others very strong. The bees occupied from 
four to seven spaces between the combs in coin 
mon colonies; and I had a few extra strong 
stocks in which the bees covered all the combs. 
These extra colonies had been transferred, 
on the approach of winter, from doable width 
hives containing 21 frames, to common ones 
having 10 frames. There were more bees in 
them than was desirable, but not liking to kill 
any of them, I concluded they might lake their 
chances. The result was, a great many more 
bees died in them, and the consumption of hon- 
ey was much greater than in the ordinary 
swarms. 
Did they store honey in the full, and how late ? 
They stored honey from a piece of buckwheat 
I had sowed, ttntil the latter part of Sept,., and 
from golden rod and other fall flowers, from 
the time the grass-hoppers disappeared, until 
we had severe frost. 
Are there any cider mills In range of your bees ? 
There is a small mill at which some cider 
was made, a trifle over half a mile from here. 
The nearest large mill is about two liilfcs 
away. 
IIow thick are the walls, and what are the dimen- 
sions inside ? how are the doors fixed ? 
The walls are fourteen inches thick ; two 
thicknesses of inch boards and twelve inches of 
sawdust. Two floors with nine inches, be- 
tween them, and there are ten inches of saw 
dust on the ceiling overhead. Dimensions 13 
x 21 feet, and 8>£ high inside. A window in 
one end, with sash and glass, and a blind both 
inside and out, thus having two dead air spa- 
ces ; double door in the other end, with 12 inch 
space between. 
How arc the ventilators arranged ? 
There is a ventilator ten inches square, 
through the floor, near the center of the room. 
It is closed by a slide that can be opened or 
shut from the outside. In the house it is cov- 
ered in the winter with a box, made by nailing 
three boards together, that extends almost the 
length of the room. This is placed loosely on 
the floor, with the open side down over the 
ventilator; and the sides of it are bored Cull of 
holes to distribute the air equally. In the sum- 
mer it is put in the attic out of the way. Ove i 
head there are two ventilators, six inches 
square, that extend from below the ceiling to 
three feet above the peak of the roof, and cov 
ered so as to exclude light and rail). 
Did the temperature over get down to freezing 1“ 
your hives ? 
No; thirty six degrees was the lowest point 
reached, and the temperature varied from that 
up to fifty degrees. 1 would keep it at, from 
forty to forty two if 1 could do so. 
