Chapter M: QUINBY, St. Johnsville, N. Y

It seems to us Mr. Q. writes a little unkindly, but perhaps we deserve it. In a matter of so much importance there should be no arguing, and no strife. Even should there be a test trial of the two hives, made by two experts, the result would be of little use to our rising bee-keepers. The question is, how will the people at large succeed best. At present we really know of no better way than for those who are undecided, to try one hive of each kind; what suits your neighbor exactly, may not suit you. Our having the Corners for sale, should make no difference in our opinion, and we try not to let it, but we cannot help wondering if Capt. Hetherington has ever tried a hive with these Corners.

In the _Am. Agriculturist_ for Feb., the Quinby hive is described with illustrations. The frame differs a little from the one we described last month, in having the top bar also, dropped a little below the ends of the side pieces; also, the top and bottom bars are both alike and lighter. Dimensions there given are, uprights, 11×1½×½. Top and bottom, 18⅜×⅜, cut from inch boards. Ends are nailed firmly with finishing nails into top and bottom but projecting beyond them as has been mentioned, ¼ inch. The hoop iron hooks to hold the frames in an upright position, if they be used, can probably be bought cheaper of Mr. Q. than they can be made. The sides and top of the hive are made of ½ inch boards, planed smoothly, just the size of the frames, with cleats nailed on each end to prevent warping. The bottom board is 11×20×1, also cleated on under side to prevent warping. Mr. Q. says tie all together with a stout rubber cord, but it seems to us this cannot prove a very durable fastening.

* * * * *

SOME HOME MADE “NEW IDEAS,” SPECIALLY ADAPTED TO NOVICES.

BY R. L. JOINER.

Friend novice:—Enclosed find 75 cents for the next year’s crop of
“GLEANINGS.” I have just sewed 1874 together and I would not take
$5.00 for it if I couldn’t get another. My bees are sound asleep in
their pit at present, and will remain there until about “St.
Pathrick’s day in the mornin’.” I took the precaution this fall of
planking the top and sides of the pit, also of putting two doors in
the front end, something as described in Dec. GLEANINGS. My
observing neighbors tell me that I had better have let well enough
alone, and buried them in the dirt as usual, but I thought a
permanent place if as successful, would be better. If you remember,
I used to have trouble about my bees swarming as soon as strong.
Well as you told me, I found regular and thorough extracting a
perfect remedy, but I soon had my hives jam full of brood. The two
story plan was “no good,” as my hives are practically _three_ story
ones now. I did not want to get new hives and I could see no way of
building a story, like Pat’s house “on behint.” I solved the
difficulty in this manner, I moved the hive half its width to the
right or left and set another hive exactly like it, by its side,
with the entrance the same way, and took half of the combs from the
old stock and placed them in (without any care which hive had the
Queen) and filled up each with empty combs, and run them through the
height of the season in that manner, supplying the Queenless one
with brood from the other as I extracted, and carefully destroying
all Queen cells as I extracted each week. Of course I only practised
this with Queens that were very prolific and had their hives
_boiling_ over with bees, and united again as soon as honey failed
and the brood was sufficiently contracted. I foresee and forebear
all the objections that will be urged to this plan, and the main one
will be, “Why didn’t you let your Queenless hive hatch a Queen?”
Well, I’ll tell you, I wanted to see how much honey _I_ could get
from 25 stocks of bees even if some of the stocks did live in what
we call out West a “double house.” I don’t pretend that it is any
better than the “long idea” plan, except that when I wanted to
contract my stock I had no “empty rooms” to carry into winter
quarters. I am satisfied that the mammoth yields are from mammoth
colonies. My yield is called enormous here but is small to what some
report. I started with 17 colonies that had to be fed until June
15th. I increased by dividing, to 25 Queens, and gave 3 of them,
double colonies as before described. I got 2150 lbs. of honey, 2000
lbs. of which was choice, and put 24 colonies into winter quarters
well supplied with stores. I wasted the time of four of the best,
for four weeks of the best part of the season trying to get some box
honey. All I got for my trouble, was my pains, and the natural
swarms, which I summarily returned, after throwing those honey boxes
as far as I could send them, extracting every one of their _sealed
combs_ full of honey and destroying their queen cells. Let those who
can, _raise_ box honey, I had rather raise extracted for 4c per lb.
than to wait all summer for box honey and then get none, for a
dollar a pound. The boxes were put on “according to Hoyle,” they had
nice starters, they were tight, and all right every way only the
bees would not move in. I am afraid they are the Novice breed and
aren’t in the box honey business. After I took off the boxes and
took their honey, _didn’t_ they work though?

Well Novice, I’ve spun this yarn long enough now and am not half
done, if you get tired reading why throw the whole away. If I ever
come within fifty miles of Medina I am going to stop and see you and
bore you worse than I do by letter. I’ll tell you how I sold my
honey.

Wyoming, Wis. Dec. 16th, 1874.

Don’t go to the expense of coming here, friend J., it would hardly pay you we fear, but do keep on giving us just such sketches from your Apiary. We _do_ believe you have hit on a plan that will prove many times quite practicable. For instance the Simplicity hive with, Langstroth frames, _so long as one story will hold the bees_, is to us the simplest, and easiest handled of any thing we have ever used in the shape of a bee hive, and we have studied long and earnestly in regard to some plan of uniting two of them side by side. All of these plans required too much tinkering. If we made holes for communication, through either hive, bottom board, or cover, these holes would have to be plugged up at other times, and would look ungainly. Your plan of using them without other means of communication, than through the entrance, we confess is novel and so far as your experiment is concerned, seems quite practicable.

He who shows us how we can keep pace with modern improvements, and still keep the hives we have already in use, is truly a benefactor. To use the Simplicity hives thus, both entrances should be turned to the south, and the two hives placed close together. The covers in this case should be hinged to the front so as to turn up against the grape vine trellis, or hinges may be dispensed with entirely. In the height of the season, both hives can be pushed, well forward over the bottom boards, thus making the entrances the whole length. Should this prove “too much entrance,” bank sawdust up by the outside corners. In making so many new colonies last season, we governed the size of the entrances to exclude robbers, almost entirely with sawdust, and it answered the purpose more completely to our satisfaction, than any other plan we have ever used. Also, when the nights became cool, we banked sawdust clear around the hives, to close the cracks between the hive and bottom board. We are a great friend to sawdust; it keeps down the weeds, gives you a clean place to work, is clean and orderly for a small dooryard for the bees, and enables you to make just such an entrance as you desire. Beg pardon we forgot _sawdust_ wasn’t our topic.

Our Standard hive with its permanent bottom board without cracks, and its capacity for 18 or 20 combs without any fussing etc. etc., would perhaps be best, but then, “we haven’t got ’em,” as friend J. says, and just at present we rather prefer to use the hives we have already in use.

* * * * *

DIMENSIONS OF FRAMES ETC.

MR. NOVICE & CO:—Arn’t we greenies glad that we settled down on _our
own Standard_ frame before you _decreed_ something that one must
print the dimensions with chalk over his work bench lest he forget
it. _We_ dislike the everlasting vulgar fractions and odd and even
numbers about the size of frames. _We_ adopted 12 inches inside of
frame—144 square inches of emptiness—until filled with comb. Now any
body can remember this size—and every one can build outside their
frames just what kind of hive he pleases. It is just the nicest
frame for taking in one hand, and for turning this way and that way
for inspection and work, and also for leaving one hand to do
something else, and we do find plenty for the free hand to do—all it
_can_ do sometimes. Then for shipping, why they are just the nicest
and handiest frames ever made, and for housing too, hives of 10
frames pack away like brick in a wall. So you see we are not a bit
sorry for ourselves—and we are so glad to have the ladies with us,
we have Mrs. Tupper who is a representative character and carries
the women with her in this matter. Of course we are sorry your
wind-mill won’t work for us in the wood work of our hives at the
“Standard prices” but we can’t be driven by wind into abandoning our
12×12—“On this firm rock etc.” Why our hives are so jealous they
won’t let one frame of the Factory of the Wind, enter their yard
now—we have no doubt that to set down one of your vulgar fraction
and odd number frame hives would raise a mighty buzz and set all the
12 inches on a revolution against any such vulgar innovation. By the
way we have got a hive “the likes on’t you never did see.” We took
the Alley hive—paid the right to it too—and now we have some Alley,
and some Quinby, and some of our own whims, and it is going to be
just the nicest and handiest of a’ the bee gums that can be found in
Patentdom or out of it. May be we’ll tell you what it is some day—if
you want us to bother you.

_We_—that is we greenies—use the Isham honey box—the nicest,
staunchest, and handiest honey box _we_ ever saw. We know him he
lives round here, he _has_ a patent on his box—we saw his papers,
all reg’lar—he deserves them too—has lately sold three counties to
an apiarian who has seen a good many such affairs, and sold for a
handsome sum. If you saw it, you would want a State at least—the
_work_ would suit your taste.

Now to finish all this rigmarole and to convince you that we are
your friend, tho’ we expect you will blow us with a stiff breeze, we
say—we frankly confess, that we have tried your tin corners for
frames, after using wooden ones, and we don’t want to see in our
hives another frame that has not those same tin corners. And our
_green_ advice to all beginners is, don’t make a single frame till
you get these corners. We shall get rid of all our frames which have
not these corners just as fast as we can. We have tried several
hundred of them and now we send our orders for 6500 more _with the
cash_, as evidence that we mean what we say.

2. EROAPPIANS.

[We can give full address to any who may desire, but the writer at
present prefers a nom de plume.—Ed.]

At the risk of having the above sound something like a puff for the corners, we have decided to give it a place, especially as some disparaging remarks that have been given might tend towards giving an impression that the corners hardly deserve. We will cheerfully give place to anything on the contrary side, coming from any Apiary where they have been considerably used.

Our friends are in error about Mrs. Tupper using a frame 12×12 _inside_. Variety of taste has dictated so many different thicknesses of the stuff composing the frames, that we cannot see how our friend gets rid of fractions by using _inside_ dimensions as a standard. We have seen end bars in use _one inch_ in thickness and top bars with a massive comb guide still thicker. Supposing we all should adopt a uniform size inside of frame, where would be the outside, and what would be dimensions of hive to suit? We can readily make metal cornered frames to agree in outside dimensions, with any frame in use, and this allows them to be worked in the same hive mixed up with the old ones, thus giving the owner a fair chance to contrast their lightness, ease in handling, and at the same time greater capacity for brood and honey, from the larger comb surface.

We certainly don’t want any of your friend’s “rights” but if you will send us a sample of his honey box, we will cheerfully help him sell it, if we think it meritorious. Let _him_ manufacture and supply all demand, and let his patent papers protect him in so doing. Nice honey boxes should be made by machinery, and ordinary bee-keepers would prefer to buy rather than to make them.

* * * * *

A NOVEL IDEA IN WINTERING.
WITH SOME OTHER IMPORTANT FACTS.

I have used several hives with an outside case filled in between
with straw or leaves, for five or six years. Also hives with double
boarded sides and ends with dead air space between the boards but I
fail to see that they do any better than the single boards. Last
winter a small colony in a hive of ½ inch boards wintered well
without any protection except the quilt covering on top, and the
entrance closed with a piece of wool when the weather was freezing.
I have two small colonies (made up in the fall of my nucleus hives)
in the same hives, and they have stood thus far as well as others.
The only difference that I see, is that they are more apt to fly out
when the sun shines brightly, and need shading.

Another experiment.—I saw it stated that empty space beneath the
bees was of great advantage. Last winter I removed all the frames
from the lower story of a hive and left the colony to winter in the
upper story. They did well, but it was a very fine strong colony and
proves nothing. This winter I have quite a weak colony wintering in
the upper story and doing very well so far.

Third experiment.—Some years ago I was preparing my bees for winter
by removing frames from upper story and putting on quilts. In one
very strong colony the bees remained on top the frames in large
numbers. I pulled off an old wool hat and placed over them and
spread the quilt over that. I found the bees filled the hat and
remained in it all winter. Since then I have used all the old hats I
can find. I notice in some instances that half the bees of the
colony are in the hat. When those in the hat get hungry, and those
below get cold, how nice and easy it is for them to exchange places,
much easier than to go from the outside of the cluster to the inside
over or around the frames—that is, provided that is their way of
doing—for instance, when one little fellow’s feet get cold he goes
inside to warm them, and another little fellow comes out to take his
place. This I believe is the generally received theory. I noticed it
so stated lately by one of our most distinguished bee masters, (M.
Q. in _Am. Agriculturist_). As I never saw any such commotion among
them as would necessarily be the consequence of all this changing in
cold weather, you must excuse me for being somewhat skeptical about.
Has anyone _actually observed_ this continual changing places in
cold weather? Akin to this is another statement we frequently see
made—that the colder the weather the more the bees require to eat to
keep up the animal heat. This is all very nice in theory, but so far
as I have observed, the bees are very quiet and still in cold
weather, and scarcely consume any honey at all. These may be
subjects worthy of investigation. I don’t propose to discuss them
here.

I have experimented some with the Adair-Gallup long idea hive, or
rather “New Idea” long hive. I used two hives three feet long, one
with large frames 13 square—the other with my standard narrow
frames. I gave them the strongest colonies I had, and I must confess
that neither of them gave as much satisfaction as the plain two
story hives. They may not have been long enough (_?_) they did not
swarm and did not fill the few empty frames I gave them.

I am aware that these experiments do not conclusively establish any
particular fact or theory in bee-keeping but they may throw a little
light on some points, and I find them useful in my own practice.

THADDEUS SMITH, Point Peelee Island, Ont., Can.

Friend S. it seems, has the rare good sense to see that single experiments do not settle a matter by any means. We are quite taken up with the old hat idea. Get one just large enough to hold your colony, and keep plenty of sealed honey below them, and they will be in the _best possible_ wintering trim, if we know aught of bees. We once wintered a colony without any honey board. We supposed they had been given the ordinary allowance with the rest but may have been mistaken. They were out of food before March, but they had commenced to rear brood briskly—rather in advance of the rest.

* * * * *

SECTION HONEY BOXES.

It is at least too bothersome for _me_ to make the Harbison frames,
as per GLEANINGS; I have made some very nice frame boxes, top and
end pieces all 1½ inches wide, ends are 5 inches long and top and
bottoms 6¼ inches long and nailed to end pieces, which are ¼ thick
and top and bottom ⅛ inch thick; outside sections are 1¾ wide with a
groove to receive a glass 5×6. I place the pieces in a long
bottomless box or frame, wedge them up together and nail them, and
then fasten strips of stout paper across them. I forgot to say in
the proper place, that for an entrance I cut a notch in each side of
the bottom pieces ¼×2 inches. I leave the bottom pieces wide because
it makes a better box and is more convenient, one box can be raised
up and another placed under it without much danger of killing bees,
use a wax guide in each frame.

R. S. BECKTELL, New Buffalo, Mich.

[As it is a little inconvenient to cut the notches in the Harbison
frame with our circular saws, we think they may be omitted and the
stout paper used as above. In making these light frames, perhaps it
would be well to fix on a size that would allow of putting 4 or 6
inside our large frames. Quinby advises this with his new hive, and
illustrates it in _Am. Ag._ for Feb.—Ed.]

* * * * *

Gleanings in Bee Culture,

Published Monthly,

A. I. ROOT & CO.,
EDITORS AND PROPRIETORS

MEDINA, OHIO.

Terms: 75c. Per Annum.
[_Including Postage._]
_For Club Rates see Last Page._

MEDINA, MAR. 1, 1875.

* * * * *

Almighty Father! We pray that thy blessing may accompany each
separate number of our little Journal on its mission among the
bee-keepers of our land. May each and every one of us bear our
losses during the present and ensuing months, should such there be,
with a proper spirit of resignation to events we cannot control.
Give us also that cool, calm, and deliberate frame of mind, that
best prepares us to look earnestly about, and see what means thou
hast placed within our reach to avert a repetition of our past
troubles during the spring months. Give us submission, without a
spirit of idleness, and teach us to work while we pray. Enable your
servant to deserve the great trust, that he has never until _now_
felt has been accorded him. Give him that humility that will enable
him to forget self and labor honestly for the benefit of his brother
bee-keepers, and to deserve the confidence they repose in him.

* * * * *

_A. B. J., Magazine_, and _World_, for Feb. were all on hand in fair
time, and are all good.

* * * * *

Kruschke Bros. are now supplied with Rapp and Esparcet seeds just
imported; see advertisement.

* * * * *

With pleasure we refer our friends wanting Queens or full colonies,
to the advertis’t of J. Oatman & Co.

* * * * *

Chinese Mustard seed seems difficult to find, but we shall have some
in due time we think, even if it has to be imported.

* * * * *

We shall have to refer all those inquiring for bees to our
advertising columns. Everything _we_ have for sale is in our price
list.

* * * * *

Summer Rape seed, American grown, by mail in cloth bags, per lb.,
25c.; per express 15c. These will be our rates for the season.

* * * * *

Photo’s for the Medley are still coming in, and as we wish to
include all that _will_ send them, we shall delay it perhaps a week
after this number reaches you. Remember this is the last call, and
that we wish to include every bee-keeper whose eye meets these
pages.

* * * * *

On page 104 of Vol. 2. Mr. Quinby says the Queen of Mr. Elwood’s
colony that produced the great yield, _came from us_; yet in Mr.
Elwood’s report page 19, current Vol., it does not so appear. Who is
in error? We certainly wish no credit given the dollar Queens which
they have not earned.

* * * * *

We are happy to say Miss A. (P. G.) has recovered from the fever and
is again at her accustomed post. We trust our friends will now have
less cause to complain of the types and other small items, that have
of late too often prevented things going with the promptness and
accuracy that makes business a pleasure.

* * * * *

It seems some of the other sex are determined to have the “last
word” in regard to bee stings; a privilege we accord them with all
the good will imaginable, after we have mentioned for the benefit of
beginners, that no matter how distressing are the symptoms at first,
they will very soon get inured to the poison, and finally, no
swelling will ensue at all.

* * * * *

This is the month for feeding the rye and oat meal, with most of our
readers. Put in shallow boxes out of the wind, but in the sun as
much as possible. Here is a chance for you to exercise your
ingenuity in so arranging a glass sash, as to secure these
conditions, and yet not trouble the bees by having them bump against
the glass by mistake. If they don’t notice the meal, as some
complain they will not, start them by giving a piece of comb honey
laid in the midst of the meal; get a few bees on the comb from
several hives until they have got a taste, if you cannot start them
otherwise. When they begin on natural pollen they will take little
notice of the meal. Equal parts of oats and rye _ground fine_ seems
to please our bees best.

* * * * *

We are very sorry indeed to be obliged to say that we think “Money
in the Apiary” by H. A. Burch, by no means worth the price (25c.)
asked for it. The more so as our relations with Mr. B. of late have
been of the most friendly nature, and he has uniformly spoken well
of GLEANINGS. The book is entirely too small, containing only about
one-fourth the matter of a single number of any one of our Bee
Journals. King’s Bee-Keeper’s Text book, only costs 15c. more, and
yet it is a work of 140 pages, condensed, and to the point,
alphabetically indexed, etc. etc. Money in the Apiary contains less
than 20 pages, less in size, and some of it unimportant matter at
that. We advertised the work without seeing it which we regret, but
it would be unkind, and do no good now to find fault with what is
past; shall we not rather consider a remedy that will do justice all
around? Our advice would be that Mr. Burch give his patrons _four_
just such pamphlets, for the 25c. he has received, and make it a
quarterly. If he will do this, we will give him a standing
advertisement gratis.

* * * * *

_Feb. 24th._—All three of the hives, that we are wintering
out-doors, have come through so far in good condition so far as bees
are concerned, although they spot their hives and the ground badly.
The hive bro’t from a distance worst of all; the one prepared with
woolen by Miss A., next, and the Standard hive best of all. The
latter stands just where, and just as it did when we left off
extracting, has had no preparation nor tinkering, and is all in
complete trim to extract again, so soon as its 20 combs are filled.
Could we be sure of making a whole Apiary winter like this one, we
should feel quite relieved, even if we _were_ obliged to put two
fair colonies into every hive to do it. The Queen has just commenced
laying. We were agreeably surprised to find that almost every bee
from these three safely regained their hives, while those in the
forcing house, collect in masses on the glass, get nearly all of
them into one hive, and seem in a fair way at present to become
utterly demoralized, although they have reared quite a patch of
brood during this month in some of the hives. Will others using the
cold frames, please send us minute reports? Even though our own now
looks discouraging, we are going to give it a careful test to the
best of our ability, clear through.

* * * * *

DOUBLE WALL HIVES FOR WINTERING AND THE FINN BEE HIVE.

It will be observed that we have among our advertisements, one of the Finn Bee Hive. In receiving this, we feel it a duty to state frankly our opinion of the matter, and then if the parties think we should, we will cheerfully return the $1.00 they have paid us for this one insertion. Of course what we say here must only be taken for our own opinion, and in the matter of selling rights we may have been unduly severe. In matters of this kind it is a very safe rule to ask ourselves if we are honestly doing as we would be done by.

If Messrs Keyes & Finn made hives for sale such as they advise and sold them for a fair price, there could certainly be no wrong, for very many bee-keepers of late stoutly affirm that bees do winter safely in hives well protected, on their summer stands, while those side by side, not so protected, perish. In order to show both sides of the question, we give the following:

They are stowed away in boxes parked with straw. Kept good in that
way winter of ’72 and ’73, all that were packed early. Those that
were packed in Jan. of same winter died, though stronger in bees and
honey.

W. S. LUNT, Fostoria, O. Jan. 5th, 1875.

* * * * *

At present, Feb. 10th, 38° below zero. I put 28 hives in the cellar
and have lost one. They are too cold, temperature varies from 29 to
34°. I would prefer 42° as nearly as possible to keep them. I put up
20 in rough boxes on summer stands, boxes six inches larger than
hives, filled in with shavings. I have wintered so two years and
never lost any. They seem in fine condition but it is quite
expensive—cost me $15.00 to put up the twenty hives but think it
pays well. Would like to have them all put up in the same way. One
of my neighbors had three stocks in box hives and has lost them all,
think the loss will be quite severe in this vicinity.

LEWIS KELLY, Smyrnia, Ionia Co., Mich.

* * * * *

Having had the pleasure of a visit to the Apiary of J. S. Hill &
Sons, near Mt. Pleasant, I will, with your permission, Mr. Editor,
say a few words in regard to it. Any one entering their bee yard can
see at first glance that there is the best of order, system and
management. It contains 85 large Langstroth hives completely storm
and weather proof, adapted alike to the storms and zero cold of
winter, and the broiling sun of July and August. Perfect ventilation
with no possible chance of a draft of cold air on the bees, and no
danger of moisture of frost in the hive to give the bees the
dysentery.

Mr. Hill having years ago been convinced that cellar wintering would
not do in our changeable climate, has given a great deal of thought,
time and attention to the business of out-door wintering; that he
has made it a success, is proven by the fact that his loss in the
past four or five years, has been very light, in fact scarcely any
loss at all; while others all around him lost heavily. He manages to
get them through winter, strong in numbers and is not troubled with
colonies dwindling down in spring and deserting their hives, as did
so many the past two years where they had been wintered in cellars
and other repositories. Mr. Hill is a firm believer in strong
stocks—in keeping them strong the year round—takes the position that
the only sure way to have strong colonies in early spring, is to see
to it that they are strong in the fall. His location is not nearly
as good for honey as many others, yet the amount he takes yearly
would satisfy many of us who are in more favored localities; his
only dependance for surplus, is white clover, having no poplar,
linden, or buckwheat, consequently the honey season is rather short,
ending by July 1st. The hive used by Mr. Hill is, of course, not a
dollar hive, and would perhaps be thought, by some bee-keepers, to
be entirely too expensive, but all things considered I believe it to
be the cheapest for out-door wintering.

JONAS SCHOLL,

Lyons Station, Ind. Jan. 6th, 1875.

Were we to stop here, we might think the matter settled, but why does Quinby now advise a hive with only _half inch boards_ as a protection. His large hive was most perfectly adapted for packing material on all sides of the bees, even to a thickness of 8 or 10 inches. In the large Apiaries about him would it be fair to suppose they had abandoned this plan before giving it a fair trial? We should much like to hear from Hetherington, Elwood, and others in this matter. See letter on page 29. The testimonials in regard to the Finn hive are none of them from practical bee-keepers such as are known through the Journals, and none of them owners of large Apiaries. If we wanted to make a hive such as they describe in their circular we assuredly should not think of buying a right for the privilege, but if they would make us a hive at a reasonable price suitable for receiving our frames, so that we could easily set a colony into one, we would prefer to buy of them rather than make one.

If Adam Grimm, and Capt. Hetherington will give their opinion in regard to double wall hives compared with single ones for out-door wintering, we will cheerfully pay any reasonable sum for service. During our protracted cold weather, many complaints have come in, in regard to ice forming in hives left out-doors, and many losses are reported already. In cases like these, we do think the straw mats a great advantage, and is it not possible that they are as efficient as the expensive double walls?

* * * * *

HONEY COLUMN.

* * * * *

Friend Root:—Please name a few parties of whom I can buy Basswood
honey and oblige.

CHAS. F. MUTH, Cincinnati, O. Feb. 3rd, 1875.

* * * * *

I have now on hand about 60 gallons of that choice thick Clover
honey, same as you bought of me, there is very little sale for it
here. Price 18c., delivered here.

WM. PAYNE, Spencer, Medina Co., O. Feb. 1.

* * * * *

Have sold our Catnip honey to W. G. Smith. St. Louis, 15 cts.
delivered, he paid promptly. The barrel came to $64.55 net; that
isn’t bad is it? Shall set out half an acre of plants next spring,
and sow some seed too.

J. L. WOLFENDEN, Adams, Wis.

* * * * *

I sent my honey to Barber & Stout, Cincinnati, O., got 15 cts. cash
on delivery and was paid to a cent. I also sent J. Lippincott, of
Pittsburg, Pa., one barrel. Now Novice, please accept my most
profound thanks for your assistance in disposing of my honey, by
your recommendations to the two above named honey men. There is
nothing like keeping bees to restore a burned farm, and dollars are
by far the best chromos.

J. DUFFELER, Wequiock, Wis. Dec. 16th, ’74.

* * * * *

Humbugs and Swindles
Pertaining to Bee Culture.

* * * * *

[We respectfully solicit the aid of our friends in conducting this
department, and would consider it a favor to have them send us all
circulars that have a deceptive appearance. The greatest care will
be at all times maintained to prevent injustice being done any one.]

* * * * *

We cut the following from E. C. Hazard & Co’s circular, 192 Chambers St., N. Y.

HONEY.

These packages are made of flint glass, tight, very attractive,
convenient size, and salable, possessing a marked advantage over all
other Honey in the market, because of its non-congealing tendencies.
The Extracted Honey in bottles and tin, culled from Alsike Clover,
and Orange blossoms and thrown from the comb by centrifugal force,
is entirely free from all foreign substances and will be found to
possess the delicate BOUQUET and medicinal qualities so seldom found
in the ordinary commercial article.

E. C. H. & CO’S PURE EXTRACTED HONEY:
In Quarts, Fancy Decanters, per doz. $4.50

We might think this a mistake but the _Grocery and Provision Review_ of Jan. 18th, quotes precisely same prices. As a quart of good honey weighs 3 lbs., these good people are selling it at 12½c. per lbs. and charging nothing for those _Fancy Decanters_, packages, cost of putting up etc., etc., and yet producers get from 15 to 16.

* * * * *

Reports Encouraging.

* * * * *

I can report 850 lbs. comb and 150 lbs. extracted honey from six
swarms with Quinby hive.

O. J. HETHERINGTON.

East Saginaw, Mich. Nov. 25th, 1874.

* * * * *

From 34 hives we took 3000 lbs., 600 lbs. box and balance extracted.

T. E. HAWKINS & BRO.

New Frankfort, Mo. Dec. 18th, 1874,

* * * * *

Twenty-three colonies of Italian bees made 160 lbs. of extracted
honey to the colony last year up to July 15th.

JOHN SCHEERER, Ridgley, Mo.

* * * * *

I commenced last spring with one swarm on three combs, and they were
not crowded at that. I extracted 55 lbs. honey, increased to four
that have 22 lbs. average of their own stores.

O. W. PARKER,

New London, Minn. Dec. 25th, 1874.

* * * * *

Twenty-two stocks in spring—taken 1120½ lbs. extracted honey, 288½ lbs. box honey, have now 46 strong stocks and 14 Queen rearing nuclei and weak stocks. Increased by artificial and natural swarming and lost several natural swarms.

M. PARSE. Pine Bluff, Ark. Nov. 22nd, 1874.

* * * * *

I had 26 stocks of bees last spring in Langstroth hives, one-half of them were very weak. I got 1100 lbs. of box honey from 20 stocks, it was sold for from 20½ to 28½ cts. per lb. I have increased my bees this year to 45 stocks which I have put into winter quarters with from 30 to 35 lbs. each.

Wm. J. DEDRICK, Borodino, N. Y. Dec. 14th, ’74.

* * * * *

I had 60 swarms in the spring, some of them very light in bees. I increased to 100, from natural swarming, and they made a little over 5000 lbs. of box honey, including that not capped. I hived no second swarms. I used virgin Queens mostly, and cells. Often some would be about hatching; I would then put them in after a swarm issued. Bees seem to be wintering well.