I

HIVING-BASKET.

HAVE been requested to describe the hivingbasket I use. Well, I will, as I use it with good results, and the best of success. You will remember, that last May I purchased from your 25cent counter two of those two-bushel diamond-splint clothes-baskets. I got them here all safe and sound (they ask 75 cents for them in our stores), and lined them with good strong white factory cloth. I then made a burlap flap cover, that would cover the whole basket, with 8 or 10 inches to spare. I tacked this piece of burlap to one side of the basket, and just a little way around the rounding corners. I tacked two little wooden blocks (say 2x3x%) to each of the loose corners, to make the flap stand solid over the basket. This is all. The whole arrangement is very light, so much so that the left arm of a 90-pound tailor will hold it with ease. Our swarms alight on trees mostly; and whether up where we have to use a step-ladder or not, we hold this broad, long (just the thing for those long clusters), light receptacle under the cluster, and shake the limb briskly, and quickly lower the basket, and flip over the flap with the right hand, and set the roaring mass down under the tree, when, if we continue to shake or smoke the limb a moment, the few outside bees cluster on the thin and gauzy receptacle, from which so freely emanates the hum and odor of the swarm. Now do with the bees just what you would were they in a heavy, hot, and horrid box. This basket is easily attached to a pole, if you have any limbs too awful high for a ladder. I have not. This seems like a small subject, yet only a few such advantages, one or two in each department of the business, changes failure into success; disagreeable and troublesome work into a joyful business. BAGGAGE SMASHERS," AND FRIEND HEDDON'S ADVICE IN REGARD TO THEM.

At the close of Mr. Dadant's able article in last GLEANINGS, you tell us of the wanton smashing of your trunk, and ask, "What ought to be done in such cases, friends?" As I am, to say the least, not your enemy, I will for one reply by saying that my rule is, "Return good for good, and justice for evil." I won't stop to argue the case, or start any new the ory in the matter, as I have the practical evidence of the laws of all the nations of this world. If that case were mine, I should sue the company for the damage, and get that baggage-man out of the situation, into his more appropriate sphere of dock-walloping, just as soon as I could. This last I would do for charity, for the sake of some poor and diffident woman he might successfully abuse in the near future. I know full well that sometimes, in a small way, with some people, nothing is better than the return of good for evil; but he who goes it blind, adopting this as a rule for a life's action, makes a sad mistake that legislators never fall into.

I have just sold my entire crop of comb honey at 18c here, cash in advance of delivery, at our depot. A few years ago, I could hardly believe this could be done; but I now rejoice in the acknowledgment of my mistaken judgment. I hope it will continue. Let us work to that end. JAMES HEDDON.

Dowagiac, Mich., Nov. 13, 1882. I am very much pleased, friend H., to hear that our 25-cent basket does as well, or better, than any expensive swarming-box. I presume it would be worth about 50 cents, cloth lined, with a burlap flap to it. It will |

probably be well tried next summer.-You may be right in regard to your plan of treating the railroad employees in such cases; but I think you will agree with me. that it should not be done with anger, malice, or revenge. These heartless men are often intemperate; and the saving of this man is of more moment than the saving of property. I do not know just what to do in such cases, and I confess I have more than once wondered just what our friend Professor Cook would do, or rather, perhaps, what ought he to do. I wish he would advise us a little. I rather imagine he would be too kind-hearted to do any thing; but is that the right way to do?

WHAT FRIEND HASTY THINKS.

DOING WITHOUT SEPARATORS.

HAD not confidence enough in the plan of doing without separators to make experiments voluntarily; but you see I got out of tin, and something had to be did." The results of my willy-nilly expedients I will proceed to give. "Firstly," I had some pieces of very heavy enameled cloth, that had been oiled on the reverse side with linseed oil. These I had been using as tarpaulins about the yard. I thought I could spare them, and so cut them up into separators. I can hardly recommend this plan for general use. The bees nibbled up the material (as I feared they would); and then, "just to pester me," they worked the black and dirty nibblings into their wax, utterly ruining a fine lot of section honey, except for extracting.

To skip to the other end of the series, my last experiment was to use separators of common lath. Bungling as the device seems, it answered very well to secure what surplus a late swarm would make.

On some colonies, separators of plain cotton factory were used, hoping that the shape of the combs would be determined before the material would be all gnawed out. They seemed, however, to do neither good nor harm, except the waste of bee labor involved. Other colonies had separators of cotton factory treated with linseed oil, and dried. These were harmless, but they resisted the gnawing of the bees scarcely any better than the untreated fabric. Still other colonies had separators of the same sort of cloth dipped in melted wax and wrung out. These answer tolerably well for once using; but, being somewhat cut away at the edges, would be too narrow to use a second time.

This brings us to the colonies on which no separators at all were used. I did not mean to lose honey by failing to give the bees sections to put it in, and so kept on giving to the late swarms until some of the comrades would have been inclined to hoot at me. We must make the most of our strong points, and late honey is the strong point of my locality. My latest sets of sections were put on Sept. 6th, I believe. None of these were worked in; but a set put on Aug. 29th had about three pounds of honey. Well, I consider myself almost fortunate that so many of the supers left without separators had no work done in them. The bulged and broken mess of unsalable honey I should have had on my hands would have made me feel like saying naughty things about the comrades who advise throwing separators away. Take now for example my record of colony 16-1. On the 22d of July, 48 sections, pound size,

cloth for a honey-board. I have used them now for years. L. L. BUTLER, M. D.

Los Gatos, Col., Oct. 24, 1882. Friend Butler, in our back volumes I have described tin boxes to put in the bottom of the hives, letting the combs go down into them. A lot of them are now in the loft of our old honey-house. I believe I discarded them because they got sticky and untidy. Feeding on the bottom-board, although it has many advantages, I have always found rather sticking business. Dead bees were plastered fast, and the whole interior seemed rather untidy and disagreeable. D. A. Jones, however, who has had more experience than most of us, prefers it to any other plan.

HOW FAR WILL BEES WORK TO ADVANTAGE?

FRIEND MARCH TELLS US SOME MORE ABOUT IT.

F

RIEND BOOMHOWER, in October GLEANINGS, page 482, says, "I honestly believe, that if a colony of bees had to depend upon going seven miles to obtain food, they would be exterminated in less than one week." Now, if Mr. Boomhower is so much of a " doubting Thomas," I can furnish him the affidavit of half a dozen good men who have noted the flight of my bees, and the direction they have taken this fall. A person standing in my apiary in the evening, when the slanting rays of the setting sun strike across from the west, can see the line of bees above the horizon as plainly as pencil lines on white paper; and as the lines from the apiary run due east, and as Pidella Bay, a sheet of water 5% riles across, lies due east from our island, and as the bees come in loaded with pollen and honey from the same direction, it is but fair to presume they get their loads somewhere on the east side of Pidella Bay. Now, if I can prove the 51⁄2 miles, I think he may take my word for the rest. How could they find honey that distance, and across water too? Well, I suppose some adventurous spirit "lit out" prospecting; and as the speed of their flight is said to be 90 miles an hour, 5 minutes puts him in an Eden of flowers. Now when he returns loaded with golden pollen and honey, do you think, when he makes his next start, there are not plenty of friends to accompany him? And soon the whole

apiary takes up the joyous hum and joins in line.

As to the profitableness of these long flights, that is quite another thing. It is certainly more profitable than to have them lying idle, and eating their stores. As to exterminating them, that is all nonsense, as I will prove further on.

About the 20th of July I found the bees were commencing on goldenrod pretty lively, and most of the

flight was east. I took the hint from your foot

notes, page 182, April number, where you say, "If you have goldenrod like that every year, I think it would be a pretty good place for a bee-keeper to go to." I took an average colony of Italians, stripped them of every thing but 2 frames of brood, filled up with frames of wired fdn., and put on a crate of 16 seccions, 5x5x2, filled half full of thin fin. On the 29th of July I took them in my boat about 8 miles up the slough, and set them in an acquaintance' yard, in a perfect sea of goldenrod. Aug. 18, I had business at LaConner, and had to pass by where the bees were, so I took the smoker along to see

what they were doing. The first thing that greeted my sight on arriving, was 2 gallons of bees hanging on the front of the hive. Friend Rodene says, "I think they are going to swarm, for they have been hanging out for a week." I opened the hive and found the four outside frames were solid full from wood to wood; the four middle frames had each a patch of brood and eggs about the size of my hand; the rest of the comb was full of capped honey. The sections were filled, and the three-eighths space between the crate and frames was full. Here was honey "with a vengeance," and the bees lying idle, for a week for the want of room. These bees could find all the goldenrod bloom they could work on within half a mile of the hive. The next day I ex

amined the home apiary, and found them all working in the boxes, but it seemed like up-hill business. The long distance that they were working made it slow filling up. There was no perceptible loss of bees; they were as strong as they were in July when working in alsike at home, and far stronger in brood than those working on the flats, for they had nearly run their queens out with honey.

About the 15th of Sept. the cool nights and fog had shut the honey off; I then stripp d all the hives for winter. The hive that I took to the flats gave me 78 lbs. surplus, besides from 30 to 40 lbs. in the hive; and had I attended to them the week they were ly ing idle, I should probably have got 100 lbs. surplus, as the weather was fine and warm. The best swarm in the home apiary gave me 18 lbs. surplus in the same time (about 6 weeks). The whole apiary work. ed on the same goldenrod from 5% to 8 miles, and every hive gave some surplus, besides filling up for winter.

I think I have established one fact; that is, bees will work seven or more miles. But to make it profitable, the whole apiary should be in the midst of the goldenrod. H. A. MARCH. Fidalgo, Whatcom Co., Wash. Territory. There, friend March, you have just "gone and done it" again. You have given us facts that we might have waited in vain for, because no one else is so situated as to be able to do it. I am glad friend Boomhower stirred you up to the speaking-out point, but I feared you might feel hurt at his rough way of puttingit. Most of us presumed it was a disadvantage for bees to go long distances for their stores, but we could only guess how much difference it made. You have shown us that there is a very great gain in having the bees stand right near their supplies. My basswood orchard is a mile and a half from our apiary. This distance would, of course, be nothing like seven miles, but still I presume they would get, say one-fourth more, it has been a fond project of mine for some if located right under the trees. By the way, years past to put a heavy colony of Italians right under a large basswood-tree in full bloom, and see how much honey they would get from the tree in one day. Who knows but we might get them to work by moonlight, when so arranged? Another point you have brought out is, although the bees flew over seven miles of water, they did not decrease in numbers greatly. Then the loss is not because of the loss of bees in flying so great a distance, but because of the extra muscular strength required, so that they can not stand it to make nearly as many journeys as they

would if near by, even if it does take only five minutes to fly seven miles. Can a bee really fly ninety miles an hour? I am inclined to think they will not fly faster than an average passenger train runs, when heavily laden with pollen or honey. Who is able to give us figures on the matter?

AN ITEM ON WINTERING BEES.

A SECOND ENTRANCE, A LITTLE ABOVE THE ORDINARY ONE.

HEN there were plenty of bees and honey, I believe I never heard of bees dying in winter in a hollow tree; neither did I ever know or hear of a colony, with plenty of stores and bees, dying in a box or other hive when the bees went in and out at or near the top of the hive, or a few inches above the bottom-board. On the other hand, according to my observation, in box hives, especially if they are well made, the strong heavy colonies are the ones that are most sure to perish in a very cold winter, or in a very cold spell, though it may not last long. Now, why is this, or how shall we account for it? The answer is, they suffocate, smother, or die of apnoea. Well, you ask," How are you going to prevent this smothering?" or you may say, "Give plenty of upward ventilation." I believe it is an axiom among bee-keepers, that the more upward ventilation you give, the more food bees consume. This being the case, it would seem that the

least ventilation given, short of suffocation, is the

best.

About three or four years ago I wrote a card to A. J. King, which he published in his journal, using about the following language: "I suppose about twothirds of the bees in this section died the past winter. Those in well-made box hives suffered most, especially the strong heavy colonies, because the strong colonies produced the greatest amount of steam or vapor; and this vapor, as soon as it touched the side of the hive, was condensed and converted into water, which would run down the sides of the hive until it reached the bottomboard, when, on coming in contact with the cold air, it is converted into ice. This process continues until a sufficiency of ice is formed about the entrance and on bottom-board to hermetically seal up every

thing, and bees are bound to die of suffocation. I

have often raked out, after a very cold spell, a pound or more of ice which was formed by the process of

condensation above described." I remedy or prevent all this by simply making what I call a safety valve; that is, a %-in. auger-hole 31⁄2 inches above the entrance, and 3 inches from south side of hive, which is supposed to be pointing to the east. This -in. hole should be kept open during all severely cold weather, and also during warm weather; but it is better to be closed in early spring. This little hole will give plenty of air in very cold weather, and at the close of each cold snap, rake out ice and dead bees, and leave some of the entrance open, always open. It is true, I lay two sticks, about 9 in. long and in. square, across the frames to make winterpassages, and then spread a quilt over the top of the hive, and then cover the quilt about 3 inches deep with dry leaves, or with very fine, short, dry grass; then let the hood come over these, and nine inches down over the hive, where the hood rests on cleats,

making of the hive double-walled, with 1⁄4 in. of dead-air space. I winter outdoors, and never lose enough to think of, unless by starvation. Indeed, I lose none, unless by starvation.

In bee-trees there is always a chance for the moisture to run down below the entrance; and in hives with entrance at top, the same occurs; but if you have your entrance in the top of the hive, the dead bees will fall down to the bottom, and the bees can not convey them out until spring, and they produce a stench. If you make your little hole near the top, the bees will probably conclude that it gives them too much air, and close it up; but by having it just above the entrance, and above where ice collects, and letting them use it as an entrance in summer, they will rarely close it up.

I am half inclined to think that, with my safetyvalve, or little hole above the entrance, bees would do better with no upward ventilation at all, if you would make winter-passages through the combs; yet I am a little afraid to risk it as long as I am so successful in wintering outdoors on summer stands, on the plan above described. I think bees need some moisture in the hive in winter, but may have too much. I have never used a chaff hive, but have been inclined to think they probably often kept bees too warm, and that they could not stand the cold air in the spring so well when they fly out. You know, if you keep a man or a horse warmly housed in winter, he can not stand cold so well when he goes out in the cold. G. M. YOUNG, M. D.

Lexington, Mo.

Your idea, friend Y., is not a new one. Mr. Langstroth described a winter entrance in his book, and Quinby advised an augerhole, just such as you describe, and I am not sure that they are not used now in the Quinby hives, and he gave the same reasons for its use that you have mentioned. Friend J. S. Hill, who wintered without loss for 14 years, also used such an entrance, as you will find by reference to his description, several years ago. The reports of hives wintered with the section boxes on all winter have pretty well settled the matter, that many bees do die for want of a free circulation of air through the hive. Since these reports have come out we have used the chaff hives with entrances open full width, in the but the very coarse porous burlap sheet, and coldest weather, and nothing over the bees this held up by the Hill device, and then a burlap chaff cushion over all, with loose chaff sprinkled in the corners, until no bee the cover. can ever by any possibility ever get up under

L

DOES IT PAY TO FEED?

HOW FRIEND DENHAM MANAGED.

to

AST spring I had five stands, all of which were 、 of them very weak, and one nucleus. As one nuclebecame queenless I united it with the us which had a black queen. I purchased three black stocks of a neighbor, and transferred then Langstroth hives, and I thus had 8 to commence the season with. By feeding the weak stocks a little ev ery day when the bees could fly, I succeeded in building them up to good stocks by the time white clover came into bloom. We had no locust bloom

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