1882 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



21 



issue without my knowing it, when she went out for 

 fertilization. 



No. 7. This was a small colony. The queen laid 

 at the end of 40 hours, after one tlipht. 



No. 8. Same details and same ro«\ilts. 



No. 9. This was also a small c^,lony. The queen 

 laid in 30 hours. 



Note— All the preceding queens were Cyprians. 



While many of our friends will doubtless 

 be rather puzzled to hear of queens going 

 out to be fertilized the very day they leave 

 the cell, there is much in the above that we 

 have most of us verified by actual experi- 

 ence. I have for years been in the habit of 

 closely scanning the terminal tip of yo\ing 

 queens of a proper age to lay, and if I could 

 see the least trace of this grayish shriveled 

 thread remaining, 1 always expected her to 

 be laying next day, and I was seldom disap- 

 pointed. I know', too, that the bees often 

 pursue the queen, and try to pull this whit- 

 ish substance from her ; but. 1 do not know 

 that we have before been told that at such 

 times the queen is obliged to go out a sec- 

 ond time. Of course, we have discussed the 

 matter of a second fertilization pretty thor- 

 oughly, and the facts of this as given above 

 are, 1 believe, well established. Will our 

 friend across the water accept thanks for the 

 additional light he has given us on this 

 strange pointV 



FEEDING BACK EXTRACTED TO GET 

 BOX HONEY, ETC. 



HOW TO I>0 IT, AND HOW IT " PAYS." 



MERE is my report for 1881: I wont into winter 

 quarters last fall with 40 colonies, and start- 



' ed the season with 25, having lost 15, all 



wintered on summer stands. I had 13 of Nellis' 

 chaff hives, and tried to winter 3 colonies in each, 

 thinking to economize; but I lost heavily in that 

 hive; the rest were in your own chaff hives, but I 

 lost in those also. I doubled back to 20 on friend 

 Doolittle's plan, as given in Gleanings, and ran 

 them for extracted honej', with the intention of 

 feeding it back to get box honey, as box honey sells 

 better here than extracted; and in about 3 weeks, 

 during July, I got 1700 lbs. of the nicest honey I 

 ever saw. This honey was thrown out before it was 

 capped over, " contrary to the teachings of the A B 

 C," and put into large, new, waxed barrels holding 

 64 gallons each, with a cover to each, and a honey- 

 gate in the bottom. I was told by several that I 

 should never get them tilled. I began to think so 

 myself; but when it came, it came with a rush; the 

 bees were ready, and so was I. Colonies that had 

 their top story emptied, we will say to-day, were full 

 again in 3 days. Oh how they would work out 

 foundation, wired at that, so you could scarcely see 

 the wires ! Well, I increased to 40 again, and got 

 them packed away for winter a little more carefully 

 than I did last winter. Those I have In Nellis hives 

 I have turned the frames half around, with only one 

 colony in each, packed on all sides, some with chaff 

 and some with cedar sawdust. I have left 31 on 

 their summer stands, and put 9 in the cellar in Sim- 

 plicity hives; they have been in now about 3 weeks. 

 I try to keep the temperature at about 45". 



Some time about the middle of last month I noticed 

 an unusual stir about one of my hybrid stocks, and 



on close examination I foupd 3 young queens on tho 

 alighting-board dead. They were packed for winter, 

 so I did not disturb them; pretty late queen-rearing, 

 was it not? All my queens are reared under the 

 swarming impulse; but whether they will be any 

 better or not, if I am spared another year I am going 

 to try to find out. 



FEEDING BACK; DOES IT PAY? 



I picked out 10 of my best stocks, and took away 

 all their combs, except 3 or 4, and the?e were solid 

 sheets of capped brood and honey. I then put in 

 my broad frames of sections, using sometimes 10, 

 filled with Vandervort fdu., iO sq. ft. to the pound. 

 My feeder is Nellis' side feeder, holding about two 

 quarts; this is screwed fast to a thin division-board, 

 and pushed tight up against the broad frames; 3 

 holes in the division-board correspond with 3 others 

 in the feeder, giving a good passageway for thel)ees; 

 when all are in I shake the bees in front, and give 

 the combs to other stocks to take care of. I now 

 take about 40 lbs. of honey, heat it to 110°, add enough 

 water to make it run thin, throw it into the ex- 

 tractor, run it into a coffee-pot, and till up the feed- 

 ers whenever they are empty; the sections were 

 taken off as soon as completed, and I tell you they 

 were beauties, especially so from some stocks; 

 others would not till them so completely. I kept on 

 until I had used up 1300 lbs., and found I had only 800 

 sections. They brought me 17c. each ; the extracted, 

 14c. ; so by my way of working it did not pay to feed 

 back; and I tell you it is an awful job to feed back 

 when you can not open a hive without robbers 

 pitching in. I guess I won't ti-y it again. I had a 

 party here go back on me on account of the fish- 

 bone in the box honey. He was going to take 20 

 cases; do you think they neglected thinning the fdn. 

 when theyjfound honey coming in so fast? 



1 commenced bee-keeping in the spring of 1878, 

 and up to the present time they have cost me over 

 $800; but this year will bring the receipts above 

 that ligure, besides mj' stock in hand. 1 do not de- 

 vote my entire time to the business, otherwise I 

 might do better; but you've got to creep before you 

 can wa'k. 



OUR HOMES. 



In reading over the above, it brought up some 

 vivid recollections of the past. Yes, friend Root, as 

 far as I know, I have a father living; but the broad 

 Atlantic separates us, and I can not very well visit 

 him as often as you could yours. I have been in 

 this country 10 years next February, and was here 5 

 years when I promised him I would return. I did 

 so. He did know that I was coming, so when I met 

 him in the garden, he did not know his own son. No, 

 sir, he did not know me; but when I made myself 

 known, the expression on his face I shall never for- 

 get; joy intermingled with tears. I bad a splendid 

 time; but parting again, that was the hardest, with 

 chances of never seeing him again on this sphere; 

 but I hope to see him again beyond. Whenever I 

 get a letter from him he always says, ^^ Please write 

 soon." Now, to own up, your loss has made me feel 

 that he does not get a letter half often enough; but 

 he shall get one of tener, through reading Our Homes. 



W. G. Saltford. 



Poughkeepsie, N. Y., Dec. 6, 1881. 



I think, friend S., it is as you say, that the 

 rapid feeding had induced them to hustle 

 the honey into the combs without waiting to 

 thin out the fdn., just as they covered eggs 



