32 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Jan. 



poor season for honey here anyhow, but I am satis- 

 fled. I smile again. Jacob Copeland. 

 Allendale. 111., Dec. 5, 1H81. 



I guess you wfve in the wrong pew, friend 

 C, and I suppose you will now keep in the 

 right one. 



ROCK CANDY AS A REMEDY FOR DYSENTEHY, AGAIN. 



I am a subscriber to Gleanings, and see no com- 

 munication from this part of Wi.'sconsin. The old- 

 style bee-keepers lost all they had last winter. The 

 season was rather poor, so they neglected their bees 

 until cold weather came, then they went to work to 

 pack and house them for winter, rousing them 

 when they ought to leave them alone. I had 18 

 swarms. I saved 6. Last spring, when I saw them 

 dying, I commenced to feed rock candy, and those 

 that were not too far gone partook and lived. The 

 summer of 1880 was wet, and the honey was too 

 watery, and it soured, causing dysentery. 1 have 16 

 swarms now, all in good condition —all Italians, but 

 they are getting rather dark colored. I will get 

 some queens in the spring. I use the Langstroth 

 hive, and don't want any other, I have tried a good 

 many, and all proved good for nothing. I had bees 

 16 years; but last winter was the worst on bees I ev- 

 er knew. 



PROTECTION FROM THE WINDS. 



I think the northeast winds very injurious to 

 bees; and west winds also. I protect mine with a 

 high-board fence on the west and north, and pack 

 them in chaff boxes. This part of Wisconsin is a 

 good place to keep bees — plenty of forest, and bass- 

 wood plenty; white clover grows abundantly, wild 

 and tame; a good deal of dairying is done here, and 

 we have large pastures covered with white clover 

 almost all summer. Some buckwheat is raised. 



RAPE honey for WINTERING. 



Not much rape is raised some years. Four years 

 ago there was some a mile from me, and I hope it 

 will not be raised nearer than 20 miles of me again. 

 I had 8 swarms smell strong of rape In the fall; in 

 the spring they smelled like rotten turnips, and the 

 8 swarms died. Jesse H. Roberts. 



Munn, Manitowoc Co., Wis., Dec. 3, 1881. 



This matter of protection from the pre- 

 vailing winds is a very important one in- 

 deed, even if you have the best chaff hives 

 for every colony ; for not only do cold winds 

 detract very much fi-om the efficiency of 

 chaff hives ; but days when the bees can fly, 

 if the hive is sheltered from the winds, they 

 will regain the alighting-boards when they 

 would not otherwise. They will also often 

 go out and get water for brood-rearing, keep- 

 ing under the shelter of this fence, or wind- 

 break, when they would otherwise be com- 

 pelled to stay inside. You will notice, in the 

 picture of our apiary, that we have a close 

 row of evergreens, completely surrounding 

 our apiaries.— I have never before heard of 

 the objection to rape you mention. 



UPWARD VENTlL.iTION NOT ALWAYS A NECESSITY. 



I went into the winter of 1880 with 36 colonies and 

 two nuclei, all on their summer stands. All were 

 well packed with chaff early, and before cold 

 weather set in. Each colony, by the use of division- 

 boards, was confined on as few combs as was prac- 

 ticable, and the space outside the division-boards (I 

 use two in each hive) was filled with oat chaff. Up- 

 ward ventilation was carefully guarded against by 

 spreadins smoothly several thicknesses of newspa- 



per on the quilt that covered the frames, and on this 

 was placed loose chaff well pressed down. The en- 

 trances, during the coldest weather, were contract- 

 ed to about one inch by 'Ji of an inch. Now for the 

 result: Do you say they all died? No; the first of 

 April, 1881, found them all in pretty good condition, 

 with the loss of but one queen. So much has been 

 said of late in favor of upward ventilation, I have 

 been induced to prcj)are my bees for winter with a 

 view to testing the two theories; viz., "upward ven- 

 lation," and '• no upward ventilation." I now hare 

 on their summer stands 33 colonies and 6 nuclei. 

 Ten good strong slocks I have left empty, and partly 

 filled bo.xes on. In all other respects they are wel' 

 prepared for winter. The rest of my colonies have 

 but little, if any, upward ventilation. I will report 

 their condition next spring. There are but few bees 

 in this neighborhood, outside of my own apiary. 

 Four years ago there were 76 colonies (all blacks) 

 within a mile and a half of mo. Now there are but 

 8 colonies within that distance of me. These 8 are 

 all that have survived the cold and the famine; and 

 they must be mine, or be Italianized, next spring, 

 for I do not want a black drone to take wing within 

 the flight of my virgin queens next year. Last sum- 

 mer I thought I was going to get into Blasted Hopes 

 sure. We had such a drought and such a famine as 

 were never known here before. But finally showers 

 came, and with the showers came flowers; and with 

 the flowers came honey; and I got nearly a thousand 

 pounds when I expected none. M. J. Harris. 



Calhoun, 111., Dec. It, 188L 



FOUL brood; FOUNDATION THE CURE. 



I almost got out of bees Inst winter. The principal 

 cause was foul brood. It got into a great many be- 

 fore I knew what was wrong, being too late last fall 

 (when I found what was the matter) to remedy the 

 evil; consequently I lost over 40 swarms. As soon 

 as honey was in the blossoms in the spring, I turned 

 the bees all on to foundation in clean hives, took the 

 comb away and melted it into wax. I boiled the 

 honey, and fed it back to them. I did not wail for 

 the starving process recommended, but set them 

 right to work with success, as none of the disease ap- 

 peared. I put 46 good swarms into winter quarters in 

 cellar Nov. 21. They arc nice and dry. I made over 

 1400 lbs. of honey last season, and started with only 

 6swarms; bought 12 second swarms, cheap; built up 

 to good swarms, so I feel thankful, as my loss might 

 be worse. However, it was a good lesson. 



George Duncan. 



Embro, Ont., Can., Dec. 6, 1881. 



The matter of curing foul brood was very 

 fully discussed at the convention, and friend 

 Jones declared salicylic acid a perfect fail- 

 ure with the real virulent foul brood, every 

 time. With the plan you give, however, in 

 connection with the starving process, he says 

 foul brood is little more to be dreaded than 

 the moth-miller we used to hear so much 

 about a few years ago. The starving pro- 

 cess, he says, may take as long as 70 hours, 

 when the drummed - out bees have filled 

 themselves with new honey. They should 

 be placed in a box covered with wire cloth, 

 and allowed to remain until a few bees be- 

 gin to fall to the bottom, with the usual 

 signs of starvation. They may then be put 

 on frames of fdn., and be fed the honey, aft- 

 er scalding. The combs containing sealed 

 brood may all be placed in one queenless 



