1882 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



35 



FROM ONE TO EIGHT IN ONE SEASON. 



1 have written to you several times, and never 

 have tolfl you anything about my bees. Last spring 

 I started in with one hive, mixed with Italians, and 

 I now have eight hives; the old hive swarmed, four 

 times, and three of the new hives swarmed, and are 

 all doing well. I can't work with them myself, but 

 my wife tends to them ; that may be the reason they 

 do so well. What do you think? R. T. Norris. 



Bakersfleld, Kern Co., Cal., Nov., 1881. 



Of course it was, friend N.; and your let- 

 ter has just given me an idea. If we can't 

 get letters enough from the ladies to keep 

 their department going, we will get their 

 husbands to report in regard to their doings, 

 just as you have done. I suppose, of course, 

 none of the husbands willreportany of tlieir 

 bad conduct. 



WHERE TO HAVE THE HONEY-HOUSE, ETC. 



I started a year ago last spring with one hive of 

 bees; increased to 4, and I wintered them packed 

 with chaff in dry-goods boxes. The four came 

 through in pretty fair condition. I bought 2 swarms 

 this spring, then started with the six ; then my report 

 for this summer. I extracted COS lbs. of basswood, 

 clover, and dandelion honey, and increased to 19 by 

 natural swarming. I use the Adair frames in two- 

 Story hives. I sold my honey tor 15 cents per lb.; 

 Comb honey sells for 20 and 22c. I packed 15 hives in 

 boxes, and put 4 in the cellar for winter, all in good 

 condition. I have your ABC, and Cook's Man- 

 ual, and I take Gleanings. Would you please an- 

 swer this question? How far has a house for ex- 

 tracting to be from the hives, or is there any certain 

 distance? Wm. A. Mdrkar. 



Aberdour, Bruce Co., Ont., Can., Dec. 7, 1881. 



It is simply a matter of convenience to 

 the operator, friend M. In our original hex- 

 agonal apiary, we put the house in the cen- 

 ter, as you will see by the A li C ; but this 

 was objected to, because tlie apiarist could 

 not see what was going on, on the other side 

 of the building. Experience has demon- 

 strated this to be a very important point, es- 

 pecially in swarming-time, and we now have 

 the honey-house at one side, as you will see 

 in the apiary near our factory. In such a 

 case, it is well to have a car or wheelbarrow 

 arranged to carry the combs back and forth. 

 Having the extractor on a car, with a tent 

 over it, is a very good way where the apiary 

 is run for extracted honey alone. You will 

 observe that all these arrangements are very 

 fully discussed in the ABC. 



HOW TO DO WITH QUEENS RECEIVED BY MAIL IN 

 THE WINTER. 



The queen received at noon to-day. I opened the 



cage in the postofflce. They appeared so quiet I 



was afraid they were dead; and so they were to all 



appearance. I emptied the contents into my band, 



and warmed them by blowing my breath on them, 



and presently I had the satisfaction of seeing them 



move. The queen was the first to show signs of 



life. I took them home in the house; they soon 



were lively. I certainly would not use the tin slide 



In winter, as it is too cold. Thanks for promptness. 



I never received queens in so short time before. 



John Smith. 

 Morpeth, Ontario, Can., Dec. 9, 1881. 



We are now covering the tin slide with 



thick paper. I know that some other sub- 

 stance would seem to be better for cold 

 weather, but it is very difficult to get any 

 thing that will answer the purpose for the 

 Peet plan of introducing, as the tin slide 

 does. 



AN A B C scholar's TROUBLES. 



I received of you, through friend N. T. Phelps, 

 about the first of June, one pound of bees and a 

 tested queen. About the 8th of July I divided them, 

 and shortly afterward I discovered my queen (which 

 was a good one at first) laying nothing but drones. I 

 got another queen of you, and removed the old one; 

 In the meantime the bees in the other hive had 

 been trying in vain to raise a queen from drone lar- 

 vse. I then got another queen of you, which I 

 worked five or si.x daj'S to introduce, and finally lost. 

 I then got a queen-cell from which they raised a 

 fine-looking queen. In due time she was impreg- 

 nated, and proved to be purely mated, and very pro- 

 lific. Before any bees hatched, my two stocks had 

 become very weak, as you may suppose. I got two 

 frames of brood, and about a pound of black bees, 

 which I united with them. As the drought had de- 

 stroyed about all bloom, I commenced feeding, and 

 the way the cuecns filled the frames with brood was 

 wonderful. 1 fed about 30 lbs. of A sugar to the two 

 stocks, and, fearing they had not enough to winter 

 on, I gave the two about 10 lbs. of candy when I put 

 them up for winter. I crowded them on four frames 

 in one hive and five in the other, packing them on 

 their summer stands, and I am in hopes I shall not 

 find myself in Blasted Hopes In the spring. 



In putting my bees up for winter 1 had a good op- 

 portunity of observing the difference between blacks 

 and Italians in amiability. In one hive, the blacks I 

 had united with my Italians were quite plenty, and 

 their disp'isition any thing but pleasant; In fact, I 

 had to get friend Phelps to help me in preparing 

 them for winter. We thought we would be good 

 subjt'cts for a cartoon — he at one side of the hive 

 plying the smoker with all his might, and 1 at the 

 other side getting them in shape for winter. With 

 the other stock I had no ditiiculty whatever, the 

 blacks having all died off. You see I came pretty 

 near having more experience than bees. 



The bee-keepers about here have had very little 

 surplus this year, on account of drought. 



Kingsville, O., Dec. 19, 1881. H. H. Pease. 



You did just right in feeding them up as 

 you did, frieiid L\,and if you persevere right 

 along on that track, you will come out 

 ahead, and I wish you would just see if my 

 predictions do not come true. You have 

 persevered amid difficulties, instead of let- 

 ting them "all slide,'" as many might have 

 done, and you are of the right stripe to 

 make a bee man. 



HONEY FROM THE OAK. 



I see on page 601, December Gleanings, in an- 

 swer to a Texas correspondent, you say that honey 

 Is not a normal product of the oak-tree, but is pre 

 dueed only by insects, etc. Now I will tell you what 

 I do know about honey from the white-oak tree. In 

 the spring (I can't just recall the exact time), when 

 the little acorns are just shaping, they furnish 

 honey, and sometimes a considerable amount. The 

 spring of 1880 was the first I had notice of it (not 

 paying much attention to the matter before). I 

 was in the timber, and heard a very large humming 



