GLEANINGS IN liEE CULTUKE. 



Feb. 



From Different Fields. 



HONEY FROM THE OAK. 



iCilr' NOTICE that you would like to sec or 



know 

 something- of live oak, or the honey it bears. 

 Well, in the first place, live oak would not grow 

 in your part of the country, fur it is an evergreen 

 tree, and at present in its glory, dark green, and 

 Oyster Creek bottom, its native soil, it looks beauti- 

 ful. Abr)ut the little oak-balls that have the honey: 

 I think they come on the leaf on almost all oaks, but 

 I believe that only live-oak balls have honey. The 

 balls are all dry now, but I will send you some next 

 year, and also some acorns. But said tree is of slow 

 growth; size, from a whipstock to 2-t feet in circum- 

 ference; maybe more have balls on, but I have seen 

 only the above. Weather is warm ; bees are work- 

 ing on mustard and peach-blossoms. J. W. Ross. 

 Velasco, Brazoria Co., Texas, Dec. 12, 1881. 



profitable colonies were those that had the largest 

 number of slick-headed bees. These old veterans 

 are the glory of any apiary. E. T. Foglb. 



Hartsville, Ind., Jan. 7, I8S2. 



AVAX SHEETS, OR SHEET WAX. 



The next demand is going to be for beeswax in the 

 sheet— fdn. in the flat. It i-s compact, solid, cheap 

 freights, and safe transportation. Please state at 

 what price you can furnish sheets of 10 and 7 square 

 feet to the pound, boxed on cars at Medina. Please 

 state price of wax and of sheeting, scparate'.y. We 

 may get wax at less rates than you do, and prefer to 

 supply the wax. Jas. Reddon. 



Dowagiac, Cass Co., Mich., Jan i, 1881. 



I should say, about 3^- cts. for sheets 7 sq. 

 ft. per lb., and -j cts. for 10 ft. per lb., or, as 

 a general rule, i as many cents per lb. as 

 there are sq. ft. to the pound in the wax 

 sheets. It will be observed, that our selling 

 price for wax is 27 c, although we pay only 

 from 21 to 2o. I have left this margin be- 

 cause the wax, as it usually comes to us, is 

 much of it not only unlit to sheet, but unfit 

 to sell. 1 might return or refuse to pay for 

 dirty wax ; but as either course makes hard 

 feelings we have put the price low, and then 

 when we get a choice lot the owner never 

 feels bad when we pay him a little more than 

 we advertise. Those who buy wax of us 

 seldom like to take such as comes from the 

 market without being selected. The prices 

 given include boxing, but not pai>er between 

 the sheets. If it sliould break by shipping 

 or handling in cold weather, I should not 

 want to be held responsible. 



COMPARATIVE LONGEVITY OF WORKER UEES, 

 AGAI>f. 



We think that friend March has given us some 

 facts in regard to the longevity of bees that can not 

 be well over-estimated, and I would just say, in sup- 

 port of his theory, that our attention was called to 

 this fact in 1878, by 2 colonics in our apiary, stand- 

 ing side by side. Queens were relatively prolific 

 alike, yet one gave 30 lbs. and 1 colony; the other, 

 300 lbs., and also 1 colony. The one that gave 300 

 lbs. surplus had an unusunl number of old bald- 

 headed veterans going out to the fields. They were 

 the remark of all beekeepers who saw them. In 

 that fall, twc-thirds of our honey came from that 

 strain of bees, although they number but one-third 

 of our colonies. Again, this fall of 1881 our most 



DOWN TO NOTHING, AND UP AGAIN. 



I send you ray first report. I commenced bee- 

 keeping when I was lit years of age, in 1878. In the 

 fall of 1880 I had 112 swarms of bees. 1 had very bad 

 luck with them, and also moved from Ohio up here 

 to Michigan very late in the fal.. I came out last 

 spring without a live bee. I had good luck in find- 

 ing a man here who had 10 swarms in old box hives, 

 .5 of them very weak. I bouaht one small swarm, 

 and engaged all the increase of the rest. From 

 them I now have tO swarms, and have taken from 

 them 2000 lbs. of honey. The small swarm that I 

 bought first gave me 3 swarms increase, and from it 

 and its increase I took 355 lbs. of honey. The buck- 

 wheat flow was almost a failure from drought. My 

 bees are all packed in chaff. Jay N. Harris. 



St. Louis, Gratiot Co., Mich., Jan. 6, 1882. 



CHAFF HIVES VS. CELLARS. 



I guess I must tell you something about bees in 

 this section. The past summer was a splendid one 

 for bees. Those wintered in chaff hives have done 

 well, though last winter was the coldest ever known 

 in this countr3'. The mercury stood for nearly a 

 week at a time 30° below zero. I had 20 out in the 

 chaff' hives, and 18 in the cellar; lost none in the 

 chaff; think I lost 7 that were wintered in the cellar 

 after they were taken out. So you see I shall go in 

 for the chaff. We arc ha\ iiig very warm weather, 

 and lots of i-ain. O. R. Munson. 



Meredith, Delaware Co., N. Y., Dec. 29, 1881. 



IN THE SUN OR IN THE SHADE FOR WINTER. 



Mrs. D. A. Donnelley, on pnge 33, Jan. Gleanings, 

 asks this question, and you, friend Root, ask for the 

 experience of others. That strikes me I hare it. I 

 kept bees for four years under a shed in two rows, 

 one row on south side facing south, and the one in 

 the north side facing north, whei-e the sun shined 

 on them only a little whilt^ in the morning, and I no- 

 ticed every winter that bees died worse on the north 

 side than on the south. They spring-dwindled 

 worse; they never gathered as much honey, nor 

 built up as fast in summer, and finally, last wlnt«r, 

 they were all dead before the south-siders thought 

 about dying. Give me sunshine in "'mine. ' 



Allendale, 111., Jan. 9, 1882. J. Copeland. 



raising BROOD IN WINTEH, ETC. 



Oar bees are wintering well so far. One colony is 

 breeding a little. AVent into winter in 1880 with 14; 

 came out with same number, but (j quccnless; 5of 

 them from unknown cause. One was killed by a 

 stray virgin queen. They made about 250 lbs. comb 

 honey, and increased to 20 colonics, with stores 

 enough to winter. Wo have only three basswood- 

 trees within the flight of our bees. The clovers are 

 our main hope for honey; fall pasturage not very 

 good. 



Nov. 8, 1881, a small colony of Llack bees came 

 herG from somewhere, and clustered on the garden 

 fence. I got them into a box, and put them in with 

 a queenlcss colony that was nearly gone, having 

 been queenlcss since J»ne 151 h. I tried four 

 times to get them to raise a queen, but they got lost 

 every time. They are all right now, if there are 



