18S2 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUIIE. 



119 



if you please to call them so) are the ones which pro- 

 duce the most surplus, let us breed in that direction, 

 keeping an ej-e to the best at all times. 



The reason why I have kept so close to those 40 

 queens is, that there could be no doubt that they 

 mated with black drones. While I believe many 

 such queens have mated with black drones since 

 then, it would not be so easy to prove that they 

 did so. 



In my next I will answer more of friend H.'s ques- 

 tions, and perhaps questions from others. 



G. M. DOOtilTTLE. 



Borodino, N. Y., Feb. 11, 1882. 



Why, friend D., it takes only a little 

 stretch of the imagination, from yonr stand- 



Eoint, to say that all our bees are either pure 

 lacks or three-banded ; there ain't any such 

 things as hybrids any more. Hereafter, 

 when a man complains that his queen pro- 

 duces only hybrids, we will tell him that.if her 

 bees have any bands at all, they have three; 

 see what Doolittle says on page 118. I know 

 there is some truth in what you say, for a 

 mixture of two races produces all sorts of 

 sports, as it were, and so we often have bees 

 that have three yellow bands, but with bands 

 that are narrow, or notched, showing the 

 mixture of black ; and, if you will excuse 

 me, I think you got hold of this kind. Take 

 robbing bees that have got the fur all worn 

 off, and you can see the dividing line be- 

 tween the black and yellow very plainly. 

 The ARC says the color is in the horny 

 scale. Well, take these horny scales and 

 wash them in alcohol ; cut out sections, 

 and paste them on glass slips under a 

 microscope of moderate power, and I think 

 all our readers can agree that hybrids have 

 yellow only on one band, or only on two 

 bands. About ten years ago it iveis suggest- 

 ed that we adopt, for a test, that none of the 

 workers of the daughter of a tested queen 

 should show any black bees. This was de- 

 cided to be a mistake, however, almost im- 

 mediately ; for reports came right away to 

 show that, while some queens impurely mat- 

 ed showed evenly marked hybrids, others 

 produced part full-blooded blacks, and part 

 full-blooded Italians. Please, friend D.,do 

 not be in too great haste to criticise the 

 brotherhood. 



ladk^' f ^^ar'%^»l. 



HOW A LADY FIXES STARVED BEES. 



WANT to tell you some of my experience with 

 my bees this winter. The weather has been so 

 rainy or cold, that bees have not flown much ; 

 but one day being a little more pleasant, I saw all 

 flying but one colony. I opened the hive, raised the 

 cushion and peeped in, and saw them clustered on 

 an empty comb, and apparently lifeless; but on a 

 close examination 1 saw them move a little. I took 

 a few to the house and warmed them; thej' soon got 

 lively, and I then went back to the stand, removed 

 the cushion and division-boards, took them to the 

 house, set the boards before the grate in the sitting- 

 room, and put the cushion in the oven of the cook 

 stove. While they were heating I made a batch of 

 candy, then sprinkled them with sweetened water, 

 while the candy was cooling; then took the cushion, 



boards, and candy, to the hive, huddled the boards 

 as closely as possible to the almost dead bees ; turned 

 the warm candy over them, and the hot cushion on 

 top of the candy, then left them to their fate. In a 

 few days, or as soon as the weather would permit, I 

 examined them again; found them lively, and in 

 good condition, and but few dead bees on the bot- 

 tom-board, comparatively speaking. I winter on 

 summer stands. Lizzie McConnell. 



Ripley, O., Feb. 8. 1882. 



A LETTER FROM GEORGIA. 



We use a Hi-story hive, all of them exactly alike, 

 for the convenience of hanging the frames. My 

 husband is a carpenter, and he makes all of our 

 hives. He dresses all the lumber nicely, and they 

 are very pretty when finished. It takes lo3 pieces to 

 complete a hive, including the pieces for frames. 

 They look like little houses. 



The first swarm we had last season made us 90 lbs. 

 of the prettiest white comb honey, besides filling the 

 lower story, and they are full now. I looked at them 

 last week, and every frame was filled and sealed in 

 the upper story, and in the lower story the side 

 frames don't seem to have been touched yet. All of 

 ours are in good condition now, weighing from 75 to 

 100 lbs. each. 



Friend Root, I am in feeble heal( h, and am not able 

 to do much work. I thought I would subscribe to 

 your school as an A B C scholar, if you would accept 

 me. I think I can earn my living by attending to 

 our bees. I have learned to transfer them. 



CUTTING A BEE-TREK. 



We found a bee-tree nearly on top of the moun- 

 tain, about a mile from home. My husband, togeth- 

 er with three or four of our neighbors, and two or 

 three negroes, went after them; carried a hive, 

 smoker, and one thing and another that we thought 

 we should need, but never thought of any thing to 

 fasten the comb in the frames with. The bees were 

 in a large pine-tree. They worked in at a knot-hole 

 about 15 feet from the ground. The men cut the 

 tree down, and blocked out a piece 3 feet long and 6 

 or 8 inches wide. Their combs were 3 feet long, with 

 the brood in the middle. I never saw such sheets of 

 comb in my life. We laid them down on the log, on 

 the bottom-board of the hive, and cut around the 

 frames, laying them on the comb. I happened to 

 have my knitting-basket with me, and with a ball of 

 knitting-thread fastened the comb in the frames. 

 We filled all the frames, putting in the comb that 

 had the most brood and honej', and then there were 

 two large buckets and a pan full left. We thought 

 we would cut the thread from around the frames, 

 and take it out when they had time to seal the comb 

 in the frames; but they thanked us — they could 

 wait on themselves; for the third day after we hived 

 them I was walking out among the bees, and in 

 looking at them I saw five or six coming out in a 

 line, pulling at something, I could not tell what, 

 when, on going up closer, I saw it was the thread 

 they had cut, and were pulling out. We examined 

 them then, and found that they had cut them all off 

 and carried them out except two or three pieces, so 

 we left them to finish the job themselves. There 

 was a fine swarm of them, so they are full to the top. 



I shall begin the season with 12 colonies, if nothing 

 happens to them, and will try to go by your direc- 

 tions; and if you will accept of it, I will report to 

 you how I succeed. We get from 1212 to 15 cts. for 

 honey. 



