193 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



AtBIIi 



colony to thus swarm out in the spring.— 

 liuckwheat sown as early as you mention 

 would come in bloom right in clover time, 

 and, so far as our experience goes, would 

 not be noticed at all by the bees. If yon 

 want the bees to work on it, sow it so as 

 to come in bloom just as the summer honey- 

 crops fail. In our locality, we sow it about 

 the first of June, and it is then in bloom by 

 the tirst of August, which is jus about as 

 basswood fails. 



HOR8EMINT HONEY. 



I send the sample of horsemint honey, and hope 

 there will be enough to taste. The honey I send 

 has been exposed to the lowest temperature, in one- 

 pound tumblers, all winter, and you will notice that 

 it has not commenced to candy. It docs not candy 

 readily, if at all, here; none that I ever had has can- 

 dled, no matter how long it was allowed to ripen in 

 the hive. 1 can send you a much better sample 

 about the middle of next June, when it is coming in 

 the fastest. We have had more rain * nee Jan. 5th 

 than we have had before in as short a time since 

 1809. Horsemint is coming up everywhere, and we 

 look forward to a very largo crop. 



Austin, Tex., March 11, 18S3. W. L. Stiles. 



The honey is of a beautiful clear amber 

 tint, and very thick indeed. The flavor is 

 rather peculiar, and although at first taste 

 not quite equal to clover, I think it will 

 command a very fair price in the market. 

 Shall we not have a horsemint patch, with 

 all the rest? If I only had nothing else to 

 do but make a nice one down by the pond, 

 wouldn't I be happy i* Many thanks for the 

 samples, friend Stiles. 



THE "queen-bee" WOMAN OP THE SOUTH. 



Mrs. Lowe is very busy with her bees, and reading 

 at intervals your very valuable and vastly interest- 

 ing Gleanings, and has imposed upon me the pleas- 

 ant duty of writing j'ou this note. Now, Mrs. L. 

 swears by her bishop and his sermons, and A. I. 

 Hoot and his Gleanings, and I dare not criticise or 

 dispute the words or works (or, as Mrs. L. says, the 

 truths) of either. She is now booking orders for 

 queens and bees from north, south, east, and west; 

 in fact, she Is so busy in her apiary that it's almost 

 impossible for mc to get near enough to speak to 

 her without coming in contact with the fighting end 

 of some seemingly insulted bee. Her beautiful Ital- 

 ian pets have already begun the work of raising a 

 very numerous family, and by their strenuous ef- 

 forts are winging their flights through the March 

 winds to the forests and swamps, returning laden 

 with pollen and honey. The prospect so far is very 

 encouraging, and Mrs. L. is buoyant with hope and 

 a bright future. I am cognizant of the fact, that 

 bee fever ia contagious; for I am almost persuaded 

 to don the veil and gauntlets. Should I do so, shall 

 I inform you of my success? A. A. Lowe. 



Hawkinsville, Ga., March 9, 1883. 



I am sure, friend Lowe, I feel greatly hon- 

 ored, and you can tell your good wife that 

 our girls here in the office came pretty near 

 deciding, last year, that there wasn't a man 

 down South, or up North either, who could 

 put up queens so as to go as nicely as those 

 she sent us. So, now, if you go into the 

 business you will need to take a low seat and 

 prove a willing and obedient pupil. 



POLLEN, DIFFERENT COLORS IN EARLY SPRING. 



I have 4 hives; 3 of them have been bringing in 

 pollen ever since the first of February. Where do 

 they get it this time of the year? It was dark green 

 and black at first; now it is yellow. 



Mrs. S. a. Chancellor. 



Parkersburg, Wood Co., W. Va., March 11, 1883. 



The dark green, I should say, was from 

 alders, and the yellow from soft-maples ; 

 but I can not say where they sliould get 

 black pollen, unless they are gathering some 

 foreign substance in lieu of pollen. If I am 

 correct, we have had cases reported of pollen 

 from coal dust, and even black earth, where 

 a swamp had been burned off. Dark-green 

 pollen in the summer comes from red clover; 

 but where the variously colored pollens come 

 from, gathered in March and April, I can 

 not tell. Willow and soft-maples furnish 

 about all that I now think of. >Vho can tell 

 us more about itV 



HOW TO make bees. 



Why, friend Root, I did not mean to say that I 

 made those bees that gathered that honey out of 

 nothing but an extractor, postage-stamps, etc.; but 

 I do mean to say, that I raised the bees by hard 

 work that gathered that honey, and that made them 

 young stands of bees. I also raised 30 young queens, 

 which were, all but one, purely fertilized, and I have 

 but one in the yard that produces hybrid bees, and 

 that one I purchased from you (A. I. Root). I did 

 not charge the two old stands of bees, nor did I the 

 hives and combs; but just what money I paid out, 

 and I did not credit twelve frames of honey that I 

 had left after I had put the bees into winter quar- 

 ters—only what was sold and used by my family was 

 credited. My bees arc wintering well so far. Those 

 that were packed in chaff have done far the best; 

 have not lost one pint of bees to all 8 of the stands, 

 while those that were unpacked lost one-half of 

 their bees in number. They have gathered natural 

 pollen since the first day of March, and are raising 

 brood very ■nicely. George Colb. 



Frceport, Ind., March 7, 1882. 



Well, I declare, friend C, had I known it 

 was going to come out about my selling you 

 the only queen in your yard that turned out 

 a hybrid, I guess I wouldn't have said any 

 thing about your making bees with an ex- 

 tractor, postage-stamps, etc. Never mind ; 

 all is well that ends well, and you seem to be 

 on the right track now, anyhow. 



water for bees in winter. 



1 am giving my bees water daily in the bee-house, 

 with the most gratifying results. Any "doubting 

 Thomas" upon this subject can have an ocular dem- 

 onstration of the value of drink for bees in winter 

 quarters that will refute all argument, by coming to 

 my apiary any time before I set my bees out, which 

 will be some time in April, unless the weather 

 should be quite warm. H. K. Boardman. 



East Townsend, O., March 15, 1883. 



The great number of facts recently brought 

 to light on this matter seem to settle it oe- 

 yond question, that bees often suffer in the 

 cellar for want of water. Now, do they also 

 suffer for water when wintered outdoors? If 

 so, why do we not see them, during a rain, 

 out at the entrances, drinking up the rain? 

 Did anybody ever see them doing this? If, 



