248 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



fact, that bees take it better than oats or 

 rye, it might be well to offer it for sale. Who 

 will tell us what it is worth? — I should 

 much like to see that railroad apiary. 



CATALPA. 



In speaking of catalpa, you forgot to state that, 

 in the long hot days when there is nothing else, the 

 under side of its leaves furnish lots of honey for 

 weeks in little wells, much like those you tell of in 

 Simpson, and like the honey-holes at the base of pet- 

 als in cotton bloom. 



STING IN THE EYELID; HOW TO GET IT OUT. 



Dwighi Beldiii, of this place, was stung in the eyelid ; 

 and after going into the house, the empty sack and 

 a portion of the sting were taken off, but the face 

 and cheek swelled awfully, and turned black and 

 red, 80 that for a day or two you or his best friends 

 would not know him. His eye was badly inflamed, 

 and evidently had something in it like sand. After 

 many examinations, the sting was taken out from 

 the inside of the lid, covered with matter. All right 

 now. 



We have had swarms all along since April 1st, but 

 the last five days Ave had a cold wave, and they have 

 been silent, young queens and larvas thrown to the 

 entrance, etc. Fortunately, it being cloudy all the 

 time, we have escaped frost, and a great crop of 

 fruit and mast is in prospect. 



QUEENS' VOICES. 



I heal'd four distinct voices of piping queens in 

 one hive the last four days; now the 16th day since 

 that hive swarmed. A. W. Bryan. 



Hot Springs, Ark., April 15, 1882. 



True, friend B., I had forgotten that hon- 

 ey was reported from the leaves of the ca- 

 talpa, last season. I do not think, however, 

 we can depend on this, for it is a sort of 

 freak of nature, and may occur with almost 

 any other thrifty plant, when the conditions 

 are just right. If it really is a common oc- 

 currence, we should be glad to hear of it. — 

 A sting in the eyelid may often be drawn 

 through from the under side of the lid as 

 you suggest. 



DRONES ALL WINTER. 



Do bees keep their drones all winter? A friend of 

 mine has a box hive of black bees which was tipped 

 over twice last winter by the cows. He bought them 

 about the first of March, and moved them 25 miles 

 in a lumber wagon. When he got them home there 

 were drones in the hive, and they are there still. 



J. R. Brush. 



North Hampden, Delaware Co., N. Y., April 17, 1882. 



It is very unusual for drones to be found 

 in a hive all winter, unless the queen is a 

 drone-layer, and then we should hardly ex- 

 pect a strong colony. I have been told that 

 powerful colonies sometimes have a few 

 drones all winter, but I do not think I have 

 ever seen any such ; that is, with natural 

 drones, in the normal condition. Perhaps 

 the cows may have stirred them up to un- 

 usnaJ activity, and, following out this line, 

 who knows but that a few more cows might: 

 have helped them to rinse queens, and swarm 

 in the winter? Any way, the tumbliug- 

 down and 25 miles in a lumber wagon, seems 

 to have had an opposite eifect from that 

 narrated by our poetical friend on another 

 page. 



QUEENS, ETC. 



Bees put in cellar Nov. 18, 1881, 40 good colonies, 7 

 nuclei in fair condition; took out, on 28th of March, 

 188.!, 47 queens, all in as good shape as last fall; tem- 

 perature 40° to 48°. I never did better. The man 

 who does not raise his dollar queens as well as the 

 tested ones, ought not to be patronized. I think it 

 is prejudice or foolishness when a man will say that 

 dollar queens are a damage. The tested queens, as 

 ordinarly sent, do not amount to much; they are 

 tested only for the stripe. To know whether she is 

 worth anything, she has to be kept nearly one whole 

 season. The man who will cheat in the dollar 

 queens, will in the tested. V. W. Keeney. 



ghirland, HI., April 4, 1883. 



F^GWORT ROOTS. 



Will Simpson plants grow that come up from the 

 roots, when divided so as to make eeveral hills out 

 of one by transplanting them ? Is it best to thin 

 them down to one stalk in a hill? They have come 

 up from the root from 4 to 8 in a hill. My object in 

 getting the seed is to plant in every vacant fence- 

 corner around my little 16-acre farm. What do you 

 think of the idea? W. Dickerson. 



Ladoga, Mont. Co., Ind., April 8, 1882. 



You can divide the roots of a plant one or 

 more years old as much as you please, and 

 every root wall grow, almost as surely as a 

 potato when divided. We let every slalk in 

 the hill grow, but very likely you would get 

 a larger growth, and larger blossoms, by 

 thinning out to only one. We find they do 

 much better on sandy soils than on clay ; 

 and cultivation makes a vast difference. 

 Cultivate exactly as you would corn, and 

 keep down the weeds until they cover the 

 ground. 



fertile workers, etc. 

 You ask for some one to give his experience in 

 worker bees laying drone eggs. I want to say, that 

 my experience is, that workers can not lay any oth- 

 er kind of eggs than drone eggs, and they ai'e not 

 particular about laying in drone and worker comb. 

 I once was so busy about my other domestic affairs 

 in the spring, that I did not look after my bees very 

 early; so, when I did look, I found one stand whose 

 queen was dead. I also saw eggs and young bees in 

 almost all stages. I supposed that they would raise 

 a queen, and I did not look after them for quite a 

 while. So, behold, when I did look, there was not a 

 worker bee to be found, but I had about '/^ gallon of 

 drones, and the comb, both worker and drone, was 

 full of drones, some hatching, and some just capped ; 

 and those in worker comb had heads )4, of an inch 

 above the surface of the comb. This led me to 

 think that a worker could not lay any thing but 

 drones ; yet that doesn't correspond with Mr. Lane's 

 experience. This is my first for Gleanings. I have 

 kept bees for several years, but without much prof- 

 it. I have not time to attend to them. I now have 

 20 stands, and I will give them to any good practical 

 bee-keeper for half of the proceeds and increase. 



G. W. SUESBERY. 



Steele's Mills, 111., April 14, 1882. 



You misapprehend, friend S. It was in 

 regard to worker eggs laid by the queen, 

 and afterward turned into drones by the 

 bees themselves, that friend Lane and I 

 were speaking of, on page 173. Your case is 

 a common one of fertile workers, but you 



