1882 



GLEAI^INGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



293 



but no sun. I would not start the operation sooner 

 than January nor later than March. Now get your 

 cuttings ready, which should he all nice straight 

 growth, and cut them in lengths of one inch or 

 more, as you please, and insert them one inch apart 

 each way in the sand, and about one inch deep. 

 Keep these always well watered, never letting them 

 get dry, or you will be sure to lose a good many, if 

 not all. Now plunge a thermometer into the sand 

 among the cuttings, and see to it so the tempera- 

 ture never gets above 70°; from 60° to 70° is right — 

 the temperature of the house to be from 50° to 60°, 

 never letting it exceed 00°; the neare?- you keep it 

 at the above temperatuie, the surer will be your 

 success; for it depends more on this than any thing 

 else. After your cuttings are rooted, which will be 

 in about 25 or 30 days, plant them in boxes 3 inches 

 apart (shallow boxes about 3 inches deep), and set in 

 cold frames; keep temperature in cold frame about 

 40° to 50° at night, and 50° to 60° by day, with plenty 

 of ventilation to keep them from budding out. 

 About the latter part of March or so, according to 

 season and time the cuttings were made, plant them 

 in rows outside, and hoe and keep clear of weeds. 

 In this way I have made cuttings of new grapevines, 

 roses, shrubs, and, in fact, all kinds of plants that I 

 wanted to increase largely and successfully. 



Fr. Holtke. 

 Carlstadt, Bergen Co., N. J., May, 1883. 



There is no question but that it is of the 

 greatest importance that some of our boys 

 and girls set about raising basswoods at 

 once. The way in which the section busi- 

 ness is taking otf the basswood timber 

 threatens to deprive us of this great honey 

 source, unless new forests are started at 

 once. The demand for little trees is already 

 beyond the supply, at moderate prices, and I 

 know of no better or surer investment than 

 a million of good strong little basswoods. 

 Friend Morris, who had a pretty la,rge lot, 

 has recently informed us that they are all 

 gone. Trees raised in the nursery, and 

 strongly rooted by cultivation, I think much 

 preferable to average crooked gnarly trees 

 pulled from the forests ; and by the plan of 

 raising from cuttings which friend II. has 

 given us above, we may have stock from the 

 trees that bear the largest quantity of honey, 

 just as well as any other. Who will set 

 about itV 



Or Letters from Those Who have Made 

 Bee Culture a Failure. 



WENT into the winter of 1880-'81 with 16 swarms. 

 I got through with 11, very weak. They did 

 well until the middle of June, and had become 

 quite strong, when that terrible drought, with the 

 more terrible chinch bugs set in. Our ci'ops were a 

 complete failure; thousands of farmers in Southern 

 Illinois did not raise any thing, either provisions for 

 their families, or provender for stock. The bees 

 suddenly killed off their drones, and barely lived 

 until fall, when the How of honey was better. I did 

 not get a pound of honey or a swarm of bees last 

 year. I got through last winter with nine swarms; 

 lost two. John Judd. 



Palo Alto, 111., March 30, 1883. 



FRIEND FRADENBURQ'S "DOWNS AND UPS." 



Here I am again, after a year's silence. I have not 

 been dead, but sleeping, as far as bee-keeping is con- 

 cerned; but to let you all know about my standing 

 with the bee-keeping fraternity, I must briefly go 

 back to the time of my initiation, and give the ups 

 and downs, or, I should put it, the downs and ups. 

 As for my share, it has been more downs than ups, 

 with bees. 



I started in 1876 with 1 stock; increased to 3; in 

 1877 increased to 5; got no honey. In 1878 I bought 

 25 stocks in box hives, making 30 in all. Increased 

 by natural swarming to 68; got some honey, but 

 not a large amount. In the winter of 1878-'79, I lost 

 all but 11, and they all weak. In 1879 I increased, by 

 buying and swarming, to 31; in the winter of 1879-'80 

 I lost 4; in 1880, increased to 57; got no honey; in 

 the winter of 1880-'81, you all remember it, I lost all 

 but 4, and they very weak. I was then practically 

 starved out —had no bees, no money to buy them 

 with, and nothing here to do. So I fixed the 4 nu- 

 clei that were left, as well as could be, and said they 

 must shift for themselves, as I was going to for my- 

 self, and took my carpenter tools and " lit out." 



About May 1st I came back once and made 3 

 swarms by dividing; came back again in the fall, 

 gave them some candy and packed them well in 

 chaff hives, and said, "Live or die as you will 

 through the winter." 



I came back again a week ago, and found the 

 whole 6 in good strong condition, plenty of brood, 

 but small stores; have since bought 10 more. You 

 see I have raised a stake, which makes me 16 all 

 good strong stocks. I never had better ones at this 

 time of year; 11 of them are pure Italians, 3 hybrids, 

 and 3 blacks, which I intend to run this season for 

 honey alone, or not let them more than double in 

 number of stocks. 



Friends have often said to me, "Don't invest any 

 more in bees; they are too uncertain;" but I can 

 not help thinking yet that they will be profitable, if 

 we can only keep them through hard winters; and 

 I believe that great problem is getting to be pretty 

 well solved. 



A. A. Fradenburq. 



Port Washington, O., May 15, 1883. 



There is surely a moral to your story, 

 friend F., and I think it is, to beware of too 

 rapid increase. My early experience at one 

 time was a good deal like yours, until I 

 stopped dividing and selling queens, and de- 

 clared I was going to raise only comb honey. 

 To do this, I of course made all stocks as 

 strong as possible, and, after the season was 

 over, liad nothing but rousing colonies, eve- 

 ry one of which it would seem could be di- 

 vided in the fall as well as not. I did not 

 divide them, however, but just let them 

 alone, and every one of them, or nearly 

 every one, wintered safely, and I made quite 

 a little money by selling strong stocks in the 

 spring, at a good round price. Now, just 

 keep them strong, or even powerful, at eve- 

 ry step, and you will be pretty sure to win- 

 ter, no matter how severe the weather is. 

 Come to think of it, your hopes don't seem 

 to be blasted after all ; but after the losses 

 you have had, it is almost a wonder they are 

 not. Our neighbor Shaw, too, once had just 

 such work as you do, but now he is an old 

 veteran in wintering. Now mind, my friend, 

 this summer you are going slow and sure, 

 and you are going to winter, too, all right. 



