1882 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



301 



way of swarming? The queen was a pure Italian, 

 correctly mated; workers, dark leather-colored. At 

 times they can use their stings pretty well. 



G. W. White. 

 Hickory Grove, Crawford Co., Ga., May 9, 1883. 



Friend AV'., you can say as did the man 

 whose pig went through a window, tliat he 

 liad got his dimensions, any way, and you 

 have done better than tliat, for you have got 

 a lot of queen-cells from that queen that 

 gets around so fast. If they left a fair colo- 

 ny with combs full of brood, they certainly 

 did extra. 



DRONE FOUNDATION, ETC. 



I have a large lot of honey ready for market, and 

 the demand at home is better than ever before. I 

 can sell extracted at 15c, and comb at 20. I have ex- 

 tracted from some of my best colonies, during pop- 

 lar bloom, 100 lbs. per colony, and as much as 75 lbs. 

 comb. I don't like your drone fdn. for sections, or 

 in large frames for storing honey either, friend 

 Root; the queen invariably occupies the combs. 

 Hybrid bees are ahead of any thing so far this sea- 

 son in gathering honey; but, oh how they sting! 



Forsyth, Ga., May 17, 18S2. F. N. Wilder. 



I presume there will always be this objec- 

 tion to drone fdn., even though the bees do 

 build it out and store honej[ in it faster than 

 in worker comb. If there is no drone comb 

 in the hive, the queen is very apt to seek for 

 it in the section boxes. What has been the 

 experience of others in this matter? 



THE RUBBER PLATES; A NEW WAY OF USING. 



I have rigged my rubber Idn. plates to press by 

 foot, so as to have my hands free to handle the fdn. 

 I sit in a chair, with a dish of water just hot enough 

 to ketp the strips of wax limpid; keep afewof them 

 floating on it, ready to press. I do not know how 

 others work with the plates, but I succeed first rate 

 as above. Geo. H. Patch. 



Stevens Point, Wis., May 1, 1882. 



Our friend, it will be observed, has been 

 using the rubber plates like a Given press, 

 and, to make such soft yielding material 

 take an impression, the wax sheets are 

 warmed by hot water until very soft. Now 

 the point is, that this supplies the missing 

 link needed to make wired frames with the 

 rubber plates. The only trouble I appre- 

 hend, is in keeping the wax sheets so soft 

 as to be readily impressed by rubber, and 

 yet not come to pieces in handling. The 

 plain sheets will likely need to be of pretty 

 good, thickness, to get nice walls on both 

 sides. 



DO BEES KEEP DRONES ALL WINTER? 



Yes. The first of last April, while examining a 

 strong colony, a last year's swarm, I was obliged to 

 shake some of the bees from the combs, in front of 

 the hive, in order to accomplish a thorough investi- 

 gation of the brood-nest. While the bees were re- 

 turning from the hive, I improved the opportunity 

 to examine them through a magnifying-glass. They 

 displayed that glistening appearance of perfect 

 health so satisfactory to the eye of the bee-keeper 

 in early spring. Among the bees were three drones 

 — real, veritable, lumbering drones. But they did 

 not bear the marks of that youthful health so prom- 

 inent in the appearance of their surrounding com- 

 panions. Their color was somewhat faded, with 



general indications of old age otherwise. That in- 

 stance was my first experience in finding old drones 

 in my hives in the spring, before brood had begun 

 to hatch. The cotvs hadn't been meddling with the 

 hives, cither. J. F. Latham. 



Cumberland, Me., May 8, 1883. 



ENEMIES OF DEES; THE ENGLISH SPARROWS. 



They are playing hob with my bees just at pres- 

 ent; they come down in front of the hives, and pick 

 the bees oil' the alighting-board as they come in with 

 new honey, and feed their young birds with them. 

 Now, I don't mean I saw one bee go that way, but I 

 have seen at least 50 go in a verj' short time — say 

 one hour and a half. To what extent they catch 

 them other ways, such as on the wing or on the blos- 

 soms, I can't say. Now for the point. I think it 

 was my own fault in cultivating a taste for the bees 

 in the sparrows, by the following: When I trans- 

 ferred the combs to the wired frames, of course I 

 destroyed quite a little capped brood; and the next 

 morning, after the bees had cleaned up house, of 

 course there were a good many dead bees in the 

 white state lying around the entrances, and thus 

 the sparrows started on them, and when they were 

 all gone they tried the live ones; and, from all ap- 

 pearances, liked them, to my sorrow. Although the 

 sparrows are fed every morning with soaked bread, 

 they will let it lie all day, evidently having a prefer- 

 ence for bees. The bees will, once in a while, drive 

 the sparrows away, but thej' are too smart for the 

 bees. If the sparrows get hold of a bee that has pol- 

 len, or one that has not much honey, they bite him 

 and throw him aside, and pick up another. 



Moral, do not let any bees in the worm state lie 

 around the hives. Beeler, Jr. 



Philadelphia, Pa., May, 188i. 



1 am sure we are much obliged to you, 

 friend 13., but I am inclined to think this a 

 rather exceptional case. I have watched the 

 English sparrows around here, and have 

 never seen them go near our hives, although 

 a sort of swallow does, sometimes. All these 

 reports seem to indicate that a great variety 

 of birds and reptiles may at times learn to 

 devour bees. For instance, in the past years 

 we have had reported toads, frogs, skiinks, 

 snakes, king-birds, martins, swallows, and 

 even common fowls, where they had acci- 

 dentally learned it as you taught the I]nglish 

 sparrows. Before waging war on the latter, 

 it might be well to inquire if others have 

 ever noticed them eating bees. 



ON THE BOOM. 



I have 53 hives in fine fix; in fact, they are on a 

 boom. I took lOii gallons yesterday, and will take 

 much more next week. Poplar is now at its height, 

 and the honey flow is splendid. Can you And us a 

 market for ten or twenty barrels of honey? I have 

 never had any loss. I sold 95 colonies last year; 

 shipped to Indiana. The trade in bees is growing 

 here for bees to ship north. I should like to have an 

 order for 100 colonies; and if you know any such, 

 direct them tome. I can give you good reference. 

 T. W. Hargroves. 



Buford's Station, Giles Co., Tenn., May 7, 1883. 



Bees are on the boom everywhere, friend 

 11., where they are owned by a live bee- 

 keeper. Tell us what you want per lb. for 

 your honey, and we will put it in the Honey 

 Column. 



