18H2 



(CLEANINGS LH BEE CULTUKE. 



30?. 



and sokl quite a quantity of friend Wilkin's 

 California honey, and we know it to be both 

 good and wholesome. I feel pretty Avell sat- 

 islied the honey matter has a.i riglited itself 

 by this time, witliout costing: you any mon- 

 ey ; and if your trust is in God, friend A., 

 and you are striving, day by day, to liave 

 your'life right in his sight, the loss of the 

 money will come out all right too, for he has 

 given us the promise, all things shall work 

 together for good to thos-e who love him, 

 and that, too, in spite of all that evil men can 

 do. 



t m ■ ■ I ^ 



HOW MANV BKliS THKRE AUK IN 

 HAL.F A POUND, ETC. 



ALSO SOMETniNG ABOUT OUR TRIALS. 



^Ej*?JROM the post-mark on your card, I infer that 

 Jp you shipped my bees the first day of June. I 

 — ' received the card on the sixth daj', and the 

 bees at 4 o'clock on the 8th. The bees were all dead 

 except two workers. The cages were all in good or- 

 der, with plenty of food and water. The bees 

 showed signs of having been smothered. I live two 

 miles from town. Thinking I might possibly find a 

 live queen, I hurried home and emptied a c.^ge on a 

 cloth; but all were dead, and apparently much re- 

 duced in size. Then I wanted to see the queen. I 

 took a feather and shifted the bees repeatedly, but 

 failed to fiml her. Well, I must find the queens, 

 and here is a good chance of knowiughow many bees 

 there are in half a pound; and by counting them, I 

 shall be certain to find the queens. 



The first cage, instead of 1600, counted out 1938; 

 the other three cages each counted over 2000. But 

 the weight of bees depends much upon the amount 

 of honey they have in their sacks. Perhaps you 

 caged tbem before they ate their breakfast. I 

 found all the queens, Imt they were so drawn up, or 

 reduced in length, that they were hard to distin- 

 guish. I found but very few drones — not more 

 than ten. The express bill to Asheville was fl.20; 

 from Asheville to Waynesville, 25 cents. 



WtU, I am a little blue, and have been hesitating. 

 You know nothing about me, whether I am square 

 or crooked. But as you replace damages that occur 

 in transit, you will please duplicate my order. That 

 is, send me by express four selected tested queens, 

 with half-pound of bees with each queen. Be sure 

 you get them in cages large enough to avoid smoth- 

 ering, or else send fewer bees. In my business 

 transactions my rule is to try to keep square with 

 every man. Wm. FRA^'CIS, Sh. 



Waynesville, N. C. June If, 1882. 



It will be observed, that we estimate 1600 

 bees for a half-pound in our price list. In- 

 stead of leducing our price list this season 

 because bees were so plentiful, I have in- 

 structed the boys to give pretty good weight, 

 and this is likely why our friend found over 

 2000 to a cage on an average. It may be, 

 too, that this lot was sent out before they 

 had had their " breakfast," as he so pleas- 

 antly terms it. I am glad to know they over- 

 ran my estimate, any way ; for even if they 

 should be pretty well filled with lioney when 

 sent out. there would likely be the 1(300 any 

 Avay. l:i the above lot of four half-pound 

 packages, each one contained one of our 

 select tested queens. It seems we had got 



the food and water part all right, but they 

 died, as conjectured, for want of air. Such 

 a loss is enough to make one feel '' blue," 

 true enough. It may help some of the 

 friends who think our prices high, to see 

 why they must necessarily be so. If the 

 next lot, which we sent right after them, in 

 cages double the size, get through all right, 

 1 presume the money originally received 

 will pretty nearly cover ro.st of botii. IIow 

 do I know whether you are "square" or 

 "crooked," friend F.? Well, I know pret- 

 ty vvell by your kind letter. Besides, I do 

 not believe we have a man in our midst so 

 heartless as to wish to have us send another 

 lot for nothing, after seeing to how much 

 pains and expense we have been to in order 

 to have them go safely. 



-*-♦♦♦ -^ 



NEIV CANDIED HONEY. 



fHE bee-keepers all seem disposed to make a 

 sort of goi father (or mother) of j^ou, and, like 



— ■ children out at play, whenever they find a new 

 flower, or get a sliver in their finger, they run right 

 to mother as a matter of course. As you seem des- 

 tined to share all the "new flowers" and "slivers" 

 with your many readers and followers, why shouldn't 

 I trot in with mine? We have not lost a swarm of 

 lices in two years. We have 20 stands — are cutting 

 out all queen-cells, to prevent swarming; go through 

 once a week, and have had only one swarm. They 

 are all working nicely in sections, and promise a 

 big crop. But a thing happened lately, which, to 

 us, is strange. AVe would go through and cut out 

 queen cells, and then in a week do the same thing 

 again; and for two or three weeks wo would find 

 new comb filled with candied honey. This is my 

 "new flower." Do you allow your bees to act so, or 

 is it common? One hive, where we could not get 

 sections in top so soon as we ought, had in six days 

 built up a pyramid as white as snow on the honey- 

 board. It was beautiful, and all the central part of 

 the combs was filled with candied honey, and the 

 outer portions were fast becoming so. We found 



candled honey in new comb in many of the hives. 



STICKS AND WIRES FOR TRANSFERRING. 



Last year we cid a good deal of transferring from 

 box hives to frames, and I think we found a better 

 way than anyl have seen mentioned in Gleanings; 

 viz., to fasten the comb into the frames. We got 

 our split sticks all ready — right length, etc., as you 

 direct for tying with strings. But we use fine an- 

 nealed wire. Before going to work we cut the wire 

 into three-inch pieces; then we take half the sticks 

 and fasten a wire to each end of the sticks. Then 

 we go to work laying the wired sticks under the 

 frames, slip in the combs, lay on the unwired stick, 

 take the loose end of wire, and just give a turn or 

 or two around the top stick, and the work is done. 

 No knots, no trouble. In a few days you unwind 

 the wire from the top sticks and fake all off, leaving 

 the sticks all wired and ready to be used again. The 

 same wires, being soft and pliable, can be used a 

 number of times without being taken from bottom 

 sticks. 



THE RUIiBER PLATES FOR STARTERS. 



The little rubber plates we got of you to make our 

 foundation, work first rate; but we were nearly dis- 

 couraged before we learned how to manage it. I 



