1882 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUSE. 



511 



in with. The first frame I took out I saw four or 

 Ave queeu-cells, which made me think that the queen 

 g-ot lost in transferring. I then gave them a frame 

 containing some unsealed brood and honey. A few 

 days after, I passed the hive and saw the ground 

 covered with bees — some dead, and others nearly 

 so. They looked like bees dying from starvation and 

 the heat. There was plenty of honey in their hive. 

 At the same time, my little girl told me that there 

 was another swarm in the same fix. I went thei-e, 

 and. sure enough, about half the swarm was on the 

 ground, and the hive was full of honey. Now, 

 what do you think ails the bees? They surely can 

 not have the dysentery in the middle of summer, 

 and at such a favorable time as the present. 



There has been a continued flow of honey, from 

 the middle of April till now, and there was no rob- 

 bing, nor any thing else that I could see, which 

 could have caused the trouble. 



I have sown the Simpson and spider plant seed 

 you sent me, and it is blooming nicely, and both 

 have honey on them; but the bees won't notice the 

 spider plant, while they can be seen on the Simpson 

 plants all day. F. 1{. Lkife.ste. 



Msson, Texas, Aug. H, 1882. 



From tlie above description, I can think 

 of no other reason tlian that they have gath- 

 ered something poisonous. It can hardly 

 be that they have got hold of fly poison, 

 Paris green, or any thing of that kind, for it 

 would be a hard matter to get bees to notice 

 any artificial sweets during a continuous 

 and heavy yield of honey. It is this yield of 

 honey that prevents them from noticing the 

 spider plants, together with the fact that 

 there are so few of them. If you had half 

 an acre, you would hear a humming, I can 

 tell you. 



MATCH-BOX FOR SMOKEK. 



Smoker is all right, and does good work; but I 

 would suggest that you fasten a match-box on its 

 deck, so you can have matches always ready. 



Geo. Gould. 



Mill Ridge, Pulaski Co., III., Sept. 5, 1882. 



In many respects, a match-box attached 

 to a smoker would seem to be a good thing, 

 friend G.; but so far we have never succeed- 

 ed in producing any thing that was not so 

 cumbrous as to be rather a hindrance, and 

 so we have adopted the plan of having the 

 matches kept with the rotten wood. \Vhen- 

 ever you go for fuel to replenish your 

 smoker, there is where you want your 

 matches. 



GEO. r. AVILLI.4MS' ST.\Nt) B^OH .SELLING EXTRACTED 

 HONEY. 



At your request I send you to-day by express a 

 honey-stand, such as I use for retailing extracted 

 honey from. It will speak for itself, if you will till 

 half a dozen each of pint jars, one-pound, and one- 

 half pound tumblers, with nice honey and after 

 labeling with your finest labels, place them on it. 

 The pint jars on lower shelf, 1-lb. tumblers on second 

 shelf, and the '/2-lb. on upper shelf. You may now 

 set it on your counter, step back several feet, and 

 tell us what j'ou think. Geo. F. Williams. 



New Philadelphia, Ohio, Sept. 7, 1882. 



The stand alluded to above is the one re- 

 ferred to on p. 46!J, Sept. Xo., and also shown 

 by friend Merrybanks, in the Sept. Juve- 



xiLE. I have credited friend Williams with 

 §■1.00 for the idea, and I am inclined to think 

 we owe him a vote of thanks besides. VV' e 

 will furnish such stands complete, lettered 

 and varnished, for .'?1. 00, or for 75 cents in 

 lots of 10. The same in the flat for 60c, or in 

 lots of ten, 50 cents. 



OME QUESTIONS ABOUT SPRING FEEDING. 



I should like to have the following questions 

 answered and discussed in Gleanings :— 



1. Does it pay to feed bees in spring rcniilavhj 

 every daj', as other stock is fed? 



I think it unquestionably pays to feed in 

 the spring, unless the stock has an abund- 

 ance of sealed stores, in which case a daily 

 feed of water would probably do as well. 



2. What quantity of thinned honey per day would 

 be most advisahlc and pmfitahlel Would your 14- 

 pound glass for extracted honey hold enough for a 

 daihj feed! 



I should say, the J-lb. honey-tumbler full, 

 would be just the thing. 



3. Could you furnish them with the cover made 

 of perforated tin, to allow the bees to take the 

 thinned honey, and at what price per 100? 



The only way to get perforated covers 

 would be to perforate the ordinary covers ; 

 and if you wish us to do it, we would have 

 to charge about I cent each additional. 



4. How much should the honey be thinned for 

 such feeding? 



I would suggest making the honey half 

 water, or a syrup of sugar of about the same 

 sweetness. 



5. At what time in the spring would it be advisa- 

 ble to begin feeding in this northern latitude, and 

 how long would it be profitable to continue feeding? 



It depends upon the weather. I would 

 suggest, just as soon as they fly out freely. 



This season has been an unusually wet and cold 

 one; and while I managed to have always sufficient 

 sealed honey in the hives to prevent starvation, my 

 bees were weaker the end of May than when let out 

 from collar April 15th. The bees were compelled to 

 fly out to get water t ^ thin the sealed honey, and 

 got chilled btforo they were able to return, and the 

 loss of bees so chilled, offset the increase. I think 

 the \'« lb. glass mentioned before could be easily 

 filled, and caeh day slipped under the corner of the 

 enameled cloth and chaff cushion over the bees, 

 without any escape of heat. Charles H. Grote. 



Mauston, Juneau Co., Wis., Sept. 16, 1882. 



I think I would turn back the corner of 

 the mat, and put the tumbler over the space 

 tims left uncovered, and then cover all with 

 the chaff cushion. Filling such a tumbler 

 every day with a large number of hives is a 

 pretty expensive business, if kept up say a 

 month or six weeks — expensive in the time 

 it takes, I mean. 



another drone-trap. 

 Have a few bottom-boards made of I'/^-inch lum- 

 ber, 6 inches longer than the hive, and nailed to bat- 

 tens 2x4, the same distance apart as the hive is long, 

 so it will rest on the same bricks as the regulars. 

 Cut a channel 8 inches wide, tapering from nothing 

 to ■;'i in. deep at the end, and (i in. long. Replace the 

 regular bottom with this, and slip the hive forward 

 until the entrance is right for workers, and too 



