542 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Nov. 



HOL.Y-Ii\NI) SEKS, ETC. 



A GOOD REPORT FROM THEM. 



THOUGHT I would like to say a few words in 

 favor of Holy-Land bees. You may remember 

 when you first advertised Cypriii'i and Holy- 

 Land queens, I ordered 4 Cyprians and one Holy- 

 Land. I have both swarms yet, but think the Cypri- 

 an has changed its queen; but the Holy-Land seems 

 to be the same, having a moldy look on the under 

 side of the workers, and they are very gentle. I got 

 her, I think, in the fall of 18S0. During the year 

 1881 they were very strong in numbers, but did not 

 swarm; but this I can say of them: Out of 34 stocks 

 all told, old and young, they gave me more honey 

 than all the rest together. It was so exceedingly 

 dry here that only four besides them wintered with- 

 out feeding. But this year it gave me 3 swarms, all 

 small, the old queen leading the smallest; the sec- 

 ond being a little larger, and the third some larger 

 yet. The old, or parent hive, and first two swarms 

 are in the sections, and the third I put on sections 

 this morning. True, I fed some 5 lbs. of sugar to 

 each in July; but this I did to all others that needed 

 it in order to keep up their strength. 1 forgot to 

 say, that I captured from the second swarm an ex- 

 tra queen, which I introduced in her virgin state to 

 a very small black swarm, and now they are ready 

 to go into sections. I consider this a fair record for 

 that Holy-Land queen and her progeny. I will also 

 add, that I wintered the old stock in chaff hive on 

 summer stand. All my others, with the exception 

 of Cyprians, were on summer stands, without pro- 

 tection, and yet I lost onlj- one out of 34, and that 

 was queenless. I united this early in the spring 

 with another stock. 



The summer was very dry till after buckwheat 

 c.ime up, and even now the rains are very moder- 

 ate, but the honey is coming. 



FEEDING BEFORE INTRODUCING. 



I have had better luck in introducing during a 

 scarcity of honey than I ever had, which I attribute 

 to liberal feeding, and introducing a few days after. 



A. W. LUNDY. 



Frerchtown, N. J., Sept. 9, 1882. 



COMB BUILT IN WIDE FRAMES FOR 

 USE IN THE EXTRACTOR. 



13 LBS. TO THE COMB. 



5^^011 wish to hear from those who have tried 

 W thick combs for extracting, so I will give in 

 — ' my experience, as I think it may benefit some 

 who may intend trying them. It has been slow work 

 getting them, with me. The queen takes possession 

 before the bees can complete the work of building 

 them out thick enough to exclude her. When the 

 combs are once occupied by brood, the queen keeps 

 possession, and of course there is no more lengthen- 

 ing of cells. I think we shall have to use a piece of 

 perforated tin between the brood and the honey 

 apartment. I have combs enough for about 20 chaff 

 hives, thick enough to exclude the qvieen, but I have 

 been two ceasons getting them. I like them, but 

 think I should prefer a smaller frame, on account of 

 the weight. Some of my Langstroth frames with 

 thick combs weighed 13 lbs. when filled and capped. 

 The wide frame for sections are too wide. I have 

 used some, but like a frame VA in. wide better. 

 ThecDmbs should be built out thicker than the 



frame, for uncapping handily, and the screen in the 

 extractor does not sustain the comb unless it ex- 

 tends beyond the wood. You can not get a comb 

 thicker than two inches in j'our extractor. I tried 

 separators made by fastening thin pieces of wood, 

 sawed from 'Ji lumber, in the center of a frame. I 

 left spaces of about }i in. between the pieces, so I 

 had a perforated wooden separator Ye in. thick. 

 This worked well in three hives that I tried, but may 

 not always work as well. There was nothing to hin- 

 der the queen from taking possession, but perhaps 

 she disliked so much wood in her nest. 



Is there any serious objection to using a sheet of 

 perforated tin between upper and lower frames to 

 keep the queen below? and is there any difficulty in 

 accomplishing the desired results? Of course, I 

 would not use them after I had got my thick combs. 



J. K. COLTON. 



Waverly, Bremer Co., la., Oct. 15, 1882. 



Many thanks, friend C, for your full and 

 valuable report. The perforated zinc we 

 have been selling for the last year, friend 

 D. A. Jones informs us works nicely to keep 

 the queen below when working for either 

 section or extracted honey, and it also does 

 away with all the trouble of having the bees 

 build the upper and lower combs together. 

 I think combs 13 lbs. in weight would be 

 about what I should want, because it would 

 " get along so fast." 



Or liCtters from Tliose Who baTe Made 

 Bee Culture a Failure. 



MlARLY in the spring my little daughter prom- 

 I ised to r 



report to you how much honey wc got 



' from the " Branch Apiary." How bright were 

 our prospects then! Seven colonies in new chaff 

 hives, all in good condition in a white-clover, bass- 

 wood, and buckwheat region. Why, we expected 

 ere this to be '■^bloated bond-holders ;" but here we are 

 in Blasted Hopes. We have the meager report of 

 about 300 lbs. comb honey, and increase of colonies 

 to 14 stocks, all in apparent good condition for win- 

 ter, plenty of sealed honey, without feeding a single 

 pound of sugar. But what is that compared with 

 B.F. Carroll's report, and others'? And yet with it 

 all we would say to', all our sisters who wish work 

 for both head and hands, keep bees of your own, if 

 you can; if not, hire for a season with some good 

 bee-keeper, even if the compensation be small; and 

 if you are a faithful and obliging assistant, your em- 

 ployers may (as mine have done), in addition to your 

 wages, present you with a fine colony as a "starter" 

 in the business. Mrs. Bell L. Duncan. 



Black Lick, Indiana Co., Pa., Oct. 16, 1882. 



Why, my friend, from 7 colonies to 14, and 

 300 lbs. of honey, isn't Blasted Hopes at all ; 

 but as no one has before applied for space 

 here, we have put your letter in. Come, 

 boys, can't some of you beat the ladies in 

 this line, and send us a real genuine letter 

 fit for Blasted Hopes? Where is your gal- 

 lantry? Hurrah! here is friend Fierce al- 

 ready. See: — 



Not a pound of surplus honey; I shall have to feed 

 500 lbs. of sugar. J. H. Pierce. 



Dayton, O., Sept. 25, 18S2. 



