606 



GLEANINGS IN liEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



\ad§ €'jj> Smm. 



From Different Fields. 



EXCESSIVE SWARMING, AND CURING BY MAKING 

 THEM QUEENLESS. 



¥)0U hit the nail on the heart when you say to 

 friend E. E. Hasty, "Why not make swarms 

 — queealess?" I have hart some little experi- 

 ence in this swarming mania. In 1881 1 hart one 

 swarm in particular that I hivert 6 dififorent times, 

 and I tried every plan that I ever saw recommended 

 In bee culture, but they all failed to keep the bees 

 in the hives. This one hive annoyed me so much 

 that I really got aggravatert at them, for I think 

 they were fully one-fourth of their time in the air 

 for three rtays; so the fifth time they came out I got 

 a clean new hive and put them in and set them in a 

 nice shade. Says I, " Now come out again, and I 

 will surely fcill your queen." I had not more than 

 turned around when they were out again in the air. 

 Soon they settled on a maple-tree about 40 feet from 

 the ground. I got them down in a box, and caught 

 the queen and pinched off her head. Then I carried 

 the bees back to the parent hive, and threw them 

 down at the entrance. They soon went in and re- 

 mained quiet the rest of the year. Now, don't un- 

 derstand me that I like to kill queens; but what is 

 one to do when they will not be quiet in any place? 

 I don't think I should like to sell them, and I know 

 I shouldn't like to buy one of that kind, if 1 know it. 



PUNK FOR SMOKER FUEL. 



Friend Root, will you allow me to correct you in 

 saying that the so-called toadstool is punk? I think 

 there is quite a difference. What we call punk is 

 never formed on the outside of logs or trees, but is 

 found inside of trees or logs. This punk is never 

 formed in dry timber, but in its green state; this 

 punk is found in knots on soft maple and hickory, 

 but not very often in the latter. I take the liberty 

 of senrting you a sample to-day by mail. This is the 

 kind our forefathers used in place of matches. Try 

 a sample in your smoker, and sec how you like it. 



FROM 5 TO 9, AND 375 LBS. OF HONEY. 



I would just say, that I have been badly excited 

 over bee culture for three years, and have not got 

 any better yet. I must tell you what I have done 

 this year with my bees. From 5 stands I got 375 lbs. 

 of nice honey, and increased to 9, which I feel thank- 

 ful for. George Thorn. 



Willmottis, W. Va., Nov. 11, 1882. 



I fear you killed the queen, friend T., be- 

 cause you were a little vexed, did you not? 

 "Well, now, I would just as soon have that 

 queen as any other, for I think it was just 

 as much the fault of the bees as her own ; 

 but of course they could not swarm out 

 any more, without a queen of some kind. 

 Why not cage her a few days, or let her lay 

 eggs in some weak nucleus?— Very likely 

 you are right about the pimk. The sample 

 you sent reminds me of what I used to see 

 in childhood. It does not, however, differ 

 very much from the kind that grows on the 

 outside of trees, only that it seems to be 

 softer and of a finer texture. It lights with 

 the least spark, and never goes out, even 

 without any draft, so I suppose it would 

 have one excellent qualification for smoker 

 fuel. I presume the difficulty of getting an 



adequate supply will be the greatest objec- 

 tion to its general use.— I am glad to know 

 your excitement over the bee business prom- 

 ises to bear such good fruit. 



buckwheat; WHAT IT MAY DO WHEN ALL ELSE 

 FAILS. 



My bees came through the winter in fair condition; 

 but the cold, wet spring was very hard on the bees. 

 Mine dwindled until the middle of May. There was 

 only a part of three days in April when bees could 

 fly. May 9th was nice and warm, and the bees work- 

 ed well and made quite a gain in honey. Cold rainy 

 weather followed, and bees did very little in fruit- 

 blossoms. I had to feed continually until July 6th. 

 By this time I had fed up all the honey I had saved 

 over, and 50 lbs. of sugar; the 6th I bought a barrel 

 of sugar, and on the 7th the bees brought in a small 

 amount of dark honey, and continued until the 16th, 

 when they stopped work. By equalizing, they all 

 had enough to last them until buckwheat, though I 

 continued stimulative feeding until Aug. 13th, when 

 buckwheat commenced to yield honey, and in a few 

 days some swarms were in the boxes. From the 20th 

 to the 26th I was confined to the house by sickness. 

 Sept. 8th we had a heavy rain, and the bees stopped 

 work for the season on buckwheat, though the fields 

 were white with the blossoms for 2 or 3 weeks; 17th, 

 commenced storing on aster; with the 20th came 

 another rain, and the honey season of 1882 was over. 



I started with 23 poor to good swarms, and obtain- 

 ed box honey, buckwheat, 1050 lbs. ; box honey, aster, 

 160 lbs.; extracted honey, 50 lbs. Total, 1260 lbs. An 

 average of 5i?ii lbs. From 11 nuclei, 121 lbs. Italian 

 average, 8i lbs.; blacks, average, 19 lbs. 15 oz. Hy- 

 brids, 34 lbs. 14 oz. Nuclei average, 11. I also had 11 

 very weak nuclei that I raised queens with. I have 

 built them up into good stocks; had one natural 

 swarm; have 35 stocks in good condition for winter. 

 This has been a very hard year for bees; it was only 

 by the best of care that I was able to make as good 

 a report as this. John B. Case. 



Baptisttown, N. J., Nov., 1882. 



BEES ABJCONDING BY MOONLIGHT. 



I am informed by Mrs. Dr. Kirk, of Grand Biver, 

 Ind. Ter., that she and her husband had a swarm of 

 black bees decamp by moonlight in July last. It was 

 a very large swarm, but there was nothing unusual 

 in its deportment while on the wing or in the clus- 

 ter. About dark, Mrs. K. removed the hive to the 

 location at which she wished the new colony to es- 

 tablish itself, and between 9 and 10 o'clock that 

 night it absconded. My informant is matron of the 

 Wyandotte (Indian) Boarding School, at Grand River. 

 She is an educated. Christian lady, and the United 

 States can't impeach her testimony. Who else has 

 had a whole swarm of bees fly away at night? 



W. McKay Dougan. 



Seneca, Newton Co., Mo., Nov., 1882. 



Many thanks for the item, friend D. It 

 has been reported that bees have been 

 known to work on basswood by bright 

 moonlight, but never before, that I know of, 

 of their swarming. 1 have often thought, 

 that, during extremely warm light nights, 

 that bees might be taught to rob. In fact, 

 I have seen them when they acted strongly 

 inclined to rob ; for you know my favorite 

 way of doing necessary work in the apiary, 

 during a severe drought, is to do it by moon- 

 light, and laugh at the trick played on mis- 



