1882 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



613 



I united two which were rather weak, and lost six 

 runaways, besides returning several at a time when 

 they would have had ample time to lay up their win- 

 ter stores. This I did because of disnppointment in 

 getting- hives. By good management I ought to 

 have had twenty fr»m two, and 1 think if I had had 

 an extractor I might have doubled my quantity of 

 honey, as for a considerable time the queens were 

 crowded out of laying room. I see you picture most 

 apiaries without shade. Is shade neccsaanj or mere- 

 ly for looks? I. L. V.vnZandt, M. D. 

 Henreco, Tex., Nov., \S»2. 



No doubt you are correct about the honey- 

 barrels, friend V. I noticed that the staves 

 looked dry and shrunken, notwithstanding 

 the lioney inside, and we even threw water 

 on some ot the barrels to see if we couldn't 

 make them swell a little until we could take 

 care of them all, and it seemed to have the 

 desired effect. It seems a little queer tliat 

 honey should make the barrels dry up, but I 

 am inclined to think it is so.— When I read 

 your report I turned in a little wonder to see 

 where you were from; but when I saw it was 

 Texas, I wasn't surprised any more at all. 

 You see, we are now prepared to believe al- 

 most any thing that comes from Texas. It 

 must have been '' horsemint," was it not V 



FRIEND PE.\SE'S KEPOKT. 



I went into winter quarters with two weak colo- 

 nies last winter, both ot which came through In good 

 condition, with the exception of one being queen- 

 less. I united, and so commenced the season with 

 one colony. I have increased to four by natural 

 swarming, and have taken off W sections of comb 

 honey; not a very large report, but I am satisfled 

 with it, considering the season and the little care 

 my bees have had. I bought a three-frame nucleus 

 of E. A. Thomas, which arrived the 16th of June. It 

 is now the strongest colony I have, and it has given 

 me a few sections of surplus. The bee-keepers in 

 this section think this has been the poorest season 

 in many years. The largest yield I have heard of is 

 Mr. Oliver Bugbee's, ll:i lbs. of comb honey from a 

 swarm of blacks, and no increase. I have my 5 col- 

 onies all snugly packed in chaff on their summer 

 stands, with plenty of stores for winter; in fact, I 

 think they will average 50 lbs. per hive. 



SMOKING A SWARM TO MAKE THEM GO BACK TO THE 

 OLD HIVE. 



I see Mr. Jos. M. Brooks wants to know who can 

 tell us more about smoking swarms to make them 

 separate where two are clustered together, or make 

 them return to the hive. My aunt had a swarm 

 which came off and clustered on a grapevine; it was 

 quite a bad place to get them off, so she tried to 

 smoke them up into a hive-cover, and, not succeed- 

 ing, she sent for me to come and hive them for her. 

 When I got there I noticed there were more bees 

 about the old hive than there should be. However, 

 I brushed the swarm (what there was left of it) into 

 a hive-cover, and shook them out in front of the 

 new hive. They went in, but didn't stay half a min- 

 ute. They came out and went back to the old hive. 

 This was in the morning; in the afternoon they 

 came out again and clustered si.x or seven times be- 

 fore they could be hived. They were finally hived, 

 but did nothing for the next two days. I told my 

 aunt they were queeuless. They were given a 

 queen-cell, and went to work uU right. Now, did 

 they lose the queen the first time they came out and 



went back to the hive, or would you think she was 

 lost the second time they came out? I don't know 

 that the smoke had any thing to do with it; but 

 reading Mr. Brooks' article reminded me of the cir- 

 cumstance; and as I think of it now, 1 am quite 

 certain if the smoking had been kept up, every bee 

 in the cluster would have returned to the hive. 



We have started a society here, known as the Lake 

 Shore Bee-keepers' Association, with sixteen mem- 

 bers. We have quite a number of box-hive men 

 with us, who contemplate turning over a new leaf, 

 and starting again next spring. 



A SUBSTITUTE FOR CtlAFF CUSHIONS. 



I have discovered a new (to me) way to make chaff 

 cushions. I use the story and a half hive. I lake 

 the half-story, turn it open side up, flU it with chaff, 

 and tack burlap over the mouth just below the mi- 

 ter, and set it on the hive as usual. When I want to 

 look at my bees I can take cover and cushion all off 

 at once, and am down to the burlap covering the 

 frames. H. H. Pease. 



Kingsville, O., Nov. C, 1882. 



Very likely, smoking would send a colony 

 back home, friend P.; but I think it is pret- 

 ty certain the bees had a queen when they 

 swarmed out and clustpred.— Your plan of 

 fastening the chaff into the cap of the hive 

 will do nicely, but you will have to take it 

 out every spring to make room for the boxes, 

 and then put it back again each fall. This, 

 I believe, is the principal objection. 



LETTING THE BEES INTO THE SECOND STORY. 



When you add a second story to a Simplicity, do you 

 leave the mat on over the frames in first story, and 

 fold it back to let the bees pass, or do you take It off 

 entirely? If taken off entirely, we admit the bees to 

 all the frames in second story at once. I know of no 

 way of confining them to a few frames there. If 

 the mat is folded back it has to be cut off at the ends, 

 in order that the second story will sit closely on the 

 lower story. 



THE FOUNTAIN PUMP. 



I procured a fountain pump (Whitman's) lust 

 spring, and find that it is not a success in bringing 

 down absconding swarms. They left in spite of all 

 the shower I gave them. F. A. BASCOM. 



Greeville, Mercer Co , Pa., Oct. 24, 1883. 



If you use a wooden mat you can fold it 

 lengthwise, and cover just half of the lower 

 combs. Now put on a second story, and 

 then a division-board in it, and you have 

 the bees admitted to just half of the upper 

 story. Cover it w ith a vvooden mat folded 

 similarly, and then put on your cover. In 

 practice we seldom have use for this ar- 

 rangement, however. Let the bees remain 

 below until they are pretty well crowded, 

 and it will not harm them to be allowed ac- 

 cess to the whole upper story at once, espe- 

 cially if you move a comb or two from the 

 lower story. If it is sections you wish them 

 to work in, raise a frame thathas been previ- 

 ously started on one side of the brood-cliam- 

 ber "below. —There seems to be a difference 

 in experience with the fountain pump. Sev- 

 eral have said the bees will go off in spite of 

 the drenching, while others think the pump 

 invaluable. 1 believe all, however, consider 

 it worth tlie money for other purposes, even 

 if they don't succeed in bringing swarms 

 down with it. 



