618 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



The only difference between you and me about the 

 glove matter is, you protest against gloves, and I pro- 

 test against bce-stlngs. S. C. Lybarger . 



Ganges, Richland Co., O., Nov. 2, 188.'. 



QUEENS SHIPPED IN OCTOBER. 



The two cages containing bees and queen each ar- 

 rived yesterday; and although the weflther here is 

 quite cold they were all as lively as in summer, not a 

 single dead bee. Although one was turning up its 

 heels, life was not extinct. D. Chalmers. 



Musselburg, Oct. 21, 1883. 



THE SAD FATE OF THAT " JUVENILE." 



Please send me another Juvenile, as " that pup " 

 got hold of it, and that was the last I ever saw of it. 



W. W. Bliss. 



Duarte, L. A. Co., Cal., Oct. 30, 1883. 



[Never mind, friend B.; it may set him to think- 

 in?.] 



This has been one of the hardest seasons known in 

 this section for bees. This county is well stocked. 

 There are two men who have over 400 swarms each. 

 There are a good many small apiaries. 1 have had 

 the care of 94 colonies this season, from which we 

 got 1400 lbs. of colored honey. G. W. Bassett. 



Middlebury, Vt., Oct. 30, 1883. 



On page 530 of October Gleanings, I read, "On 

 the 11th of September we sent some one of our cus- 

 tomers a dollar queen, whose progeny, now that they 

 are hatched out, show with unusual distinctness the 

 white rings and down which characterize the so-call- 

 ed albinos. Who is the lucky man ?" I amthelitcky 

 chap. J- Bbardmore. 



Annapolis, A. A. Co., Md., Nov. 11, 1883. 



ALSIKE BLOOMING IN 60 DAYS. 



Bees have done very well this year in this part of 

 the country. I sowed the 1 lb. of alsike-clover seed, 

 and in 60 days the bees were working on it. I have 

 cut it twice this year. J. F. Carpenter. 



Spencer, Roane Co., W. Va., Nov. 13, 1883. 



[Aren't you mistaken about the "fiOdays," friend 

 H.? I know that alsike, sowed in March and April, 

 will bloom to some extent in the fall; but I did not 

 know it were possible to get-blossoms in so short a 

 period as the time you mention.] 



PENNSYLVANIA NOT " OUT," AFTER ALL. 



I don'tbelieve Iwould count Pennsylvania out yet. 

 I started in the spring with 24 colonies, 4 of them 

 very weak; so much so that they gave very little 

 surplus. From the other 20 I have taken over a ton 

 of honey, over 500 lbs. in one-pound sections, the 

 rest extracted, which we think is doing quite well, 

 considering the cold wet spring and summer we 

 have had. We increased to 33 by natural swarming. 



Geo. a. Wright. 



AVest Lenox, Susq. Co., Pa., Nov. 6, 1882. 



NOT DISCOURAGED. 



My neighbors are getting quite excited over bees 

 and honey; ahhough this has been a badseason they 

 seem not discouraged, but determined to improve in 

 their knowledge and care of the little stingers. I am 

 a mechanic, and they come to me for hives and comb- 

 racks, and ask me many questions which I can not 

 answer, as I have never kept bees f. r fear of stings; 

 but I find it necessary to post myself for the benefit 

 of the trade, so here goes $2.00 for an A B C book and 

 Gleanings. E. T. Martin. 



Griffin's Corners, Ont., Can., Oct. 30, 1882. 



©r liCtters from Tliose 'Who have Mwde 

 Bee Culture a Failure. 



N the spring of 1878 I bought of you, in a chatl' 

 hive, one stock of Italian bees. I have now 

 from that stock 36 in chaff hives, and 6 la Sim- 

 plicity. I have done my best by reading, study, ob- 

 servation, and experience, to make them pay, but 

 do not "see it" as yet, for the principal reason that 

 my stocks swarm to such an extent through the 

 summer that they are left weak in the fall, so that 

 they "dwindle" in the spring; and the principal 

 result of my labors has been to fill the neighboring 

 woods with bees. I have tried to prevent this 

 swarming, by all the means I can read or hear of, 

 without succpss. 



My 30 chaff hives have each, in upper story, 10 wide 

 frames, holding 8 1-lb. sections, making 2880 sections 

 on the lot, and yet only about 1000 have been filled 

 this season. One stock will fill over 100 during the 

 season, while V or 8 right around it, all apparently 

 alike, will not fill over 15 to 25 each, the whole season. 

 Can you account for this, and give the remedy? If so, 

 tell me what you will charge for it. I wish some- 

 times that you and the author of " Blessed Bees " 

 were among mine for a short time. I think you 

 would both sing a different tune. I came near los- 

 ing a fine span of horses, mowing in a meadow near 

 where the bees are, and my hired men have threat- 

 ened to leave me on account of them. Some 20 miles 

 north of here a bee-man had to pay $300 for a team 

 of horses his bees stung to death. I learned this 

 after I had gone into the business. 



Now, if you can tell me how I can keep my bees 

 at home, and how I can make them all (not one in 

 ten) fill the sections in upper story, I will pay you 

 whatever it is reasonably worth. As it is, I am get- 

 ting tired of experimenting and hoping, although I 

 am credited with a good deal of perseverance. 



Mt. Clemens, Mich., Nov. 13, 1883. Edward Orr. 



Friend Orr, preventing excessive swarm- 

 ing is one of the problems in bee culture ; 

 but if you read the books and journals, I 

 think you will lind no trouble in mastering 

 the difliculty — at least, so it will not hinder 

 much. If you get from 15 to 100 lbs. of comb 

 honey per "colony, I can't quite see why your 

 hopes ought to be blasted. From the tone of 

 your letter, I should infer you have other 

 business that is taking rather more of your 

 attention than your bees. Both Gleanings 

 and the A B C give the dark side of bee 

 culture faithfully, do they not? I have never 

 before been classed with the author of "Bless- 

 ed Bees," that I know of, so far as present- 

 ing too bright a picture is concerned. The in- 

 formation you would like to buy, that would 

 enable you to make each colony do as well as 

 your best one, would pretty nearly sum up 

 the whole science of bee culture, for it is, in 

 fact, what we are all working for. Every 

 scrap of information on the subject that I 

 can scrape up is given you monthly. I know 

 bees' stings make trouble now and then, but 

 so do horses' heels. Did you ever hear of 

 anybody declaring he would keep horses no 

 more, because of the money a runaway had 

 cost him? Thanks for your experience nev- 

 ertheless. 



