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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Nov. 1 



year ago there was a large amount of honey- 

 dew in the hives, in nearly all sections of 

 the country, and it was naturally expected 

 that there would be a heavy mortality as a 

 consequence, and there was in some locali- 

 ties where the stores were nearly all honey- 

 dew. But, fortunately, this year the winter 

 stores are either sugar syrup or the very fin- 

 est well-ripened honey. 



Another fact that adds a little to our op- 

 timism is the very heavy mat of clover that 

 seems to be growing everywhere. The 

 drouth that set in during the latter part of 

 the summer did not seem to affect the clo- 

 vers. In most localities clover seems to be 

 abundant— at least that is the report. If it 

 does not winter-kill, clover will be very 

 much in evidence next year. 



Still again, prices on honey never showed 

 a better upward tendency than now. We 

 see no reason why they shall not continue 

 to go up. The general advance in other 

 things will compel this. 



towxsend's new bee-book. 



Townsend's new bee-book we hope to 

 have ready for delivery very soon now. 

 This will be about the size of Alexander's 

 and Doolittle's books. We will furnish this 

 work and a year's subscription to either new 

 or old subscribers for the price of Gleanings 

 alone — $1.00; but in the case of old sub- 

 scribers the cash must accompany the order 

 before the subscription expires. We can 

 not afford to make this liberal offer to those 

 who allow their subscriptions to get in ar- 

 rears. 



In this connection it is proper to say that 

 Mr. Townsend is one of the most progres- 

 sive, most successful, and one of the most 

 extensive bee-keepers in the United States. 

 If any man knows how to give instructions 

 that will lead to success in our chosen pur- 

 suit, Mr. Townsend is that man. While 

 the book is written es])ecially for beginners, 

 it has so much of value in it for the veteran 

 that the old-timers will find profit in read- 

 ing it as well as those who are just making 

 a start. 



IS IT possible to winter more than one 



QUEEN IN A HIVE? 



We are getting some inquiries asking if 

 it is possible to winter ten or a dozen queens 

 over one brood-nest, the idea being, of course, 

 to keep a surplus so that, when one dies in 

 any one of the colonies, another from the 

 surplus in hand can supply the deficiency. 

 Again, it often happens that a queen-breed- 

 er wishes to keep over a surplus stock of 

 queens so he can fill orders, not only early 

 next spring, but all winter when the weath- 

 er permits. 



We know of no reliable method by which 

 this can be done. Ordinary mailing-cages 

 of queens, of course, can be set on the top of 

 a brood-nest, and the queens may live a 

 month or so. It is. perhaps, more feasible 

 to make up little boxes of bees (say half a 

 pint) and give each a queen; then place each 



one of these boxes with a wire-cloth bottom 

 over a powerful colony. 



There are several of our correspondents 

 who have claimed to have a successful meth- 

 od of wintering a surplus of queens in con- 

 nection with one colony; but after having 

 tried a number of them we have given them 

 all up as unreliable. We found it much 

 more feasible to put all such surplus of 

 queens into weak nuclei, one and two frame, 

 one queen to a nucleus. After the queens 

 are sold out the bunch of bees can be united 

 to another bunch that has a queen. 



Of course it is understood that no scheme 

 of wintering a surplus of queens in connec- 

 tion with one cluster of bees would be suc- 

 cessful except in a good warm dry cellar of 

 uniform temperature. It would not be fea- 

 sible to do any of this kind of work for out- 

 door wintering unless the climate was very 

 mild. 



CLAY SOIL NOT ADAPTED FOR \VINTERING 

 BEES IN CLAMPS. 



At numerous times we have had inqui- 

 ries as to whether it was feasible to winter 

 bees buried up in long trenches or what are 

 commonly called clamps. In referring to 

 the matter in our ABC and X Y Z of Bee 

 Culture we say it can be practiced only 

 "where the soil is sandy and porous;" . . . 

 "can not be made use of in a location where 

 the soil is composed largely of clay." One 

 of our readers wrote to Mr. E. D. To\Ynsend 

 direct, and he in turn sent both the inqui- 

 ry and the letter to us. As the matter is of 

 considerable importance we take pleasure 

 in placing both the letter and the reply 

 right here, because now is the season when 

 clamp wintering will be under considera- 

 tion. The following is the inquiry: 



Mr. E. D. Townsend: — I have been reading in the 

 ABC and X Y Z of Bee Culture of your metliod of 

 wintering bees in clamps. Tlie writer states, "This 

 plan can not be used in a location where the 

 soil is composed largely of yellow clay.'' Now. we 

 have a heavy yellow clay subsoil, and the black 

 soil on top is pretty thin. Do you think this plan 

 can be used here, provided ventilation is siifflcient? 

 I have in my mind ventilation-tubes running be- 

 low all the covering, down among the bees. Your 

 opinion in brief would be very much appreciated. 



Harmony, Minn. P. B. Ramer. 



To this Mr. Townsend replies: 



Mr. P. B. JBahfer.— Answering yours of the 10th 

 inst., I would say that your soil is just the kind 

 that I advised not to use to bury bees in. We 

 "clamped" lo5 colonies last winter, all alive and 

 in lair condition last spring. These bees were lo- 

 cated in a place where the soil was about as you de- 

 scribe yours to be. Did we bury them there? No: 

 we moved them four miles to a sand knoll to win- 

 ter. I would advise not to bury them in the soil 

 you mention. Bees winter very well in clamps 

 provided the soil is a light sandy one. With nat- 

 ural drainage a knoll is preferable. 



Hemus, Mich., Oct. 22. E. D. Townsend. 



COMB HONEY AT 25 CENTS, AND EXTRACT- 

 ED AT 30; THE EXODUS OF PRODUCERS 

 FROM COMB TO EXTRACTED. 



One of our representatives while in Bos- 

 ton recently stepped into one of the fancy 

 grocery stores, and there was amazed to see 

 fancy comb honey marked 2-5 cents and ex- 



