1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



for sheep, and is usually fed or cut down before 

 it comes into bloom.] 



The article by Mr. Lingstroth, whose death 

 is mentioned elsewhere, was written, as will be 

 seen, some time ago; but, owing to the fact 

 that not all the copy was received at the date, 

 Aug. 13, and that proofs had to be sent and re- 

 turned, its publication has been delayed until 

 after the death of our lamented friend. Wheth- 

 er Mr. L. had already begun on his Reminiscen- 

 ces, so that there is some copy yet unpublished, 

 I am not able now to state. 



THE DIJV-WEATHEIJ WEED A GREAT YIEI.DER 

 OF HONEY. 



Mr. J. C. Wallenmeyer, of Evansville, Ind., 

 made us a short call a few days ago. He owns 

 some (55 colonies in the region of the bayou of 

 that place. He secures no honey from any 

 source before the 1st of August, and that is 

 from what is there known as "dry-weather 

 weed." During dry seasons it yields bounti- 

 fully a honey of good color and flavor; indeed, 

 at its best it is estimated that there could not 

 be colonies enough located in its vicinity to 

 ■overstock the locality. In seasons when every 

 thing does well by reason of rains, it does noth- 

 ing, as was the case this year. By the way, 

 Mr. Wallenmeyer has the distinction of being 

 the composer of the sheet music entitled 

 Queenie Jaenette, a waltz song. I dare not tell 

 you out loud who "Jaenette" is; but let me 

 whisper in your ear she is a real live person (I 

 have seen her picture), known to Mr. W. 

 There! I must not tell you more. 



OWNING UP TO failures; the dark and 



bright side of bee culture. 

 Since the letter of J. P. Shaw was in type, 

 the following has come tp hand: 



Could not your pleasant tactics of showing- up the 

 good and praiseworthy be applied Id Mr. Dosch's 

 letter, page 737 ? Thousands all over the land say 

 amen to what he says about the weather, etc.; and 

 does it not take more courage and independence of 

 character to own up to failure than to report suc- 

 cess that is often only a streak of good luck ? It is 

 a consolation, too, for us unprosperous ones to 

 know that there are more in the same boat with us. 



Davenpoit, la. A. Gkeer. 



We do intend to give, both sides a fair show- 

 ing, especially the darker one; indeed, we do 

 not publish by a long way all the favorable 

 testimony we receive; and, on the other hand, 

 we have tried to give space to every thing that 

 is really discouraging, and which should be 

 properly set before our readers. In evidence, 

 see " Reports Discouraging" we have always 



published at the proper season of the year. 

 Years ago wc used to have a department we 

 used to call " Blasted Hopes." The trouble is, 

 as you intimate, more with hee-Tieepers them- 

 selves who are too much chagrined to write 

 than with the publishers. It is far easier to 

 tell of our successes than our failures. But, 

 say; is it not quite possible that friend Dosch 

 made his picture overdark ? Seethe favorable 

 report in this issue by J. P. Shaw, on page 770, 

 a man who lives only three miles from him. 



QUEENS LAYING IN TWO STORIES. 



I DID not notice that the article by Dr. Miller, 

 on page 740, last issue, required a footnote until 

 after the form had gone to press, so I shall now 

 say what I should then have said. 



When running for extracted honey I have had 

 no trouble in getting the queen to occupy the 

 second story, because, when she was crowded 

 for room in the lower set, I simply took there- 

 from two or more frames and put them above, 

 filling the space now made below with empty 

 combs or frames of foundation. With the brood 

 above, the queen, after filling the combs put in 

 below, would go above. I have had as many as 

 fourteen frames more or less filled with brood, 

 and it was quite a common thing to have a doz- 

 en. When I had fourteen such frames I gener- 

 ally added a third story; and in this as well as 

 in the combs of the second story not filled by the 

 queen I got e.xtracted honey — much more in 

 proportion than from colonies having two sto- 

 ries and the queen confined wholly to the lower 

 hive by perforated metal. What was more, 

 those three-story hummers — for such they were 

 for honey — never swarmed. 



In running for comb honey the case is so differ- 

 ent that I think I should try to confine the queen 

 to the lower story; and whether, in the light 

 of facts recently presented, I should want that 

 brood-nest eight or ten, I can not say; though 

 on account of the convenienceof the eight-frame 

 size T think I should prefer it. Taking it all in 

 all I still prefer that size for both comb and ex- 

 tracted. For the latter it is large enough when 

 tiered up; and in the case of the former it has 

 and probably will give forth its tons of honey 

 as before. 



As to shallow brood -nests, all I can say of 

 them is that I do and do not like them. From 

 my present knowledge and experience I can not 

 think that wide or deep top-bars are adapted to 

 them. If, in order to use shallow brood-cham- 

 bers, we must have narrow and thin top-bars 

 with their attendant burr-combs— well, I think 

 I should prefer to use something else, even if we 

 were sure it were an advantage to use them. 



DEATH OF REV. L. L. LANGSTROTII. 



A COUPLE of numbers ago I announced that 

 Mr. Langstroth's health had so far improved 

 that he was in position to complete his series of 



