1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



2:39 



bees on page 55U of our issue for July 15, ex- 

 pecting to advertise them right along, after one 

 insertion of his advertisement, requested ns to 

 take it out, as he would not be willing to stand 

 the complaints that would be almost sure to 

 come from such bees, because his own Funics, 

 as in our own case, were behaving very badly. 

 When two of the queen-breeders who once 

 thought favorably of the I'unics cease to ad- 

 vertise thera; when three competent bee-keep- 

 ers— Benton,* Baldensperger, and Cowan, hav- 

 ing handled them in their native land, pro- 

 nounce against them: when nearly all reports 

 outside of those interested in their sale, at home 

 and abroad, are decidedly adverse; and when 

 careful tests in our own apiary were unfavor- 

 able to the bees, we can not think that we have 

 been unfair. 



But this Punic controversy is getting to be 

 tiresome, and we propose to have nothing more 

 to say on the subject for the present. We re- 

 gret very much to take as much space for this 

 as we have, and would ignore it as we have 

 other "flings" in t\w Apiculturist; but in this 

 case we felt so sure that the introduction of 

 Funics into apiaries of other good bees would 

 do great mischief, that it was a duty we owed 

 to the fraternity to set forth a few facts. If 

 Mr. Alley proposes to push the sale of this kind 

 of bees, in the face of these facts, we have 

 nothing to say. 



P. S.— After reading the foregoing it occurred 

 to us that some one might think we had an 

 *'ax to grind:" viz., that, in order to boost the 

 Italians ahead another notch, we must neces- 

 sarily kill the Funics. Such was far— very far 

 — from being the case. Early last season there 

 was a time when the Funics promised well, 

 and we actually went so far as to obtain the 

 names of a couple of resident bee-keepers who 

 could import the bees direct from North Africa 

 to us. If the bees had subsequently behaved 

 themselves we should have imported them di- 

 rect and sold them. 



KIND WORDS FROM OUR CUSTOMERS. 



1 would not do without Gi.kaninos, even if it cost 

 two dollars. Lucinda Kittek. 



St. Joseph. Mo., Feb. 2.'j. 



The augite mat is all right— the hesttliiiifiinveiiti'd 

 for woman, since the cooklng--stove. 

 Hendersom-ille, N. C. Mrs. S. A. Guklky. 



1 like t lie S-franie Dovetailed hive with thick top- 

 bar Hoffman frames, exceediiijily well; the frames 

 ;ii"e easy to handle, and tlieiv ai'e no buri'-comhs. 



Carpenter, 111. Edw. Smith. 



I used your seeds la.st year, and they g-ave the best 

 satisfaction of any 1 evei- jnu'cliased. The packets 

 <'()ntained more seed, and it all Ri'ew nicely. 



Beaufoid, Minn., Feb. H. .J. N. Waudki.l. 



1 received my ji'(>ods, and find every thing- all lig-ht. 

 I am pleased with the goods, and also thank you for 

 yonr prompt attention and honest care. 



Mohnstore. Pa. Gko. G. Less. 



I got 30 hives from a firm in tliat make the 



Dovetailed, but they are such poor things 1 will not 

 use them. The hives I got of you last spring are 

 perfect, I think, and so do my neighbors. 



Brazil, Iowa. Ch.vs. Lawkence. 



Mr. R(»()(;— Since writing you this morning, iiurlos- 

 ing draft, goods have come, and, so fai' as examined, 

 1 find them siniiily perfect. What sui'pi'ises me l.s. 

 how you can do so nnn-h work and furnish such ma- 

 terial as vou do for the prices you charge. 



Washington, Tiid., Maicli 13. J. A. Scudder. 



I prize (Ji.KANiNOS as much as or more than any 

 other paper 1 take, even if it Is published away off In 

 Ohio, where I never expect to be able to go. How 

 much I should like to shake the hand of the editor, 

 no one knows but the humble writer. K. C. Rouse. 



Hookertoii. N. C. , Feb. 8. 



Editor Gleatiings:— You little know the exquisite 

 pleasui'e I take in reading the many good things that 

 come to us through our ever welcome visitor. 

 Gleanings. Especially, Mi-. Root, do wife and I en- 

 joy " Ourselves and Oiu- Neighbors," as they are so 

 friendly and confidential. May God in his wisdom 

 reward you. 



Yes, I too am a bee-keeper, and, of course, think a 

 great deal of my i)ets. I was tin- first one in the 

 neighborhood to adoj)! a fi-ame hive, and my ven- 

 ture was looked at askance by man>-. especially by 

 mj- aged fathei-, who inedicted the direst (-alanuties, 

 but they haven't t-ome yet. as my bees are doing as 

 niceh' as possible. Ry the way. I should have lost a. 

 $1.50"(iueen had it not" been for Gleanings. I pui-- 

 chased a queen from you very early (in April I be- 

 lieve), for a colony that lost its (jueen during winter; 

 l)ut when she came, the colony was so redu(-ed it 

 seemed next to impossilile to save them, and in the 

 nick of time I remembered " to remove a stronger 

 swarm, set tlie weaker one in i)lac"e of it." The first 

 time I did this I chose a moderately sti-ong swarm 

 and set the weak one in its phice. This was to guard 

 against killing the queen. This strengtlu'ned them 

 considei-ably. 1 then moved a very sti-ong swarm 

 and placed' them in their stead, when, i)resto I my 

 hive was just booming, and soon after act nail j' cast 

 a tine swarm and gave a surplus of 20 lbs. of comb 

 j honey. I regard this as doing pretty well for a be- 

 ginner during a season when anybody's else bees 

 hardly cast a swarm. So much for a good bee-paper. 



The thick-top frames are pei-fection with me, as no 

 burr-combs at all are built on them. 



Odin, Mo. D. R. Thomas. 



I have tried your Daisy foundation-fastener, and, 

 sure enough, it's a daisy and no mistake. lam not 

 an exjtei-t yet as to speed; but when they are once in 

 they are bound to stay. S. Farrington. 



Corunna, Ind. 



My supplies were received on the 27th. I am en- 

 tirely satisfied. The foundation beats any thing I 

 ever saw. It looks so nice and pretty I hate to use 

 it. R. U. Jones. 



Dyer, Tenn.. Dec.JO^^ 



Each member of the family at our home was ask - 

 ed to give a list of the p:ipers he wished for next 

 year. When the lists were handed in. Gleanings 

 was found at the head of each. M. Hawksworth. 



Medina, Out., Can. 



* Benton, at the Washington convention, stated 

 that the temper of the Funics was ten times as bad 

 as that of the Cyprians. 



EGGS for Early Hatchlug. To those who wish 

 to raise Silver Laced Wyandotte hens I can fur- 

 nish eggs this year at $1 for 13, or W.75 for 26 eggs. 

 These eggs are from pure-blooded fowls that have 

 been finely bred. J. S. MASON, Medina. Ohio. 



Reference, A. I. Root. 



n B c OF 



STRAWBERRY •^ CULTURE. 



k > BOOK i FOR « BEGINHEES. 



BY T. B. TERRY. 



This is Terry's latest and best work, and has re- 

 ceived some very high words of praise. Who that 

 keeps bees does not also have a little garden-patcli? 

 If you would learn to raise in it that most luscious 

 of all fruit, the strawberry, with the best results, 

 you can not be without this little book. Even if 

 you don't grow strawberries you will be the better 

 for reading it. Pages one-half size of this. Fully 

 illustrated; 144 pages. Price 35c; by mail, 40c. 



A. I. ROOT. MEDINA. O. 



