1893 



GLEANING8 IN BEE CULTURE. 



601 



brood, but keep enough breeding queens in 

 strong colonies to supply strips of brood, so 

 ttiat, when the cells are started, and 48 hours 

 old, they are, just as they are, with bees ad- 

 hering, placed over a queen-excluder in the 

 top story of a strong colony, to be finished. 

 Now, I believe the nature of the bees that 

 raise the cells can be imparted to the inmates 

 of them. I know you can have whatever color 

 you want by observing the color of the bees 

 that raise the cells. That the above method 

 of raising cells is good and almost entirely suc- 

 cessful, you know from the splendid queens I 

 have sent you during this season. 



Now, what's the matter with the Good candy, 

 for shipping queens on? When shall we ever 

 learn to leave "' Good " enough alone? A candy 

 or feed that we can ship queens on any dis- 

 tance, and any reasonable time, ought to be let 

 alone, at least for a while longer. What's the 

 use of fussing with water-bottles, etc., when 

 we have only to make the candy a little softer 

 or harder, as to the distance they are to go? 

 With the partition that holds the candy well 

 waxed and covered with waxed paper, it stays 

 where you put it, without any danger of soiling 

 the mails. W. J. Ellison. 



Catchall. S. C, July 18. 



MRS. HARRISON'S LETTER. 



KEEPING COMBS IN THE CELLAR. 



I arrived home from the South on the .^th day 

 of May; and other more pressing duties occupi- 

 ed my mind than the apiary until the 23d day of 

 May, when I went to work there. I found that 

 just half of the colonies were dead, and I under- 

 took the disagreeable task of saving the combs 

 and cleaning the hives. They had passed the 

 winter upon their summer stands, protected 

 with chaff cushions in the upper story, and 

 none of them had died of starvation. 



It was so late in the season that the moths 

 were hatching, and I removed all of them that 

 I could : and as fast as a set of them were ready 

 I put them back into a clean hive and carried 

 them down celiar. After the combs had been in 

 the cellar a week I examined all of them care- 

 fully, when the sun wasshining brightly through 

 the cellar window, and I picked out all the 

 grubs of the moth that I could find, with a long 

 sharp darning-needle, and all cocoons. The 

 combs that had moths in them were put togeth- 

 er in hives, and used for the first swarms that 

 issued. In a week the operation was repeated, 

 and a few that had escaped were removed. In 

 another week they were examined, and not one 

 found; and as the cellar windows were covered 

 with wire gauze, and there is no outside door, 1 

 feel safe in saying that the combs will be safe 

 from being destroyed by the moths during the 

 remainder of the season, and no cocoons were 

 allowed to mature. If the hives had been clean- 

 ed as fast as the colonies died early in the 

 season, the combs would not have needed so 

 much attention. Keeping combs in the cellar, 

 to prevent the ravages of the bee-moth, is the 

 best and safest way that I have ever tried. 



SHADE FOR HIVES IN FLORIDA. 



When I was visiting the largest apiary in the 

 State of Plorida, owned by Alderman & Rob- 

 erts, Mr. Roberts (who is the practical apiarist 

 of the firm) said, " The colonies that do the best 

 are those in the shade of those oaks; and when 

 those oaks are larger. I intend to put more colo- 

 nies there." The oaks spoken of are what are 

 called scrub-oaks. They are deciduous, and, if 

 I am not mistaken, never attain to a large size. 

 Bees in Florida rear brood all winter, and need 



the sun for warmth. If they are not strong to 

 work upon the early bloom they will gather no 

 surplus. The "winter of their discontent" is 

 during the hot summer months. The bees of 

 this firm at Wewahitchka were under sheds 

 with upright roofs, and had rows of colonies at 

 each side. Judging from what I know of the 

 climate of Florida, I think that Mr. Roberts is 

 correct, that colonies will be more profitable if 

 located under trees than under sheds; and bet- 

 ter still if they were not shaded at all during 

 the winter. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Peoria, 111., July 10. 



WAYSIDE FRAGMENTS. 



BY SOMNAMBULIST. 



In our issue for June 15 we referred to the 

 very spicy series of articles now running in the 

 Progressive Bee-keeper, under the title of 

 "Wayside Fragments," by Somnambulist. In 

 order that our readers may have an idea of 

 what they are. we reproduce the article as it 

 appeared in the issue for July 1: 



Not long since, in speaking of a deranged lady, 

 our colored help exclaimed: " Fo' de Lawd, jes' 

 aftah she's done had one of her wildest tantrums, 

 she will sit down tn the pianay and iinpiiftr tlie l)eau- 

 tifullest music you ever lieerdlii your liawii days!" 



Tlie thought just then occurred to me that I 

 should not impose oa the powers of endurance ol 

 the readers of the Progreasive to the extent that I 

 did last month. So, when your eye meets " Way- 

 side Fragments," don't throw the paper aside in dis- 

 gust. Here is a chance to cultivate your charity. I 

 do not wish to be the (inly one who peruses " Frag- 

 ments." " Misery loves company," and, besides, 

 there is one subject herein mentioned to which I 

 wish you to give your serious attention. Moreover, 

 please remember the good old text (never under- 

 stood its meaning better than now), •' Blessed are 

 the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." 



I was pleased to see A. A. Baldwin step out of his 

 seclusion and throw the gaunlet to Doolittle. It 

 takes courage to attack such a biy man (in more 

 ways than one), and wouldn't it be fun to see two 

 such lock hornsV 



Now, thiit's just what we want in the Progressive— 

 display of enougli spirit to take your own part, de- 

 fend any pet theories or plans of manipulation; 

 may be you have been practicing lo, these many 

 years, yet always kept your light under a bushel. 

 Pray don't be so exclusive; usually it does not pay. 

 When you have a good thing, let's hear from you. 

 Let your light shine. It is not nece.ssary to advertise 

 one's troubles— a man having crooked legs sliould 

 never wear striped pants— but reported failures 

 often serve as a beacon frt)m a liglithouse, to warn 

 others, drifting in the same direction, of rocks, 

 shoals, or otiier dangers ahead. 



All of us want to learn. No man is more to be 

 compassionated than he who is satisfied with him- 

 self. 



Did you ever! For the past six or seven years there has 

 Hved one of the most progressive, intelligent, and successlul 

 bee keepers in the United States, within four miles of the 

 Home of the Honey-l)ees, and we didn't know it.— E. R. Root, 

 in Gleanings (June 15). 



And E. R. Root went hundreds of miles to obtain 

 pointers from prominent bee-keepers, with this un- 

 known one at his very door, as it were. Aye, there's 

 the rub! But perhaps in this case he wanted the 

 trip any way— that bicycle had to be tested, you 

 know. However, in the majority of cases our jour- 

 nals liave to draw upon the talent of ncighlioring 

 and distant States, while jilrnty of it can be found 

 right at home, if it could only be resurrected from 

 its burialplace. 



How many are trying any of the new non-swarm- 

 ing devices, and from how many may we expect to 

 hear at the close of the season? Don't wait to be 

 Insisted upon. It isn't exactly manners, and can't 

 won't figure; for if the agent. Will, is brought Into 

 play, the giant Can't usually has to take a seat very 

 far in tlie rear, or vanish entirely to parts unknown, 

 so that, after a marvelously short period, we are 

 led to exclaim of these very writers. 



