1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



819 



loved ones around your various hearthstones; and 

 permit me to express the hope that you may carry 

 with you memories that shall serve as an inspira- 

 tion in future days to nobler and better living, both 

 for time and for eternity. 



I realize tliat it is no small thing to welcome to 

 our city the representatives of so honored and 

 ancient an industry as bee-keeping; for ever since 

 bees and honey were found in the ribbed carcass of 

 the lion in the time of Samson, until the present 

 hour, honey and its production have been the de- 

 light iind profit of the sage as well as the peasant; 

 and to-day I Know, from my own experience with 

 men and women, tliat many of the very best people 

 in all the world are devoted to the honorable pur- 

 suit of apiculture. 



Bee-keepers of America, while the horologe of 

 time is striking the eleventh hour of the century, I 

 bid you welcome to Chicago— the eighth wonder of 

 the world. Welcome, also, to the untold splendors 

 and matchless magnificence of the beautiful " hite 

 City," within whose doors is tlie most marvelous 

 collection of the handiwork of mankind that earth 

 ever beheld. Yes. welcome to all these, for all tliiiigs 

 are theirs who believe. 



Welcome, then, ye bee-folks, welcome! 



To our cities grand and free; 

 May thy meeting prove as " blessed" 

 As thy little busy bee. 



Chicago, 111., Oct. 10, 1093. George W. York. 

 Continued i)i ncxtoissue. 



QUEENS TO IRELAND 



FitoM >ip:dina. 



Friend Root: — Some of your readers might 

 like to liear about the arrival and reception of 

 the queens forwarded by you to the Hibernian 

 Apiary in far-off Ireland, so I shall proceed to 

 furnish some particulars. On .Saturday after- 

 noon, July 1, I went to the postoffice. and. to 

 my delight. I was handed the two cages, which, 

 I need not tell you, we examined then and 

 there. In both the queens were lively, and there 

 were a few more dead bees in that marked No. 1 

 than in the other. The postmaster, who had 

 received reiterated instructions from me as to 

 their treatment on arrival, seemed considerably 

 relieved to know that at last his responsibility 

 was at an end. 



After exhibiting them to a lady friend heavily 

 stricken with bee-fever, I proceeded to our 

 church-choir practice, where, after the exercise 

 was over, the bees were duly admired, more 

 particularly by our worthy parson himself. 



No. 1 was placed on a comb of sealed brood 

 in a hive long queenless, but regularly supplied 

 with brood from another hive. 



No. 2 was introduced under a drone-cage by a 

 plan of my own, which consists in caging the 

 queen of the hive till its inmates are personally 

 aware of the fact, when she is removed, and the 

 stranger is substituted under the same cage. 

 The stranger is then left undisturbed till the 

 bees have again clustered on the cage, when it 

 is usually safe to liberate her. Of course, she 

 must be watched: and if anysymptoms of anger 

 are shown she must be again confined till her 

 reception is cordial. 



On the following day I liberated them; but 

 as hostilities ensued they were once more im- 

 prisoned till the next day, Monday, when they 

 were kindly received. 



No. 1. which I took to be of " Neighbor H.'s " 

 strain, and which I destined as a drone-mother, 

 has taken kindly to her duties, and several 

 drones are now in the larval stage in a drone- 

 comb placed for their reception in the brood- 

 nest. 



No. 2 is also busily at work, and I hope that, 

 by heather time, which is usually in August, I 

 shall have a goodly band of Italians eager for 

 the spoil. 



FOUI. BROOD. 



I wish to add a word on foul brood. This 

 terrible disease has made fearful havoc among 

 the bees in this neighborhood. I purchased 

 a hive a short time since, transferred them 

 that night, and on exatnining them by daylight 

 I discovered to my horror that the combs which 

 T had transferred were full of it. As you may 

 imagine, after discovering the plague I lost no 

 time ii\ making preparations to tight it. For- 

 tunately I had on hand Frank Cheshire's in- 

 valuable work on bees, and, as 1 had already 

 posted myself on his foul-brood treatment, I 

 soon had a sprayer at work, charged with a 

 strong solution of carbolic acid. The carbolic 

 fumes quickly drove out the bees. The queen, 

 however, I secured and caged. The bees thus 

 driven from their hive joined two other colo- 

 nies, and were peaceably received. I was then 

 left with the queen and the combs; the former I 

 dispatched, and the latter were secured and 

 ultimately melted down. I then had to watch 

 the two colonies which the infected bees had 

 entered. By occasionally spraying with a car- 

 bolic solution any suspicious spots, I effected a 

 cure. This treatment, I am sure, is the best 

 and most reliable. In all cases it is advisable 

 to destroy the queen, as, in most cases, her 

 ovaries are infected, and consequently every 

 egg she lays contains the germs of the disease. 

 H. S. G. Stephenson. 



Cor Castle, Inneshannon, Co. Cork, Ireland, 

 July 12. 



[We have tried this spraying of carbolic acid 

 here at Medina, and it seemed to have no 

 effect.] 



Heads of Grain 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS. 



;VOODEN W^AGON-WHEEI.S DURING A DROUTH; 

 MORE ABOUT I.OOSE WAGON-TIRES. 



Friend iJoot;— Since reading yours in Sept. 

 15th Gleanings about "loose wagon-tires," I 

 have thought I might help some one. if not 

 yourself, by contributing my "mite." When I 

 came to Texas, 2t5 years ago, I experienced the 

 same trouble you speak of with loose wagon- 

 tires. In fact, as we have longer drouths, and 

 the sun shines hotter, the trouble is intensified 

 — more especially so since nine out of ten farm- 

 ers let their wagons stand out in the weather 

 the year round. However. I soon learned that 

 wheels made of our native hois d'arc (bow 

 wood), when well seasoned, never shrink, but 

 the tires keep tight till the wagon wears out. 

 Nor is this all; for our black limy soil soon de- 

 stroys oak or other timber, while it has no ef- 

 fect on bois d'arc. No one ever lives long 

 enough to see a fence-post of this timber rot. 

 I have known posts of it shipped 2.50 miles or 

 more to be used. I now have had a wagon In 

 constant use for six years; and although we 

 have just passed through a severe drouth, the 

 heat sometimes at 102° in the shade, the tires 

 are as tight as the day I bought it; while all 

 along the road may be seen oak wagons with a 

 broken wheel from the tires coming off. 



When I came here a bois d'arc wagon cost 

 f!150.()0. The one I now have cost $8.5.00, all 

 complete with top! box, bows, and sheet and 

 spring seat. A good northern-made oak wagon 

 costs here $75. t, 



I use boiling linseed oil with good effect on 

 my buggy and sulky wheels. The wheels 

 should stay in the oil about one hour, and 

 should be applied at least once a year. You 

 can get bois d'arc wheels made here, or you 



