1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



879 



shape the middle of April, when high winds 

 set in and blew a heavy gale for about ten days, 

 so that bees lost every day of that time, and 

 nuclei had to be fed. Then prevailing winds 

 made things dry in a hurry; but about the 2.5th 

 of April we had some of the hardest rains that 

 I have ever known, and they continued to fall 

 at intervals for threi^ wgeks; and during that 

 time after each rain it would be very cool for 

 three or four days, and, again, high drying 

 winds, and then drouth for some time; and, 

 again, in June we were flooded — so much so 

 that it was almost impossible to save our crops 

 from grass toward the middle of June. I plow- 

 ed but two days in three weeks, and most 

 farmers are feeling the effect of it now in short 

 cror s. All this made cotton late, which I hoped 

 to get some honey from; but another drouth, 

 commencing the middle of July and lasting till 

 the 10th of August, when we had some rain, 

 caused the prospect to brighten, and bees began 

 to bring in honey about the middle of August, 

 and they made some headway, when, on the 

 27th of August, we had the notable storm on 

 the coast, which stopped all work among the 

 bees for several days, or until goldenrod bloom- 

 ed, which is about the last of September. They 

 began work on it. and built up on that and 

 peas until about the 1.3th of October, when we 

 had another storm with heavy rains, and since 

 that time they have gathered less honey from 

 the asters than I have ever known. During all 

 this time, every nucleus 1 had was fed. either 

 with sugar syrup or by taking a frame of honey 

 from the upper story of the strongest colonies, 

 which weakened them every time I did it; but 

 I was encouraged all along to think that, when 

 they began to bring in honey, they would build 

 up and gather a surplus, as in former years; 

 but, you see, every time they started, some- 

 thing would come along to discourage and stop 

 proceedings almost. The most singular thing 

 that happened was, after the last storm the 

 bees killed all drones— not one could be found 

 In my apiary the last of October, so I had to 

 give up queen-rearing earlier than usual. 



I m^•ntion the discouraging circumstances 

 fully, in order to show that bee-keeping, like 

 all other industries, fails occasionally. My 

 queen -trade, amid it all, has been good and 

 profitable; but I had to feed a good deal for it. 

 Many bees in this section have swarmed out, 

 and all box hives are in bad shape. I bought 

 several Oct. 1st, and Italianized; but they had 

 no honey, and they had to be united to go 

 through. With all" these discouragements I 

 trust that I am wiser, and shall learn lessons 

 that will profit me. Queen -rearing is a special- 

 ty with me, but I do like to have honey to go 

 along with it, as it keeps bees in a normal state, 

 and ihe business is made easier and more profit- 

 able, and better queens are the result. 



In November 1st Gleanings Mr. Cormal says 

 I indorse the Alley plan of grafting cells to 

 hatch queens. The only part of the Alley plan 

 indorsed is the placing of the strips of comb on 

 the bars. The grafting process belongs to Mr. 

 Doolittle. If I remember rightly it was he who 

 first gave the plan of transferring larva? to old 

 cups, and afterward conceived the idea of mak- 

 ing cups from wax. This comes nearer to natural 

 cell-building than any thing else I know, in 

 that the larvae grafted are of the same age, and 

 hatch out more evenly than by any other plans 

 given, and more uniform queens are the result, 

 which I consider a great item in cell-building. 

 We may let a colony choose its own larva?, even 

 from our best queen, which larvte we always 

 use in queen-rearing, and some larv;e will be 

 too old; and if bees are left to themselves I find 

 they always select larv;e from one to two or 

 three days old. I have always thought, and 



still think, that the only difference between 

 queens reared from natural swarming and those 

 grafted by the Doolittle plan is that, in natural 

 swarming, the larva is fed, beginning with its 

 existence in a larval state from the egg, which 

 gives it, say, from 12 to 34 hours the advantage. 

 The younger the larva can be transferred, the 

 better; and that can hardly be done under 6 to 

 12 hours after it is hatched. I lind, from my 

 observation, it makes no difference as to the 

 receptacle it is placed in, whether worker comb, 

 drone comb, or wax cup. The bees make the 

 base, and draw out. tapering as they go. until 

 finished. I find that the drone-cells for cups 

 with royal jelly are more convenient than any 

 thing else that I have ever used, and I am 

 highly pleased with them, as it saves me mak- 

 ing wax cups, and I get just as fine queens as 

 from any thing I have ever used. 



I think Mr. James Cormal makes an unjust 

 criticism on my article recommending drone- 

 cells for queen-cups, in which he uses the word 

 "disclaimer." I am sure that I have been 

 charitable, and have not denied others the right 

 to their plans, but gave mine for what they 

 were worth. You are exactly right in your 

 comment to his article. The receptacle for the 

 larviB, no matter whether worker-cell, drone- 

 cell, or wax cup, the bees begin at the base, and 

 enlarge, and then contract to a proper size, as 

 in the natural cell. J. D. Fooshe. 



Co/onaca, S. C, Nov. 11. 



RAMBLE 97. 



WITH ELISHA GALLUP. 



While upon the photographic journey, as re- 

 counted in my last ramble. I kept an eye out 

 for things of interest in the line of bee culture; 

 and, seeing a large number of nucleus hives 

 near Arlington, I ran out to see them, and 

 counted over 180; saw a hive that had been up- 

 set by skunks; felt a cross bee on my ear, with 

 about a dozen more trying to get at my face. I 

 then concluded I had seen and felt enough, and 

 ran back much faster than I ran out. After we 

 pass some distance down the Santa Ana River 

 we enter Orange County, and soon find the 

 county-seat, Santa Ana. and it is one of those 

 beautiful towns we so often meet in California. 

 Its location being only ten miles from the sea- 

 shore, with no intervening hills.it has a very 

 uniform temperature all the year round. 



Orange County is not very pretentious in size, 

 but in its products it boasts of things as im- 

 mense as those produced in any portion of the 

 State. In the interior we find the products run 

 more to fruits and barley, and a system of irri- 

 gation; but in the western part of Orange Co. 

 there is as much diversity of products as you 

 will find in the less favored Eastern States. 



150G -SHOES FOR MAN OK BEAST. 



Large cornfields gladden tlie eye, and the 

 growth seems to vie in height with the tele- 

 graph-poles. We also se(? green fields without 

 irrigation, for there is moisture enough for the 



