644 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1. 



Put the remaining combs away in some safe 

 place for the next season's use, and the work is 

 done. If this uniting is done near sunset, and 

 the bees are caused to fill themselves thorough- 

 ly with honey, very few will fly away in the 

 uniting process. 



A HIVE ON scales; A BIG RECORD— 300 LBS. 



NET GAIN IN 26 DAYS, 39 POUNDS GAIN 



IN ONE DAY. 



Inclosed I send you a record of a colony of 

 bees that I had on scales during basswood 

 bloom, from June 20, in evening, to July IG, in 

 evening. The record shows the weight every 

 morning and evening, also the gain during day 

 and loss during night. This colony is all the 

 product of one queen, and I took two frames of 

 hatching brood from it about June 1, to help 

 other weak swarms. Can any of you beat it? 



RECORD OF COLONY OF BEES FROM JUNE 20, IN 

 EVENING, TO JULY 16, IN EVENING. 



of the house often used banana extract to flavor 

 puddings, and it always smelled so much like 

 bee-poison that I always spoke of it as "bee- 

 sting" flavoring. D. R. Keyes. 

 Wewahitchka, Fla., Aug. 8. 



[No doubt why the bees stung so in the case 

 referred to was because the odor of the oil was 

 so near like bee-sting poison. This odor always 

 excites bees. — Ed.] 



bees SWARMING IN AUGUST ; HIVING ON 

 STARTERS A FAILURE. 



I am having something this year that I never 

 had before in my experience in bee-keeping; 

 that is, swarming in August. I have had bees 

 store a heavy crop of honey after Aug. 1st, but 

 in no case did they ever offer to swarm. This 

 made the work of handling a late crop much 

 pleasanter. Swarms issue now every day, with 

 very little honey coming in; but I notice that it 

 is only those colonies having old clipped queens 

 that come out. My method of dealing with 

 them is to kill the queens and let the swarm go 

 back. They come out before any queen-cells 

 are sealed, and I think that, by the time the 

 young queens hatch, a change in the weather 

 (it is now extremely hot) may prevent them 

 from swarming, and I shall have younger and 

 better queens in those hives. Our honey-crop 

 thus far has been light, but it has been an ex- 

 cellent season for building up and getting bees 

 in shape for another season. At one of my 

 yards there has been an abundance of sweet 

 clover in bloom all summer; but as yet I have 

 noticed no surplus from it. I think it is like 

 any other clover, in that it may sometimes fur- 

 nish bloom without much nectar. 



This spring I tried the experiment of hiving 

 a few swarms on narrow starters in contracted 

 brood-chambers. This was done just before 

 basswood opened. In every case it cost me 

 about one super of honey, and the bees built 

 some drone comb besides. I have the best suc- 

 cess in hiving on empty combs, or part empty 

 combs and part full sheets of foundation. 



Browntown, Wis., Aug. 12. H. Lathrop. 



Kickapoo, Wis., Aug. ."5. 



G. W. Wilson. 



[This is a splendid record, and perhaps 

 breaks all others; but if my memory serves me 

 correctly. A. E. Manum, of Bristol, Vt., had a 

 colony on scales that showed as one day's gain 

 something over 30 lbs. The sum total, however, 

 I think, was not quite equal to yours. L have 

 tried to find this record in old back numbers; 

 but after quite a search I fail to find it.— Ed.] 



BANANA OIL. 



I noticed the article in last issue in regard to 

 banana oil, and it called to mind that some 

 time since I boarded at a place where the lady 



PHELPS' HONEY-PACKAGE CRITICISED ; HOW TO 

 DO UP COMB HONEY SECURELY IN PAPER. 



I can not agree with you that Mr. Phelps' 

 "comb-honey packet is one of the best that 

 has been devised." Such a package is too 

 flimsy. I tell you, it does not require so much 

 time to do up a package neatly, and just as se- 

 curely, in paper. I buy the wrapping-paper 

 used by hardware dealers. It is tough, elastic, 

 and will not let honey go through, even if a 

 package should be broken. In wrapping two or 

 three sections, tear the paper so the folding will 

 come on the ends of the sections. If more than 

 three sections are put in one package, I take a 

 clean separator and set the sections on it, and 

 mark it with my pocket-knife along the edge of 

 the last section, and break off the end. I know 

 by practice about how much paper to tear from 



