1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



717 



Now is the time to prepare for a good supply 

 of drawn-out sections. For ten or fifteen years 

 I have considered these of great importance to 

 increase the honey-crop, and have used them ac- 

 cordingly. If supers are not crowded too close- 

 ly, but have plenty of room, more than we ex- 

 pect them to finish, we shall undoubtedly have 

 more unfinished sections left, when the season 

 closes, than we should have if Pnished sections 

 had been our aim and less space been given. 

 But is it not advisable and profitable to sacri- 

 fice a few finished sections of dark honey this 

 fall, when we can produce thereby several 

 times that amount of white honey next spring ? 



All sections, which are to be used in this way 

 next season must be cleaned by the bees before 

 being stored away. They must be kept in tight 

 dark places to protect them from dust, insects, 

 and all impurities, if we expect our bees to 

 accept them readily. E. C. Greiner. 



Naples, N. Y., Aug. 22. 



A CORRECTION. 



Gleanings for Sept. 1st is at hand. I am 

 very much pleased with the illustration; but 

 your artist has made the blunder of represent- 

 ing the hiving-box wrong way up, and placing 

 the handle over the opening instead of its side, 

 where it belongs. A swarm could not get into 

 the box very well when dropped on its side. 



Naples, N. Y. G. C. Greiner. 



THIS REMARKABLE SEASON; EARLY CROPS IN 

 THE SOUTH AS WELL AS IN THE NORTH. 



Farmers in my vicinity have picked out and 

 sold thousands of pounds of cotton in August, 

 which is a month earlier than I ever knew cot- 

 ton picked with us. Mrs. M. M. Gates. 



Hayti, Mo., Sept. 3. 



J. H. H., Neb.— Honey from a hive that has 

 had foul brood is not injurious to human be- 

 ings; but such hive should never be given again 

 to bees without first boiling it. It is through 

 the honey that the disease is transmitted from 

 one colony to another, in the generality of cases. 



W. v., Ariz.— In California nearly all the ex- 

 tracted honey is stored in galvanized iron 

 tanks; but these hold a great many barrels. 

 The galvanized tanks holding 20U gallons would 

 be stronger, and last a great deal longer, and 

 would not rust. Taking every thing into con- 

 sideration, we should prefer tanks of galvan- 

 ized iron. 



J. H., Oa.— The albino bees are nothing more 

 nor less than sports from common Italians, and 



have been produced by selecting the lightest 

 stock and breeding from that stock. By con- 

 tinuing this process a lighter color will be se- 

 cured in time. Albino stock can be produced 

 quicker from Holy Lund or Cyprian bees. Car- 

 niolans are from Carniola, a province in the 

 southwest of Austria. 



11'. IF. S.. Pa.— We should be inclined to think 

 from your letter that you have real foul brood. 

 In typical cases of this disease, the brood, as a 

 general rule, dies before it is capped. We would 

 advise you to treat by the foundation plan rec- 

 ommended in our ABC book and catalog. The 

 honey can be utilized, providing it has been 

 boiled for at least a minute ortwo. It can then 

 be fed to the bees, or you can use it on the ta- 

 ble. The sooner you treat, the better. We 

 would advise you not to fuss with carbolic acid. 



P. A. N., Iowa.—{i) We set it down as a rule 

 that bees will not swarm unless they have a 

 queen or something that they recognize as such, 

 and I hardly think it possible that your bees 

 would swarm without one. As to moving your 

 bees six rods (2), you should wait till after 

 the honey season, because you will disturb them 

 so much now that it will cost you a good deal 

 more than the shade will be worth. (3) I would 

 not advise you to leave the farm. Better stay 

 where you are. Depending on bees as a sole 

 means of livelihood is very risky. Only a very 

 few in the United States do so, and even they 

 have become discouraged and disgusted. The 

 seasons are too uncertain. Bees do very well 

 when run in connection with some other busi- 

 ness. 



C. F. C, iris. — We are still in position to sup- 

 ply lamp-nurseries, such as we used to adver- 

 tise. You can get almost the same result much 

 cheaper, and quite as satisfactory, by having 

 two good -sized tin pails, one inside of the other. 

 Of course, the inner pail should be smaller — 

 enough so to leave a water-space about one inch 

 wide between one pail and the other. The 

 smaller pail should be supported. Put the 

 queen-cells into it, and cover with a large 

 cushion. A common oil-lamp placed beneath 

 the large pail will keep the water at the proper 

 temperature. The lamp-nursery that we for- 

 merly sold was made to take brood- combs, and 

 was made square like a hive. This is not essen- 

 tial; and when we were using the nursery we 

 never used the full combs. The cells were cut 

 out and placed on a cushion or cloth in the bot- 

 tom of the nursery. As it was inspected every 

 few hours, the queens were taken out as fast as 

 hatched. In answer to your question, I would 

 say that I hardly think there will be any mark- 

 ed difference between queens hatched in a nur- 

 sery kept warm by artificial heat and those 

 hatched in wire-cloth cages put in the center of 

 a brood-nest. If any thing, the difference would 

 be in favor of the latter rather than the former, 

 as you seem to suppose. 



