1800 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



23 



have tried to rob tliem until they were grad- 

 ually used up. Could I have seen them, and 

 taken in the circumstances, I think I should 

 have been able to decide where the trouble 

 was. 



OLD-FOOV BEE-KEEPEHS AND LOW PRICES; GET- 

 TING AHE.\D OF THEM BY PEDDLING HONEY. 



In the spring I started with 32 colonies. Increas- 

 ed to 73, and took 3224 lbs. of comb honey, or a little 

 over UK) lbs. per colony, spring- count, in 1-lb. sec- 

 tions. I work for comb honey entirely, as I can 

 find no market here for extracted. I have sold a 

 little over two- thirds of it for 12><, and some for 15 

 cents per lb. But there are many old-fogy bee- 

 keepers that keep from four up to fifty colonies in 

 the old-fashioned way, who ruin prices. They cut 

 the honey out, and bring it in and sell it for what 

 they can g« t. That scares other bee-keepers, and 

 they sell for about the same figures. In conse- 

 quence of this, the storekeepers would pay me but 

 11 cents, and they sold at from 1.5 to 18. So I put it 

 on mj' wagon and peddled it, two sections for 25 

 cents. I hare sold 2(K)0 lbs. that way: and as I have 

 two hoys and they did not have much to do, I had 

 them help me. I keep my bees in the city. On my 

 little farm of 11 acres, right on the river, I have 

 .5t> chatf hives and 17 single-wall hives. Our city has 

 a little over 30,000 inhabitants. 



Joliet, III., Dec. 2. Thomas Bossom. 



Can you give us any information as to what they 

 are? D. L. Holcomb. 



Arcadia, Wis., Nov. 20, 1889. 



Prof. Cook replies as follows : 



Without doubt these are mites. They doubtless 

 gathered under the cover for warmth. It is not prob- 

 able that thej^ have injured or will injure the bees, 

 though mites often do annoy and even destroy bees 

 and other insects. A case is mentioned in my Man- 

 ual. The hen-mite often annoys fowls very much. 

 If Mr. H. will send me specimens I can speak posi- 

 tively. A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich., Dec. 7. 



SWARMING IN THE MIDDLE OF NOVEMBER. 



Did you ever know bees to swarm as late as the 

 middle of November? November 20 was a very 

 warm day (70^), and about noon I noticed that my 

 bees seemed to be in (luite a commotion, just as if 

 they were swarming. I went to see what was the 

 trouble, and found them settling on a small tree 

 near one of the hives, and they seemed to be tr.ying 

 to get back into the hive, but the others drove 

 them ott' and away from the tree; but there was at 

 least a pint of bees killed in and around the hives. 

 The.v afterward settled on a post. I put them in a 

 box, and fed them some, but they all froze Thanks- 

 giving eve. There was about a quart of bees when 

 1 hived them. Morris Crawford. 



Quenemo Kan., Dec. 2. 



Your bees did not swarm out naturally. 

 It was rather a case of absconding. Unless 

 you know to the contrary, I should say it 

 was a colony that was staived out. They 

 might liave come from an adjoining apiary, 

 or from the foiest. In such cases they al- 

 most always try to force an entrance into 

 some good colony, but with just about the 

 result you describe. 



RED LICE inside OF A HIVE-COVER ; WHAT WERE 

 THEY THERE FOR? 



In a neighV)or"s apiary which I visited a few days 

 ago 1 saw some very small insects adhering to the 

 under side of the cover of the hive. They can 

 scarcely be seen by the naked eye; but by placing 

 them under a magnifier of about ten diameters 

 they appear like red lice. One or two teaspoonfuls 

 can be brushed from inside a cover; and piled to- 

 gether they resemble brick dust. None were found 

 ui)on the bees or inside the hive where the bees 

 have access. Friend Zeller and myself examined 

 the bees very closely, with a view of ascertaining 

 whether bees might have lice; but as none were 

 found upon the bees we concluded that the insects 

 )}ad ^ot into the hive for comfortable quarters. 



BEES FLYING IN THE RAIN. 



About a week ago it was raining quite hard. It 

 had been very cold before that; and as I passed by 

 my bees I noticed that they were flying quite 

 strong. I should not suppose they would fly in the 

 rain; would you? When bees have the dysentery, 

 will they fly out in cold weather, and cover the 

 front of the hive with this yellow matter? 



Greenleaf, Mass., Dec. 4. F. W. Greenleaf. 



Friend G., your bees have a sort of dysen- 

 tery, without question. I should conclude 

 they had been gathering something that 

 was unwholesome. If there is very much of 

 it in the hive, it may use them up. I should 

 not be in haste, however, to decide. Feed- 

 ing them stores of granulated sugar might 

 arrest the trouble ; but at this season of the 

 year it is a little dillicult to give any help. 



a question concerning brood-frames. 



Does it make any difference which way a brood- 

 frame is placed in the hive; i. e., crosswise, or in 

 the direction of the entrance? If any diflerencc, 

 what is it? Do bees fill that portion of the frame 

 or frames next the entrance first? 



Masontown, Pa.. Dec. 4. Lowky Johnso.n. 



Many bee-keepers think there is a differ- 

 ence ; but my impression is, it is so small as 

 to make no material difference. Father 

 Langstroth rather preferred having the en- 

 trance at the ends of the combs, and during 

 the busy season letting the bees in clear 

 across the whole end, that they may have ac- 

 cess to the spaces between the frames with- 

 out having to crawl from one frame to an- 

 other. I have not been able to see that bees 

 deposit their honey nearest to the entrance, 

 unless, indeed, honey is coming in so rapid- 

 ly they drop it almost everywhere. During 

 some of our great yields I have seen them 

 put honey in bits of comb carelessly left on 

 the alighting-board. 



ignotum tomato. 



I am certain that tomatoes will mix, if planted to- 

 gether. Ignotum is the finest that I have grown in 

 21) years. P. B. Stout. 



Paola, Kan.. Nov. 27, 1889. 



Friend S., I think you are mistaken about 

 tomatoes mixing. Our experiment stations 

 have so decided. If they have changed their 

 decision we should be very glad to hear from 

 them. By the way, it is almost impossible 

 for a private experimenter to give a matter 

 of this kind the very thorough test that it 

 gets at our stations. They go to the expen.se 

 of a large number of experiments, varied in 

 every possible way ; and where they once 

 make fi decision, I think I woul^ abide by it, 



