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GLEANINGS IN 3EE CULTURE. 



June 



Yesterday, the 15th, was so cold that bees did not 

 fly much. Bees are mostly la light condition. So 

 far they have wintered well, but spring- weather is 

 very cold. Wm. St. Mabtz. 



Moonshine, 111., May 16. 



HORIZONTAL WIRING ; NO SAGGING OR BOWING 

 OP COMBS. 



I have been reading Gleanings with interest, 

 and I have seen a great deal said about wiring 

 —which is the best way— and I should like to say 

 that I have been using the horizontal wires for 

 about ten years, and most of the time only two 

 wires; but I prefer it three wires, and I never have 

 had any trouble with foundation sagging or bulg- 

 ing out. I think that the greatest trouble with 

 foundation sagging is that the wires are not 

 stretched tight enough. If the wire sags, the 

 foundation must. As for tin bars, I have never 

 used any. I have had no use for them; and as far 

 as I can see, they are a bungling affair. I use the 

 L. frame, and prefer it to any other that I have 

 used. 



MY HONEY CROP FOR 1889. 



Comb honey, 1000 lbs.; 500 extracted. I com- 

 menced in spring with 30 colonies; increased to 45. 

 Fremont, Mich., May 16. Sam0el Boyd. 



general satisfaction ; but until then the public will 

 persist in saying the.v " knew it is more'n half su- 

 gar." E. U. Foster. 

 Waterbury Center, Vt., May 6, 1890. 



BACKWARD weather. 



You will see by my report that we have lost pret- 

 ty heavily in bees. These have mostly died during 

 the last two months; and although we have been 

 feeding some we did not watch them closely 

 enough. It was warm here the greater part of the 

 winter until February, causing the bees to fly a 

 good deal, and consume considerable honey. For 

 the last four or six weeks we have been having al- 

 most continual cold rains, which keep the bees con- 

 fined to the hives when they should be gathering 

 honey. A little more attention and feeding would 

 have saved some that we have lost; but we dislike 

 to inaugurate a regular system of feeding, and 

 have been in hopes of sunshine. However, the 

 most of our colonies are in fair to good condition; 

 and the prospects for a big crop of honey are good, 

 provided we get clear weather soon, us the white 

 clover is in better condition than it has been for 

 years past. S. E. Miller. 



Blufifton, Mo., May 18. 



SELLING extracted HONEY ; CANDYING A BAD 

 FEATURE. 



I have been selling honey in connection with ma- 

 ple sugar and syrup for six years, doing a successful 

 business all through New England, but principally 

 in Massachusetts. When I first commenced in the 

 business I bought pure white-clover extracted 

 honey ; but experience soon taught me that white- 

 clover honey would not hold trade, as it would soon 

 become candied ; and when I went around the next 

 time I was politely informed that they did not care 

 to buy brown sugar and pay a honey price. I would 

 tell them that it was sometimes due to the action of 

 the atmosphere, but I suppose they thought it was 

 due more to my action than that of the atmosphere. 



I saw I must make a change if I held my trade. I 

 tried some orange-bloom honey, shipped from 

 Florida, and found it to be the best yet. I have 

 sold it for four years now, and where I sell it once I 

 sell again. It wfll retain its liquid form two years or 

 more. If we could only keep our white-clover ex- 

 tracted honey from becoming candied it would give 



NO LOSS IN WINTERING, AND PROSPECTS 

 FLATTERING. 



The outlook for bees in this locality is very flat- 

 tering. Colonies are all strong, and all I have 

 heard from have wintered well. I wintered 50 

 colonies on their summer stands, and did not lose 

 one. All of them are as strong as they were last 

 year the 13th of June. On the 14th of this month I 

 had a new swarm. It was caused by feeding. There 

 was little but willow in bloom at the time. It was 

 never known to occur in this locality before. 



Myrtle, Pa., May 19. E. A. Pratt. 



DECOY HIVES, AND THE LAW CONCERNING. 



It is my mind that this law was framed by bee- 

 hunters, and presented to our legislature without 

 consulting the bee-keepers. The law should be re- 

 pealed, for, as I understand it, it does not even al- 

 low us to have an empty hive in our apiaries. I 

 claim we should have the right to decoy our own 

 bees as much as we can. Hunters and sportsmen 

 have caused many laws to be made to the farmer's 

 sorrow. Now, why not put this to vote, and see 

 how many are in favor of repealing this law? I 

 say, repeal it. E. S. Andrus. 



Torrington, Conn., May 31. 



VERY DRY. 



The prospects are very poor for a good yield of 

 honey. It has been so dry that there is no white 

 clover, and it has been very cold since May came in. 

 It is still cold, with hard frost at night, with fre- 

 quent snowstorms. All fruit will be killed, and the 

 bees have not worked a single day on fruit-bloom. 



Minneapolis, Minn., May 30. Wm. Urie. 



SWARMING, AND LOTS OF WHITE CLOVER. 



Bees commenced swarming on the 1st of May. 

 Swarming is a month late. I have hived 15 swarms 

 so far. I never saw so much white clover. Bees 

 are working with a rush. I never saw such a large 

 swarm. Your paper is just right for twice a 

 month. G. B. Cartmell. 



Jackson, Tenn., May 19. 



UNJUST discrimination BETWEEN HONEY AND 

 FISH IN FREIGHT RATES. 



I should like to say, " Honey in Pails" is double 

 first-class, while fish in the same kind of pails is 

 fourth-class. This hurts me badly, for I have work- 

 ed up a market for honey in 30-lb. wooden pails. It 

 ought not to cost more to ship extracted honey in 

 large wooden pails than comb honey in glass boxes. 



F. Wilcox. 

 Friend W., there are several reasons why 

 raih'oads charge more for honey than for 

 tish. The first is the value. If they spill or 

 damage a pail of fish, it does not amount to 

 very much compared with a pail of honey. 

 Another thing, I suppose the reason why 

 honey in wooden pails is rated higher than 

 honey in boxes is because of the liability of 

 being tipped over and spilled. If honey is 

 put into pails having an absolutely tight 

 cover, say something like syrup-cans, so 

 they will not leak any side up, it should go 

 at as low a rate of freight as any thing else 

 put up in similar tin cans— that is, where 

 the value is about the same as the value of 



