"notice's" gleanings in bee culture, 



79 



Hurrah for Basswood Ten and fifteen 

 pounds stored in 2\> days. Gallup says tho 

 lirst crop at least is mainly a failure. Mr. 

 bindley here says if I had got here one week 

 sooner they would have stored several times 

 as much. Hundreds of Linn trees- perfectly 

 covered with bloom. The honey nice and 

 thick. If they store at this rate I will soon 

 have to extract. Went to sec Gallup. He's 

 a very pleasant, senseible man, with lively 

 How of good humor. Not a single colony 

 ilicd on the way here. Generally in good 

 condition I think. Just 165 hives, (yours) 

 counted twice. Had an awful hard light to 

 keep tho bees from smothering on tho way. 

 t sed good many barrels of water on them. 

 You know how they squeal when smothering. 

 Water only saved them. W. Haurjsox, 

 "Beekeepers' Paradise" (Osage, Iowa.) 



No. 103.— The days have been sunny with 

 cold, frosty winds, so that every bee that was 

 enticed by the sun to leave the hive, was cut 

 down by the frost. What would you do in 

 such circumstances? To return the bees to 

 their winter quarters would be considerable 

 work. Tho "Gleanings" informs us that (he 

 entrance to all your hives arc toward the 

 east or west. I am very curious to know 

 why. Is it to keep the bees within doors on 

 unfavorable days ? Another question which 

 1 wished to put, not to a Novice, but to one of 

 Novice's experience in bee keeping : During 

 the winter months, are the frames of hives tit 

 be left as close to one another as in summer? 

 I am under the impression— though I never 

 acted upon it— that if the bees had moro 

 space in the center of the hive to form a 

 cluster, they would winter better. Combs 

 partly full of honey and bee-bread passing 

 through the cluster must, I should think, 

 operate against them. Whatsayyou on this '.' 

 If.I could, gatallmu'hlvca from winter quar- 

 ters, and through the spring season, in as 

 good condition as I find some of them, I could 

 astonish the world. And I cannot sec why 

 one colony does not succeed as well as the 

 other, when, as far as I can see, all things 

 arc alike. I know some bees consume more 

 food in winter than others do. This perhaps 

 may affect them, as too much food affects the 

 glutton. One winter I had a good colony that 

 wintered well and required no feeding in 

 spring Avith 13 lbs. of food : another of equal 

 strengh, and next to it in winter quarters, al- 

 most perished for want of food before 1 got 

 i hem to their summer stand, though they had 

 double the quantity of food the others had 

 when put into the cellar. So I feel that 1 

 have much to learn yet about bees. 



J. Anderson. Ontario, Canada, Apr. 10. 

 We have experienced the same trouble 

 our friend mentions, and know of no 

 remedy except to build a high, tight fence 

 on the north and west sides of the apiary, 

 and in fact on all sides it' it be so arrang- 

 ed as not to obstruct the sun. Such a 

 fence makes a different climate, almost, 

 and bees regain their hives where the 

 wind would otherwise destroy them. A 

 belt of evergreens when grown would be. 

 excellent. Our trellises run east and 

 west, that the vines may shade the hives 

 in summer, and our hives obstruct the 

 paths less and leave the best place for 

 working on the north side when placed 

 east and west, for no other reason. As 

 we like the sun to strike them in the 

 morning we have them all east. Will 

 some one who knows answer in regard to 

 more room between the combs for winter. 

 We, too, ''could astonish the world if we 

 could make all colonies equal our best ; 

 and we are laboring with "Gleanings" for 

 just that result, or that some of our sub- 

 scribers who have got the energy may do 

 so, when avc unitedly work and study out 

 the way. 



101.— I have succeeded in getting ten good 

 queeus from the hatching of eggs I got from 

 you July 2d: I am much pleased with them. 

 1 terra them my live-cent queens. Who can 

 beat that for cheap queens '.' S. 11. Miller. 



Ashland, O. 



We are very glad, indeed, to hear of the 

 above success with the eggs, simply be- 

 cause it shows that 'twas not all an error. 

 However, so man}' failures were reported 

 that we think queens for a dollar niuqli 

 the surest plan for Italianizing. 



No. 105.— I have received over 100 lbs. comb 

 honey from one colony. Honey was made In 

 frames; Laugstroth hive. Wintered in cel- 

 lar—taken out in March, and fed sugar syrup 

 all they would take, perhaps two pound? per 

 week, until May 7th. when they sent out a 

 large swarm, notwithstanding no blossoms 

 were out at the time. Swarm was returned. 

 l!ees wero hybrid. One comb weighed 21 lbs. 

 Colony was built up in the fall with sugar 

 syrup and was wintered entirely on sugar 

 syrup. Chas. Root, Sheffield, 0: 



The above somewhat shakes us in our 

 belief that plenty of food sealed up in 

 the combs giyes us all the advantage of 

 feeding liquid food daily or two or three 

 times a week. In this case, also, the large 

 yield of comb honey was at a time when 

 other colonies in same locality gave no 

 surplus at all, for they were at that time 

 getting built up into condition to store 

 surplus. With fifty colonics or more 

 feeding twice a week even, is a task, and 

 is seldom attended to promptly. Novice 

 suggests that with "car apiary" (see prob- 

 lem 17) an arrangement could be made to 

 feed the whole at "one dose." 



ITEMS. 



/J III IS number closes the volume for 

 sAj these who only subscribed to "Glean- 

 ings" as a quarterly, and we have mailed 

 all such, six numbers instead of the four 

 prpmised, and presume all are satisfied 

 that they have received their 25 cents' 

 worth, unless, forsooth, there be those 

 who would have been better pleased with 

 a lesser number than a greater; for we 

 do know, kind reader, that, in this age of 

 periodicals, such things are sometimes a 

 nuisance. 



Now, in view of this, (for we should be 

 very sorry indeed to send any one "Glean- 

 ings" who did not value it,) we propose, 

 for the year 187 1, to have no non-paying 

 subscribers, ami to send it to none, not 

 even the President or Queen Victoria, 

 should they happen to be bee-keepers un- 

 less they manifested their wish to receive 

 it by the usual remittance of To cts. 



Of course we will with pleasure .-end 

 sample numbers when requested, but in- 

 asmuch as we like full liberty to purchase 

 what we choose without urging, we wish 

 our friends to fully enjoy the same free- 

 dom. If we succeed in making our Utile 

 sheet of such importance that our friends 

 find it a good investment, we will wel- 

 come subscribers and do our best to serve 



