96 



" NOVICE'S" CLEANINGS IN liEE CULTURE. 



the first straight down and the second to 

 the right, and so ou. On the first, the 

 positions 11 and 12 would not be used, 

 unless we chose to go over 100, and per- 

 haps 10 should always be read as naught. 

 We hardly need add that the practice of 

 marking hives up with a pencil is untidy, 

 and besides a pencil is not always at hand. 



No. IIS'.— I put into winter quarters last 

 Nov., 108 good colonies of bees in good condi- 

 lion and came out with 2-1 pretty good colonies 

 and 22 iu a weak condition. The 24 gave us 

 3500 lbs. of honey, nearly all out of the 

 comb, and increased them to 32, A little 

 after the middle of the hooey harvest we 

 smothered 2 of the best ones and got no in- 

 crease from them. I have now TO colonies 

 and 4Q0O lbs. of honey in all, of the best 

 duality we ever had ; we have sold about 2 500 

 lbs. of it at an average of about 21 cents per 

 pound. My bee house is a seeond story, with 

 paw dust walls 14 inches thick and well ven- 

 tilated. I think bttd honey was the cause of 

 our loss. P. W- McFathiok, 



Carthage, Ind. 



We are obliged to our correspondent 

 for two reasons. First because he really 

 has done exceedingly well, and secondly 

 because Mitchell, in his 1)1 rector)/, gives 

 an account of what agrees in name, state 

 and many particulars with the above ; yet 

 Ac states the result was obtained from 

 dghi stocks instead of forty-six. finite a 

 difference Mr. M., yet we don't know but 

 "(were wrong to expect truth from vou at 

 all. 



No. 116.— 1 think you are a little too strong 

 nn yourtyrup theory for winter food, anil if 

 rny bees winter as well this year as tiiey did 

 the last two years, 1 shall most certainly con- 

 vert you to mv straw mat arrangement. I. 

 'lon't feed at all, except in particular cases of 

 course ; and even the stimulating in spring, 

 outside of rye flour, I have never done with 

 satisfaction. ; The uncapping of a comb occa- 

 sionally suits me muchbetter. 



■ C.F. Mum, Cincinnati, 0. 



Supposing syrup no "belter winter food 

 than honey (we think all agree that 'tis 

 just as good,) the great saving, owing to 

 the difference in price, would always, we 

 think, lead prudent beekeepers to use the 

 Mtgar. We "are already converted to Mr. 

 M.'s straw mats as a means of keeping 

 the bees dry and warm, and they may 

 serve a better purpose than the cloth quilt, 

 but we have always considered them 

 about their equivalent. We have an im- 

 pressiontlmt straw mats arc untidy ami 

 •■'re always scattering straws about. Is it 

 not so V The colony mentioned under 

 Heads of drain No. 69, that we wintered 

 ou less than 1 lb. of food per month, was 

 packed all over with line swamp ha}' and 

 kept in the cellar right beside our cider 

 barrel. As we expected them to be out 

 of food before New Year's, we tapped 

 daily on the hive (?) to see if they re- 

 sponded, and to our astonishment, thej 

 did this promptly until the last of March. 

 and then when sot out had nearly all of 

 their one comb of sealed honey, given 

 them hi' November. There was less than 

 a quart of bees in the fall, and few if any 

 more in the spring, but they built up 

 eventually to a fine colony. We attempt- 

 ed to winter our whole apiary of 10 colo- 

 nies, the winter after, in the same way, 

 only we didn't use the hay. We lost all 



but 1 1 with the bee cholera. We have 

 many times since wondered whether the 

 bay possessed some rare virtue, or if the 

 "tapping" may not have hail some talis- 

 manic effect. If- we remember aright., not 

 a dozen dead bees were found on the bot- 

 tom board, but alter their first flight so 

 many bees were missing we feared the 

 few remaining yoiiug bees would never 

 get strong, but they did. We think the 

 diverse reports in regard td Spring feeding 

 come about because the condition of the 

 colonies differ; with one containing ''lots 

 of pollen,' 1 lavish feeding produces hosts 

 of young bees ; but where pollen is want- 

 ing, feeding with honey or syrup does Ut- 

 ile good, live meal, or anything they 

 will iake in lieu of pollen, always gives 

 abundance of brood. Are we right? 



We "extract the following from the 

 Chicago Honey Co.'s circular. If they 

 are not entirely in the right they are 

 "most :" 



"The honey thus extracted possesses a 

 most delicious flavor, and can be eaten 

 without fear of sickness. It is eating the 

 Comb that make.- one sick, the Bees never 

 eat it, and phycians say there would be 

 as much propriety in drinking ale from a 

 bottle, and then eating the bottle, as to 

 eat the liouey and Comb also.' 



adve wr [gilM i : >. Te*. 



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