72 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June. 



when the distance is considerable ; as our Api- 

 ary was peopled gradually, we of course have 

 seen uo such trouble, and were it not for the 

 dartger of young bees crawling into the wrong 

 hive when extracting, we should have been 

 tempted to -locate them still closer. 



The quaint truths contained in the follow- 

 ing, are so much better told in our friend's own 

 language, that we have decided to give it just 

 as it comes to us. The "curtain arrangment" 

 has certainly worked well in his case, at all 

 events. 



A. I. ROOT & Co. :— I will srive you a few words 

 about my bees ; we have a late spring, we had not 

 many fine days, yet sometimes we have half a day sun- 

 shine, then it gets cloudy again, but my bees did' work 

 on rye flour everv sunny day from early Feb. up to 

 this date, April 2ist. They commenced to gather nat- 

 ural pollen the 18th of March, but they did not stop 

 working on the rye flour, as I have often read that as 

 soon as they could get natural pollen, they would not 

 take the flour any more. But 1 did And out that they 

 would take it longer if they could get it. I have go't 

 eight colonies, and they did carry about ten quarts of 

 rve flour in their hives. My bees are all strong, the 

 hives are crowded full, yes, strong enough to swarm. 

 Now I will tell yon how I did winter my bees. I have 

 got a shed six feet high in front and five feet high in 

 rear, boarded tight on three sides ; in front I have got 

 heavy muslin curtains to roll up or let down at will. 

 Every fine day I roll them up, on cloudy and windy 

 days I leave them down. I have the curtains down 

 every night, that keeps the cold air from blowing in 

 at the entrance. I lost one small colony, it got short 

 of honey and I tried to feed it with syrup in one of 

 E. Kretchmer's Bee Feeders, of Ooburg, Iowa. .1 put 

 the feeder on the top of the hive, and thev took the 

 Bvrup down in a hurry, but one of my hybrids robbed 

 them of their syrup in the day. what "they would cam- 

 down through the night time. I had the entrance 

 small so that onlv two bees could pass. I always 

 thought If we would be careful and have no sheets, 

 around the Apiary there would not be much damage 

 about robbing, but 1 think there is a screw loose some- 

 where. I know a man who lives about two miles from 

 my house, he does feed his bees on plates in the yard, 

 everv spring, and he never had any robbed. I thought 

 I did know more than he did, so I fed mine on the top 

 of the hive and it got robbed. D. N. Kekn. 



Shimersville, Pa. April 21st, 1874. 



My bees wintered well. I had them in a dry cellar, 

 but hot a still one I assure you, for were there not two 

 voung bee-keepers rolling and tumbling over their 

 heads, in such a manner that when one was down 

 there it seemed as if pandemonium had broken loose? 

 If those bees' were the worse for it, I have yet to 

 learn It. All came out alive, but on the first day's 

 flight two of them "go-ed" out and united with other 

 hives, leaving brood, eggs, pollen, and honey. 



Please excuse my garrulity, but while I think of it, 

 I would sav 



A. TIMELY WOIID IN REGARD TO POLLEN. 



1 will tell you how I get plenty of it for nothing, 

 and it seems as if you might do the same. From the 

 middle of July to middle of Aug., I drill in both sweet 

 and common field corn for late green fodder for our 

 cows, and the bees will work on it until the frost has 

 killed it; even after light frosts had killed (last fall) 

 the outside and tops of the highest, there was some 

 left underneath that was not touched, and some not 

 even the tops garlanded, which the bees worked on, 

 the middle dt each pleasant day, until the season 

 closed. I had buck-wheat near the corn, and while 

 in bloom it was hard to tell on which the bees were 

 thickest. If you have a cow and a piece of land, try 

 it, and no doubt the testimony of honest old roan in 

 the milk bucket, and also that of the honest busy bee, 

 in the stores of pollen, will corroborate all I have 

 said in regard to it. J. M. Hiel. 



Greenville, 111. May 12th, 1874. 



Much obliged friend II. Our bees did get 

 considerable pollen from the corn last season, 

 until the grasshoppers contested the matter so 

 hotly that they were forced to give it up. 

 Let's see! We wonder if we can't lay the blame 

 of our losses to the grasshoppers? It never 

 occurred to us before, and it's quite a relief to 



be able to lay the blame somewhere ; no mat- 

 ter where, so some of it is off our own shoul- 

 ders. We really believe "corn starch" would 

 be a success if the bees could take it direct 

 from the corn blossoms ; sweet corn too, is an 

 experiment that nearly all of us can try with 

 almost a certainty of having the fodder pay 

 all expenses. 



How long will one table-spoonful (equal 4 drachms) 

 of honey or syrup furnish food for a Queen ami 30 

 workers? Fear we shall get a poor harvest of honey 

 this season. Nights and mornings too cool for secre- 

 tion to take place, in this section at least. Am I right 

 Mr. Novice ? My bees are doing their very best to 

 collect the little there Is. J. H. 'Wilson. 



Lexington, Texas. 



Nothing but a careful experiment would fur- 

 nish a correct auswer. From experiments 

 made last season, we would estimate it at 5 

 clays. Thirty bees are more than are generally 

 sent with a Queen. 



Please inform me the price of your tea-kettle Bee- 

 feeder, how it is used, and how constructed. With 

 how many Langstroth frames of brood, with bees on. 

 can one start a swarm ? Geo. Heater. 



Plat Rock, Ohio. 



We "sposed" every body knew by this time, 

 but for the benefit of those who don't, we will 

 go over it again. 



ALL ABOUT TEA-KETTLE FEEDERS. 



Tell your tin-smith to make you a tea-kettle 

 of the cheapest tin without cover, handle, or 

 spout. Solder a flat piece of rather coarse per- 

 forated tin over the place where the cover 

 usually fits ; put a large sized screw cap, such 

 as is used for oil cans, at one side of the per c- 

 rated tin ; this is to fill it up by, and answers 

 as one of three legs that support it just over 

 the cluster of bees, in an inverted position. 

 The other two legs are made of a strip of tin 

 134x4 inches folded like a letter V; these are 

 soldered at equal distances from each other 

 and from the screw cap, just outside of the per- 

 forated tin cover. 



We place them directly on the frames, but 

 Adam Grimm uses them over one of the holes 

 in the honey-board ; in that case a rim of tin 

 high enough to allow the bees to go under, is 

 perhaps better, but when used on top of the 

 frames we prefer the legs. To use it with the 

 Simplicity hives, a second story should set 

 over it while feeding ; with the Standard hive, 

 remove a few frames and put it one side of the 

 cluster. If they commence to build combs 

 against it, as they will at times with such an 

 abundant supply of food, put in a division 

 board, reaching within 1 . 2 inch of the bottom 

 of the hive. We prefer these feeders to all 

 others, because with little labor your bees can 

 be given an unlimited supply, for any purpose. 

 Your tin-smith should make them for you for 

 $1.00 each, or 75c. if you order a dozen at a 

 time. If he won't do it, tell him they will in 

 Medina. If any body says it infringes on any 

 patent, tell him he is a humbug, and that if he 

 wants proof of the invalidity of his claim, to 

 write us. 



Two combs of brood, mostly sealed, with 

 the adhering bees, and a laying Queen, would 

 make a colony, if you could give them empty 

 combs as fast as needed, and the operation is 

 performed not later than June 1st. We have 

 done this with Italians several times, but have 

 failed with Blacks. If they have to rear a 

 Queen, say 4 combs ; if they have to build the 

 comb also, say 6 combs of brood. 



