GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



AUGTTST- 



Out of fifteen colonies all of which came through 

 rtic winter in good condition, I lost eleven in the 

 month of April. 1 had set them out on the summer 

 stands about the 15th of March, and during the long 

 cold weather that ensued, the hives not being shaded 

 from the sun shine, the bees would fly out and become 

 chilled ami be unable to return. Before I was aware 

 of the fact I lost eleven. Others in this vicinity have 

 been equally unfortunate; one man lost fortv colonies, 

 about all that he had. Win. Caldwell, Elmore, O. 



My bees are doing splendidly so far this year, I 

 started the season with 17 and now they have increas- 

 ed to 35, all natural but 4, and still swarming every 

 day. Mine are all Italians but 2, and they have not 

 made a move in that direction yet. Black bees about 

 here are doing nothing of any account, and several 

 have complained that the worms are destroying them 

 all. Mine are the only Italians within about 15 miles 

 of here . E. A. Sheldon, Independence, Iowa. 



AVhatever the Blacks may do in early spring, 

 Italians are certainly far ahead in the honey 



season. 



Vow say on first page of July No. of Gleanings 

 '•Hives that have been destitute of bees ever since 

 freezing weather**** may be considered safe." 32° 

 F is freezing, and to my certain knowledge a temper- 

 ature of 14° will not kill the moth germs in a certain 

 stage, but 8° or 10° will do it sure. This is not guess 

 work but a fact known to me by actual and extremely 

 careful experiment. Hives were kept airtight after 

 an exposure of 11° and were nearly destroyed. 



Yours respectfully, James Heudon. 



Dowagiac, Mich. July 1st, 1874." 



We thank yon for the correction, and ac- 

 knowledge our error. We only knew that 

 combs kept in tight hives over winter in our 

 barn were never troubled, but if placed there 

 when taken from the hives in warm weather, 

 there was sure to be trouble. 



My opinion is, the large hives will be no remedy for 

 the common malady in bees ; with me large colonies 

 fare full as badly as small ones. Scarcity of bee-bread 

 may have something to do with it, yet I* think but lit- 

 tle. My bees had badly failed long before breeding 

 had ceased; almost all my hives had bee-bread left. 



R. Wilkin, Oscaloosa, Iowa. 



I put six stocks of Italians in cellar last fall, after 

 extracting all natural stores and feeding sugar-syrup. 

 They all wintered well, but found one Queenless this 

 spring; united it with another stock and they have 

 done well. Made five new swarms three weeks since, 

 raised fourteen Queens and have extracted 95 lbs. of 

 honey at present writing; shall expect to get more 

 soon. White Clover is abundant here now and Bass- 

 wood promises well. You will see that I have no rea- 

 son to be discouraged with bee-keeping. 



E. W. Poole, West Richfield, O. June 29th, 1874. 



1. Ought surplus receptacles to be put on or over a 

 new swarm before the main frames are pretty well 

 tilled? 



2. How do you manage to make the bees build their 

 combs straight ? You somewhere say we must watch 

 and compel them to make their combs straight. 



Stephen Young, Mechanicsville, Iowa. 



1. If our friend will excuse the liberty we 

 would advise him to put his surplus recepta- 

 cles where neither he nor his bees will ever see 

 them more. So far as we know they rarely use 

 them until the hive is crammed full of honey, 

 and the n they often lose another day or two 

 of the best part of the honey harvest, waiting 

 to think about it, and then about half the time 

 conclude not to work in boxes at all. A coup- 

 le of our neighbors who have used the extract- 

 or successfully for some years, thought they 

 would try a few hives for box honey this sea- 

 son, but the sight of hives filled and ready to 

 be extracted, with boxes untouched was more 

 than they could stand, and in a trice they were 

 emptied, giving both the bees and the Queen 

 room ; and now they labor industriously like 

 the rest. 



2. Have every comb built between two others., 

 or between one and the side of the hive, ami 

 they cannot well be other than straight. 



DEAR N<>VI(.'K:— I have not for two years used 

 any smoke at my home apiary where I open some of 

 the hives daily in the season, and where all my chil- 

 dren play as carelessly as if there were no such things 

 as bees. Honev is so scarce during the last halt ot 

 May, whole of June and July that I have to divide up 

 my apiary into three or four ; take them i.i an ordi- 

 nary three-spring wagon and trot off on our smooth 

 roads, as fast and as safely as if pleasure riding. 



I never could use a feather, nor a wisp broom in 

 brushing bees from their combs. 



Plenty of good weeds usually abound, but I find an 

 asparagus stem with plenty of small limb», just the 

 thing; these vegetable brushes do not make the bees:- 

 mad a bit, in fact they soon get used to being brushed 

 and will, as soon as they see the right kind of a brush. 

 coming roll off like peas. I have succeeded in repla- 

 cing my last fall's number of stocks — 51— by division, 

 have all in tip-top order, ready for any thing that 

 comes in the way of honey. 



I put my bees in my cellar, in the fall, under the 

 main living room of my house, ventilating very little,, 

 and have good success. I lost two between Nov. 15th, 

 and March 1st, the day set out— starved— leaving two 

 full frames of honey on the side of the hive opposite 

 the bees. March was so cold, and April too, for that, 

 matter, that after a couple of day's flight, they could 

 not be examined for three weeks' at a time. The con- 

 sequence was two starved, and four or five came out 

 and found other hives. All my hybrids played that 

 trick on me. They invariably left "clean combs, with 

 brood and sealed honey— showing their cusaedness—oi 

 40 pure Queens, not one would desert her hive. 



I have to-day 7 frames full of brood, in each of up- 

 wards of 40 stands — and when we get so many in the 

 Quinby frame, we may expect some bees one "of these- 

 days, but there will be little honey for them until Aug. 



Jane SSJnd— Contrary to expectations, we are now fu> 

 the hight of a wonderful flow of honey from Surmic - 

 which of late years has not yielded much. Every 

 thing in the hives is filled full and 1 am kept busy hi- 

 ving swarms, as it has become too much of a job to 

 keep them lrom it by removing frames of brood. 



G. F. Mekkiam, Topeka, Kansas. 



We would be glad indeed to learn that the 

 spring swarming out, belonged only to hybrids, 

 but we believe the full bloods are sometimes-, 

 quite guilty of the same trick. As a general 

 thing weak colonies seem to be the ones most 

 addicted to it, but there are many exceptions 

 to this rule that are hard to get over. 



Sudden yields of honey often come quite un- 

 expectedly and from a variety of sources, there- 

 fore, 'tis always well to be ieady to take ad- 

 vantage of them. Give the Queen room at 

 such times at all hazards, and this can only be 

 done with the extractor. When our present 

 basswood yield first opened we tried giving 

 the Queens empty combs of which we have 

 plenty, but even when we gave a colony two, 

 in the evening, they would be filled with honey 

 before she could more than till a circle three 

 inches in diameter. 



Oh Novice! Can you believe me when I tell you 

 'hat I am sioing t > have a! 1 as t.iree Queen- from th'o.-e 

 eggs -such is likely to be uie case i assure you, for 

 there are three nice cells started and I can see the 

 young brood in the jelly at the bottom. The eggs did 

 not reach me till Thursday. 1 think they came as far 

 as eight hundred miles. A. McMains. 



Chariton. Iowa, July 10th. 1874. 

 Very glad indeed to hear it, and perhaps i f 

 we could always be sure of having such beau- 

 tiful warm weather as we have had duringthis 

 month, we might send them 1000 miles or 

 more. The above piece of comb if we remem- 

 ber correctly, contained eggs just laid in a 

 piece of comb containing bees .just gnawing 

 out. If we cannot manage some way or oth- 

 er, to give all our readers the benefit of the 

 Italian bees without such enormous expeases 

 and failures as have hern the rule, we|shall think 

 <T( are a failure in one respect at least. 



