135 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec- 



cleus had their brood all killed during a frosty 

 night while the house was torn up, and after 

 two or lh rie repetitions of the same, gave up. 

 We thought we could easily start them again 

 when all was made ti.«lit, but here we failed. 

 Gather syrup or meal any more they would 

 not, even while the other three were making 

 the air jubilant with their labors. Finally we 

 put tluiii all in our Lamp Nursery, and kept 

 their combs at a temperature of from CO to 70" 

 for over a week, but all in vain; they crawled 

 over the combs idly, played a little in the sun- 

 shine, their Queen got small and insignificant, 

 and they evidently, liko some mortals, conclu- 

 ded they had "tried and tried, but it wasn't 

 any use," and they wouldn't try any more. 

 On the 22nd we turned up the lamp until their 

 hive was warmed to between 80 and 00", and 

 at th'j same time gave them food drizzled on 

 top of the combs, and now, the Queen has 

 commence 1 laying, and they clustered on a 

 definite place. One point right here : keeping 

 the hive at this temperature does not induce the 

 bees to fly out in a cold atmosphere and get 

 losl ; if they are taken out of the hive they fly 

 back w lie re it is warm with alacrity- 

 Did the ''manure heaps" f.eally have any agen- 

 cy in reducing the number of our bees- last 

 spring, after all? 



On page 105 where friend Horner speaks of 

 carrying bees in-doors for examination, we 

 needlessly exposed our ignorance, simply, be- 

 cause we had never given the plan he mentions 

 a proper trial. 'Tis a very simple matter if the 

 room is not too warm. We beg pardon friend 

 II., and thank you for your criticism. We 

 hope there will soon be no need of losing bees 

 in the spring just because of the weather. 



Nov. 24$ — Heighho! Another problem. Our 

 sash won't shed rain with only one foot "fall" 

 in six. At present we sec no other way but to 

 make another sash over this, on a proper in- 

 cline to get the most of the sun's rays and to 

 shed rain; this will also give an air space to 

 keep out frost. The disadvantage is that it 

 takes more money, and we often have a feeling 

 of late that the whole structure is a piece of 

 blundering in the dark (mud too. just now, un- 

 der tin .sa.sli) and that perhaps when we get at 

 what is wanted, it will all have to be thrown 

 away as so much rubbish. Such is Bee Cul- 

 ture in unexplored directions. 



Nov 25th — Temperature in open air 10, green- 

 house :]S, in lamp nursery 00". Queen has 

 laid a nice cluster of eggs, but they haven't a 

 particle of pollen. As the nursery is roomy, 

 we placed a small heap of meal at one side of 

 the combs, near the entrance which is large 

 enough to give considerable light: . Even at a 

 temperature of 100, these bees do not fly out 

 unless the atmosphere of the room is above 50°'. 

 Nov 26#i, — The weather has moderated so 

 much that wc found the thermometer in the 

 nursery indicating 110 ; the bees with the quei a 

 had deserted , the combs and clustered on the 

 < i n i It. She had filled quite a space with eggs 

 but none have hatched as yet. .Some of them 

 had flown out, and again showed symptoms 

 of dysentery, as they did when the room was 

 wanned by the sun to 120. Does not this 

 seem to indicate that, a temperature of more 

 than 100" is prejudicial to bees, and that con- 

 sequently their hives need shading during the 

 hot summer months? 



Gleanings in Bee Culture, 



Published Monthly, 



-A~ I. ROOT Sc CO., 

 EDITORS AND PROPRIETORS 



MEDINA, OHIO. 



Terms: 75c. I^ev Annum. 



[Including Postage.} 



For Club Rates see Last Page. 



HVHIEIDIlNr^ DEC. 1, 18-74- 



A. B. J. at hand Nov. 5th, Magazine the 11th, anil 

 World on the 26th. 



We are using better paper to print our Gleanings 

 on. Do you notice it? 



We are happy to say our neighbor Rice, who adver- 

 tises Catnip seed, is both prompt and reliable. 



In answer to an inqniry on another page, we will 

 say we cannot learn that the N. A. B. Society consid- 

 ered the matter of a Standard frame or hive at all. 



Rememuei: all new subscriptions sent in before 

 Jan. 1st, get Nov. and Dec. also, and that all old sub- 

 scribers renewing before that time, get a present 

 equivalent in value. 



In getting up clubs for any purpose, subscriptions 

 for Vol's 1, or -2, will count the same as for Vol. 3; ac- 

 cordingly we send Vol's],'-', and .'5 for 82.00, and in- 

 clude Lithograph besides. 



Tni'; Lithograph we are prepared to mail promptly, 

 but '"that present," we fear we shall be unable to get 

 fast enough to mail just the minute a renewal is ree'd. 

 We'll try hard, however, to be prompt with this also. 



Medley will be ready to mail about Jan. 1st. Price 

 will be Si. 00— to those who have sent in their Photo's, 

 only 75c. Or it will be mailed to any one sending us 

 5 subscribers, to those having sent in their pictures, 

 -1 only. 



AVE don't know that we have any great promises to 

 make as to what Gleanings will be for 1875; we 

 might disappoint you. It will probably be about what 

 you might expect judging from an examination of our 

 two first volumes. 



Tell us about your troubles as well as your suc- 

 cesses. Had we not mentioned the difficulties we 

 have had with division boards, we probably should 

 never have brought out the excellent device described 

 on page 143 by friend Moore. 



We are under obligations to M. H. Tweed, for cop- 

 ies of the Bittsbnrgli Commercial containing reports of 

 the X. A. 15. Societj - . The report is necessarily much 

 abbreviated but our readers who desire can probably 

 get it in full in the B. K. M., as Mr. King took a prom- 

 inent part in most of the discussions. 



The Bee World for Oct., which came to hand jnst 

 after our Nov. No. was issued, is one of rare practical 

 value. Perhaps ho single' No. of any of our Jour- 

 nals has given as many valuable letters bearing di- 

 rectly on the ••frame" question, as this. Will our 

 Southern friends accept our thanks for the informa- 

 tion we were thus enabled to ••glean" from so many 

 practical bee-keepers. 



Can wc be so very positive alter all, that large 

 hives give any great advantage? Doolittle's yield 

 was mos\ extraordinary under the circumstances, and 

 yel bis hive [nine Gallup frames) is the smallestwc 

 recollect ever having seen recommended, but lit- 

 tle more than % the capacity of a one story Lang- 



