1875 



GLEANINGS m BEE CULTURE. 



10 



TO GKOW CATNir TO BLOSSOM TIIK FIRST YEAU 

 IKOM TIIK SKKI>. 



Sow on cloiiu rich ^rroiind ;inv lime in Feb. or March, 

 •one ounce or;ro(>(l sccil Tor 10 square rods. Sow hroail 

 fast ;inil imll tlie weeds in tlie earh i>art of tlie >easoii. 

 But tl\e nio<t jirofit will accrue iVoni it, . alter tlie first 

 Aear. liv transplant inj; oi\ ricli ^-ouiid in rows tliree 

 ieel apart, and cultivMte. Tlie trKnsiilantin.ir would 

 he better done in tiie tall were it not that tlie IVee/iiifj: 

 and thawiii!,' of our stiQ' cbiy lands during- winter 

 lieaves tlie plants all out on the to|( of the jjround. I 

 loc^t several thousand plants in this wav last winter. 



M. Neyins, Cheviot, llannlton Co., (). 



As Mr. N. is the inoncer In Catnip, ami also 

 'ihc only one ofForiiii; scod t'roni cuUitdted pldrds, 

 we think lie shonld be patronized. See his ad- 

 vertisement in Sept. No., Vol. 2. 



WHY DOES HOKEY SOUR ETC. 



EYCIIAS. F. MUTH. 



BEAR NOVICE:— In your remarks on my artiele 

 on Out-Door Wintering: pajje 13v» of Dec. No. of 

 GLEANiNtis you express your 0]iinion that a 



•small swarm would accumulate "mould where a large 

 swarm wouM not, and that a larjje swarm would jret 

 alonfr with unsealed honey when you would fear for 

 n weak one. I differ with you and shall try to jrive you 

 'the i)oints, wibhii^.j? to be "correcteil if 1 ain wionjjf. I 

 have told you that the top protection of my hives in 

 winter is "a straw mat. My combs don''t show any 

 mould what<>ver. I jiay no attention to my combs 

 beinpr capjicd or uncapped and I can show any one 

 that no mould accumulates with the weakest one of 

 my swarms. ;My honey does not get sour in the cells 

 nor in oi)en vessels in my store. But I liave a cellar, 

 in one damp corner of which stood since last season a 

 "•2 gallon stone jar lilled with honey, well covered up. 

 Barrels had been rolled in front of the iar, and when 

 it turned up again, a few weeks ago. the honey was 

 ■comiiletely sour. If this jar of honey had been stand- 

 ing in a well ventilated room, it would certainly not 

 have soured. Don't you think so? Cannot we apply 

 the same rule to bee-hives? 



The weakest one of my swarms may eventually 

 Ireeze out. but I am sure no mould will accunuilate, no 

 iioney will sour in the hive even if every comb was 

 uncai3ped. and I may add I will have no dysentery 

 among my bees. The necessity of an upward ventila- 

 tion is shown very plain if one lays the cover of hive 

 Hat on the straw mat. In less than two weeks the 

 T>iat is so mouldy '.when the swarm is strong) that one 

 ran not see thesewing twine. The mat is mouldy all 

 through, and smeils like foul straw. The combs' are 

 mouldy and the bees are in a fair way of getting dys- 

 entery if it only keeps cob! a little longer and tliey 

 have hot )denty lower ventilation. The air of the hive 

 is unhealthy for the bees and their honey is souring 

 for the same reason my houey soured in the cellar. 

 only that the souring process was hastened on in the 

 liive by the heat created by the bees. The unhealthy 

 air in the hive is generalh" the cause of dysentery, in 

 my estimation, but not the cold weather nor the"late 

 <;ollected honey. And the straw mat is good for noth- 

 ing if you don't allo\v an air passage above it. 



India-rubber is a mucli better non-conductor than 

 woolen cloth, and clothing of the same stufl" would 

 keep us verv warm but it would be an unliealthy heat 

 because India-rubber is no absorber. The straw mat 

 is an absorber and a ^loor cond\u-tor; willi it on top 

 of the frames and an an- passage above, the air of the 

 !iive is continually renewed without admitting a cold 

 <lraft. Cincinnati, O. 



Very ffood so far as dysentery is concerned, 

 iMit in the late "sprinij" troubles the bees die 

 fiff, with dry clean combs and no symptoms of 

 this difflcufty. Such at least was the trouble 

 in onr own and neiiihborinjj: Apiaries. No un- 

 favorable rejiort has ever been received of the 

 mats. How late in the spring do you keep 

 them thus friend M. ? 



REPORT FU0.1I P. H. ELAVOOD. 



Continued Frovi Last Month. 



ing to sell a pound. Very much will dei)end however, 

 on the (lualily ol the hoiicy. When i)ro|)erlv ripened 

 and i)reservi'd it will be cinial to box lioney" in flavor 

 and sujierior to it in (•onsistency. Large (juantitles of 

 that now offered in market is uiifit to eat. 



It has b-i'n very diflicult to control swarming the 

 past season and we were compelled to make a humlred 

 artificial swarms. In a few cases, afler-swarms have 

 left taking the last young (Jneen from a liive. and 

 therefore leavinir it luipeb^ssly (^)ii('cnless. In one case 

 tlie last l^uccn left when all (biccii cells excejit the 

 one from which it hatcheil had been <1estToyed a week 

 before; it was a good swarm and had pleiity of room 

 for comb building ami storing honey. 



We have now ■27.') colonies. '250 in good condition, •y^ 

 fair. Fed but one barrel of sugar as the most of the 

 swarms were well supplied with good honey. Twi - 

 thirds of our bees are out of doors wliere they winter- 

 ed best last winter. The remainder are in a liee-cellar 

 similar to the one recommended bj- Novice in last 

 Gleanings. The temperature remained very uniform 

 in it last winter and some sliglit diatiges liave been 

 made for this winter wliiidi will make it still better. 

 I think those boards Novice nails to the Inside of raf- 

 ters will be presse''. off liy the weight of earth and 

 snow above. rBnt we said "cover the earth with a good 

 shinqle roof— Ed.] 



The following is a record of the only swarm we keiit 

 a tally of. It will show when the most of our lioney 

 was gathered. The extracting was done evenings up 

 to Aug. 11th. No account kept of cajipings and frac- 

 tional pounds. 



June 29th. 5 lbs. 



Julv4th. 11 " 

 "" Sth, 30 " 

 '• IHth, 31 '• 



July 2.3i-d, .58 lbs. 



" ioth, hi " 



" 2i)th, 65 " 



Aug. 1st, ()5 '• 



AU£ 



lbs. 



S Til INK a good market for extracted honey can be 

 established as "Scientific" suggests in A. li. X, in 

 — any farming community, for we shall dispose of 

 nearly a thousand pounds liere at home without trv- 



. .5th, 



Sth, n; •' 



nth, (i-2 " 

 ITtli. 43 '■ 

 26tll, 37 " 



Total 582 lbs., all white except last 80 lbs. Basswood 

 coinmenceil about July 20th. and lasted until second 

 week in Aug. No additions made to this swarm. No 

 stimulating in spring. Wintered out-doors in Quiiib.V 

 hive. Weight of bees Aug. Sth. 14^ lbs. If empt"v 

 there must have been % of UfO.OOO. As a part were 

 filled with honey 50.000 bees I think woiilcl be a fair 

 estimate of their number. This number is not equal 

 to that sometimes given to swarms from estimates of 

 brood, but we had but two or three Queens that sur- 

 liassed this, and that but slightly. The mother of the 

 Queeu in this swarm is a jnire Italian, producing 

 (^>ueens of uniform prollticness and good color. They 

 will average nearly as ijroliflc as the one I have men- 

 tioned and we have two or three that will, as stated 

 above, slightly surpass her. None of her grand-daugh'- 

 ters are black. I shall have none of this stock to sell 

 but will try and get Mr. Quinby to raise a few Queens 

 if any want them. A common "objection to the Italian 

 bee is that they arc poor wax workers ami do not 

 work well in boxes and that combs after sealing have 

 a watery appearance. This objection, so far as mv 

 limited "experience goes, does not hold good with tliis 

 family of Itali.ans; they work in boxes as well as the 

 blacks. But they are those "light colored Italians," I 

 hear some of yoiir Western bee men say. 



All of our bees are in the Quinby hive and after 

 another season's trial I like it betterthan ever. Doo- 

 little says one man can care for a hundred swarms 

 when run to box honey. I am not dlsjiosed to tjues- 

 tion the truthfulness of this statement with the ma- 

 jority of liives in use. but with the IJuinby hivi; a man 

 should take good care of two hundred colonies. AikI 

 lam backed iiji in this statement by one of the most 

 successful honey producers in America. That so suc- 

 cessful an Apiarian as ( 'a|)t. Hethei'ington should have 

 discarded the hanging frame and at a cost of several 

 thousand dollars transferred his bees to the (Juinby 

 hive, is a fact well worthy the attention of such meli 

 as the Rev. W. F. Clarke, who, (judging from Iiis re- 

 sults) condemns the hive before he has learned how 

 to maniinilate it properly. One day in the latter part 

 of June I visited an out-yard containing (!0 colonies. 

 I arrived at 10 o'clock A. M. and came away at 5 o'clock 

 P. M. Wliile there I took apart every hive, took oft" 

 all the quilts and panels, put on the hoiiey boards, took 

 from each case twenty-four two comb "boxes, where 

 they had been iiiled iiromiscuously for convenience in 

 moving, replacccl them In jiroper position for filling, 

 liesides spreading the brood nest in five-sixths of the 

 hives. This was acconijilished with the loss of as few 

 bees as with any hive with which I am acquainted not 

 even excepting" ha;iging frames with that almost in- 

 dis])ensable aita<'hincnt. (in corners. And I venture 

 the assertion that C^ucens were in less danger of being 

 killi'il than in any hanging frame hive in use. 1 men- 

 tion this ()|KTatii'>ii nii)s.tlv for the benefit of those who 

 seem to think that it s)Miils tiie best part of a half day 

 to open and close a <>>uiiibv hive. I'. II. El. WOOD. 



Starkville, llerk. Co., N."Y. Dec. 17th, 1874 



