i87r>. 



GLEANINGS IN REE CUI.TUTIE. 



n 



1 will aild a few items of general interest. Alcohol 

 ctbr cleansinjr i)roi)olis from fjlass in honey boxes. 



Vinefrar for cloansinj? ffiiin from tube of a bee smo- 

 'ker caused 1)V sniokiiijr tobacco and rajfs. 



ll. K. JttNKS, I'arkersbiug, West V'irj;inia. 



Thanks. Beu/.iiie is also a solvent of propo- 

 lis and much cheaper but it may not be as 

 ilesirable for this purpose. 



The pleasure we feel in welcominf!; back our 

 iiext friend, who seemed inclined at one time 



to desert us, is have yon never read in your 



Bible, dear readers of Bless us! how soon 



these pajjes do fill up especially when we get a 

 sioinji, but we must just whisper, that, '"cur- 

 tains" are cheaper than "glass." 



I did commence with seven strong stocks, .3 hybrids 

 and 4 bhicks. I did increase to ten. I do increase 

 t*low but sure; the ten colonies did gather about 1000 

 lbs. of honey, now how is that? Nearly all mv ncigh- 

 liors difl complain of a jioor lioney season. My bees 

 lU'e in the very best condition intlie slied with tlie 

 ■curtains down. The bees did lly the lOtli of Nov. '7i, 

 when they liad a good cleansing lly, then J i)Ut the 

 •curtains down again, ancl had them down u|) to this 

 •date ot writing. During tliis time we had many sunny 

 ■days with liigh winds when my neighbor's bees did 

 ''.lyand the wind did blow tliemiu all directions while 

 iiiv bees were as quiet behind the curtains, as a sleep- 

 iing child in the cradle. I). N. IvUitx. 



ShimersNille, Leliigli Co., Pa. 



I put up .■?!• stands of l)ees for winter, about half a 

 ■dozen of them have been dying off very fast since tlie 

 last ot Nov., no dysentery nor any thing else tliat I can 

 .see, only that tliey are dving. 



D. 0. Hehvey, Dunlap, Peoria Co., Ills. 



I see you are not much in favor of the Quinby frame. 

 !N'ow I suppose there is a great deal in gettingused to 

 41 thing. 1 have used them ex<-l\isivcly, with the ex- 

 ception of one hive in which I litted franies crosswise, 

 which makes the (iallup frame 1 believe, 11 inches 

 ■sfiuare. Now in using the extractor I prefer to handle 

 eight of the large, to thirteen of the small ones. They 

 are not so rci-y heavy— those which are entirely fillet! 

 weighing only aboiit 9 lbs. The small ones I think 

 are liest to build u)) small swarms but the large ones I 

 think make the most convenient or best shaped hive 

 ifor large ones. 



My bees are wintering on their summer stands on 

 buckwheat honey having extracted the white or early 

 snade. The bodies of the hives are banked with snow, 

 with straw mats on top and the caps ventilated. I 

 have just examined some of them. Oiie Queenless 

 stock containing about a pint of bees last Nov. and 

 which I lelt on jiurpose to see how long they would 

 iast, have the dysentery quite badly and are about 

 half gone. One more Vather small" swarm showed 

 i-ome signs of it ; but the rest wlii<di 1 examineil ap- 

 jieare<l to lie sleeping quietly on clean combs. We 

 have had two coUl spells when the thermometer indi- 

 <-ated from 10 to 15° below zero. The bees have not 

 had a fly since November. DaniklHall. 



Warsaw, Wyoming Co., N. Y. Jan. 13tU, '75. 



KDITOU Gi.KANiXGS:— A good house we all must 

 have, for summer as well as winter use, and I have 

 full faith that with this and ))roi)er ])recautions we 

 may .-dl safely winter. Mr. Bidwell claims that his 

 <-old frames are invaluable in saving bees during late 

 ;uitumn and early spring; during the warm sunshine 

 in the interim of bloom. Grant his theory to be cor- 

 vect and a well constructeil hou;^^ will meet the case 

 as well. For the last three years I have believed we 

 keep our bees out too long," in Autumn, and remove 

 from house too early, and have acted on the thought 

 with entire success. 



I have thought from my observation the past season, 

 Uiat worker comb could lie acquired by the plan given 

 by Mr. Stanhope in la^t number of lileanings, page 11. 

 Several of my colonies, as the result of an experiment, 

 v/ere (^neenless in the honey season, remaining so 

 till the brood was all gone. After sui)plying with 

 (Queens I hail no drone comb made. I wondered if I 

 had not discovered a way to get worker comb, and in- 

 tended to i)rove the coming season, just what Mr. 

 Stanhdpe has given us as a fact. 



1 have become a firm believer in stimulative feeding, 

 (he result <>f several year's experien<'e. The fact or 

 point suggested at our State meeting that uncai)))ing 

 honey in the hive was as well was interesting to me. 

 .Surely if we can stimulate as well by a little abrasion 



of the comb in the hive, wc have a cheap and easy 

 method of accomplishing a gornl end. 



A. .1. ( Ooiv, I^ansing, Mich. 



But friend Cook could we keep the bees in 

 their hives, if put into a house so early as the 

 ;jrd of Sept., the date Mr. 15. put his in the cold 

 frames? ('ould we keep a tempeiaturc low 

 enough, without going below the surface of the 

 ground':' We are inclined to agree with you 

 however in thinking that wlien bees are heal- 

 thy, they may be kept six montlis safely with- 

 out "a fly." An examination to-day, Jan. IHtli, 

 shows the 50 in the house to be in jjerfeel 

 healtli, and we can discover no dift'erence in 

 those having their (luilts waxed down i)erfectiy 

 tight as they lixed tliem in Oct., and those 

 with the straw mats; no trace of dampness is 

 to be seen about either. Were it not for the 

 two or three quarts of dead bees that we swept 

 offtiie floor, notliing more could be desired. 

 As we liave said before dead bees are to l)e 

 found also in the hives out-doors, and in the 

 forcing house, but the latter being where it is 

 light and warm, leave the hives before dyin^:. 

 Tlie cider stores gathered may have something 

 to do with this, but we cannot help thinking 

 that keeping ;i stt^mfj colony warm or cold, giv- 

 ing tliem straw mats or quilts, keeping tliem 

 in light or darkness, etc., has little or nothing 

 to do with it, as there seems to be. just abont 

 the same mortality under all circumstances. 



In regard to worker comb building; if this 

 be true natural swarms should build only work- 

 er coiaib for the flrst 10 days. Is this always 

 the case with henri/ swarms ':* Reducing the 

 strengtli of a colony, according to Mr. Dean, 

 always produces worker comb only, now in 

 your experiments may it not be that the result 

 was caused only because yoti weakened the col- 

 onies r" Uncapping the sealed honey may an- 

 swer as well, l)ut we think it needs more prac- 

 tical verification, as does ever j*o many other 

 points; our readers are just the cool headed, 

 unbiased, and unprejudiced, men and women 

 for the work. Eh ':' 



The plan by which I succeeded last season in getting 

 worker comb iu the long hive was by keeping an emp- 

 ty space between the entrance and the cluster or brood 

 nest. The entrance according to my exjierience, 

 should be only in one end, the brooil nest should be in 

 the enil farthest from the entrance; as the s])ac(! 

 between the entrance and brood nest begins to dimin- 

 ish, in the same proportion the bees are prone to build 

 drone comb. A division boartl has the same effect 

 and should therefore be disiiensed with; 8 inches is, 

 according to my experience, as near as the bees or 

 honey should approach the wall of the hive, at the 

 entrance end. 



Will you please inform me if molasses barrels can 

 be cleaned sutHciently to use in marketing extracted 

 honey? A. M. Steeu, Front Royal, Warren Co., Va. 



This is a matter in which we have had no 

 direct experience. Can any one give us more 

 light on the matter. If you wash your barrels 

 clean, and then "wax 'em" when dry, they will 

 certainly answer we think. 



I wintered my bees in a small cellar only 15x7, aver- 

 age temiierature about 40°, did not lose any. They 

 were nearly all very strong when set out in the spring 

 and did not reduce down on account of cold weather. 

 3Iy hi\es hohl nine combs, l'2xl4. It was so cold I did 

 n(Jt raise Queens in time, so I allowed natural swarm- 

 ing; first swarm came out May 2lst; 150 old swarms 

 inctreased to 58. Extra combs built and on hand now 

 105, cap honey VMi lbs., ext'd '20i)7 lbs., in large combs 

 .'iOO lbs., in air.?7ii!l lbs. I had 20 extra combs in the 

 S])ring. 1 used them in two hives for extracting, got 

 from the tivo hives, 727 lbs. ; no Increase from the two. 

 My bees ai'e alioiit half blacks and half Italians, can 

 we expect better results from shallow hives ? 



Lewis I'lELLEV, Suiyrnia, Ionia Co., Mich, 



