5:a75. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



33 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS. 



^W ISTKN to the patent right vender and do nothing 

 m * but shake your head, says the Rural New York- 

 i.VJ l <T. but I don't aj)|)rove of tiiat way. My Mother 

 often toUl me when I wa8 little that I would' learn to 

 butt If I shook my liead so much. I will tell you how 

 1 served an "Agent," of some kind. I was in my Api- 

 ary working with my bees, and he laid his satchel on 

 :i hive that was near, and while he botljere<l me, lie 

 still kept kno<'king tlie hive witli iiis satchel. Tlie 

 bees began to get cross, V)Ut he didn't tiiink you know. 

 I'retty soon the bees came out and "went for him" 

 lively, lie began to (iodge and slap, but lie soon grab- 

 bed " his satchel and began to "beat a retreat." 

 slapning and cracking his head with the satchel anil 

 i5])oiling his line hat all to pieces, he "hollered" back 

 he had enough of the bee business and left. It was 

 laughable to" see him "light out."" 



V. McBride, [page 11. Jan. Xo.] says that during the 

 ■winter of the nialadv, all the bees iuLangstroth hives 

 died, and two-thirds in others ct<;. I saw bees in all 

 kinds of hives that died, some in box hives from one 

 foot to five feet high and some in some old washing 

 machines turned up side down, others in the gable end 

 of a house, some in tlie old straw hives and all kinds 

 of patent hives, and by the way they died in all kinds, 

 about the same. Some had " the patent hives and 

 lost their bees and then blamed the patent hive, but I 

 found it was their fault oftentimes, as it makes it a lit- 

 tle handier for them to divide their bees and to take 

 their honey. They think the patent hive ought to 

 make honey without bees almost. I guess the ^•king^'' 

 don't manage right some how as some of those old 

 farmers call them ; don't you think Mr. Root, that it 

 is the King's fault that the "bees die? 



D. H, OuDEN-, Wooster, O. 

 We guess it must be the King friend O., for 

 we feel sure the Qu(en is not to blame. Our 

 very best colony in 187??, dwindled down to the 

 weakest in the spring of '74. They went down to 

 :i mere handful, swarmed out twice, and it was 

 only b}' giving them hatching brood several 

 times that we could barely get the Queen 

 through until July, and then she proved herself 

 fully equal to what she had been the season 

 before; in fact she kept putting two or more 

 eggs in a cell all through the spring months. 

 It is only the workers that die ofl' as soon as 

 brood rearing commences. The very same 

 process is now going on in our forcing house 

 (Feb. 5th.) yet the brood will get ahead we 

 think. Keeping t!ie sick bees warm in the 

 lamp nursery revives them some but they soon 

 die nevertheless. The idea advanced that it is 

 •i kind of fi/ thut kills the bees, can certainly 

 have nothing to do with our losses. 



NOW FOK THK HOT BED. 



Jan. 2'ind, we let the sun in to the pit and at 2 P. M. 

 there was a perfect jollification, Just like a lot of young 

 bees playing in summer. And they did "spot" things 

 inside the pit at a great rate, showing they needed a 

 fly. As soon as it began to cool down they all went in 

 to the hives except some dead ones on the straw, no 

 more tlian would have been found if they had flown 

 the natural way, and about two-thirds of a tea-cupful 

 which were stuck on the sash in groups from one to a 

 <lozen. These latter we brushed out on a dust pan and 

 put in t<i|i of one of the hives, as they were still alive, 

 and saiil liive was mighty "sassy" too ; seemed strong 

 in bees, ]ilenty of honey, "and combs dry. The pit was 

 not dug till after the ground was frozen 8 inches deep, 

 conseinu'utly there was considerable frost on the 

 glas.'r which'we swept ofl" as soon as the sun loosened 

 it a little. The damijness inside the pit was soon dried 

 and everything went lovely. 



We were going to hoist our hat for the hot-bed, but 

 guess we'll wait till spring before we shout too loud. 



Don't forget the "Medley" for we want to see Katie 

 Grimm, yiv. Grimm, and a'U the rest. 



W. M. Kello gg, On eida, Knox Co., Ills. 



A Mr. Abbot, of Wakeman, O., uses leather instead 

 of Quilts. He says the leather is cheai)er and does not 

 rattle or stick. He fits them tight on the top of frames 

 and the\ did not mould last winter and tlie bees win- 

 tered belier than under quilts or tight Iranies. My 



bees in my hot-house when it has been warm enough 

 for them to fly (no fire as yet) readily find their way 

 back to their own hives, w'hile those on their summer 

 stantls (though protected on the top and north siiles) 

 died liy hundreds if not thousands on the snow as thev 

 lit and fell on it last week. 



T. L. Waite, Berea, O. Feb. 4th. '">. 

 We had an intimation some time ago thai 

 Mr. Abbot had a remedy for propolis, above 

 the frames. Leather being porous, might do 

 very well, but will it not kill bees when press- 

 ed down on them? Again, can we get a piece 

 that will cover a hive for the price of a quilt, 

 and what kind of leather is best? Mr. Abljor 

 claimed that he had some valuable information 

 to sell, on the subject. We presume most of 

 you have discovered that those who claim to 

 bo possessed of valuable information, not to be 

 fovtid in books, are generally somewhat of a 

 fraud ; never mind friend Abbot, if you have by 

 experimenting got hold of something valuable, 

 bring it along. We will pay you for your 

 time and trouble. 



I had to-day to open the entrance full size to almost 

 all hives. Bees keep up a lively hum and are carrying 

 in loads of pollen equal to spring work. Considering 

 your mortality from disease ami cold in the North and 

 your continual trouble and anoriet}/, I think we have 

 "far the advantage of you. 



I lost one very weak swarm this winter by robbers. 

 This is bv far" the worst eneniv I have to contend 

 with. "J. B. Ramsey, Abbeville, La. Jan. 21st, '75. 



And with your advantages, friend R., why 

 do you not build up larger Apiaries, ami raise 

 honey bj- the car load as do our friends in 

 California ? We can imagine the smile of re- 

 lief that would spread over the faces of some 

 of our readers, had they no worse trouble than 

 robbers to contend with. 



"When I ordered the two first volumes I thought I 

 could do without Gleanings ord Vol.— But it won't 

 DO. Don't forget the Jan. number. 'Twont do ! No, 

 if "blue eyes" falls down over the boards you inuxt, 

 stop and help her up. In our haste, don't let" us make 

 a God of our Bees. 



Have 35 stands in box to be transferred, have adopt- 

 ed the Standard. Shall want an extractor etc. 



C. M. Josnx, M. D. St. Charles, Mich. 



I examined several of my colonies the 20tli of Jan. 

 and found brood in all stages, from the egg to the 

 hatching bee. One stock with brood on lour combs. 

 Lost none to date, tliough one hive has soiled its 

 combs considerably. H. Peden, Mitchellville, Tcnn. 



From several similar items, we see it is noth- 

 ing very unusual to tind brood even in Jan., in 

 the Southern and Middle states, whether this 

 is desirable or not, we are unprepared to say. 



Many thanks friend "Novice" lor the binder you 

 sent me, I never expected such a nice premium. We 

 have every number of "Gleanings" in its proper 

 place in the binder, and let me tell every bee-keeiier, 

 to get Emerson's Binder for "Gleanings," then they 

 can preserve them for their children's children if thev 

 like. But "Novice" I never said "confound it" if I 

 could not just And the desired number of Gleanings. 

 No indeed! we always kept them in a drawer by 

 themselves so that wealwavs knew just where to find 

 them. (Teach us order and precision and then ask 

 such a (picstion as per advertisement.) 



"N^ovice" tells us to "have every comb built between 

 one and the side of the hive'' in" order to have them 

 straight, but it won't always work unless the old 

 combs have brood or sealed honey at the top. I have 

 had the old combs widened out so" as to fill the whole 

 space, and nothing put in the enqity frame at all. I 

 believe this will always happen if emi)ty frames arc 

 inserted immedlatelv" after extracting. The remedy 

 is, use the Standard hive, move back the division 

 board just to give room for one frame at a time, move 

 back the combs till you come to the middle of the 

 brood nest, insert the empty frame there, and. Ho ! 

 you will have the whole frame nearly filled, with nice 

 worker comb, and e<ifix too before morning jjcrhaps. 

 This should only be done when the bees are gathering 

 honev nicelv. " Ila Michener. Low Banks, Out., Can. 



