sa 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Stands? and in couneclion may we not find 

 that hives with half inch walls, are jnst as 

 .i|:ood for ,such stocks as tiuy other V If we find 

 it policy to use straw niats or chafi" over the 

 cluster, we certainly sliall not need to pay aii^'. 

 one for a right for so doing. 



126 COL,ONIE!S AVII>f'JrKREI), AND 

 «NJLV ONE LOST. 



OUK FRIEND 150HN STILL AT THE HEAD. 



^Tf^R I END NOVICE :— III preparing my bees lor 

 M winter, last fall, I louncl one stock Queenless, 

 >^ anil having no surplus l^neen on hand to sujiiJly 

 me deiiciency, I united them with another slock. 

 This lelt me iU colonies, which, together vvitli two 

 light swarms belonging to a neighbor, that he pro- 

 posed my taking antl wintering lor one of them, were 

 [>ut in uiy bee liouse Nov. 21st. They remained in it 

 until Feb. 2ith, wlien they were put on the summer 

 . stands. 1 louud the entire 126 colonies alive, and with 

 the exception of four swarms, that are somewhat 

 weak, in good condition. They had a good fly and 

 the weather turning cold the next day all Ihe weakest 

 colonies were put back in the house. They were car- 

 ried out again March 13tli. 



While they were in the house the last time, my 

 weakest swarm starved, by clustering at one corner of 

 the hive away from their stores. The rest are all 

 doing well. Many of the iiives did not have much if 

 any more tlian a spoonful ol dead bees in tliem when 

 carried out. 



With the exception of two or three of tlie weakest, 

 tliat have only eggs or larvie, tliey liave brood in all 

 stages, from eggs to young bees hatching out. Tlie 

 stock containing my Nunn Queen is one of my best 

 and is, I think, stronger than it was last lall, wlien 

 put in winter quarters. 



The Queen commenced laying in Jan., and when 

 taken out, Feb. 24lh, tlie hive contained liuudreds of 

 young Italians, and more are hatching out daily. 

 Jiveeuing, while in winter quarters, does not seem lo 

 have haa any deleterious ellect on the health ol the 

 bees, as there were very few dead ones in the hive 

 when put on the summer stand. 



The two light stocks belonging to my neighbor being 

 short of stores, 1 kejjt them lor some lime belore ta- 

 king them out of the house ou candy. Tliey seemed 

 to CIO as well ;is tliose having natural stoies. 



I put my double width hives in witli tiie rest, and 

 the bees in them came through in splendid condition. 

 They were very sirong in tlie fall, and I think the ex- 

 tra space in tiie hives was an advantage, as the bees 

 were not as waim as they would have been it all liad 

 been forced into a common sized liive, as i did one 

 year ago. Tlie ihermometer in the wintering room 

 varied irom Bi to 00 '. It reacheu so low as o-i" but 

 once, and that lor only a short time. It generally 

 siootl at irom o8 to d2^. During the coldest weather i 

 closed the lower ventilator lo the room, and some- 

 limes kept it closed lor a week ai a time. 



Notwithstanding we have had but a few days in 

 v,'hich bees coulu be out, of their liives, mine have 

 seemed detei mined to iminove the time, as they liave 

 carried in over a busliel of rye and oat lloui-. 



Jamks IJolin, West L,odi, O. March 18lh, 1875. 

 There ! We shall now have to admit that 

 friend B's snccess is something more tlian ac- 

 cidental. Isn't it funny that after all our 

 ijother aljout cold frames, v>e just begin to 

 discover tliat young bees can be reared in dark 

 winter quarters, and have the colony stronger 

 in numi)ers when they come out than when 

 they went in. 



In regard to brood rearing in-doors, and, 

 keeping combs of pollen over winter, we have 

 the following : 



For a special purpose 10 or 15 stocks had new emi)ty 

 combs last fall in which to store their winter supiily— 

 were fed in season on sugar syrup and arranged for 

 winter with balance of stocks, were placed in cellar 

 about 12tli of Nov.— all remained (|uiet imtil about 15tli 

 Feb. when two of them set uji a /cdr/iil KKiriitf/. About 

 1st ol March found these two were showing signs of 

 <lyseniery. We thereupon made a frame 2x2 ft. square, 

 covering sides with i)aper and tops with mosijuito net. 

 Then brought u)i a colony and placed hive witli en- 

 ti'ance corresponding witli one in frame— ami let 

 them "go it." 'Twas fun to see them lly, showing 



how much they ap])reciate Iheir liberty. Temperature 

 of room -10 to 70-". After a two day's lly, opeiicd them 

 and found the (Jueen had occupied 20 stpiare inches 

 with eggs (this being otie of the no iioUen stocks) but 

 no larviu. Returned them to cellar and now they are 

 as still as can be. The other stock rcc'd like ireat- 

 ment and were found in same shape. (jia\e each 

 stock a frame of pollen (wliich has been kejit in our 

 bee house since fall, all right) before repkiciiig in 

 cellar. J. Oatman & Co., Dundee, Ills. Mar. lo, '75. 



P. S.— Since writing you— have examined tlie two 

 stocks— and the one whicli had the cluster of c{j(j» 

 only, nozr lias one frame, more than one-third lull of 

 larv:e, some most ready lo seal ; so much lor pollen. 



THE CANi>\'IN<i OF HONEIT. 



HE following very valuable communica- 

 tion comes from an esteemed correspon- 

 dent who is constantly employed in tlie lionej^ 

 trade of one of our large cities. 



As for candying of honey, we are still troubled with 

 it, though not nearly so mucli as we were. If we were 

 not putting comb and extracted together we would be 

 all right, as the sealing while hot will prevent the 

 candying, but when comb is also put in tlie package it 

 will candy, but will remain all right lully twice as 

 long as when jnit up cold. My experience is the same 

 as jours on extracted sealed liot— sealed at 170 or 180 

 is sufficiently hot. I have some with comb in (1 lb. tum- 

 blers tin foil tops) since Dec. 26ih, three samples put 

 up at 140, 150, and 170 degrees; the 140° was candied 

 hard a moiiih ago, 150° is almost all candieil now, but 

 the ITiv only shows slight commencement in candying. 

 In ciiUing ( Duib, say I have one piece that is not can- 

 died but there has been a little honey run to the bot- 

 tom of the box and candied theie. 1 put in one tum- 

 bler, a piece v\ ith ncne of this on it, in another I put a 

 pitce Willi some of this canuietl honey adheiing lo it, 

 say twice the size of a pea. 1 seal them both up ex- 

 actly alike, tlie result is that the one already started 

 in candying, will be solid before the other shows any 

 signs oia cliange. I have luljy tested it and lind that 

 the virtue is in sealing ivhile hot and not in being heat- 

 ed to a ceitain uegree. I tried an experiment to learn 

 whether honey would candy sooner in a cold loom 

 than in one heatfd during the day and cold at night. 

 1 placed four glasses in a box in the yard, lour in a 

 room where there was no Are, (temperature most of 

 the lime about Ireeziug) four in the room where we 

 work, warm during the day and cold at night and on 

 Sundays. About the only dillerence I could see was 

 that what 1 had in our working room did not candy 

 so evenly as the others- but all candied in about ihe 

 same lime. 1 don't think these men that know so 

 much (or rather think they do) about honey candjing. 

 ever consider that there is a vast dillerence in honej, 

 even lioney taken Irom one hive in one season, We 

 have honey Irom "Winchester, (Oliver Brown's) that 

 was taken late in the season, that is candied solid in 

 the comb while some honey from the same Apiary 

 taken two months earlier shows no signs of candying, 

 the latter. is Irom blue thistle and clover w hile the 

 candied is Irom a late weed called in Virginia — "Good 

 bye summer," and by some known as iron-weed. 



"On the iilh of Nov. 1 lilied a 3 lb. jar with California 

 sage, comb and extracted and as yet it shows no signs 

 ol cantlying. 



Our California honey is at present so thick 

 that a tumbler containing it may be inverted 

 without even disturl)ing the surface and yet it 

 is as clear as crystal, and to oiii- taste the most 

 delicious of all lioney. We have several times 

 of late been cautioned against praising this 

 honey as we may thei'eby injure the sale of our 

 own, to whicli we reply : What would you 

 think of a merchant who would keep desirable 

 goods m the background because it was more 

 profitable to sell others':' Is it "doing unto 

 others" etc. V Shall we not consider all man- 

 kind as brothers equally V 



OUR OWN APIARY. 



ARCIT 5th. lluinilating as it is, we must 

 ^/iLi confess that we have allowed a colony 

 I to starve. They were in the l)ee house— were 



