t^5 



GLEANINGS IN BEE crLTLTRE. 



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liEWAKE how you attempt extracting immcdiutel)/ 

 after a heavy rain. IJees are peaceable only when 

 they are intent on the lioney that is coming an, nn<l 

 j( heavy shower often wasJies out the nectar IVoiu the 

 llowers to *u<'Ji aa extent that they remain idle until 

 more can he secreted, a jierioii of several liours or 

 Quore. New begiiiuers freviieutly get stung disastrous- 

 ly before tJiey learn why their bees so sudilenly 

 ■change their disposition, and sometimes become dis- 

 gusted \v1th the extriK-tor, just because they choose 

 an improi>er time to «lo Mie work. 



I'HE Meilley is now ready and, we believe, gives tlie 

 best of satisfaction wherever received. We adver- 

 tised to make it SxlO, but so many more Photos were 

 sent in than we expw.ed, that we decided lo make it 

 10x14, and this williout changing the price, although 

 the new postal law compels us to pay from 12 to 15c. 

 <m each copy. As the work costs us several huudred 

 ■dollars, we hope it may have & wide circulation. 

 The two large pictures of Mr. Langstroth and Mr. 

 <2uinby should Ise worth the dollar alone, to say noth- 

 ing of the rest of the group. We think it contains 

 about 150 pictxires, but they are like the little girl's 

 <-hickens, wiienever we undertake it, some of them 

 '•won't be counted,"" 



We like to feel sometimes that our work is all done 

 •up— that every order is filled, every letter answered, 

 anfl in shert— all duties faithfullj- discharged. l>o not 

 you at times feel the same, dear reader? We are sure 

 at least a few of oisr careful house-keepers do. Now 

 a gi'eat part of our duties is to open and answer let- 

 ters, and vpe have found by experience, that the only 

 way is to open one letter, and 6nish all that is to be 

 <lone to it, before opening the next; that is, so far as 

 may be, for it may have to be deposited at once into a 

 jiigeon hole that we have labeled "Await Further 

 Orders ;" or if the goods called for are by some means 

 <ielayed, it is put into one marked ''Ship as Soon as 

 Vossible."' In order to get through with all the letters 

 received each day, we are obliged to push them along, 

 «s it were, and but few minutes on an average can be 

 ■spared to each one ; and in order to do justice to you all, 

 many of our replies must be so brief as to seem al- 

 most rude. Write to us just as often, as you like, and 

 ■we are i-eal glad to get real long letters, if you only 

 will not expect us to reply at equal length. It doesn't 

 use \ip brain and muscle "to read friendly letters, but 

 it assuredly does in our case, to write them. 



If you want to get nice worker comb, don't put an 

 empty frame in the middle of a strong colony during 

 a good yield ot honey. Get your comb built in mod- 

 erate colonies, or remove all the combs but one or 

 two ; see the articles in back No's, from Dean and Oat- 

 man. This rule, however, has exceptions, and you 

 can try a colony and see what combs they will build ; 

 the progeny of a certain Queen will, so long as she 

 lives, have peculiarities. One hive always inclines to 

 l)uikl drone comb, another worker, another crooked 

 comb, etc., and by studjing them you can take ad- 

 vantage of this. Complete, strait worker combs are 

 better than cash in the bank, for when you once get a 

 complete set, you can rear just as few drones as you 

 clioose. A few days ago we iound a frame that had 

 been put into one of the hives by mistake; it contain- 

 ed sealed drone brood from the top to the bottom bar. 

 How much do you suppose the colony lost by not 

 liaving had an entire worker comb in place of it? 

 How many hives have you at this minute containing 

 <lrone brood that is worse than useless ? It is true 

 you c-an pare their heads ofl', but would it not have 

 been much better economy to have liad it worker 

 brood instead ? 



In using the I^amp Nursery for rearing dollar 

 Queens, remove every Queen as soon as she com- 

 mences to lay, and i)ut a nearly hat<-hed Queen in her 

 place at onc(! ; occasionally one will be found miss- 

 ing in this <'ase, but our "machines" if given a 

 comb of cells every ;! days, will sui)ply us witli new 

 (Queens so cheai)ly that llie loss of one is a very small 

 nuitter ; in fact the greatest trouble is to lind a place 

 for them all. Worms will be very apt to be found in 

 the nursery, and we know of no better way at pres- 

 ent, than to pick them out ; if this be done daily, and 

 if each comi) is ret;irned to tha hive as soon as all the 

 Queen cells are liatched. it will be a light task. 



t^Ali NOV K'E:- Perhaps all the bee-keepers 

 ^i^j; think that Gallup is dead by this time, biit lie 

 *—»'' still lives. I have been compelled to go into a 

 new business and that, too, against my own wishes. 

 Since the lirst of November last, I have been home 

 but two weeks, and since the 17th of Jan. I have Ijeeu 

 home only two nights; and in order to be with ray 

 family, I have rented my farm, purchased and moveil 

 into town, and gone into the Water-cure or Hydro- 

 l)athic practice. I have not solicited a single case, 

 and yet I have had all I could attend to, and have had 

 universal success, I have taken several hopeless cases, 

 or cases pronounced hopeless by the regular phys- 

 icians, and cui-ed them entirely. Have let the bees to 

 J. W. Lindley, and hung out ray shingle and gone 

 Into the business. Have nad no time to write to my 

 most intimate friends until this morning. 



K. Galliti', Osage, Iowa. June .^d, 187.5. 

 Can we not all join in kind wishes to our 

 old friend ? Whether it be among bees, or in 

 his new avocation, or in whatever tield it shall 

 seem that he may do most good among his 

 fellows, may success attend his labors. And 

 may we not hope that very shortly he will 

 conclude to keep a few bees again, even if he 

 is in town ? We are sure that an occasional 

 article from the pen of Doctor Gallup would 

 be as warmly welcomed, as in the days when 

 he used to give us his side splitting broad- 

 sides, after his day's labor in rail splitting on 

 the farm. 



FERTILE WORKERS. 



fypS^O, please, tell me In next Gleanings how to get 

 Jl! m rid of a "fertile worker." On the lOtli of April, 

 4=*'^ I accidentally crushed one of my best Queens, 

 in removing a card of bi'ood for inspection. In due 

 time I found the bees supplied with a flue looking vir- 

 gin Queen, which was lost in her unsuccessful at- 

 tempts to meet a drone at that season of the year. I 

 Inserted brood at various times. Procured a tine 

 fertile Queen, destroyed all Queen cells, and Inserted 

 her properlv caged. At the expiration of four ilays 

 I liberated the t)ueen. Next day the bees brought out 

 her corpse. I then inserted two capped ()ueen cells. 

 These were hatched and destroyed. Not until then 

 were my suspicions aroused. Close Inspection re- 

 vealed eggs at Irregular spaces, and in various num- 

 bers In worker cells. From ten to fifteen eggs were 

 found In each orfe of the old Queen cells. 



In this condition. Queen cells started elsewhere and 

 Inserted, were cared tor and hatched, and then the 

 Queens were killed. In this dilemma, I dlviiled the 

 colony into four nuclei. Three of these are prosper- 

 ing; but the fourth, still contains the ambitious work- 

 er ; and the most careful Inspection does not lead to 

 her detection, ^^^lat shall I do ? 



G. E. Cokhin, St. Johns, Mich. June 10th, 75. 



In the first place, no fertile worker should 

 ever be allowed in an Apiary ; you should con- 

 sider it something to be ashamed of, and it will 

 never make its appearance, if every Queenless 

 colony is given a comb of eggs every 4 or 5 

 days. If you have been so careless, don't fuss 

 with a little brood, but give the poor fellov.'s 3 

 or 4 combs full at once, and keep them so well 

 supplied with good eggs that the fertile worker 

 will lose her occupation. It will always prove 

 a remedy. 



