1875. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



93 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS. 



S2%EES in splendid condition— never better, 1 tliink, 

 '¥% at tlie time of year. Have dwindled vp until 

 ^i-' the hlve8 arc almost running over with bees. 

 S'onic of tliem, in lact, liave run over, as they com- 

 menced swarming Mav 27th. notwithstanilins 1 had 

 destroyed the Queen cells to i)revent it. t^hall liave to 

 lav the blame for tlieir acting so to over eleven bush- 

 els of rye ami oal flour they have carried in, and a 

 barrel of sugiir made into syruj), that I have been ad- 

 ministering in small doses, daily, since March 1st. 



James Bolin, West Lodi. O. 

 May joiir shadow uevergrow less, friend B., 

 and luay you be able teach the rising genera- 

 tions, to keep bees as successfully as you do. 



A. J. Fisher, of East Liverpool, O., asks what 

 he shall do with the large amounts of pollen 

 that his bees are tilling the combs with, 7ie 

 fears to such an extent that it will leave the 

 Queen no room for eggs. He can't exchange 

 combs, for his hives are all in the same predic 

 ament. Now it is very difficult for us to be- 

 lieve that his bees, or any others, ever collect 

 more pollen than they need. We have seen 

 the^same state of affairs, yet in looking again 

 after several stormy days have intervened we 

 found the pollen all or nearly all used up. 

 This of course is in hives having plenty of 

 brood and brisk Italian Queens. Get an im- 

 ported Queen, friend F., and if her daughters 

 will not furnish a family that will empty the 

 combs of pollen in short metre, your locality 

 is different from ours. 



Can I Italianize my bees when there are more than 

 one hundred colonies within a mile of me ? If to I 

 would like to have the name of some Queen raiser as 

 near me as possible so that I can get a Queen or two 

 as early as possible. "A Green Texian." 



You can receive nearl}' if not quite all the 

 benefit of the Italians as honey producers, even 

 if there be 100 black stocks in the same Apiary, 

 if you get all eggs or larvse lor Queen rearing, 

 from a Queen of known purity. And here 

 again we feel sure that we shall do our friends 

 a service by advising an imported one. A test- 

 ed daughter of an imported, would be the next 

 best thing, and if it were not for the time taken, 

 we would advise buying half a dozen dollar 

 Queens from imported stock and selecting one 

 from these. We can do no better than to refer 

 to those who advertise in Gleanings. 



YoTi say don't put new swarms into empty Simplici- 

 ty hives. How else can we do? We have no combs 

 to put into frames to start with unless it be a bit fas- 

 tened in. Do you have no guides to space frames 

 accurately ? or do you depend on the eye ? They slip 

 so very easily when empty I should suppose a contri- 

 vance if but a bit of thin wood with slots cut in would 

 be an advantage. 



J. W. POKTER, Charlottsville, Va. June 3rd, '75. 



It may be necessary to put your first swarm 

 into an empty hive, but after you have got one 

 in the movable comb hive you have decided to 

 use, you can always spare the next colony at 

 least one comb for a pattern, and if this one 

 comb contains unsealed larvje, you can feel 

 sure that your colony will not desert. A 

 swarm can be put into an empty Simplicity 

 as well as any other or perhaps better, for by 

 pushing the hive well forward over the bottom 

 board, yoit can give them the very best chance 

 to get in, in fact you can after shaking them 

 in front of it, slide it directly over them, and 



thus hive them very (juickly. You can with 

 very little practice, set the frames at equal 

 distances, much (juicker than you possibly 

 could by the aid of any stick or guage. Just 

 before you shake the colony in lYont of it, open 

 it and llx the combs all nicely in place, then 

 tuck the (jullt down so WvaX not a bet itau y:,i'\. 

 above it, and shut it down. When the colony 

 is on its permanent stand, it may be well to 

 elevate the back end of the hive, and then 

 again raise the quilt enough to see that the 

 frames have not got displaced, and finally 

 watch them daily for several days, and insist 

 on their doing good work. Use all the bits of 

 worker comb you have about, by all means. 



A year ago last fall on the 18th day of November 1 

 placed seven swarms in the cellar under my dwelling 

 house and on tlie first of March following I took them 

 out sound. Tiie past season they increased to nine- 

 teen Bwarms— placed them in the same cellar on the 

 20th November, '74— took them out on the 25th of 

 Marcli — afl alive but one. The cellar is dry and well 

 ventilated. I use Langstroth hives. My Swiss clover 

 is just getting in bloom. 



Geo. Heatek, Flat Rock, O June Ist, '75. 



But what is Swiss clover friend H. ? please 

 tell us more about it 'i 



Here I am away out here in Montcalm Co., all alone 

 so to speak, yet I have a "better half" and four pair of 

 little "Blue eyes" and 80 roaring strong stocks of pure 

 Italian bees to make my home jubilant. Methinks 1 

 hear some one ask, "what's the trouble tlien ?" but 

 wait, I will explain. Ten years ago I bought my first 

 Italian Queen ; at that time many old fogies declared 

 that if I ever got a Queen by mail it would be a wood- 

 en one and when I told them that I had taken 500 lbs. 

 of honey from one stock in a season, why, they gave 

 me all sorts of abuse of course, but however the honey 

 interest has been on tlie increase every year since until 

 last season, when it became very important ; much of 

 the time passers by thought I kept a hotel by the looks 

 of the vehicles in front of my dwelling. "Then what 

 is the matter?" AVhy the bees are all dead in 

 this part of Mich., all died the past winter and spring, 

 and here I am working away among my little pets day 

 after day without any Tjody to talk bees to, ancl if per- 

 chance 1 see some person going along, they cast a 

 careless glance over towards me and go on shaking 

 their heads as much as to say, "doubtful business that, 

 can't fool me again." 



Wishing all a prosperous season with bees etc., I 

 am yours fraternally, H. M. Roop. 



Carson City, Mich. June 30th, '75. 



You leave us to conjecture, friend R., that 

 your success like all the rest, is only because 

 you have learned how, and it is a positive fact, 

 that our old hands at the business, are getting 

 the upper hand of the wintering troubles. 



A file of Gleanings from the beginning, was a few 

 days ago lent me bj- a friend, and my wife says it has 

 stood me "on the head" about bees, as it caused a 

 great revival on that subject. 



Amos S. Collins, New Orleans, La. 



We trust that you may eventually get "lev- 

 el," and that the revival may be permanent 

 and productive of good. 



I have two Queens that are blind or crazy, they lay 

 as many as twenty eggs in one cell ; I have caught 

 them, and set them on an cmi>ty comb to learn their 

 duty, but it is no use, they do as before and I turned 

 tlie index on the word not approved. 



J. Duieelek, Wetiuiock, Wis. May 22nd, '75. 



If the Queens do this when they have a good 

 colony of bees, they are certainly at fault, but 

 if they are equal to the task of depositing a 

 great many eggs, and have only a few cells pre- 

 pared and kept warm for them, they certainly 

 should not be blamed. We have seen Queens 

 that behaved thus in the spring, afterward 

 make good strong colonics. 



