1875. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



!).•) 



us licro? If uo bees died in Aviuter, perhaps 

 lumey would not brinu; oc. per lb., and good 

 coloiiies might be bought for a doUar or two. 

 As it is now, our siiccessfal n(>ighbors are re- 

 fusing to sell when ottered $15.00 per colony, 

 and honey, that t/ut/ could produce at 8c. or 

 less, brings liic. It would be rather a hard 

 piece of advice, to say, "let those fail who are 

 not smart enough to winter their bees; it will 

 make it all the better for us, and we will sell 

 them more to start with at §15.00 or .$20.00 per 

 colony ;" but, dear friends, is it not working 

 somewhat that way V Which class are you 

 going to belong toi* 



ilavo taken 2(K)0 lbs. houej' to date, and prospect 

 gooil for lour limes that amount. 



J. F. MoNXGO.VEUY, Lincoln, Tenn. May26tn, '75. 



I keep a few swarms of bees. Last year I pumped 

 •J 400 lbs. of honey from 15 swarms, increased them to 

 i-2, and got 400 new combs made. They wintered well, 

 have lost some this spring. Some have lost all they 

 had. Thev are doing- well now. 



Dn. m; L. Eau-NEV, Hartford, Wis. May 27th, '75. 



Weather very cold and backward. Bees rejoicing 

 however, that there was a "Novice" to invent the 

 Universal feeder. 



Yours in all sweetness, G. C. Mii.ler. 



Mt. Hanley, Annapolis Co., X. S. May 20th, '75. 



On the supposition that all the frames in the lower 

 story are ivcll tilled with brood, would it noo be a 

 good plan to give each swarm, just before the white 

 clover harvest, enough sugar syrup to till up the edges 

 of such combs, thus forcing the bees to store all their 

 honey in the upper story ^ Especially would not this 

 plan "work well lor those who wish to secure box hon- 

 ey ? I expect to try it with a few swarms. AVith 

 best wishes 1 remain S. F. Newman, Norwalk, O. 



We think the plan would be "tip-top" with- 

 out a doubt. Since clover honey seems des- 

 tined to command a better price than any oth- 

 er, not even excepting the California Sage, it 

 will behoove us to see how we maj- best econ- 

 omize it all. Sugar is just as good for brood 

 rearing, and probably a little better for win- 

 tering. ^Ul that remains to be seen to, is that 

 they do not carry this syrup above. If they 

 are all pretty liberally fed just before the clo- 

 ver season opens, and before the upper stories 

 are put on (or the surplus combs at the sides, 

 Avhich amount to the same thing), we think it 

 will be all clover honej^ above. 



I had a splendid swarm of Italians yesterday— May 

 2ord— good for Michigan. 



W. Comfort, Tecnmseh, Mich. 



One day last week I had 3 swarms from box hives 

 that alighted on the same tree and limb, at a few min- 

 utes ol each other. Didn't know what to do with 

 them, had no hives to hold them, so I got a cracker 

 barrel-, and knocked the whole mess down, (for it was 

 a mess for certain,) and they are working apparent- 

 ly all right. 



J. B. CoBii, Woodstown, N. J. June IGth, '75. 



But you should not do so friend C, it is a 

 veiy easy matter to separate swarms. If you 

 have empty combs, all the better, if not, just 

 put the bees into three hives as nearly equally 

 divided as j'ou can, and in working with them, 

 you will very soon iind the Queens by at least 

 some of them being covered with a ball of 

 bees; examine them every hour or two, until 

 you do find them. With extra combs, the 

 Queens can be as readily found, as if in an or- 

 dinary colony. It is true your mammoth colo- 

 ny will gather a great amount of honey, if you 

 can set them all at work to advantage, but in 

 a short time, you will only have one ordinary 

 stock, where you might have had three. 



In reply to a remonstrance from us because 

 Mr. L. ()l)jected to our pnl)lishiiig the names of 

 those who resjionded to our eall, he gives the 

 following sound reasoning in a private letter. 



DKAi; I'.KOTHKlt: If there are any parties who 

 feci that in scmliiig me money Ihvy are oulv acknowl- 

 edging SOUK! benelit received froiii mv writings and 

 inventions, 1 should not decline accepting it, but lei 

 them send it to me personally, and not to have it aji- 

 pear in princ. Some might give, to have their names 

 appear, (not many 1 suitpose,)— and some might give 

 because they might feel that it would be expected of 

 them to gire, and yet they do not want to give. 1 ue"- 

 sire nothing but what comes from the heart. 



L. L. LANGSTUorn. Philadelphia, Pa., May 2G, '75. 



We are feeding our bees yet in a trough in the yanl, 

 a patent pail lull daily to 44 colonies. The\ take'it up 

 clean in less than an hour ; not the least robbing or 

 lighting, but they arc a good deal excited, ttod work 

 with a will, while it lasts, then (puet d )\vn in a i'cw 

 minutes, as soon as it is gone. We think it the easiest 

 and best way to feed when it is warm enough tor them 

 to lly. The nuclei will not take enough to live on,— 

 have to feed them in hives. 



SARAH Axti;ll, Kosevillc, 111., June 10th. '75. 



We fully agree with you, Mrs. A., and we 

 very much doubt the utility of feeding bees 

 when they cannot fly. To such of our readers 

 as have long drouths yielding no pasturage in 

 the fall, we would strongly advise this out-door 

 feeding ; it is better made ((uite thin — sweet- 

 ened water in fact, — and if you think j^ou can- 

 not atfoi'd it, rear dollar Queens to pay for the 

 sugar. When bees are disposed to visit the 

 grocers and confectioners, this will eflectually 

 keep them av,"ay, and^make them as quiet and 

 easy to handle, when in the midst of a yield 

 of honey. 



We would earnestly advise those who are 

 taking decided positions in regard to double 

 walled and thin walled hives, to "go slow." 

 More reports are sent in than we can possibly 

 publish, and while one seems to j^oint very 

 positively in favor of the former, the next will 

 be as clearly in. favor of the latter. The most 

 puzzling part of it is, that in one Apiary, all 

 those covered with boxes, packed with sha- 

 vings, straw, chafl", etc., will die, while the un- 

 protected ones, side by side, live ; again, the un- 

 protected die, and the protected live. Is it 

 possible that those sending in reports, uncon- 

 sciously, are defending some hobby 'of their 

 own ? Although there are some very heavy 

 names apended to those advising chafl', walls, 

 etc., we think the testimony taken as a whoUi 

 shows clearly that such protection at least 

 does no good, and that the same colonies 

 would most likely have done well, any way. 

 Can we not try to bear in mind, that if a col- 

 ony does well in spite of our laborious tinker- 

 ing, it is no positive proof that they were beu- 

 eflted thereby. The testimony in favor of 

 frost-proof repositories, is almost unanimous, 

 and that in favor of carrying them back during 

 bad spring weather, alimist if not iiuite equal- 

 Ij' so. For out door wintering, the testimony 

 is heavy in favor of some pourous covering, 

 such as quilts or straw mats. 



FUIEXl) NOVICE:— Wc have now 4(; colonies to 



commence the season's work with ; that being the 

 same numlicr you have, 1 believe. The 20thof Maythe 

 majority of our stocks liad Ijrood in only two combs, 

 occupying a space in each comb no larger than your 

 hand, "at that. We were nearly discouraged, but by 

 the best care in our power we are building them up 

 somewhat, although they are still far from what they 

 should be at this season of the year. White clover 

 and locust just 0])ening. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE, Borodino, N. Y., June IC, '75. 



