1870 



GLEANINGS IN BKE OULTUlViii. 



Wh 



^liiril (lay after she arvivetl, two bee-keepers ralleil to 

 ;se€ her; they jruve me tlielr onlev.s lor seven (^ticejis. 

 ■so yoii see-thore is iiolhiiij; liJie havaiig >:ootl sttK'k to 

 •draw ciistCMii. The Vucoii 1 sent to -(^'aliforivia went 

 •ill rif;ht In one of your sl»ipi>Snir cages. I ewlo.se 

 !•;. K. sjiatt'Wck'p postal. The nei,i;lib<>rs all said she 

 ■would nuv-er soe tiie "jiohl eo^tntry" alive, they were 

 very nnich astonished to hea«' tlwu'slie weut sal^l^'. 



J. M. V. fAi H)l{. J.,ewistoJi, \(d., All!!;. 'Jlst, "5. 



IMi;. TAYJ.( )K.:— I ro''"dyonr Queen -on the road 11 



•days -ail right. Also i others, one iVoui Tenu.. ;md 



one from I'a., t>ot?i de<id. I'oiirs war; in just ari lijie 



i'ondition as when you uuther in the cage. 



L. K. .SiiATiCt'K.'l.os Angeles, '('aU, July UK "i''. 



i have one swarm, that was in fair <-oiiditJeHi last 

 ■spring-, but is now weak. .Mm-h of the brood dies 

 .-.ibout tli-e tiiue it should be capped- There is ik> bad 

 .-^mell about the hive. What is the <'ause ? Wiiat shall 

 1 do with it y Bees siTa^rnied a little. Have no sealed 

 -honey yet- liroeding raiMiUy. (Xxjasioxallv. 



We have iiovcr soeu auythuig sucb as you 

 luentioii, biit would advise giving tlieiiixi good 

 feed of sugar s\Tup. Ouf own .«ick colony is 

 still ill tiie same condition:; ipjivei'ing, sick 

 and dying l)ees aiv t-ohe seen about the entrace 

 weiy forcKoon. We were uuich astouished to 

 liud them entirely out of stores a few days -ago, 

 ■as they weiHj left with a large surplus when we 

 last extracted, and the otliers of similar size 

 have iK)w more than suiticient for winter. 

 Thinking diet might have something to do with 

 St, we have been feeding th^einou sugar, but it 

 jnakes n© ilit^erence. The diseased bees often 

 •crawl into other hives, but at present none of 

 the rest are affected. "Some have advised us to 

 ^lestroy th-e volony, but it cojnes very haudj' 

 wlien some one vehemently asserts tiiat there 

 is no disease among the bees Ijut want of care. 

 •<)pening this colony invariably silences them. 



.soon as ])Ut on, llicre will oll-n be bees fastened bt- 

 I iween (he Iraiiies and i|uill. If the uiiper edg-j of toj> 

 : bars were triangular. iw<. made Inim a square stie.li— 

 : wilii corner mjp, would they be bcllir or wort^e I-' How 

 I to p<it 'luUts and b(i;.es ou to), of frames, wltliout liill- 

 j nig bees, is to ine an TOisolvod iwobleH), ■unless 1 do it 



on a slow motion idan-. 



I They would doubtless work a little better 

 I with the quilt, but in <,inip our top liars have 

 I little bits of comb jirqjecting upward that pre- 

 I vent killing bees ; in fact we do not remember 

 that we ever killed bees in tlie way yon men- 

 1 tion. When putting on boxes we would drive 

 I the bees down among the c-(.»inbs witli a Quinby 

 ' smoker. 



In e.xtrac,itin^', Uie voMcbs often slick tight to llic 

 wire ■cloth. It inii.v be the wire is too -rtno, what size 

 <io you use ? 



After careful experiments, we have deciilei< 

 that wire cloth for extractors shouhl i>e just 

 aboist ;■) straudsof wire to the incli,/^/./(,t'(Z wire- 



If tlie combs are p\U in the extractor willi the bol- 

 toni next to the centre, and the top toward the out' 

 side, or viee vet'sa, will not the honev'conic-ftut easier ? 

 I, e, it is then thrown out opposite t-lic line of Motion, 

 etc. l>. MOYKU, SlKirpsviUe, Pa., Aug. -Jd, '7."'- 



There i,s a little dittereuce in favor of the 

 plan you mention, but not enough to Ix' wort k 

 observing during regular work. " 



f^et me tell jtiu tliat I have the best h^ouey gatllerer^ 

 from my importe<l l^ueeii that have ever been in mv 

 Apiary, and the (.,)*ieens are the most prolilic thati 

 ever saw. Ki.i CoisLJi. Corjicrsville, Tenn.,July i:j,'7i>- 



! have -5 Queenless hives, with ciipped Queen cell-s, 

 ibnt not a drone osi my place, nor iuive mj- neighbors 

 any drones. What do yo\i think will be the result to 

 «ny Queens.^ W, J. Axdkkws, Columbia, Tenn. 



We are inclined to think there are drones 

 about that you do not know of, l)ut if there are 

 not, your Queens will prolialily be drone layers, 

 and worthless. If they are not laying at the 

 nge of 25 days, you had better destroy them, 

 and unite the colonies witli others. If they 

 •commezice laying' rather after the usual time, 

 watch the brood, and if when capping they use 

 high, convex caps, you maj consider them 

 ■drones in worker cells, and useless. 



A few have by mistake, pfol>;ib]y sent such 

 out as .$1.00 Queens, but we are desired to say 

 tliat all such will cheerfully be made good. 



Do bees ever attempt to rear Queens from the brood 

 of a fertile Avorker? Bkn. S. CX)LE, Tiltonville, <^). 



Of course they do, and to your sorrow, as 

 you will And if j-ou do not carefully keep all 

 kinds of drone eggs out of their way when they 

 are building Queen cells. A Queen cell that is 

 built over a drone larva is usually destitute of 

 the thimble-like indentations usualh^ seen on 

 'good ones, and a cell that is smooth externally 

 should always be regarded with suspicioii. 



Is the demaml for dollar Queens sufficient to war- 

 rant an Ajiiarian of reasonable experience, to buy an 

 imported Queen, and run a i)ortion of his Apiarv for 

 ijueen raising. ti. K. Hifi-man, Emnghani,"llls. 



We think it is; we have had many letters 

 asking if we could furnisli lots of from 2.5 to 100. 

 One man sent us .$40-00 that we were obliged 

 to return. 



AVhen the upper side of tlie tojj bars for frames is Ji 

 inch or more wide, and the ijuilt pressed down tight, 



A, I. ROOT, Sir v— I have two very niee Queens that 

 apjiear to be fertilieed and they do not liiy an egg. i 

 liavo others tiiat are youn^^er. "that are iaying ireely. 

 They are at lea&t one month old. There Ikis been 

 hundreds of drones ilying near tiiem ever since the\ 

 hatch«1, the bees are satisfied with them and will no"t 

 start cells from brood given tlieni ; so far as I can sec 

 they are perfect. Did you ever liave Queens act so? 

 Can you tell nie the cause or give a reme'ly ? If tliey 

 dpn"i go to work soon I shall try crushing' thein and 

 let Uie bees raise others. 



S. H. Houoh, Rootstown, O., Aug. M, "X 



We recollect having three different Queens 

 that would not lay, although they were remark- 

 ably large and tine looking. Wc know of no 

 way but to keep them until about the age we 

 have mentioned, and then destroy them and 

 put in others. This is a dangerous state of af- 

 fairs, for the bees will make no effort to rear 

 another, so long as she remains in the hive. 



"When a Queen does not lay at the age she 

 should, it is a very good plan to toss her uj) in 

 the air before the hive; if she flies easily, all is 

 well, but if she falls, or does not fly well, she 

 had better be killed at once. As it is quite a 

 task to hunt up virgin Quees we seldom look 

 for them, but keep watch of the small larv;e al- 

 ways kept in the hive; if they start no Queen 

 cells she is certainlj' present, iHTt when they 

 are started, she is as certainly lost. 



NOVICE:— Does a blossom that does not produce 

 fruit, yield honey? Our MoreUo cherries were white 

 with bloom, yet produced no fruit, and the bees diil 

 not seem to worl; upon them. Hives full of brood-- 

 no honey scarcely— bees swarming. 



Mks. L. flAKKisoN, I'eoria, Ills., Aug. 7th, '7.5. 



We believe the so calleil false blossoms yield 

 full as much honey, if not more, than those 

 that produce fruit, for nature's principal object 

 in secreting the honey seems to be to entice the 

 bees, that tliey may thus c;irry the pollen from 

 one blossom to the others. If you observe a 

 pumpkin or squash vine, you may easily see 

 that the false blossoms contain quite as many 

 bce^' as the fruitful ones. 



