187; 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



v.ir, 



I suppose it li:is been much worse Mian usual, but I 

 wi)l be satisfied if they all avcvajre with tliis. I have 

 a little idea in my liead. "which, jiardon uie, 1 don't 

 nifan to tell."' by which I exjiect to jio far ahead of 

 anything: I haveever done with bees. Uut I will wait 

 until aniither season is over before? F tell it. and if Am- 

 ateur makes more lioney i)er colony next year ihan 

 any (>lher man in the I'nited States -well, what then ? 

 And Mr. No\ice, this is c.xictli/ ichat I iiilciid la do. 

 I will I'onimence the season next year with -do coln- 

 iiies (as tlu? bees 1 handleil this year were not all my 

 own). Wc 'lon't make any e;ilcnlati<ni on winlerini;-, 

 .ns bees gather honey the year roiunl. In the \ alleys 

 bees do better in winter .and early sprinu:. IJees do 

 not LTalher jiropolis here in the mountains at all, but 

 in the valley they j:ather as mu<h as with you. ^\l^ 

 have but few scientilic bee-men here. 1 have (treated 

 "luite a sensation this season, but will cause tlieni to 

 oiien their eyes another year. 



1 shoulil hiive said that I intend trying one of your 

 '•lamji nurseries" next season, as 1 have never tried it. 

 1 tliink Die idea a good one. 



Can you suggest any plan by which we Californians 

 can reiilize more than 10 cents ])er lb. for our nice 

 sage honey ? It is better tlian I he white clover honey 

 of the cast, and it is a shame that we don't got more 

 than 10 cent-^ for it. Our second rate honey is about 

 like the golden rod or smart weed honey of the east, 

 an<l we get 7 cents for it. 1 have now about 1'2000 lbs. 

 of nice honey that I would take V2'/i cts for, and deliv- 

 er at dei)ot. 



Annheim, Los Ani/elcs Co., Cal., Sept. Idth, '75. 



Many thanks, friend Amateur, and we are 

 especially glad that j^ou had the frankness to 

 say what none of the rest of our friends have ; 

 viz., that tre are talking too much. We think 

 .vou are right, yet in the face of it must say 

 that we did in '70 get over 150 lbs. to the colo- 

 ny, but we fear we shall never do it again. 



If you arrange j^our hives hexagonally, us- 

 ing the same plan you have, you will have the 

 same amount of room between them, and get 

 them much nearer the house ; also, do you not 

 lose much labor by not having your house in 

 the centre of the Apiary? Wliy does not the 

 house Apiary accomplish all this much more 

 effectually? AVe do feel sorry many times 

 when Ave think of the many things we have 

 advised in time past that have never been of 

 any practical use, but are you sure you have 

 wiselj' laid aside all except the extractor 

 idea ? 



Should we remove to California, or even to 

 Michigan, we feel sure we might make much 

 more money than Ave do here, but should we 

 stand as good a chance of making Gleanings 

 iiseftil to the great mass of our readers ? in fact 

 is it not better for us to have rather a poor lo- 

 cality so that we may see the Avorst features 

 of the occupation ? 



PREPARING FOR AVIIVTER. 



I^^FJjHE folloAving is from an article that the 

 slL Covntry GV»^?f7«/f» of Oct. 7th, credits to 

 the London Ar/ricultvrdl Gnzciie. It so nearly 

 accords Avith our vicAvs that we give it a 

 hearty endorsement. Of course the "tiuthor is 

 considering for winter, not for brood rearing. 

 A good strong colony tliat has ceased l)rood 

 rearing and gone to sieej) by the lirst of Oct., 

 Ave think all the better for it, and are much 

 inclined to think as Mr. (Juinby suggested, 

 that they aa'ouUI be all the better "if they could 

 be kept sleei)ing until April 1st. If you Avant 

 a few to "i)lay with," during the warm days 

 of Nov. and March, all right, but it Avon't i)ay 

 to tinker Avith colonies that you value, in that 

 Avay. 



We know that rapid feeding or a large quantitv of 

 food administered at one time, is deeineil most unwise 



by some bee-keepers, on the ground that the bees put; 

 tlie food into the brood cells, ;md thereby prevent 

 ovipositlon and the "conseiiueiU jjroduciion of Ihc •ill- 

 important young bees so iiosilivcly (•■•■senliai lo the 

 existence of a colony during winter."' I'>ut Ibis evil, 

 if it be one, is more than counterbalanced by the ben- 

 elit arising from having liie food stored, i"tK wateiy 

 particles eva]iorat(d, and ihc wliole sealed over be- 

 fore the advent ol cold weather. 



AVhen fee<ling is protracted till the temperature 

 falls, many cells that should be closed are left oijcn, 

 lh(! aid which a wan:i atiiiosi,her(? gives in jiromoiing 

 evap(n'ation is lo^^t. and candying of the syruii or in- 

 ternal moisture, which is very luu'tlul, follows. lie- 

 sides, late breeding is not desirable, tor in liivtfs that 

 have had a successful summer and are lelt nmli-l urlj- 

 ed we lind it is the exception and not the rule. iJees 

 naturally go into a stale ofreiiose at ihe eml ot the 

 honey harvest, and hence, by completing ilie work of 

 feeding as early as possible, we allow tlieni to get 

 sooner into that inactive condition, wiiich is not only 

 benellcial to them, but preparatory and essential to 

 enable them to meet with impunity ilie severities of 

 winter. A bee at rest, and scarcely consuming any 

 food, will live three times aslongiis one that is al- 

 ways moving and fro(|uently on Ilie wing. 



Age, therefore, does not greatly atVei't colonies that 

 spend their time hanging in motifuiless clusters, iiml 

 their powers are but little ini|)aired. Iftli('\- go to 

 roost Ijefore the close of .Seiitcmber, and cfintiiiue qui- 

 escent afterwards, they can do very well wiihout any 

 addition to their numbers from brood till the follow- 

 ing spring. In ijrool of this, Ave may refer to two ad- 

 jacent hives tliat were last year cr.-immed with honev, 

 and, for want of room, gave up breeding early in Sep- 

 tember. 



l-rom one of these, in order to make its Queen re- 

 sume ovipositing, and get young bees, that are deem- 

 ed so "essential," we, by means of the "slinger," ex- 

 tracted all the honey from two of the central combs. 

 As expected, the eni)itied cells were soon tilled with 

 eggs, and numbers of young brood were hatched out 

 before winter. 



But with a view to obtain and compare resuHs, we 

 allowed the loaded nurseries of the other hive to re- 

 main as we fouiul them, r.nd its bees to relajise into 

 their former dormancy. Both hives jsassed through 

 winter satisfactorily; Ihe one, however, whicli had 

 only old bees to begin the campaign, (juite outstrip- 

 ped its fellow that had a population of botli old and 

 young, and Avas ready to swarm a fortnight sooner. 

 While, therefore, it niay be true that autumn or late- 

 bred bees are essential to the welfare of stocks whicli 

 liave their activity ))rolonged by driblet or interval 

 feeding, it is no less true that stocks which are quick- 

 ly fed up and then left to enjoy that autumnal repose 

 which they naturally seek, have no need of them. 



In spring small doses of food given over an extend- 

 ed period of time stimulate ovipositlon, and hasten <a 

 liive's progress ; but we deju'ecate the production of 

 brood in a hive after the normal iieiiod for it has 

 passed. 



Our counsel for autumn feeding js— give early, rap- 

 idly and abundantly. 



Not a season passes biat Ave liaA-e more or 

 less Avho have entirely ueelected feeding until 

 about the 1st of Nov., and^ then ask Avhat they 

 shall do. Judging from our OAvn experiencej 

 Ave should say, you Avill ])robably lose your 

 bees anyway unless you can procure combs of 

 sealed stores to give them. If their hives Avill 

 hold the bees, the next licst thing Avill be to 

 unite them until they Avill hold no inore; jier^ 

 hapH candy will now lielp them through, but 

 as yet we have no record of recent positive ex- 

 periments on the matter. We have one neigh- 

 bor, Mr. John White, of Chatham Centre, this 

 Co., Avho leeds late Avith the tea-kettle feeder 

 and has good success, but his bees are very 

 strong indeed, and as soon as they are fed he 

 puts them into u very dry cellar made in a 

 gravelly side hill. While he succeeds, avc 

 have innumerable rejiorts from others Avho 

 fail in trying" to do apparently the same thing. 



Well ripened sealed honey in dry, clean 

 combs, Ave Ijelievc is ijencvalhi Avholesome for 

 tlie bees, and sugar syrup under the same cir- 

 cumstances, abcdi/.^-. 



