140 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Nov. 



CllERlES, ETC. 



IHAT are the ml vantages and ilisadvantages of 

 frames without bottom bars? 

 Have you tried thin pine guides an inch or 

 more in width? Will the Queea laj' in cells built on 

 tiiese wooden guides ? r. Movku. 



Sharpsville, Pa., Oct. 6, '75. 



Advantage proposed is to occupy with 

 comb the space that is usually taken up by 

 the bottom l)ar, but the fi-ame is so insecure 

 that we believe the plan has generally been 

 dropped. The irregular bottom made by the 

 bees, and the exti-a lumber recjuired to make 

 tlie frame strong are the objections. The 

 (^ucen will not '.ay in the cells with wood bot- 

 toms, l)ut they will be tilled with honey. We 

 think there is no advantage in having these 

 guides over ^a or H inch in width. 



How many slieets of Comb Foundations 6 Ijy 16 are 

 in a jiound ? Would it iiay to invest largely? Bees 

 did well this sunnner, had" U in spring, have 26 now. 

 Sold $140.00 worth of honev. A. F. Stauiler, 



"sterling. Ills., Oct. ISth, "5. 



About 10. Invest largely in nothing nntil 

 you have tested it for yourself. 



I have bought tw^o stands to start with. Have had 

 them 7 weeks; had one swarm about 3 weeks after I 

 got them home, took 65 lbs. of lioney from the young 

 swarm and about the same amount from one old one. 

 They \vere in rommon box liives and I liad to drive 

 tlieni out of one hive into anotlier. I would like your 

 idea as to the best way of wintering. My bees" are 

 wel! protected, as I am "surrounded on three sides by 

 woods, and on the fourth are very liigli blull's. I hav"e 

 thouglit of digging a cave in tlic bluff for wintering, 

 liut would like tlie opinion of some one acquainted 

 with the matter. Am going to use the L. hive. Have 

 just purchased one as a pattern, cost me SO. 00. 

 Yours respectfully. C A. H. FisiiEit, 



Kenebec, la.. Aug. 17th, '75. 



A cave if dry and frost-proof will be excel- 

 lent. 



I have started my carload of bees to California, 



and will sti'."t witli 14 others to tlie coast to-morrow. 



JC. Wilkin, Oskaloosa, Iowa, Oct. 22ik1, '75 



AVITH OtR I5EJi:S. 



^ i^'lfW"'*^'^'' '■'' ever, come perfect days.' "" said Cyu- 

 \'M la, pausing for one brief moment in the 

 ^i^ doorway, and looking across witli longing 

 eyes to tile changing woods. 



But a few years since, days like this— days when 

 the sky was cloudless, and the sunshine soft and 

 warm, and tlie maples were turning to scarlet and 

 gold.— such days were sacreil to long strolls in the 

 woods for autumn leaves; and now I thoughtlesslv 

 exclaimcd, 



"Wc will take the whole day Cyula ! It is too per- 

 fect for anything but the wood's, and we may not 

 have another like it." 



And Cyula turned, and solemnly laying her hand 

 on my shoulder, led me out among the bees, saying 

 sternly, 



"Yoii will sjiend your perfect day here, mv dear! 

 We may not liave another like it, "you say, yet you 

 think to entice me to the woods when not a single 

 colony is prepared for winter !" 



Then Cyula walked into the house for her bee-hat 

 and the Quinby smoker, leaving me to my own re- 

 flections. 



"O my pets!" I cried, with despair and affection in 

 my lieart; "didn't you stand between me and the 

 woods last year ? ;)nd shall it be the same this year ? 



And so the day has i);issed with our bees, and 1 have 

 only a wee bit of it for myself, now that the sun is low 

 and the air is too cool for opening another liive. But 

 after all, tlie day has been full of a delight that only a 

 bc!e- keeper can understand; and not once have I tho't 

 of the woods for whose glories I so longed in Die 

 morning. Only now, sitting bv queen Bland's door- 

 step, do I look over with a half sigh to the clianging 

 maiiles an<l down to the dark pines. Maud's colony 

 is one of our best lieloved. Ma\id is Medina's cldes"t 

 rlaughter. and Medina, wo explain to ouv village 

 Irienas, with much satisfaction, is the daughter of an 



imported Queen. So bright and good are the bees of 

 this colony! when others, Cleopatra's for instance, 

 tiercely dispute at this season our right to interfere 

 witli their household affairs, Maud's subjects only 

 buzz enquiringly around our heads. 



'•And within our lieads !" sugsests Cyula. 



After speaking in praise of Maud's "bees it is not 

 pleasant to say anything to tlieir discredit, and yet 

 Cyula by that allusion compels me. But shall the 

 wrong doing of one bee condemn the whole colony ? 



It chanced this afternoon as I was shaking the bees 

 from a frame, that one crept unobserved beneath my 

 vail, and before I could free my hands and give it an 

 opportunity to return, it liad riished blindly into one 

 of my ears. Tlien I confess I lost my comijosure and 

 called wildly for help. It was not the shar)} sting so 

 much as the frantic efforts of the little creature to pen- 

 etrate to the interior, that alarmed me. When, at last, 

 its explorations ceased, and witli Cyula's lielp it sl.iw- 

 I ly came back to tlie light. I discovered wliat I had 

 before been unconscious of— that another bee had left 

 its sting on iny throat. 



"You say that Maud's bees are bright," pursues Cy- 

 ula. "In what sense do you mean ?" 



"In each and every sense," I emphatically return. 



"They showed their brightness last summer," she 

 continued, "when tliey swarmed down to tlie woods 

 and clung to a maple for two hours, leaving poor 

 wingless Maud at home. And when, at last, they de- 

 cide<l to return, they showed tlieir superior brightness 

 by circling halfway round the clearing, entering the 

 apiary from the opposite direction, and |)lunging into 

 the lirst hive they came to. Do you remember that 

 we were obliged to throw sheets over half the hives 

 before they found and entered their own home ? 

 Bright bees they are indeed !" 



1 close my portfolio. "Are you aware, Cyula, that 

 it was my intention to give a full account of this day's 

 work ? And if you Imd stayed in-doors, trying to 

 make niceli/fitiing quiJts. for the bees—" 



"Your article would have been too long for Glean- 

 ings," she interrupts. And then, as we go in, she adds, 



"There are signs of rain in tlie east. If it be too 

 stormy to work among the bees to-morrow, j'ou shall 

 go to the W'oods." 



Neliie Linsw^ik. 



'■'■Our Clearing,'''' October, 1S75. 



Thanks friend Nellie, and please do not im- 

 agine that articles like the above are in au.y 

 . danger of being found too long for Gleanings. 

 Tell us all about how you prepared them for 

 winter, and if we Iiave so many letters from 

 our lady apiarists that we cannot lind room, 

 we shall enlarge Gleanings, we assure you. 



Bees frequently get into the ear by accident, 

 but rarely with a purpose of stinging, yet so 

 strong is the inclination to use the linger to 

 get them out, on the impulse of the moment, 

 that one is almost sure to get stung. This is 

 a very good test of an apiarist's self command ; 

 if he or she can stand perfectly still — making 

 uo wry faces, but on the contrary looking 

 pleasant "the wliile" a bee buzzes about and 

 makes frantic elforts to turn round, making a 

 roar meanwhile something like a cataract, wt^ 

 shall have to conclude that the}- have learned 

 the great lesson of being master of themselves, 

 even while imagination pictures the cxtjuisite 

 agony of one of these intensely pungent stings 

 when planted in such a delicate organ. "When 

 handling bees during cool weather in the fall, 

 a young bee will sometimes creep into the ear 

 by mistake, and linding it a warm i>lace inno- 

 cently concludes to stay until something turns 

 up indicating the whereabouts of his compan- 

 ions. In this case it must be made to get out 

 without too severe pressure; perhaps the aid 

 of some one else may be reciuired. You might 

 tiy screaming at the top of your voice, but be- 

 ware liow you administer injudicious pokes 

 v,ith your linger. Wear a veil? Well, j^es if 

 you 7)iii.st have one, Imt we really cannot help 

 thinking you all ought to feel ashamed of tlie 

 feeling that prompts its use. 



