18", 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



'i«a 



K-oimtry, and the beo.s will crawl under llic hives un- 

 less the earth IS Iwnlvod u]!, wlieii the rain will stiat- 

 ler ihe hues willi dirt. 1 led all a .swarm would take 

 •u|> iroiij a box over the liive, the brood nest was 

 ■N|-read and Jrawies j>lace<t in, Uie lievs in one iiart 

 reared t^ueen e(!lls while the Queen was in Uie oth- 

 ■<n- side oIl Uie mve. Wliat was the cause? 



Lj.oij> Z. Jo.\m;s, iialva, Ills. 



We have not observed any marked diffcr- 

 <.'ncft betw<?eu the wax scales made Irom suijar, 

 ■ami those made from lioiiej. Are you "not 

 niistakeu:-' 



Haak up with dirt and then put a little saw- 

 dust on top. You can certainly collect 

 enouiih for tJuit purpose. 



You divided the brood too rapidly; they 

 frequently do this in the long hives where 

 they do not entirely desert the brood that has 

 been put too far out of the cluster. 



furnish large quantities of lioney ; at otl;«r 

 times and places, they speak of it as did our 

 friend of tlie sunflowers. It is unusual but 

 not unheard of, for young Queens to rear 

 drones so late. 



IMy present locality is a very poor one for honey— 

 ■averafe'Hig about 2.5 lbs. extracted honey to the hive, 

 and the only way that I know to remeuy it is to iro to 

 a better one. And tlie best place that 1 have found is 

 m the monntains-Iilue liidge monnlains. Thev have 

 ,pO))lar, loctist, white clover, whortleberrv. and' sonr- 

 vood in alKindance. There is also, niouutaiu laurel 

 ■or wikl ivy, and 1 have been told that it secretes a 

 S>oisonous honey or sweet, and bees will work on it 

 and there have been insUinces, of people's dyintr 

 .(roni eating sxkJi honey, lou or any of your roaders" 

 ■rt 111 please Itit me kaow if this be true, also if they 

 work on it under all ciicumstaiKes, if not, under what 

 \'!i,^' 7°^'^ on it-is there any way of telling that 

 Jioney, Iroiii other honey, except by eating it. And 

 again, would you think it advisable to swap a poor 

 locality, lor a good one, and risk the laurel? I'lease 

 tell nie what yon know about it. 



Bees are doing as well with us now as thev have 

 < one this year. J told you last lall that my liives liad 

 ow n^tfl'^V- "'?i'*/f.'"- 1^'iey have the 'same smell 

 lou and 1 hn<l that it is caasta by a yellow top weed, 

 liiat glows around town. 1 enclose you a sprig of it • 

 you will please let me know the name of it, and if it is 

 a good honey secreting plant. 1 enclose you a twig of 

 another weed tiiat we have, that seems to yield honey! 



JA^.^v'''-''^-^ V,'^'" '^?''"'' '''"^' «^o^^-^ liom one to four 

 Jeet high, IS m bloom trom the 1st of October till frost 

 at IS a very .scraggy, bushy sort of weed. Please cive 



-nfo'one wuil ?h'' '"1? '^'\ •'■'^'''*' *^^"^>' '"^ abundance. 

 lheone\\ith the yellow blow grows from one to two 



blossoms: '" ' "" ' ^''''^^ ^°^^' •'°^*^^'^^' "'^^'^ J'^llo^ 



>.} 'V^V^io^e hive \yith drones in abundance. It is the 

 aifcst I have ever known them to keei) drones. The 



■ V.'f.if t^'*"'"^' '"■°'''?'-" ^^"'^'^"- ^'he tlieorv that for 

 .1 In e o keep t rones later than usual, is a sign of an 

 <.M or drone laying (jueen, is not a good one I think 



1. li. I'AiucEu, Goldsboro, iS. C, Oct. Uth, '75. 

 As a general thing we would advise our 

 readers to be contented and make the best of 

 things where they are ; almost every locality 

 has Its advantages as well as disadvantages 

 and moving is very expensi\-e business. All 

 we know of the laurel honey has appeared on 

 these pages. See ])ape 17. Is not the fault 

 ■somewhat yours, as well as the locality''' By 

 the time you have learned to l;c satisfied with 

 ^•) ib.s to the hive, you will probably lind that 

 your locality will give more, with more expe- 

 rienced management. Friend Doolittle in a 

 recent letter says he has during the past sea- 

 son k-it no stone unturned that he thought 

 aught have attbrded a suif/le ovuce more of hon- 

 ey. As we have said before, if you have none 

 'uit very strong colonies, and their hives con- 

 tracted to a space that they can liU densely 

 we would have no fear but what they will 

 make the sour honey ripe and wholesome, for 

 table use at least, if not for the bee.-. By some 

 means or other it seems that both specimens 

 sent are ycdlow, and are only dirterent varie- 

 ties ol the bohdaffo, or golden rod family. Du- 

 ring some seasons, and in some localities, they 



I .\ ^i \^- J»'ves- failed to feeil enough-winter so 



ong that bees died-all .save Italians. I bought all 

 the s waruLs I could-con) menced 1st of July, tor the 

 sot.^M'liVK* • '."■'i'^^" '.'°*" '" 50 cents, and lastly in 



I have oxtra(!tcd about iw lbs., and will exlrac'l m 

 Enore, all .since 4lh ol .July. .Since the rains in August, 

 we have had j«st a nood of honey, the box Idves 

 around have been illk-d, and combs buiK ;::;:!er the 

 benches m many instances. Swarming was kept up 

 until 1st 01 Oct., or rather the middle of Sept Such 

 an overflow of honey lias not been known within liilv 

 years past. ■' 



I want to know what has ruined all our beautiful 

 honey .■- Besides smelling bad, it is bitter. It smells 

 like ragwee<l, and tastes like milk spoilt with rag- 

 weed. I have been trying for a long time to lind oiil 

 he plant but cannot- all alike as lar as 1 can learn in 

 this valley ot Ohio. I am a little fearful of this high 

 llavored honey and will take all the honey I can sn-i, 

 and teed lots of sugar. I want to know whether our 

 common shot bags may not make good fee<ling cloth. 

 It IS a kind ot duck, anil every store has them, I hav J 

 quite a number of them. 



W. h\ Pattekson, Freestone, Ohio. 

 We are unable to advise in regard to the 

 bad tasting honey, but are inclined to think 

 the bees have the power of making many kinds 

 ot honey wholesome if they can have it in the 

 hive long enough where there is an abundance 

 of bees. Even the honey gathered from the 

 seed onions in the Eastern states, rank and 

 strong though it may be at rtrst, entirely loses 

 this onion flavor after it is sealed up, so it is 

 said ; and we know of nothing 1)etter to sug- 

 gest in your case, than to extract all the un- 

 sealed honey at the close of the sea.son. Shot 

 bags wou'd very likely answer for feeders; 

 you can quickly test the m. 



Deau Sir :-With this I send you a small sanwie of 

 Aitcr Iwneij. When lirst taken n-om the hives it i« 

 nearly as thin as water, or Oliver Twi.st's ."soup, vet if 

 it IS leU m the vial it will candy in ;i short time." We 

 are having a tine yiehl from it and beauliiul clear 

 weather lor the bees to gather it-nights Irosty but ii, 

 does not injure the bloom. If 1 had led mv bees du- 

 ring August as I ought to have done, I would have 

 gained largely by so doing. If I had the bees I uouM 

 iH't the hMiey. 1 will do better next year. I have giv- 

 en Mr. i,ong's toundations a trial and they are cer- 

 tainly a great help. Hike them better than those 1 

 made as they are thicker and easier to fasten into the 

 Iranies. Bees will build on loundalions latter than 

 they can on natural combs as more of them can get to 

 work at once. 1 e.xpect to try them in boxes next 



Christian burg, \ a., Oct. 8th, '75. 



The sample of honey sent we lind very pleas- 

 ant, and it is quite thick and of a rich" yellow 

 color. Such honey we feel sure Avill always 

 sell, and we are sure it will always pay to 

 feed bees in August when tjiey are not getting 

 anything, even if they should get nothing at 

 all 111 the fall. Friend Gardner's method of 

 sending samples of honey liy mail pleases us ; 

 a block of wood one inch square and about 

 three inches long, has a hole bored through it 

 lengthwise, and the vial of honey is wrapped 

 in paper and pushed tightly into this hole, ma- 

 king it secure from damage even if the block 

 were thrown across the room. Sending sam- 

 ples of honey by express is expensive business 

 as we have had reason to feel, but a two-cent 

 .stamp covers the cost as above, and if tough, 

 light wood— basswood, for instance— be u.sed| 

 there can be no possible chance of daubing 

 the mails with honay. 



