J 875 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



15G 



IN i;ic(i\ui> lo Kir LINO dkonks. 

 I h;ivo oCU'ii wad tliat 1)i'l's kill Ihcir <ironcs as soon 

 «s loviiue liecoines scarce, bul willi iiic, tliis suinnu'r, 

 jt lias lit'cn (luiie tlio tcvcrse. I>uiiiij; tho blossoniiiig 

 viliiiy silver liiill ljuck\\lic;ii, vvliilo juy bees were so 

 busy Ilii'v }i;iv(lly knew what to tlo, they commenced 

 kilSin,:;- iheir lii-ones. Tliey tore ever> drone cell open, 

 i.ulleu out youn;,^ <lroiies by the hundiedand sloreil 

 lioney in j/lu<je of t)ieiii. "l was well supplied witii 

 .snri)lus boxes, Vuit some ol' them lhoiii;ht they could 

 do more than lill ihe boxes, an<l eonunenced building 

 <_omb outsiilo of the lu\es. 1 told my wile that 1 ilid 

 wi?h 51r. A. 1. ]ioot weie here with one of his extrael- 

 ois; we would make him believe lie was in Calil'ornia. 

 I tlnnk if I could have liad ICO colonics this summer, 

 J slioukl liave made money enough to travel throiigli 

 ilic United .Stales and see some of my brother bee- 

 keepors. D. N. IvEKN, Sliimniersville, Lehigli Co. Pa. 



The Queenslan<l government has appointed as Com- 

 missioner to represent our country at tlie Philadel- 

 phia Exhibition, one of tlie most practical and 

 t'Xlierienceil men in the colony, A. Mokz, Es((., who 

 will leave here by the steamer ftlikado, on the -ioih 

 of Oct. Mr. Mokz will make a tour of such of the 

 iitates of the Union as may be likely to furnish, iu the 

 shape of progressive aid'culture and settlement, les- 

 sons woriliy of our adoiJtion. Now Novice, if any of 

 your apiarian frieu<ls can jiack a colony or two of It- 

 idians so tliat they uill tiainl a journey of ;djout (5 

 weeks, 1 hope tliey will not l^e backward in saying so. 

 JMr. Mokz will wait in ban Francisco 10 or ]j days if 

 l<ees can be sent down iu time lor him to shij) them 

 lelore he proceeds lanlier. Now 1 hope you will 

 have tlie kindness to give this publication "iu your 

 lioney Journal, lor it will not only prove beuelicial to 

 u.^, but to you also. Will yoii kinilly inlorm our Com- 

 missionci "where a foot-power buzz saw for liive mak- 

 ing can be had:-" 1 want it complete, all rcatly for 

 M'ork. In conclusion 1 liave to say that those wishing 

 lo prepare bees for (^Uieensland "will please a<ldress 

 their letters to the Qneeusland Commissioner, Frairie 

 I'armer's office, Chicago Ills., and Calilornia Farmer's 

 oliicc, San Francisco, Cal. J. Cahuoi.l, 



Mohawk Valley, Knoggera, Queensland, f>ept.l4, iS. 



Find enclosed my report lor -ri '75, showing that 

 oven in norlh-wesleni Iowa, bees can be kei;t and 

 make a lair showing. Commenced bee-keeping in tlie 

 summer of lS7-t, by the purchase of one colony of black 

 bees. From this colony i'2 lbs. of honey were taken 

 itnd an increase of one colony. These two colonies 

 were wintered in cellar aiui came ont in the spring 

 in fair condition, in spring of Is^TS adtled by purchase, 

 two colonies, one Italian and one black. IJuring the 

 reason the stock was increased to !> colonies with am- 

 ide stores lor winteiing. In audition to increase J 

 have taken 105 lbs. of nice comb honey in boxes and 

 .small frames. One colony of blacks gave €9 lbs. iu 

 i-niall frames. This stock" was not divided tiutil the 

 last of Aug. I go into winter quarters witli 10 colo- 

 nies, one small colony of pure Italians purchased from 

 Mrs. E. b. Tupuer, oi Des Moines, rec'd in Aug., and 

 Iiuilt up now very strong. 1 will sav right here, thai I 

 juefer the Italians, Irom the fact that they will keep 

 I heir hives clear ol the moiii worm by i^oliloly sliowiug 

 liicm the way out. .Success to vou in, wintering. 



D. PATTKiisoN, Algoua. Iowa, Nov. 'id, 75. 

 Kccapitulation, 1S75. 



Cr. 



liy 10 colonies (a. $10 SlOO.CO. 



"■ 10,5 lbs. iiouey C". -jc 41,25.— 141,i5. 



Dr. 



To 4 colonies in spring S40,CC. 



" 1 colony pure Italiuns 12,C0. 



Material for hives 7.50. 



JJec Journals and books 3,20.— C2,75. 



Balance in favor of bees S7ri,50. 



Should the bees be kciit in the lower story luitil tho 

 fiwarmiiig season is over? 



It your object is increase of stocks by natii- 

 jul swarniiug, not otherwise; and we do not 

 Imow wliy you need an ui)f)er story in .such a 

 case, for after a swarm had left, they would be 

 unlikely to go into an upper storj- at all. 



Should empty frames be put in the centre, or at the 

 ■ides ? 



If you put an empty frame in the centre it 

 will likely be lilled soonest, but it would be 

 pretty sure to be lilkd with drone comb if the 



colony is strong. Therefore, you sliould eitlier 

 provide yourself with empty worker comb lor 

 this purjiose, or use the comb-foundations. 



How can I prevent my bees building so mucli drone 

 comb y 



.See the articles on this subject in Vol. II, and 

 answer given above. 



>\'hat makes my bees swarm so often wlien lliey 

 have l)-om one to three empty frames in brood chain"- 

 ber, and llieir tiutsen cells uestroyed every week :- 1 

 notice where they are so persistent in swurming the 

 iiueeu lays but few eggs. 



As we have often said before, we knov/ of 

 no certain remedy- for swarming except the 

 extractor. To keep the queen laying without 

 it, you will have to let them swarm, and when 

 they have commenced work in the new locality 

 cany the parent hive to them, uulinished Ijox- 

 es and all. 



We at one time had six glass vases on a hive, 

 but the bees were dissatisfied with the glass 

 sides and swarmed out before they were half 

 filled. We put them back, but iliey soon came 

 out again and the third time they w ere allowed 

 to settle and then hived in a new locality ; 

 when thej- were fairly located, the old hive, 

 vases and all, was brought to them; they went 

 iu at once and went to v.'ork as though they 

 had a new hive instead of the old vases they 

 had been so determined not to finish. We once 

 before made a similar experiment, and tlie bees 

 that were bent on having a new hive, even 

 when they had an empty Irame l)etween every 

 two combs, went to work with vigor after the 

 hive had been moved a rod or two and they 

 had been shaken down in front of it ; to manage 

 thus, the queen's wings should be clipped, and 

 the apiary must be pretty closely watched du- 

 ring the swarming season. 



In letting them up iuti> the supers, would you put 

 one frame of comb in the centre, or at one siae, or 

 none at all ^ 



If you use the extractor, put as many empty 

 combs into the upper stories as you can get, 

 a lull set for all il possible, but since experi- 

 ments of the present season, we rather think 

 wc would not raise up any of the brood combs. 

 It disturbs brood rearing, and if the quoeu 

 should be disposed to keep below, tt may be 

 just as well or better, and if we extract only the 

 upper combs, there will be much less danger ot 

 the bees getting short in the fall, and the}' wiii 

 not be obliged to depend entirely on stores lia- 

 ble to be gathered late and left unsealed. 



What does extracted lioncy generally sell ;.t, per lb., 

 when nicely put up in one ami two lb. glass jars .' 



Kead the letters in back numbers, and you 



can see wluit honey ?iafi sold for. 



"What is the best remedy for bee stings? 



C. W. Hr i>so^, 31edon, Teim., May 14th, '7.'). 



Get the stings out and then pay no further 

 attention to them v/hatever, but go on with 

 j'our work. 



My bees are not in as good condition as one year 

 ago. A good deal of unsealed honey. 1 could not iire- 

 vent it, tliey w-oiild not seal il. 1 fed them, but the 

 weather wsis so cold could not make tlicm seal it. 



J. Ij. WoLl'KNDKN, Adams, Wis., Nov. lOih, '75. 



AYe fear your hives arc too large, or your bees 

 too few in iiumbers, friend W. If you fed them, 

 did you not defer it until too late? If it is nat- 

 uraf stores to which you refer, it may be rather 

 a hard matter lo manage, but we would at all 

 events crowd them up into a small space tow- 

 ards the approach of cool wcat.'ier. 



