1S79 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



28 



From Different Fields. 



A QTJEBB BEE TREE. 



PJIHIS has been a good season for bees in this lo 

 I cality. I started with 2 hives in spring anc 



and 

 increased to St, partly by artificial swarm- 

 ing, and partly from bee-trees, and took 212 lbs. of 

 honey. As they were nearly all young swarms, 

 they had just about time to build up for winter, so 

 that most of the honey was from the old stocks, one 

 of which gave 100 lbs. of honey besides about 30 lbs. 

 left for winter, and one new swarm. One young 

 swarm gave 42 lbs. I purchased 2, dollar queens in 

 June, and introduced them to young swarms, by 

 taking frames of brood and bees from other hives, 

 and putting into empty ones, and putting queens in 

 with them. From one of my Italian queens, I raised 

 two young queens, which mated with black drones, 

 so that I now have 2 Italian, 2 hybrid and 5 black 

 swarms. I made all my hives by hand, but I find it 

 rather slow work. 



We have the queerest bee-tree here I have ever 

 heard of. Early this summer, a swarm of bees 

 took up their abode in one of the castings of the 

 iron bridge which crosses the river at this point, on 

 the I. C. K. K. It is a casting almost as large as a 

 cook-stove, and hollow inside. The converging rods 

 and braces enter here and are fastened, there is a 

 cavity inside, which they have appropriated with- 

 out asking leave of anyone. Did you ever hear of 

 such a queer bee-tree? J. R. Young. 



Oglesby, Ills., Dec. 9, 1878. 



A FRAME FEEDER. 



I wrote you some time ago, about my idea of a 

 feeder, which was to take a wide frame, such as you 

 use for sections, and to box with light stuff, say \& 

 to n K thick, from the bottom to within 2 inches of the 

 top. Fill it with sugar, and hang it in the hive as 

 you would an ordinary frame. Should the bees 

 manifest any disinclination to eat the sugar, just 

 pour in a pint of water and they will soon put it all 

 away. This I prefer to the trouble and annoyance 

 of making candy, syrup, etc. When I wrote you 

 before, I had not given the above a trial, but since 

 then, I have done so with perfect success. This 

 same feeder can be made tight enough to hold hon- 

 ey or syrup, by waxing the seams, and in this case, 

 Iuse afloat which will fit in easily, but not too 

 small, to keep the bees from drowning or getting 

 daubed up. Try this, and when you do, make the 

 feeder of tin which will be still better than wood. 



New Orleans, La., Dec. 11, '78. Geo. W. Palfrey. 



The plan given above is not entirely new. 

 The moistened sugar will do very well with 

 one who is careful, but with the average A 

 B C scholar, bees would be drowned, the 

 trough get to leaking, and I fear it would 

 prove to much machinery. If left in the 

 hive, a comb would be pretty sure to be 

 built inside of it. I am not much in favor 

 of feeders to hang in the brood chamber, for 

 they are so sure to be forgotten and left. 



QUEENS FOUND ON THE BOTTOM BOARD, AND WIN- 

 TERING WITHOUT A QUEEN. 



My father-in-law. in moving his bees into the 

 house to-day, found the queen of one of his best 

 swarms, on the bottom board, on a chunk of snow, 

 chilled. He took her into the house, she came to, 

 crippled around a while and died. The swarm is a 

 strong one, but has no brood or eggs; what will be- 

 come of them? Can ho get a queen from you now? 

 Will the bees all die before warm weather? If a 

 queen could be got through, he would send for one. 

 If the s warm will live without a queen till spring, 

 he will wait and get an Italian of you. 



Arcadia, Wis.. Dec. 9. '78. E. A. Morgan. 



There is very little doubt but that the 

 queen found on the bottom board was a su- 

 perannuated one, and that a young and heal- 

 thy one is in the hive. There would be no eggs 

 and brood in the hive any way, at this time 



of the year, nor would you readily find the 

 queen on account of her small size now, as I 

 have explained before. Even should they 

 winter without a queen, it will do no harm. 

 When spring opens, I think you will find 

 eggs and brood, all right; if you do not, 

 give them a frame of brood and see if they 

 start queen cells. If they do, procure a 

 queen for them then, or let them rear one, 

 as soon as she can be fertilized. If the first 

 one they raise proves a drone layer, kill her, 

 and have them try again. 



SALT EOR BEES. 



I placed an old salt barrel (I mean one which had 

 contained salt for some time) on its side, on some 

 stones, in a small creek which passes about seven 

 rods to the north of my apiary. It was placed to 

 one side of the creek, where the water scarcely 

 moves, with open end to the south, and a little ele- 

 vated. The barrel was lowered just enough to let 

 the water rise an inch or two in the deepest place, 

 while it was very shallow around the edges. By 

 throwing in a few floats, not many bees will be 

 lost. 



They came to this in large numbers, and in cold, 

 clear days, would dart from their homes to this wa- 

 tering place, and seemed to enjoy loading up in the 

 sun, while it was cold and windy outside. I am 

 quite sure that this arrangement was a decided ad- 

 vantage to the bees, furnishing salt, water, and pro- 

 tection. 



I have tried salt in different ways, and think that 

 salt water for bees must be quite weak to suit their 

 taste. S. T. Pettit. 



Belmont P. O., Ont., Canada, Dec. 13th, 1878. 



Last spring, I noticed that my bees were taking 

 water from where salty dishwater had been thrown 

 out. I then sawed off the bottom of a tight salt bar- 

 rel about six inches from the head, put in it one 

 pail of water, one handful of salt, and some sticks 

 of wood for the bees to light on to keep them from 

 drowning, and set it near where they were working. 

 The dish was crowded with bees from spring until 

 fall, a continual string coming and going on all days 

 when the weather would permit. It is very essential 

 that the water should contain the right amount of 

 salt, and I think every one should furnish their bees 

 salt in a similar manner. By so doing, we may save 

 them the flight of miles in search of it, and oven 

 then they might fail to get the needed quantity. 



Euclid, O., Dec. 13th, '78. F. C. White. 



I find that my bees will use neither dry salt nor 

 strong brine, but that they collect, with eagerness, 

 the dew from the grass where briny fluids have been 

 sprinkled. This shows that they want their salt in 

 the form of a very weak brine. The bee-keeper can 

 supply this by filling with water, barrels that have 

 contained brine; such as fish barrels. These should 

 have floats placed in them for the bees to rest on 

 while collecting the water; the best floats for this 

 purpose are made by sawing slits in boards, as de- 

 scribed by Mr. Langstroth. E. M. Hayhurst. 



Kansas City, Mo., Dec. 13th, 1878. 



Just take a fish keg, brine and all, fill it up with 

 water, and set it near where your bees water, and if 

 your bees are like mine, it will be literally covered 

 directly. A. B. Smith. 



Atlanta, Ga., Dec. 12th, 1878. 



KING BIRD NOT GUILTY. 



You ask for evidence in favor of the king bird, 

 and as I have some evidence which may be in its fa- 

 vor, I will make it known. Last June, on different 

 days, in the afternoon, when the bees were flying 

 briskly, I could see the king birds catching them, so 

 I shot at different times four birds, and found their 

 gizzards crammed full of drones, and no othes bees 

 among them. Years before this, I have shot as 

 niany as one dozen when they were perched near 

 my bees, and I never before could find a bee within 

 them, but they were usually filled with various 

 kinds of insects. F. C. White. 



Euclid, Cuyahoga Co. O. Dec, 12th, '78. 



Your experience is quite different from 

 others, friend W. I should be very glad in- 

 deed to hear it was only drones they catch. 



