24 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 



BEE CULTURE IN THE SOUTH. 



I never see in Gleanings anything from Ala., 

 and but little from any State South. Is it because 

 bee culture does not prove profitable South? I 

 know many here who have attempted it, and in a 

 few years given it up. It seems that in a land of 

 mild winters, and flowers from March to Nov., they 

 would prove a success; but judging from the expe- 

 rience of others, failure, from some cause, seems to 

 result. 



Now, will you please give us your experience and 

 views in full, on bee culture in the South, to aid us 

 in our efforts. Our bees this season have nearly all 

 died from starvation, in July, Aug., and Sept., while 

 we had flowers in plenty. During these months it 

 was exceedingly dry and hot; was this the cause of 

 this fatal result? The same result attended the box 

 gum and movable frame hive. 



Give for our aid, your views and information on 

 southern bee culture. W. R. Whitman. 



New Market, Ala., Nov. 28, 1878. 



Why, my friend, you have answered your 

 own question most fully, as I understand it. 

 Bees are liable to starve, even in July, in 

 any .country that I know of, and if the bee- 

 keepers are so thoughtless, or lazy, perhaps 

 I should say, as to let them starve, it is cer- 

 tainly no fault of the bees, or season either. 

 They must be looked after, daily, as you 

 would look after your horse and pig, and 

 you will soon find that they will gather 

 enough for themselves, and you too. From ] 

 reports given all through our back numbers, 

 you will see that bee-culture has prospered \ 

 in the South, nearly, if not quite, as much 

 as anywhere else. Bees seem to thrive only 

 under faithful and constant care, and I am 

 frequently at a loss to tell why bees in old 

 boxes starve while in the same neighbor- 

 hood, by careful management, they will 

 give their owner 100 lbs. of surplus, and get 

 enough to winter besides. When I got the | 

 bee Fever right here in Medina, I was told 

 that bees were no profit ; that a dozen colo- 

 nies gave not a lb. of surplus, and then 

 starved in wintering besides. You want to 

 get waked up, my friend. When you are so 

 much interested that you can study bee 

 books until you fall asleep at night, and 

 then be up before daylight making hives, 

 you will find your bees haye waked up, too. 



COMB BUILDING BETWEEN UPPER AND LOWER 

 FRAMES, ETC. 



I succeeded well with small sections, having taken 

 3,000 lbs. of honey from 28 colonies, M extracted. 

 The greatest trouble was with their building comb 

 between upper and lower frames, and with only x i 

 inch space between frames. I have done well with 

 fdn.; the thinest sagged badly in hot weather. The 

 imported queen I got from you produced very fine 

 bees and queens, but she was old and so badly mu- 

 tilated, that they tried to supersede her all the time. 

 She died in Oct., without any eggs, brood, or young 

 queens. Frank L. Dougherty. 



Indianapolis, Dec. 3, 1878. 



The trouble with comb building between 

 the upper and lower frames is a difficulty, 

 we have never got rid of entirely. Some 

 stocks will not do it, when the space is re- 

 duced to i in., but others will fill it up solid, 

 as fast as you may cut it out. Mr L. has 

 suggested a honey board; without question, 

 this would answer, but I am very sure it 

 would hinder the bees from going up into 

 the boxes so readily. Friend Wilkin, in 

 Cal., wrote about using a sheet of enameled 

 cloth, but my objection to this would be the 

 same. Making the top bars of the brood 

 frames so wide that the bees could just get 

 between them, like the bottoms of the broad 



frames, I think would make it all right. 

 Friend Townley, the chaff man, uses such 

 top bars, if I am correct, and says he likes 

 them. It is a good point for our ABC class 

 to experiment on; but before you alter all 

 your frames, I would advise glueing or brad- 

 ding small strips on the sides of the top bars, 

 then if you do not like them, you can pull 

 them off again. 



It is pretty well settled that thin fdn., 

 without walls, will sag worse than that made 

 heavier, and with good walls. Your queen 

 may have appeared old, but I do not think 

 she was in reality, for Tremontani has as- 

 sured me that all the queens he has sent 

 were young and prolific. 



WATER WHEEL FOR HIVE MAKING, SAND IN PLACE 

 OF SAWDUST, AND ONE STORY CHAFF HIVES. 



I have been "walking around the" stove, aud have 

 been thinking about a buzz saw. I think Mr. Hutch- 

 inson's home made saw is just about the thing, but 

 then when a body has not much time or money 

 either, what can he do? Now there is a little brook 



close by, and I would like to well, 1 won't say 



just what. My friend, couldn't you tell us how to 

 make a small water wheel? and perhaps you could 

 get up a cheaper mandrel, for I have great faith in 

 your ability to improve almost any thing in our 

 line— bee line. I am sure there are many readers of 

 Gleanings, situated somewhat as I am. 



Would sand answer the same purpose as sawdust 

 In the apiary? I have heard that it is used in Long 

 Island, to some extent, instead of alighting boards. 

 I have just finished a chaff hive by the ABC. How 

 would a single story chaff hive do? It could be fin- 

 ished on the top to receive a Simplicity cover, or a 

 Simplicity hive as a second story. For winter, a 

 Simplicity hive with the chaff cushion could be used, 

 or a chaff Simplicity cover made several inches high 

 and packed with chaff. Thus we need have only one 

 sized cover in the apiary. Wir.LiAM Morehouse. 



Fairfleid, Ct., Nov 11, 1878. 



In passing through York State, I saw a 



waterwheel near an apiary, and from the 



; looks of the surroundings, inferred that it 



! was used for hive making. If you can get 



i fall enough to your brook by damming it, 



and the stream is a permanent one, you have 



| probably got the best and cheapest power in 



! the world. I would visit water mills near 



i by, to see how the wheels are made. A 



home made, overshot wheel is a very simple 



i affair, and any bee-keeper should be able to 



j make one. We are making mandrels now, 



j but a cheap mandrel, that is, one made so 



' cheap as to be poor, is rather an expensive 



thing to attempt to do anything with. Sand 



will do very well, where it is plenty and near 



by, but weeds are rather more apt to grow 



in it than in sawdust. Single story chaff 



hives can never afford the protection for 



winter, that a permanent upper story does. 



The cracks where the joint is will permit 



frost to get in, at least to some extent. 



COST OF USING SECTION BOXES. 



How much will it cost to furnish section boxes, 

 broad frames, and fdn. starters, for 6 hives? [already 

 put up ready to go on the hives, $10,50, as per list.] 

 I should not trouble you to answer this, but I am a 

 new subscriber and have never used any of these 

 things. I have the old fashioned L. hive, and from 

 4 swarms I took 384 lbs. of comb honey this season, 

 but it is in such shape that I can not sell it, so I 

 want to join your ABC class and learn how to put 

 it in salable shape. J. P. Byrne. 



Fosters, O., Dec. 12, 1878. 



As several friends have asked how to put 

 sections on their old L. hives, and what it 

 would cost, I have thought best to answer at 

 length. The old style Langstroth hives, to 



