GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



,tAN. 



ed in putting it into practice. The great 

 obstacle is that we know of noway to induce 

 a queen to protrude her stinger, unless it is 

 a royal combat. Besides, if queens were in 

 the habit of wasting much time in trying to 

 kill each other, they could not lay many 

 eggs. I am afraid, too, that the bees would 

 take sides, and do the killing as they often 

 do, by balling one or both of the queens. 



SIMPLICITY SECTIONS. 



I took some 1 lb. sections to our county fair, where 

 they were admired by all. Some said "That's a suc- 

 cess," and "How did you get it in those little boxes 

 so nice and straight?" Others said "That will take 

 the premium;" and sure enough it did. In Oct. 

 Gleanings, you speak of sending honey to Chica 

 go; I guess there was not enough for all, because a 

 gentleman here from that place who saw some of 

 my 1 lb. sections, remarked that he never saw the 

 like before. He ordered some at once. I also filled 

 a small order from Indianapolis, and what is strang- 

 est of all, I had a small order from Toledo 0„ but 1 

 could not fill it. How is that? Joel Tilman. 



North Manchester, Ind., Dec. 16, 1878. 



SCALES, SALT FOR BEES, PRESERVING COMBS, 

 QUEENS' STINGS. 



If you go into manufacturing honey scales, use 

 the spring, with 6 or 8 in. platform over it, clock 

 face, dialed 24 lbs., and the index hand movable on 

 its axle, like the minute hand of a clock, to move 

 forward and backward. The screw is too slow work. 



My bees use the lump of rock salt placed in the 

 portico. I water my bees to keep them from the 

 well bucket; 1 put a handful of salt into a jar, fill it 

 with water, and cover with a plate. When inverted, 

 fill the plate with sand, and set it in the shade. 1 

 one day placed a small lump of salt on the sand; it 

 dissolved, and most of the bees sucked from the salt- 

 ed place. 



How shall I preserve my frames of empty comb? 

 If filled with salt water, do you think it would injure 

 them for brood comb? 



Several times, I have held a queen bee in my 

 closed hand, and never knew one to sting, but once 

 knew of one's biting; she bit, and was turned loose 

 quickly. Your correspondent, W. A. Eddy, must 

 have been bitten on the lips. 1 think the mouth a 

 queer place to hold queens. J. A. Nelson. 



Bibb Co., Ga., Dec. 10, 1878. 



Keep your combs dry and a little distance 

 apart, and they will keep safely any where 

 almost. See Bee Moth, in A B C. Bees 

 wax, when moistened, soon decays; although 

 it will hold honey any length of time, water 

 slowly destroys it. 



1 had 4 new swarms and 2 old stocks out in the 

 yard, and discovered yesterday that one of the form- 

 er was frozen. I moved the balance down into a 

 dark, dry cellar, where the thermometer registers 

 constantly about 41°. Is this too warm for them? 

 and shall I allow cushions on top, as I now have 

 them? Ed. D. Heckebman. 



Bedford, Pa., Dec. 19, 1878. 



Should the thermometer stand many de- 

 grees below zero even, your bees would not 

 freeze, if other conditions were all right. I 

 fear their brood nest is too large, and that 

 they got away from their honey. Leave the 

 cushions on, just as you have them. The 

 temperature you have is about right. 



Please send sample copy of Gleanings to John 

 Lemley, Knobnoster, Johnson Co., Mo. He has a 

 patent moth proof, non-swarming hive, for which 

 he paid $18. 1 call it a big swindle. 



Friend Root, I cannot come up with some of our 

 brother bee-keepers, but think I have done very 

 well this year. Apr. 1, 1878, had 40 swarms. Dec. 9, 

 1878, have 53 swarms. Have taken 5,400 lbs. of hon- 

 ey, extracted, and selling at 6J4c. at home. 



W. B. Collins. 



Arrow Rock, Saline Co., Mo., Dec. 12th, 1878. 



more about salt for bees. 



You say you don't get your bees to take salt or 

 salt water. My bees swarm on a trough filled with 

 water and corn cobs. Fill the trough with water 

 and cobs, then sprinkle half a pint of salt among 

 the cobs. This much salt is for a common sugar 

 trough. Robert Quinn. 



Shellsbury, Benton Co., Iowa, Dec. 13. 1878. 



GLASS FOR HIVES, A PISACTJCAI, TEST 

 OF f lib VALDEOF F»N., A CHAPTtR 



on ttoB{BSBi\<;. I'/rc. 



A letter fbom father and son. 



Some 15 or 20 years ago, quite a large number of 

 swarms were kept in this town (Hamilton), mostly 



\ in the old fashioned box hive. 9 or 10 years ago, Mr. 



: Sisson introduced a patent hive with frames, and 

 glass on all sides. They looked very nice, and we 

 all fell in with them ; but before spring came, we 

 fell out, bees and all; I lost all I had. 1 purchased 

 a few colonies the next season, in box hives, and 

 transferred them to frame hives. 1 took out the 

 glass from the glass hives and replaced it with inch 

 boards, and have had very good luck since. I have 

 now 54 swarms. Part of them are Italians. 



To test the value of fdn., 1 used 2 young swarms. 

 No. I came out the 5th of July, and 1 put them into 

 a hive without fdn. No 2 came out the 10th of July, 

 and I put them into a hive with all the frames filled 

 with fdn. The result was that No. 1 had 10 lbs. of 

 cap honey, while No. 2 had 44 lbs. 1 have one col- 

 ony in a chaff hive (or my wife has) from which I 

 took 150 lbs. of comb honey. I took 1,000 lbs. in 

 sections, that weighed from \ l A to 3 lbs. per section, 

 and sold at home for 18g. A honey peddler came 

 through town, and sold for 15 and 16c. One of my 



i neighbors purchased because it was cheap, and has 



i it now in his house. He says it is not honey. He 

 came here, and said he wanted some honey; after 

 eating a little, he said that was honey that woe honey. 



• He bought of me and gave me 18c., saying it was 

 cheaper than to give 15c. for such stuff as he had at 



1 home. 



Now about bees robbing, I will relate what took 

 place here. 1 had 300 or 400 lbs. of honey in a safe; 



! one day, the door was left open and before it was 

 noticed, quite a lot of bees got in. As I could not 



i get them out, I closed the door. The outsiders 

 would gather in clusters on the outside, and come 



i and go. I watched them closely, and soon ascer- 

 tained the cause. I found that the bees inside of 

 the safe would fill themselves with honey, and feed 



| those on the outside, by putting their bills together, 

 and as soon as they got their fill they would leave 

 for their hives. They kept it up till night, when I 

 opened the door and got rid of them. 



preventing bees from robbing. 

 My way is this. I first find the robbers, and change 

 places with them. Then I change the frames, or a 

 part of them, with all the bees hanging on them, so 

 that the robbers, or a part of them, are in the rob- 

 bed hive on their own comb of honey and brood, 

 and the robbed bees, or a part of them, are in the 

 robber hive on their own comb, and they are so 

 mixed up that they have enough to attend to, to 

 straighten matters at home. I have not yet failed 

 of stopping the robbers. Albebto M. Sawdv. 



BEE BURGLARS. 



I had a swarm of bees in a box hive, well filled 

 with honey. Bees began to rob. I tried to stop 

 them by closing the entrance, so that only one bee 

 could enter at a time; but that was not effectual. 

 I finally closed it entirely, and to prevent them from 

 smothering I bored some 2 inch holes, and covered 

 with tin made full of holes with a nail. I had as 

 many burglars inside the hive as bees that be- 

 longed to the hive. I watched them for a number 

 of days, and those tins were covered with bees from 

 morning till night. I found that they were coming 

 and leaving all day long, and that the tins were 

 covered with bees inside as well as outside. In 

 short, I found that the burglars inside were hand- 

 ing out to those outside. After a week or more, 

 this thieving stopped. I went and turned up the 

 hive and found the honey all gone, and the fools 

 inside all starved to death. I say a Dee has no cal- 

 cnlation for the future. Now, how is that "for 

 high?" EliW. Sawdy. 



Poolville, Madison Co., N. Y., Dec. 7, 1878. 



