44 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



$&e$ and $aevte$. 



[Reports of a similar nature are coming- from a 

 great many localities; it seems to be a revival of 

 the old bee malady. The directions given in this 

 No., and in the A 15 C, are all 1 have to offer. Let 

 us have full reports in regard to the chaff packing-.] 



F LEASE rest yourself a little, and answer me 2 

 questions. Can I go through my hives now in 

 midwinter, and clean them and examine them? 

 1 came to Omaha from Kansas in Nov., and there 

 has been no time since then that I could examine 

 them on account of the cold. lam uneasy about 

 them; 15 stands are in the cellar. I put a screw in 

 each side of each frame before shipping, and they 

 seemed to come through safe. Can I take one at 

 a time into the kitchen, and open them, using the 

 smoker, and clean the hives ? Would it not do, to 

 do it at night by lamp light ? Have you ever done 

 it ? Can 1 get them all back in the hive ? Please 

 tell me how to do it safely. W. G. Pigman. 



Omaha, Nebraska. 



[You can do all you say, if you work carefully, 

 and it will not hurt the bees at all, if you pack them 

 up warm and snug after you get through. I have 

 overhauled them thus, during every month in the 

 year. Unless many of them are dead and are in bad 

 condition, 1 think it quite unnecessary to disturb 

 them.] 



What quality of lumber do you use for hives? 

 [We use first quality of barn boards, for the bodies 

 of the Simplicity hives, and best wide box lumber, 

 for the covers. The Chaff hives are all made of cull 

 lumber. We have to pay, for seasoned lumber, 

 about $22 for the barn boards, $30 for the wide bos, 

 and $10 for the culls.] 



Of whom do you procure it, and at what price? 

 [Our lumber was purchased from different mills, in 

 the Michigan forests. If desired, I will get some re- 

 liable dealers in lumber, in our larger cities, to give 

 us their addresses. Lumber must be purchased as 

 near home as possible, on account of the expense 

 of shipping. Unless you want as much as a car 

 load, it will probably be better generally, to pur- 

 chase at your nearest lumber yard.] 



Is not white clover better for honey than Alsike? 

 At what price per bu. can you send the seed of each 

 variety? [Have had reason to think white clover 

 honey superior to that obtained from red clover, but 

 we have always regarded Alsike and white clover 

 honey the same. It may be that the Alsike is some- 

 what like the red, and that it lacks the fine, exqui- 

 site flavor of thoroughly ripened white clover hon- 

 ey. There is a difficulty in procuring seed of any 

 white clover, except the white Dutch; sec price 

 list.] 



All who have honey for sale need scales that will 

 weigh as much as 75 'lbs. at a time, and that can be 

 taken with them in a wagon and not occupy much 

 room. At what price can they be bought? 



[The scales we have been figuring on, only weigh 

 about 12 to 24 lbs. If you wish them to go as high 

 as 75, the best thing I know of is the family scale, 

 with both scoop and platform, weighing from }■> oz. 

 to 240 lbs. We can furnish these, shipped from the 

 factory in Bingham pton, N. Y., for $9.00.] 



Jerome Wiltse. 

 Rulo, Neb., Dec. 13, 1878. 



What makes my bees come out of the hive iu the 

 coldest weather, <j° below zero ? They came out by 

 the dozen, voided their excrement, and were not 

 able to get back again, but froze to death. I shut 

 them in the hive, and they died in the hive. I have 

 lost 2 of my 4 colonies and some of my neighbors' 

 bees are also dying. 



My bees had plenty of stores, and are out on the 

 summer stands. H. S. Moore. 



Cuyahoga Falls, O., Jan. 23, 1879. 



[It will do no good to shut the bees in the hive ; it 

 is the well known bee malady. I know of nothing 

 that will cure them, except warm weather, unless 

 it is flying them in doors in the cage 1 have described.] 



Will one horse, in a power the same as described 

 in your Dec. Gleanings, give ample power for saw- 

 ing stuff for hive making? Is the wheel plenty 

 large enough to enable the horse to walk with ease, 

 and exercise freely his whole strength ? What width 

 of band would you use in sawing with one horse? 

 what size of rope on the power ? and what weight 

 should the main or large wheel of the saw be? 

 Which multiplies speed with least waste of power, 

 bands or cogs? H. P. Nichols. 



Bridgeport, Conn., Jan. 21, 1879. 



[One horse power is ample, if your machinery is 

 light, and you do notcare to rush things at atoo great 

 speed. I have never seen such a wheel, but have no 

 reason to doubt the statement of the manufacturer. 

 I would suggest an inch i-ope, and a 2 i nch belt. The 

 main wheel may weigh from 50 to 100 lbs. Cogs or 

 gearing are best for slow motion, but will not an- 

 swer for a high speed.] 



the bee malady. 



In this locality there is great mortality among the 

 bees. The long continued and excessively cold 

 weather of December brought annihilation to some 

 entire colonies, and also largely diminished the num- 

 bers of those that survive. The prospect now is 

 that hardlv half the bees in the country will live till 

 time of flowers. Most of the small bee-keepers 

 have already lost half or more of their stands. The 

 inquiry is, what is the cause of such unprecedented 

 mortality? and is there any remedy? Of course in- 

 sufficient protection during the inclement weather 

 will be generally charged with the loss; but it must 

 be remembered that colonies safely stored in dry 

 cellars have by no means escaped decimation. I 

 have heard some bee-keepers charge dysentery, 

 others, honey dew, and others, poisonous properties 

 of dark honey, with the destruction of their pets. 

 Any instruction or information in regard to this 

 from experienced apiarists would be gratefully re- 

 ceived by your numerous friends. 



S. W. Salisbury. 



Kansas City, Mo., Jan. 18, 1879. 



one tier of sections. 



Will you please give your readers a plain descrip- 

 tion of some simple rack for holding sections that 

 will tit the Simplicity hive, and that can be tiered 

 up; that is, as one becomes partly full, it can be 

 raised and another placed und^er, and at the same 

 time use berry-box separators. I have about 70 

 swarms of bees in the Simplicity hive, but do not 

 like the idea of giving bees a full story of sections 

 at a time, and don't see how it can be avoided with 

 sections in the wide frames. I think a rack that 

 will hold but one-half as many sections preferable, 

 and I also think berry-box material good enough for 

 separators, and vastly cheaper than tin. 1 shall be 

 glad to see your answer in Gleanings. 



Alex. Wilder. 



Sandwich, 111., Jan. 21, 1879. 



[Our 3 box case of sections, we have sold for this 

 exact purpose, for the past 2 seasons. I do not 

 think anybody will be pleased very long, with sepa- 

 rators made of berry-box material. After the bees 

 have once fastened wax to them, they are sure to 

 do it again, and as fast as you can scrape it off. On 

 page 327, of last year's Gleanings, friend Butler 

 most strongly condemns a single tier of sections, 

 and says the bees will fill a double one just about as 

 quickly, which agrees with my own experience. To 

 make a case so that the whole single tier of sections 

 can be handled as one box, becomes a rather compli- 

 cated affair, if you want the sections completely 

 covered from the effects of propolis as they should 

 be, separators added, and still kept so any one can 

 be removed easily.] 



THE HONEY MARKET. 



The dullest season we ever had for honey, and es- 

 pecially comb honey, we have this winter. There is 

 no demand such as there has been in previous win- 

 ters, at almost any price. Two years ago, about 

 Christmas time, I sold 20.000 lbs. of comb honey in less 

 than 30 days ; I have not sold 3000 this year and my 

 competitors tell me the same story. 



The principal reason, I think, is hard times, and 

 honey, being still conisdered a luxury, must take 

 a back stand in the way of family supplies. 



The best comb honey sells here, in the jobbing 

 way, at 12(5 15c, and our city is, apparently, full of 

 honey from California. California comb honey is to 

 be had in quite a number of commission houses all 

 over the city. Chas. F. Muth. 



Cincinnati, O., Jan. 8, 1879. 



