50 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feu. 



No. 2, by putting- the 3 I took from No. 1, and 3 that 

 I made from the comb in this old hive, in their place. 

 About this time, I noticed that there were a number 

 of cells in No. 2 that contained a blackish, putrid 

 looking- substance. My bees did extra well, I 

 thought; for in the fall, 1 found 1 had taken 180 lbs. 

 of cap honey in 2 lb. boxes, the most of which I sold 

 for 15c. per lb. After taking- the set of boxes, of 48 

 lbs., off the 2d voung- swarm, 1 do not think there 

 was 4 lbs. in the* hive. They had put it all above. 

 Later in the fall, I noticed that this putrid substance 

 had increased wonderfully, producing a very offen- 

 sive smell in the two old stocks, and furthermore, it 

 was to be seen in the 3 young swarms. By this time 

 I made up my mind, from what I had read and oth- 

 ers had said, that my bees had foul brood. I destroy- 

 ed the bees and comb in the 2 old stocks, and the 

 combs of the worst young swarm, shook the bees in- 

 to an empty box, kept them there 3 days, then put 

 them on some clean combs that I bought of a neigh- 

 bor, and fed them clean honey. I removed the oth- 

 er 2 hives of bees, 13 miles off, and traded a cow for 



swarms more. 1 am trying to winter the 9 swarms 

 by packing in chaff. 



'i have never written anything concerning bees 

 before, and I guess you will hope, by this time, that 



1 never will again. 



QUESTIONS. 



1st. How shall I manage with the 2 swarms, in 

 the spring? 



2d. Have I cured the one at home? 



3d. Shall I use the 3 hives again? Jfso, how can 

 they be cleaned? E. H. Knapp. 



Fabius, N. Y., Dec., 13, 1878. 



All I know of foul brood is given in the 

 A B C. As I have never had any personal 

 experience with it, I can only suggest. I 

 think you have done about right. Giving 

 the hives a thorough fumigation with brim- 

 stone, or a zero freeze, I think, will kill the 

 germs of the foul brood ; but, as the point is 

 not well settled, it may be safest to destroy 

 them. I should try salicylic acid on the two 

 you have moved away. 



^ ■•■ ^ 



SEPAHATOKS OR NO SJiPARAT US. 



ALSO SOMETHING ABOUT EXTRACTED HONEY. 



TAKE the liberty to write to you concerning 

 the use of tin separators, about which, begging 

 your pardon, 1 cannot agree with you. I have 

 been reading and watching your ways fori or 5 

 years past, but have still followed our old friend, 

 Mr. Langstroth, until I thought your new inventions 

 were well tested. 



So last spring, I ordered of you an extractor, tin 

 separators, and several other things, to start on the 

 new plan. Well, 1 fixed up some nice 3 frame boxes 

 with separators, and put them on 3of the best stocks 

 I had, which were covered up on top and around the 

 sides with old rags to keep in the heat, and about 

 the third day, I thought 1 would peep in and see 

 what they were doing; but, behold! there were on- 

 ly a few scattered bees crawling around here and 

 there. 



Well, as honey was plenty, but the weather I 

 thought too cool for separators amongst the bees, 

 especially at night, I concluded I must try some oth- 

 er plan. So 1 made some cases to hold 30 sections, 

 with slats across the bottom to set the sections on, 

 and put on a few of them for trial, and in two or 

 three days peeped in, and what did I see? Nice 

 white comb nearly to the bottoms of the sections; 

 but, as the hives leaned forward, the comb was 

 built accordingly. However, I saw thoy meant to 

 work with a will, either straight or crooked; so I 

 leveled up my hives from front to rear, perfectly 

 level, and made more cases, got sections on them 

 all, and they worked with a will, and 1 tell you, dear 

 sir, they made me work too. 



The most of the sections without the separators 

 were filled and taken off before they began to work 

 in those with separators; and where the hives were 

 leveled up and comb fdn. hung plumb in the sec- 

 tions, they were as n:'c3 as anybody could wish, and 

 there were no bits of comb built between them— not 

 in one in two or three hundred; besides, the sec- 

 tions are fuller and plumper by having only one 

 passage instead of two. 



Now it may be that experience differs as well as 

 opinion, but if mine don't differ from this year, I 

 will never want any tin separators. Besides, they 

 are very unhandy, to say the least, unless they are 

 in the broad frames, and they are not needed there, 

 because I got some of my nicest sections in broad 

 frames, from new swarms. 



Now, 1 will give you the amount of honey I took 

 this season from 35 stands; mind they had a good 

 surplus of old honey f 'rom last year, as 1 had no ex- 

 tractor until last spring. Well, I sold of extracted 

 honey 1,803 lbs., besides what we used, and of sec- 

 tion honey I have sold about 1,400 lbs., and have 

 about 400 lbs. more, but they are not full weight. 

 These I will sell at a less price. Besides i got about 

 80 lbs. of box honey. 



For my extracted honey, I got from 10 to 15 cts. 

 per lb. Mv section honey 1 wholesaled to James 

 Baird f or 15 cts. per lb. Now, Mr. Root, you will 

 think that looks a little too big; it does to me; 

 but I give you the honest facts, and will refer you 

 to my neighbor bee-keepers, Mr. John B-iird and 

 James Baird, who retailed about 1,000 lbs. of section 

 honey. 



I will give what 1 extracted from three hives; not 

 as a big thing, but to show that it will pay well, at 

 10 cts. per lb. 



June 13, extracted l3Mj gal. 



" 20, " 14 



" 27, " 10 



July ti, " J«'., " 



" 27, " 10>2 " 



Total, 72' 2 



All from upper stories. It weighed from 11 to 11' 2 

 lbs. to the gnllon. 



One thing I would suggest ; that is, that you print, 

 a few thousand copies of how and why it is, that ex- 

 tracted honey can be sold cheaper than comb honey. 

 If I had had 200 or 300 copies to give to my custom- 

 ers last summer, it would have saved a good deal 

 of time and a good deal of talking, besides introdu- 

 cing the honey. 



Some, as soon as their honey began to candy, ac- 

 cused me of dishonesty ; said it was made of sugar. 

 I will tell you of one honey dealer in Wheeling, who 

 has dealt in honey for several years, and still sup- 

 posed that extracted honey was pressed out, until [ 

 explained it to him, and when his honey candied, he 

 didn't know he could melt it again. Wm. Bitzeis. 



Elm Grove, Ohio Co., West Va., Nov. 26, 1878. 



If we dispense witli separators, we virtu- 

 ally reduce the upper story to one large box, 

 and I am well aware the bees will commence 

 sooner without the separators titan they will 

 with, many times; if you will look on page 

 1209 of Gleanings for 1876, you will see that 

 I once came to the same conclusion you 

 have, and the next season, sections were put 

 on about half of our apiary, without separa- 

 tors ; but when we commenced taking the 

 honey off, I very soon decided that I never 

 wanted any more sections in that shape, and 

 we finally went over all the hives exchang- 

 ing broad frames with separators on, for 

 those that had none. 



All of our honey labels, friend B., give a 

 brief explanation of the difference between 

 extracted and strained honey, but since you 

 have mentioned it, 1 think 1 will have a la- 

 bel made, giving fuller explanations, and the 

 reason why extracted honey can b3 sold so 

 much cheaper. 



SALT FOK BEES AGAIN. 



1 can tell you how 1 make my bees eat salt. 



I go 



out early in the morning, when the dew is on the 

 grass or bushes, within a few rods of my bees, and 

 sow the salt broadcast onthe grass orbushes, which- 

 ever it may be. It will dissolve in the dew, and 1 

 will guarantee that the bees will lick it all up clean. 

 Jordan Center, Wis., Jan. 1, 1879. A. Auair. 



Thanks, friend A. [ presume our bees 

 will stand a chance of being well salted next 

 season, even if they have gone hungry for 

 salt heretofore. 



