122 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apkil 



the sides of the hive, with loose chaff. 



For those packed outside, I made a rough box and 

 filled the space between the hive and box, with chaff. 

 All had cushions on top of the frames. 1 have not 

 lost one yet, and we have had a severe winter for 

 this country. The thermometer ranged from 12° to 

 22° below zero, for 4 weeks. My bees did not fly 

 from Nov. 28th, until Jan. 21st. 



Some of those packed on the outside lost a good 

 many bees; frost and ice would accumulate on the 

 inside of the hive, and through the day it would 

 melt, run down, and freeze on ihe bottom board, and 

 close up the entrance. I had to watch them very 

 closely, and had to bore holes in some of the hives 

 to give them air, the entrance being frozen up. 



Those packed inside had no ice in them, but were 

 always nice and dry, and lost very few bees. Those 

 in the chaff hives lost less bees, according to the 

 size of the stocks, than any I have. 



I think chaff packing is a perfect success, and I 

 have learned just how it must be done. Packing on 

 the outside is just as you say, like hanging the bed 

 quilts over the top of the bed posts on a cold night. 

 1 have no more fears about wintering bees, if I can 

 get plenty of dry wheat chaff. 



I consider the chaff hive ahead of anything I ever 

 heard of, both for summer and winter. It is not 

 very expensive, and most any one can make them, 

 and it saves a good deal of fussing in the fall; as 

 they are all ready packed, there is nothing to do 

 but to take the surplus arrangements out, and put 

 the chaff cushions on. 



I am making all chaff hives this winter. Not hav- 

 ing a 50 horse power engine, saws, planers, &c, 1 go 

 to the lumber yard and buy ;'« ceiling, which costs 

 $20 per M. For the corner posts and rim I get barn 

 boards at the same price. Instead of sawing the 

 corner posts, I dress two pieces and nail them to- 

 gether. The ceiling costs more than rough lumber, 

 but it saves machinery and labor, and it makes a 

 good hive and a nice one. When they are finished 

 up and painted, they look real "sniptious." 



If I had only one stock of bees, I would have it in 

 a chaff hive as soon as I could get it there. Bees in 

 these hives don't hang out so much in hot weather, 

 and I don't think combs will ever melt down in 

 them, even if they do stand in the sun. 



I am also done with black bees. My Italians, or 

 rather hybrids, did twice as well as the blacks last 

 season. My best hybrid stock gave me 3 swarms 

 and 190 lbs. of honey in sections, while my best black 

 one only gave 65 lbs. of honey and no swarm. That 

 is too much difference with equal chances. This 

 season I am going to try some of Oatman's queens 

 —the ones that make a feller's pockets jingle— and 

 Italianize my entire apiary. 



Now, friend Novice, if you can find a corner in 

 Gleanings you may publish this for the benefit of 

 our ABC class, as I consider myself one of them. 

 I want to try and keep somewhere in sight of that 

 one that grows so fast, and not let him get too far 

 ahead. I will not bother you with questions, for I 

 generally go to the bee books and journals, with 

 them. ' M. M. Stover. 



Table Rock, Neb., Feb. 12, 1879. 



PROPOLIS AND HOW THE BEE UN- 

 LOADS IT. 



/ip% N page 34, A B C Part 1st, you mention the 

 II iv) P ranl£S °f the young bees when they bring in 

 ^if their first loads of pollen. You should have 

 gone a little farther and explained how they unload 

 it, and as propolis is also carried on their hind legs 

 in their baskets, how they get rid of that too. 



I have heard it remarked that their manner of de- 

 positing pollen is to thrust their extremities to 

 which it is attached into the cell, and push it off 

 f rem the one with the other, and pack it in. Since 

 propolis is never stored in cells as is pollen, the 

 manner in which they get rid of that may also be of 

 interest to many who have never witnessed the in- 

 terior workings of the inmates of a bee hive. 



1 have observed, through glass, their pranks and 

 jostlings when they had entered the hive with their 

 loads of propolis, and never had an idea that they 

 cut up those manoeuvres because they were proud 

 of what they had done, but to attract the attention 

 of the other bees to assist them in getting rid of 

 their burden. 



Propolis being a tenacious substance, I very much 

 doubt if the bee that gathers it ever rids itself of it; 

 at least, I have never as yet been able to discover it. 



When a bee enters with its load, and gets up among 

 its fellows, a jostling, whirling, or shaking is seen; 

 some of the bees nearest to it seem to understand 

 for what it is done, take notice of the actor, follow 

 it up, and when it gets a little more reconciled, one, 

 and then another, will take off a bit with their man- 

 dibles, and carry it to where they use it, and apply 

 it to sealing up cracks, and working it over rough 

 surfaces. 



I have often thought if bees vould not fuss and 

 spend so much time working with this disagreeable 

 stuff, but instead, devote the same time to other 

 more necessary duties in the hive, they would be a 

 better source of revenue to the keeper. Therefore 

 bee-keepers making hives and fixtures should guard 

 against offering too much temptation to bees, to 

 have them do so much unnecessary work. The 

 smoother the interior of the hives and surplus re- 

 ceptacles, the less time will be wasted. 



Query: I wonder if the bees^willj not be inquisi- 

 tive and examine your new wooden cover made of 

 sti-ips, and try to improve on it by closing up the 

 narrow spaces between the strips, where the twine 

 crosses? You know the instinct of the bee leads it 

 to close up all such appertures where they cannot 

 pass through, and then if they should behave so 

 badly, probably they would keep it up, and every 

 time you had occasion to roll it up and mar their 

 work, they will be likely to repeat it. 



G. J. Flansbtjrgh. 



Bethlehem Centre, N. Y., March 10, 1879. 



Under the head of pollen, yon will find I 

 do go a little farther, friend F. I have no 

 doubt but that the bees jwill close up the 

 cracks in the mats with propolis, but I do 

 not think this is going to mar their utility 

 much, after all. If they close the hive so 

 that not a bee can even push his head out, 

 and at the same time admit of contracting 

 the hive to 2 frames, if need be, they will be 

 ahead of anything we have yet had for the 

 purpose. 



m& i|i w 



CALIFORNIA. 



5njSj$i.OES it occur to t 'you, while shiveringHwith the 

 J»l J» cold of earl y February, that there are bees at 

 £a~d' work gathering honey in the United States? 

 We, in southern California, have not escaped the 

 cold weather, and I do not think we feel it any less 

 than you do, for our blood gets thin, and when the 

 thermometer gets down to 27° of a morning, and we 

 see a bit of ice } s to H inch thick, we feel the cold. 

 Our first rains came the last week in Dec, and to 

 date, we have had only 554 in. All anxiously watch 

 for rain now, for unless we get more soon, the sea- 

 son will prove a failure. 



The&first honey brought into my apiary came ten 

 days ago from manzinita.| &That shrub is now in full 

 bloom, and furnishes large quantities. Stocks are 

 growing strong very fast— so fast that I shall look 

 for swarms in a week. [ had occasion to transfer 

 several stocks this week, and found ;f rom 5 to 7 

 frames of brood in each hive. 



The first section boxes were put in on the 16th, 

 more for experiment than anything else; but, to- 

 day, the bees are building comb and storing honey 

 in them. The season is 4 or 5 weeks late, and we 

 are very anxious;to go through the ibrood chamber 

 on our annual hunt for drone comb to cut out, but 

 dare not touch them without more rain for fear of 

 starving next fall. With 3 or 4 inches more of rain, 

 we would be reasonably sure of a good ▼ear. Last 

 winter we had heavy rains and very good crops of 

 honey. 



I began a vear ago with 200 stands, increased to 

 475, made 21,000 lbs. of comb honey, and 15,000 lbs. of 

 extracted; but our profits go to pay freight to get 

 the honey to America or somewhere else in the 

 world. 



Heavy shipments werelroade last fall to] Germany 

 and England. If these ventures prove satisfactory, 

 it will be the means of turning our attention almost 

 exclusively to the extractor. I now have 200 two 

 story hives, with full sets of combs built ready for 

 the extractor, all filled last year. 



After disposing of a portion of my apiary, I begin 

 this spring with 290 stocks; shall increase just as 

 little as possible and make what honey can be had. 

 The great trouble now is to avoid increasing our 



