188 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



May 



$dh& and %m?hh 



CHAFF PACKING FOIt WINTER. 



Sx%jEES which stood unprotected on their summer 

 jtriR stands have fared pretty hard the past winter 

 '-4^hei-e, but those wtiicb were protected with 

 straw, &c, came through all right. 

 Hamilton, Mo., April 3, 1S79. C. B. T.iurney. 



Since Mar. 10th, when I last reported to you that I 

 had lost 6 colonies, 7 more have dwindled away. 

 This spring seems to be harder on the bees, in this 

 locality, than the hard winter that we have just pass- 

 ed through. Most of my cjlonies that died were 

 weak. R. J. Csburn. 



LeClairc, Iowa, April 5, '79. 



WIDE BEES SWAKM WHETHER THEY ARE CROWDED 

 OK NOT? 



I had a house built last year, 7 ft. long, 4 ft. deep 

 and 7 ft. high, thinking they would worK and fill the 

 house and not swarm. I was gone through the sum- 

 mer, so I do not know whether they swarmed or not. 

 The hive, I put in on stakes in one corner; th rj y 

 made comb all around the hive, and below it about 

 2 ft. I had too many openings for entrances, and 

 did not close them, and my neighhors' bees took all 

 the honey outside the hive. I had a door to lock, 

 because boys here make a practice of breaking 

 open hives, and stealing the honey. I am new at the 

 business; there are some men here who keep bees, 

 but they do not know enough about the business to 

 answer this question of swarming. 



Patten, Penobscot Co., Maine, Feb. 18, 1879. 



Mrs. P. Chandler. 



LPlenty of room will do very much toward preven- 

 ting swarming, but it cannot be considered as an in- 

 fallible preventive. It seems to have answered in 

 yourcase, my friend, but why did younot remove the 

 honey on the outside of the hive, or have your 

 room made bee light? It is quite a pretty sight to 

 see the new white combs built out in the open air 

 in the way you mention, but the honey is seldom in a 

 convenient or marketable shape.] 



HOPES NOT BLASTED. 



My bees are now in the very best condition ; hives 

 are crowded with them. Drones have been flying 

 for one week. I wintered my bees by contracting 

 the brood chamber to 5 and 6 frames, the frames 1 ic- 

 ing tilled with scaled honey. I placed chaff cushions 

 between division boards and hive, and then putting 

 two old cotton cloths over the quilt, and leaving 

 top of hives off, I set them in large dry goods boxes, 

 with dry wheat chaff. 



This has been a very severe winter on bees in this 

 locality? about % of those wintered on summer 

 stands' without protection have died, and the re- 

 mainder of them have dwindled to very weak col- 

 onies. My bees came through in nice condition, and 

 I have not lost a colony in wintering. 



Lynn, Ind., April 16, 1879. E. Jas. Hinshaw. 



I had 9 swarms last fall, but have only 3 now ow- 

 ing to the bee-disease, whatever that is. 



One man here has a gum, from which he gets 3 

 swarms and 200 lbs. of honey every year. 



Fremont Center, Newaygo Co., Mich., Apr. 14, 1879. 

 Thad. L. Waters. 



ABSCONDING MANIA. 



On Easter Sunday morning, 1 had just 36 colonies 

 of bees. About 10 o'clock, they commenced swarm- 

 ing and kept it up till I had 9 colonies less than 

 when they commenced. All were in chaff hives, 

 and on as few frames as practicable, with chaff 

 cushions on top. All had queens, brood, and honey. 

 Some of the very best and strongest colonies I had, 

 left. All had biit very little pollen. 



What, was the cause, and what is to be done in 

 such a ca«e? I. It. Good. 



South West, Ind., April 11, '79. 



[This is a kind of mania, that seems sometimes to 

 take possession nf a whole apiary in the spring, and 

 1 hardly know of a remedy that will apply to all 

 cases, unless it is to have all the stocks old and 

 strong ones. An old colony, well supplied with 

 food, very seldom goes into any of these insane 

 freaks.] 



Bees have wintered b idly. A great many are dead 

 and, unless the weather gets warm pretty soon, more 

 of them will die vet. James P. Sterrit. 



Sheakleyville, Pa., April 11, 1879. 



[That is just the state of affairs at our house.] 



SWARMIN.I OUT IN SPRING. 



1 had a swarm of bees which came out about the 

 15th of March. They Hew around a long time, and 

 went about 100 yards and clustered. There were 

 less than a quart of bees. I caught the queen, clip- 

 ped her wing, and put her in the hive. They came 

 out again in a few days, but, as the queen could not 

 go, they returned. They have been quiet and bus- 

 ily at work ever since. I opened the hive and found 

 eggs, larvae, ar d capped brood. They were not near 

 full, with no drones and plenty of honey. My 

 nephew says he thinks he saw another queen, but he 

 is not reliable in that line. 



DEAD BROOD AFTER TRANSFERRING. 



I transferred one cilonv about the same time 

 from an old rotten hive. They were very weak. 

 In a few davs, they c line out. I caught ihe queen 

 (she was clipped), and examined the hive. They 

 had brood in all stages, but not one drop of honey. 

 I fed them on syrup, but they came out again. I 

 took a frame from another hive with honey in it, and 

 they came out again. I examined again and found 

 the brood which I had transferred all dead— drones 

 and workers. Was it '"foul brood" (I have been 

 reading for several years about foul brood but 

 never saw any unless this was it)? or did I kill it 

 transferring? I have transferred many colonies, but 

 never lost any before. 



Cabot, Ark., April 6, 1879. 



B. F. Cathey. 



[The swarming out first mentioned was probably 

 because they were weak in numbers. It is nothing 

 new for beginners, such as your nephew probably 

 is, to imagine they see queens wherever there are 

 bees. Your sec >nd c ilony, probably, let their brood 

 chill, when they were at the point of starvation. 

 There are no indications o" foul brood, or anything 

 like it, as I understand the case.] 



THE "ARTILERY" SMOKER. 



As my old mustang took to bucking yesterday and 

 threw me, giving me a tremendous jar, I had some- 

 what of a restless night; and, in imagination, peep- 

 ed through the key hole of your sanctum, to see 

 if anyone was promenading around the stairway; 

 but "nary". All was quiet so I delavcd a little out- 

 side and wondered if the old man of CO years hadn't 

 matured, in mind, something that may be utilized 

 to advantage by bee keepers: 



A telescope adjustable smoker sliding up and 

 down, for any desired elevation on a rod, or its 

 equivalent, thrust in the ground, with a swivel like 

 attachment to turn at any angle of elevation. 



I deem it here unnecessary to point out the ad- 

 vantages, as they are numerous and will readily be 

 comprehended. 



Now, if you approve of the idea and feel disposed, 

 please test it by actual application and report. 



"O praise the Lord for all his benefits", and particu- 

 larly for the falling rain, which we think is very 

 much needed. 



Tustin City., Cal., April 4, '79. S. D. Haskin. 



[T am not sure, friend H., but that your idea is a 

 good one. The smoker would not have to be laid 

 down and picked up, and as the stake would be 

 equivalent to one hand, it could be worked with 

 much less power and fatigue. To facilitate sticking 

 the staff firmly in hard ground, with but little troub- 

 le, I would say, get a stirrup to put the foot in, in 

 forcing it down securely. Who will work out the 

 idea?] 



"BOY POWER" VERSUS FOOT POWER. 



I have rigged a crank attachment to my Barnes 



saw, by putting up a counter shaft on blocks, at the 



foot of the machine, running it by a belt from a 3 ft. 



wheel set in a frame about 7 ft. away. The shaft on 



which the wheel is hung is set on rollers, and there is 



a crank at each end. My two boys will just make 



those saws hum. Besides, I can also run the foot 



power in connection with it. My thick saw troubles 



j me a good deal, by the teeth Ailing up. making it run 



i slowly and hard. Would it not be better to take out 



I every second tooth, thus giving more space between 



theni? [Yes, I think it would. See answer on p. 181.] 



' At water, O., April 8, '79. J. Mattoon. 



