272 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUBE. 



July 



natural combs breaking down. 



The comb, with plenty of honey in it, in one of 

 mother's hives — an old fashioned box hive— broke 

 loose at the top and fell down. What is the cause, 

 and what is the remedy? Should she transfer the 

 bees to another hive, or let them patch up to suit 

 themselves? The art of transferring she has yet 

 to learn. D. B. Howe. 



Clarence, N. Y., May 10, '79. 



Natural comb will sometimes break down, 

 though not often. If in summer, the hive is 

 not shaded enough. The best remedy is to 

 transfer them. See transferring. 



Customers to our flouring mill seem to prefer to 

 read Gleanings to any thing else while they wait 

 on their "grist." Could not you give us some hints 

 for each month, on the front cover, instead of those 

 stei-eotyped opinions, etc.? G. W. Gamble. 



Fredericksburg, O., June 5, '79. 



I am very sorry to keep giving those ster- 

 eotyped opinions, friend G., but if I do not, 

 I shall have to keep the clerks writing the 

 same thing over and over. Even now, we 

 have to keep constantly asking people to 

 read the front cover. I am very glad to 

 hear your customers are pleased with our 

 efforts. 



HOUSE APIARIES. INTRODUCING QUEENS. 



1 have built a house apiary, 12x24, to hold 52 colo- 

 nies. The entrances are so arranged that they are 

 from Sy 2 to 4 feet apart. Hives stand on shelves, so 

 that they can be moved. The entire cost of the 

 house exclusive of labor, $30.00. It is lighted by 

 sky-lights. 



I want to furnish you 200 queens next April and 

 May. I am fixing to be "head quarters" for early 

 queens, next spring. R. H. McIntyke. 



P. S.— Can you inform me where I can get bovist or 

 puff-ball, such as is used to introduce queens? I have 

 lost more queens in introducing this spring than 

 ever before altogether. Is there any sign that we 

 shall ever be allowed to send queens by mail again? 



Daytona, Fla., June 1, '79. R. H, M. 



Go ahead with your queens, friend M.; 

 I only wish you had the 200 ready to send 

 me to-day; your money would be quickly 

 handed over. You can introduce queen's 

 by stupefying the bees with our common 

 puff-ball, but the plan is a troublesome one, 

 and not sure. I think it doubtful about 

 queens being very soon allowed to go by 

 mail. Ilayhurst's process does away with 

 all the trouble of introducing queens, and is, 

 I think, the surest remedy we have, for loss- 

 es in that direction. 



my theory being that it is a deception; the bees 

 light upon it supposing it to be the cluster, and be- 

 fore the mistake is generally known, it dees, in fact, 

 become so. J.B.Mitchell. 



P. S.— As for bees disliking a black hat, I will 

 simply say that I invariably wear a black felt hat 

 among mine, and I am seldom stung except through 

 carelessness. J. B. M. 



Hawkinsville, Ga., June 3, 1879. 



"DOLLAR QUEENS" AND THOSE FROM "HIGH PRICED" 

 DEALERS. 



I think a person ought to be as willing to acknowl- 

 edge good treatment and fair dealing as he would be 

 to complain at ill usage. Therefore, as I have been 

 well used in my dealings with you, I write to let you 

 know that I appreciate it; and as I have not been 

 fairly treated by some other dealers in bee supplies 

 I am the more willing to own the fair manner in 

 which you have dealt with me. 



Last season, I had 6, "dollar" queens of you, and 

 this spring they are all right, very prolific, and in 

 every case have proved purely mated. I can handle 

 them in any way almost, without the use of smoke. 

 Far different has my experience been with some I 

 had from another dealer, who wrote me that he 

 could not afford to raise queens for one dollar; that 

 he would not have such queens; and advised me 

 not to try them, but to get queens Of some one that 

 took the trouble to raise good queens, as they were 

 the foundation of success. I had four queens of 

 him, for which I paid him $2.00 each. They were 

 what he called warranted queens. One has proved 

 to be a hybrid, and of the other three two are pure, 

 but lay one or two eggs a day ; they are either very 

 old or not at all prolific. One queen out of the four 

 i is fair. But I would not exchange any one of the 

 dollar queens I had of you for Vi dozen like the best 

 1 had of him. He don't get any more of my dollars. 



Bethel, Conn., May 31, 1879. S. H. Hickok. 



BLACK HATS; HAVE BEES AN AVERSION TO THEM ? 



Gleanings for June was received to-day, and, as 

 usual, has been read with interest. Among other 

 things, I have particularly noticed the remarks of 

 friend Buchanan on page 232, in regard to "black 

 hats among bees," and believing that the foundation 

 of his theory has an existence only in his imagina- 

 tion, I desire to put my own experience on this sub- 

 ject upon record, so as to let in all the light that the 

 truth may be ascertained. 



It is now 12 years since I first learned that an old 

 black hat could be used as a decoy, to induce bees to 

 cluster while swarming, and since that time I, and 

 others in this community, have often used one, and 

 seldom without success. When the bees swarm out, 

 place the old hat on a brown stick and hold it in the 

 midst of them, and in a few minutes, they will be 

 clustered upon it as nicely as you could wish. I 

 have seen my son take a swarm from a tree, 12 feet 

 from the ground, by placing his hat on a pole and, 

 with it, brushing the bees from the limb; as they 

 rose, they would cluster on the hat. 



My experiments in this way have all been made 

 with black bees, as, since I have had Italians, I have 

 never allowed them to swarm naturally. I think, 

 however, there would be no difficulty in managing 

 them in the same way, with an old hat colored as 

 nearly as possible like themselves while in cluster, 



UNCERTAINTY OF BUCKWHEAT. 



This is not much of a bee country. White clover 

 is our main dependence, and that is often cut short 

 by dry weather, as it is this year. Some buckwheat 

 is raised here, but no buckwheat honey has been 

 made for 3 years. Last fall, you could hardly find a 

 bee in a whole field of buckwheat. My bees were 

 consuming stores when there were several acres 

 in bloom within l A mile. Bees have died here as 

 well as in other places. Some of my neighbors 

 think they will have to go in "Blasted Hopes." 



Percival Nichols. 



Bridgeton, N. J., June 3, 1879. 



I know buckwheat is uncertain, but, not- 

 withstanding, I have thought best to make 

 a standing offer to our farmers, of $1.00 per 

 acre, for all they will sow within H miles of 

 my apiary. The A. B. J. once stated it 

 $100. per acre, and then fixed it to $1.00 per 

 hive. Try again, friend Newman ; I 

 haven't got near as much money as that, 

 even if I had the faith in the buckwheat. 



FROM DARKNESS TO SUNSHINE. 



Your beautiful queen came safely; but, sad ! has 

 been lost in introducing. I think, if I had smeared 

 her with honey, the bees would have received her. 

 I liberated her, and thought all was right, but went 

 to look again next day, and could not find her; but 

 found two queen cells well under way, and feel 

 sure she is lost, for which I am very sorry. I shall 

 be In grief till I hear from you. I woidd like to 

 know how many capped queen cells you could send 

 to me for one dollar, and 1 will remit you as soon as 

 I know that they can be sent safely. 



Providence, R. I., June 3, 1879. 



June 7.— I am happy to inform you, that, in look- 

 ing over the hive in which 1 put the queen, I now 

 find that the queen cells are missing, and there is 

 plenty of eggs; so I think the queen can not be lost. 

 1 think all is right. R. Corscaden. 



I received the queen May 30th, in good shape, and 

 placed her on top of frames, in cage immediately. 

 Left her there 12 hours, let her out, and she com- 

 menced laying at once. I have looked at her from 

 day to day, and to-day find them caping over her 

 brood by the thousand. I am well pleased with her 

 so far, and expect to want others this summer. 



Kinsman, O., June 10, '79. A. W. Gillis. 



