1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



295 



and use, will do just as good service in the 

 apiary, as if it was made from lumber per- 

 fectly free from knots. The prize boxes 

 were made after a sample received from Mr. 

 Doolittle, and I think will compare favora- 

 bly with others for the price. We make a 

 planed and dovetailed box much nicer, but 

 they cost more money, as you will see by the 

 price list. You seem to intimate, friend 8., 

 that I am partial to customers. Do you not 

 see how impossible this is? I can no more 

 remember my customers than nothing in 

 the world, and I only know you as one of 

 the vast brotherhood related to me by Adam, 

 and one whom I wish to treat kindly and 

 fairly. It matters not what kind of a letter 

 you write, or how large your orders have 

 been, only that we give every body a discount 

 on large orders, the clerks have instructions 

 to treat all alike. I am asked daily to pick 

 out nice dollar queens ; my friends, you for- 

 get. If you have the nice ones, who are to 

 nave the rest? This would certainly be par- 

 tial. Is it not better to give the poorest boy 

 in the juvenile department just as good 

 goods as the man who has a thousand hives 

 and money in the bank? I am anxious to 

 please you all, but no one more than anoth- 

 er. The queens are sent, and if you will tell 

 me what will make the rest satisfactory, I 

 will try to do it. 



Are not the people down East a little nic- 

 er in mechanical work than elsewhere, and 

 have you not exaggerated the faults of your 

 goods a little, friend S.V Below is a letter 

 that came right along by the side of yours. 

 Does it not illustrate the different ways in 

 which people look at things, rather than a 

 difference in the goods? 



ife "4mUwu>" 



This department was suggested by one of the 

 clerks, as an opposition to the "Growlery." I think 

 I shall venture to give names in full here. 



fJjHE story and a half hive and contents, as order- 

 ed, came promptly to hand yesterday. Thanks 

 ) for your diligence. For you to know how sat- 

 isfactory the items were, would amuse you, and, I 

 suppose, please you also. Seldom has $3.35 done us 

 so much good. How you can get up such nice work, 

 for so low a price, is a wonder. It is a marvel of 

 mechanical contrivance, completeness of machinery, 

 as is evident by the work done, and also of utility 

 and economy. The Express expenses were propor- 

 tionally generous to your moderate bill. The 

 charges were 75c. Give the Ex. Co. credit for quick- 

 ness also. The completeness and cheapness of the 

 frames, whether all wood or metal cornered, arc 

 wonderful. There was only one thing we did not 

 like, and that, I suppose, was because we tasted it, 

 and it is not designed for the bee-keeper to live on, 

 but for the bees. 1 mean the grape sugar, lithe 

 bees like it, it is all tight. You will be pleased to 

 know it was just the reverse of this with the smok- 

 er— the bees don't like it at all, when it is lit and till- 

 ing; consequently, it is just what my wife wants, 

 and myself also, at suitable times. The division 

 board, tin-separators, bee feeder, and mat were all 

 praised as soon as the hive was opened. A package 

 supposed to be a Chaff cushion was laid aside, with 

 the thought that our bees would soon gnaw through 

 the paper sides, if a sufficient Inducement were pre- 

 sented tf> their appetite or curiosity. In an hour or 

 two, we began to think one failure had to be reported 

 to you — the COmb-f dn. Much importance attached 

 to it. Our judgment had already Been convinced of 

 its excellence, and our interest greatly excited to try 



it; for when we had our last experience with bees, 

 comb fdn. was only a hypothesis, and hardly a "work- 

 ing" one. So we regretted that that item had been 

 overlooked; but we thought, mistakes will happen 

 even with the "best regulated." It proved well for 

 me that I had such charity, for I found I needed it 

 myself. There was the pound of beautiful wax 

 guide, inside the frame with the yellow paper sides. 

 It was all right, and every thing satisfactory. 



R. A. Browne. 

 New Castle, Penn., July 10, 1879. 



BEPOKT FROM MRS. AXTELL. 



f'N our home apiary, we have not yet had a single 

 natural swarm; but bees have built up very 

 j strong, and have stored some surplus honey, 



perhaps from 20 to 35 lbs. per colony. The apiary 4 

 miles away has done better ; has given a few swarms 

 and more honey. The spring has been very dry. 

 White clover has bloomed in profusion, but not given 

 very much honey. We have taken off about 1400 lbs. 

 of comb honey, and 3% barrels of extracted. Part 

 of the extracted honey was left over from last fall, 

 in the combs. 



We did not sell one colony from advertising: 

 most persons wanted bees in the Langstroth hive. 

 Some thought they could get bees cheaper, although 

 we asked only 7 and 8 dollars per colony. We al- 

 ways give such good colonies and well finished 

 hives, that we feel that we could not afford colonies 

 cheaper, except when a number are taken. We 

 have sold 12 tine artificial swarms at $4.00 each, with- 

 out hive or combs; the large (^uinby frames filled 

 full of straight worker comb, full of brood and hon- 

 ey, are worth nearly a swarm. Working bees for 

 honey, has always paid us better than for bees or 

 queens. Mrs. S. J. M. Axtele. 



Koseville, Ills., July 4, '79. 



NEW SWARMS LEAVING THEIR HIVES. 



Well, I have waited and watched till to-day, and 

 they (the bees) finally swarmed, and 1 hived them 

 nicely without any trouble; not a sting; the first I 

 ever did, too, and I felt proud. Husband was lying 

 on the lounge and I came in and told him, aud kept 

 watch of them three hours; then they came out 

 and left. I do not believe they were dissatisfied 

 with the quarters I had assigned them or they would 

 not have stayed as long as they did. I have studied 

 on it, and come to the conclusion that with bees, 

 "what is to be will be" ; but I wish they had forgot- 

 ten themselves a few hours longer; I would have 

 had them over night at least, and then, do you 

 think they would have gone at all? Your word shall 

 be mv law in that matter. Mrs. E. C. Peck. 



Toronto, Kan., July 15, 1879. 



Thanks for your kind letter, my friend : 

 but if my word is to be your law, you will 

 have to give up your doctrine, "What is to 

 be will be," and put in its place concerning 

 bees leaving their hives, at least, "Where 

 their owner decides they are to be, they will 

 be." Had you taken the precaution so 

 often recommended in our books and jour- 

 nals, of giving them a frame of brood when 

 hiving them, I think they would have been 

 there still. I know of no other way of mak- 

 ing a sure tiling of their not decamping. 

 Did you not set them right in the hot sun? 

 This alone has caused many a colony to 

 leave. (Jetting them to stay over night 

 would have been no guarantee of their stay- 

 ing ; they often leave next day, and some- 

 times after they have stayed two or three 

 days. 



INTRODUCING TO STUBBORN BEES. 



I thought I never would get my bees to take the 

 last queen. I worked with them 10 days before I 

 succeeded. By following your directions almost 

 any queen can be introduced without loss. 



Washington, Ky., July 7, 1879. J. It. ANDERSON. 



