298 



GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS AIWONG THE 

 ABC CLASS. 



wonders in producing beau- 



!~T3j]]HE queen is doing 

 tiful young Its 

 — cells, of which I had a nice lot 



few days 



since. R. Corscaden. 



Providence, R. I., July 12, '79. 



That is the way they write when every 

 thing succeeds, friend C. ; but, O my, do we 

 not get some doleful letters when the queen 

 happens to get killed in introducing. Lis- 

 ten to the following : 



Notwithstanding you are so busy, I must bother 

 you some with my complaints. I purchased last 

 winter 3 swarms of black bees. In the spring, I had 

 about one and a half. The one stock gave me a 

 good swarm the first of June, and in about 2 weeks 

 another came out and was lost. The half swarm in- 

 creased rapidly, and for fear of losing another 

 swarm, I divided them, and now my trouble com- 

 mences. I got one of your queens and tried for two 

 days to get her in, but without success, the bees 

 killing her before I had time to turn around, 



Now what should I do? The bees are without a 

 queen, and weak at that. I did not mind the loss so 

 much as the failure to do what others do. I was 

 busy then, and could not experiment farther. I 

 gave the queenless hive a frame of brood with queen 

 cells, and in two weeks (getting over my hurry 

 somewhat), visited your apiary, and spent about two 

 hours watching your boys handle bees. I concluded 

 that I must have your breed of bees; that is, if I 

 went into the business. So arming myself with one 

 of your smokers and another queen, I felt as though 

 I would "conquer or die." Looking over the frames 

 carefully and cutting out all queen cells, I deposited 

 the cage containing the queen on the frames, cov- 

 ered them up and left them for 24 hours; then 1 

 opened the slide and let out one of the stranger 

 bees. It was well received; then another, and so 

 on ; all seems lovely. I am on the pinnacle of suc- 

 cess finally. Last, but not least, out comes the 

 beautiful Italian queen. She is no sooner seen than 

 she is pounced upon by the savage blacks. I apply 

 the smoke; when they let go, she dodges down be- 

 tween the combs. As soon as possible, I remove 2 

 frames and find her at the bottom of the hive, in a 

 ball of bees. I rescue her in the agonies of death. 



Now, friend Root, I have paid out to your firm for 

 Gleanings, ABC book, and bee fixtures, $7.97 and 

 am not so well off pecuniarily as before. My bees 

 have made no surplus honey, for handling them 

 puts them in an uproar for a day or two. I would 

 like to sell out; I must either sell or get a better 

 race of bees, for I can't stand this much longer. I 

 receive about 100,000 stings every time I go through 

 my four hives. 



Now, let me ask you what I wanted to on the start. 

 Will this swarm that is queenless die out? Can they 

 rear a queen unless they have got the cell with the 

 embryo in it? Further, what will you take to send 

 one of your boys down and introduce four queens 

 to my four colonies, any time between now and win- 

 ter, so that another year they will be all yellow bees? 

 Are not your artificial queens tender? They certain- 

 ly are not so large as the blacks. Ira Bennett. 

 Medina, O., July 13, '79. 



I am very sorry for your mishap, friend 

 B., but I am glad you have detailed it so 

 faithfully, as it gives me an idea of the diffi- 



culties my ABC class have to contend with. 

 Your queenless swarm will certainly die, if 

 you do not give them brood with which to 

 rear a queen. I do not think the queens we 

 niise are smaller or less hardy than your 

 cross blacks, in the general run. As I have 

 been wanting to try my hand at introducing, 

 on some very cross bees, I will go over and 

 introduce them if you will come after me, 

 asking only for the black queens as my pay 

 for doing the work. I will report success 

 next month. 



$$($111$ §q}(Miii0$. 



ANTS. 



Si HAVE had one swarm of bees come off. I have 

 '.I colonies. My bees seem to be raising lots of 

 — i young ones. Now, the advice I want is about 

 the ants; what shall I do to keep them out of my 

 hives? The hives are alive with them. I have tried 

 to kill them with my fingers, but it does no good. 

 As I am a boy, please answer me; and when I am a 

 man, and you are a boy commencing to keep bees, 

 I will help yon. Walter Crosby. 



Appleton City, Mo., June 18, 1879. 



I do not think the ants are doing any 

 harm, my young friend ; if the bees are 

 strong, they will drive them away as soon 

 as they inconvenience them. If you do not 

 like to see them around the hives, sprinkle 

 powdered borax on the ground, as recom- 

 mended in the ABC. 



A "lecture" for the boys. 



Please lay aside your writing and listen to a much 

 troubled ABC boy. This morning, while walking 

 through the bee-yard, I accidentally noticed two lit- 

 tle dun colored flies traversing the entrance of one 

 of the hives, as unconcerned as the bees themselves. 

 The bees took no notice of them, nor they of the 

 bees. I at once decided that it was the moth-fly so 

 much spoken of in Gleanings. I don't know what 

 to do; for the bees will not fight them, and I am 

 too afraid of the bees to fight them myself. I have 

 tried to get pa to get an Italian queen, but his ex- 

 cuse is, "We have no express office near". I have 

 told him that Mr. Edwin Thew will send them by 

 mail; but he will not order. I am afraid, if he does 

 not send pretty soon, it will be "too late". 



Our bees have not been doing much for the last 

 month, on account of dry weather. They are gath- 

 ering pollen from corn-tassels pretty briskly now, 

 but are gathering no honey from anything. We (I, 

 by myself) transferred one swarm a few weeks ago; 

 but —they were r< ibbed ! we divided the bees around, 

 but— they were killed! I think we need a lecture on 

 something. Yours &c, D. S. Bethune. 



Snyder, Ark., July 7, 1879. 



I guess you are right, my friend, and that 

 the lecture you need is to go slowly and be 

 careful. Never mind the flies, or moth mil- 

 lers; they will do no harm walking in front 

 of the hives. If they enjoy it, let them 

 walk. But when you transfer another colo- 

 ny, you must not let the bees rob. If no 

 honey is coming in, do it in the evening, 

 after the bees have stopped flying, or by 

 moonlight, as I told you in the ABC. Do 

 not let a single bee ever get home with a 

 load of honey he has picked up, and you will 

 never have any robbing. I am afraid you 

 have left honey daubed and scattered 

 around, like boys generally do ; my boy, in 

 particular. I gave him a long lecture about 

 it the other day, and gave him a box for 

 cages, sections of honey, bits of comb, and 

 every thing of the kind. Then I had him 



