1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sid 



DARK COLOR OF IMPORTED QUEENS, ETC. 



I have just examined the hive with the one im- 

 ported queen I received of you. I stated, at first, 

 that she was a black queen and I feared had been 

 changed on the journey; but, although she is black, 

 and in all respects inferior in looks, her bees, now 

 hatching, are very large and yellow, very much un- 

 like herself. My bees are doing splendidly; 1 have 

 33 swarms now. I am using Dunham's fdn., and 

 bave 800 sheets built out, and not a sag or tear down 

 in any one yet. I use sheets weighing l i of a pound 

 each, the size of a L. frame. I use Lewis & Park's 

 sections, all in one piece. E. A. Morgan. 



Arcadia, Wis., July 15, 1879. 



INTRODUCING. 



I have been 12 days trying to introduce an Italian 

 queen, and to-day, the 12th day, she took wings and 

 left me,— but returned in about 30 minutes, so I 

 caught her. How long shall I continue to try? 



Anderson, Ind., July lfi, '79. A. J. Davis. 



[I would keep trying "all summer," but I think, 

 friend D., I would try her in another colony, before 

 I ha<l got up tu as many as 12 days. Have you tried 

 taking all their combs and brood away?] 



SAVING FOREST TREES. 



Single trees have been burned in America in log 

 heaps, which, cut into veneers would sell for more 

 nett cash, than the whole farm where it grew. When 

 our forests are as well treated as those of Europe, 

 few trees will be cut except by advice of a forest 

 engineer.— Harper's Magazine. 



[I have often thought of the way in which our 

 American people are injuring our bee pasturage by 

 cutting down our basswoods. If nothing can be 

 done to stop it, we can certainly be raising more. I 

 am just now thinking of starting a bed of seedlings. 

 The seed will soon be ready to gather, and should be 

 planted immediately, and covered with leaves, as in 

 its native forests.] 



PINCHERS FOR LIFTING FRAMES. 



Did you ever use a pair of pinchers for lifting out 

 frames? I have a pair formerly used by a dentist. 

 They open wide enough to take in the top bar and 

 have a sharp cutting edge, y s inch face, that 

 takes hold perfectly. They never slip, and one hand 

 can lift out and handle the frame, leaving the other 

 free. It is a first rate tool. My bees now in chaff, 

 and with top boxes on, are not swarming, while the 

 old box hives about me are pouring out freely. 



[I think, friend P., I should consider your pinchers 

 too much machinery. I pick up a frame with one 

 hand, without any trouble, grasping it by the centre 

 of the top bar. Especially if it is a metal cornered 

 frame, and does not have to be pried loose at each 

 end.] 



Is there any way to extract melted beeswax from 

 woolen clothes? 



[Benzine will dissolve the wax from the clothing, 

 but it is rather a slow process.] 



GETTING STARTERS BUILT OUT IN THE BROOD APART- 

 MENT. 



I am getting very nice comb for top boxes, by 

 placing a frame of fdn. in the brood nest, for two 

 days, when it will be finely drawn out, and. when in 

 boxes, it will be filled before common fdn. will be 

 touched. D. P. Park. 



Athens, Pa., July 2, 1879. 



[Your method of getting starters has been given 

 before; but, so far as my experience goes, the bees 

 go to work on simple fdn. almost as quickly as on 

 that which has been partly built out, and your plan 

 is considerable trouble, to say the least.] 



BEES EATING RASPBERRIES, GRAPES, ETC. 



I must tell you something about the conduct of 

 my bees. During the blossoming of the white clover 

 and linden, they gathered considerable honey, 

 though the weather was quite dry; but this good 

 time seems to be passed now. The blossoms of the 

 lime tree are gone, and of the white clover, but few 

 remain, which appear to furnish no more honey. 

 What do you suppose bees are doing now? They 

 went after my Turner raspberries, sucking them all 

 dry. As soon as a berry is getting ripe, you can see 

 it covered with bees, and, in a short time, all its 

 juice is gone, and only the skin and the seeds are 

 left. I have seen bees sucking ripe grapes, in a 



dry season, but never raspberries; have you? They 

 do not touch the black caps or the Philadelphias. 

 Like true gormands, they prefer the nicest and juci- 

 est. There is no difference between the blacks and 

 the Italians; they arc all the same pilferers. 



Highland, Ills., July 9, '79. J. BalsiGER. 



[I have never before heard of bees eating raspber- 

 ries, but I have for several years been aware, that 

 they do sometimes, during dry seasons, learn to bite 

 open grapes, especially the sweet varieties, such as 

 the Delaware, and when they have well learned how, 

 they will often strip the vines entirely. This, how- 

 ever, is only when there is little or nothing to be 

 had from the flowers. I should judge from their 

 behavior that the Turner raspberry must be a de- 

 sirable variety, at least, for home use.] 



1 found a swarm last winter, in a little tree. In 

 June, it swarmed 3 times. On the 4th of July, 1 took 

 maul and wedge and split open the gum, and tried 

 to coax them into a new hive; but they would not 

 go in. The next day, I drove them in, so I thought 

 they were safe. I went to town, and when I came 

 home at night, my little girl told me they had swarm- 

 ed and gone off. I looked at my hive, and saw that 

 they had gone. So I lost my day's work on the 4th, 

 and bees too. Lehi Ellison. 



Woodbine, Iowa, July 14, 1879. 



[I think, if you had put a little brood into your 

 hive, friend E., you would have held your bees, and 

 not wasted jour 4th of July.] 



C ARRYING OUT IMMATURE BEES, ETC. 



My bees were swarmed on the tenth day of last 

 month, and have worked ever since until yesterday 

 and to-day. Now they don't seem to do anything, 

 but carry out young bees dead and living, in various 

 stages. Please tell me if anything is wrong? 



Massillon, O., July 12, '79. Thos. H. Currie. 



[I think there is nothing wrong, friend C. The 

 honey season has probably closed, and that is why 

 they are doing nothing. If they are black bees, very 

 likely it is brood injured by the moth, which they 

 are carrying out. In this case, there would not be a 

 great quantity. If suffering from starvation, which 

 1 presume is not the case, a great deal of brood 

 might be brought out. Drone brood is almost al- 

 ways brought out when the honey crop fails; for, 

 having given up swarming for the season, they seem 

 to know it would be a useless bill of expense to feed 

 drones any longer.] 



DEPOSITORY OP 



i%laMed %e$&§, 



Or Letters from Those Who Have made 

 Bee Culture a Failure. 



^T'-Tj 5y*HEN I sent for my hives, I thought we were 

 W™ going to have a good honey year; but bees 



vCy/ have done no good here— have not made 

 enough honey to keep up brood rearing. Bees have 

 not swarmed here much this season; have not had 

 more than 18 swarms. It has been too dry and cold. 

 White clover was not noticed. Buckwheat is com- 

 ing, and if it has no sweet, what will we do ? 



The smokers that you sent went like buckwheat 

 cakes and maple molasses. 



I thought 1 would give you a sight of my sugar 

 grove apiary, but don't know whether I will or not; 

 if things don't change, I will have to buy sugar and 

 feed. I have lots of bees, and some have not a drop 

 of honey. I took some last year's honey, in one lb. 

 boxes, to Sullivan; they thought it was the finest 

 honey they ever saw, and came in like bees after it. 



I have no use for upper stories this season. I 

 could have sold all of my hives, if I would. Some 

 say that they won't feed; the bees may starve. 

 After a man gets anything, save it; if it don't pay 

 this year, it will next. Byron Riggs. 



Fairbanks, Ind., July 8, 1879. 



I know the above is not a very good 

 letter for this department, but I must have 

 something, and all the ABC class seem so 

 hopeful, it is hard making a choice. 



