1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



345 



HOW RAPE SUCCEEDS IN KANSAS. 



ALSO A CAUTION ABOUT SHIPPING BEES. 



BOUT two years ago now, W. M. Kellogg sent 

 me what might be called a good strong nu- 

 cleus, which filled up and gave me 251b. ex- 

 tracted honey, and wintered well. Last year, they 

 doubled and gave me over 801b. of extracted honey, 

 although I had so much farming to attend to that I 

 could not give proper care to them. This la?t spring, 

 one stock came out queenlcss, and failed to raise a 

 queen the first time I gave them brood, but now 

 have a fine young queen at work. The other stock 

 has increased to 3 good ones, besides giving me 501b. 

 of honey so far, and now they are at work very live- 

 ly on buckwheat, rape, and heartsease. 



Last fall, W. M. Kellogg wrote me that a lot of 50 

 stccks of bees could be bought cheap, near Oquawka, 

 Ills. Kellogg took care of them there until this 

 spring, and was to ship as soon as he could extract 

 some of the honey, as they were very heavy; but 

 there was no time when he could extract without 

 exciting robbing, and he waited until June 17th, 

 when he sent them as they were, heavy with brood 

 and hives full of bees. I got them from the car, 

 June 21st. Honey was all over the car, and 18 of the 

 strongest stocks dead, and several more so near 

 gone that they came out and went in with other 

 swarms. A few were in splendid condition, and have 

 done well. Some are now at work in sections, and I 

 have increased by natural swarming and dividing to 

 about 45 now, and, I think by the looks, I shall have 

 8 or 10 more within the next week. 



I have 4 acres of buckwheat and 10 acres of rape. 

 Four acres of the rape I cut about two weeks ago, 

 and the last is nearly all out of bloom now. I shall 

 sow some more soon. Rape grows well here, and I 

 could raise two crops on the same ground, by sowing 

 earlier in the spring. I tell you a few acres of rape 

 look very nice and it makes very white and pleasant 

 honey. The bugs let it alone here. 



Hastings, Neb., July 29, '79. J. W. Cramer. 



I am very glad to know that rape does suc- 

 ceed somewhere, for, with us, it is one con- 

 stant failure, on account of the little black 

 flea. It blossoms so quickly, we could easily 

 get two crops here, were it not for this ene- 

 my. Had your bees been prepared for ship- 

 ping with wire cloth on both top and bottom 

 of the hives, there would have been no troub- 

 le. To do this, you need a Simplicity or 

 other hive with a movable bottom board. 



IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING HIVES FREE 

 FROM UNPLEASANT ODORS AND AN- 

 TIPATHY OF REES TO THE 

 SMELL OF COAL OIL. 



fDO not suppose you care about answering 

 questions through Gleanings for those that 

 J don't subscribe for it. I exchange, however, A. 

 B. J. with brother M. Martin, so you see each has 

 the reading of both journals. I have had serious 

 trouble with my new swarms leaving their hive, 

 some of them going to the woods. I worked hard to 

 stop all swarming, changing places with hives, cut- 

 ting out queen cells, &c., &c. Frames of brood 

 made no difference with them. I found no remedy 

 until I scattered my empty hives and fixtures over 

 the ground and let the sun strike all parts of them 

 and the rain beat on them. They were new, L. 



hives with movable bottom boards, all made of pine; 

 but I had had them stored in a barn, near a lot of 

 refined oil barrels, also lubricating oil barrels, and I 

 think the odor caused all my trouble. Some swarms 

 would leave after being hived 10 days; but most of 

 them in 1 to 3 days after hiving. I got so tired and 

 heated that I wished I would never have any more 

 new swarms. It made no difference whether they 

 were shaded or not. Italians, hybrid, and blacks 

 seemed bent on leaving for the woods, when they 

 came out of the new hives. I clipped some queens' 

 wings and some I did not. It is no easy matter to 

 find black queens, as I have tried four times by 

 shaking them on a sheet and letting them run into 

 the hive, and had to give It up. In the first part of 

 the swarming season, they would cluster near by, I 

 would hive them, and they would come out the next 

 day: but, as the seaion advanced, when they left 

 their new hive, the most of them would go to the 

 woods in spite of dirt and water. It seemed that, if 

 a single bee went into a colony that appeared satis- 

 fied, he would coax them to leave their hive. Since 

 sunning my empty hives well, I have had but few 

 swarms come off, and have had no trouble. Frames 

 with brood in all stages seemed to do no good. 



Now I would like to hear from some one that has 

 had like trouble and find out if coal oil or kerosine 

 oil is so obnoxious to bees as to cause them to leave 

 their hives. Not only a few swarms, but about all 

 of them, I have hived some seven times. If those 

 few empty oil barrels gave me all this trouble, they 

 have cost me at least $100.00, besides so much hard 

 work. I also hurt my eyes getting over heated so 

 much by throwing dirt and water. I now have 93 

 colonies, very strong too. I like very much to read 

 Gleanings, it is so plain. It is we beginners that 

 need plain simple language. Men of experience are 

 generally well enough posted, but they certainly can 

 understand when a new beginner can. 



McLane, Pa., July 14, '79. A. A. Harrison. 



It makes no difference at all, friend II., 

 whether you subscribe or exchange with 

 your neighbor. In fact, I like the idea of 

 exchanging; it seems neighborly, and then 

 you both have the reading of both journals, 

 at a small expense. 



I am well aware that bees are quite sensi- 

 tive to disagreeable odors, and that hives 

 should not be kept where they are liable to 

 be tainted in the way yours were ; but I nev- 

 er before heard of such a wholesale time of 

 swarming out as you have had. Coal oil 

 has been suggested as a means of driving 

 away robbers, by rubbing it about the crev- 

 ices of the hives they are hanging about. 

 It would seem, from your report, friend H., 

 that there might be something in it. 



BEE BOTANY AND ENTOMOLOGY. 



"QUEEN of the prairie." 

 ^jfyJlNCLOSED I send you a honey plant, which I 

 IrJ/ji came across this morning, and do not know 

 r 'I that I ever saw it before. I found it in a 

 marshy or wet field, where nothing grows but what 

 we used to call sour grass. There were bees with- 

 out number working at it. I think I will try and 

 get. seed from it. It may be nothing new to you but 

 to me it is. Joel Heydt. 



Ashley, Luzerne Co., Pa., July 7, 1879. 



The specimen enclosed is Spircea rosea (Queen of 

 the Prairie), common in cultivation as an ornament- 

 al plant. W. J. Beal. 



Lansing, Mich., July 16, 1879. 



