362 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Sept. 



$&§§ and %mrhh 



WHAT AILS THE BEES? AND HOW TO CURE 'EM. 



?OU are right about my swarm's starving 1 , as I 

 discovered that they had used all the honey 

 that had been visible to me. 1 couldn't af- 

 ford to send for your bee-candy, so I have been giv- 

 ing them sugar and syrup instead. I think they will 

 come out all right, if there is any honey to gather 

 now. Thos. H. Ccjrrie. 



Massillon, O., July 20, 1879. 



[Our friend wrote that his bees were sick, and de- 

 scribed their symptoms. I told him they must be 

 starving. In the summer time, feed them any kind 

 of sugar or syrup that they will eat, but do not give 

 them, for winter use, anything poorer than white 

 coffee sugar.] 



We have 11 colonies. I have only tried bees this 

 summer, and find it a nice business. I am attending 

 college, and find it pays part of my expenses. 



Mansfield, 0., July 28, 1879. M. B. Boals. 



THE NEW CONE ON THE COLD BLAST SMOKER. 



Thanks for the new cone, with a larger tube for 

 my smoker. I transferred my box hive day before 

 yesterday, and the smoker smoked like blazes. One 

 roll of cotton rags burned at least three hours. 



J. G. Plettinger. 



St. Francisville, La., Jnly 25, 1879. 



My bees have done their best for the last two 

 months. I had 85 colonies in the spring, some of 

 them A'ery weak. I now have 170, nearly all strong, 

 as I put back many small swarms, and some I put 

 together. I had none go away, but a very large 

 swarm came to me. I have taken about 600 lbs. of 

 surplus to date, and have a great many sections on 

 hives partly filled. Most of them will not be filled 

 till buckwheat comes. I expect a ton or two of dark 

 honey as this is a great buckwheat country. There 

 are, perhaps, 100 acres in easy reach of my bees. 1 

 am selling sections of clover and linn honey at 16c; 

 delivered in the oil region, it nets me 15J4 cts. I 

 I think dark honey will not be over 12 cts. delivered. 

 This seems low, but really better than butter at 8 

 and 10 cts. N. N. Shepard. 



Cochranton, Pa., July 28, '79. 



queens by mail versus express. 



Just received by mail in one of Root's candy 

 cages, a live queen from S. W. Salisbury, Kansas 

 City, Mo. It was 8 days en route, 2 vials of water ex- 

 hausted, 7 bees dead, 6 alive. "How is that for 

 high?" S. W. Sherfey. 



Mesillo, New Mexico, July 26, 1879. 



[The above report is of the more importance to us, 

 inasmuch as friend Sherfey is the man to whom we 

 have tried so many times to send queens by express, 

 and failed. See page 250. Friend Salisbury also 

 failed in sending them by express, but he succeeds 

 by mail without any trouble. Several times this 

 season, we have received queens bv mail, and some 

 of them in large packages. The only obstacle in the 

 way (and it seems to be not much of an obstacle 

 after all to many), is the rulings of the department. 

 J think these rulings very unreasonable, and uncall- 

 ed for, but even though nothing should hinder, I 

 cannot feel it my duty to disobey such very positive 

 orders.] 



The imported queen you shipped me the 28th was 

 received the 30th, in No. 1 cage, beautifully put up. 

 The bees and queen were in splendid condition. 

 The bees built a small piece of comb on their trip, 

 and the queen laid eggs in the cells. 



Pittsford, Mich., July 31, '79. Geo. H. Denman. 



A GOOD REASON FOR NEEDING A SMOKER. 



I thought it a good idea to have a smoker to-day 

 when a hog got in the lot and upset the strongest 

 hive of bees I had. I had quite a time with them 

 but got them all right in a little while, so you will 

 please find enclosed $1.00 for smoker, Simplicity. 



Logansport, Ind., July 29, '79. Ab. Hower. 



[I think, friend H., I should have wanted some- 

 thing too, had I been you when I went for that hog, 

 but it would have been something more warlike 

 than a smoker.] 



HOW TO DISTINGUISH YOUNG BEES FROM ROBBBR8. 



Do not young bees, when taking their airing in 

 the afternoon, rise from the bottom board with their 

 faces towards the hive, crawl up on the side of the 

 hive, and fall to the ground as you say robbers do? 



Bridgeport, Conn., July 29, '79. H. P. Nichols. 



[Young bees do, sometimes, behave themselves 

 very much like robbers, but you will readily see the 

 difference, by noticing carefully the following points. 

 Robbers go out in a sort of greedy haste, usually 

 rubbing their mouths, and with their bodies podded 

 out with honey. Young bees come out more leisure- 

 ly, and have not that guilty, sneaking way. Their 

 bodies are of the natural size, and their wings and 

 plumage, when carefully examined, show them to 

 be young bees. With practice, you can tell by the 

 looks of a bee, what his probable age is, almost as 

 certainly as you can tell a man's age by his looks.] 



HOW does a queen know her OWN HIVE? 



The other day, late in the afternoon, when I was 

 examining one of my hives, I happened to catch 

 sight of the queen. I took out the frame on which 

 she was, and, in order to have a better view of her, I 

 carried it over to my frame holder, about 30 feet off, 

 where the sun still shone. While I was looking at 

 her, she suddenly flew off, and lit on the ground 

 about 10 feet distant. I put my hand over her to 

 catch her by the wings, but she escaped and I lost 

 sight of her. I remembered your instructions about 

 leaving the hive open under similar circumstances, 

 and so left the frame in the holder hoping she would 

 fly back to it. After waiting a few minutes, and 

 alarmed by her non-reappearance, I made the round 

 of my hives and examined the entrance board of 

 each, to see if, by any chance, she might try to enter 

 any of them. When I reached her own hive, there 

 she was on the entrance board, being interviewed by 

 her family, who seemed, arid no doubt were, greatly 

 astonished at her presence there. Now what I want 

 you to tell me is, how she got there? 



She was purchased and introduced a month be- 

 fore, and had been laying very well; therefore I 

 reason that, in all likelihood, she had never left the 

 hive before. Now how did she pick out that hive 

 among all the rest as hers, when she was at least 40 

 feet off when I last saw her. J. H. Johnson. 



New York, Aug. 7, 1879. 



[Two explanations suggest themselves, friend J. 

 One is that there was more of a commotion about 

 that hive, than about the others, and that she was 

 attracted there by the hum of the bees. The other 

 is, that a queen, like a cat or pig, knows her home 

 by a species of instinct. It is well known that the 

 animals mentioned, after being carried in a close 

 box or bag, a mile or more, in all sorts of round- 

 about ways, and then released, will go straight 

 home.] 



SOWING BUCKWHEAT EARLY. 



It has been very dry here this season, and, since 

 linn bloom, bees have barely made a living. By 

 accident, 1 sowed 2 aores of buckwheat nearly a 

 month earlier than usual, which, however, proved a 

 lucky accident, as it came into bloom just as linn 

 and white clover went out. The result is, my bees 

 have been laying up stores regularly each day, 

 while some of my neighbors have had to feed. The 

 Italians I find to be far ahead of the blacks. 



Iowa Center, la., Aug. 5, '79 D. E. Brubaker. 



BEES THAT WON T WORK OR SWARM. 



On the first day of April, I bought one hive of bees 

 in an old box hive. They have lain out all summer, 

 and covered the whole hive, and have not swarmed. 

 Will you please write and let me know what I would 

 best do? M. G. O'Neil. 



Griffin's Corners, N. Y., Aug. 9, 1879. 



[Transfer them and make them go to work, accord- 

 ing to directions given in A B C. As it is now so 

 late, it may be best to defer operations until another 

 spring.] 



SIMPSON HONEY PLANT AGAIN. 



I have five Simpson honey plants in bloom, and to- 

 day there was nearly one bumble bee to every blos- 

 som, working from early dawn til late at evening, 

 and then they took up their lodging at the entrance 

 of each blossom, so as to hold possession. They 

 drove the native honey bees off, which I saw. How 

 can I induce this "strain of character" in my bees? 



