1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



363 



Would the state of things be the same if I had one 

 or two acres of this plant in cultivation? 



Wyatt Morehouse. 



Moinbaccus, N. Y., Aug. 5, 18"!). 



[One very desirable quality of a honey plant, the 

 Simpson plant seems to possess, and that is the 

 honey is unusually convenient of access. The bee 

 has nothing- more to do than to put in his tongue 

 and drink, and he can take it out of these gaudily 

 colored little pitchers, every bit a* easily as he could 

 get it from the unsealed cells of bii own honey 

 comb. It is for this reason that bumble bees, bugs, 

 tiies, and everything else are s> constantly about 

 the plant. Our Italians seem to have this "strain of 

 character" (beina; last at night, and first in the 

 morning) Already, friend M. 1 think one or two 

 acres woull be covered with bees all the same, if 

 there were bees enough. I am now preparing to try 

 the expariment.] 



CHARITY. 



And so the missin-r postal was addressed to Medi- 

 na. Mich.! Well, [ have written—yes, thousands of 

 postals and letters it mv lifetime, and this is the 

 first mistake of the kind that I ever made; that is, 

 to my knowledge. I cannot account for this, unless 

 it is because I was hurried and overworked at the 

 time that the ca-d was written. I will now trv and 

 have more charity for oth?rs who make mistakes. 

 W. z. Hutchinson. 



Rogersville, Mich., Aug. 8, '73. 



A BEGINNEU. 



On the 3d of Mav, '78, one swarm of bees came to 

 me, and from that stock I have now seven good 

 stocks, and have taken 103 lb. of honey, and expect 

 some more honey yet this fall. J. A. McCune. 



Cavettsville, Pa., Aug. 9, 1*79. 



FEEDING TOO MUCH FOR SAFETY TO THE BROOD. 



I am feeding my Italian stock for the purpose of 

 filling out section boxes. Is there any danger of 

 their filling the brood frames, so as to interfere with 

 a proper increase of stock? E. M. Pitman. 



Centreville, Va., Aug. 9, 1879. 



[It may do so, but there is not much dang-er. 

 Some coloiiies will fill the brood combs more than 

 others. I have fed a great manv colonies, in order 

 to get extracted honey put into sections, and such 

 colonies always wintered the best of any in the 

 apiary.] 



On the 31st of July, a colony of hybrid bees, mod- 

 erately strong, with nearly enough honey to winter 

 them, and with brood in all stages, swarmed. There 

 were no queen cells in the hive, and there had been 

 no sudden yield of honey: and, if there had been, 

 there was a frame of sections on each side of the 

 brood chamber, with nothing in them but the start- 

 ers. No honev of account had been gathered for 

 nearly a month, and they had not been fed. The 

 time of swarming was about 2 o'clock, P. M. They 

 settled partly about 50 yds. from the hive, and then 

 went back. The queen was cropped. I can not say 

 whether she came out with the swarm or not. She 

 is in the hive now and laying. The bees have been 

 verv quiet since they swarmed. Chas. Bowles. 



Hillsboro, Ohio, Aug. 1, 1879. 



[I think, friend B., thev swarmed because of an 

 extra queen, which you will find in the hive besides 

 the old one, if you look carefully. Both are probably 

 now agreed.] 



what advertisements are suitable for a bee 



JOURNAL. 



Now. fiiend Root, please allow me .hist one word 

 of advice to you; that is, to keep out of Gleanings 

 all advertisements that do not concern bee culture. 

 I have heard it remarked several times, by one and 

 another, that they would like a bee paper if they 

 could tret one that would treat of bees and nothing 

 else. Now yours comes very near it, but I see sev- 

 eral advertisements for things that are in noway 

 connected with the bee business. Let us know how 

 many different kinds of hives you are using, the 

 names of them, how far armrt you set them, and 

 how much ground your 260 hive3 cover. 



Concord, N. Y., Aug. 4, '79. F. G. Hawkins. 



[I agree with you, friend H., in the main, and I 

 will try to leave out those few. Fruits, poultry, and 

 rural products are considered so nearly allied to bee 



culture, that we often see them in a bee journal, 

 and I hardly think our readers, as a general thing, 

 will object. I use only two kinds of hives, chaff and 

 Simplicity, and one sized frame, the Langstroth. 

 The hives are set up perhaps 2 inches from the 

 ground, on coal cinders covered with sand. They 

 are 7 feet apart, and the 260 cover, perhaps, an acre 

 of ground. I will try to give you a picture of the 

 whole next month.] 



AN IMPROVEMENT ON THE COLD BLAST SMOKER. 



My last order came to hand all right, and I was 

 pleased with all, especially the smoker; though I 

 think I have made an improvement on the position 

 of the draft hole. I cut a hole in the slide to the left 

 of the large hole in the slide. Then the handle is 

 always to your right hand, and you can always open 

 or close the door or damper (draft hole), without 

 changing hands. Wife says it is "lots handier." 

 Cut the new hole in the slide about an inch to the 

 left of the large hole in the slide, so that, as soon as 

 the door is closed, the draft hole begins to open, and 

 then you will not have to turn the handle as much, 

 or rather so far, as with the old arrangement. 

 Please let me hear what you think of "my invention." 

 Of course you can use this "invention," as we want 

 to keep pace with the patent right smoker men, &c. 



Beallsville, O., Aug. 1, '79. N. J. Israel. 



[Thanks for the suggestion, friend I. When I 

 made the first smoker, I thought I examined all the 

 points of convenience in regard to the arrangement 

 of these openings, but perhaps you are ahead of me. 

 We can .just as well arrange them in that way in the 

 future, and our friends can easily cut an extra draft 

 hole in the smokers they already have.] 



SUGAR SYRUP VERSUS HONEY FOR WINTER STORES. 



[The editor of the British Bee Journal, in August 

 No., thus replies to a correspondent:] 



"Never feed your bees upon honey; sugar syrup 

 is cheaper by far, and it can always be relied upon 

 as being free from the elements, or germs of dis- 

 ease, whieff cannot be said of honey, it being so lia- 

 ble to change." 



[After the late experience I have had in feeding 

 for winter, I think I can agree with him. If you 

 must feed for winter, feed A coffee sugar, as direct- 

 ed in the A B C] 



NOVICE'S DOVETAILED SECTIONS IN LOUISIANA. 



Dear GFLeem&nge:—! began the season (Jan. 15th) 

 with 15 colonies of black bees in box hives, transfer- 

 red them successfully, built them up to strong 

 stocks, Italianized them with queens from my im- 

 ported queen, controlled their swarming propensi- 

 ties, and worked part for extracted, part for Novice's 

 section honey. The result has been perfectly satis- 

 factory; thanks to your excellent advice. I have, 

 at present, 23 powerful, full-blooded colonies. All 

 this has been accomplished in one season, with 

 thousands of black drones to annoy me in my queen 

 rearing. How is this for a beginner who attends 

 strictly to business? 



Honey in the Novice sections just "snatches every 

 body bald-headed." Although my pets are "roaring" 

 on the "palmetto bloom," I find it impossible to 

 supply the demands of my customers. The sight of 

 the beautiful sections of snow-white honey seems to 

 set every one's mouth "watering" with longing. I 

 seldom use separators.' I shipped a crate to New 

 Orleans "for fun," and was astonished to learn that 

 it was pronounced In/ experts to have been the best, 

 and finest, in the city. Hurrah for the Novice section! 

 Every body praises ray nice little honey box, but 

 when I tell them whose box it is, they wish to know 

 "what next;" when I cheerfully volunteer the in- 

 formation, that, if they are any way interested, they 

 should look out for next number of Gleanings. 

 Your enthusiastic pupil, Chas. L. Larkin. 



Raceland, La , Aug. 1, 1879. 



REPORT FROM TEXAS. 

 [ It seems that Texas, as well as other places, does 

 sometimes givela r ge yields of honey. We extract 

 from the OMoeston News the following:] 



FORT BEND. 



Mr. Eckman has this year sold three tons of honey 

 from seventy swarms of bees. It is likely that he- 

 will sell another ton before the season closes. 



