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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 



HONEY CANDYING IN THE CELLS DURING WARM 

 WEATHER. 



In many of our strong swarms, the honey has 

 granulated, presenting a very white appearance, 

 and, in some instances, when the cells are reversed, 

 the granulated honey will run out like grains of 

 wheat. Much of it is quite solid, and most beauti- 

 ful in taste. We have never witnessed the like be- 

 fore in warm weather. The question is, will this 

 granulated honey return to its natural state, as 

 when gathered? If not, will the bees winter on it? 



A. F. Moon. 



Rome, Georgia, Aug. 15th, 1879. 



I should be inclined to think the bees 

 would use it for brood rearing in warm 

 weather, but if it is solid in warm weather, 

 I should be afraid of it for winter stores. I 

 have known bees to tumble out the candied 

 honey in winter, in their search for mois- 

 ture. The hardening in the cells is the diffi- 

 culty with pure grape sugar, and this hard- 

 ened honey must be very nearly identical 

 with pure grape sugar. If you can shake 

 out these grains, or throw them out with 

 the extractor, and add some cane sugar to 

 them, as I directed last month, it will prob- 

 ably make them permanently liquid. 



ITALIANS KILLING OFF THE BLACKS AGAIN. 



I am in search of light. I bought several queens 

 of you this season, and introduced them all success- 

 fully; but, think of my surprise, after they had 

 filled their hives with Italians, and become very 

 strong, when the Italians commenced killing off the 

 blacks, dragging them out, carrying them off, and 

 leaving thousands of them in the yard! This occur- 

 rence is so strange that I want some information on 

 the subject. The word bee sounds very small, but 

 their true nature is certainly a very deep subject, 

 and one that will take years to comprehend. This 

 occurrence seemed to me so unnatural, that I must 

 confess it gave me some trouble. Bees have done 

 but little in the way of honey, but have strong colo- 

 nies. I think I will be able to go into winter with 

 fair prospects. Jackson Wills. 



Greenfield, Ind., Aug. 21, 1879. 



You will see on page 401 of last month's 

 journal, what I think of this charge against 

 the Italians, friend W., and even now, I 

 must think it is for some other reason than 

 their color, that the blacks are seemingly 

 expelled. Are you sure it is anything more 

 than bees that have died of old age ? The 

 young bees are all Italians, and the old ones 

 all blacks ; may not this fact have something 

 to do with it V Can we believe it possible 

 that the bees themselves have any partiality 

 for those of their own color V This would 

 be giving them more intelligence than I 

 should feel like ascribing to the wonderful 

 little fellows. May it not be that the blacks 

 were exercising their natural disposition to 

 rob, and the Italians being the better fight- 

 ers drove and killed the blacks? It is also 

 quite difficult to tell whether a dead bee is 

 an Italian or black, as the body is usually so 

 contracted that the yellow rings do not show 

 much, if any. 



IS IT FOUL BROOD? 



I wish to ask you some questions concerning bees, 

 as I see you are always ready to help beginners. I 

 discovered one of my colonies dwindling, and, on 

 examination, found what I supposed was foul brood, 

 and destroyed hive, bees, and all. Since then, I have 

 read more concerning the disease, and now question 

 in my mind whether or not it was really foul brood. 

 The brood combs were filled with brood, about one 

 half of which was dead. They were in all stages of 

 development, from the egg to the full grown bee 

 ready to gnaw out. I handled the frames, but notic- 

 ed no disagreeable smell. Some of the capped cells 

 were slightly sunken, but those further developed 



were full and round. The combs were about five 

 years old and pretty hard. I found, in another hive, 

 the same thing on a small scale, and found that the 

 frames affected were those taken from the old hive, 

 with brood, for holding the new swarm. I cut out 

 the cells with dead brood, and did not destroy the 

 whole comb. Friday, I examined this hive and 

 found all traces of the disease gone, but it was en- 

 tirely destitute of brood. Now, why was there no 

 brood? and what do you think of the case? I bought 

 an atomizer and salicylic acid. Would it do any 

 harm to use it on combs which are questionable? 



I started last spring with 16 colonies and now have 

 19 ; 18 are very good, with plenty of honey and plenty 

 of bees. I think one cannot afford to sell comb hon- 

 ey for 20c, so I wish you would send me an extractor. 

 I would be proud to show you my home made section 

 boxes plump full of clover and basswood honey, as 

 white as snow. Thirty of the finest came from a 

 swarm two months old. H. O. Mack. 



Benzonia, Mich., Aug. 18, 1879. 



I am inclined to think it was foul brood, 

 in one of its milder forms, friend M., but we 

 may be mistaken, and the dead brood you 

 found may have been due to some other 

 cause. The application of salicylic acid 

 would do no harm in any case. I should be 

 very glad to see your nice sections of honey, 

 but we think here, that 20c. is a pretty good 

 price, when every thing else is so low. 



HOW AN A B C SCHOLAR "CAME TO GRIEF," BUT 

 FINALLY SUCCEEDED, AFTER ALL. 



I received the queen in good condition and suc- 

 cessfully introduced her. I got into a fearful muss, 

 however, overhauling the hive to find the black 

 queen. The day was warm, and I selected a new 

 swarm. The comb, being tender and full of honey, 

 fell out of two frames, and I began to think all was 

 up; but 1 closed up the hive, without the broken 

 comb (there was some left in the two demolished 

 frames), and put the queen cage, bees and all, on 

 the hive, where I left her 60 hours, and then released 

 her with her bees. They killed all the workers you 

 sent in a few minutes. She was released on Friday, 

 and was all right yesterday (Monday), for which 1 

 was very thankful. Jas. J. Church. 



Waterford, Canada, Aug. 19, 1879. 



MORE ABOUT INTRODUCING QUEENS. 



I have to ask a few questions again to-day, about 

 introducing queens. First, 1 will tell you my expe- 

 rience with the queen I purchased from you. As 

 soon as she came, I sat down and read your instruc- 

 tions carefully. After that, I put the cage, with the 

 bees, right into the centre of the hive, to which I 

 wished to introduce her. After leaving her 48 hours 

 in that way, I released her, but she was balled by 

 the bees at once. I took her out and caged her 

 again for 24 hours; then I let her out, but the bees 

 balled her again. Just at the same moment, there 

 came a very heavy rain shower, so I had to let her 

 go, and run for shelter, as soon as I had closed up 

 the hive. It rained all day long, and I would not 

 get wet and catch cold for all the queens in this 

 world, so 1 left her balled up, to fight for her life as 

 well as she could. The next day was pleasant, and I 

 went for that hive to hunt up my certainly dead 

 queen, but could not And her in front of the hive, so 

 Hooked over the frames inside; there she was, just 

 as lively as any other bee, and had already deposited 

 an egg here and there, just as if she had tried to see 

 if she had not forgotten her profession, on her long 

 confinement. Now for the questions: Do you 

 think the bees try to kill her by balling her? Why 

 don't they sting her as they do other strange bees? 

 Or, do they just ball her (as we would do with a 

 friend when he returns from a long trip) to show 

 their joy and gladness? M. K. 



Olmsted, 111., Aug. 18, 1879. 



Although your plan succeeded once, there 

 is little probability of its succeeding again ; 

 for, although a queen sometimes holds out 

 until they get ready to let her loose, it is the 

 exception and not the rule. I am afraid my 

 explanation as to why bees ball a strange 

 queen will be something like the doctor's 



