1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



451 



ITALIANS VERSUS BLACKS. 



I have 10 stand-; of boos, 9 black and 1 Italian. 

 The Italians, or their queen rather. 1 bought of 

 I), s. Given late in the summer. Not any of the 

 blacks have been seen out of late, but the' Italians 

 are out early and late to work for dear life. I think 

 more of that one stand than of all the rest, and then 

 they are so tame and active, that it is a pleasure to 

 handle them. I want nothing but Italians after this 

 year. Bees all through this part of the country 

 have not made honey enough (on an average) to 

 keep them, excepting- the Italians. Is this the gen- 

 eral experience of others? \V. H. Shedd. 



Watseka, 111., Oct. Iti. 1879. 



EXTRACTING UNSEALED STOKES IN THE FALL. 



Should unsealed honey be extracted now, or wait 

 until November? 



[I hardly feel like advising to extract in the fall at 

 alt my friend, but if you have had an unusual How 

 of honey, perhaps it may bo host to extract that 

 which is unsealed. I think L would at least wait un- 

 til some warm day in Nov., and then if there was 

 not a great quantity I would not extract at all.] 



CONTRACTING SPACE FOR WINTER. 



Should I put in any more frames for winter than 

 the bees can well cover? 



[Put the bees on the fewest frames possible, but 

 see that these few frames contain ample stores.] 



SUGAR SYRUP VERSUS HONEY FOR WINTER. 



Is sugar syrup as good to feed foi winter stores as 

 honey? 



[Syrup from coffee sugar, if fed early and well 

 sealed up in the combs, as a general rule, is more 

 wholesome than the general run of natural stores, 

 and much better than the most of the late fall hon- 

 ey. If you have not fed until now, use candy in 

 place of syrup.] 



APPLE JUICE OR CIDER FOR WINTER STOKES. 



I notice -the bees working on apples, and this 

 morning I extracted a little uncapped honey and it 

 was decidedly acid. Will such honey cure so as to 

 be good for the bees? MRS. A. M. Sanders. 



Sheridan, Mich., Oct. 5th, 1879. 



[If your honey tastes acid. I am inclined to think 

 it crimes from the bees having been to some cider 

 mill, for they would hardly get enough from apples 

 to do them any harm. You will see by the ABC, 

 cider is -\ery dangerous where bees collect it for i 

 winter stores.] 



COMBINING THE MAT AND ENAMELED SHEET. 



Why not tack the slats to the top side of the en- 

 ameled cloth, and thus get the advantage of both? 



[I have tried the plan, but it does not seem to be 

 as convenient, and it kills bees. The enameled j 

 sheet kills less bees than any other device I know of, 

 because they readily crawl out from under it.] 



Could the entrance be made in the end of the hive? i 



[Yes, or any where you wish.] 



FLAX CHAFF, ETC. 



Is flax chaff good for chaff packing? 



Wheeling, Ind., Aug. 17, 'TO. O. P. M. Head. 



[Any kind of chaff that is warm, and will absorb 

 the moisture will answer. Flax chaff has been used, 

 but buckwheat, oats, or wheat seem to keep dry \ 

 rather better.] 



BUCKWHEAT SOMETIMES A FAILURE, AND WHAT TO 

 DO WITH COLONIES HAVING LITTLE OR NO COMB. 



The buckwheat was nearly a total failure. The 

 young swarms in this country have no comb or hon- 

 ey. I had quite a lot of honey in boxes, got before I 

 divided the bees, but I used' it up, expecting they 

 would till up on buckwheat. Our oldest bee man 

 can not account for the buckwheat's being a failure; 

 the crop was tolerably good. Will you please an- 

 swer the above and tell me what course to pursue to 

 save my bees. < . g. Shannon. 



Shannondalo, Pa., Oct. 22, 1879. 



[It is rather a bad case, tfi attempt to winter colo- 

 nies without combs. It may be best to unite them 

 with colonies having combs; but, if they are strong 

 in bees, you can perhaps save them, by feeding the 

 candy mentioned last month. A farmer once came 

 to me, saying some boys had robbed his bee hive, 

 leaving the bees clustered against the stubs of the 



combs, in the top of the hive, where the comb had 

 been broken out. By my advice, he carried them 

 into the cellar, fastened a fanning mill seive over 

 the hive, which was inverted, so the bees could not 

 get out, and fed them coffee sugar syrup, through 

 the seive, all winter; and they came out in the 

 spring in good shape. The syrup was poured on 

 them a little at a time, so as not to daub their wings. 

 He did better than I expected.] 



ARTIFICIAL QUEEN CELLS, AND WHAT CAME OF THEM. 



May I inquire how "nice queen cells to order. 

 Strung on a stick, for 10 cents per dozen (!) sent bv 

 mail, post paid," has "panned out?" Are vou and 

 tnend Boyd satisfied with the results? I fear that 

 each of your shares of the proceeds will be some- 

 what similar to the old freedman's in Mississippi, 

 who was to get one-fifth of all the crops raised; but, 

 when gathered, the old man found 11ml there was no 

 one-fifth to get. Bees are O. K. K. C. Taylor. 



Wilmington, N. C, Oct. 18, 1879. 



[The artificial queen cells were partially a success, 

 but the bees were so notional about raising queens 

 in manufactured "bee cradles" that we dropped it. 

 I am not sure after all, though, but that it may be 

 made a success.] 



KOOF TO THE ONE AND A HALF STORY HIVE, AND THE 

 FORTY. CENT CASE OF SECTIONS. 



Your one and a half story hive is (in my opinion) 

 a humbug and a nuisance. The cover leaked so bad- 

 ly. 1 was forced to take my bees out of it. The 40c 

 case of 28 sections is another humbug. I lost about 

 20 lbs. of honey by it, for while the bees were seal- 

 ing the sections over, they had nothing to do for 

 want of room. They were a very strong colony of 

 blacks. Perhaps you will say I ought not to have 

 put it on such a swarm. Well, this is my first year 

 with bees. I will know better next year, if I live. I 

 don't write in a complaining spirit, and have no 

 hard feelings in the matter, but am iust a little dis- 

 appointed, that's all. W. E. Flower. 



Shoemakertown, Pa., Oct. 15, 1879. 



[I must think your cover a bad one, friend P., for I 

 have had no complaint before of their leaking. If 

 water does get through them, we may be compelled 

 to use tin. as we do on the chaff hives, but it will lie 

 considerable additional expense. In regard to the 

 case, you will see, by the reports from others, how 

 widely opinions differ; some claim thev have found 

 it ever so much ahead of the broad frames, and oth- 

 ers right to the contrary. Perhaps another season 

 might cause you to decide differently.] 



THE QUEEN THAT FLEW AWAY, AND WHERE SHE 

 WENT. 



Queens came to hand promptly, and I have suc- 

 ceeded in introducing them. Both are laving now, 

 and seem to be very prolific. 1 had a little trouble 

 with one of them. The next day after laving the 

 cage on the frames, 1 looked and found the 'bees all 

 dead but one. I concluded to put fresh bees with 

 her, and put one in. It attacked her. As I bad not 

 intended to turn her loose at that time, 1 bad neglect- 

 ed to prepare smoke, but blew my breath on them 

 two or three times, and could not separate them. 

 The queen commenced screaming, anil I tore off the 

 wire cloth and separated them, and attempted to 

 put her back in the cage, but she slipped my lingers, 

 soared high, and alighted on a peach tree. I at- 

 tempted to catch her, but she Hew again, and I lost 

 sight of her. I watched around thpre for an hour or 

 two. hoping that she would come back, but failed to 

 see her. Well, I walked into the house, feeling very 

 much like the boy that let the bird go. Next day, I 

 opened the hive with some thought of restoring 'the 

 old queen, when, to my surprise ami gratification, I 

 found my lost queen, moving about pert and spry as 

 a cricket. She had introduced herself. We have 

 had a very poor honey season here this vear, until 

 about two weeks ago. Bees are gathering honey 

 faster now than they have any time this season. 



Uussellville, K'y., Sept. 22, '79. Josiah dokris. 



A FEW QUESTIONS FROM AN A B C SCHOLAR. 



Are there always robbers buzzing about the en- 

 trances of the hives? Is that common in all apiaries? 



[Robber bees are not common only when there is 

 a dearth of honey. Unless your bees are badly de- 

 moralized, not a robber should be seen, for at least 

 two months, in the height of the season.] 



