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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Dec. 



BUCKWHEAT, AND HOW IT DOES IN GEORGIA, ETC. 



Bees have done remarkably well here this season. 

 Our honey plants begin to open about the first of 

 April, and* continue till the first of October. My last 

 sowing of buckwheat is just now in full bloom. I 

 have used various kinds of honey plants, but none 

 give as much satisfaction as buckwheat. We have, 

 I might say, thousands of wild flowers that yield an 

 abundance of very tine honey, but we find that they 

 do better in their wild state. 



SENDING ME HIVES TO TRY. 



I am using the Honey Cr*eek (sweet name) patent 

 bee hive (don't get mad, brother Root), invented and 

 patented by myself. I want you to use one of them 

 - just one. I will make and send you one if you will 

 use it. 



I am glad to hear that buckwheat does so 

 well in the South. I am also much obliged, 

 friend II., for your offer to send me a hive; 

 but as the principles embodied are most like- 

 ly those I have already gone over in my ex- 

 periments, your better way will be to give 

 me a brief description of it with a simple 

 sketch. Many hives have been sent me, 

 covering ground I am already quite familiar 

 with, and it was therefore a needless ex- 

 pense to both myself and friends, when a 

 pencil sketch would have answered as well. 



I send you herewith a plant from which the bees 

 gather a great deal of pollen. I can't find anyone 

 who knows the name of it. It is a wild plant, but a 

 very valuable one at this season of the year. 



The plant is the common golden rod, of 

 the variety called ISolidago Canadensis. 



FEEDING BEES SORGHUM. 



We have but very few bee-keepers in this state. 

 A great many have tried bee-keeping, but failed. 

 They generally knock the poor little bee in the head 

 with their honey-knives. Some people are very 

 much like one of my neighbors, who thinks that a 

 bee can actually make honey out of almost any- 

 thing. So much impressed was he with this idea, 

 that he fed his bees very largely on sorghum syrup 

 in the fall. He gave them all they would carry into 

 their hives. They tilled up every available place 

 with it. The following spring they were still heavy 

 with what he supposed to be fine honey manufac- 

 tured from sorghum; but, "great spoons! " when he 

 cut it out it was sorghum still! 



It seems from your remarks, that sorghum 

 is a safe winter food with you. Had your 

 experiment been tried here, it would not 

 only have been a failure in making honey, 

 but it would most likely have killed the bees 

 too. 



A NEW KIND OF SORGHUM. 



A neighbor of ours has a new kind of sor- 

 ghum, received from the government at 

 Washington, that ripens its seed perfectly in 

 September ; and from it he has made sugar 

 that grains, without any process or machin- 

 ery. Now, sugar that will grain will be safe 

 to feed bees, without any question ; and the 

 amount of sugar contained in the stalks is 

 so great that our friend thinks he could raise 

 twenty barrels of sugar to the acre. I guess 

 this is pretty high, but as I twisted one of 

 the stalks and tasted the juice, I told him I 

 thought likely it would prove the most suc- 

 cessful rival to my spider flower. If you 

 want a little of the seed to try, mention it 

 when you are renewing your subscription, 

 and we will send you some. 



I have about 60 stands of bees. I realized from 

 one stand last year, 192 pounds of fine rich honey. I 

 find bee-keeping a very profitable and pleasant busi- 

 ness, and expect to devote my whole time to it after 

 this year. I have kept bees for thirty years; but a 

 bee, like a flea, is hard to find out. I think that I 

 know something about them, and I am certain that 



there is a great deal that I do not know about them. 

 My bees are as gentle as flies. My little grand-baby 

 crawls on top of the hives, but never gets a sting. I 

 think that anyone can " gentle" their bees who will 

 not work with them too rapidly. 



Joseph Hollixgsworth. 

 Conyers, Ga., Sept. 25, 1879. 



REPORT FROM AN A B C SCHOLAR. 



Two years ago this fall, I decided to sro into bee 

 culture, and subscribed for Gleanings Oct. 1st, 1877. 

 In the course of the fall and winter, I bought 2 col- 

 onies. In the fall of 1878, I went into winter with 11 

 colonies, having bought some and traded for some. 



OUTDOOR WINTERING COMPARED WITH CELLAR 

 WINTERING. 



I packed 5 in straw, out doors, and put 6 in my cel- 

 lar, thinking that if they died in one place, they per- 

 haps would not in the other. Well, out of the 5 out- 

 doors, I saved one, and of the 6 in the cellar, I lost 

 one. So I came through with 6 (which was better 

 than most of my neighbor bee keepers did), 4 strong 

 and 2 weak ones. The 4 strong ones have increased 

 to 13, and given me 3371b. of surplus honey In lib. 

 sections. 



If all winters were like last, friend C, it 

 would probably pay, without question, to 

 put the bees in the cellar; but if all were 

 like the winter before, the opposite would 

 be the rule. Taking our winters as they 

 come, and our bee-keepers as they come, I 

 think chaff hives out-doors the safest advice 

 to give. 



From 2 swarms and their increase (which was 4), I 

 have received 2361b., and have 92 sections with nice 

 comb started for next season. The honey brought 

 me $30; so I have 6 strong colonies and $30 in the 

 place of two colonies in the spring. 



The 2 light colonies only increased to 3 making 16. 

 I bought 5 in the summer, so I now have 21 colonies, 

 14 in simplicity and 7 in chaff hives. My best swarm 

 gave me 78tb. surplus. Two of my new ones gave 

 me 68 and 65tt>. My honey was nearly all clover and 

 basswood, as buckwheat was a failure on account of 

 drouth, aud fall flowers were killed by hard frosts 

 early in September. 



SECTIONS IN TWO TIERS VERSUS ONE TIER AGAIN. 



I think, by using the broad frames and two tiers 

 of sections, I have got nearly double the amount of 

 honey I would have got with the l l / 3 story hive. I 

 thought, last spring, that after this season I would 

 make my hives I 1 % story, and make the chaff hive 1% 

 inches lower, and use but one tier of sections; but I 

 have changed my mind. I want them just like those 

 I bought of vou for pattern. J. G. Clark. 



Gobleville, Mich., Nov. 10, 1879. 



COMB FOUNDATION, WIRE STRENGTHENED. 



All that may be said against this valuable article 

 cannot cause me to dispense with it; because I have 

 tried it, and found it good. Last July, I purchased, 

 of friend Root, a 31b. box of fdn., and a spool of the 

 fine wire to prevent sagging. I sewed the wire into 

 the frames (the Langstroth) so that each contained 

 seven upright and two diagonal wires. I then pro- 

 ceeded as directed in July Gleanings. What do 

 you suppose was the result? Why, in a few days 

 after these frames of fdn. were placed in colonies of 

 bees, they were transformed into frames of beauti- 

 ful, strong comb, without a particle of sagging, 

 which the queen had visited and filled with eggs. 

 Several of my neighbor bee-keepers, seeing the re- 

 sult, say that they intend to get fdn. next season. 

 Not a frame has sagged to date. 

 bee-keeping. 



This is my first year of bee-keeping, and I like the 

 business exceedingly well. I want to get a colony 

 with an imported queen, and raise queens next sea- 

 son. My object is to have every queen in my apiary 

 (except the imported) a tested daughter of an im- 

 ported mother. When this shall have been accom- 

 plished, if I do not have golden Italians, why, I 

 would like to know why. What do you think of my 

 project, friend Root? 



I think your project a good one, and I am 

 very glad to know you have succeeded so 

 well with the wired frames. 



