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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



AN A R C SCHOLAR'S BEPOKT. 



HIS "UPS AND DOWNS." 



S 1 HAVE received more than ton times the price 

 of Gleanings in instructions and hints, and 

 — ' have made more money in the bee business than 

 I ever did before for the same amount of investment; 

 therefore any person who keeps Ave stocks Of bees 

 should not lie without Gleanings, or some other 

 journal on bee-culture. 1 have kept bees, off and on 

 (more " off" than "on"), for the last 25 years. 



HOW TO UTILIZE PATENT HIVES. 



I paid my initiation by purchasing- a ten-dollar 

 patent bee-hive, which makes a capital hen's-nest, 

 as the door in the back side can be shut, when you 

 want a lien to sit, and keep other hens out. 



FKO.M BLASTED HOPES TO SMILE BY. 



First, I was in Blasted Hopes; but, by persever- 

 ance and hard work, I am now in Smilery depart- 

 ment. 



PROTECTING WITH CORN FODDER. 



Three years ago this fall I bought S stocks of bees, 

 for which I paid $13, and placed them in the yard, 

 where I already had li stocks, some in box hives and 

 some in my patent hive, making- 14 stocks, all heavy. 

 I placed some corn-stalks around them, and, as T 

 thought, they were just in splendid quarters; but 

 when the first of May came, I had only 3 stocks, — 

 two of those that I bought, and one of my old stocks. 



1 was not going to give it up, however, as I had the 

 hives and plenty of combs and honey. I increased, 

 by artificial and natural swarming, to 12; but the 

 next winter I put 4 into a dry room of a cheese fac- 

 tory, and I lost 3 of them', reducing my stock to 0. 

 Here Gleanings helped me out. 



CHAFF PACKING DOES BETTER. 



The next winter, I packed them all in boxes about 

 3 inches larger than the hive, putting wheat chaff on 

 all sides and top, which made them warm and dry. 

 While my neighbors lost from 75 to 100 percent, I, 

 having increased from 9 to IV, lost only one; and, 

 while the loss was severe all over the country, 1 had 

 no complaints to make. Now, the cause of the loss 

 was the long-continued and severe cold weather; 

 the bees were compelled to consume so much to 

 keep up the animal heat that they became unheal! hy 

 and died. Those that wintered dwindled in the 

 spring, and those that barely lived were like a cow 

 that is wintered at the hay-stack, with the fence for 

 a shelter, which comes out poor in flesh in the 

 spring, and it takes her all summer to get into win- 

 tering condition, and she gives but little milk; so 

 with the bees. I have now in the yard, from my 17 

 stocks, just 41, and all in good condition, well pro- 

 tected from the cold. 



My bees were all blacks. Of course, 1 must have 

 Italians. So, one year ago last November, I bought 



2 stocks, but they were very weak. They have giv- 

 en me no increase, but, late in the fall, 1 raised two 

 queens. I sent to friend Hutchinson for a dollar 

 queen, but the bees killed her in less than a " York 

 minute." 1 had two stocks that were queenless, 

 on. had two swarms given me by a box-hive man, so 



I put them together and all went well; but the 

 queen dig not lay many eggs. 



I NO WITHOUT CEREMONIES. 



One of my queens which I had reared, I had no use 

 for; so, rather than kill her, I just raised up the 

 honey-board of the hive containing the bees from 

 the box-hive man, aid down she went. Of course, I 



expected she would be killed, and thought no more 

 about it; but in about four weeks I saw some yellow 

 bees; I examined them, and, sure enough, there 

 she was, and her bees were hatching out lively. 



WHY DO BEES LEAVE FOR THE WOODS? 



I think, if a man will be with his bees as much as 

 a shepherd is with his sheep, they will learn to love 

 him as well; but, if he never looks after them or 

 supplies their wants, they will sting him as often as 

 he comes around. 



TWO SWARMS SEPARATING THEMSELVES. 



One incident I must mention. On the 25th of 

 June a very large swarm came out, and I hived them 

 all right. The 26th, another very large swarm came 

 out (both first swarms), and, just as they were being 

 put into a hive, the swarm hived the day before 

 came out, and all went into the hive together. Of 

 course, I expected they would all leave for the 

 woods the next move they made; but the next day 

 they came out and separated, and alighted about 4 

 feet apart. 1 hived them in two hives, and they have 

 done finely. 



LETTING BEES STARVE AFTER THEY HAVE GIVEN A 

 CROP OF HONEY. 



I feel like scolding such bee-keepers as W. C. 

 Hutchinson, of Acton, Marion Co., Ind. He says the 

 bees are starving, but he has increased from 14 to 

 20 and taken from them 820 lb. of honey. If the 

 crop was short, why did you rob them so? You 

 should not have taken one pound if they did not 

 have it -to spare. I think but very little of such 

 statements as that. 



Now, friend Root, I have given you my luck, and I 

 am bound to make it a success; but I mean to go 

 slowly, and do not expect large returns. I mean to 

 be contented witli a fair increase and little honey. 

 My 17 stocks and their increase have made me about 

 600 lb. of honey in sections; not a very large amount, 

 but my bees are strong in numbers, and very heavy. 



D. C.Gillis. 



Morenci, Lenawee Co., Mich., Dec. 20, 1*7^. 



WINTER COVERING UNDER THE 

 CUSHIONS. 



ALSO SOMETHING ABOUT ENAMELED SHEETS. 



f" NOTE, with interest, your dialogue about win- 

 ter coverings. It is an accepted theory, by near- 



-J ly all bee-keepers, that it is essential for a prop- 

 er winter covering, that it should retain the warmth 

 and, at the same time, allow the moisture arising 

 from the bees to pass off without being condensed 

 and frozen in the hive; hence woolen cloths and 

 other warm, porous substances have been used with 

 great success, thus verifying the theory by practice. 

 In view of this, I have been very much surprised at 

 your persistent recommendation of enameled cloth 

 under your chaff cushions. Is it true, that we all 

 have been lead astray by a theory which is useless 

 in practice, and that all that is necessary is to place 

 something on top of the brood frames, whether it be 

 enameled cloth or a thin board, to keep in the 

 warmth? Such would seem to be the conclusion 

 from your recommendation of enameled cloth. But 

 why do you now make your cushions of very open 

 cloth and very light chaff to be put upon an air t igM 

 covering of enameled cloth? Can the moisture pass 

 through this enameled cloth and then through the 

 cushions? 



To prevent a seeming inconsistency, a^wellasthe 



