172 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 



the present time. They carry out very few dead 



bees, and are looking very clean and bright. I will 



close by wishing Gleanings could come every week. 



Adamsville, O., Feb. 18, '80. G. R. Shirer. 



I think bees, as a general thing, will con- 

 sume less stores during a mild winter than a 

 severe one, else our statements that cellar 

 wintering saves so much honey can hardly 

 be correct. But, for all this, a colony with a 

 young queen and plenty of pollen might 

 raise so much more brood during a warm 

 winter, that they would really consume 

 more honey than during a severe winter, 

 and, in some instances, very much more. 

 Thus you see there are several circumstan- 

 ces to be taken into consideration, before we 

 can answer such a question intelligently. 

 It should be borne in mind that any colony 

 is liable to use up their stores unexpectedly, 

 and therefore we have almost no absolute 

 safeguard against starvation, or suffering 

 for scanty stores, except in carefully exam- 

 ining the* condition of our hives frequently, 

 especially during the spring months. 



ITALIANS ROBBING BLACKS. SEE PAGE T6. 



I find upon examination that the colony which 

 seems to be pestered most by my Italians has a good 

 queen, and brood in all stages. Now, I presume you 

 see that the "fault" is not altogether in their own- 

 er, as you suggest. It is my old black colony that is 

 pestered, and the Italians seem at every chance to 

 be at their Bame habit, robbing. My idea is that the 

 Italian bee is endowed with a natural instinct for 

 such conduct, and that there is no remedy except 

 closing the entrance, when they once get a start on 

 the black bees. In conclusion, I will say thanks for 

 your instructions, and will submit this to your dis- 

 posal. B. C. Ballow. 



Owaneco, 111., Feb. 18, 1880. 



Beg pardon, friend B., if your colony was 

 not queenless, after all. But I would still 

 say that I think it is a particular colony of 

 Italians, or it may be a particular strain of 

 Italian blood, that shows such a disposition 

 to pilfer from the common bees. I say this, 

 because the great majority are so fully agreed 

 that Italians, as a general thing, are not 

 more disposed to steal than the common 

 bees. Thev are certainly more energetic 

 and industrious, and this will often account 

 for their rinding weak colonies where com- 

 mon bees would not. 



ADULTERATED COMB HONEY. 



I send by this mail a sample of honey, so called. I 

 purchased the section from which this sample was 

 taken in Cleveland, from a case marked G. B. Bar- 

 tholomew, Ulster, Pa., manufacturer of patent bee- 

 hives and fancy honey. I think this will not prove 

 your article correct, which recently appeared in 

 Gleanings, stating that the claimed adulteration of 

 honey is a scare, and without foundation. Such vile 

 stuff as this has been in the Cleveland market year 

 after year. The only redeeming feature in this in- 

 stance is that over -10 per cent is wood and glass. 



J. B. Hains. 



Bedford, Cuyahoga Co., O., Feb. 28, 1880. 



The sample of comb honey is not good, 

 and I should not think it would be salable, 

 in any market, but I feel sure, friend H., 

 that it is pure honey. It is dark colored. 



and not of pleasant taste, but it is exactly 

 like what I have many times taken from old 

 box hives, in localities where there is fall 

 pasturage from rank weeds. I should say a 

 part of it was buckwheat, and its being par- 

 tially candied seems to have made it still 

 more unpalatable. If we were going to have 

 adulterated honey stored in the combs, it 

 would be almost as cheap to have it white 

 and hue looking, as to have it like this ; for 

 sugar and glucose make a syrup whiter than 

 any honey. If I were to look for adultera- 

 ted comb honey, I should be most suspicious 

 of the whitest and fairest. 



ACCOUNT BOOK FOR BEE-KEEPERS. 



I wish you would get some convenient form of ac- 

 count book, with appropriate headings, for keeping 

 accounts with the apiary. Let the size be about 3'i 

 by 5' s or 4 by 6 in., 54 or % of an inch thick. I think 

 they would be used by nearly all of your customers. 

 I certainly would like one, for I feel that such a book 

 is actually needed, with printed headings, so that 

 anyone could keep an accurate account with his api- 

 ary, and many would feel interested to do so if they 

 could be properly started in book-keeping. 



W. O. Sweet. 



West Mansfield, Bristol Co., Mass., Feb. 25, 1880. 



All right, friend S. I have been studying 

 on just such a book for more than two years 

 past. As I have not yet decided on any- 

 thing to suit me, suppose the friends try 

 their hands — and heads — at it. I will send 

 Gleanings one year, to the one who will 

 send me a blank page ruled and labeled just 

 as we want it. If convenient, make it the 

 size of a page of Gleanings, and then we 

 can print the pages cheaply on our press. 

 What is it, boys, that we want this book to 

 tell, and how do we want the different heads 

 arranged V 



CHAFF HIVES WITH ABC SCHOLARS. 



One year ago I sent for a sample copy of Glean- 

 ings. I had one swarm in a box-hive. I became in- 

 terested in Gleanings, sent for a sample hive, then 

 sent for ABC, bought a saw to make hives with, 

 and then bought one more swarm, so I had two, as di- 

 rected in A B C. Mr. Lawson transferred one for 

 me, and I transferred the other. During the sum- 

 mer, I increased to six. I put one in a chaff hive 

 about the first of Sept., and the way brood-rearing 

 was kept up in that hive was a caution. When the 

 others had suspended, these were going all the time, 

 and went into winter strong in bees. Give me the 

 chaff hive all the time for winter. Thinking it good 

 policy, " in time of peace to prepare for war," I have 

 my hives and frames all ready for the coming cam- 

 paign's 1 expect to increase to 18. Some bees In 

 this vicinity have starved. The other day a small 

 swarm came and settled on one of my chaff hives. . 



CORN-SILK VERSUS CHAFF. 



I put 2 swarms away for winter packed in corn- 

 silks, and I like that better than chaff, as it is warm- 

 er. Frank McGlade. 



Centerville, O. 



Perhaps some of you new comers may 

 think it a big story, when you read in the 

 ABC, that if your hives and apiary are all 

 in readiness, like friend M.'s, bees will come 

 and ask to be taken care of. You see the 



