1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



175 



(Jan.), after the bees had been carrying in wheat 

 flour very freely almost every day. The discharges 

 looked as if small drops of flour paste had been 

 sprinkled over the hives. As soon as I saw them I 

 stopped the flour. I have not seen any since. Bees 

 are bound up by cold and snow. I will report if I 

 see any more white spots. May not dysentery be 

 caused by the bees eating pollen to excess, when 

 honey is scarce? If so, tbe remedy is plenty of feed 

 (honey). "With the exception of about 100 white spots 

 seen, my 20 colonies are in perfect health, the most 

 of them hatching young bees, with hives as clean as 

 in summer. A. W. Kaye. 



Pewee Valley, Ky., Feb. 4, 1880. 



Thanks, friend K. Under such circum- 

 stances, I should stop the flour feeding, as 

 you did, although it is possible that some- 

 thing else may have been the primary cause 

 of the spots. 



PAINTING HIVES INSIDE. BAD ADVICE. 



In Vol. VI., p. 141, W. W. Hipolite gives his ex- 

 perience in painting bee -hives inside. From his 

 article I was induced to try the experiment. In the 

 summer of 1878, I put uew swarms in 6 hives painted 

 inside and out. The result was, out of the 6 I lost 5, 

 and the one that survived was so weak I united it 

 with another swarm to save the few remaining bees. 

 The mortality was much greater among those colo- 

 nies having their hives painted inside, so that it 

 aroused my suspicion, and I concluded the inside 

 painting had killed my bees. Your answer to Sam- 

 uel R. Lipencott, of Indianapolis, Ind., tallies with 

 my experience. He asks if it would be any advan- 

 tage to varnish the inside of bee hives. Your an- 

 swer was, it would doubtless save the bees gumming 

 it over, but the hive would be more liable to damp- 

 ness. Will James Parshall, of Union Valley, Mo., 

 please report how his bees wintered in those chaff 

 hives that he painted white inside and outside, and 

 oblige a reader of Gleanings? 



G. J. FLANSBURGII. 



Bethlehem Center, Albany Co.. N. Y., Feb. 3, '80. 



Thanks for your report, friend F., but if 

 you put a chaff division board each side of 

 the cluster, and the usual chaff packing 

 above them, I do not think there will be any 

 trouble. This is our usual custom with 

 chaff hives, whether painted inside or not. 

 Although I have never tried it, I am inclined 

 to think I should like the inside of the hive, 

 and the outside of all the frames, painted 

 one coat, to prevent the collection of propo- 

 lis and facilitate its removal. 



HOW MANY SWARMS OP BEES CAN UE KEPT IN ONE 

 APIARY 



Where white clover and basswood are plenty? Do 

 you keep yours in one apiary? A. S. Peck. 



Wattsburgh, Erie Co., Penn., Feb. 1, '80. 



I should say, judging from the reports of 

 years past, that from 50 to 100 are as many 

 as it would be advisable to keep in one 

 apiary, where honey is the object. If one is 

 raising queens largely, as we are, the num- 

 ber may, during a part of the season, run up 

 as high as 500. When clover and basswood 

 are in full bloom, it may take nearly 500 

 stocks to gather all in a radius of their flight ; 

 but, at other seasons of the year, there would 

 probably be far too many for the locality. 

 We. need to have experiments in the matter, 



by setting hives on scales at different points, 

 so that we can see at a glance their daily in- 

 crease in weight. 



CELLAR WINTERING DURING A WARM WINTER. 



Friend Root: —I see you ask friend Miller how he 

 kept his bees which are in the cellar in the hives 

 during the warm January just past. I will tell you 

 how I put mine in the cellar. Last fall, I took all 

 stoppings out, took the top off, and left them all 

 open. If the bottoms were loose, I would raise the 

 hive one inch, and leave nothing but the walls of 

 tbe hive about them. My 30 stocks are all in good 

 condition now. 



A SHORT CHAPTER ON BEE-HUNTING. 



One year ago, I was cutting bees out of a tree 12 

 feet high, and fell on my head and shoulders, break- 

 ing my breast bone and some ribs, and hurting my 

 neck and head. The left side is numb yet. Excuse 

 my bad writing. A. G. Foster. 



Ottawa, 111., March 1, 1880. 



Your plan works tip-top, some winters, 

 friend P.-, and then again it don't work. I 

 have had the bees come out of the hives so 

 as to cover the cellar bottom when the tops 

 were left off, even when not a ray of light 

 was visible anywhere. I have had this hap- 

 pen so many times, when we have had ex- 

 cessively warm weather in the winter, that I 

 have given up in-door wintering. When 

 they want to get out, I want them to get out. 

 Truly. friend^F., you have earned the right 

 to the title of "scarred veteran," if anybody 

 has. Will our bee-hunting boys please take 

 it as a warning to be careful? 



MARKING THE QUEEN. 



It seems our cartoon of last July is destin- 

 ed to work out some good, after all. Read : 



Friend Boot, you seem to be a progressive man, 

 and I am going to ask you to help me make another 

 improvement in apiculture. My idea is to stain the 

 wings of the queen with some liquid dye that will 

 not injure the wings or the bees,— some bright col- 

 or, say red, or any other that can be easily put on 

 and readily seen, at any time when the queen is in 

 sight, for the purpose of quickly finding her when 

 wanted. This need not be done until after she is 

 impregnated, and can be done with a light brush. 

 It can be done (if at all) before you send your queens 

 out, so that your customers will be glad to get 

 queens that can always be readily found, a thing 

 that is often very diflicuilt in large swarms or clus- 

 ters, especially for persons with little experience. I 

 wrote A. J. Cook whose answer is inclosed. I do not 

 think a paste is the thing. It woul I daub and load 

 the wings. My idea is to use a liquid that will dry 

 quickly and leave the wings unincumbered. 



Sandusky, O., Feb. 24, '80. Lee Chambers. 



Remarks by Prof. Cook. 



Your suggestion as to staining the queen so as to 

 make her readily distinguished is a valuable one. I 

 have often stained bees in my experiments, but 

 never for the purpose you mention. Aniline dye is 

 '-fiimi for coloring. I will experiment as to best paste 

 and write you again. Remember, aniline is a poison. 

 The paste must be such as will not be oaten by the 

 bees. A. J. Cook. 



Lansing, Mich., Feb. 28, 1880. 

 Who will tell us what color will make her 

 most conspicuous? If her wings could be 



