GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



smoker. One man sent word to us that he heard we 

 have a new kind of bees (Bohemian bees), and that 

 he was going to get some Bohemian kings from us 

 next summer. If you know of any one that wants 

 any Bohemians next summer just send word to me. 

 Viola, Wis., Mar. 16, 1880. G. W. Wilson. 



A VIOLENT ATTACK OF THE " BEE FEVER." 



Mr. Root:— I am in great earnestness about the 

 Italian bees. Your journal sets me in flames; I 

 read every word from the outside page of the first 

 cover to the bottom of the last cover, advertise- 

 ments and all, except some old standards that I 

 almost know by heart. I feel sorry when I get 

 through that there is no more of it to read. I look 

 upon you as a public benefactor; and I pray God 

 that you may live to extreme old age to carry on 

 this work; and that you may be rewarded pecuniari- 

 ly here, and with eternal life hereafter. 



Keidsville, N. C, Mar. 15, '80. Wm. S. Fontaine. 



Gently, gently, friend F. I am very much 

 obliged indeed for your kind words and 

 wishes, but I wonder if you will still feel the 

 same after you have been through an attack 

 of Blasted Hopes. Your remark about the 

 old advertisements has just suggested, that 

 at least one might give place to something 

 fresh, and so I have had our extractor ad. 

 taken out and put in the price list. The 

 front page, too, might be changed, at least 

 in part; but the remarks about patents, I 

 can but feel would best be constantly before 

 the new scholars that are coming up, if not 

 wanted by the older ones. 



TONGS FOH LIFTING OUT THE FRAMES. 



By the same mail as this letter, I send you a 

 model of an instrument for lifting frames out of 

 hives so that the other hand is at liberty to work on 

 the comb, and is removed from the bees, and not 

 apt to be stung by bees crawling on the hands. It 

 was invented by Charles Duraut, of this place, and 

 he does not want any patent either; so, if it is of 

 any merit, use it to the best advantage of. yourself 

 and subscribers. Make it of No. 6 or 7 wire, and it 

 will be strong enough for any frame. 



KILLING "ROBBER BEES" ON SUNDAY. 



One of your correspondents in the last No. speaks 

 of a man staying home Sunday and killing Italian 

 robbers. It reminds me of an old man who was very 

 spiteful against "them new bees," and so sat down 

 and killed every yellow robber he saw going into the 

 hive. A few days ago he called me in to open his 

 hive, as it was growing thinner every day; and when 

 I opened it, there was a black queen impregnated 

 by an Italian drone, and he had been killing his own 

 beesl It is needless to say, he was cured of "killing 

 robbers." 



STARTING AN APIARY ON gv.'.oO. 



I started keeping bees sixteen years ago with a 

 two and a half gold piece that my uncle, Dr. T. B. 

 Hamlin, of Nashville, Tenn., gave me as a present. 

 I was the first to call his attention to the Italian bee. 

 Bees have wintered well in this section. I have fifty 

 swarms, and have lost only one so far. A year ago 

 there was a disease that destroyed hundreds of 

 swarms in this section. Alonzo Bradley, a neighbor, 

 lost 70 out of 80 swarms. I lost 20 out of 49 last sea- 

 son. No surplus honey was made in this section, 

 owing to wet weather. E. H. Phinney. 



Lee, Berkshire Co., Mass., March 0, 1880. 



The device mentioned is certainly very in- 

 genious ; it is a sort of double tongs, made 

 of two pieces of wire. But, friend P., I feel 

 quite sure that practiced hands would much 

 rather grasp the top bar of the frame with- 

 out any tongs. Unless the frame is very 

 heavy, I almost always pick it up with one 

 hand. It was a rather sad joke, truly, on 

 the man who tried to kill his neighbor's 

 bees. How many times we see the same 

 spirit manifested* simply because people are 

 laboring under a misapprehension, and I do 

 not know but that a want of charity almost 

 always goes hand in hand with— shall I say 

 ignorance? We are glad to hear from a pu- 

 pil of our old friend, Dr. Hamlin. 



PAINT FOR HIVES. 



Please have the kindness to tell me of your pres- 

 ent opinion of Averill's chemical paint as compared 

 with white lead. The latter I do not like. It rubs 

 off like whitewash when exposed to the weather for 

 a year or two. J. It. Eoff. 



Powhatan, Belmont Co., O., March 8, 1880. 



It seems to me, friend E., that either your 

 lead or oil, or possibly both, must be at fault, 

 if the paint rubs off as you say. I discarded 

 the Averill chemical paint because it peeled 

 off, and also because it was much more ex- 

 pensive than ordinary lead and oil. All of 

 the mixed paints advertised so highly are 

 more expensive than simple pure lead and 

 oil, if I am correct; and if you get really 

 pure articles, the lead and oil are, so far as 

 my experience goes, in the long run, the 

 most lasting. Get them of some reliable 

 dealer whom you know, and tell him you 

 want a real, genuine article, and expect to 

 pay for it. We now pay $9.50 per hundred 

 for lead, and 80 cents per gallon for the best 

 boiled linseed oil. Buy your lead in 1(30 lb. 

 kegs, and then you do not have to pay any- 

 thing for the package, as you do where you 

 buy in smaller quantities. If I am wrong in 

 anything I have said above, will some of 

 those who are experienced in painting, espe- 

 cially painting hives, please correct meV 

 and, while I think of it, let us have the ex- 

 perience of a good many on the subject. 

 Taint for hives is quite a big item, and we 

 all wish the latest and best information on 

 the subject. 



A SIMPLE WAY OF FEEDING SUGAR. 



Two years ago I could not go near bees without 

 being stung, but last summer, with your help, ABC, 

 and a smoker, I handled cross bees very successful- 

 ly. I got a dollar queen and 10 oz. of bees of you 

 last August. She produces very dark three-banded 

 workers, but they are gentle, and I think good 

 workers. I am feeding sugar by putting it in a shal- 

 low pan and pouring water on it, stirring, and then 

 splitting points of shingles and putting them in the 

 water for the bees to light upon; it seems to be a 

 success, as they are busy on it every warm day, and 

 no bees get drowned. They take up all the water in 

 a short time. Then you have only to pour on more 

 water, and they will take all the sugar. I got a colo- 

 ny late in Nov., that had little or no stores, and fed 

 through the winter by laying empty comb on top of 

 the frames, covering it with sugar, and then wetting 

 it. They took down and stored more than one 

 pound in one mild day in December. 



HuntsYille, O., Mar. 20, '80. A. C. Millek. 



