228 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



her mother in being quite averse to ap- 

 pearing in print. In tact, she don't seem 

 to liave any ambition that way, at all. 

 The readers of Gleanings are such a great 

 crowd that the thought of them overwhelms 

 her, hut she writes very pretty little notes to 

 her little friends around home. She is doing 

 a great deal of "growing" now-a-days, and 

 will, in due time, 1 hope, be ready to use her 

 woman's tongue and pen. 



WET CLOTHS TO STOP ROBBING. 



I noticed in March No. of Gleanings, page 113, a 

 letter from Mrs. L. C. Axtell, in which she recom- 

 mends the use of wet cloths to prevent robbing. In 

 your remarks, you say it is a uew idea to you, and 

 you would like others to test it and report. I have 

 been testing or practicing it the past season, and 

 find it is all that is claimed for it. 1 got the idea 

 about one year ago ip Gleanings, March No., 1879, 

 pages 80 and 81 which contain a letter from the same 

 writer. Isaiah Neff. 



Lawrence, O., March 20, 1880. 



Thanks, friend N., for reminding me of 

 my forgetfullness. I think it must be the 

 consequence of "age, and so many cares." 

 If I am getting old, I believe I could beat 

 any boy that reads these pages in running, 

 if he didn't run too far; and I would a great 

 deal rather try it now, than to be held down 

 to this old type-writer all these pleasant, 

 sunshiny days. My friend, be thankful that 

 you can work outdoors all the day long. 



FREIGHT AND EXPKESS CHARGES ON GRAI'E SUGAR. 



It does not pay those having a very few swarms to 

 purchase and pay freight charges on grape sugar. 

 Can you not name a substitute? Graham flour mix- 

 ed with slightly sweetened water would naturally be 

 suggested; but such a mixture, if allowed to stand 

 for some days, will become sour. N. H. Suplee. 



Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 28, 1880. 



I have before spoken of the matter, friend 

 S., and yet we have orders every little while 

 for the sugar by express, when' the charges 

 would have more than paid for the same 

 number of pounds of coffee A sugar, at the 

 nearest grocery. I have thought, too, of 

 your suggested substitute, and Mr. House, 

 by my direction, last summer, fed Indian 

 meal stirred up with sw r eetened water, but it 

 was the souring that deterred us from going 

 further with our experiments. If we could 

 devise a cheap way of feeding our corn to 

 the bees right at home, without the assist- 

 ance of the grape sugar factories, it would 

 be an achievement indeed. 



WET CLOTHS FOR ROBBING. 



On page 113, there is an article that tells how to 

 prevent robbing by the use of wet cloths. I will also 

 give my experience with the same. In the spring 

 of 1879, I had 4 swarms that would not even notice a 

 robber bee. The fore part of March was warm, and 

 the strong swarms soon found that they could go 

 through these 4 that would not defend themselves. 

 I had to do something or they would destroy my 

 whole apiary. I was already armed with wet cloths, 

 for I learned it from Gleanings, page 81, 1879. Now 

 for results. The water ran down, the bees would 

 fall on their backs, and the water stuck their wings 

 to the alighting board. They would go in all the 

 same. The only way in which I could stop them was 



to shut the hives up, put them in the cellar, and 

 leave them there until peach bloom. Those 4 

 swarms, after being taken out went right to work 

 without any further trouble. Thomas Crilly. 

 Grafton, Lorain Co., O., Mar. 24, 1880. 



I am inclined to think, friend C , that the 

 wet cloths would hardly answer for such a 

 case, and you doubtless chose the wisest 

 plan, in taking such a stock out of the way 

 of tempting others. After honey begins to 

 come in, and the robbers have forgotten all 

 about it, there will generally be no more 

 trouble. 



TURNING THE COMBS AROUND IN TRANSFERRING. 



You say in A B C about transferring, to put the 

 combs in the frames in whatever way they will fit 

 best. Does it make no difference, if you turn the 

 combs in some other way than that in which they 

 were in the old hive? Prof. Cook, T. G. Newman, 

 and all other writers I have rea<l, say it does. I have 

 one colony to transfer; would it be a good plan to 

 give them an Italian queen (taking away their black 

 one) at the time of transferring? If I should pur- 

 chase an Italian queen with a pound of bees in July, 

 could I Italianize 4 or 5 colonies from her the same 

 season? As I am an ABC scholar, I hope that you 

 will answer the above questions in Feb. or March 

 Gleanings. J. H. Eby. 



Lucas, O., Jan. 28, 1880. 



I think you mistake, friend E. Friends 

 Cook and Newman probably said the brood 

 should be kept compactly together, as it w r as 

 in the old hive, or, in other words, that it 

 should be placed in the same position, mean- 

 ing relatively ; but I am quite sure neither 

 of them intended to say the combs must be 

 kept the same side up, as Mrs. Tupper did 

 several years ago. When the shape of old 

 hives makes it more convenient to turn the 

 combs on the side, or even quite up side 

 down, to put them into the L. frames, of 

 course we always do it ; and transferring has 

 been almost an every- day business with us, 

 for years past, during warm weather. I 

 should say "yes," to both your other ques- 

 tions. 



TAN BARK AS FUEL FOR SMOKERS. "SMOKE AND 

 PLENTY OF IT." 



There has been a great deal said about fuel for 

 smokers; but from my experience I can say that if 

 you want smoke, just try tan-bark. Get that that 

 has been in the vats, and dry it well in the oven; 

 drop a few coals of fire into your smoker, and fill up 

 with dry tan-bark, and you are ready for a half day's 

 work. It seems to burn longer, is less liable to go 

 out, and will give a more dense cloud of smoke, 

 quicker than any thing I ever used. It costs noth- 

 ing, needs no further preparation than to dry it, and 

 keep it dry. Give it a trial. Jos. M. Bhooks. 



Columbus, Ind., April 7, 1880. 



BEES BALLING THEIR OWN QUEEN. 



On page 26, of Jan. No., you speak of a case of bees 

 balling their own queen. I had a stock which played 

 the same trick once, under somewhat different cir- 

 cumstances. In the early part of June, 1876, I ob- 

 tained some dollar queens from Andrews in Tenn. 

 Among them was one very large, bright yellow one, 

 which I introduced to a full colony, and built up the 

 same during the season, by spreading brood combs 

 and inserting empty worker combs, so that it be- 

 came very strong. In due time the queen proved to 

 be impurely mated, and one of her wings was clip- 

 ped. She also proved to be one of the most prolific 



