230 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



GOING WITHOUT A BEE JOURNAL, AND FEEDING 

 BROWN SUGAR. 



I have a colony that is queenless. I had 12 colonies 

 last fall, now all gone "where the woodbine twin- 

 eth," except two, and one of them queenless. I 

 have a single copy of Gleanings before me, which 

 I borrowed of a friend. If I had seen it last fall I 

 should probably have had more bees now. I fed 

 brown sugar. My bees have dysentery. 



Groveland, Ind., March 29, 1880. W. H. Kice. 



You might have lost your hees, even with 

 the journal, friend R., but I hardly think 

 you would have fed them brown sugar. I 

 once built up a strong colony exclusively on 

 brown sugar, and fed them enough so they 

 had stores of it nicely capped, and they win- 

 tered on it pretty fairly; but, during the 

 cool days of March and April, they had the 

 dysentery badly, and died off so quickly, I 

 hardly knew what became of them. It ivill 

 do very well for a warm weather diet, but 

 not for winter or early spring. I used the 

 cheapest kind, on purpose to test its value 

 for bees. 



PUTTING CANDY INTO FRAMES. 



Please say, in next number, how you make your 

 candy stay in the frames. I tried it, and made but 

 poor work with it. If I poured it into frames that 

 had combs in them, it would melt and spoil the comb, 

 and drop out before it got cool enough to stay. 



Harrison, O., Mar. 26, 1880. Ezra Sherman. 



Bless your heart, child, I never meant you 

 to pour your candy into frames containing 

 comb. Use new frames of course. I know I 

 did not say new frames, but I did not think 

 anybody would ever try to pour hot candy 

 into wax honey comb. What could you 

 have been thinking of, friend 8.? 



"don't let 'em starve." 



I have 5 stands of bees, and I think I would have 

 lost half of them, if I had not read your Gleanings 

 and ABC book which I borrowed of my neighbor. 

 1 had three stands which starved to death last fall 

 before 1 got your works to read. I have lost none 

 since. It was winter before I commenced to feed 

 I think they had scarcely any honey in the fall. I 

 fed candy and syrup. It was so cold that I could 

 not feed syrup to any advantage either out or in the 

 cap, so I did my feeding by taking a sa«h of comb 

 and forcing the syrup into it, and putting it back in 

 its place again. I succeeded well in wintering them. 

 If this way of feeding is any advantage to you, you 

 can use it. James Akins. 



Cloverdale, Ind., April 3, 1880. 



I am very glad, friend A., if the books 

 kept your bees from starving; another friend 

 proposes to let his bees read all the journals, 

 and I have no doubt that, if they find them 

 good to read, they will also rind them good 

 to eat; at least as good as the saw dust they 

 often gather with such assiduity in the 

 spring. Joking aside, I hope our friends 

 will give their bees enough to eat, even if 

 they do not have the books to stir them up 

 to the importance of such timely care. 

 Your plan of filling combs is not new, but 

 it may not be generally known to our new 

 readers. 



GRAPE SUGAR. 



Mr. Root, I feel like writing an article for the de- 

 partment of Humbugs and Swindles in reference to 



grape sugar for bees; for I consider it a genuine 

 humbug. About the 1st of Dec. last, I ordered from 

 you, among other things, one tray of bee candy, and 

 50 lb. of grape sugar, and I have been trying ever 

 since to make my bees eat it, but have failed. I 

 nearly starved two swarms to death trying to make 

 them eat it, and finally hid to feed them honey to 

 save them. I tried smearing the candy with honey, 

 but that did no good; they would lick the honey off, 

 and there stop. They positively have not eaten y 2 

 ounce of the candy or grape sugar. So you can see 

 why I call it a humbug. If you should need any 

 more grape sugar for your bees, please order from 

 me to the amount of 47 lb., for I can't give it away 

 here. I used 3 lb. according to your directions, 

 thinking, perhaps, if it was freshly made, the bees 

 would eat it; but it made no difference. I think 

 bees have generally wintered well about here. 

 Mendou, Mich., Apr. 1, '80. A. W. Maring. 



I can not tell why your bees do not eat it, 

 friend M., but inasmuch as hundreds of bee- 

 keepers are using the same thing with good 

 satisfaction, I am forced to think you have 

 made some mistake somewhere, or that your 

 bees are a little peculiar. Do you not re- 

 member that we had the same complaints in 

 regard to fcln. a few years ago? In fact, 

 even Doolittle himself favored strongly the 

 side that the bees would not touch it, or that 

 it was no real advantage. Grape sugar is 

 now almost as staple an article with bee- 

 keepers as fdn., and T will cheerfully take 

 all you have at just what you paid for it, de- 

 livered here, for there has been an advance 

 in price, since you bought. Friend M., why 

 did you not save all this trouble, by first get- 

 ting one of our 10c. trays by mail, and trying 

 your bees with that? I especially requested 

 you to test it in this way, because I knew 

 how many there always are, who are disap- 

 pointed in new commodities. 



HOW TO KREP ROACHES, ETC., AWAY FROM THE 



HIVES. AN ANSWER T>> R. C. TAYLOR, 



IN MARCH NO. 



To keep roaches, ants, and worms away, I make a 

 thick whitewash of good, strong lime, and with a 

 whitewash brush give each bottom board (the top of 

 it) a heavy coat, and immediately sprinkle on it salt 

 enough to cover if, and let it dry so. It looks rough 

 when dry, but never mind; bees like salt and it 

 seems to please them to have thfir fl'tor sanded and 

 so clean. Lime and salt under the strips or bricks 

 on which the hott<>rn boards rest are good. Since 

 using the ' 7* ic7c whitewash and salt every spring, I 

 very seldom see a roach about a hive, and not very 

 often ants; but if ants get anywhere about a 

 hive, I use the scrappr and fine suit. Now the above 

 as you can see, will not harm the bees in the least, 

 and with me seems to be a specific. Mr. Root's plan 

 is good, but I can't always have the hive crammed 

 with bees. W. S. Van Meter. 



Thayer, Kan., March 15, 1880. 



GOOD QUEENS, CROSS B«1ES, LOTS OF HONEY, SOR- 

 GHCTM SYRUP, FTC. 



Now, friend Root, I will tell you my plan of keep- 

 ing bees. I keep young queens, and wise them 

 from the swarm t hat makes the most honey. T have 

 all of my honey made on top of the hive in half- 

 stories, and have about 300 combs for this year's use. 

 I have one swarm of the crossest bees I ever saw, 

 and they made 130 lb. of honey. I have never lost a 



