234 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



]>JAY 



THE NEW SECTION, ETC. 



The sections tame all right, and they are just 

 splendid. They told up beautifully without even a 

 break, making one of the most neatly finished cor- 

 ners I ever saw. The bees have a very " big boom" 

 on the peach and forest trees. Every colony came 

 through the winter all right, 20 in number. Those 

 in the Simplicity Chaff Hive are in the best .fix. 

 That mirror in the Home Papers this month reflect- 

 ed a very large image when I looked into it. 



C. H. T)ean, Sr. 



Mortonsville, Ky., April 5, 1880. 



A NON-SWARMER TRULY. 



You say you don't know how to keep bees without 

 swarming. Now I have had one swarm in the hive 

 in my house, for the last 10 years, and it has not 

 swarmed. D. C. Brown. 



Stamford, Conn., Jan. 32, 1880. 



[I presume, friend B., you have kept them from 

 swarming by making them crawl over a space, be- 

 fore reaching their hive, as I have explained in the 

 ABC. I know this will do it, but it is a loss of time 

 to the bees, and consequently, in the end, a loss of 

 honey to their owner.] 



A HIVE OF EMPTY COMBS; WHAT TO DO WITH IT. 



1 have a hive of bees that died of starvation,— or 

 rather a hive now without bees, and also without 

 brood or honey. I would like to ask if it would do 

 to put a pound of bees with a queen into it? J should 

 expect, of course, to feed them until flowers open. 



Waldron, Ills., April 2, 1880. F. L. MerriCH. 



[It will do excellently; and a pound </f bees put on 

 the combs this month or next should make a good 

 colony by fall, at the least calculation.] 



PAINTING HIVES INSIDE. 



I paint all my hives heavily inside, and think it all 

 right. I think this not the cause of brother Flans- 

 burgh's bees dying. A. W. Gillis. 



Kinsman, Ohio, Apr. 2, 1880. 



spring feeding. 



The " Barnes " saw, helps out wonderfully in mak- 

 ing chaff hives. Its just fun; when I get tired I 

 quit awhile; work is only hard when you work hard 

 at it. Yesterday, my bees (14 colonies) ate }'* gal. of 

 syrup, and about a gal. of rye meal. Can they get 

 too much? I feed them every day. Some tell me I 

 never will get my money back in this "beesness," 

 but I will sic. I have lost nothing yet. 



Salem Centre, Ind., Mar. 30, '80. W. E. Kimsey. 



ROBBINS' TACK PLYERS. 



The tack plyers engraved in the March No. of 

 Gleanings are from me. I consider them almost 

 indispensible where wooden clasps are used in 

 transferring. R. B. Robbins. 



Bloomdale, O., March 18, 1880. 



building on the rock. 



I am always fearing you will die some day, and 

 then, what will become of Gleanings, that factory, 

 &c? Tell Ernest he must get ready in earnest to 

 take your place. I am not hurrying you off, recollect. 



Kossuth, Miss., Jan. 22, '80. N. C. Steel. 



[To be sure I shall die, friend S., and if the Glean- 

 ings and factory depend on me alone, they will die 

 with me; but if, as I trust, they are built upon the 

 spirit that our Savior taught, he will raise up some 

 one else to care for them, or these boys and girls 

 with his help will carry them on themselves. I am 



glad to assure you that Ernest will trust in God rath- 

 er than in his own wisdom, whenever the time shall 

 come for him to take his father's place, if it is God's 

 will that such a time shall eome. "Heaven and 

 earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass 

 away." Many thanks, Friend S., for your kind solic- 

 itude.l! 



WHY THEY DIED. 



1 have 2 swarms that had plenty of ventilation 

 through holes covered with wire cloth, and they are 

 all right. The rest all have the dysentery. So I 

 think it is for want of ventilation. I have no chaff 

 cushions, but have boards in place of cushions; 12 

 swarms are dead. They have plenty of good stores. 



Johan Jackel. 



Bell Plain, Wis., March 15, 1880. 



DRAGON FLIES. 



The dragon flies have come down on my bees by 

 the million, and are destroying them so fast that I 

 am afraid the bees will not be able to swarm any till 

 the flies leave, which will not be till May or June. 



M. Lewis. 



New Smyrna, Fla., March 25, 18*0. 



QUEENS TO CALIFORNIA. 



The queens arrived at Santa Paula on the evening 

 of the 24th, at 8 o'clock. I had arrangements with 

 Mr. Barber to bring them to the ranch (8 miles), the 

 next morning after they arrived. In the box con- 

 taining the darkest queen, I found the bees nearly 

 all dead and very badly smeared. The other box 

 was in good condition but destitute of stores. Both 

 queens are all right now, and safely introduced to 

 new stocks of all young bees and hatching brood. 

 The charges on the queens were $1.50. 



We had our first natural swarm yesterday. We 

 are now making artificial swarms. The weather is 

 splendid, and the whole country is covered with 

 bloom. Bees are storing in supers, and doing finely. 



Santa Paula, Cal., March 27, 1880. E. Gallup. 



[The bees were 9 daj s on the route, which was a 

 quick and cheap journey. The cages were of the 

 kind Ave have mentioned for long distances,— two 

 little combs of honey in a small box. The little 

 frames should be hung in a large hive, for a few 

 minutes, or until the bees have licked up all loose 

 honey and then there will be no dripping. Where 

 many bees are put in, as we usually do, a large 

 amount of food is needed, for they sometimes gorge 

 themselves, in consequence of the shaking and jar- 

 ring incident to the journey.] 



LOOK sharp. 



I received the cheirograph with other goods. It 

 contained pad, a bit of sponge, and a square piece of 

 pine wood. What constitutes a cheirograph com- 

 plete? I inferred that you furnished ink. Please 

 send along the right kind of ink, and if you charge 

 extra for it I will send the pay. What is the square 

 piece of pine wood for? I can do no good with it 

 with common ink. C. S. Davidson. 



Flemington, W. Va., March 8, 1880. 



[Friend D., I do not believe you are a Yankee or 

 you would have split open that block of wood before 

 asking what it is for, and found your ink. You see 

 we wanted to put up the ink so it could not possibly 

 frighten the postmasters, and it seems we succeeded 

 so well, you could not imagine that that innocent 

 looking block of wood had even a remote connection 

 with your missing ink.] 



