1880 



GLEANLNGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



235 



REARING BROOD IN THE WINTER. 



Pity we cannot tell in the fall, what the winter is 

 going to be like. We united our 72 colonies in the 

 fall to 49, to make all strong-. Our strongest stocks 

 reared brood all winter, consumed an awful amount 

 of stores, and are no better now than weaker ones 

 that reared little brood. I do not think much of un- 

 timely brood rearing. My experience has always 

 taught me that bees would better remain quiet until 

 the willows bloom. Ila Micheneh. 



Low Banks, Ont., Can., March 4, 1880. 



PAPER FUR HIVES. 



Car wheels, water pails, and flour barrels are 

 made of paper; why not hives? Paper is a non con- 

 ductor of heat, and I should think would be good 

 material for hives. W. A. Harris. 



Salem, W. Va., March 18, 1880. 



[Paper has been many times suggested, but at 

 present it is decidedly too expensive. We formerly 

 used straw board (the cheapest kind of pasteboard) 

 for making our mailing boxes for fdn., but we soon 

 found that while basswood doe3 not cost }£ as much, 

 it is a great deal stronger for such purposes.] 



You are sending Gleanings to my wife instead of 

 to me, but I will not "growl" at that, for she per- 

 mits me to read it, and I, in return, allow her to aid 

 me in the apiary. P. J. England. 



Fancy Prairie, 111., March 16, 1880. 



gray's new section. 



I am now setting up your new " one-piece " sec- 

 tion box, and am mucli pleased with them. They are 

 the "coming section," and will soon supersede all 

 others. J. W. Newlove. 



Columbus, O., March 17, 1880. 



CANDY FOR WINTERING. 



I have had young bees flying 10 days or more. 

 Plenty of candy, as per ABC, did it. I packed them 

 for winter Sept. 22d and 23d, before leaving home, 

 giving candy at tbat time. They were left on sum- 

 mer stand. E. S. Arwine. 



Bean Blossom, lnd., March 10, 1880. 



I believe the best way to work honey bees for 

 profit and pleasure is by the rules of "Square Root," 

 of Medina, Ohio. Wm. Folts. 



Salamanca, N. Y., Apr. 23, 1880. 



[Whew! I guess I would better look out, if (lint is 

 what you are going to decide.] 



Box honey is worth 25c. per lb. here. The bees 

 here are all black, and in boxes and barrel?. 



A. J. Brumbaugh. 



Tottas-e Grove, Lane Co., Oregon, Feb. 20, 1880. 



STOPPING .lOl-RNALS WHEN THE TIME IS EXPIRED. 



When the time of my subscription to GLEANINGS 

 expired, you said I need not write anythingabout it, 

 as you would stop my journal any way, until I re- 

 newed the subscription. I did not trouble you with 

 any letter then, though 1 felt very much like send- 

 ing my thanks, and complimenting you on the good 

 sense manifested in stopping your paper when the 

 time paid for expired. That is the way I wish every 

 publisher to do by me. Now [send 50c. for 6 months. 



Kootstown, o., Mar. 1, '80. C. M: Whitney. 



[Thanks, friend W. When we stop the journal, we 

 do not in any means wish it to be understood that 

 we are afraid to trust our friends, but because W6 

 are n f 't sure It Is wanted longer, This I believe 

 makes the least trouble all around, and I do not 



wish to make anybody unnecessary trouble when it 

 can be avoided.] 



TIMOTHY CHAFF FOR WINTERING. 



The burlap you have been selling for 10c. isn't 

 firm enough to hold such chaff as I use; viz., timo- 

 thy. And, by the way, I have discarded all other 

 kinds of chaff for that kind, as I find it superior to 

 them all. O. O. Poppleton. 



Williamstown, la., Apr. 5, 1880. 



[We have just made arrangements to furnish an 

 excellent, strong article of burlap, 40 fnches wide, 

 for 12c. per yard.] 



narrow top-bars for sections, and narrow 

 separators. 



Have you ever had any trial of section boxes with 

 the openings wider than J£ inch for the bees to enter? 

 If so, with what result? How would separators 

 about l / 2 the width of the box work, where fdn. is 

 used for starters? D. O. Sweet. 



Rockport, Cuy. Co., O., Dec. 23, '79. 



[I have used top bars to sections, several seasons, 

 only % wide. They answered just as well as any, 

 only that the bees would often bulge the honey up 

 between the top bars, and the honey was poorly pro- 

 tected when being handled. If you make the sepa- 

 rators any narrower than we do, the bees will bulge 

 the honey past them, and you will be as badly off as 

 if you had used none.] 



Can you name some one in Cal. or Oregon who has 

 Italian queens for sale? Won't you give some of 

 your Pacific-coast correspondents a hint that they 

 might sell some things by advertising? 

 smarting honey. 



Can you tell what it is that gives our honey a pun- 

 gent taste? Some of it is so smarty that we cannot 

 eat it. When first taken into the mouth it is pleas- 

 ant enough, but soon begins to cause smarting. We 

 first thought it was mustard, as it grows quite plen- 

 tifully in our yard; but as it is quite highly recom- 

 mended for honey, I have thought it could not be. 

 In some cases, it has proved quite serious in produc- 

 ing vomiting. The taste and manner of acting con- 

 forms more to the effect produced by our wild iris 

 (probably Iris tenax). This grows quite abundantly 

 in our pastures. 1 have never noticed how much tho 

 bees visit it. 



rape in ohegon. 



I think, with a little care, I can have rape in bloom 

 almost the whole of the year, it being largely grown 

 here for green fodder and pasture. 



Forest Grove, Or., Dec. It), '79. s. T. Walker, 



now AN ARC SCHOLAR SIVCEEDS WITH FDN. 



May 27th, about sundown, I put a sheet of fdn. in- 

 to an empty frame, and set it in the middle of one 

 of my strongest Italian colonies, in a Laugstroth 

 hive. Just imagine my surprise, when I opened the 

 hive next morning before sunrise, to find this sheet 

 actually covered with bees, queen included, and, on 

 closer examination, I found honey, pollen, and eggs. 

 HONEY PLANTS OK VIRGINIA' 



The principal honey producers of this valley are 

 the yellow locusts blooming in May, white clover in 

 June, July, and Aug.. blue thistle from June to frost, 



and u ire weed in I let. I have on my place about .">I1<I 

 large locust trees. The bloom lasts about ten (lays. 



and is al way- nn ere I with I' 



J. Luther b »wers. 

 Berryvllle, \ a., Dee. :n, 1879. 



