264 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



June 



dered if it is possible that anybody else ever 

 Avent through with the many trials that I 

 have, in attempting to ship bees and to have 

 everybody satisfied. If they did, and did 

 not get discouraged, I shall have a reverence 

 and respect for them, that I have not for 

 everybody. Below is a letter that gives you 

 a little inkling of the matter : 



Friend Root:— li you remember, I ordered a tested 

 queen of you in June, 1879. After a few weeks, I 

 wrote you it was not pure. You replied that she 

 was one you bought of friend Shaw. In a few days 

 came another letter with one from friend Shaw. 

 You wanted me to he sure I was not mistaken. I 

 wrote that I was not mistaken, and that I would re- 

 turn the queen so you could see for yourself, and 

 sent with this letter a statement from J. S. Walter 

 that the queen was not pure. In a few days, I got 

 another queen. Well now, friend Root, when I 

 came to get the A B C, I found that Mr. Walter and 

 I were both mistaken. The queens are both pure 

 queens, and just what I ordered of you. You will 

 find inclosed $3.00 with 25c for interest for the same, 

 with an order for other goods. 



M. A. Williams. 



East Berkshire, Tioga Co., N. Y., Apr. 26, 1880. 



Friend W., even though I am tempted to 

 feel a little impatient with you for not being 

 better posted before being so positive, I am 

 more than repaid by such an evidence of the 

 good there is yet in humanity. Your honest, 

 frank way of owning up your mistake, and 

 making it good with the solid cash and in- 

 terest, gives me more faith in my fellow 

 men. May God bless and reward you for 

 this act. When queen after queen has gone 

 to make things right, and, as far as possible, 

 to give me a clear conscience in all these 

 transactions, I have more than once, when 

 the load seemed just a little more than I 

 could possibly stand, prayed God to keep me 

 from doubting him and my fellow men, and 

 such letters as these help one wonderfully to 

 go on. 



With the benefit of the new wired frames 

 to hold the combs from breaking even in the 

 hottest weather, and of other recent im- 

 provements, we trust to have an easier time 

 soon in getting good stock to every part of 

 our land cheaply and safely. 



SIMPSON IIONEY PLANT. 



The Simpson plants from our old patch of 

 last year are now, some of them, knee high, 

 and growing with a vigor and luxuriance 

 that is enough to make me happy, anyway, 

 every time I take a look at them. The boys 

 are now cultivating them, and the plants in 

 the greenhouse will be set out as soon as we 

 have another rain. Besides all we have, 

 friend Irish is to bring me 2,000 plants from 

 old roots to-morrow, and if we do not alto- 

 gether get up a humming over in the north- 

 west corner of the honey farm, it will be at 

 least surprising. The new plants are to be 

 treated to a sprinkling of guano and bone 

 dust, just to make them feel at home out of 

 doors you know. I have some fear that high 

 manuring may deteriorate the quality of the 

 honey while it increases the quantity, as is 

 the case with the amber sugar-cane. 



THE RED-CLOVER QUEEN 



Has wintered her colony beautifully, and 



the bees seem to be just as industrious now 

 as they were last fall. Queens have already 

 been started, and we shall rear a large num- 

 ber from her this season, if nothing prevents. 

 She is moderately light in color, but her bees 

 are rather more of a leather color than the 

 average Italians. There is one more reason 

 why I rather prefer to rear queens from her 

 than from our usual imported stock. You 

 remember what I have said in the ABC 

 in regard to 



THE BRAULA, OR ITALIAN BEE-LOUSE. 



Last fall, we found rather more of these 

 insects on our imported queens than ever 

 before, and they have been found occasion- 

 ally on the queens this spring and winter. 

 We have always got them off, and thought 

 but little about it, but within a week past 

 we have had the two letters given below : 



Mr. Root:— The queen you sent me the 23d of 

 March arrived the 27th. There was some honey in 

 the cage, and she was alive with about % of the 

 bees. I had no trouble in introducing her. I placed 

 her in a new hive with a fair colony, and she laid 

 some eggs (two in a part of the cells), but not as 

 freely as some of my black queens. This, however, 

 I attributed to her journey. April 21st, while look- 

 ing them over, I found larva?, but no eggs. While 

 looking at the queen, I discovered an insect be- 

 tween her shoulders, which I removed. Its body 

 was about as large as the head of a pin. It resem- 

 bled a spider, but appeared to have a hard shell and 

 had a good hold on the queen. To-day, April 27th, I 

 opened the hive, and found no queen, but two 

 queen cells capped. Now, here is a quandary. Did 

 that insect kill the queen? if not, what did? I am 

 very much disappointed. This leaves my colony 

 without a queen at a time when there are no drones 

 in any of my hives. J. B. Ratcliffe. 



Sterling Centre, Minn., April 27, 1880. 



Friend Root: — I almost feel that my hopes are 

 "blasted," at least for a while. The $12.00 queen 

 purchased of you is no where to be found. I got 

 her from the express office April 24th, late in the 

 evening. On the Monday following I "looked her 

 up," and found her without trouble. Upon her 

 body, I noticed a red bug, or louse, perhaps a little 

 larger than a good-sized pin-head. All her running 

 about among the bees did not remove it, so I caught 

 her as carefully as I could possibly, took it off, and 

 replaced her, happy to think I was the owner of such 

 a nice queen. The next day but one, I thought I 

 would like to see her again, but could not find her; 

 yet I was pretty sure she was there, for there were 

 eggs in the cells. I have made searches almost 

 daily since, but in vain. There were several queen- 

 cells which I thought were "torn down," but I guess 

 they were just building them, as I notice several 

 capped cells this morning. Your sad student, 



Burleigh R. Paxson. 

 Mingo, Ohio, May 3, 1880. 



What shall we think of it, my friends? I 

 am sure, I hardly know what to think of it. 

 It hardly seems from the accounts given 

 that this should have been the cause of the 

 queens' dying so suddenly, but, if not, what 

 should make them die at this season of the 

 year? I have sent them both another queen, 

 at half price. It may be well for us to keep 

 our eyes open. Perhaps Prank Benton can 



