1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



379 



From Different Fields. 



IN PURSUIT OF BEES UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 



EF you are in need of "timber" for a cartoon, just 

 picture to yourself an oak tree with a large 

 limb about 20 feet from the ground, said limb 

 being nearly perpendicular, and at a point about 10 

 feet from the main trunk a cluster of over a peck of 

 bees. A 20 foot ladder stands against the tree; a 

 man in his shirt sleeves stands in the tree just above 

 the ladder; another stands just in reach on the 

 limb with the bees, clothes-basket with table-cloth 

 in one hand, and an eagle wing in the other, his face 

 being protected by mosquito bar. 



At the first brush, the bees nearly all take wing. 

 No. 1 has his hands covered with the little fellows 

 who are in no humor for the numerous, and his mo- 

 tions are somewhat accelerated. No. 2 says, "Give 

 me the basket quick; I can't stand this." There are 

 no less than 4 bees on the end of his nose, about a 

 dozen more on other parts of his face, and perhaps 

 20 or 30 more on his neck, each as energetic as it is 

 possible for a bee to become. Taking the basket 

 with about 2 quarts of bees, he descends the ladder 

 as deliberately as a man is apt to do under like cir- 

 cumstances, sets them down by the table on which 

 stands the box hive, puts the hive on the ground, 

 the bees on the table, then the box hive over them, 

 and then— gets rid of a large number of stingless 

 bees, I know this is true, for I was No. 2. 

 Georgiana, Fla., June 21, 1880. F. A. White. 



Some of the brethren have scolded about 

 the cartoons, and said they were silly, and 

 so I thought I would not have any more un- 

 til somebody called for them again.— I hope 

 you got your bees home, friend W., and 

 have them now Italianized and made civil. 



VALUE OF SEED GARDENS TO THE APIARIST. 



I never saw so much surplus honey in the hives so 

 early in the season. I have 2 bee-yards; one is 

 situated 10 miles from home, next to D. M. Ferry's 

 large seed gardens. It yields a big thing in honey. 

 G. M. Doolittle will have to look to his laurels. 



M. H. Hunt. 



Bell Branch, Wayne Co., Mich., June 25, 1880. 



I am very glad indeed of this report, 

 friend H., for it corroborates an idea I have 

 long held, that seed farms would be of great 

 benefit to an apiary ; in fact, it is a success- 

 ful honey farm, although designed for anoth- 

 er purpose. Will you please give us further 

 Particulars. What plants do you find the 

 ees on? and how about the quality of the 

 honey gathered? I would almost take a 

 trip to a large seed farm, to see a good yield 

 of honey coming from such artificial pas- 

 turage. 



SWARMING OUT, AND ATTACKING THEIR OWN QUEEN. 



I don't know that I am a "success" in the bee 

 "biz," but It is a source of pleasure and amusement 

 to study and watch the maneuvers of the little pets, 

 and then I live just across the street from A. J. 

 Davis, the "hrc man." I have to take Gleanings to 

 keep myself posted, so I can associate with my 

 neighbor (and his bees), for they take some funny 

 freaks sometimes. He had a nucleus that swarmed 



a few days ago, the queen taking every bee with 

 her. He hived them in the same hive and they bal- 

 led the queen. He smoked them severely, and ex- 

 amined them again in half an hour, and they had the 

 queen balled again. He smoked the bees off, caged 

 the queen, and put her back in the same hive, but 

 that night the bees built a queen cell, and prepared 

 to raise a new queen. S. B. McCrillus. 



Anderson, Ind., June 28, 1880. 



Such freaks as the one you mention are 

 incident to the swarming-out mania, and 

 characteristic of queen rearing nuclei, or 

 small, weak colonies, They swarm out be- 

 cause they are discontented from being so 

 few, and they attack the queen probably for 

 the same reason. The remedy is to build 

 them up with bees or brood. 



HOW TO GET AN "INSIGHT" OF THE INSIDE OF A 

 BEE HIVE. 



I bought 8 hives of bees from a man who has gone 

 to Florida, and I never (hardly) saw a bee before, 

 and now 1 want to know how to manage them. 

 They are in two kinds of hives; some in 

 an old, weather beaten, oblong box, stand- 

 ing on end, with a hole in the top, so that they 

 can store honey in some pail or other vessel. The 

 other style is the same, only it has an upper story 

 into which boxes can be slid. But one can not see 

 into the hive or get at the bees, unless he does as I 

 did last Saturday. It was a cold day, so I essayed to 

 move the bees. I took a spring wagon and loaded 7 

 hives, and started very carefully for home. My 

 seat was one of the hives. As I was nearing home, 

 going up a steep hill, my horse made a spring, and 

 in so doing tipped me off the wagon, hive and all. 

 This let about 40,000 bees loose, which had the effect 

 of starting my horse across lots, I holding on and 

 shouting Whoa ! but the "critter" didn't Whoa ! 

 "worth a cent;" so every hive save one was dumped, 

 and I tell you there was bees for a while. Now I 

 want to get proper hives, and information what and 

 how to do. I write a long letter to a stranger, but I 

 only do as you bid. Give me what advice you can 

 so that I may know more about bees than I do now, 

 and much oblige— Benjamin Hammond. 



Mount Kisco, Westchester Co., N. Y., Feb. 26, '80. 



As you are a bee-keeper still, after all 

 your mishaps, friend II., I think you will 

 soon get to be a great bee man ; but, if I 

 were you, I do not believe I would try it 

 across lots any more. 



DUNHAM FOUNDATION. 



I got 25 lbs. of fdn. from Mr. Richardson, Port 

 Colbourne, Ontario; but, as it was made on the 

 Dunham machine, it did not go so far as I thought 

 it would. It cost me about the same per lb. as yours 

 would after paying duty on it. 



A. G. Willows. 



Carlingford, Ontario, Can., June 28, 1880/ 



Your discovery is like that of many oth- 

 ers, friend W. As the Dunham fdn. can be 

 made more than twice as fast as our usual 

 kind, it really ought to be sold cheaper. I 

 have tried both kinds in the wired frames, 

 and do not discover any perceptible differ- 

 ence in the quality of the combs, or of the 

 time of working. As you can get two sheets 

 of the thin, at the price of one of the 

 Dunham, it is an item worth taking into 

 account. 



