390 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Aug. 



CHANGING OLD HIVES INTO LANOSTROTH. 



By altering the "Mitchell" hives into Langstroth's, 

 they will hold just 9 Langstroth frames. Is that 

 sufficient, or should they be made to hold 10 frames? 



Dr. C. D. Lewis. 



Dry Ridge, Ky., July 3, 1880. 



[Nine frames will do very well, but I would fix the 

 top so it will take a Simplicity cover, and then you 

 can at any time set a Simplicity over it. We have 

 recently lixed some 8 frame hives in the same way.] 



SUMAC. 



Have you a patch of sumac? If you have not, you 

 certainly should have; for you will be surprised to 

 hear the little pets "hum." I think it rich in honey- 

 Preston J. Kline. 



Coopersburg, Pa., June 25, 1880. 



[We have a patch, but they are not yet bearing 

 llowers.] 



BEES BY THE POUND BY EXPRESS. 



I send you one dollar queen, in a box of bees to- 

 day by express. For long distances, I prefer this 

 style of package to anything I have used or seen 

 described; and even when put up thus carefully, 

 the express folks sometimes kill the bees. For short 

 trips, I use a single box (i in. wide, instead of 4 in. 

 They will carry 1 lb. of bees very comfortably. 

 Please criticise. We want something cheaper, and 

 something with which the carriers can play "foot 

 ball" when they feel like it. E. M. Hayhurst. 



Kansas City, Mo., July 7, 1880. 



[Thanks. The bees came to hand in excellent 

 trim, as they, in fact, always do from you, friend H., 

 and as the package is exactly what we have adopted 

 for ; 2 lb. of bees, it is the same as shown in our price 

 list, only a little larger and heavier. We too, have 

 adopted candy and water, only we shall hereafter 

 use a tin water bottle, on account of its being easier 

 to fasten to the cage, as well as cheaper. Have a 

 little more charity for the express companies, 

 friend H.; they have their trials too, as I happen 

 to know.] 



turning a queen cell upside DOWN. 



Does it injure a queen cell to turn it upside down, 

 say the 10th day? Mr. Brink and I have an argu- 

 ment on the question .1 am raising queens, and find 

 it a first class job to get good bees. 



Fayette, O., June 21, 1880. N. E. Cottrell. 



[I do not think the position makes any difference 

 after the queen is fully formed, say the 8th or 10th 

 day, and I am not sure that it makes any difference 

 at any time. I think temperature has much more 

 to do with the development of the queen, than posi- 

 tion. If you get the cells a little outside of the clus- 

 ter, and they get slightly chilled, you will be very 

 likely to have queens with imperfect legs and wings.] 



MARKET VALUE OF QUEEN CELLS. 



What are queen cells worth, ready built, for the 

 lamp nursery? I want to make arrangements with 

 my cousin to build them up in his hives ready for 

 the nursery. I have only a few full colonies, and I 

 am working those for honey, so they can't build up 

 cells. L. A. Best. 



Best's, Pa., June 2, 1880. 



[Among our neighbors we rate them at 10c each. 

 They can be safely carried from one apiary to an- 

 other just before hatching, but, at any other time, a 

 little jolting or turning upside down may kill the 

 immature queen, or do such injury as to produce 

 wingless or legless queens. It is a great conveni- 

 ence among neighbors to thus exchange, and there- 

 by help each other.] 



clover honey. 



I send by express to-day a very light section of 

 honey, thinking it will stand the journey better 

 than a full one. Will you identify it for me, and let 

 me know? I have combs of it 2 inches thick, which 

 look just as clear, when held up to the light, as the 

 sample sent. Don't laugh at my section; it is a 

 pioneer, made in 1874. I use them without separa- 

 tors, and get 95 per cent of my honey straight 

 enough to crate. F. Della Torhe. 



Reisterstown, Md., June 19, 1880. 



[Your sample is a beautiful specimen of clover 

 honey, and, unless I am much mistaken, is from 

 alsike or red clover. White clover has a faint flavor, 

 peculiar to itself; but honey from the red clover 

 seems to be nearly a simple sweet, and, if I am right, 

 has at the same time a sort of rankness of taste, that 

 the white clover has not.] 



Have taken 1,000 lbs. of poplar, and 1,950 lbs. of 

 sourwood honey to date. J. F. Montgomery. 



Lincoln, Lincoln Co., Tenn., July 5, 1880. 



BEES AND FRUIT. 



Honey is scarce so far this season. Bees are nib- 

 bling at the Turner raspberries a good deal; they 

 suck the juice all out. P. Underwood. 



North Lawrence, Kas., June 22, 1880. 



TOADS. 



Toads are very thick here, and they do catch bees. 

 I put salt on their backs, and off they go, and keep 

 going, and leave hives and bees and all alone. Try 

 it and see. I. R. Green. 



Unadilla, Otsego Co., N. Y., June 28, 1880. 



Bees are doing nothing. I have not taken a pound 

 of honey yet. Last season, although poor, 1 had a 

 thousand lbs. at this time. My hives are full of bees, 

 but there seems to be no honey in any of the flow- 

 ers, only enough to keep up heavy brood rearing. 



Morrison, 111., July 7, 1880. F. W. Chapman. 



I built a Simplicity smoker last year, and it is just 

 splendid. I built one of the Bingham smokers last 

 week for a friend, but it cannot compete with my 

 old one. Every body likes it. It starts off with a 

 match in a little less than no time. 



Violet, Ont., Can., June 30, 1880. Dan. Wright. 



ABSCONDING OF NEW SWARMS. 



Not more than one-half of my new swarms will 

 stay in the hive, even when a card of brood is given 

 them. A. A. Harrison. 



McLane, Erie Co., Pa., June 26, 1880. 



[This has been a very general complaint this sea- 

 son, friend H., but it seems to me, if I was where I 

 could look into the circumstances, I would be able 

 to find a reason for it. Have you carefully noted all 

 the points to be looked to, aside from giving a frame 

 of unsealed brood, as given in the A B C?] 



BUILDING UP A QUEEN AND 1 LB. OF BEES. 



In your opinion, would a dollar queen and 1 lb. of 

 bees, if bought before July 1st, make a good colony 

 next year? My brother and father are going into 

 bees, and have also given me the fever. 



Sharon, Pa., June 25, 1880. G. L. Williams. 



[I should think there would be no trouble in doing 

 this by commencing at any time in the month of 

 July, under ordinary circumstances; but there are 

 so many circumstances to be taken into considera- 

 tion, that I am a little loth to advise new hands to go 

 into such a business. The queen should be prolific, 





