434 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Sept. 



PATENT HIVE MEN: HOW TO TREAT THEM, ETC. 



A patent hive man came along, and took a peep 

 at my two, nice Simplicities. He was evidently "hack- 

 ed." He did not offer to sell me any of his hives. 

 He rested a few moments in my library, and while 

 there, I showed him my ABC, and also my nice, 

 new, Simplicity smoker which you had just sent me. 

 He must have both, so I sold him my book and 

 smoker for the same that I can procure them for 

 from you; for who can do without them? This man 

 did not know that bees could rear a queen from 

 brood. He said he had sold a great many hives, and 

 transferred a great many swarms. He knew of sev- 

 eral qucenless colonies among his patrons, but did 

 not know the remedy. What do you think of that? 

 I say let every man stick to his calling; and, if he 

 embarks in a new one, let him at least try to under- 

 stand something about it before he begins to take 

 money from his fellow men. I can forgive this man 

 however, for he told me he would read ABC, and, if 

 he does, you may be sure he will come out all right. 



Bees are doing well in our county. We have a 

 great deal of the horsemint (Monarda Punctata) 

 here. It begins to bloom in April and lasts until the 

 middle of July. It yields large quantities of honey 

 of excellent quality. J. E. Lay, M. D. 



Hallettsville, Texas, July 12, 1880. 



THE GIVEN DIES. 



The dies that I spoke of as mine, were, of course, 

 made by Mr. Given, and belonged to my mill which 

 I bought of him. Why, bless you, I have got two of 

 these presses, and I consider them staple goods. I 

 wish I had 1,000 of them, for the Given press has no 

 competitor as a fdn. maker in wired frames, and I 

 consider it superior as a surplus fdn. maker. 



Dowagiac, Mich., Aug. 11, 1880. James Heddon. 



BEES THAT WON'T WORK. 



All my bees are doing well except one colony. 

 They not only have not done anything, but are not 

 disposed to do anything. It is a large colony of the 

 lightest colored native bees we have ever seen. 

 Several persons have mistaken them for dark Ital- 

 ians or hybrids. What shall we do with them? 



SOURWOOD. 



Its true name is "Sauer Wood", and it is a crook- 

 ed, gnarly, ugly growing, shrub undergrowth, com- 

 mon to the woods of Va., from the Blue Ridge to 

 the Sea. It is unfit even to burn, unless cut in Au- 

 gust and thoroughly seasoned. It bears large bunch- 

 es of cup-shaped, white flowers, both bunches and 

 cups hanging downwards. The nectar or honey in 

 the cups is a clear, watery, white liquid, very sweet 

 and very thin. It is to us what the basswood is to 

 you. No one of them that I ever saw attained the 

 height of 60 or 70 feet; in fact, it is very rare to see 

 one thirty feet high, op" as large as a man's body. 

 They put up a number of long, red, spine sprouts, 

 or suckers, from which the boys make whistles in 

 the spring, the bark slipping from the wood very 

 easily. I do not know how they are propagated. 

 We have also a very rare tree, bearing thorns and a 

 long, pod fruit, filled with flat, bean like, brown 

 seeds, and a creamy honey-paste between the seeds. 

 The pods are an inch and a half to two inches wide. 

 This is resorted to by bees when in blossom. It can 

 be raised from seed. L. M. Shumaker. 



North Danville, "Va., Aug. 2. 1880. 



I think you can make those lazy bees 

 work, friend S., by dividing the colony, and 



putting a young, fertile queen on the old 

 stand. If they won't work then, the new 

 bees that hatch out certainly will. When 

 bees get too lazy to fly off for stores, they 

 will always (so far as I know) take care of 

 brood, if you divide them, so that all hands 

 are required to do the necessary work of the 

 Inve. 



CARTOONS, ETC. 



What have you done with friend Merrybanks? Has 

 he "gone where the woodbine twineth"? or has he 

 gone to farming? I think the friends that thought 

 Our Cartoon silly, would think me more than foolish. 

 About one year ago, I had some old bee comb and 

 wax to melt up. So I put it in a large dish pan, 

 set it on the stove and told the boys to fire up; and 

 they did fire up too (as I was sick); for just as I had 

 got to sleep, they called, "Pa! Pa! the beeswax!" 

 Now I had been thinking what nice comb fdn. I would 

 have, but, lo and behold ! my wax was boiling over on 

 the stove, and a blue flame was reaching the ceiling. 

 My first thought was to throw water on it, but that 

 made it spit and fry the more, so there was no other 

 chance but to lay hold with my hands. I started to 

 the door, but it was more than I could stand, so 

 down it went on the floor. I was in my stocking feet. 

 ****** I went on crutches for six 

 weeks after, and suffered much. I will not say what 

 my wife said when she saw the wax on her clean 

 floor, and me getting around over the floor "like 

 a monkey in hot ashes." I never melted any more 

 wax, and never will till I get enough to pay for a 

 wax extractor. I believe, if I had seen your 

 cartoon in Dec. No., 1879, 1 would not have been io 

 foolish. Please give us a cartoon each month. 

 Those that do not wish to read them, can do as you 

 tell them to do about Our Homes. G. W. Stites. 



Spring Station, Ind., Aug. 9, '80. 



TOWNSEND'S PLAN OF GETTING QUEEN CELLS. 



I tried Mr. Townsend's plan of obtaining queen 

 cells, as explained in the July No. of Gleanings, 

 and was successful the first time, but the next two 

 times the bees tore the strips of comb all to pieces, 

 and I did not get a cell. 



HONEY PAILS. 



I want to growl a little, Mr. Root. Out of the 100 

 pint pails that I got of you, 68 leaked. Some of the 

 two quart pails leaked, but not near as large a pro- 

 portion. I shall try to solder the leaky ones myself. 

 You will have to look after your tinner. 



CHEIROGRAPHS FOR HOT WEATHER. 



The directions in the Jan. No. for making the chei- 

 rograph may answer for cold weather, but my expe- 

 rience teaches me that nearly double the quantity 

 of glue will be required in warm weather, to make a 

 firm pad. J. S. Dewey. 



Spring Lake, Mich., Aug., 1880. 



Many thanks for reporting about the hon- 

 ey pails, friend D. We did not make them ; 

 in fact, we could not do it at the price they 

 were offered in N. Y. I was very anxious 

 to have them so they could be put on the 5c. 

 counter, and they offered them at $6.00 per 

 gross. This would be a little over 4c. each. 

 I ordered a half gross, and they did not leak. 

 I next ordered two gross, so as to save 

 freight. Those I sold you cost me $4.58 per 

 hundred. The profit on them hardly pays 

 for crating and handling, to say nothing of 

 trying each one, to see if it would leak. If 



