1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



545 



a quart, which jarred off and settled about the root 

 of a currant bush. These soon took wing 1 and en- 

 tered the caves of a neighbor's house. 



A beginner in bee-kpeping, 1 thought I surely had 

 the queen. On visiting a supply dealer in business, 

 he advised me to look for brood. I did so, but did 

 not find any; but I did find that a strong colony had 

 become weak within three weeks, and I sent to A. I. 

 Hoot for a dollar queen, and received her by return 

 mail May 26th. I at once placed the cage above the 

 frames, and the bees were delighted, feeding- her 

 through the meshes. Within an hour I opened the 

 cage, and she was allowed to pass among- the combs 

 unmolested. The colony was very docile, and I in- 

 troduced without smoke. On looking in next day, I 

 soon discerned her with attendants paying her as- 

 siduous attention. She commenced laying in about 

 a week, but not very freely; this I attributed to her 

 long- journey. 



By July they were about half Italianized, but still 

 weak; so, I introduced a frame well filled with brood 

 and honey. This produced quite a number of 

 blacks, and visibly strengthened the colony. Her 

 progeny were of the same quality as the escort bees. 

 Some, of course, were darker than others, and very 

 gentle and industrious. I enjoyed watching them 

 very much when they came home. They seem so 

 much larger than the blacks, that I concluded they 

 carry heavier loads. I shall not be satisfied until all 

 my colonies are transferred and Italianized. In 

 August they wore still weak and short of stores, and 

 so I fed them until fall honey commenced coming 

 In. Then the queen disappeared, and I secured an- 

 other frame of brood, and they are now, with few 

 exceptions, blacks— weak and short of stores. 



H. M. Nicholson. 



Camden, N. J., Oct. 10, 1880. 



WHAT TO DO WITH BEES THAT NEED FEEDING IN 

 NOVEMBER. 



I can get a good many bees that will be killed, by 

 going for them, and if sugar will do will try to use 

 them. Nothing but black bees in this country, ex- 

 cept one Italian nucleus I got of H. H. Brown this 

 summer. My crop will be nearly 1000 lbs., all comb, 

 in 6x6 sections, from 21 stands in spring. Only five 

 swarms -surplus all buckwheat. 



T. F. SlIEPHARD. 



Town Hill, Luzerne Co., Pa., Sept. 4, 1880. 



It will be a little risky to try to winter col- 

 onies without combs, friend S.; but if you 

 can get the combs also, or if you can spare a 

 comb or two from several stocks of your 

 own, I think you can save them without 

 trouble. Years ago, some of you may re- 

 member I was very vehement in advocating 

 coffee sugar as being cheaper and superior 

 to honey for winter stores. Our friend 

 Jones, when here, says that I may say that 

 my position was all right on this, for he has 

 tested it with hundreds of colonies. The 

 only amendment he would make would be 

 to use a purer sugar still than coffee A, and 

 he has settled down on granulated sugar as 

 being best and cheapest, all things consid- 

 ered. It costs only ic more than the A, and 

 very likely furnishes just as much pure su- 

 gar for the money, lie wintered 168 colo- 

 nies entirely on sugar last winter, and all 

 came out all right. We have fed out two 

 barrels of it since he left. For winter stores, 

 we melt grape sugar, let it get cold or nearly 



so, and stir in about an equal weight of the 

 granulated sugar. It is stirred in a large 

 dishpan, and wdien it is so stiff that it can 

 be handled with a paddle, it is put into wired 

 frames in the way I have told you. In half 

 a day, or perhaps a little more, if the weath- 

 er is warm, the frame can be hung in the 

 hive, and it is the most satisfactory way of 

 feeding I have ever used. One of these 

 frames will be emptied into the combs in 

 about two or three days, and the stores are 

 ripe and thick enough to cap at once. The 

 only trouble I have found, is that the bees 

 build comb in the empty frame about as 

 soon as the candy is out of it. You must 

 look out for this, and get it out, and move 

 up the division board. The tray to set over 

 the frames will answer the same purpose ; 

 but in our queen work we find the frame of 

 candy less in the way. One set of wired 

 frames may be used over and over again. 



GALVANIZED IRON HONEY-TANKS. 



Will you please inform me if you or any one you 

 know has had experience in the use of a galvanized 

 tank to keep honey in? Would the acid of the honey 

 acton it, and what would be the effect? How long 

 will tin generally last if used for the purpose? 



PAINTING TANKS IHSIDE. 



If a cask or tank were painted inside, would the 

 paint have any bad effect on the honey? 



COOPERING. 



Do you know of any published work on coopering? 

 We have the timber in the mountains, and may be 

 under the necessity of making our own honey-casks, 

 but have no time to go and learn the trade. Perhaps 

 we can get hints from books that will enable us to 

 pick up enough of the trade for our purpose. 



HONEY VS. SUGAR, AS A BEE FEED. 



Have you ever practically tested the question, Will 

 1 lb. of coffee sugar go as far, or further, in feeding 

 bees, as 1 lb. extracted honey? 



A CHEERING REPORT. 



I started last spring with 10 stands of bees; have 

 devoted U of the time of myself and boy to caring 

 for them, making frames, etc. I put in full sheets of 

 comb fdn. on wired frames, and have, as the result 

 of the capital and labor, 40 swarms and 3800 lbs. of 

 honey, worth probably 5c per lb. as it stands. My 

 bees are hybrids—good to work, but heavy on the 

 sting. 



ALKALI WATER. 



The 5-cent wash-basin we got from you was quite 

 a gem; but our alkali water made black spots all 

 over it in a few days, and would soon have eaten it 

 up. I gave it two coats of paint inside, and now it 

 promises to last a long time. Moral— Let those who 

 have alkali water, paint their tin basins, pails, etc. 



THE FOUNTAIN PUMP. 



Would the fountain pump do for pumping honey 

 from the tank it runs into from the extractor up into 

 a large tank? 



Isaac B. Kumford. 



Bakersfield, Kern Co., Cal. 



Tin, if used for honey alone, Mill answer 

 almost indelinitely. — Although I have never 

 tried the fountain pump on honey, there can 

 be scarcely a doubt but that it would throw 

 honey. You would need to remove the noz- 

 zle, so as to give as large a passage as possi- 

 ble, especially if the honey was thick. 



Galvanized iron is not fit to use for any 

 utensil containing food, as has been amply 



