■)50 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov 



BED BUD, OR JUDAS-TREE. 



I can furnish 4 or 5 red bud, or J udas-trces, to any 

 of our bee friends, or lovers of a fine ornamental 

 flowering tree, and that will furnish an abundance 

 of nectar in April. J. B. Murray. 



Ada, Ohio, Oct. 3, 1880. 



VIALLON'S CANDY FOR QUEENS ; MUST IT BE FRESH- 

 LY MADE? 



I was sick when the Sept. No. reached me, and 

 therefore did not answer [See page 427.] Yes, I 

 have sent queens with as good success with candy 

 one month old. I have no doubt that coffee A sugar 

 would do as well, as the quality is due to the flour 

 and honey, as far as I can see. P. Viallon. 



Bayou Goula, La., Sept. 24, 1880. 



I lost a large swarm of Italians last week, by not 

 being a subscriber to Gleanings. Papa says "we 

 boys" don't know all about bees, and so we want 

 your journal. Kennard Shaw. 



Loreauville, La., Sept. 23, 1880. 



It is rather late to Italianize this fall; but if I 

 should conclude to do so in the spring, could I not 

 give the old stocks dollar queens after the first 

 swarm has left? "Would they not push ahead faster 

 than ihose that reared queens from the egg? Lit 

 would certainly save some time.] My bees gave me 

 40 lbs. of honey per colony this year, the most of it 

 being from buckwheat. I take Gleanings, and 

 like it very much. I for one would be willing to pay 

 25c more per year for the cartoons and pictures of 

 different apiaiies. Frank P. Greiner. 



Hanover, Jackson Co., Mich., Oct. 9, 1880. 



Hundreds of colonies of bees have died here this 

 summer among the natives. No honey, and hot, 

 burning hot, winds are causes. 



"The Cyprus Apiary." Frank Benton. 



Larnaca, Cyprus, Aug. 31, 1880. 



[Friend Jones, when here, pulled a postal out of 

 his pocket containing the above, which would seem 

 to indicate that they have blasted hopes in other 

 places as well as here.] 



Is it necessary to give more space between the 

 bottom of the frames in the L. hive and bottom 

 board in winter, to allow better circulation of air, 

 and prevent the entrance from being clogged? 



Wm. Wakefield. 



St. Paul, Minn., Oct, 13, 1880. 



[I do not think it will be necessary to give more 

 space, in any hive, if it is properly looked to; and if 

 you use a good chaff hive, you will have no dead 

 bees on the bottom-board at all— much less, in the 

 entrance,] 



QUALITY OF HONEY FROM COTTON. 



I took a frame of sealed honey from a hive yester- 

 day, and on tasting it, I found it had a very bad fla- 

 vor. It tasted something like cotton-seed, which 

 led me to believe that it was from the cotton-blos- 

 soms. Please inquire into this ; and see if cotton 

 does make such honey. D. S. Bethune. 



Snyder, Ark., Sept. 17, 1880. 



DARK FDN. FOR THE BROOD CHAMBER. 



Please send me 25 lbs. of fdn., size for brood cham- 

 ber, to be used without wires. I don't care if it is 

 dark, for such was the color of the last 25 lbs. you 

 sent me; and if it works like that, there is no use in 

 fussing with wires. I told some of it, and they all 

 say the same of it. A. Schneider. 



Louisville, Ky., Sept. 27, 1880. 



DEPOSITORY OF 



Or Letters from Tbose Who Have made 

 Bee Culture a Failure. 



sg^JROM 130 stands, we will not get 400 lbs., and don't 

 Jpl expect to carry half of them through the win- 

 ter, unless they are fed. No swarms this year 

 —not one. This is the first failure I have had since 

 I have been keeping bees— 28 years, and it does sure- 

 ly pinch. H. "W. "White. 

 Broad Run Station, Fauquier Co., Va., Oct. 11, '80. 



I began in the spring with 4 colonies, and those 

 badly demoralized by moths. I now have 7, 5 of 

 which are in chaff hives of your pattern. I have en- 

 gaged 15 stands in box hives, all blacks. 



The honey got thus far has cost five dollars per lb. 

 or very near it; but it is my fault, for we furnished 

 the bees nothing to work on during the dry weath- 

 er, which we should have been prepared for. The 

 Simpson plants grow here by the million in our 

 fence-corners, groves, and woods, and the bees are 

 busy on them aud Spanish needles all day. 



Lee Warner. 



Allison, Lawrence Co., 111.. Sept. 28, 1880. 



You do not say, friend W., that your hopes 

 are blasted, but I rather think mine would 

 be if my honey cost me the price you name. 

 This happens, too, where Simpson plants 

 grow by the million. I don't believe I would 

 invest in those 15 stocks if I were you ; not, 

 at least, until I had made what I have do a 

 little better. If you can not make one or 

 two pay expenses, I feel pretty sure you will 

 not do better with a larger number. 



This has been a very poor season here for bees. I 

 have about 50 colonies, and won't get 300 lbs. of hon- 

 ey. The greater part have enough to winter on. 

 The nights have been too cool or wet. 



T. S. Holsinger. 



Six Roads, Bedford Co., Pa., Sept. 22, 1880. 



It looks bad for a man who has plenty ot bees to 

 buy honey, but my bees have done no good for this 

 two yeaie. I will have to feed them to get them 

 through this winter, and I think I wih quit the bee 

 business, so you can put me in the Blasted Hopes if 

 you choose. J. F. Boss. 



Simpson Sta., W. Va., Oct. 2, 1880. 



Isold my bees some time ago. They didn't like 

 my way of doing business, and I didn't like theirs, 

 and so we dissolved copartnership. I did it unwil- 

 lingly though. I can sec a great deal better now. 



Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 8, 1880. H. J. Baker. 



My report for this year is like a great many others' 

 —very poor. I took 60 colonies of bees on shares this 

 spring. I had 20 of my own. From the 80 I did not 

 get over 150 lbs. of surplus honey. We had plenty of 

 white clover, basswood, and other honey-plants. I 

 think the cool nights in June and July were the 

 cause of the failure, the honey not secreting in the 

 bloom. I noticed, after a warm, balmy night, the 

 bees stored more honey. J. H. Thornburq. 



Winchester, Rand. Co., Ind., Sept. 28, 1880. 



