1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



593 



her introduced. 1 took her out of a ball of bees five 

 different times. I tried to introduce her the day I 

 got her; and when, on looking- for her half an hour 

 after, I found her in a ball of bees with one of her 

 wings nearly torn off. I tried her every day for Ave 

 days before the3 T would receive her. On openingthe 

 hive about 10 days after she commenced laying, I 

 saw a queen very much like the one I had just put 

 in, only she was much smaller, and had perfect 

 wings. I knew this was a young queen, and I took 

 her out; and on the next frame I found the queen 

 you sent me. They have not tried to supersede her 

 since. 



YELLOW ItEES FROM DARK QUERN?. 



I .just finished packing them in chaff yesterday, 

 and find that her progeny are all three-bunded bees 

 but they are dark. A stock in this same hive played 

 that game on me tkree years ago; viz., by raising a 

 queen and destroying the one I had put in after she 

 had been laying two weeks; but they did not succeed 

 this time. The first bees were black, but these last 

 ones were pure Italians. All are packed in chaff, 

 ready for winter when it comes, and I feel pretty 

 sure that all (20 swarms; will come out in the spring 

 O. K.; at least, I am sure they won't starve. 



J. W. Keek an. 



Bloomington, McLean Co.. 111., Oct. 29, 1880. 



FLORIDA AS; A HONEY STATE. 



In your remarks to H. A. Harriman, in Blasted 

 Hopes, May No., you justly charge him with care, 

 lessness; but there is a point where he shows the 

 trait, that you did not mention. He says, in speak- 

 ing of bee-keeping in the South, "Si far as my er. 

 perience goes, it is not a bonanza, and at present 1 

 am inclined to think the profits will not be so great 

 as in the North. Our honey is not so smooth, a little 

 more acid, and has a greater tendency to make one 

 cough than Northern honey; is darker generally, 

 and, when extracted, is sent to city markets and sold 

 for manufacturing purposes, and has to compete 

 with molasses. In 1870, mine netted but 45c per gal- 

 lon—not quite 4c per lb. Again, the honey-flow is 

 more continuous, but not so great at any one time, 

 so that brood-rearing goes on briskly, and but very 

 little surplus is stored." His carelessness is shown 

 by using the words, "Southern honey." All this may 

 be true of Arkansas honey, but it is not true, in a 

 single particular, of Florida honey, and I believe 

 Florida is considered a Southern State. The honey- 

 flow here, instead of being continuous, is divided in- 

 to four seasons, with two, three, or four weeks of 

 drought between. The honey here is as smooth as 

 any in the North, and most of it light-colored; in 

 fact, our cabbage-palmetto honey, which forms the 

 big crop of the season, la SO smooth and 80 light-col- 

 ored, that many fear that it will not sellinthe North, 

 on account of consumers thinking- it a manufac- 

 tured article. We have but one crop of dark honey, 

 and that is the last one of the season, and is used to 

 feed back during the next spring. As to the profits 

 here, I fail to see any reason why they should not be 

 far greater than in the North, as we have to go to no 

 expense to winter, and we never lose bees on ac- 

 count of the cold. The bees increase very fast, and 

 we never have a. year without a good crop of honey. 

 We can ship our honey to any of the big markets by 

 water, which is always cheap transportation; and as 

 we have more good pine growing in Florida than in 

 any other State in the Union, hive-lumber is cheap. 

 When I came to Florida, I cried "Eureka!" \ was 



correct. If any one wants to ask questions, send 

 stamps, as I can not afford to spend time and find 

 stamps and paper, for the sole benefit of entire 

 strangers, as many seem to think. W. S. Hart. 

 New Smyrna, Fla. 



two queens in a hive, again. 



I am what you might term a beginner in the bee 

 business. I had two colonies last summer in the old- 

 fashioned Langstroth hive; last fall I tried to Ital- 

 ianize both colonies, and I succeeded with one. The 

 other Italian queen, by some means or other, got 

 killed. The old black queen that I took from them 

 also died. I was under the impression all winter 

 that they were without a queen. I thought to raise 

 them a queen by giving them brood this spring, but 

 I discovered early that bees were increasing. I 

 transferred from an old L. hive to Simplicity on the 

 12th, and found a black queen and any amount of 

 brood, and quite a number of Italian bees. 



Now, the query is, where did the queen and Italian 

 bees come from? or do black bees ever have two 

 queens? It was the second day of October when I 

 took away the old queen, and I am certain she died. 

 Now, friend Root, what is your opinion on the mat- 

 ter? My bees wintered well, and I think they will 

 swarm soon. H. C. N. 



Strattonville, Clarion Co., Pa,, May 20, 1880. 



Two queens in the hive, undoubtedly, 

 friend N. You killed the old one, probably, 

 and as she was of little or no use any way, 

 they thrived just as well. 



WINTERING in a hill-side cave. 



I shall have to bother you with one question: My 

 first lesson in the ABC commenced with 6 and in- 

 creased to I!'. I want to winter without loss. My 

 apiary is on a south hill-side. I have dug in the 

 ground, and put straw under the hives, and an inch 

 board on each side, and banked them with straw and 

 then dirt, up to the top of the lower story. Please 

 tell me if this will do. All are 7 and 8 frames, with 

 cushions on each side. I take off the oil-cloth cover 

 for winter. Wm. Malone. 



Oakley, Lucas Co., Iowa. 



If you can avoid dampness, you will suc- 

 ceed very well in the hill-side, so far as win- 

 tering is concerned. But this plan, as well 

 as all other plans of indoor wintering, will, 

 many times, keep the bees damp and cold, 

 when they would be warm and dry in the 

 open air. A single hive in the open air 

 warms and dries through in a very short 

 time during any warm, sunny day; while 

 your hives in the cave would be cold and 

 damp. If you can make your side hill so as 

 to be a perfect protection from cold winds, 

 and yet admit all of the sun, it will be a 

 great help ; but I do not believe I would 

 have any earth overhead, unless you inclose 

 the hives like a cellar. 



TWO QUEENS IN ONE HIVE. 



Please send me a tested queen; I will stand the 

 loss, if any, by mail. I got one two weeks ago; the 

 two, one for a neighbor, came all right; but as I did 

 not heed your warning (bo sure there is no queen 

 present), I am out a queen and a dollar. "How smart 

 we are when we find it out ourselves!" Please send 

 by return mail. George W. Dillon. 



Canton, Stnrk Co., O., Nov. I, 1880. 



