188-3 



GLEAXINCS IN BEE CULTL'HE. 



■^i 



the other hand, they who got only 10 lbs. surplus 

 per colony don't understand the business, and that 

 keeps many from reporting-, any way. Even with 

 the experience of ICO years, and a management 

 .superior to all others, if there is no nectar in the 

 Howers, nobody can expect much." 



He turned, and said good-by. I asked liis name; 

 but he said, " No, sir; I won't tell you my name, lest | 

 you mention it in one of those papers; but perhaps i 

 next year, if I should have a good crop, I will tell 

 you, and report myself. It depends on our Lord's 

 blessing." i 



So he left me, and 1 had to think about it. ! 



Harvard, 111., Nov. 27, 18S4. ('has. Favst. 



Friend F., I know it is much as you say; 

 but it is not only so in bee culture, but in 

 everything else, "and I don't know how to 

 remedy it either, so long as tlie friends de- 

 clare they won't report. 



BEE CULTURE IN FLORIDA. 



REPORT FROM ONE OF THE GIRLS WHO FOR- 

 MERLY HELPED rS IN THE OFFICE. 



AM still happy in tlie work with the bees. I am 

 now rearing queens; and with a supply of pure- 

 drones, and at a time when wild or common 

 bees are taking their winter rest, I kec]) mine 

 working by feeding. 



THE SPIDER PLANT IN FLORIDA. 



Plenty of pollen coming in, and one large spider] 

 l)lant that I succeeded in keeping over the hot sea- 

 son is now full of bloom, and starts the hees out at ' 

 .') p. M., very much like robbing. I should be glad to ■ 

 hiive an acre blooming now. ; 



THE PARTRIDOK PEA. j 



During the season of the partridge-pea Idooni, the ! 

 bees paid no attention to flgwort or s|)idci- |)lant, ■ 

 i>v even the dripping l>anana-blooms, though the ; 

 amount of honey seen on pea-bloom seemed very j 

 small beside the other i)lants. ! 



I inclose a sam))le of bloom of partridge pea; I al- | 

 so send a small package of seed, as I think you 

 would like to try it, perhaps. 



.Mr. Harf, of .Siu.\ rna, does not have much faith in ! 

 the high jMiie land for bees; but I have found a long j 

 list of honey-producing plants in this region; ami j 

 with the cultivated groves and gardens, and the de- j 

 lightful sunshine, bees certainly ought to do well, 

 and I believe they will. 



I scatter your price lists among neighbors, and I 

 there seems to be quite a boom lor bees this year in \ 

 Florida. Nellie Ad.vms. 



Sorrento, Florida, Dec, 1881. 



Thanks for your report, friend Nellie. ! 

 And it is really true, is it, that one who used j 

 to work at a desk right among us is now 

 succeeding in that I'ar-olf land of llowersV 

 F>y the way. does not the spider plant grow ! 

 contiiuiously from year to year witli youV I 

 have been told, that in California, tomatoes ; 

 grow like a shndt, and keep bearing ; ;iii(l as , 

 the spider plant is so like the tomato in its , 

 habits, 1 should suppose this would be the i 

 case, and that if supi)lied with plenty of i 

 water it Avould bloom for months iniinter- 1 

 ruptedly. Can yoti tell us if tliis is so? We! 

 want to know more about that banana with j 

 dripping blooms. You speak of feeding. 

 About how many months in the year will 

 vour bees take feedV Cei'tainly not when | 

 Ihese plants you mention are in bloomV ' 



FRIEND BAUM'S TROUBLE. 



FEEDING BEES WHILE THEY ARE IN THE CELL.Ut, 

 ETC. 



T HAVE been wanting to write to yo\i for some 

 ^f time, but T dislike to bother a man as kind as I 

 *j think you are. Rut the last Gleanings was 

 -^ too much for me, where you speak about ask- 

 ing advice of an old fai-mer. Now, T am an old 

 soldier, and not able to do much work, in conse- 

 quence of a disability contracted in the army. 1 

 am neither poor nor rich, but have a good little 

 farm, a good wife, and three little boys. Two years 

 ago I thought I would try bees, and paid ?.">0.ro for 

 ten good strong stands of bees. Well, I was green; 

 but I increased to 30. and sold ST.").On worth of conil> 

 honey, and had plenty for my own table. Then I 

 had such glorious fun in hiving the new swarms, 

 and lost only the first one. 



Late in the fall I put them in mj- cellar, wliich is 

 very large; and when spring came I had lost one. 

 I put them out, and then lost five or six by spring 

 dwindling. I could have saved them, if T had had 

 sense enough to feed them. But, all right so far. 



This summer we have made but little honej', and 

 this fall I found I had U that had but little honey. 

 I got a barrel of A sugar, and fed them as they 

 seemed to need it. I fed them by putting the syruj) 

 in shallow pans on top of the frames, biU under the 

 hood or upper story. I fed at night to avoiil rob- 

 bers. Two weeks ago I put them in tlie cellar, and 

 since tlu-y ha\e bi-en in there they won't eat theii- 

 feed. They seem to be lively, but I know they have 

 almost no honey. Now, I have bothered you all 

 this time to ask you, "How shall Tget them to eatV ' 

 I do not wish to double them up, and I should liki- 

 to keep them until spring, for I know that bees will 

 be scarce here in the spring. I keep the cellar dark. 



tiERM.VX C.VRP. 



I see you ha\f a carp-pond too. Iha\c had om- 

 two years. We took out several this fall to cat. 

 They were about is inches long. Tliey arc not a 

 very good Hsh, but still they do to eat. We still 

 have one in a bo.\, that we expect to cat on ( hrist- 

 nias. (iEoitc.E \V. Uaim. 



Delphi, Ind., Dec. 2-2, 1SS4. 



Why, friend 15., you have been through 

 one winter and summer, and. I should say. 

 managed nicely. It would have liceu better. 

 of course, had you commenced feedinga little 

 earlier. Vour jilan of feeding was all right, 

 and ;t very few days witii such an arrange- 

 ment ought to have given them enough for 

 Avinter. There seems to be a dilliculty in 

 feeding bees in the cellar: for even if the> 

 do take it. it is apt to make them luiejisy and 

 discontentecl. Are you sure tliey have not 

 enough to last tiieni until we have warm 

 weather enough so you can set them out for 

 a tlyV After the llight they will eat the feed 

 all right without any trouble. Yoit might 

 try feeding candy, as advised in the A IJ C 

 book, and in oiir recent back numbers.— 

 Tlumks for your item about the carp-pond. 

 But. you are the lirst one who has reported 

 that "carp are not very good for foixl. So 

 they can be kept some time in a bo;^ or tub. 

 can" theyV Tiiis is an important item.— I 

 think your bees will certainly take tlu' syrup, 

 especially if made quite thick, before the> 

 will starve. They will certainly eat cand> 

 any way, if you put it in small lumps riglit 

 over the clu'ster. 



