l88o 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



m 



string attached to the lid of the cage. I have been 

 advertising an introducing-cage during the past 

 j-ear through Gleanings, which, I think, carries 

 out this point of Mr. Doolittle's, in a special man- 

 ner; and the means of accomplishing the result are 

 under the control of the bees themselves. It has 

 been my experience thus far, that a queen is very 

 seldom, or ricuer, lost if liberated during the night, 

 if they have had sufficient time to become acquainted 

 before being liberated. T do not undei-take to ex- 

 plain this peculiarity; but I have noticed that, when 

 different swarms of bees are united just at night- 

 fall, they are much more peaceable, and less apt to 

 tight. When we become convinced of any such dis- 

 position on the part of our pets which we can use 

 to our advantage as well as theirs, we should be 

 quick to avail ourselves of it, and not stand back 

 and pooh-pooh at it as a notion. 



BEE-STINGS. 



Much has been said of late regarding severe bee- 

 stings. I had a slight experience that has taught me 

 one lesson at least, which is, to have a bee-veil 

 handy when working with especially cross bees. I 

 bought two colonies of bees last spring in American 

 hives— one Italian and the other hybrid. Well, as I 

 use the Langstroth hive exclusively, they must be 

 transferred, as a matter of course. So one after- 

 noon in May, during fruit-bloom, I proceeded. I 

 left the hive on its stand, and topk out the frames 

 one by one, and carried them two or three rods to 

 the new hive, where T shook off the bees and trans- 

 ferred the combs. I had gotten about half way 

 through the first (or hybrid) swarm, when in lifting 

 a frame from the middle of the old hive, the bees 

 with one accord raised and covered my face, head, 

 and arms, stinging me most severely. My wife had 

 the smoker, anfi 1 called her to smoke them oTf me 

 as I held the frame in my hands, and was wholly at 

 their mercy. She somewhat timidly came up and 

 helped me a little, but I had to put down the frame 

 as soon as I got to the new hive with it, and ilefend 

 myself as best I could. I finally subdued them, 

 and finished transferring. There was but one sting 

 in all 1 received (which were many) that gave me 

 any trouble, and that was a sting on the upper lid 

 of my left eye. It swelh-d somewhat that niglit, but 

 did no special harm until about 10 o'clock the next 

 forenoon, when it commen('ed Itotliering me, and I 

 thought there was something in my eye, and tried 

 to rub it out ; but my rubbing caused it to com- 

 mence inflaming to a rapid degree, and it was but a 

 few minutes before I was obliged to ijuit my work 

 and walk half a mile home, which I did under 

 the greatest diflieulty, aS my eye was so in- 

 flamed that I was almost blind (my right eye has 

 been useless since I was fifteen years of age). All 

 I could get to help me was to lie down and apply 

 cloths wet in cold water, changing them often. It 

 was more than two weeks before I could do much 

 work, as the Inflammation nuide my eye very weak, 

 and it was quite a while before 1 got rid of a kind 

 of blur before my vision. I supi)osed, at first, tliat 

 the sting had worked clear through the mcmbi-ane 

 of the lid, and I had a doctor to examine it, but he 

 claimed that such was not the case, and that it 

 would be impossible for such a thing to happen. 

 Be that as it may, I have had my fill of that kind of 

 stinging, and I advise people who have weak eyes, 

 or only one, to use a veil, as you can not tell when 

 you may get a sting that may lay you up for weeks. 



Poraeroy, O., Dec. 30, 1884. S. A. Dyke. 



I would suggest, friend D., that the rea- 

 son why uniting and introducing are better 

 done at nightfall is, that all annojance from 

 robbers is effectually cut off until the bees 

 can have time to" settle down quietly. 

 Through the daytime, sentinels are obliged 

 to keep a lookout for robbers, strangers, or 

 intruders ; and at such time a strauge queen 

 j or strange bees would come under the head 

 ' of intruders ; whereas, after bees have stop- 

 1 ped flying, no guard needs to be kept at the 

 entrance, and- tlie bees, as it were, are not 

 j on the defensive, as they are during the day- 

 time. 



PURE GEKMAN CAKP. 



A FISH 3.5 INCHES LONG, AND WEIGHING U l.BS., 

 A.MEKICAN R.4ISED. 



fRIEND ROOT:— As the carp is almost the ab- 

 sorbing question at this time, and seeing that 

 you and a great many others are interested in 

 their cultui-e, I will give you my experience. 

 In reading the Amrricftn Ayricultiirigt, of Jan., 

 1880, I found a description of the carp as given by 

 Prof. Baird, U. S. Fish Commissioner at Washing- 

 ton, D. C, whereupon I made application, and in 

 due time secured 20, averaging about 4 inches long, 

 of the three varieties; viz., leather, mirror, and 

 scale carp. This was in the fall of 1880, which will 

 make my largest carp about five years old this 

 spring. Now, you se«' I received them from the 

 first general distribution made by the government, 

 through Professor Haird; and if there are anj pure 

 German carp distributed by him, 1 have them. 



My largest carp is about '.Vt inches long, and weighs 

 about 14 lbs., and I have from that size down to 3 

 inches. This large one 1 speak of is a '• Mirror," 

 and has scales larger than a 2.j-eent piece. My pond 

 is the first one built in this section of the country, 

 about 70 feet wide and 140 feet long; when full, 

 about 7 feet of water at deepest point. It is built 

 on the south-east side of a considerable slope, lying 

 fair to the sun, which I tliink very essential to botli 

 hatching and growth. I have it arranged so that all 

 the surface water passes around the ]iond. 



Von si)oke in the Dec. No. of (ii-EANiNOS in refei- 

 ence to instructions on pond-building and carp cul- 

 ture, for sale at one dollar. I will say to all, that on 

 receipt of a stamp I will give all instructions need- 

 ful, free of charge. an<l I have had as nnich success- 

 ful experience as any one in the country. There is 



I no mistake; the culture of carp is a success. It is 

 of all fish the most readily propagated and reared. 

 The will become tame, and eat from the hands of 

 their keeper. Their fecundity is great. A fish 

 weighing 4 or 5 ll)s. will lay 4(HI,000 to 500,000 eggs, 

 an<l one of 10 or i:> lbs., 1,500,00 1. They spawn from 

 May to September. Their diet is largely vegetable; 

 they are not carnivorous, and should not be in 

 ponds with other kinds of fish. They will live in 

 water where all other fish will perish; for instance, 

 in pools, tanks, bog meadows or sloughs, as well as 

 in lakes, rivers, or streams. They go down in the 

 winter, and "kettle" in squads of from .50 to 100, 



' and stay in a tor|)id state without food until warm 

 weather approaches. 



Their growth is very rapid, making from 1 to 3 II s. 

 in one summer. That depends on condition of wa- 



i ter, and the amount of feed. They will eat almost 



i any thing. I have fed raw corn, cabbage, corn 



