1885 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



to strike directly on tlie crate that holds our 

 sections? Some years ago I decided that we 

 want protection, because without it I find 

 the bees would not work well on the outside 

 sections ; but after a protection in the shape 

 of an outer case was furnished them, they 

 went right into the outside sections and 

 filled them almost as quickly as the inside 

 ones. This matter needs a careful looking- 

 into. 



MAKIXG FOUNDATIOX STICK TO SECTIONS. 



When using the Parker fastener, or other 

 similar devices, several of the friends have 

 had trouble from the fdn. dropping off ; but 

 the general conclusion seemed to be that it 

 Avas because the sections were not dried in 

 the sun, or near a stove, before putting in 

 the fdn. 



PUF.LISII1NC+ STATEMENTS IN THE HEE- 



.lOURNALS, THAT SEE3I TO HAVE THE 



STAMP OK MISTAKE OR FALLACY 



ON THE FACE OF TIIEM. 



Prof. Cook gave us an excellent essay, 

 where he good-naturedly rebuked (piite a 

 number of the brethren. lie thinks the pa- 

 pers which have been published in regard to 

 the conversion of worker-eggs into drone- j 

 eggs, by the bees; also getting queens that 

 lay worker-eggs, without ever having met a 

 drone, etc., should never have appeared in 

 print. I thought so for a good wliile, and 

 kept the letter on tlie latter sul).ject for six 

 months before I published it. Now, I am 

 not yet satisfied that tliis thing is a mistake 

 or a fallacy ; but even if it is, it seems tcx me ! 

 it has hati the effect of bringing out a good 

 many facts. I have sometimes thought that 

 it is a good plan to make the brethren de- 

 fend their positions, and the most tliat we 

 accomplish in bee culture, or any thing else, 

 is by a midtitude of testimonies and ex- 

 periences. It is. however, quite true that 

 we may carry things to too great a lengtli, 

 and I thank friend Cook fcr his timely cau- 

 tion. 



CAIINIOLAX 15EES. 



A letter was read from A. J. King, of the 

 Bee-Keepers'' MayKzinc, and from Mr. Shuck, 

 of Iowa, extolling the above bees quite 

 highly. 



Concluded in our next. 



MY REPORT FOR 1884. 



SHALIi WE THROW AWAY OUR ODD-SIZED HIVES, 

 AND GET NEW ONES ALL UNIFORM, ETC.? 



fHANK you for publishing my article in Oct. 

 Gleanings, even if you did take the head 

 off the thing-. You are quite a hand to de- 

 capitate and curtail; and although I do not 

 always quite like it. it may be that my arti- 

 cles are often like a snake— better without a head; 

 or like a hornet— better without a tail. In answer 

 to your criticisms of my article (page 603, Oct. 

 Gleanings), I would say : My idea is, that when one 

 has the stock on hand of hives, honey-boxes, etc., it 

 is better to utilize them, even at some inconveni- 

 ence, than to throw them away. When one is buy- 

 ing, or making and building up in movable-comb 

 hives, he should by all means have them all alike. 



I have tried this diversity of frames a little; not 

 much, but enough to become thoroughly disgusted 

 with it. But when a stock Is doing well in odd-sized 

 frame or box hives it is better to leave them alone 

 until for some reason it becomes necessary to ma- 

 nipulate them. Before you go to the expense of 

 money, time, and waste, be sure that the gain will 

 overbalance the loss. The cost in such cases gener- 

 ally exceeds the estimate. 



I did not advise" investing in bulk honey-boxes. I 

 said, use what you have rather than throw them 

 away. It might, indeed, be well to cut the honey 

 out of newly filled frames when customers bring 

 vessels to your house to be filled. But when the 

 producer must furnish them, .5-lb. boxes are them- 

 selves such splendid vessels that I actually bought 

 some this year, and expect to make them pay well. 



ROOT'S PRICE LISTS 



Are a great boon and a great temptation to a fel- 

 low. It contains much valuable information for 

 the novice, and catalogues almost every thing an 

 apiarist can want. But, just what to get is the 

 problem. There are so many little notions it would 

 be so nice to have, and at low cost too; but, cheap 

 as they are, if one attempts to get them all he may 

 suddenly find himself minus a certain article more 

 essential than all. I have had to i-evise an order 

 several times after counting up the bill. Not every 

 hatuly article is a necessary one. 



MY REPORT FOR 1884. 



Bees did very little in this locality this year. No- 

 body obtained much honey, and some got none. 

 My bees came through winter mainly in good con- 

 dition. Gooseberries bloomed as usual about April 

 2.")th, and for about a week furnished some honey. 

 Peaches did not bloom, and neither apple blossoms 

 nor dandelions yielded much. White-clover heads 

 make their appearance about May 20th, but it is 

 two or three weeks later before bees begin to ac- 

 complish much. My bees were in fair condition to 

 real) this harvest, the Italians and hybrids much in 

 advance of the blacks. The first swarm issued 

 June r>th, and one colony went to work in sections 

 at the same time. In the next month they gathered 

 their honey and did their swarming— more of the 

 latter than of the former. The hybrids did 

 the most of both. This swarming would not 

 vex me so very much if they would not haim and 

 " talk " about it so long before they get at it. After 

 filling every thing below they would hnug out in 

 front, crawl half way up the sections, and hanu! or 

 some would build a little comb, then concluding, I 

 suppose, they were not going to wear out their 

 lives storing honey to leave with the youngsters at 

 home, would stop work and hang to what they had 

 built until they got ready to swarm. The only 

 thing I could do was to swarm them myself; and 

 that, it was not always expedient to do. Early in 

 July, drought set in. Many of my new swarms 

 were just getting to work, or ready to work. White 

 clover bloomed in profusion during July. Subse- 

 quently we had a large crop of heart's-ease, and I 

 never saw more Spanish-needle blossoms in my life. 

 Yet after July 4th my bees did not store 10 lbs. of 

 comb honey. This in spite of the fact that we had 

 good weather with some refreshing rains in August 

 and September. Now, what was the reason? I 

 never saw so many grasshoppers, crickets, etc., in 

 my life. When crossing a meadow there would be 

 a perpetual cloud of these skippers in front of me. 

 Is it possible that these bugs caused to any extent 



