1885 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



98 



informed me a few daj-s ago, that he had about 300 

 in there of different sizes, mostly small ones, put in 

 about the 1st of Dec., and they were doing- finely. 



I see that I have forgotten to state that I enlarged 

 my first pond in the fall of 1883, until it measured 

 110 feet in diameter. W. H. Carpenter. 



Springboro, Warren Co., O., Jan. 12, 1S8.5. 



Thanks, friend C, for tlie valnal)le infor- 

 mation you give us in regard to this new in- 

 dustry. One of oui- friends lias sent us a 

 book by ^lilton V. Tierce, of Philadelphia, 

 fully describing tlie plan of making the col- 

 lector you mention, and also some excellent 

 ideas in regard to the construction of the 

 outlet. There are some good things in the 

 book, but it is a very small pamplilet, and 

 the price is .SI. 00. It seems to me too bad 

 that we can not have a nice little book on 

 this new industry for about 125 cts., or possi- 

 bly a little more". I think the Government 

 should see to it that some text-book like the 

 above be furnished at a modeiate price to 

 those who receive fish. The valuable letters 

 given tliiough Gleani>.'(;s would make quite 

 a valual)le little book ; and if somebody else 

 does not get at it, I do not know but l" shall 

 have to undertake the task myself. Perhaps 

 tlie book could be boiled down so as to come 

 within the scope of our ten-cent Industrial 

 Library. 



ALLEY'S DRONE-TRAP. 



A PROTEST .A.GA1NST THAT UNFAVOIi AlU.l* UKPOHT. 



t FRANCES, in Gleanings, June, IS^'4. says: 

 " I set the trap before a stand of bees. 

 They could pass out and in when so 

 • minded; but, about one-third of them, 

 after making a trial, became united and 

 went to other stands, and in less than a niiinite got 

 up a fight. After nuiking three or four such trials, 

 I laid aside the trap." 



Now, friend Root, you say the above is " not very 

 favorable." But, what are we to understand from 

 what friend F. has said, that he attempted to do by 

 using the drone-trap? Did he place it on the hive 

 to prevent swarming, or to assist him in cufo a 

 swarm issued? 1 can not make out wherein the 

 trap was a failure, or even had any thing to do with 

 the bees going into other hives. Certainly, it was a 

 very unnatural and \inusiuvl proceeding. If the 

 bees, on attempting to swarm, went into the air, 

 and, missing their queen, attenii)ted to return, why 

 did not friend F. say so? Why didn't ho tell us 

 whether the queen went into the trap or not, and, 

 in fact, give us more of the particulars? It seems 

 to me that his young bees were out on a "sporting 

 flight," and, his hives being too near together, and 

 the weather somewhat cool, tiiey might have got 

 confused, hence the trouble and failure. If the 

 trap was phiced there to prevent swarming, it 

 should have been removed when it was evident that 

 they would return to the liive, .^io that tliey could 

 pass in. 



It strikes me, that when such a thing occurred 

 several times, I should have removed the trap, as an 

 experiment, to see whether the trouble was cured 

 by it or not. Now, had friend F. wanted his bees to 

 swarm, why did he not remove the trap while the 

 bees were on the wing, and place it near the spot 

 where the bees were hovering, or perhai)s settling? 



Had he done so, they would have settled upon it; 

 that is, providing the queen was in it, and then he 

 could have hived them at pleasure. If he did not 

 care to have the bees swarm, whj- not, when he was 

 there to witness the operation, remove the trap, 

 and, when the bees had gone in, released the queen. 

 As you suggested, his hives must have been very 

 near together, or such an occurrence would not have 

 taken place. 



Directions for using the trap were published in 

 the Amfrican Bee JournaJ, and I am quite sure that 

 fi-iend F. had not read them, or he would never 

 have had occasion to make such a report. The :!d 

 edition of mj' book is in preparation, and I will en- 

 deavor to give such directions for using the trap as 

 will prevent other unfavorable reports of it. 



I append the report of one man who read the 

 A. B. J., and you can see how he managed. It is 

 evident that friend F. did not understand how to 

 use it. The trap in this case worked just as I in- 

 tended, with the exception of the bees going into 

 other hives, which I am quite sure they will seldom 

 do in such cases. 



As to the unfavorable reports, I can say that all 

 the best hives, and, in fact, every thing we have in 

 the "bee line," have had unfavorable reports made 

 of them. But when people are taught how to use 

 them, favorable reports will be made in all cases. 



H. Ar.LEv:— I had a colony that swarmed, and the 

 trap did its work beautifully. I am highly delight- 

 ed at being so successful at my first attempt. The 

 bees went olf for a short time; but when they foiind 

 their queen was not with them, they returned, and 

 covered the whole front of the hive. I removed the 

 parent colony- back, and placed a new hive filled 

 with t'oundation on the old stand and let the bees 

 go in, releasing the queen from the trap at the 

 same time. B. F. Newcomb. 



I 100 Washington St., Chicago, 111. 



I Wenham, Mass., Jan. 16, 1885. H. Am-ev. 



I But, friend Alley, it seems to me the di- 

 rections for using the trap should be sent 

 with each one. It is always customary to 

 fiunish piinted directions,' free of charge, 

 with the article itself, if there is any danger 

 of not being able to use it properly. Even 

 though the directions have been" given a 

 good many times in the journals, to make a 

 sure thing of it a copy had better be pasted 

 directly on the implement. I'rinted direc- 

 tions cost only a few cents per hundred, 

 when we buv them bv the thousand. 



FROM 23 TO 52, AND 2000 LBS. OF 

 HONEY. 



.\ RKI'ORT FROM THE HEUDON STRAIN OK HEKS, 

 AND SOME OTHER MATTERS. 



J' COMMENCED the season with 23 colonies, which 

 ^ have done exceedingly well, considering the 

 L season. The bees did well on white clover, but 

 ■ at no time was the How of nectar rapid. Bass- 

 wood was of short duration, not lasting over a 

 week. This closed our honey season, as the fall 

 blossoms were a failure. 1 kei)t 15 stands for honej , 

 and the remainder for increase and raising ([ueens. 

 During the season tne number of stands was in- 

 creased to .")2, and from them 2000 pounds of extract- 

 ed and comb honey obtained. 



My bees are Italians and hybrids, of James Hed- 

 don's and Oliver Foster's stock, with which I am 

 well pleased. Those obtained of James Heddou are 



