i8a5 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



165 



1 lb. of blacks from a breeder, 7 miles off, once a 

 week, to make them store honey fast. I leil at en- 

 trance, and soon found that they were passing- the 

 honey through the screen, and the young- bees 

 gave them scales of wax to build comb. I spoiled 

 that by putting- in a double screen. They then 

 filled their hive full of honey, but could not cap it. 

 I one day laid out some sections with foundation, 

 and soon found that the bees were cutting- it up and 

 carrying it off. It proved to be my blacks, and thej- 

 were capping over their honey, and I never saw 

 bees work hai-der; at no time could I find a wax 

 scale on any of these bees. W. CoN^'Et,LY. 



Ogden, Iowa, Feb. 9, 188.5. 



Friend C, it is true that in the Ileddon 

 case the strips of glass are omltterU that we 

 have been in tlie habit of putting in our 

 crates for years bade ; and as tlie sides of 

 the crate go right out to the weather, it 

 would be hardly advisable to put in glass as 

 in ours. With the crate to go in the in- 

 side of a Simplicity hive, however, there is no 

 reason why glass should not be put in if it is 

 wanted. — Your question about the age at 

 which bees secrete wax scales depends a 

 good deal upon what you call a young bee or 

 an old bee. I have always been of the 

 opinion that bees of almost any age could 

 secrete wax for comlj-building, if they were 

 obliged to; but Langstroth tells us" in his 

 book that young bees— at least the i)riuclpal 

 part— do the comb-building. Yoiu' experi- 

 ment is (luitc an interesting one. A worker- 

 l)ee goes out to tiie li(;lds wiien about two or | 

 three weeks old. if 1 am correct; and if it is 

 true, that he never hangs in (dusters, nor 

 se(!retes scales of wax after this age, it is 

 something new to me. 



A CHAPTER FROM THE EXPERIENCE 

 OF AN ABC SCHOLAR. 



now I GOT MY FIRST COLONY. 



T WAS in the woods, and by chance found it 

 (lH elustcrcd on a chunk of wood that had been 



l|t split out of a tree to get the honey, anil the 

 '*- party, as usual in this section, left tiie bees to 

 take care of themselves. When I first saw 

 tliem my first impulse was to run away; but seeing 

 they were not so much for fight as I thought, I ven- 

 tured a little closer, and found them nice yellow 

 fellows, l)ut I had no thought of hiving them; but 

 when my wife heard my story she insisted so on 

 liaving them that I could not refuse her. The next 

 thing was, " What shall we put them in?" We had 

 no hive, so I took a box about one foot square, 

 bored holes for cross-sticks, and started for my 

 bees; and by the time I got there my heart was 

 beating more than you know, and I was so nerve- 

 less that my whole body shook. This is what I call 

 some of my experience. W'ell, I brought them 

 home without any trouble, and init them on a stand. 

 This was about the last of July, 1883, and the swarm 

 was a small one, so we fed them sugar syrup, and 

 some of my neighbors told me I would kill them, so 

 I quit feeding for about one month; then came the 

 ABC book. I opened it, and about the first thing 

 my eyes met was " Feeding and Feeders," so I went 

 to work according to your directions, and fed them 

 for winter. They were in a box made of li-inch 

 boai'ds, and so I put the bees (bo.v and all) into au' 



other box, and packed straw between the two; they 

 came through all right. During the winter I 

 bought four more. Now for my report. I com- 

 menced in spring of 1884 with five colonies. 



First, cost § 3.60 



Second ,5.00 



Third and fourth, S3.10 each 6.20 



One S. hive 4.00 



100 wide frames and other fixtures 43.05 



Total iSeO.S,-) 



T sold one colony ; $7.00 



Comb honey, ]» lbs. at :i.5 cts. per lb 3.C0 



Total receipts SIO.OO 



The bees owe me $50.8.5 



How is that for "high"? Oh: hold on! I have 

 eleven colonies here yat- They are worth S7.P0 

 each. I would not say that, but I could sell them 

 for that money. 



THE WAV IX WHICH KniEXD K. AND UIS \VIFE 

 MADE I'nOOKESS DUIUNO THEIlt FIKST SEASON. 



There is but one man in my immediate neighbor- 

 hood who has the movable-frame hive, and he has 

 the S. hive; my wife and I did ourowntransferring, 

 and some other that I did not give in ray report. 

 We did it all in time of ajjple-bloom. It seems to me 

 your bees are hardier than the bees here, or at least 

 they do not dwindle as the rest of my bees do. The 

 colony that I ga\e the queen to, which I got of you, 

 stands the winter better than the rest do, and they 

 had no better treatment than the rest of my bees. 

 They are all in Simplicity hives, with division- 

 board* filled back of them with chaff and old clothes. 

 The colony above mentioned does not Hy as much 

 as the rest when it comes ott' warm, yet they are as 

 strong as any of the rest. 



1 have some spi''er-plant seeds of the Clcomr 

 spcciotflssimo, and it yields lots of nectar. If you 

 want any of this I can let you have about an ounce, 

 at whatever you think right. It grows about 5 ft. 

 high, and l>ranches a good deal. The branches 

 grow about 3 ft. long. I gathered that se^d all 

 from five stalks; but, oh what great drops of nec- 

 tar! and the bees found out that it was sweet, and 

 they carried it all away. 



Now, friend Koot, for the tobacco, last but not 

 least. 1 am now :]1, and have used tobaecp since I 

 was about 14, both chewing and smoking. Some- 

 times I would quit for a little while, and then at it 

 again, but I was ashamed to smoke where peoole 

 would see me, and still I clung to it, and it bound 

 me in its chains so completely that now it is no easy 

 task to break its fetters; but, brother (if the word 

 "brother" seems out of i)lace excuse me, but it 

 seems the right one to me the way I use it, ttiat in 

 Christ), I am a teacher in Sabbath-school, and one 

 of my scholars said to me one day, " Why, you have 

 l)een smoking; lean smell it in your Breath." Do 

 you know how that has bothered me since? Just 

 think of a man trying to lead others, when he is 

 blind himself. God does not want the blind to lead 

 the blind, but ho wants those who can see to do that 

 work, lest they both stumble and fall, so I have 

 made up my mind to try to quit the use of that 

 filthy weed, and I now lake my stand with many 

 others. Will you pray for me? God help me, is my 

 simple prayer. It is no easy task. The spirit is 

 willing, but the fiesh is weak. J. A._Ki.me. 



Fairfield, Adams Co., Pa., Feb. 2, 1885. 



Many thanks to you for your kind letter, 

 my good friend. So the credit of your 

 bee-kteping belongs much to the energy 



