1885 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



17o 



thanks to jou for the plain and practical instruc- 

 tion given in your ABC book, as I knew but very 

 little about bees or the management of them when 

 I began one year ago last spring- with one colony of 

 Italians bought of D. E. L'Hommeclieu & Bro.,of Colo, 

 Iowa, to whom I also feel thankful for some valua- 

 ble information, and for recommending to me 

 Gleanings and your A B C book. 



I increased from that one to six, by natural swarm- 

 ing and dividing; the first season I wintered in the 

 cellar, and lost two swarms by insufficient ventila- 

 tion, and the other four wei-e weak last spring, 

 from which I increased to 17 last summer, and got 

 about 75 lbs. of extracted honey and fiO extra Lang- 

 stroth frames full of comb, mostly filled with hon- 

 ey, and 15 frames partly filled with comb. Last fall 

 I bought four swarms of bees from parties who had 

 intended to brimstone them, and put them on 40 of 

 my extra combs, which contained honey enough to 

 winter them. 



I use two-story ten-frame hives, and brood-frames 

 in both stories; as I was running for increase 1 did 

 no fall feeding, and think they have plenty of stores 

 to winter. I have them in the cellar, and they are 

 all in good condition. 



My report is small, as compai-ed with many oth- 

 ers; but as I live in a i)rairie country, mostly newly 

 settled, and no basswood in reach of my bees, and 

 but little clover, it will account in i);trt for my 

 small report. W. K. Hasi.et. 



Zeariiig, Iowa. Feb. K), p-.s."). 



III)Ni;V IN THE FALL. 



I send you my rejiort for ISSt, not because it is a 

 big one, but to show that it is not best to be blasted 

 too soon. 1 atn a farmer, and so do not pay very 

 much attention to bees. 1 commenced the spring 

 of 1884 witli 8 colonics in Simplicity hives; wintered 

 on summer stdnds, mostly blacks, with once in a 

 while one with a yellow band. Willow, maple, ap- 

 ple-tree, etc., bloomed well, and I told the bee-keej)- 

 ers I thought we should have a good season. May 

 2!nh there came a frost that froze the ground and 

 killed every thing; even the forest-trees looked as 

 if they had been burned over, and it killed the red- 

 clover. White clover began to come up again, when 

 it became so dry that nothing could grow, and so 

 continued till after July 4. When it began to rain, 

 bees had nothing, not a swarm that I know of, al- 

 though I did not watch them closely, as I thought 

 they would not get enough to winter on, and were 

 not worth saving. They were killing off their drones 

 in .June. Not a basswood-lilossom ; sumac was kill- 

 ed dead. 



After the rains came, the second eiop of white 

 clover came up, and weeds and Howers began to 

 bloom freely. About the last of July I looked in 

 the best hive, and saw they were making some sur- 

 plus. I put onao6-pound crate, and the middle of 

 August it was filled. I kept putting crates on the 

 hives along, although neighbor S., our apiarist, told 

 me it was not much use, as he never got much sur- 

 plus in August; but the bees worked right straight 

 along till after October 1. Motherwort, catnip, 

 sweet corn, buckwheat, goldenrod, asters, and all 

 kinds of weeds, bloomed freely. The sumac that 

 was killed by the Irost came up the sec<md time, 

 and blossomed about one month later than usual, 

 so that bees did the best in August and September 

 here that they have done for years. 



From 8 hives I got 300 lbs. of honey in section 



boxes, and might just as well have got ICO lbs. more, 

 if I had put on extra boxes, as they got the bives 

 stowed full, and then stopped for want of room. 

 As it was so hot, and they were so cross, I hated to 

 disturb them; and besides, some that I took off 

 first, the moths got into. Can you tell how to keep 

 the moths out of honey, and will it keep over an- 

 other year and be as good as new honey? 

 Honey is worth at Watei-bury, where they make 

 j watches, 2J ets. a pound at wholesale, if you can sell 

 I it; but times are tluil. I see by Gleanings that 

 ■ many bee-keepers raise tons of honey, and it seems 

 : that the consumption does not keep pace with the 

 1 production. 



; QUEENS KEAUED NGKTH UK SOUTH— IS THEHE ANY 

 I DIFFERENCE!' 



I Do you think an Italian queen from the South 

 j would be as good for our latitude as one from a 

 I colder climate? H. Peukv. 



I Southbury, Conn.. Jan. 15, It>S5. 



j I am very f!.hu\ to know you were enterpris- 

 ! ing enough lo keep your eyes open, and take 

 j care of the honey "when it came, even if it 

 j did not come until long after old bee-keep- 

 ! ors were in the habit of expecting it. One 

 I who expects to succeed nuist keej* watch of 

 1 things, and never give up as long as warm 

 ' weather lasts. — I do not think that Italian 

 ] queens raised in the South will luove mate- 

 I rially different from those raised in the 

 ' North, tuiless, indeed, the process were car- 

 ried on for several generations. It might be 

 interesting, however, to investigate this sub- 

 ject. Test (jueens from Canada side by side 

 Avith those reared in Florida. 



FUOM 2i) TO 27, AND 1200 LBS. OF IIONEV. 



With order, I send you, according to custom, my 



; report for 1884. Spring count, 20 colonies; increased 



to 27; made 1200 lbs. of honej-, over one-third comb. 



I in Gray's sections. As cases seem to be the surplus 



' arrangement for 1885, I shall u.ake all my hives for 



cases. D. T. Whekleu. 



Khode lUver, Md., Feb. 2, 1885. 



FHO.M 2 TO 0, AND 2.'',0 LBS. OF irONEV. 



Last April 1 bought 2 colonies of hybrids; arti- 

 ficially swarmed some, and some swarmed natural- 

 ly. 1 increased to 0; bought 5 colonies of Italians; 

 last sunnner I got nothing from the five, but from 

 the others, that is, the 2 colonies of hybrids, I got 2.50 

 lbs. of comb honey. I have to feed some candy. 



Viroqua, Wis., Jan. 8, 1885. K. Y. Cakk. 



FKOM IM TO 137, AND iW BAUKELS OF HONEV. 



I started in Spring of 1884 with 1(H) fair colonies; 



extracted, up to August 2!t, .3:3 bbls.; have taken 

 j none since. Bees are in good condition; have 137 



hives with 20 L. frames each, and 40 nuclei, frcmi 3 



to 6 frames each. The latter I have to feed. I 

 , shipped 16 bbls. honey to C F. Mnth. Net proceeds, 

 { .*4(i4.10; 13 to Hewes, Sharp & Co., St. Louis, not sold; 



3 to Memiihis, (a 7c. ; put up 1 bbl. in glass jars, sold 

 i fel2>i tol.5c. Total, ,33 bbls. Wax, I had about 12.5 

 i lbs. I hope to see you at New Orleans this spring. 

 Lakeport, Ark., Jan. 12, 1885. K. J. Adams. 



FKOM 80 TO 114, AND 3400 LBS. OF HONEV. 



My report for 1884 is not encouraging. Com- 

 1 menced the season with 80 swarms; went into win- 

 i ter quarters with 114 swarms, all in fair condition 

 j for winter; took ott' 3000 Jbs. of section boxes filled 

 i with honey, and 400 extracted. I had a large supply 



