246 



GLEANINGS IN J3EE CULTURE. 



APii. 



are having- the poorest luck, and I think it is the re- 

 sult of extracting- honey from the brood-chamber 

 during the honey season, and trying- to supply na- 

 ture with syrup. Sylvester Cook. 

 Cox's Mills, Ind. 



Friend C. extracting the stores from the 

 brood-chamber, and leaving nothing, is cer- 

 tainly eery had policy; but if Ave take out the 

 honey and give them sugar instead, before 

 cold weather sets in, I think we are ahead 

 of nature. Uur methods should harmonize 

 witli nature, and with the wants of the bees. 

 God has placed us here on this earth to im- 

 prove on nature, or, if you clioose, to assist 

 and develop nature. IJees in hollow trees, 

 where nature has full sway, do not by any 

 means winter successfully. 



HEAVY LOSSES IN CANADjV. 



I am sorry to report that bees have not wintered 

 well in this part of Canada (Ridgeway is situated on 

 the line of the G. T. Railway, 18 miles from Niagara 

 Falls, and 13 miles from Buffalo, N. Y.). I am un- 

 able, at present, to tell you just what the losses 

 have been in other parts of the i)rovince; but I 

 should not be surprised to learn that they have 

 been severe. 1 have taken some trouble to "take 

 stock" of this vicinity, and find the loss about 6.} 

 per cent. Djsentery is quite prevalent, although 

 some have died from other causes. My yield this 

 last season was about 86 lbs. of comb honey, spring 

 count, ])rincipally from white clover. Basswood 

 yielded sparingly, but we had a good How from fall 

 flowers. J. F. Dunn. 



Ridgeway, Oiu., March 13, lt^8."). 



A Itj-VEAKOLU BOY BEE-KEEPEH, AND THE REASON 

 WHY HIS HOPES ARE NOT BLASTED. 



I am a boy only sixteen years of age, and so of 

 course I do not know any thing about bees. I com- 

 menced last season with - colonies: increased to 4, 

 and took about 5 lbs. of honey. I put them into 

 winter quarters about Nov. 20, with lots of honey, 

 and to-day I lind but one alive. How is that for 

 cellar wintering? But in spite of all this, we have 

 got plenty of i^ricc lists, and oii'ls too, in this part of 

 Minnesota, so our neighborhood is not so cold as 

 friend Smith's and Pasley's. Seth Winquist. 



Atwater, Minn., March 10, 1885. 



I suppose, Seth, the reason why you are 

 still cheerful is, that the plenty of price lists 

 you mention tell you where' bees can be 

 bought cheaply, and those girls do their part 

 by making any boy feel ashamed of himself 

 if he attempts to put on a long face, or tries I 

 to look any thing like blasted hopes, with i 

 the world all before him. God bless the • 

 girls as well as the boys ! There are l)attles ! 

 before them to light; but witli the help of j 

 Ilim whose strong arm never fails, the end 

 shall be victory. 



50 saved out of 70. 



Many bees have perished during the winter. Out j 

 of 70 colonies I have about ."0 left. Many that had | 

 ~, 5, or 10, report all dead, others pretty nearly all 

 gone. Even some noted bee-keepers have lost < 

 heavily. I lost four in your chaff' hives; had plenty 

 honey; think they were smothered by snow. They 

 had a good fly the other day; had dysentery badly. 

 1 had taken the pollen out, but I think it will be the 

 last time I'll do so. Your reversible frame, I think, 

 takes the lead for the present. S.H.Bolton. 



Stanley, Ohio. 



Friend IJ.. you say four in chaff liives had ; 

 plenty of lioney. Now, this " plenty of hon- I 

 ey "' may have been honey-dew honey, may 

 it not V If any one has had bees die in i 

 chaff hives, when fed up heavily on a syrup 

 made of granulated sugar, and' the feeding 

 done during warm weather. 1 should like to 

 hear the pai'ticulars. I do not believe that 

 removing the i)()llen had anv thing to do 

 with your losses; that is, I do not believe it i 

 made them worse^ 



ONLY left out OF 24. j 



My report for winter of 1885 is this: Fall count, 

 2i) colonies and four nuclei; spring count, 6 colonies, j 

 This is a little bad, but yet I am not discouraged; 

 will try it again. A. L. Linuley. 



Jordan, .Jay Co., Ind., March 14, 18«5. 



ONLY :J left out OF 17. 



My report for this spring is not very flattering. I 

 have two swarms left out of 17. The honey was 

 mostly eaten up in the brood-chamber, but plenty 

 in other parts of the hive. They were all dry in- 

 side the hives, but I think the cause of their dying 

 was that they ate all the honey in the cluster, and 

 the weather was so cold that they could not get to 

 other parts of the hive to get honey. The weather 

 has been very cold here— £6" below zero, and some 

 days an average of from 16 to \^° below. Inclosed 

 please find my order for a wax-extractor, for you 

 can plainly see that I am in need of one. 



E. W. OSBURN. 



North Adams, Mich., March 13, 1885. 



Friend O.. we are glad to sell you a wax- 

 extractor, but I would advise yon to be not 

 hasty in melting up your good combs. By 

 and by you will get the mastery over this 

 wintering trouble, and then your good combs 

 will be needed. They will" keep a lifetime, 

 if properly cared for. 



CHAFF-PACKED HIVES NO BETTER THAN COMMON 

 ONES. 



There is a great mortality among the bees in this 

 locality this winter. Every one 1 have heard from 

 has met with a partial, and many of them a total 

 loss. The winter has been unusually severe on the 

 little fellows, from some cause or other. I have 

 lost 8 out of 17. I see no great difference between 

 the chaff' and common hives. Some, as strong stock 

 as I have, I did nothing to in the fall; some in chaff' 

 are very weak, whilst all have honey. It will re- 

 quire care and attention to bring them through. 

 John Coulter, Sk. 



Oxford, Ohio. March 16, 1885. 



Do not be in haste, friend C., to draw con- 

 clusions, especially with so small a number 

 of bees. If your bees are put away as direct- 

 ed in the A B V book. I am inclined to 

 think the losses will not be very heavy. 



ALL DEAD IN CHAFF HIVES, BUT ALIVE IN SI.M- 

 PLICITY. 



Can you give me an idea of what is the matter 

 with my bees':r' I have lost 10 colonies in chaff hives, 

 while the bees in Simplicity hives, >v'ith a little chaff 

 over them, are all right, and in as good shape as 

 when put up in the fall. They have plenty of 

 stores, but the h.oney is bad— nearly all honey-dew. 

 Do you think the honey-dew killed thcm'r' I have 

 made candy from granulated sugar, and fed those I 

 have left. The chaff hives had cushions and loose 

 phaff over them, and the full width of entrance left 



