276 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



APli. 



may be a good thing for people M'hose system 

 is very sensitive to stings, to wear veils. I 

 do not believe, however, that I shall wear a 

 veil, liidcss it is necessary to go out among 

 very angry bees when something usual is go- 

 ing on. I think your caution will have the 

 effect of reminding me not to let a bee get 

 too near my eye. 1 can pretty nearly always 

 tell when a bee is likely to sting me, and at 

 such times I look out that he does not get a 

 chance. If he is really bent on mischief, I 

 would take time to strike and kill him be- 

 fore going on with my work. I can general- 

 ly do this by striking him to the ground with 

 my hand, and then putting my foot on him. 

 If you strike a bee down, be sure you keep 

 him down ; for if he gets up he will sting 

 you sure. Now, I do not mean because I have 

 said this, that you are to go into an apiary 

 striking and fighting every bee that comes 

 along. Attend to your business, and they 

 will attend to tlieirs, as a rule. Never stop 

 to strike a bee down as I mentioned, unless 

 it is pretty evident that there is no other 

 way to get along with him. Unless you are 

 an old hand at the business, I do not believe 

 I would advise you to try it, even then. 



BEES INTERESTING THE CHILDREN, ETC. 



For years I have had such an earnest desire to 

 keep bees, and know something of their wonderful 

 little ways, that my husband, at the last State Fair, 

 pui-chased nieahive well stocked with bees and 

 honey, from Mr. F. S. Wilder, Barnesville,Ga. Now, 

 if it does not encroach too much on your time, I | 

 wish to write you how much pleasure these bees, \ 

 together with your delightful ABC book, give ■ 

 us. Whenever I open it, e\'ery little fellow j 

 stands around my knee and listens and laughs as I 

 read aloud to them. Each and all of us have an 

 earnest desire to know you and little Blue Eyes. 

 Do you know any thing of the " dogwood "? Is it a : 

 lioney or pollen producer? I commenced with one 

 colony, but intend to have a Jauje apiai-y before I 

 give it up, and wish to know all about bees. My . 

 ajjiary will tie exactly like your " Grapevine" api- 

 ary. Mrs. R. a. Nisbet. 



Bloomfiold, (ieorgia. 



Dogwood has been spoken of as a honey- 

 plant, but I do not believe it bears very 

 much nectar— at least, the kinds we have 

 around liere do not. 



Wl.NTEUING BEES ON COMBS OF HOSEY IN UPPER 

 STORIES, ETC. 



1 commenced winter with 30 colonies; lost 19. I 

 am not discouraged yet. Last October, when I j 

 packed my bees for winter, I left two with the j 

 combs in the upper story. They wintered first class. , 

 Two-thirds of the bees are lost in this vicinity. I 

 have kept bees for si.x years, and never lost a I 

 swarm by going to the woods. My apiary is within ' 

 si.\ rods of the woods. 1 have small trees for them 

 to cluster on. I use the hiving-bo.v, and like it very 

 much ; it saves time and trouble. I have the alsike 

 clover, and like it for hay and pasture. 1 have S 

 acres on the ground now. ('. W. Poe. 



Jones, Mich., March 30, 1885. 



C.\LIFORNI.\. 



We have had no rain for more than two months, 

 and we are beginning to be solicitous for the fu- 

 ture crop. These are usually our rainy months. 



Sespe, Cal., March 4, 1885. K. Wilkin. 



TAKING DCWN NOTES. 



friend S.WAGE TELLS Tttl! CHILDREN ABOUT 

 WRITING WHAt THEY LE.iRN. 



EAR Boys and GIRLS: We all enjoy read- 

 ing your letters in Gleanings, and seeingr 

 the interest you have in bee culture. No 

 doubt many of your communications can 

 not find a place, as there is not nearly room 

 enough for them all. We older boys and girls are 

 sometimes troubled because our scribblings do not 

 appear in print, and we think they are better than 

 yours. But I guess Uncle Amos knows what is 

 best. If you knew him as well as I do you would be 

 sure of that. I'll tell you what we will do. We will 

 have a blank book, and write down all that we do 

 and see done with bees; and by and by, when the 

 big folks are discussing something that they think 

 very important, perhaps we can look over our 

 pages and find something put down, and can give 

 facts and dates that Avill be instructive, even to 

 those who know a great deal already. 



After reading what Mr. Root told the friends at 

 New Orleans about what has been done in bee cul- 

 ture for so many years, I got out some old books in 

 which I used to write down all operations among 

 the bees that 1 had a hand in, and found many 

 strange things that were not well known at that 

 time, but are now well understood. One book be- 

 gins 18.57, and you will think by that he must be an 

 old boy by this time. Well, he is not bigger than 

 some of you, any way, and often feels "just as 

 young as he used to be." It is very entertaining to 

 read over about those experiments and blunders, 

 and groping in the dark before we had the movable 

 frame and the observatory hive, and many facili- 

 ties now so common. I think I made some discover- 

 ies of things not known, or disbelieved, at that 

 time. I don't think any one had seen a worker-bee 

 laying eggs, and very many denied the possibility 

 of such a thing. Here is an item, Aug. 16, 1864: 



" A few drone - cells have been constructed in 

 observatory hive No. 1. In one of these I this day 

 detected a small bee (worker) depositing an egg. 

 On examination, several other ceils adjoining and 

 on the opposite side are found to be supplied with 

 eggs, from the same source most likely. I have 

 succeeded in capturing the usurper in the act of 

 depositing an egg— iirovid to be a worker, being 

 very different from a (jiiccii, and l)y trying to sting 

 when taken. On dissection 1 found one small egg 

 within. A microscope of sufficient power would no 

 doubt show more numerous proofs of a laying 

 worker." 



I did not genei-ally make so long a story unless it 

 was something unusual. To this day I have never 

 seen any account from any one that has seen that 

 process; but now we all know about it, and often to 

 our sorrow. I think there are many things to-day 

 that need your keen eyes to see, and your ready 

 fingers to note down, and you will not have to wait 

 twenty years, and hunt up the fact in an old record 

 book; for now everybody rushes into print, or tries 

 to do it; and if we find out any thing, and can prove 

 it, we may do some good. 



By all means have some kind of hive with one 

 comb only, and glass on both sides, so you can see 

 all that is done within— not before it is done, nor 

 after it is done, but while it ix doing. But the chief 

 thing that will give value to your observations, 

 both to yourselves and to others, is to write down 

 carefully what you see and do. The great Ruber, 

 you know, not only saw but wrote, and his wonder- 

 ful book was entitled New Observations on Bees. 

 Casky, Ky., March 20, 1885. Daniel F. Savage. 



