188.5 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUUE. 



HOW 1 MADE BEESWAX, AND WHY I AM OUT OF 

 THE BUSINESS. 



Ilyoui- "I'ool-killer" is at home, please send liiin 

 around this way. Ahem! I had a g-ood many old 

 combs; and when the bees " went dead" I rendered 

 the combs up and thought I could exchange it lor 

 foundation. I put it in a sack made of gunny, and 

 boiled it and dipped off the wax that rose to the sur- 

 face. After it got cold I lioilal it again, and set the 

 wash-boiler off and let it cool slowly. Then 1 took 

 it out and scraped the iiropolis (or something) off 

 the bottom, and hoilal it up and let it cool, seven 

 times. I thought as long as that stuff was in it, it 

 ought to be liDikd some more. I boiled it in the 

 wash-boiler, and once a week I cleaned up the boil- 

 er so that we could use it for washing purposes. 

 Once it boiled over and took lire, and might have 

 burned the house down if no one had been there to 

 put it out. Well, the more I boiled that wax the 

 worse it lookeil, till I began to think that it was all 

 a humbug— ne\cr had been bec«wax at all, but just 

 ])ropolls and dirt. Finally I sent to Messrs. Dadant 

 and asked them to send me foundation for it. Yes- 

 terday I had a card from them saying, " Your wax 

 has been spoiled by hoUimj- You should never 

 bring it to more thati a q\iiet /«)i7 " (I boiled mine 

 furiously), "and melt it only as much as needed to 

 clear the dirt away. There will be about one-tliird 

 waste in this way. When you eool it, let it cool 

 slowlji." I sent the wax by express, because they 

 ordered \iw to; but at the time, 1 thought it looked 

 as if a freight passage was good enough for it. I 

 have written to Messrs. Dadant to know how much 

 they had to pay on it, and I shall pay it, and next 

 time I will send— no, I wont, there will never be 

 any " next time " for me to render beeswax, if I 

 can And fires anywhere near to throw it in. 



Now, .\()u need not any of you send me circulars 

 telling the good (pialities of your wax-extractors. 

 1 won't buy any of Ihem; I am not in the beeswax 

 busine.=s any more. There will never be any more 

 beeswax cooked in my wash-l)oilcr, nor on my stove, 

 nor anywhere on this farm; not if I know it. Ahem. 



Vermont, III. Maiiai.a 15. Cmamikx k. 



REPORT FROM AN ABC SCHOLAR. 



VND SOMETHlN(5 ABOUT THE NUMUKIi 0|.- VEAKS 



IT TOOK IIIM TO GET SO HE COUI.r> KEEf 



BEES SUCCESSl'-UM.V. 



N ISVI or '7~ I had a colony of bees given me that 

 were in an old box hive, which I thought as 

 good as any. We were much pleased with 

 them, and thought we should soon be feasting 

 on honey, so we fixed a honey-box on top, and 

 waited patiently. Hut no honey reached it, and of 

 (rourse we were disapi)Ointed, and concluded it was 

 a poor season for honey. The next spring found us 

 without bees or honey. Supposing that the worms 

 had destroyed them, and thinking there was no 

 way to prevent, we concluded it was not worth 

 while to waste time with bees. In a year or two 

 after, we saw Gleanings advertised, and so, 

 through curiosity, we sent for a sample copy, which 

 induced us to subscribe, for one year; and the in- 

 fornuition gained caused us to i)rocure a new 

 swarm of black bees in a Langstroth hive, which 

 was in 1878. They filled the lower story, that season, 

 but nothing more. In 1879 I received ])arts 1st and 

 second of the A B C book; and by its instructions 



we divided our colony, and being very busy on the 

 farm, did not give them further attention, so no 

 surplus but plenty to winter on. In 1880 we in- 

 creased to four colonics, which were put in Lang- 

 stroth hives, and this season gave us no surplus 

 honey, but plenty to winter on. They were left to 

 winter without any extra iirotection, and the re- 

 sult was, the spring of 1881 found us without any 

 bees. By the use of movable frames I knew it was 

 not worms this time. Some said it was the cold 

 weather; but my bees were dying rapidly before 

 cold weather commenced. I then purchased an 

 ABC book complete, and read it carefully, and be- 

 gan to feel more interest in bees, and that it would 

 be a ijleasure to manage them according to the im- 

 proved methods. In June I received three frames 

 of brood and bees, with a fine Italian queen, from 

 your apiary. As it set in very dry they did not do 

 much until buckwheat bloomed, from which they 

 filled the brood chamber with bees and honey. 

 The description of the chaff hive gave me a desire 

 to test their good (lualities. I i-eceived one from 

 your factory, jilaced my bees in it. and a chaff cush- 

 ion over them. As it was the only chaff' hive in this 

 country, I felt that I was a little ahead. They came 

 out in the spring of ]88:i in fine condition, and did 

 well. The following season I received several 

 pounds of surplus honey, and increased to four 

 good colonies by fall, which were all i>ut in chaff 

 hives, and the spring of 1883 found them all in good 

 condition. As tliis was an extra season we had 

 plenty of honey which we enjoyed, and some to sell. 

 By fall we had ten strong colonics and five nuclei, 

 from which we had been learning to raise ijueens. 

 We sold a few, and introduced four into our own 

 colonies that had hybrid queens. They all raised 

 nicely marked bees but one. We find our strain of 

 Italians so (juiet to handle that we are trying hard 

 to keej) then\ |)ure, which is a task, as there arc 

 bla(!ks and hybrids near us on three sides. 



In the fall of 188:i we j)laced If in chaff hives, as 

 instructed by the .\ B C book. I'our of them were 

 three and four franu- nuclei we had raised queens 

 from. They were all left on their sunuuer stands, 

 as an expeiiment. One of three frames in a Lang- 

 stroth hive with division-boards and cushion, and 

 cushion over them, was carried into the cellar when 

 the mercury neared zero, and returned when it 

 moderated, which caused several trips; freciuent 

 examinations through the winter found them in 

 good condition, and the first of April. 1884, they 

 were all doing well. The colony that was carried 

 to and from the cellar had the most dead bees. 



Last season was not very good for honey. White 

 clover was worked on but a short time, and but 

 very little basswood bloom in this section. We re- 

 ceived only about .")l)3 lbs. of honey— half comb and 

 half extracted— and increased from 1.5 to 21. In the 

 fall of 1884 we jiut them in shape for winter, as fol- 

 lows: 14 in chaff hives, prepared as winter before; 

 two in Langstroth hives on six frames, with chaff 

 division-board on each side, and cushion above; 

 flveof four frames, in L. hives, prepared as last two. 

 All left on summer stands came through all right 

 until the middle of March, when I discovered one 

 of the weak colonies dying very fast, and in one 

 week were all dead. The others came through safe, 

 and made a fine start on sugar maple, fruit-bloom, 

 and black locust. The white clover is not furnish- 

 ing much honey yet, although thei'e is plenty in 

 bloom. 



