532 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



FRIEND SHERBURNE'S FEEDER. 



I think I have a novelty of a fociler lor spring 

 feeding and stimulating purposes which I will do- 

 scribe for the benefit, may be, of some one. I 

 bought the cheapest tin, 10x14, and cut het sheet in- 

 to five strips 10 in. long, turned up the edges so as 

 to make little pans ^8 in- deep, put two or three 

 little slats lengtiiwise in the pans to prevent daub- 

 ing the bees. The slats need not be nailed; spring 

 the tin enough to hold them in place, that is all. 

 Set the hive level, and slide them in at the entrance, 

 under the coml)S. If -i! in. is too deep, make them 

 1.1 in., and a little wider; they will hold enough 

 syrup, and will slide readily under the frames or 

 combs of box hives. They can bo drawn out by the 

 fingers or a small hook; pour the Si'rup from a 

 small spout, to prevent running the pans over. 

 Whenever it is warm enough to feed at the top 

 these pans can be used at the bottom, unless the 

 colony is very weak; and for ease and convenience 

 I know of no better. I have used fifty this spring. 

 I am aware that they can not be used in every ease; 

 but I should make my hives so as to use them. 

 Their chief merit is, that the top need not be un- 

 covered and warm air allowed to escape; also labor 

 saved in feeding. Roland Sherburne. 



Lone Tree, la., May 18, 1885. 



Last night, about sundown, we (Mrs. M. and my- 

 self) were taking out some queens which were to be 

 delivered next day, and we caught a very nice 

 young Italian queen by the wings, very carefully, 

 too, and she doubled up and died instantly. We then 

 went to another hive (after again washing our 

 hands thoroughly), and caught the queen in the 

 same manner, and she acted exactly like the first 

 one. We closed up the hive after having put both 

 queens in on the frames of their hives, and left 

 them until this morning, when 1 looked at them 

 again. The first one we caught was as dead as ever; 

 but the other one was all right, and attending to her 

 domestic duties. Neither of the queens could have 

 possibly got hurt any in handling, as we were very 

 careful. Both queens acted exactly alike, and had 

 the same treatment, and they were sisters, and both 

 were laying queens. They had been laying for 

 four days. Now, can you tell me what is the mat- 

 ter? I have studied your ABC until I can repeat 

 it almost word for word, but can find no explana- 

 tion for the conduct of those queens. 



Pickering, Mo., July 9, 1885. G. B. McArtiiuu. 



Friend M., the above plienomeiiou is not 

 unusual, and it has been before mentioned 

 in the paj;es of Gleanixcjs. I have never 

 known it to re.sult fatally before, however. 

 But where a (lueen cramps ;nul doubles up 

 in this way, if slie is placed back amon<,' the 

 bees she straightens out all right generally. 



MRS. HARRISON REPORTS A POOR HONEY YIEI-D. 



The linden bloom has come and gone, and not one 

 pound of comb honey has been taken ott this season. 

 This must be one of the "off " years, as the " dishes 

 were all riglit side u)>"to gather it. The clovers 

 are lilooming, as it has been a showery season, but 

 the nights are too cool for the secretion of nectar. 

 Nearly every day bees are very busy for several 

 hours in the afternoon. There have been but few 

 swarms, and bees are not rich in wax, as tliey are 

 during some years at this time. Old honey is near- 

 ly all out of market. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Peoria, 111. 



AN A B C scholar GIVES HIS EXPERIENCE, WITH 

 .V LITTLE PLEASANTRY. 



I lui\e had the " hen-fever," and got through it 

 safely, and now I have got a slight attack of "bee- 

 fever," from which I am not yet convalescent. A 

 neighbor died very suddenly. ' His widow wished to 

 dispose of his bees. To help out, 1 bought five 

 swarms in old-fashioned box hives, and put them 

 on an old bench, where they have wintered safely 

 (no protection). Last week one hive swarmed. At 

 first 1 said, "Let them go." They clustered on top 

 of an elm-tree about 40 feet Irom the ground— an 

 imim iiaz swarm. It seemed as large as a half-bush- 

 el measure. It was too big to be lost, and so with 

 two of my boys we got up a ladder, cut off the limb, 

 and put the bees in an old shoe-box. Then I drove 

 across the country to a friend's— a bee-keepers even 

 miles off, got an L. Simplicity hive, transferred the 

 bees, and thus got "inoculated." I obtained your 

 A B C book, to find liow to treat the complaint; but 

 it only made matters worse. Thcdhcasc is sprraif- 

 inij. I liave built some hives have more under way ; 

 have been buying fdn. ; have made a smoker; pro- 

 pose to transfer all the colonies to L. hives. 1 haven't 

 got stung yet, hut I don't crow any for fear I may. 

 Excuse brevity (?). I only wrote to thank j'ou for 

 the information derived from your book. 



liye, N. Y., June 2, 1885. A. M. Halsted. 



AVe clip the following from the Canadktn 

 Bee JourmtL in the department of ''Our Own 

 Apiary:" 



bees CONFINING THE QUEEN. 



A swarm issued at our home apiary. The fore- 

 man removed all the queen-cells except three, and 

 no (itiicr (|\ii'('n cells remained in the hive, nor were 

 till ri; anymore started. About fifteen days after- 

 ward another swarm issued. On examining the 

 hive we found that the bees had actually kept 

 those queens confined si.x or seven days after the.v 

 should have gnawed out. One queen had been al- 

 lowed to hatch, she leading out the second swarm, 

 while the other two queens were in the cells, and, 

 Strange to say, the bees had seemingly continued to 

 put wax on the outside of the cells until they were 

 of an cnoniuius size. \V'e cut ojicn the i)tlK'r two 

 cells and liheratcMl the other two (juccns. They 

 were fine, and e<nild lly as well as (lueens hatched 

 several days. The wax was more than six times as 

 thick as is usual on ordinary queen-cells. We do 

 not know how to account for this strange freak of 

 the bees; in fact, it is hard to account for some of 

 the things bees do. 



Friend Jones, the case you present is cer- 

 tainly novel. We do not remember that we 

 have seen any thing of the kind in our apia- 

 ry. It is a wonder that the young (jueens 

 didn't starve, confined this length of time. 



HOW TO MAKE A CAVE. 



On ))age ;Ji;{ of Gleanings, May 15, 18{s5, Mr. D. E. 

 Brubaker asks how to make a cave. I will try to 

 answer the (|uestion, not exactl.y how to make a 

 cave, but a bee-house and cave combined, that will 

 give better satisfaction in wintering bees, than a 

 cave. M.y friend Julius Tojiell built a bee -house 

 on this plan, and such a bee-house costs very little 

 cash, only some labor that nearly every body can 

 do who is brought up on a farm in a new country; 

 viz., after the ground floor was excavated about I'i 

 feet deep, and drain laid (excavation 10 x Ki ft.), 

 studs weie set all around 2 ft. apart and outside of 

 these another set of studs so as to make a hollow 

 space 1 ft. apart. After the studs are boarded up 

 with any common or old pieces of boards, fill up 

 this hollow space with dry forest-leaves, then a top 

 fioor laid one foot lower than the length of studs; 



