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<;IJoAN1Kgs m ii^k cUl/llillE. 



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LOCATION OF AN APIARY IN A VAI.I.EY, NOT DE- I 



sikabi.k; a oooi> yield fkom basswood. I 

 In your A B (' book, on p. 11, you say you would | 

 have the apiary located in a valley rather than on a | 

 hil). Vour reasons lor the same are no doubt good, j 

 I live on the West Fork of the Monong-ahela Rivei-, ! 

 a pretty larg-e stream, and in the summer time j 

 there are a great many heavy fogs, lasting at times j 

 until ten o'clock in the day. I have thought that i 

 the fog was injurious to bees, as they seem to do I 

 better on the river hills than along the river bot- 

 toms. I am just a beginner, and wish to locate j 

 permanently soon. I should like to hear from the 

 brethren who have had a chance to know in regard 

 to the above. Gleanings is a very welcome vis- i 

 itor to me indeed. There is no white clover here ; 

 this summer, but the best yield of basswood for 

 years, lasting about seventeen days. Bees are now 

 working strong on buckwheat in the for part of the | 

 day. They swarmed but little here this season. 



L. H. Robe v. 

 Worthington, W. Va., Aug. 12, 1885. 



MANILLA KOOFINO-PAPER FOK PERFORATED 



drone-excluders. 



I send you a piece of Fay's manllia roofing. 

 Won't it do for honey-boards and drone-exchiders, 

 perforated like your zinc? Would the bees cut It 

 away'f' How would it do enameled, after being per- 

 forated/ T notice in Gleanings that wooden boards 

 are used; but the bees All the holes. What would 

 the difference in cost he, between zinc and the 

 manilla':' .1. W. Park. 



Columbia, Te\. 



Friend P.. llie sample of paper you Send 

 is very nice, and it seems as thou^ii" it inij^iit 

 answer the purpose, altliouj^h I should be 

 afraid tlie bees might in time cut or bite 

 away the holes so as to lualce theiu a little 

 larger; then you would ha\e the queen get- 

 ting up, without lieing al>le to liiid her way 

 back again, as frieml Fowls mentions on 

 page r/»2. I am afraid, too. we sluill iiave the 

 same ditliculty with the perforated wood l)e- 

 fore we get thi'ough with it. 



A CACTIO.N LN THE CSE OF PARIS (iHEEN. 



Having read the articles on poisonous honey, and 

 your comments on the same, T conclude youi- 

 theory in reganl to the poisoning is (|uite possible. 

 This morning I had occasion to put Faris green on 

 some late potatoes that have got somewhat weedy, 

 and I noticed that the honey-bees were at work on 

 several varieties of the weeds, and 1 was careful to 

 pull all such U|i where [ put the green. The weeds 

 1 noticed tlH-m working f>n were heart'sease, a 

 plant much resembling sn)art-wced, and black 

 plantain, oi- buck-horn. ] have seen the bees in 

 large numbers on chick-weed in the forenooiL 

 This is a common weed in nuiny localities, and 

 grows under potato-vines and all sorts of vegetables. 

 It would h-i an easy matter for the blows to get 

 severely poisoned by the poison being carried <lown 

 by heavy dews and rains. 



RASPBERRIES AS A HONKY-PLANT. 



Wc grow all sorts of raspl>erries, and during their 

 blooming they are literally covered with honey- 

 liees. I send you a box to-day containing a cutting 

 of ("on over's Colossal raspberry, to show you what 

 it looks like when in bearing. The sample is from 

 a plaiU that was set last spring. I bought eight 

 plants a year ago last spring, and buried the tips, 



from which I got nearly 300 good strong plants, and 

 we picked 21 quarts of mammoth berries from the 

 eight hills. I can furnish you a few plants next 

 spring if you will jog my memory by a postal about 

 that time. Of all the black caps I ever grew, I have 

 tried about every variety offered; and the Gregg 

 takes the lead, unless you choose to call the C. 

 Colossal a black cap. P. Sutton. 



Exeter, Pa., Aug. 11, 188.5. 



Thank you, friend S.. for the specimen of 

 the Colossal raspberry ; but the fruit had 

 all spoiled just before it reached us. I 

 should be very glad indeed to get some 

 plants, either this fall or next spring, if you 

 will be kind enough to furnish us some. 

 Raspberries and buckwheat we can go into 

 safely, for furnishing bee-pasturage ; and if 

 the honey doesn't pay. the frnit and grain 

 will. By the way. I want a little book writ- 

 ten on buckwheat, and another on the cul- 

 ture of raspberries. T want them about the 

 size of our potato-boolc. and 1 want the 

 work done as thoroughly ;is Mr. Terry has 

 done it in regard to ])otatocs. W'liere is the 

 man who li;is made either buckwlieat or 

 raspberries his ii(>lil*> foi- a sutlicient term of 

 ye;irs so lie can give' us an exhaustive treat- 

 ise, ijikinu in ;ill the ixiints. and bringing 

 Iheiu ciciir up to the latest methods of the 

 piesent day';:' Now, friends, please don't 

 write ^ll(•h a book, any nuc of you, until 1 

 have lirst had some cdiiespondence with 

 \ou. We want a man who has raised these 

 crops by the acre, and who has made money 

 from them. 



DIVIDING COLONIES. 



If the bees will swarm in season, we lei them do 

 so ; if not, we divide. For this, many plans have 

 been given: nearly all say, "Hunt up iheciueen, 

 leave her with a few bees and a few combs on the 

 old stand; set the new liive at a distance, having in 

 it the largest portion of the bees, eomV)S, etc. " 

 .Now, we want to say we have tried this plan, and it 

 has never ))roved satisfactory. In the first place, 

 the ct)lony on the old stand pels nearly all the bees, 

 leaving the other very weak. In the next place we 

 can seldom find the ijueen in a black or hybrid 

 swarm when the swarm is veiy large. Our plan is 

 to place a new hive by the Side of the ol.l one, and 

 then, with smoker in haml, give each one half the 

 bees and half the old ccniibs and brood; till up each 

 with frames of foundation; spend no time in look- 

 ing for the fjueen: let her go where she pleases. 

 Now set the old hive a foot or two on one side the 

 old stand, and lea\ f the new one about the same 

 distance on the other side. Make them look as 

 near alike as i>ossiblc. If you ue.xt day discover 

 most of the bees are going into either part, move 

 that one a little further from the old stand. In 

 this way we can iilways gel them nearly ecjual. 



Now about the queen. The hi\ e that has none 

 will soon show it by their actions— running about. 

 Now, if you have agood laying queen, all the better, 

 if not, give a queen-cell; if neither, they will soon 

 raise a queen of their own. The work is now done. 

 We would rather have either one of these for win- 

 tering than any young swarm, for each has one- 

 half old combs. These should be placed in the cen- 

 ter of the hive for winter use. Of course, hives 

 must not stand too close together, to carry out thie 

 plan. We generally divide, in thie section of buck- 



