1885 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



629 



which was about half length, 1 pulled it down, and, 

 to my great surprise, in the bottom I discovered 

 the egg-; and while I still held the frame in my 

 hands it was removed. What was done with it 1 am 

 unabletosay, asl gave the colony a hatching queen- 

 cell on the 10th, placing it between the top-bars, 

 not lifting any frame out. Is it unreasonable to 

 suppose, that, while I had frames out of some oth- 

 er hive, an enterprising bee, instead of stealing a 

 load of honey, helped himself to an egg, and car- 

 ried it home, and caused more rejoicing there than 

 would a whole frame of honey? I think not. 



Quincy, III., July Itj, 188.5. James Knox. 



Friend K., I presume it is possible for 

 worker-bees to steal an egg in the way yon 

 suggest, or in some other way, although I 

 can hardly think it is probable. Cases have 

 been mentioned, <iuite a number of them, 

 Avhere it was at least very hard to explain 

 where the egg came from, unless it was sto- 

 len in some such wav. 



BUILDING UP NUCLEI TO FULL COL- 

 ONIES IN THE FALL. 



EXPKFUKNCE OF A NOVICE IN THE MATTER. 



AM glad that I am again taking Gi.eam.nos, 

 having been without it a year and a half. I 

 subscribed for it in 188;{, and thought one year 

 would be all that I should probably wiml it; 

 but not so. The first number, Aug. 1."), has 

 been received, and the tirst article in it is worth the 

 one dollar to me, if you keep it up in the ne.\t issues 

 till you give us one good letter -in detail— on build- 

 ing up nuclei to full colonies. That Is just the busi- 

 ness I am at now. I am willing to put down some 

 of my experience, and let it go for what it is worth; 

 and I should be glad to read reports from others; 

 but I shall not be satisfied till 1 see an article Irom 

 a bee-man of experience. 



The first week in July I received and commenced 

 feeding a two-frame nucleus with Italian <iueen, 

 and, I presume, one pound of bees. There was but 

 little brood in the combs. I f(^d awhile with candy, 

 then put in one frame of foundation, and fed about 

 half a pound of sugar syruj) each day. As soon as 

 one frame of fdn. was nearly drawn out and filled 

 with eggs, 1 inserted another. Soon I fed 1 pound 

 of sugar. The second and third frames of fdn. were 

 drawn out and filled with eggs in less time than the 

 fourth and fifth. It seems to me 1 did not get as 

 good work from the bees (in comparison) when I 

 was feeding one pound of sugar as when I fed half 

 a pound. I was trying to get the best hive of bees 

 at the least expense. At this date this is a good 

 colony, strong enough to winter all right in Ohio, if 

 it have 35 lbs. of syrup. I tried black l)ccs as above, 

 and they did not draw out the fdn., except just 

 enough to store the syrup in it. It did not pay to 

 feed black bees; but all my Italian nuclei have done 

 well, and are still doing so. L. W. Git ay. 



Troy, Orange Co., I'la., Aug. 2(j, 1885. 



Thank you, friend (r., for your kind and 

 approving words. I think you are on the 

 right tra(?k, and L should say you are doing 

 quite well. I think your one experiment 

 with the nucleus of black bees was hardly a 

 fair test, for I am sure they can be worked 

 the same way as Italians ; but I am also 

 sure that, as a rule, the Italians would far 



outstrip tliem. Twenty-five pounds of su- 

 gar, fed at this date, ought to make an ex- 

 cellent colony, with abundance of stores, un- 

 til fruit-bloom next season. 



SOMETHING MORE ON THE SA.ME SUB.IECT. 



Please give me a little information in regard 

 to bees. First, 1 have an opportunity of buying 

 some swarms now, for $2.09 per hive — the old 

 square box hive! Now, then, I can wait until next 

 May or June, and buy all the young swarms the 

 party has, for fl.03 per swarm, I furnishing the 

 hive. The party hives the bees and puts them into 

 any kind of a hive I may take to him. Now, Mr. K., 

 I come to you for advice: which must I do? I am a 

 young beginner in the bee business. Shall I buy 

 the old hive, or wait and get the young swarms, put- 

 ting them in hives that 1 can handle? 



WHITEWASHING HIVES. 



Do you think it advisable to whitewash bee hives? 

 The hives are ready made, but the lumber was nev- 

 er dressed, and is still in the rough. I can also have 

 the Langstroth hive cut out with the lumber dress- 

 ed, ready to nail together, for only iO cts. apiece. Is 

 that too much, or is it cheap? J. O. Barnes. 



Hickman, Fulton Co., Ky., Aug. 2:t, 1.H85. 



Why, my young friend, I should think 

 you had a splendid chftnce to build up an 

 apiary, at a very small exjiense. If I want- 

 ed to build up an apiary, I wt)uld take box- 

 hive swarms now at this price, say five 

 or ten. according to my means, and then I 

 should be ready to take all the new swarms 

 that can be bought at a dollar a swarm next 

 year, juitting them, of coinse. into modern 

 liives.— I would not whitewash Ix-e-hives. 

 It looks unsightly, and is liut little more 

 protection than nothing. It adds to the ap- 

 l)earance for only a little time; and when 

 the whitewash is partly worn olf, it seems to 

 me they are tar more luisightly than plain 

 wooden' hives without any atteiiipt at either 

 l)aint or whitewash. Whitewash holds bet- 

 ter on rougli lioards than on planed boaids, 

 but you can not make a good serviceable 

 i hive of unjtlaned linnber very well. If you 

 can get the stuff in the flat, cut accurately, 

 for M) cts. apiece, I should say it was very 

 reasonable. 



A GOOD-NATURED PROTEST FROM A 

 FRIEND IN ALABAMA. 



"Hi;ST cast OCT THE BEAM OCT Ol' THINE OWN 

 EYE." 



N page .T6t; you tell Bertie Norrell that you are 

 afraid she is a little severe on her neighbors 

 who work in the factory. I agree with you. 

 Although my wife's grandfather was a native 

 of Hhode. Island, I know nothing at all of the 

 moral and social status of the ".factory folks" of 

 New England, and very little, I admit, of Southern 

 "factory folks," yet 1 think it hardly charitable to 

 dub cither " an illiterate, oily, unwashed class;" for 

 might not some combination of circumstances, such 

 as bereavement, poverty, etc., induce a ladjf— north 

 or soutli— who had sjcn other and better days, to 

 accept factory work as the best enu'loyment avail- 

 alile. and as being far better than becoming depend- 

 ent upon others, or allowing herself and family to 

 suffer? I have heard of such cases, and I doubt not 

 their existence. 



