188.5 



GLEANJA'CiS IN iJEE CULTURE. 



670 



SYiao-ITALlAXS ; A WEAK COLONV WITH A LAYING 

 QUEEN AND QUEEN-CELLS. 



I have been reqiieening- my apiary this year with 

 8yrio-Italians, raising my (|iiccns from my best Syr- 

 ian stoclis; and by keeping down the drones in ray 

 Syrians, and allowing the Italians to raise them, I 

 think 1 shall have most of my queens mated with 

 Italian drones. I like that stock very much. They 

 cap the honey very white, and are ready to go into 

 the sections whenever the honey-flow will warrant 

 Ihem, without the coaxing so often necessary with 

 the (talians. They are quiet to handle, are very 

 good honey-gatherers, and the queens are good lay- 

 ers, and easily seen on the comb. 



1 had a singular experience with one colony. I re- 

 moved the queen and made a nucleus with her, in 

 order that the colony might raise queen-cells. Ten 

 days afterward I cut out all the queen-cells and re- 

 turned the queen to the old colony, and with her a 

 frame of bees with brood and eggs. Some days aft- 

 er I looked into this hive to see that she was all 

 right, when, to my sorrow, I found queen-cells start- 

 ed, and almost ready for capping on the frame re- 

 turned with the queen. 1 at once concluded the 

 (|U('cn was killed, and looked no further. When 

 those <iueeM-cells were ripe I went to the hive and 

 cut them out; on looking further I found frames of 

 eggs, hatching larvsr, more (lueen-cells, and my 

 queen also. The colony was not strong enough to 

 want to swarm, then why these queen-cellsV The 

 <iuecn apparently had not laid any eggs for three or 

 loui- days after being returned to the hive. 



.1. SlNCI.ICTO.V. 



Brooklyn Village, ()., Aug. : 



IL would seem, f ricinl S 

 lorffotleti their old (iiieon 

 tliHl they kept oil with Uk 

 leariiiff u new (iiieeii. I have 



so I said notliing in regard to the publica- 

 tion. If I am any way at fault in the mat- 

 ter, I am glad to be corrected. If the man 

 has turned over a new leaf, we most assu- 

 redly bid him (iod speed. 



SOUR HONEY AND MOLDY COMBS ; WH.4T CAUSED 

 IT? 



On the 21st ult. I went some three miles to a 

 friend's to look over his bees and take honey in one 

 of the colonies. The honey not sealed was sour ; al- 

 so the pollen and combs were moldy. The bees 

 seemed lively and healthy. There were eggs, hatch- 

 ed larv;e, and sealed brood. The 22d of June there 

 issued a lai-ge swarm from the above hive, so there 

 could be no hatching bees at the present writing. 

 Please tell us what to do with them— cut out all the 

 moldy and spoiled combs, or let them alone '' 



James A. Kime. 



Fairtiel.l, Adams Co., Pa.. July 25, 1885. 



Friend K., I have never in my experience 

 found a case like the one mentioned, where 

 a good colony of bees wouldn't make sour 

 honey sweet, and bring it out all right. 1 

 would just let them go ahead, so long as 

 they seem to i)rosper and do well. Perhaps 

 it might be well to cut out the moldy pollen, 

 althotigh I believe the bees w ill lix that, if 

 they haven't too much of it on hand at one 

 time. 



. iss,-,. 



that I he bees hkd 

 to such an extent 

 r |)iei)aiations for 

 bserv('(l the 

 same thing once or twice, and I slionld con- 

 sider il a little risky to let a (inccn loose 

 without caging, after slie had been away 

 from the hive for ten days. Voii nil! no- 

 tice, that by the operation you succeeded in 

 getting (ineen-cells Ittiill while the hive liad 

 a laying <|ueeu. I have also done the same 

 thiiig under tiie sanu' circiuuslanccs. 



A KAIK UKCOirr KKOM TEXA.-^, KTC. 



The lioiic.v season of 188,5 here in Cenlral Texas 

 liiis been generall.\' unsatislactory. My home apia- 

 ry did very M'ell on liorseiiiint alone; laleron it niaile 

 some honej' Irom honey-dew, and the last of August 

 the upland elms bloomed, but the tiow was for only 

 a few days. Hees now are working on goat-weed 

 and broom-weed. By the way, a good plant of 

 broom-weed makes the best brush 1 have seen for 

 brushing oil bees from the combs. 



From 100 colonies this season 1 have taken t.'jiHi lbs. 

 of honey, and left plenty to winter on. 



I have never seen any mention of the Texas I}<'. 

 A'rrprr in (iLKANiNcis. It is iiin b\ the Cnnimon- 

 Sense Hee-Hlve Co. 



1 use only the A. 1. Kool Slniplicil.\ , aiid in iii.\' \a- 

 ried experience 1 ha\c ne\('r found its equal. • 

 \Vm. WiinicLKSwoicrii. 



Ciawford, Te.xas, Se|)t. lt>, 188.5. 



Friend W., I have not mentioned the Tex- 

 as lin-K'< jicr, for the very reason you give. 

 The man who has been "for several years 

 iiiuning the Common-Sense bee-hive has 

 been in such bad repute that I could not 

 consistently say any thing good of him. and 



A BALLED <.U 'KKN LIBERATED BY BEING PLUNGED 

 INTO WATKli; .MARTINS KILLING BEES. 



The (pieen and bees came Friday evening. I put 

 them ill Saturday morning. I looked at them in the 

 evening, and I saw that they didn't like her; three 

 workers were dead. I put them back till the ne.xl 

 day noon, and looked again and found her balled. 

 They had cut under to her, so I dropped them into 

 some water and got the queen all right, so I took a 

 cage four inches scjuare and ijut her back on hatch- 

 ing brood so she would have company. I looked the 

 next day, and found twenty or more young bees 

 with her, so I made a small hole in the comb, set 

 them back, looked in the next morning, found no 

 queen under the cage nor in any other place— no 

 eggs— so I put some eggs In on the 22d. This morn- 

 ing, the 2:Jd, 1 found four (lUcen-cells started. 



I have some as tine Italian Vices, I think, as can be 

 found anywhere. I got eight out of nine through 

 the winter. My inelon-juicc and sugar were all 

 right for wintering. Bees are not doing much just 

 now. 1 have lots of melons. Come over, and bring 

 Huber and the girls. I am getting 20 cents for my 

 honey. I have 17 colonics now, 2 Italians. 1 lost 1 

 > (Hing Italian queens this summer, and 2 blacks. 



'The bee-martin is bad here. I have been using 

 my gun. I didn't think they did any harm till I saw 

 them catching drones, and I think they got the 

 queens also. J. Aveky. 



Mieliigantowii, Ind., Aug. 2;{, 1885. 



lEATE A 



no NOT SEMI HONEY TO THE CITY 

 HOME MARKET. 



I want to say a few words to the brethren about 

 selling honey. It is certainly a bad plan to send 

 your honey to the city. We want to get the people 

 to eat honey, then we shall havo a market for it. 

 As it now is, not one family in a hundred buys hon- 

 ey for family use, and only a very few keep it for 

 visitortf. Now, are we likely to get them to eating 

 honey by sending it to Chicago, St. Louis, or any 

 otiier eitj-, to be piled up in the commisgion room 



