680 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



and reported dull sale, or no sale at all? Why 

 should it sell? What's to make It sell? Too much 

 honey for the city, and no orders from storekeepers 

 in the country, for fear it will be smashed up on 

 the road. As a consequence, honey is a strang-er to 

 most folks. Now, in a few words I should like to 

 encoui-ag-e my bee-keeping friends to sell their hon- 

 ey at home as much as possible; for if we don't, 

 worse times await us. A. Lindley, 42—98. 



New Providence, Iowa. 



QUKSTIOXS IN REGARD TO PREPARATION FOR 

 AONTER. 



How much sug-ar would you put to a quart of 

 water, if you feed this month? 



Do you think it best to feed at in-eseiit, or wait 

 until packed for winter? 



I agree with Dr. Morrison, about this being a 

 ver.y bad year for bees in Pennsylvania. I have 

 taken 800 lbs. of honey from 25 colonies. I know 

 that you were very successful last winter, and that 

 is the reason I send to you. 



I have been using granulated sugar from Frank- 

 lin Reflnerj', Philadelphia; and when the syrup is 

 left in a vessel, a blue substance settles like indigo. 

 It does not poison the bees. 



Dilworthtown, Pa. Henry P. Faucett. 



The amount of sugar for a gallon, as given 

 in the ABC, is 2-5 lbs. — I would commence 

 feeding at once ; and as we use cliatt hives 

 altogether for wintering, our bees are al- 

 ready packed, except putting on top cush- 

 ions.— I have never seen the blue substance 

 you mention,' in a syrup made of granulated 

 sugar. I presume it is something that got 

 in by accident during the rehning process, 

 and is probably in no way deleterious. 



AN ENCOURAGING REPORT KRO.M FRIEND HEDDON. 



As you will see by the inclosed railroad receipt, 1 

 have shipped you by freight a 50 and 100 lb. keg of 

 basswood honey, such as always brings orders for 

 more. If you want any more of it, order at any 

 time, and place to my credit. Accept my thanks 

 for your very kind and liberal notice, which I ap- 

 preciate. My ten tons of honey will all be gone in 

 sixty days, I think. 



After losing three-fourths of 176 colonics, I was 

 called rash for investing 1^700 in bees last spring; 

 but over fltiOO worth of honey, and 450 colonies, has 

 rewarded my courage. James Heddon. 



Dowagiac, Mich., Sept. 21, 1885. 



If I am correct, the aljove was not inlcud- 

 ed for i)ublication ; but J liave taken the 

 liberty of using it, and it is just tlic kind of 

 leporfs we want. Tell us in a few words, 

 friends, what you have to encourage you in 

 continuing to be bee-keepers. 



M>ENTIFVIN(i ROI5BERS WITH WHEAT Fhol l(. 



1 have a few (juestions to ask. I am a beginner. 

 1 had a misfortune last Sunday. I was away from 

 home, and when I got home my folks told me that 

 there were some robber-bees at our hives. I went 

 into the apiary, and found one swarm Hying very 

 fast. I went across the road, and found one of my 

 neighbor's swarms flying very fast also. He denied 

 that they were robbing. I went back and sprinkled 

 flour on them, and they went into his hive, so 1 shut 

 mine up till iie.xt daj- noon. I opened them a little. 

 I had my hive open half an hour, then his rushed 

 in and began CJirrying out the honey. 1 shut my 



hive, then they clustered again on the opposite side. 

 I took a bunch of straw and burned them. Did I 

 take the right way to get rid of them? If not, 

 please tell me what I should have done. 

 Indian River, N. Y. Michael Zehr. 



Friend Z., your plan of proving that the 

 robber-bees belonged to your neighbor's 

 hives is a good one, and it was quite right 

 and proper to give him proof that they Avere 

 his bees ; but you had no more right to kill 

 them than you have to kill your neighbor's 

 cow or horse' if it should come into your door- 

 yard or garden. There are many easier ways 

 of stopping robbing than by killing the rob- 

 bers. Any of our text-books on bee culture 

 would direct you how to manage. I should 

 say tliat neither yoiu- neighbor nor his bees 

 were any way at fault— that the fault was 

 yours in "permitting a hive of bees to remain 

 in condition where it would not repel rob- 

 bers. They were probably queenless, or the 

 entrance was much too large for the number 

 of bees in the liive, or something of that sort. 



MHS. CHADDOCK'S LETTER. 



She Tells us How to Make Good Mucilage at 



an Expense of Only Five Cents for 



Half a Gallon. 



E ALSO TEEM 

 FRIEND E. A 



US SOMETHING ABOUT OUR GOOD 

 GASTMAN, OF DECATUR, ILLS. 



MK. ROOT:— You say in .vour price list that 

 you do not see how people can afford to 

 make mucilage and sell it for five cents a 

 bottle, and throw in a brush. I think I can 

 tell you how. This summer I attended the 

 teachers' institute in Lewistown, 111., and our in- 

 structor in the reading-classes was Mr. E. A. Gast- 

 man, of Decatur, III. He has been for 25 years 

 principal of the city schools in Decatur. He is also 

 a practical bee-keeper, having at the present time 

 some 75 colonies in the city. Mr. Gastman is a fun- 

 ny man. I have known men before who could be 

 funny for an hour or two, but never before saw one 

 who could keep on saying funny things for two 

 whole weeks, and not run out. One of the things 

 he said was, that "some people are not all alike." 

 He writes bee-articles for the Illinois Statf JdhiiuiI. 

 Perhaps you know all about him. 



Well, one day he told us how to make mucilage, 

 and we all wrote it down in our scratch-books. He 

 said we could make half a gallon for five cents. 

 Take five cents' worth of gum tragacanth,add warm 

 water to it, a little at a time, and let it swell. Add a 

 little iJulverized alum, to keep it from molding. 

 If wanted dry on paper, like postage-stamps, add a 

 little glue; and if wanted to paste labels on speci- 

 mens— stones. Cor instance — add a little sugar. 



Mahala R. Chaddock. 

 Vermont. Ill . Sept. 18, 1»5. 



Th;iiil:s, Mrs. C, for your reciiie. 1 think 

 it is exactl.N the same liiat I used years ago 

 preparing objects for tlie microscope. 



If 



I remeinlxn- correctly, it is apt to soui- unless 

 something is put in "to prevent. May be the 

 alum would do that ; if not, I wouhl add a 

 little carbolic acid. Gum tragacanth needs 

 to be soaked quite a while before it forms a 

 mucilage. 



