710 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct 



wc did arrive, voting' that we pretty nearly paid 

 too dearly for the whale, but not quite. 



Los Alamos, Cal., Sept. T. Aunt Katie. 



Well, Aunt Katie, I have learned sonie- 

 thini; from your little story, any way, for I 

 (lid not know before that whales (-ome along 

 the coast of California. 1 lind it also (luite 

 interesting about your trip across the coun- 

 try. 1 think your disposition must be some- 

 tliing like mine. Whenever I go anywhere 

 T always Avant to go back a different way. 

 My wife objects, bel-ause site says I always 

 get lost, or waste a good deal of time : but I 

 tell her it is Avorth being lost, just to feel 

 that you are on a road you never traveled 

 I)efore. 1 always like to'be on a spot that is 

 to mo an " unexplored region. "" 



GOOD REPORT FROM A JUVENILE. 



1) CAI.l.ONS OF nONEV FHOM ™'(i SWAUMS: AI,; 

 SOMi: OTHEK TIIINCS OF IXTEKEST. 



CCEPT luy thanks tor the book yoii sent nie. 



It was nioic than I e.vpected or deserved. 



Wc make I'arming- our chief employment; 



have not lost any time, to amount to much, 



from the farm, to tend bees, until this year. 

 We make our own hives and frames, and can't af- 

 ford to buy them. I-ast sprinj^, on going- to Pond 

 ('reek to improve some land, we carried l."! weak 

 swarms date after-swarms from Inst year), three 

 new swarms, and two nuclei as a kind of experi- 

 ment. \ did not use any foundation or empty 

 combs in supers. Xo one li\ed on the place. I 

 went in company with my pa every ten or fourteen 

 • lays (as we could spare the time from the farm and 

 home apiary), c.xamiued each colony, made note 

 of condition, date, etc., on front of the hives. AVe 

 tried your slates, but the wind blew (hem down, 

 and tlie rain washed the note oil. ^V(• increased to 

 thirtj- colonics by division: \i> mm. 11 swarming we 

 j)ut on supers early in May, and had t wo ct)lonics bad- 

 ly weakened .by after swarming (overlooked (juecn- 

 cells). AVe have extracted .354' i gallons up to date. 

 They have thirty or forty gallons in supers at this 

 time, but we have no time to extract. AVc did not 

 extract from brood-chamber after .June ,ith and 6th. 

 We found at that time the ijueons had been crowd- 

 ed from the brood-chamber to the supers. The 

 A B C book said extract. AA'e did so. AVe ]ilaoed 

 hrood-frames in lower story June 5th and 6th, and 

 extracted 86 gallons. Imagine otu- surprise, on re- 

 turning, June 17th, to find the front and side of nearly 

 all the hives covered with idle bees building comb 

 on the outside of the hives. AVe used the extractor 

 and put on another super, and all hands went to 

 work as nicely as ever. 



Horsemint was in bloom, and wai.'^t-higli all o^er 

 the apiary— indeed, all over the country. On the 

 7th of August a neighbor carelessly lot fire get in 

 our inclosure. The dense grass, from knee to hip 

 high, and dry from long- drought, was soon in 

 names. The timely arrival of live or six neighbors 

 saved our apiary from total loss. One colony was 

 burned, several others badly damaged. One of the 

 men had his hands badly burned in fighting the 

 flames. Some of the trees ~0 feet high had all their 

 leaves burned otT. 



Last spring wc killed two large rattlesnakes in 

 our apiary, from which it ts^kes its name. The rat- 



tlesnakes in that neighborhood are as thick as pig- 

 tracks. 



AA'e had no rain in Rattlesnake apiary from May 

 2Vth until July .5th; none since that time up to date. 

 I wish to say to the juveniles, your letters telling of 

 your little sisters and mothers make me envy your 

 happy lot. My mother died five years ago, depriv- 

 ing me of a mother's care, and, dearer than all, a 

 mother's love. !My tAVO little sisters, seven and 

 eight and one-half years old, live with their aunt in 

 Bell Co., Texas. Sa.m. H. Tehuai.. 



Jones' Prairie, Texas, Sept. U, 1885. 



AVhy, my good friend Sam. if you have a 

 locality Avhere honey comes in at sm li a I'ale 

 that yoiu' bees all build combs in frotit of tlie 

 liiA-es, it must be a " big thing "' indeed. If 

 such a thing ever happens again, you Avant 

 to let the farming go, and stick I'ight to the 

 bees ; sit u]) nights, do almost any thing, 

 rather than let the bees lie idle during such 

 a harvest as that.— 'We deeply symitathizc 

 Avith you in the loss of your motlier.— 1 

 Avould'have a piece ot plowed ground around 

 that apiary, broad enough to prevent the tire 

 from rmining into it agiiin. 



MAKING BEES HATCH HEN'S EGGS. 



AN IXl'ATENTED l-NCLBATOK. 



fK liv.' ::00 miles southwest of Dallas. \\e 

 have pre-empted us a little home four 

 miles south of Lampasas, consisting of 10 

 acres. Our bees, 30 colonies, arc in good 

 condition. 

 Pa has imentcd us a cheap incubator. Take a 

 Simplicity wide frame, cover it with wire cloth, 

 fill it with hens' eggs, then place in a strong swarm, 

 putting a frame of unsealed brood on either side of 

 it, and lift out and turn the eggs once in »4 hours. 

 The fairs' will need no moistening, as incubator- 

 books direct, but the bees will tend to that. AA'e 

 have not hatched any (juite out; but late last year 

 pa suggested that if his queens batched well under 

 a hen we would try eggs in a beehive. So ma put 

 in twelve, and they nearly hatched. The bees 

 swarmed a week before time for them to hatch, and 

 it came a cool rain, and they died in the shell. Ma 

 broke the eggs and they had great big chickens in 

 them. AVe are going to try more this seasom, and 

 pa said he would say nothing about it until we 

 hatched some chickens out; but ma thinks that 

 some one else can try also, and be successful. 

 Lampasas, Texas. .\ manda Atcui.ey, aae 1:.'. 



Well. Amanda, you have got soinetliing 

 original, surely ; but I am inclined to think, 

 that, as a rule," sitting hens A\ould be cheap- 

 er than a strong colony of bt^es. Unless the 

 Aveather is extremely hot during the Avhole 

 three Aveeks. I do n()t believe a colony Avould 

 keep the eggs Avarm enongli, unless yon 

 make a chalf cushion to fill, say an inch and 

 a Ivalf or two inches of the sp-'u'c all around 

 the wide fr;une ;i*>i- what will Ite simpler, 

 and easier done." cut out the cf^uter of a 

 chaff -cushion division - board. Tack Avire 

 cloth over this central hole, and put the 

 I eggs l^etAveen the two sheets of Avire clotli. 

 A good swarm of bees Avould. Avithuut 

 doulit. under favorable circumstances, hatch, 

 say live or seven eggs. When hatched, take 

 Diit the egg-shells, and you might use the 



