750 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CtJLTUiiE. 



Nov. 



thesiiTnUipr. The mice will be apt to trouble them 

 tbrougU the winter. Mrs. V. h. Chitrcu. 



Mitchell, Midi., Sept. 30, 1885. 



My friend, it the stores are principally su- 

 gar syrup which you fed, I should feel quite 

 sure it would be just as fjood for next winter 

 as any you can use, providing the bees seal- 

 ed up the sugar at the time it was fed to 

 them. If there are unsealed stores in the 

 I'ombs. or any tiling tliat is thin and watery, 

 I would throw it out with the extractor. I 

 would give the combs to the bees as soon as 

 possible ; and if I could I would put one 

 comb at a time in the center of a strong col- 

 ony, to let them sweeten and repair up be- 

 fore winter. I should never think of melt- 

 ing up good combs, especially where they 

 contain stores. 



GIVISG BEES FOR AVINTER STORES, HOXEV THAT 

 H.\S BEEN SCORCHED. 



Wo have several pounds of honey, obtained in 

 rendering cappingrs into wax, which was scorched 

 until it looks, tastes, and smells much like dark mo- 

 lasses. Would this be wholesome for winter stores, 

 either alone, or used with syrup, as in making- the 

 T)oolittle bee-feed? Corxelia B. Kii.bourxe. 



Clinton, Oneida Co., X. Y., Oct. T, 1885. 



My friend, I would not give it to the bees 

 this' fall. Save it until they can fly next 

 spring, and it will do no harm. We think 

 you must have been a little careless in get- 

 ting it scorched, for we usually get the very 

 nicest quality of extracted honey from cap- 

 pings. It might do to mix Avith syrup in 

 making the Doolittle bee-feed, but i should 

 be pretty careful about taking any slight risk 

 in regard to the quality of the winter stores. 



S.\MPT.ES OF HONEY FOR OUR APPROV.A.I.. 



I send you to-day two T-lb. pails of honey. The 

 jiail not candied was thrown out yesterday. There 

 is a little basswood in it, but I do not know what the 

 rest of it is. You can g-ive me credit, iu proportion 

 as it compares with that of Heddon's. Honey is 

 not as good in rjualitj- this j'ear as we have had, but 

 it is better than last. There may be some specks of 

 comb in the honey, as I never use a strainer, for 

 the reason that it will not run throug-h the thinnest 

 cloth unless you heat it hot. T have some live or 

 six thousand pounds like the sample sent. 



Springboro, Pa., Sept. 24, 1885. Chas. Oi.ivei:. 



Friend O.. the two i)ails came to hand in 

 l)erfeet order, and the honey is nearly if not 

 (juite equal to any we haxe "ever had. It is 

 remarkably thick, and nicely ripened, and 

 should command a good price in any market. 

 These pails make a neat and handy i)ackage 

 indeed ; and if the railroad men could be 

 induced to handle the box without tipping it 

 over, the honey is so tliick it seems to me as 

 if it might be shipped safely, witiiout any 

 sealing up. 



ULACK workers from imported yiEE.NS. 



Why is it that imported queens' daughters some- 

 times produce some black workers with no percep- 

 tible yellow bands, while the improved Italian tested 

 Mueens' daughters never do? at least, they never 

 liave for me. I have raised about a hundred queens 

 this season, and a few of the daughters of my im- 

 l>orted queen produced some workers with no bands. 

 I commenced four years ago with six hives; have 

 now 84 strong colonies and 15 three-frame nuclei of 



nice Italians, and 5!200 ahead for my trouble and ex- 

 pense. How do you think that will do for Blasted 

 Hopes? I do not count on losing one this winter. 1 

 expect to winter my nuclei where they stand now, 

 and perhaps I shall have (jueens to replace any that 

 may die in my strong liives during the winter. 



W. A. Sanders. 

 Oak Bower. Hart Co., Ga., Oct. 5, 1885. 



Friend ,S.. I do not know that we have ev- 

 er seen bees all black, right from the daugh- 

 ter of any of our imported queens, althougli 

 we do have bees with yellow of such a dark 

 leatlier shade that the "bands can hardly be 

 recognized unless tlie bee were to be lilled 

 with honey, and placed on a window as per 

 A B C. There is this about the yellow bands, 

 however : By breeding for bands for several 

 generations, this feature becomes so promi- 

 nent that a first cross with common bees will 

 pass very well for full bloods, so far as the 

 marking is concerned. Imported stock from 

 Italy has not, of course, been bred for color 

 or for bands, as we breed them here.— 1 do 

 not see how you can consistently have a 

 place in Blasted Hopes, friend 8. 



BITRYING BEES FOR WINTER. 



How will this do? On dry sandy land we excavate, 

 say'a foot deep, lay timbers so the bottom of hives 

 will be 4 or 6 inches from the ground; set stakes at 

 sides of ends, and board up a space, sides and top, 

 of 6 or 8 inches; bank up sides and ends with earth; 

 cover over with oat straw. We have about 15 hives 

 for wintering. .1. B. Whitaker. 



Hopkinton. Iowa, Sept. 20, 1885. 



Friend W., this subject has been pretty 

 well discussed in our back numbers. With 

 such winters as you have in Iowa, no doubt 

 it will sometimes answer a good purpose ; 

 but as a rule I am not much in favor of 

 burying bees. The articles of W. Z. Ilutch- 

 in.s6n,for several years back, have discussed 

 this matter of burying bees, in all its bear- 

 ings. May be he "can answer your question 

 better than I can. 



I.ETTIN(i THE SNOW DRIFT OVER THE HIVES IN 

 WINTER. 



1 find nothing in the A B C as to the elevation of 

 the hive in wintering. If you allow the hive to re- 

 main on the summer stands, the first deep snow 

 would smother them, closing up the entrance. Have 

 you a device to admit the air, or what is your plan? 

 T have prepared ray bees according to your instruc- 

 tions, in a Simplicity hive I got from you last spring, 

 leaving the hive extending over the bottom-board 

 about 'o inch, and it is only about 6 inches from the 

 level of the ground. H. U. Steinruck. 



Eagleville, Pa., Oct. 5, 1885. 



Friend S., I think you are decidedly mis- 

 taken in saying that tlie snow^ Avould smoth- 

 er the ])ees. I have not been able to discover 

 tliat the l)ees ever smotlier by being covered 

 up with snow; in fact, I sliould rather have 

 them covered witli snow than to be prepar- 

 ed in any other way that I know of, provid- 

 ing the snow falls itself, or is drifted on to 

 the hive by the wind. Your Simplicity hive 

 is all right as it is, if you are going to risk 

 wintering in such a hive : but you will no- 

 tice, l)y our price list and A B C"book, we do 

 not recommend these liives for Avinter pur- 

 poses. 



