1885 



GLEANINGS IN liEE CULTURE. 



answei" excellently, especially if you manage 

 to slmt out every particle of light : and tliere 

 is this in your favor — such caves have Ijeen 

 successful in very many localities. If your 

 cave is ahsolutely frost-proof, very likely ten 

 or twelve colonies will do as well as a larger 

 number. Your cave needs to be proof 

 against warm spells that may come in win- 

 ter, as well as against extremely cold spells: 

 (hat is. tlie temperature should never go 

 down to freezing nor up as higli as (iU-. 

 Some claim, you know, that the temperature 

 ought not to" go as high as -',0 . 



THAT NAMLLF.SS BEE - UISKAt;ii ; UOKS IU .M( i VI .N (i 

 THE QUEEX EFFECT A (CHE.' 



Vour loot-notes to C. K. Docker, p. 6Ti, Oct. 1, on 

 " That Bee- Disease," cariies tlie idea that the trou- 

 I)le is in the queen; but in one instance I find it is 

 not >-n. I had, last sununer, a stand d.vinjr aliout as 

 Ernest and Mr. Decker and some otliers liave de- 

 scribed. August i:itli the queen went out witli a 

 swarm. 8he was liived on enijity combs, i'.nd no 

 more of them died. A vijj-orous ^oung layin^r nueeii 

 was introduced in the parent hi\e, but bees I'rom it 

 k(;pt dyino' lor some weeks, until alter I took some 

 of the outside combs of lioney out, putting: empt> 

 ones in center of the lii\e. then all got well soon. Is 

 it not possible that they had some bad honey, which 

 may have caused the dying- in my case? 



r hope to have one or two hives afTected in the 

 same way next year, so that I may learn the cause. 

 H. W. 1'ei;kins. 



Kl Dorado, Ibill(i( (.., Kan..nrt. 1:.', ISn'). 



Friend 1*.. I lliiiik it very iikel.v that un- 

 wholesome stores are fre(|u"eiitly llie cause of 

 this maliidy, or soiuetliing (luite similar to 

 it. In that case, of course. i)uttiug in a new 

 (|ueen would not help the matter: luit it 

 would probably correct itself if the bi es 

 survive long enough to consume all the un- 

 wholesome stores. 



ANOTIIKU SIX WA.X - E.XTUAC roll; HOW TO (O.N- 

 STIUCT. 



I sent to you and ;:<it a wu\ cvi niclor. Il operat- 

 ed as well as it \\as rt'prcsciitcd lu do. but still it did 

 not answi'r the dcinaml. Kveiy day pieces of coinb 

 would turn ui>: they would lie put in a I)arrel, until 

 eiuiugh would accumulate to make it wortli while 

 lo extract; bj' that time it would be full of moths. 

 This was vexatious. I saw something in (it.EAN- 

 iNr;s that set nie to work. In two hotirs I had a 

 bo.x completed that is worth more than anything 

 that I have seen or heard f)f. 



I made a box oO in. long. It in. wide. II in. drep, « itli 

 a ■; in. -square slat across each end, half the distance 

 between bottom and top. On these I laida'^in. 

 board, 9 in. wide, ': in. thick; then a piece of tin 

 PjX.SO inches; I bent it up on two sides and one end. 

 I filled this with comb, set il in the box on the mid- 

 dle board. All around the bo.x, on the outside, i>ro- 

 .iecting above the box '; in., I nail strips 'i x;.' in.; 

 then a lid '~ in. wider and longer than the box. hing- 

 ed to the top strips, so as to shut over the box in time 

 of rain. I put a piece of bright tin on the under 

 side of the lid, so that when oiicn to the right place 

 the reflection will be on the glass. On the bottom 

 of the l)ox, tinder side, I nail a block 15X4 in., •") in. 

 long; bore a 2-inch hole through it, set a strong 

 stake in the ground, perpendicularly to the summer 

 sun; taper the tcnaiU to one inch on top, set the 

 box on the tenant so it will ti|). On the top of the 



box, in the rabbet made by the strips around the 

 outside of the box, 1 laid -i lights of 10X14 glass, and 

 my machine is complete, and large enough for a 

 .')Ot)-swarm apiary. 



I should like to ask lots of questions, but you. 

 may be, have answered thcin before. We read 

 <iLE.\xiX(is, and now we must remain in ignorance : 

 but still there are several things we should like to 

 know, if you would answer; but we might not uii 

 dcrstand it. any more thasi "c diil Prof. Cook's big 

 talk about honey-dew. 15. 1.. ni!i);i;. 



.Jamestown. Tenn., Sept. "i\, is.'-.".. 



Friend 15.. y<»Ui sheet of tin is certainly an 

 ingenious adjunct to a simple sheet of glass. 

 and 1 should think it would answer nicely. 

 Ask all the questions you wish. l)yall mean's, 

 and we will trv to make the answeis ]>laii). 

 I thought Prof. Cook made the matter vci\ 

 plain aliout the honey-dew. Suppose you 

 write directly to him ill regard lo wliat is not 

 clear, and we will have your question an<l his 

 reply given iu <iLEANiN(;s. Some of tlie 

 veterans sometimes think we take ;ni uniiee- 

 essaiy amount of si)ace iu living to make 

 things i)Iain to beginners. 



lliOM :>:! TO IT. ANt) KKVI I, lis. (IK )tONE^'. 



I have l)ccn a close reader of (ii.E.VM.VGs fur sev- 

 eral years; and as 1 read ami iionder over the 

 many trials, dilliculties, and disappointments inci- 

 dent to ai)iculttM<', I ofttimes feel constraincfi t" 

 make mention of my tips and downs in l.)ee-keepiiig. 

 Hut. alas: when I attempt the task I find myscH 

 incaiiable (»f even getting together mj' own crude 

 thoughts on apiculture, which I am sometimes 

 tempted to ask space for in your .journal. Soon 

 I hope to not onlj- see sonn- of my views on South 

 crii bee culture but a full description of our Wills 

 Valiej'. in North .Mabama. in (Ji.kamxc.s. I should 

 say there is no other better location, naturally 

 adapted to l)ce culture, in the whole State of. \la 

 bania, situated as we are between the two f.ookont 

 and Sand M(.untains. in a rich fertile \alley lia\ - 

 ersed b.v inan.v water-courses. We have the great - 

 (St imaginable variety of honey-producing trees 

 and Howcrs. From the early blooming of the ma- 

 ple to the late asters in the fall, we are searcel.\ 

 Avithout something from which the bee can secure 

 nectar. Our bees now, Oct. 13, are busy on the 

 white asters. Our yield for this season is, comb and 

 extracted, each, ^'M lbs., making 1000 lbs. in all. We 

 had in the sjjring 'Si colonics; increased to 4T, which 

 are now in fair condition for winter. We ha\(' 

 Italians and hybrids. We winter on summer 

 stands in Hoof Simplicities, with but little loss. 

 This has been a \ery unfavorable year here for 

 surplus. "—J. n. M AiisH. ;?3— tT. 



Collinsville, .-Ma. 



CltOSS BEES. 



I have just lommeneed with bees, having pur- 

 chased 20 full colonies. Before I could get the bees 

 home they made a start with me, and for two weeks 

 I had to go armed with a protector, gloves, and 

 smoke; and for all the smoke, if I touched a hive 

 they would boil out in front by hundreds, and fill 

 my clothes full. 1 thought I was in for it. and that 

 |)atent hives and all the Yankee inventions had 

 failed to civilize this young heathen. There was 

 no backing down. I had got the bees, and, worst of 

 all. thev often " got" me. I persevered gently with 



