188.5 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



777 



er cell, but no eg-g-. I think the bees carried that 

 egg from that bit of coinb, because it was but a few 

 days after, that the hit of comb was laid on top, 

 just about the same length of time that a weak col- 

 ony would have built a queen-cell if eggs had been 

 in the brood-combs. The bees were on the two 

 combs I set in the side of the weak colony, with the 

 least small place for the two colonies to crawl to- 

 gether. I think they did not all get together for 

 three days, and I gave each colony a section of scrap 

 honey. I can not see that they killed each other at 

 all. 



Mr. Axtell and I enjoy reading Our Homes, and 

 Myself and Neighbors, vei-y much, and we feel that 

 we are always benefited by them. Ernest speaks of 

 one of your colonics as appearing to have the " bee 

 disease." I noticed two of ours troubled a little in 

 that way this fall, spotting the alighting-board, and 

 even on my hand, so I had some little fears about 

 the consequences in the winter; but if we put them 

 up to the best of our ability, we can only leave 

 the result with God; and I am sure whatever the 

 result may be, it will be all i-ight. 



Koseville, 111. Mrs. L. C. Axtell. 



Mrs. A., just let your journals go as fast 

 as people want them, and we will replace 

 every one you give away ; in fact, we will 

 send you as many copies of each number as 

 you think proper to distribute among your 

 bee-friends and acxiuaintances. Of course, 

 you would not want to give the same person 

 a number each month, for then there would 

 be no need of his subscribing. But wv are 

 always willing to furnish as many sample 

 copies as our subscribers can make use of ; 

 and we will furnish any of our subscribers 

 with any number of any particular issue, for 

 that purpose.— We are very glad indeed to 

 know of your yield of honey, even though it 

 did come late in the season.— Now. Mrs. A., 

 I want your husband to be sure to report 

 how his sub-earth ventilator works. Let us 

 know what size of tile he uses ; and when it 

 is below zero outside, please tell us the tem- 

 perature of the air where it comes into the 

 cellar. You do not say how deep the tile 

 is to be put. Please mention that also. 



G. S. BROWN'S BEE-FEEDER. 



SOMETHING NOT EXACTLY NEW, BCT GOOD FOR .\LL 

 THAT. 



N regard to feeders, I have been bothered more 

 or less with robbing-. I have a feeder that you 

 can put inside of the hive, and no robbing. 

 Take a 3 inch plank and fit it in a frame; take 

 a 1'4-inch auger; bore the holes as close togeth- 

 er as you can. Leave one in at each end, and bore 

 within one-half inch of the bottom. Cutout about 

 half way down, and you have a feeder that will not 

 leak. I use sapling-pine plank. I do not plane the 

 plank. Nail in the frame when made. I can makg 

 four in one hour by hand. Bees will not get drown- 

 ed in them. I use a tunnel to pour the feed in. 

 Pour in at oi»o end until full. The bees will lie as 

 snug up to the plank as they will with comb, apd 

 you can put the feeder in tiw center or outside the 

 frames. I have made a good many for ray neigh- 

 bors, and tljey say that the/ are the thing tO dp 



feeding. I have two swarms that I am going to feed 

 all winter, as they need it. I winter in cellar. 

 Salisbury, Vermont. G. S. Brown. 



I may explain to our readers, that the 

 above is simply apiece of plank, as mention- 

 ed, cut so as to fit inside of an ordinary 

 brood- frame. The auger-holes are bored 

 from the top edge of the plank. After being 

 bored and cut out as described, the plank is 

 slipped into the frame, and naited fast. 

 Such a feeder will hold a quart or more ; and 

 as it occupies just the space of a good thick 

 comb, it makes a compact way of giving the 

 feed. The wood is as warm for the bees to 

 cluster against as a comb of honey itself. 

 Such or similar feeders have been in use be- 

 fore, and I really don't know why they have 

 been dropped. 'We can furnish them for 25 

 cts. each, if wanted. 



REPORT FROM I. R. GOOD. 



FROM 7 TO 85 COLONIES. 



HIS has been a good season here for bees. I 

 left Tennessee June 18th, leaving my broth- 

 er and his son, who is an experienced bee- 

 keeper and queen-breeder, to take charge of 

 my bees tliere. I arrived here June 20th, and 

 found that I had but 7 colonies of bees left out of 

 05 last fall. 1 determined to run these for increase 

 only, consequently I commenced dividing at once 

 and kept it up all summer, dividing as fast as the 

 bees would bear it. The result is, I have just fin- 

 ished packing for winter, 85 colonies of bees, all 

 good and strong but about 8 or 10 rather weak ones. 

 This was done without any feeding. 



In v^reparing them for winter I have taken out 

 several hundred pounds of honey that 1 have set 

 away for spring feeding. The bees had but little 

 comb to build, as I had nearly enough empty combs 

 for the 85 colonies. There appeared to be a contin- 

 ual tlow of honey all through the season— enough 

 to keep the bees breeding, and keep them out of 

 mischief. There was no time through the summer 

 when robbers would bother while working with the 

 bees. 



The bees at no time this fall have killed off their 

 drones as they generally do. We have had very 

 nice and warm weather the last few days, and there 

 were hundreds of drones flying. Is not this unusu- 

 al for bees? 



QUEEN-CELLS GOOD EATING. 



This summer one of my near neighbors caught a 

 runaway swarm of hybrid bees. He hived them, 

 and they went to work with a will, and soon filled 

 the hive with comb, and one case of sections. After 

 the sections were nicely filled, the man took them 

 off and gave them a case of empty sections; but a 

 day or two after this he came to my house, request- 

 ing me to come and hive his bees, saying they had 

 swarmed without saying any thing to him about it. 

 I went to one of my colonies that had queen-cells 

 about ready to hatch, and cut out two cells that 

 were built close together, intending to put them in 

 his hive in order to Italianize his bees. Before 

 reaching his house his son met us to tell me that I 

 need not come any further, because their bees had 

 left; but I told the man I would go and look at the 

 colony they capie out of. When we got to the place 

 I Ijiid the queen-CPJlg OP tjip gtppd the hive stood 



