18SS 



ULEAxNiJSGS IN liEE CULTUiiE. 



793 



great bunch of bees starve? I am sure I 

 could have hived them so they would stay, 

 especially when they were starving to death 

 where they were. Suppose you had fixed 

 the hive right where they clustered, and 

 then given them some syrup in a feeder ; 

 they certainly would have gone to work, and 

 fixed themselves for winter, had you given 

 them such a chance. 



HOW CONRAD MADE A HIVE FOR HIMSELF. 



My brother Christian had 34 colonies last fall, and 

 he has 25 yet. Several experiments which he tried 

 caused the death of some colonies. I began to keep 

 bees last year. I first took a few old boards and 

 sawed two alike for the ends, then two for the sides. 

 My brother Christian nailed it together and we put 

 the bees in. We took an old top of a hive for the 

 lid, and they did pretty well in it. I dug- a hole in 

 the ground so that one end was open for the en- 

 trance, then set the hive in, and put sawdust on the 

 ground; then we had no bottom in it. Then I be- 

 gan to feed them with sugar till it was time to quit 

 for winter. I packed them with straw outside and 

 chaff inside. Conrad E. Weckesser, age 11. 



Marshallville, (Jhio. 



Well, Conrad, that is a rather novel hive 

 of yours, with nothing but dirt for the bot- 

 tom. I am not sure but it would answer 

 nicely during warm weather. Of course, 

 there would liave to be a ditch dug around 

 the outside of the hive, so the water from 

 storms would not get in and make it nasty 



and muddy. 



a swarm that left the hive, and built comb 



UNDER the hive. 



Pa had 7 stands of bees, and thej- all died but one. 

 I don't know what was the cause, but I guess he 

 did not tend them. I am staying with my sister. 

 They have five stands of bees. Bees here gather 

 honey from white clover, basswood, Spanish nee- 

 dles, smartweed, and goldenrod. I love to read the lit- 

 tle letters. Did youeverhearofaswarmof bees that 

 left the hive, and built comb under the hive? Our 

 neighbor had one last winter, but they froze when 

 cold weather set in. Ida M. Deal, age 13. 



Herborn, Ills. 



Yes, Ida, I have heard of swarms of bees 

 going under tlie hive, and building combs, 

 as you say. Sometimes it is because their 

 owner does not give them room enough in- 

 side of the hive to store the honey, and in 

 that case it indicates bad management. It 

 is like the old adage of not liaving your 

 " bowl right side up when it is raining por- 

 ridge.'' When the honey-How comes that 

 Induces bees to do all that, we surely want 

 to have plenty of surplus boxes on", so the 

 bees may put it in the hive in the nicest 

 shape. Sometimes it is caused by the queen 

 crawling under the hive instead of inside of 

 the hive, when a swarm is hived. In that 

 case there would be nothing in the hive at 

 all, though I hardly need tell you that this 

 also is very bad management. 



finding a bee-tree in the night. 

 Since I wrote you last, I do not know what to 

 write about bees. Papa is now putting grapevines 

 between his hives, to shade them in hot summer 

 days. I think it is a good plan, to keep any one 

 from getting the grapes before they are ripe. Papa 

 has found three bee-trees, and I found two. I found 



one while hunting OUe niglit. I saw something white 

 while I was passing by a large tree, right at the 

 ground, while my dog grabbed out some of the 

 comb; but the bees did not sting him, because they 

 were too cold. Papa and myself went back there 

 the next day and nailed some bark off from another 

 tree of the same kind over the hole, and left only 

 one little hole" for the bees to come out. He said 

 that he did this to keep any one else from finding it. 

 He is going to get them in the spring. 1 like hunt- 

 ing in the night, very much. Charlie Hardin, Jr. 



Very good, Charlie. I suppose you mean 

 the tree had an opening near the ground. 

 Bees do sometimes occupy such places, but 

 not often, because such a place is too con- 

 venient for their many enemies. And so 

 the white comb was partly visible through 

 this hole. Had I been your papa, I think I 

 would have cut the bees out and carried 

 them home, in order to make a sure thing 

 of them. 



a novel method of creating a "home market;" 



how TH.Vr HALF-POUND OF BEES TURNED OUT. 



I want to tell Huldah Williams how our mamma 

 manages so as to let us have all of her honey, and 

 sell it too. She sells it to papa. Isn't that a "home 

 market"? In Sept., 1884, she got Ij lb. of bees from 

 you, which were her first bees. In November she 

 took them out of the little hive, and put them in a 

 big one, with chaff cushions on each side, and they 

 got along very well. In warm weather she would 

 go to them; but one day in March she went to them, 

 and they were all stiff, and looked like dead bees. 

 They did not have a drop of honey, so she laid the 

 two frames in the sun, and sprinkled them with su- 

 gar-water, and in a few hours they were all alive 

 and in the hive again. She fed them till they could 

 get honey. They did not swarm this summer, but 

 there are many bees in that hive. They filled the 

 bottom of the hive with honey, and then filled the 

 j top, and that is the honey we laugh about mamma 

 selling to papa. The honey was crosswise and every 

 way, so mamma could not draw out the frames; so 

 she asked papa to come and lift the top story, honey 

 and all, off, and she put empty frames on. Papa is 

 afraid of bees, so he had on a veil and gloves, which 

 made his hands clumsy; and after all the bees were 

 off, and he was taking the honey to the house, he let 

 it fall, and, such a mash! We got pans quick, and 

 saved the honey. There were young bees in the 

 middle. 



What will keep the queen out of the upper story? 

 and how can mamma make them build straight 

 comb? I am always with her when she goes to 

 them, and am not afraid, though they get in my 

 hair sometimes, and sting. In May a swarm of 

 black bees clustered on the hedge, and mamma and 

 I put them in one of your hives , so we have got two 

 hives of bees. Please excuse my long letter. I only 

 wanted to tell H. W. how she could get a plenty of 

 honey, and I have said too much about other things. 

 Pearl Ferguson, age 10. 



Macon, Miss., Sept. 26, 1885. 



Thank you for your good letter, friend 

 Pearl. Your mamma has learned a lesson in 

 regard to the importance of seeing that the 

 bees have plenty of food. Do not by any 

 means let the industrious little fellows starve 

 to death. She chose the proper way to bring 

 them to life. You did have a mess when 

 your papa dropped the honey, did you not? 



