818 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



over four or live days. I find that, where they ai-e 

 more than three or four days in transit, they usual- 

 ly destroy all unsealed brood. 



I had one lot of bees the past season from Louisi- 

 ana. These came by water to New York, and were 

 seven days on the road to New York; then they 

 were seut by freight to Mechanic Falls, I*Ie., which 

 took three days. These bees were in shippingr- 

 boxes, on ten L. frames. An opening' one inch 

 wide, clear across the bottom, was covered with 

 wire cloth. A l^s-inch hole was made in each end 

 and side, near the bottom, and a l-inch chamber 

 above the tops of the frames, open at both ends, 

 which was covered with wire cloth; a 'i-inch-thick 

 cover had an inch hole in its center; over this hole 

 was tacked a ball of burlap as large as your two 

 fists. This cover was nailed down on burlap, and 

 water poured into this hole, and I have no doubt 

 the captain had instructions to water those bees, 

 and also parties in New York, who see to the trans- 

 fer of them ; at any rate, they arrived here the 11th 

 day after shipment, and there was not half a wine- 

 grlassful of dead bees per hive, and the hives were 

 as crowded with bees as I ever saw one that was 

 ready to swarm, and two actually did swarm the 

 next day after they arrived, in regular order, leav- 

 ing queen-cells all ready to hatch. 



I like your idea as to a party being- located at 

 some central place, and receiving bees, and letting 

 them have a fly. After they are all right they will 

 stand a two to four days' trip by freight nicely, and 

 come to the purchaser in good order, and reasona- 

 bly, too, as the expense by water is extremely low. 

 The only question would be, how much this middle- 

 man's services would add to the cost. 



Mechanic Falls, Me., Nov. fi, 188."». J. D. Mason. 



Friend ISI., we are very mncli obliged in- 

 deed for yotir report, showing tliat wliat I 

 sngge.sted "has actnally been put in practice; 

 and from the testimony yon give, I shonld 

 say that this matter of "shijipiiig by water 

 shonld certainly l>e more fnlly developed. — 

 The arrangement yon mention, for giving 

 the l)ees water, is also qnite an ingenions 

 idea.— So the bees really made jn-eparations 

 to swarm on the way, aiid did swarm imme- 

 diately after. Now', then, where is a bee- 

 friend on the sea-coast, v.iio can act as a 

 middle-man for nsV 



AN ABC SCHOLAR'S UPS AND DOWNS. 



how he at last succeeded; from v to 40, and 

 10:J8 lbs. of honey. 



f^ HREE years ago I started at about the foot of 

 ^f the ABC class. I thought T possessed more 

 f knowledge than T really did. I bought 8 

 stands of black bees in March, 1881!; in June 

 I had three left. Some swarmed out, and 

 some died. I investigated a little and found mice- 

 nests in the hives, from the size of a tin cup up to 

 the size of a hat. The trouble was, there were but 

 few bees and less honey when I bouglil thoni. I 

 learned one lesson then. 



A (iOOD WORD FOR CVPRIANS. 



T had three left in American hives. I watched 

 them closely. They did not swarm that summer. 

 Oil the lOtli day of July, 188.3, a swarm of pure Cyp- 

 rians came and made application foi- a hive, and, 

 of course, I gratified them. 1 gave tluiii a hl\e 

 with old combs. They oust a good swaiiii tln' lltli 



of August, and a small one the 24th. The last one 

 died in the winter. In the spring I had 2 Cyprians 

 and 3 blacks. The Cyprians increased to 11, and 

 made 3V.5 pounds of comb honey; the blacks did not 

 increase any, and made 12.5 lbs. I will cut a long 

 story short by saying, last fall I had 23 stands. 

 This spring I had 7. Nearly at the foot of the class 

 again, or, more properly speaking, a fit subject for 

 Blasted Hopes. Not much. My old Cyprian queen 

 came through all right, cast a large swarm May 21st. 

 May 31st another, and June 1st another. The old 

 queen's wings were pei-fect, but she was so large 

 and heavy she could not fly. From that one stand 

 of Cyprians I increased to 16, and from the 7 I in- 

 creased to 40. Now take especial notice, they were 

 all natural swarms. You would naturally inquire, 

 " How a'oout the honey? " I took 1023 lbs., all comb 

 honey, in one-pound sections. How is that for 

 Iowa? All but 150 lbs. was gathered after Aug. 1st. 



We do not get much honey here yet from white 

 clover, but it is getting a good start. I did not get 

 much from basswood this season. The bees used it 

 in brood rearing. The most of our honey was gath- 

 ered from a weed growing in the corn-fields, called 

 by several names, such as smartweed, heart's-ease, 

 and black - heart. The honey is just as white as 

 white-clover honey, and good enough for any one. 

 Albert McCay. 



East Nodaway, Iowa, Nov. 13, 1SS5. 



THE OTHER SIDE OP BEE-KEEPING. 

 Or, Rather, a Duplicate of Last Year. 



HOW BEE-KEEPING IS LIKE FISHING. 



"T WENT into winter quarters with 11.5 colonies. 

 M The first of March I had lost two or three colo- 

 fl nies, but the most of my colonies were greatly 

 '^ reduced in strength. I thought they would 

 soon build up, but the spring was cold and 

 backward, and brood-rearing was two months later 

 than usual. For the first time, I got a taste of 

 spring dwindling. The first of Ma.v my 115 counted 

 92. The cause of the dwindling was apparent— loss 

 of bees, and backward spring. Old bees died off 

 faster than young ones were hatched. 1 sold 6 colo- 

 nies, which left me 86, and transferred 12 on shares, 

 which gave me 92 to commence the season with. T 

 increased artiflciallj- to 104. 



We had a fair crop of white and alsike clover. 

 The bees got just enough honey from it to check 

 robbing. Linn bloom was never better. The bees 

 I got enough honey from that to make them reason- 

 j ably good natured foi- eight or ten days, but not suf- 

 ficient to swarm. August came in cold, and it 

 would have paid a good per cent to have fed them 

 all through that month. 



I was in Blasted Hopes last year (that is the name 

 that suits mei; when spring came I thought I was 

 out, head and shoulders; but 1 settled back for five 

 months, just my ears sticking out. Spanish needle 

 came in the first of September, and there was an un- 

 usual amount of heart's-ease honey, which began 

 coming in the 2(1 of September. I put on my first 

 sections that day. Bees got in a good humor, and I 

 felt a little better, and they and 1 worked together 

 just as if we had always been good friends. 



BEE BUSINESS LIKE FISHING. 



You can talk to me about mussing with beeswa.v. 

 .■\ny thing but woi-king with robber-bees. I thin 

 uiiiu'out in the fall till 1 don't hn\e uian>- to feed. 



