856 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



VARIOUS MATTERS. 



HOW THOSE BEES CAME THROUGH. 



fEFORE me lies a card with this question on it : 

 "Please tell us, through Gleanings, how 

 the colony of bees you experimented with 

 came through. See page 190, Gleanings 

 for 1885." By'turning to said page I find that 

 the colony alluded to was the one in which I placed 

 the thermometer the most times in getting the tem- 

 perature of a cluster of bees in extreme cold weath- 

 er. I there say, that I fear the experiment will 

 cost me the colony, as they are getting quite un- 

 easy, or words to that effect. Well, it turned out 

 that this very same colony^which had stores of 

 honey and poUeii , hcing disturbed at least 12 times 

 during the very cold weather of last February and 

 March, proved to be one of ray best colonies in 

 May, and continued so throughout the year, giving. 

 me 113 lbs. of white comb honey and one new colo- 

 ny. Thus the advice, not to disturb bees in cold 

 weather, did not apply to this colony; for in a few 

 days after my experiments ended, I found them as 

 quiet as any colony in the yard, and much more so 

 than two-thirds of them were. 



AVH.VT became OF THE QUEEN? 



The same questioner asks, "What became of the 

 queen you placed under the Hill device over the 

 colony? See page 231, of Gleanings for 1885." 

 This alludes to the queen I took from a colonj' of 

 bees just dying with bee-diarrhoea, which was put 

 in a cage provisioned with Good candy, and placed 

 in above, hoping to get her through to spring, as 

 she was a very valuable queen. By the amount of 

 food consumed, I judged she lived perhaps a month, 

 but she had been dead some time when the weather 

 admitted of my looking after her. 



TEMPERATURE OF THE EARTH. 



In the editor's talk on page 785 and 788 I see he 

 places the temperature of the earth at 55^; and 

 from what I read I judge that he gives that degree 

 for the reason that he got the impression, either by 

 actual knowledge or otherwise, that this was the 

 temperature inside of the Mammoth Cave, in Ken- 

 tucky. Now, while I know nothing of the tempera- 

 ture of the earth in Kentucky, I do know that 55° 

 is not the temperature of the earth at 40 to 45 or 

 less feet in depth, here in Central New York; nor 

 do I believe it is in Ohio, where friend Koot lives, 

 so that his plan of using the heat of the earth for 

 the growing of vegetables by means of sub-earth 

 ventilation would not work here, I am confident. 

 Five miles from liere is a well 46 feet deep, at which 

 I always stop and drink whenever I go that way in 

 summer time. The means used for drawing the 

 water is the "old oaken bucket," sang about in our 

 childhood. Several times, both in winter and sum- 

 mer, a thermometer has been placed in the bucket 

 and lowered into the water, which is from 38 to 40 

 feet below the surface of the earth. The tempera- 

 ture of this water has been found to be 41° in Feb- 

 ruary and 43° in August, thusavei'aging42' through- 

 out the season, changing only two degrees between 

 the severe cold of winter, and the extreme heat of 

 summer. I also find that this is very near the tem- 

 perature of my.uaderground bee-cellar. when all is 

 kept quiet and undisturbed; and if I recollect 

 aright it is the temp3rature given of the earth in 



Michigan, as given by Bro. Heddon a few years ago. 

 I would naturally suppose that the earth in the 

 Southern States, especially in Tsxas and Florida, 

 would be warmer than where we have so much win- 

 ter as we do here, which may account for the dif- 

 ference between Kentucky and New York. If I 

 could have a bee-cellar which would give a steady 

 temperature of .55°, without artificial heat, 1 should 

 consider it a great acquisition. 

 Bordino, N. Y. G. M. Doolitti.k. 



Friend D., I am rather glad to know that 

 disturbing bees in mid - winter has not 

 (ihcays been hazardous. ]\Iay be, liowever. 

 you handle them so carefully that you did 

 not demoralize them as some less expert 

 manipulator might do.— I am very glad in- 

 deed that you have brought up this matter 

 of the temperature of the earth. I liave liad 

 one other criticism on the same thing. One 

 other friend says the mean temperature of 

 tlie earth is ")9 instead of .55-. Well, we liave 

 enough careful observers among om- readers 

 of Gleanings to settle this matter pretty 

 conclusively. In regard to the well you 

 mention, I should like to ask if you saw the 

 temperature taken, and was the thermome- 

 ter one that was reliable, or only one such 

 as happened to be lying around?' The well, 

 you say. was o8 to 40 feet deep. In the 

 Mammoth Cave we descended to a de])th of 

 several liundred feet. It is laid down in tlie 

 physical geographies, that the temperature 

 rises one degree for every 50 or 60 feet we go 

 down into the earth. This, you know, 

 might make all the difference.— No doubt 

 you are right in saying that sub-earth ven- 

 tilation would not give a temperature higli 

 enough for raising plants, and I thank you 

 for the correction ; but with a little aid from 

 the lieat of the sun, and occasional days 

 when the outside temperature is above 42^, 

 I think we could get along pretty well. Let- 

 tuce and radishes grow nicely at a tempera- 

 ture of only 45^-. 



FOUL BROOD. 



ITS MANASEMENT AND CURE. 



PKOM the Briiifih Bee Jonnnd of Nov. 15 

 we extract the article below. I hope 

 the editor of that journal will excuse 

 me when I say that I think our fiiends 

 across the water are to be congratulat- 

 ed on having so able a man at tlie head of 

 tlieir journal. Friend Cowan seems not only 

 to be fully posted in every thing relative to 

 the bee-literature of the present day, but he 

 also seems to have at his lingers' ends all 

 that has l)een said and written in years past, 

 ill regard to even the little details of. bee 

 culture. And this is most important for an 

 editor. How else can he direct tliought,and 

 be able to judge of what is new and original, 

 from that which has been gone over and 

 over V The article was called forth from re- 

 viewing friend I). A. Jtmes's little pamphlet 

 with the title of our leading. I trust it is 

 indeed tnu', that the plienol method can be 

 relied upon ; but I confess that my faith has 

 been somewhat weakened by the contradic- 



