GLEA NXNGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



my small apiary of 14 hives at that time. There 

 was a man who followed swarm No. 1, from the 

 river-bank up to our barn, and saw them go into 

 my hive. Now, as I was watching- for them, and 

 had made preparations for them, and as he had no 

 hives to hive them, whose ought they to be? I of- 

 fered them to him; but when he saw my prepara- 

 tions for them he would not take them. He is my 

 cousin's husband, and I afterward got two swarms 

 off the place from him, so we are good enough 

 friends, but I don't know who had the legal right. 

 In 1887 I took three more, and one in 1888, by using 

 decoy hives. Wm. S. Sloan. 



Claymont, Delaware, Mar. 3, 1889. 



Friend S., your facts are very valuable. 

 From what you say it would seem that bees 

 have a special fancy for selecting special lo- 

 calities for migrating. What it is that at- 

 tracts the new swarm, or decides them on 

 going in a new direction, is not very fully 

 understood, and we should be very glad of 

 some facts bearing on this point. If we 

 were sufficiently well posted in regard to 

 their habits and instincts, perhaps we might 

 induce them to do the swarming themselves 

 and go into hives already prepared. 



IS THERE ANY CURE FOR SPRING DWINDLING ? 



Do you know any cure for spring dwindling? If 

 so, please let me know. My bees are all getting 

 along finely except two colonies which keep flying 

 out in cold days, and dying. They are in 4-inch 

 walled chaff hives, good and strong, with plenty of 

 bees and plenty of honey. What ails them? What 

 can I do to cure them? C. S. Johnston. 



Emlenton, Pa., Feb. 21, 1889. 



Friend J., no one is prepared, that I know 

 of, to say exactly what causes spring dwin- 

 dling. It may possibly be somewhat de- 

 pendent on the queen, or it may be some 

 sort of disease that afflicts certain hives. 

 The fact, however, that most of the veterans 

 have succeeded in getting along without any 

 of it for a good many years, would indicate 

 that management has much to do with it. 

 Have those two colonies that keep flying out 

 in cold weather exactly the same stores that 

 the rest have ? 



BEES GATHERING BITS OF OLD WAX. 



Let us have facts— real, certain, unmistakable 

 facts: There can be no science without them. 

 Last summer, on the 2d day of July I transferred a 

 swarm of hybrid bees from a post-oak log, in which 

 they were found, and put them into a movable- 

 frame hive, and filled only one frame with comb, 

 and stuck some pieces to the under side of the 

 other frames. The bees from that hive would 

 gather the comb that was left sticking to the old 

 log, and carry it into the movable-frame hive, 

 and build comb on the pieces which I attached to 

 the top of the frames. I watched them, and I know 

 whereof I speak. Has anybody else ever known 

 such? The bees would gather it on their legs like 

 pollen, in the heat of the day, when the wax was 

 very soft. Don't think I am mistaken, and say it 

 was propolis, for it was not, and they built comb 

 with it. You could readily tell the comb they made 

 of the wax thus gathered. E. Andehson. 



Comanche, Tex. 



Friend A., the fact that you record, in re- 

 gard to bees carrying wax, is a matter of 

 common observation. When they have 



nothing else to do, and the weather is suita- 

 ble, they very frequently do this if they can 

 get access to wax. 



REP0TO ENC@HI^GIP. 



FROM 37 TO 76 COLONIES, AND 8620 LBS. OF HONEY; 

 A GOOD REPORT. 



fOUR years ago I sent my winter's loss to 

 Gleanings; but this time I will send my 

 last summer's gain. From 37 colonies, com- 

 mencing with basswood, I extracted 6500 lbs., 

 and secured 200 lbs. of comb honey. I have 

 on hand for spring feeding 240 large combs that will 

 weigh 8 lbs. to the comb, making 1920 lbs., or a 

 grand total of 8620 lbs., and increased to 76 colonies. 

 They are wintering all right yet. I did not pay out 

 a dollar for help. My boy of 9 and girl of 11 years 

 and I did all the work, except some very light that 

 my sick wife helped on ; and the saddest of it all is, 

 she has left us since then, and gone to that home 

 beyond. We took care of a garden of 13 lots in 3 

 different blocks. We work six days in a week, and 

 serve the Lord in our humble way on Sunday. 



QUANTITY AND QUALITY; ARE THE REPORTS OF 

 LARGE YIELDS AN INJURY TO THE CRAFT? 



Mrs. L. Harrison says those who report such 

 large yields of extracted honey, and claim to pro- 

 duce it so cheaply, are an injury to the craft. As I 

 have done both for the last 7 years, please tell the 

 readers of Gleanings of the quality of that 1100 

 lbs. I sent you last summer; also of the two sam- 

 ples I sent to-day, for I pride myself in that I raise 

 as good honey as the best in this part— at least I am 

 no old bee-keeper. Ten years ago I knew nothing 

 about bees. I had never seen a swarm in the air 

 nor in a tree. I could not tell what a queen or a 

 drone was. In the winter of 1880 a neighbor gave 

 me two box-hive swarms. I have sold and lost a 

 good many swarms since then. The Bible, Glean- 

 ings, ABC, and W. H. Stewart, of Orion, have 

 been my guides every day since. F. C. Snyder. 



Orion, Wis., Feb. 26, 1889. 



Friend S. , we are very glad indeed to find 

 that you pulled through after your winter's 

 losses, and have made such a good record. 

 Such a report is especially refreshing aft- 

 er such a season as 1888, when so many of 

 the reports were discouraging. You see 

 you have secured toward 200 pounds to the 

 hive, and at the same time more than dou- 

 bled. Your 1100 lbs. of honey was excel- 

 lent ; and one of the samples you sent us 

 has something remarkably fine about it. I 

 should say that at least a part of it came 

 from red clover. Right glad am I to see 

 that you have no hesitation in placing the 

 Bible first and foremost among your friends 

 and helpers. 



FROM 55 TO 105, AND 4500 LBS. OF HONEY. 



We commenced with 55 swarms— 50 good, the oth- 

 er five very weak, and increased to 105. We sold 

 one swarm, united some, and now have 96 in the 

 cellar. Five more are now sold, to be delivered in 

 the spring. The temperature has averaged 48 — a 

 little too warm. The bees seem uneasy most of the 

 time. I can not remember of as mild a winter, and 

 I have lived here for 32 years. We took off 4500 1-lb. 

 sections— 2000 basswood and clover, the rest golden- 



