744 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



tide for Gleanings, if desirable. Not receiving 

 any response I came to the conclusion that you did 

 not think it worthy of note, lean furnish affida- 

 vits of two other bee-keepers in this locality, to 

 whom I communicated the facts, and who have 

 practiced this method for four or five years. 

 Ashbourne, Pa., Aug. 23, 1889. W. E. Flowers. 



MUMFORD'S CLOVER-BLOAT REMEDY A SUCCESS. 



A W. Mumford's remedy for clover bloat (see p. 

 ti',^'1 is good, I know, as 1 have practiced it for sever- 

 al years. I had a cow some years ago that would 

 have the bloat nearly every day when first turned 

 on clover. She got so she would come to the barn 

 when first taken, seeming to know she would get 

 relief. I hud a stick about a foot long and l l / 2 inch- 

 es through, with a cord on each end, in a handy 

 place; and when she came up I would put it in her 

 mouth like bits, and tie it back of the horns and let 

 her go. In a short time she would be all right. It 

 has never failed with me. If used in time I think it 

 will cure any case of bloat. S. H. Mallory. 



Decatur, Mich., Aug. 24, 1889. 



Thanks, friend M. Your testimony set- 

 tles the question in regard to the value of 

 this simple mechanical remedy. The above 

 may have been published in our agricultural 

 papers, but I have never come across it. 



EXCESSIVELY HOT WEATHER IN CALIFORNIA. 



We are having the hottest weather this season, 

 since 1885. One day the thermometer went up to 

 1H in the shade. I ventilated my bees early in the 

 morning, mid did not have any melt down; but 

 some of my neighbors were less fortunate, and lost 

 a number of colonies entirely, by melting. If you 

 never experienced such hot weather, it is interest- 

 ing: the perspiration starts from every pore; and 

 the only way to keep cool is to keep your clothes 

 wet. Every thing in the house feels hot, even the 

 marble on the bureau; and wife says the wheel on 

 the sewing-machine almost burns her hand. You 

 feel like saying, "Excuse me," when asked to take 

 a chair. I kept the lawn-sprinkler running, and 

 every half-hour the children and myself would go 

 out and stand under it until our clothes were wet 

 through. It would be foolishness to try to work 

 out in the sun, for the thermometer says 134 out 

 there, so I will sit in the house and work the type- 

 writer. 1 put a wet cloth around the thermometer 

 to see how much it would go down. It went from 

 114 to 80. That is nature's way of keeping the blood 

 cool; but when the thermometer is 114 I prefer to 

 pour the water on the outside rather than take it 

 inwardly. J. F. McIntyre. 



Fillmore, Cal., Aug. 24, 1889. 



Friend M., we are very sorry that it was 

 so hot ; but we are much obliged to you for 

 your valuable report and suggestions. You 

 ought to be thankful for that beautiful irri- 

 gating canal that runs just back of your 

 ranch, along the mountain-side, away up 

 above the tops of your orange-trees. I think 

 I could stand 1 14 very well, if I could have a 

 spray of that beautiful spring water playing 

 constantly over me ; but I am greatly aston- 

 ished to find that a wet cloth could reduce 

 the temperature from 114 down to 80. Give 

 my respects to the little girl who beat Uncle 

 Amos climbing the mountain, and carried 

 her dolly besides. 



^weris to QaEgwie^ 



FROM OUR ABC CLASS. 



This department is designed primarily to cover questions 

 either not already answered in the A B C of Bee Culture (price 

 in cloth $1.25), or, if incorporated in this work, are here dwelt 

 upon more in detail on account of the importance of the 

 question. While these answers are of vital interest to the 

 A BC scholars, they will doubtless be found, in many in- 

 stances, tn be id considerable value to the more advanced 

 student. Kur lack of space, the question itself, instead Of lie- 

 ing directly staled, is omitted, the same being implied in the 

 answer. II is hoped that the cla^s will tirst consult their 

 textbook before sending in their questions. 



THE CHAHACTER OF HONEY-DEW. 



F. C. F.. Massachusetts.— Honey-dew is not neces- 

 sarily fatal for wintering, but it is usually safest to 

 extract it or remove such combs containing it, and 

 use them during the latter part of spring for feed- 

 ing. They are just as good'for stimulating brood- 

 rearing. Honey-dew is usually dark, almost black. 

 The flavor is very unp'eisant — almost sickening. 

 See " Aphides," also " Honey-Dew," in the ABC. 



HOW TO START IN BEE-KEEPING THE MOST 

 ECONOMICALLY. 



M. D. S., Massachusetts. — We would not advise 

 you to buy a black queen with Italian bees. Your 

 better way is to buy an Italian queen with black or 

 hybrid bees. This will in time give you a very nice 

 Italian colony. The cheapest way to start an Ital- 

 ian apiary is to purchase two or three swarms of 

 black bees; catch and kill their queens and intro- 

 duce to each an untested Italian from some good 

 breeder. If you can not purchase the black bees, 

 the next cheapest way is to buy a pound of Italians 

 with an untested Italian queen. Put these on some 

 frames of foundation, and give them stimulative 

 feed, and in two or three months you will have a 

 pretty respectable colony to go into winter quarters. 



SURPLUS POLLEN IN COMBS, AND WHAT TO DO WITH 



IT; WHEN THE BEES WILL PULL OUT 



FOUNDATION. 



C. N. L., Michioan.— We would not advise you to 

 cut out the pollen in the frame, and insert in its 

 place comb foundation. As there is no practical 

 way of getting it out of comb mechanically, keep 

 such combs over till next spring, when they will be 

 quite valuable for stimulating brood-rearing. As 

 it is desirable to get colonies as strong as possible 

 for the honey-flow, which comes later, these combs 

 containing some pollen will save quite a little in the 

 way of stimulative feeding. It will be very much 

 cheaper to use frames of foundation, rather than 

 to mutilate combs containing pollen. The best 

 time in the year to have foundation drawn out is 

 when honey is coming in. As a general thing, bees 

 will not pull it out at other times, except under the 

 stimulus of feeding. 



H. L. S., Ohio. — You might choose bee-keeping as 

 a means of livelihood, but j ou must be prepared to 

 stem over now and then a bad season, when the re- 

 turns from the apiary or apiaries would barely if at 

 all cover expenses. It is usuall> safer to combine 

 some other pursuit with bee keeping, if the locality 

 is not always to be depended upon for honey. 

 Whatever you do, we would advise you to make a 

 small beginning. By all means make the bees pay 

 the expense of all needed improvements conse- 

 quent upon their increase. As to which branch of 

 bee-keeping will pay best, the production of ex- 

 tracted or comb honey should be settled by your 



