388 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



wholesale, 3 pence for extracted and fi for 1-lb. sec- 

 tions, which will pay well if a little attention is giv- 

 en to the apiary. 



FOUL BROOD AND THE PHENOL CUKE. 



Our great trouble is foul brood. We are well ac- 

 quainted with all the different phases and descrip- 

 tions given from time to time in the bee journals. 

 For ray own part I ceased to dread it alter 1 got 

 hold of phenol cure— not by feeding, for that would 

 be impossible, unless by shutting up the bees— but 

 by spraying bees and brood with a weak solution— 

 1 in 4(10. 1 find that two or three sprayings is quite 

 sufficient to eradicate the disease. The disease is 

 so widespread that one can never be quite sate tor 

 any length ol time. Some careless or ignorant 

 neighbor may at any time commuuicHte the dis- 

 ease. With no winter lo contend with, we should 

 be overrun or overswarmed with bees if nature did 

 not put some cheek upon increase. 



HOW TO GET RID OF SMALL BLACK ANTS. 



1 have been terribly troubled with small black 

 ants— so bad that 1 could not keep any thing like a 

 nucleus; in fact, they would put four or five frames 

 of bees out of doors. After taking all manner of 

 trouble to try to keep them off the hives I have set to 

 work to try to poison them. To be safe in dealing with 

 euoh dangerous stuff, I made 50 small feeders with 

 the section groover, on the same principle as the 

 Simplicity feeder, and then cut a piece of board 

 large enough to cover the feeder. This piece of 

 board was screwed on top by a single screw in the 

 middle, but with a 's-inch strip of wood between at 

 each end, so as to leave room for the ants to run in. 

 When charged with poisoned honey in the grooves, 

 the top board was securely screwed on, and one 

 slipped under each hive where the trouble was. 

 Judging from the attention they were receiving an 

 hour or so afterward there should be a good many 

 ants less in a few days. I think this will meet the 

 trouble, and it is inexpensive. 



For getting rid of large ants which congregate in 

 colonies, I have found nothing so speedy as break- 

 ing up the ground, and then sinking a few earthen- 

 ware basins so that the rims are flush with the sur- 

 face. A little tire wood ashes sprinkled into the 

 basin makes the sides so slippery that no ant that 

 once enters ever returns. A day or two will gener- 

 ally suffice to trap the greater part of the ants. Anx- 

 iety of mind to climb up the side of the basin will 

 generally bring about death; if not, a little boiling 

 water will. I have found the plan answer where ev- 

 ery thing else failed. It is, like the other, inexpen- 

 sive (if you borrow the basins and don't break any). 



I should like to add my testimonial to the many 

 you constantly receive, to the ijleasure which the 

 perusal of Gleanings gives; and not only pleasure, 

 but profit— not profit measured by dollars, but by a 

 standard which teaches us to " lay up treasure in 

 heaven." 



THE TOBACCO COLUMN. 



I am greatly interested in the smoker column. 

 Thankful I am, after years of slavery, to be deliver- 

 ed from the bondage of a pipe, and to be free from 

 a habit which was offensive to others, and misera- 

 bly mean and selfish at the same time. I am glad 

 to see so many others laying aside this filthy habit. 

 Three years since, I laid the pipe aside, and intend 

 never to touch it again, although so strong are the 

 old habits thatithe very writing about the subject 

 brings back the old desire to some extent; but I 

 don't fear the enemy. 



THAT JUBILEE EXHIBITION. 



As probably you are aware, we are holding a ju- 

 bilee exhibition this year which promises to be a 

 grand success. 1 hope you will be represented. 

 Victoria follows suit next year with a colonial cen- 

 tennial. Victoria is a wonderl'ully progressive col- 

 ony. Melbourne, the capital (with which we are 

 this month connected by rail) promises to be a sec- 

 ond New York. We sadly lack a customs federa- 

 tion. We have different tariffs, and shut out one 

 anfither's products. For instance, we can here pro- 

 duce fruit to any extent; but Victoria says, "We 

 won't have your fruit, but will grow our own, even 

 if not of so good a quality," and so taxes imported 

 fruit 2 penci'. The same way with honey. I am 

 ottered in Melbourne 9 pence for comb, but would 

 have to pay 2 pence lor all that crosses the border. 

 We are slowly, I think, working toward a federation 

 of the Australian colonies, but we are dreadfully 

 jealous of each other. Leonard T. Chambers. 



Adelaide, South Australia, Apr. 4, 1887. 



I am very glad, friend C, to get so good a 

 report from Australia. Four lumdred to 

 five hundred pounds per colony is indeed 

 \\ondeiful, if you have many colonies that 

 do that. Are "you sure a single tree of any 

 kind will i)roduce as much as even 100 lbs. 

 of honey?— Your testimony in regard to the 

 common bees compared with Italians seems 

 to be about the general verdict.— We have 

 often thought of a hive-body to put togeth- 

 er like a four-piece section ; but unless kept 

 well painted it will allow the water to soak 

 into the dovetails, and hence we decided we 

 should not like it, and the matter was drop- 

 ped. I am g;lad to hear you also give a 

 good report ot the phenol cure. 



BUMBLE-BEES. 



V GOOD RECOMMENDATION FOR THE NEW 

 BARNES COMBINED SAW. 



HY don't Prof. Cook, G. M. Doolittle, and 

 others, in writing about bumble-bees, tell 

 that the drones, or stingless bees, have a 

 white, or rather yellow spot, on the head, 

 and can thus be easily distinguished from 

 the others. These are the fellows that sit on a 

 mullein-top, as Mr. Doolittle says, and seem ready 

 to fight anything that comes their way. I have 

 surprised people more than once by catching one 

 of these white heads, as we call them, and when a 

 boy, which was only a short time ago, my brothers 

 and I used to catch the white heads and try to get 

 other boys to do the same, but not tell them how to 

 distinguish the stingless bees, and in that way have 

 the laugh on them. Butl believe we never found 

 many who were willing to try the experiment. If 

 I remember correctly, I have found these same 

 white heads hibernating in red-cedar posts when 

 split open in the spring. However, it was so long 

 ago that 1 am not quite sure. Whenever you see a 

 bumble-bee with a square yellow spot between the 

 eyes, and always ready for fight, you need not fear 

 him. 



We have nt)w owned a Barnes new combined foot- 

 power saw for over a year, and are so well pleased 

 with it that we feel like telling the readers of 

 Gleanings, who may not be familiar with the ma- 

 chine, what we think of it. Our shop is in an un- 

 finished house, and therefore was too cold to work 



