472 



GLEANINGS IN HlOE CULTURE. 



June 



combs. Combs built by the bees fire, many 

 of them, imperfect, sometimes built on one 

 side of ihe comb-guide, sometimes bulging 

 clear out on one side, many times a good 

 deal of drone comb when "we want only 

 worker comb. Where one desires to run for 

 extracted honey, full sheets of foundation 

 are a great saving. As a general rule, a be- 

 ginner can not well dispense with fidl sheets 

 of foundation; but I believe that one who 

 has read W. Z. Hutchinson's book, experi- 

 menting carefully on a small scale at iirst, 

 will be able to dispense with full siieets of 

 found;! lion in the brood-nest, to considera- 

 ble advantage, providivg he is running for 

 mmb honey. 



BEES DYING AT THE ENTHANCK. 



One hive of my bees died at the entrance in the 

 same mannei" as some one reported their bees do- 

 iug some time ago, and I think you said that they 

 were poisoned. Almost any time ot day you can 

 see, on the entrance board, bees dying, shaking 

 first, then before they die they behave as it some 

 other bee had stung them. I thought at first that 

 some one had been poisoning canker-worms with 

 Paris green when the apple-trees were in bloom, 

 but they behave the same now after the blossoms 

 have gone. If they are not poisoned, and I think 

 they arc not, what is it? Can it b3 because they 

 can not get wattr or salt enough? or do they 

 get too much salt or potash, as some bees arc for 

 ever getting water out of the mud where we throw 

 the slops? J. L Hvni:. 



Pomfret Landing, Conn., May 30, 1887. 



From your description of the way the bees 

 act. dyiiig at the entrances, I am strongly 

 inclined to think you have what is called 

 the "nameless" IJee-disease. The symp- 

 toms are a s )rt of (juivering and twitching 

 motion, The abdomen is swollen, and the 

 bee looks decidedly as if he were really sick. 

 They will ciawl out at the entrance and 

 creep into the grass, as if desirous of the 

 gi-eiitest good to the greatest number by rid- 

 ding the colony of their miserable presence. 

 If >ou pinch the abdomen of the affected 

 bee, a l)ro\vnisli substance will burst forth. 

 This pecidiar disease r.ffects the bees alike 

 in warm and in cold weather. The cure is, 

 to destroy the queen and give the colony a 

 new one." This treatment has scarcely ever 

 failed. You suggest that your bees may 

 have been poisoned. As a ride, I think it 

 is always best to account for troubles of this 

 nature "from other sources. 



WHAT AILS THAT COLONY? 



My bees seem to have a strange way of doing bus- 

 iness. 'J'liey will swarm out, and almost invariably 

 l)itch for another hive. What is the cause? They 

 have plenty of honey. I have bad 2.5 swarms up to 

 date, and will begin extracting In a few days. 1 

 have already taken some comb honey. 1 never lost 

 a colony in wintering, and never fed five pounds of 

 sugar. J. H. Buhkage. 



China Gnni-, N. C, May ti, 1887. 



Friend 13., it is hard to see why your bees 

 swarm out as you describe, more tlum that 

 it is a soit of mania that sometimes gets 

 possession of apitiries in the spring. It usu- 

 ally takes phice when there are a good many 

 weak colonies. If you neve.r had any loss ju 



wintering, however, I should suppose your 

 colonies were strong. Probably the first 

 swarm of the season went through with the 

 maneuver you describe, and the rest follow- 

 ed suit, like a tlock of sheep. I do not know 

 that it has ever been explained, why a swarm 

 of bees is quite sure to cluster in the same 

 spot one tliat came out the day before did. 

 In our back volumes a good deal has been 

 said on this matter. 



SLANDEROUS STATBMENTS IN REGARD TO THE 

 REV. L. L. LANGSTROTH. 



Was there ever any patent on the Langstroth 

 hive? If so, who was the patentee? Some parties 

 say it was patented about 1866, by Gould, or a name 

 similar to that. It always ran in my mind that Kov. 

 L. L. Langstroth was the inventor of that hive. 

 Will you please give a full statement of this? These 

 parties claim that Rev. Mr. Langstroth was a swin- 

 dler, and was intruding on Mr. Gould's rights. This 

 fellow says he has a book of this man's writings, 

 and will show it to me. If this is truth, i was badly 

 deceived. C. F. Uhl. 



Millersburg, O., May 33, 1887. 



Why, friend Uiil, the whole matter is ut- 

 terly ridiculotis. Mr. Langstroth is better 

 known in regard to bee culture than perhaps 

 any other one man in the world ; and whu- 

 ever knows siiiy thing about him knows him 

 to lie one of the kindest, fairest, and most 

 honorable men who have ever blessed this 

 fair earth. The man Gould has been as no- 

 torious for his evil deeds as Mr. Langstioth 

 has been for his good ones. We htive pub- 

 lislied this Gould as a, swindler and scoun- 

 drel a!nio.-5t ever since Gleanings had an 

 existence. lie was formerly connected with 

 what they called the " Common-sense '' bee- 

 hive. Such men are not. worth listening to. 



WHY DOES HONEY SUGAR IN EARLY SUMMER? 



Can you tell why honey sometimes sugars at this 

 season of the j ear? It is really hard to tell when it 

 begins to su,aar; but when once begun it seems 

 that every cell that has honey in it is more or less 

 affected, and will not extract. The honey does not 

 seem to sugar as in the winter, but is more like 

 mush-sugar. 1 have had it sugar once or twice in 

 spring since I have been keeping bees. What is the 

 best way to work it? Have you had any experience 

 with it? The weather is dry and warm. I think 

 the atmosphere in some way influences it. 



Coruaca, S. C, May 24, 1887. J. D. Fooshe. 



Friend F., this matter of the gninulation 

 of honey in the combs so as to resemble su- 

 gar is something hard to explain. A good 

 deal has been written on it, but it seems it 

 is lioney from some particuhir source that 

 l)ehaves itself in this manner. I do not 

 know that there is any remedy but to get rid 

 of it as best we can. 



SCREEN-DOORS FOR HONHY-HOUSES; WINTER 

 LOSSES. 



On p. 384 is a screen door illustrated. My advice 

 is (and I know whereof I speak), not to have any 

 screen-door, but ha\e a screen-w indow on the opi)o- 

 sito side of the honey-house from the door, with ex- 

 it-tubes in for the few bees, which are carried in on 

 the combs for extracting, to escape. I have had 

 the screen-door covered with robbers when I had to 

 open it to enter the }iouse; but after chang'ing the 



