1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUliE. 



693 



looking- the apiary, drinking in the knowledge as it 

 tails from his lips! It would be amusing: for one to 

 listen to our arguments on the black vs. Italian 

 bee. He keeps blacks, while I endeavor to keep 

 the pure Italians. Geo. Shiuek. 



Clean, N. V., Sept. 9, 1887. 



DROUGHT IN CUBA. 



Those that have suffered in consequence of the 

 drought in the r. S. are not alone in misfortune, 

 for we have had, and are still having, a most disas- 

 trous dearth of honey. 1 thought last year the 

 worst I had seen since I had been on the island, but 

 this beats last year. We shall lose a great many 

 colonies— just how many I can not tell. Such is bee- 

 keeping in Cuba. A. W. Osbukn. 



Havana, Cuba. W. I.. Aug. ~'0, 1887. 



HOO r,BS. OF HONEY FROM 40 COLONIES, SPUING 

 COUNT. 



I commenced this spring with 40 colonies. I have 

 now %, and only 600 lbs. of surplus honey. The most 

 of my bees are in good condition for winter. It hns 

 been very dry all summer. Basswood was good 

 about a week. My bees are Italians, hybrids, and 

 blacks. I have watched them close for 3 years. The 

 Italians come out behind. This year has been their 

 favorite time. A hard year, it is said, Italians work 

 when others lie still, but this year they have not 

 given me a pound of surplus. They are nicer to 

 handle, but I can not keep bees for the fun of it, in 

 my old age. I have just visited two other apiaries 

 of 140 each. They told me their hybrids were their 

 best honey-gatherers. J. B. Wheaton. 



Ithaca, Gratiot Co., Mich.. Sept. 6, 1887. 



■59 colonies, 400 lbs. of comb and 100 of extracted. 

 Poor enough. Geo. A. Mathews. 



Katonah, N. Y., Aug. 28, 1887. 



MELISSA, OR bee-balm. 



The first of .Tune found me with 63 swarms of 

 bees, in fair condition for securing the h<mey crop. 

 The clover bloomed, but gave very little nectar. 

 Time passed on. with an addition of 30 swarms and 

 no surplus honey stored to this date, Aug. 23. Our 

 late rains have revived vegetation, and the clover 

 is sending out a second bloom, and the fall bloom is 

 revived, and we are in hopes the bees will yet gather 

 enough to winter on, if no more. I have had a little 

 trial with melissa, or " bee-balm," this season. Tt 

 commenced blooming the fore part of J uly, and still 

 is in bloom. I think it will continue until frost. 

 The bees are on it from morning until dark. T 

 think it is superior to all other honey-plants that I 

 have ever seen. C. M. Bliss. 



Fox Lake, Wis. 



poor enough. 



If you will accept a report from me, though very 

 discouraging, I will give you a few facts. From 

 April 28 to May 30 the weather was alarmingly dry. 

 There was but little honey from apple-bloom; clo- 

 ver, none of any account. There was a good How 

 from locust. Basswood we have but little of. June, 

 July, and August have been so wet that crops have 

 been damaged to a great extent. Black bees gave 

 me 34 lbs. per colony; hybrids the same. 



All colonies are strong in bees, but there is no 

 surplus. Black blood is preferable for me in my 

 locality, though hybrids are my choice. Bees 

 wintered badly generally. Mine did fairly. I lost 

 6 out of 34. Some lost about all in chaff hives, well 

 packed. Severe March weather did the work. 

 Buckwheat honey is coming in now well, and there 

 Is a prospect for fall bloom. T have taken from 



]\[e¥E;s MB QaERiEg. 



shall the brood-nest be disturbed? 

 Y lower stories are full of honey and brood. 

 Would you let it all remain for winter, or 

 remove all but 3 or 4 frames? 



D. O. McCampbell. 

 Harmontown, Miss., Sept. 8. 1887. 

 [It depends entirely on the amount of bees to be 

 wintered, friend M. If it is a powerful colony of 

 bees, leave the whole entire lower story. If an or- 

 dinary colony, say .5 or 7 frames; if not up to the 

 average, perhaps only 3 or 4 frames, as you suggest. 

 And, by the way, a powerful colony will winter 

 about as well just as they are, as any way you can 

 fix them. See discussions in regard to this matter 

 in our back volumes.] 



CELLAR wintering. 



I am putting a cellar under my house. It will be 

 completed about Sept. 30. Can a few colonies of 

 bees be wintered successfully in the cellar the fol- 

 lowing winter? Merrit Baldwin. 



Steamburg, Pa., Aug. 30, 1887. 



[Yes, if your cellar is dry you can winter a few 

 colonies successfully; that is, if you carefully ob- 

 serve the conditions required for cellar wintering. 

 You will do well to read some of C. C. Miller's re- 

 cent articles on the subject. See also " Cellar Win- 

 tering." in the A B C of Bee Culture.] 



DEAD brood. 



What is the matter with my bees? I have four 

 good strong stands of Italians, with nice young 

 queens, and they are all uncapping their brood 

 when it is about 17 or 18 days old. Some of the 

 brood is turning black. Whether they are all dead 

 or not, I do not know, but they are motionless. 

 They have all got plenty of honey to winter, but 

 scarcely any surplus. A Subscriber. 



[I should judge you have what is called "dead 

 brood "ill your hives. Brood that has been neg- 

 lected, or subjected to conditions unnatural to its 

 growth, will die, and has a gray-black appearance.] 



what are the indications, if any, that a 

 queen will be superseded ? 

 Will some of your veteran bee-keepers give your 

 readers an article on why bees supersede their 

 queens, and how to tell when bees are going to su- 

 persede a queen? I have read for years the vari- 

 ous journals, and never saw a really concise and 

 good article on this subject. Many a fine and 

 prized queen has often been lost in this way—" un- 

 expectedly missing," and it would be a real ser\ice 

 to your readers to know more about this important 

 subject. A Bee-Keeper. 



HOW to make a tester for honey vinegar. 



I am making honey vinegar. For a test I have 

 tried to use the egg. and the ball of wax with shot 

 inside, without satisfaction. How to get the shot 

 inside is a puzzle, as the apple dumplings were to 

 King George, who was fond of the dumplings, but 

 could not imagine " how the apples were got in." I 

 find it better to eat the c^g, and pour melted wax 

 into one half of the shell. In the ball thus formed, 

 stick three wire nails, another in the topto lift it by. 

 Mix some water and honey, 1 lb. to the gallon, and 

 try the tester. D. F. Savage. 



Hopkinsville, Ky.. Aug. 19, 18S7. 



