1887 



GLEANINGS IN UEE CULTURE. 



785 



plished by having tlie upper story larger, so 

 as to slip over the lower one, resting on 

 strips. I didn't like this arrangement, be- 

 cause the upper stories were not exactly like 

 the lower ones, and <H)uld not be used for 

 single-story hives. We sent out a good many 

 hundred hives without any beveled edge, 

 before adopting said edge, and at that time 

 everybody seemed to think that it was a 

 great improvement. 



A LATE SWARM TRYING TO ENTER OTHER HIVES. 



Yesterday, Oct. 3, I found a swarm of bees going 

 the rounds of my hives, trying- to gain entrance; 

 and after being rejected by each colony they set- 

 tled on a grapevine trellis shading a hive. There 

 were at least two pounds of bees; and on examin- 

 ing I found them to be blacks, with a fine-looking 

 (lueen. As they seemed very hungry I killed the 

 queen and gave the bees to a colony of blacks. 

 What caused them to swarm so near winter? I com- 

 menced bee-keeping three years ago, with one col- 

 ony of blacks. I have now 13 colonies— 10 Italians, 3 

 blacks. During the summer I increased from 5 to 

 present number, and extracted TO lbs. of honey. 

 Italians all have plenty of stores for winter, while I 

 have been feeding the blacks for some time. Sure- 

 ly the Italians justlj- deserve their praise. 



La Fontaine, Ind. Jacob Sailors. 



Friend S., the swarm you mention was 

 probably a starved-out colony. During a 

 time of scarcity of honey these are some- 

 times very frequent. See ''Absconding,"' 

 in the ABC book. 



MOVING BEES NOT QUITE SUCCESSFUL. 



I expect to move an apiary about 100 miles, by 

 rail, next spring, in order to get to white clover and 

 basswood. I have had some experience in moving 

 bees, and apparently with success at first; but aft- 

 erward they would dwindle in spite of all the care 

 and feeding I could give them, pollen at the time 

 being plentiful. Is this caused by the queen's stop- 

 ping laying during transit, and interruption, or was 

 it caused by the peculiarity of the season I happen- 

 ed to strike at the time of moving? M. F. Tatman. 



Rossville, Kan., Oct. 4, 1887. 



I think, friend T., the dwindling was oc- 

 casioned by the season of the year when 

 they were moved. Wait until later in the 

 spring, after the bees have commenced gath- 

 ering honey and pollen rapidly, and I think 

 you will escape the trouble you mention. 



BEES POISONED. 



I inclosed, a few weeks ago, a small vial of dead 

 bees, which I think must have been killed by a poi- 

 son which we used to i)reserve the cotton crop. 

 My apiary is almost ruined. I can save only about 

 twenty colonies out of 110. We used Paris green, 

 London purple, and cobalt. When the poison was 

 first applied we had frequent showers; but during 

 the last application the weather has been very dry, 

 and I think the dew on the cotton must have con- 

 tained enough poison t(i do the damage. The bees 

 work as much on the leaf as they do on the corolla 

 and bloom. In the blonm they would not get any 

 poison, as they open fli-st everj' morning. The hon- 

 ey seems all right, as the family are still eating it. 



Monroe, La., Sept. 24, 1887. J. T. Moon. 



Friend M.. we are very much obliged to 

 you for your report ; and it indicates that 

 our friends in the South will have to look 



out for this matter. Where poison is used, 

 I see no remedy but to move the bees away, 

 at least temporarily. I don't suppose the 

 honey would be endangered, for an amount 

 of poison that would be injurious to human 

 beings would kill the bees l)efore they would 

 have time to get to their hives. In your 

 case it certainly would have been worth 

 while to move your bees away. 



ARE ENRAGED BEES LIABLE TO ATTACK BLACK 

 OBJECTS? 



I inclose a slip cut from the Boston Post. I 

 should like to hear your opinion of it. Do they dis- 

 like black objects more than white, and would not 

 robbing be a better e.xplanation of the crossness it 

 mentions in the beginning? E. D. Weed. 



Noroton, Conn., Sept. 20, 1887. 



NARROW ESCAPE FROM ANGRY BEES. 



A farmer who is an expert in the culture of bees 

 declares that they are the most interesting of crea- 

 tures, and that their "cuteness '" is wonderful. Like 

 all living creatures, the bee has a natural enemy; 

 in this case it is the moth miller, which sometimes 

 drives the swarms to desperation and frenzy. Then 

 it is that the wary keep at a safe distance from the 

 hives. This particular bee-owner once saw a pecu- 

 liar instance of the bee's hatred of black objects. 

 It became necessary in some way to rearrange 

 something belonging to the hive, when, like a host 

 of furies, the enraged inmates flew out en masse 

 and attacked the disturber of their peace. Quick 

 as thought, the farmer's wife ran and threw her 

 white apron over the husband's head, whereupon 

 the bees did not alight on him, but instead attacked 

 two innocent black hens who happened near by, 

 and stung them to death in less time than it takes 

 to write the story. Bees are " kittle cattle" indeed, 

 as the farmer declared, yet bee culture has its 

 charms, and is growing to be an industry among 

 women; and it is said that it can be made to be 

 very profitable if rightlj* managed. 



Friend W., your newspaper clipping is 

 like the greater part of them ; and there 

 certainly is no truth in the statement that 

 the moth miller drives the swarms to frenzy. 

 The idea has been suggested, that bees will 

 sting a black hat more than a hat of any 

 other color. I am inclined to think, how- 

 ever, that the material of which the hat is 

 composed has more to do with it than the 

 color has. Bees seem to be specially stirred 

 up to fury by any thing in the nature of fur; 

 and certain hats and caps may be offensive 

 to them on this account. It has been sug- 

 gested that this comes from the fact that 

 the bear is the bee's great natural enemy ; 

 and the question arises. After the race of 

 bears becomes extinct, how many years must 

 elapse before the honey-bee forgets the bear 

 and his furry coat? 



A BAD ODOR FROM THE HIVES — N ED IT CAISE 

 ALARM? 



A few days ago I noticed a very bad smell in my 

 bee-yard— something like moldy or soured hone.y- 

 comb. <)n examining ray twenty colonies 1 found 

 that the smell came from the inside of the hives, 

 all alike, both young and old colonies. The honey 

 taken last week has a bad taste. That taken before 

 that time was all right. Bees seem to be in good 

 condition, strong and lively. Geo. H. Elliot. 



New Straitsville, O.. Oct. 6, 1887. 



Friend E.. we have noticed the same 

 thing several times during the fall of the 

 year, and I presume it is caused by some pe- 

 culiar kind of honey gathered. I suppose 

 you are well aware, that the smell of buck- 



