188^ 



GLEANINGS IN liEE CULTURE. 



H2\ 



and frame hives, as Uiey can in iio otlier way ac- 

 count lor uiy success. 



1 think we have a fair country for bees. When it 

 is seasonable we have alriiosL one continual honey- 

 How from February until frost in November. We 

 have in early spring- the myriads of prairie Howers 

 (liorsemint included), also the plum and haw, and 

 other honey-producing trees and plants on the 

 creek-bottoms. By the time they are gone, cotton 

 is in bloom, which secretes honey until frost stops 

 its growth. 



THAT UEVELED EDOE. 



I see that quite a number of our friends are op- 

 posed to the beveled edge of your hives, and prefer 

 square joints; but for the life of me 1 can't see 

 what for. If they had these Texas winds to con- 

 tend with, I think they would find the bevel quite a 

 necessity. For my part, I say hold on to it; you can't 

 please everybody. 



Gleanings is not only a great advertising medi- 

 um, but has got to be a Christian missionary also. 

 Oh how 1 enjoy that part in each number! for the 

 sake of the great cause of Christ, never cease to 

 keep this part of Gleanings up, for eternity alone 

 will reveal the amount of good you are doing. 



Granger, Texas, Oct. 18, 1887. S. J. Foster. 



May God bless yoii, my good friend, with 

 your bees and home, and especially the 

 queen of that home and the two little bees. 

 I sometimes tell the queen of our home, 

 that, though God has given me a multitude 

 of gifts, she is the greatest gift of them all. 

 —I am glad to hear you make the point you 

 have in regard to the beveled edge. iLast 

 Saturday we had a terrible wind. Quite a 

 number of covers were blown off from the 

 chaff hives, but the Simplicity covers kept 

 their places. The- one Heddon hive in our 

 apiary lost its cover, and the upper story was 

 t wisted around so that, had the weather been 

 severely cold, we might have lost the bees. 

 The beveled edge kept the cover and upper 

 story, both of them, exactly in place. It is 

 true, we could have put a big stone on the 

 hive, as Heddon does; but 1 would rather 

 pay for the beveled edge ten times over, 

 tlian to be obliged to handle a heavy stone 

 every time I M'anted to open a hive. May be 

 our locality is more subject to hard winds 

 than some "other places. 



]^EP0RTg ENcea^^Gip. 



scented water. I get all ready during the day, and 

 about sunset I put them together, alternating the 

 frames and smoking them well, and set a board up 

 against the front of the hive, as does Heddon. so 

 that the bees, on coining out in the morning, will 

 mark their new location. The i)lan worked very 

 well with me. L. W. Lighty. 



Mulberry, Pa. 



Your plan is exactly the way we practice 

 uniting, friend L. We have never found it 

 necessary to sprinkle them, and only oc- 

 casionally have we found it necessary to 

 smoke them, although a good many will 

 go back to their old location in spite of 

 any precaution we may take. 



NOT EXACTLY DISCOUKAGING ; A GOOD FLOW 

 FROM ASTERS. 



fHE bees had a fine time on the asters. There 

 was a good How of honey for two weeks. 

 They all filled the brood-chambers well, and 

 about a dozen of the best in Heddon hives 

 made 50 or HO lbs. of surplus. They put 

 more in the sections, but are so slow to cap it that 

 1 think they intend to carry it below later in the 

 season. I am nearly ready to go into winter quar- 

 ters with 3.5 colonies in good condition. The season 

 of 1887 was not as poor In our part of our State as 

 in many of the Western States, but it can not be 

 called a good season. 



INITINO NUCLEI IN THE FALL. 



I found this fall, that in uniting nuclei in the 

 evening it is not necessary to sprinkle them with 



ONE TON OF HONEY. 



The honey crop in this section is this season rath- 

 er short. I succeeded in getting about one ton of 

 very good comb honey in one and two pound sec- 

 tions, from 100 colonies. A. G. Brush. 



Susquehanna, Pa., Oct. 10, 1887. 



90 LBS. OF HONEY PER COLONY. 



The bee-keepers of Newaygo Co. have taken a 

 very light crop of honey. Mine have done well, 

 though— the result of location, I suppose. I com- 

 menced with 16 colonies, increased to 38, and took 

 WU lbs. of honey— an average of nearly 90 lbs. to 

 the colony, spring count; 600 lbs. was extracted and 

 taken from 5 colonies; 834 was comb honey, taken 

 from 11 colonies— an average of 120 lbs. extracted 

 and 76 lbs. comb. My bees are in the Hilton chaft' 

 hive and have an abundance of winter stores. 



William B. Gould. 



Fremont. Mich., Sept. 29, 1887. 



70 GALLONS OF HONEY TAKEN THIS YEAR UV 

 AN OLD LADY 70 YEAHS OLD. 



I am 70 years old. My husband died last April, a 

 year ago. He was the owner of 37 swarms of bees; 

 but when he died my bees nearly all died too, from 

 starvation. During his sickness they did not get 

 the attention they needed. When I got my friend 

 Broers to help look after them there were but 7 

 swarms. That was June 19th, 1886. I now have 17. 

 1 have extracted 70 gallons of honey. I expect to 

 get 30 more this fall. I use the Langstroth and 

 Simplicity hive. Mrs. A. L. D. Lewis. 



Waelder, Texas, Sept. 38, 1887. 



SECTIONS OF HONEY SELLING AT 3.5 CTS. EACH. 



I am taking your advice, not to go in debt for 

 bee-flxtures, but to make my bees self-sustaining. 

 I am well pleased with the purchase I made from 

 you last spring. The foundation and the small 

 sections have worked well. I have the Langstroth 

 hive, and I can place 18 of the sections on top of 

 each hive. I have one colony that filled them twice, 

 and came near filling them the third time. I put 

 the first swarm in the hive I got from you, and 

 they swarmed in August, but did not fill all the 

 sections. The second swarm, I put in the Lang- 

 stroth hive. It did not swarm, but nearly filled Is 

 sections. 1 have sold 31 boxes at !;') cts. each, and 

 have orders for :30 more. I think 1 can sell all 1 

 have to spare, which will be about 50 inoic than I 

 have orders for, all at 25 cts. per box. I had one 

 swarm go to the woods. J. M. Mahan. 



Vineland, N. J.. Sept. :M\. 1887. 



