944 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Dec. 



More recently, Doolittle, Viallon,and Hasty, 

 have arrived at the conclusion, based upon 

 various observations, that the ratio is about 

 7 to 1. This is a hard question to get at 

 exactly. 



RAPE. 



A little experiment again with rape convinces 

 me more thoroughly than ever that it is a grand 

 fall pasture for bees. I sowed a little patch the 

 16th of August, after early potatoes. It was too 

 late, and did not blossom much, but the bees 

 work on what there is every day that they can fly, 

 even after severe freezing weather and snow- 

 storms. I am going to let it be until spring, and see 

 if that which did not grow up and blossom this fall 

 will do so in the spring. E. Green. 



Montague, Mich., Nov. 21, 1887. 



HOW AN A B C SCHOr.AR SOLD 22,000 LBS. OF HONEY 

 ON THE ROAD. 



Editor Gleanings:— I live at Dewitt, Clinton Co., la. 

 My boy captured one swarm of bees. I bought 

 three more last year. They increased to nine, and 

 gave me 1500 lbs. of honey in one-pound sections. 

 Not knowing what to do with it I conceived the idea 

 of buying more and going out and selling it. The 

 first trip, I sold, in nine days, 9000 lbs.; the next 

 trip, I sold 7000 lbs. Mybusinc-s calling my atten- 

 tion, I got a roan to make the third trip. He sold 

 over 6000 lbs. This year I have 25 swarms of bees; 

 have taken from the hives 300 lbs. of section honey, 

 in 1-lb. sections. My bees have honey enough to 

 winter on, and from last year's transactions I have 

 received orders for about 10,0J0 lbs. of honey, which 

 I am not able to furnish, on account of the scarcity 

 of honey In this section. I will now refer to our 

 own and California honey. 



I came in direct competition with California hon- 

 ey, both comb and extracted, and I will say the east- 

 ern bee-keepers must confine their efforts to raising 

 comb honey. California can put extracted honey 

 on the market^for less money than we can raise it, 

 and it is a very fine article; but the valley of the 

 Mississippi River can beat the world on white-clover 

 honey. The flavor can not be surpassed. It is 

 thicker than the California honey; the comb bears 

 shipping better, and I think our white-clover honey 

 superior to any raised in California, whereas I can 

 not say the same of the extracted. The flavor of 

 our extracted is superior to theirs, but they can fur- 

 nish it for less money than we. J. M. Jacobs. 



Dewitt, la., Nov., 1887. 



SHEETS OF WAX FOR FOUNDATION ; HOW TO 



KEEP THEM FROM STICKING TO THE 



DIPPING-BOARDS. 



Friend Boot.— Use salt brine, weak or strong, 

 tepid or otherwise, for the dipping-boards, and 

 there will be no more trouble with the wax sticking 

 to them. Try this preparation, and you will 

 be pleased with the results. When the brine is 

 used, it matters not about the condition of the dip- 

 ping-boards—whether rough or smooth, whether 

 of soft or hard wood, nor whether the edges are 

 sharp or square. Temper the wax sheets in warm 

 brine-water before running them through the 

 machine. Try this, and it may, in the future, help 

 you to dispense, in a measure, with lye, starch, 

 washing-fluid, and all other lubricators. Brine- 

 water is both inexpensive and unobjectionable; 



besides, it is precisely what bees like and should 

 have. For divers reasons I think the foregoing 

 discovery should be made public, and not be kept a 

 secret any longer. Try it, reader, and report. 



M. M. Baldridge. ' 

 St. Charles, Ills., Nov., 1887. 



LATE POLLEN GATHERING ; IS IT PROFITABLE TO 



CONTRACT THE BROOD-CHAMBER TO LESS 



THAN TEN FRAMES ? 



My bees are at this late date (Nov. 26) bringing in 

 pollen at quite a lively rate; the pollen is of a very 

 light yellow color; and where the bees get it is quite 

 a mystery to me. I can not think that they get it 

 from any natural source, for only last week the 

 mercury was down to 15° above zero. Another pe- 

 culiarity of the season is, that my best colonies 

 still have drones flying— something unusual for 

 this latitude in November. 



I wonder if the answers to question No. 18 have 

 puzzled others as they have puzzled me. When 

 two bee-men disagree, it is common to say that 

 " difference in locality makes a great difference," 

 and so I suppose it is in this case. I can readily 

 see that the bees could be started in the surplus 

 apartment earlier by contracting, but I can't see 

 where the gain comes in. My experience proves 

 to me that it pays better to use ten L. frames in the 

 brood-chamber; and it seems to me that 1 wouldn't 

 give much for the queen that would be contented 

 with five brood-combs. My bees usually have 

 eight or ten combs of brood at the beginning of the 

 honey season; and in tiering up for exti-acted 

 honey it is not unusual to find as many t.s eighteen 

 combs of brood in one hive. What would be the 

 result if such a queen were confined to four or 

 five combs? Is it all " difference in locality" ? 



Walter S. Pouder. 



Groesbcck, O., Nov. 20, 1887. 



the scrubbing motion of bees- a possible 

 explanation. 

 I think I can answer Mr. Hanson, of Barron, 

 Wis., who asks, on page 786, as to the " scrubbing 

 motion" of bees at the entrance of the hive. Mr. H. 

 says, "They seem to open their mouths and shut 

 them as though a mouthful were gathered every 

 time they move up and down; but close watching 

 develops the fact that they do nothing." At one 

 time I was very much puzzled by the peculiar 

 actions described above; but just as I had come 

 to about the conclusion contained in your foot-note 

 to Mr. H.'s article I discovered what I believe to be 

 a true solution of the apparent mystery. I noticed 

 that it was when much moisture was in the air that 

 they were engaged in this manner— generally in 

 the evening and the early morning. Even colonies 

 that worked very hard through the day would act 

 thus as soon as it became too late to gather honey, 

 and I think it is the water they are after. Bees 

 know how to appreciate a good thing when they 

 have it— a supply of nice pure water right at their 

 door. The dew; or moisture, gathers in particles 

 too minute to be observed by the naked eye, and 

 the bees " pick it up " just about as fast as it forms. 

 The fact that Mr. H.'s bees gathered no surplus does 

 not prove that it was on account of the mania they 

 seemed to have of "moviog up and down all to- 

 gether in a see-saw motion." There may have been 

 many other reasons why "they did nothing last 

 year." I once spent six^.weeks visiting friends in 

 Barron Co., and 1 think it ought to be a good locali- 



