868 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15 



Mr. Johnson says, "If men will plant 

 the right varieties on suitable land they 

 need not worry about trees or blight." To 

 me this is a wild declaration. If he is able 

 to select such varieties and such land for 

 planting as will make the trees immune to 

 the blight, a fortune awaits him. My ex- 

 perience along this line covers a period of 

 more than 40 years. I have planted on all 

 kinds of soil, and even on sod; have given 

 thorough cultivation, and tried many reme- 

 dies, all of which have failed. The trees 

 would blight — some not till the trees came 

 in bearing, some sooner. 



For 25 years I have bought and planted 

 all the new varieties as introduced, only to 

 meet failure, and I do not believe there is 

 such a thing as a blight-proof pear in Illi- 

 nois — yes, I might say in the Central States. 

 I could not tell (without hunting up my rec- 

 ords) how many varieties I have tested in 

 my time, but the number is large. 



I do not believe that bees scatter the 

 blight, for many trees blight and die long 

 before they bloom. My observations lead 

 me to believe the blight is a sap disease, 

 not caused by bees or any other kind of in- 

 s^t. J. W. C. Gray. 



Atwood, 111., Sept. 21. 



DANGER OF USING VKRY FINE WIRE CLOTH; 



A SAFE METHOD OF INTRODUCING 



QUEENS. 



On page 739 B. Passage gives his method 

 of keeping queens. It is the same as I 

 have used, and is ordinarily safe. How- 

 ever, on page 275, Langstroth on the Honey- 

 bee, we find this warning: "The meshes of 

 the wire cloth should not be closer than 12 

 to the inch, that the bees may feed the 

 queen readily through them. This is im- 

 portant, as we have lost two queens suc- 

 cessively in a cage with closer meshes. The 

 bees will cultivate an acquaintance." 



I use this " acquaintance " in introduc- 

 ing queens where safety is wanted more 

 than quick introduction. About six days 

 before a queen is expected I go to the hive 

 and find the queen and leave her in the 

 hive as Mr. P. describes, thus having this 

 one to liberate in case the new queen ar- 

 rives dead. When the new queen arrives I 

 open the cage and release the escort (this 

 is done by holding the finger over the end 

 after removing the perforated metal, and 

 working them out carefully with an awl. 

 It is quicker to kill them with the awl, but 

 I hate to after they have guarded their 

 mother so faithfully hundreds of miles). I 

 then open the hive and remove the old queen. 

 I now place the future mother in her stead, 

 having previousl3' tacked a good strong piece 

 of pasteboard over the wire where the can- 

 dy lies, to keep the bees from eating away 

 the candy from the side. Two days later 

 I again open the hive, and the bees will be 

 found just "loving" her. Then I destroy 

 all queen-cells, catching a few bees (young 

 ones, I have used old without loss). I put 

 them into the cage, also a drone or two just 



for luck, although she seems offended at 

 this, remove the cork, and finish the candy 

 method. In putting in the escort I walch 

 their behavior toward their queen; and any 

 bee showing fight is instantly pierced 

 through the meshes of the cage withi ithe 

 awl. Jrt:;^:;^ 



It is well to remember, when you intro- 

 duce a queen with an escort of strange 

 bees, you are introducing seven or eight 

 bees instead of one ; and is it not these 

 strange bees (workers) that cause much 

 more resentment than the queen herself? In 

 giving an escort you have a queen accepted 

 by a portion of the colony, however small 

 it may be, to say nothing of the advantage 

 of the same odor. ^ ^ , • 



I feel myself much indebted to Mr. Bon- 

 ney, for it was his method, varied to my 

 "notion," which saves me many a good 

 queen. I have known bees to kill their own 

 queen when she was liberated, if all cells 

 were not cut, so a caution is needed. 



G. A. BoSTWiCK. 



Verbank Village, N. Y., Sept. 8. 



THE METHOD THAT A BUSY HOUSEKEEPER 



USES FOR TRANSFERRING COMBS FROM 



THE L. FRAME TO THE DANZEN- 



BAKER; HIVE-MATS MADE FROM 



WINDOW - SHADES. 



After brushing the bees ofi" clean I take 

 the hive holding them on a Daisy wheel- 

 barrow up to the house, and do my work on 

 the dining-table, using a hive-cover 'on 

 which to put my L. frames. 



After cutting out the comb the D. frame 

 is put over the piece; and usually, when I 

 lift up the frame, the comb comes up nicely. 

 The fastenings will stay in until it can be 

 fastened with two wires. The combs may be 

 used over and over again. 



I put the hive with the transferred comb 

 lengthwise on the wheelbarrow, and they 

 have never broken or slipped in taking to 

 the yard. 



I use an oyster-knife to open the hives; 

 and when I take these wires ofl^ I slip the 

 blade under the wire, and pry up a little 

 until it comes unfastened. I take all the 

 wires oft" before I take a single frame out 

 to turn them over as they belong. The 

 handle of an 03'ster-knife is about 4 inches 

 long by =\ inch square, and the three-inch 

 blade is two-edged, dull, and pointed at 

 the end. I had it made at the blacksmith's, 

 and use it constantly. The handle is a 

 hammer if need be, and the blade to pry or 

 scrape with. I keep two, so if one is lost I 

 still have one to use. 



In working this way I keep a basin and 

 my pancake-turner in it on the table by me; 

 and from every frame I scrape up all liquid 

 honey and pieces. I also have a basin of 

 water with a good-sized cloth, to keep my 

 hands clean; and in doing this I have every 

 thing comfortable, and make no muss. 



For mats I use some pieces of window- 

 shades which were too wide for my win- 

 dows, and had to be cut ofi'. I sewed some 



