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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Oct. 1 



August, and give a stronger force of workers for the 

 heather bloom; but probably a mild fi'pdingf during 

 AuviUbt would be very profitable. J. E. HAND. 



Birmingham, Ohio, Aug. 10. 



INTRODUCING VIRGINS BV THE FLOUR METHOD. 



I received a batch of six virgins recently by mail, 

 and I had one of them mated in less than an hour after 

 I received them. When they came I went out to the 

 yard to introduce them by the Hour method mention- 

 ed on page 231, April 15. I took a frame of bees out of 

 the nucleus and set it beside the hive, flouring both 

 sides of the comb. I also floured the bees in the mail- 

 ing-cage, took off the screen, and let the queen and 

 bees out. I floured them some more as they came 

 out, but the queen flew away as I started to lift the 

 comb. So I put it back and went to another hive. 

 When I returned to this first hive the queen was back, 

 but she flew again as I lifted the comb, so I put it in 

 the hive and raised the hive one inch where the comb 

 stood. Then I went to two other hives; and when I 

 finally returned to this first hive the queen had the 

 drone organs attached to her, and the bees were run- 

 ning after her and pulling at them. On the second 

 or third day she was laying. W. D. K. Duel. 



Tonawanda, N. Y. 



WILL SPLINTS PREVENT COMB-BREAKAGE AS WELL AS 

 WIRES? 



Say, Mr. Editor, you and Dr. Miller are getting me 

 all muddled up again. What are wires or splints for, 

 any way? I supposed they were for the purpose of 

 strengthening combs so they would not break out of 

 the frame so easily. I was just on the point of asking 

 if the splints would keep combs from breaking out in 

 the extractor as well as wires when I noticed that you 

 always said "brood-frames." I now see, p. 490, that 

 Dr. Miller is talking of using splints for part sheets. 



Cincinnatus, N. Y., Aug. 30. E. B. KiBBE. 



[The purpose of wood splints is, primarily, to pre- 

 vent foundation from sagging during the process of 

 drawing out — that is, eliminate elongated or drone- 

 cells. As they can be only partially attached to the 

 frame they can not hold the combs in the frames as v/ell 

 as wires that are threaded through the end or top and 

 bottom bars. For the purpose of extracting, wires are 

 much better than splints, and the latter are much bet- 

 ter than horizontal wires for preventing the sag in 

 foundation.— Ed.] 



WHITE-TOP MILKWEED THE CAUSE OF THE SO-CALLED 

 ALSIKE POISONING. 



I have been greatly interested in the discussion on 

 alsike clover and the effect it is supposed by some to 

 have on white-nosed horses. I have never seen a 

 stalk of alsike clover, but have many times noticed 

 stock affected in the way described, from milkweed 

 poisoning. In certain portions of Texas the white-top 

 milkweed comes up so thickly in seasons favorable to 

 its growth as to give pasture lands the appearance of 

 being covered with snow. It is a very tender plant, 

 and when bruised "bleeds" freely a milky-white 

 juice. I have seen white-nosed horses so badly af- 

 fected by it that the nose was a solid mass of sores, 

 and the eyes were entirely closed. There are other 

 plants which affect them in this way; and if a careful 

 investigation is made, I believe the alsike will be ex- 

 onerated. 



I might add that, in favorable seasons, the bees store 

 great quantities of very beautiful honey from this va- 

 riety of milkweed; but, unfortunately, it is as strongly 

 flavored as pepper-sauce, and is fit only for baking 

 purposes. J. D. Yancey. 



Bridgeport, Wash. 



fif a careful and scientific investigation were made 

 where it is supposed that alsike was responsible for sore 

 noses in horses it would probably be found, as you 

 say, that some weed growing with the alsike was re- 

 sponsible for the trouble.— Ed.] 



ANOTHER CAUSE FOR SORE-NOSED HORSES; ALSIKE NOT 

 TO BLAME. 



I have owned and seen white-nosed horses in Kan- 

 sas running loose on prairie grass where no alsike 

 could be seen in a day's journey. Such horses, espe- 

 cially the mares and colts, often had their noses cov- 

 ered with scabs and blisters. On the other hand, in 

 this locality, where alsike clover comes up wherever 

 it gets a chance to grow, and where it is scattered 

 through every pasture, new or old, I have 20 horses in 

 a pasture, and there is not a sore-nosed horse among 



the lot. The cause of the sores is plain to me. I call 

 it " ergot " poisoning. The ergot is a poisonous fun- 

 gus existing in several kinds of vegetation and seed. 

 About three years ago I lost 20 chickens, and a neigh- 

 bor lost 75 before I recalled having read a book pub- 

 blished by the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture on ergotism and ergot poisoning. I had my sus- 

 picions regarding the wneat that we were both feed- 

 ing. I found that it was ergotized, and then we 

 changed the feed for a few days and then washed the 

 old wheat in cold water before feeding it, and had no 

 further trouble. My neighbor followed the same plan 

 with success. The book that I refer to was published 

 some fifteen or twenty years ago, and it went into de- 

 tail, showing clear illustrations of the fungus and the 

 diseases caused by it. I consider the book a key to 

 several such troubles on the farm, including sore- 

 nosed horses. Whether this book can be obtained at 

 this late date, I am unable to say. 

 Lowell, Wash. Wm. Belshaw. 



SURPLUS queens WINTERED IN NUCLEI IN A CELLAR. 



I have wintered successfully a number of nuclei in 

 my e-llar, and perhaps you will be interested in know- 

 ing about it. 1 use a frame about 6x6 for nuclei, four 

 and five frames in each, and two or three nuclei in each 

 hive with division-boards between. Last fall the nu- 

 clei were strong, and I had a lot of surplus queens, so 

 I removed the division-boards and doubled up so each 

 nucleus had from 8 to 16 frames, and 10 to 15 lbs. of 

 honey each. 



I winter my bees in a cellar under the kitchen. The 

 size of the cellar is 20 x 14, by 9 deep. Four feet from 

 the outside door is a wall of rough boards covered 

 with paper, and in place of a door is an old carpet 

 folded and hung across the doorway. This leaves the 

 inner bee-cellar 16x14x9. In this I piled up 70 colo- 

 nies, and on top of the piles I placed the nuclei. All 

 wintered except two, and from all appearances they 

 starved out and went in with others near by, as there 

 were no dead bees in the hives. 



Swedona, 111.. April 28. S. F. Trego. 



ENTIRE COLONY LEAVES HIVE AND BROOD. 



We are puzzled over the strange actions of a swarm 

 of bees in our neighborhood. About Aug. 13 a svyarm, 

 large in size, that had worked in the super, and that had 

 been in the hive about a year, left the hive. There 

 were about 8 lbs. of honey in the brood-chamber, and 

 six frames of brood. Bees were hatching every day; 

 but on examination we found that no queen-cells had 

 been left. The bees came out about 3 o'clock, and 

 alighted in a tree about ten feet distant. They were 

 put back in the same hive, but did not want to go into 

 it. The next day they came out and left for good, and 

 we have not seen them since. They were in a good 

 clean hive with healthy combs; yet all bees left that 

 could fly. There was no swarming at the time in the 

 neighborhood, as it was so late. 



La Porte, Ind., Aug. 31. V. H. McKEE. 



[A small snake crawling into a hive has been known 

 to drive a normal colony out of its hive. Ants have 

 been known to do the same thing. If any reader has 

 any solution to offer we should be glad to hear from 

 him.— Ed.] 



GARDEN TANSY FOR STOPPING ROBBING. 



For three years I have repeatedly had good success 

 in using garden tansy in stopping robbing. The en- 

 trance should be reduced so. the workers and guards 

 will have all the space they need, but no more. The 

 tansy is wrung upinto small bits and placed plentifully 

 on the alighting-board, a little right up to the entrance. 

 Usually one applicjtion is enough. But if it's a bad 

 case, repeat the tansy, green ?.nd fresh, and then get 

 away and stay away. 



Mollis, N. C, Aug. 17. C. C. Gettys. 



SELLING HONEY AT A CITY MARKET. 



In selling my crop I have always used the city mar- 

 ket. I rent a .stall among the farmers for my horse and 

 wagon, and there I sell my honey and take orders, 

 both retail and wholesale. At the market I meet per- 

 sons from every part of the Union during the winter 

 season. I deal only in extracted honey. 



Los Angeles, Cal., Aug. 24. T. ARCHIBALD. 



Our honey crop is very poor, and as yet we have ta- 

 ken no honey. In June we had the black honey-dew; 

 but I think my bees have nearly eaten it up again. 

 Basswood here was nothing too. It was so cold during 

 bloom that so far it has not amounted to any thing. I 

 have 140 stands. 



Danville, 111., Aug. 30. JOHN Nydegger. 



