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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



body, which can be exchanged or reversed, and used 

 either as brood-nest or super without the necessity of 

 transferring frames. 



Where lumber is cheap, and the beekeeper is 

 handy at woodworljing, these cases would be less ex- 

 pensive; and, once provided, would be always ready 

 for winter preparations with the least fuss. 



Bees, in the hive where conditions are comfort- 

 able and agreeable, will not fly out when the sun 

 shines if the temperature is not right. On the 

 other hand, if there is no effectual arrangement for 

 keeping the hive so warm and so comfortable, then 

 things are different, and dampness must be reckoned 

 with. 



New Jersey. C. D. C. 



Visit of Dr. Piiillips to Porto Rico; 1000 Pounds 

 from One Colony 



The readers of Gleanings, perhaps, would like 

 a message from Porto Rico. The most important 

 event which has taken place in our life as apicul- 

 turists has been Dr. Phillips' visit to this island. 

 He lauded on the 29th of May, and was the guest of 

 my good friend Mr. Van Dine, entomologist of the 

 experimental station of the Association of Sugar 

 Producers of Porto Rico. 



On the following Sunday he visited my apiary, 

 and spent a few hours in my home. He questioned 

 me, among other things, about the production of 

 honey, and was much surprised when I told him 

 that the average output per colony was from 240 to 

 300 lbs., but he was able fully to realize the truth 

 of my statement during his visit round the island, 

 when at one of the many fine apiaries he was told 

 by the owner, Mr. Mejia, that one colony had pro- 

 duced 1000 lbs. of honey. What do you think of 

 that? 



On his return there was a conference in the as- 

 sembly hall of the University of Porto Rico, which 

 was well attended. Limelight pictures were used. 

 Dr. Phillips thinks that this is an ideal place for 

 beekeeping, as we have no bee diseases of any kind. 

 But one great obstacle in the way of beekeepers is 

 ignorant competition; and as a proof of what I say 

 I shall cite the fact that, in the city of Ponce, when 

 the town council gave orders that all hives were to 

 be taken out of town, one thousand colonies belong- 

 ing to different owners were moved. This island is 

 vevy small and densely populated; and if the bee 

 fever continues as it has begun, Porto Rico will soon 

 ba overstocked with bees. 



V. A. Tbxera. 



Rio Piedras, Porto Rico, June 27. 



A Woman who would Rather Work with Bees 

 than to go to Pink Teas 



I now have 24 colonies in the cellar, and do all 

 the work myself except putting them in and taking 

 them out, when my little girls help. It is a rather 

 awkward job, as we have no way of getting them in 

 except down through a very small trapdoor in the 

 floor. We accomplish it, however, by taking away 

 the stair steps and letting the hive down by ropes 

 attached to the four corners of a box end of the 

 right size. We take them up the same way without 

 the assistance of a man at all. 



I love every branch of the work (with the excep- 

 tion of wiring frames). Can't some man devise a 

 way that is easier than that? The carpenter work 

 I like very much, and I have always regretted not 

 being a boy, for the reason that girls can not very 

 well be carpenters. Nailing up hives and frames 

 satisfies the longing. It is clean work handling and 

 putting together the fresh beautifully cut wood. 



I can truthfully say that nothing in beekeeping 

 is impossible to a determined woman except, per- 

 haps, climbing a tall tree, which is the only time I 

 ever need the assistance of the men, and that is not 

 very often, as I clip the queens. Never shall I for- 



get the first one I found after two or three days of 

 searching in a very populous colony. My fingers 

 trembled so that I was afraid I should squeeze her 

 and kill her before the wing was clipped. 



I have found that beekeeping is an ideal occupa- 

 tion for women, as they must be so much in the 

 open air. Some of the work is heavy, of course; but 

 one can do it. I weighed only 101 pounds three 

 years ago, when I first got my bees ; but I now 

 weigh 120, and am not nearly so nervous and weak. 

 Manitoba has a \^ery short honey-flow, as we can not 

 put the bees out till May 1 ; but most years there is 

 a very good crop from the wild clover and other 

 flowers. Two years ago I dedicated one of my eight 

 colonies to the church to help pay the minister's 

 salary. That hive gave me four supers of one-pound 

 sections. It was a good one ; but some of the others 

 did almost as well. 



The summer months here are so very hot that we 

 have a great deal of swarming; and as our present 

 cellar will not accommodate more than 25 colonies 

 (by tight squeezing at that), could some person tell 

 me a plan to keep them down to that number ? Could 

 I unite them some way ? After practicing the shak- 

 en-swarm plan I shall have 48 or more. As they 

 sometimes cast a swarm from the new one away on 

 in August, I wish to keep all the bees. 



I would rather hive a swarm than attend the 

 pinkest of pink teas or go to a ball, and I am very 

 fond of society too. Mrs. Y. N. Wesgate. 



Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Can., July 4. 



[By shaking the second time, after three weeks, 

 you get the rest of the bees in the parent colony into 

 the new hive with the swarm. In this way you can 

 kee" down increase if you desire. — Ed.] 



Smashed Combs in a Bee Tree 



About ten days ago I cut a bee-tree on my farm 

 three miles from Hicksville. This colony contained 

 a million bees and a barrel of honey. It filled the 

 hollow in an oak for a distance of nearly six feet, 

 and the diameter inside is 14 inches. We cut out 

 the log and found the combs at both ends in good 

 condition. We nailed it up and hauled it on some 

 hay bedding to Hicksville, where, with great tri- 

 umph, we set it up. The first day after, there seem- 

 ed to be a large number of bees ; but on the days 

 following they were very quiet, and honey began to 

 run out at the bottom of the " gum " as we call a 

 hollow tree out here in the woods. Two days ago we 

 took it down and sawed off a piece from the upper 

 end, where we found every thing all right. When we 

 opened the lower end we found it a mass of smashed 

 comb and dead bees. We dug out two bushels of 

 comb loaded with honey. We left a foot of the comb 

 in the upper end, which is intact, but has a little 

 honey. I found no eggs in the empty comb. I feel 

 quite sure that the queen perished. 



Hicksville, Ohio, July 21. J. H. Diebel. 



[From the general description given in your letter 

 of July 21 it is evident that the combs broke down 

 in the lower portion of the log hive probably during 

 the time that you moved it. When you set it up 

 these smashed combs fell down upon the bees, killed 

 the brood and bees, and 'finally the honey began to 

 run out at the bottom, as you describe. It is not at 

 all certain that you have killed the queen, but there 

 is a possibility that this may be the case. — Ed.] 



New Zealand Beekeepers Organize Under a New 

 Constitution 



The beekeepers of New Zealand have organized 

 under a new constitution. The meeting was attended 

 by nearly all of our leading beekeepers — some 7000 

 colonies were represented by their owners. The gen- 

 eral feeling is that it was good to be there. 



Wellington, N. Z., June 20. R. N. Brikelb. 



