ISSB 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



101 



kicked a small chunk of wood with the toe cf his 

 boot, and, bursting it open (it being- hollow), to his 

 surprise it contained between one and two quarts 

 of the most beautiful and delicious honey it had 

 ever been his g'ood fortune to see and taste. The 

 honey was stored in combs constructed of wax, and 

 were in every particular just like the combs of our 

 honey-bees, except the cells were very small. He 

 describes the bees as being- not larger than common 

 house-flies, and marked something like .yellow- 

 jackets. 



After having once seen the l>ees, he had no dilH- 

 culty in finding- more than 100 swarms during- that 

 day. He says ho counted 25 swarms in the hollow 

 roots of one wild tig-tree. Afterward he often en- 

 joyed the luxury of eating the honey stored by 

 these interestlng'and wonderful little bees. Other 

 travelers give a similar history; and all say, that, 

 though the bees arc stingless, they are not left 

 without courage and means of defense. Their 

 mandibles being sharp they can bite in a manner 

 that is " more forcible than pleasant." 



The Mexicans, who live in our town, often talk to 

 me about tlie colinimus (pronounced co/c-ma/(-iioo8), 

 as they are called in the Mexican vernacular. They 

 say they are "minjhrava ,-"that is, they are very brave. 

 I hope ere long to be enabled to visit that country, 

 and studi' the habits of that wonderful little insect. 



Tempe, A. T., Jan. 11, 188t>. John L. Gregg. 



Friend G., we are very much obliged in- 

 deed for the very valuable information tbat 

 you give in regard to these little bees that 

 don't sting; and we place ?1U.0() to your cred- 

 it for the article, to help enable you to make 

 further researclies in this matter. The same 

 bee, if I am correct, has been tried here in 

 our northern climate, but they don't seem to 

 stand the winter. Do you think the honey 

 would sell in our markets— that is, does it 

 (compare favorably with thelioney of our na- 

 tive bees? Do you think they would work 

 in movable framesV Perhaps the matter 

 can be tested ])etter in their native clime, 

 and I will willingly pay you for the time and 

 troul)le required to test the matter, if you 

 are willing to undertake it. If your brother 

 liad no ditticulty in linding more than a 

 hundred swarms during that day, it seems 

 to me that locality must have l)eeira wonder- 

 ful held for modern bee culture. If you 

 could send us a piece of the comb by mail 

 we should be very much obliged indeed. 

 ]\Iay be you can send us some bees in a 

 queen-cage, either dead or alive. 



FEEDING BACK NOT PROFITABLE, 

 AND ^ATHY. 



IKKDING ;i500 LB.S. OF EXTR.\CTKI) HONEY TO GET 

 IT INTO SECTIONS. 



SN turning to' page 443, GLE.VNiNCis for July 1, 

 1885, we find a communication regarding the 

 feeding-back of extracted honey for produc- 

 ing comb honej'. Bro. Hutchinson seems to 

 advise the use of separators, and announces 

 iluit the bees will otherwise even bulge the combs, 

 and bujlcl'projections and little mounds upon the 

 surface of the combs. He has also met some inoi- 

 dental troubles in feeding back for sections. I 

 have had some three seasons of experience in this 

 feeding-back business, liut niorc extensively the 



past season. We would say that no separators 

 were in use, and never have our bees produced a 

 finer lot of comb honey than was the one produced 

 by this feeding-back method during the past season. 

 The combs were bright and clean; the sections 

 were filled. 1'here Avas a few sections which were 

 very slightly bulged. There was not one mound or 

 projection, to our knowledge, upon the surface of 

 any of the combs. We shall be glad to give you our 

 opinion as to why feeding back is unprofitable. 

 Here is the whole business: Twenty of our strong- 

 est colonies were selected for this feeding-back pur- 

 pose. The 30 colonies would not have exceeded 300 

 lbs., or an average of 10 lbs. per colony to each 

 brood department at the commencement of feeding 

 back, which was comparatively near at hand, Aug. 

 17, 1S8.5. Many large feeders were made, holding 

 35 lbs. each. Two sets of sections were iilaced on 

 each lii\'e, and no more. To the above 20 colonies 

 was fed 3500 lbs. of extracted honey, or an a\erage 

 of 175 lbs. per colony, in 3^5 days. The total amount 

 of comb honey received from the 3.500 lbs. was only 

 1250 lbs., or 63' 2 lbs. per colony all in one-pound sec- 

 tions. The total amount for the 30 brood depart- 

 ments was 80y lbs., or 600 lbs. of the 3.500 lbs. of ex- 

 tracted honey stored in the 30 hives. Thus the con- 

 sumption for the 30 colonies in the secretion, or 

 forming of wax scales, and for brood rearing, evap- 

 oration, etc., is that enormous total of 1650 lbs., or 

 82'. 2 lbs. per colony. To some of these colonies was 

 fed perhaps nearly 1.50 lbs., ei-e the first 54 sections 

 were ready to come off. Only they who have tried 

 this experiment know what difficulties one must 

 encounter by turns, the scores of exasperating 

 stings, and the imperious robbers, with their excit- 

 ing- movements and the taking- off and refilling- of 

 each feeder. All this is certainly enough to disgust 

 one in feeding-, to say nothing regarding the loss in 

 the operation. The increase on these 30 colonies is 

 nearly 100 per cent; and as they were used mainly 

 for building up late colonies, this is quite an item. 

 A. F. Unteukircheu. 

 Manchester, Mich., Jan. 8, 1885. 



Friend U., you have given us the report of 

 a very valuable e.xperiment indeed ; but, 

 why take so many colonies V You will see 

 by the experiments I give in the A B (' 

 book, that much of the honey will be saved 

 by making two or three of the colonies do 

 the work. Perhaps, however, this would 

 have been impossible with so large an amount 

 as you had to feed back And, by the Avay, 

 the results of your experiment will be a good 

 fact to furnish the newspapers that are ac- 

 cusing us of feeding cheap syrups and calling 

 it honey. Counting time and all, it probably 

 will never pay anybody to feed sugar, eveii 

 if it would make nice honey, and I very 

 much doubt if it ever has been done to any 

 extent worth mentioning. I have notice<l 

 exactly what you say al)out robbers' exasper- 

 ating stings, and the unnatural aspect of af- 

 fairs induced by this kind of wholesale feed- 

 ing. It seems to me I never in ray life en- 

 countered any stinging, or any thing about 

 l)ees, so terribly ugly as when feeding to get 

 sections Idled. The bees themselves seem 

 worried and unnatural ; and if the weather 

 is very warm, it seems just about out of the 

 question to do any thing about keeping rob- 

 bers from pushing their way into the entranC' 

 es of the,se hives containing large feeders, 



