188G 



glea:nings in bee cultuhe. 



363 



bees, no matter how it is managed. By far 

 tlie better way is to have the colonies and 

 entrances so arranged tliat no robbing ever 

 gets started, even for a few moments. 



IIUUTING THE HONEY-TRADE. 



I am compelled to bring my pen into use now, as 

 I have I'cad Mrs. Harrison's and Mr. George A. 

 Wright's letters in Feb. 1st Gleanings, pages 97, 93. 

 1 could not help saying amen when both strike the 

 key-note on feeding honey in place of sugar. 

 Theirs have been my thoughts for two years, but I 

 would not say a word to you about it, for fear you 

 would just give me " hakins" because you recom- 

 mended feeding sugar so much. A bee-friend of 

 mine some four years ago fed sugar, costing him 10 

 ots. per lb., and sold the same at J5 to 20 cts., and 

 was caught at it, and that little bit of transaction 

 has damaged the honey-trade in this place to such 

 an extent that it will take years to get rid of the 

 idea that all honey brought into market by bee-men 

 is more or less sugar. But old box-hive farmers 

 have pure honey, as they have not learned to feed 

 sugar. Why, one of our grocerymcn asked me one 

 day where I bought my sugar to feed so many bees 

 —100 colonies. What I say is, Let the bees die if 

 they do not raise enough to live on. I, too, feed 

 section honey, if I have not enough other. The 

 time has come for bee-men to stop helping the su- 

 gar-trade to our detriment. Wii,i>iam St. Martz. 



Martinsville, 111., Feb. 3, 188B. 



EFFECT OF REDUCING THE SIZE (JF THE ENAiMEL 

 CLOTH OVER THE BROOD-NEST. 



I notice in a recent issue of Gleanings that an 

 inquiry is made by a correspondent in regard to the 

 use of enamel cloth over the brood-chamber, the 

 same cut somewhat smaller than the hive. Your 

 reply, that it would not be practicable unless slits 

 were cut in it, is directly opposite to what my ex- 

 perience has been for the past two years. I cut my 

 cloth about two or three inches smaller than the 

 hive, so the space left uncovered is, of course, from 

 one to I'i inches wide. I have had no trouble from 

 the queen, and I think sections are cleaner than 

 when no cloth is used. I think it very unlikely that 

 a bee heavily laden would make her way over the 

 brood-combs, covered as they are by bees, but she 

 would take a more unobstructed passage up the 

 sides of the hive and outside ends and side of the 

 frames. If this be so, the cloth might come within 

 Yi inch of side of hive, and not be any obstruction 

 to them. 



Another advantage of the cloth is, that a strong 

 draft is prevented through the brood-ncst when 

 operating with the sections, and the bees are not 

 excited to the extent thej' are without it. 



Kochdale, Mass., March 1, 1886. J. R. Nichok. 



THE BEE MOTH. 



It has been discovered beyond a doubt, that the 

 bee moth follow civilization. We emigrated from 

 Lake Co., Ohio, in Maj', 1844, and landed at Milwau- 

 kee, Wis., then quite a nourishing village. We 

 moved up by land to Sheboygan Co., on the old 

 military road, cut through the wilderness by the 

 government. The upper lake counties being all 

 timbered lands, we found that the woods in the 

 western part ol' Sheboygan Co. abounded in wild 

 bees in trees. There were no signs of the bee moth. 

 We found some trees where the bee-comb was so 

 old and black that the honey-cells were not one-half 

 size. The comb was heavy; we could not strain out 



the honey, so we boiled it out and then boiled it 

 down and clarified it the same as maple syrup. The 

 bee moth did not api^ear until the 7th year among 

 the domesticated bees. The wild honey-bees were 

 far in advance of settlers in Wisconsin and Minne- 

 sota. 



HOW BEES EMIGRATE'? 



A bee-hunter saw a swarm going in Illinois in the 

 direction of a grove that was 1.5 miles distant, being 

 the nearest timber. On arriving there he was told 

 by a settler that they had gone over; and the direc- 

 tion thej' went from the grove, it was 30 miles to 

 the next timber. During the war, when the -tth 

 Wisconsin Volunteers were in route from Fortress 

 Monroe to New Orleans, and when off the coast of 

 Florida, a swarm of bees went through the rigging, 

 going seaward. There was some speculation among 

 the officers and men as to where the bees would 

 hang up at night, etc., as they must be Union bees, 

 flying from the land of secession, being invariably 

 robbed by both armies; they passed over about 11 

 o'clock A. M., going in the direction of Cuba. 



Chetek, Wis., Feb. 18, 1! 3(5. E. G. Slavton. 



LEAVING ON THE UPPER STORIES DURING WINTER; 

 FRIEND FRANCE'S IDEAS UPON THE SAME. 



On page 101 of Feb. Gleanings I find an article 

 entitled, '^'Danger of Leaving an Upper Story on 

 During Winter." Mr. J. W. Thompson says ho has 

 lost one colony, and charges the loss to the bees 

 having all sealed honey. He says, "So you see the 

 less of this colony is attributable to my neglect, for 

 1 knew very well that bees could not winter, even 

 in this climate, on all sealed honey." And the edit- 

 tor, in his foot-notes, doesn't help the case at all. 

 He saj-s, "Bees are always liable to go into the up- 

 per story when it is left on all winter, because the 

 warmth from their bodies rises naturally, and 

 they follow in their efforts to cluster in the warmest 

 place in the hive." 



Now, I disagree with Mr. Thompson, that bees 

 can not winter on all sealed honey. Allow me to 

 say a few words, as I have had a large exjierience 

 in wintering bees outdoors. If Mr. T. had put that 

 set of all-scaled honey into the upper story, and 

 his empty combs in the lower story, his bees would 

 not have starved. I am wintering 60 colonies in L. 

 hives, all with upper stories on, and my aim was to 

 have the upper story full of good sealed honey. I 

 have the lower story full of combs, and have 

 enough of the lower CDmbs empty for the bees 

 to cluster in during wet weather. When the 

 weather is very cold, the bees crawl into the combs, 

 one bee in each cell, and then fill the spaces be- 

 tween the combs with bees, making a solid ball of 

 bees. If their stores are over the bees, they will 

 get it, as the heat of the bees rises, but they won't 

 cluster up among the full combs of honey in cold 

 weather. As they could occupy only the spaces be- 

 tween the combs, and could not keep themselves 

 and the honey warm, they cluster up as near the 

 honey as they can, and will fellow the honey up as 

 they eat it out. 



A good strong colony, with empty combs to clus- 

 ter in, and honey enough over the cluster so they 

 don't eat their way up through to the top of their 

 honey, will stand a great deal of cold weather, and 

 come out all right in the spring. 



My L. hives arc all made (juadruple chaff hives. I 

 have used them four years, and have had good suc- 

 cess wintering outdoors. E. France. 



Flattt'ville, Wis., Feb. 15, 1883. 



