1886 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



459 



WHITE-CI-OVEU JUST COMING INTO BLOOM; WHY 

 DID THE QUEENS DIE? 



Tliere were very few bees lost last winter in this 

 vicinity; several wintei-ed every stand. We were 

 not quite so fortunate, but are not by any means 

 discouraged. The apple-bloom is over. Dandelion 

 is in full blootn. They are just beginning- on the 

 oak and hickory. White clo\er is just coming into 

 bloom. The clover bloom has not been more prom- 

 ising for a great while than now. Some have 

 swarmed, and others are getting ready. 



What is the cause of so many colonies l)ecoming 

 queenlessV Out of our apiary we have had four 

 queens disappear; two that left seven frames of 

 nice brood, willi plenty of bees and honey. Mr. J. 

 li. ISIaury lias found four queens missing in un- 

 packing half of his apiary. Other neighborhood 

 apiaries met with simihir losses. 



Van Wert. O., May 1;,', 18S6. Levi Peuhy & Son. 



It is a little diificult, frit'iids, to decide 

 whether your losses of (nieeiis are unusual 

 or not, so loiiy as you don't tell how many 

 colonies yon have. If you lost 4 (jueens out 

 of 8, it would be a little remarkable ; but if 

 only -1 out of 40 or 50, it would be imthing at 

 all strange or unusual. This is why t al- 

 ways like to have any writer tell the number 

 of ins colonies. 



now IIAYnUHST AND HIS BEES FAKED IN THE RE- 

 CENT STORM AT KANSAS CITY. 



I am thankful that I can report that the awful 

 storm which swept over our city last Tuesday did 

 ?is no material harm; a few of our trees were bro- 

 ken, one being torn all to pieces. In the bee-yard, 

 hives and covers were blown about, and a few were 

 broken by heavy branches from the trees. Few 

 bees were killed, and the enameled sheets protected 

 most of the colonies from the rain. It will give you 

 some idea of the terrible power of the wind, to tell 

 you that leaves from the trees, clover-heads, and 

 even slender blades of blue grass, were torn off and 

 driven with such force against the sides of the 

 hives and honey-house that many of them are there 

 yet, although there was a heavy driving rain 

 against them all day yesterday. >iany of the larg- 

 er leaves are so pounded into the paint that they 

 can not now be removed without scraping. The 

 hives and buildings were freshly painted several 

 weeks ago, and the paint is not yet entirely hard. 

 It required several' hours for two of us to clean up 

 the debris in the bee-yard. But, alas! this was 

 tiothing compared to the sad scenes of death and 

 destruction in the city. Reports from neighboring- 

 apiaries indicate that bees suffered very little. 



E. M. Hayiiurst. 



Kansas City, Mo., May 15, 1886. 



now TO OET what you WANT WHEN YOU VISIT 

 THE "HOME OF THE HONEY-BEES." 



I see, by an editorial, that you have trouble with 

 customers making orders personally. I suppose 

 some of ycur customers besides myself were also 

 vexed; for I thought, after following- one of the 

 clerks up and down, I could get the goods half a 

 dozen times myself, and they perhaps thought there 

 was no one in the world as awkward as I am. Next 

 time I took a catalogue and order-sheet and marked 

 the goods I wanted, and handed it to a clerk, who 

 started off with a basket and order-sheet, and in a 

 short time mj' goods and bill were in charge of the 

 clerk in the counter store, where I settled and load- 

 ed up, and was readj* to start for home without 



troubling any one but those with whom my inquisi- 

 tive nature came in contact. C. Weckesser. 



Marshallville, O., May ii, 188C. 



Friend W., I am very glad indeed if you 

 succeeded as well as "you say. Since "the 

 burning of our warehouse and contents we 

 have been kind o' mixed up and out at sea ; 

 but I think we are getting through the sea- 

 son pretty fairly after all. 



HOW SHALL WE PREVENT BEES FROM DROWNING IN 

 THE BRE.\D-PAN FEEDER? 



I like these (as I use them) better than any other 

 feeder, but I am somewhat troubled bj' bees drown- 

 ing in them. One of your correspondents says he 

 paints his, and sprinkles coai'se sand o\-er them 

 when wet. T think it a good idea, and I would 

 paint mine, only I fear the paint might be distaste- 

 ful or injurious to the bees, especially when feed- 

 ing i)retty warm syrup. Do you think it would ? 

 E. H. McClymonds. 



Templeton, Armstrong Co., Pa. 



Friend M., instead of paint use melted 

 beeswax, and I am inclined to think no sand 

 will be needed in that case; for a bee that 

 can't stick to Iieeswax ought to be sent 

 somewhere to serve an apprenticeship. 



ANOTHER IMPROVEMENT IN THE 

 PEET QUEEN-CAGE. 



AND A NICE PICTURE OF THE SAME. 



TS it not pleasant to have nice engravings? 

 m There are few things in this world that 

 jit please me more than to see a really nice 

 ■^ picture of something I want to show. 

 Well, just see if you don't think this 

 picture illustrates the point. 



improved PEET QUEEN-CAGE AS WE NOAV MAKE IT. 



Our engravers have tried once or twice on 

 it, but P]rnest complained that they didn't 

 do as well as they might do, and he wrote 

 them quite a letter about it, and both to- 

 gether they managed to get up the above 

 beautiful cage of queen and bees. Why, it 

 looks almost as if you could see the little 

 chaps move around. Even the yellow 

 bands are plainly shown. About the im- 

 provement: It is simply in having the wood 

 come up above the edges of the wire cloth, 

 accomplishing two objects; lirst, the raw 

 edges of the wire cloth are kept from scratch- 

 and catching your clothing, etc.; second, 

 when the little "board that covers the wire 

 cloth is tacked on the projecting lip of wood, 

 it holds the Ixiard up so as to allow ventila- 

 tion at each side of it. If several cages are 

 to l)e fastened together, it also spaces them 

 so as to let air in at the ends. Although 

 great numbers of (lueen-cages have been 

 suggested, all things considered we like the 

 above better than any thing else. 



