1886 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



.511 



JUST HATCHED. 



AN ALARMING CASE O*' BEE-FKVEU. 



'HAT, a queen? No, not a queen nor a 

 queen's husband nor a queen's servant, but 

 an enthusiastic apiarist; and already they 

 are sayiufr, "He is going' to succeed." 

 AVell, I prcler success, and hope that their 

 prophecy is correct. 



I am by nature a chicken-l'ancicr; and always, 

 when I talked chicken, my wife would talk bees. I 

 always thought that, had 1 invented the bee, I would 

 certainly have left out one point, or else made it 

 blunter; but now I think that very ingredient the 

 finest point in the entire invention. Why, I now get 

 shouting happy in less than half a second, when my 

 mind is brought suddenly to contemplate this point 

 in the honey-bee. 



A tew days ago I came to the knowledge of the 

 fact, that when she whom my children call ma was 

 a little black-eyed girl she had her playhouse under 

 the same tree with the bee-hives, and that she 

 amused herself by the hour in watching their in- 

 dustry. I said to myself, "Now 1 understand my 

 Avife's enthusiasm and devotion." I got into my 

 buggy, and started for the most successful apiary 

 in this part of the State, to buy, for my wife, one or 

 two first-class colonies. On my arrival I found the 

 busy little proprietor transferring and remodeling 

 hives. She had help, but not enough, so I joined 

 the party, and for three days I was one of 'em. I 

 caught the bee-lever, and caught it bad; so bad, 

 indeed, that before the sun went down the first day 

 an order for two chaff hives in the flat was written 

 to the editor of Gleanings. 



The work went on, and the fo'er raged, and rages 

 yet. In a very few days the hives came, and they 

 certainly were in the flat; and for a number of 

 hours, as we studied the "great many pieces," we 

 felt a flattening influence coming out of the flat 

 hives which flattened us flat. How I wished for the 

 "model to work by," or for a printed slip giving 

 light on such parts as are hardest to guess out! 



But wo have got them together at last, and they 

 are gems, and gems, too, which make the old apia- 

 rists sick, as they think of the houses their bees live 

 in. I find myself on the wing, and, like any thing 

 else just hatched, 1 find it a difficult matter to alight; 

 but 1 have caught a twig, and will rest for awhile. 

 Hilliard, O., June 9, 1886. JAS. K. Rickets. 



Why, friend R., you are located near by 

 that energetic and enthusitistic little woman 

 Mrs. Jennie Culp ; and if yon helped her 

 three days, no wonder you got the bee-fever, 

 for she is one of the most successful honey- 

 producers in the State of Ohio.— No wonder 

 you had difficulty in getting tbat chatf hive 

 in the flat set up, without a model to look 

 at, or an ABC Ijook.— I suppose now that 

 she whom your children call '' ma " is happy 

 too ; and, by the way, I can not think of any 

 happier sight on this green earth of ours 

 tlian a husband and wife who love bees and 

 chickens, and who delight to work among 

 them, studying God through his works as 

 the hours go by. May much peace and 

 great happiness be with you two, friend R., 

 and don't fail to tell us more about it. If 

 the good wife should feel like putting in a 

 word now and then also, be sure to encour- 

 age her in so doing. 



Jimn^ MB QoE^iEg. 



A CHANCE TO GET A SWAUM OF CYPRIAN BEES 

 FOR NOTHING. 



X have a strong colony of Cyprian bees, pure. The 

 (llE l"*^^"^ ^^'i* sent to me last summer. I will give 

 ^l the colony to any reader of Gleanings who 

 "*■ sends in his name first, if the one sending will 

 pay for hive and trouble of packing, which will 

 bo about *1. 00. These bees are so^very cross that 

 1 do this to get rid of them, and send them where I 

 may never sec them again. I got more stings in 

 five seconds yesterday from this colony than I have 

 received from my Italians of over 575 colonies in 

 3 years. They stung me so that I was speechless for 

 over 20 minutes. Smoke only makes them worse. 

 Who wants them'/' If no one will take them I will 

 brimstone them. First name that comes gets them. 



F. BOOMHOWER. 



Gallupville, Scho. Co., N. Y., May 10, 1886. 



ALSIKE CliOVER— EARLY CROP FOR HAY— SEED. 



We have some alsike, sown one year ago. We 

 want to take a crop of hay early. Will it yield a 

 crop of seed afterward, the same as we do with the 

 common red clover '/ C. F. Uhl. 



Millersburg, Ohio. 



[Friend U., you can get a nice bloom on your al- 

 sike, if you cut it oft' early, just before it begins to 

 blossom; but you will get only a partial crop of 

 seed in this case.] 



PRICKLY COMFRY AS A HONEY-PLANT. 



Last spring I bought a plant from a bee-man in 

 New York. It is called " prickly comfry." It was 

 recommended as a honey-plant. This spring it is 

 all blooms, and in the bottom of the cups there is a 

 drop of pure honej'. Can the bees get at it? It 

 seems too deep for their little bills. It is surely a 

 great honey-plant. I wish I could send you a sam- 

 ple bloom. J. J . B. McElrath. 



Centre, Ala., April 28, 1886. 



[We have a large fine plant of the prickly comfry 

 now in bloom in our garden. Like the one you 

 have, there seems to be considerable honey in the 

 blossom; but as yet, the bees do not seem to have 

 found it.] 



ALSIKE, HOW TO GROW. 



I see in the last Gleanings that Dr. Miller can 

 not get a good stand of alsike clover. I was born 

 and raised on the estate in Sweden whence it has its 

 name— Alsike, and happen to have an old man at 

 work for me here, from the same place; and in- 

 quiring from him how they raised it at home he said 

 that unless it is si)wn just as snow melts away in 

 spring it will certainly be a failure. He said fur- 

 ther that he has many times sowed on the snow and 

 with the best results. F. G. Lindbehg. 



Port Orange, Fla., May 31, 1886. 



BROOD IN SECTIONS. 



On page 128 of ABC you state: "I have never 

 seen any pollen nor any eggs carried into a frame 

 of sections where separators were used." 



Well, I am only a novice, but I have seen young 

 bees in sections. In 1884, out of over 400 sections 

 placed on my hives I found three or four contain- 

 ing young bees sealed over. 



Kabun Gap, Ga., May 24, 1886. W. R. Curtis. 



[Your experience is very unusual, I think, friend 

 C. Since the above was written in the ABC, some 

 cases have been reported whore the queen got into 

 the sections, eveii though separators were used; 

 but I think the rule as given in the ABC book has 

 comparatively few exceptions.] 



