570 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



introduced on to batching brood by brvishing the bees 

 down in front of hive and letting all old ones return. 

 I left her caged over night, and released her on the 

 brood. In a week I found the hive full of eggs, and 

 a nice little colony. I clipped her wing. The bees 

 had become old enough by this time to show their 

 black spunk, and scanijier like a Hock of sheep. I 

 then concluded I would never again choose black 

 brood and bees for a choice queen, but my gentlest 

 Italians. We had a few colonies that were very 

 dark hybrids, and I wanted to get rid of them on 

 accetint of being so hard to handle, and so poor 

 honey - gatherers poor years, but they do make 

 most beautiful honey, and cari-y it above, leaving 

 the brood-nest for the queen. For those two traits 

 I like them better than Italians in good years, as 

 the present has been so far; but we have had no 

 rain for some time, or but little, and the honey 

 harvest may close early. Some colonies have given 

 in from 50 to 100 lbs. 



The Heddon slatted honey-board is a splendid ar- 

 rangement to keep the sections clean; we use it 

 both above and below the rack with a cloth over it 

 above the rack, if the cover does not tit down close- 

 ly. Mrs. L. C. Axtei-.l. 



Roseville, 111., June 23, 1886. 



HOW SHALL I MAKE MY BEES WORK 

 IN THE SECTIONS? 



A SPEEDY WAY OF GETTING IH D OF THE FALSE 

 IDEA THAT HONEY IS ADULTEK.\TED. 



HAVE two colonies I wintered over. They 

 t came through in good shape. Each have 10 

 t frames full (L. hive), from bottom to top with 

 brood and honey, and the hive is almost full of 

 bees. I have caps on with two crates each, 

 holding It lbs. The bees will not go up and woik in 

 them. What is the cause? They seem to be busy 

 on white clover and basswood, and there is an 

 abundance of both. I put some half-tilled sections 

 in caps, which I had left over from last year. 1 

 thought perhaps it would induce them to commence 

 in the caps. I looked ne.xt day and the cap was full 

 of bees. I thought I should soon have two crates 

 full of nice white honey. I looked again, four or 

 five days afterward, and, to my surprise, I found 

 no bees. On examination I found no honey in the 

 section 1 put in. They had carried it all below, and 

 have done nothing of any accouftt since. 



The basswood is now just in its full bloom, and 

 white clover has begun to dry up. If they do not 

 fill the caps pretty soon I shall not get any honey 

 this season. How can I put them at work in the 

 caps? 



WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO MOVE BEES? 



1 bought four first swarms. They came off the 

 31st, 22d, and 36th of May. They have filled ten 

 frames full. I never saw bees build up faster in 

 my lite; but when they got up to the caps they 

 stopped; nevertheless, they seem to be working 

 very hard. 



I commenced last season with three hives. I let a 

 man have them to keep on shares. I will move 

 them home this fall or winter. When is the best 

 time to move them? If I move them before they 

 go into winter quarters, will they go back to the old 

 stand? I have to move them about an eighth of a 

 raile. When I go to pack them up for ^yinter, and 



it comes a warm spell so they fly, won't they go 

 right back to their summer stand; 



THE EFFECT OF THE FALSE STATEMENTS, AND 

 WHAT TO DO. 



I was talking with one of our leading merchants 

 the other day in regard to the honey market. Said 

 he, " I sold many a i)ound of honey for 50 cts. years 

 ago." I asked him why it was he could not sell it 

 now for half the former price. 



"Oh I this jiatent honey has ruined the honey- 

 trade." 



" Patent honey?" said I. 



" Yes," said he; "why, just up here at a little 

 town between here and Indianapolis they are mak- 

 ing nice comb honey. They make the comb by 

 machinery, and then fill it with this patent honey, 

 and cap it up and sell it for pure honey." 



I asked him if he knew that to be a fact. He said, 

 "Yes, sir; I see no reason to doubt it; Mr. B. told 

 me so." 



Now, Mr. Koot, I made him this proposition: It 

 he would show me the factory that made this pat- 

 ent comb honey, as he said they did, 1 would give 

 him $103; and on top of that I would give him $100 

 for every pound they had on hand. He said he 

 thought I would find it pretty expensive. I told 

 him I would do just as I said. Do you believe I am 

 safe? 1 agree with him in one respect; that is, the 

 patent honey has helped to reduce the price of our 

 product. There are people who would buy our hon- 

 ey if it were not for that notion of patent honey. I 

 believe when we get that out of the way we can sell 

 our honey at a better price, and find a more ready 

 sale for it. What say you? J. M. Tucker. 



Clinton Falls, Ind., June 36, 1886. 



Friend T., I feel quite certain that the 

 reason wliy your bees do not go up into the 

 surplus-receptacles is because the honey- 

 yield is closing. With one or two sections 

 containing combs partly built out last sea- 

 son, placed among the empty ones, they will 

 be almost certain to go up if honey enough 

 is coming in to make it advisable. The fact 

 that l)ees liave been once up in the sections 

 in a cluster is evidence that they have start- 

 ed to work ; and on account of cool nights, 

 or a lack of honey, they have given it up. — 

 It is quite a difficult matter to move your 

 bees an eighth of a mile, unless you do it in 

 the winter time, after, say, a lapse of two or 

 three weeks of weather unsuitable for them 

 to tly. They will go right back, as yoti say, 

 if moved during the working season.— Sen- 

 sational stories about spurious comb honey 

 are, I believe, pretty much at an end. The 

 low price at which honey is going to sell 

 this season will have much to do in the way 

 of discouraging such talk. 



CONTINUOUS SWARMING FOR FOUR- 

 TEEN DAYS. 



A SMARM SCOOTS FOR THE WOODS, WITHOUT 

 ALIGHTING. 



Y bees kept -swarming out every day for 

 fourteen days; then it rained, and the 

 weather cooled down and so did the bees. 

 We had been having very hot and very dry 

 weather for a month. After 1 had written 

 to you about my " crazy bees " I went out and 

 gathered up all the loose boards I could find, and 



