1886 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTIRE. 



623 



combs and division-board across the rabbets to tliis 

 side of tlie liivo when tht' bees are immediately on 

 them. In three or tour days more this young (jueen 

 is fertilized and hiying, and we have a nucleus 

 ready tor sending oil iiueens at once with less lime 

 and labor involved than would ta lie to get a laying 

 queen in any other way. In fact, I think so much 

 of the. plan that .f IIX) would not tempt me to drop it 

 and go back to any of the old plans— not for a single 

 year. Then there is oul^ other thing I especially 

 value it for, which is, the sale introduction of a 

 valuable queen arriving from a long journey. There 

 is no longer any need of fears of safely introducing 

 the most valuable (jucen, for 1 know that not one 

 queen in a thousand will bo lost if the above direc- 

 tions are followed. In this case I take lees enough 

 to make a fafi- colony, and use more frames of brond, 

 so that a strong artitleial colony is formed at once. 

 It is liandy and good to know that you are ready to 

 introduce a queen safely within three hours after 

 she arrives, no matter if jou do not know wi;en she 

 is to come. 



Well, I was going to tell you more; but this arti- 

 cle is already long enough. I don't like long articles, 

 so I try to do as I would be done by. Give us short 

 articles, but to the i)Oint, for interesting reading, 

 friend Eoot. G. M. Door.iTTi^E. 



Borodino, N. Y., July, 1S8C. 



I was aware at the tiino. and so stated, I 

 believe, that I was nut praclicing artilicial 

 swarming exactly ;is prescribed by yon ; but 

 my intention was to put it sevefely to tlie 

 test by taking bees from six different colo- 

 nies instead of from one or two. In otlier 

 words, I was ambitions to malce your plan 

 do moyc than yon cl.iimed for it, and so met 

 witli the partial failure iis recorded in the 

 apiary report of last issue, l-'erliaps you do 

 not claim tliat the plan will make all the old 

 ragged-winged bees stay in their new loca- 

 tion ; at any rate. I succeeded in making a 

 few of these old fellows stay, when I failed 

 entirely by the ordinary plan. I see you do 

 not recommend putting the queen among 

 the bees immediately, but wait till they 

 fairly "beg" for a (jueen — good, bad, or in- 

 different. I suppose yon tell when the bees 

 get into this " ho:ue-sick "" (U- '' queen-sick '' 

 state, V)y the hum of distress wliich will be 

 noted in queenless colonies. Then you drop 

 in the queen. — We will till join hands with 

 you in calling for short articles. When a 

 great Jiumber speak briefly, and to the point, 

 it always adds life and variety to a journal 

 as well as to prayer-meetings. " 



COMB OR EXTRACTED HONEY. 



HETUIiNINO SWAHMS. 



aN page 537, July 1 Gi.e.vnings, Mr. M. H. Tweed 

 makes a suggestion in regard to disposing of 

 coml) honey that would not sell if extracted. 

 The suggestion he makes is all well enough, 

 if the sale of honey alone is the object we 

 desire to attain; but will it pay in the long run to 

 offer for sale, in the comb, honey that wouUl not 

 sell if extracted'.!' In view of the fact that the puri- 

 ty of honey (comb honey too) is already questioned, 

 would it not bo better for us to endeavor to show 

 the public that our honey is of undoubted purity, 

 ;'^ther than to attempt to dispose of the cheaper 



grades by securing it in combs? As yet the public 

 are not educated up to the point of knowing that 

 dark honey is e(iiuilly pure as the lighter grades; 

 and the suspicions that are already aroused will be 

 found dilHcult to allay, even if we ofl'er nothing for 

 sale as such, except the very best we can raise. 

 Let us all, then, strive to otfer nothing but the best 

 as such, rather thau to dispose of the poorer, by 

 what the uninitiated might call questionable ways. 



On page .533, same issue, Mr. C. H. Wood suggests 

 a good plan for returning swarms " when but little 

 increase in the luiinber of colonics is desired." I 

 presume this suggestion and description is intend- 

 ed to cover those accidental cases that will at times 

 occur, no nnitter what care is taken to prevent; but 

 as there is a (luestion as to whetiier simply it is so 

 meant, or that his plan should beageneral rule, I 

 would suggest that all the trouble, bother, and cai'o 

 attendant upon so returning swarms, and watch- 

 ing to know the liive they issued from, can be avoid- 

 ed by using a (lueen and drone trap. In ease it is 

 not known from which hive a colony issued, dust a 

 few of the Ijees with Hour, then carry them a short 

 distance from the spot they aliglitcd upon, and 

 throw them in the sir; they will at once return to 

 the parent colony, and their white jackets can not 

 be mistaken, when, without such precaution, it 

 might be impossible to the jiareut hive. 



Fo.xboro, Mass., July, 1880. J. E. Pond, Jij. 



Friend P., I am sure that our good friend 

 Mr. Tweed had no thought of palming oft' 

 poor or inferior honey, but, rather, some- 

 thing like this: AYe all have two or more 

 qualities of honey, and the color is not al- 

 ways an indication of the (luality for table 

 use. Now, dark lioney does not sell well in 

 the liquid state, even "tln)Ugh the flavor be 

 lirst class ; hence, may not this same honey 

 of excellent quality but of poor color be more 

 profitable if put into the combs, and sold as 

 comb honeyV 



BSSS- 



FOUL BROOD NOT CURED BY SALI- 

 CYLIC ACID. 



EXTKKMINATEU BY MEt.TING COMBS AND BOlfi 

 INC. FIIAJIE.S AND HIVES. 



J BEGAN beekeeping about four years ago. I 

 ' succeeded very well until I had about I'Z colo- 

 nies, when I lost all but two with foul brood. 

 I think there could be no mistake about its be- 

 ing foul brood, as the caps of the brood-cells 

 sunk in, becoming concave, with a little pin-hole 

 in the center, and little or none of the brood hatch- 

 ing out. The cells when opened contained a brown 

 semi-liquid 8ubst.'>nce, about the color of roasted 

 cotfee, and had a very offensive smell. I tried 

 spraying the comb with salicylic acid and bora.x, 

 as directed on page 93 of the A BC; but the only 

 effect it seemed to have was to kill the mature l)ecs. 

 In an hour or so after spraying you could seo hun- 

 dreds of them hojiping about on the grass in front 

 of the hives. I thought at first perhaps the drugs 

 were impure, and bought at another ])lace, but 

 with the same result. I was then nuiking i)rei)ara- 

 tions to move from Clay Center to this place, which 

 is 15 miles, at least, from any other bee-keeper, so I 

 made two new hives, put what remaining bees I 

 had into them, and sent them here. I molted all 

 my conibg into wax, and exchanged for founda- 



