1886 



GLliiANiNGS IN 13EE CULTURE. 



703 



Friend (r., liciv is our editorial liand. 

 Long may you prospi'r wilii tlu^ bees and 

 witii tiic editoiial pen. I always iVlt as if it 

 were a pretty ^ood tliinj? to be lioru in Oliio, 

 but 1 did not exactly understand why till 

 you made it so plain. I have sometimes 

 wondered if anybody else knew exactly how 

 it sort o' twists one when he is suddenly in- 

 terrupted in the midst of something grand 

 for humanity, by the announcement, " The 

 bees are swarming," •' There ain't any pota- 

 toes for dinner." or that the baby had fallen 

 down stairs. If the editor is a Christian 

 (and all editors ought to be, especially if 

 they are born in Ohio), lie mnst look pleas- 

 ant, stop his editorial, and take the chances 

 of being able to " catch on " where he left 

 off when he gets the bees, potatoes, ami 

 baby righted. 1 am sure you are a Chris- 

 tian, friend G., or you would imt love those 

 lines about the "rocks and rills," as you 

 seem to. Let us hear from you again. 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS, 



WHEN THEHE IS AN ABUNDANCE OF HONEY IN 



THE l'IEI.D.>^, WHY IS IT THAT MY liKK.S 



WON'T WORK ? 



fRlEND ROOT: -Can yon tell me why my lices 

 do not work more than they do? I often g-o 

 ont and stand by the hives (I liave two), and 

 I can't see a bee come ont in five niinntes, 

 even on a nice day.- They are hybrids and 

 Italians, and I think the liybrids are the sauciest 

 ones I ever saw. I g-et stung- three or fonr times 

 every day at one hive. Roth colonies have good 

 laying- qneens. T have one colony with G brood- 

 frames in it, and one wide frame with sections, 

 but they haven't .'> lbs. of honey in their whole 

 hive to-day. They have made a little buckwheat 

 honey, and a very little. There is about .'>() acres 

 in blossom within a mile of me, and about .'5 acres 

 on the farm T live on, within .500 yards of my bees; 

 yet they do not seem to do much, while my neigh- 

 bors' blacks are gathering- a fine lot. I have my 

 bees standing- under two large maple-trees; do you 

 think tliey have too much shade? The sun does 

 not shine on the hives except from sunrise till 

 8 o'clock A. M., and from 4 o'clock till 7 i'. m. They 

 stand within }^ of a mile from a lake that is a 

 mile long and ',4 mile wide. Do you thinli they are 

 too near the water, and shall I lose many of them in 

 it, if T should start an apiary here? 

 Monticello, N. V., Aug. Ill, 188C. P. Somervu.i.e. 

 It wotdd seem that your hives are not very 

 full of bees, if you c;in lind a period so long 

 as live minutes witliont any bees coming 

 out or going in. A good strong colony in 

 the middle of tlie day should have a dozen 

 or two of bees constantly around the en- 

 trance, and more or less passing out aiul in 

 every second.— We are well aware that buck- 

 wheat does not alwaysyield ])oney,altliough 

 it seems as if lifty acres ought to set them 

 booming. 1 do not think you can have a 

 better place for them tlian in the shade of 

 maple-trees. I do not think the lake lias 

 much to do with it, unless it is in such a di- 

 rection from the apiary that the prevailing 



winds are most of the time blowing from 

 the apiary toward the lake. 



stimj the honey-deav. 



For the last four or five weeks there has been a 

 continual flow of honey-dew, there having been no 

 rain during- that time in this part of the country. 

 We did not hax'e time this sj)ring- to i^rovide hives 

 enough for our bees, and have upper stories on 

 only a few of them, therefore we are obliged to 

 extract from the brood-chamber to prevent swarm- 

 ing, and it takes only a week or so for the bees to 

 have every thing full of the black stuff. Tliere 

 are .i good many flowers in bloom which 1 thiulc 

 contain a good bit of honey, but the bees seem to 

 think honey-dew is the only thing- worth gather- 

 ing; but for my part I wish they would bring in 

 something else, as I do not like it very well. Will 

 this honey-dew get, any better when fully ripened, 

 and what ought it to bring, compared with white- 

 elover honey? Wo fear we shall have some 

 ti-ouble in getting rid of it, as it is our first year 

 that we have had any honey to sell, and shall liave 

 to estatilish a market for it, which I fear will be no 

 snuxll job with such black stuff. However, I have 

 heard some folks say they liked it very well. 

 Please let me know how it compares in value with 

 other honey. 



luiCKBUsri honey. 



Have you ever seen any pure l)uckbush honey? 

 If you have not I think I can send you some anoth- 

 er year, unless the lioney-dew rules it out as it 

 has this .year. We had some last year; and al- 

 though it was quite darlc I thought the (piality 

 very fine. We have a profusion of buckbush in 

 this section, and I consider it a valuable honey- 

 plant, as it comes at a season when very much 

 needed hero. S. E. Mii.t.eh. 



Rlulfton, Mo., .Tuly 31, 18K0. 



Honey-dew is improved by being fully ri- 

 pened in the combs, like all other honey; 

 that is, pr<ividiiig it is thin and watery when 

 gathered. In regard to the price, 1 do not 

 know wliat it will bring— much depends on 

 the quality. I would otter it at about one- 

 half tlie price of good honey. We have con- 

 siderable of the buckbush in the garden, and 

 the bees work i)riskly on it every morning, 

 and have for several weeks; but we have 

 never been able to test the quality of the 

 honey. 



WHY won't the bees ACCEPT A QUEEN? 



I have two hives of bees, both swarms from the 

 same hive, and neither of them will Iceep a queen. 

 One of them { have given seven queens, and the 

 other six; they will raise a (jueen, or keep one un- 

 til she is about to lay, and then ball and kill her. 

 There is no fei-lile worker, as there is no brood ex- 

 cept what 1 give them. Thes' are both strong in 

 l)ees unil honey, but they luivcr no drones; but 

 there is iil('nt>- in olher hives. T keep them with 

 l)lenty of bi-ood. Can you give any reason for 

 such actions? Do you think if I would give them a 

 laying-queen it wouldanswer? RfCHAun Kdmund. 



(irand Crossing, Cook Co., 111., Aug. Hi, IHSti. 



Friend K., the conduct of the two hives 

 yon mention is very unusmil. I would by 

 all means try introducing ;i tested (pieen. 

 Our i-cmedy has been to give a colony plenty 

 of brood and bees from another hive — that 

 is, enough l)ee3 to induce the stubborn bees 

 to behave. 



