7(J8 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



dock's experience in a late issue. May be, 

 however, tliat both of the above parties have 

 failed to comply with all the conditions re- 

 quired. We liave ordered one of the smo- 

 kers frrm the inventor, and will report 

 promptly as soon as it arrives. AV^e are in- 

 formed that it is now on the way. 



ItOW MUCH SHOUI.D BE FED A COLONY DAILY 

 DURING A DIIOUGHT? 



Bees were held back by a droug'ht of some CO 

 dai's. But three very heavy rains have turned the 

 tables. Does it pay to feed continuously straig'ht 

 through such a drought? If so, how much per 

 day, per colony, etc.? W. M. Bombehgeb. 



Harlan, Iowa, Aug. 3, 1880. 



Friend 13., I think it does pay to feed con- 

 tinuously right through a drought, especial- 

 ly if you wish to increase the number of 

 your stocks. I do not know how you are to 

 give a definite quantity of bee-feed daily, so 

 much depends on the strength of the colony, 

 and they almost always get more or less 

 from the fields. The thickness of the syrup 

 has also something to do with it. I would 

 suggest a teacupful a day of syrup contain- 

 ing about twice as much water as ordinary 

 honey ; that is, if I used honey for feeding 

 I woidd dilute it first with an e(]ual quanti- 

 ty of water, especially if I wi.slied to pro- 

 rhote brood-re:iring. 



^EP0R3F^ ENC0a^^6I]\[6. 



A GOOD yield ; are bees apt to die in 



WINTER AFTER A HEAVY HONEY-FLOW? 



STARTED with four colonies of bees this 

 spring, and from three frame hives I have 

 taken 350 lbs. of coml) honey, and they have 

 33 sections more, nearly filled, apiece. My box- 

 hive has filled only two boxes, about 30 lbs. 

 This has been a wonderful season for bees here. 

 I went according to your instructions in the ABC 

 book, and kept mj' bees at work by lifting up the 

 bottom and driving them in and giving them 

 more room whenever they began to hang out; and 

 the consequence is, that I got a good deal of honey 

 and only two new swarms; but*lf I can sell my 

 honey for what it is worth I will buy bees by the 

 pound in the spring. Honey is selling for ViM cts. 

 lor comb, and 8 cts. for extracted. Evei'y one's 

 bees have done well, especially those in frame 

 hives. I took LfiO \b3. from one hive (hybrids), and 

 still they are at work. There is a great deal of 

 buckwheat sown this year, and we expect quite 

 a little honey from that. Last year was so wet 

 that bees did scarcely any rhing except to gather 

 pollen and i-aise bees; and there was such a rank 

 growth of heart'sease and late honey-producing 

 flowers that the average loss during the winter 

 was about 1 in 30. Now I wish to ask you if next 

 winter will not be pretty hard on bees on account 

 of the great amount of work they arc doing this 

 summer? and what shall we do to make our colo- 

 nies strong for winter? I have an idea that, when 

 there is a great flow of honey, bees do not raise so 

 manj' young, and that those that remain in the 

 hive during winter are more or less exhausted 



from field work, and would die before spi'ing, and 

 leave the colony so weak that it would die. 



L. w. Rich. 

 Lamont, Buchanan Co., la., July 37, 1880. 



Friend It., I do not think bees are more 

 apt to die after a heavy fiow of honey, but, 

 rather, to the contrary. The Italians will, 

 however, fill their combs to such an extent 

 as to prevent brood-rearing where room is 

 not given them in which to store their sur- 

 plus honey. But bee-keepers nowadays are 

 seldom known to neglect giving the bees 

 storage room when honey is coming. 



i?7.00 CLEAN CASH FOR A SINGLE CRATE OF 

 HONEY. 



I have kept bees for quite a number of years, 

 and never saw a movable-frame hive until last 

 spring, and then I made it myself. Mr. E. H. Cook, 

 of Andover, Conn, (of course, you have heard of 

 him. for he has sent you a good many orders for 

 goods, and a tiptoi) upright honest man too), sent 

 me the dimensions for making the L. hive, and 

 then I bought two tested queens from him, and 

 had him come and transfer my blacks into the 

 movable frame hives for me. I find I can get 

 some good honey now which I never could do in 

 the common bo.v hive; and, furthermore, I never 

 sold a pound of honey before I had my bees 

 transferred; but now I can sell all the box honey 

 my bees can make. There was a merchant who 

 came to my house last Tuesday to buy some honey 

 of me, and I took a section case off from one of my 

 hi^es, and ho gave me $7.00 in clean cash for it. 

 That was 35 cts. per pound for it, and he wanted all 

 I had to spare this season at the same price. 



L. I. Waldo. 



Merrow, Tolland Co., Conn., .Inly 30, 1886. 



350 LBS. OF HONEY FROM ONE COLONY. 



Bees have done well up to date, but I think the 

 honey season is over. Best yield from one swarm, 

 extracted honey, to date, 3.50 lbs. Samuel Lister. 



Newton, Iowa. July 13, 1886. 



^EP0i^5^g Di?c©aR^6iN6. 



JUST rULLING THROUCH. 



^^t EES arc just pulling' through. I shall have to 



pig feed sugar to winter them, if they don't do 



"^^1 [tetter. 1 am out nearly $100 this year; and 



-*^ if I had to look to the bees for it, I never 



could nuU^e a start in the way of paying ray 



debts. But, thank the Lord, I have more than bees 



to look lo. A. L. Light. 



Groveland, Ark., Aug., 1880. 



LESS THAN 100 LBS. FROM 30 COLONIES. 



The honey crop amounts to nothing with me this 

 seasoiL Out of twenty colonics, spring count, 1 

 got less than 100 lbs. of honey, and I shall have to 

 feed several liundrcd pounds of sugar for winter. 

 I now have 39 colonies in a thriving condition, and 

 am not a bit discouraged. L. H. Robey. 



Worthington, W. Va., Aug. i, 1880. 



A poor season IN ENGLAND. 



This has been a vei-y bad season for business, 

 as June was so very cold. C. N. Abbott. 



Fairlawn, Middlesex Co., Eng., July 31, 1886. 



