710 



GLEAN tNGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



^epT. 



(if time; but as the Simpson honey-plant continues 

 yielding' for two or three months, the aggregate 

 amount of nectar secreted by the latter might equal 

 that of the former. T have thought some of cover- 

 ing a wholo Simpson plant with mosquito netting, 

 and allowing it to remain for two or three days. At 

 the expiration of the time, would the cups be run- 

 ning over'!' 1 would have tried the ex]ieriment, l)ut 

 our plants are from (i to 10 feet high, and it would 

 be a rather difficult matter to completely cover the 

 plant, branching out as it docs like an evergreen. 

 It just occurs to me to put one of our folding tents 

 over a small plant. Well, I will tell you the results 

 next time. 



BEES WORKING ON BUCKWHEAT. 



Three weeks ago we planted about three acres of 

 buckwheat; and to-day, Aug. 27, it is in blossom, 

 and the bees are working on it at a pretty good 

 rate. I noticed the same happy roar, of which I 

 spoke a moment ago. About 10 a. m., on account of 

 the large number of colonies in this locality, the 

 bees stop work and commence early the next morn- 

 ing. 



POLLEN AND MUDDY WATER. 



Pollen-gathering continues the whole day. This, 

 together with the buckwheat in the morning, keeps 

 the bees in our apiary just now out of mischief. 

 Yesterday, the 26th, about 2 p. m. I noticed the bees 

 going in great droves south of the apiary. I was 

 not certain whether they were working on the corn 

 or getting water from the creek running ^bout 200 

 yards from the apiary. Starting in the direction 

 the bees were tlying, I found that they were sipping 

 at the muddy water in the creek, in large numbers. 

 No doubt the large amount of pollen being gather- 

 ed necessitated a good supply of water. As we 

 have been obliged to discontinue the sale of queens 

 since the first appearance of foul brood, we have 

 none but laying queens. The conseiiucnce is, that 

 brood-rearing is being carried on more extensively 

 than ever before. It is, therefore, nothing strange 

 that the traffic in pollen and muddy water is brisk. 



UNITING so AS TO MAKE THE BEES STAY IN THEIR 

 NEW LOCATION. 



In the evening, when the ])ees are all in the hive, 

 we unite the two in the ordinary way. At the time 

 we do this we reserve a frame of unsealed brood, 

 and place it back in the hive whence it came. This 

 is done to catch a good many of the old bees, which 

 will be sure to return to their old location. Said 

 bees and the frame of bi-ood are allowed to remain 



m 



in their old home from 24 to 48 hours, during which 

 time the new order of things, together with the loss 

 of their queen, seems to disconcert them and puts 

 them in a condition to accept any circumstances 

 whatever. Af the expiration of a day or so this 

 frame of brood and bees are put back in the colony 

 in the evening where they were first placed. We 

 And in practice that this second returning is pretty 

 sure to make all the bees staj', though sometimes 

 perhaps a dozen old worn-out fellows (not much use) 

 are so wedded to their old home as to go back. again 

 even then. 



When uniting into chaff hives we find it quite an 

 advantage to put all the bees of the new colony on 

 combs in the upper story, just above the colonj' 

 already occupying the hive. The brood is placed be- 

 low in the body of the hive. It will then be a couple 

 of days before the bees in the upper story will go be- 

 low. When they do they will be more apt to stay 

 in their new location. The returning bees are then 

 caught as before. 



HOW WE DISINFECT CHAFF HIVES BY STEAM. 



Shortly after foul brood broke out among our 

 bees we had about a dozen chaff hives which had 

 contained diseased colonies. These wore set in a 

 row, conveniently located to a steam - pipe. In 

 the evening 1 donned an old apron belonging to one 

 oC the saw-room hands, and proceeded to business. 

 Having attached about ten feet of rubber hose 

 to the aforesaid pijie I shoved the hose through one 

 of the ventilators of one of the hives. The hive- 

 cover was thus permitted to fit tight, and the only 

 exit for the steam was at the c.xtrancc — the steam 

 passing from the top of the hive to the bottom. 

 With a boiler pressure of .'iO lbs., I let each hive in 

 turn roar and steam from 1.") to 20 minutes. In oi>c 

 instance I approached a hive immediately after 

 thus steaming, and raised the cover, being a"lettle" 

 curious to see how hot it was inside. When the 

 scalding vapor puft'ed into my face and on my 

 hands, I didn't say any thing— no, not so much as 

 "ouch;" but that cover went right back on to the 

 hive, and that right speedily too. I then concluded 

 if the germs of foul brood (if there were any in the 

 hive) were submitted to such a dose as this for 15 

 whole minutes that they ought to die; if not, 

 they were exceedingly tough. At any rate, if boil- 

 ing water will kill the disease, I am moi-ally cer- 

 tain thexe hives were disinfected. However, as we 

 have tried to follow the policy of not running any 

 pofinihlc risks, we shall not put bees in these hives in 

 our home apiarj*. We propose to use them in an 

 apiary which we intend to locate next year awa.v 

 from home, where we will run more especially for 

 honey. If these hives should give the disease there 

 among a few colonics, no very great damage can 

 be done. 



FOUL Bt^OOD UP TO DATE, AUG. 31. 



In spite of us, as stated in another column, a few 

 moi-e cases have developed. However, when the 

 apiarj' was last gone through, only one diseased 

 colony was found, and that was in the very early 

 stages. Ernest. 



Gleakihcs in Bee Culture, 



Publlshi'd Senile MontUtij. 



J$^. I- ^OOT, 



EDITOR AND PUBLISHER. 



MEDINA, O. 



TERMS: $1.00 PER YEAR, POSTPAID. 



For Clulsti&e Batse, Ses First Fags of Eeidin^ Matter. 



If ye abide in me. and iny words abide in you. ye shall ask 

 what ye will, and it ^haU be done unto you.— John 15: 7. 



We have to-day, Aug. 31, ."iSST subscribers — a gain 

 of 73 over last month. Many thanks, friends, for 

 your kind support. _-__^_ 



A year of gleanings FOR 1.') CENTS. 



Although we have sold a good many, we still 

 have a large stock of bound volumes of Glean- 

 ings for 1876, of which we told you about on page 

 595. We will dispose of them for 15 cts. each, or 25 

 cts. by mail postpaid. 



