1886 



gleajSIngs in uee culture. 



7S7 



and more or less the bands ol' down. I have only 

 two strains of bees, Carniolans and Italians. 1 

 think they are a hearty and prolific race; and if 

 nii.xed with Italians they will, pcrhaiis, be an ini- 

 jiroveinent. K. K. Bi.amk, M. D. 



Hatfield, Pa., Aug. 5, 1886. 



Thanks for your candid opinion of the 

 Carniolans. Your experience ^Yith this new 

 race is about the same as ours. We can not, 

 therefore, think we have been impartial in 

 the statement of their good and bad (luali- 

 ties. 



WINTEKING BEES IN THE UPPEK CHAMBEU OE A 

 HOUSE. 



I have great faith in your opinion on the general 

 j)rineiplcs of bec-kceping-, from the long- and exten- 

 sive practice and eA'perience you have had, and 

 the many methods that have been represented to 

 jou of wintering- bees. I have had bees more or 

 less for 40 years; but at the time I first kept bees 

 there was no trouble in Avintcring' them. They then 

 took care pretty much of themselves; but for some 

 ten years, or thereabouts, back, I have lost about 

 as many every winter as I gain ahead every sum- 

 mer. 1 have tried a g-ood many ways that I have 

 heard recommended, and the best luck I have had 

 was something- of a chatt' or straw protection, or 

 simpi.\- a larg-e box put over the hive and stuffed 

 Avith dry hay between, leaving- the entrance open 

 all winter, so that the bees can lly when thej' wish 

 to. Hut my success has not been up to the stand- 

 ard I should like. I want to begin in time this sea- 

 son, and try to get what light I can get on the sub- 

 ject. 1 have been proposing- to try the ehaniber of 

 my dwelling-house. It is the third-story from where 

 we live, a good lath-and-plastered room, some 14 

 feet scfuarc. It can be darkened, and made close. 

 The pipe from two stoves enters the chimney in 

 said room. There is no chance of their being dis- 

 turbed by jarring or noise. I should like to hear 

 your opinion on wintering- in that loeatioji. I have 

 al:o thought of trying- some in my hay-barn, jiaek- 

 ing in hay away up above my horses. 



Romance, Wis., Aug. :i8, 188H. Wii,i,ia.m Hall. 



Friend II., putting Uie Ijees in an upper 

 room is pretty miicli discarded. Although 

 they »)(/(// he wintered nicely in a bain, the 

 conditions are so seldom just rigid for it I 

 would not recommend it. The wliole sii))- 

 ject is thoroughly gone over in the A IJ C 

 book; and to put it briefly, uidess you put 

 your bees in a perfectly frost-proof reposit- 

 ory they had much better be in the open air, 

 wliere the stni can strike the hives as nnicii 

 as possible. Protection from prevailing 

 winds is also an advantage, and this is l)est 

 done by buildings and higli l)oard fences ; 

 but don't cut off tlie stin unless you can 

 give them something better. 1 fear the 

 stovepipe would at times make the room too 

 warm, and thus cause trouble. 



EOIM. BIJOOn I.\ A S.MALL .\P1AKY, AMt A Sl'lilO AS 

 WELL AS SENSIBLE CUKE. 



I notice in Gleanings for Aug. 1 that you have 

 foul brood in your apiary, and that you ai-e desti-<)>-- 

 ing- all combs affected with it, which I think is the 

 shortest and surest cure you can practice. In my 

 experience, one year ago. with the same trouble, I 

 succeeded in curing it with but little time or ex- 

 pense. I will tell the experience I had with it. I 

 will first state, that I was taken sick about the first 



of February, 1885, and was not able to attend to or 

 look after my 1.5 colonies of bees till about the 

 middle of June. By this time I had lost 8 of them 

 with foul brood, and the other seven were in a hor- 

 rible condition when I first looked them over in 

 June, when I was not able to do much work; but 

 by a strong- determination I prepared 7 hives with 

 full sheets of fdn.. and then I built a small fire by 

 piling- old i-ails and brush together, and then I com- 

 menced operations. I went to my first hive and 

 found the queen and caged her; then I removed 

 the old hive from the stand, bottom-board and all, 

 and replaced one of the clean ones, filled with fdn., 

 and laid the caged queen on the top-bars of the 

 frames, and put on my quilt. Then I went to my 

 affected hi\e and took out a frame and shook oft' 

 the bees and then pitched it on my fire, and so oi: 

 until 1 had the whole 7 treated in the same way, 

 burning up combs and frames, hives, bottom-board, 

 and all. "At night I closed in the bees for 48 hours, 

 with a wire screen, and then I let them out and 

 liberated the (jueens, and that was the last of foul 

 brood I saw among- my bees, and I think 1 am en- 

 tirely rid of it, as there has none appeared up to 

 date. 



Bees are doing fairly in this section. My best col- 

 ony will make over 100 lbs.; I think they will aver- 

 age 75 lbs. i)er colony. P. D. Millek. 



Grapevine, Pa., Aug. 7, 188v5. 



You did exactly right in treating your col- 

 onies in the way you did ; but with our large 

 number of colonies it would be rather ex- 

 pensive business. We hope to ciu'e it by the 

 treatment we have been giving. Shoidd we 

 fail, however, we may burn every thing ex- 

 cept the bees. 



NOVA SCOTIA, .\Ni) ITS HONEY KESOUHCES. 



I am a native of the U. S. I came here from Al- 

 liance, ()., last fall. 1 have found two kinds of clo- 

 \er which I think bees can worli on. The clovers 

 grow very tall -as iall as the large red; the blos- 

 som of one is white, the other red. Are these al- 

 sikc clovers? This is a great country for the honey- 

 bees, but the industry is in its infancy. Wild flow- 

 ers and white clover are abundant, 'i'he main 

 trouble is in wintering bees. I have begun with a 

 new swarm, and the hive— old upright— has in it al- 

 ready at least a bushel of brood and honey. 



Hev. G. L. Kankin. 



Lunenburg, No\a Scotia, July 13, 1886. 



Friend K., we are glad of your report, and 

 trust you may be successful in introducing 

 bee culture into yoiu' far-away home. Some 

 years ago we had a correspondent who gave 

 us some very fair reports from Nova Scotia, 

 but we have not heard from him of late. — 

 Alsike clover is much like white clover in 

 appearance, only tlie leaves and blossoms 

 are larger, and the petals, instead of being 

 white, arc tipped v.ith pink. In fact, the ap- 

 pearance indicates just what the plant is— 

 a cross between the white and red clover. 



THE VALUE OE A gUEEN NOT DEPENDENT UPON 

 lIEIt SIZE OK LOOKS. 



.luiie II you mailed me an Italian queen, nntrstnt: 

 and as you particularly state in j-our catalogue 

 that you nuike no choice in sending dollar <jueens, 

 I mentione<l nothing about wanting one of partic- 

 ular tieauty, etc. When she arrived, whjeh she did 

 in good time, I must confess I Avas greatly disap- 



