814 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



and although they liave left our large crop of 

 Concords entirely iniharmed, I am satisfied 

 that they have annoyed, and perhaps dam- 

 aged grapes belonging to our neighbors, 

 when the grapes were left on tlie vines un- 

 til after frost, or until they got very rip^. I 

 think the fruit-grower vvlio is also a bee- 

 keeper can so manage the gathering of liis 

 grapes as to be but little annoyed by the 

 bees; but where people are not ready to 

 gather their fruit when it is dead ripe, and 

 large apiaries are in their vicinity, tliere is 

 quite a chance of trouble between neighbors. 



PEUIT-BLOOM HONEY. 



BEE-TENTS, PERFORATED ZINC, ETC. 



T SENDyou by this mail a sample of fruit-bloom 

 ^ honey. The fruit-bloom honey we get here is 

 ^t good. This year it seems to be better than 

 ■*■ Usual. It is the thickest honey I have ever 

 handled, and it will granulate during the hot- 

 test weather. The honey-crop in this section is 

 light, and it may be lighter still before the bees ai-e 

 prepared for winter. This has been a remarkable 

 season. We had much rainy and cloudy weather, 

 but the bees got enough to keep themselves, with 

 some to spare, ever since the first of May. Fall 

 flowers are abundant, and of vigorous growth. 

 My bees, like a great many others reported, seem- 

 ed to have a swarming fit; but although they near- 

 ly all swarmed in less than 21 days, 1 had no more 

 colonies than before. 



[using bee-tents. 



We all know how it goes to open hives during a 

 scarcity of nectar. All may go very well if we 

 have nothing more to do than to peep into a col- 

 ony now and then; but if we have extracting to do, 

 colonies to unite, old queens to be found, and new 

 ones introduced in full colonies, it is altogether 

 another thing. I often use a tent; but when I 

 take the tent away to commence on the ne.xt col- 

 ony, the robbers go for the entrance in a body. 

 Well, I have tried several plans. Last season 1 

 struck on a plan that I can depend on. I took an 

 Alley drone and queen trap, and put wire cloth 

 in place of the zinc at the entrance, being sure that 

 it was secure against the combined strength of 

 the robbers. I removed the zmc, or tin slide, 

 from the top. I have used this with complete 

 success during the past two seasons. I find that 

 the robber-bees that get into the hive before the 

 hive is closed come out at the wire-cloth funnels 

 unless the bees kill them; also the bees of the hive 

 can come out if they want to. Of course, this trap 

 is to be removed as soon as the bees are ready to 

 defend themselves. 



perforated zinc. 



Last April I got of you two full sheets of your 

 perforated zinc; also a tin-bound perforated zinc 

 honey-board (I would take this tin binding off if 

 I knew the honey-board would be large enough 

 afterward). I cut the two sheets of zinc into hon- 

 ey-boards, and make also 13 Heddon and one Tin- 

 ker honey-boards to lit the Simplicity hive. They 

 are beveled the same as a Simplicity hive: and when 

 in place they show on the outside and have a bee- 

 space above and below, the same as the Heddon. 

 I like the Tinker, or strips of zinc between slats. 



best. 1 should not like to do without these honey- 

 boards, and have to pry and pull to get the frame 

 apart, as I did before this season. I have a simple 

 arrangement to get the honey-board loose from the 

 lower frames very quickly. 



Some time ago (.Tuly 15th or Aug. 1st) Mr. Mutli 

 mentioned something in OIjEANinos about some 

 of his honey having an appearance as though 

 soot were mixed with it. Now, I must always take 

 my surplus honey away from the bees before 

 July 10 or they will mix with it more or less juice 

 from decaying cherries, a small quantity of which 

 will give the honey this sooty appearance when 

 extracted and placed in glass receptacles. Prob- 

 ably this is what is the matter with Muth's honey. 

 I evaporate all honey not ripe bj' the 10th of July, 

 by running over an arrangement at a temperature 

 of over 100°. .5— W. E. Peterman. 



Trappe, Montg, Co., Pa., Aug. 19, 1880. 



It is true, robbers will sometimes pounce 

 down upon the entrance immediately after 

 the tent is removed. To prevent this would- 

 be pilfering we contract the entrance for the 

 time being so that one or two bees caii easi- 

 ly stand guard. Indeed, it is well to keep 

 the entrances of all weak colonies thus con- 

 tracted during a dearth of honey.— The slat- 

 ted honey-boards, we should judge from re- 

 ports received, have doubtless come to stay ; 

 in fact, Dr. C. C. Miller, who has just been 

 with us. says he would not now do without 

 them. AVith the perforated zinc between 

 the slats they will be doubly valuable.— I 

 hardly think the smoky appearance of Mr. 

 Muth's melilot honey was caused from the 

 juice of decaying cherries, and I should be a 

 little skeptical about its coloring your honey 

 in the way you describe. 



SOMETHING IN REGARD TO DRONE- 

 TRAPS. 



enterprising chicks, and how expert they 

 become in catching drones. 



fHE best drone-trap ever invented is not equal 

 to a dozen half-grown chickens. We feed 

 the chickens in the apiary, and there are 

 about a dozen that never leave it. They eat 

 drones fi'om the time they commence com- 

 ing out in the morning until they stop in the even- 

 ing, and some hot days they eat so many drones we 

 don't have them to feed. They became so expert 

 they could catch them on the wing every time, and 

 sometimes two chickens would be jumping up after 

 the same bee. When drones got scarce they began 

 to try a few workers, but didn't relish them, for the 

 workers would sting, even after they were picked to 

 pieces and swallowed. I saw one chicken swallow a 

 dozen drones in five minutes, and then look for 

 more. They also ate a few clipped queens, and 

 seemed to relish them as well as they did drones. 

 They kept the apiary stripped of drones, except in 

 two hives, which were so high from the ground they 

 could not reach them. The chickens were White 

 Leghorns and Plymouth Rocks. 



Bees did poorly until morning-glories commenced 

 blooming. The honey-crop is poor in quantity as 

 well as in qualitj' in this county. 



W. W. SOiMERFOKD. 



Navasota, Grimes Co., Texas, Sept. 27, 1886. 



