iilM 



glea:nings in uee (JULtukk. 



Nov. 



sinfrlo robber ai'ound the other three. Do you uot 

 think that my cleaning up the hive so as not to 

 leave a scent of honey prevented the robbers from 

 discovering- anj- thing- wrong with the three, while 

 the scent of the extracted combs in the others at- 

 tracted the robbers ? This may not be worth much 

 to the veterans, but I consider it worth a g-ood deal 

 to the novice. M. Broeks, I?— 34— 2T. 



Gonzales, Tex., Nov. 3, 1H86. 



I have observed the same thing before, 

 friend IJ. Thanks for your calling attention 

 to it. nevertheless. It seems to me, how- 

 ever, you do not finish tlie subject. If we 

 take combs away from the bees, without 

 putting any empty combs back after the 

 honey lias been extracted, there will be no 

 robbing, but what shall we do with these 

 empty combs ? I would say, Eeturn them 

 l)y moonlight ; and before the bees are fly- 

 ing next morning, every thing will be 

 cleaned up and put away. 



THE STENCH PROM DEAD BEES ; CATNIP, ETC. 



Gleanings is always a welcome visitor, as you, 

 with the assistance of a corps of writers, give us 

 ABC fellows no small amount of information 

 we so much stand in need of. I am glad you have 

 got ahead of your foul brood. My bees are all 

 right now, though some time since, when I raised 

 the cover of a certain hive, the stench that came 

 up from dead bees made me sick, for I had been 

 reading of foul brood. 1 thought I had it; but it 

 was old bees that were dead, not brood. 



If it had not been for friend Higbie's catnip, our 

 bees in this section would have died this winter, 

 or would have had to be fed their winter supplies; 

 but they are all right. I agree with friend Swin- 

 .son, that it won't do to go for " big ads " all the 

 time. He filled my order last spring for (lucens, 

 when some others were months in doing it. Let 

 me say, that I got one of the best red-clover queens 

 of him I ever saw, if such queens e.xist— at least, 

 her bees made honey from red clover when none 

 of the others did. W. K. .Tames. 



Loudon, Tenn., Nov. 7, ISSfi. 



MV METHOD OF UNITISO WEAK COCONIKS. 



The colony 1 wish to keep, I jirepare to receive 

 the new colony by simply turning up a small cor- 

 ner of the enameled cloth at the back cornei- of 

 the hive, and then set the one to uriite on top, and 

 leave them two days. Then I remove the cloth 

 from between them, and in a Say or two, as con- 

 venient, I arrange their brood and comb as desired. 

 By this method very few bees will ever leave for 

 their old stand. Sometimes 1 put several stories 

 on top this way, or as many as I may wish to make 

 a cokmy to suit my purposes. My management, 

 first, is for (lueeu-rearing in early spring— Febrvia- 

 ry, March, and April. All queens that I can raise 

 then are sold, so that I have only enough left to 

 leave one queen to three or four nuclei, which I 

 pile on top, as above named. Then I am ready for 

 lioney with rousing colonies; for my nuclei con- 

 tain 10 frames, 9^3 .\ i;{|i inches, outside dimensions. 

 In September I break them up into nuclei again, 

 and rear as many queens as I can, and what I lack 

 T have been buying- some of our Kentucky friend, 

 J. T. Wilson, of Nicholasville. By this manage- 

 ment I winter many more queens than I could do 

 In any other way that I have practiced. I use a 

 Simplicity hive, only I use a shorter frame, which. 



if 1 remember, you at one time called " crosswise 

 Langstroth. " John CRAvciiAFT. 



Altoona, Orange Co., Fla., Oct. 11, 1886. 



Your method of wintering weak colonies 

 is essentially the same as the one we have 

 practiced. See department of Our Own 

 Apiary in l)ack issues. 



ALSIKE FOR ENRICHING THE SOIL. 



Can any one who reads Gleanings tell any 

 thing about the fertilizing qualities of alsike? I 

 have read much about the delicious sweet it pro- 

 duces, but never a word about it in regard to en- 

 riching the soil, which is a very important thing. 

 Why can't those who have had experience in the 

 matter just tell us what they know? Don't you 

 see the point? How much more seed would be 

 sold, if we could say that it is as good, if not supe- 

 rior, to any thing else as a fertilizer I As the time for 

 sowing will be upon us soon, we must prepare for 

 it. In so doing we mast sow that which will give 

 the best returns for money invested. .T. A. Rime. 



Fairfield, Adams Co., Pa. 



Friend II., I have not known of alsike be- 

 ing plowed under, as we do the large red 

 clovers, for the reason, perhaps, that the 

 seed costs too much to use it in this way ; 

 besides, it would not furnish as much mate- 

 rial to plow under as the Mammoth red clo- 

 ver, which does not cost nearly as much per 

 bushel. As to its effects in bringing up poor 

 soils. I think it will compare favorably witli 

 the rest of the clovers. Perhaps some of 

 our readers have tested it. 



HOW TO SELL Hf)NEY ; AND A FEW KIND WORDS 

 AS WELL. 



The complaint of "no market" for honey is 

 heard here, and will continue to be heard until the 

 producer will gird on his armor and sallj- forth, 

 determined to sell at the front or back door of 

 every house. We have determined to peddle our 

 honey in St. Louis, and will commence about 

 NVednesday of this week. 



We receive (iLEANings regularly; and as we read 

 in it we are sensibly drawn to a higher appreciation 

 of the moral solidity of the character of its editor, 

 and of his great work in the fields of Christianity 

 wherever he is known. Moved by a friendly im- 

 pulse, oui' purposes is to write just as we would 

 talk, could we be in Medina, and be present with 

 you in the environments of your own home. In 

 writing, the use of " we " does not signify that an 

 editor is writing, but one who, in all the vast con- 

 cerns of life, has a partner who is always consult- 

 ed; and in our family it is generally " we," not " T " 

 —only two in our family— wife and I. 



Venice, 111., Oct. 31, 1886. < >. D. (ibkhlin. 



WHY NUT (Lir <;UEENS" WINGS? 



It does astonish me when any of the bee-keepers 

 speak against clipping queens' wings, as I have 

 practiced it for years, and think it the very axle on 

 which the whole machinery turns— so little trouble 

 to hive swarms, and so quickly done, if her wings 

 arc clipped. If not, you never know what to ex- 

 pect, as they invariably settle high in the timber 

 around our yard, and getting them down safely 

 and quickly enough is the next thing. But when 

 the wings are clipped it is an easy task of only 

 a few moments. Mrs. A. V. Campbell. 



Middleton, Tenn., Oct. 28, 1886. 



