1884 



GLEANIJSGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



167 



A WORD IN FAVOR OF SEPARATORS. 



I can't see that tin separators hinder, for last sea- 

 son 1 flllert their hives, the hives of eight swarms, 

 with comb, and left them there till fall. They did 

 not fill every comb, for they had a few more than 

 they needed, and those that I worked for comb 

 honey did as well. One swarm put more honey in 

 pound boxes than any one of the eight did in their 

 combs. They won't work in the chaff hive with ten 

 frames below the sections, for they have too much 

 room below; that is, with a good many swarms you 

 want to put wide frames below; they won't work in 

 the outside boxes at the top. The frames ought to 

 go the same way at the top as the bottom. 



FUMIGATING COMB HONEY WITH SULPHUR. 



I should like to ask Doolittle one question: Does 

 his comb honey taste of sulphur? We sulphured 

 some, and it spoiled the flavor of the honey, and it 

 was not quite strong enough to kill all the moth. 



SulHeld,0., Feb. VZ, 1884. Levi Faylor. 



Friend F., I am glad to have your opinion 

 that separators do not hinder the production 

 of comb honey, but I am inclined to think it 

 does make a difference, after all. Were not 

 those colonies that had plenty of empty 

 combs a little lazy, or was not their queen a 

 little behind the one that had one-pound 

 sections V I have myself sometimes thought 

 that when bees got real animated (if that is 

 the proper word to use), in lilliiig one-pound 

 sections they would do more work than some 

 others that"hiid so many empty combs they 

 had no room or chance to build any.— I do 

 not think the sulphur would give the honey 

 a taste, unless you used too much of it. If I 

 am correct, friend Doolittle has put in a cau- 

 tion in regard to this.— I have never been 

 able to discover that it makes any difference 

 whether the upper frames run p;irallel with 

 or at right angles to the frames below. 



Last summer, just before dark, I took notice of a 

 certain strain of bees. They came in very tired 

 when there was no honey. What they were doing, 

 was a mystery to me. Just one week after this, a 

 neighbor came before breakfast with a wagon, salt- 

 barrel, boiler, and pans, and wanted me to help him 

 cut a bee-tree. We went and looked at the tree. 

 The bees were working at three holes in the tree, 

 and he asked me if I did not think it was a large 

 swarm. 1 told him I thought it was, but it looked to 

 me as if they were cleaning house, and it would be 

 better not to cut the tree until evening, to save the 

 bees. When we cut it down there was only one bee 

 left in the tree. W^hen the ti-ee was cut down, I 

 knew they were my bees; he thought I ought to 

 give him a swarm of bees, for he had saved me one 

 by cutting the tree. I did not lose any swarms last 

 summer, that I know of. 



Coluoabia, Mich. Almon Achenback. 



chanced to get hold of it, while looking over a heap 

 of postal cards. I am sorry for having made such a 

 blunder, and humbly beg pardon. A word in regard 

 to the egg preservatives. I did not mean that they 

 are a complete failure; I simply meant the costly 

 receipts and impositions. J.T.Fletcher. 



West Monterey, Pa., Feb. 11, 1884. 



Friend F., I am glad to get your apology ; 

 but I must say that it is a rather serious 

 matter, saying a certain document, or even 

 postal card, was signed by a man who never 

 saw it, and never had any thing to do with 

 it. The fact that Theo. O. Feet did at one 

 time have charge of the business, and was in 

 the habit of signing postals and letters, 

 might make it easier for you to make the 

 mistake. I know their signatures were very 

 brief and imperfect, and 1 was tempted to 

 think sometimes that they were purposely 

 made blind. In fact, orders came to us 

 without any signatures, and I was compelled 

 to write back and ask who was responsible 

 lor the goods ordered from this institution. 



swarms that we don't w-ant Tf) keep overwin- 

 ter; what sh.yll we do with them? 



Could we take away the queen in August, and keep 

 queen-cells cut out so that they could not raise an- 

 other, or would it be best' to cage the queen and 

 leave her in the hive, but prevent brood-rearing? or 

 would either pay where we care more for honey 

 than we do for young bees? J. P. Ddnlap. 



Lone Star, Neb., Feb. 14, 1884. 



Friend D., my plan would be to sell the 

 queens for something. You know we now 

 have a department for those who have 

 hybrid or black queens that they will fur- 

 nish to others for accommodation, and we 

 make no charge for notices in this depart- 

 ment. AVell, after you have sold the bees, 

 take them and the brood to strengthen other 

 colonies, till you get j'our colonies very 

 strong. This will jirevent the production 

 of brood, and you know prevention is always 

 better than cure. 



an apology. 

 I do hereby wish to make the statement that I was 

 wrong in signing the name Theo. O. Pect to the ar- 

 ticle which you published in Gleanings concerning 

 the card which was written to me, which was signed 

 Col. & Ulery. It was written and signed in "signa- 

 ture" style, and any one at a glance would make it 

 out as I did. I would have made this statement 

 sooner, but I was positive that I was right, and I 

 could not find the card at the time; but recently I 



mammoth red clover, and something about -AL- 

 sike for hay. 



Allow me to say a discouraging word about mam- 

 moth red clover for honey. On an average, my bees 

 have had at least SCO acres within reach every year, 

 and as yet have not given one pound of surplus 

 from it; and on only one occasion any in the body of 

 thchive — that was in 1881. I have raised it on my 

 farm for ten years, and am well acquainted with 

 all its habits, and can say safely, I would rather have 

 one ton of my alsike hay than four times the amount 

 of mammoth clover. 



For the improvement Of land it has no superior; 

 but if any man sows it purposely for honey, I fear 

 he will find himself mistaken in its qualities. 



Thorn Hill, N. Y., Feb. 11. C. M. Goodspeed. 



Well, friend G., you give us a heavy testi- 

 monial in favor of alsike for hay, even if you 

 don't speak so well for mammoth. Speak- 

 ing of alsike, I notice it is now regularly 

 quoted in our market reports, and it seems 

 to have become a staple seed. From present 

 indications, I presume the price will this 

 year run up to .si. 5. 00 as it did last. What 

 are the farmers about, that they clon"t raise 

 more aliske, with such prices as these offer- 

 ed V Our honey farm is at present seeded to 



