1884 



GLE AIRINGS m BEE CULTUEE. 



found to be as profitable as selling honey, 

 and a bee-keeper can not very well get along 

 without it, after a certain limit.— Putting 

 the brood in with the swarm is the plan rec- 

 ommended by our old friend Adam Grimm, 

 and it works nicely, provided the swarm 

 does not get a swarming mania, and swarm 

 so much the quicker for having such an in- 

 crease in numbers. 



LAZV BEES. 



With your permission I will relate my experience 

 in battling with the world, the flesh, and the bees. 

 1 didn't say honey-bees, for my bees have had very 

 little to do with honey as yet. I struck in last spring 

 with five colonies of black beea in old box hives. 

 They have now increased to IS, six of which I put in- 

 to home-made Quinby hives, and the rest into box 

 hives and nail-kegs. The kegs are full, and the 

 frames are partly full of comb, built crosswise. 1 

 have taken about 5 lbs. of honey in sections. 



Some of the swarms have hung out of the hives 

 all summer, doing nothing with boxes in the hives. 

 We put two small swarms together; they killed or 

 lost both q\ieens, and are now a mere handful, with 

 as many worms as bees. What should 1 have done? 

 Basswood, white clover, goldenrod, motherwort, and 

 catnip, all grow within bee distance of us. What 

 makes my bees so lazy? M. E. G. 



Ogden, Mon. Co., N. Y., Aug. 20, 1883. 



Friend G., I really do not know what makes 

 your bees so lazy, unless it is those colonies 

 with the combs built crosswise. Give them 

 some nice new hives with one-pound sec- 

 tions, and may be you can raise a little enthu- 

 siasm in their little heads or hearts to get up 

 and " dust,'' and do something instead of 

 hanging outside. 



ABSCONDING WITHOUT CLUSTERING. 



June 10, 1882, I stood near a hive and heard the pip- 

 ing of the queen in said hive. Presently, out rush- 

 ed a very large swarm, and started immediately, a 

 little east of north; they rose very high, as they had 

 to passov^er a grove of Lombardy poplars about 20 

 rods distant; after passing that barrier they lowered 

 to the usual height. There being a large lake about 

 TO rods from the apiary, they came quite low, near 

 the margin of the lake. There being a gravel walk, I 

 ran ahead and met them with handful after hand- 

 ful. They did not seem to like that kind of treat- 

 ment, and turned south-east and went to an island 

 in the south part of the lake, and clustered in the 

 top of a very tall second-growth white-oak. T got an 

 ax and hive, my son accompanying me. We went 

 and cut the tree, my son taking the boat, I staying 

 on the island. The bees llew about half an hour over 

 that part of the island, then over the lake several 

 times, and alighted on a low limb where we soon had 

 them in the hive and apiary, where they remained 

 satisfied. 



About ten days later I hived a large swarm. Before 

 they all got in, another swarm came out close by, 

 and went in with them. They remained about half 

 an hour, when they all came out and separated, as 

 near as I can tell, about equally; the one clustering, 

 the other going for parts unknown. 



The first of July following, another swarm abscond, 

 ed without clustering. In every case I was there 

 and saw them come out of the hive. The last was a 

 second swaim too, and a largo one. I have kept 

 bees a number of years, of late quite extensively. 



These are the only cases of absconding I have any 



personal knowledge of; but there was no mistaking: 



them. W. K. Vansyckle. 



Drayton Plains, Oakland Co., Mich., Feb. i, 1884. 



FROM 15 TO 40, AND 600 LBS. OF HONEY. 



1 commenced the season with 15 stands, all in good 

 condition, strong enough to swarm in April; but I 

 prevented it by giving plenty of room. They com- 

 menced swarming the 5th of June, and they increas- 

 ed from 15 to 40 stand?, with plenty of stores for win- 

 ter, all alive at the present date, and in good condi- 

 tion. I took over 600 lbs. of comb honey— 500 in one 

 and two lb. sections; did not extract any. 



NO SEPARATORS. 



What I wish to notice is this: That in the 500 Its. 

 in sections, no separators were used— nothing but 

 half-inch strips of worker fdn. for starters; the sec- 

 tions were l~a inches wide, as you make them. Re- 

 sult, every comb was built straight, and in no case 

 was there a comb built between. My reason in the 

 first place is, that bees delight to work on nice yellow 

 fdn., and if kept supplied with sections and starters, 

 will have no inclination to work on any thing else. 



LARGE ENTRANCES TO THE SECTIONS. 



I make my sections with }i inch space, so that 

 when two are placed together it leaves 'i inch open- 

 ing, giving them no chance to build between, and at 

 the same time making a nice-appearing comb, with 

 the outer edges rounded. H. Homrighdns. 



Uoyalton, O., Feb. 18, 1884, 



MRS. COTTON. 



Mrs. Cotton, of West Gorham, Me., found out that 

 I wanted to get some bees, and she sent me a big 

 oEfer. I paid her mOM for a full colony. They 

 came, and I put them on the stand, and when I came 

 to examine the bees 1 don't think there was over a 

 handful in the hive, and there was no queen with 

 them; and it was but a short time before they were 

 all dead. I was cheated out of $20.00 by Mrs. Cotton; 

 but I shall try again. James H. Ddnlevy. 



Adrian, Mich., Feb.. 1884. 



I am sorry to hear such reports, friend D. 

 I suppose, of course, you notified Mrs. Cot- 

 ton of the condition in which the bees were 

 received, although you do not say so. From 

 the great number of similar reports from 

 her customers, we can not help but conclude 

 that she is not in the habit of making good 

 the colonies that are received in such condi- 

 tion ; and as she advertises quite extensive- 

 ly, inquiries are coming almost every day, 

 as to whether we would advise piirchasing 

 of her. We have such inquiries about other 

 supply dealers, as a matter of course ; but 

 all who now advertise, so far as I know, are 

 reliable, and make good all dissatisfaction. 

 If Mrs. Cotton proposes to do this, I will 

 cheerfully give space for her to say so. 



MODERN SEPARATORS. 



I notice complaint is made that wooden separators 

 warp. Having used them many years, made of what 

 is here called poplar, the tulip, or whitewood, of 

 some sections, and liriodendron botanically, I fmd 

 no trouble. I use them now as thin as 1-16 of an 

 inch. If taken care of, and not left to the weather, 

 they keep true and dry. They become slightly coat- 

 ed with wax by use. I should prefer them to tin, 

 which I have used, if the latter were furnished with- 

 out cost. J. W. Porter. 



Charlottesville, Va., Feb., 1884. 



