206 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Mak. 



HARRY'S REPORT. 



My papa had one swarm of bees, and he got four 

 more swarms from it that year, but did not get any 

 honoy. The next summer, from the five swarms he 

 fe'ot ;^1 swarms, and 500 B)3. of honey. Last spring he 

 had 30 swarms, and he got 23 new ones and tools 2200 

 fts. of honey last summer. My papa raises small 

 fruit. Harry F. Gilmore, age 8. 



- Georgetown, Wis.. Feb. 20, 1884. 



1 had a swarm come out June 24, and they worked 

 well for about two weeks, and then I noticed they 

 were not working; and as they were in a box hive, I 

 could not do any thing but watch. They filled the 

 hive about half full, and then they seemed to just sit 

 there and cover it. It stood there about two mouths 

 in that condition, and in that time the bees were all, 

 or nearly all, gone; then I opened the hive and 

 found about 30 lbs. of as white honey as I ever saw. 

 About two inches deep on every comb, the cells 

 were filled about half full of some kind of light- 

 brown sticky stuff. There were no queen-cells nor 

 drone cells nor worker-cells, nor any indication of 

 there having been any brood raised at all. Can you 

 answer my questions, and tell me what was the 

 matter with my colony of bees? 



Joliet, 111., Jan. 30. 1884. Cassie A. Eib. 



Friend Cassie, your bees had lost their 

 queen, was what made the trouble. The 

 light-brown sticky stuff you mention was 

 pollen, or bee-bread. It is used by the bees 

 to feed their young; and as they had no 

 brood, it accumulated in the hive. Proba- 

 bly the queen got killed when they were 

 tirst hived, or very soon after. 



if room had been given tham in sections. 

 The great secret of modern bee culture is, 

 that it alwavs permits all the bees to work, 

 while with the old plan they crowd their 

 hives with honey until there "is no room to 

 raise more young bees, and then they stop 

 work right in the very most valuable part of 

 the season, oftentimes. 



BLASTED nOPES. 



You can put me in Blasted Hopes this time, for I 

 did not get any book when I wrote to you before. 

 Well, I am in for one now, as I inclose a sketch of 

 uncle's style of rustic hive, and he thinks his are the 

 only ones of this kind in the world, so I am FcndingJ 

 you at least something new in apiculture. You will 

 notice that this rustic hive is made of six pieces —a 

 bottom, four sides, and a top. The sides are held to- 

 gether by eight little pins passing through the ends 

 of the cross-bars, to which the front and back are 

 nailed. These cross-bars are two inches square; 

 there are 4 two-inch auger-holes in each of the end- 

 pieces, to receive the ends of the cross-bars. Two 

 colonies can be packed in each rustic hive, and the 

 advantage of making them this way is, that they can 

 be taken apart when spring comes, and piled up in 

 a stable, or any other building, thus getting rid of 

 the unsightly structures that we sometimes see 

 about our apiaries. W. J. Miller. 



Homing's Mills, Ont., Can., Nov. 27, 18?3. 



A HEAVY HIVE. 



My grandpa has 7 swarms of bees. They have 

 wintered very well so far. We were looking at the 

 bees the other day, and we saw a comb that the bees 

 hud worked out. The hive was so heavy that grand- 

 pa could hardly lift it. He said he was going to 

 transfer them in the spring into the Simplicity hive; 

 and if they did well, he would give mc one. We take 

 Gleanings, and grandpa got your ABC book. ■ 



Homeworth, O., Feb. 21, 1884. Harry R. Lee. 



Friend Harry, very likely the bees that 

 filled that hive and made it so heavy could 

 have filled it three or four times, If the hon- 

 ey had been taken out with an extractor, or 



ABOUT CUTTING A BEE-TREE, AND SOME OTHER 

 THINGS. 



My father has four hives of bees, and one swarm 

 in the woods. He was trying to cut the tree down, 

 but it split in two. He got a little honey, but he had 

 to strain it before it was good to eat. He left them 

 there, and a tribe of boys came and fired bullets into 

 the swarm. Before winter came they had quite a 

 lot of honey. They have lived comfortably. My 

 father makes his own hives, frames, honey-boxes, 

 and smoker. He has four Italian queens. He 

 bought them before winter set in. This winter he 

 found out that the old bees came out and died. They 

 hatch the young ones before they come out. My 

 father fed the young swarm sugar this winter. He 

 packs the hives with chaff. The bees In the summer 

 get so hot they come out and alight on the front of 

 the hive. 



When they swarm they all fly in flocks till they 

 reach a branch of a tree, then thty stay awhile. 

 Sometimes they go off before anybody sees them. 

 My father sets me to watch when he thinks they are 

 going to swarm, then I run to the shop and tell him. 

 Then he comes home and takes a veil and smoker, 

 then goes and smokes them, then cuts the branch, 

 and restores them to a new hive. 



Cambridge, N. Y. Frank B. Starr, age 10. 



Well, that is a prettv good letter, Frank. 

 The bees fly in '-flocks"^" when they swarm, 

 do they V 



a COUPLE OF LETTERS FROM OREGON. 



Our bees are out to-day, carrying in pollen, as In 

 mid-summer. AVe have tapped several maple-trees, 

 and have got a good quantity of sap Irom them. 

 Papa takes Gleanings, and I like to read it. He 

 has a good many stands of bees, and a good many 

 cattle; he has one sick cow, and has to doctor it. 



Edward Tallies, age 13. 



Mehama, Oregon, Feb. 1, 18S4. 



We are having fine weather— the finest winter we 

 have had since we came to the Cascades. U was so 

 hot to-day that the bees were flying everywhere. 

 They were packing in pollen, and visited the maple- 

 trees we had tapped. Father has 25 stands of bees. 

 He just got a lot of things this winter from you. 



vine-maples, again. 

 The woods are lull of vine-maples around our place. 

 Every time we cut one the sap runs out like water. 

 Have you ever tried boiling it down? We are going 

 to try it. Father has .500 acres of land for his bees to 

 roam over. He had about 3 acres of big alders cut 

 down before he began, to keep bees. The honey-dew 

 was very thick on the leaves this summer; and 

 where a leaf curled up there would be a teaspoonful. 

 I see all young writers tell how much stock they 

 have, so will 1. We have 23 head of cattle, 3 horses, 

 125 goats, 150 sheep, some pigs, etc. There are a good 

 many deer around our place. Sometimes one comes 

 and lies down on the hill and " picks his teeth." But 

 you are not allowed to kill them. 



Joseph Pallies, age 16. 



Mehama, Oregon, Feb. 3, 1884. 



