244 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



■Apr. 



GLEANING S m BEE CULTURE. 



J^. I. TiOOT, 

 EDITOR AND PUBLISHEK. 



MEDINA, O. 



TERMS: $1.C0 PER VEAR, POST-PAID. 



FOR CLVBBTXG RATES, SEE FIRST PAGE 

 OF BEADING MATTER. 



Ivfl:EIDinSr.A., .A^IPI^. l, 1884. 



Set a watch, O Lord, before luy mouth; keep the door of my 

 lips.— Psalm Ul: a. 



ALSIKECLOVER SEED DOWN TO OLD PKICES AGAIN. 



We have just received 30 bushels of thesiicest al- 

 sike-clover seed that we ever had for sale, which we 

 can ship by first train at $10 per bushel; $5 25 per 

 half-bushel; f3.75 per peck, or :^0 cents per pound. 

 By mail, IS cents extra for bag and postage. 



BLASTED HOPES. 



Please send in your reports of failures, friends, 

 and we will keep the above department going; but 

 don't send in essays about bee culture being a fail- 

 ure. In fact, I do not believe we want essays on any 

 subject just now. Give us facts from experience, 

 both good and bad. 



PEA VINE, OR MAMMOTH RED CLOVER. 



So many questions have been asked in regard to 

 pea-vine clover, we have decided 1o send a small 

 package free to any who may care to see the seed, 

 and test a few plants. Just tell us on a postal you 

 would like some, and we will mail a few seeds, with 

 directions for cultivation. 



PATENTS AND BLACKMAILING. 



Just now we hear of a little breeze about some- 

 body who has patented the idea of setting the sec- 

 tions directly on the brood-frames. (Our friend 

 Langstroth patented the idea of a bee space between 

 the brood-frames and the honey-boxes, as you may 

 remember) This is even worse ihan Mitchell and 

 the other man, who had a patent on having hives 

 two stories high, or one hive on top of the other. 



FOUL BROOD; AND DOES IT EVER GENERATE SPON 

 TANEOUSLY? 



Tn answer to several inquiries, I do not believe it 

 possible that foul brood was ever originated because 

 healthy brood died from being chilled, or from any 

 other such cause. Corn never grows where none 

 has ever been planted; neither does any other plant 

 grow without seed, and foul brood is, if I am cor- 

 rect, a plant, or, what amounts to the same thing, a 

 fungoid growth. 



AN ITE.M OX THE SPRING-DWINDLING MALADY. 



Neighbor H. has wintered his River apiary al- 

 most without loss, and the bees, like our own, are 

 brifrht, clean, and entirely free from any trace of the 

 bee disease. His home apiary, however, not over 

 two miles from our own, has dysentery and dwin- 

 dling badly. No feeding was done at any of these 

 three apiaries — all had natural stores. What should 

 make the difference? 



ODR own apiary. 



We have l.'O colonics of bees, all in nice trim. Only 

 one has been lost up to date; 30 of the l.'iO contain 

 imported queens; 30 more, select tested queens, and 

 the remaining 90, tested queens ; therefore we have 



no blacks nor hybrids, and probably shall not have 

 any black queens for sale during the season; but we 

 may have a few hybrids as soon as we get to selling 

 untested queens. Those who have blacks and hy- 

 brids to dispose of can advertise them free in the 

 proper department. 



I AM happy to say, that beeswax seems to be at a 

 standstill, and bids'fair to remain about where it is 

 until about the end of the season. If it will do this, 

 we shall probably have a pretty big drop about the 

 time the demand begins to decline. Perhaps one 

 reason why prices have not run up, is because so 

 many are using foundation-mills of their own, thus 

 preventing, partially, the chance of speculating 

 and making^" corners " in wax. 



NEW inventions IN BEE CULTURE. 



Do not go to the expense of sei.ding us models by 

 express, friends, till you have first written in re- 

 gard to your inventions. The greater part of them 

 that are sent in are simply old ideas that have been 

 advanced and discarded. Write first, telling me 

 about it, then I can tell you whether it will be well 

 to keep working at it. or to send a model; 'and by 

 all means, read over the back numbers of the jour- 

 nals, to see what has been done, or, at least, consult 

 the indexes; and, as a matter of course, refer to the 

 modern bee-books now before the people, and keep 

 posted as to what has been already done. 



DRONE-TRAPS. 



While describing friend Alley's trap in our issue 

 of March 1, p. 150, it seemed to me as though the idea 

 was not quite new, and I am now reminded that the 

 essential features were described on page 467, of our 

 Sept. No. for li:82; in fact, friend J. D. Black, Bran- 

 don, la., sent me a model of it, which I have now in 

 my possession. We presume friend Alley did not 

 get his idea from that editorial; but as he has had 

 Gleanings right along, it seems to me a little strange 

 he should claim it as his invention. I can give a 

 drawing and explanation of the original trap sent 

 us by friend B., if it is thought necessary. 



We have received from Rev. T. F. Bracken, New 

 Florence, Pa, one of the brightest little pamphlets 

 that have fallen to our lot to see in many a day. It 

 is entitled, "A Dose of Truth, in Three Parts." The 

 three parts of those doses are as follows : " The use 

 of tobacco by the clergy; its sale by church-mem- 

 bers; means and motives to reform." The price of 

 the book is 25 cts., and it is hard to find more wisdom 

 embodied in one little book. Especially am I pleas- 

 ed with its Scriptural texts in regard to tobacco. If 

 any one thinks the Bible does not cover the ground, 

 let him read the first few pages. May God's bless- 

 ing be with friend B. in the stand he has taken; and 

 may it lead the clergy to realize what they are doing 

 when they persist in the use of tobacco! 



The proper clerk reports that he has three boxes • 

 of beeswax on hand, no name, date, nor any thing 

 to till whom they came from, or w htre. There are 

 also half a dcztn lettf rs, perhaps, saying they have 

 sent us beeswax, but don't tell how much, or give us 

 any clew to the boxes. In our advertisement for 

 wax on the cover of Gleanings, we give a constant 

 caution, and request you to put your name on the 

 box, and say how much you send. One of the little 

 gummed labels I have said so much about, telling 

 where you live and what your name is, pasted on 

 the box, either inside or out, would fix it all pleas- 



