1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CtJLTtJilE. 



311 



sist on granulated sugar alone, without any 

 water or any thing else ; and after it has rat- 

 tled to the bottom of the hive they will 

 sometimes lick it up. You can satisfy your- 

 self of this by confining the bees to their 

 hives, so they can not carry it away, and you 

 can also watch a bee while he eats up a dry 

 grain of sugar. Of course, some water in a 

 sponge near by greatly facilitates the progress 

 of working up dry sugar; but it is rather 

 late in the day to declare that it is worth no 

 more than so much stind. 



FRIEND DOFF'S EXTRAVAGANT STATEMENTS IN HIS 

 CIRCULArj. 



I forpot to add ia my circular, that those reports 

 of 300. 400. 500, and lO^O Ihs. I found in Gleanings in 

 Bee CnLTURK, edited by A. 1. Uoot, of Medina, Ohio. 

 1 had "orter" give ray authority, I " 'spcct." 



Flat Ridge, Ohio, March G, 1884. A. H. Duff. 



Perhaps so, friend D. ; but the statements 

 in Gleanings were not intended to convey 

 the idea that anyone could do it any season. 

 They were simply reports indicating what a 

 powerful colony of bees might do under ex- 

 tremely favorable circumstances, with a 

 heavy flow of honey. Very likely Glean- 

 ings should give reports with more qualifi- 

 cation and explanation than it has done, and 

 perhaps we had better be a little more care- 

 ful in this line (dl around. 



TALKING TO SOME PURPOSE. 



I have earned a dollar in getting the few subscrib- 

 ers I have. If there is any value in talk, perhaps I 

 talked too much: but I don't know; not much used 

 to the business of canvassing for papers. But I 

 made quite a long speech the other day before the 

 oflicors of the County Agricultural Society, to get 

 the premium raised on honey. The premium has 

 been SI. 00 for best, riO cents for second. I got it 

 raised to ?5 00 for first on comb honey, .•?;J.00 for sec- 

 ond, and .*3.00 for third; the same on extracted. 

 That speech enabled me to get one subscriber for 

 Gleanings. E. C. Hubbard. 



Water Valley, N. Y., April 11, 1884. 

 Well, friend H., if you got the premiums 

 raised from .50 cents and a dollar up to two, 

 three, and five dollars, I should think that 

 your talking amounted to something, any 

 way. Perhaps it is a good suggestion to a 

 good many of us, to look after this matter of 

 fairs and premiums. 



ITALIAN BEES IN MANITOBA. 



From the hive of bees you expressed to me last 

 July 1 got 60 lbs. of very fine comb honey. I did not 

 send for the upper story, for I didn't think I would 

 need one the first season. I made a box the same 

 size of the hive, and two inches higher, and put the 

 extra frame you sent with the bees, in the box. The 

 bees built comb in both fides of the frame. I win- 

 tered them in a pit with ventilating-pipo up through 

 the center. I reported my bees to the Free Press the 

 same date of this letter, asking the editor to send 

 you the paper with report. At this date my bees are 

 in good condition— one colony of Italians in Simplic- 

 ity hive, and one colony of blacks in box hive. 



John Hemswortii. 



Whitewood, Manitoba, March 25,1884. 



FRIEND H.'S REPORT. 



I kept bees two seasons in Manitoba, and one in 

 the Northwest. Through carelessness and misman- 

 agement I have not increased my stock very much. 



My bees started to work on the blossoms of the soft- 

 maple, in the valley ot Pipestone Creek, about the 

 30th of April, and they worked all through May on 

 the blossom of willows. July and August are the 

 best months for hoiiev. when the prairie tiowers are 

 in bloom. I got only Ki Ihs. of honey trom one hive of 

 black bees, and CO lbs. from one hive of Italians. I 

 have not wintered Italian bees yet : but if they stand 

 the winter as \vf\\ as the blacks, I will make report 

 in the spring. The Italians were sent me by express 

 from Medina, O., and I received ihem on the 13th of 

 July. They were eisrht days on the road, and they 

 carried in pollen and honey in two hours after they 

 were liberated. They are much larger than the 

 black bees, and can reach the honey in the prairie- 

 llowers better. Manitoba honey, for quality and fla- 

 vor, I don't think can be surpassed. 



HONEY-CROP OF CANADA FOR 1880, AS PER CENSUS. 



Inclosed please find the hone-ycrop of Canada, as 

 given in the last census, in which you will notice 

 Manitoba, 1080 lbs., which is not so bad for so cold a 

 climate and a new country. Wm. Mowbray. 



Sarnia, Ont., Can., April 1, 1881. 



lbs. 



Prince Edward Island 14,945 



NovaScotia 24..'i0n 



New Brunswick 78,203 



Quebec 5.59.024 



< (ntarlo 1,197.628 



Manitoba 1.080 



British Columbia 365 



Territories — 



Or 9.57 tons, 1745 lbs. 1.875,745 



Did you ever! Even Manitoba, that some 

 of thefriends have asked about, inquiring 

 whether bees could be kept there at all, has 

 given lOso lbs. Since my visit to Canada 

 last fall, I have a great deal more respect for 

 the brethren over there than I used to have. 

 It does us good to stir around among people 

 a little, you see. 



FRIEND MUTH AND THE FLOOD. 



I was away from home during two weeks of our 

 flood, knowing above high-water mark was my own 

 location; and when reaching home I landed per ca- 

 nal-boat behind my house, the only inlet to the city 

 at the time. It was a trying time, which a number 

 of my fellow-citizens will surely remember. I gave 

 my bees a good overhauling in February, when I 

 found all in splendid condition, in spite of our 24° 

 below zero. Those of my stand's were strongest 

 which bad their entrance open their entire width. 



Cinciunati, O., March 13, 1884. C. F. Moth. 



A GOOD REPORT FROM TEXAS. 



Last year gave us a short honey-crop; and, as a 

 consequence, many bees in old gums starved out. 

 I have loo colonies in good condition, carrying in 

 pollen, and breeding rapidly. In this country we 

 have neither spring dwindling nor winter troubles. 

 I use the Simplicity hive and the tiering-up system. 

 I took last year 4500 lbs. extracted honey, of excel- 

 lent quality. I sell extracted at 10 cts. People In 

 the country here will pay no more for nice comb 

 honey than for extracted. W, A. McPhail. 



Gailinas, Texas, March 6. 1884. 



now TO FEED CANDIED HONEV. 



My bees are all alive and healthy so far. I pre- 

 pared them for winter last fall by reducing them to 

 4, 5, and 6 frames, according to the strength of the 

 colony, leaving them 7 or 8 lbs. of coITce A sugar 

 each, besides Avhat honey they had. I think they 

 had 15 or 30 lbs. each. Some of them have been out 

 of honey for about a month, and I am now feeding 

 candied honey on top the frames, which is the best 

 way to feed that 1 have ever fouod. 



Cicero, Ind., March 11, 1884. Elias BKRa. 



