1884 



GLEANmGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



313 



they gather will permit. I have got swarms of Ital- 

 ians that had 150 lbs. the middle of last July that I 

 shall have to feed through April, while Cyprians 

 that had the same amount have nearly all of it now; 

 and, at the same time, are the fullest of bees, and 

 every one is bent on self-defense. A. W. Cheney. 

 Kanawha Falls, W. Va., Mar. 21, 1884. 



Friend C, our experience Las been that 

 the Cyprians and Holy- Lands are more apt 

 to rear brood ont of season than the Italians. 

 Surely yon can not mean that a single swarm 

 of bees has consumed IfjOlbs. since last July. 

 They must have been monstrous swarms, or 

 else you have made a mistake of a hundred 

 pounds or so. 



QUEENS THAT WON'T LAY. 



The five last queens I got from you last season 

 turned out all right but one. I introduced her to a 

 colony successfully, but, lo and behold! she never 

 laid an egg after I got her. Now, what do you sup- 

 pose was the matter with her? I kept her for seven 

 weeks. Some days she looked longer than others, 

 and I was sure, almost, the was going to make a 

 start, but she did not. The colony would keep 

 building queen-cells. I gave them a frame of brood 

 several times to keep the colony from running 

 down, so at the end of seven weeks I had to pinch 

 her head off and give them another one. 



FERTILIZATION OF THE QUEEN - HEE ; SOME MOKE 

 FACTS IN THE MATTER. 



I was very much interested in the observations of 

 J. S. Hughes, in March Gleanings, page 160, of 

 drones congregating in large numbers in the air, to 

 which queens resort to become fertilized; but they 

 sometimes become fertilized without going very far 

 from the apiary. I saw a queen mating with a drone 

 last season about 1 o'clock in the afternoon, not 

 more than 1.5 feet above the ground, so you see I 

 had a good chance to sec proceedings. Their abdo- 

 mens were together; they seemed to be pulling in 

 opposite directions until they became separated, 

 and arose out of sight. I was attracted by the noise 

 of the drone, for it was a very still day, so I believe 

 they often become fertilized sometimes very near 

 homo, when drones are flying pretty thick. 



SOME KIND WORDS IN CLOSING. 



While I am bothering you with this letter, for I 

 presume you have hundreds to read, I must say I 

 admire the Home readings very much. They are 

 like manna to the soul. I always save them for 

 Sunday reading. There is always some encourage- 

 ment in them— something to lift us upward and on- 

 ward. They will reach hundreds who never enter a 

 church of any kind. They will bo like bread cast 

 upon the water. Go on, luy brother, go on; you will 

 at last win the well-fought day when you come to 

 cross the swelling Hood. W. J. Saundehs. 



Meaford, Ontario, Can.. March 21, 1884. 



We have occasionally a queen such as you 

 describe, friend J3., or sometimes they won't 

 commence laying in spring ; and I have seen 

 them increase in size until they looked like 

 acjueeniu the height of the season. One 

 such queen commenced laying after I had 

 put her into a large thrifty colony, but would 

 not in a nucleus where she was. i)t course, 

 it would be our loss, for we do not want you 

 to pay for any queen that never laid an egg. 

 —1 am very much obliged to you, my good 

 friend, not only for the facts you furnish, 

 but for your concluding kind words. 1 have 



tried to do the will of the Master, but often 

 feel sad to think 1 do it so poorly amid the 

 constantly increasing array of busy cares. 

 Do not forget to pray for me. 



SOME WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT FBOM FRIEND 

 PARSHALL. 



It has been a long time since I have been to see 

 ynu. The first of last August I wrote up a good let- 

 ter for Blasted Hopes; and after I got it finished I 

 was ashamed to complain, and tore it up. The first 

 of August 1 had not got a single pound of honey, 

 nor had a swarm of bees; the 15th I had my first 

 swarm, and by the 15th of Sept. I had taken ICOO lbs. 

 comb honey, and five 32-gallon barrels of extracted. 

 Our Sunday-school still lives, and is doing well with 

 such a poor tool as I for superintendent. 



Now for some of my troubles. The 9th of Decem- 

 ber we lost our only daughter, 16 years old. She had 

 " walked with God " for three years, " and was not, 

 for God took her." Oh what a vacant place there is 

 in our family! ButChrist is with us, and is precious. 

 My prayer is, that God may bless you and all the 

 boys and girls who are helping you. Your brother 

 in Christ, James Parshall. 



Skidmore, Mo., April 21, 1884. 



Triehd P., you will always prosper, not 

 only with bees, but with the Sunday-school, 

 just so long as you keep that hopeful spirit, 

 and do not forget to trust God. May God 

 help you in your allliction from the death of 

 your loved one, and may you be enabled to 

 still say, " Though he slay me, yet will I 

 trust in him." 



WHAT SHALL AVE USE FOR BEE-FEED? 



Should this reach you in time, will you please state 

 in Gleanings if you have any grape (or corn) sugar, 

 for feeding bees, and give price? Also please give 

 net cost of a barrel of amber sugar, shipped from 

 your place. You would doubtless very much oblige 

 a number of your friends by stating if it would be 

 better to purchase cheap sugar for spring feeding, 

 or a low grade of extracted honey. 



John Bumgardnkr,'Jr. 



Kimbolton, O., March 25, 1884. 



Eriend B., the extremely low price cane 

 sugar is now, renders it of little object to use 

 either grape or amber sugar. Granulated 

 sugar can now be bought by the barrel in 

 JS ew York for 8 cents. The cheapest am ber 

 sugar that I know of is G cents, and grape 

 sugar is worth 41 . We have not kept grape 

 sugar for sale for some years, but it can be 

 purchased of the ]}iitlalo (irape Sugar Co., 

 Buffalo, N. Y. While grape sugar, amber 

 sugar, and cheaj) honey may be used safely 

 for spring feeding, after the weather is warm 

 enough so the bees can lly,or during'a dearth 

 in the summer, I would not use any of them 

 at any season of the year, when there would 

 be a likelihood that any of them might re- 

 main ill the combs for winter use. Granu- 

 lated sugar is cheaper than you would be 

 likely to get cheap honey, and it is absolute- 

 ly safe wintering, while these other things 

 are not. Honey stored in the combs, and 

 sealed up during the clover and basswood 

 bloom, is perhaps as safe as granulated sugar, 

 although 1 do not consider it any better. 



A suijstitute for smoke in handling bees. 

 I have been looking up something in place of 

 smoke for the bees. I have used a drug instead for 



