334 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



and honey in the spring- from the willow, which 

 helped them considerably. Alfred Haines. 



Cheltenham, Ontario, Canada, Feb. 28, 1884. 



Friend II.. when I read 8.500 pounds from 

 30 colonies, I instinctively turned your letter 

 over to see where such a report came from. 

 If it had been from Califoi-nia. I should not 

 have been much surprised ; and, indeed, I 

 was not very much surprised either when I 

 found it was from Canada, knowing what 

 great things your people did last year. 



I took 26.5 lbs. comb honey from 3 stands last year, 

 which encourages me to try ag-ain to get a start of 

 enough bees to make it an object to attend to them. 



Goodwin, Ark. Wm. Manning. 



THE FIRST NEW HONEY OF THE SEASON ! WHO 

 WANTS TO BUV? 



I have more honey to sell. I have at this date 3000 

 lbs. e.vtracted spring- honey to sell. Can you give 

 me a bid on It? If so, let me hear it. I am taking 

 half a barrel a dry, and can't keep up with the bees. 

 I can send a sample by express, if desired. 



Anthony Opp. 



Helena, Phillips Co., Ark., May 14, 1884. 



Bees have generally wintered well here, although 

 a great many went into winter quarters under rath- 

 er unfavorable conditions; yet there has been a loss 

 of only 6 colonies in 100. Bees were all well supplied 

 with white-clover honey for winter stores, but a 

 good many colonies were weak in numbers. Our 

 bees were generally wintered on summer stands, 

 with no other protection than banking up around 

 the hives with snow. Bees are doing finely now, 

 working on yellow willow and fruit-bloom, and the 

 prospect is now good for plenty of early swarms, 

 and a good j ield of honey. M. L. Stoi.lard. 



Tarlton, O., May .5, 1884. 



FROM 2.5 to 41, AND 1621 KBS. OF HONEY. 



I like to read the reports of others, whether they 

 are of large yields, small yields, or of no yield at all. 

 It gives us a chance to compare notes. I therefore 

 send my report. I commenced season of 1883 with 25 

 colonies. Swarming commenced May g8th, ended 

 July 27th. I let them sw^ffll^ naturally. I work 

 principally for comb honey. Tobk 1400 lbs. in sec- 

 tions, and 221 lbs. extracted, making 1621 lbs. Sold 

 white for 20 cts.; colored, 18 cts.; extracted, 16 cts. 

 for light, 12' 2 for dark, home market. Increase, 18 

 colonies. Thos. Deckf.r, 25—41. 



Otsdawa, N. Y., Aj.ril 24, 1884. 



what 3 LBS. OF bees DID IN 30 DAYS. 



When one has empty combs and hives, what is the 

 cheapest way to build up an apiary! Last year 

 from 2 lbs. of bees and queen, 7to hmod. May 30 I 

 built up 3 colonies in just 30 days, and all three col- 

 onies in good shape now. They came from Otto 

 Kleinow, and I have ordered 15 lbs. to try it again 

 this year. I shall probably raise my own queens 

 this year. I think about 60 or 70 per cent of bees 

 around here have died this past winter and spring. 



McBrlde, Mich., April 11, 1884. ¥. A. Palmer. 



Friend P., you have evidently omitted 

 something in tlie above report. If you di- 

 vided the pound of bees into three parts, and 

 gave each part a queen, in 30 days these 

 queens might Jiave a pretty good patch of 

 brood ; but it would be a pretty hard matter 

 for bees enough to be hatched in that time 

 to make a good colony of eac)). Perhaps 



you mean that you did not receive any brood 

 from friend Kleinow, but that you gave each 

 one of the three divisions hatching brood 

 enough to make three good stocks with what 

 bees there were in the two-pound package. 



REPORTS FROM THE NEW PERFOR- 

 ATED ZINC. 



DO THE WOKKEH-BEES GET THROUGH IT? 



E have received one postal card, stat- 

 ing that the worker-bees did not get 

 through; and friend Alley sends us 

 one report, which we give below : 



Dear Sir;— The drone-trap was received yes- 

 terday. On trial I find the holes in zinc are too small 

 for my bees — Italians. Large numbers can not get 

 through, and it seems difficult for near^- all. They 

 ]iile up trying to get through. This trap, at least, 

 would never do to put on to catch queens while 

 swarming. E. E. Ewing. 



Highlands, N. C, April .30, 1884. 



AVe also give the following from friend Al- 

 ley in regard to it : 



The abo^e card came to hand to-day, and also a 

 letter, making the same complaint. When the card 

 came my bees were at work carrying in pollen, and 

 I went and placed one of my traps having the new 

 style of zinc in front of one of my largest colonies. 

 I watched them for a few minutes, to see how it 

 operated. At first they were bothered on both sides, 

 but they soon discovei-ed the holes in the zinc, and 

 all went on as usual. My bees are as large as any I 

 ever saw, and have no trouble going through the 

 zinc, and the new zinc is good enough for me; so 

 you may send me three sheets of the old kind and 

 two of the new. Henry Alley. 



Wenham, Mass., May 7, 1884. 



Of course, we have tried the zinc in our 

 apiary, and the bees get through it very com- 

 fortably when they are not tilled with honey, 

 or laden with pollen. If tlie old zinc canie 

 pretty near restraining queens, it seems to 

 me pretty certain that this new zinc would 

 do it absolutely. Now, then, Ave are pretty 

 near success in the matter of restraining our 

 queens. The only drawback seems to be in 

 liindering our heavily laden bees. Just at 

 this point, friend E. C. Eaglestield, of Poy 

 Sippi, Wausliara Co., Wis., steps in and 

 sends us a model of a trap that sorts the bees 

 as they go out, l)ut permits them to go in 

 witliout any restriction. It is simply a row 

 of little doors made of very thin tin — tagger's 

 tin, for instance, and these d(_)()rs open inward 

 only. When a bee comes witli a load of pol- 

 len'he just walks up until liis liead touches 

 the door, which moves so easily that he goes 

 right in, gives a buzz of satisfaction, and 

 goes on. When he goes out he must go 

 through the perforated zinc; but having 

 dispensed with the pollen and honey, he gets 

 through easily. This idea is certainly an 

 ingenious one, and it has occurred to me that 

 the slanting pins, such as oiu- English friends 

 use, and liave Ijeen described in our pages, 

 would do the same thing. And it seems to 

 me it will not be very difficult to contrive so 

 as to have the bees go out one place and 

 come in fit another. Drones and queens do 

 not go out at all ; but, if you choose, they 

 can be made to go into a box by themselves. 



