386 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



CAN WOMEN KEEP BEES? 



T TOLD you last spring of our son's death, and 

 /^l? that Miss Alice, his sister, 18, would make our 

 ^Jr hives and take cai-e of our bees. We bought 

 "*• hives in the flat, and Alice made 30 last spring, 

 and the same number this spring. She has 

 half of the increase and half of the honey sold. We 

 had 16 stands of bees in the spring of 1883; increas- 

 ed to 36; lost two in fall by robbing, caused by tak- 

 ing the sections off the day after that early frost; 

 lost three from dysentery last winter; have six 

 more that are not worth counting; gave 24 stands 

 as the number to the assessor; he put them in at 

 three dollars a swarm. We work mostly for comb 

 honey; it sells better here than extracted. We sold 

 all at our small town, two miles distant. We re- 

 ceived 13 cts. per lb. at four places in town, each 

 taking 25 lbs. at one time, and paying cash down. 

 They sell at 1.5 cts. per lb. We tell them to return 

 all that will not sell. We have never had any re- 

 turned. Our honey came to $145. You may wish to 

 know if Alice likes to take care of bees. No, she 

 says she does it for the money. 



SETTING HIVES ONLY SIX INCHES APART. 



Our hives stand six inches apart, 16 facing south, 

 a railing front, on which we place boards, the other 

 end resting on the hive; this shades the entrance. 

 The other hives face east, and get too hot on the 

 back. When would be the best time to move them 

 to face the south? Do you think our hives too near 

 —only six inches apart? I have seen bees start and 

 crawl, half a swarm, from one hive to another, and 

 no fighting. Last summer we hived our small late 

 swarms with any that happened to be weak, and no 

 trouble. I, think they were glad to receive them. 

 The other day we saw a ball of bees in the hive; on 

 smoking we saw a nice queen. We cut off the heads 

 of some of their drone brood, and gave them some 

 of last fall's uncapped sections, I hope they had 

 something to do, better than balling a queen. 



Mrs. Valentine Zeller. 



Pioneer, Wms. Co., Ohio, May 19, 1884. 



Well, I think that is pretty good, especial- 

 ly for one who didn't like bees, but kept 

 them only for the money. — To be sure, six 

 inches is too close, and no wonder you found 

 the queen balled, if you had bees crawling 

 from one hive to another. In our apiary we 

 have them seven feet apart ; and if I were 

 going to change either way it would be to 

 put them away further still. 



FROM 5 TO 11, AND 300 POUNDS OF HONEY. 



My report for 1883: I commenced in the spring 

 with 5 swarms; increased to 11, and took 280 pounds 

 box honey, and 20 pounds extracted. 



Geo. L. Ferris. 



Five Corners, Cay. Co., N. Y., April 7, 1884. 



A GOOD REPORT FROM BLACK BEES. 



I commenced with one swai'm of black bees, and I 

 got two swarms from them and 62^2 lbs. of nice 

 white honey. The first swarm gave mo 40 lbs. of 

 good white honey and a swarm of bees. I got 20 cts. 

 per lb. for my honey. I winter on summer stands. 

 I brought them all through in good condition. I 

 have " knocked the socks off " the Italian bee in this 

 section. Chr. Temple. 



Riggsville, Cheboygan Co., Mich., May, 1884. 



FROM 1 TO 5, AND NO LOSS IN WINTERING. 



I will give you a little of my good fortune in bee- 

 keeping. I bought a swarm of bees last spring, and 

 in the fall I had six swarms from the one. Don't 

 you think that is doing well? I wintered five which 

 came out in good condition, and now I will send 

 and get me a smoker and veil. Wm. Wood. 



Leroy, Mich., Ap ril 1. 1884. 



FROM 16 TO 24, AND 750 LBS. OF HONEY. 



I started one year ago with 16 hives of bees — four 

 in old box hives, which I transferred from. I got 

 7.50 lbs. from them, about 300 lbs. comb honey, and I 

 increased them to 34 good colonies, and they have 

 wintered all right. I think I shall have swarms in 

 a few days. My imported queen I got from you is 

 doing finely. Her bees are very beautiful. 



Kichburg, S. C, April 1, 1884. H. L. Simpson. 



ENCOURAGING FROM FLORIDA. 



I received the two nice queens two weeks ago all 

 O. K. Many thanks. The saw-palmetto honey-run 

 is in full blast now, and there is a prospect of a. 

 large yield this spring. Last year I extracted, by 

 the first of June, over 1200 lbs. of No. 1 honey (equal 

 to the white-clover honey) from 4-story hives, 10 

 frames each, and two 1-story hives, 5 frames each. 

 I wish I could send you some of the honey that is 

 coming in now; it is very clear and thick, and most 

 elegantly flavored. F. B. Sackett. 



Titusville, Fla., May 9, 1884. 



PROM 5 T<} 16, AND 900 POUNDS OF HONEY. 



I assure you I value Gleanings very highly, and 

 would on no account do without it. Mainly through 

 its instructions I have had very good success so far 

 in bee-keeping. Last spring I started with 5 hives, 

 two being transferred from box into Jones hives. I 

 increased to 16, and took 930 lbs. extracted honey, 

 mostly clover and basswccd. I f(^d sugar syrup for 

 winter stores, and so far are wintering well in chaff 

 clamp. Arthur Laughlen. 



Toronto, Ontario, Canada, March 20, 1884. 



FROM 2 TO 7, AND 100 LBS. OF HONEY. 



I commenced in the spring of 1882, with two col- 

 onies in box hives; transferred the weak one to 

 a movable-frame hive; increased to 7; obtained 100 

 lbs. of honey from the transferred hive; none from 

 the box; kept in cellar; lost Sduring winter through 

 mismanagement. 1 purchased 3 weak colonies in 

 spring in box hives; transferred all to movable 

 frames, making 7 colonies to stai-t with in 1883. In- 

 creased to 26 by natui-al swarming; one absconded. 

 I made 600 Its. surplus honey; doubled to 24; aver- 

 age weight of hives put in cellar Nov. 15, 63^3 lbs. 

 Total cost of bees, hives, supplies, feed, etc., not 

 including my time, $1C0. The few bee-keepers we 

 have in this vicinity call the past a very poor season 

 for honey. 



report ON PERFORATED ZINC. 



As I have heard so many pros and cons on the 

 zinc honey-board, I will give you my experience. I 

 used it on nearly all my hives. I use a sort of Sim- 

 plicity hive, 13! 2 inches wide, inside measure. To 

 economize, I put in strips 8 inches wide; used a strip 

 of tin on the other side; in 3 hives I found brood in 

 upper story, but in no case did I find comb built 

 either between the frames and zinc or tin. The 

 space between my upper and lower frames is one- 

 half inch. My bees are. all native black bees, which 

 may account for my experience being so different 

 from others. E. E. Babcock. 



Glendale, Monroe Co., Wis., March 2, 1884. 



