1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



421 



very well, only they are a little heavy to han- 

 dle. As they are handy for other purposes, 

 I think they are well worth a dime, do you 

 not, friend 11. ? 



TWO BEE-KEEPERS— A YOUNG ONE AND AN OLD ONE. 



My pa put 148 colonies of bees into winter quar- 

 ters last fall. I have three colonies of my own, all 

 Italians, which are all alive. I took a little over $9.00 

 worth of honey from them. Pa took nearly 3000 lbs. 

 of honey, mostly extracted. He says he can make 

 more money producing- extracted at 10 cts. per lb. 

 than comb honey at 16 cts. 



Daniel J. Mishlek, age 14. 



I have two sisters and one brother. Polly is the 

 baby. Next summer I will sit out and watch the 

 bees, and sing the song- of the little busy bee. I 

 guess I must close, by sending- my best respects to 

 little Huber. Susanah Mishlek, age 0. 



Ligonier, Ind., March 2, 1884. 



RUNAWAY SWARMS. 



Pa bought 6 colonies of bees in October, 188:J, and 

 during the season they swarmed 18 times; in May, 

 two swarms came out one week apart, and each of 

 them went to very large oaks, and then we cut the 

 first one down and took them home, and they did 

 very well. We cut the tree containing the other 

 swarm, and put a hive there, and wont back to 

 shearing sheep until in the evening. Then we went 

 in the woods to get them, and there were not a dozen 

 bees there. In the fall pa had 18 hives; he put 

 them on the east side of the house, and there are 13 

 alive now. Gardner J. Chase. 



Chase, Ohio, March 2, 1884. 



It seems to me your folks had a great deal 

 of trouble, didn't they, my young friend ? I 

 should be inclined to think an oak-tree is 

 worth more than a swarm of bees. But I 

 suppose you did it more for the fun than be- 

 cause you expected to make money by get- 

 ting the bees down. 



THE YOUNG ANTI-PROTECTIONIST. 



I thought I would write you a letter about bees. 

 My father has about 1.5 hives of bees; he lost 3 this 

 winter; he is not giving his bees much attention 

 now, his time being taken up in the study of " Pro- 

 tection," as he intends to stump the State next fall. 

 Friend Root, I tell papa that I am no Protectionist, 

 inasmuch as the duty upon Italian queens adds to 

 their cost to such an extent that it is almost impos- 

 sible for bee-keepers with limited means to pur- 

 chase one. Jos. DE Worth. 



Bordentown, N. J. 



It" seems to me, Joseph, it is a little singu- 

 lar to find a boy standing on the opposite 

 side of such great questions from what his 

 father does ; but so far as I am posted on 

 the subject, I believe I should take your 

 side of the question. I am in favor of a 

 large amount of freedom, where it does not 

 touch upon any thing positively sinful, and I 

 should be in favor of letting ever.\l)(Kly sell 

 whatever he makes or produces, as cheap as 

 he has a mind to, and where he has a mind 

 to. May be if I were capable of taking a 

 full view of the question I should think dif- 

 ferently, but I am inclined to doubt it. I 

 am glad to see you developing, even in boy- 

 hood, that spirit of manliness which I have 

 talked to you about on another page. 



why honey dobs NOT RUN OUT OF THE CELLS. 



We have two hives of bees; one my brother got 

 last summer, and he bought another at a sale this 

 spring, and it died, and then he bought another one. 

 None have swarmed yet, but we expect it soon. We 

 have them in chafl' hives. Why is it that honey will 

 not run out of the cells, when you turn the combs 

 upside down? H. H. Baer, age 12. 



Marshall ville, O., June 1, 1884. 



My little friend, you have struck on one of 

 the problems. It is a queer kind of attrac- 

 tion called capillary attraction that holds 

 the honey in tlie cells, and it will also hold 

 clear water in the cells in the same way. It 

 is this kind of attraction that makes water 

 stick to your finger, or even a glass, after 

 you have been drinking. If you turn it up- 

 side down, quite a little water will be seen 

 sticking around the sides, which afterward 

 settles to the l)ottom. Now, if your drink- 

 ing-cup were small enough youCould fill it 

 Avith water and turn it upside down, and the 

 Avater would not run out, l)ecause the sides 

 are so near eacli otlier. AVell, the bees with 

 their tongues spread the honey around the 

 walls of the cells as they put it in, and this 

 makes it stick so securely that it takes the 

 centrifugal force of the honey-extractor to 

 overcome this capillary force or attraction, 

 to get the honey out. 



a truthful statement of the way bee culture 

 often turns out. 



As papa is a bee-keeper I thought I would write 

 you a few lines. He started to be a keeper of bees 

 in the spring of 1881, with one swarm. The bees did 

 not swarm at all that year, and he bought 8 stands 

 from a neighbor, which increased his apiary to 9 

 stands. Then he transferred them into Simplicity 

 hives. It was late when he commenced transferring; 

 it was th(! last of July and the fli-st of August. He 

 caught some swarms, and started in for the winter 

 with 14 stands. But, lo! when spring came, all had 

 perished but two hives, for he had neglected to feed 

 them. Both of the remaining hives swarmed twice, 

 and two swarms came to our apiary from the woods. 

 Papa sent to Mr. E. M. Hayhurst for seven Italian 

 queens, and he introduced six of them successfully. 

 The postmaster at Church Hill was surprised be- 

 yond measui-e to see live bees coming through the 

 mail; and, in fact, it was a nine-days' wonder to the 

 whole neighborhood. Nellie Boles, age 12. 



Church Hill, Miss., March 1, 1884. 



Nellie, I am glad to see you give us the 

 facts so inqiartially. AVlien your papa comes 

 to see this lettei-, may be he "won't like to see 

 his mistakes and delinquencies so truthfully 

 portrayed. Nt) doubt a good many post- 

 masters have been surprised, somewhat as 

 yours was. Now tell your pa to feed his bees 

 up well and strong, and see to it that there 

 is no more starving. 



18 LOST OUT OF 39. 



I don't like honey very well. I have one brother 

 who likes it well enough to drink it. Pa lost 18 

 stands; has but 21 left; he kept half of his bees 

 in the cellar, and the other half in a house outdoors. 

 Mrs. Anderson bought two swarms of bees of Mr. 

 Summey a year ago last fall, and last fall she put 

 four stands in tho cellar. She took the honey too 



