imn 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



453 



odd-looking liives, it is best to disguise tlie 

 one to be transferred, by <i clotli tir other- 

 wise ; and tlien after transferring, put this 

 same disguise over tlie new liive ; tliey 

 would then go right in as they did before. 

 You have probably got the hang of the mat- 

 ter by this time. Place your hives hereafter 

 not less than seven feet apart ; and a rod or 

 two might be even better, if they face with 

 the entrances the same way. 



FROM ."J TO 10, AND NEAHI.V 10() 1,BS. Ol' HOSEY 

 ALREADY. 



Last winter I kept three hives of bees in box hives. 

 In April they began to swarm, and by the tirst of 

 Juno they had thrown out 10 new swarms. I secured 

 4 of them, and, in my absence, my wife mustered 

 courag-e, and hived two swarms in one day. I have 

 one li. hive with section boxes, in which I put a 

 swarm the first week in May. In three weeks they 

 bad filled their frames and all the section boxes, 

 and I took 28 lbs. of fine white-clover honey. Now, 

 they have about filled the new sections, and I am in 

 great trouble to get new supplies. I have taken 

 neai-ly 100 lbs. of honey; but if I were rightly equip- 

 ped I could have taken a great deal more. I must 

 have some supplies from you before another season, 

 as I am getting more and more interested in bee 

 culture. There is no trouble in wintering here, and 

 there is a long season to gather honey in. I wish I 

 could pass you some of our lovely cherries and ap- 

 jjIcs and berries, for they arc now ripe, and very 

 plentiful. I have a supply of cherries from the 20th 

 of May until the 1st of August. Can you beat that? 

 My former home was New Haven, Ct., but 1 much 

 prefer the sunny South. 



I handle the bees without veil or gloves. 



C. li. Shki'aku. 



riat'cmont, Vii., Juno 18, 1884. 



5~50 LBS. OF HONEY FROM ,50 COLONIES IN ]() DAYS 

 OR A LITTLE MORE. 



The German bee-keepers tell me that they ex- 

 tracted 5250 lbs. of honey in a little more than IB 

 days from about 50 swarms. They had more, but 

 only about .50 available swarms at that time, as the 

 others had lately been transferred, and had to build 

 up during orange-honey time. If America can do 

 as well as that, Palestine will try again. This coun- 

 try seems to "flow" with " honey " if not with 

 "milk;" but Palestine needs only a good strain of 

 cows, and somebody who knows how to take care of 

 them, to make it the land of yore; to-wit, "Aland 

 flowing with milk and honey." 



A PKO.MISE OF A SHIP.MENT OF QUEENS DIRECT 

 FROM PALESTINE. 



1 think you make a mistake when you prefer the 

 Italian rather than the Palestine bee. I am not 

 much acquainted with Italians, but certainly the 

 Palestine bees are very gentle— more so than I have 

 been accustomed to see bees in America, and I 

 think their proliflcness can not be doubted for a 

 moment by any one acquainted with them. 



I expect to ship for America about June 25 or uO, 

 and it takes about 30 days to cross the water. I 

 shall probably call on you in passing west, as I ex- 

 pect also to call at Plymouth, Ind. I suppose the 

 German bee-keepers, Messrs. IJaldenspergers, will 

 send by me for an extractor, a wax-extractor, and 

 probably a foundation-machine, and perhaps some 

 other things. I hope to let you have queens enough 

 to pay for these goods, if no more. I may also want 



an extractor myself to take to Florida with me, and 

 considerable foundation. 



I can not bring you any Italians, as you suggested, 

 as the steamer that I shall take I suppose will not 

 touch at Italy; and besides I expect to have all the 

 queens I can handle. The other articles will be sea- 

 shells from Jafla beach, photographic views of- 

 Jerusalem and its surroundings and places, and 

 ruins in Palestine, flowers artistically arranged 

 from wild flowers in and around Jerusalem, Mt. 

 of Olives, Zion, olive-wood goods, etc. Many people 

 of America are very an.xious to get some of these 

 goods as keepsakes and souvenirs of the Holy Land. 

 Daniel Howard. 



Jatta, Palestine, May 27, 1884. 



We shall be very glad to have you pay us 

 a visit, friend H.; and if you can bring along 

 some queens from Palestine, Avhose bees are 

 good-natured, and easy to handle, Ave shall 

 be very glad indeed to see them also. 



COMBS BREAKING BY' HEAA'V FEEDIN(i. 



I had a swarm issue on the 8tli of this month. 

 They aired themselves about two hours or so; if 

 it is any difference, it was over that time; settled as 

 nicely as you please. I had some comb, empty, 

 which I had not melted into beeswax, and I put 

 it into one of the frames, and fastened it with 

 some pins. The next two days were stormy and 

 rainy, so I fed them two pints of sugar syrup, which 

 they put into this empty comb, which, of coui'sc, 

 made it very heavy, and it fell to the bottom of the 

 hive, and bent up. Now the question is. Would you 

 have taken it out of the hive, or left it as it was? I 

 left it in, and they filled both sides of it, bottom and 

 top, and are building the other combs down to it. I 

 had another swarm issue and settle, and were hived 

 (I did it), and went back into the parent hive, and 

 have not swarmed since. My bees or swarms do 

 not settle on the same limb every time; in fact, 

 they have not done it at all as yet. 



MOCKING-BIRDS FOR BEES, AND BEES F()I^ MOCK- 

 ING-BIRDS. 



Last fall some of our relations in Kentucky sent 

 us some mocking-birds. Two died, and this spring 

 Mr. Fox (he doesn't catch chickens, because he is a 

 two-legged Fox), said he would give my sister $12.00 

 for a bird; but one day we fed him some berries, 

 and the bees were humming about and in the cage, 

 and he (the mocking-bird) snapped one up, and it 

 must have stung him, for the next morning he was 

 dead. A. H. Pering. 



Clear Creek, Ind., June 23, 1884. 



Friend P., it is a singular fact that bees 

 will lill bits of comb, when fastened in by 

 pins or transferring-clasps, all right, if they 

 gather natural stores ; while if you attempt 

 to feed them they will almost always tumble 

 down. I do not know why it is, unless it is 

 because the feed comes in a kind of im- 

 natural way, and they do not have a chance 

 to put it in as they do natural stores.— So 

 your $12.00 mocking-bird came out second 

 best, did he, friend P.? 



NO CLOVER, NO BASSWOOD, AND STILL A GOOD 

 BEE COUNTRY. 



This is a fine bee-country; there are plenty in the 

 woods, and any one can have all the honey he wants 

 with but little trouble. I think there are over 500 

 hives within four or five miles of me, and no one 

 has over forty or fifty. Honey is worth 10 cts., 

 comb; extracted, 60 cents per gallon, and no sale at 



