1884 



GLEANINGS IN iJEE CULTUKE. 



461 



^EP0R?? ENceaR/i6i]\[6. 



FROM 1 TO 8, IN ONE SEASON. 



UNE 1, 1883, 1 bought one hive of Italian bees, 

 paying- for them *7.00. During the season, in- 

 creased to 8 by artificial and natural swarm- 

 ing. I also took from 65 to 75 lbs. of surplus 

 honey. My bees all came through the winter 

 nicely. I wintered on summer stands, with straw 

 covered over the hives. At this date 1 have no 

 swarms, but my colonics are very strong, and are 

 storing honey rapidly from white clover. There 

 were several apple swarms this season in this vicin- 

 ity from black bees, and also white-clover swai-ms 

 from the same; but as yet I have not heard of an 

 Italian swarm. The blacks, as a rule, are not stor- 

 ing as much honey as Italians. 

 Neeper, Mo., June 13, 188 1.- John Phickett. 



TEXAS AND THE HORSEMINT. 



Oceans of horsemint. Myriads of bees. Tons of 

 honey. 

 Hallcttsville, Texas, June 1", 1884. 



J. E. Lay. 



FHOM 8 TO 21, AND 350 LBS. OF CO.MB HONEY. 



Eight colonies — 4 strong and 4 weak; increased 

 to 24 by natural swai-ming; got 350 lbs. of comb 

 honey; Avent into winter quarters with 22. To-day, 

 May 1, 1884, 16 colonies, some fair and some very 

 weak, but thej' are just booming now. I got my 

 first two swarms May 16, and 3 more since. I am 

 far ahead of any one in this locality this year, so 

 far. I will rei)ort this fall again. 



Crestline, O., May 1, 1884. Abraham Koontz. 



A ROOD REPORT FROM MISSOURI. 



We have to order more heavily of you than we 

 had any expectations of in the spring. We have had 

 a boom now for three weeks past that we did not 

 expect, for it had never occurred before. Our honey- 

 flow generally comes mostly in August; but this 

 year Ave have white clover three miles away, to the 

 amount of over 300 acres, and are storing surplus 

 honey, while other years we have always had to de- 

 pend on the sugar-barrel through June. 



W. O. & G. A. BEECH. 



Quitman, Mo., June S3, 1884. 



15c. F(n« EXTRACTED, AND 20 C. FOR COMB HONEY. 



I packed 35 colonies on their summer stands last 

 fall, and all came through the winter as bright as a 

 ncAV dollar, except one that Avas queenless. I unit- 

 ed it Avith another, and sold one, then traded for 

 two colonies of black bees in gums, so I have 35 to 

 commence the season Avith. I oxi)ect to Avork the 

 most of them for extracted lioney, as I can sell it 

 quicker at 15 cts. a pound than I can comb honey at 

 20 c. Bees haA'e been Avorking for two or three days 

 on Avhite clover and i)oplar, and to-day they are 

 bringing in honey at a rate that Avould please anj- 

 bee-keeper. J. K. Crooks, 25. 



Keiths, O., June 3, 1^81. 



THE " BOSS " BEES. 



My bees are doing Avell. I have 13 young swarms, 

 from that queen I got of you, and they have robbed 

 all the blacks Avithin a mile of me. They are the boss 

 bees, and they wintered better than the blacks or 

 hybrids with mo. Jkssb Koheuts, 



Centerville, Wis., May 23, 1884, 



EARLY SWARMING IN THE NORTHERN STATES. 



Friend Geiger, on page 385, stated he had a SAvarm 

 of bees on the 17th of May. I Avill state that one of 

 my neighbors had one the first day of May, and I had 

 one on the fourth, and only one since, and that was 

 the first day of June, and just one Aveek from the 

 time they Avere put into the hive —a Simplicity hive 

 Avith 7 frames and 2 Avidc frames, no fdn., except 

 about '.'2 in. wide on each frame, and they filled all 

 7 frames Avith comb, and stai-ted to pull out the fdn. 

 in the sections on the side; but the rest of my colo- 

 nies have not done any thing to compare with them. 

 I think they are busy bees. Josiah Eastburn. 



Fallsington, Pa. 



JSIe^E^ niiB QaEI^IEg. 



do bees vary in size . 



fHAVE tried the drone-trap, and my bees can't 

 get through it, or, at least, about one-half 

 cant, and they Avent up in the top of the trap, 

 and could not get out, and I had to open the 

 trap and let them out. My bees are all raised 

 on ncAv comb, and must be larger than the average 

 bee. J. W. Martin. 



GreenAvood, Va., June 21, 1884. 

 [The above Avould seem to indicate that they do, 

 and that avc Avould get larger bees Avhere the combs 

 are worked out from comb fdn. than those built 

 naturally. This may be a mistake ; but one thing I 

 do knoAv is, that bees Avill be smaller where the 

 comb falls down so as to cramp them Avhen just at 

 the proper age. I have seen a hive send out hun- 

 dreds of lilliputlans by just such an accident.] 



destroying drone-brood. 



Will you please inform me, if best to destroy 

 drones out of hiA^es before hatching, Avhat Avill the 

 result be by doing so? Mrs. H. E. Bur dick. 



Skidmore, Mo., June 36, 1884. 



[Well, my friend, I Avould take a honey-knife and 

 slice their heads ofl', then set the comb back in the 

 hive, and in a little Avhile the bees Avill carry out the 

 decapitated larva', and restore the comb; but if you 

 do not look out, some more drones Avill be started in 

 the empty cells. Do not undertake to slice the heads 

 otr from drone-brood Avhile extracting, or you may 

 injure the Havor of your honey. After the honey is 

 all throAvn out, it can be done just before you put 

 the comb back into the hive.] 



EARLY SWARMING IN THE NORTH. 



I saAV in Gleanings of June l«t an article Avritten 

 by Wm. F. Geiger, that he had one SAvarm of bees 

 come out the 17th of May. I think he is aAvay off on 

 being the first one in Ihe season, iov I had one 

 come out the 8th of May, and another the 18th 

 from the same hive. My hive is a Gallup hlA-e, 

 straAV packed. A. D. ("hittenden. 



Geneva Lake, Wis., June 13, 1884. 



CLIPPING QUEENS' AVINGS. 



Please state in Gleanings if clipi)ing a (piefu in- 

 jures her commercial value. J. W. Crenshaav. 



Versailles, Ky., June 17, 1884. 



[As a rule, the commercial value of a queen is im- 

 paired by having her Aving clipped, I belicA^e. While 

 some Avould care nothing about it, there are so 

 many who object, that avc have discontinued clip- 

 ping queens entirely. If the purchaser Avauts to 

 clip his OAvn queens, he can do so.] 



