476 



GLEAXIXGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



I used the words '' catch on," because they 

 seemed to tell more in few words than I 

 could tell otherwise. You yourself use the 

 expression "lots" in speaking of my writ- 

 ings. Is not that also slang? or are you go- 

 ing to say it was in conseqiieiice of my teach- 

 ing that you used it ? It seems to me there 

 is an extreme both ways in this matter, al- 

 though very likely one could get along toler- 

 ably well in this world without any slang 

 words at all ; that is, if one could keep from 

 copying the expressions he lias heard. In 

 our homes our little ones liave quaint ex- 

 pressions and expressive words, and I con- 

 fess I like to hear not only the older children, 

 but papas and mammas, catch up the lisping 

 Avords of tlie little toddlers and iirattlers. 

 Now, I catch up a fujuiy oi- (luainr expres- 

 sion in the same wny ; biil i certainly do not 

 want to set a bad example lief ore any one. 

 Friejid Hasty, you will remenilier. uses many 

 odd expressions, and oftentimes makes his 

 meaning clearer l)y so doing. Now, would 

 you have him dro]) out entirely the very thing 

 that gives the spiciiiess to almost every let- 

 ter he writes V If there has been any bad or 

 indecent meaning ailaclied to any jdirase, I 

 Avould by all means avoid its use." The one 

 you allude to I got through the letters that 

 you are writing me day fift^j- day. and it 

 seems to me to be remarkably expressive. 

 While on this subject, our sienograplier re- 

 marks that H. Clay Trumbull, editor of the 

 Hunday- School Times, has been criticised in 

 this same way ; but he replies, to tlie elfect 

 that he writes as people si)eak, or as he 

 would speak to them, and insists on saying 

 can'? and shant when the full words icon't do 

 as well. I confess that I myself like to see a 

 certain amount of dignity," but I do not like 

 to see it preserved Ijeyond a certain limit. 



And Suggestions and Queries Particularly Pertaining 

 to the Season. 



NIPPED IN THE Uri) 



S a proper heading for this time. Bees here- 

 about started in well this sprinfr; they did well 

 on fruit-bloom, and extra well on the black 

 locust. I extracted 15 lbs. from one hive of locust 

 honey — a thing! never did before; then clover 

 opened after locust, without a brealc, with a pros- 

 pect of a big boora, as they were fully two weeks 

 ahead of the last two years in filling- up, and nearly 

 all had begun giving surplus, when all was " nipped 

 in the bud," as we had a dry week, and killed the 

 clover-bloom about all complete ; and since the 20th 

 of June, but a very few stocks have given any to 

 speak of, and some are barely holding their own. 

 We have had some honey-dews, just enough to taint 

 all tli.e honey with " bug honej," and no hope for 

 any more storage this season. 



NO SWARMING 



Has been, or is, the complaint this year. With my 

 .58 I had one swarm; a neighbor with 7, one swarm, 

 and others no swarms. 



QUEENS DO GO THROUGH THE ZINC HONEY-BOARDS. 



I had a hive with a zinc honej'-board ; and seeing 

 she was above it, I found her and put her on it, and 



watched her, and saw her stick her head down and 

 go through as easily as you please; but they do not 

 all get through. A. A. Fradenburg. 



Port Washington, Ohio, July 7, 1884. 



I know, friend F., that queens do, at least 

 some of them, get through the Jones zinc ; 

 but I do not think they ever do through our 

 own. The only trouble with the latter is, 

 that they sometimes hinder the workers also. 



THE WAV TO GET BEES TO WORK IN TOP STORIES. 



I see that Mrs. Gilbert, in July Gi-eanings, page 

 45S, is in trouble about how to get her bees to work 

 in the upper story. 1 will tell you how I work my 

 bees. I have found by actual experience, that one 

 hive or colony will stoi-e 3 to t times as much honey 

 in upper stories as they will in sections on the side. 

 When the honey-fiow begins to come in, I prepare 

 my upper story, take out the outside frames of the 

 old hive, and put them in the upper story. If they 

 have section boxes, I put them in the upper story, 

 and all the brood-frames that have no brood in 

 them, as they generally have no brood i7i the out- 

 side frames, then I slip the old frames that are 

 already filled with brood to the outside; fill the mid- 

 dle with empty frames; this will give the queen 

 more v,oi-k, for they will go right to work in the 

 empty frames, and the queen will fill them with eggs, 

 fast as they build the comb: thus you will have the 

 lower story full of bi-ood. After I get the lower 

 storj' all arranged I set my upper stoi-y on top, 

 cover it, and leave it for the bees to do the rest, and 

 I never have had a colony refuse to work in the 

 upper stoi-y when they are fixed out in this way. 



I prefer brood-frames for the top story, in prefer- 

 ence to section boxes, as they sometimes build in 

 lower tier of sections, and none in the upper; and 

 when they commence in a brood-frame they hardly 

 ever stop until they fill it. My experience is, they 

 will make more honey in brood-frames in an upper 

 story, than they will in section boxes in the sides; 

 for, to tell the truth about the matter, a colony can 

 not raise enough bees in 6 frames to do much good 

 in a short honey season. W. C. Harward. 



Kossuth, Miss., July 7, 1884. 



HOLLY AS A HONEY-PLANT. 



I see in your reply toL. A. Duggan, on page 455 of 

 Gleanings, that you say that you do not know that 

 holly has ever been reported before. That is one^f 

 our best honey-sources in this part of North Caro- 

 lina. I have seen it on the leaflets of the bloom of 

 holly in May— half a drop to each leaflet— white and 

 perfectly clear, and bees in abundance gathering it. 

 I had 8 stands or colonies (7 Langstroth frames to 

 each), they gathered 4C0 lbs. comb honey from the 

 1st to the 26th of May, when our honey-flow for 1884 

 stopped. Honey here is made from black gum, low 

 bush, huckleberry, poplar, holly, and other woods, 

 and is made during May; seldon, if ever, is any 

 honey stored after May. Last year my Italians 

 stored in sections during July and August, from 

 sourwood and sumac, each being very nice and white 

 honey. Blacks do not work on sumac at all for me, 

 and very little on sourwood— not enough to store 

 anj- surplus. 



I tried the plan of raising queens inoculated with 

 drone larva, when each was about 4 or 5 days old. 1 

 had two queens hatched that were so inoculated, 

 but they did not lay until they were 12 or 13 days old, 

 so I suppose they must have mated in the natura 



