GLEANIKGtS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS. 

 A cAiat'ouNiA apiary; also how to make a 



SMOKER THAT DOES SOT HAVE TO HE BLOWN. 



T WILL wi-itc a little (leserii)tioii of my bec-raneli. 

 ,|lj Jt is in the Sierra-Nevada mountains, aljout 

 1Il 6000 feet above sea-level. The bees range u\) 

 '^ " to about 7000 and 8000 feet. The snow melts off 

 in the spring, but there has been snow in sight 

 all summer from my place. 



I have the boss smoker. It is my invention, so 

 far as lieard from. You can load it up with any 

 thing— old chips, green wood, or any thing else, and 

 work all day— no bellows, no danger of tire, cold 

 blast, no ashes to get in your honey. A tea-kettle 

 will serve to illustrate it. With a long spout to put 

 about three or four feet of rubber liose on, and a 

 \ent-hole in the bottom, start a tire in it and put on 

 the lid. The smoke comes through the hose; you 

 can bend it around wherever you want it, and go to 

 work with both hands. I,et it fall down, or lay it on 

 tlie hive, as you like; a few holes in the side make 

 more smoke, like the Townley smoker. The hose 

 can be put down in the hive anywhere, to drive the 

 bees down. d. W. Cover. 



Downieville, Cal., Sept. 10, 18S4. 



Friend ('., your idea is certainly a bright 

 one. J>y luiving the tea-kettle part of the 

 smoker down on the ground while the hive 

 is elevated enough si) we would have a foot 

 or two of draft, ver,\ likely tlie stream of 

 smoke would go of itself anywhere you 

 wanted it. AVhy didn't somel)6dy think of 

 it beforeV We will have one made, and re- 

 I'ort. 



KAll! I'HOORESS FROM SEVERAL A It ( SI MOLARS. 



I will send you a short report for the season of 

 I.S84. I started in the spring with ti\e swarms, hav- 

 ing lost five during last winter and spring. One of 

 the swarms I had left in the spring v.'as queenless, 

 and the others were in good condition. I shall have 

 It or 15 to commence winter with; seven of the in- 

 crease were natural swarms; the rest were made 

 by dividing. I have not got all my honey taken off 

 yet, so I do not know just how much T shall have; 

 but I think I shall get about ]2."> lbs. One of my 

 swarms kept on working some in the sections dur- 

 ing the latter |)art of the dry weather, when others 

 did not do an.\ thing in sections at all. They were 

 Italians, and they worked on red clover. The old 

 swaiMn— that is, the swarm from this swarm, came 

 out, swarmed three times, anil worked some in 

 sections afterward. 1 bought the bees in the tirst 

 place of Dr. J. P. H. Brown, of Augusta, Ga. I also 

 had the cai-c of six swarms belonging to my father. 

 One of those was \'ei'y weak in the spring, but it 

 recruited up and sent out a good swarm on the 2.5th 

 of June. The other tlve did not swarm at all, but 

 will average nearly 40 lbs. of honey apiece. One 

 swarm filled tiO one-pound sections. Mr. Wrl H. 

 Jlarb, a .\ oung man who is working for us, also had 

 two swarms last si>ring. They swarmed twice each, 

 but the second swarm from one of them went to the 

 woods. He bought a (lueen and about a pound of 

 bees a short time afterward, and gave them some 

 frames of brood, so he now has six swarms. He 

 Avill get about 75 lbs. of honey. 



(Jue of my neighbors, >Ir. John G. Kagy, had one 

 swarm of Italians last si)ring, which swarmed the 



first time on the 15tli of May, and swarmed four 

 times from that time until June 1st, so he has six 

 swarms now, all the increase being from the one he 

 had in the spring. The young swarms will all ha\ c 

 enough honey, or nearly so, at least, to wiiit(>r, and 

 the old swarm has made (piite a bit of honey in sec- 

 tions. I have i-ead a good deal In (ii,EAMiNf!S about 

 swarms lea\ing without clustering. Plight years 

 ago I saw a swarm comcout of one of father's hi\es, 

 and they went straight for the woods, without any 

 of them clustering. J. S. Harr. 



Ibistoh ille, Ohio, Oct. 9, 18S4. 



artificial pasturage, ETC. 



Last spring I sent to you for some ligwort and 

 spider-jdant seed, 5 cents' worth, I think. I sowed it 

 in the hotbed; the spider i)lantsl have not seen yet, 

 but I got 3 plants of figwort; transplanted them, 

 and the bees have been gathering honey from them 

 for a month or more. Now, 1 have about an acre of 

 land, light soil, on the top of a hill; it is so situated 

 as to be virtually waste land. Now, is there any 

 honey-plant that you can recommend, that, after 1 

 l)lant it up there, will ^tay planted and yield honey 

 enough to pay for the Avork and seed? I should like 

 something that will come in after clover and buck- 

 wheat. My bees have been nearly idle since buck- 

 wheat-bloom. The alsike seed I got of you last 

 spring came up well ; and although we have had a 

 very dry fall, it is looking nicely. This is my first 

 year with bees. 1 find I have made some mistakes. 

 One was in not getting an extractor sooner. I have 

 increased from (5, spring count, to 31. Extracted 

 100 lbs., and about the same amount of comb honey 

 from white clover; sold three queens, and Italian- 

 ized 6 of my own blacks, so I have all Italians and 

 Holj'-Lands now. That is not a large report, still I 

 am not in Blasted Hopes, but expect to do a little 

 better next year, as I have 45 extra combs built on 

 foundation, and frames wired. 1 wintered without 

 loss in the cellar last winter, so that I shall put 

 them all in again. A. J. Havner. 



West Sand Lake, Kens. Co., N. V., Oct. 8, 1884. 



Friend H.. I think it is a little doubtful 

 about your tinding any honey-plant that will 

 pay for the cost of the grovind. and cultiva- 

 tion, alone. Sweet clover will proljably 

 come close to il. If you can lind a market 

 for the seed it will i)iobably be a safe invest- 

 ment. We have recently got seed enough 

 from an eighth of an acre to pay well for the 

 groiuid and cultivation, and tiie bees were 

 ('xcxedingh/ busy on it during all of our dry 

 weather. ' We saved the seed by cutting the 

 stalks as soon as much of il began to rattle 

 off. The stalks were thrashed at once light- 

 ly with a Hail, spread out in the sun for 

 about a week until more of tlie seed had be- 

 come lipe and dry enough, and then thrash- 

 ed again. As a little will still remain in the 

 stalks, be careful where you put them. A 

 few year.s ago we tried plowing under the 

 dry stalks, but the seed from them came up 

 so'thickly we abandoned the ground to it, 

 and it gives tfs a very nice patch nicely seed- 

 ed. _^ 



niJLY-LANDS, ETC. 



I am sorry to read so many failures of honey this 

 season. It looks a little discouraging for beginners ; 

 but T will give a description of my honey crop this 

 season. From ti good strong colonies on April 1, I 

 got a good start on api)le-blossoni. May to August 



