1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUllE. 



747 



SEPAUATORS OK NO SEPARATORS. 



The A. B. J. for Oct. 22 contains a very 

 fnll report of the North-American conven- 

 tion in Chicago. As so many take both 

 journals we shall not copy it here, with the 

 exception of a paragraph from the editor of 

 tlie A. B. J., in regard to separatois. It 

 seems to me it is a pretty good snnnning-np 

 of this vexed question: 



From the appearance of some ol' the lioney on 

 our market, I must say that many who do not use 

 separators ought to use them. A bee-keeper and 

 myself visited a commission honey-house m\ South 

 Water Street, in this city, and while there we saw a 

 clerk showing- a customer some comb honey. With 

 his hatchet he i)rie(l loo.se a cover of a crate, and, 

 j^raspinfT a section neai- the center, drew it up. As 

 he did so the comb scraped afjainst the ad.joinin}-- 

 combs, and, instead of coniinj;- to view as "athins' 

 of beauty," it came up drippiiijr. dauby, and dis- 

 gusting-. As lout; as there are so many careless bee- 

 keepers It seems unwise to cliscourage the use of 

 separators. If a bee-keeper can secure straight, 

 neat combs without separators (and I must admit 

 that some of them do), well and good; if not, use 

 them by all means. 



WHAT TO DO WITH EXTRA CATALor.UKS WHKN 

 YOU OET THEM. 



.1//-. Boo/.-— You have sent me four or live extra 

 catalogues for my friends. I sent for one a short 

 time ago, but did not get it. I will explain about 

 the extra ones you sent. I never destroy one, but 

 give them to some friend as soon as I get a new one. 

 I gave the extra ones away, and four of my friends 

 have gone into the bee business, and three of them 

 (with mj'self) sent you an order for $15.00 worth of 

 goods in May or June, in the name of Thomas 

 Croacher, and two of them are talking of getting an 

 extractor for next year. If all of your catalogues 

 sent out brought such returns you would have to 

 build another large factory. One of the parties and 

 myself bought an extractor last winter of you, and 

 use it together; we like it very much. This is a 

 poor year for honey in these parts— cold and rainy 

 all the spring and summer; splendid flow the last 

 six woelcs— goldenrod and sumac, so the bees will 

 have enough to winter on, and a little to spare. 



New Bedford, Mass. W. H. Nelson. 



Tlie Piiiladelphia Weekly l^rcf^x discourses 

 thus: 



CONTENTMENT AND UEE-TENTS. 



" Have a bee-tent and be content." This is about 

 the way Professor Cook would put it if he desired 

 to make so confused a statement of fact. We should 

 wish to have the tent made of heavy, seamless 

 leather, and the hives smoked for about a fortnight 

 before venturing to stir up a swarm of bees. When 

 a bare-footed boy we could step on more bees, hor- 

 nets, and wasps to the mile than any one else in all 

 the country round about. A prolonged sting will 

 neutralize the sweetness of a large amount of hon- 

 ey. But all this di\ersion is not without its point. 

 Bee-keeping is now a tine art. ami tlie most timid 

 may practice it with safety. Now is the time to look 

 into the so-called mysteries of honey-farming. 



It seems to me oiu" friends of the /'re.s-.s- are 

 a little afraid of bees; but as their point is a 

 good one, we can afford to forgive tliem. 



SORGHUM OR HONEY-DEW— WHICH V 



As 1 am an A B (' scholar, I must ask questions. 

 First, my bees are tilling every thing, and there is 

 nothing for them to gather— not even bug juice (for 

 it has been raiuing- for some time), unless it is sor- 

 ghum. There is a mill half a mile from my apiary, 

 and the bees just swarm around it. The honey, or 

 stutt', whatever it is, is (juite thick, and tastes (piit*' 

 pleasant. Now the rpiestion is, Will the bees winter 



on it, if well packed in chaff? I am feeding- out- 

 doors with inverted fruit-jars, trying to keep them 

 from the sorghum-mill, but tiiey will go. 

 Waldron, Ind., Sept. 26, 188i. D. F. Boger. 



Friend B., I am inclined to think the sub- 

 stance is honey-dew, for I never knew bees 

 to get sorghuhi or cider, or any thing of that 

 sort, in sufficient quantities to lill up every 

 thing, as you state it. If the substance is 

 thick, as you say, and not unpleasant to the 

 taste, I am inclined to believe it will winter 

 them all right in chaff hives, although I may 

 be mistaken about it. 



SWARMING WITHOUT A yUEKN. 



As the sul>ject of bees swarming without a (juecn 

 is up, I think it will be in order for me to report my 

 experience, or what some might take to be an ex- 

 perience. I contracted with a neighbor for all the 

 swarms he would have, last spring. One day he 

 sent me word that there was another swarxn for me ; 

 and when I went after it that night he and his wife 

 told me it was hirger than the others that I had got. 

 Of coui-se, I was pleased; but when I went to set it 

 on the wheelbarrow I thought it felt light, but said 

 nothing about it. So when I got home and examin- 

 ed them and found about half as many bees as I had 

 been getting, I did not know what to think about it, 

 for T regarded my neighbor as being truthful. The 

 next day, however, he came to let me know that an- 

 other swarm had issued from the same hive. It was 

 about the size of the other. I then concluded that, 

 after the first swarm was hived, the queen and part 

 of the bees returned to the old hive, and tried it 

 again the next day. To prove it I gave eggs (they 

 had none) to the first swarm, and they started queen- 

 cells. - Hugh L. Lynn. 



r.lenville, McLean Co., Ky., Oct., 1881. 



Bees sometimes swarm without a queen, 

 friend L., or the (lueen may be for some rea- 

 son unable to go along witii them. In this 

 case they will either return to the hive in a 

 body, or go back gradually, a few at a time. 

 In the case you mention, perhaps they did 

 the latter way. There is a good mtn-al here: 

 Circumstances seemed veiy much against 

 your neighbor, and his wife too ; but l)y 

 waiting a little you found out they were both 

 innocent of selfish motives in telling you the 

 swarm was larger than any of the others. 



FOUNDATION MADE IN THE WINTER. 



Would fdn. now jnade, in your judgment, be as 

 useful for next season's work as that made next 

 spring? Plainly, I am generally so engaged as to 

 have no leisure, save occasionally in winter even- 

 ings. I could then dip sheets and make fdn.; but if 

 it would not answer all the purposes intended I 

 should not want to waste the time. Then I thought 

 I could fasten fdn. in sections, and have them all 

 ready. I have had fdn. two years old (only a few 

 sheets) that worked out very nicely, the same as 

 freshly made goods, as far as I was able to judge; 

 yet my own experience is so small that I thought a 

 word from you might set me right. Any thing you 

 may tell me, giving light on this, will be a favor for 

 me. E. D. Heckerman. 



Bedford, Pa., Oct. :il, 1881. 



Friend II., there has been a good deal of 

 discussion in regard to this matter of foun- 

 dation a year or more old. Tlie only cause 

 for ol)jectioii to fdu. that has lain over, that 



