18S-1 



GLEANINGS m BEE CULTUliE. 



81!) 



FKOM II TO 50, AND 2900 LBS. OF HONEY. 



I send you my i-eport for 1884. Commencing- last 

 April with 11 colonies, I increased by natural and 

 artificial swarming to 50. Three large swarms left 

 for parts uulcnown. I extracted 2800 lbs.— 100 lbs. 

 of comb honey, making in all 2900 lbs., an average 

 of 3fi;j lbs. per colony, spring count. Owing to busy 

 time with farm work, I did not get to finish ex- 

 tracting till Oct. 14. Weather being cool, and honey 

 t liick, 1 did not get nearly all the honey out. I have 

 no doubt there was from 150 to 200 lbs. left in the 

 combs. My best colony gave 206 lbs.; next best, 180 

 lbs. This does not include the increase. I am no 

 .spccirtlisf, but am keeping bees in connection with 

 farming. The bees have made me more money 

 than the farm has this year. 



KUANK BENTOX STILL TIUU.MPHAXT, EVEN IN 8HIP- 

 I'lNG BEES ACROSS THE OCEAN IN OCTOBEK. 



I, too, have received an imported queen from 

 Frank Renton; she was mailed Oct. 2, an<l reached 

 Hound Kock Oct. 18, just 16 days on the way. The 

 (jueen and lices were in splendid condition, only one 

 dead bee; the cage was as neat and clean as a new 

 l)iu. The imported Italian queen 1 got of you is do- 

 ing well. I had a good deal of trouble introducing 

 her, but succeeded at last. I think shi' is very pro- 

 lific, from the way she went to work. 



A. J. KiMMONS. 



Hound Hock, Texas, Nov. 18, 1881. 



WHEN SHALL THE BEE-KEEPEHS MEET IN NEW OR- 

 LEANS? 



Having heretofore noticed in (xLEANIN(;s sugges- 

 tions about a general rendezvous of bee-keepers at 

 tiie coming World's Fair in New Orleans, 1 have pe- 

 rused the November numbers in the hope that ei- 

 ther yourself or Prof. Cook or Mr. .lones or the 

 President of the National Bee-keepers' Convention, 

 or some one else of adequate notoriety, would sug- 

 gest some definite time when the bee-keepers of 

 America might convene at New Orleans. The hor- 

 ticulturists are to have their meeting Jan. 14, 1885, 

 and I wish the bee-keepers nu'ght meet the same 

 month, as near the 30th as possible. 1 have consult- 

 ed with Mr. Hayhurst and several other prominent 

 bee keepers, and all seem to agree that about the 

 2Jth of Jan. would be a good time. Can't you aid 

 the matter, and at least urge an informal meeting 

 of bee-keepers at New Orleans? 



Bees havtt not done well in this locality this sea- 

 son. Linden was a failure, and white clover did not 

 yield with liberality. I commenced the season with 

 91 stands; increased to 107; took 3000 lbs. extracted 

 and tUO of comb honey. I go int6 winter quarters 

 with ex'cry colony strong, and well supplied with 

 sweetness. S. W. Sahsbuky. 



Kansas City, Mo., Nov. 20, lt-81. 



Friend S., I've been waiting anxiously for 

 sonietliing from somebody in regard to the ■ 

 matter. Dr. Besse informed me several I 

 days ago that Prof. Cook is not going at all, 

 bnl I for one most earnestly protest. Tlie 

 date yon mention will suit "me as well as' 

 anv olhei-. 



KKIENI) DEAHBOBN S I'PS AND DOWNS; liUT THE 

 (PS FINALLY HAVE IT. 



1 ha\ (■ commenced four times to keep bees, and 

 liave tailed every time until the fourth trial, and 

 now I think I am well paid for my time. I put 13 

 swarms into a good cellar last winter, and they all 

 came out all right except one that smothered by 

 (lend bees dropping down and stopping the entrance, 



: which was very small. They died about a month 



I after I put them in the cellar. After they died T 

 raised the back end of all the other hives about half 

 an inch, and left a "'a-inch hole open on top for ven- 

 tilation. I bought a swarm of Italians this spring, 



; so it made my number good again. I increased to 

 25 this summer. I worked 18 stands for comb hon- 

 ey, which gave me 870 lbs., mostly in 1-lb. sections. 

 I have sold almost all of it at 15 and 18 cts. per lb. 



I sent for 500 sections just as the basswood bloom 

 commenced, and it was two weeks before T got 



I them, so I think T must have lost 200 lbs. by not get- 

 ting them in time. My two last stands filled 96 sec- 

 tions apiece, which weighed 1C3 and5112 lbs. Now, 

 Mr. Koot, you maj'. count me a steady customer for 

 Gleanings year after year, so long as I can raise a 

 dollar to [)ay for it, for I tliink it is the most inter- 

 esting book tortile ]irice 1 ever saw. 



C. A. Deabbokn. 

 IJaralioo, Sauk Co., Wis., !Sept. 6, 1S84. 



HOW TO MAHK a queen -bee, AS ir:.-Clt lUKI) liV 

 nUBEK. 



Your esteemed correspondent, S. J. Baldwin, in 

 describing, on p. 764, how to mark a (]ueen-bee for 

 introduction into a hive or other purpose, by paint- 

 ing her back, was probably unaware that this plan 

 was followed by the immortal Huber, about the 

 year 1790. In his own words, see p. 97, " New .Obser- 

 \-ations on the Natural History of Bees, by Francis 

 Huber," published by Longmans, London, 1820, "In 

 the next place we introduced a very fertile queen 

 into the same hive, after painting the thorax, to 

 distinguish her from the reigning queen." I could 

 refer to other i)aragraphs, but deem this one suffi- 

 cient. Arthur Todd. 



Philadelphia, Pa., Nov. 2D, 1884. 



TKANSFEKHING IN JULY AND AUGUST. 



I successfully transferred 31 stands of black bees, 

 commencing July 38 and finishing Aug. 3. I num- 

 bered my hives from 1 to2J. In just 18 days, hive 

 No. 13 threw off a large swarm, and I put them in 

 hive £2. August 27 I conunenced taking out two 

 brood-frames from each side of hive, and put in a 

 section-frame at each side. In taking out frames 

 for sections I got 165 lbs. of comb honey. I have 5 

 acres of buckwheat in bloom, and hundreds of acres 

 of hearts-ease within two miles. The honey I got 

 must have been nearly all from heart's-ease, as the 

 buckwheat was not in bloom then. I sold 158 Its. 

 for 5P23.45 in that shape. 



Did I do wrong in taking out those brood-frames 

 and putting in sections, considering- the time of 

 year? If so, what shall I do to remedy it? My idea 

 was to get honey from my buckwheat, etc., and then 

 put in chaff division-boards, leaving six full frames 

 in the center for winter. Last winter was a very 

 severe one here, and I had. usually lost four or five 

 swarms each winter on the summer stands; but a 

 fi-iend told me to put them in rows close together on 

 the ground, and cover them with sti-aw; he said I 

 could not put straw enough over them to smother 

 them, so I put a small strawstack over them, not 

 giving them any chance to get out, nor myself any 

 chance to get to thenu Some of my friends pre- 

 dicted that I Avould lose all of them; but in the lat- 

 ter part of March 1 saw, one warm day, some bees 

 flying around, and on examination I found them by 

 hundreds coming out through the straw. April 5 I 

 toolf the straw off and found every stand in splen- 

 did condition; but o\ir spring was so wet and cold 



