(jl4 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



bees to Simplicity hives, and sell my hives at one 

 dollar apiece? I do my own hive-making and 

 transferring-. What kind of a hive do you think is 

 the best? C. Chandler. 



Pennsvillc, O.. July 7, 1888. 



Frienfl C, If you propose to increase your 

 bees to 100 or several hundred colonies it 

 would be much better to have them in the 

 regular standard frame in use throughout 

 the con ntry— that is, the Langstroth or 

 Simplicity, which is the same thing. Your 

 frame is an odd size, and every time you 

 order supplies you would have to pay from 

 25 to S'dl per cent more than for a regular 

 size, and run the chance of possible mis- 

 takes. We should weigh carefully what 

 friend Doolittle has said upon the subject of 

 square frames (see p. 47H) ; and also consid- 

 er what it would cost to make the change, 

 we would not do it all at once, however. 



HOW TO TELL WHETHER A SWARM HAS ISSUED 

 FROM THE COLON y. 



Please find inclosed one dollar, for Gleanings 

 another year. I like the journal very much, even 

 though it contains considerable on religious sub- 

 jects. I used to be religious in by-gone days. 1 

 don't mean to be understood as opposed to religion, 

 only the superstitious part of it. 1 was, indeed, 

 very superstitious. I regard themorality of religion 

 the redeeming quality. But this is not what I in- 

 tended to write. I want to ask one or two questions 

 in regard to liees. Is there any way to tell whether 

 a hive has sent off a swarm by examining it? Or, in 

 other words, what is the condition of the old swarm 

 generally? What effect will it have to turn hives 

 now facing the west so as to face the east, at this 

 season of the year? C. M. Burgess. 



Council Bluffs, Iowa, June 14, 1888. 



Usually we can tell when a swarm has is- 

 sued from a colony or colonies by the reduc- 

 tion in the number of bees ; also by the fact 

 tliaL there are a number of queen-cells start- 

 ed, and no laying queen. If you have few 

 colonies you would be pretty apt to know 

 their strength ; and any sudden reduction in 

 numbers would make itself manifest as soon 

 as you examined them. — It would not do to 

 change the entrances at this time of year 

 from west to east. As soon as the first per- 

 manent cold weather comes on you can re- 

 verse the entrances, or you can do it early in 

 the spring. To do it now would only result 

 in confusion to returning bees, and perhaps 

 a loss.— Friend B., your opening remarks 

 would sound to me equivalent to saying that 

 you used to be a good man in by-gone days; 

 but I suppose of "course this is not what you 

 mean. 



CANNING CORN, ETC. 



Friend Root;— Can you tell me a sure way to can 

 corn (roasting ears) so it Avill keep fresh and good? 

 I have been canning some as I can fruit, and it 

 sours and bursts out. If you don't know, please 

 ask the (juestion through Gleanings. My bees 

 are doing well— have taken some fine section hon- 

 ey; sells readily at a shilling a pound. I aim to ex- 

 tract a barrel of honey next week. Tlie horsemint 

 is about done. Other prairie flowers are coming in. 



Milford, Tex., July T. J. A. Dillehay. 



Friend D., there is not any way to can 

 corn so it will keep, outside of a regular 



canning-factory. Some sort of a pickle, or 

 chemical is used, I believe, to make it keep, 

 and then it has to have special treatment be- 

 sides, in the way of boiling it a great while, 

 or something of that kind. We can can to- 

 matoes, and not lose one in a hundred ; but 

 our man who has worked in a corn-canning 

 establishment says we had better not un- 

 dertake corn , for they have a great deal of 

 trouble, even in the best establishments. 



THE BEST CLOVER FOR HONEY; ITALIANS, ETC. 



I have set out three acres of Simpson honey- 

 plants; set in June; all arc growing finely. I want 

 to sow eight acres in alsike or some other good 

 honey clover. Which would you recommend as 

 the best? 1 see in some seed catalogues some new 

 clover recommended as being superior to all others 

 for honey. 1 gave the Italian bees a thorough test 

 last year. My black bees made nothing, l)ut my 

 Italians made 40 to 60 llis. to the stand, surplus hon- 

 ey. The black bees all died, so I have nothing but 

 the Italian. Don't want any other. J. George. 



Buffalo, Mo., July 11, 1888. 



There is no clover so good for bees or 

 stock as alsike, that we know of. If you 

 are going to sow that 8 acres to clover we 

 would not put in any other. The clover to 

 which you refer is probably what is called 

 " sweet clover." In most localities it grows 

 spontaneously, and is regarded as a rank 

 weed, though not one that can not be exter- 

 minated easily. In some seiisoiis of the year 

 the bees seem to work on it quite busily, 

 but we think it would never pay anybody 

 to sow it, in a cultivated held. It might do 

 to scatter the seed along the roadsides or 

 waste places where weeds generally take 

 possession anyhow. 



HOW TO SHIP A COLONY OF BEES. 



I wish to send a lull swarm of bees to Iowa the 

 first of next week by express. How shall I do it? It 

 will be one upon 10 Langstroth frames, in the same 

 kind of hive. Will it do to fasten the frames fo 

 they can not move and cover the top of the frames 

 with wire cloth? The frames are full of brood and 

 honey. C. C. Rinear. 



ISrecksville, Ohio, June 28, 1888. 



If you have the old-style Langstroth hive, 

 tack wire cloth over the portico, and also 

 over the top of the frames. Each frame 

 should be securely fastened so as not to 

 shuck in transit. This may be accomplislied 

 in one of two ways. First, by gri>oved 

 boards shown on page 2-5 of our price list, or 

 by means of sticks exactly i inch thick, 

 and of suitable length. Two of these sticks 

 should be placed between each frame, one at 

 each end. It is well to put directions, con- 

 spicuously placed somewhere on the hive, 

 to the effect tliat it must be handled with 

 care, and kept out of the sun. 



WAGES FOR AN APIARIST. 



I have lately come to this country, and have em- 

 ployed a gentleman to look after an apiary, and 

 have no basis to calculate what would be a just 

 and fair remuneration for his labor. I give him 

 board and lodging, and his duties are to manage an 

 apiary of about 100 hives, and also a queen-rearing 

 business. He has to put together all hives, frames, 

 etc., and do all the work of the apiary; but In this 



