1888 



GLEANli^GS IK BEE CULTUlifi. 



6tl 



frames with one side ol a cell at the top. What do 

 you say to this ? C. J. H. Gravenhobst. 



Wilsnack, Germany, July 24, 1888. 



Right glad are we, good friend Ct., to get 

 this excellent report from our cousins away 

 over the water. It seems funny indeed that 

 your people will pay more for extracted hon- 

 ey than for honey in the comb. I suppose it 

 is a good deal a matter of education, for 

 there are some localities even in the United 

 States where somewhat the same state of 

 affairs prevails. — In regard to the way foun- 

 dation should be placed in the frames, the 

 matter has been a good deal discussed in 

 years back. While some concluded that it 

 did make a difference in the matter of sag- 

 ging, I believe tliat others could see no 

 difference at all. Our mills are now made 

 so as to have the cells come in oblong frames, 

 like the Langstroth, in the way in which you 

 see the bees build them naturally ; and my 

 impression is that many decided there was 

 less sagging of foundation when suspended 

 in that manner. With wired combs, such as 

 we nearly all use of late, there is nopossibil 

 ity of sagging in either case.— 1 suppose the 

 rape you refer to, that comes in bloom so 

 early in spring, is sown in the fall ; and, if 

 I remember correctly, it differs but little 

 from the plant we call seven-top turnip. 

 This comes in bloom at about the same time 

 fruit-trees do, and some seasons a little in 

 advance of most fruit-bloom. 



MORE ABOUT THE GREAT BASSW^OOD 

 BELT OF SOUTHERN -WISCONSIN. 



An Account of Some Large Yields in that 

 Vicinity. 



ARKADELPHIA BEES, AND THEIR CONDITION WHEN 

 DUMPED OUT OP THE CITY. 



TTDITOR GLEANINGS:— Since reading- friend 

 '^ Freeborn's article, page 606, concerning the 

 1^'r famous " basswood belt" of Southwest AVis- 

 ■*" cousin, T thought perhaps you would like to 

 hear something further from that section. 

 I suppose I am the one Mr. F. refers to when speak- 

 ing- of the 10,000 lbs. from 80 colonies, and I wish to 

 add here that my l)ees were destitute of honey 

 when basswood blossomed, and that we had 105 nu- 

 cleus swarms which had been formed from the 80 

 old colonies, and they all were left with ample win- 

 ter stores at the close of the basswood yield, which 

 lasted •.l\ days. 1 wish to mention a few yields I 

 had in my experience there of eleven years. 



In 1883 I moved one colony to a neighbor's, and 

 formed 13 nuclei from it, and one colony he had. 

 They g-ave 250 lbs. of surplus, and ten of them win- 

 tered. In 1884 they built their own comb, and gave 

 13.50 lbs. ; increased to 23, making 20 increase and 

 1600 lbs. of honey in two years, from two colonies. 

 In 1885 I moved 25 picked colonies from Viroqua 

 into the basswood limber. They gave a surplus of 

 2350 lbs. in six days. 1 have had a colony on the 

 scales show a gain of 3:^0 lbs. in 13 days. 



This belt of bassvvood timber lies between the 

 Wisconsin and Kickapoo Rivers, and is from 10 to 40 

 miles in width, and 70 miles long-. The best loca- 

 tions, however, are found along Pine and Kickapoo 

 Rivers and their tributaries in Crawford, Vernon, 

 and Richland Counties. One other reason why this 



section is a favored spot is that it abounds wiili 

 sugar maple, which is very valuable in buil(%ig up. 



In speaking of the destruction of the basswood 

 timber, to be sure it is going on at a fearful late, 

 on the best table and ridge lands; but I can trf 

 you or Mr. Freeborn to localities where the lay o: 

 the land is such that, in my opinion, 100 years from 

 now will find enough basswood in one location for 

 1000 colonies. I have spent thirty of the thirty-six 

 years I have lived, in that country; and after see- 

 ing 2500 miles of country I have seen nothing to 

 compare with it. One can find the basswood in 

 Arkansas, Tennessee, and West Virginia; but, as 

 Mr. Freeborn says, it does not yield like the bass- 

 wood in Wisconsin and Michigan. The difference 

 in soil, and the cool nights, I think, are the reason. 

 Am I right? The friable, inky black loam soil 

 among the hills and dells of Wisconsin where the 

 ground is kept moist by the thick luxuriant growth 

 of wild fern, I think is more productive of a sure 

 and constant yield of nectar than the hard, dry, 

 stony, and sun-dried soil of more southern localities. 



But much of the country south of the Ohio and 

 cast of the Mississippi Rivers has a splendid substi- 

 tute in the stately tulip; and if the honey were as 

 light in color, it would certainly become a"respect- 

 al)le rival " to basswood honey, for it is the thickest 

 honey I ever saw, and, to my taste, very fair in 

 flavor. 



I sold my bees in Wisconsin last September, and 

 went south in hopes to find as good a country for 

 bees, and to improve my health. I went to Saline 

 Co., Arkansas, and began to buy up bees, but soon 

 found that for me to stay there meant a "widow 

 and four little ones." I then sold what bees I had, 

 and, as the season was getting too late to start an 

 apiary for myself anywhere in the South, and as 

 something must be done to make expenses, I beg-an 

 to look for a situation or a chance to work bees on 

 shares. I soon had two offers, so on April 35th I 

 bid my little group good-by and started for Mr. 

 Blacklock's apiary, in Northeast Kentucky, while 

 my wife took the children and went to Arkadelphia, 

 Arkansas, to work Mr. Z. A. Clark's bees. She 

 found 58 colonies, which the kind city council had 

 dumped out of town in about the same style you 

 would expect to see a lot of empty boxes behind a 

 country store. After setting up housekeeping- as 

 near the bees as possible, she left the cares of the 

 household with our little nine-year-old daughter, 

 while she and our son, 13 years old, walked half a 

 mile to work in the apiary. She found the bees 

 swarming and going to the woods; but by tiering 

 up and dividing she soon overcame swarming, and 

 in four weeks she had 2350 lbs. of honey, and an in- 

 crease of 48 young colonies. The rainy season, 

 which Dr. Blanton speaks of, set in, which not only 

 stopped the honej-How, but made the country very 

 sickly. My wife wrote me that they wei-e all com- 

 ing under the influence of malaria. I instructed 

 her by telegraph to leave there at once for this 

 place, where they are all. enjoying the best of 

 health under the influence of this goodly climate. 



Mr. Blacklock had 70 good colonies in Root's chaff 

 hives, and 30 with worthless queens. I produced 

 4100 lbs. of honey (!4 comb), and increased to 136. I 

 got 132 lbs. of finished sections from one chaff hive, 

 and 120 from another. The honey was nearly all 

 from tulip. We are all happy here, in a little town 

 on the L. & N. R. R., 36 miles from Nashville, where 

 I intend to buy up a carload of bees, work them 



