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GLEANINGS I:N BEE CULTURE. 



SbM. 



grown-up ones whom you have met and 

 cheered and encouraged at the county fairs? 

 Compare this with the property and great 

 possessions which you have accumulated 

 and laid up, by strict adherence to business. 

 What can all these things '^ piofit a man " 

 when he comes to die? 



]\[0¥Eg -ft^JiJ) QnE^IEg. 



balij clover. 

 TN Gleanings the word white clover is used oft- 

 ^ en. Is it a ball clover, or is it what we call 

 ^l sweet clover, growing five or six feet high, and 

 ■*■ remaining in blossom till October? Bees In our 

 locality are doing well. N. B. Baldwin. 



Elsinore, Utah. 



[Friend B., the term " ball clover" is something we 

 never heard of before. It must belong particularly 

 to your locality. What we mean by white clover is 

 a small clover with white blossoms, that grows 

 spontaneously in almost every portion of the Unit- 

 ed States. It is only of late years that it has been 

 saved, and has become an article of merchandise. 

 The white Dutch clover is the same thing, with the 

 exception of having a little larger leaf and blos- 

 soms. Some think, however, that this is due to 

 soil and cultivation alone.] 



WIRE CLOTH IN THE PLACE OF MATS. 



How do you think this wire cloth that is used for 

 window and door screens would answer for mats 

 on bee-hives, for shutting the bees down In the 

 brood-chamber? P. L. Williams. 



Sharon, Pa., Aug. 18, 1888. 



[It would very soon become filled with propolis, 

 and be no better than any solid sheet, and, we very 

 much doubt, if as good. We very much prefer en- 

 ameled cloth in summer, and burlap in winter.] 



COMBS TOO OLD AND BLACK. 



When the combs become old and black, should 

 they be removed and replaced with frames of 

 foundation? I. B. Louer. 



Mound, O., Aug. 20, 1888. 



[Leave the old combs in the hive, as we have re- 

 cently advised in this department. Don't remove 

 or destroy them simply because they are old. 

 Combs have been in use as long as ~0 years. While 

 some think they will raise smaller bees, those bees 

 will soon be just as large, if we are correct, as those 

 raised in'newly made combs.] 



SOMETHING NOT SO FAVORABLE FOR THE WOOD 

 SEPARATORS. 



I used this season, in the T super, wooden separa- 

 tors, and I notice that the bees build brace combs to 

 them. !, They have spoiled a large number of sec- 

 tions for me. Would they have done the same had 

 these been tin instead of wood? J. Major. 



Cokeville, Pa., July 23, 1888. 



[Friend M., we sometimes have the same kind of 

 difficulty with tin separators, but I think not as 

 frequently as with wood. Where the sections are 

 very thick, say two inches or more, there seems to 

 be more danger from these attachments than 

 where they are of less width, say VA to 1% inches.] 



HOW TO DRUM BEES OUT OF AN OLD BOX HIVE. 



My father has 8 hives of bees in old box hives; 

 and every fall, to get the honey, he kills them. I 

 should like to know if I can drive the bees out with- 

 out killing them, and put them in another hive. 



Arden, N. Y., Aug. 1, 1888. J. G. Earl. 



[Friend E., tell your father he does not need to 

 kill the bees in order to get his honey. Every bee 

 can be gotten out by inverting the hive and drum- 

 ming lightly on its sides. In a short time the bees 

 will run upward and crawl into a receptacle— a 



box, for instance, the proper size, provided for 

 them. We would recommend you to read the sub- 

 ject of " Transferring," in the A B C book, which 

 you have.] 



TO ITALIANIZE. 



Will you please tell me if I can Italianize by this 

 plan? When a black swarm Issues, catch the queen 

 and give the new swarm an Italian queen when it 

 returns (having removed the old hive), then cut out 

 all of the queen-cells and give the old swarms a 

 frame having Italian queen-cells. We have a fine 

 Italian queen to raise queens from. 



Swedona, 111., July i), 1888. S. F. Trego. 



[The plan you propose will work all right; only in 

 the parent colony you must be sure that they do 

 not raise more queen-cells from the eggs or larva; 

 of the small black queen.] 



THE GOOSE THAT LAID THE GOLDEN EGG. 



We have more bees than we want. We can not 

 sell, and will brimstone them this fall, reserving 

 the combs for next season's use. Would you ex- 

 tract the honey before using the combs? They are 

 quite heav^y. Hallett & Son. 



Galena, 111., Aug. 17, 1888. 



[We are sorry to hear, friends, that you have de- 

 cided on going back to the old cruel plan of killing 

 bees. Perhaps this notice will induce somebody 

 who wishes bees to start, to give you a better price 

 for them than you would realize by killing them, 

 and thus benefit both parties in the transaction. I 

 presume you would willingly sell them for about 

 what the combs and the honey they contain are 

 worth.] 



CARNIOLANS; THEIR COLOR AND DISPOSITION. 



Friend Root, will you be so kind as to inform me 

 of your experience with Carniolan bees? Are they 

 superior to Italians? Are they marked like Ital- 

 ians? Are they gentle? The untested' queen I 

 bought of you July 2d was received all right. The 

 hive is now literally full of brood. Some are hatch- 

 ing daily, and prove to be pure Italians. 



G. W. McGuiRE. 



Dark Ridge, N. C, July 31, 1888. 



[We gave our experience with Carniolans a cou- 

 ple of years ago in Gleanings, and at that time it 

 was not very favorable toward them. We tested 

 the progeny of only one queen, however; we there- 

 fore do not regard our experience as of very much 

 importance. We have no Carniolans now, but we 

 will report on them later, as we expect to test them 

 again. The bees resemble, somewhat, the common 

 black bees. The bands are of a steel blue, and not 

 black; the fuzz-bands are of a grayish color. They 

 are said to be very gentle; but those we had were 

 no more so than our average Italians. See letter of 

 E. E. Ewing In this issue.] 



PROXIMITY TO A RAILROAD NOT DETRIMENTAL. 



Please tell me what you think as to winter dis- 

 turbance in my case. I have located a new apiary 

 within 50 yards of the railroad, over which 10 or 13 

 trains pass daily. I can notice the house trem- 

 bling when all things are quiet, at night. A glass of 

 water set upon a hive is set in motion. What will 

 be the risk in wintering this apiary? 



J. C. Capehart. 



St. Albans, W. Va., Aug. 11, 1888. 



[Although we have had a great many reports In 

 regard to the pro.ximity of an apiary to a railroad, 

 we don't remember of having one where it was 

 positively shown that such nearness was detri- 

 mental in any way to the bees, or that such bees do 

 not winter as well as those more remote from the 

 railroad. Our apiary of 350 colonies is within 300 

 feet of a railroad, with about 30 trains passing dai- 

 ly, and yet we believe we have wintered our bees 

 just about as successfully as any bee-keepers in 

 the country. Our loss for the last 6 or 7 years has 

 not averaged more than about 3 or 4 per cent. We 

 think you will incur no risk.] 



