884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 



PAPER RECEPTACLES7-A SUGGESTION. 



1 would sug-gest to Mr. Heddon, Jr., that he satu- 

 rate the paper with beeswax. This can be readily 

 done with a laundry iron heated to a little below 

 the scorching point. Place the paper upon a table 

 and melt a little of the wax at a time, ironing it in. 

 1 prepare my hive-covers of cotton cloth in this 

 way for winter use. A. S. Martin. 



Roanoke, Va., Oct. 16, 1888. 



HANDLINC; MANURE TO KILL SEEDS. 



I should like to know whether handling a pile of 

 manure two or three times will kill clover seed 

 therein, or whether there is any other method of 

 killing it. G. F. Ayres. 



Atherton, Ind., July 4, 188S. 



[It has been repeatedly stated, that if manure is 

 made to ferment so as to warm up to about 150° it 

 will kill all seeds of any kind. The manure used by 

 us is usually handled in this way— at least that 

 from our own stables; but that which we buy from 

 the livery stables has made us a great deal of 

 trouble, as you may remember.] 



TWO QUEENS IN ONE HIVE, BUT SEPARATED BY A 

 QUEEN-EXCLUDING HONEY-BOARD. 



I placed two young swarms of bees in two Simplic- 

 ity bodies, one on top of the other, with a queen- 

 excluding honey-board between them. Both queens 

 lived and did well for about three weeks, at the end 

 of which time I took away one of them and gave her 

 to another hive. I shall not do that again, though, 

 I think, as it gave them too many bees, and they 

 swarmed after a while. Thos. J. Blwick. 



Decorah, la., Oct. 19, 1888. 



BEES AND QUEENS BY THE POUND. 



Herewith I report sales of bees and queens from 

 the Tar-Heel apiaries for the season of 1888: 6 select- 

 ed breeding queens, American Albino Italians, 

 .¥30.00; 101 warranted queens; 67 J4 lbs. of bees; 10 

 "Good" tested queens; a frames of brood; $349 3.5. 

 Total sales, S379.35. Nearly every purchaser called 

 for American Albino Italians; very few golden 

 Italians were sold. Abbott L. Swinson. 



Goldsboro, N. C, Oct. 21, 1888. 



378 bushels of .i.apanese buckwheat seed 



from 3 lbs. of seed in two seasons. 

 One year ago last f pring I bought of you 3 lbs. of 

 Japanese buckwheat, which I sowed July 5, 1887, 

 from which I harvested 8 bushels and one peck of 

 good buckwheat. On July 3d of this year, I sowed 

 4 bushels of it on ay^ acres of ground. It promised 

 to be a big yield, but the frost of September 6 and 7 

 cut it short. I cut it right away after the frost, and 

 set it up. I thrashed it Oct. 11, and got 378 bushels 

 of good clean buckwheat. John Kentch. 



Tioga, Pa., Oct. 34, 1888. 



.V suggestion regarding ANDREWS' SCALE FOR 

 WEIGHING BEES AND BEE-LOADS. 



1 noticed the little contrivance for weighing bees, 

 bee-loads, etc. A very small vial, long and slim, 

 such as pills are sold in, and weighted with line 

 shot, gives, I think, a steadier balance than a cork. 

 I always use glass fruit-jars for feeding. I always 

 have plenty of spare screw-tops. Knock out the 

 porcelain, and perforate it with just the number 

 and size of holes you want. (i. E. Hailes. 



Lytic, Texas, Oct. 3.5, 1888. 



[Vour feeder is essentially what is called the pep- 

 perbox feeder. It answers a very excellent pur- 

 purpose. The idea is not new, however.] 



MOVING BEBS FROM INDIANA TO WASHINGTON 

 TERRITORY. 



Can bees be safely shipped from here to Wash- 

 ington Territory? 



Would it pay to take them so far if you were 

 moving out there, or would it be cheaper to buy 

 there? D. Zehneb. 



Ilion, Ind., Sept. 35, 1888. 



[Friend Z., if you accompany the bees you can 

 ship them to Washington Territory, probably, but 

 if you can get a fair price for tbem near you I 

 would by ail means advise you to sell them and then 

 purchase one or more stocks when you get to your 

 new locality. It is a difiBcult matter to ship bees 

 from Ohio or Indiana to Washington Territory.] 



HOW TO CONVERT A POUND OB SO OF WAX INTO 

 WA.X SHEETS. 



Take a pound or less of wax, if no more is wanted ; 

 fill the dipping-can with water, and heat it to melt 

 the wax. The wax need not be more than I4 to 54 

 inch thick on the surface of the water. Regulate 

 the temperature to suit, and you are ready to dip. 

 I get as thin sheets of wax in this way as it is possi- 

 ble to make. G. W. Cover. 



Downieville, Cal., July 36, 1888. 



[Your plan has been given before, and it works 

 satisfactorily. But there are few who would care 

 to melt such a small quantity at a time.] 



PETRIFIED HONEY-COMB, OR A FOSSIL. 



When we were nicking up stones from the mead- 

 ow this spring we found one that looks like honey- 

 comb. Every one who sees it calls it petrified honey. 

 Did you ever bear of honey petrifying ? It is quite 

 a curiosity. George G. Green. 



Lyons, O., Sept. 14, 1888. 



[Friend G., if you will turn to page 157 of Prof. 

 Cook's Manual, 15th thousand, you will see that 

 what you describe is illustrated and described very 

 fully. The author says: "It is a very common 

 fossil, found in many parts of the Eastern and 

 Northern States, and is, from its appearance, often 

 called ' petrified honey-comb.' "] 



COMBS MOLDY AND SOUR; WILL THEY DO FOR 

 WINTER FOOD? 



Will it do to feed bees the honey from combs 

 that are moldy or soured a little? I have some 

 combs in a hive where bees died last winter, that 

 are moldy, and I don't know but sour. 



J. P. James. 



Tekamah, Nebraska, Sept. 30, 1888. 



[Friend J., it will do to feed the bees with honey 

 contained in moldy or soured combs, providing you 

 give a good strong colony one or two combs at a 

 time during warm weather, when they can tiy freely. 

 If the colony has sufhcient bees, and there is no 

 honey to be had in the fields, they will clean up the 

 honey and clean up the comb in a very few hours, 

 in a way that is surprising and astonishing to any 

 one who has never seen them do it. I would not, 

 however, think of giving them such combs late in 

 the fall. I would not give them to any rveak colony 

 or nucleus.] 



THE CROSSING OF VEGET.VBLES, ETC., BY BEES. 



Does the fertilization of bees bj- pollen upon veg- 

 etables, such as corn, squashes, etc., show the result 

 the first or second year? Mrs. Loren Lawrence. 



Wayland, N. Y., Oct. 6, 1888. 



[My friend, the sicda of any plants will be changed 

 the first year by the visits of the bees; therefore 

 corn and other \egetables, where the seed is used 

 for food, will be affected more or less. Where sweet 

 corn is planted near .yellow corn, you will notice the 

 yellow kernels mixed in the sweet corn. The case 

 is difi'erent, however, with squashes and roost other 

 garden vegetables. Their seeds will he injured for 

 use another season.- but the squash, cucumber, or 

 melon, will not be any different. It is just as good 



