1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



971 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS, 



A TIMEIyY WARNING. 



SK. ROSS died last month of hemorrhage of the 

 lungs, brought on by trying to save some lit- 

 tle ducks that a vicious pig was running after. 

 He lost so much blood that he died in two 

 days. He was ready to go at any time. He 

 did a great deal among the poor, and always went 

 to them when other doctors refused. Much labor 

 weakened his lungs, when in his Chicago pi-actice. 

 He came here to get well, and was doing finely, only 

 he was not careful of himself. J. J. Lawson. 



Lookout Mountain, Tenn., Oct. m, 1888. 



■^'our little story, friend L., is sad indeed. 

 It only illustrates how many another death 

 has been caused by some little trivial cir- 

 cumstance. The poor man ought surely to 

 have known that such violent exercise was 

 dangerous to his weakened constitution. 

 At this time of year it is a very easy matter 

 to contract colds simply through careless- 

 ness, and the result may be no less severe 

 than in the incident above related. Our 

 love for the dear ones around us, as well as 

 their responsive love toward us, should make 

 us especially careful of these lives which God 

 has given us. The lives of a few young 

 ducks did not begin to compare with the 

 worthy life of Dr. Hoss. The subject does 

 not strictly belong to bees, l)ut it is such a 

 timely warning that we hope our readers 

 will all take note^ 



ITALIANS AND MOTH AVOKjMS. 



1 must write a few words in regard to Italians. I 

 have lieen trying to raise bees for :.'() years, but the 

 moths would clean them u]) in spite of me. They 

 are fearful here in the South. About eight years 

 ago Mr. Taply bought a dollar queen of you. I in 

 turn got some of him. I have had them three 

 years. I now have :iT colonies, and have never found 

 a moth worm In theii' combs, no matter what kind of 

 hive I put them in; they are the best property I 

 ever owned. I want no more native bees for me. 



Caledonia, Miss., Nov. 20, ISS8. W. L. Laavs. 



PERFORATED ZINC; ITS USE AND ABUSE. 



Do the sheets of perforated metal keep the queen 

 out of sections and extracting frames? Are they a 

 success'? Is there any great objection to their use? 

 Do the bees swarm worse than they used to? 



Port Orange. Fla. .John B. Case. 



Eriend C, if the metal is properly perfor- 

 ated it will keep the queens from the sur- 

 plus apartment. It is a suceess, we think, 

 and this seems to be attested by the fact 

 that those who use a little of it for experi- 

 mental purposes generally order considera- 

 ble of it afterward. Its use, however, is not 

 absolutely essential. Many of our success- 

 ful honey-producers do not use it, and still 

 many others think they can not dispense 

 with it. Bees do not swarm worse than 

 they used to, unless the bee-keeper so man- 

 ipulates his colouies as to force them to do 

 it. Contraction, especially if carried to an 

 immoderate extent, has a tendency toward 

 inducing swarming. Giving the queen ac- 

 cess to all parts of the hive has a tendency 

 likewise to discourage it. The use of per- 



forated zinc to confine the queen to a small 

 brood-nest, one that has been contracted toii 

 or i its former capacity, would favor and no 

 doubt does promote swarming. 



granulated-sugar syrup versus honey F(JH 

 FEED. 



Let me know the price of the cheapest honey for 

 feed for my bees. They need feeding. I don't 

 think my bees made 5 lbs. per colony since July, 

 and they look weak. John A. Heidi.eh. 



Wetheredsville, Md. 



Honey this year, even of a poor grade, 

 will be too expensive to feed bees. Granu- 

 lated-sugai' syrup is about as cheap as 

 any food you can give them ; and it cei- 

 tainly is tlie very best. The syrup will cost 

 you about (i cts. per lb. It is doubtful if 

 you can get even fair honey for this price, 

 suitable for feeding. 



SOMETHING FROM OUR OLD FRIEND E. GALLUP, 



IN liEOARD TO THE LARGE YIELDS OF (;.\I,- 



IFORNIA. 



Mrs. J. Hilton tells us, in the Nov. Gleanings, of 

 her trip to California, and of the Russell Brothers' 

 7 tons of honey. Orange is.S miles from Santa Ana, 

 and why not call on E. Gallup and others while she 

 was so near'? Our season here was not considered 

 first class, yet I will report some of the yields in 

 this vicinity. Mr. Fox had 1.5 tons; Mr. Miller, 15 

 tons; Mr. Joplin, 1;.' tons; Mr. Odlin, 18 tons; and at 

 the Hot Springs Apiary they made 30 tons. It sold 

 immediately at 1(10 dollars per ton, or . 5 cents per 

 lb., wholesale. It is now worth 6iJ to 7 cents whole- 

 sale. I believe these bee-keepers above named had 

 from :iOO to 370 colonies to the apiary. How does 

 that compare with your eastern apiaries? Of 

 course, \\e do not use any harness, or have any 

 trouble about our bee-cellars, etc. E. Gali up. 



Santa Ana, Cal. 



^EP0]^Tg EjMceai^^Gip. 



A BEGINNER'S SUCCESS. 



T BOUGHT one colony of bees in the spring of 

 1^ 1886. That summer they swarmed three times, 

 ^[ and in the fall I bought one more colony. 1 

 '*■ wintered the four with no loss. In 1887 they in- 

 creased to twelve, and 1 wintered them with 

 no loss. Up to this time I had been working for in- 

 crease. This summer I thought I should like to 

 have some honey, so I wrote to you for W. Z. 

 Hutchinson's bcok on the production of comb hon- 

 ey. I followed the plans laid down hy him, and 

 Heddon's method for preventing after- swarms, and 

 I succeeded in getting fiOO lbs. of comb honey- r)f)3 

 lbs. in 1-lb. sections, and ^8 lbs. in 3-lb. sections. 1 

 increased to 3:s. I sold three colonies. Two were 

 queeuless, three would not enter the supers, so 1 

 got all of my hone.y from Iti hives. One colony gave 

 me 70 lbs. in 1-lb. sections. 



This has been a very poor season. I have followed 

 the instructions in your A 15 C book, and am trying 

 to go slow, and grow up with the business. My 

 bees are all in good condition, and have plenty to 

 winter on. Joseph 15. Grubb. 



Ankenytown, Ohio, Nov. lli, 1888. 



3100 LBS. FROM 33 COLONIES, SPRING COUNT. 



My report for 1888 is 23 colonies, spring count. 1 

 took r>no lbs. of extracted and 1500 of comb in 4^4x4^4 



