440 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15. 



Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-fraits 

 of all thine increase; so shall thy barns be flU&ti with plenty, 

 and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.— Prov. S: 9, 10. 



We give in this issue, 16 pages extra as usual. 



F. H. & E. H. De-\vey have ah-eady pai'd 20 

 per ceut duty on their last importation of 

 queens. For further particulars in i-egard to 

 the matter, see Prof. Cook's article elsewhere. 



By a letter just at hand, we learn that they 

 are having very trying weather for bees in Eng- 

 land, and that cold east winds have prevailed 

 for weeks. A great number of stocks have died. 



We notice that the Wisconsin State Legisla- 

 ture, on the 14th of April, passed a bill to sup- 

 press foul brood among bees, with a provision 

 for a State foul-brood inspector, and an appro- 

 priation of S-iOO for tlie purpose 



Hutchinson says, in the Country Gentlemdu. 

 page 3.57, that, next to the Heddon divisible 

 brood - chamber, he would prefer the eight- 

 frame Dovelailcd hive: that is. one of tliat 

 style, with a loose bottom and flat cover. '■ It 

 is really an excellent hive.'" he savs. 



Honey- from fruit-blossoms is coming in at a 

 pretty good rate to-day (13th). We never saw 

 more new honey in the hives at this time of the 

 year, although we have had some rather cool 

 weather, with occasional frosts at night. It 

 has also been pretty dry, although it looks as 

 if we might have rain" soon. The prospects 

 (that is about all we have had for the last two 

 years) are good so far for an old-fashioned hon- 

 ey season. 



Although the subject of wintering should 

 not now be discussed, yet. for fear we may not 

 mention it again, we would say, that, this 

 spring, when we discovered the bees were noisy, 

 we could very quickly quiet them by swinging 

 the door backward and forward rapidly. 25 or 30 

 times. This produced a marked circulation of 

 air. as well as a marked difference in the be- 

 havior of the bees. We tried it a number of 

 times, and in about an hour afterward we ob- 

 served that the bees had become perfectly quiet. 

 Yes. Dr. Miller, there is something in the ven- 

 tilation of bee-cellars. 



J. ISI. Jenkins has sent us a neat little mail- 

 ing and introducing cage. It is quiti- similar to 

 the Benton, only it has two compartments in- 

 stead of three, and. peihajjs. for ordinary dis- 

 tances it\\ill do very wi'll. A one-cent stamp 

 is all that is required to send it to any part of 

 the United States or Canada. 



In spite of all we can do, the new edition of 

 our A B C may not be out as soon as the 

 old one is exluiusicd. The new edition, while 

 it will be distiiictiveiy a work for beginners, 

 will contain more mutter for the advanced bee- 

 keeper. Many whole subjects are being entire- 

 ly I'e-written. and some entirely new ones are 

 being added. 



The British Bee Journal is now having a 

 series of articles on inounting microscopic ob- 

 jects particularly relating to the bee. Jf any 

 one is interested in the study of the microscope, 

 and in dissecting the liee, he will do well to ob- 

 tain these numbei's of the journal. They tell 

 how to dissect the trachea, the muscles, th(> 

 nerve-chain, the sting, etc. 



We want the names of several good reliable 

 commission men in the several cities of the 

 United States. We wish to give good and ac- 

 curate honey quotations for the entire country, 

 foi' the coining season. Will bee-keepers who 

 know and have had dealings with reliable 

 hou.ses plea.se send in their names? We have 

 a good corps all', ady. but we want it very large- 

 ly increased. 



On account of our success in mailing queens 

 to Australia and to the distant islands of the 

 .sea. h{i tnnil. we have ordeis booked for one se- 

 lect t(!Sted queen, t\\o tested, and one tested 

 honey queen, to parties in .\nstralia: also one 

 select tested to the West Indies, and two un- 

 tested to Japan. We expect to send them out 

 in a day or two: and as soon as we get reports 

 from them we shall l)e glad to give our readers 

 the result. 



The honey-jumble business is booming, so 

 the bakers say. One firm uses up three barrels 

 of inferior hon(>y a week, and this desi)ite the 

 fact of the tariff reduction on sugar. There is • 

 a certain quality in honey not found in other 

 sweets, that will keep cakes for an indefinite 

 length of lini(\ Jumbles seem to be about as 

 good three or four years after being made as 

 when (list baked. In fact, they are one of the 

 things that improve with age. Ask your baker 

 or grocerynian if he keeps them. This will in- 

 duce^ him to order a trial lot. if he does not al- 

 ready have them, and so improve the outlet for 

 dark' honey. 



Although we have quite a lot of reports en- 

 couraging in this issue, yet, from letters that 

 have come in from various sources, it is evident 

 that there have been pretty severe losses in cer- 

 tain sections of the country : and the fact that 

 we have had a big rush of orders for bees and 

 queens rather points in the same direction. A 

 greai many wiiie that their bees have all died, 

 and that they want just a nucleus to make a 

 start, as they have a lot of empty hives, with 

 good nice straight combs. Others are in a great 

 hurry for their queens, as their bees are weak 

 and queenless. We hope to have statistical re- 

 ports in our next issue that will give a little 

 more accniatelv tlui situation. ' 



The sixteenth thousand of Prof. Cook's " Bee- 

 keepers" (xuide'" is just otit. By scanning 

 through the pages we do not discover that this 

 edition has been revised. The price has been 

 reduced to an even dollar. We have talcen a 

 little pains to look througJi the work, especially 

 the scientific part of it. Cheshire's, although a 

 magnificent work, is, we fear, not entirely ac- 

 curate in some things: and Mr. Cowan's, while 

 wonderfully frei> from errors, is a little too sci- 

 entific and condensed for the average novice. 

 Prof. Cook's book is written in a pleasing, pop- 

 ular style, and is. perhaps, as accurate as Mr. 

 Cowan"s work. The practical part, although 

 not recently revised, is pretty well up to the 

 times. We can furnish it at the author's price 

 —SI. 00. 



There is a sort of general imjiression. that 

 bees in box hives outdoors will winter where 

 those in modern hives will die. We sonunvhat 

 question whether this is true. J. A. Stone, on 

 page 391. last issue, says that more than half 

 the bees in his section of country died through 

 the winter, and they were all in box hives. It 

 is true, that too much tinkering in " new- 



