1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



631 



miles away, with all the "lymph of industry" 

 that would be needed. He meant to send for a 

 " king and queen " of some of the finer kinds of 

 bees, and have such gentle and industrious 

 stocks that he'd always have honey and nev(M' 

 have stings I Success attended the removal, 

 and all things were progressing nicely, when, 

 lol one fine morning, such as the Great Lake 

 region of Florida alone can boast, he went to 

 inspect them, and not a bee was to be seen I 

 They had all decamped, or died from some un- 

 known cause; so that pooi' man was out his 

 S2.00. and not a pound of honey left behind to 

 show to his interested n(»ighbors, as a sample of 

 what "'might have betMi." Then, too, he was 

 deprived of the opportunity of testing his " king 

 bee" (I) much to the dismay and disappoint- 

 ment of some of us. Maria Makiooli). 



REPOKT FROM MRS. HARRISON. 



Emma Wilson wished to know how I suc- 

 ceeded with those combs that I stored in the 

 cellar, whether moldy or not. As soon as the 

 Ijees had been removed from the cellar, and the 

 latter thoroughly cleaned. I returned hives of 

 empty combs to it. Some of these combs had 

 not been used the year previous. Whenever I 

 found a hive destitute of bees I cleaned it. cut 

 off all queen-cells, and prepared it for a swarm, 

 and carried it into the cellar. These combs 

 were all i-emoved from the cellar by the last of 

 June, and none were moldy (as the cellar has 

 sub-earth ventilation), and not any had moth- 

 grubs in them, with two exceptions: and these 

 were put in late, and belonged to drone-laying 

 queens, and had grubs in them when discov- 

 ered. My opinion is. that combs that have 

 been exposed to freezing, and stored in the cel- 

 lar before the bee-moth is flying, would not be 

 infested with them, provided the windows were 

 covered with wire gauze. I never kept my 

 combs as well, or with as little work, as I did 

 this year, and the increase in colonies has been 

 about equal to the loss in wintering. 



I have done but little work in the apiary this 

 year. The two preci>ding seasons of severe 

 drouth destroyed the white clover, and we 

 could see no profit in feeding when there was 

 no prospect of a flow of honey. Bees have 

 made but little more than a living, and much 

 that they gathered was honey-dew. There 

 has been abundant I'ain. and all nature is 

 green and flourishing, and crops of fill kinds 

 wei'e never more promising. July has been 

 cool, and the prevailing winds have been from 

 the north and west. Vegetation is so thrifty 

 there may be a flow of honey during the fall. 

 The largest flow of honey that this locality ever 

 had was at this season. Mrs. L. Harrison. . 



Peoria. Illinois. 



A LAI>IES BEE -HAT. 



I bought a man's large white straw hat for 10 

 cents, and wore it several times: but the straws 

 would catch in my hair, and pull it. and make 

 me fpel cross. Then I got some cheese-cloth, 

 and faced the brim by sewing a piece near the 

 edge on the outside. th(Mi turning it under, and 

 gathering it to fit th(^ crown, and faced the in- 

 side of the crown with a plain strip. To finish 

 it off. I took about a quarter of a yard, and 

 turned the edges in and looped about the out- 

 side of the crown. Tliat made it look nice. It 

 is so light and comfortable that, without the 

 veil, it is nice to wear in the garden or when 

 picking berries. I make over veils of cheese- 

 cloth, with black net face, and draw-strings at 

 the top and bottom. I pin my hat on with long 

 hat-pins. I handle bees only to hive them. 



Mrs. Hannah Rineboi.d. 



Overton. Pa., Mav <). 



HOW TO PREVENT SWARMS FROM ALIGHTING 

 ON TALI. TREES. 



I wish to ask about hiving swarms with clip- 

 ped queens. I lost swarms last season by their 

 going into the top of a large apple-tree. I have 

 never tried clipping queens. My hives are 

 large chaff hives, and sometimes I am alone. I 

 think I could move some of them, but I should 

 like to hear the different methods discussed by 

 the ladies. Mrs. E. M. Crossman. 



Batavia, N. Y., May 8. 



[We would advise you to clip your queens' 

 wings. When a swarm issues, catch the queen 

 at the entrance, put her into a cage, and the 

 latter into a swarming-basket. The bees will 

 probably return soon unless they have a virgin. 

 Where swarms with a queen start to alight on 

 high limbs they can usually be driven away 

 and forced to alight on a lower position with 

 a fountain-pump. We should like to hear how 

 the ladies manage when their men are away.] 



For the benefit of Mrs. M. A. Shepard, I will 

 say that, if she will dip her fingers in kerosene, 

 she can clean the propolis off easily. 



Mrs. a. B. Winder. 



Grand View, Iowa, May 6. 



0a^ QaEg3Fi0N-B6^, 



With Replies from our best Autliorities on Bees 



Question H»0. Would yon have any drone 

 comb in <i hive f If so, hoio much f 



Yes— from two to four square inches. 



New York. C. G. M. Doolittle. 



Y"es — about half a comb in each colony. 

 Wisconsin. S. W. E. France. 



Yes, a small piece the size of your hand in one 

 of the outside combs. 

 'Vermont. N. W. A. E. Manum. 



Yes: the women like to see the men around — 

 a small amount. 

 Illinois. N. W. C. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



I would not leave any in the hive when trans- 

 ferring. The bees will soon have enough and 

 to spare. 



New York. C. P. H. Elwood. 



I prefer to have all worker comb; and even 

 then there will be drones enough reai'ed when 

 occasion demands them. 



New York. E. Rambler. 



Yes. I would leave from five to twenty square 

 inches in each hive. The extreme desire of the 

 bees for some seems to justifv it. 



California. S. R. Wilkin. 



No. T would not have any drone comb in the 

 hive if I could help it just as well as not— not a 

 cell. None is necessary. I know by extended 

 experience. 



Michigan. S. W. James Heddon. 



One need not feel small on the exi.stence of 

 the poor drone. If you have from 20 to 200 

 drone-cells dispersed over 10 frames composing 

 your bi'ood-chamber. your colonies are well 

 supplied. 



Ohio. S. W. C. F. Muth. 



If you have but one colony, and no other bees 

 near. I would leave a piece of drone comb^ as 

 large as your hand or a part of a fi-ame. With 



