L891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



633 



i^UEENS BY MAIL TO AUSTRALIA: BROOD- 

 COMBS; HOW I.OXG SHALL THEY BE KEPT ? 



Referring to your notes about sending queens 

 to Australia. I "have liad four queens from Een- 

 ton ari-ive alive after from 42 to 4'.i days in tlie 

 mails; but only about one in ten ariives alive. 

 I have ordered them from various breeders in 

 Cai'uiola. England, and Amei-ica. but liave 

 never received a queen alive except from Hen- 

 ton. I should like to ask how long you keep 

 brood - conilis in use in the brood - chamber. 

 This question arises in my mind. b<'cause. here 

 in New Zealand, owing to the prevalence of foul 

 brood, it is unsafe to let the bees winter twice 

 in succession on the same combs, and we are 

 beginning to qui'Stiou whether, given the right 

 conditions. :uid old combs, the disease will not 

 naturally develop. Is foul brood more preva- 

 lent in California and those States of America 

 where the bees fly every fin'- day during th(> 

 winter, than in those States where they are 

 kept confined during three months or more by 

 cold ? T. G. Brick ELL. 



Dunedin, New Zealand, Mar. 24. 



[Although we have had success in mailing 

 <iueens to Australia, and failure too. for that 

 matter, we may meet with entire failure. We 

 have sent quite a number to Australia and the 

 distant islands of the sea this summer, but as 

 yet it is too early to receive reports. We shall 

 promptly give the results as soon as we hear. 



Regarding brood-combs, we have some that 

 have been in use ten years that are good yet, 

 and we see no reason why they should not be 

 perfectly good foi- ten years to come. You 

 must have foul brood pretty bad in New Zea- 

 land if it is not wise to winter or use combs the 

 second season. It is quite possible that, where 

 bees can fly nearly every day, the disease 

 spreads more rapidly, and. at the same time, is 

 more difficult to eradicate. If your country- 

 men would follow up your foul-brood law as 

 the Canadians are doing, is it not possible that 

 your foul-brood trouble would, in two or three 

 years, be a thing of the past?] E. R. 



BEES ON SHARES. AXD SO QUARREL IX SET- 

 TLING. 



I have just read an item on bees on shares, 

 page .")58. and am somewhat surprised at the 

 position you take as to the inevitable quarrel, 

 etc. Some ten years ago I took a lot of bees on 

 shares of a friend — no writings but a verbal 

 agreement to keep them as long as I wished — 

 we sharing equally the honey, and also ex- 

 penses of new hives, etc., I to return original 

 hives and half of the increase. In five years I 

 got quite enough of the bee-business, and we 

 divided up. Then I put out my part to another 

 friend, on same conditions. He has them still. 

 There has never been the slightest misunder- 

 standing or hard feelings between either of us. 

 I have known of some others taking bees on 

 shares, but have never heard of any quarrel. 



Hyde Park, N. Y.. July 15. A. T. Cook. 



FEEDING SUGAR SYRUP TO FILL OLTT PARTLY 

 FILLED SECTIONS. 



I have about 1.50 .sections about half filled, 

 which I should like to have finished for our 

 own use. Could we feed sugar syrup and have 

 them finished? Would it keep? 



July 1(). A Subscriber. 



[No, don't feed sugar. Feed nice extracted, 

 if any thing. Even though you did intend to 

 use the sugar-fed honey yourself, the practice 

 on general principles is bad. While it would 

 be all right in your case, the general public 

 might interpret it otherwise.] E. R. 



successful bee-hunting in FLORIDA. 



In the A B C of Bee Culture you speak of the 

 danger of smashing eveiy thing when cutting 

 bee-trees. I have had no trouble, and I have 

 cut seven since I purchased my hives of you. 

 You know in I'lorida there are acres and acres 

 of forest, and it don"t make any difference if I 

 do cut a tiee. Afti r we find a tree we just car- 

 ry a hive to it and cut it down. The instant it 

 falls you must stop the hole up or you will have 

 a livi'ly time of it. Then we give them a good 

 smoking: then chop notches in the side, and 

 split the hollow open, from one end to the other. 

 We then cut the brood and honey out. We take 

 tite best pieces of brood and fit them into the 

 frames. After we get all the comb out of it we 

 proceed to hive in the ui-iuil way. I believe I 

 got over half a barrel of honey out of the seven, 

 and still it was early. This is how I got my 

 stai't with bees. I am going to Italianize them 

 — afti'r a while. H. C. Haven. 



St. PYancis Lake. Fla.. Mav 10. 



a FAILITRE OF HONEY IN PENNSYLVANIA. 



Honey season is over for this season, and al- 

 most a total failure. From 8rt colonies, spring 

 count. I took about 700 lbs. of comb honey, and 

 increased to 12n colonies. This is the second 

 year we have had an abundance of white clo- 

 ver, but no honey in it. The weather seemed 

 to be about right" too. but no honey. I can not 

 account for it: so far as I have heard, the honey 

 crop is no better. Osman McCarty. 



Millsboro. Pa.. Julv 13. 



early-blooming LINDEN. 



I have a linden on my place that seems at 

 least two weeks earlier in blooming than any 

 other specimen about here. Has an unusually 

 early variety of linden ever come under your 

 notice? I inclose a specimen of seed-pod. and 

 also one of the common variety, which you see 

 has not vet opened. Levi De Freest. 



Troy, N. Y., July. 1891. 



bees booming in MINNESOTA: 24 LBS. FROM 

 ONE COLONY IN ONE DAY. 



Bees are booming on basswood. One colony 

 on the scales yesterday gained 24 lbs. We are 

 having clear' bright weather, and every thing 

 looks lovely for the bee-keeper. 



F. B. Jones. 



Howard Lake, Minn., July 12. 



[Friend J., that sounds like friend Hosmer of 

 old. Y^ou don't tell us liow many colonies you 

 have in that location, where one gained 24" lbs. 

 in one day. Let us know more about it, and 

 please give a report of your whole crop.] 



SUCCESSFUL wintering IN THE DOVETAILED 

 HIVE WITH CHAFF CUSHIONS. 



I use the Dovetailed hive. and. with the chafT 

 cushions. I have wintered out of doors and lost 

 but two swarms out of thirteen, and they not 

 by cold. One lost the queen in the winter, the 

 oilier died for lack of stores. We have had a 

 long cold winter in this region. 



Spencer, Mass., May 4. J. S. Gledhill. 



SOLICITUDE FOR A. E. MANUM. 



My solicitude goes out for Mr. Manum with 

 his 600 stocks of bees to work all alone. How 

 can he stand this and live ? Better not. Manum, 

 is my judgment. B. C. Vandall. 



Monterey, Cal., May 2. 



From 100 colonies I have not 50 lbs. of good 

 honey, the rest nothing but honey-dew. 



Erne.st Shuman. 

 Breckenridge, Mo.. July 13. 



