1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



6(59 



going into that hive with a will that soon took 

 all in that came, and at jnst 3 p. m. I opened 

 the hive and saw that not over half of my 

 swarm had come back. I weighed them, and 

 had 4 lbs. back, out of the 10 lbs. that went 

 away: so I gave them a frame of brood, sealed 

 and unsealed, and in just 71 hours they had ten 

 queon-cells started in good shai)e. Now. here 

 is the strange part of the drama: Why did those 

 bees come back without the queen? " Some say 

 pai't of the swarm got lost. AVho ever heard of 

 a bee getting lost? J. R. Cassei.man. 



Panama. N. Y.. .July 27. 



[Friend V.. all you mention is but an ordinary 

 occnrrenc(>. with the exception of a part of the 

 swarm coming back: and I can think of no ex- 

 planation except that the swarm must have 

 strung out to such lengtli that a part of it with- 

 out the queen got sei>arated from the rest; and 

 if they came back after only a short interval of 

 twenty minutes, my opinion is that they never 

 clustered anywhere at all. They simply got 

 lost, and flew around in dismay, hunting for 

 ■their queen: and as they could not do any bet- 

 ter they went back to their hive where they last 

 saw her. It is true, bees do not often get lost — 

 that is. they do not get lost to such an extent 

 but that they can tind their way back to their 

 hive; and that is just what these bees did do: 

 The other part of the swarm got away from 

 them, and they had no means of "catching on "' 

 to the lost trail, inasmuch as it all happened up 

 in the air.] 



THE BROTlIEKHOOl) OF FEELING IX GLEAN- 

 INGS. 



Friend E. Tt.: — In your criticism, or com- 

 ments, on my article (p. 418) you mention that 

 Mr. Hoffman uses hive rabbets only J4 in. wide 

 and deep. That is a fact which was not men- 

 tioned in any other article in regard to the hive, 

 and must, to some extent, assist in the jtreven- 

 tion of the destroying of the lives of our little 

 laborers. 1. In regard to the zinc roofs I use. 

 they cost me about one shilling each, size 31 x22 

 inches. They need no paint, and are practical- 

 ly everlasting. 2. In regard to escapes. I was 

 prepossessed with the one brought out by Mr. 

 Porter, and made one on the same principle to 

 try it. I hope I have not made myself liable 

 for infringing a patent, however : and although 

 the night was cold, there were only a very few 

 bees in the body next morning. 3. I see you ask 

 for opinions as to the best or most attractive 

 features of your journal. To me the best fea- 

 ture of it was. and is still, its warm genial at- 

 mosphere. It tnakes one feel at home to read 

 of ■■ friend '■ Root, "friend" Miller, "friend" 

 Doolittle. Terry, and the rest; and to see the 

 way in which every one corrects every one else 

 without the corrected one getting mad and 

 leaving the school does me good : and although 

 I may never cross the tide that separates us. yet 

 the influence of this broad charity helps one to 

 stand up and do his own duty in a cheerful 

 spirit: for are we not all brothers and sisters, 

 with, in the aggregate, common interests? 4. I 

 have extracted the first honey this season to- 

 day. July 1. The weather is unsettled at pres- 

 ent, but all around is one mass of white clover, 

 and none cut yet. as, owing to the protracted 

 drouth, the hay was too short and poor, and the 

 present showers promise to help it a little. 



J. Stokmonth. Jr. 



Kirkbride Silloth. Cumb. Co.. England. 



A STATEMENT OF ACT OCNT WITH THE BEES. 



I will give you my experience and some fig- 

 tires, the result of the nice queen and two 

 pounds of bees I bought of you in August. 1889. 



This is considered a very poor countrv for bees, 

 and I think it is justly considered so." 

 August. 1889, to 2 lbs. bees, one Dr. Cr. 



queen. - - - .^.5 00 

 Express on same - - - 1 7.") 



By August. 1890. increased to 4 



colonies, at ■S.i 00 each, 1=20 00 



By July. 1S91. increase of (5 colo- 

 nies, at ?o W) each, - 30 00 

 By July, 1891. sold honey to the 



amount of - - 17 00 



By July. 1891, 3 qtieens - - 3 00 



By July, 1891. 10 hives cost - 11 00 



Totals - - - .«17 7.i ?70 00 



Net profit in 2 years, .52 2.5 



You will notice that I valued the bees at .*5.00 

 per colony, but I would not take SIO.OO per colo- 

 ny, cash, for them* I feel sure that I have as 

 nice and as good working bees as any one in 

 the business. Since I have had Italians, a man 

 could not give me the common black bees, as I 

 consider the blacks as worthless in comparison 

 with the Italians. 



I have one question I wish to ask yott. I have 

 been told that bees could not be kept on a rail- 

 road where coal is used — that the coal would 

 kill out the bees in a year or so. Is it so? If 

 it is. I shall have to move mine off somewhere 

 from the railroad, as I will not part with my 

 bees now. for I love them too well to have them 

 destroyed in that way. 



I think the Dovetailed hive will be the hive 

 for me in the future, as the one I bought of you 

 a few days ago shows, according to my notion, in 

 addition to my figures. I expect to get at least 

 ?^.5.00, or may be, S10.(MJ worth of honey yet from 

 my bees this season. H. N. John.son. 



Mooresville. N. C. July 25. 



[Don't be alarmed because of coal smoke, and 

 the proximity of railroads. We have two rail- 

 roads, with attendant switches, within 100 feet 

 of us. besides the smoke from our own factory 

 chimney. If there were any truth in such a 

 statement, the bees ought to have been dead 

 long ago.] 



ANOTHER COLONY LIVING AND PROSPERING 

 WITHOUT A HIVE. 



I discovered, a few days ago. an outdoor colo- 

 ny of bees which seemed to prefer the pure air, 

 plenty of it. They liad located on an outside 

 limb of an apple-tree, within 20 feet of my 

 brother's residence in Norwood, a beautiful 

 suburb of Cincinnati. They had evidently been 

 there for some three or four weeks, for they had 

 some four sheets of comb hanging down from 

 the small limbs to which they were attached, 

 and bees already hatching. I would have left 

 them there to see what effect the weather 

 would have, and how long they would endure 

 the winter frosts, but for the fact that the wind 

 had already detached one of the combs, which 

 fell to the gi'ound. and was the means of dis- 

 covering to me the location of the swarm. 



Cincinnati, O., July 18. J. Ferris Patton. 



[We have had several other recorded in- 

 stances where colonies have lived and prospered 

 in the open air; but that prosperity, except in 

 warm weather, probably would not extend be- 

 yond the summer season.] 



\ QL'EEN laying drone eggs after BEING 



chilled. 

 In June. 1890. I started a nucleus which was 

 rather weak, but succeeded in rearing a fine 

 Italian queen, and in August it was strong and 

 running over with bees. Jan. 7. for some un- 

 accountable reason, the queen - bees and all 



