706 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1. 



brown and Italian, and they are all of that 

 strain now. I commenced watching them, as 

 they worked some on the red: and by their 

 mark, and watching them at the hives". I soon 

 found where the most of them belonged; and 

 I could see a diffei-ence in the honey. Then I 

 became satisfied that I could raise a strain of 

 bees that could gather honey from red clover; 

 and this spring they are just booming on it. 

 and I commenced taking off honey the first 

 of July, and many have filled .i(5 boxes, and 

 are on the second set. The" honey is not 

 quite so white, but of a better flavor and twice 

 as much of it. I hope others will try it. Do not 

 get discouraged, for you will succeed, and not 

 be sorry when you can lug in the big loads as I 

 am doing now. Jacob Childs. 



Amherst. Wis.. July 21. 



[I suppose you mean, friend C, that you have 

 been for some time i-earing queens from colo- 

 nies that stored most honey during red-clover 

 bloom. If this is so, it will be nothing strange 

 if you get a strain of bees as large as you de- 

 scribe.] 



SUCCESS WITH THE DOOLITTI.E CELL -CUPS; 

 BEES FOR BUSINESS IXSTEAD OF BEAUTY. 



I have ten colonies building cells according 

 to Doolittle, and what a lot of fine cells I am 

 harvesting! I am starting a lot of them every 

 day (except Sunday), and some days two lots. 

 His method is far ahead of any other I have 

 ever tried; and the beautiful part of it is, that 

 the cells slip right into the cell-protectors, with- 

 out any trimming at all. except when the bees 

 are getting honey pi-etty fast, when they will 

 sometimes build bits of new comb to the cells. 

 I found one colony this week storing honey so 

 fast from red clover that they were building 

 bits of snowy-white comb to the cells. Who 

 will say that I shall not rear queens from such 

 a queen as this, even if her bees do show but 

 three yellow bands. Your advice, to breed for 

 energetic workers, is to the point. If it were 

 not for my bees' ability to work on I'ed clover. I 

 could hardly carry on queen-rearing now, as 

 the white clover is dried up, and there is nothing 

 for them to work on (to amount to any thing), 

 except red clovei'. It is wonderful to see how 

 they root down to get to the honey. I have not 

 had to use the bee-tent yet this season, for 

 which I am truly thankful. 



My sales during June amounted to S135..50. 

 Gleanings is a good advertising medium. 



Morgan. Ky.. July 14. J. P. Moore. 



the HOFFMAN FRAME. 



I should like to tell you of the Hoffman 

 frames I got of you last spjing. I have used 

 several kinds of frames; but after a thorough 

 test alongside the " thick top.'' I find the Hoff- 

 man far superior to any other. Thev are the 

 fi'ame, and will be for years to come. I find 

 them easier to handle, save time and patience, 

 and, so far as manipulation is concerned, free 

 from bun- and brace combs. The bi-ood-combs 

 are smoother and nicer. They are not difficult 

 to get apart, as was supposed, on account of 

 propolis. E. E. Edwards. 



Alexandria, Ind.. Aug., 1891. 



[You have come to the same conclusion we 

 have, and I feel sure other unprejudiced per- 

 sons must come to a similar conclusion.] E. R. 



the 2Gth a swarm issued, but it didn't work, 

 and I had considerable trouble in getting the 

 queen into the new hive. I then modified the 

 liiver thus: I tore the perforated zinc from the 

 box B. and put in its stead the zinc from box C. 

 and then tore the wire cloth from the second 

 division of box B and beveled the lower edge a 

 little. I place the new hive close to the old one, 

 and raise it a couijle of inches above it on four 

 half-bricks: then put the " hiver " in place, 

 not using box C at all. and 99 out of 100 swarms 

 will hive themselves without any care except 

 placing hivers and hives in place. At least, 

 such is my experience. E. A. Boal. 



Hinchman, Mich., Aug. 10. 



A SWARM THAT KEEPS SWARMING. AND WON'T 

 STAY HIVED: WHAT TO DO. 



Could you tell me what is the matter with a 

 swarm of bees when they keep swarming out 

 every day or two? I put" them into a hive and 

 they will come out and go back to the same 

 hive again. I have two colonies that have done 

 this five or six times this month, and the last- 

 week in June. F. E. Hess. 



Whittemore, Mich.. July 11. 



[Giving a frame of unsealed larva" sometimes 

 makes such restless swarms contented. If this 

 fails, give them the l9,rvie. and, in addition, 

 take the queen away from them. Where bees 

 swarm out one or two times after being put 

 back it is better to put them into an entirely 

 different hive in an entirely different location. 

 Sometimes bees take a notion they just won't 

 stay in a certain hive. It is best to give up to 

 them, and put them somewhere else.] 



THE SELF-HIVER: how IT DID AND DIDN'T 

 WORK. 



In an issue of Gleanings some time ago you 

 called for reports of the self-hiver. so I will 

 give you my experience with it. I placed a 

 hiver at the entrance of a hive June 2.5. and on 



shipping drones early in the season, 



AGAIN. 



In regard to shipping drones, as mentioned on 

 page .5.57. please refer to page 35i5. 1889. Since- 

 that was written we have had two shipments 

 made from the South in April, with entire- 

 success. To get them in the best possible shape, 

 order ahead; and by the time they are wanted 

 your drone brood is nearly ready for hatching 

 when received. Of course, some are hatched. 

 These will do all right by making the nucleus 

 queenless. J. Nebel & Son. 



High Hill, Mo., July 14. 



[It seems, friends, from the above, that, in- 

 stead of shipping drones, you are shipping drone 

 brood. This can be done. I am well awai'e, and 

 I think it quite likely that quite a number of 

 young drones could be sent quite safely in a 

 good-sized nucleus.] 



BEE-PARALYSIS (BACILLUS DEPILIS) EARLY IN 

 THE SEASON. 



Some one says that the nameless bee-disease 

 (or '"bee-paralysis") comes from the brood 

 being overheated in combs that have a large 

 amount of bee-bread in them, and that bees do- 

 not have it early in the season, befoi'e hot 

 weather. Last spring, and this, some of my 

 bees had it as soon as they began to fly. One of 

 the worse cases I have had was the bees from a 

 queen from Florida. If you will set the tin bars 

 In wired frames with the edge against the- 

 foundation, instead of the flat side, they will 

 cover but one row of cells, and the bees will 

 cover them entirely with comb. 



New Hampton, June 8. E. D. Hoavell. 



[Friend H.. I am sure this disease does not 

 originate in the way you suggest. The fact 

 that it is usually found in the progeny of cer- 

 tain queens as long as the queen lives, points 

 pretty clearly to the fact that it is an inherited 

 disease.] 



