98 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. L 



I make the bottom-bar kxfV and they go on 

 wide side up. I intend to try them abontthe 

 same size with the edge up. That will give less 

 surtace underneath, and more stiffness to the 

 frames when pulled upward. Bottom-bars 

 might be dispensed wilh altogether were it not 

 for the fact that they are needed to give 

 strength to the frame: therefore the smaller we 

 can make them, and preserve the requisite 

 strength to the frame, the better it will be. 



Wetumpka, Ala., Jan. 20. J. M. Jenkins. 



SUCCESSFl'L MAILING OF QUEENS TO AUSTRAL- 

 IA, AGAIN. 



The two queens arrived on the 12th of Sept. 

 They were both in splendid condition. The 

 first that T opened had eight dead bees in the 

 box, and the other one had only one dead one. 

 The box with the eight (h-ad ouf^s had consumed 

 the most stores, and the inside of the box was 

 very dirty. The other box was almost as 

 clean as the day it was made. The bees balled 

 one of the queens after they had liberated her. 

 but I saw them in time, for she is laying all 

 right, and does not seem any the worse. She 

 has now got four combs tilled with eggs and 

 brood. The other one is a little ahead of her. 

 as she has eggs and brood in Hve combs. We 

 have every promise of a good season. The bees 

 are beginning to swarm. We have been 

 troubled very much with foul brood, but I am 

 happy to say that mine are free from it now. 

 Jamks Adamson. 



Hastings, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, Oct. 6. 



ANOTHER VICTIM TO GRIP. 



Baxter C. Griffith, one of our brightest young 

 apiarists, has gone to join the great majority. 

 His illness was short — only eight days. Grip was 

 followed by pneumonia. The only child of 

 aged parents; the father of five lovely girls, and 

 the owner of a large apiary, with no one left to 

 manage it — all go to make his death a peculiarly 

 sad one. His place in church, in state, in api- 

 culture, and in society, will be hard to fill. He 

 was a bee-keeper of only a few years; but by 

 his untiring efforts, and the knowledge gleaned 

 from his many text-books and journals, it is 

 safe to say he was well advanced in the art of 

 bee-keeping. He was a consistent member of 

 the A. R. P. church, and his pastor's loss is 

 hardly second to that of his family. To his be- 

 reaved wife we can only tender our sympathy, 

 and point her to Him who does all things well. 



Pineville, N. G. A Friend. 



MR. DOOLITTLE ON HIBERNATION. 



I find but little to controvert in Mr. Doolittle's 

 article on p. 45, except his narrow definition of 

 hibernation. It is not turning the word from its 

 legitimate meaning to make it designate the 

 state of quietude, torpor, or semi-torpor, which 

 he describes, and which is necessary to the best 

 wintering of bees, wlu^ther out of doors or in- 

 doors. Bears hibernate, but they do not'" freeze 

 up solid." If a thermometer could be introduc- 

 ed into a beai''s internal economy while in a 

 state of hibernation it would register higher 

 than f)0 degrees. The bee-cluster is a kind of 

 entity during winter cjuietudc oi' torpor. Hi- 

 bernation is not a fixed condition. It has its 

 degrees and variations. See Kirby and Spence's 

 Entomology, and other similar works. 



Guelph, Out., Jan. 23. Wm. F. Clarke. 



fully fill your father's place as editor of Glean- 

 ings? I venture the assertion, that the ques- 

 tion has been propounded thousands of times, " I 

 wonder how Gleanings will prosper when A. I. 

 Root is taken away." But He that doeth all 

 things well has pi'ovided for the continuance 

 and prosperity of that, of which from its birth 

 he has had a controlling interest. May you 

 both be spared yet many years to enjoy its pros- 

 perity is my prayer. I want to thank you for 

 the kind words, and prominence you have given 

 me in your very nice report of our convention. 

 I am sorry the meeting was not up to the aver- 

 age, but you have made the reason very plain., 

 D Fremont, Mich., Jan. 19. Geo. E. Hilton. 



[Thanks. For the last five years'we[have had 

 editorial charge of Gleanings so far as it relates 

 to bees. If we have done well on the last three 

 or four numfjers of Gi>eanings it only shows 

 that it is not new business to us. We have just 

 been keeping on in the even tenor of our way.] 



AN average of 160 LBS. OF HONEY FROM'6.5. 



colonies, and ajj increase of 20 

 colonies. 



I keep my bees near the Mississippi jRiver. on 

 the west side. and. you might say. in a perfect 

 wilderness of wild flowers on which they work 

 from the lattei' part of February until about 

 the 1st of November. I commenced in the 

 spring of 1S91 with tw colonies in fair condition, 

 and inci<'ase(l to S~^ colonies. I left plenty in 

 hive to do them through the winter, and took, 

 in 1-lb. sections. 280(i lbs.; extracted. 780u lbs., 

 an average of KiO lbs. of honey per colony. Be- 

 sides that I saved 122 lbs. of beeswax. I have 

 had to sell lower than heretofore, parties back 

 of Memphis, my best market, underselling me. 

 R. J. Mathews. 



Rosedale. Miss., Jan. 1. 1892. 



THE FESTIVE BUMBLE-BEE. 



A LITTLE PRACTICAL EXPKKIENCE. 



GLEANINGS FOR .TAN. 1.5. AND THE .lUNIOR ED- 

 ITOR. 



Dear Bro. ^r/icxf.-— Gleanings for the 15th 

 is here, filled to the covers with good things. 

 Do you know that it is wonderfully gratifying 

 to the bee-keeping world to see that you can so 



Wlien a g'entle kind of stirring- "iieatli a tuft of 

 grass 1 see. 



And 1 hear the g^entle buzzing- of a lonely bumble- 

 bee. 



Then I know tliat I shall catch it, and my flesh in 

 fancy itches, 



As I feel its little stinger througli tlie seat of my 

 old breeches. 



Every tingle of a shingle has an echo as it hits; 



But a thousand burning fancies from a bee-sting- 

 always flit; 



While a thousand bees and hornets 'neath my coat- 

 tail seemed to swarm, 



For there's nothing like a bumble-bee Ui make a 

 fellow warm. 



Away out 'cit)ss the meadow I thought the thing 

 had passed. 



But soon beneath my coat-tail I knew 'twas stick- 

 ing fast; 



And there it kept a buzzing, and merrily did sing. 



And all the time kept playing with its dainty little 

 sting. 



There was an intermission, and I thought, " Now, 

 here's my clianee;" 



And so 1 struek at Mr. Bee, but only hit my pants. 



For that cross bee soon showed me that it could 



swiftly fly- 

 It came around so quickly and hit me o'er the eye I 



It never stopped a moment, but quickly flew aloft — 



My eye, it swelled to blindness— my other end got 

 soft. 



Oh loving, tender mercy! cast your pitying glances 

 down, 



For I'm the worst used fellow in all this Hawkeye 

 town. 



I've had, of fun and spoit, all I ever care to see. 



And I never more will mimkey with a festive bum- 

 ble-bee. 

 Muscatine, Iowa. JOHN E. Fcltz. 



