170 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



:\Iak. 1. 



stretch some, even when it is wired, and there 

 will ht' drone comb drawn ont. I wonld not use 

 thiir fonndation in hrood-chamherif the medium 

 oi' heavy cost doiibl(> prici-; and I never put in 

 foundation withoni wii ins. What use is there 

 in saving a iitth' expense and failing to accom- 

 plish one of the objects of using foundation — 

 viz.. to prevent dione coml)? It can not be too 

 thin for sections. J. F. Van Pkttkn. 



Linn. Kan.. Jan. 27. 



THP: M KIXI.KY BIM.. on ADUI/rKHATEI) IIOXKV 

 ANI> I.OW-I'inCKD HONKV. 



It is al?nost impossible to sell honey not sTict- 

 ly firstclass. TheMcIvinley bill has done us in- 

 calculable injury; and if something is not done 

 soon to right the wi'ong flone ns. prolitable bee 

 keeping will be a thing of the past. Why are 

 not steps t!il<cn at once by the [{ee-l<(>ppers* [^^n- 

 ion to lay the matter befoie tlie proper commit- 

 tee of Congress? Emu. .1. Kaxtki!. 



Nauvoo. TIL. Feb. 1. 



[While the low price of sugar, as provided for 

 in the McKinli'V l)ill. may have some effect on 

 the price of honey, it is only slight in compari- 

 son with the way some packing-honsos are [jut- 

 ting up glucosed honey and calling it the pure 

 article. It is quite useless to attribute all un- 

 pleasant business phenomona to the McKinley 

 bill: but against these adultcriited goods on the 

 market, bee-keepers must i-ise and do some- 

 thing. We were quite di-;inclined to believe 

 there was any such di-repntable business going 

 on: but facts coming in are opening our eyes 

 somewhat. See editoi'i;il comments elsewhere]. 



Whenever it is a little warm, the bees come out 

 of every hive and mark all over the ends of 

 them as they do in spring, and a large lot of 

 them fall on the snow and die. and I am afraid 

 that] am going to lose them. What shall I do 

 to prevent the slanshtei- of my bees? I have 

 thought sometimes! wonld put a wire screen ovei' 

 the enti'ance. but have been fearful to do so. 

 My hives all stand on the noi'th side of my 

 house, but all face tlie south. Although thev 

 are somewhat shaded with trees and vines.rthe 

 sun warms them quite readilv. 



Kent, O., Feb. '?. H. W. Doncasteh. 



[Bees are quite apt to fly out and die as you 

 describe. We think nothing serious will come 

 of it unless your hix'es have bad or poorly ripen- 

 ed stores. If the entrances aii' slnided tlie 

 bees wonld he less liable to tlv out. Whatever 

 youdo. don't shut tlu> bees in ] 



SUf'CKSS WITH nOOI.ITTT.K 8 MKTHoO OF I!KAK- 

 ING gUKK.NS. 



We can not se(> how any one can fail to raise 

 queens iiy Dool it tie's plan. We have had a 

 poor vear. and yet we have never tried a colony 

 and failed. We have always raised some cells 

 (on an average nine), and w(^ considered that 

 good. We think the b(-e-keepers owe brotlier 

 Doolittle a vote of thanks for what he has given 

 to the bee-keeping world: and lie does it in a 

 good way. not claiming all the credit himself. 

 That is what I like about it. 



Buffalo. Jan. IT. McKini.ky i<: Co. 



WHY THEV CUT DOWN THE CO.MBS. 



What is the cau-^e of the bees cutting 

 tlie comlis in tlie surplus chamber in 

 queen-excluders for extratcting? What 

 remedy? S. F. Mii.i 



N. Manchester, hid., Feb. 3. 



[We can suggest no cause unless you 

 spaced your combs closer than I'V or closer 

 your custom. The (lueen-excliiders could 

 no influence on the matter.] 



dowir 

 using 

 is the 



/EH. 



have 

 than 

 have 



IX WHAT CI.-\SS OF THE AI.BAXV GliADINO 



WOULD SOUTHERN POI'L.VK OR Tri.IP 



HOKEY fOME ? 



I see from the reports of the convention re- 

 cently held at Albany, that there was adopted 

 a standard of grading honey: and fi'om the 

 way I understand the matter. I think our class 

 of honey is left out. Our lioney is mostly from 

 the poplar, or tulip: is of good flavor, and am- 

 ber in color. We have some honey-dew, but we 

 don't put it on the market. If I have not mis- 

 construed the meaning of the report adopted. 

 I could not tell what class to put my honey in. 

 I should like to have a little more light on the 

 subject. L. B. Tot.an. 



Kerr vi lie. Tenn., Feb. 8. 



HOW LOXG M.\Y A COLONY LIVE? 



The folks here tell me there is a swarm of 

 bees'near here that has never swarmed, to their 

 knowledge. Can you tell me the reason why 

 they do not? How long will as warm of bees 

 live? L. Oz.MUN. 



PeEU, Wash.. Jan. l.>. 



[A colony of bees may exist for fifty years or 

 longer. In garrets tliey have been known to 

 live for many years without swarming. But it 

 should be understood that the individual bees 

 and queens live no longer than the average — 

 the continuance of the colony depending upon 

 the infusion of new blood. 1 



TWO I'OOI! SEASONS. BUT NOT DISCOURAGED. 



I am largely dependent on my bees for an in- 

 come. We have had two flat failures in succes- 

 sion — no honey last year, and only two or three 

 pounds per colony the year before, and a heavy 

 feed-bill to foot: but I am not discouraged, and 

 I think I score a point when I say that we need 

 to keep posted more now than ever. 



Monroe. la.. Jan. 12. J. A. Mash. 



GOOD WINTERINO. 



My bees had a tine flight to-day. They bring 

 in a good deal of pollen. They have "a good 

 supijly of food — no winter loss. They wintered 

 outdoors in my own hives. Many of my hives 

 have no frames in the lower or brood story. I 

 have a movable rack in the top of the lower 

 story, with spaced joists to fasten strips. 



O'Quiiin, Texas. Feb. 2. J. C. Melcher. 



A GOOD YIELD FOR INI)L\X^ TERRITORY. 



My crop of honey for 1891 was ,3().5o lbs. from 

 ;t2 colonies, spring count: ;{loO lbs. of comb hon- 

 ey, and .50U lbs. extracted, from unfinished sec- 

 tions. I increased to 10.5 colonies — an average 

 of 70 lbs. per colony. .My best hive yielded 1.57 

 lbs., all comb honey. This crop of honey 

 brought me a little over $.500. M. Herman. ' 



Berwyn, Ind. Ter., Jan. 25. 



a good INVESTMENT. 



I have had only two years of experience in 

 bee culture, and it has been both a pleasure and 

 profit. I began two years ago svith four hives, 

 which cost me ten dollars. They gave me 200 

 lbs. of nice comb honey, worth j<20.00. My in- 

 crea.se was two swarms. I could see a net 

 profit in the small purchase of .*15.0(), so last 

 spring I bought iiuite a lot of colonies which 

 yielded as well as the first. 1 now have in- 

 creased my stock to 1(14 hives. 



W. M. Scruggs. 



Tracy City, Tenn., Jan. 1, 1892. 



SOME HEAVY SHIPMENTS OF HONEY. 



Mr. E. R. Root: — Your father desired me to 

 send you a statement of the amount of honey 



