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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15. 



Ernest: — Your letter is at hand inquiring about the 

 buckwheat acreage of this vicinity. It would be im- 

 possible to give a near estimate ; but I will give you 

 the number of bushels handled at the several mills in 

 this vicinitv. Becker & Co., 75,000 bushels ; I'tman 

 Bros., oO.OOO : Rickard & Co., 2.5,000, be.sides .several 

 smaller mills that handle all together about 25,000 

 m jre, besides thovi.sandsof bushels u.sed up by farmers 

 for feed and buckwheat cakes. 



I have never kept an exact account of how much 

 buckwheat honey we get on an average per colony. 

 To give you a little idea of how it comes in when con- 

 ditions are favorahle, two seasons ago we extracted 

 the yard all cl an on Friday; finished up about two 

 o'clock. On Monday following, all were full again. 

 Most colonies had on two and three .sets of supers, L. 

 size (9 combs each). We weighed the honey from one 

 colony, and got 4(1 lbs. This was the 13th of Aui^ust, 

 when buckwheat was in its prime. At this time, 

 about TOO or 800 colonies were working the same terri- 

 tory. I could count from the bee-yard, which is not 

 favorably located for a view, and within three-foui ths 

 mile were 100 fields of buckwheat, containing from 5 to 

 2fJ acres in each field. Last season, although not as 

 favorable as some seasons, we got an average of 100 

 lbs. of extracted buckwheat per colony. This was at 

 the out-yard which vou visited when here, and about 

 500 or (iOO colonies were working the territory. 



Gallupville, N. Y., March 7. F. Boomhower. 



Mr. Boomhower has three sons. The eldest, 

 Novice, I should think, was 23 or 24 ; and the 

 next two, twins, 17 or 18. All three are expert 

 bee-keepers. Novice is one of those "light- 

 ning operators ". for which York State is 

 famed. Indeed, I saw him go through an 

 extracting yard at a rate of speed that made 

 me think that we Westerners (or Easterners?) 

 did not know mtich about handUng bees 

 rapidly; but, like his father, he seemed to be 

 or e of those careful, precise bee-keepers who 

 not only work rapidly but who secure great 

 results in honey. 



WINTERING IN A DUGOUT. 



Six Inches of Water in the Cellar an Advantage. 



BY HARRY LATHROP. 



Another spring finds us with our busy 

 workers, the bees, removed from their winter 

 quarters. From present appearances my bees 

 have wintered well. I have to report the loss 

 of but one colony out of ninety wintered in 

 my dugoitt. All colonies outside, in double 

 hives, are apparently all right, and all seem to 

 be strong in bees. 



There is one peculiarity of my bee-cellar, 

 the one shown in the Picture Gallery of the last 

 edition of the ABC. It is usually quite dry 

 until toward spring ; then when the break-up 

 comes, the water will stand about six inches 

 deep all over the bottom. This year it was 

 that deep for four weeks previous to the time 

 the bees were taken out. I have noticed that 

 the bees are quieter after the water comes. 

 This cellar has sand bottom, stone wall for 

 sides, plank and dirt top, with a board roof 

 over all. I have a large cellar under my 

 dwelling at Monroe, Wis., which I arranged 

 especially for wintering bees. It is well ven- 

 tilated, and dry; but there is more dampness 

 in hives wintered in it, and the combs are not 

 in as good condition as those wintered in the 

 old dugout. 



HOW TO CLIP OUEENS. 



The season for clipping queens will soon be 

 here. As I have practiced clipping for years, 

 and believe I can clip as rapidly and safely 

 with no device but my fingers and the scissors 

 as any one can by the use of any clipping- 

 device, I will tell the readers of Gleanings 

 how I operate. This is nothing new, but it 

 may be of service to those who have yet to 

 learn how. 



The best time to clip queens is during the 

 first real warm weather of spring before the 

 colonies have become so populous as to make 

 it difficult to find the individual. If queens 

 are clipped only at the opening of the season 

 one can easily keep a record of their ages, as 

 queens to be clipped this year are always 

 known to be of last year's rearing'. But now 

 to the work : 



Having opened the hive, and quieted the 

 bees with a little smoke if necessary, look 

 carefully over the combs until you see the 

 queen. Pick her up by the wings between 

 the thumb and forefinger of the right hand ; 

 then transfer her to the left hand by grasping 

 her legs between the thtimb and finger. When 

 3'our right hand is free, get hold of your sharp- 

 pointed, keen-cutting scissors, which should 

 be kept handy. Then, while holding the 

 queen by the legs with your left hand, slip a 

 point of the scissors under both wings on one 

 side, and clip off about two-thirds of their 

 length; release the queen on the combs, and 

 let her run down. I have never seen any loss 

 that arose from clipping queens. I would not 

 think of trying to handle an apiary, especially 

 one run for comb honey, in any other way. 

 With clipped queens I allow natural swarming 

 to take place ; but there is no hustling round 

 after runaway swarms, or climbing of trees. 

 Having caged the queen when a swarm is 

 issuing, the apiarist is master of the situation. 



Browntown, Wis. 



HONEY REPORT. 



We are havirvg the largest saw-palmetto 

 bloom I ever saw; but as we are having a 

 severe drouth — no rain of any consequence 

 since last December — the honey-flow is com- 

 paratively light; but the honey is thick, and 

 can be extracted before it is sealed. We have 

 just extracted twelve gallons from four colo- 

 onies, and expect to extract two or three 

 times more. Young G. Lee. 



Glenoak, Fla., May 4. 



bee-keeping in GEORGIA. 



Bee-keeping is a long distance behind the 

 times here in Georgia, and thousands of tons 

 of honey and much wax go unmarketed, ow- 

 ing to the fact that our people have never re- 

 alized their advantage in this direction. Here 

 in southwest Georgia the gallberry is a certain 

 surplus every year. It grows in and around 

 the edges of the swamps, and is independent 

 of weather conditions, while cotton and the 

 cow-pea (or field-pea) give abundant stores 

 for winter. James L. Montgomery. 



Americus, Ga., May 2. 



