86 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1. 



" What are those looking toward success? " 



"Those looking toward success are these: 

 That those on the summer stands have a fly 

 once in six or eight weeks ; that each hive con- 

 tain an abundance of bees (if not in this way, 

 in the fall unite till they are ) ; that they have 

 plenty of good sealed honey, or sugar syrup, 

 made of the best granulated sugar, a good 

 queen, a hive so that the bees can cluster com- 

 pactly, etc., because all of these things have a 

 tendency to accomplish our object of keeping 

 the bees in such a state of quietude that they 

 can contain their excrement for a great length 

 of time, for upon this hangs all the secret of 

 successful wintering." 



"But bees seem to die more rapidly when 

 we have loss in the spring, from the middle of 

 March till fruit-bloom, with purifying flights 

 from once in two weeks to every day. How 

 do you account for this ? " 



" Even so. This has been noticed by many 

 apiarists. The reason is this : Their vitality 

 was so impaired by the strain brought to bear 

 on them, consequent upon their holding their 

 feces four or five mouths during tlie cold of the 

 winter, that they spring dwindled, or, in other 

 words, they died of premature old age, as that 

 which causes violent exercise of any kind 

 shortens the life of the bee very fast ; hence 

 we have bees living only six weeks during 

 June, July, and August, while those emerging 

 from their cells in September and October live 

 from six to eight months if they keep in that 

 quiet state they should to winter perfectly." 



" Well, I am glad I could have this talk with 

 you, for in it ideas have been advanced which 

 are well worth thinking of, and which, if prac- 

 ticed, will help solve the wintering problem." 

 If 'he above conversation does not cover the 

 whole ground our correspondent wished, let 

 him come again, specifying more minutely 

 what he wants. 



[I solicit questions tor this department; but they must be 

 put on separate slips of paper, and marked ' Gleanings De- 

 partment." If you desire an immediate answer, say so at 

 the time of writing, and a private reply will be sent you in 

 advance before your question with answer appears in these 

 columns; but questions that are mixed up with business mat- 

 ters will not only be subject to considerable delay, but pos- 

 sibl.y will receive no answer at all.— Editor.] 



WHY ONE COLONY GATHERS DARK HONEY 

 AND ANOTHER WHITE. 



Will you please tell me from what blossoms 

 bees get the white honey? We have in our 

 apiary one colony that, this last season, pro- 

 duced white honey of a delicate flavor, while 

 another colony having the same conditions of 

 time, range, and choice of flowers, gathered 

 only amber honey of rather strong flavor. I 

 suppose the difference is that the first is a bet- 

 ter breed, coming from a good Italian queen, 

 and that they have a more ' ' esthetic taste ' ' 

 (if such a term might be used in this connec- 

 tion), else how can it be explained? Would 



such a bee go to more trouble to get a certain 

 quality of nectar than another ? 



Auburn, Cal. N. V. Hall. 



[This is a question that I can hardly answer. 

 I know this : That black bees are more inclin- 

 ed to work on buckwheat, and Italians on clo- 

 ver. On my trips through New York I found 

 evidences where blacks or hybrids would show 

 partiality for buckwheat, and pure Italians to 

 clover or basswood. Why this is so, I can not 

 say. 



You do not say whether the bees in the one 

 case were Italians and the others blacks ; but 

 certain it is that the dark honey referred to 

 must have come from some other source than 

 that of the white, for the mere difference in the 

 bpes would not affect the honey. 



It is possible that individual colonies have 

 individual tastes like individual bee-keepers. 

 For instance, some of the York Staters pn fer, 

 even up, buckwheat to the best clover or bass- 

 wood ; and once in a great while we have a 

 customer who come? in and calls for buck- 

 wheat — does not want any thing else. — Ed.] 



THE DRAPER JUMBO HIVE. 



1. What are the practical results of the 10- 

 frame Dovetailed hive with that extra 2j4^ 

 inches in depth ? 



2. Will it be necessary to use the queen-ex- 

 cluder with those deep frames, in running for 

 extracted honey ? I should like to see the re- 

 port of these who have used them this season. 



River Falls, Wis. A. D. Shepard. 



[1. In some localities these large deep hives 

 seem to give better results than the smaller 

 ones. A good deal depends on whether comb 

 or extracted honey is sought. I can only sug- 

 gest that you try a few of them in your locali- 

 ty; and if the few, after two or three seasons' 

 use, seem to give better results than your reg- 

 ular standard Langstroth, then ^ ou would be 

 safe in purchasing more of those Jumbos. 



2. This is a question that I can hardly an- 

 swer. I should say, however, that it would 

 not be as necessary to have perforated zinc on 

 these large brood-chambers as on the smaller 

 ones. Mr. A. N. Draper, of Upper Alton, 111., 

 who has had larjje experience with these big 

 hives, is especially requested to give these 

 questions further consideration. — Ed.] 



drying smoker WOOD WITH A COLD- 

 FRAME. 



I should like to say a few words in regard to 

 fuel for smokers. As I live on a farm I find 

 rotten wood the most convenient to use ; but 

 until last summer I was often bothered to get 

 it to burn readily. Mr. R. L. Taylor says in 

 the Revieiu for September, " Fuel, if pieces of 

 wood, should be kept under cover for two or 

 three years, in a dry place," etc.; and Mr. 

 Greiner says in last Gleanings, rotten wood 

 may be dried sufficiently inside of two or three 

 weeks, by exposing to wind and sunshine, if 

 taken indoors every night. 



Last spring I hit upon the following plan 

 which I think away ahead of either. I took a 



