734 



GIvEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 15. 



unto it. I prefer the drone-cells to the wax- 

 cups. From my experience it takes a good 

 deal of wax to supply cups for a large breeder, 

 saying nothing of the trouble of making. 

 Every fellow has his plan; and when once 

 familiar with it it is best for him, at least, if 

 not the best way. J. D. FooSHE. 



Coronaca, S. C , Aug. 9. 



[I remember well how, years ago, we took 

 out the larvae of black blood and put in its 

 place larvae from an imported Italian queen, 

 for I did it myself many times ; but I do not 

 remember that we ever exchanged larvae, one 

 for a younger one of the sa)ne race. 



I wish we could determine positively who is 

 right — Mr. Wardell, Doolittle, and others, 

 who seem to think that the use of royal jelly 

 insures a larger percentage of accepted cells, 

 or yourself, Pridgen, and other.'^, who hold 

 the contrary view. We are getting nearer and 

 nearer to the point of agreement ; and I hope 

 that in time there will be only one best meth- 

 od, while now there are apparently thr^e or 

 four that deserve respectful consideration from 

 all careful breeders. — Ed ] 



lengths of the tongues bear to the actual reach 

 of those same bees through the wire cloth, 

 and report through Gleanings. — Ed.] 



A NOVEI. METHOD OF TESTING THE I.ENGTH 

 OF BEES' TONGUES. 



I have just been testing the lengths of the 

 tongues of my bees, and find that a colony of 

 golden all-over Italians has as long as any in 

 the yard. I proceeded as follows : Filled all 

 three holes of a queen-mailing cage (Benton) 

 with candy, mixed stiff, of the very finest 

 sugar, and packed in quite hard. Then 

 I covered the cage with wire tacked on 

 firmly, and put the cage thus prepared down 

 at the entrance of a colony of blacks who dug 

 at it until they sucked^ up all they could get 

 through the meshes of" the wire. Then I took 

 it to another hive and another, until all had 

 been tested to see if they could lower the can- 

 dy still more, but none could until I came to 

 my pet colony of goldens (which, by the way, 

 always have honey from 1 know not where). 

 They at once began to dig out the food until it 

 seemed they would lower it to the bottom. I 

 was very careful, when moving my cage, not to 

 press on the wire. I shall send you several of 

 these bees to be measured. Will you kindly 

 do so and report ? The SwarthmorE. 



Swarthmore, Pa. 



[It rather strikes me you have struck on a 

 good plan. One thing it certainly does — it 

 determines how far bees can really reach 

 through ordinary wire cloth of a queen-cage. 

 Now, then, the next thing is to determine how 

 far it is from the outside of the wire cloth to 

 the candy just below it. I suggest that you 

 drop a pin through one of the meshes, head 

 downward, so the head strikes the candy. 

 With a fine-pointed pen just dipped in ink, 

 mark on the pin just flush with the top of the 

 wire cloth. Lay this down on a micrometer 

 rule measuring off hundredths of an inch, 

 and with a magnifying glass count off the 

 hundredths. I have already reported on the 

 length of the tongues of the bees you have. 

 Now, then, see what proportion the total 



AN EXPERIENCE IN wintering ; WHY THE 

 BEES died. 



As the time is approaching for preparing 

 bees for winter I should like to have your 

 opinion in regard to a trouble I experienced 

 la t winter or spr.ng. I had my bees in good 

 condition (as I supposed) late in the fall. I 

 removed the two oittside frames to give room 

 for chaff division-boards. I placed a Hill de- 

 vice on top of my brood-frames ; over that a 

 light oil-cloth, and over that a chaff cushion, 

 all nicely packed down. In opening them up 

 in the spring I found bees in several colonies, 

 all dead. They had crawled up and filled the 

 space under the Hill device full — all dead, 

 leaving plenty of sealed 'stores. I winter on 

 summer stands. Colonies were all strong. I 

 should like to know the cau>e and remedy. 

 Thos. McGowan. 



Lock No. 4, Pa., Aug. 23. 



[It would seem as if you packed your bees 

 in good shape to go through winter and spring; 

 but the next time I would advise you to sub- 

 stitute, in place of enamel cloth, some porous 

 material like carpeting, or, better still, burlap. 

 If any thing, your bees do not have sufficient 

 pioteclion, as I take it your hives are simply 

 single-walled and that the only double-walled 

 space was the chaff division boards on each 

 side. If the hives were chaff- packed all round, 

 or, better still, regular chaff hives, and you 

 used a good-sized cushion on top, I think you 

 would find your bees would come out in good 

 shape ; but all outdoor colonits should be pro- 

 tected from the high winds of winter. A 

 grove of trees, a barn or building on one side 

 or that side, from which the prevailing winds 

 come, is sometimes suflBcient. — Ed.] 



BEI^GIAN HARES ; SOME OF THE DRAWBACKS 

 TO THE BUSINESS. 

 'Mr. Editor : — Your advice to bee-keepers, 

 to proceed cautiously in the Belgian hare busi- 

 ness, is well taken. There are a good many 

 kept in this section, and I have them too. 

 The business is not all sunshine, as I have 

 learned by experience and observati m. The 

 hares are subject to about as many diseases as 

 chickens, and have a discouraging way of dy- 

 ing off sometimes in large numbers without 

 any apparent cause. They require a great 

 deal of care, and won't bear neglect, and 

 thrive. Careless people, and busy people who 

 are not careless, but have already about all 

 the irons in the fire they can keep from burn- 

 ing, had better pass them by. Of course, 

 they are very prolific, if allowed their own 

 will, and the meat is very good to eat. The 

 most successful breeder I know says if one 

 wants hardy, good-sized stock, the does must 

 have onlv four litters a year, and rear not over 

 six at a litter. They must be protected from 

 dogs, cats, and the young from rats. If con- 

 fined in close quarters, only a few can be kept 

 together, as they fight to kill. Their quarters 



