1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1161 



STEALING bees; THE REMEDY. 



I have had two hives stolen. I had taken 

 out most from the top body. The thieves 

 took the hives in the night, carrying them 

 out in the field away from the house, tore out 

 good honey, then threw the hive and brood 

 down and left for home. I know pretty well 

 who it is, but how can I prove it? The bees 

 came back next day, what were alive; but 

 it is so late, and having no queen or honey I 

 don't know that they are worth saving. 

 How can I protect them in the future? 

 Would they do well in a shed? Are bee- 

 houses a success? I don't know but if I 

 would build a tight fence around them it 

 would be all that is necessary. They are 

 only a few rods fi'om my house. I don't 

 want to give up mv bees. What can I do? 



Tamaroa, 111., Oct. 11. G. M. Ames. 



[About the best remedy for a case of this 

 kind is to put up a sign at the bee-yard, of- 

 fering $100 reward for the arrest and con- 

 viction of parties tampering with or stealing 

 your honey or bees. la most States there 

 is a very heavy penalty for such kind of 

 meddling. Thieves of this kind are usually 

 afraid that somebody will ' ' squeal, ' ' and aft- 

 er the sign is put up I do not think you will 

 have any further trouble about their being 

 meddled with. This remedy has been applied 

 in a good many cases, and has worked very 

 satisfactorily. While you may not secure 

 the arrest and conviction of the guilty par- 

 ties, you will probably prevent them from 

 committing any more acts of tresspass like 

 this. House-apiaries are all right, but ex- 

 pensive.— Ed.] 



VENTILATING THROUGH THE HIVE-BOTTOM 

 FOR WINTER AND SUMMER. 



I wish to suggest a new kink. I've not 

 tried it. It is to have a ventilator in the 

 bottom-board togive'plenty of air at all times, 

 and such space covered on both sides with 

 wire screen just coarse enough not to let the 

 bees through; then there will be no need of 

 so large an entrance; and in hot weather, 

 when bees get to robbing, close the entrance 

 and not smother the bees. By having such 

 a ventilator the entrance need not be large 

 enough at any time to admit a mouse. Those 

 fellows make me some trouble. 



I have been cutting alfalfa to-day, Oct. 3, 

 and have not seen a bee in the field. There 

 is plenty of bloom yet, as there has been no 

 frost, except Sept. 15, and that did no dam- 

 age to any thing. They never do work on it 

 much, and there are some seeds on it. I 

 have had alfalfa growing for six years. I 

 sometimes, when the entrance is large, put 

 some loose blocks on the bottom-board under 

 the frames to make a bridge for the bees to 

 get on the combs in the middle of the hives. 

 They should be loose when clearing off the 

 bottom. M. W. MURPHEY. 



Cuba, III. 



[I doubt if it would be advisable to have 

 the wire cloth of small enough mesh to ex- 

 clude the bees. Dead bees and general ac- 



cumulations of dirt would gather on it while 

 in the cellar, to such an extent as practical- 

 ly to defeat the very object of its use. Bet- 

 ter make the meshes large enough so the 

 bees can go through, yet small enough to ex- 

 clude mice. For summer use a wooden slide 

 could close it up entirely when not needed. 

 -Ed.] 



sciatica and muscular rheumatism cured 



by bee-stings; the cure in proportion 



to the pain from the sting. 



I have been much interested in the articles 

 on bee-stings curing rheumatism; and as a 

 living example that they will do so in cer- 

 tain cases I will give my experience. 



I am a locomotive engineer, and for 26 

 years I have been "shook" or "shaken" 

 worse than any shook or shaken swarm, with 

 the result that for years I sufl^ered with 

 sciatica and muscular rheumatism. At one 

 time two doctors told me I would have to 

 give up running an engine. Now my opin- 

 ion is that bee-stings help rheumatism in 

 proportion to the amount the person stung 

 suff'ers from said stings. I have kept bees 

 several years; but one sting on my hand will 

 cause my arm to swell so badly that some- 

 times the skin will crack in places. There 

 have been several times when I have been 

 stung once; and before I could get into the 

 house (a distance of less than 50 ft.) I would 

 be covered with hives from my toes to the 

 top of my head. I would have to be bathed 

 all over my body with saleratus and water 

 to stop the terrible itching; and my wife 

 would say, "Do get rid of those bees; they 

 will kill you yet." But I say, " I do not 

 have any rheumatism." She thinks the 

 remedy is worse than the disease. I have 

 had the rheumatism only once since I got my 

 first stings, and I let the bees sting me twice, 

 and in less than five minutes it was gone. 



Now, to prove my theory, one of my friends 

 who does not suffer at all when stung had 

 rheumatism. I caught some bees in a box, 

 and he let them sting him, and it did not 

 help him at all. Because they cured me I do not 

 claim they will cure every one, though Mr. 

 Archer (page 1072) thinks that, because he 

 was not cured, the remedy is a failure. 



F. P. Briggs. 



Ayer, Mass., Nov. 21. 



BEE-STINGS AND RHEUMATISM; THE BAD EX- 

 AMPLE OF THOSE HOLY (?) BEES IN 

 STINGING. 



In your issue for Oct. 1 you express a wish 

 to hear from others relative to the efficacy 

 of bee-stings as a cure for rheumatism. Let 

 me say that, before I began bee-keeping, I 

 was frequently troubled with that rather un- 

 comfortable ailment; indeed, I may say I in- 

 herited a rheumatic tendency; but I was at- 

 tacked with bee-fever about 35 years ago, 

 and bought 25 colonies of Italians of Mr. 

 King, the editor of a bee-paper in New York, 

 now defunct. They cost me $250. If I had 

 been content with the Italians I might have 

 had the rheumatism to-day; but I added to 

 my apiary some Holy Land or Cyprian bees. 



