2© 



GLE.V^'I:JsGS in J3EE CULTtRE. 



J AX. 



and sooner or later it will crawl back and leave 

 Ghiaks. Folded t-ushions are readilj- made to fit all 

 sizos jind shapes; they will "stajpiit," and are al- 

 most as pood as yoiir loose-chtiff arrang-ement. The 

 ease with which th"y are emptied and boiled to dis- 

 infect them, is in their favor. The chaff can readily 

 be chang-cd if leakage wets it. Moreover, the cloths, 

 when empty, enme handy for a variety of purposes. 

 Eeall.r, dear Novice, do we want our bees so we can 

 not open them without deluging them with chaff? 

 Vou didn't like that foundation machine that "ker- 

 squashed" a waxen spray all over your apparel. 

 Pity, then, the sorrows of The nf at but helpless bees, 

 and allow no dusty, musty chatf to be bcsnowed all 

 down amongst them. E. E. Hasty. 



liichards, Lucas Co., O., Nov., ISSO. 



If it is proper for one to liazard an opin- 

 ion on foul brood that has never seen a hive 

 of it, I -svoiild say, that I am inclined to ac- 

 cept what friend Hasty says. I do l)elieve a 

 real, earnest, faithful modern bee-kee])er can 

 rid his apiary of even foul brood, and with- 

 out burning the hives and bees up either. I 

 quite agree with him on chaff too ; why. 

 tfiat is just what I have been doing, last win- 

 ter and this too, only I used just a little 

 loose chaff, to make ciishions fit and hll i)er- 

 fectly; then, when a hive is to be opened, 

 after taking out the cushion it is a very sim- 

 ple matter to push this looss chaff over to 

 on© side, while we turn back the covering 

 over the frames enough to make our exam- 

 inatioi>s. This can be done Avithout getting 

 any chaff on the bees. We do not have 

 musty or dusty chaff in our hives, friend 11., 

 for they all have water-tight tin roofs ; and, 

 while 1 am about it, perhaps I should apol- 

 ogize a little for what I said about spatter- 

 ing the wax on my clothes. If friend Faris 

 had not hurried matters, to see how many 

 poimds he could make in 15 minutes, I pre- 

 sume the machine could be worked without 

 any such unpleasant features. 



DOOIilTTIilB'S REVIE^V AND CO.IIMENTS 

 ON THE ABC BOOK. 



fjr'T will be remembered, that I offered our 

 J|| friend Doolittie SlOO, a few months ago, 

 for a careful going-ovei' of the A ]3 C 

 book, that he might point out its faults, and 

 add such suj;gestions as his large experience 

 might dictate. He has done this; and his 

 remarivs are of so much value that we shall 

 embody the greater part of them in tlte book 

 itself, as an appendix. Where obvious er- 

 rors are i)ointed out, of course nothing re- 

 mains but to correct them, and so these 

 points need not be given here. Those who 

 have the book will recognize where these re- 

 marks belong, by the readings. Those who 

 have not the book will, I think, lind the 

 notes interesting and profitable. 



ABSCONDING SH'^B.VS. 



CLIPPING QUEENS' WINGS. 



Scarcely a queen need be lost, as a few bees will 

 always gather around the queen; and by walking 

 over the yard, and looking on the ground, this ball 

 of bees is easily seen, and the queen picked up. It 

 is not so easy, however, always to tell where they 

 came from; but this can be done by keeping them 

 till near night, and taking the queen from the bees, 

 ^hen they will return home to their own hives. 



Very good indeed I The idea of letting 

 stray bees find their <.nvn hive is a new one 

 —to me, at least. 



SAVING AFTER-SWARMS, AND BUILDING TIIEM UP TO 

 GOOD COLONIES. 



T can not agree here. With the after-swarms goes 

 all prospect of surplus honey; and, if prevented, the 

 old stock is by far the better. AVait T'i days after 

 the first swarm leaves, and, as a rule, the first young 

 queen is hatched then. Cut ail cells, and after- 

 swarms are done away with. 



PLURALITY OF (QUEENS IN A SWARM. 



I find that a plurality of queens is just as common 

 in second swarms as in third; and I have had as 

 many as half a do/.en in a first swarm, issuing from, 

 the loss of the old queen ten or more days previous- 

 ly. During the height of swarming, the cells are 

 not properly guarded, and thus the young queens 

 run out. 



CUTTING OUT CELLS, AFTER A FIRST SWARM ISSUES. 



This is not sure, as the bees can rear more from 

 the brood remaining; but, cut them after the first 

 queen hatches, and you have a sure thing. 



SETTING THE NEW SWARM IN THE PLACE OF THE OLD 

 STOCK, TO PREVENT AFTER-SWARMS. 



This is not a good plan with the Italians, as they 

 will nearly always swarm after being thus moved; 

 but with the blacks it generally works well. 

 AGE OF BEES. 



HOW LONG BLACK BEES WILL LIVE, IF AN ITALIAN 

 QUEEN IS GIVEN THE BEES IN MAY OR .TUNE. 



They will live l.j days, from three e.Yperiments I 

 have tried. 



ANGER OF BEES. 



The following refers to my remarks about 

 bees turning suddenly cross, after a severe 

 rain or storm has washed the honey out of 

 the flowers: — 



Have you not made a mistake here somewhere? 

 During a heavy yield of hoTioj', our bees seem to be 

 glad of a rest, and it takes at least :H hours before 

 our bees think of robbing, after a full How of honey. 

 We have taken off honey after a shower, as you 

 speak of, when each bee was so full of honey that, if 

 squeezed a little, she would throw the honej' out on 

 the tongue; and. if jammed a little, the honey-sack 

 (filled with honey) would burst through the sides of 

 the abdomen. After -4 hours has ehipsed, or the 

 season draws to a close, we agree with all yon say. 



I hardly think I have made a mistake in 

 the matter, friend I).; but, very likely, more 

 time had elapsed after the rain, than what 

 I have given. I have noticed all you say. 

 imracdiatchj after a very heavy yield; but so 

 many otherg have spoken of having trouble 

 in trying to extract, after a storm, that I can 

 not but think my caution a wise one. 



My remarks in the A B V in regard to ar- 

 tificial fertilization being impracticable, they 

 have called forth some censure. In a foot- 

 note, r have mentioned the experiments of 

 Prof. Ilasbrouck, and it is in regard to this 

 foot-note that friend Doolittle writes the 

 following: — 



I thoroughly tried Prof. Hasbrouek's plan the past 

 season with the sugar-barrel with a hole in the top 

 and a glass on the inside. While I could get the 

 droTies and queens to fly together attd drop to the 

 bottom in the embrace, or laying-hold of each other, 

 yet not one was f^tilized. 



