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1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



41 



they have died as by a pestilence. This 

 holds true of all domestic animals, however, 

 and shows that, to make them available, 

 they must have our best attention. 



^chi and §mfk§' 



II AVE worked with bees over 20 years, and used 

 the ehaff hive the last three years with good 

 satisfaction. H;ive put up 14S stocks for win- 

 tering, the present winter. They all appear to be in 

 good condition. I got a very short crop of honey 

 the past season. J. M. France. 



I almost forgot to say, I can smoke the eyes out of 

 a regiment of rebels with your smoker in a hall- 

 minute. ' Wm. S. Robertsox. 



Lostant, La Salle Co., 111., Dec. 14, 1880. 



AMBER SUGAR-CANE. 



Our cane manufacturer said he made the best mo- 

 lasses out of my "Amber" cane he had seen since he 

 commenced, IH years ago. N. J. Israel. 



Beallsville, Monroe Co., O., Oct. 28, 1880. 



Don't put me in Blasted Hopes any more. I don't 

 think I have lost any thing yet; for, if I should sell 

 out, I could get about $'50.00 more than the entire 

 business cost me. Lee Warner. 



Allison, 111., Dec. 8, 1880. 



AMBER SUGAR-CANE SUED. 



From one pound of the seed which I purchased 

 from you last spring, I obtained 63 gallons of most 

 excellent syrup. J<^l,etcher E. Awrey. 



Cottam, Out., Can , Dec. 6, 1880. 



HONEY FROM PEACH-BLOSSOMS. 



My bees made from 10 to 20 lbs. of honey to the 

 stand, from the peach-bloom this spring, besides 

 what they have gathered from other sources. 



S. A. Street. 



Rocky Comfort, McDonald Co., Mo., May i;3, 1880. 



HONEY FROM COTTONWOOD-TREES. 



Please let me know if bees work on cottonwood 

 trees. If you do not know, please inquire through 

 Gleanings, and oblige. C. W. Kennard. 



Carey, Wyandotte Co., O., Nov. 24, 1880. 



[I can not answer. Can some one else?! 



I have 27 swarms now in pretty good condition. I 

 got two swarms of bees this fall for nothing. The 

 party was going to brimstone them, so I took my 

 smoker and gave them a good smoking; took them 

 out of his hives, and took them home in empty 

 hives and put them with two of my weakest swarms. 



G. H. Sheeves. 



Clarksburg, Grey Co., Ont., Can., Nov. IT, 1880. 



DOUBLING UP IN THE SPRING. 



The season has been the poorest for honey ever 

 known here. As I am a farmer, and do not wish 

 to keep a large stock of bees, how will it do to double 

 up my stocks in the spring, even if they are pretty 

 good? Some bees are dying already; some have fed 

 a good deal and some are feeding now. 



Montague, Mich., Dec. 4, 1880. E. Z. Green. 



[I think, friend G., it will do first rate for farmers, 

 or anybody else, to double up their stocks in spring, 

 or at any other time, until all are strong and ready 

 for business. Especially is this the case where one 



does not care for increase, and seasons are as poor 

 as they have been in most localities for the past two 

 years. Strong colonies will usually make a surplus, 

 even during poor seasons.] 



A STORY WITH "TWO MORALS" TO IT. 



The particulars of our deal has beeu the follow- 

 ing: I sent two dollars by mail— one to pay for 

 Gleanings, and the other for ABC. After waiting 

 some time, I dropped you a line, stating the fact. 

 You had not received themoney, but you sent the A 

 B C book, paper cover, and offered to stand half the 

 loss. I answered, saying I would stand my own loss. 

 The money eanie back to me after going to Wash- 

 ington. I sent it again. ITpon receipt of same, you 

 sent me another ABC book, cloth cover, with letter 

 stating that I might send back one of the books; but 

 I concluded that, as I was dealing with a friend and 

 an honest man, I would give the paper-cover book 

 to a very poor man, as honest as he is poor, and a 

 bee-keeper. He once had a fair property, but the 

 patent-right men have used him up. 



W. C. Newton. 



Fulton, Oswego Co., N. Y., Nov. 29, 1880. 



[You did right, friend N.; and may God bless you 

 for your kindness to your neighbor, and your kind 

 words to us. Once more, boys, beware of patent 

 rights.] 



letting the bees starve. 



My bees arc dying rapidly this fall. I have lost 

 stands already; might have saved them if I had been 

 able to buy the sugar to feed. But such is a poor 

 man's misfortune. E. L. Kregloe. 



Lexington, Va., Nov. 30, 1880. 



[I am very sorry for your misfortune, friend K.; 

 but are you sure you have done the very best you 

 could in the matter? Could you not have sold a part 

 of them at Sf)me price, and obtained money to buy 

 feed enough for the other part? Of course, I do not 

 know that you could have done better; but after in- 

 vestigating some cases of a like nature in our own 

 vicinity, I have almost always found some way by 

 which the sugar could have been provided. Do you 

 use neither cigars nor tobacco? do you never re- 

 main idle a day when you could earn 50c.? Are you 

 sure you do not invest in a single thing that you 

 could not have done without better than to let your 

 bees starve? Please excuse me, if this sounds med- 

 dlesome; but such questions have started more than 

 one brother on a better path, and they may help 

 more than one whose eyes meet these pages.] 



quarter-blood ITALIANS. 



I notice on p. 216, May No., where one of your con- 

 tributors speaks of quarter-blood queens. Now, I 

 had got it into my mind that there was no such 

 thing as a quarter-blood queen. Dr. Harrison, a 

 bee-man living about five miles from me, said tome 

 at one time, while talking, that, even if an Italian 

 queen were mated with a black drone, the drones of 

 that queen would be pure, and vice versa. Now, do 

 queens lay drone eggs without being mated? If so, 

 will such eggs hatch? If they will, then the drones 

 from such eggs must be pure, and, consequently, 

 there would be no such a thing as a quarter-blood 

 queen. Thos. R. Turnham. 



Rockport, Spencer Co., Ind., Maj^ IT, 1880. 



[You have got the matter a little mixed, friend T, 

 A hybrid queen, such as you mention, will produce 

 pure drones, but not pure workers nor queens. The 

 queens would be half blood, of course; and if they 



