1881 



GLEAXIXGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



leaves you are going to give 113, and then I will tell 

 you about last year, and who should keep bees, and 

 who should not, and where they may be kept, and 

 where not ; and I might tell you how they can be 

 kept in this co\inty. I have never lost a stand of 

 bees by moth, blacks, nor Italians; and for three 

 years have never lost one from anj' cause. I have 

 Ijst queens in the winter, but I always save the 

 bees, and set them to work. Thos. C. Stanley. 

 Jeffersonville, 111., Feb. 17, 1880. 



The above very good letter is just about 

 one year old. as you see, and it has been 

 waiting all this time for a i^)lace. principally 

 on account of its length. Ihe one friend S. 

 thinks ouglit to have been printed was. I 

 fear, passed by on the same account. Xow 

 let me suggest a little. Had friend S. broken 

 this letter up into several small ones, it 

 might have all lieen given during the year, 

 and the part of it referring to moving bees 

 to new i)astur;ige would have made an ex- 

 cellent article of itself, and might have done 

 a great deal of good during the past poor 

 season. It is my impression, that every 

 apiarist of -50 or more colonies Avould. in 

 many localities, find it profitable to either 

 scatter a few colonies at different points, or 

 to visit hives belonging to others, until the 

 most favored points were hunted up ; then 

 move a part of his bees, wliere they seem to 

 be doing best. A success, instead of a fail- 

 ure, might often be secured with compara- 

 tively little labor. Who will give us some 

 more facts in this especial matter? 



RAHBLE NO. 2. 



WINTERING BEES IN A CISTERN. 



OUR ramble this lime leads US to the residence 

 of our esteemed friend Mr. B., who has over 

 " 100 swarms of bees in the old Clark patent 

 box hives. Mr. B. and brother run a large farm, and 

 the bees do not receive the attention they should, to 

 achieve the best results from them. Mr. B. is a 

 breeder of fine horses, and if you would converse 

 with him teu minutes, some way the bees would be 

 forgotten, and you would find yourself in the stable 

 discussing the fine points of that jet-black stallion 

 "Honest Dan," or the record of '-War Eagle," who 

 stands in another stall. Tbis stallion has come out 

 ahead in several races, and the owner is proud of his 

 record. 



But I soon tire of horse talk, and suggest we re- 

 turn to the bee-yard. We start with that point in 

 view, but the first I know we arc in another stable, 

 and B. is expatiating upon the style and action of 

 that line black team. The pedigree is pure Rysdic 

 Hambletonian. When I can get a word in edgewise 

 I tell him my best queen " Fancy Bell " is daughter 

 of "Cleopatra;" she of "Gazelle," she of "Alley," 

 and Alley of "Bianconeini," of Italy. 



1 found, upon reaching the bee-yard, that to keep 

 his mind on the bees I must mix in a little horse 

 talk. Said I, " Mr. B., Rysdic Hambletonian, did this 

 swarm take the pole?" 



"Oh, yes!" said he; "I got them on the mulleins 

 the first heat." 



" Well, how about this swarm that lays out so all 

 over the hive?" 



"Oh! that got the inside track, and took the home 

 stretch." 



"Have you got much bottom this year, Mr. B.?" 



"Not much; I wintered them in a cistern, and it 

 took the wind out of them, and they didn't make the 

 first quarter; i. e., quarter crop of honey." 



In answer to my incredulous remarks in relation 

 to wintering his bees in a cistern, he explained that 

 Mr. H., a near neighbor, had a dry cellar under his 

 barn, and he obtained permission to use it. The 

 water had troubled them somewhat the year before, 

 and the cellar had been thoroughly cemented, bot- 

 tom and sidps. It was very dry, and wintered finely 

 until the January thaw. The proprietor had made 

 no provision in relation to surface water, and it ran 

 into the cellar, and, being cemented, i^held water 

 like a cistern; in fact, for the time being it was a 

 cistern, and began to fill up rapidly. 



" Why," said I. " for the land's sakel what did you 

 do?" 



"Oh! I put in a pump, and pumped it out. of 

 course." 



He remarked that his bees came out considerably 

 demoralized. There were but few dead swarms, but 

 the rest were all weak, and the swarming fever 

 didn't possess them to a great degree. 



I think the foregoing shows why everybody should 

 not keep bees. If his bees had come out strong, he 

 would, with proper management, have secured a 

 profitable crop of honey. Since keeping bees as a 

 business, we have never had a season that failed to 

 give a profitable return if our bees were in good 

 condition in the spring. There is a time during 

 every season, perhaps for a few days only, that 

 honey is secreted by some flowers; and if our bees 

 are ready for the yield with extra stories of empty 

 comb, you will find them fuU quite suddenly. Dur- 

 ing the past season, about the only honey we ob- 

 tained was from bass wood; the yield was short, and 

 if we had depended upon comb honey we would 

 have recorded almost a total failure; but by ex- 

 tracting we obtained almost 40 lbs. to the hive, while 

 our best gave us lOV. This swarm of hybrids. No. 67, 

 has been ahead for three years. I thought so much 

 of this queen I thought I would use her as I would an 

 old horse— keep her as long as she would live, for the 

 sake of the good she had done. In examining the 

 hive in September, I was surprised to find a young 

 queen doing duty. I was about to drop a tear in 

 memory of the old one, when, upon lifting out an- 

 other frame, I was rejoiced to see the familiar face 

 of my dear old queen. I carefully replaced the 

 frame and closed the hive, and, upon a subsequent 

 examination in October, she was still there, but very 

 decrepit. It seemed as though she ought to have a 

 cane and a pair of spectacles. We hope much from 

 the young queen, that she will perpetuate the qual- 

 ities of her mother. John H. Martin. 



Hartford, Washington Co., X. Y., Jan , 188J. 

 — ■■■ ^ 



BEE-KEEPIXG FOR PROFIT; B¥ 7IRS. 

 lilZZIE E. COTTON. 



I^^IIE book is neatly printed, well gotten 

 Jjl up, and would be well worth a dollar, 

 — ' if the same information could not be 

 otherwise obtained for less money, or, per- 

 haps I should say, with a great deal more in- 

 formation for the same money. In fact, the 

 principal fault I should find with the book is 

 its small size for a dollar; viz.. 128 small 

 pages, in light paper covers. I know that 

 everybody does not agree with me in pricing 



