GLEANIITGS IX BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



kangaroo, and it won't do to close a letter on prog- 

 ress without telling how 1 have "walloped" it. I 

 still keep my ten dififereut kinds, or sub-varieties, 

 endeavoring to develop each one separately, "not 

 knowing which will prosper, this or that." I raised 

 a large number of plants to select from, especially 

 of No. 4 and No. 9, which are the most hopeful spec- 

 imens. Have got ahead some this season; but it is 

 likely to be a good many years before the new plant 

 is complete and ready to introduce. I propose to 

 have No. 4 when finished snowy white, as to its 

 bloom, like the original plant; but an immensely 

 large percentage of the seedlings are determined to 

 go back and be red clovers again. I have fair pros- 

 pects of carrying my point in the end. Space for- 

 bids giving details much, but I will add a few notes 

 of tube lengths from nij- memorandum-book. The 

 average of field plants in June is 43 one-hundredths 

 of an inch. 



Clover No. 5.— When found, 36 to 46 (very variable.) 

 Same, June 38th, 36 to 40. Aug. 5th, 33 to 42. Best 

 plant of 1880 marking as low as 33 on July 36th. 



Clover No. 3.— Wnen found, .38; June 38th, 34 to 37. 

 August 7th, 33 to 36. Best plant of 1880 marks as 

 low as 30 on July 36th. Diminutive head on another 

 plant, '26. 



As I have had a bee empty a filled clover tube for 

 33 hundredths deep, these figures look hopeful. 



THE NEW BEES. 



Ah, yes I among the minions of progress are those 

 new Assamese and Brazilian bees— worthless, no 

 doubt; but we shall be very happy while investiga- 

 ting them. Make way for the new bees! But we 

 have also made some progress in getting our eye- 

 teeth cut. AVe want " piles " of information about 

 friend Hawley before we shell out those ten dol- 

 lars— es. E. E. Hasty. 



Kichards, Lucas Co., O., Jan , 1881. 



A MAMMOTH BEE-HIVE. 



A STORY FROM OUR "ABC CHILD." 



THOUGHT I would report an experience I had 

 this season with a monster bee-hive. Our vil- 

 lage doctor, Mr. George N. Hidershlde, took 

 the bee fever ia June, and, having more money 

 than experience, he jumped right into the middle 

 of it at once. But he was not going to have any 

 small hives, so he hired a carpenter to make a hive 

 for him. It was built to hold 73 L. frames, being 

 the length of a L. frame, and made to take 3 sets 

 high. 24 each. He asked my opinion, and I told him 

 it would be a failure The hive done was double 

 walled with 6 in. chaff packing, double doors, packed 

 doors opening on flat side of comb, and inner doors 

 glass, making it an observatory hive complete. It 

 looked more like a safe than a hive. It was placed 

 in an upper story of his barn, a hole cut opposite for 

 an entrance, and the hive set up to the hole when 

 all was ready. I was employed to transfer 4 large 

 swarms of blacks into it, also one swarm of Italians, 

 which I sold him with combs and brood, 8 frames 

 filled. These were placed in the center, in lower 

 part of hive nearest the entrance. Then com- 

 menced the work of transferring, which was nicely 

 done in about four hours, and the 5 swarms nearly 

 filled the hive. A very close watch was kept up, 

 and all the black queens killed. They united peace- 

 ably, having been brought by wagon about 6 miles; 

 the 73 frames containing no brood were filled with 



fdn. starters, and were put in position and they 

 commenced at once to slay the drones, so that with- 

 in 13 hours not one remained alive. Three swarms 

 were the large brown bee and one small blacks. 



Now for results: The work was done July 13th in 

 the midst of the largest basswood yield. They did 

 not fly much for 8 or 10 days; at the end of that 

 time they commenced to let out, and in three weeks 

 every frame seemed filled with honey. In43da>s 

 they deserted the outer combs, and in 84 dnys were 

 no larger than any ordinary strong swarm. They 

 had 400 lbs. of honey in frames, and the bees clus- 

 tered in one corner. Thus we exploded the great 

 and mammoth swarm stories. My ideas proved cor- 

 rect; estimating the 5 swarms at 50,000 each, we had 

 250,000 bees to start with; the queen, laying her full 

 capacity, 3000 per day, in 43 days we have only 

 136,000 bees; the disturbance, perhaps, caused the 

 queen to cease laying her lull capacity for a few 

 days; this was overbalanced by the transferred 

 brood hatching; the 84th day we found only 50,000 

 bees. Now for th« doctor's figures :— 



Cost of hive $34 00 



Cost of 4 black swarms - - - - - 16 00 



Cost of Italian swarm and queen - - - 10 00 



Cost of transferring 3 00 



Total $53 00 



For the experiment, the doctor still says he is sat- 

 isfied, as he always believed he could fit up a room 

 and have honey by the ton, and swarms the size of 

 a load of haj% as we read of found in caves and 

 rocks. He would certainly have built his hive four 

 times the size he did had I not advised this smaller 

 one for a start. I hope all persons who believe their 

 uncles and grandfathers had garrets filled with tons 

 of honey and mammoth swarms of bees will, before 

 trying the experiment, stop and drop a line to G. N. 

 Hildershide, M. D., Arcadia, Wis., first, and hear 

 what he thinks of it. E. A. Morgan. 



Arcadia, Wis., Jan. 5, 1881. 



iSlany thanks, friend M.. Yon and the 

 "doctor" have given ns a very valuable ex- 

 periment, even ttiongh it did cost some mon- 

 ey. To try to help a little to bear the ex- 

 per S3, we have placed to yonr credit $5.00, 

 and you can give such a part of it to the doc- 

 tor as you choose. I was pretty well con- 

 vinced of what the result would be; but 

 with your yield of honey this season 1 should 

 have rather expected a little more than 400 

 lbs. from the 5 swarms all together. Per- 

 haps it was because they waited and lost 

 that 10 days in the start. We are all the 

 time hndiiig people as you say, who seem to 

 think it must be that "several swarms in a 

 room together would make one mammoth 

 swarm, and hold out thus, year after year. 



HuleMk §^iimhrim^. 



LETTER FROM A LITTLE GIRL BEE-KEEPER. 



fWISH you a happy New Year. I have three 

 swarms of bees. They came out and alighted 

 in the grass, but they are very tame now. i 

 read my father's bee journals, and like to read them. 

 I have all black bees but one, and they are Italians. 

 They sting very hard, I think, but father don't think 

 so. Father has bees also. He has a new hive this 

 winter. I like bees very much, but not if they sting. 

 A year ago papa gave me a sw^^rm, and it increased 



