1881 



GLEANINGS IN J3EE CULTURE. 



89 



FIKDING A DEAD QCEEX BEFOKE THE ENTRANCE. 



lam a uew hand at bee-keeping'; i. e., in frame 

 hives. My bees are all packed in frame hives in the 

 cellar, e.xcept four, which are in chaff hives, and I 

 find that one of them is queenless. I chanced to see 

 her as I cleared the dead bees out to day. Now, will 

 you be so kind as to tell me what to do? Can I g-et a 

 queen in time to save them, or shall I have to give 

 them brood from some of my others, when it is 

 time? A. W. Merrill. 



Parkman Cor., Piscataquis Co., Me , Jan. U, 1881. 



I do not think you need to be alarmed, 

 friend M., for in all probability this was on- 

 ly an extra old queen, unless you should find 

 the colony very much reduced. In the lat- 

 ter case, unite them ^Yith some other weak 

 colony. If they are really queenless, it will 

 do no'harm at present. They are just about 

 as well off, to start no brood until they be- 

 gin to fly. "When such a time comes, give 

 them a little brood from another colony, and 

 if they rear a queen that does not get fertil- 

 ized, "kill her and let them raise another. 

 The second one will probably become fertile. 

 It will help matters, if they are not very 

 strong, by purchasing a queen for them of 

 our Southern friends ; but we have as yet 

 never been able to get any before some time 

 ill April. Who among you will be first to 

 report having new-laying queens ready to 

 send out V Such a one shall have a free ad- 

 vertisement. 



MORE N«W BEES. 



My report for 1883: 17 stocks, with an average of 

 50 lbs. to the stock. 



The bees are having a 1 jng cold pull of it this win- 

 ter, and unless they can have a cleansing flight be- 

 fore long, there will belotsofbse mourners next 

 sprin?. Althoush it may be hard on the bees, this 

 snow is splendid for wheat and rye. 



I have made arrangements to have some bees sent 

 from Tahiti, an isl.md in the South Sea, and would 

 like to have your opinion, and directions for ship- 

 ping bees that distance. The time from Tahiti to 

 San Francisco is three mouths; but I think that, 

 with candy and bot lie, we can get them through. I 

 should like to have the name of some responsible 

 bee-keeper who could receive them at San Francisco, 

 give them a fly, recruit them up, and mail them to 

 me. 



I will also try to And out about those "bobtail 

 bees" of Brazil, if such there are. W. Buger. 



Conklin, Broome Co., N. Y , Jan. 19, 1881. 



I have g"iven all the directions I am able, on 

 page .581, Dec. No. By all means, let us tind 

 out all we can about all the bees on this little 

 world of ours. I would suggest the name of 

 Andrew White. 31.3 Yallejo street, San Fran- 

 cisco, Cal., as a proper person to take charge 

 of the bees on their arrival. 



WHAT TO DO WITH BEES THAT H.4VE THE DYSENTERY. 



My bees had the dysentery the worst I ever saw. 

 I went into winter-quarters with 13 colonies, and be- 

 fore January I had lost 6, and 7 had died on account 

 of the cold weather and dysentery, so I had to prac- 

 tice something to keep up my 6 colonies. I put them 

 in the cell ir, took out their stores, and gave them a 

 frame of candy, and the same time I fed them syrup 

 in which I put a few drops of mint. Both were made 

 of granul.ited sugar. I also gave them all the venti- 



lation I could to get out the foul air. In about a 

 week they were all well, and their excrements are 

 now dry, and the bees are all well up to date. 



I wrote this, that others might save their bees. I 

 hope this will prove a good testimonial in regard to 

 the soundness of your advice in January No. of 

 Gleanings. Wm. K. Deisher. 



Kutztown, Berks Co., Pa., Jan. 24, 1881. 



fire and brimstone. 4 

 My heart bounds when you touch a sympathetic 

 chord in defense of the bees. I always had a terri- 

 ble dread, when a boy, of a lake of fire and brim- 

 stone, which we then hoard so much about; and, al- 

 though we do not hear so much of it nowadays be- 

 cause it is getting unpopular, yet the dread still 

 sticks to me. I hate even the scent of a match in a 

 room now. I never got out with the bees when they 

 were mad, and trying to have their way, so that I 

 felt like sticking a match under their nose. I saved 

 the lives of nine swarms a year ago last fall, which 

 one of my neighbors was going to kill. I took honey 

 to winter them on, which I had saved for family 

 use; this last fall I took 20; 7 I bought; the rest 

 were given me; they were all light in store; and 

 with shame I will confess I have let two of them 

 starve. It was very late, and frozen up hard when I 

 got them, and I overlooked two, and did not give 

 them honey. I have plenty of sealed stores for 

 them. This is my feed for bees— they like it; they 

 made it, and I like to let them eat it. I hear of 

 many in this vicinity losing their bees by dysentery. 

 Mine are in tolerably good order yet— no signs of 

 dysentery, only in one case. The complaint is about 

 as general in cellars as in chaff hives out doors. 



D. HOUGHTALINQ. 



Dimondale, Eaton Co., Mich., Jan. 19, 1881. 



As the fear you mention seems to have 

 worked wholesome results, friend II., I do 

 not see but that the best thing you can do is 

 to go on ; for it certainly will be a fine thing 

 for the bees that are doomed to such a death. 



WHY friend HYATT DON'T LIKE ITALIANS. 



I purchased two nuclei of you last spring, one for 

 myself and one for my neighbor. My neighbor's 

 filled the hive, but not one pound of surplus. He 

 divided them, and in a short time one stock robbed 

 the other. There are a few in the old stock alive 

 yet. 



Now for my own: They filled the hive, and threw 

 off a good swarm, and that swarm gave me another; 

 that made me 3 stocks. In the faU I returned that 

 swarm to the original one that they issued from, but 

 I think I did wrong, for they would have wintered 

 alone. I think that for supply men, the Italians are 

 the bees, but not for me; uuless I want my farm 

 all covered over, I want no more of them. 



My first Italians, two of them, swarmed the 15th 

 day of June. They filled their hive, but not a pound 

 of surplus. The same day a native swarm came out. 

 They tilled their hive, and six 3;4-lb. boxes, both in 

 the same kind of hive. Neither of the Italian stocks 

 made an ounce of surplus. I put two boxes on the 

 nucleus that was half full of honey and comb, but 

 they would not touch them; at the same time, the 

 hiv-e was full of honey. The natives are ahead for 

 me. G. Hyatt. 



Three Mile Bay, Jefferson Co., N. Y., Jan. 18, 1881. 



I think all the trouble is, friend II., that 

 you have not yet got used to the Italians. 

 More than one has decided just as you do at 

 first ; but they all take it back after a more 

 thorough acquaintance with the Italians. 



