124 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



not my other bees, because they were Italians and 

 the robbers were black. I closed the entrance, but 

 that would not do, for it was very warm. Finally I 

 took off the top box, turned it upside-down, and 

 smoked the bees out (it was literally full of bees), 

 and took the box in the house. By this time it was 

 evening, and the robbers went home. In the morn- 

 ing they returned in great numbers. I was afraid 

 they would kill the queen, and so I opened the en- 

 trance fall length, took some grass and weeds, and 

 laid it before the entrance, so that my bees had 

 plentj^ of air, but could not get out, and the robbers 

 could not get in, though they would try hard to get 

 through the grass. By this time the robbers were 

 literall.v swarming arotind the hive. I took an old 

 wash-basin that had many little holes in it, and fixed 

 it above the entrance, and filled it with water, which 

 caused a continuous shower on the grass before the 

 entrance. This settled them. They tried the other 

 hives, but my Italians slaughtered them unmerci- 

 fully, and that was the end of it. Please tell me if I 

 have done any thing which you would not have 

 done. Please accept my sincere thanks for your 

 ABC book, and I will try to remaio your very obe- 

 dient scholar. F. C. GaStinger. 

 Keiaton, Ohio, Jan. 31, 1881. 



If the bees were gathering honey at the 

 time. I should hardly have supposed robbers 

 would have found their way into the honey- 

 box, under the circumstances; but as they 

 were blacks, it is quite likely the Italians 

 were getting honey while the blacks were 

 robbing. You managed as well, perhaps, as 

 any one. would have done under the circum- 

 stances. 



^ 1 8 1 <>*i 



HOW AN A B C SCHOLAR SUCCEEDS IN 

 CAI^IFOKNIA. 



^T will be remembered that friend Bridges, 

 Jl Avho writes the folloAving, is the unfor- 

 — ' tunate brother who lost his house and 

 chilflren by fire, as mentioned in our Decem- 

 ber No. 



Friend Root .'—According to promise, I will give 

 you a report of my success with bees, honey, etc., 

 the past season. But had I made it out last fall be- 

 fore that sad accident which took away my children, 

 I should have done so with far more enthusiasm 

 than I can now. I believe I have never told you 

 that I was only an A B C scholar— that the past sea- 

 son is all the experience I ever had with bees. Pre- 

 vious to buying my bees, one year ago, I knew noth- 

 ing whatever about bees. I did not know a queen 

 or a drone; I never saw a swarm of bees hived until 

 I hived them myself in my apiary; I never saw any 

 bees transferred until I transferred my own; I nev- 

 er read any thing on bee culture until I subscribed 

 for Gleanings last March, and got it just before my 

 bees commenced swarming. I did not have anybody 

 with me that knew any more about bees than my- 

 self. So you may guess there were many times 

 during the season when I had to use my wits to the 

 very best advantage. Although a journal and a 

 work on bee culture are indisjiensahle articles, yet I 

 believe if one were to take a whole catalogue of 

 books and journals he would still need a good deal of 

 what might, in homely English, be termed "gump- 

 tion," if he aspires to successful bee culture. 



I bought my bees from forty to fifty miles away 

 from home, and after deducting out the "stealings," 



and what died out and were robbed out for want of 

 care. 1 hauled them safely home during the winter 

 and spring months. I got through the spring with 

 100 stand?, many of them very weak and in poor 

 condition. About forty of them were in old boxes 

 and barrels, which I transferred all right, though 

 some of them I didn't get transferred until they had 

 swarmed two or three times, which left the old 

 swarms verj' weak. I increased by natural swarm- 

 ing to 160 stands; but if I had allowed them to swarm 

 less, and doubled up a good many of the weaker 

 ones, I should have made more honey. A great 

 many of the old stands didn't have the lower box 

 half full of combs, and but little honey to start with 

 in the spring. I had no combs at all, nor fdn. for 

 any of the top boxes, nor any for new swarms; and 

 so you see they all had a late start for making honey. 

 A great many of them I did not put top boxes on till 

 the honey season was half over, and many more un- 

 til nearly over; and about 20 stands did not get built 

 up soon enough to store any honey in top boxes, 

 though I got combs enough built out by using some 

 strategy to supply the whole 160 stands with top 

 boxes filled with combs. I extracted, during the 

 season, 150 cases honey, each case containing two 60- 

 Ib. cans. You will see, by figuring up, I had nine 

 tons of honey. I did think I would extract again in 

 October; but the honey (goldenrod) was dark and 

 poor, so I left it in the top boxes; some of them 

 were about full, and are now. I probably left, in top 

 boxes, 1500 or 2000 lbs. for spring feed. I had tried 

 out 125 lbs. of the whitest wax I ever saw that was 

 not bleached; but it was destroyed by the fire. 1 

 intended to make me a machine a la Far is, and make 

 all the comb foundation I should need for next sea- 

 son; but my bees will have to do it themselves 

 again, as I have but a few pounds of wax left. I 

 must tell you 



HOW OUR BEES SPENT THEIR CHRISTMAS. 



We had just had about two weeks wet, rainy 

 weather in December, when one day the sun came 

 out for an hour or two. I went to the apiary, and 

 the bees were carrying in yellow pollen, while be- 

 fore the rain they had got nothing but a little white 

 pollen. I could not think where it came from, as 

 there were no new fiowers out. The next day was 

 Christmas; it came off warm and pleasant, and the 

 bees were working as in May weather. I stood be- 

 fore one hive, with watch in my hand, and actually 

 counted 2i bees, heavily laden with pollen, enter in 

 one minute, besides many were bringing in honey; 

 and this all came from desert sacre- aplant Ihad sup- 

 posed worthless, as old bee-meu have toll me that 

 bees never work on it. Chas. Bridges. 



San Fernando, Los Angeles Co.,Cal., Jan. 27, 1881. 



You are right, friend B. "Guijiption" is 

 exactly the word; and it is juaj. what is 

 wanted. Not a few of us know,4)y expe- 

 rience how you must have got around to 

 have accomplished so much in your first 

 year's work. Ever since we got that honey 

 from friend ^Yilkin, I wonder, every time I 

 hear a report from California, if the tons of 

 honey secured are all like his. If it is, well 

 may it have a world-wide reputation. Per- 

 haps the plant you mention has never yield- 

 ed honey or pollen before, so as to be no- 

 ticed. Every season seems to bring to view 

 some feature in bee botany never noticed 

 before. 



