182 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Mar. 



them a pound of honey unless they send you 

 cash in advance, or deposit the funds in a 

 bank subject to your order on presentation 

 of a shipping-bill from the railroad company. 



EXPERIENCE NOT FOUND IN THE 

 BOOKS. 



THE SW ARMING-OUT MANIA. 



^ NOTICED in last year's Gleanings a good manj' 

 Jji complaints in regard to absconding swarms; 

 — ' but among the cases reported I found nothing 

 to equal my experience. My refractory colony was 

 a good hybrid — the only hybrid in my apiary. At 

 the proper time, and before they were taken with 

 the swarming mania, I "swarmed" them artificially. 

 They were getting along nicely, — commencing to 

 fill up the sections when the fit came on them. The 

 queen's wing was clipped, so I caught her as she 

 perambulated in front of the hive, and caged her; 

 then while the swarm was clustering on an apple- 

 tree I opened the hive and completely demolished 

 every queen-cell. As the swarm came back I gave 

 them their queen, thinking to myself, "There ! now 

 you are all right; go ahead with your honey busi- 

 ness." But not a bit of it. The second day after 

 this, bee-hold! out they came again. Well, thinks I, 

 if you know better than I do, I'll let you keep house 

 for j'ourselves. So I hived them, giving them brood 

 in all stages. (I found that the queen had deposited 

 an egg in a queen-cell just before leaving.) But the 

 end was not yet, for, two days after this, they came 

 out again. I saw the queeu return to the hive on 

 foot after trying in vain to follow the swarm. So I 

 did not pay much attention to the would-be abscond- 

 ers, as I thought they would, as a matter of course, 

 come back to the queen. But they finally struck a 

 bee-line for — some other place. Now you will say 

 they had two queens; but wait a minute. When I 

 saw that they determined to leave, I followed them 

 on horseback. They got the start of me; but as they 

 went only about three-fourths of a mile I found 

 them anyhow; but neighbor C. had been ahead of 

 ine. He saw them alight on a peach-tree, so he ran 

 and got an old hive and hived them, and when he 

 found what I was after lie claimed them as his own 

 projyerty! Now, what was I to do? What would you 

 have done if in my place? He said ho didn't know 

 where they had come from. I wouldn't quarrel 

 with him, although I knew well enough where they 

 had come from. I told him that they were queen- 

 less, and would not do him any good in that condi- 

 tion; that the swarm should either be brought back 

 to the queen or the queen taken to the swarm. But 

 he only laughed at the idea, and said, "Oh! well, we 

 will catch old Grant and makea/fi/ig of him for 

 them, then they will be all right." As I saw that he 

 would not listen to reason, I started back saying, 

 "Well, I have still the better part of the colony at 

 home, for the queen without the swarm is worth 

 more than the swarm without the queen," and so it 

 proved; for by careful attention to the queen and 

 her handful of faithful subjects who were left be- 

 hind, they built up a fair-sized colony by the time 

 neighbor C.'s had dwindled down to the "little end of 

 nothing." I believe he had a little drone comb left 

 for his trouble. 



But that old hybrid queen will not be deserted in 

 that way any more, for I finally beheaded her and 

 gave her "throne" to one "to the manor born"— 



the daughter of an imported queen for which a 

 prominent breeder says he "refused 50 dollars." (!) 

 Have you any Italian stock j"ou prize so highly? 



S. P. YODER. 



Vistula, Elkhart Co., Ind., Feb. 10, 1881. 



I do not know, friend Y., jnst what I 

 should have done in such a case ; but I know 

 what I once did : I paid the man $5.00 for 

 the privilege of carrying my Italians back 

 home. They had imited with a very small 

 weak second swarm of blacks, belonging to 

 him, and so I was helpless in my case. I 

 should say the thing to do would be to pre- 

 sent the matter to your friend in the kindest 

 and plainest way you know how, and then, 

 rather than have any unkindness, either let 

 him keep them or pay him what he thought 

 he ought to have for them, and go home 

 with the firm resolution in your mind not to 

 think hard or unkindly of him, and, in fact, 

 not to think of the transaction at all, if you 

 feel you have been wronged, any more than 

 you can help. " Charity suffere'th long, and 

 is kind," you know. I have no stock of any 

 kind that I prize so highly as you mention. 



^ ^jun^ll'^eem. 



OATMEAL FOR FOOD. 



S you are agitating the question of cheap food, 

 I wish to say a word or two, although it may 

 ' be nothing new to you. I send you to-day by 

 mail one sample of oatmeal, " steel cut," which re- 

 tails with us at 5 cts. per lb. ; also f)ne sample of "B 

 Scotch" fine, that retails at 4 cts. per lb. We use it 

 in the morning as boiled mush, eaten with syrup and 

 butter, or milk, or it may be cooked in various other 

 ways; it is good and cheap, and has properties in 

 larger quantities (bone-forming, etc.), than corn or 

 wheat. There is a mill in this place, of the capacity 

 of 140 barrels per day, a large proportion of which is 

 shipped to Scotland. If you should wish to procure 

 any of this, with price.'' by the barrel, write to Stein 

 & Wallace, Sterling, 111. Norman Clark. 



Sterling, 111., Feb. 8, 1881, 



]\Iany thanks, friend C. I entirely agree 

 with you in regard to the liealthfulness and 

 bone-producing properties of oatmeal. We 

 had the samples you sent cooked and served 

 up, but can not for the life of us see any dif- 

 ference. Four cents per lb. is much cheap- 

 er than we have ever known it sold at retail 

 before. The following in regard to the val- 

 ue of oatmeal we clip from The Metal Work- 

 er of July 24, 1880. 



drinks for the hot weather. 



A doctor who has been a very careful observer and 

 has had ample opportunity for study, gives the fol- 

 lowing advice in regard to the drinks suitable for hot 

 weather: 



When you have any heavy work to do, do not take 

 either beer, cider, or spirits. By far the best drink 

 is thin oatmeal and water, with a little sugar. The 

 proportions are a quarter of a pound of oatmeal to 

 two or three quarts of water, according to the heat 

 of the day and your work and thirst; it should be 

 well boiled, and then an ovuice or an ounce and a 

 half of brown sugar added. If you find it thicker 

 than you like, add three quarts of water. Before you 

 drink it shake up the oatmeal well through the liq- 

 uid. In summer, drink this cold; in winter, hot. 

 You will find it not only quenches thirstbut will give 

 you more strength and endurance than any other 



