1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



135 



men, as the case may be, that will allow their bees 

 to starve (as huudrcds are doing), solelj^ because they 

 are too negligent or stingy, as is the case with many, 

 they are not worthy the name of a man, much less 

 of a bee-keeper. In years gone by, when we had 

 good crops ot honey, and the •' ducats " were coming 

 in, then your bees were called " blessed little pets " 

 and the like. Last season, when your bees worked 

 harder, perhnps, than ever to keep from starving, 

 can you stand by, as it were, and see them starve, 

 and at the same time, perhaps, you are "luxuriat- 

 ing" on the strength of the above ducats? Now, 

 friends, don't you think, if your " blessed pets" 

 could speak, they would look up and say, '■' Don't, 

 Xileasc don't, let us starve. Loan us 5 or 10 per cent 

 of the above ducats, and we ^\ill pay you back three- 

 fold next season"? Does not your conscience tell 

 you so for them, friends? These are my convic- 

 tions. I have given them to you with malice toward 

 none, and charity for all, including the pets. 



Ed. Stover. 

 Naperville, DuPage Co., 111., Jan. 28, 1881. 



A GOOD LOCATION FOR AN APIARY. 



Three miles over the mountain is a large territory 

 of raspberries, perhaps 1000 acres, and lots of spot- 

 ted maple and fireweed, and there is a great deal of 

 what I call " yellow weed," that blossoms in July, 

 August, and September, and there is a great deal of 

 white clover, willows, etc. Now, do you think I 

 could keep 60 swarms of bees, and have them do well 

 in my locality? 



SPRING M.\NAGEMENT. 



Now, friend R., I will tell you how I manage with 

 my bees in the spring. When I set them" out to 

 work, I take off the upper .etory and put on the en- 

 amel-cloth cover over the lower story; then I put 

 the upper on again, and put the cover on the hive, 

 etc. Now, if I ought to fix them any differently, 

 please state how I should do so for the spring, to 

 have them right for breeding. 



BUILDING BEE-HOUSES. 



I am going to build a new bee-house this spring 

 for my bees. I should like to set my bees out in a 

 yard made for that purpose, but I can not keep bees 

 out in a yard here, for every fall there will be minus 

 the number you put there in the summer time. 



PUTTING A SIMPLICITY STORY OVER BOX HIVES. 



I have 13 swarms in 3 story Simplicity hives, and 5 

 in old-fashioned box hives. I took the tops off as 

 you directed me to last spring, and put on a 1-story 

 Simplicity, filled with sections. They swarmed all 

 around, and made some honey in the sections be- 

 sides. 



CELLARS FOR WINTERING. 



Now, I want to build a cellar on purpose t(j winter 

 my bees. My old cellar is very wet in the spring. 

 The one I talk of making is on a dry, warm plain, 

 and I want to make it large enough for 60 swarms, 

 and have a work-shop in the upper part. 



R. H. Bailey. 



Ausable Forks, Essex Co., N. Y., Jan. 23, 1^1. 



I should just like the fuu, friend B., of 

 keeping (10 colonies in such a locality as you 

 describe. — I would lill those upper stories 

 with chaff, by all means, and leave it on un- 

 til you want to put on the suri)lus boxes; 

 but by far a better way would be to have 

 them in chaff hives all "the time, if you wish 

 to have them breed up rapidly in the spring. 

 —I would not build any sort of a bee-house. 



Better by far. use the time and lumber in 

 building a tight high fence around your api- 

 ary. If anybody gets into such an inclosure 

 to steal your bees, it is an indication that 

 you are in a bad neighborhood, and that you 

 are to blame for not trying to make it better, 

 in the way I have so many times pointed out 

 to you. — Neither would I build a cellar for 

 bees. Use the same capital in giving them 

 good protection on their summer stands, 

 each hive in its proper accustomed place. 



A DEAF AND DUMB ABC FRIEND. 



I have but 4 stands of hybrids, and I am fond of 

 attending to them. Though I am deaf and dumb, I 

 have handled bees a great deal in my life, and had 

 been without bees for 15 years until last spring, as I 

 had no permanent place then. Have read Quinby's, 

 King's, and Langstroth's books through several 

 times. I use the Langstroth hive. 



Richmond, Ind., Jan. 31, 1881, J. E. Townsend. 



Just imagine, friends, how it would seem 

 to be unable to hear the hum of a single bee, 

 or in fact any sound of any kind at all. As 

 I look upon the words our brother writes, a 

 strange feeling comes over me-. It is possi- 

 ble he has never heard a single one of the 

 words pronounced, which he writes just as 

 you and I do, and yet he seems to be ]ust as 

 well acquainted with their significance as 

 we are. May God bless and help you, broth- 

 er ; and may it be a lesson to us, as we pon- 

 der for a minute, to forget not to give 

 thanks, that we both hear and speak. 



CORN-COB BRAN VERSUS CHAFF. 



Many eggs are now shipped from the West, packed 

 in corn-cob bran, or ground corn cob. After the 

 eggs are sold here in the East, the bran is thrown 

 away. Would not this corn-cob bran answer for fill- 

 ing for chatr cushions better than chaff, which is not 

 so plenty here, unless you are a farmer, and raise 

 your own chaff? R. E. Holmes. 



West Winsted, Ct., Feb., 1881. 



I would use it, without question, friend 

 II.; and I have no doubt, from the way mice 

 nest in it, it will prove even warmer for the 

 purpose than our usual chaff. Of course, 

 the hives need to be made so no mice ever 

 get at it while around the bees. Thanks for 

 suggestion. 



AN A B C SCHOLAR WITH BOX HIVES. 



I bought two old box hives in the spring of 1879, 

 with very few bees in them; but I managed to build 

 them up so that one of them gave me a small swarm 

 the last of July. I put them in a box hive because I 

 knew of nothing better. It being a good year for 

 honey, they gathered enough to go through the win- 

 ter, and the old hives gave me about 40 lbs. of sur- 

 plus. I wintered under cover in the side of a bank, 

 and they came ouj^in the spring of 1880 somewhat 

 dwindled. One of the old hives gave me two swarms, 

 which I united and put in Simplicity; from the other 

 one, which I also put in the same, I got no surplus. 

 In fact, I got none from any this year. I now have 

 them down cellar, and I think they are doing nicely. 



How is this for a beginner in A B C ? 



L. S. Smith. 



Cherryfield, Washington Co., Me., Jan. 17, 1881. 



Very good, friend S., and I really believe 

 the best way for a beginner to start, is to get 

 box hives and common bees at a small ex- 



