ISSl 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUSE. 



191 



HOLY-LAND BEES FOR WINTERING. 



^fy experience in wintering Holy-Land bees has 

 been different from yours. Mine have stood the 

 winter much better than Italians or blacks. I hav3 

 never had bees in better condition than the colony 

 is that contains my imported Holy-Land queen. 

 "Perhaps one reason is, because they have been pre- 

 pared for winter with more than ordinary care. 



TENEMENT HIVES. 



I got some 15 or IS swarms of black bees late last 

 fall, that were to be killed, and put them in chaff 

 tenement hives. I put my black bees and some Ital- 

 ians in such hives; gave them 6 frames of honey 

 each; put thick chaff cushions on top. Now, when 

 I had them thus prepared I felt happy. I thought 

 they would certainly stand the coldest winter; but 

 now for the result: The bees prepared thus never 

 clustered on a small place as sensible bees do; they 

 kept up a continual roaring, commenced breeding in 

 the winter, got the dysentery, flew out the coldest 

 weather, and perished, and now are nearly all dead. 

 The moth worm got in some of them and ate them 

 up; others, where I have but four in one hive, are 

 in good condition. Does not this go to show that 

 bees can be kept too warm, even on their summer 

 stands? I also wintered some in half chaff hives 

 made with chaff only at end of hives. I put 3 colon- 

 ies In each of those hives. The colonies prepared 

 thus clustered against the division board, and out- 

 side combs got frosty, and some of the bees starved 

 with plenty of honey in outside combs, and the most 

 of those bees have dysentery, and are in bad condi- 

 tion. I. R. Good. 



Nappanee, Ind., March 14, 1881. 



"We never think of wintering our bpes anywhere 

 else than on their summer stands. All have winter- 

 ed safely. I have 26 stands, all in good order; we 

 don't think of feeding; we leave them plenty of 

 stores, so there is no occasion for feeding. Peach- 

 trees are in bloom, bees bringing in pollen by the 

 quantity. My colonies averaged about 35 lbs. to the 

 colony, which I sold at 15c per lb. readily, while hon- 

 ey from the common hive (or gum, as called here) 

 was dull at 10c. Bees won't notice buckwheat here; 

 I have planted several times, but it is no use; the 

 only thing I plant for bees is mustard. That blooms 

 in the early spring from fall planting. It is just be- 

 ginning to shoot now; in a week or two it will be in 

 full bloom. T. L. Davidson. 



Early Branch, Hampton Co., S. C, Feb. 18, 1881. 



CALIFORNIA, ETC. 



I have received a number of letters lately, request- 

 ing me to give a description of California in regard 

 to bee-keeping. "Well, I don't think there is one-flfth 

 part of this State that a man can make a living in by 

 keeping bees. The good places are in patches, and 

 the most of them, I think, are already overstocked 

 now. I know that my section of the country, which 

 is a small one, is good for bees on a space not to ex- 

 ceed fifteen miles square, but in the southern part of 

 the State, I understand that bee-pasture is more reg- 

 ular in the mountains, but well stocked with bees. 



We have a good prospect for a large honey harvest 

 the coming season, because we have had plenty of 

 rain the past three months. "When we have plenty 

 of rain in the winter we look for large j ields of hon- 

 ey; and when we don't have plenty of rain in the 

 winter, bees don't do much, for we don't look for 

 anyraiQ from the middle of April till about the mid- 



dle of November. That would be quite a drought 

 with you, 1 suppose. I am in an irrigated district, 

 so I have a little the advantage of mountain apiaries 

 in a dry year, as they call them here, when we don't 

 get much rain in the winter. "Well, I had '330 swarms 

 of bees last fall, and have the same now; lost none, 

 and they are getting plenty of pollen and some 

 honey. Now I should like to hear how some of the 

 bee-men succeed with if ppio nodiflora, our main de- 

 pendence for good honey here. 



HOW to keep bees from BUILDING TO THE CAP 

 OR HIVE. 



Can you tell me some cheap varnish, or something 

 to put inside of super or cap to prevent the bees 

 from sticking comb to it? I had considerable trouble 

 with the bees sticking comb to the cap from the end 

 sections. 



HOW TO MEND RUBBER BOOTS. 



Also can you tell your bee friends how to mend 

 rubber goods after being cut or cracked? I once 

 knew a shoemaker who could mend a rubber boot or 

 shoe as good as new, and I would like to know how 

 it is done. O. E. CoON. 



LeMoore, Tulare Co., Cal., Feb. 22, 1881. 



I know of but one way, friend C, of keep- 

 ing the bees from building combs where you 

 do not wisli any, and that I have given many 

 times before; viz., greasing the wood witli 

 tallow. — Mending rubber boots may be 

 thought pretty far away from the subject of 

 bee culture, but as many of our friends wish 

 to get out among their hives in this damp 

 spring weather, it may not be out of place, 

 after all. One of our boys, who is a shoe- 

 maker by trade, furnishes the following, 

 which may be of service: — 



CEMENT, FOR MENDING RUBBER BOOTS. 

 Take about 1 pint of benzine; put it in a bottle or can. then 

 put a piece of pure rubber in with it, and let it dissolve. When 

 dissolved, it should be as thick .is synip; if not, add .a little 

 more rubber: or if too thick, add a little more benzine. Put 

 the cement on the patch, and also on the boot, and let it dry; 

 then piit another coat on each ; let that dry, then put the patch 

 on tlie cut. Before putting the cement on, take a rasp or fde 

 and make the pla<-e where you wisli to put the patch quite rough. 

 The rubber must be perfectly dry. 



BEES ABSCONDING WITHOUT A QUEEN. 



Why could you not just as well have said some- 

 thing about the singular circumstance of S. P. Yo- 

 der's bees [p. 133, March No.], absconding without a 

 queen, and not returning to their hive, as the A B 

 C class so invariably believe such is never done? 



Nokomis, 111., March 7, 1881. E. Sandford. 



I beg pardon, friend S., for not considering 

 the point you mention. It is, as you say, a 

 very rare thing for a swarm to go off in that 

 way, without a queen ; but, although I have 

 never seen them do so, 1 have pretty clear 

 evidence that they sometimes do. As a 

 usual thing, they go back to the parent hive, 

 even after being hived; but sometimes it 

 seems they do not. If there should be among 

 the bees one who might act in the office of a 

 fertile worker, they would likely stay, and 

 ]3erhaps this was the case with friend Yo- 

 der's bees. These cases are, however, so 

 rare that I should never chase after a swarm 

 if I had their queen in my possession. 



DYING IN WINTER FOR WANT OF STORES. 



Upon opening my hives this morning to learn how 

 they had come through the "hard times" of this un- 

 precedented winter, I found one colony dead un- 

 der rather singular conditions. The combs were all 

 bright and clean, and no signs of dysentery, and 



