234 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



May 



wheat, and we find some of our friends hero insist- 

 inj? that l)uckwhcat honey is the best flavored honey- 

 in the world. 



Near Glen's Falls is located an extensive terra- 

 cotta works. This is made from a species of clay 

 found here, and marl, which is found a few miles 

 north. Some have broached the idea that this spe- 

 cies of earthenware can be u.-!ed for bee-hives; but 

 we think it has never been tried. This Is a g-ood op- 

 portunity for some patent-hive man. 



Here at these falls is located one of the scenes in 

 one of those admirable works of fiction by J. Fenni- 

 more Cooper, "The Last of the Mohicans." At the 

 f )0t of the cataract is located the famous cave in 

 which the heroes of the story defended themselves. 

 Now, some one told us, or we imagined that this 

 cave ought to bo full of t)ecs and honey, like those 

 California caves where tons of honey could be taken 

 out. After much difliculty we clambered down the 

 rocks, at the imminent danger of falling headlong 

 into the whirling waters below. We entered the 

 cave, Itut not a bee nor poiuid of honey greeted ovir 

 eyes. The shape of the cave, cmuiug to a point 

 above, would bo a good place for bees to cluster and 

 commence their work; but wo fear they will never 

 occupy it, as the spray is thrown in showers over the 

 entrance. So, farewell to the last of the Mohicans. 



Hartford, N. Y., April, 1881. J. H. Maiitin. 



Tliaiiks, friend M., for your kind invita- 

 tion, but we have a very pretty kike near 

 home, and, what always interests me, is a 

 swamp of yeUow tlowers at one end of it. 

 I once located a hive of Italians near this, 

 an'1 had the pleasure of sseins them store 

 honey when bees everywhere else were rap- 

 idly using up their stores. 



}adk§' §(iiiadiffj^it. 



FLOUR FEEDING INSIDE OF THE HIVE. 



ff^-^r! OW I wish j'ou were here to-day, so that I 

 Js[5i|[ could take you by your coat-sleeve and lead 



' you to a hive which has "Bully" chalked on 



in front— expressive, if not in good taste. I would 

 take out the cushion, and you could look down into 

 the wooden feeders covered with glass, one contain- 

 ing dilute honey, the other unbolted flour, which arc 

 placed right over the brood-nest, and tucked around 

 with woolen carpeting to keep in the lieat. You 

 would there see bees loaded up with white balls on 

 their Ifgs, and many at work, while the other feeder 

 is almost deserted. No natural pollen. Snow upon 

 the ground in places yet, and now raining. " What 

 shall the harvest be?" Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Peoria, 111., March ;«8, 1881. 



Why, jNIrs. II., you have actually solved 

 the problem of getting bees to take flour 

 without flying out-doors. I have just been 

 telling Mollie. in the Juvenile Department, 

 what girls might do, and I begin to think I 

 should liave said women too. — You will need 

 to be a little careful that the bees do not 

 store more flour than they can use, and have 

 it harden in the cells. It has also been sug- 

 gested that pushing brood too rapidly, so 

 early, has a tendency to start spring dwin- 

 dling. I wish yon would give us reports 

 regidarly from this hive with that chalk 

 mark on it. L. C. Root and some others 



think it best to let the bees alone until near- 

 ly into May, and I have sometimes been in- 

 clined to think they were pretty nearly right. 



SOME COLONIES CONSUME MORE THAN OTHEHS; 

 SOILED COMBS, ETC. 



I am an A B C scholar, and highly prize the pa- 

 tience you manifest, and the plain manner in which 

 you explain some of the crooked things concerning 

 bee-keeping. I began 3 years ago with one swarm 

 of black bees. Increased up to ol last fall; the win- 

 ter came on early and severe; I was consequently 

 late in getting them packed (as I pack in chaff on 

 summer stands.) March 10th I unpacked them to 

 see what condition they were in, and found I had 

 but IT colonies left, all but one of which were in 

 good condition. I cleaned off bottom-boards, and re- 

 packed. Those colonies that died were mostly afflict- 

 ed with dysentery; a few seemingly starved with 

 plenty of stores in the hive. One or two, I am sorry 

 to say, had eaten up every bit #f honey, which 

 proves to my mind that some colonies consume more 

 than others. How can I clean comb which has been 

 soiled by dysentery, so I can use the comb for ex- 

 tractor? Which pays better, to use extractor or 

 section boxes? Jennie Walcott. 



Berlin, Ottawa Co., Mich., March 15, 1881. 



I am very much obliged, friend Jennie, for 

 the credit you give me of being kind and pa- 

 tient, for it is an awful big mistake. I am 

 not half as good as most of you give me cred- 

 it for being. For example, I had just begun 

 to declare I would not tell how to clean emp- 

 ty combs another time; but on the whole I 

 think I will, and if you And the same thing 

 over and over in tliis journal, you must just 

 think it was because every friend who writes 

 asks it now until I have got demoralized, and 

 keep telling it over and over. No house- 

 keeper in the world can handle honey equal 

 to the bees themselves; and before I thouglit 

 of putting the combs in the extractor, if they 

 are anywise stispicious looking or smellino;, 

 I would put them one at a time in the mid- 

 dle of a strong colony, and let them fix and 

 cleanse them up, all sweet. Then you can 

 extiact.the honey, if you wish; but I think I 

 woukl prefer to use all such comb for build- 

 ing up new stocks, and extract the new hon- 

 ey. I can't tell which will pay best in your 

 locality. Every bee-man or bee-woman will 

 have to test their own market in this re- 

 spect. 



HOW THE WOMEN WORK WITH BEES IN NEBRASKA. 



I have often thought I would like to tell you 

 something about Nebraska for bees, and that 

 report from Pawnee City sots my pen going. 

 That town is only about ^J miles f romTecumseh, but 

 Mr. M.'s bees (perhaps they were blacks) seem not 

 to have done as well as mine. Bee-keepers in this 

 part of the country say that the last two years have 

 been very poor for honey. I can not .iudgc, for my 

 bee-keeping commenced in May, 1879. I bought 4 

 swarms of Italians, one hybrid and two black, one of 

 them weak, in box hive; got a neighbor to help 

 transfer it and show me the queen, as I knew noth- 

 ing about bees. Borrowed "Langstroth on Honey- 

 Bee, " sent for A B C, Gleanings, etc. During that 

 season I increased the 7 to 30, besides losing 4, three 

 of which absconded, on account of ants probably, 

 and one strong natural swarm '.which gave rac the 



