270 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Junk 



or, rather, take other bees, than the ones in her 

 nucleus? How do you manage to get enough hees 

 for 1 lb. when the queen is in a nucleus that has but 

 barely that amount? I had to give young bees to 

 both of the nuclei I took those out of this evening, 

 to protect the unhatched brood. 



Now, do you want to know how I have my colonies 

 so strong? I will tell you. Candy did it. I made up 

 a liberal supply along in Feb., and put it on every 

 colony right on top of the frames; and as fast as 

 they used it up I put on another, even when they 

 were bringing in pollen from the elm and maple, 

 and later from the fruit-bloom. Lift a cover when 

 you would, j'ou would find the young bees at the 

 candy, and at it at night as well as day, and especial- 

 ly the stormy, rainy, cold days; then the whole force 

 would be at it. Some one said, when he saw me lift 

 off the slab of partly used candy, when I went to 

 show him my bees, that it was too expensive; that I 

 would never get my money and labor back; but I 

 believe that 2, or at least 3 lbs. of candy will make at 

 least 1 lb. of bees; and as long as I can sell at pres- 

 ent prices, it will all come back, with compound in- 

 terest too; and then the satisfaction of having 

 booming colonies, ready to do all they can for you 

 wden they get the chance, is a satisfaction too great 

 to be resisted. I must close. Send in the orders, 

 and remember that I will be sure next time that the 

 queen is there. E. T. Fl,anagan. 



Belleville, 111., May 20, 1881. 



Well, now, friend F., isn't it a little singu- 

 lar that I have exactly answered yon, on p. 

 U76, even before your letter was written? I 

 would not attempt to mix bees to send with 

 a queen, for the strange one would be very 

 likely to sting her, and that would leave 

 your customer in a very bad predicament. 

 We get 1 lb. from a hive, without trouble ; 

 frequently 2 lbs., and have, in a few cases, 

 taken 3 lbs., even in the month of May. If 

 too few are left, take some of the combs 

 away, or bring some bees from another hive. 

 I should very much like to know how many 

 pounds of candy it will take to make 1 lb. of 

 bees. 



THE GIVEN FDN. PRESS, THIS PRES- 

 ENT SEASON. 



^ AST year, after carefully reading all the testi- 

 Jj[|_,^ | menials in favor of the different fdn. ma- 

 chines, I concluded to get a "Dunham." It 

 was, after some delay, received, and I did my best, 

 for a novice, to make it work; but it was " no go," 

 and I was very much discouraged with my want of 

 success,but attributed it to my lack of skill. This 

 spring I thought I would try the "Foster mold," be- 

 lieving any thing that he would send out would be 

 worth the money. My experience with it you have 

 already given to the public, and CA-ery word I said 

 was true; and I still say that, for persons who need 

 but a small quantity for their own use, it is the ma- 

 chine yet; but the plaster plates, and the shallow 

 impressions, or, rather, the low side walls and rather 

 thick base, or septum, was a drawback. Thinking 

 over what Heddon had written in regard to the 

 " Given machine," and having considerable confi- 

 dence in his judgment, I wrote for one, and have 

 given it a fair trial, and I am compelled, in justice, 

 to say that, for ease of manipulation, correctness of 

 work, and perfection of all that one desires in comb 

 fdn. {thick or thin), height of side walls and thianess 



of septum, it is ahead of all. I don't want a better 

 machine or better fdn.; and then you can put the 

 wires in in such a manner that they are completely 

 covered, and no brood injured. I have written this 

 without the knowledge or consent of the inventors. 

 And I can indorse every word that Heddon said of it 

 last year. E. T. Flanagan. 



Belleville, 111., May 6, 1881. 



We have, within a few days, received of 

 friend Given some wired frames, tilled with 

 fdn., that are certainly handsome, and he 

 without (luestion deserves great credit for 

 so pertinaciously pushing his invention along 

 to its present state of perfection. The fdn. 

 is not as soft, and I should say not as easily 

 worked out by the bees as that made on the 

 rubber or plaster plates : but as it is done 

 rapidly, and with a great degree of econo- 

 my of wax, it must certainly come greatly 

 into use. Who will take the next step, and 

 make the rubber plates put the sheet into 

 the wired frames? 



MRS. liUCINDA HARRISON'S T.VLK TO 

 THE CHILDREN. 



MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS :- I've just fin- 

 ished reading your letters in May No. of 



Gleanings, and I asked myself how many 



of these boys and girls are trying to do some thing 

 useful. We are delighted that Mollie E. Canoles 

 mnkes surplus boxes; this is hitting the nail right 

 on the head, isn't it? It does not require much 

 strength to make them, but skill and tact. All little 

 boys love to drive nails, and why should not the girls 

 too? Not only know how to drive them, but do it 

 properly, so that they will not split, or the nails 

 bend. 



We do not like names that end in le,— Johnnie, 

 Mollie, etc. The police reports are full of such 

 names. Mary is a beautiful name, and it seems like 

 bad taste to change it to Mollie, which is a more 

 suitable name for a horse than a girl or woman. 



You have all heard of Simpson's honey-plant, have 

 you not? It is called by this name, because Mr. 

 Simpson found out that it is a good honey-plant, and 

 told Mr. Boot and other bee-keepers about it. We 

 saw Mr. Simpson at a bee-meeting, and he looks as 

 if he would enjoy doing a kind act. He said that he 

 had a little boy, seven years old, who, when the bees 

 swarmed, ran up to the hive, and caught and caged 

 the queen as she came out. I've tried to catch the 

 queens in this way, but my fingers are not nimble 

 enough, and I have a kind of ague, like the hunters 

 have when they aim at a deer. They tremble, and 

 call it " buck's ague." I'm glad that they do have 

 it, for 1 do not like to have the pretty deers killed; 

 do you? Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Peoria, 111., May 33, 1881. 



CIRCUIiARS AND PRICE LISTS RE- 

 CEIVED. 



W. G. Russell, Millbrook, Ont., Can., sends xis a one-page 

 circular of apiarian supplies. 



A. W. Cheney, Kanawha Falls, W. Va., sends us a well exe- 

 cuted cheirograph circular of one page, giving prices of Italian 

 bees and queens. 



O. H. To-\™send, Hubbardston, Ionia Co., Mich., sends us a 

 very full 8-page catalogue of apiarian implements. 



U. W. Baker, Lewi.sv!IIe,Jnd.. issues a postal price list of Ital- 

 ian queens only. 



