1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



291 



first swarms had each g-athei'ed about 10 lbs. of hon- 

 ey, which I cut out, put the bees in frame hives, 

 g-iving each some comb and brood and a queen, and 

 they got along all right. The third swarm I left in 

 his box, just to convince him how long a swarm will 

 live without a queen or any thing to raise one. In 

 just one month the lieos had fizzled out, and the 

 moth had possession nf the old box. Since that I 

 look a little out for the swarm as well as the queen. 



G. J. Voder. 

 Middlebury, Elkhart Co., Ind. 



HOPES NOT AIjL blasted, EMPTY COMBS, HIVES, &C. 



I have nijarly every No. of Gleanings, f have not 

 subscribed till now this j'car, as my bees are about 

 all dead. Out of 2.5 hives I had last fall there are 

 two of them with living bees in them (both weak.) 

 I never had my bees in as good order for standing 

 the winter as I had them last fall; but long-contin- 

 ued cold killed them. They ate tremendously. 

 Plenty of them left hone3- and any quantity of bee 

 bread. I have melted down a good many combs, 

 but have a great number left which I don't like to 

 melt. I have smoked combs with brimstone, but 

 even then it Is hard to keep the moth worm from 

 destroying them. "What would ynu do with them if 

 you were so situated? There is, in a great many of 

 the combs, honey undergoing granulation ; alSD bee 

 l>read. There is no use in thinking of buying bees 

 here to take up the combs, for there are none to 

 buy — mostly all dead, and it seems little use to try 

 to increase them just to die in the winter. I have a 

 great many empty hives which I expected to fill, be- 

 sides a great deal of bee fixings of no manner of use 

 but to burn; if you can help any in this scrape by 

 your advice, please do so. 



I have read Gleanings till now, so send it along, 

 beginning with the April No. 



I am not sending for Gleanings because my bees 

 are dead; but your answer, if it helps nie, may help 

 others also who are in the same fix I am. 



I guess I thought too much of my bees; but my 

 wife died about a month ago, and the last tmuble 

 killed the first; we had lived more than .'»5 years to- 

 gether; but, thank God, I do not sorrow as those 

 that have no hope, for my wife was a Christian, and 

 I am living in trust to meet her again. Ynu are not 

 to put me in Blasted Hopes, for I have a hope that I 

 would not sell for all the bees on earth. 



Do you think, if I were to steep the combs with no 

 honey in them in cnld water, and then throw out the 

 water with an extractoi", then drj- them, that that 

 would kill the moth eggs that might be in them? 



Do not put my name to this; call me "Old Fogy," 

 or any thing you please. J. D. 



Pontiac, Oakland Co., Mich., April ::0, ISSl. 



Friend D.. do not think of melting up your 

 combs, or throwing them away in any other 

 \Vay. Brimstone is a certain and sure reme- 

 dy for moth or motli eggs, if used as direct- 

 ed in the A B C By no means put the 

 combs in water, or any thing of the kind. 

 Keep tliem dry : and if you do not use them 

 all this seasonlyou certainly will next.— Y on, 

 like many others, will do well to go slowly 

 in deciding to abandon bee culture. If you 

 should decide to do so. retreat in good order, 

 and by no means think of sacrificing valua- 

 ble property. If there is no demand for the 

 combs now, there certainly will be in due 

 time.— Hold on to that faith you allude to in 

 you last, friend D., and bear constantly in 



mind that, though heaven and earth shall 

 pass away, Gods words shall never pass 

 away, and those who put their trust in him 

 shall in no ioif<c be cast out. 



WINTEHED SUCCESSiULLV ! 



I never wintered with better success in my life 

 than the past long cold winter that has been report- 

 ed so imiversally disastrous to bees. I can not see 

 what the long cold winter has to do with success so 

 long as the bees are in proper condition, and kept 

 so inside a warm house. I set out 140 colonies the 

 15th day of April that had not seen the light of the 

 sun since Nov. 15th. They seemed quite astonished 

 at the warm sunshine of an April day. Their Rip 

 Vanwinkle sleep had carried them over a long ex- 

 perience of 5 months of cold and storm in the out- 

 side world. Four little weak colonies only had per- 

 ished by getting away from their stores, and starv- 

 ing. I am satisfied I could have kept them in a 

 month longer in good condition, but did not deem it 

 wisdom to do so, as brood-rearing ha<l nearly ceased 

 for lack of pollen and water. 



I fed flour liberally for a few days when natural 

 pollen appeared. They ai-e doing nicely now, filling 

 up with food and young bees. I wintered 70 colonies 

 at another place in another house, but could not ob- 

 tain the conditions I considered necessary for cer- 

 tain success. These did not winter quite so well, 

 the loss being 6, light colonies mostly, although from 

 the cause before mentioned. The bees, too, were 

 not all in that fine bright condition the others were. 

 These were set out at i'z months, and they are also 

 doing well. No cushions, no chaff packing, no fuss- 

 ing, housed in a bee-house constructed for the pur- 

 pose, in view of success; temperature averaged 

 about 40°; artificial heat at times. The bees gorged 

 themselves on apples, peaches, and grapes all the 

 fall. About half the swarms were quite light In 

 stores when put up. Wintered in the same place and 

 manner during the warm winter of one year ago, 

 with equal success. I am entirely unshaken by the 

 numerous reports of the fearful disasters in winter- 

 ing, lam quite certain that, with proper manage- 

 ment, bees may be wintered with as much certainty 

 as any other stock at all times. H. R. Boardman. 



East Townsend, Huron Co., O., Apr. 39, 1881. 



RED-CLOVER HONET, ETC. 



Did you ever see the drones block the entrance of 

 the hive when they are expelling them in the fall? 

 We had one do it last fall efl'ectually. We had a poor 

 season last year. I began the season with 3*3; in- 

 creased to 31; got over .500 lbs. box honey, 100 extract- 

 ed, 200 in cards that I neglected t(j extract. If I had 

 not let any of them swarm 1 would have got 400 lbs. 

 box honey more. It was those that I put boxes right 

 on before they swarmed that gave me most of the 

 honey. Year before last we had one swarm that 

 stored over 40 lbs. red-clover honey in boxes. My 

 "best half " said that was just splendid; so say I, 

 and the little ones too. We have a great variety 

 of flowers. I do not think that basswood yields very 

 much nor very long at a time. We always get some 

 surplus; have kept bees five years. 



John Crowfoot. 



Bloomingdale, V*an Buren Co., Mich., Apr. 30, 1881. 



WORTHLESS QUEENS ; BE CAREFUL HOTT TOU THROW 

 THEM AROUND CARELESSLY. 



A young queen, raised last summer after the old 

 queen and swarm came out, was discovered in March 



