1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



295 



THE .lUVENILE CLASS, AND OTHER ITEMS. 



My report to May, 1881, is as follows: Prepared 

 for winter Oct. 23, 1880, 49 colonies apparently in 

 g'ood condition on summer stands, with 10 frames 

 below and quilt and chaff cushion top of all except 

 one two-story hive with 10 Gallup frames below and 

 10 above; the other 48 are L. hives. May 1, 1881, had 

 47 colonies alive and in good condition. The Gallup- 

 hive colony was rather weak; g'ood queens in all the 

 hives, and building up nicely on fruit-bloom. I am 

 glad to see you put yourself in Blasted Hopes, al- 

 though I am sorry that you last so many bees. I 

 would like to see a report from friend Hogarty, of 

 Quindaro, Kansas. One year ago ho had 130 colo- 

 nies; this spring he said he had 5 colonies left, and 

 he has not sold any. He wants to sell out and quit 

 the business. I think the bees in this neighborhood 

 are about two thirds dead this spring. We have had 

 a very hard winter, but my bees were not over 18 

 days without flying, at any time from Dec, 1880, to 

 March 1, 1881, and they came out this spring in bet- 

 ter condition, and stronger, than they did one year 

 ago. I hardly know if it was the fault of the bees, 

 the weather, the mode fd' preparation, or all com- 

 bined ; but, as Mark Twain or some other philoso- 

 pher saj's, "1 think it was." May be it was luck; 

 who knows? One question: How do you know that 

 honey will keep good in tin cans scaled tight "one 

 hundred j'ears"? Won't you come down a year or 

 two? Allow me to thank Mrs. Harrison and your- 

 self for so much kindness to the Juvenile Class. 



Jas. a. Nelson. 

 AVyandott, Kansas, May 13, 1881. 



You are right about the lioney, friend N., 

 for I have never tried it a full hundred years, 

 and it might not kee]) over 99; but Uien, 

 again, it might keep a thousand. Suppose 

 we label a can or two, and set it away for 

 posterity, and have them report. You must 

 not give me too much credit, friend X., for 

 I expect the Juvenile Department to furnish 

 us very important facts, and some that, per- 

 haps, 1 could not get the old ones to give. 

 ]iy the bye, young bees a day or two old 

 are of no use as honey -gatherers; but every 

 bee-keeper knows that, with his hives full 

 of such, he will in due time reap a bountiful 

 harvest. When we move off the stage 1 ex- 

 pect iJlue Eyes and the rest to take our 

 places, and the thought of it makes me long 

 to get better acquainted with them all. More 

 than all, friend N., I have a great longing to 

 know that their little feet are already start- 

 ed in wisdom's ways, and, to sum it all up 

 briefly, that they are all Sunday-school 

 scholars. 



LEAVING SECTION BOXES ON ALL WINTER. 



I have to report bees mostly dead all through this 

 section. I think fully 75 pf>r cent or more have per- 

 ished during the winter and spring. You made the 

 inquiry if any had left section boxes on, and the re- 

 sult. I use a IVo-story chaff hive, and .5x6 section 

 box. The supers set on the top of the hive; the 

 boxes on top of the frames; chaff all round, about 3 

 inches on top. When I took off the boxes, I lefts to 

 experiment— one old, the other a young swarm, both 

 Italians, and both are living, and among my best 

 now. I have 16 living; lost 50 per cent. N. Case. 



Orangeville, N. Y., May 14, 1881. 



I confess there is something very perplex- 

 ing to me in these reports. Is it really a fact, 



that there is some very important point in 

 regard to wintering, of which we are in igno- 

 rance? 



bees by the PODNn. 



If you will furnish the cages all provisioned, 1 

 will send you bees at 75 cts. per lb., you paying ex- 

 press charges. If you do not want bees, I will fur- 

 nih your customers at same rates. You must send 

 cages prepaid. A. T. McIlwatn. 



Abbeville C. H., S. C, May 7, 1881. 



I fear it is too far for us, friend JSL, but 

 there are doubtless many of our customers 

 who will be very glad indeed to accept your 

 offer. We will mail you a cage all prepared 

 to-day, and you can try 1 lb., and we can 

 then tell soiiie thing about what the express 

 will be. 



fastening fdn. in frames. 



I have just invented a new plan for fastening fdn. 

 in sections and frames. Take a tin tube about the 

 size and shape of the one in the cold-blast smoker, 

 with a very small hole in the little end. Put the 

 tube, little end down, into a cup of melted wax; 

 then put your thumb over the large end, and take 

 the tube out. Your thumb will keep the wax from 

 running out. Take your thumb off whilst you draw 

 the tube along, letting it touch the wood and wax 

 where they are to be joined, and the small stream 

 will stick it nicelj'. This may be old to you, but I 

 think it is a good plan, at any rate. 



Greeneville,Tenn.,May 16, '81. Chas. Kingslev. 



Your idea is quite ingenious indeed, friend 

 K.; but since the Parker fastener, and the 

 advent of rubbing the wax sheets fast where 

 we want them, the melted-wax plan has 

 been mostly discarded. Thanks for it never- 

 theless. ] t strikes me, on the impulse of the 

 moment, that you have given us an idea for 

 our wax-fountain, in getting the right 

 amount for a sheet on the rubber plates. 



CHAFF packing. 



I think it is my turn to recite next. I put into 

 winter-quarters seven good swarms and one weak 

 one. This spring I have eight what I would call ex- 

 tra good ones. I lost none. They kept up brood- 

 rearing more or less all winter. They increase in 

 numbers instead of decreasing. I will give my mode 

 of wintering and springing. I use the shallow-frame 

 Langstroth hive. 1 make a rough box, about 4-icches 

 larger all around than my hive, and about 8 inches 

 higher, and a good' cover to keep the water out. 

 From one side of the box I saw a hole about as large 

 as the front of the hive; put a few inches of chaff 

 in the box; set in the hive, the front thereof to cor- 

 respond with the hole in the box. Pack chaff on 

 three sides and on top. I leave the quilt on all to 

 cover the frames. My hives face the south in win- 

 ter. 



PREPARING FOR WINTER. 



I like to have plenty of young bees to go into win- 

 ter-quarters with, and so as soon as the honey sea- 

 son is over, and brood-rearing ceases, I stimulate 

 the queen by feeding syrup and flour made into a 

 batter, and spread on a comb and hung in the hive. 

 I repeat about every week until cold weather comes, 

 and before packing in the fall I see that all have 

 plenty of good sealed honey to winter on. When 

 spring opens I stimulate the queen the same as in 

 the fall, for I want my hives crowded with bees and 



