1881 



GLEANINGIS IN 13EE CULTURE. 



381 



It is the unsolved problem, to fly bees inside a build- 

 iag or greenhouse. 



In answer to this. I in due time received 

 the following:— 



Your ABC complete Ciune to hand Saturday. I 

 was s'l surprised to find so much general informa- 

 tion about the busy bee. This morning- I received 

 your letter, staling- that you wouldnot ask any thing 

 more for the payment of the A B C, if I would tell 

 you about those bees of mine. Friend Root, I think 

 you arc very liberal indeed. I thank you kindly, 

 and will tell you, .as nearly as I can, what you ask 

 for. The bees are Italians, very strong- and prolific. 

 They were a July swarm; came late; do not know 

 the date. Kept them on stands until Dec. 5th; built 

 shelf up about ft. from floor of greenhouse, close, 

 in N. W. corner, sheltered by 6-in. walls from W. 

 and N. This was all I did put them on. This shelf left 

 the mouth of the hive completely open; if they 

 wanted to come out they did so; if not, they could 

 do otherwise. Through the warm days of February 

 and early part of March, during the warm part of 

 the day they would come out by the hundreds and 

 fly about the house overhead. Sometimes I would 

 go in and attach the hose to the hydrant and sprinkle 

 plants, bees, and all, when they would hurry for 

 their his^e. This would frighten thetn home. Other 

 times or days, when I did not need to sprinkle the 

 plantsto keep the atmosphere moist or humid, they 

 would wing- their way about the greenhouse, seek 

 the sunniest places, cluster in bunches of a dozen or 

 more; when the sun left them in the shade they 

 would go back to their hive. The temperature of 

 the greenhouse would be, in the day time, about 65° ; 

 at night, 50 to 55°. About the 2Cth of March the sun 

 became so powerful under the glass that the tem- 

 perature would rise toOC; at this the bees would 

 be out by thousands. But I found this would soon 

 spoil my plants, for they would spot them so much 

 with their excrement. 1 had to move them into a 

 colder greenhouse to keep them in the hive. The 

 place I now put them in had no fire, but did not 

 freeze at night. Here I kept them until about the 

 first of April. Old Sol began to send down his raj'S 

 so hot and penetrating, that even a greenhouse 

 without fire was up to %° at times. I knew it would 

 not do to let my bees out, for I had doors and venti- 

 hito.s open, and they might get lost; so I made a 

 wire frame about 4x6x12 inches, and placed it in the 

 entrance of the hive. This they would go into and 

 buzz for an hour or two, until the temperature was 

 lowered. Then they would seek their hive again. 

 Toward the last of April I put them on their sum- 

 mer stands; have secured from them already two 

 good swarms. The last one I hived this morning. 

 She is a virgin queen, a beauty. 



I love liees, and like to work with them; never 

 used a veil in my life to handle bees, and I get along 

 first rate. 



[ do not know any thing more to tell you, except 

 that you can write to K. K. Crooks, a bee-man across 

 the street, and hear what he has to say about the 

 care my bees had the past winter. W. J. KioD. 



Logansport, Ind., June 13, LSSl. 



Many thanks, friend K. The only point I 

 wished to make was about their getting 

 back safely into their hives at night. Did 

 you find no dead bees on the floor in sweep- 

 ing V Did you see any of them on any of the 

 tiowers in the greenhouse, or Avere there no 



flowering plants V Did you ever try feeding 

 them any tiling during the winter, outside 

 of their hives V I>,astly, did you not see them 

 spot tlie plants at all with their excrement 

 until the air became very warm in March or 

 April, as you say V I have sometimes thouglit 

 the temperature would be more even in a 

 large greenhouse ; will you tell us the dimen- 

 sions of the house you kept these bees in, 

 friend K. V About how high is the glass from 

 the ground V 



FLORIDA AS A BEE STATE 



fSj^E have frequently seen reports from Florida, 

 but none from Dade county, and 1 will give 

 you a few items. January last there were 

 no bees kept within 75 miles of us, and none in this 

 county that Ave know of; occasionally a wild swarm 

 in the woods, but very few near the coast. We 

 bought ~ colonies of Fra»<cher (he whcj sent you 

 those nice oranges), brought them home in a sail 

 boat, 150 miles. Some of them died, and colonies 

 were weak to start on. They commenced imme- 

 diately (in Jan.) to gather pollen and honey, and to 

 raise brood. In March the hives were booming, and 

 we went to dividing. Our neighbors were getting 

 the bee fever hmUij, and our idea was to get lots of 

 swarms, sell them, and make "a heap of m(mcy." 

 We committed the blunder usually done by begin- 

 ners; ciz., made our swarms too weak, and have not 

 done as well as we might. Kesult: We have sold 1 

 swarms; 1 ran away; 3 were destroyed by ants, 

 which accident might have been prevented, and we 

 have two weak colonies left. It is the best cash in- 

 vestment we ever made, and the experience Is 

 worth still more. 



There seems to be a continual succession of flow- 

 ers and bee forage the year around. Many trees 

 and plants yield their sweet nectar, that we had 

 not supposed belonged to that class. The mastic- 

 tree is now in bloom. The gum limbo, stoppa, wild 

 locust, sweet bay, persimmon (a kind that does not 

 fruit here;) all and others of which we do not know 

 the name, have blossomed in turn; also the cabbage 

 and saw palmetto. The latter is the best bee-plant 

 in Florida. Of course, the question of wintering 

 does not come in here. We raise the tenderest trop- 

 ical fruits without protection, and were shipping to- 

 matoes and other vegtables and fruits all last win- 

 ter. 



Have noticed the mosquito hawk take occasionally 

 a bee, but not a serious pest. 



Success to Gleanings! May it be the means of 

 leading many a poor soul to a better life, as well as 

 to enlighten us on the bee question. 



F. S. DiMlCK. 



Lake Worth, Dade Co., Fla., July 5, 1881. 



Neighbor Clakk who sells us bees by the pound 

 has .iust mentioned, incidentally, that ho uses a pa- 

 per tunnel instead of our tin one, and that it does 

 very good service for sevi^ral times using. 



Bees sometimes gather pollen from timothy. As 

 they only do it early in the morning, 1 have some- 

 times thought they did it rather for the fun of it; 

 may be while they are waiting for "breakfast to be 

 ready," before going out into the fields and woods 

 on their regular day's work. 



