396 



GLlEANIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



just say right out whether you tind any black 

 bees or not, it would be a great favor to 

 many of us here. ^Ve will take your word 

 for it, and if you find no blacks, of course 

 there will be no hybrids. 



SUBSTITUTE FOR SANDPAPER ON THE SMOKER 

 ISELLOWS. 



Did you ever try rubbing the tin case of a smoliei- 

 with the coarse side of a rasp, and nialiing a rough 

 spot on which to strike matches'? If not, try it, and 

 I think you will find it better than sandpaper. Tt 

 does not have to be renewed. A. T. McIlwain. 



Abbeville, S. C, June 14, 1881. 



Many thanks, friend M.; but if you sand- 

 paper the tin, it will soon rust, will it not? 

 This may not be a very great ol)jection, for 

 a smoker tube pretty soon gets black and 

 rusty any way. We will try it on one of our 

 old ones. 



CHAFF HIVES VERSUS CELLARS. 



I would like to ask you to explain some things. 

 But I will first give you a history of the ease. My 

 bees, r> hives, came out this spring good and strong. 

 Two of them were in chaff hives which I bought of 

 you, and two in American hives which arc packed 

 in chaff, and one in Simplicity hive with chaff cush- 

 ions; sides and an upper story filled with chaff. So I 

 say, hurrah for chaff packing, for almost everybody 

 around here has lost heavily. My father had about 

 30 hives in his cellar, but this spring they are very 

 weak and backward, and it is the same with the 

 others around here who put them in their cellars, 

 while those who left them on summer stands lost 

 the most of them. I had one swarm on the 30th of 

 May, and one on the Ist of June, and the other three 

 soon after, but now I am coming to what I don't un- 

 derstand. 



AFTEU-SMARMS, AND THEIR QUEENS. 



When the second swarms came, I put some of them 

 into hives that had just swarmed, and cut out the 

 queen-cells. Some of them 1 looked into just as they 

 were about to send out second swarms, and took out 

 all the queens and cells but one. Some of the colls 

 would have a yoiuig queen who was peeping to get 

 out, and I would let her out and take out all the 

 rest. But this morning 1 thought some of them act- 

 ed as though they were queenless, and I can not 

 find a queen, nor eggs in any of them, and some of 

 them are building queen-cells (or have built them, 

 and have them half full of royal jelly.) Now, what 

 has become of the young queens, and what is the 

 cause of their disappearance? Two of them I saw 

 several days after I put them in (or let them loose 

 from the queen-cell), and one commenced to lay, or 

 at least, eggs were there. But now I don't believe 

 there is a young queen in my yard. My bees are all 

 Italians and hybrids. It has been so cold and wet 

 in this section, that I think the white-clover crop of 

 honey will be light. We almost always have a good 

 yield of buckwheat honey. Wm. F. Sherwood. 



Liberty, Sullivan Co., N. Y., June 33, 1881. 



Your plan of putting after-swarms in with 

 some colony that has swarmed, friend S., I 

 am afraid was not quite ''orthodox," espec- 

 ially after you had destroyed all queen-cells. 

 You see, your after-swarms contained virgin 

 queens, of such an age that it is a very hard 

 thing indeed to introduce them anywhere. I 

 should think about half of them would be 

 killed, under the circumstances. You may 



be in too much of a hurry for them to lay ; 

 it takes about a week, before you find eggs 

 in the combs given to any after-swarm. 

 Finding eggs in the combs right after the 

 swarm was put in, would not be conclusive 

 that the queen was laying, for you must 

 bear in mind, eggs will be found in the hive 

 until the laying queen has been absent fully 

 three days. Give them some unsealed brood, 

 and if they start queen-cells, then you know 

 they are queenless and can give them queens. 



GETTING IJEES UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 



I had lost all my bees, 20 stands. A neighbor of 

 mine found one in a limb 65 feet high. He gave it 

 to me, if 1 would or could get it down; I did so, 

 climbing the tree ml|sfi^f! I thiak I did well, as I am 

 (inhj ,")6 years of age. I let the limb down safely, and 

 transferred them into a hive. After it filled up, I 

 divided them, filling both hives full of empty combs, 

 and I now have two hives, and quite a lot of nice 

 empty combs. I think I can find some more in the 

 woods. I saw your advice, "Dnif'f j/o in deht for 

 them." I am poor. My hives are nice, cost me over 

 $100.00. So of course I want bees in them as soon 

 as I can get them. J. Barohers. 



Brookville, Mont. Co., O., July 4, 1881. 



Pretty well, friend B., but I think after 

 you have worked at bee-hunting awhile, you 

 will conclude it is easier to raise bees than 

 to climb trees for them. 



DIFFERENCE IN QUEENS. 



And now for a little talk to the class, if you please. 

 I have seen much in the papers about the difference 

 in the laying qualities of queens; and I have been 

 studying the subject by a few experiments, and 

 have come to the conclusion that some good queens 

 are badly slandered, not "with malice aforethought" 

 perhaps, but really misrepresented, notwithstand- 

 ing. I have come to the conclusion that a good vig- 

 orous swarm of bees will make almost any queen a 

 good layer. For inst.^nce, I had one swarm in spring 

 that didn't fly much, and on examination I found 

 they had a fair number of bees, but very little 

 brood. I examined them from time to time for 4 

 weeks after taking out of cellar, and never found 

 more than ^i of a card of brood at a time. At the 

 end of the 4 weeks, I changed places with it and a 

 vigorous swarm, in the middle of the day, which 

 gave her a fair swarm of vigorous bees; and in four 

 days she had six cards well filled with eggs; and in 

 an amazingly short time the space was full of bees, 

 and it required the upper story to hold them and 

 their honej'. When I changed stands with the 

 strong colony she had but a mere handful of bees. 

 I afterward tried several others with similar re- 

 sults. I hope the friends will investigate this sub- 

 ject and report; and lot us not call a queen poor, be- 

 fore she has a fair chance. H. V. Train. 



Mauston, Juneau Co., Wis., June 20, 18S1. 



Thanks, friend T. I have held much the 

 same opinion as yourself, for a long time, 

 and when I have heard queens complained 

 of, I have often felt as if I would like to put 

 them in a good colony, and "•fetch them 

 up," but still T feared to say any thing that 

 might tend to encourage the keeping or dis- 

 semination of poor stock. During the past 

 season we have scraped up every thing in 

 the shape of a queen, just to accommodate 

 those who wanted some thing to keep tlieir 



