1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



8!)!» 



THE BLUE BEE;— SOME THING AHEAD OF APIS DOR- 

 SAT AC') 



There is a friend of mino who came from Indiana, 

 and he says there is a man, one of his neighbors, 

 who got a swarm of bees from New York, and an- 

 other from Kentucky, both wild bees, and crossed 

 them and produced a him hrr. He says they are 

 larger and hardier than any bee he ever saw; better 

 than the Italians, he thinks; they will work in rainy 

 and fogsy weather just like a bumble-bee; if the 

 dew wets them, they shaku it off and stamp their 

 feet, and go to work as hard as ever. He says the 

 man does not know how to ship queens, and that he 

 sells them for f +.C0 or $5.00 apiece, and the buyers 

 run all risks. I want a queen, but am afraid to trust 

 him, as I live in the far West. Couldn't you go and 

 see him, or write to him and get some (jueens? They 

 would be a great help to you, as I think there will be 

 a great demand for them; and couldn't you afford 

 to send me a queen for iyformin^' ,\ou? If not, I will 

 buy one of you. The man's address is Robert Lucus, 

 Orland, Steuben Co., Indiana. Also, that they arc 

 quicker than the Holy-Land bees or the Italians. 



\VlLLAI{D R. LVMD. 



Monterey, Monterey Co , Cal. 



To b? sure, I 'will, friend L.. and I will 

 '• stani]) my feef too when this great bee 

 does all you say. T could not well go to see 

 him. but I will send him this journal : and 

 then if he has got any left we can just send 

 him some queen-cages, and he can ])ut them 

 in that, ■• sure.'" I was just wondering what 

 was the matter with our Italians this year, 

 because they did not start out during bass- 

 wood bloom before sunrise as they used to 

 do. I think it must be they were waiting 

 for that great '• blue bee "' to come and do it. 



HATCHING BROOK WITHOUT KEKS. 



My Idea is, that sealed brood will hatch in chaff 

 hives without any bees in it, as I know by experi- 

 ence of last summer, when I cut out some drone 

 comb and laid it in my tool-box, and every one came 

 out just as if they were in a hive of bees; so I think 

 workers will come out also. I believe the queen 

 will lay sooner in a comb when it is placed between 

 two combs of br.iod. W. K. Deisher. 



Kutztown, Berks Co., Pa., June 13, 1881. 



To be sure, capped brood will hatch with- 

 out bees, friend J)., providing the tempera- 

 ture is kept high enough, say between so and 

 ]()0. We have done this for years past in 

 the lamp nursery. During the hottest sum- 

 mer weather, the bees follow the queen and 

 feed the larv;e until it is sealed; and if the 

 hive is destitute of bees, yon will see only a 

 ring of nnrse bees aronnd the outer edges of 

 circles of sealed brood. Placing an empty 

 comb between combs of brood is an excel- 

 lent plan, if it is not crowded too far. Re- 

 member what Merrybanks said of such wcn'k 

 a few numbers back. 



SILVERHULL BUCKWHEAT. 



Try silverhull buckwheat for breakfast fjr the 

 bees during white-clovei- bloom. I think it pays as 

 well as it does in the fall. One thing more about it; 

 it is splendid for the bees to calm down on after 

 basswood. S. H. Lane. 



Whitestown, Boone Co., lad., July 15, 18S1. 



And I have got " one thing more " to add 

 yet, friend L. Silverhull buckwheat holds 



np to $2.00 per bushel in price every year, 

 and we can't get enotigh of it even at that. 

 \Vhat do bee-keepers do with all they raiseV 

 I have this season sent to A. C. Nellis for 

 all he had. and was tinally compelled to send 

 clear to (iregory, of I\Iass.; and after paying 

 SI. Toper bushel for all he had, 1 had to go 

 without any to sow myself. I sold it to cus- 

 tomers for less than it cost me, after paying 

 for bags and freight, rather than disappoint 

 them. Wake up, boys, and raise not only 

 honey for your bees, but seed for bee-keep- 

 ers. 



CHAFF HIVES. 



Last fall I did not get my chaff hi\cs in time to 

 transfer from Simplicity until December. 1 then 

 transferred ]-' swarms, knowing that such action 

 was opposed to all t>ieories, and thinking my chanc- 

 es very slim for saxing even a fraction of these 1~ 

 swarms; but I also knew b.y experience there was 

 not the slightest chance to save any in the Simplici- 

 ty \«ith the weather at zero so early in the spring. 

 The result of this rash transfer was 10 good strong 

 swarms Ihis spring. The two that died were very 

 light when transferred. 1 also wintered 4 success- 

 fuUy in Simplicity hives in a damp cold cellar. 



Wakcman, O., June 11, 1S81. M. I. Todd. 



.NEM'LY GATHERED GRANULATED HONEY. 



Our honey this season is gi-anulated when it comes 

 out of the gum, and all our neighbors' is the same 

 way, and I should like to know the reason, as there 

 must be a reason for it. The honey is sweet and 

 pleasant, but nearly all sugar. I have not fed my 

 bees any. W. C. Hill. 



Jefferson, Tex., July 8, 1881. 



We have had several such reports in back 

 volumes, friend II. Your bees have gather- 

 ed grape sugar from nature "s laboratory, that 

 is all. It is just as good as liciuid honey, 

 only that there is the same danger from 

 hardening in the cells that there is from ar- 

 tificial grape sugar. 



GOOD REPORT FROM COLOR \DO. 



Bees just "beat the Dutch" bringing in h<mey. 

 It just beats all to see how much honey a barrel of 

 bees, in chaff hives, can bring in in one day. Ours 

 are giving us 50 lbs. surplus per day for 10 days, and 

 — we are not keeping up with them extracting. 



Can't tell how long it will hold out. 



R. H. Rhodes. 



Arvada, Jeff. Co., Colorado, July, 1881. 

 If your apiary is composed of oO stocks, 

 friend 11. that isift a very large yield; but 

 if only 10, it would do very well; while if 

 only three or four chaif hives, it is pretty 

 '• big." Whv don't you tell us how many? 



hiving a swarm ox NOTHING BUT SECTIONS. 



'V\''hen increase Is not desired, why not hive the 

 swarm on frames of sections? It may be a common 

 practice, but 1 have not seen it mentioned any 

 where. As soon as bees are hived, all hands unite 

 to fill up the empty spaces with comb, and they go 

 in well prepared for it. 1 should like to hear how 

 it works with others. My bees wintered well; lost 

 two, with twenty left. It has been warm and sea- 

 sonable since the .*^th of April, and the prospect for 

 the summer and fall was never better. 



S. T. Hamilton. 



Botland, Nelson Co., Ky., June 30, 1881. 



