450 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Sept. 



CHAFF HIVES, BLACK BEES, ETC. 



I Started last fall with 54 stocks— 51 in Langstroth 

 chaff hives, and 3 in box hives; lost 4 in chaff, and 1 

 in liox hive, and doubled up one, which left 48, 

 mostly in good condition. Increased to 83 bynatural 

 and artificial swarming; have taken 8'>U lbs. from 

 one swarm, of nice clover honey in .sections, and 

 black bees at that. Three-fourths of the bees died 

 in these parts last winter. My bees are doing better 

 than ever before. I wintered in chaff hives, with a 

 piece of carpet over the frames, and 6 inches of 

 loose chaff on top of that, which 1 think is about 

 right. I make and use the V'andervort foundation. 

 It beats any I ever saw. I have put heavy swarms 

 on full sheets, and have not had any break-down. I 

 use full-size sheets in sections; 10 square feet to the 

 pound. c. J. Hakjht. 



Rush, Susq. Co., Pa., July 11, 1881. 



UPS AND DOWNS. 



Bees have done remarkably well here this season. 

 Here where, for two years past, they have scarcel.v 

 made a living,— in fact, nearly all have perished, in 

 consequence, principally, of the poor seasons,— this 

 year they gi ve an average of 60 to 70 lbs. of choice 

 honey, all sealed. Italians have been about the only 

 ones to survive the two past seasons. Three years 

 ago in my neighborhood we numbered nearly 300 

 colonies. Spring found us with only 30, and all 

 weak ; 10 scarcely able to build up. 



Americus, Mo., July 8, 1881. L. A. ANDEBi=0\. 



Why, friend A., tliat reads something like 

 what the man said about his clock. Some- 

 body suggested it was out of repair. ''Oh, 

 no!" he replied; "it is only because but 

 few people understand it. Yon see, when 

 it strikes 12 the hands point to half-past two ; 

 and I know then it's just half-past seven." 



SOUTH AMERICA. 



Please send me two sample copies of your maga- 

 zine, with price lists for improved appliances, etc. I 

 desire, through a friend in South America, to use 

 our best endeavors to introduce this industry on a 

 large scale there, and of course must be well inform- 

 ed of the requisites for such work. The field, I 

 think, is a good one, and requires only energy and 

 push to open up to a considerable extent. The cli- 

 mate is nearly similar to that of California, and I sec 

 no reason to think the project at all a doubtful one. 

 Any information you can supply me with I shall be 

 obliged for; and in the event of any business result- 

 ing, I shall be pleased to buy of you the necessary 

 articles. J. H. Snyder, 



Vicc-Cu)isul Arocnti))e ncimhUc. 

 ■ 128 Pearl St., N. Y., July 33, 1881. 



We gladly send the samples, friend S., and 

 we shall be most happy to assist in any way 

 in our power in opening up bee culture in 

 the southern half of our continent. You 

 will observe, from another column, that we 

 already have one customer and correspond- 

 ent in your country. 



HOW TO winter bees. 



As wintering of bees must be a subject of much 

 interest to you, I will send in my report for the 

 past winter. At the beginning of winter I had 98 

 swarms in about 8 different kinds of hives. Three 

 swarms starved, 2 lost their queens, and 3 getting 

 weak in the spring, on account of having old queens 

 (as I thought), were put in with others, lessening 



them 8 from 98. I could not ask for better success 

 in wintering in any winter. I have been experi- 

 menting on wintering bees for the last five years, 

 and I now think I know the right, way to prepare 

 them. I have a hive that cost less than $1.00 that I 

 think would be just the thing for the timid portion 

 of your A H C class. I could insin-e them to winter 

 bees that are in reasonably good condition for 25 cts. 

 a swarm (no patent, no hives to sell.) And if you 

 will visit me I think it possible that you might see 

 or hear something that would be of benefit to yon in 

 wintering bees. 



Swarming commenced early in June; over 100 

 swarms issued. I have been selling new swarms 

 that weighed 6 to 8 lbs. for $3.00. They have stored 

 a good quantity of bo.\ honey. F. C. White. 



Euclid, Cuyahosa Co., Ohio, Jnly 16, 1881. 



Well, isn't that a little cool, friend W., to 

 tell us you have got the great secret, and 

 then keep us all w^aiting until I can pay you 

 a visit y Can't you give us at least a brief 

 outline of what is to be done V I will try to 

 come and see you, however, before a great 

 while. 



HONEY-DEW. 



We have not had a very large flow of honey this 

 season, though the season seems favorable, and was 

 early in the spring. We had lots of honey-dew for 

 several weeks, but I did not see a single bee gather- 

 ing it, or paying any attention to it. Please tell us 

 if such cases are common, where bees remain poor 

 while honey-dew drops from the leaves in rich 

 abundance. S. L. Greer. 



Friendsville, Blount Co., Tenn., July 26, 1881. 



I never heard of such a case before, friend 

 G. Was the honey-dew good? it must 

 have been of very bad quality indeed if the 

 bees would not eat it. 



EXPERIENCE OF ONE OF THE "AWKWARD SQUAD." 



The queen I got of you was well received and in- 

 troduced, and a week after was laying all right, but 

 in two weeks more was gone, and a lot of queen-cells 

 capped. What became of her? 1 had a large box 

 hive in the spring so full of crooked comb and honey 

 that I did not like to transfer it, so I took off the top 

 and put on a Simplicity hive. They soon tilled it 

 with brood and honey, sent off' a swarm of at least 

 half a bushel of bees, and still seem to be full of 

 both bees and brood. What shall I do with them? I 

 see in Gleanings how friend Miller uses honey to 

 prevent foundation from stick ing to the lever of his 

 fastener. I put a piece of paper on top of the foun- 

 dation. This can be pulled off without trouble after 

 it is fastened, and makes no daubing of honey. To 

 fasten foimdation in the L. frame, lay the sheet of 

 it on the comb-guide; take a hot iron (a stove-lid 

 lifter will do), and draw it along the upper edge so 

 it will touch both the wood and the edge of the fdn., 



and it is done. 



One of the ABC Class. 



Bedford, Westchester Co., N. Y., July 25, 1881. 



It is hard to guess what became of your 

 queen. Any queen is liable to be found luiss- 

 ing at any time. I presume they die occa- 

 sionally of other ailments than old age, in 

 common with the rest of mortals.— Take oti 

 your Simplicity hive, and set it on the stand 

 of the old one now, and I think you will have 

 all the bees and nearly all the brood, so you 

 can jnstAvork up the old crooked combs into 



