452 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



went to him and bought some. I also maile anothei- 

 trip later. In this way I succeeded in raising about 

 70 very nice queens. F. B. Chapman. 



Scipioville, Cay. Co., N. Y., Aug. 4, 1881. 



Our friends will notice, from the way in 

 which the above order is given, that friend 

 V. feels a little sore, lie does not relisli tlie 

 idea of sending for pails, and then having to 

 wait nntil they can lie made, or ordered from 

 New York. There is a good moral there, 

 and I don"t blame him a bit ; I like to get 

 orders in just that way. When one has 

 10,000 lbs. of honey on his hands, he doesn't 

 want any bothers or delays if it can be 

 avoided. 



I am very much oblif;ed indeed, friend C., 

 for your kind words and kind offer, but I 

 trust jSIr. Burch is going to fix up all his 

 matters so nobody will lose. I heartily com- 

 mend the neighborly way in which you and 

 friend Doolittle help each other. 



CYPRIANS FOR INCREASE. 



The North-Eastern Bee Association ol' Maiae met 

 at Grange Hall, Dexter, Aug. 11, 1881. Three coun- 

 ties were represented, and i'rom all localities it ap- 

 peared that bees had done unusually well. Presi- 

 dent Additon reported one swarm of Cyprians that 

 had increased, by natural swarming, to tweh e. Mr. 

 Crocker, of St. Albans, had a swarm of Cyprians 

 that sent out ten swarms. Nearly all of the bees 

 here are blacks and hybrids. The hybrids are spo- 

 ken highly of as honey-gatherers. The next meet- 

 ing will be held at (irange Hall, Nov. 10, 1881. The 

 topics for discussion will be, "The different Kaces of 

 Bees," Wm. Hoyt ; " How to Manage Bees for Box 

 Honey," L. French; "Are Natural Queens better 

 than Artificial?" S. R. Bodge. 



Ripley, Me., Aug. 13, 1881. Wm. Hovt, Sec. 



PEET CAGE. 



The two queens came Friday the 5th; were put in- 

 to hives Saturday, and Monday I went to let them 

 go, and one had eaten through; the other had crawled 

 under the side of the cage, so they were both at lib- 

 erty, and seemed perfectly at home. The tin points 

 don't hold the cage firmly; it would be better to 

 have two on each side, then they would hold both 

 corners up to the comb alike. The slide should work 

 more easily, and in shipping, put in a small tack to 

 keep from falling out. Every thing is drying up. 

 Mercury up to 107^ in shade. W>[. Browne v. 



Garden Grove, Iowa, Aug. 9, 1881. 



Our queens very often get out themselves, 

 but as they are seldom killed, we think it 

 don't matter much. There is hardly room 

 on the cage for four tins, and as we now 

 make them long enough so the points can be 

 bent, or clinched over, the cage seldom gets 

 loose. Draw the slide out as far as you can 

 before putting it on the comb, and you can 

 then get it out easily. "We try to make them 

 all work easily, but sometimes the shrinkage 

 of the wood, or a little candy on the tin, will 

 make them start hard. 1 think queens have* 

 been introduced this past season with less 

 loss than ever a season before. Thanks to 

 friends Feet and Nellis. 



large swarms. 



I can't resist the temptation to add a few lines to 



ray already too long letter. Since writing it I have 



been reading in the Aug. No. of Gleanings, which 



I received yesterday, where you say that the largest 



natural swarm that you bought last year weighed 7 

 lbs., and that you had this year bought one that 

 weighed ll^i lbs. I had one the Uth of June that 

 weighed 7'i lbs., and I thought, as I laid down my 

 book and started for the harvest field, "If my big 

 bo.x hive had only swarmed, perhaps I should have 

 had a still larger one." I had had time to bind only 

 3 doz. bundles of grain when I heard my farm-bell 

 ring. I saiil, "That surely means visitors, for my 

 bees got through swarming a month ago." I hur- 

 ried to the house to see what was the matter. Thr 

 bitj box hicc had ftwaimed! 1 have just succeeded in 

 crowding them into a good large frame hive. The 

 bees alone just balance 11 lbs. on my Fairbanks 

 scales, so I am only 12 ounces behind your neighbor 

 Clark. I am j»)(».i/ well satisfied. I have often been 

 advised to double my late swarms. Bj' "doubling," 

 I mean putting two or three togethei-; but T don't 

 believe this one needs doubling. 



My neighbor Arnold had a big swarm, also, to-day. 

 He thinks it was as lar^e, or larger, than mine, but 

 could not or did not stop to weigh it. The bees clus- 

 tered in four places, and lie thinks they had 4 queens. 

 He had only one hive reatly when his grain was fit to 

 draw in, so he put them all together, shut the hive 

 up tight, or nearly so, and put them in his cellar, 

 when he thought he would keep them safe till they 

 killed ofiE their surplus queens. Early this evening 

 he opened the hive and found dead bees i inches 

 deep on the bottom-board. He thinks there may be 

 enough alive still to make a good colony. Do you 

 think that if they had more than one queen they 

 would have killed all but one, and afterward been 

 all right if he had given them more air':" 



J. W. Haiikxess. 



Keeseville, Essex Co., N. V., Aug. 5, 1881. 



Yes, sir ; but I am quite sure they had but 

 one queen. 



ventilation in winter. 



As the veterans, young and old, are pointing in 

 the rear to the lamp of experience which may serve 

 as a guide in the future, I beg to put in my infinit- 

 esimal. Years ago, when 1 had bees in box hives, I 

 inverted them in their cellar winter-quarters, piling 

 one abo^•e another. They wintered well with a loss 

 of about two per cent. When we moved into Lang- 

 stroth hives we loft open the holes in old honey- 

 boards, and placed strips of shingles half-inch wide 

 between hives so as not to close these holes in hon- 

 ey-board. The winter loss was about two per cent. 

 Last winter my bees were put in cellar without this 

 precaution ! We had 90 stands in each of the two 

 cellars. Dysentery commenced in the best stands 

 early in winter, and after raking out dead bees in 

 wet, offensive masses, for several weeks, I took oflf 

 honey-boards, shoving them forward about - inches, 

 and then replied the hi%'es. Tin's Sdou ended the di/neii- 

 terii. Bee-bread may have excited the disease, but 

 ventilation ended it with me. Jesse Oben. 



La Porte City; Black Hawk Co., Iowa, Aug. 5, 1881. 



spider plants .VNU nUM.MING-BlRDS. 



I like the Spider plant very much, with those big 

 drops oi; honey, but I don't get to see them very oft- 

 en, except when I cover them up. I got about 300 

 to grow from the one package of seed I got from 

 j'ou. But I don't like the humming-bird you sent 

 with them; they come by the thousands, just at sun- 

 set, and take the last drop of honey, and then come 

 to my bee-feeders like a little swarm of bees, and 



