1881 



GLEAKINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



483 



bricl bees, though I have often thought of 

 the cases friend D. mentions. What a prize 

 such a queen would be foL- the dollar-queen 

 business ! Why, we could sell every queen 

 for tested, without even trying them ; for if 

 the workers are all three-banded, we all rest 

 satisfied. Xo wonder friend Hutchinson 

 asks hoAv, then, shall we know which are 

 pure y I might say, rely on imjiorted stock ; 

 but quite a number of the brothers declare 

 the bees in Italy have a taint of black blood; 

 and if this is the case, we shall have to give 

 it up, sure. So far as I am concerned, I 

 should not care for the yellow bands at all, 

 if the bees w'ere gentle and good honey- 

 gatherers. T want them yellow-banded 

 when I buy them to sell, because our custo- 

 mers would hardly be pleased with tliem 

 otherwise, and I do not knoAV but the yellow 

 bands are the best test we have, as yet, of 

 purity. 



Aren't you a little hasty in your criticisms, 

 friend D.V I confess I felt somewhat as- 

 tonished to hear I had ever said I did not 

 believe bees commenced to rear brood be- 

 fore Christmas. Ifere is all I find on page 

 14, vol. ■-) :— 



Doolittle thinks a good colony will commence rear- 

 ing brood by Christmas, but Hill puts it at Febru- 

 ary. We are inclined to agree with the latter, al- 

 though winters like last, they may rear brood near- 

 ly all winter. 



I did not comment on the statement of our 

 new friend, because 1 did not think it 

 strange or wonderful. In my greenhouse 

 experiments I proved clearly that bees could 

 be made to rear brood during any month in 

 the year. "With the new Iloly-Jiands and 

 Cyprians, the problem seems to be to pre- 

 vent them rearing brood, even one iccfhin 

 the year. Neither did I understand our 

 young friend to mean to cast any reflec- 

 tions on our old standard writers. I thought 

 he would probably get some of his youthful 

 eiithusiasm toned-down a little, and hence 

 the chiding of my closing sentence. 



ladk^' §^jiarfinmi' 



F^^^OU know I told yoii I was a novice — just be- 

 W gan with one swarm, and am 06 years old; 

 — ' rather old for a beginner. Well, I have to- 

 day five hives full of bees; three natural swarms. 

 1 feel rather proud of my success, and ceru thankful. 

 My bees would not work in the sections, but filled 

 the frames full below. Some of the new foundation 

 was filled with pure honcj'. so heavy I had to use 

 both hands to handle it. 



Will bees fill sections just as well if placed below? 

 I find it hard work, and very troublesome, to lift off 

 the sections above, and the bees pour over so, and 

 get so mad. Mrs. James Morrow. 



Vermillion, D. T., Aug. 23, 1881. 



If your bees prefer to work in the lower 

 story, and you prefer to get the honey out of 

 the lower story, by all means use side-storing 

 boxes, my friend. When you speak of the 

 bees pouring over so, it makes me think you 

 have been trying to work without a smoker, 

 or that you tried to take away honey when 

 they were gathering none. When honey is 



being gathered I use ho smoker, and they 

 don't pour out either. JNIay be you have got 

 hybrids withal. 



I will give you a few notes on my success as a bee- 

 keeper. I went into wintcr-fjuarters with two stnmg 

 colonics of Italians in Langstroth hives. Kept them 

 in the cellar about six weeks, or until the middle of 

 December, then put them on their summer stands, 

 and they came out all right in the spring. I have 

 increased to 10 colonies, and have taken about 350 

 lbs. of as nice honey as yovi oversaw; will extract 

 again next week. The cleume, or Rocky-Moimtain 

 plant, is still yielding a good supply of honey. 

 There are acres and acres of it in this county. Will 

 you t.ike mo into your ABC class? 



Mrs. A. L. Pkabouv. 



Denver, Col., Sept.C, 1881. 



Most gladly, my friend ; and as our 

 Ladies' iJepartment does not seem very full 

 of late, we are especially glad to give you a 

 hearty welcome. We are very glad to hear 

 from "our old friend, the Rocky-Mountain 

 bee-plant, in its native soil. I should think 

 it a rare treat to see acres of it. It must be 

 a beautiful siglit, judging from our Spider- 

 plant field. 



COLORADO. 



You may have heard from this section of Colora- 

 do, although I think not, as no one in the valley has 

 bees. 



The altitude here is 7500 feet above sea level. 

 There is bloom hero for feed from six to seven 

 months in the year. Ked clover grows here wild. 

 Catnip, peas, and buckwheat, can be cultivated here, 

 and the Kocky-Mountain bcc-plant grows, acres and 

 acres of it, wilil. Some wild buckwheat grows here 

 late in the fall, that is so sweet you can smell honey 

 from it. Th(?re is a great amount of wild strawber- 

 ries grow here. Mustard and artichokes and sun- 

 flowers will grow here wild: forget-me-nots are 

 plenty in early summer, and all summer long there 

 are lots of wild flowers, mtistly j'cllow and white. 



We live four miles from the mountains, on a large 

 brook; there are no trees down here, but they 

 can be planted with success; that is, any kind that 

 are adapted to the climate. 



We have nice gardens here, and are commencing 

 to raise small fruit; and next year will try early 

 (^orn for green corn. We farm a whole section, and 

 so you can judge wo need nothing for exercise or 

 employment, unless it pays liack pretty well for 

 every hour of care. 



We have received, and been reading your ABC 

 book, and feel very much interested, and think of 

 trying two or three colonies by way of experiment- 

 ing. 



Please tell us if you think all things favorable. 



Do you think it a favorable business for women, 

 and are they usually as successful as men? Please 

 answer this particularly, and how small a capital 

 can any one possibly start on. 



Mrs. Frank S. Koff. 



Rosita, Custer Co., Col., Sept. 13, 1881. 



I can not see any thin^ lacking, from your 

 description, my friend, out, on the contrary, 

 the picture vou draw makes-one feel as if he 

 would really like to live there, even if you 

 are a trifle "away up high." Let us hear 

 from you further after you get started. Our 



