1881 



GLEAl^INGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



489 



as honey-gatherers are far below those of the blacks 

 of darker strains of Italian bees. They appear to 

 lack toughness too — something on the hot-house- 

 plant order. 



In the beginning I was srcatly nonplused to know 

 when, how, etc., the bees would swarm, but could 

 not find any infallible signs in the books that would 

 apply to the box hives. Finally I transferred my 

 bees to the simplified Langstroth hive, put them on 

 stands, and expected just a little "bigger" yield 

 than I had read of friend Doolittle getting from 

 those " crack " colonies of his. Alas for human ex- 

 pectations! I did not realize eight pounds of surplus 

 honey to the hive. The next year I felt that I had 

 not managed properly the first season, so I bought 

 some flue queens; they were dollar queens too, and 

 I fortunately got them introduced. Lo and behold! 

 that season I got about 30 lbs. to my strongest stocks. 

 Well, I applied myself the next season, reading the 

 bee papers, studying the successful management of 

 some, and the reverses of other bee-keepers. Iwould 

 pore over the back numbers, reading often till ten 

 o'clock at night. My wife would tell mo, " Well, 

 well, you have gotten the bee fever bad." The next 

 season — that was last year — I took from my best 

 colony 137 lbs. of honey in one-pound boxes, and 

 which sold for over twen'y doUartt. That year I was 

 trying to rear queens largely also, and, including 

 nucleus hives and other larger, I realized over six 

 dollars from each. I considered that a big improve- 

 ment, especially as the old bee-keepers in the neigh- 

 borhood told me that it was a tolerably poor season 

 for honey, they thought. 



I felt that the additional extra yield was brought 

 about by close study and proper management; by 

 doing the right thing at the right time. Close appli- 

 cation and common sense, with a determination to 

 succeed, finally accomplish wonders in bee-culture. 

 A gentleman recently said to me, "Oh! there's no 

 use for the bee papers to tell mc those 'big yarns' 

 about big yields and the millions of dollars in bee- 

 keeping. I believe they are lying ! Of course, it's to 

 their interest to puff the business." 



This gentleman was from an adjoining State, and 

 had tried five- liincls of bcc-hivcs and failed signally 

 with all. Itoldhimof my success; he did not tell me I 

 was lying (I stand 6 feet in my stockings, and weigh 

 185 pounds — ah!) 



This year, getting an advantageous offer, I sold all 

 my bees but a weak nucleus. I built this up to a 

 strong colony. Yesterday I weighed surplus in up- 

 per story, and found 86 lbs. of honey. This colony 

 has all of 40 lbs. in the lower story also. 



Of course, there's nothing strange about this, sup- 

 posing it had been a fine honey season; but it has 

 been the poorest experienced in this locality for 

 many years. I used fdn., of course. I know some 

 extra strong colonies that started in strong with ten 

 frames of comb; they haven't 5 lbs. of surplus to- 

 day, and haven't swarmed either. Why is it that 

 some have better "luck" in getting surplus honey 

 from their bees? I think diligence and close appli- 

 cation is the secret — if secret there be. 



I am still wanting to do better — get larger yields. 

 Tell friend Doolittle to look out; I shall keep trying 

 every year to learn some thing new in the business 

 until I can "get as much," if not just "a little more," 

 than he has, of surplus honey from one colony. 

 That will be a happy day for me. R. C. TAYLOR. 

 Wilmington, N. C, August 22, 1881. 



WHAT FRIEND HUNT IS OOINO TO DO, 

 AND ^VIIAT HE HAS DONE. 



fHAVE been thinking some lately of sowing a 

 lot of seeds of different honey-plants, and would 

 ■ like your advice as to kinds, amounts, etc., best 

 to sow. We have here profuse quantities of white 

 clover and wild red raspberries; but basswood is 

 not very plenty; buckwheat is quite largely grown 

 here too, but there are intervals in the blossoming 

 of the above, especially in dry times, when the bees 

 can do but little, and it is just such intervals that I 

 would like to fill it up by planting various honey- 

 plants. 



WHAT HONEY-PLANTS TO SOW. 



There is a railroad less than half a mile from my 

 house, and as the land along the track is rich and 

 mellow, I have conceived the idea of scattering seeds 

 of honey-producing plants along the track, as I 

 think they might as well be growing there as the 

 useless weeds usually found in such places. What, 

 in your judgment, would be best to sow in such lo- 

 calities? Of course, it would have to be something 

 vigorous enough to grow without cultivation. 



TWO QUEENS INSTEAD OF ONE. 



I made a nucleus colony last June by putting a 

 few frames of brood and bees into a new hive, giv- 

 ing them at the same time a sealed queen-cell; a 

 week later I found the cell torn down, and a num- 

 ber started from their own brood; but their i)rood 

 being from a hybrid queen, I cut them all out and 

 gave them another frame of brood from a pure 

 queen, containing a sealed queen-cell; a few days 

 later, on looking them over, I found this last cell 

 open, but could not decide whether it was torn down 

 or the queen hatched; so I took another sealed cell, 

 of which I had plenty, and laid on top of the frames. 

 Three days later, I examined them, setting one 

 frame in an empty hive, so as to have more room to 

 handle the rest. I found eggs in several of the 

 combs, and looked until I found the queen, a nice 

 large one, when I prepared to close up the hive, and 

 as I was about to replace the frame from the empty 

 hive, I accidentally discovered another nice large 

 queen on that, and, not wishing to lose "her majes- 

 ty," I set it back in the empty hive, adding a few 

 frames of sealed brood from other hives, and now 

 they are two good strong colonies, with queens 

 hatched together in the same hive. Isn't this a 

 rather unusual occurrence, or is it common? 



SILVERHULL BUCKWHEAT SEED. 



I see by a late number of Gleanings that you ran 

 short of silverhull buckwheat, and had to send clear 

 to Mr. Gregory, and pay $1.75 per bushel, and, I sup- 

 pose, freight also. Now, brother Root, was it vem 

 wicked for me to smile just a little all to myself 

 when I remembered writing to you last spring, and 

 trying to sell you some, and you offered me only 

 $1.00 per bushel, delivered at j'our place? If you 

 get in another such a fix, just drop me a line, and 

 perhaps I can help you a little. 



I had 6 swarms last fall, and lost 4 in wintering ; 

 have increased to 8, and bought one, so I now have 

 9 all in good condition ; I lost one or two of them 

 just from pure carelessness, in letting the en- 

 trances get stopped with ice, and so smothering 

 them. E. Hunt. 



Sheridan, Montcalm Co., Mich., Aug 29, 1881. 



At present, friend H., I know of no honey- 

 plant that will succeed without cultivation, 

 and the best among the cultivated plants is 



