1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



537 



I beg pardon, friend S., if I was rude, or 

 if I have seemed unduly wedded to the L. 

 frame. Some of the brethren have accused 

 me of continually changing from one frame 

 to another, and of late I have thought it 

 would become my old age (?) to learn to be 

 a little more stable. In advising the A B C 

 class to stick to the L. frame, I did it about 

 as I would advise them to make a wagon so 

 the wheels would track with the rest in com- 

 mon use. 



I 



"(TO <3' 



This department was suggested by one of the clerks, as an op- 

 position to the Growlery. 1 tliink i shall venture to give names 

 in full here. 



ssPM^ELL, friend Root, I presume you tbink I 

 Yt'zl niust be a nicq little boy for not writing to 



-^ you sooner; but I have an excuse, so listen. 

 In the first place, I was not at home; I was called to 

 Pekin (county seat) " courting." After I got through 

 I went to Eureka, III., on some little business; but 

 when I came home mj- little wife told me the ex- 

 tractor had come, and she had been practicing with 

 It. Well, sir, I was perfectly surprised after I had 

 tried it. Had I known, two years ago, the value of 

 an extractor, I would have had one. I just think 

 it's boss. 



Now, in regard to that pound of bees and queen I 

 got from you in July, 1880. I will tell you how I 

 prospered. Well, when I received them, I left them 

 in the cage, till evening, and then I went to one of 

 my hives and took two frames of brood and honey; 

 put in empty hive; put bees and queen in; next 

 morning I took a look, and, to my surprise, all the 

 brood I gave them were hatched; so at noon I took 

 another look, and foimd the queen had deposited 

 eggs in all the cells where the young bees had 

 hatched, and so I gave them another frame of comb 

 and frame fdn., and in the fall, when I prepared 

 them for winter, I took from them 19 lbs of honej', 

 and left them the rest. 1 wintered all O. K. ; did not 

 lose a stand. I can't account for it. Every one 

 around here lost all. One man lost 72 stands, all he 

 had. I was the lucky one (this winter may be the 

 unlucky one). Well, friend Koot, I don't believe 

 there wiU be any of those bees that will winter that 

 you have sent to Washington this summer, and I 

 will tell you my reason. In the first place, one man 

 bought 9 lbs. from you (queen with every pound;) I 

 don't think they have one pound of sealed honey; in 

 the second place, they are weak— too weak to winter. 

 If they come through all right, I am going to in- 

 form you of the fact. 



My bees are all right this fall; hives crammed full 

 of bees, and lots of honey; not much surplus. 

 Prom one stand I got over 2(X) lbs. of honey; box 

 hive; bee-keepers say they can't believe that; they 

 smile if I tell them so. But it's all right, as long as 

 I get it. Wm. H. Scheidel. 



Washington, Tazewell Co., 111., Sept. 27, 1881. 

 So it is the neighhors who smiled when you 

 told them of over 200 lbs. to the hive, was it. 

 friend 8.? Well, I rather think you smiled 

 too, after yoti got alone by yourself, may be; 

 at any rate, I think your letter will do quite 

 well for the Smilery. I have been looking 



for one foi' this department for some time, 

 and I wish you would ask your little wile if 

 she does not think your letter does very well 

 here. I presume of course the courting you 

 did at tlie county seat was not of such a 

 nature that she would in anv way object to 

 it. 



Or Enemies of Bees Among Insect Tribes. 



fNCLOSED In cage you will find a variety of bees 

 that friend Haskell and I would like to have 

 ' you tell us about. If you notice, the larger one 

 has a very broad abdomen and long tongue; is very 

 quick, and gathers honey fast, and is shorter than 

 the black bee. The smaller ones are not so active, 

 but seem to gather pollen very fast. They all were 

 working on goldenrod. If you can give us any in- 

 formation, please do so. H. Dorman. 

 Geneva, Ashtabula Co., O., Sept. 8, 1881. 



It was our impression that the bees were 

 only common wild bees ; but we sent them 

 to Prof. Cook, who replies as follows : — 



Dear Friend .- — The small bees are "mason" bees, 

 and in Ohio the past sum mer have been quite seri- 

 ous pests as robbers of the honey-bees. The larger 

 bee, with yellow hairs underneath, is a " tailor" bee. 

 See 3/tt?H(o!, p. 36. A. J. Cook. 



Lansing, Mich., Sept. 15, 1881. 



1 send you by to-day's mail a large fly that I caught 

 in the act of sucking a honey-bee. It is smaller than 

 the average of its kind. Please give name, and 

 oblige. W. S. Hakt. 



New Smyrna, Fla., Oct. i, 1881. 



The large fly sent by W. S. Hart, of New Smyrna, 

 Fla., is yiaUopliora hamhoidcs, Wied. It is described 

 in 4th, oth, and 6th editions of Manual, p. 298. It is 

 one of the worst of the robber flies, but does not ex- 

 ist, so far as I have learned, north of the Southern 

 States. A. J. Cook. 



Lansing, Mich., Oct. 12, 1881. 



iul^nil^ §^jiarli^mi* 



fAM a boy 11 years old, and just getting over the 

 diphtheria. I have one swarm of bees; mine 

 — ' have gathered 25 or 30 lbs. of honey since the 

 rest gave up work. I call it a red-clover queen. Pa^ 

 pa takes care of my swarm for me. I have got a 

 grapevine in front of my hive, that I think as much 

 of as I do the bees; it is the Worden. Papa says that 

 1 may have the 27 cts. you owe him, to get me a 

 handkerchief. Please send me one of your 25 ct. 

 silk ones, and one that will not fade, if possible. 

 Bellows Falls, Vt. Ruel E. Clark. 



You must learn to handle the bees, Kuel, 

 so they will not sting you. I am glad you 

 think a great deal of your grapevine. It is 

 the vines and hives we think a great deal of 

 that give us the great crops of honey and 

 gi-apes. If the handkerchief fades, just 

 write me a letter and let me know. 



I am a girl 11 years old. I would like to write and 

 tell you some of my daily work. I help my mothet 



