548 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov 



have had, that a pound of granulated sugar 

 made into syrup would be worth as much as 

 li lbs. of the best honey, to feed. In regard 

 to the quantity, we should remember that 

 too much is always safer than not enough. 



ROOM WANTED IN THE SMILERY. 



If you have any iclea of putting mc in Blasted 

 Hopes, alter my writing as I did in September No., 

 that " very likely my bees would have 1o be fed in 

 winter," I will now say, "Don't." AVe have had sev- 

 eral nice showers of rain since that date, and it is 

 surprising to see how vegetation of all kinds is grow- 

 ing and blooming. Should frost hold off ten days or 

 two weeks yet, I may want space in the Smilery. I 

 feel satisflcd now that all will be in good condition, 

 and go into winter with plenty of honey. It is sur- 

 prising to see the amount of brood they have on 

 hand. They will not die this winter, if young bees 

 have any thing to do with successful wintering. 



UPWAKD VENTILATION. 



After reading Jerome Wiltse's article on upward 

 ventilation, I wish to say that. I once transferred a 

 colony of bees for a neighbor, that wintered in an 

 old Buckeye hive, the door of which was left half 

 open all winter. I think it was the winter of 1877-'8. 

 However, the weather was very cold all through, yet 

 that colony wintered well, and was covered with 

 bees the next spring when I transferred them. 

 What kind of ventilation would you call that? That 

 they were thus exposed all nintcr, I know to be a 

 fact, as they had camb built from the fronts of the 

 frames to the door, which could not be shut. In 

 conversation the other day with a bee-keeper from 

 an adjoining town, he stated that, in preparing his 

 bees last fall, he accidentally left one colony with 

 only the enameled cloth over the frames, and this 

 spring it was as good a colony as he had. Wonder 

 if we hadn't better " about-face" and take the other 

 extreme awhile. It seems that, after all the fun we 

 " smartics " poke at the " old fogies," they are there 

 about the time wc arrive. Joseph M. Brooks. 



Columbus, Ind., Oct. 8, 1881. 



Friend Jl, I don't believe I would apply 

 for a place in the tSmilery if I were you, be- 

 fore next spring, say the hrst of May for in- 

 stance. — I am not surprised that the colony 

 wintered with an opening in the side of the 

 hive, nor that the one with only the enam- 

 eled sheet did also ; and I think if there had 

 been a small hole in the sheet right over the 

 cluster, it would still have done well. A 

 real powerful colony will winter without any 

 thing over them, not even section boxes ; 

 but if they are not real strong, they will die 

 off every severe freeze, until all are gone. I 

 have tried it, some of you may remember. 

 At such times, even a slight covering seems 

 to be very important. Now, if a snuill open- 

 ing is left in this slight covering, this open- 

 ing will be so full of bees, even during se- 

 vere weather, that no very great amount of 

 air can get through it, and it begins to look 

 to me as if such an opening, or openings, are 

 about what they need. 



STILL HOPEFUL. 



I ordered a queen of you a few days since, which 

 came to hand all right and promptly. She is now 

 laying, and, to all appearances, will make a success- 

 ful house-keeper— domestic in her habits, industri- 

 ous, economical, and, above all, good disposition. I 



have run down several times since I have kept 

 bees, to one and two, and once all went; but ray 

 hopes have never been entirely blasted. Last fall I 

 had 23 colonies; this spring I had only two; but I 

 never felt more determined in my life than I have 

 this season. From those two swarms, I have had T, 

 and expect, before Oct. 1st, to have two more, all in 

 good condition for wintering; and if I lose all next 

 winter, I will buy a swarm and commence again. 

 Nothing like pluck and a happy disposition in bee- 

 keeping. I know now it was all my fault that I lost 

 so many last winter. They were a^l strong, but I 

 neglected them initil cold weather came on so sud- 

 denly I could not make up for my procrastination; 

 but that was only one of many losses I have learned 

 and appropriated to myself. W. H. Sedgwick. 



Granville, O., Aug. 20, 1881. 



what one swarm did in COLORADO. 



1 bought one colony of pure Italians this spring, 

 with clipped queen (got them in April}, and May 25th 

 they swarmed first, and June 2d they swarmed 

 again, both being fine strong swarms. June 4th 

 they swarmed again, that, of course, being a light 

 swarm. I have taken 50 lbs. of line honey from the 

 first, and will get about 25 more. The second will 

 have aliout IG lbs. in sf ctions, and the third have 

 the 10 frames full, but will make none in sections. 

 I have taken 14 lbs. from the old hive, and they 

 have the 10 frames full for winter. The honey is 

 made principally from Rocky-Mountain bee-plant 

 and wild sunflower. The bee-plant is very plenty, 

 growing everywhere wild, and will average four feet 

 in height, with some specimens si.x feet high, and 

 blooms from May till September. S. H. Kelley. 



Berthoud, Larimer Co., C I., Oct., 18S1. 



SMALL QUEES-CAQES, VERSUS LARGE. 



The queen came all right, lively as a cricket; 

 shipped on the 8th, and arrived here on the 11th. 

 Two Peet cages put together is a pretty good idea 

 for shipping long distances, but not as good as the 

 cages used by you last year. A shipping-cage should 

 be small, so that the (lueen would be tossed but a 

 short distance from one side to the other. The con- 

 cussion then is not gri?at enough to injure the queen 

 when the mail-bngs are being tossed about. Well, 

 friend Koot, what do you think of my improvement 

 on the Langsti'oth brood-frames, also for the ex- 

 tractor? It may be old, but new to me. Simply use 

 o end-bars instead of two; the center one holds the 

 combs firmly, and they will not break in extracting, 

 neither will fdn. sag so badly, and is not in the way 

 of the queen at all. J. S. Tadlock. 



Kingsbury, Texas, Sept. IT, 1881. 



I have for some time been thinking of 

 your point in regard to queen-cages, friend 

 T., for it is a fact, that large cages do not, 

 many times, seem to do as well as the small 

 ones, and I am inclined to think it is for the 

 reason you state. — Your middle pie^e in the 

 frame is a very old idea, and the only ob- 

 jection is. I believe, that it makes a blank 

 space right in the heart of the brood-nest. 



IMPORTANCE OF UPWARD VENTILATION, AGAIN. 



I will now hand in my report for this season. Had 

 3 colonies of blacks left in the spring; increased to 10 

 by natural and artificial swarming; h:ive taken so 

 far about 125 lbs. nice comb honey. I had 1 colony 

 of blacks that was shipped to me 25 miles by freight 

 last winter, when it was bitter cold. They were in a 



