1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



551 



others partly filled. Do you thiak they Intended to 

 kill their queen, or wero they hugging her for fun? 



B. F. Carroll. 

 Dresden, Navarro Co., Texas, Sept., 1881. 



No, I do not think it possible at all for a 

 queen to tly L'7 miles. A queen from some 

 other hive must have tlowu in by accident 

 when you were away. I was soing to say, 

 in your latter case, that the bees balled the 

 queen because they were dissatisfied with 

 her not layina;, and perhaps that was it still, 

 even if she dfd lay three frames full when 

 she got at it. Colonies not very strong often 

 ball their queens when the pasturage fails, 

 or during a drought in the fall. 



WELL DONE FOR AN A B C SCHOLAR. 



It seems to be in order, from what I notice in all 

 bee journals, to make reports of the season. As I 

 am one of your ABC scholars, I will make ray re- 

 port to you. 



I commenced the season with two stands, one Ital- 

 ian and one hybrid. I have taken 130 lbs. of section 

 honey, and 13 lbs. extracted; have increased to 7, 

 which are all in first-rate condition for winter; and, 

 by the way, all my young queens are purely mated. 

 I had my ups and downs, like many others, for my 

 Italian stock, which cost me three swarms, turned 

 out equivalent to being queenless. They had a fine- 

 looking young queen, but she would not lay an egg. 

 After a lapse of some two weeks 1 made a thorough 

 examination, and found that she was slightly defec- 

 tive in one wing, so that she could not fly. Of course, 

 I pinched her head off and introduced a laying 

 queen. The stock got very much reduced in num- 

 bers, but has fully recovered now. 



P. C. Gastinger. 



Kenton, H.irdin Co., O., Sept. 26, 1H81. 



NOT VERY BAD FOR A SMALL VENTURE. 



I bought 3 nuclei of Italian bees of Dr. J. P. H. 

 Brown, in the spring of ISSO, and they were the only 

 Italian bees in the township, and the onlj' bees that 

 wintered, according to our assessor. This spring I 

 bought 6 swarms of bees of Mr. E. H. Thomas. Bees, 

 express, and money order, were $15.92; sold honey 

 from them this summer to the amount of $16.13, and 

 got 1 good swarms, besides one going to the woods. 

 They are in two-story Simplicity hives. As I took 

 honey only once, the hives are full of sealed honey. 

 Now, if I had had the experience last spring that I 

 have now, I think I could have done much better. 

 Clement Kintner. 



Carrollton, Carroll Co., O., Sept. 11, 1881. 



WHY THIN HONEY DOES NOT SOUR I.V THE HIVE, 

 ETC". 



I have quite a lot of feed which has become sour. 

 I suppose it will not do to feed out now; but would 

 it do after scalding? It was kept in a warm place, 

 which, I suppose, is the reason it soured; but if this 

 is so, docs it not also become sour in the hives? 



Charles O. Meloon. 



Portsmouth, N. H., Aug. 1, 1S81. 



I would not risk any thing of the kind for 

 winter food, friend M., but it will be all 

 right to feed in the spring, between fiuit- 

 blossoms and clover, and it will pay well to 

 feed then too. Scalding will improve it ; 

 but still, I would not risk it for winter. Thin 

 feed that would sour over night, almost,will 



not sour at all if put in the hive by a good 

 swarm of bees. If I am correct, this matter 

 is not fully explained ; but certain it is, that 

 after they have got it under their supervi- 

 sion, scattered about in the combs, a little ni 

 each cell, it slowly evaporates into thick 

 honey or syrup, without any souring. It 

 anybody can tell why, let him stand up and 

 do so. " 



information wanted by an a b c scholar. 



Does a tested Italian queen produce one and two 

 banded bees? 



An '' orthodox " tested queen never pro- 

 duces a single one or two banded bee. 



Do Italian bees require better care than blacks 

 through winter? 



No better care ; but they may in some re- 

 spects require a little dixferent care. 



Can I be as successful in raising pure queens from 

 the tested daughter as I can from the imported 

 mother? 



I think you can be just as successful, but 

 there may be a little more vigor, the nearer 

 we get to the original imported stock. Be- 

 sides, if Doolittle's position be true, that a 

 hybrid queen mai/ produce all three-banded 

 bees, we can not' be positive we have pure 

 Italians, unless we have an imported queen. 

 Some of the brethren contend we can not 

 even then. 



UPWARD ventilation. 



Last winter I lost nearly all of my bees. Whether 

 they smothered or froze, I am unable to say. I 

 packed them away nicely last fall, with hay, on their 

 summer stand, leaving the entrance free, which was 

 ?8x6 in. With no other ventilation, is this enough or 

 not? If not, should it be given at the bottom or top? 



If you had nothing but hay over the frames, 

 or even a covering of coarse bagging under 

 the hay, not too much covered with propolis, 

 I think it will be ventilation enough ; but if 

 you have a honev-board, or any thing equiv- 

 alent, it should be moved back about i or 

 f inches, just so that mice can by no possi- 

 bility get in. Neighbor Rice, who winters 

 quite successfully, and sells me many bees, 

 says he uses one'thickuess of clean old car- 

 peting. He removes the gummed pieces 

 used in the summer time, just as he puts in 

 the cellar, and puts on a clean one. He says 

 one thickness seems to do better than two or 

 more ; for with the latter, the bees get damp. 

 I am quite sure many o£ us have covered 

 the bees too closely. 



I must tell you something about my Italians. I 

 began this spring with 3 colonies of bees — two of 

 blacks and one Italian. The latter I increased to 4 

 and got .50 lbs. of honey. The two blacks I increased 

 to 4, and got no honey. I raised! queen? and Italian- 

 ized my blacks. My first swarm of Italians came out 

 on the 28th of May. The next day they carried in 9 

 lbs. of honey; or, in other words, the hive increased 

 in weight 9 lbs. in one day, and on the 28th of Jvme 

 it ihrew off a very large swarm. The other swarms 

 were made by dividing. I prevented my blacks from 

 raising drones by cutting out the cells. After all my 

 trouble, some of my queens produced hybrids. I 

 have seen, this summer, hundreds of my Italians on 

 red clover, but my blacks appeared to have no bus- 

 iness with it. A. C. Williamson. 



New Matamoras, Wash. Co., O., Aug. 22, 1881. 



