1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



.599 



^' 



From Different Fields. 



GOOD AND POOR QUEENS ; A PLEASED ABC SCHOLAR. 



Jf THOUGHT to myself j-ou would like to hear 

 from " her majesty "the Italian queen I sent to 

 — ' j'ou for. I can say of a truth, she is "business," 

 and more too. The 15th of last month was the time 

 I introduced her, and since that time she has made 

 me a good strong colony; before, there was not 

 enough to make a corporal's guard. Well, I gave 

 them a half-inch entrance, and they now fill the full 

 entrance. I never thought there could be such a 

 difference in the hum of a lazy queen and one that 

 is full of business. It seems as though she said, 

 "Now you 'git. ' " Well, they have been "gitting " 

 ever since I introduced her. Why, there is as much 

 difference in the hum as there is in a dull and sharp 

 cutting-knife. Now, then, I return thanks for good- 

 ness, mercy, and truth. May you live long to be a 

 blessing to our country, is the prayer of your well- 

 wisher, — H. B. POMEROY. 

 Fayette, Fulton Co., O., Oct. 15, 1881, 



DO BEES PAY ? 



Last fall I p ut into winter-quarters 18 stocks of 

 black (or rather brown) bees, part in chaff hives, 

 part in Simplicity, inclosed in clamp, and packed 

 round with chaff, and two in box hives set in a large 

 box filled around with chaff. Lost one Simplicity. 

 I think the loss of this one was caused by too late 

 tampering in the fall. Started in the spring with IT 

 in good condition, except two of the Simplicities, 

 which were rather weak. Fed some rye meal in 

 the spring as soon as the bees would work on it. 

 Doubled my number of stocks by natural swarming, 

 and secured 1750 lbs. of comb honey, mostly clover, 

 all in 1-lb boxes. I worked my hives for side and top 

 storing; used fdn. for starters in brood frames, 

 and surplus boxes about 1 in. wide; sold some of my 

 honey near home for 21 cts. per lb., and sent the 

 rest to New York, and received 20 cts. per lb. for 

 nearly all the clover, and Ic cts. per lb. for buck- 

 wheat. I have sold all the bees I have to spare, at 

 my own price. I commenced house-keeping 4 years 

 ago, and bee-keeping one year later, with one box 

 hive, which my father gave my wife. I sold about 

 $60.00 worth of honey previous to this year. I have 

 your ABC, and take Gleanings and Bee-Keeper's 

 Magazine, all of which 1 read, and thank God for 

 my success. W. A. Gregg. 



Callicoon Depot, Sullivan Co., N. Y., Oct. 15, 1881. 



a new way OF sending queens in COLD WEATHER. 



Our friend 1). A. Jones sent us a telegram 

 for 10 one-dollar queens. Having just re- 

 ceived 15 from \V. W. Gary, of Coleraine, 

 Mass., put up in a novel manner, we sent 

 them right along on their second long trip. 

 Here is the report: — 



Queens arrived in first-class order, every one live- 

 ly. Please accept thanks for promptness. 



D. A. Jones, 

 Beeton, Ont., Can., Oct. 29, 1881. Per H. C. 



Well, we have since received from friend 

 Jones an order for 10 more. The Gary plan 

 is as follows: The queens were put separate- 

 ly into the old-fashioned cylindrical wire- 



cloth cages, without a particle of food. 

 These cages were put into a little nucleus 

 hive, or shipping-box, between combs of 

 sealed honey. The box was then filled full 

 of live bees. We are going to try the second 

 ten, put up in the same way. 



ALL IS WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 



I see bad reports from all parts of the world, on 

 the honey crop this year, and you would not expect 

 a good report from one who was in Blasted Hopes 

 last fall. You advised me not to buy those 15 colo- 

 nies last fall, but I did, and wintered all successfully; 

 got 20 gallons extracted, and 100 lbs. comb honey, 

 and have 25 colonies in good condition for winter. 



BUCKWHEAT. 



We had the longest dry spell here since 1853 or '4 — 

 only one rain between May 1st and Sept. 24th; but 

 we had a big buckwheat patch in the marsh where 

 it was only about one foot to water, and our bees 

 worked very well all the time. ■ Lee Warner. 



Allison, Lawrence Co., 111., Oct. 19, 188L 



I am glad you did not take my advice, 

 friend W., but still I did not feel I should be 

 doing right to advise a beginner to make 

 such a purchase, more particularly while I 

 knew so little about him. It has been said 

 that supply dealers are always urging every 

 one to go into bee culture, even where they 

 know the chances are greatly that it will 

 prove a failure. On this account I have 

 been pretty cautious in advising such in- 

 vestments. — Did you get much grain from 

 your marsh buckwheat ? Our farmers about 

 here say we must not have a rich piece of 

 ground, or buckwheat will all grow to straw 

 and fall down. I should be very glad indeed 

 for nil able article on the cultivation of buck- 

 wheat, both for grain and honey. 



LIME valley APIARY ; SECOND ANNUAL REPORT. 



The spring of 1881 left us only 14 colonies out of 21, 

 put into the cellar in the fall of 1880. One of thoso 

 was sold to a neighbor; two proved to be queenless. 

 A part of them were run for comb honey in section 

 boxes, and the remainder for extracted honey in 

 upper stories. Increased to 18 during the season — 

 only one natural swarm — and obtained only 120 lbs. 

 box honey and ZiVA lbs. extracted. 



The season has been very poor in this part of Iowa. 

 White clover amounted to nothing, on account of 

 too much rain during the season of bloom. Bass- 

 wood was scarcely better. Hardly any surplus was 

 stored till the latter part of August. The fall yield 

 would have been good but for too much rain again. 

 We had no frost to kill flowers until Oct. 12th, but 

 rain, rain, rain, as in the days of Noah. It was not 

 only impossible for man or beast to travel, but the 

 "bee-lines" were down, and the nectar entirely too 

 aqueous. To sum up, the bees got just enough 

 honey to increase rapidly, and not enough to store 

 surplus. Those who worked only for increase had 

 good success. 



The demand for honey in this part of the country 

 will greatly exceed the supply. I find the section 

 box weighing 1 or IM lbs. to be best for comb, and a 

 tin can holding about 3 lbs. very good for extracted. 

 I think honey-pails would be just the thing if they 

 could be got here without costing too much. Every 

 package, whether comb or extracted, should have a 

 label giving the name of the producer. It will ad- 



