1881. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



125 



GLEANINGS. 



IVet (Jueen Cage.— Novice gives the 

 following description of this cage. 

 which is illustrated on the lirst page of 

 this Bee Journal : 



The cage is about 2% x4^ inches. The 

 side pieces are made of strips 7-32x9-16. 

 Tlie side pieces are each 4*2 inches 

 long. The end pieces are each t% long 

 by '., inch thick ; this brings the thick- 

 ness of the ends 1-16 less than the sides, 

 to let the tin slide run over the ends. 

 The end piece that holds the candy is 

 made from a piece ^xl 1 * ; but before 

 nailing the box together a place is 

 sawed out to receive the candy, so only 

 about 1 g of an inch of wood is left on 

 the bottom and end. With a very fine 

 saw grooves are made for the tin slide 

 to run in ; this slide is bent as shown. 

 for convenience in withdrawing. A 

 corner is clipped from the other end, 

 that the cage may be opened so that one 

 bee can be put in at a time, when cag- 

 ing the bees and queen. 



The tin points are for fastening the 

 cage securely into the comb. Direc- 

 tions for doing this are pasted on the 

 cover of the cage, seen in the fore- 



f round. These are simply pieces of 

 asswood, of the cage, one of which 

 has the grain of the wood running cross- 

 wise, to prevent the liability of damage 

 in the mails. The other little board we 

 drop on our grooving saws, to cut the 

 ventilating holes shown in the picture. 

 When ready to nail the tin points are 

 turned down, the little boards placed 

 on each side, and the whole wrapped in 

 strong flour-sack paper, after winch an 

 opening is cut or torn right over the ven- 

 tilating slots. It will be observed we 

 have no bottle of water in this cage. 

 The reason is, that friend Viallon's 

 candy seems to hold moisture enough 

 without it. We will give the recipe 

 for this candy again, as it may not be 

 familiar to some of our new readers. 



Take 12 ounces of powdered white 

 sugar, 4 ounces of Louisiana brown 

 sugar, one table-spoonful of Hour, and 

 2 table-spoonfuls of honey, stir well to- 

 gether and add just enough water to 

 make it like thick mush ; then bring it 

 to a boiling point, or if too much is 

 added boil it a minute or two; then 

 stir it well until it begins to thicken, 

 and pour quickly a table-spoonful into 

 each cage. 



The peculiarity of this candy is that 

 it never dries but remains soft and 

 pasty, but yet not enough so to daub 

 the bee. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 

 lU°The London Journal of Horticul- 

 ture makes the following allusion to the 

 Weekly Bee Journal : 



The American Bee Journal after 

 a well-deserved successful run of 20 

 years passes into its 17th volume as a 

 Weekly, in which form several numbers 

 have appeared. It occupies thus a 

 unique position, which its acknowledged 

 merit will, we hope and believe, enable 

 it to sustain with increasing advantage 

 to itself and the bee-keeping world gen- 

 erally. Several of its correspondents 

 are men of marked ability, while its ex- 

 cellent editor, Mr. T. G. Newman, 

 needs neither introduction nor com- 

 mendation, since he was with us during 

 a portion of last summer. 



fy Ammonia, saleratus water, and 

 other alkaline washes are the usual 

 remedies for bee stings. A fresh to- 

 matto leaf crushed and rubbed on the 

 puncture is recommended as an easy 

 and sovereign cure. 



O" It is estimated by those best qual- 

 ified to judge, that there are about 10,- 

 000 bee-keepers in Cauada. Only a 

 small proportion of these are abreast of 

 the times. 



Qlucosed to Death. — I like the Bee 

 Journal very much, and would have 

 been one colony of hees better off if I 

 had taken it a few months sooner. I 

 had a colony of bees which casta swarm 

 late in August, and not having much 

 fall honey I fed them grape sugar, and 

 the result was they died with dysentery; 

 if I had been a subscriber to the Bee 

 Journal I would have known better 

 than to feed them that stuff. I took 

 the other colony intothe kitchen on Feb. 

 3d, and having' wanned them, let them 

 tly there. We had some dirt to clean up, 

 but the bees had a good (light, then set- 

 tled on the window and I put them back. 

 They are in tine condition now, with 

 sealed brood. Three-fourths of the bees 

 in this part of the country are dead, 

 from not being taken care of. I put my 

 hees under a shed, and packed in chaff 

 at the sides and top. Is maple syrup as 

 good to feed in the spring as coffee A 

 sugar to stimulate for early breeding, 

 or do they need anything if they have 

 plenty of "honey ? My bees are Italians, 

 of which there are but few in this part 

 of the country, and they stood the win- 

 ter better than the blacks. 



R. P. Williams. 



Goldsmith, Ind., April 1, 1881. 



[If your bees come out in good condi- 

 tion, now have sealed brood, and have 

 plenty of honey, why do you propose to 

 feed at all '! We doubt the propriety of 

 building up very strong colonies too 

 early, unless you have plenty of time 

 and are prepared to feed during the bad 

 weather of this month and most of May. 

 If you wish to breed up early to practice 

 dividing before white clover blooms, 

 then a good stimulant is coffee A su- 

 gar dissolved quite thin with hot water, 

 and given about a pint a day. If the 

 bees are flying freely, and you know the 

 maple syrup is pure, it will do to give it ; 

 but if you value your bees, do not take 

 any chances on a mixed article, for 

 commercial glucose is not fit to feed 

 anything at any time. — Ed.] 



Bees All Right.— I have been very 

 much interested in the reports of disas- 

 ter among bees in all parts of the Uni- 

 ted States, and after many months of 

 grave apprehension in regard to the 

 condition of my bees I am now prepared 

 to make my report. To-day I took my 

 bees out of the cellar and put them on 

 their summer stands, all in good condi- 

 tion except a few colonies that died of 

 starvation. My bees have been in con- 

 finement for 160 days. I have 56 colo- 

 nies with which to commence the sea- 

 son ; most of the bee-keepers in this vi- 

 cinity have only empty hives. Not- 

 withstanding the many conflicting 

 opinions in regard to wintering bees, I 

 have, after careful observation and 

 many years of experience, come to the 

 conclusion that cellar wintering in this 

 latitude is far ahead of any and all 

 other methods, and, moreover, that suc- 

 cess in cellar wintering consists in 

 thorough upward ventilation. 



C. II. Teetshorn. 



Cresco, Iowa, April 8, 1881. 



Loss 50 Per Cent.— Bees had their 1st 

 flight Feb. 26, when 36 colonies out of 

 60 were alive, since which 6 more have 

 died. They were on the summer stands 

 in simplicity hives, packed at sides and 

 on top with clover chaff. The hives 

 were in rows, packed between and at 

 the back, and covered with marsh hay, 

 coming to the ground in front. A few 

 had no honey, but most of them had 

 honey left in the outside combs, which 

 had holes cut through as passages for 

 the bees, but they starved as they were 

 unable to reach the stores from the ex- 

 cessive and continued cold. We have 

 usually laid sticks across the combs un- 

 der the quilts but neglected to do so 

 last fall, and no doubt much of the loss 

 may be attributed to that neglect. I 

 also think some of the colonies that had 



not sufficient stores in the fall and were 

 fed in October, bred too late, for when 

 the cold weather commenced they had 

 brood in all stages. On examination 

 this spring Some nl' the combs have 

 small patches of dead scaled brood in 

 them. Most of the bees in this part of 

 the country are dead ; they were gener- 

 ally kept in box hives and unprotected. 

 Success to the Bee Journal. 



A. J. II A'l'FIKLD. 



South Bend, Ind., April 2, 1881. 



Only Empty Hivos Left,.— The bees 

 in this locality are nearly all dead. 

 Winter began in November and it is 

 winter yet. I wintered my bees on the 

 summer stands and 1 have only a pile 

 of empty hives and dead bees left. 

 Every one heard from yet has the same 

 general complaint : I have lost all my 

 bees. B. I). Scott. 



Ovid Centre, N. Y., April 8, 1881. 



Astringents. — A friend of mine had 

 30 colonies Of bees last fall — 15 had fall 

 honey, and 15 were fed sugar syrup. 

 Those fed on the syrup came through in 

 fair condition, and the others died. He 

 lays the trouble to late fall honey. Do 

 you know of any one who has tried win- 

 tering bees by feeding them syrup or 

 candy made by steeping raspberry leaves 

 or blackberry roots and using the tea to 

 melt the sugar for the syrup or to make 

 the candy ? Should think that some- 

 thing of the kind would be good to pre- 

 vent the dysentery. I have 7 colonies 

 in good condition, wintered without 

 loss. W. C. Jennison. 



Natick, Mass., April 8, 1881. 



[We do not know that the experiment 

 has ever been tried, and have a doubt 

 about its feasibility. If it was found 

 that these or any other astringents had 

 a medicinal effect on the bees, the dan- 

 ger would arise of running to the other 

 extreme in their use, and we much of- 

 tener would kill our bees in ordinary 

 seasons than save them in extraordinary 

 ones.— Ed.] 



Winter Protection.— My bees had a 

 flight on Feb. 10th, and they are appa- 

 rently in good condition. The bees are 

 in Langstroth hives on the summer 

 stands, with thoroughly cured corn- 

 stalks set around each hive, except the 

 front, and tied in the form of field 

 shocks. I tie a cord around the base of 

 the shock. 2 or 3 inches from the ground, 

 and wind several times above the hive 

 until I bring itto a point at the top ; by 

 doing this it effectually sheds off the 

 water, which is conducted, by the series 

 of leaves overlapping each other, to the 

 ground. I have examined frequently 

 during the wettest weather, and inva- 

 riably found my hives dry and free from 

 moisture. On top of the cap, in the 

 opening made by tying the stalks above, 

 I crowd in straight straw endwise, let- 

 ting it project a few inches in front of 

 the hive. This mode of protection 

 gives ample opportunity, in case of 

 snow, to bank up as high as I wish 

 without getting the snow in contact with 

 the hive, and the stalks reaching above 

 the snow, insure ample ventilation. I 

 make a practice of banking in this way 

 whenever there is snow sufficient to do 

 so. In case of a thaw, the snow in con- 

 tact with the stalks melts|first, leaving a 

 space of a few inches between the snow 

 banking and the stalks,which frequently 

 become entirely dry and brittle before 

 the banking is melted. All I have to 

 do at any time to examine the interior 

 of a hive is to remove the straw placed 

 over the cap, draw the hive gently for- 

 ward sufficient to remove the cap, exam- 

 ine the bees, return the cap, slide gently 

 back to the former position, replace the 

 straw, put up the board in front, and all 

 is again snug and cosy. 



Fredonia, N. Y. U. E. Dodge. 



Will Try Again.— Almost all the bees 

 in this vicinity are dead. Those that 

 were packed with chaff did the best. 

 Some left plenty of honey in their 

 hives. We are not ready to give up 

 yet; many will try again. I cannot do 

 without the Weekly Bee Journal. 



E. M. POMEROY. 



Granville, Mass., April 5, 1881. 



Wintered en Summer Stands.— I had 



■J.1 colonies last, fall, wintered on tin; 

 Summer stands, and now have 20. [ 

 have no complaints to make. 



O. SOUTHGATE. 

 Smithville, N. J., April 8, 1881. 



Changed His Mind.— At first I did not 

 like the change from the Monthly to 

 the Weekly, but now I would rather 

 have the Weekly at $2 than the Monthly 

 at 25 cents a year. Count on me for a 

 life subscriber. \V.\I. BRIMMER. 



Tracy Creek, N. Y., April 6, 1881. 



Losses In-Onors and Out.— I had 77 

 colonies last fall and lost none till the 

 end of January. The lirst I lost was in 

 chaff hives on the summer stands. 

 Those in the cellar I found in worse 

 condition. I had 36 in the cellar and 41 

 in chaff hives and in large boxes, their 

 condition being just alike. I have 

 tight bottoms to all my hives. Three 

 in large boxes wintered well. I lost 17, 

 and 10 were so weak that I united 

 them with others, leaving just 50 colo- 

 nies. One man here having 43 last fall, 

 now has 2 very weak ones left. These 

 were well packed in clover chaff. It is 

 yet quite cold, but my 50 colonies are 

 m good condition, about the same in- 

 doors and out. James Harper. 



Mason, Mich., April 4, 1881. 



Bee-Keeping in Southeast Missouri. 



— As the flowers failed to secrete honey 

 last season bees in southeast Missouri 

 gathered but little honey, and but few 

 young bees were produced, consequent- 

 ly we had only old bees when they went 

 into winter quarters ; hence the losses 

 are very heavy. Old settlers here say 

 they never knew such a season of fail- 

 ure in honey production since this part 

 of the country was settled. This is 

 considered a good location for bees for 

 we have a vast amount of bloom in the 

 spring, and in the fall the whole coun- 

 try, and especially the woods, is cov- 

 ered with bloom of every hue, till it re- 

 sembles a garden of flowers. I can sell 

 all the honey I can produce here at 15 to 

 20 cts. per lb., but the heavy losses of 

 bees is very discouraging. The last 

 season was almost as great a failure in 

 corn as in honey production. But such 

 failures will not stop me from trying to 

 raise corn nor honey — they only learn 

 us a lesson in taking care of our bees at 

 the proper time instead of letting them 

 take care of themselves. 

 Poplar Bluff, Mo. W.N. Craven. 



Honey Poison.— In youth I could not 

 eat honey without its giving me colic, 

 etc., and if a bee stung me the swelling 

 and pain were very great. Since 1875 

 I have ate honey and am now a regular 

 consumer of it, without any bad results. 

 These remarks are called out by Prof. 

 Cook's article in No. 3, Bee Journal, 

 on poisonous honey. I do not think 

 that the stingless bees would be worth 

 the investment in this country — they 

 would be continually robbed by the na- 

 tive and Italian bees and would be de- 

 fenseless. The Weekly Bee Journal 

 was a grand New Year's treat, and I 

 am glad to welcome it to my library 

 every week. Its contents are all noted 

 with care and I wish it never-dying suc- 

 cess. R. M. OfBORN. 



Kane, 111., Feb. 15, 1881. 



Foul Brood.— I have been working 

 with bees since I was a little boy and 

 am now 65 years old, and I think foul 

 brood is only found among bees that 

 are weak, and I do not believe it to be 

 contagious. Late breeding is the 

 cause ; the bees cannot keep the brood 

 warm, and foul brood is the result. 

 There is no need of a law against foul 

 brood, and an inspector to ascertain if 

 it is in a hive ; every bee-man should 

 know it, and he can easily cut out the 

 dead brood if he watches it closely, and 

 thus save all trouble. 



Samuel Noblet. 



Halifax, Pa., March 2, 1881. 



Italians Ahead.— I wintered 2 colonies 

 of Italians and one of native bees on the 

 summer stands, protected from the N. 

 E. and N. W. winds by a house. The 

 Italians wintered well but the black 

 colony died. E.F. Hawk. 



Skippack, Pa., April 11, 1881. 



