28 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 



have, was to furnish him with work which would 

 not be so hard for him as that he is at present en- 

 g-ag-ed In (carpentering). My success in the business, 

 which I consider i-emarkable under the circumstanc- 

 es, I attribute to the promise, " Commit thy way 

 unto the Lord. Trust also in him, and ho shall bring 

 It to pass." Mrs. A. C. Mosher. 



San Marcos, Texas, Dec. 6, 18S2. 



Surel}^ God Avill bless your labors, my 

 friend, if you go about your work in the way 

 you indicate by your closing text. I am a 

 little puzzled about that frame of drone 

 brood you mention. Was your young queen 

 a drone-layer V If not, liow did she come to 

 till a frame with drone eggs the iirst thing? 

 A queen might hatch in nine days from the 

 time you put the frame of Italian brood in, 

 but I should hardly think it probable for her 

 to be laying in 4 days more, though it might 

 be. I am very glad indeed to get so good a 

 report for our Ladies' Department. 



I am an A B C scholar. Husband died April 2, 1882, 

 leaving me 23 colonies of bees, and no experience. 

 Increased to 29, and, with the assistance of a young 

 lady to handle the smoker for me, took over four 

 barrels of extracted honey from them. Surely the 

 dear Lord has been wonderfully good to me in my 

 affliction; has blessed me both temporally and spir- 

 itually, and I praise him for it. 



Mrs. Henuy Gulp. 



Hilliard, Franklin Co., O., Oct. 3, 1882. 



Thank God you have done so well with 

 the bees, my friend. I have often thought 

 of you anxiously since our old friend, your 

 husband, was taken away. 



HONEY FROM GLADIOLUS. 



We all read Gleanings and the Juvenile, and en- 

 joy them very much. I shall waot some honey- 

 plants for my flower-garden next year. Did you 

 ever notice the amount of siveet watei- lu the gladio- 

 lus blossoms? When they begin to close, my chil- 

 dren pull them from the stalk and suck the honey, 

 as they call it. I think there is four or five drops In 

 every one, but I do not know whether bees will work 

 on them, as there are none within ten miles of us 

 (except bumble-bees). By the waj', I have noticed 

 how they carry the pollen, I suppose. I have seen 

 them with cakes, or flakes as large around as a small 

 pea — of course, flat: but they look so queer, and 

 seem to resent, any inquisHiveness about their af- 

 fairs. Mrs. H. U. Rose. 



Leland, Wash. Ter'y, Sept. 22, 1883. 



I do not know that I have noticed the hon- 

 ey in the gladiolus, but I have often noticed 

 honey in different kinds of house-plants; 

 and since the matter has been discussed so 

 much, I have noticed in what great prof u- 

 sion the nectar is often secreted, when the 

 conditions are just right. Thank you for 

 calling our attention to the gladiolus, my 

 friend. 



As to that smoker, it is just a perfect little smoke- 

 stack, only it will "grunt" every time it breathes. 

 I suppose it is wrong for me to say so, but I am aw- 

 ful glad I broke the Simplicity, for the Clark is so 

 much better. 



I commenced this spring with one hive of bees, 

 and not very strong at that ; Increased to 4 — one 

 natural swarm, and two artificial; took 70 lbs. of 



nice honey out of an old hive, besides a lot of boxes 

 that were not filled out. The natural swarm made 

 15 lbs. I am very thankful, and wonderfaUy pleased. 

 If anybody had told me two years ago that I would 

 handle bees and get so much honey, I would not 

 have believed it. Of course, there are reports of 

 others who have done much better; but I am satis- 

 fied and thankful. Two of my neighbors took bee- 

 trees, and they brought me the bees from three 

 trees. They are a large brown bee; so in all I have 

 seven hives of bees. Ann Scaife. 



Barbour Mills, Lycoming Co., Pa., Dec, 1882. 



I am very glad indeed, my friend, to hear 

 you are pleased witli your new industry, but 

 I am very sorry to know that any of the 

 smokers we have sent out have ever l)ehaved 

 in so undignified a way as to " grunt " when 

 they are called on to help, more especially 

 when it was a lady that required their ser- 

 vices. If it is one with the new spring, a 

 small drop of oil on the coil will fix it. 

 And so you have already transferred bees 

 that came out of a bee-tree, have you? 

 Well, I think you might feel encouraged, 

 for only a beginner. 



WINTERING IN CELIiARS, AND AMOUNT 

 OF HONEY CONSUMED. 



HOW MANY POUNDS OF BEES ARE THERE IN AN AV- 

 ERAGE COLONY OF BEES IN WINTER? 



HEN the flow of honey is stopped by frost I 

 remove all surplus boxes, and examine the 

 brood-frames to see if they have enough 

 honey to winter on, which should not be less than 

 enough to make i full frames; '> and 6 would be bet- 

 ter, if one does not want to feed la spring. I use the 

 Langstroth hive, and, after they are examined, the 

 entrance is contracted from one to three inches, and 

 the honey -board put on. The honey-boards have in 

 the middle, running crosswise, a slot-hole /sxSin., 

 which are opened when it begius to freeze. 



When it is time to place them in the cellar I take 

 common lath and saw it in pieces the exact width of 

 each hive, and place before the entrance, leaving a 

 space of 1-12 of an inch underneath for ventilation; 

 this, together with the hole in the honey-board, and 

 the cover also raised about 1-12 an inch, is all the 

 ventilation 1 think is needed, and they will remain 

 very quiet, unless too warm weather sets in, or dys- 

 entery makes its appearance, when they should be 

 taken out. 



Before placing in cellar, each hive is weighed and 

 then placed in the cellar on 2x4 scantling, raised 

 some 14 Inches from the ground, the rear of hive 

 being raised an inch more; If hive and all weigh 75 

 lbs., I think they will winter all right, although I had 

 some weigh as low as 65 lbs., and yet winter well; 

 however they had to be fed some in spring. The 

 following is taken from my diary: — 

 Placed in eel- 1 Av. loss per colony for I No. of days in 



lar Nov. 4 I winter of "79-80, O'^a lbs I cellar, 144 

 '> 1+ I " " '80-81,918 " I " 

 " 14 " " '81-82, 9?3' " I " 



151 

 125 



General average loss, - 8 4-9; av. No. of days, 140 

 In looking over the back numbers of Gleanings 

 I see in the April No., 1878, W. A. Eddy's report of 

 52 colonies which were in the cellar 100 days; aver- 

 age loss per colony, 14 lbs., which makes a difference 

 of a little over 5'/2 lbs. per colony, which would tally 

 one in favor of having the entrance nearly closed. 



