1883 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



35 



THE KEASON' FRIEND GIBBS IS " HAPPY." 



Bees did well with us the past season. I had 35 

 colonies in spring; increased to T2; shipped 4100 lbs. 

 of comb honey, lf4-lb. sections; about 20 gallons of 

 extracted. Quite a lot of rough and unfinished sec- 

 tions sold here at home that would not do to put in 

 cases, say 300 lbs., and then wc eat it three times a 

 day the year round. I have no idea how much we 

 do eat. But I will make the report: 4100 lbs. and 

 300 lbs. makes 4400 lbs., for which I am thankful. I 

 have made bee-keeping a success. Since I com- 

 menced, 5 years ago, I have not had a reverse. 1 

 winter in cellar every time, and lose none. I may 

 lose them all this winter; can't tell; if I don't, you 

 may hear from mc in the spring. 



BI.ACKS. 



Blacks are not worth keeping, in ray opinion. 

 Lyndon, 111., Dec. 21, 1882. E. P. Gibbs. 



THE QUEEN THAT CAME HOME AFTER BEINC. SOLD, 

 AND BROUGHT HER NEW FAMILY ALONG. 



I commenced last spring with ten colonies, 3 of my 

 own and 7 that I took to keep for half of the honey 

 and half of the increase; 4 of the 7 were very weak 

 in the spring. I increased the whole by natural and 

 artificial swarming to 32; one went to the woods; 

 bought one swarm in swarmlng-time, another late 

 this fall. I divided the bees I took on shares. 1 go 

 into winter quarters with 20 of my own, all in good 

 fix, 10 packed in chaff, and 10 packed in very dry 

 sawdust, al! on their summer stands. I got about 

 260 lbs. honey, mostly extracted, and sold nearly all 

 at 25 cts. per lb. I could not begin to supply the de- 

 mand. I sold three queens; one for a dollar, and 2 hy- 

 brids at a quarter a piece. One of the hybrids was a 

 very prolific queen. I introduced herforaneighljor 

 into a small nuclf us; she stayed about a week, filled 

 up all her empty combs, and then came home and 

 brought a part of the swarm with her. She went 

 right into her old hive. I had put a young queen in 

 the hive several days before she came back; it be- 

 ing Italian it was easy to tell which was killed. The 

 Italian was soon brought out, with 6 or 8 bees cling- 

 ing to it. I took it away from them. I then thought 

 her a little too smart and good to kill or sell again, 

 BO I just let her alone. L.Haines. 



Moons, Fayette Co., O., Dec. 13, 1882. 



MY REPORT FOR 1882. 



Basswood did not open until July 25tb, being about 

 l2 days later than usual, and closed Aug. 6th. We 

 had about 7 days the bees could work on basswood, 

 the rest being wet and cold. On the 12th of Aug. I 

 have the honey season marked closed, when I took 

 my sections all off, with but few sealed up as they 

 should be. On the l8th, I thought the bees were 

 working hard; and on the 20th, while looking into 

 some hives, I found them chock full of honey; so I 

 went for the extractor, and put on my unfilled sec- 

 tions, and the result was, I got my sections all full 

 and sealed up nicely, and quite a lot of extracted. 

 On summing up my season's work I find I have 

 taken 565 lbs. of extracted and 475 lbs. of comb hon- 

 ey, making in all 1040 lbs., or an average of 104 lbs. 

 per colony. I sold my comb honey at 20 cts. per lb., 

 and extracted at ISViC. I increased to 22 good strong 

 colonies and five nuclei, which are all in good con- 

 dition for winter. I also raised 23 fine queens. 



IPEBFORATED ZINC ; KEEPING THE QUFEN OUT OF THE 

 SURPLUS-HONEY APARTMENT. 



On page 440, Sept. Gleanings, the question is ask- 

 ed, " Are we going to need Jones's perforated zinc?" 



I used Jones's perforated zinc sheets on top of hive 

 (between hive and super) for extracted honey, and 

 fnund it to work to perfection. I could not see any 

 difference in the amount of honey stored in those 

 that had the zinc on, and those that had not; but In 

 every hive that had not on the zinc sheet, the queen 

 went up into the supers and laid. I also used the 

 perforated zinc to keep the queen out of the sections 

 while at the side of the hives (as I work on the plan 

 of side and top storing); but for the sections on the 

 top, I used the Heddon honey-board, and I might say 

 I had no trouble with the queens laying in the sec- 

 tions. JoHs Myers. 



Stratford, Ontario. Can., Dec, 1882. 



Friend M., I am very much obliged in- 

 deed for your report in regard to the use of 

 perforated zinc in place of, or as a honey- 

 board. Many questions have been asked as 

 to how it would answer, but we have had 

 heretofore but few direct reports. As to the 

 cost of these, we have just imported a very 

 large lot of zinc from England, and can 

 offer i'heets, right for Simplicity or chaff 

 hives, at an even 25c each. 



THE dark side OF BEE CULTURE, WITH A SMALL 

 "CRUMB OF COMFORT" THEREIN. 



The past has been the worst season for honey in 

 the Cumberland Mountains ever known. From 

 what information I can obtain, 50^. of all the bees 

 wintered last winter are now starved to death. Di- 

 rectly after I wrote you in August, the bees began 

 swarming out, and many of my largest stocks with 

 most prolific queens deserted their hives, leaving 

 their combs without honey or brood, a prey to the 

 bee moth. The aster, the greatest autumn honey- 

 plant of these parts, gave but light stores for win- 

 ter — so light that I doubt if more than 10 5; of the 

 bees will winter over, even of those that survived 

 the summer. 



THE " CRUMB." 



I know of but one thing to console us bee-keepers 

 in a poor season like the past; and that is, that all 

 stock not endowed with the greatest endurance and 

 capacity for collecting honey is destroyed, leaving' 

 nothing but the best to propagate from. 



Daniel Kepler. 



Chattanooga, Tenn., Dec. 11, 1882. 



Friend Kepler is an Ohio man, who moved 

 where he is now with a view, I presume, of 

 getting a better locality. Well, although the 

 above looks rather dismal I would, under 

 no circumstances, advise anybody to let 

 bees starve. Past records show that they 

 may have the very best kind of a honey- 

 yield next season, and we should, therefore^ 

 hold on to the bees. Where no honey is ta- 

 ken away from the bees, and they are not in- 

 terfered much with, his crumb of comfort 

 may work ; but I do not believe 1 would rec- 

 ommend that plan very strongly, as a 

 means of sslecting the best stock. 



I DIDN'T "STEAL 'EM." 



I have read Gleanings for four years, and, as I 

 say, I did not Steal it (as my name does not ap- 

 pear on your book). I exchanged the A. B. J. for 

 it with a neighbor, up to last Jan.; but his bees all 

 died the winter before (1^80 and '81), so he stopped 

 taking it; so I must have it, and Inclosed you will 

 find the Sl.OO. 



Bees have done well in this part of the country 

 (North Illinois); that is, the last half of the summer. 



