94 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



I commenced with one swarm last spring. I have 

 three now, and I got 300 ll)S. of honey. 



Albert Unsworth. 

 Sanduslij', Sanilac Co., Mich., Jan. 5, 1883. 



My bees did well last summer. I had 39 in spring, 

 and 64 now. I got a little over 6000 lbs. of extracted 

 honey. I have 40 in chaff hives, and 26 in bee-house. 



Cedarburg, Wis., Jan. 9, 1883. F. Behrens. 



I started last spring with 18 swarms of bees; in- 

 creased to .'J3, and have taken out during the sum- 

 mer 1100 lbs. of section honey, mostly all white clover. 



H. K. Wood. 



Rives Junction, Mich., Jan. 15, 1883. 



I have horsemint growing all over my place; it 

 makes lots of honey, but it's strong. In the woods 

 we have hawthorn, elm, osage orange, and pepper- 

 wood; honey from the last named is too hot to eat. 



M. A. LUCKEY. 



Ladonia, Fannin Co., Tex., Jan. 4, 1883. 



Started In the spring with 11 — three poor and 

 eight strong colonies. I increased to 31, and gave 

 me nearly 400 lbs. of surplus. In the fall I sold 3, 

 and 27 I have packed with chaff on their summer 

 stands; 4 common and 23 extra good ones. 



Manchester, Pa., Dec. 27, 1882. Albert Hake. 



I had 17 swarms of bees in the spring; have now 

 thirty, with 2100 lbs. of surplus honey, and enough 

 in hives for winter, and 20 lbs. of beeswax. I sell ex- 

 tracted honey at 12^ cts. per lb.; comb in section 

 boxes, 15 cts. I think I shall have it all sold in time 

 for next year's crop, and not go outside of Iowa Co. 



Ladora, la., Dec. 12, 1882. J. N. Shedenhelm. 



I have realized $104.50 from bees, honey, and 

 queens, and have 22 stands, all in good shape. All 

 the labor with them did not exceed ten days. How 

 will that do? W. H. Ferguson. 



Bloomdale, Ohio, Dec. 26, 1882. 



[Few things would do better, I should say, fiiend 

 Ferguson.] 



FLORIDA. 



Here I am, away down in Florida, the land of flow- 

 ers and perpetual summer, or nearly so. I am look- 

 ing up the bee business here; but at this time the 

 bees are not doing much. I left all my bees at the 

 North, packed snugly in chaff, while I am wander- 

 ing about Florida. I hear from home that the win- 

 ter is a genuine old hard one so far. The climate 

 here is very fine, and has been since I came here 

 four weeks ago. Frank Mess. 



De Land, Fla., Dec. 19, 1882. 



HOPES NOT "blasted." 



I lost all my bees two years ago this winter — be- 

 tween 60 and 70 swarms, but I didn't give up. I 

 looked around and found others about the same as 

 myself; couldn't buy any in the fall; went into the 

 woods and found 3 swarms; got them home, fed 

 them some, got them through the winter all right, 

 and last summer I increased them to 19 swarms, and 

 had all the honey we wanted, and sold about $3J.0O 

 worth. I have plenty for the bees. 



Edgerton, Wis., Jan. 6, 1883. R. H. Phelps. 



TWO QUEENS IN A HIVE. 



One of my hives had two queens for sixteen days. 

 (I don't know how much longer they would have 

 stayed together if I had not separated them.) They 

 were mother and daughter; the mother is this year's 

 queen, got of E. M. Hayhurst; she is good and pro- 



lific. I don't think she was being superseded; do 

 J'ou? Ja8. J. Church. 



Waterford, Ont., Can., Dec. 21, 1882. 



[Not necessarily; such cases are more common 

 than most people are aware of] 



MAKING FDN. ETC. 



The foundation-mill that I got of you last summer 

 gives good satisfaction. Would you please tell me, 

 in a few words, how to get the fdn. dry? 



Jacob Sills. 



Cedarvilie, Stephenson Co., HI., Dec. 15, 1882. 



[[f you use starch as a lubricator, friend S., your 

 fdn. will be dry as it is made, or nearly so. As the 

 rolls press the starch out of the way as the wa.x 

 passes through, we cut it up and box it immediately, 

 or put it into frames to use in the hives, as it is 

 wanted.] 



ill^ '%rcwkr^r 



Tills rtepartnipnt is to be kept for the benefit of those who are 

 illssatisfletl ; and w hen anything is ainis8, 1 hope you will ' ' talk 

 rlprht out." As a nili». -ivu will omit names and addresses, to 

 avoid being too personal. 



/p^i LEANINGS has been rather flat for sometime. 

 'Hnpp Surely there is a large field open to j'ou in the 

 scientific part of bee culture. Would not 

 your own experiments pay — e. g., the weighing of 

 bees, their honey - carrying capacitj'; wax produc- 

 ed from pure sugar, both grape and cane, and a 

 dozen other interesting matters? Your own apiary 

 reports on wintering, etc., were very interesting, 

 but you don't seem to have thought so, as these col- 

 umns have nearly dwindled to nothing. Make 

 thorough experiments on a large scale, such as 

 those boys played at with their toy scales, and read- 

 ers will be attracted to Gleanings. Wishing you 

 success in all your enterprises, I remain,— 



J. H. Eldridgb. 



Earlham Rd., Norwich, Eng., Dec. 13, 1882. 



Well, I declare, friend E., 1 have had 

 many kind words tor Gleanings, and our 

 friends across the water have been usually 

 most profuse in their words of encourage- 

 ment ; but I don't know that I ever before 

 heard anybody call Gleanings " flat." It 

 can't be you said it on purpose to hurt me, 

 did you V I might feel a trifle hurt, were it 

 not for the large favor with which our 

 journal is now welcomed wherever the Eng- 

 lish language is spoken ; and as it is, I will 

 try to think it is' always our best friends 

 who tell us our faults, and so remember you 

 as a little nearer than the majority of them. 

 1 know your point is a good one. I know 

 how welcome are any items of my own prac- 

 tical experiments with bees, buckwheat, 

 honey-plants, and the like; but with this 

 whirlpool of business and letters to be read, 

 I really don't know how I can do any better. 

 May be when the college boys get home and 

 take up some of this editorial work I shall 

 do better. Meanwhile I thank you, and I 

 will keep it in mind that one friend has 

 thought Gleanings flat, and that I must 

 studiously try to avoid " flatness." Wouldn't 

 you, friend E.V I don't know now that this 

 properly belongs in the Growlery; but I 

 didn't find any thing any better, and the de- 

 partment ought to be kept up, you know. 



