136 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mak. 



FROM 6 TO 20, AND 300 LBS. COMB HONEY. 



I thought I would send you a few lines and let you 

 know how bees did in this vicinity the past season. 

 I commenced the season with 6 swarms; increased 

 to 20 by natural swarming; got about 800 lbs. of hon- 

 ey, all comb, in sections, and about 100 lbs. in frames 

 for spring feeding, if necessary. I had my first 

 swarm the 2Uh of May, which was a hybrid. 



A SWARM DETERMINED TO ABSCOND. 



My second swarm was one I had some trouble to 

 stop. They were bound to go to the woods; and as 

 the swarm had my best purchased tested queen, I felt 

 like making them stop, which I did after they had 

 got about ten rods from the hive. I stopped them 

 with a looking-glass. Well, I hived them, and they 

 did first rate; fillcl their hive with brood and honey. 

 But in just 30 dn.vs the same tested queen led out an- 

 other swarm, and I was about half a mile from 

 home. I heard the bell ring, which told me the bees 

 were swarming. By the time I got home, the swarm 

 had got under full headway, in spite of all the efforts 

 of wife and children to stop them. I followed them 

 for about a mile, and they went into the body of a 

 large white-oak, about 50 feet from the ground. I 

 did not want to lose my tested queen, so I went to 

 the owner of the tree and got leave to cut it, which 

 was no little job, as it was four feet through at the 

 base. They went in at about 10 in the forenoon, and 

 I cut the tree the next morning, and I found them 

 in a nice hollow of the tree, and the hollow was full 

 of old comb, nice and clean; probably it had been 

 cleaned and kept so by my bees. I chink they in- 

 tended to go to that tree when I had such a time to 

 stop them the first time they swarmed. They were 

 in the tree about 20 hours, and the queen had laid in 

 a large number of the cells. She left eight sealed 

 queen-cells in her hive when she went to the woods. 



Hillsdale, Mich., Jan. 21, 1883. Frank Kay. 



REPORT FROM AN A B C SCHOLAR. 



As my bees are in their winter quarters, and are 

 so far all right, I will send in my report. I began in 

 the spring with five colonies, in good condition. 



APPLE HONEY IN BOXES. 



During apple-bloom it was rather cool; but the 

 bees did well, and one colony stored some 20 lbs. of 

 surplus. I must here say, I never knew apple-bloom 

 to hold on so long as last spring, being nearly three 

 weeks. May 15th I put twenty 1-lb. boxes on my 

 best swarm, and the 25th they were nearly ready to 

 take off; all apple honey. I tell you, I felt good all 

 over at that; but it is nothing new to you, I sup- 

 pose. But it again grew cold, and there was a sus- 

 pense of some ten days; in fact, all through white 

 clover it was too cool and wet to get much, but still 

 they kept up breeding lively. June 28th I hived my 

 first swarm, and three more the first week in July, 

 so you see I did not get much from my increase. 

 One swarm got awaj'. I let my little brother watch 

 them, and he says he got " tired," and went off to 

 play. I will now relate what I saw last summer. 



HONEY FROM HOYA AND JAPAN LILY. 



I saw the bees working hard on mother's Hoya all 

 summer. We have a fine specimen covering a frame 

 about 3x8 feet, very densely; it is a beauty. 1 real- 

 ly wish you could see it when in bloom. I also saw 

 them work on the most beautiful of Japan lilies, the 

 " Lilitim auratum." There were great drops of hon- 

 ey on all the petals all day. As soon as they had 

 carried off a drop, another would form, and so all 

 day, until darkness compelled the bees to leave un- 



til the morrow. Now for my report: Started in 

 spring 5 swarms; increase, 4; went to woods, 1; sur- 

 plus full boxes, 327; surplus partly filled, 115. I am 

 satisfied, for I am away down near the foot of the 

 ABC class. Have sold most of my honey at 16 cts. 

 Now a few questions: Did the little earth-fiea ever 

 bother your spider plants? I set out some 200, and 

 in less than 24 hours had not one left. 



Otto G. Josenhans. 

 Owosso, Shia. Co., Mich., Jan. 22, 1883. 



Will you please tell lis if you found the 

 apple-tree comb honey good for table use, 

 friend J.V We extracted some one year, but 

 none of us liked it.— I have seen the honey 

 run out of the Japan lily, but never saw the 

 bees at work on them. Our spider plants 

 have never been molested in the open air at 

 all ; but a green worm ate up a lot of them 

 one spring in the greenhouse. Did you not 

 set out the plants when they were too smallV 



I began the season with 16 stands, and increased 

 to 12; have taken 1000 lbs. of extracted honey, about 

 500 lbs. comb; 35 stands I have in cellar; the rest on 

 summer stands. Bees swarmed more in August 

 than any other month this year. One swarmed five 

 times, and I put them back every time; at last I 

 took away all their combs, and they stayed. This 

 was August 2S; they now have 30 lbs. My bees are 

 all very heavy in honey and bees. What would you 

 give for a barrel of nice honey? 



Oakley, 111.. Dec. 23, 1883. Frank Baker. 



"We have been paying 10 c. for clover and 

 linden, friend B., but just now we have 

 more honey than money. Isn't that '■'■fun- 

 ny'''' ? 



HOW A NEW - ZEALAND FRIEND MADE HIS OWN 

 FOUNDATION, ETC. 



This is only the second season that I have tried 

 frames, and I have succeeded beyond my expecta- 

 tions, as I have had to work under a good many dif- 

 ficulties. In the first place, I could get fdn. only 

 in a roundabout way, with two shipments, and then 

 only at a good stiff price, and bees would have to 

 work hard to make it up ; so I got a bit of comb 

 and a bit of starter, and had a good look at both, 

 and tried to make a press to make comb for 

 mj'Self. After repeated failures I at last managed 

 to make one with common shoe-nails driven 

 in wood, and filed up ; I put five nails to the 

 inch every way. I have two pieces ; one bosoms 

 in the other ; and when I place a thin piece 

 of wax between, it leaves the impression of the 

 nails on both sides. I managed to get some of them 

 in the boxes last season, and the bees worked very 

 well on it. Still, it is nothing so neat or well done 

 as the fdn. that is sold in the shops. John Blaiu. 



Tryphena, Gt. Barrier, N. Z., Oct. 39, 1882. 



DISPENSING WITH SECTIONS. 



While everybody is crazy about li-lb sections (but 

 me), I have a suggestion. Let us get our coml) hon- 

 ey in the brood-frames. Then, having been to the 

 tin-shop, get strips of tin, say 19i inches wide, and 

 of a length that, when fo.ded in the form of a hollow 

 square, will just inclose half a pound of comb honey. 

 The tinner might bend the ends of the strips into 

 the form of hooks, then any one with a block of 

 wood of the right size can bend them into squares, 

 and hook the ends together. Now lay your brood- 

 frame, filled with nice comb honey, flat down, and 



