1S83 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



179 



ing tickled over only 30 lbs. of honey. Now- 

 adays we expect to hear of 300 certainly, 

 from the old stock and the swarm. Never 

 mind ; go on and be happy. 



FRIEND TAYLOR'S STORY. 



BEES I^f NOllTH CAROLINA, ETC. 



JSi^HB bees in this locality have wintered quite 

 ■^pI"' well, as usual, and are now busily en^.'iged 

 ^^ gathering pollen from various sources, the 

 soft-maples principally. Our winter has been about 

 an average one, and we consider cold weather over 

 for the season. 



QtTEEKS BEIKG LOST ON THEIR BRIDAL TRIP. 



Is it possible that the future may bring enemies to 

 bees, 80 that, in certain locations, queen bees can 

 not be reared? 



During the last season, 1 found it almost impos- 

 sible to get young queens fertilized; at least, when 

 they went out on a bridal tour they never returned. 

 In a batch of oC fine young queens, only two return- 

 ed. The young queens would appear extra strong 

 and lively, and go out promptly; but I think some 

 enemy would gather them in. This was the condi- 

 tion of things the whole seiisou; andthi>ugh nucleus 

 hives were widely separated and distinctly raarlied, 

 an average of 85 per cent was a total loss. Nor was 

 it confined to nucleus hives alone. In strong colo- 

 nies that had swarmed, the young queens, eight 

 times out of ten, would be missed about the time 

 one would expect her to be laying. On this account 

 a great number of strong colonics in box hives 

 dwindled, and were soon in the clutches of the 

 %vorms. The owners would gay, " Well, this is a 

 bad year for bees; the worms are coming around 

 mightj- thick, and ruined nearly all my bees; the 

 worms are an avtful pest to bee culture here at 

 times." 



QUEEN-REARING A FAILURE. 



If the same fate followed young queens every 

 year that has been our experience during the last, 

 dollar queens could not be reared for loss than $5.00; 

 and even then a man would lose money on them, 

 supposing no customer reported, "Queen to hand, 

 dead as a door-nail; please send me another, quick." 



ANOTHER HONEY-PLANT — " GALLBERRY." 



All our surplus that is worth mentioning is pro- 

 cured from a shrub locally called "gallberry." The 

 botanical name I have not yet discovered. These 

 shrubs grow all through our country spontaneously, 

 and are from :J to 8 feet high. The blooms are fol- 

 lowed by a dark-blue berry which, when ripe, is 

 fearfully bitter — worse than quinine. The robin 

 (redbreast) is extremely fond of these berries; and 

 though we wonder at his taste, we find that, quite 

 soon after their migration here, and through the use 

 of this food, they become verj- fat and edible them- 

 selves. When in full bloom, a bunch of the flowers 

 shaken over a newspaper covers it like dew with 

 the " uucured " honey, which tastes any thing but 

 bitter. This honey is just perfectly splendid; and 

 when I send you a sample the first of June next, at 

 which time it is in all its glory, you will see that it is 

 a number-one quality of pretty light good honey. 



BEES won't sting SOME PEOPLE (?). 



A few days ago, a country man came Into our 



town with a few pounds of "strained honey" for 

 sale, and soon got into an animated conversation 

 with " some of the boj's " on the subject of bees and 

 honey. He told them that there were a few "lucky- 

 born " people who could handle, or do any thing 

 with bees, and that the bees, knowing they " had 

 found their master, would submit to any indigni- 

 ty, and not dare to sting." He also told them that 

 he was oneof those fortunate "few," and he just ex- 

 patiated upon the subject till an old colored man 

 told him, " Go 'way from here, boss, you's just talk- 

 ing." Finally, to show the " boys " that he could 

 back up his word, he followed them out to my api- 

 ary (I now have 13 colonies of bees). They soon ex- 

 plained the matter to me, and our bee-man asked 

 my permission to " try his hand," aod show the boys 

 what a "bee-king " could do. 1 referred him to a 

 colony of hybrids out in one corner of the garden, 

 and, without any smoker, ho " broached them." 1 

 stood off at a respectful distance, knowing that it 

 took two smokers to assist a man in g-etting into 

 that colony. The "bee-man" opened the hive, 

 gently pulled off the enameled cloth, and in a 

 second I saw at least six dozen hop tver so gently 

 up toward his face (he had on no veil). I saw him 

 " gently " wipe off at least 30 bees from his face, and 

 just then I saw them all over him. He dropped the 

 top, bounded over the fence, ran into me, and took 

 a bee-line for the Cape Fear Kiver (he lives on the 

 other side, somewhere); lost his hat, shelled off his 

 coat and dropped that, and stood not on the order 

 of his departure, but "departed." He did not call 

 for his tin bucket or hat and coat for over a 

 week, and then came in during the night. I think 

 he is ci()T'7 of handling "everybody's bees." What 

 do you think of it? 



Later.- Ro says the ■'moon" was not "exactly 

 riiiht," and that was the cause of the bees " getting 

 after him so." R. C. Taylor. 



Wilmington, N. C, Feb. 28, 1883. 



There may be some enemy that takes otH 

 the queens, i'riend T., although I can hardly 

 understand liow they should be able to sin- 

 gle them oitt from among the working bees ; 

 and if you have a biid or reptile that is tak- 

 ing working bees also at that rate, it is 

 surely a serious matter indeed. We have at 

 times liad a great many queens lost, and, 

 again, hardly one in a hundred fails to re- 

 turn. With our present large apiary, I 

 think we have had less such losses on an 

 average than when we had only a few hives. 

 —Please send me a sample of that gallberry 

 plant, with the blossoms, and we will have 

 it named. 



HIVIXG SWARMS WITH ClilPPED 



QUEENS. 



A SUGGESTION OF VALUE. 



¥OUR instructions in A B C recommend the 

 moving-otf of parent hive and hive-swarm on 

 — ■ old stand, and I eften see the same advice 

 given in many of the leading bee journals of the 

 day. I followed this plan until two years ago, when 

 I concluded to attempt the hiving in front of old 

 stock, and avoid the hard lifting and disarranging 

 of things generally that had taken me some time to 

 level up and fix to my notion. I accordingly made 

 a platform about two feet square, and about the 



