188 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 



CHAFF HIVES, ETC. 



I have 30 swarms on their summer stands; 15 in 

 the Root chafiE hives, and 5 well protected with chatf 

 in hives of my own make. The bottoms of those 

 five are a tritle damp, but the chafl: hives are all per- 

 fectly dry. Give me all the chaff hives I need, and 

 if my bees are in a proper condition in the fall I 

 honestly believe that the wintering: problem has 

 been solved as far as I am concerned. I have 8 oth- 

 ers in a small, dark, and well-ventilated cellar, doing 

 very well so far. If chaff hives were ready for them 

 last fall, they would have been quite as well off, 

 with a great deal less handling. My report for last 

 season is not worth a cent. Wq had plenty of flow- 

 ers, but they would give no honey, except a little to 

 keep the bees breeding. My stock in April was 17 

 good swarms; si M one in May, and 2 nuclei and sev- 

 eral queens in .luly, and increased to 38, and got 

 about 300 lbs. of honey; some in sections, and the 

 rest extracted. To improve my stock I bought one 

 of Mr. P. L. Viallon's selected tested queens, and al- 

 so one of Doolittle's very best. I am well pleased 

 with those two, although I had some excellent ones 

 before. Thos. C. Davies. 



Pittsburgh, Pa., March 10, 1883. 



POISON PROPOLIS. 



I am troubled with the propolis poisoning my 

 hands. It acts the same as poison oak. What is a 

 sure cure for it, or, rather, a sure preventive for it? 

 The honey prospect is poor; too much wind and too 

 little rain. B. L. Pressi.y. 



Santa Paula, Cal., March 1, 1883. 



I am inclmecl to think that in your case, 

 friend P., the bees have been collecting pro- 

 polis from some poisonous tree or plant, for 

 1 never heard of such a case before. Has 

 any one ever had a similar experience V 



UPWARD A^ENTILATION, ETC. 



I had six hives of bees last spring. I had to feed 

 in June. The last of July they got the swarming 

 fever. I used up my hives, and I then tore down the 

 queen-cells, and put the bees back. When frost 

 came I had 17, some good and some weak. I thought 

 I would try upper ventilation. I had two late Aug- 

 ust swarms, very small ; they made some comb and 

 some honey, but not enough to winter on. I left 

 the slot in the honey-board open, and fed in the up- 

 per story; kept feed in all winter. They are all 

 right now. Two that had no upper ventilation died. 

 They were strong in numbers, and left lots of hon- 

 ey. I sold two; two died, and I have 13 colonies 

 left. Wm. Allhands. 



Belmont, Cass Co., Neb., Mafch 5, 1883. 



HONEY-BEARING HONEYSUCKLES. 



Referring to friend Washington's report of the 

 honeysuckle on page 135, March No., I will here say 

 that we have on our grounds here several Loniccra, 

 Tart'irica, or Tartarian honeysuckles. This is an or- 

 namental shrub which blooms in this climate dur- 

 ing February and early March. The blooms are 

 white, very fragrant, and our bees are on them all 

 the time, just roaring. I presume friend W.'s is a 

 wild variety, as our country produces several kinds, 

 both vines and shrubs, from New York to Florida. 

 They are increased by cuttings, layers, and seeds. 

 While I look upon many of the family as " splendid 

 bee forage," I am of opinion that they generally 

 bloom too early in the season to amount to any cer- 

 tainty for this purpose. R .C. Taylor. 



Wilmington, N. C, Mar. 10, 1S83. 



DRILLING FRAME-STUFF FOR WIRING. 



I wrote I could drill a hundred frames in three 

 hours [see p. 69]. As this was about the number I 

 drilled after supper, I said three hours. I find, on 

 further use, the machine does even better than I 

 thought when I wrote, and lean drill .about a hun- 

 dred frames an hour. I, too, tirst tried a Morse 

 twist-drill, but the 3-cornered point beats any thing 

 I have tried. I have not broken the first one yet. I 

 see you have the thickness of the slide to hold 

 frames wrong; but I think if any one goes to make 

 one he will reaijily see where the trouble is. It 

 should be so the point of the drill comes in the cen- 

 ter of the frame when the pieces are put on. 



FOOT-POWER BUZZ-SAWS — A SUGGESTION. 



Tell the boys to put the balance-wheel of their 

 foot-power saws in a frame by itself, like a counter- 

 shaft. This gives a longer belt, can be more easily 

 converted into a counter-shaft in case power is added, 

 and if any cheap stout men are about, can help 

 tread without being in the way. It takes up a little 

 more room this way, but I think it is more than 

 made up in other things. The saw I made several 

 years ago, and afterward changed for power, so I 

 could not replace the balance-wheel, I have recent- 

 ly rigged up in this way, and it does better than 

 ever. G. W. Gates. 



Bartlett, Tenn., Feb. 31, 1883. 



report of the figwort, and thr way friend 

 m. made the bees find the honey. 



I can't hold back any longer, for I want to tell you 

 of those Simpson honey-plant seeds I got of you year 

 before last. I sowed them, nnd about half of them 

 came up, and ray bees would not notice them ; so last 

 year I took them up and set them out in a little 

 patch, and then the bees would not notice them. So 

 I took some honey and poured on the plants, and in 

 about one minute my little patch was loaded with 

 bees. After this I had no further trouble, for the 

 bees knew what I planted them for. I njust say, 

 they are a great curiosity; for I could see the large 

 spots of nectar in the little flowers, and showed it to 

 my wife. J. P. Male. 



Pleasant Hill, N. C, March 3, 1883. 



CYPRIANS, AND THEIR ABILITY TO STAND EXPOS- 

 URE, THE WAY THEY WINTERED IN SPITE 

 OF NEGLECT. 



I shamefully neglected my apiary, consisting 

 of 13 colonies of Cyprians, last fall and winter. They 

 were left on their summer stand, some with supers 

 on, and some with them off, without any protection. 

 The winter was long and very severe; some time 

 during which, the hogs got in and rooted some of 

 them over, in which position they lay for an un- 

 known length of time, with the caps off, and the 

 frame in one jammed down together, and the snow 

 drifted in on top of them. At this date they are all 

 strong and vigorous, including the one hived on the 

 fifth day of September last. I would add, that they 

 all had an abundance of downward ventilation. 



Jem, Mo., Mar. 14, 1883. C. S. Caluhan. 



Friend C, it is said that an "honest con- 

 fession is good for the soul," and it may be 

 it is ; but even if your bees did come out 

 strong, I should hardly want to advise that 

 treatment. Very likely they had abundance 

 of all kinds of ventilation, and may be that 

 was what they wanted ; but for all that I 

 hope no one will think of copying your way 

 of bringing it about. 



