1883 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



195 



VENTILATION. 



Some who formerly wintered successfully have 

 lost largelj'. I think they wanted more A^entilating 

 at the bottom. Some on the ground, with half the 

 bottom out, are all right. E. Pickup. 



Limerick, 111., Mctrch 3, 1883. 



THAT PHEMIUM LIST. 



Friend Root:— Please say, at the head of the Tri- 

 State Fair premium list that I sent you for publica- 

 tion, "Entries in this department are free to all." 



A. B. Mason. 



Wagon Works, Lucas Co., O., Mar. 19, 1883. 



[The above was received too late to insert in the 

 proper place.] 



THE CYPRIANS, AGAIN. 



I had one swarm of Cyprians that gave 100 lbs. of 

 surplus honey, and drew out 30 frames of founda- 

 tion. They are the crossest bees that I ever saw; 

 the worst hybrids are gentle to what they are. 

 Smoke only angers them. If any one goes close to 

 the entrance, they will fly out after him. 



A. Carder. 



Hebron, Boone Cj., Ky., Dec. 30, 1883. 



FASTENING BEES IN THEIR HIVES; A CAUTION. 



While I was in Ohio in February I hud three 

 Swarms in chaff hives melt down. Every comb went 

 out of the frame. It was caused by closing up the 

 entrance with wire cloth to keep them io. 



Millington, Mich., Mar. U, 1883. M. D. York. 



[Thanks for the warning, friend Y. So many such 

 cases have occurred, that I havo always felt loth to 

 advise fastening them in at any time of the year.] 



FROM 2 TO 7, AND 100 LBS. OP HONEY. 



I forgot to tell you 1 started in last season with 2 

 hives of bees, and now I have 7. I thlak they are all 

 well supplied with stores, and will get through the 

 winter all right; at least, I hope so. I got about 100 

 lbs. of honey. All I know about bees I got by prac- 

 tical experience handling them last summer. I like 

 to work with them. My experience so far with 

 them encourages me in the work. J. Helber. 



FarmingtoD, Francois Co., Mo., March 8, 1883. 



The two-frame nucleus I bought of you did well. I 

 divided them, and have two hives; the first hive 

 filled up in September more than full of honey. It 

 contains two cubic feet of space. I drew the first 

 premium at the county fair, and sold a 2-lb. section 

 of comb honey for $1.00. Comb honey retails here 

 at 28 cts. per lb. There are no bees in this county, 

 nor in three or four adjoining, except those I got of 

 you. C. C. Briggs. 



Harrisville, Alcona Co., Mich., Feb., 1883. 



bee-veils; are tqey bad for the EY'ES? 



What is the efl'ect on the eyes, of wearing a coarse 

 bee-veil, like mosquito-bar? I was thinking, if my 

 bees promise well this summer, of getting some of 

 the one-piece sections of you; tout does not Mr. 

 Forncrook claim a patent on them? Or do you stand 

 between your customers and all damages? 



Otsdawa. N. Y., Mar. 19, 1883. Thos. Decker. 



[I do not think the use of a veil would be harmful, 

 unless the eyes were weak and very sensitive. Mr. 

 F. has for some time threatened to prosecute, and I 

 am told is threatening yet; but my advice is now, 

 as it always has been, pay no attention to his 

 threats. If my customers should be so unwise as to 

 pay money in answer to any such foolish demand, I 

 should not want to be responsible.] 



FLOUR FEEDING. 



Will you please tell me if it is best to place be- 

 fore the bees all the dry flour they will work up this 

 pleasant weather? 



SALT water for BEES. 



Also tell me if you feed salt in a weak solution. 

 Out of 80 swarms I went into winter quarters with, 

 I have now but 40 alive. 



CLEANING OUT COMBS. 



Will the old comb need any renovating before 

 using again? Ought the dead bees to be picked out 

 of said combs? Mrs. Donnelly. 



Valmont, Col., March 10, 1883. 



[Asa general thing, give them all the flour they 

 will take; but I would not let them get the combs 

 too full of it, or it may harden in the cells.— We 

 feed salt, a weak solution, when they seem to want 

 it.— Set your old combs, one at a time, in the center 

 of a strong colony, and they will take out the dead 

 bees and clean them up. All these questions are 

 answered more at length in the A B C] 



(^ 



^iTO to'' 



99 



lELL, friend Root, you may put me down in 

 the Smilery, for my bees are all alive and in 

 good shape. I have fed them for several 

 days. I feed outdoors, plenty of rye meal and melt- 

 ed sugar, so all can have a chance; and 'tis wonder- 

 ful to see the amount of meal they will carry away. 

 I have 13 stands, and have taken 8 more on shares. 

 They are also in good shape. That makes me 20 to 

 start with this spring. J. N. C. Gray. 



Atwood, 111., March 7, 1883. 



Or Enemies of Bees Among Insect Tribes. 



A STRANGE BEE-ENEMY. 



f'E received by mail a bee-mole from 

 '■ William Little, of Marissa, 111. He 

 says it crawls into the h;ves, where 

 mice can not go, and eats comb and honey 

 and bees. We forwarded it to Prof. Cook, 

 who says :— 



The little mole-like animal sent by Mr. Wm. Little, 

 of Marissa, Illinois, is not a mole at all, but a shrew 

 or field mouse. It is closely related to the moles, 

 and not to the common mice. Mice, rats, squirrels, 

 etc., are rodents, or gnawers, which fact is evident in 

 their peculiar chisel-shaped teeth. The shrews and 

 moles are insectivorous animals and belong to the 

 order Insect ivora, while common mice belong to 

 the order Rodcntia. I have often heard of these 

 shrews in Missouri and Illinois, as engaged in rob- 

 bing the hives of the bees in winter. The little 

 animals are sO'Very small that they can sometimes 

 push or crowd through a hole less than }i of an 

 inch in diameter. The little shrew sent by Mr. Lit- 

 tle, measures only 1.75 inches in length. The color 

 is brownish, the nose pointed. The anterior feet 

 are slender, like the same in mice, and not fossorial, 

 as in the moles, which are such expert diggers. 

 This is a short-tailed mole, and is the Blarina 

 exilipes. It isfound from Tennessee and "Virginia 

 to Illinois, Missouri, and even south to Mississippi. 



