240 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



to get it. That article, I judg-e, gives the impression 

 that l'/2 lbs. of maple sugar was all I fed, which is 

 not true; and for fe»r it might mislead some ABC 

 scholar, I wish it corrected. In February I gave 

 each colony 3 frames of capped honey, Langstroth 

 size; and when the frost killed the fruit-bloom, for 

 fear brood-rearing would stop I commenced feeding 

 each colony half a pint of S3'rup made of granulated 

 sugar, daily. I continued that about a week, when 

 my bee journal came and I saw in that a little arti- 

 cle recommending maple sugar for feeding. I got 

 right into the buggy, went to the city, procured 45 

 lbs. in cakes, gave each colony from VA to 2 lbs. 

 each, which carried them through to the clover-yield 

 of honey. I had on hand frames enough filled with 

 comb to keep the bees busy gathering honey, and 

 they did not have to waste any time building comb; 

 also enough to give each new swarm a full supply; 

 hence m.y success. Jennie Culp. 



Hilliard, O., April 11, 1833. 



No wonder you succeeded, my friend, if 

 you kept your befes going in tliat way. To 

 be sure, it will pay to keep brood-rearing go- 

 ing. It always does. 



We commenced our bee-keeping six years ago 

 with one hive; but, thanks to the ABC book, we 

 transferred them 3 years ago. In the summer of 1881 

 we got over 1000 lbs. from 8 hives, spring cAunt; last 

 year we got only about 8oO lbs. from 13; had to feed 

 150 back; also 70 lbs. sugar. I have 21 hives now 

 fixed up as snug as we could make them. 



Mrs. Tnos. Black. 



Heathcote, Out., Can., Feb. 3, 1883. 



THE COMING BEI*:. 



ALSO A FEW "REMARKS" IN REGARD TO REMOVING 

 BEES FROM CELLARS. 



fljHIS subject has been discussed so many times 

 that I should not touch it, were it not from 

 — ' the fact that I have seen it. I saw it yester- 

 day. In fact, I saw several of them. They saw me, 

 too — I mean some of them did, and the rest felt. for 

 me, and they found me. I IVltthem without feeling 

 for them either. My feeling so pleased them that 

 they called in their sisters, cousins, and aunts, to 

 feel of me also. They came, they saw, they fcU. I 

 felt, too — in fact, 1 feel yet. 



This is how I came to see, 



And feel the points ol' tlie coming- bee. 



They were in the cellar, where they had been for 

 only the short period of 157 days and nights, amiable, 

 gentle Italians, as I supposed when I tucked them 

 in their little beds in the fall. My cellar was dark. 

 They could not see; so I suppose they had got ac- 

 customed to feeling. May be that accounts for the 

 fellow-feeling they manifested for me. I carried 

 out colony No. 1, sans hat, sans coat, sans gloves. 

 The '* coming bee" at once dawned upon my vision. 

 She felt of my hands, felt of neck, felt of my hair, 

 and felt of my whiskers. She sang a sung in bee- 

 sharp which attracted all her female acquaintances. 

 They improvised a jubilee concert on the spot. I 

 was the only interested auditor; and as soon as 1 

 could " unload my stock " I "clHpped." They ap- 

 preciated the cheering, and sang louder. They call- 

 ed in some of their finest Italian opera-singers and 

 performers. That music is not usually understood 

 In this country. The clapping is generally done be- 

 cause it is fashionable to applaud every thing that 

 is foreign. But I understood every demi-semi-quaver. 

 I clapped with the spirit and with the understanding 



also. But I felt that they were expending too much 

 talent on such a small audience, so I retired as 

 gracefully as the overwhelming attentions being 

 paid me would allow. 



Intermission of 15 minutes. Curtain drops. 



It is usually customary for the actors to change 

 costumes while thecurtainisdown. In this instance, 

 however, the audience changed dress. The next act 

 brgins when I carry the second colony out of the 

 cellar. This time I am prepared for the coming bee. 

 Armed with straw hat, bee-veil, and gauntlet gloves, 

 I look like a cross between a knight-errant, a sister 

 of charity, and an honest granger. With my gaunt- 

 lets drawn snugly around the arras with rubber 

 cord, and the veil ditto around the neck, now let 'em 

 sing, sang I. They sang again; and as the wind 

 gently pressed the tarlatan against my nose, one of 

 the foremost of the Italian singers sat down to rest 

 on the ornamental part of my face. As I had no one 

 to help me let go of the hive I was carrying, and as 

 I was in somewhat of a hurry, I allowed the Italian 

 miss to keep her seat. All at once she doubled up 

 like a boy who has eaten too many green cucumbers; 

 and as if afraid of falling off, she drilled my probos- 

 cis with her little gimlet. Olhers of her compan- 

 ions, hearing of her distress, came to see what was 

 the matter, and sat down also. And as there was 

 not sitting room on my front porch for all the sym- 

 pathizing friends, some of them crowded between 

 my veil and the place where my shirt collar ought 

 to have been, and came up on the inside for a closer 

 interview. By the time I had reached the yard, my 

 neck felt as if I had undergone treatment for sore 

 throat with counter-irritants. Then if you ever saw 

 a cat trying to pull a mitten off its head with its fore 

 paws, you can imagine how dignified I looked. In- 

 stead of being the audience, I was now one of the chief 

 performers, while my wife, sitting in the bay-win- 

 dow, was the interested and amused spectator, en- 

 joying the show as much as our boys did Barnum's 

 Hippodrome. I created as much interest as a whole 

 menagerie, when the animals had just been "stirred 

 up." The performance lasted only about an hour, 

 and closed amid the wildest enthusiasm. 



Don't talk to me about the ^pis dorsato. If their 

 gimJcts arc any longer than the ones I felt, I'll be ex- 

 cused from buying any. Tell Jones he had better 

 call Frank Benton home. I have lost all interest in 

 the "coming bee." Eugene Secor. 



Forest City, la., April 17, 1883. 



Now, friend S., that is really too bad, for 

 it awakens in my recollection unpleasant 

 reminiscences, and that, too, just at an un- 

 lucky time, for you know I have been think- 

 ing much of late of having at least some of 

 my bees in a cellar next winter. You almost 

 make me decide to stick to chaff hives, and 

 stronger colonies. 



ii 





% 



9f 



"Wh ^^'^ y^^ think we had better speak fur one 

 JP||J )I corner of the "Smilery "? We can say smil- 

 — ^ ingiy that we have succeeded in wintei*- 

 ing our 100 swarms of Italians without the loss of a 

 single colony? We set them out of the cellar Apr. 

 3 (in the evening). None are queenless. 



D. E L*H<)M.MEDIEU & Bro. 



Colo, Story Co., Iowa, April 7, 1883. 



