1883 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



255 



were from some larvse belonging to hives that were 

 sent to me in September, and were so badly put up 

 that most of the bees had perished. I like your jour- 

 nal well. I like the way you advocate the cause of 

 Christ. This is new country. When I first came 

 here there was scarcely a house in the county. 

 Sweetwater, Tex., Apr. U, 18S3. J. C. Turnek. 



Thanks for the facts you furnish, friend T. 

 The distance you name just about agrees 

 with our experience ; namely, that bees will 

 fly for stores from three to three and one- 

 half miles. That is, that agrees with our 

 experience in our locality. In regard to the 

 hybrid swarm going 30 miles, I should think 

 you must be mistaken somewhere. A 

 swarm of bees seldom moves faster than 

 a man can run, do they? say live or six 

 miles on hour. To go 30 miles they would 

 have to fly 5 or (i hours at one continual 

 stretch. — I have often seen wingless bees, 

 caused by injury to the brood before it is 

 hatched. Tlie same way queens often get 

 out with imperfect wings where the cells 

 are handled rudely, or where they are cut 

 out before the queen is nearly "ready to 

 hatch. In cutting cells for the lamp 

 nursery, we prefer not to move them until 

 just before the first queen hatches, then we 

 seldom have any trouble in wingless queens. 

 Thanks for your concluding words. 



PROM lOO TO 150, AND 13,000 LBS. OF HONEY. 



I send you my report of crop of 188:i. Wintered 

 outdoors with good success; hives light in spring. 

 Cause, very mild winter. As the spring was cold, 

 wet, and late, Juno 15th found us reduced to 

 only 100 colonies, having reduced by selling and 

 doubling up, to have all strong. Well, the flood of 

 honey came, and in less than 3 months we had taken 

 1000 lb?, comb and 13,000 of extracted honey; also 50 

 new colonies. This honey is nearly all sold at 30 cts. 

 for comb and 10 for extracted. We have no linn. 

 Our crop is from clover and smartweed. My crop of 

 1881 was an average of S7.C0 per colony from 100 

 hives. My expenses for cans, express, and commis- 

 sion, was $300 last year; the other year, about $100. 

 My secret of success is strong colonies. 



J. E. Walcher. 



MiUersville, 111., March 10, 1883. 



A BRIETT REPORT OF LAST SEASON'S DOINGS AND 

 WINTERING. 



I started in the spring of 1883 with 10 colonies; in- 

 creased to 80 and got 1000 lbs. of honey. When win- 

 ter came on I had sold down to 31; went into winter 

 quarters with 34 colonies; came out the first of 

 April with every one, 24, in splendid condition. 



MODE OF WINTERING. 



In large chaff hives, with space from 6 to 10 inches 

 for chafi"; no division-boards, entrance, ?ax8. I use 

 the new Quinby frame, llKixWia outside measure. 

 I could not be induced to go back to the Langstroth. 

 I have my hives so arranged that I do not have to 

 fuss with broad frames, sections, racks, separators, 

 etc. The 414, or pound section, just exactly fits in- 

 side of the Quinby hive (the hive described in Quin- 

 by's new "Bee-Keeping"), which is 17x13 inside 

 measure; 4 of the 1-lb. sections just take up the 17 

 inches lengthwise; 6 rows just take up the 13 inches, 

 lacking Ja, just right for slipping in a board to key 

 up. Three tiers can be used in one upper story, and 

 it can either be used for section-crate or shipping- 

 crate, or ext'-acting, or a common bee-hive. The 



bottom of the lower tier of sections comes within 34 

 inch of the frame in the lower story, and there is 

 nothing between them. 



DEVELOPING A HOME MARKET. 



I sold, last season, $557 from the bee business; 

 have fold this spring 10 full colonies at $10 per col- 

 ony. I had not enough full colonies to meet the de- 

 mand. I have never shipped any thing yet. I have 

 established a home market, and have all I can han- 

 dle. It's better than farming, so I let the farming 

 into other hands. A. H. Duff. 



Flat Ridge, O., April 8, 1883. 



CAN A BEE FLY AT THE HATE OF 90 MILES AN HOUR? 



On page 134 of this month's Gleanings, Mr. Doo- 

 little endeavors to show that bees can fly 90 miles an 

 hour. I have often noticed that, with a breeze 

 blowing at the rate of C or 8 miles an hour, bees fly- 

 ing against the breeze travel but little faster than a 

 person walking an ordinary gait; and bees flying 

 against a wind blowing at^the rate of 18 or 30 miles 

 an hour make no headway at all, and get along only 

 by ^taking advantage of windbreaks, such as trees, 

 fences, houses, etc. A wind at the rate of 60 miles 

 an hour is said to bo a hurricane; and a wind at the 

 rate of 90 miles an hour would take Mr. Doolittle's 

 bee-hives out of his yard like chaflf in a common 

 breeze. 



Our bee.s travel from 6 to 16 miles per hour (I 

 think), governed by the wind and the loads they 

 carry. Last season our bees averaged over 300 lbs. 

 per colony. If Mr. Daolittle's bees can fly 90 miles 

 an hour, and possess equal strength as honey-gath- 

 erers, comb-builders, etc., with such a season as we 

 had he should obtain an average of lODO to 1300 lbs. 

 per colony. S. A. Shuck. 



Bryant, Ills., March 10, 1883. 



A BLUE-EYED BABY, GOOD NEIGHBORS, AND OTHER 

 BLESSINGS. 



I have felt lost without Gleanings, but could not 

 send before this year, on account of a blue-eyed baby 

 that the good Lord has sent us. I have 97 swarms of 

 bees in double chaff hives, in good condition, and am 

 making a success of bee-keeping. Mr. G. M. Doolit- 

 tle has been a very kind neighbor, and I am largely 

 indebted to his instructions and counsel for my suc- 

 cess. I want to thank you also for much help and 

 encouragement. A. L. Edwards. 



Skaneateles, N. Y., March 38, 1883. 



May God's blessings rest on the baby, my 

 good friend E. 



apiarian EXHIBITS, ETC. 



I notice after the premium list of the Tri-State 

 Fair, in the honey department, you say you gave it 

 to show what Ohio is doing. Really, are you getting 

 to think that Ohio is all there is left of this world? I 

 should not think you would have forgotten Michigan 

 after your visits to it, and your frequent notices by 

 Cook, Hutchinson, .Heddon, and many others, that 

 it yet exists. Indiana, too, by what I see occasion- 

 ally in Gleanings, is yet in existence. Are you not 

 aware that these two States have as much to do with 

 this fair as Ohio has? Perhaps you think because 

 the committee that have eflected this are Ohio men, 

 Ohio does it all. But that committee owes its ap- 

 pointment to a Michigan man. 



bee-fevers, and THE REMEDY. 



Mrs. Harrison's way of curing fever is superb — 

 none better; but in my practice I have found a few 

 small doses of quinine and cayenne good after they 



