326 



GLEANIKGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



JiT]srE 



of any I ever saw. I have purchased some of them, 

 and have already transferred a few of them. There 

 is brood in every frame; hives are full of bees, and 

 plenty of drones, which have been flying for ten days. 

 There is a difference, I tell you, having the bees In 

 this shape, and in having a mere handful of sickly 

 bees and a queen left, which is generally the result 

 of cellar wintering. S. J. Youngman. 



Cato, Montcalm Co., Mich., May 13, 1883. 



Friend Y., I am not much surprised at the 

 success of the plan of burying bees. If con- 

 ditions are all just right, I believe it is a 

 very sure way of wintering. In regard to 

 raising the chaff hive 12 inches from the 

 ground, I can hardly see how this should 

 make any material difference. Our chaff 

 hives are usually set on four half-bricks, and 

 this raises them so that the air can circulate 

 under them, and this preserves the bottom- 

 board from decaying. The idea of having 

 good ventilation above the chaff is also im- 

 portant. The holes in the gable end of the 

 chaff hive ought to be of good size, say not 

 less than H inches in diameter. 



THE CAHPET-STRETCHER FOR PRESSING J^DN. ON TO 

 THE WIRES. 



I see you have got a new plan for putting fdo. 

 into wired frames. I think I sent you my plan of 

 fastening last August. The plan you give is so near 

 like it I will tell it again. 1 take little pieces of tin, 

 and drive into the end of a half-inch pine board. 

 You can have the board go the width of the frame. 

 I prefer it half way. Place your fdn. on a board that 

 your frame will slip over; put on your wired frame; 

 take your piece of board with the tins in the end, 

 and use It as you would your carpet-stretcher. I can 

 put in fdn. faster and better than I can with any 

 thing else. I drive the tins in half an inch apart. 

 Any boy or girl can make one. E. A. Hobikson. 



Exeter, Maine, May, 1883. 



FIRST SWARMS LEAVINfi WITHOUT CLUSTERING. 



In last Gleanings you ask bee-keepers who have 

 seen first swarms leave directly for the woods with- 

 out clustering, to "stand up and testify." Several 

 years ago I was standing within ten feet of a hive 

 when the bees in it commenced to issue. They 

 came out very rapidly; and seemingly, before all 

 had had time to issue, the swarm started directly ofl_ 

 I followed them quite a distance, far enough to be 

 certain they were bound for the woods. They were 

 the first issue of the first swarm from that hive 

 that season. They came out with greater rapidity 

 than usual. They didn't stop to circle around in 

 the air as usual, but remained directly over the hive 

 until nearly all had issued, then started directly for 

 the woods. They took a course that compelled them 

 to go at least a mile before there were either bushes 

 or trees for them to cluster on. I had another 

 swarm go away under circumstances that made it 

 practically certain that they left without clustering, 

 but I didn't actually see them do so. 



HONEY vinegar. 



Mrs. Harrison wishes some of the sisters to tell 

 about honey vinegar. I don't happen to be a " Sister 

 Bee," but presume Mrs. H. will not object to my 

 having a say on that account. I think the trouble 

 with her vinegar Is, that it Is yet unripe ; that is, 

 not fully made. I have used no other kind than 

 honey vinegar in my family for over ten years past' 

 and wouldn't think a moment of changing it for ci- 



der vinegar. This same thing Mrs. H. complains of 

 bothered me at first, until I learned that it takes lots 

 of time to fully make it; since then I have had no 

 trouble. I usually fill up one or more large barrels 

 every year with honey and rain water, and let them 

 stand until the third season, when I usually find it 

 fully made. I have never succeeded in getting good 

 vinegar in less time than the third season. Honey 

 vinegar not fully made has what my family calls a 

 sickish sweet taste that is very unpleasant, especial- 

 ly if used with hot victuals. O. O. Poppleton. 

 Williamstown, Iowa, May 14, 1883. 



does the loss op A LEG IMPAIR A QUEEN'S USE- 

 FULNESS, ETC.? 



The select tested queen we received of you the Slat 

 of August last, we thought a little dark at first; we 

 tried to introduce her into a stock of pure Italians, 

 made queenless for several days previous, but we 

 made an utter failure, after trying smoke, water, 

 and every other device known to us, to subdue their 

 vindictiveness. Finally, on the seventh day, we res- 

 cued her again, minus a leg; caged her and put her 

 in a hybrid nucleus, and after 'Zi hours we released 

 her, and she was received cordially, and was laying 

 in 24 hours. I raised two nice young queens from 

 her last fall, and they are filling up their hives with 

 beautiful three-banded workers, even brighter than 

 those of their mother, with which I am now well 

 pleased, even if she is to be a life-long cripple. 



John Hardin. 



Keiths, Noble Co., O., May 15, 1883. 



Thanks for your report, friend II. I am 

 glad you did not lose the queen, for you 

 might have decided against her on account 

 of her being so dark. A great portion of the 

 queens we get from Italy are dnrk ; but I 

 ibelieve it is invariably the case that young 

 queens raised from them are much brighter 

 than their mothers, as in your case. I think 

 ;it is a very good idea to try a queen in an- 

 'other colony, after you have tried so long to 

 introduce her. 



SWAPPING a QUEEN FOR GLEANINGS, ETC. 



' Bro. MacKenzie says, " Why not ship a pretty 

 queen to Novice for Gleanings, beginning with 

 May'i"' so I have just done it. I have always had lots 

 of queens, but never mailed one; never made a cage 

 iuiitil this one; never made any candy until this. I 

 feel a little nervous over the result; but as you ac- 

 knowledge the receipt at once, I shall not have long 

 to wait, so here it goes. When I read so much about 

 the unfavorable possibilities of early bee cultiva- 

 tion in the Northern and Middle States, I just think 

 we have surely a bee paradise in this climate where 

 we can raise queens in February; no wintering, no 

 spring dwindling, no feeding. For several years I 

 took up Gleanings, and was the first to write you 

 of Mr. Perrine's floating apiary, which I was then 

 building for him. I was much interested in this, to 

 see how it would turn out. I have often been re- 

 quested to write, as best I might, a history of it all, 

 as I kept posted in all its doings from first to last. 



how to get plenty OF CHOICE QUEEN-CELLS. 



I Showed a bee-man the way I raise queen-cells. 

 The idea comes from the 3-bar frame shown in 

 Gleanings, page 363, for August, 1880, with a refer- 

 ence to page 323 of July, how to raise the best brood 

 for these cells.' Nor is it less valuable, since I see you 

 indorse it. I can easily imagine it would be highly 

 appreciated by a host of interested readers, and 



