1883 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



3G9 



MRS. HAKRISON'S REPORT ON AVIN- 

 TERING. 



AI/SO A FEW WORDS ABOUT OVERSTOCKING. 



^UR bees are in fine condition to-day, June llth, 

 and there is a raagniflcent bloom of white clo- 

 ver; but there have been as yet only two or 

 three days when bees could gather honey. It was 

 astonishing, how much was gathered on those two 

 warm, sunshiny days. Cool wet weather is the rule, 

 since the advent of clover bloom, and will insure 

 good fair bee pasture, if it spoils the honey harvest 

 of the present. 



Our bees wintered well, with the exception of some 

 colonies that I experimented upon. I thought that 

 I would try a tall hive, and so made one by putting 

 one-half of the frames of the lower hive in the upper 

 story of the L. hives, and division-boards each side, 

 filling the intervening spaces with dry cherry leaves. 

 I congratulated myself that, if the shallow frames 

 failed, these surely would come through all right, as 

 the upper frames were solid Avith well-ripened hon- 

 ej', and the bees could crawl up as they needed it. 

 During the severe cold weather I took a great deal 

 of comfort thinking of these fourteen colonies, all 

 packed so nicely, and it is well I did; for it was all 

 the pay I ever received. Only two survived the win- 

 ter, and these were very strong in early spring. 

 They carried all the honey into the upper story, and 

 built out their combs all white, as they do when 

 honey is plentiful; but this early breeding was no 

 benefit, as they were smaller than some others later 

 in the season. 



The loss was very slight, where Hill's device and 

 chatr cushions were used- Four out of 70 colonies 

 came through, though some "petered out" during 

 spring. We noticed particularly, the past winter, 

 that protection from winds is a great advantage, and 

 facing the south a desideratum. Two hives that 

 stood in the shade, and had no protection from 

 winds, died during winter. Out of 32, standing on 

 the east side of the house, only two failed at roll- 

 call. The house was a good protection against west 

 winds. These faced east. 



I've been very much interested in reading what 

 friend Pond has to say on "overstocking." The 

 head of our firm has always contended in the alHrm- 

 ative of this question, while I have been upon the 

 negative. There is a town in this county which the 

 resident bee-keepers claim to be overstocked. I 

 went on an excursion to a town forty miles distant, 

 and, after leaving the vicinity of the Illinois River, 

 I looked out of either side of the car on to a sea of 

 waving corn — corn joining sky. I saw no waste 

 land ; it was all subdued by the plow, with the ex- 

 ception of now and then a wet piece, which was 

 drained, and yearly mowed for hay. When fields 

 are yearly cultivated, what chance have perennial 

 flowers? Goldenrod, horsemint, figwort, etc., can 

 find an abiding-place only in the hedges, and along 

 railroads. Where we live, in the valley of the Illin- 

 ois River, there is very rich land that has formerly 

 produced immense crops of corn; but of late years, 

 probably owing to tile drainage, it has been subject 

 to overflow; and their owners getting discouraged, 

 let it lie idle, and Spanish needles and blackheart 

 (polygonum) grow there in great luxuriance. 



Friend Pond, the rocks of New England are the 

 bees' best friend, for they protect the flowers from 

 plows, cultivators, harrows, reapers, etc. When I 

 journeyed through your country I observed much 



land undisturbed by the plow, which is in such strik- 

 ing contrast 1o our own. Here the goldenrod was 

 blooming in the greatest profusion; but as soon as 

 arable land was reached, not a blossom was to be 

 seen. Along the rivers and streams of the West, 

 where there is woody, unbroken land, the bees fare 

 better than on our fertile prairies, where king Corn 

 rules. Mrs. L. Harbison. 



Peoria, 111., June 11, 18t-3. 



HO^V F.\R AND HOW FAST MAY A 

 SWARM OF BFES GO? 



SOME V.A.L,UA11IjE FACTS IN THE MATTER. 



^piffi ^'ER thirty years ago, when this country was 

 %M new and but thinly settled, my father kept 

 bees; and quite frequently we lost swarms by 

 their leavnig for parts unknown. One day, while 

 following an absconding swarm, I was crossing a 

 cornfield where a young man was plowing corn, near 

 the opposite side of the field from where I entered 

 it; and seeing me coming on the run, and ringing an 

 old cow-bell, he took in the situation at a glance, and 

 hastily unhitched his horse from the plow, and 

 threw down the fence, led it out on to the prairie, 

 and mounted ready for a chase; and as the bees 

 passed over him he gave pursuit, having to keep his 

 horse on the gallop to keep up with them. He fol- 

 lowed those bees seven miles, and they then crossed 

 the Cedar River at the same rate of speed as when 

 he first started in pursuit; and the water being too 

 deep to ford, he had to return without the bees. 

 Fully half the distance followed was through open 

 timber, yet the bees kept right on without making 

 an effort to stop and cluster. 



DO BEES EVER GO OFF WITHOUT CLUSTERING? 



I know that they do. I have watched them com- 

 ing out of the hive, and leave without clustering. 



DO BEES REMEMBER THEIR OLD LOCATION OVER 

 WINTER? 



Last fall I put 25 hives of bees in my cellar; and 

 wishing to change the location of my apiary about 

 100 feet to the south of the old location, I put out all 

 of my bees on the new stands, and, thinks I, now I 

 will see how many bees will find their old places. 

 A few bees flew around the old stands; but on look- 

 ing I found as many bees to the east, west, and 

 south of the new location as were to the north at the 

 old stands. Near sundown I went to the old stands 

 to look for bees; but not a bee was there; although 

 8 empty hives stood promiscuously around, not a sol- 

 itary bee took up its residence therein. I lost no 

 bees from spring dwindling. My cellar is damp, and 

 requires to be drained; and at one time the drain 

 clogged up so that water covered the floor of the 

 cellar to the depth of 2 inches, with no bad results 

 to the bees. I keep every thing needed in the fam- 

 ily in the cellar, such as potatoes, cabbage, turnips, 

 etc. I have wintered successfully in the same cel- 

 lar for several years. We are, this 9th of June, 

 feeding our bees, although the ground is covered 

 with white-clover bloom. The continual rains wash 

 all the nectar away, and our bees would starve did 

 we not feed them. Last year we fed until June 20, 

 for the same cause, and it looks as if we must feed 

 as long this season. W. S. Fultz. 



Muscatine, Iowa, June 9, 1883. 



There, friend F., you have furnished us a 

 case that comes pretty near covering the 

 very ground we wanted. I have often 



