384 



GLEAKIKGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



July 



oat of the hive to the woods, throe-fourths of a mile, 

 when they clustered about five minutes, from hav- 

 ing dirt thrown amon^ them, I suppose; but before 

 I could have a hive brought from the house they 

 were off again, and went about a quarter of a mile 

 to a tree. 



^ Now, Mr. Editor, I have been looked on as a bee- 

 man for 50 years, and these three instances are all 

 that I ever knew during that period. In fact, so 

 very rare is the occurrence of bees absconding with- 

 out clustering, that I censure no man for disbeliev- 

 ing it entirely. Without ocular demonstration, I 

 never should have believed it myself. A thousand 

 negatives will not disprove one positive. 



HONEY VINEGAR. 



One question I wish to put is for your correspond- 

 ent A. L. Davidson to answer. He says in May No., 

 page 343, "In making honey vinegar, never allow 

 what is called mother to accumulate." That is the 

 very point. IIow does he prevent the mother accu- 

 mulating? I made 40 gallons of most excellent vine- 

 gar last year, but I doubt whether we ever got the 

 benefit of more than two gallons. It all went to 

 mother. While I think honey vinegar a most excel- 

 lent and healthful article, I do agree with Mrs. Har- 

 rison, that there is a taste, or, as some would put 

 it, a twang about it, that can not be disguised by any 

 effort of mine. Geo. B. Peters. 



Council Bend, Ark., May 24, 1883. 



FRIEND GOOD, AND HIS NEW HOITIE IN 



TENNESSEE. 



ALSO A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE SOUTH IN GENERAL. 



HAVE just returned from my second trip to 

 Tennessee. I purchased a small piece of land, 

 58 acres, near Tullahoma, where I expect to 

 move next fall. I also purchased a lot of bees there. 

 My brother, who has had considerable experience 

 with bees, is going to move there at onco to take 

 charge of the bees. We are thinking of starting two 

 apiaries there — one Italian and one Holy-Land. I 

 will send the queens from here, and have the bees 

 all Holy-Lands this summer. 



I have had a great many letters and cards, asking 

 about the South, and nearly every one asks the 

 question, " Do you think a Northern man will be 

 safe in the South?" To which I answer, yes, just as 

 safe as he is In the North. I never met with as kind 

 and generous people as I did in the South. Let me 

 relate one instance. 



"While in Alabama I stayed three nights and two 

 days with a man who was an officer in the Confed- 

 erate army, and was taken prisoner and kept two 

 years at Indianapolis. While with him, he went 

 with me through the neighborhood, and showed me 

 the country, and treated me as if I were a brother 

 of his. When I wanted to pay him for his kindness, 

 he says, "Do you think we are mean enough to 

 charge you for two days' board, while you had me in 

 your State, several years ago, and kept me two 

 years, and did not charge me a cent?" The people 

 in the South are anxious to have the Northern men 

 come and help build up the country. Good farming 

 land can be bought for from 16.00 to $30.00 per acre; 

 and for farming and stock-rafsjng, I think it would 

 be preferable to the North. J. Jl. Good. 



Nappanee, lad., May 5, 188i). 



ARKANSAS NOTES. 



A HOME-MADE BEE-KEEPER, AND HOW HE MANAGES. 



fHAVE been instructed as weil as amused by the 

 reports from the brethren. But I have not 

 seen a single word from our State, and this 

 makes me feel like saying something on the subject 

 of our honey resources. 



I used to keep bees in Ohio (your adjoining coun- 

 ty, Wayne), but the cold winter of 1880-81 killed them 

 and induced me to do as friend Good has done — take 

 up my abode in the sunny South. I was unable to 

 find any bees for sale until this spring, as the busi- 

 ness is very much neglected here. I bought 11 

 swarms of black bees about the first of March, for 

 $2.50 per swarm. They have increased to 23 swarms. 

 The first swarm came out April 17th. I put them in 

 a hive long enough to hold 18 frames, 10xl2'/i inside 

 measure. I confined them to 9 frames at first, with 

 a division-board; and when they got them pretty 

 well filled I took out the division-board and filled 

 the hive with empty frames, alternating them with 

 the full ones. On the 19th of May I extracted 24 lbs. 

 of beautiful white honey from 9 of the combs, the 

 rest of them being nearly full of brood. The bees 

 are all doing very well. I have them all transferred 

 into frame hives. I have taken over 200 lbs. of hon- 

 ey, and sold a half-interest in the bees for $50.00, so 

 you see I am doing well enough. The swarms were 

 all considerate enough to cluster on a small tree in 

 the yard, and stay there till I came home to hive 

 them (I work 10 hours a day at the stave factory, and 

 tend the bees between times). I expect to devote 

 my entire time to bees next year. I believe this is an 

 excellent place for them. There are plenty of wild 

 bees in the woods, and it is no trouble to winter 

 them here. 



SUB-EARTH (?) VENTILATION. 



Two of the swarms I bought were wintered sitting 

 on the ground, the lower ends of the combs being In 

 actual contact with the earth. The pigs got into the 

 inclosure where they were kept, and rooted the earth 

 up around the hives, so that the bees had to tunnel 

 to get out. One of these two was the first to swarm. 

 Some of the others were in very poor hives; the 

 bees could get out at the top as well as at the bot- 

 tom. The people here keep bees only in box hives, 

 and rob them in May by taking off the top of the 

 hive, and digging out what they can. My hives and 

 extractor and smoker and foundation are great cu- 

 riosities here. My extractor I made myself in half 

 a day, at an expense of 35 cts. for wire, and 50 cts. 

 for honey-gate, and an empty barrel. If you think 

 it will benefit your readers, and not seriously inter- 

 fere with your sale of extractors, I will send you a 

 description of it. It works first rate. I took 116 lbs. 

 of honey with it in 4 hours, taking out the frames 

 and replacing them in the hives without any help 

 whatever. I am retailing extracted and some dark 

 broken comb honey at 15 cts., and am getting a pret- 

 ty good trade. I believe in developing a homo mar- 

 ket. Wishing you and bee-keepers generally (and 

 the ladies in partiaular) the best of success, 



I am yours,— B. F. Solliday. 



Newport, Ark., June 3, 1883. 



Friend S., you have almost started a new 

 plan for wintering bees, by setting them in 

 the dirt. Years ago this idea was advanced 

 as a means of affording sure protection 

 against the moth.— Give us the particulars 

 of your_home-made_extractor, by all means, 



