394 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



C not to undertake it, as a general rule. It 

 is not only the queen, but the bees too, that, 

 Avhen " convinced against their will, are of 

 the same opinion still." Put them in a new 

 hive ; and when they get well at work, giv- 

 ing them their old combs of brood, and un- 

 finished sections, will often do ; or sometimes 

 they will go ahead, if their old hive is sim- 

 ply carried to a new location. But trying to 

 make a new colony go back into a hive out 

 of which they have just come, either by 

 queen-guards or clipping the queen, is usu- 

 ally a rather unprohtable undertaking all 

 round. Put the young folks into some kind 

 of a new hive, and let them enjoy the fun of 

 commencing housekeeping after their own 

 fashion, and they will pay all expenses, nine 

 times out of ten. 



rnoM 29 to 60, and 1600 lbs. honey. 

 Well, here is my report: 1600 lbs. of honey, half 

 comb and half extracted, and increased from 29 to 

 60; sold to 49, and came out with 49, all in fair and 

 strongcondition— that is, inbees; butllost 4 queens 

 of old age. One drone-la j'er died; that saved me 

 from hunting her up myself, and I lost 2 young 

 queens from one cause or other, so I doubled queen- 

 less swarms with weaker ones, and sold this spring, 

 and doubled, from 49 to 36, and to-day at 10 o'clock I 

 got my first natural swarm. Cherry-trees are just 

 fairly in bloom. 



WATEHING BEES IN WINTER. 



I will tell you how I watered my bees this last win- 

 ter. I have a rubber syringe, and every time the 

 bees got restless I would get a dish of milk and 

 warm water, and squirt in at the entrance about a 

 cupful of water, and it would settle them every 

 time. Those I watered came out strongest. I think 

 it is foul breath that makes the bees die, instead of 

 dampness, just as poorly ventilated schoolhouses af- 

 fect the scholars. H. L. Wakstler. 



St. Johns, Mich , May 29, 1883. 



HOW FAR HAVE SWARMS BEEN KNOWN TO FLY? 



A gentleman of undoubted veracity told mc of a 

 swarm that came out of a hive which belonged to 

 his father, that went 4^ miles. They saw them 

 as they went off, and they were seeai twice in the air, 

 and when they entered a hollow tree. As they were 

 going in the same direction, the same day, and not a 

 great while between, there can be but little doubt 

 that it was the same swarm. I had a swarm that 

 came out last year, that Avcnt nearly a mile. 



UNSEALED BROOD NOT A PREVENTIVE. 



This lame swarm had unsealed brood given them, 

 and was placed in the shade, but "away they went." 



COFFEE SUr.AR FOR WINTER STORES. 



I should like to add my "little mite" in favor of 

 sugar for winter. My bees were fed with syrup 

 made of coffee "A," as per ABC, for the win- 

 ters of 1880 and 1881. They came through in good 

 condition. I use the I'/J-story hive, with chaff divi- 

 sion-boards, and cushion top of frames. The hives I 

 place in a shed (for winter), open to the south-east. 



"THAT CHEIROGRAPH." 



I could not get more than 25 to 35 good impres- 

 sions from the one I made. I wrote to friend H., 

 and he advised me to buy one, as it was quite a job 

 to make a good pad. For the benefit of those who 

 wish to make their own, I give the following: Take 

 18 (fluid) ounces glycerine; 2 ozs. gelatine; Vz oz. 



white glue, and S drops carbolic acid. Heat them 

 separately, then stir all together. Dd not heat the 

 acid. Make the aniline ink strong enough to look 

 bronze on the paper when dry; 155 copies have been 

 taken from a pad made from above recipe. 



DO BEES EVER COME OUT WITHOUT THEIR QUEEN? 



A swarm came out to-day, and flew around in the 

 air 15 or 20 minutes, then went back again. I looked 

 for the queen, and found her walking around on a 

 comb; found three or four queen-cells with eggs 

 in them. E. H. Cook. 



Audover, Conn., June 7, 1883. 



KENTUCKY, AND THE WAY THEY DO THERE. 



Bees are doing wi 11, making honey fast from the 

 white clover, poplar, persimmon, etc. The white 

 clover is better now than it has been for several 

 years. I see, or hear, of a swarm every day. A 

 swarm passed over my shop this morning. I am 

 making hives as fast as I can, for my life, but the 

 old " fogies " won't buy a hive until the bees swarm, 

 and while they are settling, Old Fogy sends 'John " 

 down to "Mayes"' shop after a hive, and then, 

 perhaps, when he gets to the shop he finds all the 

 hives that are nailed up are engaged. John then 

 returns without a hive (plenty in the flat, but too 

 late to nail one now ), and Old Fogy says, " Well, 

 John, we can put them in this," and backs out of the 

 smoke-bouse with an old nail-keg, or something 

 similar, and the old man puts the little architects in 

 the old musty thing while John stands covered up 

 under some bushes that may be close by. I am try- 

 ing to get the people to take an interest in bee-keep- 

 ing, and have made very good headway. I am 

 making a hive like your Langstroth hive, to take a 

 Simplicity upper-story or cover as you have in the 

 cut on page 19 in catalogue. W. M. Mayes. 



Gordonsville, Logan Co., Ky., June 5, 1883. 



A QUEEN-CELL NINE DAY'S IN HATCHING. 



I write to tell you about a queen bee, and how she 

 acted. On June 2d I took a queen-cell from a col- 

 ony, and gave it to another, which had been without 

 a queen for two months. I had given them eggs 

 several times, and they would not try to raise a 

 queen. How long do you think it took her to hatch? 

 By the record I kept, it was nine days. Then I 

 opened the cell to see whether she was dead. But 

 she was alive, and ready to come out. I took her in 

 my hands, held her a few moments, then let her 

 loose on a comb where were two sealed queen-cells. 

 She began to tear one down. Do you think she will 

 be as good as one which hatches on regular time? 



Edna, Kan., June 11, 1883. W. E. Potts. 



If the cell had just been sealed over, friend 

 P., it would make a difference ; but nine 

 days is a pretty long time. I think cutting 

 her out will make no dilference. Please re- 

 port in regard to her. 



ALLEY'S PLAN OF REARING QUEENS. 



In Gleanings for June yougive a description of a 

 plan for having queen-cells made somewhat after 

 the manner given in the Handy Book, and desire to 

 know if Mr. Alley didn't get the '' idea" from the 

 same, as given in Gleanings some time in 1880. 

 No, friend Root, T did not get the "idea," or any 

 part of my method of queen-rearing, from any 

 book or bee journal. Twenty-two years ago, Mr. E. 

 A. Brackett, of Winchester, Mass., then agent for 

 Mr. Parsons, of Flushing, N. y., for the sale of Ital- 



