1883 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



397 



troubles myself, and I once declared I 

 wouldn't liave a queen in my yard whose 

 wings were not clipped. Afterward I took 

 to artificial swarming, and kept the bees so 

 well divided they have never since got much 

 of a chance to swarm. I tell you, it just 

 makes me wild to see large early swarms 

 going off, and leaving nothing but a queen- 

 less hive with a few bees in it. Who can 

 comfort Maggie in her distress at the loss of 

 her bees? Perhaps friend Doolittle can tell 

 her where she erred in her management ; or 

 does he have large early swarms go off in 

 the same way occasionally? I confess that 

 losing two in just that way does seem won- 

 derfully provoking. 



f ^pcj% §n§ciirapnQ. 



FROM 11 TO 31, AND 1480 l.BS. OF HONEV. 



|s||HlNKIN'G you would like to hear of a novice's 

 experience in bee-keeping, I sen<i you this. I 

 ■"^ commenced in Feb., 188-, with 11 colonies, 

 blacks and Italians mixed; In the fall I had .31 col- 

 onies, from which I got a yield of USO lbs. of honey. 

 I put them in the cellar the last of Nov.; took them 

 out the 1th of April, 1853. They were in good condi- 

 tion. We had our first swarm May £9th; have hnd 7 

 since, one colony swarming three times. 



Belle Plain, 111,, June 11, 18S3. M. K. Oualle. 



SAAV-PALMETTO. 



We have extracted 01 gallons of saw-palmetto hon- 

 ey in the past few days. I wish 1 could hand you 

 over a sample of it. Andrew Fkoscher. 



La Grange, Fla., May 16, 1883. 



I expected to be placed in Blasted Hopes, but 

 every thing is away up at present — bees swarming, 

 and for the last five days the hives I have on scales 

 have put in 10 lbs. per day. " How is that for high?" 



G. W. LECnLER. 



Newhall, Los Angeles Co., Cal., May 37, 1883. 



FROM 5 TO 33, AND 500 LBS. OF HONEY. 



I began in the spring of 1882 with 5 stands of bees, 

 and increased, by artificial swarming, to 32, and 

 found and transferred from trees, 10, which gives 

 rae this spring 42 stands. As for the honey of last 

 season, 1 did not keep a correct account; I think 

 about 500 lbs., only 100 extracted. 



Handly, Tex., March 7, 1883. L. R. Givens. 



I started this spring with 14 stocks; have had 6 

 swarms. I never saw better prospects for a big 

 honey crop. White clover is ia bloom, and is every- 

 where, nearly. I have 9 stocks in surplus boxes, 

 just a "going it." You had better think, with my 

 farm work and the bees, I am kept on the go. But, 

 let them "whoop 'er up." C. 11. McF.\dden, 



Moniteau, Mo., June 11, 1883. 



new honey. 



The prospects for honey have not been better for 

 years. I have already very nice sections of fruit- 

 blossom honey. I have not seen the locust so full of 

 buds in my life, and hundreds of large trees in reach 

 of my bees. The fields and roadsides are covered 

 with clover. Albkrt Hake. 



Manchester, Pa., May 22, 1883. 



CALIFORNIA; A GOOD REPORT FROM. 



After several poor years for bees and honey, we 

 are now having a good season thus far. My bees 

 have increased from 23 to 05 hives this spring, and 

 still they come, and honey comes in fast. We labor 

 under many disadvantages with box hives, 1.50 miles 

 out and back for lumber, and 3000 miles from your 

 factory. I have never yet seen any foundation. 



Imusdale, Cal., May 32, 1883. N. W. Fales. 



I have been in the bee business 17 years, but I still 

 must have Gleanings. I can not well get along 

 without it. I have wintered 72 stands; lost 2 out of 

 that number. I have sold nearly 3 tons of extracted 

 and comb honey around home, and I did not haul it 

 around either. They came to the house, and took it 

 away. H. F. Carpenter. 



Polo, Ogle Co., 111., May 28, 1883. 



TEXAS; A good rfport from. 



I commenced this spring with 4 hives, and have in- 

 creased to 10. The four old hives are fall of honey. 

 My bees don't notice the horsemiot this year. I 

 guess they will work on it after awhile. They went 

 for the horehound, but it is about over now. Linn 

 will soon be in bloom. I expect to get lots of honey 

 from it. J. D. Werner. 



River Side, Walker Co., Tex., May 18, 1883. 



report from our friend o. m. blanton. 



The cold and rainy spring has caused bee-keepers 

 to be quite backward in securing honey. On the 21st 

 of this month the thermometer descended to .53°, and 

 for 3 days we felt quite blue; but now the temper- 

 ature is up in the nineties, with gentle showers, -and 

 the bees are working with redoubled energy on the 

 white clover, which is more luxuriant and abundant 

 than ever known. I started this season with 201 

 queens with strong colonies, havingsold 123 colonies; 

 and after uniting the queenless ones, left me the 

 above number to gather in the neotar of our rich 

 alluvial couatry. I have extracted to date 5800 lbs. 



Greenville, Miss., May 30, 1883. O. M. Blanton. 



0aihd f c/i«, 



Or Letters from Those Wlio liavc Made 

 Bee Culture a. Failure. 



FTEIl seeing many glowing accounts about 

 profitable bee-raising in Gleanings, I feel it 

 my duty to make a report of my brother- 

 in-law, and my own blasted hopes of the present' 

 year. Ten years ago, when a youth of IS, I com- 

 menc d bee-raising with 3 hives, with all the en- 

 thusiasm of a beginner. I made an extractor, 

 which, though rough, did good service; I also wrote 

 two articles on bee-raising for the SAitlicrn Cultiva- 

 tor. Eight years passed, every one of which I had 

 plenty of honey in the month of May, to pay me well 

 for my trouble and expense; but I had in all that 

 time hardly any swarms, and my enthusiasm had 

 settled down to the freezing-point, when I reached 

 the spring of 1882 with 3 hives; after a short absence 

 from home I found they had unexpectedly increased 

 to 8; and with the splendid flow of honey that the 

 month of May brought, my enthusiasm again reaeh- 

 I ed its highest point. At the same time my brother- 

 in-law was caught by the same enthusiasm. He 

 bought 35 hives in Langstroth frames, and procured 

 all the machinery necessary for a modern apiary, 

 and the present spring found us as determined as 



