500 



JUVENILE GLEANINGS. 



Aug. 



ii^ 



%€rg4krUf' 



Or Department for tUose wrlio don't Sign 

 Tlielr IVaiues, etc. 



1(?NCL0SED please flud one dollar, for which please 

 j6| send me by return mall Its worth in section-box 

 — ^ foundation. Jf not on hand, any thing in the 

 line will do, as I am in haste to prevent swarming. 

 Montville. July 24, 1883. L. A. Robertson. 



You see, our friend wanted his fdn. by re- 

 turn mail, and he was in such a hurry that 

 almost any thing in that line would do. 

 But for all that, all he said about where he 

 lived was Montville. Our clerks found, on 

 looking at our Postal Guide, that there are 

 Moutvilles in nearly all the States, and 

 therefore there was nothing more to do but 

 to wait until he got impatient enough to 

 write again, which he did after watching 

 and waiting for the mails every day, I pre- 

 sume, for just 14 days, and then he wrote us 

 the card as below: 



On July 24th I wrote you a letter, inclosing one 

 dollar, for foundation. I have heard nothing from 

 it yet. Please inform me whether you received it 

 or not. L. A. Robertson. 



Montville, Aug. 7, 1883. 



Well, now, the particular point of this let- 

 ter comes in here: You will see that in his 

 card he says simply " Montville," and not a 

 word more ; and had it not been for the fact 

 that the office stamp on the back of the card 

 was legible this time, we should still be 

 as badly off as before. Had our friend even 

 put on his county, which I have so often 

 talked to you about, we should have been 

 able to locate him. Once more, what are we 

 going to do to make people tell who they 

 are and where they live? The foundation 

 was tied up, all properly stamped, and 

 plainly directed, as far we could direct it, 

 and there it was for two weeks, while he 

 was waiting two weeks. 



DECOV HSV£S AND OTHER MATTERS. 



fiHE honey-flow has been heavy and continuous 

 thus far this year, and prospects still good. 

 — ' People are getting very enthusiastic about 

 bees in this section. Bees prospect for their new 

 home before swarming. 



DECOY HIVES. 



Almost every one in this section of country puts 

 hives up in trees to catch runaway swarms. As 

 many as 50 have been reported as caught. I knew of 

 six swarms to go into the hive, and in every case the 

 bees were working in the hive from one day to a 

 week before, as strongly as if a swarm were already 

 in the hive. 



After carrying a hive to the bee-house, in which a 

 swarm had been caught, I took some sections, fast- 

 ened a queen-cell and some old combs into them, 

 and placed them so that the workers that \^ore left 

 out might go in. They hatched her, and she is now 

 laying nicely. 



I have been putting old combs into the new 

 swarms; and in every case, eggs are laid in the new 

 comb before any are to be seen in the old; however, 

 in a few days the old combs commence filling with 

 eggs, and all goes well. Can you give any reason for 

 the queen not laying immediately in the old comb? 



I send, for a name, a specimen of a mint. It 

 blooms earlier than catnip, and lasts a long time; is 

 a very good honey-plant; bee-men ought to encour- 

 age the growth of mints, etc., along hedges and 

 fences. C. Stimson. 



Tiskilwa, Bureau Co., 111., July 24, 1883. 



Friend S., we are very much obliged in- 

 deed for the facts you give us in regard to 

 decoy hives. I have many times thought 

 there was a hold for invention here, and 

 that the time would soon cs)me wh"n the 

 apiarist would have the hives so prepared that 

 the swarms that come out would l)e almost 

 sure to go into them. — In regard to the 

 queen not laying in old combs, it has been 

 several times reported that she would lay 

 quicker in a frame of fdn. than she would in 

 old natural combs. I can )iot tell just why 

 this is, but it seems to speak a little in favor 

 of new combs occasionally. — The plant you 

 inclose is the well-known motherwort, so 

 frequently spoken of in ABC, and often 

 mentioned in our journals. 



A BEGINNER'S TROUBLES. 



the bees that wouldn't build combs where 

 combs were wanted. 



S PURCHASED some bees of you about the mid- 

 dle of July, a half-pound, frame of brood, and 

 — ■ queen. I think it wonderful how well they are 

 doing raising brood and making comb, just as white 

 as paper— the whitest [ ever saw. 



But, I am taking'up your valuable time. There is 

 one thing I do not understand. I put on the enam- 

 eled cloth, as directed, and they would persist in 

 starting to build comb on the cloth. They built a 

 piece as large as my hand, in two days. I took it off 

 and fastened it to a frame, and took the cloth away. 

 They accepted it, and went to work and filled the 

 frame, and now they build the combs up above 

 the frame, and have commenced on the lid to meet 

 it. I have put the cloth on again. I have found 

 nothing in the ABC that gave me the desired in- 

 formation. If you will kindly tell me why they built 

 up, and how to prevent, I would be much obliged. 

 There were sheets of fdn. In the hive all the lime, 

 and they preferred to stick the comb to the cloth. 



Groveland, Iowa. Mrs. E. E. Coll. 



Why, my good friend, you must surely 

 have spaced the combs badly. The enamel 

 sheet should always be over the frames for 

 the express purpose of keeping the bees 

 from getting up against the cover. Surely I 

 told you that, did I not, in the ABC book V 

 Now, if a sheet of fdn. had been at the ex- 

 act point where the bees started their new 

 white comb, they surely would have used it. 

 The sheets of fdn. should be spaced about 

 as far apart as bees ordinarily build their 

 combs, say Ij inches from center to center, 

 or a little less than that. All comb-build- 

 ing on the inside of the frames is wax and 

 time wasted.— I am very glad indeed to hear 

 that you are prospering so well with your 

 bees. -When bees are building nice white 

 combs, such as you describe, you can always 

 be sure they are all right. Building up col- 

 onies in that way is to me the most enjoy- 

 able part of bee culture ; and when I see 

 them eager to build combs, I always catch 

 their enthusiasm, and feel happy accordingly. 



