1883 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



529 



can not get away would be to break them 

 up so small that they would not feel the ef- 

 fects of the extreme heat, and that they 

 might get over this feverish spell that seems 

 to accompany this swarming mania. I tell 

 you, friends, they would not get away from 

 us, and we would hold them with brood too. 

 But we would break them all up in little 

 pieces, you see, and then make them pay for 

 their Ijoard and lodging by furnishing us 

 with queens. I know this would not be 

 very practicable for all of you, but it is the 

 best I have to offer. I do not like queens 

 with clipped wings either, any better than 

 our friend who has just written. In regard 

 to sprinkling them with water, the great ob- 

 stacle, as I see it, would be in being right 

 on hand while they were just pouring out of 

 tlie hive. And, in fact, this is a great obsta- 

 cle in the way of making any of the plans 

 practicable. How about decoy hives, of 

 which we have heard so much lately ? Can 

 we not lix some sort of a decoy hive so 

 tempting that, when they run off, they will 

 run somewhere on our own premises V 



more: about Florida. 



BEES AND ORANGES. 



¥OUR agreeable and instructive Gleanings is 

 reaching me regularly down here in my Flori- 

 ■ da home. It is hard to tell how much I enjoy 

 it, and what a pleasure it is to become acquainted 

 through their writmgs, with your "big" bee-men, 

 and especially with yourself, although you will now 

 and then make an " unkind " remark about our 

 adopted State. I don't mind that, though, for I 

 think you are a Methodist; and a State that is dot- 

 ted about with pretty lakes that comprise about 

 one-fourth of its surface is not the place for you, for 

 you would soon be a Baptist. You are afraid we 

 will get lazy; but I can assure you that we have no 

 time to get lazy, and there are less lazy people and 

 loafers here than any place I ever saw. We work 

 right out in the sun, summer and winter, without 

 any injury, and do more hours' work in a year than 

 you all do. Our bees do not get lazy either, when 

 their master is not lazy, for they will get honey 

 when there is any to be had, and store it bountifully. 



I commenced with six hives in the spi-ing, and in- 

 creased to 13 by natural and artificial swarming, aft- 

 er losing some swarms that took to the woods. Oue 

 swarm came out on Sunday, while I was away, and 

 I found them the next morning, and hived them. In 

 two hours they all rushed out and made for the 

 swamp. Thereafter, as soon as I got a swarm in a 

 hive, I moved it to its permanent place before any 

 runners could return from the woods. Since then I 

 notice some of your writers recommend the same 

 thing. 



I introduced my first Italian queens last week. 

 One was a complete success; the other as complete 

 a failure. They balled around the queer\, and I 

 caged her a few hours longer. I then let her walk 

 out. She seemed afraid of the bees, and passed 

 down the frame; and when they ti'ied to make her 

 acquaintance she cried "zeep, zeep," two or three 

 times, and ran around the end of the frame, and I 

 never found her afterward, and I examined tbem 

 every few minutes for two hours. 



Our bees commence to store honey in Jan. and 

 Feb. from the orange and yellow jessamine, etc. 

 They work rapidly then for about two months, 

 when there is a cessation for two mouths, during 

 which they gather enough for themselves. In June 

 and July they store a good quantity of honey again. 

 Sometimes it lasts till September. There is hardly 

 any time in the year, close to these swamps, that 

 they are compelled to use up their supplies. 



We are troubled some in the spring with mosquito- 

 hawks catching the bees late in the evening. As 

 their damage is done near sunset, I do not think 

 that they catch any queens. The watchword is, 

 "Kill them." The more hives the less damage. 

 They last about six weeks. 



The moth does not trouble in the L. hives where 

 they are attended to. I am making the plain L. hive, 

 and using frames of my own make. I wish your 

 factory were closer. However, it pays me better to 

 send to you for frames and sections than to make 

 them myself. I hired a Barnes foot-power saw last 

 week, AVJth the intention of buying it if I liked it. I 

 put it in good working shape, and commenced. I soon 

 found that I could make frames 4 times as fast by 

 plowing for my neighDors at $3.00 a day, and send- 

 ing to you for them. I could not afford to run it on 

 our Florida pine, if it had been given to me. A bee- 

 man in the next county drives his bees into a new 

 hive when he wants honey, and makes them begin 

 over again, and says by that way he keeps them 

 free from the moth. He needs a bee journal. 



SOUR HONEY. 



I had a small lot of sour honey. It was taken 

 from an L. glass-end box. I noticed that the bees 

 were a long time capping it over, and I could see 

 them standing around, running it out on their 

 tongues, and fanning. I took it ofiC before they 

 capped it all, and the whole of it soured. 



HYBRIDS. 



One of my young queens left in the old hive after 

 the swarm issued, met an Italian drone, and now all 

 the busy workers are yellow-banded, and indefatig- 

 able workers. I have noticed a few yellow bees in 

 some of the other hives. I hope to have them all 

 Italianized in a year or two. My black bees are very 

 gentle, seldom offering to molest me. 



If I get three acres of orange-trees bearing, and 

 100 stands of bees to look after, do you think I shall 

 have time to get " lazy " down here? At any rate, 

 give me the orange-trees and bees. 



Altamont, Fla., Aug. 4, 1883. S. P. Shepherd. 



Friend S., you are quite mistaken if you 

 think Florida would not be pleasant for me 

 on account of your pretty lakes. I love 

 lakes dearly ; and furthermore, I love both 

 Methodists and Baptists, and all other Chris- 

 tian people who are trying to serve God ac- 

 cording to the dictates of their own con- 

 science. — I am very glad indeed to know 

 that I was mistaken, and that you Florida 

 folks are not in the habit of getting lazy ; 

 and 1 am glad, too, that those mosquito- 

 hawks come only at certain seasons of the 

 year. Some of us were a little afraid that 

 they were chasing the bees up all the time. 

 If you can get .?3.00 a day for plowing, and 

 plowing is a business you understand (for I 

 am well aware that a man may be expert in 

 handling a team or a plow, as well as in han- 

 dling a Barnes foot-power saw), no doubt 

 you would do better to follow the plow, and 



