544 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



My bees up to date have increased from 6 to 33, 

 and over 350 lbs. extracted honey. 



Wm. Humphrey. 

 Rodney, Ont., Can., July 30, 1883. 



CABBAGE-PALMETTO. 



Bees are not doing much now with us, but will be 

 as busy as can be in about two weeks more, when 

 cabbage-palmetto will commence to open its blooms. 



La Grang-e, Fla., July 17, 1883. I. Mendel. 



HONEV FROM THE BLACK-OAK. 



My bees are working vigorously on the blaclf-oak. 

 I send you a sample of bud and blossom which I And 

 on this tree, and which the bees are working on. 



Calhoun, 111., July 31, 1883. M. J. Harris. 



I started in spring of 1882 with 4 stands; increased 

 to 18, and took 400 lbs. of comb honey. Lost three 

 in wintering; started spring of 1883 with 15; have in- 

 creased to 37, bvit no honey to amount to any thing; 

 has been dry here. A. W. Spracklen. 



Cowden, 111., Aug. 35, 1883. 



What do you think of the new system of bee man- 

 agement, by Mrs. Lizzie E. Cotton, called the Con- 

 trollable bee-hive? Amos Ives. 



Ionia, Mich., Aug. 10, 1883. 



[Friend Ives, we refer you to page 535 for our 

 opinion of Mrs. Cotton and her system.] 



BEES IN KANSAS CITY, MO. 



Bees are still doing well in this locality. T have 

 taken 4800 lbs. extracted and 430 lbs. comb from 91 

 colonies, spring count. They swarmed inordinately 

 —107 colonies having issued; but by putting back 

 and uniting I increased my stock only 33. The honey 

 is all white-clover and linden. 



Aug. 13, 1883. S. W. Salisbury. 



A query about honey-rooms. 



Will J. W. Porter, who wrote about a "honey- 

 room," on page 86, please to describe more particu- 

 larly how the roofing-felt is applied, and how long it 

 has kept him free from insects? can it be put on the 

 honey-house already built? I am troubled by large 

 black ants. M. Prank Taber. 



Salem, O., July 26, 1883. 



We got about down to the bottom of the ladder 

 this spring, taking out only 10 per ce.nt of live bees 

 in one cellar; but they have come on wonderfully 

 this summer, and we have over 5000 fts. of honey, 

 with the promise of as much more. 



rapid EXTRACTING. 



We took out .500 lbs. in 4 hours, two men, and put 

 the honey in firkins. Is that not good time for two 

 men? M. A. Williams & Co. 



Berkshire, N. Y., Aug. 7, 1883. 



SOUR HONEY FOR WINTERING. 



I bad a good swarm last week, and have hived 

 them. I gave them brood, etc. 1 have about 30 lbs. 

 of old honey in frames, gtmrecl some. Will it answer 

 to feed it to them on top of the frames after fall 

 bloom, to fill up for winter? Wm. M. Young. 



Nevada, O., Aug. 37, 1883. 



[I would save the sour honey till spring, friend Y. 

 So far as I have experimented in the matter, for 

 feed in the fall it is sure to kill, everj' time.] 



Bees are working well, but season is so wet that 

 honey is thin, and capped very slowly. But the de- 

 mand I have for section honey is wonderful. 1 can 

 bardjy flriye tbro]iglj town but some of the grocery 



hail me to say their case of honey is all gone, and 

 they must have some more this very day. I keep 

 every thing sold out close. Walter B. House. 

 Saugatuck, Mich., July 33, 1883. 



THE WEED that POISONS FLIES. 



As no one has made any reply to our friend near 

 Wilmington. N. C, in regard to tiy poison, I will say 

 that I have killed thousands of them with a weed 

 that very much resembles the ground-cherry, al- 

 though it grows much larger — sometimes four or 

 five feet. It looks quite watery, and is full of ridges, 

 and grows on rich soil around the barnyard. The 

 leaves from the wild cofifee-bean tree'will answer the 

 same purpose. David England. 



Red Oak, Ellis Co., Tex., Aug. 13, 1883. 



"A" SUGAR VS. NATURAL STORES. 



This has been an extra good year for honey so far, 

 and bees are still bringing it in. I always rob my 

 bees very close, and then feed them up with the best 

 A sugar that I can get. I let it boil 15 to 30 minutes; 

 let it cool, and then pour it in the feeder, a i in box 

 5x6x3 inches, with a floating rack in it made of wood. 

 I think that the more good sense that we make use 

 of in the handling of our bees, the better. 



I. A. Heichert. 



Newcastle, Henry Co., Ind., Aug. 16, 1883. 



A bee-man in trouble. 



I have 40 colonies of bees I wish to sell. I got bad- 

 ly hurt about two weeks ago— horses ran off with 

 me, broke my collar-bone, dislocated shoulder, broke 

 two ribs, and punctured the lungs. I was in poor 

 health before; vitality low; doctor says it will make 

 it harder for me to get along, if I live. If you or 

 any of your readers can come and take them from 

 my yard, I would sell very cheap for cash, as I don't 

 expect to be able to handle them soon. 



Samuel G. McQuiston. 



Clarence, Ford Co.. 111., Aug. 37,1883. 



FRIEND BOLIN'S IDEA OF WHAT GOOD QUEENS 

 OUGHT TO BE. 



I see in the Juvenile for Aug. that those import- 

 ed queens have arrived, and also that the best will 

 not go around. Well, in case they are not all sold 

 when this reaches you, send me a fair or dark one, 

 it makes no difference about the color, just so she 

 " makes the gravel fly " in the way of laying. What- 

 ever kind you send, send the rest of the $6.00 in SI. CO 

 queens with the imported one. It the imported 

 queens are all gone, send il.OO queens for the entire 

 amount, as I have more calls for queens than I can 

 fill. James Bolin. 



West Lodi, Seneca Co., Ohio, Aug. 33, 1883. 



HOW I INTRODUCE QUEENS. 



First move the old swarm 3 or 4 rods, then set the 

 new hive (with comb in it) in the place of the old 

 one; in 5 or 10 minutes put your cage, with queen 

 and bees in it, bottom up, on top the frames; with- 

 draw the wire gauze so they can go into the hive; 

 cover the top of hive and cage tight. The queen 

 will go to laying the next day; the bees that are 

 abroad will return to the new hive. This is dividing 

 a swarm. In 3 or 4 days, if you wish you can take 

 what is left of the old swarm, and transfer to the 

 new. I never lost a queen in this way. 



V. Mc Bride, 



Chardon, Geauga Co., Ohio, 



[Your plan does very well sometimes, friend M.^ 

 »ncl tj^en, again^ sometijnes it does not.] 



