1883 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



579 



Now I will give some news about the eight first 

 swarms I tooli. Each when hived was given one 

 frame of unsealed brood; and before three weelis' 

 time they had every one of the other nine frames 

 completely worked, and either tilled with honey, 

 pollen, or brood. There being no more empty space, 

 I had to resort to the extractor, and I took every 

 drop of honey from them, and did it again in two 

 weeks after, and they have their hives now cram- 

 med with honey. But I do not intend to rob them 

 now, as honey is very scarce, owing to the extreme 

 drought we have here. No rain for the last three 

 months. I will wait till the fall crop comes, to ex- 

 tract. 



In one of my swarms I bad one frame that was 

 sealed from top to bc'ttom with honey, and it weigh- 

 ed 6 lbs. I have noticed in some, especially the 

 strongest, that at the bottom of the hives were to 

 be seen the minute pieces of wax that they let fal[ 

 from their bodies, the mania for honey being so 

 great that they did not take time to work it into 

 cells. As soon as a cell was finished it was filled 

 and immediately sealed; and when the last cell was 

 completed it was sealed, and the frame looked like 

 a sheet of white paper. This yenr's honey crop has 

 been the largest we have seen for some time. Like 

 yourself, I am a firm believer in giving unsealed 

 brood to a swarm, and I have never had a swarm 

 leave me when thus furnished. 



Mrs. M. R. Blaize. 



Bay St. Louis, Miss., Sept. 28, 1883. 



My good friend, I fear you have not had 

 much experience with other races of bees. 

 Although your bees did well in increase, we 

 should hardly regard your description of the 

 honey-How as up to the average. p]ither 

 your bees are slow, oi* the pasturage poor, I 

 should say, if it took them three weeks to 

 fill their combs, and then two weeks more 

 after you had extracted every drop, as you 

 say. During basswood How our bees would 

 (ill their hives in two days, even if we ex- 

 tracted every drop ; and with the aid of 

 comb fdn. I should expect a new swarm to 

 have their hive full of brood and honey, in 

 one week or less. One day a good colony 

 brought in 18 lbs. in our apiary, here where 

 we have so many in one point that the local- 

 ity is a little overstocked. Nevertheless we 

 thank you for the very interesting report 

 you have given us. — By having plenty of 

 empty combs you will avoid this waste of 

 wax which you speak of. The wax scales 

 on the honey-board are often quite an item. 



BEE-NOTES FROiM FLORIDA. 



You ask for bee-notes. Perhaps a few from Flori- 

 da by one of your ABC class would be of interest, j 

 Oct., 1873, I got a three-frame nucleus of Italians. I i 

 did not know one thing about bees at that time, but j 

 I had ambition for years to have an apiary. The I 

 first swarm issued May 3d, and another May 12th. j 

 Then the first swarm cast one Sept. Tth, and now it j 

 has a fine queen-cell; also my original colony. The i 

 first swarm left the hive for three successive days, 

 and we had all sorts of trouble with them, but it was 

 the first swarm I had ever seen, and I was deter- 

 mined to keep them, so I put mosquito netting over 

 the hive, and kept them in till after sundown. Then 

 every thing that contained water had a ring of bees 

 around it, and I did not have any more trouble with 

 tbem. This has been a dry, unfavorable season, I 



think; and as I did not want comb honey, I have 

 filled all the frames with comb so as to be well sup- 

 plied when I get my extractor, which I order with 

 this. I have taken only about 3,5 lbs. from them, but 

 hope to have a better report next year. There was 

 no day last winter, unless it was raining all day, but 

 that they were at work. I attend to them entirely, 

 receiving assistance only from my husband, in 

 swarming: and in hive and frame making. 



Mrs. Belle McMahan. 

 South Lake Weir, Florida, Oct. 3, 1883. 



swarming on SUNDAY, ETC. 



Has any one found out a sure and easy way to 

 keep bees from swarming on Sundays, when run for 

 comb honey? I want to keep bees, but I don't want 

 to stay at home on Sundays all summer. Will Mr. 

 Doolittle tell u« exactly how he manages when his 

 bees are working in sections, and swarm? Neither 

 the old stand nor the swarm will be strong enough 

 to work in sections, and perhaps the best of the sea- 

 son may be over before they are ready again. I 

 have tried Mr. House's plan of giving the swarm 

 most of the bees and brood from the old stand, but 

 they would generally swarm out in a day or two 

 again. Mrs. M. A. Shepherd. 



Barrj', 111., Oct. 1, 1883. 



If I am correct, my friend. Mr. Doolittle's 

 plan of managing an apiary on Sunday is to 

 stay home from church and look after them. 

 But as I have said before, I do not believe I 

 could feel really satisfied with any business 

 that would keep me away from church. 



••^. 



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% 



Or Department for tliose wlio don't Sign 

 Tlieir Names, etc. 



NCLOSED please find |;i.2.5 for cloth-bound ABC. 

 Better send it per express at my expense, as I 

 do not know what amount to inclose for post- 

 age. I also inclose $1.00 for Gleanings. Kindly 

 send invoice for the book, so that I shall have no 

 difficulty in getting it past the customs. 

 Yours faithfully,— 

 Highsrate, Ont., Can., Sept. 10, 1883. 



You observe how careful our friend is to 

 tell us about " passing customs," and even 

 then signs ''yours faithfully." Now, Mr. 

 Whatsyourname, we have not any doubt 

 about the "faithfully," only we wish you 

 would be a little more faithful to your own 

 interest — enough to say who you are. After 

 our friend had waited about 20 days he 

 writes again as follows: 



I inclosed the cash for ABC and Gleanings over 

 two weeks ago, by registered letter to you, and as 

 yet I have heard nothing in reply. Did you receive 

 the money, and why the delay? Please kindly say 

 by return mail, and greatly oblige — 



Highgate, Can.. Oct. 2, 1883. W. L Soules. 



This time he uses a printed letter-head 

 with his name and address all printed plain- 

 ly, and signs it besides. From this it ap- 

 pears that folks who do have their names 

 printed plainly on their stationery, some- 

 times forget and use stationery that does 

 not have it on. 



