1883 



GLEANINGS EN BEE CULTURE. 



585 



this year's crop of honey, 3500 lbs., and all of my 

 tools and fixtures, were consumed by fire. My bees 

 were on the south of the honey-house, and the wind 

 was from the north, and the heat so intense that 

 the poor little fellows could not be moved, so they 

 perished right where they sat. I was not at home, 

 and didn't get there until all was burned up that 

 could burn. The Are originated in the honey-house, 

 and from that to my dwelling. I have 50 stands left 

 in good fix for winter. I have no honey to eat this 

 winter. 1 have none to sell either. 



Geo. W. Kennedy. 

 CarroUton, Mo., Sept. 29, 1883. 



Friend K., I read your card all through 

 anxiously, to see if you made any mention 

 of insurance. Every bee-keeper should use 

 all possible means of protection against loss- 

 es by tire ; and after having done that he 

 should surely have his property insured. 

 Better sell off a part so as to keep the rest 

 insured, rather than to take the risk of los- 

 ing the accumulations of years in just a few 

 minutes' time. Keports of fires from bee- 

 men are quite frequent. 



A OOOD REPORT FROM THE CONTKOLLABLE HIVE, 

 ETC. 



I am now going to tell you my luck with bees dur- 

 ing the summer. My health was very poor in the 

 spring — so much so that I sold my bees down to 13 

 swarms. I have increased to 40; 3 left for the 

 woods, 6 went into 3 hives, and I have 40 good heavy 

 swarms to winter — all Italians but 3. I have sold 

 600 lbs. box honey, and have a little over 400 lbs. on 

 hand. Last spring I received a circular from Mrs. 

 Cotton, of Maine. I see in Gleanings you have 

 heard of her and her Controllable hive, so I sent and 

 got one, and then I made 3 more like it, L put bees 

 in them June loth, 19th, and 31st. Now guess how 

 much honey I have got from the 3 swarms. I got 

 4i4 lbs. and one large swarm. It is as good a swarm 

 to winter as I have got. You see, I get almost as 

 much from the 3 Controllable hives as 1 did from all 

 the rest of my bees. How it is, I don't know; but I 

 never saw bees work so in my life. The hives are 

 large; the boxes in each hive hold 130 ibs. I am go- 

 ing to make a number of Controllable hives this 

 winter, and try them another season; and if they 

 prove as good as they did this year, I shall adopt 

 them altogether. D. L. Lovejoy. 



Martinsburgh, N. Y., Oct. 7, 1883. 



MY REPORT. 



A year or two ago I caught the bee-fever, ajd it 

 gradually grew worse until last June, when we 

 bought two colonies of pure Italian bees, an ex- 

 tractor, a honey-knife, smoKer, bee-veil, ABC, some 

 empty hives, etc., and commenced bee-keeping in 

 reality. They cost $34.00 in all. Well, I divided one 

 colony and let the other one swarm naturally, to see 

 which is the bettci way, and I shall let them swarm 

 naturally after this, even if I do occasionally have to 

 chase a swarm half a mile in order to get it. I in- 

 creased to 7 good strong colonies, and got 130 lbs. of 

 extracted honey, 50 lbs. of white-clover, and 80 lbs. 

 of boneset and goldenrod. All the old bee-keepers 

 say this has been a poor season for bees and honey, 

 as well as for farmers; but our bees have paid for 

 themselves and all the " fixings," and given a profit 

 of f 10.00 besides; that is, counting the new swarms 

 at $5.00 each. Howard L. Hutchinson. 



May, Tuscola Co., Mich., Oct. 18, 1883. 



HONEY from THE BANANA-BLOSSOM. 



I am raising bananas; from the blossoms drops a 

 juice as sweet and thick as honey. Do you not 

 think that and orange-blossoms will be good for 

 bees ? Mrs. S. W. Kuster. 



Lenard, Hernando Co., Florida. 



From the above it would appear there are 

 a great many plants that yield nectar in such 

 quantities that it drops off. I am sure, my 

 friend, that any plant that yields honey in 

 such quantities would be valuable for bees. 

 We have never had any thing very definite 

 in regard to honey from orange-blossoms. 

 Do they really yield honey, and in quantities 

 enough so that it can be truthfully labeled, 

 '' orange-blossom honey " V 



BEES IN INDIA. 



I send by this mail a paper in which is the first ar- 

 ticle in bee culture I have seen since coming to 

 India. Literally nothing is done here with bees in a 

 scientific way where so much might be done. Our 

 mission is prosperous ; 170 boys and girls in training- 

 school for teachers, and many schools in jungles ; 34 

 baptisms were reported for last month, and I hear 

 of others since. A. Bunker. 



Toungoo, India, July 18, 1883. 



Friend B., we are anxious to see bee cul- 

 ture make its way in India, but it is a thou- 

 sand times more important that the work of 

 spreading the gospel be carried on. May 

 God bless and sustain you in your arduous 

 task, and we shall be sure that bee culture 

 will make its way when Christianity reigns. 



AN OLD SWARM OF BEES. 



The following comes from the Birming- 

 ham (O.), Press : 



It may interest the readers of the Press to know 

 that there is a swarm of bees in Florence tp. that is 

 40 years old. Hiram Knapp says, 38 years ago he 

 built a house for his bees, and placed them in It, 

 giving them room to spread out as much as they 

 pleased. Ttiis one was two years old when put in 

 the house. Three other swarms were put in at the 

 same time, but they died out years ago. Mr. Knapp's 

 son-in-law, Geo. Taylor, now occupies the farm, and 

 a few days ago had the bees transferred to a Root 

 chaff hive. They had about three bushels of comb, 

 much of it filled with honey and brood in all stages. 

 The old hive, which is of the common box kind, was 

 completely filled and surrounded with comb in all 

 ages, from forty years down to one, some of it very 

 tough and hard. The bees had bred in it so long 

 that they had become dwarfed, not being much 

 more than oue-half as large as bees generally are. 

 They now have a new lease of life, and a chance to 

 work the modern way, and place the surplus 

 product in marketable shape, in the popular one- 

 pound section. 



If any readers of the Press know of an older swarm, 

 please report. E. M. Graves. 



Birmingham, O., May 20, 1883. 



STARTING A BEE-KEEPERS' SOCIETY. 



There is one thing I should like to ask you about, 

 and that is in regard to starting a bee-keepers' so- 

 ciety. The bee-keepers of this county have long 

 felt the need of a society; but bee-keeping being in 

 its infancy, there is no one far enough advanced to 

 know how to start such a society; so with that ob- 

 ject in view, I wi-ite you for a little advice. What 

 we want to know is, what to do and how to do it; or, 

 in other words, we want the whole thing in a nut- 

 shell, as it were. Chas. H. Waring. 



Saratoga, N. Y., Oct. 20, 1883. 



Friend W., I would gladly give you the 

 information you desire, but I am not very 



