u 



gleanijStgs in bee cultuke. 



Jaw 



An (!x tract or not p3i.ve;l is a liiimhus, now! and the 

 man who olT'ers tlieni for sile ousrht to he sued for claraaje. 

 Thcv will cxtr;wt thhi hoiioy, nat lit for iis'. tint is nil. 

 To do the cxtrnrtinu: up rifrht, the extractor slKJuid ))c 

 Reared 3 or i tfy one, airJ the- TOinte 7 or S inches frv)u; cjn- 

 ter of shaft. . , 



Plain uncTTrlrossod slieets of was are not pood. I tried 

 thein, tlic bees build very rrre-xular r-elTs upon thera, and 

 •lon't seem to build more than half as f;ist as on the comb 

 foundations. 11. S. Becktell, N'ew BulIaJo, Mich. 



Can I pnt a frame of Italian brood 

 in a hive and placo it where I hai'e a stand of irfack 

 bees ? \v\\i tliev raise an Itnlinn queen from it ? After 

 having removed tlie sl-itid of lilMck Ixvs would it not be 

 the best time to ti-;msf.T tlicii;. as I uish to ItahanizeaH 

 three ? 1 have .3 Italian a!td (i stands of lyliek boss. Bees 

 have done oTdv mcclimn well in this vicinity; some have 

 ■■made r> to 20 lbs. cii' extracted honey, others not any; those 

 that did not swanii. did l)est. 



G. DiiKW, Brinker Hill. Ills., N'ov. 20th, 75, 



The I'ylan yon mention will work nicely, and 

 we have many times nsecT it as the only one by 

 which we could ,!?et an artificial swarm quickly 

 from a box hive, or rather a nucleus, for 

 enough bees can seldom be obtained thus from 

 a hive of Ivlacks to build up safely to a good 

 colony. If tlicy liave a whole com!) of sealed 

 Italian brood given them, they may do very 

 well. jSTow althouuh this can be done every 

 time, perhaps, you must bear in mind that it i.s 

 rather an expensive way, for you rob the old 

 stock of all of its working force and give such 

 a severe check to brood rearing, that if it be 

 done in May, you will very lilcely injure the 

 product of honey one-half; again, the new col- 

 ony will be made of ijees loaded up witli pollen 

 and honey that they have no use for Ix^cause 

 they have no laying cjueen. You will gain in 

 the end by transferring first, and then as soon 

 as they get fully prosperous again, shaking a 

 few bees from eacli of several hives, on your 

 comb of Italian brood ; the young Ijees will re- 

 main, and as soon as they have a laying queen 

 they may l>c made strong by combs, or combs 

 and bees from others. In this way we have at 

 all times a proper proportion of bees of all 

 ages in each hive, much as we do in natural 

 swarming. 



We are told to put oin- bees in the house or cellar as the 

 case may bo, to put <m quilts oi' mats and leave them 

 alone, don't ko near tliora ! Now we know from experi- 

 ence that this is not trood a-dviee, yet we believe tl^at loes 

 after pnt up foi- winter should not ha disturbed ii all is 

 right. How are we to know whether all is ri.;!it unless 

 wo do make an occisiou'il examination ? Por irista.nr.' my 

 bees are in boxes ]nek<,':l with chaff, if I take ihe coi cr oif 

 the Iwx and en-efully run my h'liid throirj:h the '■halV 

 down to the quilt or i;iat .'ind liiid it iK'rl'ecrtlv dry and 

 warm. I am then canvinc? I all i's rirht, but if I find it 

 cold and damj), somethin,^ is wronj,-. Now nrike an_ ex- 

 amination an<l you will litut tint the colony occupies a 

 greater space in the hive than they cm k(;.'p warm and 

 expel tlu; moisture, but if M'e reduce the spaee to siiit the 

 stren'-'th of the colony, your quilt or mat will be dry and 

 warm. J. BuTLER, Jackson, Mich., Nor. 18th, 7'). 



From an address, delivered l^efore tlie fleet- 

 ing of the Bee-Keepers of San Diego Co., Cal., 

 Nov. 2;}d, 1)y J. S. Harbison, we clip the follow- 

 ing. The address is to be found in the San 

 Diego Union, of Nov. 25th. 



The total not product of honey in the <':)unlv of San 

 Dieg-o, for the years 1874. and 1875 together, amount in 

 i-ouiid lumilna's to7.".l,.';n Tbs. Ju San Dic^o one hntiber 

 lirni Ins sold a million f.'i4 of lumber for the use of liee- 

 m(!n iilonc, from Novcnih a', 187:S," to Nov. 1M7."). amoimtiiii;- 

 to .s;is,001). In addition to lliis there were liri-v slii;)i!!(!iils 

 of cut lumber, su'xar iiinc ol'uik sliipr>-^d here liv sli-nners, 

 which, with lumlxa- sold in lliis city bv otlii>r piirties. 1k;- 

 sid(! the one above mentioned will add rniother million 

 ffiot. pivinsasratid total of two million feet used in this 

 sniirle interest within ',\vo years. And vet the business is 

 hill in its ir:!'i:'.i'\-. 



If the honey mentioned did not net the pro- 

 ducer more than 10 cents, as we have T»eeiJ 

 toldr the amount paid for Iwmher for iiives is 

 equal to that received for honey. At this rate 

 it seems they have to wctrk for 3 living in Cal- 

 ifornia a» well as other folks. 



EDITOR GLEANINGS :— We notice in your Nov. No.,, 

 that Mr. John Dawson, Pontiae, Mich., says "the reaJ 

 honey bee" never works on tire sun flower, I Imre a num- 

 ber of sun-ffow^ers in nrv yard and I say thrit they do work 

 on them for I hare repeatedly noticed tlreni at work,. 

 sometimes as urairy as a half dozen, Ixith bl:K-k and Ital- 

 ian, in a Ifower, They are usually- at work earl>' in the- 

 morniinir. I obsoi'ved them at work on irriijs for some 

 three wei-ks aifd th"y carry jiollcn from them more exten- 

 sively than from any other pt-nit I kix>w of. 



A\'m. J. ANDirEWS, (>)hnribia, T'emr., Nor. iJtth, "th. 



Would , von make a hive for the extractor to hold more 

 than nine fr lines 12x12, and if so ho\r many more V 



For the es:clusive use of the extractor we 

 would not have less than 20 frames 12x12. 



I>) you think it any better to raise boxe.s whoTi full and 

 place enrpty ones imdei' thera with ooeiiiniirs throui:;!! Xoxr 

 antl bottom, than to take them off at one? and plae3- 

 otlicrs in their plac.;? Does not the facti that they ari 

 less crowded for room and the bejs se.xttered more, coun- 

 teract ;n>y boir:'lit otherwise gained ? 



A strong colony will be able to fill a second 

 tier of boxes without detriment when the first 

 set are nearly filled, and raising them up wil& 

 do much toward preventing swarming. 



In using- small frames in plwre of boxes for the American 

 hive, can I do lietter than to let the sides of frame come f 

 of an inch below tlie lottom' [licce to prevent their elosinsc 

 tli' ^/orti^es throu'di the to^) Icn's of hive, the tops ancT 

 si((cs (]f the inimes close I'lttin'i-, and the lx)ttoms f of am 

 ineli irarrovi'. 



What would you ask me for the srcarin^r to an extractor 

 with ar);<^r to run throuirh the comb frnme ? 



O. K. COE, Jewett, N. J., Nov. l.'ith. 7."). 



The i^lau for supporting the section fraines 

 given in another column, we think preferable. 



If the shaft is included with the gearing, the 

 price will be 25 cents extra. 



1 InA-i,' constructed some hives with frames similar to' 

 Quinljy's, and think of todn? an extractor and coml> 

 foinidatJon.n nest season. Are not yellow wn.x foundations 

 as sfood as white for brood eomljs V Can yoii not sell yel- 

 low ones cheaper ? 



Just as good certainlj^ ; and they of course 

 can be sold cheaper, as it is quite a task to 

 bleach the wax. 



i I am so far from yon, I think I will make an extractor 

 I and snc cxpri'ss charfrt*. I Searned froir; ( (T.i;.\\ixg& 

 th:it the iiicslics (if the wire cloth shouldbe .alx'iit one-tifth 

 of n.n ii;ch, but Inve not ,vet learned how lar.tfc liic wirex 

 should lie. AVould tn-niirular wooden bars — say an inch 

 apart— do lis well as the wire cloth V 



In tlu' fall of ISTt we Ind four swnrnis of iToes within 40 

 rods of our ci<ier mill, whicli Wn-y xi^iicd constantly. Imt. 

 the.r wintered in !;(k)(1 condil ion, i isi i,^- 1 m their hives, in 

 the cellar where it \yas .soiiicbnn s ibirK and sometimes 

 liirht. Tilts >-cnr the bees did not visit-the ciiler mill. 



We left one hive out-doors last year, and are loaviu'.? 

 four out this venr. 



H. A, SrEAGT-E, Charlotte, Maine, Nor. 20th, 75, 



The wire to be stiff, should be al>out the size 

 of a common bra«s pin. Triangular wooden 

 bars are not nearly as good, because the honey 

 sticks to them, it requires additional labor to 

 throw it ott* and they bruise the combs; wood 

 is also a vcr3- untidy substance when soaked 

 with honej', besides being heavy. We thinlc 

 you will not like it about an extractor. 



If cider is realh^ (jood for your bees, and it i.-^ 

 also good for them to be shut in the hives, we 

 shall conclude you liave a hardier race than 

 ours ; do you mean that they stand out-door 

 wintcring'al'io, awav down in Maine "/ 



