GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb 



If the Alsike seed 1 received from you was from same 

 lot as Sir. JO. Loei's he eertainl.v is mistaken as to .sorrel in 

 ii, as m.\ seo'l came up pure Alsike, and the sorrel forgot 

 10 .i:;cnnin:Ue. Tlierc is "nary a stalk of sorrel." Bees arc 

 wi.'iiunn;,' su far very well. 



I am yours, truly, 



Lis'lit Street, Pa., Jan. 17, 'TC. H. H. Brow>-. 



Enclosed find a cake of candy which I find my l)ees like 

 i 11). honey. 2 I'os. white A suwir and a little water — boil 

 slowly. 1 inu'iid to increase my stock of bees next season. 

 I am advaiie.d ia a.'i:e and can give my attention to them 

 witliout (bmiuient to other matters. 1 have kept bees 

 :it three dillerent times in my life in boxes but slijjped off 

 into •■Jjlastcd Hopes" every lime. I think 1 can succeed, 

 although mv neighbors cry hinnbug. 



N. A. Pituj)DKN, Ann Arbor, Mich. 



The camly is very nice, and has the well 

 reineiuberetl flavor of the hreweecl honey that 

 we tasted in Mich, last fall. Confectionery 

 might be flavored with honey in this manner 

 so as to give quite an interesting variety, and 

 it would be a novelty to bee-keepers at least. 



AVhieh would be best and cheapest, to Italianize an 

 ajjiary in the sjaing V to buy a colony of Italians iind raise 

 my own ((ueeiis ( i have never done anything of the kind) '' 

 or buy (lUocnsV I have 08 colonies nl blacks. 



H. C. GiLSON, Burr Oak, .Alich. 



If you are without practice, by far the better 

 way will be to get one or two $1.00 queens, 

 and work with them this season ; next season 

 you might try an imported mother. This will 

 be slow it is true, but it may be the 

 ([uickcst way after all, for if you buy 08 queens 

 at once, or even an imported one, you will 

 stand a very fair chance of being a candidate 

 for "Blasted Hopes" next season. 



The cmdy tliat you sent me came to hand in due tune, 

 ;uul in good condition. It was somewhat broken up, but 

 that did not injure it for the bees. 1 have given it a trial, 

 :!xd lind that it works to a cliarm. I consider it just the 

 thins to feed at this season of the year. The manner in 

 which the bees eat it is novel indeed; instead of working 

 on the outside of the stick, tliey gnaw holes into it, anil 

 cat (jut the inside first, leaving nothing but a very thin 

 shell. 1 Ivivs: my l)ees snu','ly packed away in a dry cel- 

 lar, the a^■eraire tempei-alure of which is about 4'i° l''t. 

 They are (Ujiiu- finely at present, 'the only fear I have 

 about them is that they will run short of provisions be- 

 fore spring opens. 



A. C. PH.VVET, Epworth, Iowa, Jan. 17, '70. 



I need information in i-egard to transferring bees, and 

 thought to wriie you for King's Bee-Keepers' Text Book, 

 as my bees thougli thrifty, are all in Iwx hives. 



B. Pii.vMi iNGisoN, A^est Jlonroe, N. Y. 



The text book is old, and we must regard it, 

 ;is well as other books that recommend the 

 awkward and laborious process of drumming 

 the bees out, in place of the modern plan de- 

 scribed in our May No. of last year, as much 

 behind the times.' The bees should keep right 

 on with their work, and the whole- operation 

 may be performed in the time usually occupied 

 in drumming them out. 



Just two hours after posting your letter, uj) conies the 

 mail from .Saii Pranci.-co, and liy tlie way the mcillcv and 

 1 he (luecn cage Mere about the first articles delivcivd ; of 

 course (iI.E.VNi.NOS was not I0 lie had luitil the dav fol- 

 lowing. I am UHich pleasi'cl wiili ihe nicdlcv; ))ul I'think 

 It wi.uld have leokccd much better had my photo l)eon in 

 it. (il.K.VNlNGS arrived in s[)lcnilid order, not a simple 

 leaf soiled. You don't kiunv liow proud I am when I re- 

 ceive goods in sucli good nmdition. for I have sulfered a 

 great deal through the bungling manner in wliieh some 

 folks send out llK'ir goods. Our Commissioner will not 

 leave here before the middle of Nov. He will sail in one 

 of the new line of steamers, and will arrive in San Fran- 

 cisco about the middle of Ijec; so if Mr. iJadant would 

 like (o try his hand at sending out a couple of queens, he 

 had better |)re!.aro them and advise the Coniniissinner at 

 the Prairie P.aimcrotlice. He Mill carrv dollars enoie.;li 

 le do all 1 wiint. J. CAitKoi.L, (,iueensl:nid, Auslr:ilii.. 



Do yon know anything about the Silver Hull buckMheat, 

 whether it is any better for honev than the common sort ': 



J. B. Rekve. 



We have had few reports in regard to the 

 buckwheat, but have the impression that to get 

 honey we must have a good strong growth ; 

 and in our locality and some others it is only 

 occasionallj' that we have a yield of honey 

 even then. The bees may be very busy on it 

 apparently, and yet a suspended hive show no 

 increase in weight. See the following : 



I .see on page 12, that 3Ir. M. E. MeMaster would like to 

 know if the black buckwheat is better for honey than the 

 gr.ay kind. There is very little dilfereiice in the two kinds, 

 but if he will try the (Silver Hull 1 think he Mill l)e as- 

 tonished, 1 had the black and the gray, but the yield of 

 honey was small. Two years ago 1 procured the Silvt r 

 Hidl and when in fidl bloom it M'as so full of Vjees that 

 some of my neighbors Mere afraid to go near the field. 

 Last fall my bees did rush out of their hives in the morn- 

 ing, to go after the Silver Hull buckwheiit like a large 

 eroM'd of ])eople rushing out of a burning theater. 



1). N. Kern, Shimersville, Pa. 



Most Mriters on Bees sa/y that Mhen a young queen is 

 hatched slie Mill destroy all uidiatehed qui^ens in the hive. 

 Now M'e (1 mean my wife and 1,1 had a glass observator.v 

 hive last summer M'lth cjue comli. ^^■e eould see all oper- 

 ations of the hive, and had it so arranged that the bees 

 eould go out under the window^the hive setting in the 

 house on the window sill. A uiuuber of queens were 

 hatched in it. We several times saw young queens come 

 out and crawl from one end to the dther of <'oml)s contain- 

 ing a iLumlier of unhatched queeiieells, yet iia.\ing no at- 

 tentioTi to them, Miiiie at the same time Morker bees were 

 busy tearing them doM n. Nom', has any one c\er seen :i 

 queen tearing down cells!' or, is it only a supposition y 

 J. B. Ueeve". Shelliyville, ills. 



Queens sometimes destroy the cells we know, 

 for we have seen them do it in the lamp nurse- 

 ry when not one worker bee was present; but 

 it looks very much as if the bees at times de- 

 stroy them before the queen has seen them at 

 all, just as they demolish cells they have pre- 

 viously started when a fertile queen is given 

 them. We have seen the same tiling you men- 

 tion, but the cells were Anally destroyed af'.tr 

 the queen became two or thi'ee days old. This 

 work, like the swarming impulse, we liiink 

 sometimes originates with the queen and 

 sometimes with the workers, and perhaps at 

 times with both conjointly, for they are gener- 

 ally actuated by the same impulses. 



What advantage has the Standard h'we over the Langs- 

 troth':' What would the right to make for my om'u use 

 cost y J. M. WiCKOFF, Freestone, O. 



The principal advantage is, that it will hold 

 20 frames and yet allow any one at any time 

 to be removed independently of the others. 

 Adair and some others claimed the bees would 

 store more honey in such a hive; we believe it 

 is now generally agreed that frames spreaii 

 out horizontally, on the average, give just as 

 much honey as the two-story hives, and no 

 more. We Certainly would not charge you 

 for Gleanings, and then use its pages to de- 

 scribe hives on which we wanted money for 

 rights. Everything described on these pages 

 is free, of course. 



I have a house apiary also, Mhieh I am u.'ing with good 

 sucetss. Inclosed 1 send you an outside view of one of 

 my houses, containing "jO colonies of bees. This hou.se is 

 not patented. 1 liave hom' seven in use ; some me.ch larg- 

 er than this. I have always been very successful iti queen 

 raism.'?- N. W. W.^lton, Cairo, W, Va. 



The picture shows a very neat strncture, 

 and if our friend has sei-oi of them in use, he 

 certainly has li;td experience with them, and 

 that tco, we would infer, of a favorable nature. 



