34 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Fku 



I liavc !i I»e;iriu?r (irch;ir(l I wisli to set in grass, soni;^- 

 thini?tb:it Mill be jui ndvantain? to bees and no (letrinieiit 

 to my orcliavil. 1 liiii a he.sinner in bee culture, and 

 ask your udvi^'o ;i3 to what would bo best to sow in iny 

 oreliard. Eli Ketnek, Oskaloosa, Iowa. 



Will Monie of our frnit-growiug readers 

 please auswer Mr. K.V Alsike would benefit 

 the bees, but woul<l not a heavy growth, such 

 as we mnst have to yield honey, prove detri- 

 mental to the fruit V We would not under- 

 take to rnij^e any plant for honey unless of 

 value otherwise. The honey is liable to l>c a 

 failure at times, we believe, with all plants. 



1 want to know throng li Gleanings if your popislotis 

 stocks arc the result of a chanjie of queens V 



1 am most liajjpy to state that I sold out all my honey 

 [Linden] to Uarber & Stout, Cincinnati, O., at 13 cents, 

 and was again paid to a cent. 



J. DiTFFELEK, Wequiock, Wis., Jan. 18th, '75. 



The queens have very much to do with it, 

 for colonies that are strong one season arc 

 pretty sure to live and be strong as long as the 

 • [ueen live.«. We, in '78, raised queens in June 

 for 4 hives all in a row ; all have been quite 

 ahead of the general average V^jth seasons 

 since. They were from the Nunn importation. 

 Other causes of course have their influence, 

 but the queen we regard as the principal. 



Mr. W^inkle tells mc that a lew days ago he took from 

 the cellar a stand of his bees to let them have a lly, and 

 took a look insi(l<>, lindinjr brood in all stapes. I was sur- 

 ])rised. This will make the same as 12 sub«CTil>eri<, sent 

 \ou. 1 wonder at my success, don't you? 



Jan. llnh, '70. J>. Pattersox, Alwna, N. Y. 



With the weather we have had, it is rather 

 probable that brood is to be found in all hives, 

 and we have little idea what the eftect will be ; 

 probably the bees know what is proper to be 

 done. We sometimes wonder at the suc- 

 cess of both our patrons aud ourselves, espec- 

 ially after each fresh blunder that irc make. 



I.itho?i-a))h of ai)iiry rcc'd. We are well pleised with 

 it. We fancy the little tiaby to be seen there is Blue Eyes. 

 Our little !.)aby twenty nionihs old will point her out "ev- 

 ery time asked. We had left last sprinsr after scndisig Mr. 

 fjinssti'Oth a stock, 14 stocks of Ijees. We increased to 3.5 

 and secm-ed OlO lbs. extracted honey and fiO lbs. box hon- 

 ey. Total 700 lbs. AvPi-a.w^ .'0 lbs. per stock. Bees put 

 into cellar Oct. iUth : doiuK well so f:ir. We arc jrlid to 

 see different ones testins; the hon.se a) iaries, the Ciuestion 

 in.iy then he better settleil. "We supplied 13 stocks with 

 colTee A sugar syrup one autumn and they died as badly 

 as any. Fed in Sept. Wo can't see that it will pay to ex- 

 tract honey and feed syrup at present price of each, and of 

 lalior. Hut 1 am convinced timt it will pa.v to set bees in 

 doors in st)rii'.;r, when v.-e have a cold spell. Two cts. per 

 stock will be tli(! cost o! nioxinir into a cellar and out a.pain. 

 What bee-keeper but v, >uld have made .52,(K) per stock 

 list spring by putlin.i.? his bees in a cellar durin.sr the April 

 fi-eeze. F. A. Sneli,. 



Milledgeville, Ills., Jan. 17!li, ^C 



Tt is quite probable that even coffee sugar 

 will liot alv/ays w(n'k, and we are very much 

 inclined to think, friend S., that carrying them 

 in-doors will not citiier ; in fact, we are very 

 much tempted of late to doubt that it is any 

 advantai2e if your hives arc full of bees as 

 they should be. lieautiful thick syrup can be 

 made for 8 cents jxr lb, while yonr honey will 

 certainly sell for from bJ to 15 by tiie barrel. 

 Besides, we don't make syrup to feed bees 

 nowadays, just give them sticks of candy, 

 which will be scared}' more labor than to give 

 your i)oultry t-onie ears of corn, and you have 

 to shell it ft)r the chickens and don't for the 

 bees. However, we hope no one AviU under- 

 stand that we favor robbing the bees so far 

 that there is any danger of their starving. 



From some sixty stofks last sin-in^ I Twve taken neaily 

 301)*>I1>9. of box honey, and more than doubled lay stocks. 

 1 use a movable frame bivc with single card bo.\ts weiirh- 

 ing 2X to 3 lbs. Wintered m.v l)ees on their summei- 

 stands last winter without )osin.g a swann. 



S^AMUKL Sxow, Fayetteville, N. \., Jan. 20th, '71'.. 



Many Ixies da winter safely thii.s, even during 

 our severest winters, and an the reports come 

 in, wc cannot help wondering whether the old 

 straw hive with no protection, would not aver- 

 age almoM, as well as those that have so imtch 

 earc. 



Will the thin strip in ytiur saaiple fraane work as well m 

 securing straight combs as the triangular pieee heretoforf 

 usedV If so 1 «lr,iH adopt il ifi new frames. 1 found dur- 

 ing the season that I eoiild not nsothoQuinby frames with 

 the closed ends and foot resting upon bottom board, with- 

 out killing more or less bees every lime the hive was open- 

 etl. W'as it be<'ause I \yas not an expert, or, was it uiia- 

 \ oidaVjle'r if the latter, is it peculiar to Quinby frames V 

 E. W. Gi:isw()L5), Center Brook. Conn. 



The thin strips for comb guides ave really 

 much l>etter than the triangular pieces, inas- 

 much as the bees build cells and store honey 

 right over them clear up to the top bar. Thr 

 trouble mentioned is peculiar to the Quinby 

 hive, but we presume practice does much to- 

 ward remedying it. There are some among 

 our readers who s;iy they can handle them witli 

 little more trouble than the suspended frames. 



Honey harvest was vcr.v poor. In the early part of tin- 

 season, we had nothing but white clover, anil in fall onl.v 

 the corn lields ; no red clover. 1 fed oni; colony i;4,(m> 

 worth of sugar to see \vh;it they woidd do, and from thai 

 hive f have three cuhmii-s and have sold .^.CJ.OO worth of box 

 honey. 1 think .Mr. Staidlers plan for wintering rathev 

 "thin' for cold winds, but his idea in regard to ventilti- 

 tion is very good. If he will furiush the tin horns with 

 whistles, when too much air gets in the hives, the whis- 

 tles will begin to toot, toot, toot, which will give him 

 warning. 1 think this woidd be (luite an improvement. 

 We have another friend in the bnslies somewhere in Ind.. 

 [Mitchell] who is selling a i)a,tent hive and right for Sb'.. 

 and all he claims a patent on is adivisioii board that i-; 

 movable. U. M. Ogdex, Wooster, < ). 



Can I make it j ay to keep a few bees on the shore of 1-ikf; 

 Huron, about one hundred miles north of Saginaw 'r 1 

 have some and .'■hould like to keep them lv.it will have to 

 ship them in the spring, by boat, about one day's voyage. 

 Have all kinds of limber, basswood, hard and soft maple, 

 etc., with wild (lowers and white and red clover. 'I'liey 

 never had any bees in this section ; an oUl hunter said h<- 

 never saw any in the woods. Will you or some of yonr 

 readers answer 'r lours, lles))ecifully, 



U.WID BEMili. 



Alcona, Mich.. Dec. 13, IS?.^. 



Some of the very best results we have liatl 

 reported have come from the vicinity you men- 

 tion ; the ibrests in the northern part of Midi. 

 can scarcely fail of giving prodigious returns 

 to those who are well posted and will act ac- 

 cordingly. See Oct. No. of last year. 



Can you furnish me with Harbison's book on the honey 

 bee. What is the cost of it V 



Will Wii.sox, Bardstown, Ky. 



Will Mr." Harbison please tell us where tin- 

 edition of ]87L is CO be found, if at all"; We 

 have had several similar inquiries. 



Could you tell us of some simple and cfiicient macliine, 

 to use on the saw miuidrill, for cutthig the gains to r<- 

 ceive the connecting snip in the Harbison scciiona! honey 

 bo.\. Your.s, Tridy, 



T. P. Andhews, Farina, Ills. 



Turn up a block of wood accurately and 

 then saw it in two diagonallj'; screw up the 

 saw between these and .vou can saw a gain of 

 any width you choose, depeoiiing on the way 

 the ring of wood was sawed, or the amount of 

 M'abbling motion thus given the sn^v. 



