12 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jxs 



of (livt ovL'rlie:i'l with a ?ood roof, doors at eicli end. filled 

 with dirt, ventilated liy tuhos ; tliis is palled a success, the 

 objsci is to k.^ep them warm and to keep them tiuiet in 

 warm d.i.vs in winter. 



A fi-iend of mine has a sure cure for V)ee stings, it will 

 Ktop tha pain in from one to ten minutes and will pre- 

 vent swelliiiiC, on anv person. 



y. MoBkide. Chardon, O., Dec. 1875. 

 The principal objectiou to clamps and cel- 

 lars, we believe is dampness ; if tliej- are made 

 in a well drained sand}' soil and entirely frost 

 proof, they usually answer as well as any place 

 can ttiat u'lves them no opportunity of flyinjj: 

 unless they are carried out. We should be 

 very glad indeed to hear of some plau that 

 would winter bees invariably, in all localities, 

 as should we also of some remedj- for bee- 

 stiui^s, that is better than letting them alone. 

 As the pain usually subsides in the time you 

 mention, it will need some carefid experiments 

 to show that your remedy '-does good." 



DEARGLE.VN^INGS:— Mr. Doolittle in Doc. Xo., page 

 152, says "bees sro from choice at least four miles." I have 

 notieod bees closely, and hunted wild ones suceessfidly, 

 fol- more thin twenty years, in the valley and mountains 

 of Virjiaia ; and whit' I have kno^vn them to go miles of 

 necessity, I do not think they ever do so of choice. A hun- 

 ter, to be successful must be a close and thinking observer 

 of everythin ; in connection Math, or having any relation 

 to bejs and blossoms ; and my long experience his taught 

 mo that the yield of honey from trees and plants is very 

 different on different soils and in different localities at the 

 sime time, and that bees only ^o far from, becatise honey 

 is not abundant near home. I knew an Italian swarm 

 (and there was no other withiii three miles) to work for 

 days on a field within a half mile of their home ; while 

 there were other fields cquilly heivily covered witli 

 bloom oi exactly the same kind on which the black bees of 

 the neighborhood were at work freely, (as they were also 

 on the field on which the Italians were at work), and al- 

 though I looked carefully not an Italian was to be seen 

 there. And I have known bees to go for miles, passing 

 over an abund.-nce of fresh bloom, to work on tliose of ex- 

 aotlji the same kind, but on di/fcrent soil, on a dift"erent 

 side of hill or mountain, wliile bees comimi from an oppo- 

 site direction would not pass over these good places which 

 were not over a h ilf mile from their liome. 3Iost of the 

 bees in this country are l)lack ; Italians, only a few here 

 a,nl there, and yet I have seldom seen the Italians fir 

 from home, not over a mile and a half, and very few that 

 fir. Bees winter well on their summer stands here, and 

 we know nothing of foul brood or winter disease. Italians 

 are far superior to the black. 



P. Heekixk, Bridgewater, Ya., Dec. 6th, '75. 



\\'m. B. Payne, enquires, "Do toads eat bees ?" In sum- 

 mer of '73, I had a colony of bees \vhich increased but lit- 

 tle for four weeks. Everything seemed all right in the 

 hive, and I wondered what could be the cause. One day, 

 n few minutes after sundown, I saw a very large toad sit- 

 ting in front of said hive, grabbing the bees as fast as he 

 wished them. He had a nice bed under the hive. I think 

 he was the sole cause of the trouble. 



I have good success in introducing: queens by taking tlie 

 queen away, routing them out of house and home, then 

 fesdini: well with honey. Soon they will be all in commo- 

 tion becaitse they have no queen. Put the queen you 

 wish to give them, near by in a, cage ; as soon as the bees 

 begin to cluster on the cage, let her run up the side of a 

 1)0X. that in case the bees "figlit her she may drop do\m 

 in si-ht. I have introduced many, even in fall, in from a 

 half hour to a half day. [ leave them in a cluster a half 

 (lay, then put queen and all on the combs. If t'ne weather 

 is cool, care should be taken that the l)rood does not chill. 



Tor years T have made it a point to sell only r/ood hon- 

 ey. As people learned this fact, the call forit' increased 

 and 1 have sold most of this year's crop, witli scarcely an 

 effort, at 15 cts. i;er lb. H:>ve liad orders from three cities 

 40 or more miles away. .1. L. Lewis, W. AVindsor, Mich. 



Should the winter continue through as mild as it has 

 commenced, we anticipate but little loss of 1)ees, no mat- 

 ter how they are wintered, whether housed or otherwise ; 

 or whether Hvy are wintered on clover, basswood, buck- 

 wheat, golden rod honey, honj.v dew. or C, A, sugar. 

 "VVe think even our lit;ht colored lazy Italians icill stand it 

 v-ithout fccdin-j. sotwithsiandiiv,' the fact that we have ' 

 flei led out the combs, brcwd combs and all, twice with 

 the extractor since basswood closed. 



J. 11. Tuw.M.EY, Tomnkins, Mich., Doc. 0th, 1875. 



MR. A. I. ROOT : -I was sorry to hear that jou were 

 not satislied with niy method of wintering bees on their 

 summer stands. I therefore at once enclose your dollar. 

 You may give notice in your next issue, that if any of your 

 readers lune been wronged and are not satisfied witli the 

 Stautfcr plan of wintering bees, they shall at once apply 

 for their mone.v, without gi\ ini? the plan a test. 



Does a pail of cold water thiiiw otf as nnich animal heat, 

 in a zero freeze, as a swarm of bees do 'i 



B. G. Staupfeb, Bachmansville, Pa., Dec. 3d, '75. 



We shall have to give Mr. Stauffer the credit 

 of having returned the money prompth', but 

 he is the first one to whom we have sent money 

 for receipts who has ever done so. If he re- 

 turns the money to all who are dissatisfied, he 

 certainly does all he can do. The two inches 

 of straw would certainly afford some protec- 

 tion, but nothing like that of a good cellar. 

 Is our friend doing as he would be done by 

 when he charges his fellows enough for the 

 simple directions, to buy a whole book on bee- 

 culture V If it is really valuable, he should be 

 glad to do so much good, for we have given it 

 in plain print to several hundred readers. 



EEPOET FOE 1875. 



Commenced in tlie spring with 25 colonies. Sold five of 

 them in March, four in July, and five in Nov. Received 

 from sale of bees and honey .3195,00. Yalue of increase at 

 ■So. per colony, .S105,00. Total .5300,00. Cost of hives (for 

 increase), and hone.v boxes — 550,00. Two month's time at 

 §25,00 per month, .550,00. Balance §200,00. 



The cash value of 25 colonies in the spring was .?200,00. 

 Total profit, 6200,00, giving 100 per cent upon capital in- 

 vested. The yield of surplus honey, liere, for the past 

 season (1S75) was about CO per cent of tliat of the jjrevious 

 season. Otis Fcxlee, Mason, Mich., Dec. 7th, '75. 



In lS7i, from 22 hives I took 2.3^10 lbs. of honey : 400 lbs. 

 extracted, the rest box, and increased forty-five. The sea- 

 son of 1875 has been a poor one for honey, but good for 

 increase, when made before 15th of Ausriist, 



D. M. Ketchcm, Arcadia, N. Y. 



Season, ratlier poor. Basswood (our main stay) almost 

 a failure. We had 130 colonies .lune 1st, '75, increased to 

 175, and took about 3.500 lbs. extracted, and 2100 l!)s. comb 

 honey in frames, I am much interested in the "house 

 apiary." Keei) us posted. 



Geo. 31. Dale, Border Plains, Iowa, Dec. Itli, '75. 



DEAR NOVICE :— Some assert that the Marl- buck- 

 wheat is far superior to the f/rn;/, as a lioney i>roducing 

 plant. I have sown the gi-a.v buckwheat for two or three 

 .years, and the bees have worked in it nicely, but I have 

 not had an onportiuiity of comparing the two kinds, as 

 there is no black buckwheat in this section. Please give 

 ns the facts as to which is best for hone.v, as I wish to sow 

 the most of my fann (20 acres) to bvickwheat next season. 

 31. E. JIcMastee, Shelbyville, Mo., Dec. 11th, '75. 



The honey season in this locality has not been a Aery 

 ffood one. "\Ve had 22 colonies in spring and a few of 

 these were queenless and some of them qiutc weak. We 

 increased these 22 to 32 colonies, then sold tliree, and late 

 in fall made three again out of double hives, so that we 

 will winter 32 colonies. Our honey crop readied 

 only 530 lbs., of which 300 lbs. were extracted and 230 lbs. 

 box honey. 



Mrs. C. Kusteemaxx, ncc 3Iaggie Geimm. 



Green Bay, Wis., Dec. 11th, '75. 



* * * "Notice's" Extractor was tlic last on the list, 

 and was the neatest and liveliest machine at the Show, 

 its gearing bein'jr pecnliarl.v nice. It is a cylinder machine 

 ])rincipall.v composed of tin, with .square revolver, capable 

 of takinc almost any frames in use, and when set in mo- 

 tion did not know when to stop ; it was, however, consid- 

 ered to be too li'jht for English wear, and the judges, after 

 consiilerable deliberation, awarded the prize to 3Ir. Cowan 

 for his "R;ipid" Extractor. 



* * * We ma.v here mention that a ver.y large num- 

 ber of articles some of considerable value-^wcrc taken 

 from the .tails by the sam(> kind of "jokers," notably, the 

 hi':r!ily-iMiri"iious multiplying gearing and handle of'Nov- 

 iei-'s E\tr:e,'tor Ihi^ only i)attein in Eii'.'land ; and unless 

 the thief will kindly forward a copy of it when he has 

 made his castings, it will bo necossar.v to ,*end to America 

 for a duplicate.— Briiish liec Journa.'. for Oct. 



