GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS. 



CAV'E I'OU WINTERING UEKS. 



*iJp MADE a room in a side hill 16x20 feet, G feet deep, 

 double boarded over head an'', sides, with double 

 lloor and iijiwar*! ventilation 4k4 inches. Have 30 

 swarms native bees in the room, in '"Jjeflel central 

 opening movable comb hives;" i>iit them in on 15th of 

 Jsov., entirel}' below frost with fi-" lower ventilation. 

 Visited them to-day (2Cth) and all .still^not a hum 

 «rom them. 



Am 1 right in not giving lower ventilation ? Will 

 some one who has had ex{)erien<:e in wintering in 

 caves please answer? 



Inten-d to Italianize them next summer if I can pro- 

 cure pure queens in Juno, at a reasonable price. 



V. II. Gould, Madrid, N. Y., Nov. '26th, 1875. 



We think it will make very little difference 

 what the ventilation is if they are absolutely 

 i:)eyond the reach of frost. Why do you chauge 

 it from what it was during the summer''' 



It will be rather a hard matter for j-ou to 

 get queens in June unless you are willing to 

 pay for having them taken froin full colonies, 

 •or send South, or to California. We can fur- 

 nish queens for ^^1.00 in July, easier than we 

 could for ^3.00 by the 1st of .June. If we ever 

 succeed in getting over the modern "springing 

 troubles" we may hope to do better. 



liable to pack down hard, than cotton, we 

 think we shall use wool for the quilts we otter 

 'i for sale in future. 



A, I. R(X)T;— I am almost a novi«e in bee-lceeping, 

 this being my 4ifth year in the business. I am now 

 interested with Mr. Harbison, in the \'iejas apiary, 

 consisting of about 50O hives. Uees have not done 

 very well in San Diego Co., this year, on account of 

 droutJi and late frosts. 



I hear a great many iwjuiries from the East about 

 San Diego Co., and would advi.se all, who think of 

 coming to San Diego Co., to make the bee business a 

 specialty, to cast the idea at once from their mind, 

 and seek otlier quarters. I <to not mean to -f^y ihat 

 San Diego Co., is not capable of carrying tlie bee busi- 

 ness on a lai^e scale, our honey will surpass any 

 made, but the tixjuble is, our country is ovei-stotkefU 

 San Diego Co., contains over ten thousand hives to 

 my knowledge, and I do not know how many more. 

 San Diego Co., is no farming country, is subject to 

 droughts, and there is no certainty in anything, 

 Wheu we have a wet season, we apiarians do very 

 well. It is surprising what tlie busy little bee wili 

 accomplish. Our honoy season commences in July, 

 and ends with Sei)temlx3r; between tliese two montJis 

 J we make most of our surplus hone}'. Bees will make 

 I a living most of tlie year. We dejjcnd on sage, su- 

 mach and greasewood. for most of our honey. AVe 

 strain but little, storing mostlj* in Harbison'.s h 'ney 

 box. 



San Diego does not raise enough grain etc., to sup- 

 port it, but ships a large quantity from San Francisco. 



John E. Rick. 



Viejas, San Diego Co., Cal., Nov. 17th, '75. 



I have my bees in cellar, covered by Irame the size 

 of top of hive, with drilling nailed on lower side and 

 bran above. One stock has gnawen through, which 

 makes me feel uneasy about them. Will they trouble 

 uie do you think ? Have entrances covered with wire 

 cloth. T. D. Wakd, Lawtou, Mich,, Nov, l.'Jth, '75. 



We really can not say positively whether 

 having- bran sprinkled into their eyes will 

 make any serious trouble or not, but rather 

 opine they will be able to l^-ush it out after 

 they recover from tlieir astonishment. As wo 

 have said mau.y times before, we know of noth- 

 ing in the way of cloth except the "duck" or 

 canvas that tliey will not gnaw through. If 

 bees are in the cellar we are unable to see the 

 need of bran, straw, or any other absorbent 

 over them. We are also inclined to think it 

 better not to fasten them in. What do our 

 readers, who have given the matter a careful 

 test, think about itf 



MH. A. I. BOOT :— While all of you Nortli arc trying 

 the best way to winter your bees, mine are gatherint;- jml- 

 len and honey from Wu: Hcienia Octqfolium, ra,ir-wced, 

 smartweed, and Jajiau jJum. Of the latter, it is true 

 there is not much, but what is lacking in number of trees 

 is made up in quantity ajid quality of honey. 



I am city sexton here, and li;ive a share of Eo.se-HiU 

 cemetery. Tliere is a- !,'i-ent (juatUity of the wall ivy in the 

 i cemetery, and lln.' \\'r,i)ds are ('(ncred viith it. It is the 

 best thing I knuw of for honey, commencing to Ijloom 

 alMut the middle of July and continuing till the middle of 

 Seijtember.. 



1 did not make much honey this year but made CGf per 

 cent on my investment. A line swann of black b(;es came 

 out to daj\. they liave built iiiieen cells and have drones. 

 I thought tliey were "crowding the .season" so I destroyed 

 the cells and put tliem back. H. A. Haeman, 



Slacon, Ga., l\o\. 15th, 1875. 



How will this do for a tidy use of straw in spring? 

 .Make quilts as described on page '-41, Vol. VI, A. B. J., 

 j. e., into bags, and instead of sewing batting into 

 them, stufl' with cut straw (vide Cleanings page 135, 

 Vol. i). Wheu warm weather comes on, tliev can be 

 emjjiied and quilts used, so what's to hhider ? Quin- 

 by used such on his hives in winter and spring. 



--I .spent some months in his apiaries in summer 

 of '72. W. F. Allen, Montreal, Canada. 



We think it would be first rate, but instead 

 of emptying the straw out, why not keep them 

 Just as they are, for another winter ? As straw 

 is very cheap, the case can be made verj- large 

 — there will be no trouble in packing it snug-ly 

 over the frames, if very fine straw or chaff be 

 used, and all the disagreeable litter of loose 

 straw about, will be avoided. The only objec- 

 tion to using these in place of the quilts is the 

 greater bulk, and the fact that straw is not 

 nearly as warm as the batting, unless a very 

 great bulk of it be used. The'very best mate- 

 rial we have ever seen, is a very light soft 

 wool, called woolen bats, by the mills, we be- 

 lieve; this is so very light, that one pound — 

 costs 80 cents — will make ten good quilts, and 

 as wool is much warmer, Ijesidcs being less 



Extractor gearing rec'd by mail ail sour.d — bee 

 veil ail O, K. 1 have a nucleus hive eight inches .square, 

 having a nice queen, and tilled with bees and lioney. An 

 old bee man here tells me I can not keep them, e\"en in 

 the cellar, with so small a body of bees. What shall I do 

 with them ? Geo. Pekkt, Peru, Ills. 



Mr. I. E. Daniels, of Lodi, O., wintered such 

 a nucleus a few years ago, without trouble, but 

 since our recent troubles we fear it would be 

 rather doubtful ; probably the most difiicult 

 part will be to get them through the spring 

 months. We would suggest putting them in 

 a very warm cellar, and if there were a stove 

 overhead, locating them just underneath it, 

 giving them frequent flights when the weather 

 permits. If you succeed please report; if j'ou 

 do not, it will hardly be worth while, for your 

 experience would only be that of hundreds of 

 others who trv to winter weak colonies. 



I have .32 colonies in winter qn-.irtcrs. Sold about §100. 

 worth of box honey this year. Built a house apiary this 

 fall, .and shall try to lill it with bees next summer. My 

 bees are all black except three 1 bought fi-cm Oatman & 

 Co., Dundee, ills. H. H. Rosebkock. 



Ov/atonna, Minn., Dec. Cth, '75. 



5IR. EDITOR : — I h.ivc not seen any sm-e way of win- 

 tering lices, in your paper. But little is said about winter- 

 WA in damps, which I think i.s as good as any anil a 

 little l)ctter ; bees do not do well here in cellars. A win- 

 ter house has been tried here with success, for a numlx>r 

 of years, llxlS feet ^^^th G feet between floors, with a sj>ace 

 of 13 inches on all .sides, boarded outside and in, and this 

 sjjace filled with dirt, t's^'-wdust will not do), also 12 iuehcs 



