48 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mak 



but the larger the body of water, the longer 

 will it hold an even temperature, even if the 

 lamp should burn out. The outer and inner 

 walls should be united by short strips of tin, 

 to prevent the walls bulging when tilled ; about 

 one such piece in the centre of each side, and 

 two between the bottoms, will answer. 



Colonies with thin watery stores, frequently 

 die in Jan., and sometimes in Dec. Two cases 

 have occurred in our vicinity where bees died 

 of the t)ee disease — apparently — in early win- 

 ter; one was fed on very poor maple syrup, 

 and the other on sweet apples boiled up to 

 save buying sugar. 



P. S. — Instead of the sheet iron box, we have 

 always used a stove that we l^ought for a very 

 small price, from a heap of old iron. Before 

 we moved it into the house apiary we borrowed 

 some advice and stove ])lacking of Mrs. B., 

 and it soon was in very fair trim to show to 

 visitors. Of course the lamp is perfectly safe 

 when shut up in the stove, and as the top lifts 

 off, the nursery is just at the proper height 

 above the lamp, without any fixing. 



GKAFTINti QUEKN CELI^S. 



'Jr SHALL describe the operation l)y this name for 

 i"l] want of a better. This is no lani'ilul theory, but 

 >r^ a matter of fact which is easily accompliblied in 

 llie following manner : 



Select queen cells with larva; not more than 3(5 hours 

 old ; with steady hand gently insert a sharp-pointed 

 instrument under ihe larva and lift it out without dis- 

 turbing the roi^al jelly. Carelully replace it with an- 

 other larva about the same age, "taken Irom the brood 

 >>( a ciioice (luecn. If skilltuUy done the bees will 

 nurse it into a (jueen just as readily as il it were of 

 their own brood. That such (jueens arc as good as any, 

 when reared at tlie pioi)er time, wuh the necessary 

 (;onditions for rearing good queens, has been abund- 

 antly proven the past season. 1 liave II sucli queens 

 all of wliich were very prolific and became the motli- 

 ers of powerful colonics, all of wliicli were crowdeil, 

 iu two-story and double-wi<ltli hives. 



This process is of vast imiiortance to those who can 

 not get an imported (jueen, or one of undoubted puri- 

 ty, as they can Italianize tlieir vvliole apiary, or cliange 

 their entire stock of bees with sucli a ([uantity of eggs 

 or larva; as can be sent by mail or obtained Irom a 

 neighboring apiary. 



if queens are reared for sale by tliis method, too 

 much care can not be taken to prevent mistakes. 



E. C. L. Lakcil, M. 1>. 



Ashland, Boone Co., Mo. 



We can add our testimony to the above, hav- 

 ing reared a number of fine (lueens by this 

 method last fall. In one case we found it the 

 only way we could get the start of a hive of 

 vicious hybrids ; but justice demands that the 

 credit of the discovery be given our friend J. 

 L. Davis, of Holt, Mich. He first gave the 

 particulars on page 107, Vol. 2 ; naming it 

 Davis' Transposition Process. AVhen we visit- 

 ed him last fall, w'e saw some beautiful queens, 

 reared from larvic which we sent him by mail 

 the year before. 



■■l^ H.VVK now on hnnrt only about 1.100 lbs. of my last 

 !»|| .voar's "ci-op" of iwtr.icicd honey. I have shipped 1 

 1=4 barri'l at 1.") cents delivered, and have sold at retail 

 nearly -J, too lbs.; mostly in pulls \aryinir in size from 1 

 quart to .j gallons, at from l.'j to 20c. per Ih., acconlin'j; (o 

 kind arid quality. My retail trade in extracted honey is 

 .■mmr.iUy increasing, while 1 have not changed the price 

 ill three yevrs, which is certainly not veri/ discouraujinL', 

 consideriui;- the fact that I am in the backwoods, ci^ht 

 miles or niuro from cvcrywlterc. 



1 have no desire to dissuade any one from taking just 

 .such course m the management of his bees as he iliinks 

 will result to him in the greatest profit ; yet, 1 think thei-e 

 is one fact which those who contemplate a return to the 

 production of bo.x lioney should not overlook, viz: That 

 while tlu-re has lieeu a material decline in tlie price of 

 nearly all articles nv|uired for family use, there has been 

 no corresponding change in the pri(;e of box honey. It 

 must come sooner or later, and a general return to the 

 production of comb honey would only hasten that result. 



Since writing the above I have received Gle.inisos for 

 Feb., and can not resist the temptation to add tliat it af- 

 fords me the greatest pleaMire to see in it "right smart'" 

 symptoms of returning reason on this subject. Others 

 may do as they [dease, but as long as 1 can obtain three 

 limes as much extracted as box lioney, and can sell the 

 former at more than half the price oi the latter per lb., 

 me and my bees wiii pile it in Parrels. J. H. Tow>ley. 



Tomkins, Mich., i'eb. 4, 1876. 



In 1874 I solil a barrel of candied l)as8wood honey to 

 a grocer, and calling on him last fall, founil about one- 

 third of it still on hand ; and upon testing it founil 

 that it liad undergone a decided change for tlie better, 

 and was the most delicious sweet that I ever jnit into 

 my mouth. Tlie barrel had set near the stove all the 

 previous winter, was umlisturbed iluring the summer 

 and hail thus ripened and greatly improved. It had 

 not harilened any more, being near the bottom of the 

 barrel without any ilrainage. 



Last fall 1 had a barrel half full of basswood honey 

 which candied while the oarrel lay on its side. lu 

 turning it up to take the head out, the honey stood up 

 as lirni as a cheese, and in a good condition to drain, 

 one-half the barrel being emptj. The upper part of 

 the honej- became quite liard and w bite, and I cut out 

 chunks and wrapped it up in paper for customers. 



Having seen some account of sugar being made drj- 

 by throwing out the molasses by centrifugal force in 

 a perforated revolving cyliniler, the idea struck nic of 

 sending a barrel of candied honey to some sugar reli- 

 nery to have it operated u|)on to see what could be 

 mai'te of it ; but I have not been in a situation to do so, 

 and I now make the suggestion to those who may 

 have a better opportunity of doing it tlian f have. 

 Could it not be tried in your impioved extractor on a 

 SMiall scale to see it the "liquid portion could be thrown 

 out? Thaduei's Smith, 



Midway, Ky., Feb. 4th, ■70. 



We confess to have at first, been much ela- 

 ted at the idea of making dry honey at once, 

 by the use of the extractor; but a careful ex- 

 periment, seems to indicate that thick lioney 

 is too tenacious to come out of the candied 

 blocks. The plainest, and perhaps easiest way, 

 is to fill your barrels half or two-thirds full, 

 and as soon as candietl solid, stand them on 

 end and take out the head ; in a few days the 

 upper portion will have become hard untl 

 white. Basswood is the only honey that we 

 have succeeded thus far, in converting into 

 blocks that are perfectly white. 



As sure as you live, some city honey has 

 made its way into our town after all ; and 

 what is more it seems to sell quite briskly. It 

 is comb honey in section boxes similar to those 

 we make, except that the sides are covered 

 with glass, and over the joint is pasted pink 

 tissue paper. A careful examination shows 

 that the lioney was stored in a frame made of 

 I4 pine strii)s about ?4 incli in width. These 

 frames when removed from the hive, are put 

 into another one about l^o inches in width; 

 the latter being just large enough to slip over 

 the former, and tasteued with brads, tlius ena- 

 bling us to have the outer one of clean new 

 pine. The glass is held in place by the paper, 

 and by two of the pieces of the outer frame be- 

 ing 1-10 wider than the rest. This looks very 

 pretty, but the two frames and the two lights 

 of glass, weigh one-half as much as the honey; 

 as it is retailed at 2 cts. per oz., frames and all, 

 it is rather expensive to tlie consumer. We 



