GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mae, 



^Iiich li:is h.'eii s:iul in Gleaxinos about section boxes. 

 1 iiseil them list season, and \v IS ()l)li-'eil to put in thin 

 pieces of b.);u-il to prevent tlieir nuiiiin'^ the combs to- 

 irethor. Pie, is j ijive me your preventive. 



J. I. Johnson, Pahn\ ra, N^. Y. 



To tell the truth we have never used the sec- 

 tion boxes ; but from what we have seen of 

 comb buildiuii", and from the way in which the 

 i)ees built them in the small frames in Mich, 

 last fall, We hardly think they will leave the 

 top bars when they are made to start in the 

 iniddle on the foundation guides. We would 

 bo very much pleased to hear from our Midi, 

 friends in the matter; do the bees trouble you 

 by connecting the frames? and what guides 

 do you use? if bits of comb, how large ? and 

 do you ever lind it necessary to give them very 

 large guides to Hi^iA'c them put just one comb 

 in each frame V You see we are going to turn 

 about, and ask as many questions of you as 

 you do of us. We can make a sure thing of it 

 by giving them a sheet of foundation that tiUs 

 the whole section box, if they wont go straight 

 otherwise. 



Opened two hives this week, found cicfcs, larva? and 

 scaled brood. Bees carry in flour nearly every day. 

 J. 15. IlAi'P, Owensville, <).,'Jan. 6th, 187C. 



I am a little boy of 15. I have bees and don't quite un- 

 derstand how to treat them to keep them from moths. 

 List sprin'j; I hid 17 hives in April, and before the 12th of 

 July I had only 3 left. When the moths came to the hives 

 the'bees left honey and all. Alonzo Walker. 



Enterprise, Ontario, Cxnada, Jan. 18, 187G. 



Now you certainly must have made some 

 mistake, young friend, in laying the blame to 

 the luoth-miller, for they hardly commence 

 work before June or July. We think your 

 liees had only the usual "spring dwindling" 

 that seems to have made so much trouble for 

 the past few years, which even yet, remains 

 unaccounted for. 



the season. The two queens staid in that hive until 

 some time in AuKust when I divided the bees, givlnjr 

 each a iiueen. I have them both yet, one as good as 

 the other, apparently. Now that hive was as good as 

 any two others in the yar<l. What I want to know is 

 how to manage to get two i(neens in one swarm, anil 

 have them (;arry on business as those two did, when- 

 ever one chooses. 



I have found a man out here who is positive he has 

 discovered a sure process ol wintering and si)ringing 

 bees. It is burying or trenching without any ventila- 

 tion whatevf r. more than the earth gives them. He 

 says he has tried it for four years, and that they come 

 out as strong and free from disease as when they are 

 put In. (Juite a number of his neighbors are trying 

 his process this winter. I shall watch and see "how 

 they succeed. The bees are to be biirieci out of reach 

 of frost. James Scott. 



K]) worth, Iowa. 



We have frequently found two queens in the 

 same hive as you mention: but they are only 

 exceptions to the general rule, if we except 

 mother and daughter working side by side. 

 This i"! so common that we are inclined to 

 call it the usual way when a (lueen is to be re- 

 newed in a hive. As this same feature has 

 caused much trouble in introducing queens, 

 it is always best to examine the liive, if we 

 have a queen of much value, before releasing 

 her, to see if there is still an excra one at lib- 

 erty. We have freciuently put queens hatched 

 in the lamp nursery, into hives containing a 

 queen ; but they are generally killed sooner or 

 later, though sometimes not until they are sev- 

 eral days old. Burying bees is nothing new, 

 and is perhaps the very safest way, if your soil 

 is perfect!}^ dry, such as a sandy hillside ; as 

 I good cellars amount to nearly the same thing, 

 and are much less trouble, they are in more 

 general use. In wet clay soil, it is quite dif- 

 ficult to make cellars below ground that are 

 suflicieutly dry. 



We have seven colonies ; some are in hives with mova- 

 ble frames ; size about 12x1-2 inches, which we think too 

 lirge, as one broke down la.si: summer and drowned a 

 whole colonv before we knew it. jMrs. Ebeeman. 



Merrimcc Point. 111., Jan. 31, 187t;. 



We think the hive mentioned must have 

 been of some dark color, or that it must have 

 stood directly in the sun ; possibly both. We 

 once liad a hive painted nearly black ; the sun 

 melted the combs down as you mention, but 

 after painting it over wliite, we had no more 

 such trouble. Hives should always be shaded 

 in the hottest part of the summer, and we 

 know of nothing that does it so nicely, and 

 just at the proper time, as grape vines. When 

 the comb-i are first built, some care may be 

 needed with a frame 13 inches deep, but after 

 the first season they seldom break. 



I sent mv comb honey last fall, to a commission mer- 

 chant in X. Y. It was "in the Geo. T. Wheeler boxes, 

 with a glass each side of the comb. They weighed 

 about two lbs., net. and two and a half gross. They 

 sold at 30 cents, gross, ;!nd the cash came promptly. 

 It netted mc between 20 and 27 cents gross. My ex- 

 tracted I sold at home for 20 cents. I hope you will bo 

 able to report about the saws in the next number of 

 Gle.\nin(;s, as I don't like to wait longer than that, 

 before getting one. E. Kimtton. 



Cedar Creek, N. J., Feb. 7th, 1876. 



G3t hammjr and nails and fasten that shelf, and don't 

 1)3 so awkw.ird next time you wish to get your bees out. 

 If one c in only keep cool, he will never have much trouble 

 witli b30.^, or .anythin;;; else. But uufortumtely we will 

 "bnil ovpr" onct; in a while. W. F. Coats. 



Columbus, Ind. 



If we nail the shelves fcist we can not well 

 put them in the loft in the summer. We are 

 making huge resolves to do better every day, 

 and we think we really are making a little pro- 

 gress. 



I must tell you about one of my hives which man- 

 aged things a little contrary to bee gos|)el. In exam- 

 ining them some lime in the latter part of ]May or lirst 

 of .J line, I drew out a carl of comb with two ijuecns 

 on it, both large nice yellow ones. Of course I took 

 consilerable interest in that hive for the balance of 



As .vou hit my view so exactly on feeding bees in winter. 

 I want to con?;ratulate you on the same. I have fed weak 

 coloiiips in winter for the bist four years, with good suc- 

 cess, on stick candy, and I'll tell yon what I think is a lit- 

 tle bettor; candied honey if .vou have it. 



Ky the by, did you ever hear of carving rations for bees "r* 

 That is just what I am doing. Do you remember I told 

 yon last autumn my bees were short of stores? I dare 

 not tell you what a lot of candy I bought and fed thent 

 this winter. 



Some timi> i!i Jaiiunry, I received a card from Charles 

 Muth, Cincinnati, askiu:;- a saiiipf> of my honey, which he 

 pronounced good clover, olt'ering me 15c. per lb., delivered. 

 Now, would you not think me a little insane to ship my 

 honey to Cincinnati, pay freight on same, throw in one of 

 your good oak barrels — one 1 bousht of you — .and take it 

 ten miles (nnid only one foot deep,) to the station : Thai 

 w.as too much work for me. I am retailing what candy 1 

 have left, in my store at 2.5c., and have opened a barrel of 

 hone.y whii'h is the nicest I ever saw. and solid as a cheese. 

 I take my lonir cirviiij; kiiifi' and give a good slice to each 

 one that 'needs it. I think it better than c;indy. 



The last hea\y rains we had, made my cellar too damp 

 for bees. I took them out. They have had a good fly. 

 and arc in a much better condition than I expected to find 

 them. Wm. Payne. 



Spencer, O. Peb. Sth, 1875. 



Have kojit bees three seasons. Last winter all came 

 through safely — 31 colonies. Have received over S^lOO for 

 bees, and .S200 for honey, and have now in winter ciuar- 

 ters, (in cellar) in line condition, 37 colonies. 



Polo, Ills., Feb. 5, 1870. J. C. Allaben. 



