108 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



My bees have wintered liiiel.v, none lest, :ill liculthy. I 

 liave arranged my hive for out-dcor wintering'; I e;dl it 

 ihc Cejitcniiial hive. The sticecss t have Ir.id with U, war- 

 rants me in i<;i,\iii(r that any one can winter liees in it .suc- 

 cessfully in our liardest winters. I fed one all winter, 

 iiico in five day.s. Kept away the pollen mostly, and they 

 bred none ti'l A))ril 7th. Several things broufrht al)out the 

 l)cst result that I have ever seen in wintering ; that knot- 

 ly question, wintering, is solved with me. The Centenni- 

 al does it most surely ; those who visit me can see it. j 

 JoHK L. Davis, Delhi, Mich., Api il lOtli, '70. 



But friend D., if we are correct, you have | 

 never had any trouble in wintering. If the i 

 Ceuteiinial hive will enable us novices to win- ! 

 ter as well, it will truly be a boon. j 



How would it do to form an artilicial swarm by taking 

 'wo frames of brood hum a strong stork and j.utling them 

 in an empty hive, with a fertile t|ueen, and two frames of 

 comb foundation, one at each side ; i>lacing the hive 

 where the old one stood '; Would this be drawing too hard 

 • •n the old swarm? We might push the brood together, 

 and put two frames with artilicial comb at the side to fill 

 the old hive again ; or is it better to ]iut them iir the cen- 

 t re of the brood nest ? 



15. G. Stauffee, IJachmansville, I'a. 



We made just such an experiment last fall, 

 and the bees bulged the foundations badly, be- 

 cause they commenced work on one side only. 

 We are inclined to think they should be placed 

 in the centre of a strong stock. This plan ol 

 dividing is perhaps as good as any, if you can 

 give both stocks a fertile queen at once. Has 

 any one tried giving a natural swarm a hive 

 furnished with foundations 'i If so, tell us how 

 it answered. 



What is the matter with my bees? Xo. 1!), a good 

 >\vaim with honey, bee bread, clean combs, clean hive, a 

 fertile queen, eggs and breed, wintered on summer stand, 

 (ame out March 30th, and went back. April 1th, came 

 out again twice, and went back. April (iih, came out 

 again, and No. ."2 came out and went in with them. 

 Pound queen of 32 hi front ol old hive ; caught her and 

 put her in ly, and next morning she was dead. April 7ih, 

 111 swarmed out again ; also 3(5, both went into It) ; 32 and 

 .'iO both left clean hivcj, honey, bee bn ad, larvic and eggs. 

 April iUh. Xo. l(i has honey, clean combs, bee breatl, 

 larvae and eggs, but no bees ; expect they have gone into 

 111 too, for it is a very strong swarm. Now can you assign 

 any cause for such freaks V I never have had such luck 

 bifore. Has any of your readers ever been so unfortunate? 

 and what is the remedy ? 



Last spring, after tossing 33 per cent, April 1st, 1875, I 

 had 20 colonies left, worth §280,00. E.\tracted 1500 lbs. 

 Iioney, sold at 20 cents, ?300,00. Increased 25 colonies 

 April 1st, lS7(i, worth without counting cost of hives, $7.00 

 (.'acli, 5175,00. Total receipts from ajiiary, $ t75,00. 



Our honey harvest lasted only a few days. Aug. 2Uli, I 

 used the extractor first, and Sept. 8th, the last time. My 

 best hive gave mo 122 lbs. in that time. 



John V. Laffeety, Martinsville, Ills. 



We are sorry to say w^e can offer no reason 

 for such conduct ; and worse than all, we 

 know of no remedy for a case like the one you 

 have stated. We have been inclining to "the 

 idea that in-door wintering was one cause of 

 it, but we fear we shall have to give even that 

 up. Two of our own colonies that were in ex- 

 cellent trim, were found absent a few days ago, 

 and as the robbers were carrying off their un- 

 sealed stores, we can only "suppose them to 

 have swarmed out and gone in with others, or 



worse still, to parts unknown. Glail to know 

 you are doing so well in spite o:' ditHculties. 



P. S. — For .some strange cause, bees seem in- 

 clined in swarming to cluster in some spot 

 where other swarms have clustered, and hence 

 the fatality atccudiug "No. ID." 



I have wintered 28 stocks out of doors, and all camo 

 through all light. Well Novice, you seem to have most 

 everything necessary to successful bee culture advertised 

 for sale, except cellars for wintei ing. I think if you could 

 get up a good cheap dry cellar for wintering, it wcndd be a 

 good thing, as cellars are a scarce article out West. I say, 

 go on with your experiments. 



Ei). Wellington-, llivort(.n, Iowa. April 11th, '"(<. 



Very true, and we fear the most difficult part, 

 is to have them dry. As we have now, pretty 

 well satisfied ourselves that lots of bees is not 

 always a jireventive of the dwindling, we are 

 going to have the subject of dampness for our 

 ne.xt liobby. The bees that could see the stars 

 aU winter, "dwindled ;" and some that had a 

 piece of stout thick canvas over the ((uilt, got 

 so damj) and mouldy that tlicy died in heaps. 

 Those in the Universal hive, are .so far, the 

 most to our liking of any, for the animal heat 

 of the bees seems to dry off' the dampness from 

 the thin unpainted wood, under all circum- 

 stances. 



We are so much pleased with friend Cary's 

 circular, that we give it entire. By the way, 

 can not something be done about a uniform 

 scale of prices '? If all use imported mothers, 

 there can not be a very great difference. We 

 think these prices just about right. 



IGTU annual CIKCULAE of ITALIAN iJlTEEN ItEES. 



To my ptitrons, and others, interested in Bee Culture. 

 I commenced propagating Italian bees in .Ma.v, 1800, and 

 have pui'Mied the business each year since. .Viy hrst im- 

 pulse was 10 breed queens with abdomens perfectly yel- 

 low. I attained that point in three seasons. I alto lounil 

 that my bees were rrot so strong and vigorous as they were 

 at commencement. I then commenced to import, and to 

 mj joy found their former activity restored. 1 now breed 

 from selected imjiorted mothers froni the best districis in 

 Italy. Some of them cost mo over tweniy dollars each. 

 Persons jnnchasing queens or bees of mo will get just 

 what they bargain for. 



My hives are all numbered, and duplicate numbers put 

 on each j>ackage, and a record ktpt of evei-y queen shipped 

 from my apiary. If an.v prove impure I shall know it be- 

 fore the purchaser, and give notice at once. All 

 (|ueens sold by mo are warranted pure and fertile. Safe 

 arrival by mail, or express guaranteed. In order that per- 

 sons may avail thcmsehes of this guarantee in case of ac- 

 cident, they must in all cases notify me by return mail. 



PEICE LIST. 



One queen, whose worker progeny has hatched and 

 shows aU ihe desirable markings, when well filled ^vith 

 honey, $3,00. One queen, kirown to be fertile, which has 

 filled several combs with eggs. $2,00. Ten, to one address, 

 10 per cent discount. 1 can furnish dollar queens. If you 

 order such, rememlier there is no guarantee, except that 

 they are from pure mothers. 



Orders, widi the cash accompanying, arc recorded as 

 soon as recci\ed, and filled in rotation. No preferred cus- 

 tomers. Money can be sent at my risk by Draft on New 

 York or lioslon Hanks, Post Ollice Money Orders, payable 

 to me at Shelburno Palls, Mass., or Registered Letter. 



There are so many methods for intrcjducing queens, 1 

 feel \ery delicate on that subject. The first and most 

 usual wa.v is to first deprive the colony of their queen. 

 Place the one to be introduced in a small wire cage ; sus- 

 pend the cage with queen between two combs in the most 

 liojiulous part of the hive b.v using a small wire. In -18 

 hours liberate her by opening one end of the ca.ge. Use a 

 little smoke to keep the bees quiet. If a colony have no 

 mciins of .supjj),\ing themselves with a queen, almost any 

 method is succi'ssful. 



W,M. W. Caet, Coleraine, Franklhi Co., Ma.ss, 



I can raise comb as cheap as Perrine's price.s. 



G. M. DooLiTTLE, Borodino, N. Y. 



