16i 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jui^v 



What is a mm to do when his baes have by roV)bing, 

 destroyed or taken the bees from two other bives? 

 Would you put on the upper story, or divide ? There is 

 not a droiie in sizht yet. I tnitisfeiTeil all into the: Univ- 

 ersal bives and took out all' drone comb. Would it be 

 «afe to make nucleus svrarms under these conditions? 

 Th^y have the bottom story full of bees aad honey. I 

 have but 9 frames below, could )K>t get the 10th in. 



A. Wilder. Sandwich, Ills. May, 22n(i. 



If we wauted houey, would put on the upper 

 story or boxes ; but if we wanted increase, di- 

 vide. After such a time of robbing however, 

 we should wait awhile ]>efore making divi- 

 sions. It is rather unwise to undertake any 

 kind of artificial swarming or dividing at a 

 season' when bees will rob. Put the 9 conabs as 

 close tocrether as you well can after transfer- 

 ring, and every time you open the hive, yon 

 will find they cau be put a little closer, until 

 they are where they should be, viz., about 1)^ 

 inches from centre to centre. Endeavor every 

 uirae the combs are handled to get each 

 piece straight and true in the frames, and you 

 will soon be surprised at their uniformity. 



XoviCE :— Cin you tell what makes thin honey stand in 

 small drops on the surfac3 of ray bos h :>ney ? H ave had it 

 so several times; sometimes when in the cellar, and at 

 other times when kept in an upper room. My idea is that 

 the honey swells in hot weather and burets the caps. Am 

 I right? H ive seen it only on early feathered honey. A 

 box that took the premium at our fiir, had to be put on a 

 hive, for the bees to clean o:T before it was taken. 



J. L. WoLFENDEN. Adams,Wis. 



We supposed that it was only in damp cold 

 rooms that these drops collected on comb hon- 

 ey, but we may Ije mistaken. Comb honey, if 

 we are correct, should be kept dry, and neith- 

 er too warm nor to cold ; freezing especiall}" 

 to be avoided. Cannot some of our "doctors" 

 tell us "vThat's the matter" ? Mr. Doolittle 

 we believe, sells his houey before it has time 

 to be troublesome ? How is is friend D. ? Do 

 you ever have to fuss with brimstone and oth- 

 er troubles among your comb honey ? 



if the alsike will answer as well in other respects, r 

 would like to get it for my bees. E- Ar»stroxg. 



Jerseyville, Ills, Feb. ISth. 1S76. 



A friend at our ellx)W who has had much 

 experience, says alsike clover makes- l>etter 

 pasture, and stands winter full as well as the 

 red, but does not produce as much hay on or- 

 dinaiy upland ; although it produces at times- 

 extra orclinaiy crops on low lands that ar,e 

 jiTst suited to it. Either crop produces seed if 

 allowed, but it is- not equal to the red as a pul- 

 verizer of the soil, as it has DO tap root, like- 

 the red, running down into the earth several 

 feet. 



I Out of 55 swarms put in the cc-llafr, I lost one by care- 

 I lessly letting it starve. One dwindled, and swarmeil 

 j out after setting out, and one I i>acked in chaflf ami 

 I left out doors, antl that also dwitKJled. So I lost only 

 I 3 : the rest aremostl)- doing well now. 

 I J. H. BlARTiK. Hartford, N. Y. 



I Tliere I Down goes ou r neir hobby ! Won - 

 i der if it could be that friend M. used genuniiie 

 1 oat chaff and did it right? If neither chaff, 

 I house apiaries, cold frames, nor Tiot hech, are 

 i going to prevent dwindling w hat are we to doV 

 j Boiin won't help at all, but just makes fun 

 ! about it. 



i At 5 F. M. yesterday, I bad a rousing swarm iroin 

 \ my double cased hive, which lias stood out doors sum- 

 I mer and winter, and never failed to give me some bos 

 i honey since 18(». T. G. McGaw. 



i Monmouth, Ills. May iind. If-TO. 



j There now I Was the space not filled with 

 ioat chaff friend M. ? 



j Kec'd Extractor, O. K- I took ten galJons honey frcn. 

 ! three hives, yesterday, that gave me four and a half se\eii 

 i days beSore. G. W. Gates, 



i Bartlett, Tenn., May 3st, 1S76. 



I We work our Ijees for box honey and get it, too. Had 

 I i\ stocks in spring a year ago, got 1700 lbs. bone.v ami 

 I doubled our stock, Winteretl out-doors. 



Z, CniTXENi>E5, Cheshire, Mich., Jan. 1st, "vt'.. 



Can queens be safely kept any length of time desirable, 

 alone, without a few other bees for company, provided of 

 course that they are supplied with food and kept in a suit- 

 able temperature? I notice byDadant's advertisement 

 that he winters 60 queens. Does he find it neccessary to 

 give them company, as above, or how does he do it ? Can 

 queens that have never seen other bees, be wintered or 

 summered together without destroying one another? 

 The practicabilily of this last mentioned idea I believe was 

 suggested to me by something I read in one of .>our papers. 

 S, R. Leonard. WalUngford, Ct, Feb. 9th.lS7t3 



Queens can only be kept over winter in full 

 colonies, and many of us find it quite a task to 

 do even that. We have kept queens in a cage 

 on top of the frames in the summer time, a 

 month or more, but believe they will not live 

 very long if deprived entirely of bees. We, on 

 one occosion only, found several queens that 

 were hatched in the nursery, on peaceable 

 terms after they were several hours old ; but 

 they would probably have killed each other if 

 allowed their liberty many hours longer. 



Will alsike clover make as good hay, as good pasture, 

 and stand the winter as well as our common red clov- 

 er? and is it the first or second crop that matures the 

 seed? T sow twenty acre? in clover every spring, and 



How can I best utilize strained honey for which I c:ii! 

 find no market ? 

 Feed it to the children and bees. 

 Is it jjossible to make it into candy either alone or with 

 sugar ? If so how ? 



Boil it precisely as you do molasses and 

 work as molasses candy. 



"VMiich will pay best, feeding it to the bees when en- 

 gaged in making hers, honey (woi-th 20 cts. a lb.) oi- 

 making it into vinegar worth 25 cts. a gallon ? 

 We do not know ; try it and report. 

 In making it into vinegar how much honey should l)e 

 used to a gallon of water ? 



About a pint, see page 156, Vol. III. 



Is there .any way to clarify impure honey, makinir ir 

 look like extracted honey ? J. H. P. 



None unless it be to feed it to the bees and 

 then extract it. 



Do you raise the cover of your hive slightly in vvinter for 

 ventilation ? Jons Akslet, Bloomington, Ills. 



No. We have not yet learned that there is 

 need of it. 



I have had three natural swarms already, and have 

 plenty more ready to swarm as soon as the thunder storm 

 passes. N. E. Pkeniice, Castalia, O., May 19th, Ti".. 



