mi^ 



C^LEANINGS IM BEE CULTURE. 



1% 



^iven in Vol. I, and we have nothinjr to add, 

 'unless it be to jrive a caution about using ros- 

 in with wax. The rosin will spoil the fiavor of 

 the hoiiey in time, ami i« spite of our repeated 

 warnings, wo notice the Mn^uiue has recently 

 :.given it%i recommend. With the^expf rieuce we 

 have had with paraffine, we think it will an- 

 ■swer excellently, and it is consideribly cbeap- 

 ■er than wax. Melt about a gallon, i)onr it in- 

 to the barrel and drive in the bung. Roll it 

 •ovf r and back again, twirl it on t^ne end and 

 then on th-e other, and be sure every portiOE 

 ■of the inside is well coated; if th« barrel is 

 tight, the byng should wh-eu loosened fly out 

 •with an explosion, caused by the expansion of 

 the air when -shak-en up with the heated was or 

 paraffine. This same operation causes it to 

 «nter and All every crack ^.u-d •crevice. Al- 

 most any barrel will do for honey when thus 

 treated, if it is sufficiently strong. Remem- 

 ber that honey is very heavy. Eleven swarms 

 'in one clrister is rather aiiead of ws; can any 

 one else match it? 



I took off on Saturday, tYie balk of mj^lioney harvest, 

 a. little over 3CO0 lbs. from 2i stands. There are sever- 

 al hHnch'ctl po\mds yet on my stands ready to take off, 

 .und honey is still coming in. Carry has almost double 

 the quantity of honey, from his '25 stands, and Hill, 

 ■whom I saw yesterday, has perhaijs the prettiest crop 

 of comb feoRCy, and extracted, in the state of Ohio. I 

 Slope he will make a rejwrt this fall. Take it for 

 .:? ranted that his comb honey will pass for a pattern to 

 go by. C. F. M'lTTH, Cincinnati, O., July Kth, '76. 



DEAE, NOVICE :— Bees are doing finely now, when the 

 T,-)\u will iet them, inggin? in white ciover koney, sticking 

 ilie VjroodHest all fuU of it. Our stocks are all strong in 

 lirood and bees. Put VI into winter quarters, lost one— 

 Tiueeniess", have so!d two, now have 1.3, and will be ma- 

 ^iiing moi-e right aions. It looks like the higfr^est honey 

 •ooasoii we have ever hnd here,, if it holds (mX. as it has be- 

 «un. I never knew how handy r&y extractor was till I 

 ■sold it and now have to borrow my neigkbor"'s tili I can 

 >.'et my new one finished. 



Friend Doolittle says, "Prom afi light we can get, wil- 

 Kow produces no pollen, more than does the pumpkin or 

 itquash.^ We have always tiiought melon vines were the 

 no plus nit i-<x iov x>o\\in, seeing the l)ees just rolling in 

 them, all covered over with It. Guess friend D. must 

 5iave a queer kind of melon or bees, I don't know which. 

 We make the entrance to all our hives just | inch high 

 mid are never trovibled witli mice, tho' wo pack in straw 

 ;tnd chaff. 



Like you, Novice, we have bev^ome heartily sick of feed- 

 ing bees, and have resolved that hereafter "we'll none of 

 it," but have honey enough in the hives at ail times of the 

 year to keep the bees for months if need be. 



We, too, use the sawdust wiieii wo can get it, but have 

 never had any fire from it for we sprinkle it on light and 

 •often, so it is too damp to take fire, but still enough of it 

 to keep n^s out of the mud. 



Our eyes are good, and mtli sympathy for the old folks 

 and weak eyes, we say give us the small type and lots of 

 reading. Can't spare «W7/ of my Gleanings "no how."" 

 Will. M. Kellogg, 

 V. S.— I handle other bees than our own, and have al- 

 ready got out over 500 lbs., mostly extracted. Uees are 

 swarming all round us, but none of it in our own yard. 

 W. M. K., Oneida, 111., July lOtli, 76. 



liees doing finely so far, made Ihirty thousand lbs 

 of honey. To sell, that is what gets us, here in Cal. 

 E. E. SiiATiLCK, Los Ai;gcles, July lit, "70. 



Basswood is new in fuU bloom and it is raining ev- 

 ery day as usual ; the wettest season ever known, wc 

 have hardly seen the sun her« this summer. Bees 

 swarming to beat anything I ever saw. I reared two 

 queens from the brood 1 got of you. Hikajm Roor. 



€arson €lty., Mich. July 12th, 1876. 



The case of sections and foundations came to hand 

 safely, in due time. We were so well pleased -vi^tli them 

 that wc spent part of our Ceii'teimial Fourth fitting the 

 foundations in the sections. 



Llans (ray brother-in-law) and I then took them to his 

 place, as he had Simplicities, and put them on one of Ms 

 strongest two-story liives. Tire bees were working like 

 Sixty in the upper story-, we shook them 'be^ow, took 

 away the ^ory and put on the case. The bees soon 

 crowiJ-Kl back and fdled it. Wo took ofT our hats and 

 hurrahed for liberty and foundation comb. The bargain 

 was that I was to give hnn as manj- pounds of extracted 

 honey as his bees would make in my sections. He was to 

 have the premiums the honey would be sure to take at 

 two or three fiiirs near here ; I was to ha-\ e the proceeds 

 of the honey sold, and Novice wa« to have the glory. 



Well, we had lots oi' trouble getting the foundations in. 

 The,y bagged and budged and crooked and waved, and 

 after w<3 put them on the hive they kinked worse than 

 ever. The next morning the bees went below disgusted, 

 A few bees would come up and walk around on those 

 crooked foundations, and r-em&rk, 



"Well, what numbskull has betu been lurnashing -our 

 upper chsimbers with this kinky stuff ? Where are those 

 straight combs that we have taken so much pains to 

 build, and were so proud of ? As for these things, we 

 will have none of them. Let's cut them out." 



And cut it out they wrould, it Hans had not discovered 

 them, and takcji them oil. He tkeJi took the founda- 

 tions out, waxed them in straight, as per last Gleanings, 

 which had not conje to hand the 4tli, and put them on a 

 strong colony just ready for an upper story. But, no, sir ! 

 Move up they wouldji't, and the premiums tliat were to 

 have been taken, and the proceeds that were to have lined 

 my pockets, and the glory that was to have made illustri- 

 ous the name of Novice, are, and I am afraid will be 

 minus. 



However, I don't throw away my gun for one snap, and 

 before Fall I may sing a different tunc about founda- 

 tions. R- L. Joiner. 



Wyoming, Wis., July 15th, 1870. 



Bees are doing well this season. So far, it is the 

 best season wc have had for ten years. Why do bees 

 run all over the outside of the hive? Sometimes they 

 .seem all quiet, then another stock will start up and 

 chase all round the hive. I have 1 gueenless hive ; 

 they do not run around so. None of the bee-keepers 

 here can give any reason for their doing so. 



G. Dkevv, Bunker Hill, 111., July 10th, 1876. 



We can give no reason for the bees cluster- 

 ing on, or running over the outside of the hive, 

 unless it is the very warm weather; and per- 

 haps thin hives that are exposed to the sun. 

 Are you sure they have plenty of room to work 

 inside 'i After tho honey harvest is over, and 

 there is nothing especiaMor Ihem to do, they 

 sometimes have a queer fashion of scraping olf 

 the surface of the wood around the entrance 

 by running backvvard. When a number of 

 them are doing this together, their appearance 

 i.s so singular as to call forth much inquiry 

 from visitors. ____________ 



Bees have done very poorly in this section. The 

 sourwood, usually our main dependence, is an entire 

 failure. C. L. Stuatton. 



Kno.wille, Tenu,, July 17th, 187G. 



