^I 



GLEANINGS IN FEE CUXTLTiE. 



Nov. 



In answer to J. Johnson's <i,aery on i)age 56 of 

 SLEAXixfi-3,- 1 will say tbat I have used IV. L, Adair-s- 

 section boxes for six years, seeiions 5x6sli inches, 'J 

 section's in ft clan^i), and to be sure of having straight 

 eomb c\'ei'y tim'e, the gu?le (ron>b sbouUi be at least 4 

 jnchejlwig, or betteiv the full length oi the section. 

 The depth docs not matter j tbey will work straight 

 if there ;^re on-ly two cells, and those mashed flat, ff 

 the centre ridg« is left straight. If a ahort piece is 

 Jiscd, tbey will often run crosswise and sometimes, 5n 

 h'alf circles. 



My bees- have been working on shipstuff ftnd corn 

 meal every wa,rn:t day since the 2.id, of January ;. and 

 I have fomid out to a ce-rtuinty that queealess stocks 

 will not work on meal. I have two hives that have 

 aot carried: a single load this year that I can dfecover, 

 and tbey are both (i,ueenless. Last year I liad 40 

 stands and the fiTSt really good day they had to ily 

 was .liter She middle of March, and that day they 

 carried in 10 lbs. of bolted rye flour mixed with 

 coarse wheat bran. To keep- tbem from swainiping I 

 watched them closely, and two hives did not touch 

 the n>eal. though they were flying as briskly as the 

 others. On cxamiar.tion I foimd both were rjueenless, 

 and they were the only ones in the apiary. 



V. T. SiSiTH, Trenton, Ills. March, lllh, 1S>7(). 



Your Sbarpville correspondent does not like llie 

 flietal corners. Strange I I do not use them, because 

 they Willi not flit my frames, but if I bad reason to 

 make or try new frames, I sliould certainly want the 

 metal corners. Thus fortified the francos cannot gi<i 

 out of shape by any fair u&agev and they must liar.g 

 perpendicularly and imiformly and stand from each 

 otlier wilhont the neccessity of cIrSving shingle nails 

 )nto or in.ssrtJng wedges between the bottoms to keep 

 them apai t. J. H. P. 



1 am a novice in the bes- business, purchased 75 col- 

 onies in May last, of Mrs. Adam Grimm. I do not get 

 a pound of surplus honey but; have increased to l-lfJ 

 colonies, S'ud at present find my liives ermvded with 

 bees, but with only an average of 15 lbs. of honey to a 

 hive. I take Gluanings, and it has inspired r»e to 

 ask your advice. Tlie weather is very cold, and has 

 been for three weeke ]>a9t. What shall I feed, syrup 

 or candy .' If candj', how mnch, of the kind you 

 make ? I fear to feed syrup if cold weather continues. 

 IVould yon try to feed up to 3f> lbs. pei' hive ? Space 

 or time will not permit asking questions. The situa- 

 tion is, l-iS colonies of bees very strong, 15 lbs. honey 

 per bive, va inter comins? on, weather b.'id and cold. 

 Hives, S fr.ime Langstroth— winter in cellar. How 

 long does it take to ship candy from your place liere ? 

 Dli, S.J. Sawyek. 



Fort Atkinson, Wis., Oct. 5th, '70. 



You maue a rather bad start we Tear, for a 

 Novice, fiieiic) S. If your bees iucreased so 

 much by natural swarming, you are perhaps 

 jiot so much to Wame, but at the present low 

 prices for honey, it would l?e prudent, to kecp- 

 your bees at all times with enough ahead for 

 winter. In other words, remove tilled frames 

 and lay aside for just such contingencies, un- 

 til you have enough to be safe, and then keep 

 increase of stock within such bounds, that 

 you are always safe. These frames of surplus 

 stores need not neccessarily be removed from 

 the hives, but may remain until October in 

 the upper stories where they will be secure 

 from moth. So much for prevention ; the 

 next question is, what is now to be done m 

 the way of cure. As fifteen lbs. will carry 

 -almost ,Tiiv colonv to Aoril 1st. or until thev 



com'mcucB brood rearing, the case is- not so- 

 very bad after all. A?'fry strong cc-iouy, vidip 

 consun-i« twenty Ite, but fifteen ll)s-. o% sealed 

 honey v^xW tmntcr any ordinary stock of bees ^ 

 when their hive is full of brood, tliey will needs 

 th-e ath<;r ten to take them in. goocV strength, 

 up- to frufit blossoms,, birt uo--ao but the 

 very populous, can i?se any such amount. 

 Although it is said that &yra-p can be safely" 

 fed to stocks carefully packed in chaff fit any 

 tiir^ in the Avinter, yet v^e would not advise it 

 after the flr*t of November. All stocks that 

 are deficient now,, we would give caudy, aniB 

 if considerable i;* wanted, yoi» hsid better get 

 your nearest ccmfectioner to n:iake it for you,, 

 and thus save the IVeigbt or express yoit 

 wouki have to pay its. If l>e will not make a 

 nice pure article for fsfteeii cents, i>erhaps youi 

 had better send to us for it. To feed, place it 

 flirec-tly jn, or over the cluster, and cover it 

 over well with a quilt or chafi' cushion. Yout 

 can feed it in the spring, or now, as yoiu 

 choose ;. the former will give you the 

 use of the moiiey ViO days or more, but the- 

 latter if delayed* too long, will let them s-tarve : 

 a very poor investment for a bee-keeix!r to^ 

 make. B-ees can uo-vv be si>pplied wJtli food 

 much easier than any other kind of farm^ 

 stock, for enough candy can e-asily I>e given, 

 at one time to last a mouth or m^ore, and it 

 can l>e given safely, any mouth in the year. 

 Son>e of our very best colonies were last sea- 

 son wintered with their stores at least 3^, 

 candy, and we tried it on a sulOcLeut number, 

 to demonstrate perfectly its safety. Even if 

 the colonies were pitt in ihe cellar, we shoulc^ 

 give them chaff cjuilts, and keep theni well 

 protected in the same way, mitil th<ey were 

 ready to work in si>rpli?s boxes or i>pper 

 stories. 



A circumstajice came under my observaition tha-3 seems 

 to supix)rl tk-e opinion the late Mr. Quiiiby at one time- 

 held; as to Xhe origin oi foul brood (by a .sudden ehill). 1 

 had in June, divided a swarm of biaek bees for the r;<u-- 

 ix>se of getting queen celfe on a eomb Jrom pure Italians 

 aixl I did not set the old stock far eiiough irom the old 

 stand, to prevent nx)8t of the old bees from going back. 

 The weatber being warm, I thought the sealed broo(5 

 ATOuld soon furnish bees enough. In about two weeks 1 

 noticed that the bi-ood in the outside comb did not hatch 

 property, and gradually holes came in the caps; 1 theii 

 examined closely and found, perhaps lOO cells of dead 

 broDd, showing all the characteristics of foul brood ay- 

 ennmerated by the books. I picked out all surti, and left 

 the comb in for experiment, there being then no dan.irer 

 of its spreading by robbing. I soon had a young queen 

 l.iying in the hive. It is prosperous now, and I have seeu 

 nothing dead in it since. Now it may have become 

 chillecl during some night, causing the bees to crowd clo- 

 ser together, leaving the brood on the outside eomb ex- 

 posed. I can at least see no other explanation of the 

 m.Ttter. Bees have had a good season here as in other 

 places. Henry Rofkar. 



Catawba Island, O., Sept. 11, 76. 



We do not see any reason to consider that 

 there was foul brood in your case ; it is not 

 an uncommon thing to find brood chilled uii- 

 der such circumstances, yet we very much 

 dou'oi wliether foul broad results therefrom. 

 It i.-< a fungoid growth, and unless the seed- of 

 the diieasc are by somj mcan^ brought int!> 

 the hive, it is dlilicult to imagine how it sho:ild 

 net tlurj. 



