1870 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



290 



ty of room in the supers— both boxes and frames- 

 still they would fill up the brood space as fast as the 

 bees came forth, so as utterly to preclude breeding. 

 By extracting I kept the brood chamber replete with 

 brood, while by orailting the same, breeding stopped 

 entirely. I found, too, that thi-j sent the queen into 

 the supers, where she would lay if there was a possi- 

 ble chance ; whereas she rem.iined below entirely 

 when room was given her in tlie brood chamber. 



POLLEN A 1!KQLILSITE TO UROOD KEAUING. 



The lact that there was no brood reared in colonies 

 destitute of pollen till the bees had gathered and 

 stored some, seem? a positive demonstration that pol- 

 len is an essential element of the food of the larva% 

 though it is not required by the mature bees. The 

 rapid increase of brood in the spring would also indi- 

 cate that it is as well, if not best, that the bees have 

 no pollen till they can fly out in spring. 



FEEDING MEAL. 



The observations tlie past spring, sustained also by 

 those of 1874, show tliat bees are pretty apt to be able 

 to gatlier i^oUen as soon as it is best for them to fly in 

 the spring,— by the middle of April,— and that feeding 

 meal is unnecessary. 



EVERGREEN.S FOR SHADE. 



Evergreens for shading the colonies, especially 

 Nor vvay spruce, not only serve an exeellent purpose, 

 but can be trimmed so as to make the apiary grounds 

 very attractive from their beauty, and are to be 

 strongly rscommended. 



SAWDUST ABOUT THE HIVES. 



The sawdust about the hives, underlaid with brick, 

 by keeping the grass down serves an excellent pur- 

 pose, at it enables one to see at once any bees that fall 

 ujjon it, and thus ensures against loss of queen. 



LATE FALL FEEDING. 



As all the bees wintered so well during the past 

 winter, I could see no special diflercnce between 

 those fed late the previous fall and those that were 

 not. All bred so late as to vitiate the experiment. 



HONET PLANTS. 



The experiei'.ce of the summer sliows that the fol- 

 lowing honey plants not only yield well, but that they 

 bloom from early in July till autumn, covering a pe- 

 riod when there is a dearth of native lioney bloom : 

 mignonette, borage, and black mustard. Chinese 

 mustard is inferior to black mustard. It blooms ear- 

 lier and the bloom fades away much sooner. Sun- 

 flowers are unworthy cultivation, while the Rocky 

 mountain bee plant blooms too late to be valuable 

 where there is plenty of fall bloom native to the re- 

 gion. With no native bloom to furnish autumn hon- 

 ey, it would be valuable. All of the above do well on 

 light sandy soil. 



GOLDEN-ROD HONEY. 



Our autumn experience proves that golden-rod 

 honey, though rather dark, is of very superior flavor. 

 Several good judges have prononnced it superior even 

 to linn or white clover. A. J. Cook. 



P. fi.—AU labor was performed by studenta. 



FROM DOOI.ITXL,E. 



^^^I'R bees are ready for winter with the exception of 

 mM of putting about half of them in our "mud hut" as 

 some feel disposed to call the plan given on page 

 13'2, Vol. II. After getting our bees in just the conditicn 

 to suit us, we find we have 10 1 loft. Some of our friends 

 seem surprised that we should recommend a hive as small 

 as the one we use holding but i) Gallup frames. Perhaps 

 they will think us more insane than ever when we tell 

 them that in 1871 we averaged but O2 frames to the hive, 



in 1875 but 7 frames to the hive ; and now after all our 

 doubling back we tind we only average HK worker combs 

 to the hive. We hope next year to get up to 9 frames. 

 Our hives are so constructed that wo secure surplus honey 

 from nearly every thing down to a 3 frame nucleus, and 

 this in boxes. E. GJallup told us years ago that 3 frames 

 M'itli queen, and bees to cover them well was a swarm to 

 all intent and purposes, and such a swarm will store just 

 as much box honey in accordance with their numbers as 

 one that would fully occupy 12 or 15 Gallup frames. The 

 idea is, keep all hands at work, and if they can do noth- 

 ing else they can build comb. 



We are frequently asked about our boxes that we use, 

 and would say here to all, that they originated with N. N. 

 Betsinger, of Marcellus, N. Y. ; that thev are not patent- 

 ed, and that all Mr. Betsinger desires is that proper cred- 

 it is given him as the originator and inventor of said box. 

 This box is termed by some, the "SjTacuse style'' of box, 

 for the simple reason that Mr. B. and myself with a few 

 smaller ajiiarians in this locality have sold our honey to :i 

 wholesale dealer in honey in Syracuse, he shipping to all 

 part* of this state, Pennsylvania, and most of the Eastern 

 states. This box wher. flUed, sells 5 cts. per lb. higher in 

 our Eastern markets than the common 6 lb. Langstroth 

 box, and 2 cts. higher than the 3 lb. Alley box. No\ id- 

 would have you understand on page 278. that one-third of 

 our honey crop was wood and glass, which shows that he 

 is not thoroughly posted in regard to the matter. These 

 boxes are only used in connection with the separators 

 and are so constructed that when glassed, Iha glass comes 

 within 1-32 of an inch of the honey, thereby getting the 

 greatest possible amount of honey within the least possi- 

 ble space. If any person does not wish to sell glass, they 

 are certainly better for packing for transpcrtation than 

 any other section box in market, as every comb is just 

 such a thickness and can by no possible means be built so 

 as to touch any other comb. In regard to the selling of 

 our boxes, as we sell them glassed, compared with that 

 sold nnglassed, we will quote from the New York price 

 current of Oct. 18th, 1876. "The feature in this market is 

 the arrival of 10 car loads from San Diego, Cal. The hon- 

 ey is handsome but the style is not quite as well liked as 

 that of our domestic honey. The small boxes contain but 

 a single comb but it is not protected by glass. This saves 

 the buyer something in tare but the comb is not so well 

 in-ote;ted." Our aim ha^ been to please the people and 

 we are well pleased with the results. 



Novice says we use haul wood ends. This is so, but 

 said hard wood is nearly as light as some soft wood 

 (swamp elm being the lightest of all hard wood) and is 

 only used because the tins that bend over the glass when 

 filled, will persist in drawing out of soft wood during the 

 operation. When filled the box holds 2 V lbs., and Si oz. 

 of this amount is wood and glass. 



Novice asks, page 2t,'5, what our starters probably cost 

 us. We should say not over 50 cents per lb., taking every 

 thing into consideration. 3Ioi-t of them are built at limes 

 when the bee would not work in boxes at all, namely 

 from apple blossoms, dandelion and buckwheat. This i-t 

 the time to get your comb for starters built and we should 

 consider it a very poor ajjiarian that could not get a ijound 

 built fi-oiK each stock during the season and not reduci; 

 the amount of his box honey more than one per cent. 

 Buckwheat honey is at present wholly or nearly unsa- 

 lable, and wilh a good yield 2 lbs. tf nice starters could 

 be secured with ease from each stock during its flowering. 



We were not a little surprised at what was said on page 

 280 about moving bees. Would it not be a much better 

 way to wait till after the bees had just had a fly and then 

 as soon as it became cool again move them? Bees that 

 have not had a fly for several weeks are generally loaded 

 with their f»ces and as soon as they are disturbed, they 

 always fill themselves with honey and if they should not 

 havc'a chance to fly soon, they would certainly have the 

 dvscntery. So it looks to us at least, from the experience 

 wV have liad. <t. M. Doouttle. 



Borodino, N. Y., Nov. 15lh, 187t3. 



