300 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Pec. 



The yellow comb fdn. you sent me last spring, ■worked 

 vatisfactorily except one very pale looking piece of faS in., 

 which bnlgeil during the summer beat ; the yellow fdn. 

 had the cells extended in the best manner and also brootl 

 hatched in some of those new combs. Cokrad Djppie. 



M'atertown, Wis. Nov. 3d. 1876. 



The above refers to the 5 cells to the inch, 

 idn., ami as no adverse reports have l>een re- 

 ceived, we shall have to call it a success, al- 

 though it is packing the young bees a little 

 closer than they do it naturally. It seems 

 there will be quite a saving in getting the 

 brood so closely packed together, and we 

 should be very glad of more reports before 

 another season. While a larger cell will prob- 

 ably l)e better economy for the bulk of our 

 comb honey, yet the scraps from this brood 

 fdn., may be all used up to very good advan- 

 tage for starters, as has b<^en very fully dem- 

 onstrated. As friend Dippel received the fdn. 

 mentioned in March, we can not now recollect 

 in regard to the light sheet mentioned, bnt 

 presume it was some of our first parafRne ex- 

 periments. 



<>ne year ago I bad 95 stocks of bees, and yet at the 

 beginning of this season I had only 63 left. I divided my 

 time between the shop and the apiary, and at the close of 

 the season had 10-1 stocks. And then came along some 

 miserable sneak thieves, and traveled towaril the lower 

 regions, with four heavy stocks, in splendid hives, combs 

 mostly new, and beautifidly straight ! And yet we hear 

 of Universal Salvation ! If that be trne, they will, when 

 they get to the Celestial Paradise, be apt to steal a dia- 

 dem, unless the seraphim and cherubim keep constant 

 guard I The yield of box honey is 2500 lbs gi-oss. 



Here is what the local press says ! 



'■— D. P. Lane, the honey king of this section, W}!1 

 market a ton of honey this season, as the product of his 

 apiary. He sells his honey in the comb, tastily put up in 

 small packages, and it is good enough to eat." 



]>. P. Lane, Koshkonong, Wis. Nov. 8th, 1876. 



P. S. In consequence of this action (stealing) of human 

 hyenas, superadded to the natural risks and losses of 

 Apiculture, I feel blue enough to be a cantlidate for 

 Blasted Hopes. D. P. L. 



Why friend L. yoxi have little cause to feel 

 blue, even if you did lose some of your hard 

 earnings in such an aggravating way. There 

 is one sure and certain remedy for thieving 

 bees and honey, and that is the house apiary. 

 If chaff packing is going to be the thing, it 

 will not be so much more expensive either. 



If was thoroughly understood that the whole comb 

 foundation business was an experiment, and in fact is 

 still, notwithstanding our seeming success the past 

 season. We first bought the paraffine foundations for 

 just what they were, and at a paraffine piice ; and when 

 it proved worthless it was our loss, as, had they proved 

 !i success it would have been our sticcess. Your putting 

 your price at 50 i^er cent less than we could buy else- 

 where showed that you were not simply trying to make 

 money. As a stock-holder in Gleanixgs I protest 

 against your throwing the dollars we send you away in 

 this way, and I do so on purely selfish grounds, as I 

 want you to use it in your experiments in l>ee culture atul 

 print them in (jleanings that I may profit by them. 

 Upon the same grounds I would like to be one of 

 fifty of your subscribers to stand this loss, that fiLEAN- 

 INGS may not suffer bv it. K. B. Bili,iv(;s 



Elmira, N. Y. 



Well really friend B., with such champions 



as yourself; and those who have sent iis simi- 

 lar letters, it would seem we might learn dis- 

 cretion. You can hardly realize bow much 

 we appreciate the kind spirit in which yous 

 offer to stand the loss that resulted from our 

 own carelessness ,- bi7t since we "-left the door 

 unlocked" ourselves, we cannot tbiok of let- 

 ting our friends suffer in our place. If you 

 entrust us with your dollars, we will promise 

 to hold them faithfully, and we prefer to have 

 every one who sends a subscription feel that 

 they are a veritable stockholder in Gleanin<^< 

 to that amount. If you wish any new plan 

 tested, any experiment made, or even to see 

 what the "bee ranches" of our successful 

 "stock-holders" look like, express yourself to 

 that effect, and we will do the best we can. 

 Send on as many dollars as you can, but we 

 shall insist that a copy of Gleanings be re- 

 ceived as an equivalent, for each one of them. 



My report for 1876 does not compare well with my 

 others, bnt with your permission I will tell a swarm- 

 ing story. My honey sales for this season amount t<> 

 810*S,05 clear from expense. Sales of bees 64.3;i,05, 

 total $1521,10. I shall try to winter 190 good swarms. 

 I used some of Long's comb fdn. ■which answers every 

 purpose for comb surplus, but my queens will not use 

 them to lay in, neither will young natural swarms 

 stay in a hive containing them ; though small canis ol" 

 brood will start comb building in the sections, when 

 it can be removed to the next hive and so on. Please 

 remember that this card of unsealed brood will bring 

 the comb builders up into the boxes quicker than any 

 other method in the world. Now don't all say at once 

 that this will induce the queen to lay in your boxes, 

 for it will do no such thing if the brood is removed at. 

 the right time. 



In August 1S75, 1 sold one swarm of bees to a trieml 

 living two miles from me. They were pure Italians 

 and had for their home one of those movable comb 

 hives with frames 10 inches square, and 12 frames to 

 the hive. He now has ten swarms, 9 of which have .'lO 

 lbs. of honey to the hive, one weak swarm, and one 

 flew away to the woods ; all from this one. He hafl 

 no dry combs to work, and no feeding done. The one 

 tliat flew away left early in haying time. 



HiK.\M Roop, Carson City, Mich., Oct. 21), "f,. 



Your notes on page 272 bring to mind what I observed 

 and supposed to be drones after a virgin queen. I wa«-- 

 harvesting on a hill and heard what I at first supposed to 

 be a swarm of bees, but looking in the direction of the 

 sound saw what appeared to be drones flying in a nucleus 

 alK)ut as large as a hat brim. They flew very swiftly and 

 in all directions, sometimes within twenty feet of tlv! 

 ground, then very much higher, always keeping in a com- 

 pact b(xly and looking like bees settling in swarming 

 time. I followed them for 200 yards and lost sight of 

 them. One of my neighbors told me that a lot of drones 

 came to the ground in a field where he was working corn, 

 and remained for a short time. I have seen drones 

 chasing worker bees, on a cool day when they were pass- 

 ing over a hiU to work. When drones fly I think they 

 spread over the whole country as the sound they make 

 in a summer afternoon would indicate. I have seen ants 

 coming out of their holes, small winged, and large ones 

 about three o'clock on a sunny afternoon in September, 

 filling the air in aU directions, but did not observe any of 

 them come to the ground. Jons B.\iui>. 



K'm Grove, W. Va. Nov. 6th, 1S76. 



