1877 



GLlLAKlKOS IN BEE CULTURE. 



17 



From Different FieJds. 



DISCARDED HIVES, WHAT TO DO WITH 'Ell. 



•■jijf' HAVE 17 Statulai'd luvcs, which I do nt)* want— pre- 

 S(l .{GiMing LaRgsti-oth^s,— and I would like to exchange 



' with you for sosne of ycur !?ood«. Yoii may have 

 tlieiu at your own price. They are well mmlc witii two 

 coats of white paint. There are also about 100 metal 

 cornered frames. Kaoh hive Ssas divi.-iic.n J>onrd. K you 

 <«niK)t take lliein, let me know the price of adTCrtsse- 

 ine«t. i Slave two in use, and next spring siiali transfer 

 1 he bees into Langstroth hives. Have 30 colonies i« L. 

 and two in Statidard. Knew nothing wbaiever about 

 iw-es, until I commenced reading CfeEAUiNGS. Got $150. 

 U-o-M honey sales, and hope to quadruple it next year. 



Edwin Plowkav, l^iwuing, I!L Dee. Glli, 1S75. 



\Ve give tJie above because it points out a 

 inov.al, and the moral is, te very canifiil about 

 ^iiiaking up a lot of hives or somethii]s»; else, 

 tuat you «oon may have no iis^j for. Thous- 

 -ands of dolla'rs v^'cre probably wasted in ma- 

 king long hives because Gallup and Adair 

 recommehded them; and now we are once 

 5^ioi-e going back to the Langstroth frame, and 

 <i?pper stories. It is well enough tf> try a few 

 ■of these new things, but w« should adopt them 

 cautiously. We should be glad to advertise 

 such goods were we not afraid it would do 

 but little good, for the impetus in favor of 

 corab honey, makes it probable that the hives 

 would pay little more thaji the expense of 

 shipping. Can't you take them apart friend 

 P. and snake them over. 



FROM OUE (vEEMAN COREESPOJfDJGNl. 



"itEAE GLEANINGS :— The honey harvest in Ger- 

 many for the season iS76 has not been as u:ood as the 

 rear before. Our bees wintered very weli, aiouals wo are 

 wintering our little pets only on their smnuicr stands, 

 .nid mostly -without any other protection than our 

 ii-.ic-k walled straw hives (see GtBANiNtJS No. 11 page 

 -li", "The latest an<l best hives in Germanif"). The 

 house apiaries and our bee yards are enc?osc<l within a 

 high fence. We had strong colonies in the spring, and 

 ill some sections of our country the yield was at that 

 t ime a g'ood one. But rainy days and cool weather set 

 :!i, and lasted till June, only allowing the bees to fly oc- 

 '.■.isionally. In the swarming season (in Germany the 

 -.jioiith of June) we had nevertheless swarms in abund- 

 (uce, and some of our bee-keepers got by emplojing the 

 '^xtvactor, some surplus honey. However, the total lack 

 of rain in July and August was not favorable for a good 

 lionej crop. In the province of Hanover, where from 

 the iast of Jure tii'l the last of Septeui!>er, hundreds of 

 thousands oT stocks are gathered, the honey harvest from 

 ( lie wide spread fields of buckwheat and heath ( Erica 

 fu(lgaris) was of no importance. In the ?jcginning of 

 August the bees worked daily only a couple of hours in 

 tlie morning on buckwheat, and in the lin.t week in 

 September on the beMh. 51any bees were lost through 

 '\\v voracity of the "Bee Well" an insect somewhat like 

 ilie wasp, which catches the bees in the air and kills 

 ^'riem. Thus the year proved to be not so favonible as we 

 V. ished. 0. J. H. GuAVf^nionsT. 



Urunswick, Germany. 



iiow do yov. cab-h and hold the ciueen whe'i you. would 

 I'lip her wingw? 



We don't catch her. Ciip her wing as she 



walks on the combs. With a little practice 

 this can be done very easily with sharp slen- 

 der pointed scissors, 



Vrill « tin milk can answer for stering honey through ■ 

 the season f 



A tin milk can will answer every purpose. 

 Have a gate to draw off the honey below, if 

 you wish it handy, and when it gets candied 

 you can readily cut it out from above. 



SWAUMING I'KVKK, HOW i'O TELI, IT. 



How can I tell when bees have the '"swarming fever" 

 before the sssue of a swarm ? 



When bees stop comb building, or work 

 very slowly when other stocks are doing well, 

 we presume they are contemplating swarming ; 

 also, when clustered out on the hive idling 

 away their time, we think it l>?st to get them 

 "going" in some way. Will others tell P. how 

 to tell when they are gokig to swarm. 



I should like to know what improvem-ent the Isham pa- 

 tent covers? His circular does not tell. I have been 

 making similar bo.xes (to all appearance) for years, with 

 till corners, and wood corners, and with glass sunk into 

 grooves. I don"t care tu pin-chase a "right"' to make, with- 

 without knowing whether the Isham boy. is an improve- 

 ment upon my own. 



We can only repeat the advice we have giv- 

 en so many times ; make any hive or honey 

 box you please and pay no attention whatever 

 to patents. 



GUIDE Combs, now to fasten'. 



How will this do ?— take a thick piece of iron (that 

 will hold heat) having a thin str;iight edge 4 or .5 inches 

 long, heat the iron hot, dip the edge into melted wax, 

 shake off any loose drops and set it upon the middle of 

 the nprighfs of the section boxes. Would this, with 

 good st*ters, help to secure straight combs. Two such- 

 irons would be necessary — use one, while heating the 

 •other. P. 



The irons will leave wax enough to insure 

 straight combs, but the bees will be much 

 slower in accepting them, than if tiiey had a 

 piece of fdn. or natural corab. We doubt the 

 utility of putting any guides on the uprights. 

 Our new plan of fastening fdn., given in this 

 No. will doubtless supersede all melted wax. 



Will you iiifonn me whether you manufacture any 

 hive that receives boxes on the sides ? If you do, 

 please state the price per hive and cost of right to use 

 same. Also whose patent. J. B. Woodward. 



Boston, Erie Co., N. Y., Nov. 27ih, 1870. 



We can arrange any of our hives for side 

 boxes, without any additional expense ; and 

 we should as soon think of paying for a right 

 to the air we breathe, as for the privilege of so 

 doing. Why can our friends not understand 

 that the day of patent hives is past and gone ? 



Thermometer 68^ in the shade on the north side of 

 the house. Had no rain yet, bees quiet. Bringing in 

 a little pollen— they do that most of the winter. Bee 

 men lying on their oars. E. E. Shattuck. 



Los Angeles, Cal., Nov. 2l8t, '76. 



Please state whether the wild sun-flower is a good bee 

 plant ? E. G. Thompso , Kingsville, Mo. 



Like many other plants, it sometimes seems 

 to contain nothing to attract the bees, and 

 again will afford large crops of honey. Also 

 in some localities it seems to afford much more 

 honey tlian in others. Bear in mind that wo 

 must have acres of any plant, not little patch- 

 es, to give us ti bountiful honey harvest. 



