72 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mak 



Well, all our bees are on the summer stantls— no 

 chaff hives, no quilts of any kind, no straw or corn- 

 I'oddor, no boxes or other useless Itxings about theui, 

 save a board laid over the top to protect thena a little 

 I'rora the rain. 



For 60 days up to Jan. 16th, not a drop of rain fell, 

 and how industrious our bees were during that time, 

 collecting nectar from the Bowers then in blo.nn. 

 Since tlie 16th we have liad several showers of rain, in 

 fact, the State has been saved by these rains ; farmers 

 are jubilant over the prospects. Also the bee-keeper, 

 for the honey season will be longer aud the yield of 

 honey will be greater. 



What think you of transferring bees on the 2d day 

 of January? Well, we have performed that opera- 

 tion, and in due time removed fastenings, etc., exam- 

 ined bees and comb. When transferred, only one card 

 of comb contained a few inches of brood, and at the 

 time of examining we found they had nearly three 

 cards pretty well filled. 



We forgot to mention in the proper place, that the 

 broken comb was all fastened and everything put in 

 order by the bees in the transferred hives. About a 

 week from the date of transferring the above, we per- 

 formed the same job, with the same result, on another 

 old box hive. 



At this writing, Jan. 22d, bees are working splen- 

 didly, gathering honey and pollen. Willow is now in 

 bloom, also about 50 other plants and shrubs from 

 which honey and pollen are got; in a subseijuent 

 issue we propose to give a more complete list of them, 

 therefore, the following will suffice for this time : 

 Wild and cultivated gooseberries, wild currant, blue 

 gum, rape, mignonette, horehound, etc. 



Of all our stands we are sure, from present indica- 

 tions, that not one will be lost. U. K. L * * *. 



California. 



Oh, but we do sometimes transfer iu winter, 

 friend U. K. L., and if you do not look sharp, 

 we may beat you in spite of our frosts and 

 .snows. We are getting to be a "big nation," 

 aud keen thinkers, as well as strong-armed 

 workers, are in the field. 



THE "GO-HOPPERS." 



^E have really got into trouble this time, 

 and there is no mistake about it unless 

 the kind friend who did indite the poem, will 

 step forward and allow us to give proper cred- 

 it. We hope the real Mr. D, will excuse us 

 on the ground that he might otherwise have 

 never developed his latent talents. 



And this is to c;dl Novice to account for an error on page 

 16, Peb. No., where be has an article, from some grass- 

 hopper region, over my address. Thus advertising the 

 hoppers in Central Illinois. 



Do please say to your readers, before I am buried 

 under a pile of enquiries for grass-hopper seed cjcgs, 

 and countless yards of hopper scroll work, that our hop- 

 pers are the common kind only; not the improved 

 variety. 



If you just wished my name as an endorsement of the 

 cheerful little poem, that is all right. I live on the prairie, 

 and I willingly endorse 



"Bees on the Peaihie." 

 "A life on the prairie is the life for me," 

 If der Kansas go-hopper slioost lot me co vrce. 

 •'The cold blast of winter in worthy a song," 

 If he plase dot pold hobber shoost der next blnce 

 along. 



"And when in spring-time the breezes of May,"' 

 Melts der sbnow vrom der eggs off dot hobber^- 



avay, 

 "I'll listen awiiile to the merry bees' bum ;" 

 ITnd I dinks ail der vilcs, vill dot go-hobbars 



goome ? 

 "And when the wild rose js opening its bloom." 

 Und der brairie is govered mit bobbers so soon, 

 "I'll creep in the shade of my own nurtured 



trees, " 

 Und shake mit my poots, in cmtc akonies. 

 Farmer City, DeWitt Co., 111. J. E. 1>. 



KEPORT FROM "OUR CLiEARlNC." 



HOW OUR FEMININE FRIENDS SU(XEED. 



*pp|DITOR GLEANINGS: -Our report for 1876 mny 

 j8[jj| | seem to your readers, as to ourselves, not particu- 

 larly noteworthy. So, let me say to them please, 

 that it is given at your request. 



May 1st, we had 25 colonies — being the whole num))er 

 we packed iu chaff the fall before. Of these, five wcfre 

 weak, one queenless, the remainder in good condition. 

 We increased these, during the season, to SS, our aim ln;- 

 ing to increase as little as possible. During June, jusi- 

 enough honey was gathered to encourage brood rearing 

 and unnecessary swarming. We never before found it s.* 

 dilflcult— so well nigh impossible— to prevent and subdu"* 

 the swarming fever. Plenty of room and only enouch 

 honey for daily use, was no argument against emigratioit 

 with bees so enterprising as ours. The honey harvest 

 lasted from July 12th to September 1st. There were in- 

 termissions of a day or two occasionally, but, on the 

 whole, the flow was pretty constant, though seldom 

 abundant enough to enable us to open hives without the 

 immediate attendance of robbers. It was, I think, an 

 average season for our locality. Our surplus was 675 lbs. 

 of comb honey and something over 575 lbs. of exti-acteil. 

 One hiuidred lbs. of comb was in the Isham boxes, fhr- 

 remainder in small section frames. 



AVe have depended almost entirely upon our hoiui? 

 market for the disposal of our surplus, and I am begin- 

 ning to fear that we may have over estimated its capacity. 

 We have rather more honey on hand than is desirable ;it 

 this date ; but as that left is principally extracted, if not 

 sold it will keep. For 7i» lbs. in Isham boxes we obtained 

 23c. This was sold at cur nearest city, and brought tliis 

 price rather by a lucky clvance than any good manage- 

 ment of ours. The city in question is a very poor honey 

 market. Our enquiries, after the sale, convinced us that 

 the purchaser had allowed his admiration of the honey — 

 the first he had seen in this shape — to over balance his 

 judgment. For our honey in section frames we have ob- 

 tained 22>2C., it being retailed at our village stores for 25<'. 

 The extracted has been sold jiccording to quality. Tiie 

 best has sold for 75c. in Mason's quart jars and for 30c. iu 

 Muth's pound jars— ten per cent commission to be di- 

 ducted. For the poorest, candied, 12xSc. Have sold the 

 latter only at home. We might, undoubtedly, have sold 

 a considerable amount of our best candied, at the villago 

 for 16c.' (including commission) but have delayed to send 

 it down, fearing that it might in'.erfere too much with tlit'^ 

 sale of our comb honey. 



We do not, usually, balance the accoiuit with our bees 

 before May 1st, but it is, I believe, safe to say that if they 

 .all survive the winter, and we dispose of our remaining 

 honey— even at a reduction of ten or twelve per cent on 

 present prices— we shall have received fair compensatio;> 

 for labor which does not take us from our home, nor jir.-- 

 vent us from caring for its interests. Cyula Linswh;. 



"Our Clearing," Feb. nth, 1S77. 



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