90 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apk. 



AI>VEU'1"ISI]»'G, IBOES IX FAVl 



'RtjiRlEND >;0VJ(;E :— You said seme time ago yon 

 Jp"' wanted us to tell whether or not our ads. paid. 

 "' Well, I advertised my bees three ^times in 

 Gleanings and also in A. B. J., and received three 

 postals of enquiry. 1 sent lovy answo's telling aU 

 about them. Two 1 never heard any more Irora, and 

 one, a Pa. man, sent card that he would be here soon 

 as the holidays were over. Christmas has passed here 30 

 days- do you know how long the holidays last in Fa.? — 

 «nd no man come yet, nor have I sold a single colony. 

 Xo>v, did niy ad. i^a>j. do you think ? Well, one con- 

 solation is, I have the bees all in good condition, and 

 ibey have had a four days' fly, and weather still love- 

 ly. Bees got plenty honey in their hives, and I have 

 nt least two full combs of honey for each hive, put 

 .-iway for a late, \vet spring, and I have hired my help 

 for the farm for one year, so if my health is good I 

 '■an give my bees full attention. Who is more inde- 

 jiendent than I ? If I can't sell bees I can raise bees 

 ;md sell all the honey they gather. Well, as 1 have to 

 Ueep the bees 1 will have to have G., so send it along 

 —enclosed $1.(0. H. NEsr.ix. 



Cynlhiana, Ky., Jan. 30th, 1S77. 

 It would seem from the above, that it does 

 not pay to advertise bees in the fall, and as we 

 have said before in view of tiie disastrous 

 losses in wintering, we can hardly be surpris- 

 ed. We are very glad indeed to have you 

 speak out, friend 'N., and we are glad to hear 

 yon can sell all the honey you can raise. We 

 think an advertisement of bees in the spring, 

 will usually pay if the prices are low, for we 

 heard last season from many of our readers 

 who purchased bees of Mrs. Grimm, and we 

 believe all were satisfied. We are now receiv- 

 ing considerable money every mouth from our 

 advertisers, and we wish yon to state plainly 

 whether the investment is a good one. We are 

 vt,ry careful to admit no advertiseraeiit that 

 docs not give an honest statement in regard to 

 the goods, and none from parties who are not 

 in good standing, and of good habits. 



A ViSI'Ef TO BAUANT'S, &c. 



"f;j HAVE been over to Mr. Ch. Dadant'a. He [has 

 '•J! over 3! colonics. 1 don't see how bee rnen can find 

 ^^ fault with his bees. They are of a leather color, 

 though you can see 3 bands around them. High-col- 

 ored bees are much the nicest, though the dark ones, 

 as I have tried both, gather the most hosiey. Bee 

 men say hybrids make the most honey. This is a mis- 

 take, with me, any way. My bc*t Italian stands made 

 mc 172 lbs., my best hybrids only 81 lbs. I treated 

 them both alike, had the same amount of bees, etc. 



About Mr. Dadant and son, they are the most so- 

 ciable bt*c men 1 ever came across. I am going to 

 imrchase of him 25 of his best stocks Vfith i imported 

 lUieens. 1 have 3 now. 1 have sent to Italy and Cj- 

 p-ess islands for 30 queens, awd will sell most of them; 

 have bought 2 Cyprian queens. Am going in the bee 

 business ext^nfiYcly this year— will run 100 colonies; 

 doyou think I can manage that many? 75 are pure, 

 and 25 hybrids. ThehybrMs 1 will give Italian queens, 

 early, so as not to interfere with my ((ueon raising. 

 There being no black lees in 3 miles of us, I can raise 

 ItO without any trouble. My l(jO queens will be 9-10 

 iiurc. My bees will all be at home April 1st. I have 

 lost 1 nucleus colony this winter, llivee all packed 

 with cliaJV. T!iinl£ that is lh«' way to winter. My 

 tf-hool wiilbe out thi£ week, and thcu I will bcgii: 



work getting out hives, boxes, frames, &c. I won't 

 wait; till June this time bclore I make hives. The 

 Western Illinois Bec-Kccper's Society will meet at 

 Monmoulli, on April iOth. Don't pou think these 

 societies do a great deal of good ? 



Did } ou ever! 1 looked in one of my hives to-day, 

 ar d there is brood in all stages; young bees just com- 

 ing out. II the weather keeps warm as it is now, and 

 if we have an early spring, we can soon ship bees and 

 rali»e early queens. If persons want early queens, 

 unwarranted, I can lurnish them by the dozen for 

 So. 00, and guarantee safe arrival. 



Hardin Haines. 

 Vermont, Fulton Co., Ills, Feb. 19th, 1S77. 

 P. S.— Find enclosed 25c. for which please publish 

 this letter. 



We hope you will forgive us friend H., for 

 apparent unkindness fn printing your P. 8., 

 but if you reflect a moment, you will see that 

 it is no more than you would wish us to do 

 unto others. If an article in the reading col- 

 ums was paid for, even to the extent of the 

 small amount just mentioned, we feel that it 

 is due our readers to know it, and we hereby 

 remind our readers that if they send us money 

 for the insertion of article^, we can only can- 

 sent to do it with a clear understanding by 

 all, that pay has been received for inserting 

 .the article. 



We fear, friend H., that you will not, with 

 your youth and limited experience, be capable 

 of managing so many. And we fear, too, that 

 you are making extravagant calcnlations on 

 many things. If we are correct, there has 

 never as yet been a Cyprian queen received 

 alive in America, and wonkl advise you to 

 wait until they are safely at hand, before you 

 advertise them. Will it not be better to give 

 us a fair aud iione&i statement of what you 

 have now, rather than of what you are going 

 to have? 



TRANSFKKi^RI^M SJV IVINTEB, AN© 

 €U'i'.i-2f4(U JKl^E TKEJLS. 



M BOUT the middle of January last I helped a neigh- 

 ^^\\ bor tran.vfer a small colony of bees that was given 

 to him, not supposing they would survive the win- 

 ter. We transferred from box hive to or.o of my improved 

 frame hives, and a few days ago we opened them and 

 found them alive and jolly as crickets. They had built a 

 piece of comb almost 2 inches wide. The hive after trans- 

 ferring was placed in a closet within ^> feet of a sto;e 

 where fire was kept e\ery day and Sunday too, with not 

 more than a pnit of bees. Ho shut them up tight by 

 stuffing a jjiecc of thin soft cari)ct in the entrance below 

 and several ihicknesses on top of frames, so you see the 

 upper and lower ventilation theory has gone glimmerinsj, 

 in this instance at least. This not only smashes ventila- 

 tion but proves that bees can be tranfserrcd at any lime 

 of the year if carefully done. We vvaited a week or more 

 for a warm day so wc could work out of doors but uoi get- 

 ting one to suit v/e carried them into a warm room and 

 safely changed them without losing a dozen beea, while 

 the thermometer without was looking around zero. 



W. A. Douglass found bees in a beach tree ; they went 

 into a hollow only a few feet from the ground. After 

 promising t he owner of the tree tlie lirst swarm, he cut tlw 

 top of the tree off above the hollow, then backed a wagon 

 vi'ith str.iw in the bed, cut tiic stub, eased it down into it, 

 hauled it home, split the log and transferred them. Ho 

 came very ue;-.r not getting th;; queen, but linaliy found 



