103 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 



Which is the best mode of raakinj? ar tiQcial swarms : 

 by dividing, oi- on the nucleus system, and which is 

 the most profitable and surest ? Geo. Dokmise. 



Careyville, Oharapaigu Co., O., Feb. 12th, 1877. 



Make your Ducleus in a full hive with two 

 oi' moi'e combs, and as soon as the queen be- 

 gins to lay, build the colony up with brood 

 froH3 the old one. Beware you do not get loo 

 many weak stocks on your hands at the ap- 

 proach of winter, if you practice artificial 

 swarming. 



Can two-story hives be used to advantage where a 

 frame 13^x10^ is used? Also, what is the greatest 

 depth of frame that will admit, with profit, an upper 

 story ? Can you inform your Southern subscribers if 

 the bassw«od will grow in the South, and where the 

 trees can be secured ? W. B. CoitKKTT, 



Yorkville, S. C, Feb. 14th, 1877. 



We have used frames a foot square for two- 

 story hives, but the bees, unless the colony is 

 very strong, seem loth to go up so far. We 

 prefer the L. frame on that account to any- 

 thing deeper, but very good results may be 

 obtained with others. Basswood will thrive, 

 we believe, anywhere in the south. 



All the stocks of bees (70) that I packed on all 5i<les 

 with ohafl", are in tip top cyder; hare not lost one to 

 date, while of those with chaff only on top and one 

 side, in long hives, (70) I have lost 9, and these were 

 the big, "Galluping" swarms, that would "winter well 

 enough anywhere." J. H. Townley. 



Tompkins, Mich., Feb. 27th, 1»77. 



The chaff hives are certainly ahead in our 

 neighborhood. 



Farmers around here say I am making more money 

 with less work, with bees, tlian they witb their farms. 

 I tell them to wait until I get more bees, and then we 

 shall see, but I fear they over estimate the business ; 

 will have to get Ueddon to talk to them. 



J. II. MARTIN, Hartford, N. Y., Feb. ."Jth, 1877. 



PAPER HONEY BOXES. 



I will state what I have done in the way of improv- 

 ing the boxes for surplus honey. I think it is original. 

 It consists of a strip of hard bi-istol board cut across 

 with tho point of a sharp knife and bent at right an- 

 gles, and pressed into the box, and a piece of comb 

 stuck on for a starter. As soon as filled I remove the 

 boxes and press the cardboard frame out with the 

 comb and honey, which gives me the wooden boxes to 

 replace at once. By so doing I need but one set of 

 wooden boxes to a hive, as the honey is sealed in these 

 paper boxes. You might state this to our brother 

 apiarists, for their examination. 



Alden Bradeokd, Tiverton, R. I., Feb. :], 1877. 

 We have thought of the paper boxes, but 

 they would be more expensive than the piue 

 we use, and not as strong. The plan of push- 

 ing the frames into the honey box, amounts to 

 about the same thing, as the way we now man- 

 age. By putting 8 in a frame, we are enabled 

 to use upper and lower stories all alike, where- 

 as, we sliould need some extra box or case, did 

 we adopt your plan, besides the trouble of get- 

 ting oft' boxes, compared with just lifting out 

 a frame that is suspended on a strip of metal. 



Last year we had -lO stands, lost all but two. Increas^^d 

 to 'M. Would your box hive men like to know how I clid 

 it ? If so, say so. Dk. C. M. Joslix. 



St. Charles, Mich., Feb. 17th, 1877. 

 If you mean that you increased two to 34 ii?. 

 one season, of course we all wish to know all 

 about it. We should call it one of the impos- 

 sibilities, even if you had all the nice com!>s 

 and honey you could ask for, and we might al- 

 most say queens too. 



Your sections worked well last summer, and I now miikc- 

 the nicest 4 lb. honey box out of those strips I have ever 

 seen. Take 20 and if they are properly put together the 

 sides and bottom will be ti?ht, tlie two ends open, and in 

 top there will be three slits to put in fdn. Now set three 

 in a row (9 will go on a hive) and glass both ends, am! 

 you will have all the advantages of a 12 lb. box. Tin: 

 sides prelect so that when two boxes are put end to en 1 

 there will be an opening for the liees to get in. 



A. F. STAUFrEK Sterling, 111., Feb. 9th, 1S77. 



My neighbor, Mr. Alfred Hart, g«t a hive of bees late in 

 the fall witlioat stores, and on being told that but littlr 

 could be done for them concluded to experiment. 11 1^ 

 made a glass case, ])ut the hive in it, and set it in tin" 

 kitchen in front of a south window and fed them on sugar 

 syrup outside of hive. They flew inside of the case and 

 went back to the hive without difficulty, and have bucn 

 raising brood all winter. So far they seem in good con- 

 dition. If you wish to be bothered with it will report 

 further in regard to the case. W. O. Atkinson. 



Vermont, 111., Feb. 23d, 1S77. 



Please report farther by all means. Have 

 not a great many of the bees died? And do 

 not they soil the case iuside when they flyy 

 Please tell lis how large the ease is and how 

 far they are allowed to go from the entrance. 



Bees are doing splendidly up here in Northern Mich- 

 igan. 1 commenced 3 year ago with 4 swarms and 

 now I liave -13, and have sold about 20 swarms. 



Leonauo Kked. 



Orono, Osceola Co., Mich., Feb. 24th, 1877. 



extkacteu versus comb honey. 

 Now 1 desire to run my bees for extracted honey 

 exclusively the coming season, and have only a par- 

 tial stock of combs. From all the reports I have seen, 

 and not fully decided as to the safety of depending 

 upon fdn. for this purpose, I want your advice upon 

 the subject. How would I fasten them into old 

 frames ? Am retailing considerable honey in the oily 

 and find I can sell ICO lbs or more of extracted at 20c.. 

 without packing, to 1 lb. of comb at 25c., while 4 year-^ 

 ago the reverse was the case. I think we honey 

 raisers are greatly indebted to friend Muth for hi- 

 persevering and successful eflbrts in establishing a 

 market for pure machine-extracted honey. 

 M. Nevins, Cheviot, Hamilton Co., O. Feb. 18, '77. 

 No one has complained of the fdn. for combs 

 to be used in the extractor, we believe, and 

 you can calculate on having honey in these 

 i new combs in 4^< hours, if put between two old 

 i combs. If we can produce combs that the 

 I queen wilLccrtaiuly not use, it will be aspleii 

 did thing for using with the extractor, and 

 j perhaps those made on cloth, may be just what 

 j is wanted. 



Sjiring dwindling has reached this northern land— 

 or something else that makes it dillicult to keep bees 

 through the winter. Wo liope you will keep us jjost- 

 cdinthe latest improvement;;. Would like to hear 

 how rb." hot-house arrangement gets on. Would it 

 not be good here where we have nearly six months ci 

 wint(!r and no joke about it? 



Hugh H. McLatchie, Templeton, P. Q. 



Hot houses, or anything else that disturb-, 

 the bees before spring weatlier, we think liuvr 

 proven failures. 



