136 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



The hive was received in fine order, it is very satisfacto- 

 ry to me, and has been viewed with admiration by all our 

 farmers who hive kept a few box hives for the last forty 

 years without any returns and want more light. 



A. Bbadford, Tiverton, R. I. 



How many colonies or about how many bees are there 

 in the U. S. ? Frit nd McConnel who is one of the oldest 

 bee men in the South, has made a grand discovery. We 

 have seen frames full of brood capped over 9 days after 

 they were placed in the hive, showing conclusively that 

 the bees constructed the comb during the first day the 

 empty frames were given them. 



A. C. LiTTLEjOHN, New Orleans, La. 



It would be a very hai'd matter to make 

 even a rough guess at the number of colonies, 

 they are increasing at such a rapid rate of late 

 years. There are perhaps 1000 in Medina Co., 

 but our state would perhaps average less than 

 one-fourth that number; may be 20,000 in all. 

 Now if there are 25 states having as many, we 

 should have about a half million in all. If 

 anyone can do better go ahead. 



Can't quite agree to your great discovery, 

 until we know just how long it is from the 

 egg until the larvae is capped over \ if we are 

 right, it may be as soon as 6 days, under very 

 favorable conditions, and at other times, as 

 long as 9. If you had a frame filled with 

 sealed brood in 9 days, it was certainly doing 

 extraordinarily well. 



A NEW HOIfKT PLANT. 



Enclosed find seeds of tlie coming honey plant. I do 

 not know its n ime, but will describe it as well as I can. 

 Some six years a?o, Mr. T. G. McGasv, of Monmouth, give 

 me some seeds of honey ijroducing plants, but 1 don't 

 know that he told me names. I sowed them along the 

 hedges and fences. A year or so later I noticed the bees 

 working on this plant and it is now spread pretty gener- 

 ally over the county. It is a large coarse grower from 4 

 to 8 feet in hei.;ht, coarse leaf, branching top covered 

 with innumerable little balls about the size of No. 1 shot. 

 When in bloom there is just one little flower leaf on each 

 ball which is dark purple, or violet at the outer point 

 and lighter as it approaches the seed ball. The ball has 

 an opening in it at the base of the leaf. The ball is hol- 

 low. It is seldom seen in the forenoon without honey 

 shining in it. Take a branch olT and turn it down with a 

 sharp shake and the honey will fall in drops. It com- 

 mences to bloom about the 15th of July and remains until 

 frost. Bees frequent it from morning till night. The 

 honey is a little dark, but of very good quality. I think 

 it would be best to sow in seed bed and transplant and 

 cultivate like tobacco. Jas. A. Simpson. 



Alexis, Ills., April 12th, 1877. 



If any of our readers can name the plant 

 from the above description, will they please 

 do so. Also, as our friend has been rather lib- 

 eral in sending us the seeds, we will mail a 

 few to those who would like to give it a trial. 



BAB HIVES, ETC, 



Agitation is the beginning of wisdom. Yes, nails will 

 crush bees, but not half so badly as tin corners and not 

 one-tenth as badly as wood. 



We like friend Doolittle's criticisms, they are in the 

 right spirit ; but when he says a thing can not be d.)ne, 

 even by a Yankee, we think him a little fast. 



With the same capital and labor, a skilled apiarist c;in 

 make more money, we think, with a bar than a frame 

 hive. Adam Grimm never made his money by the use of 

 division boards, etc., but by his skill and extra hone^ 



field. We have seen and handled many of his hives and 

 they are th-i simple, cheap L. hive. We con^ider IHr. 

 Moore's head level, but we would not care to be in the 

 same neighborhood when Capt. Hetherington clones up 

 his Q. frames of a hybrid colony 60,000 strong, and yet we 

 consider ourselves nearly bee sting proof. So far as J. S. 

 Harbison goes, why he is in honey up to his shoulders or 

 he would not have come out so far ahead with a hive 

 much worse than the Langstroth. If we were in Califor- 

 nia we would use none but a bar hive, which if properly 

 made, is only the L. hive simplified. 



We put 91 stocks in cellar Nov. 12th, and took out. 

 April 7th, 89 alive and in fair order ex;ept three that are 

 qufenless. 



Yours for do.?tetr»and cents on small capital with little 

 labor. Chas. Hash. VGS & Son. 



Carlisle, Iowa, April 16th. 1877. 

 Friend H. perhaps you'd better invest some 

 of your spare time in trying to ci ush a bee 

 with the metal corners. If you use the metal 

 rabbets also, you can set your frame down 

 without paying any attention to how many 

 bees are clustered on them ; you will have to 

 work nearly all summer to catch a bee, and 

 you can not cut him in two even then, as you 

 can with the nails, without trying very hard. 

 We do not want our bees killed at all, but ev- 

 ery time we handle the closed Quinby frames, 

 the sight of the little fellows quivering in ag- 

 ony fairly haunts us for hours afterward. 



Adam Grimm only obtained about 15 lbs. 

 per colony on an average, before he went to 

 Italy for his Italians. That does not look 

 like an extra "field." 



In the Standard Langstroth frame at 25 cents each. 

 My former partners having quit the bee business, we 

 have a quantity of good combs ai above price. 

 4tfd Address F. T. NUNN, Peru, Huron Co., Ohio. 



Price List of Bees, Queens, Etc., for 1877. 



1 Full colony .. .. with tested queen §13 00 



1 three frame nucleus " " " 5 50 



1 " " " " dollar '• 4 no 



1 tested queen 2 50 



1 untested " •. 1 ou 



A discount of 10 per cent will be made on all orders 

 of more than .$10 00 each. All my queens are raised 

 from Imported 3Iothers, I only guaranteeing the safe 

 arriv.il of all tested queens within 1000 miles. The 

 money must accompany each order, and all orders 

 will be filled strictly in "rotation. My location enables 

 me to furnish queens much earlier than parties far- 

 ther north. Address, 

 2-lOd E. W. HALE, Wirt C. H., W. Va. 



^PAT. BINDERI 



[periodicals^ 



You cannot look over the back No's of Gleanings 

 or any other Periodical with satisfaction, unless they 

 are in some kind of a Binder. Who has not said — 

 "Dear me what a bother— 1 must have last 

 month's Journal and it's no where to be found." Put 

 each No. in the Emerson fSimU'r as soon as it comes 

 and you can sit down bapiiy, any time you wish to find 

 any ihing you may have previously seen even though 

 it were months ago. 



Hinders lor Gi^KANiNGS (will hold them for tour 

 years) gilt lettered, free by mail for ,50, &), and 75c, ac- 

 cording to quality. For tiible of prices of Binders for 

 anv Periodical, see Oct. No., Vol. 2. Send in your 

 onler.s. .A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. 



