19G 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



less than fifty, mostly by swarming out and joining 

 other swarms. I began tt) think I would have to be jnit 

 into Blasted Hopes depnrtment, but if they behave now, 

 1 will try to build them up. E. A. Sheldon. 



Independance, Iowa., May 21st, 1S77. 



We have hunted over all our letters, and the 

 above is the best "blasted hopes" we can find. 

 If it is a mistake we beg pardon. 



$ohs and %mmh 



fN some of my hives I find that the combs of sev- 

 eralframes are united together, so that I cannot 

 . , lirt them out separately. How can it be liono 



without killing some bees, it separateil with a knife 

 or other implement ? And how can this welding to- 

 gether of the eombs be prevented. 



Though i never yet had but black bees (all my colo- 

 nies being descendants of a single black one), I find 

 among them some bearing the marks of pure Italians 

 —three yellow rings, and some those ot hybrids— one 

 or two yellow rings. There are no Italians nearer 

 than lour miles from my place, as far as I know. 

 What may be the cause of these marks ? 



Is moaldj" comb of any value except for wax ? Can 

 it be used tor breeding purposes? J. Balsingeu. 



Highland, Marlon Co., 111., June 9, 1877. 



1'. .-).— 1 have found that the blossoms of the per- 

 simmon are much visited by bees; they must be rich 

 la honey. 



[Drive the bees entirely from the attached combs by 

 smoke and shaking, then with a thin knife cui and 

 straighten, and afterwards Tje ware about placing them 

 too close to each other. It takes lime, but the worst 

 combs can be made level and smooth, by care and pa- 

 tience. 



The Italians very often hybridize stocks four or five 

 miles away ; it may be that they have mixed with the 

 bees in the woods nearer than you imagine, and it 

 may bo that the drones and queens meet when located 

 at that distance. 



Put your mouldy combs one at a time in the centre 

 ol a strong stock of Italians; examine them nextday, 

 and you will think some sleight of hand has been at 

 work.] 



I had one swarm of bees to leave its hive in April ; 

 it had plenty of honey an<l pollen, and about two 

 quarts of bees. Anothjr lefc its hivcMay luch ; it had 

 no honey but plenty of young bees ; abont the same 

 number as the first one. Ex))lain. 



G. W. EuMUNSTON, Slagle P. O., Mo., May 14, 1877. 



[The first one swarmed out probably because it was 

 weak; the second one because It was out of lioney. 

 The latter is the most frequent cause, perhaps of all, 

 and they olten abscond, seemingly, because they are 

 nearly out.] 



I am infatuated with this sample section box you 

 sent me. I liad it in running onier, louudation and 

 all, in less than a minute. Your plan of fastening is a 

 great invention. W. C. Gkiek, Lamar, Mo., June U. 



[\'ery glad indeed are we to have earned your ap- 

 proval, and now to illustrate how widely people dif- 

 fer, we will give an extract from one who received 

 precisely such a sample box.] 



Your frame is like the rest of such wares that I 

 have seen ; too frail, rough, and carelessly made. 

 Wlien put u]) it is out of shape. Jamks Heudon. 



Dowagiac, Mich., June I'Jth, 1877. 



The hybrids bought of you take the lead in our 

 yard ; they are splendid workers. White clover just 

 oi)ening. Ours have been working on the grai)e tor a 

 ■week. J. W. Bakclay, South Oil City, Pa , June 15. 



[There! don't you see what fun it Is to sell hy- 

 brids?] ■ 



"Honor to whom honor i.s due." See GLEAifiNGS, June 

 No., i)age 161. After that date I found one colony dead, 

 cause, neglect on account of other business, leaving me (55 

 colonies. About \\\e years ago, a swarm came out (I was 

 not at home) and settled ; my wife siqiDosed they would 

 go back, as the old queen's wing had been clijipcd, but 

 the old queen had been suiierseded and a lot of young 

 ones reared. She was not in a hurry about hiving them 

 and they went to the woods, this is the amount of our 

 loss since I commenced keeping bees on improved jirinci- 

 ples. E. LiSTOx, Virgil City, Mo., Juno Gth, 1877. 



Friend Oldt of New Berlin, Pa., has sent us a 

 bee-hiving apparatus. The plan is to have the colony 

 on a platform so nicely balanced that when the swarm 

 leaves, the hive sinks enough to close the entrance. 

 As the bees have been previously taught to go out and 

 In through an empty hive, they return to it as soon as 

 they miss the queen. She is kept from going by a 

 queen yard similar to Quinby's. The maclilne will 

 work without doubt ; if it does not as it is, it certain- 

 ly can bo made to do so. Now then, will it pay ? We 

 cannot even make a trial of it, without setting apart 

 a colony and letting it get filled up in a way that 

 would cost us perhaps So. 00, and very likely it would 

 not swarm then, for not one colony in ten sends out a 

 swarm when supplied with sections filled with fdn. 

 We cannot make a machine for every colony, for they 

 cost several dollars each, and the inconvenience of 

 having our hives all encumbereil in this way, would 

 be out of the question. Wliy will you, my friends, 

 waste your money in patenting things so impractic- 

 able? We have returned the machine, paying all ex- 

 penses, and we are willing to do this so long as there 

 is any ])robability of getting hold of anything that is 

 really valuable. 



THREE SIZES 



Extra large 2^^ inch tube §1 "5 



Per mail 2 00 



Standard 2 inch tube . ." 1 -W 



Per mail 1 Gi) 



Small l->i inch tube 1 CO 



Per mail 1 25 



These smokers differ only in size. 

 T. F. BINGHAM, 

 7-8 Abronia, Mich. 



THE ^ 



British ]Bee Jonrnal, 



Is a large, beautifully printed, and profusely illus- 

 trated MONTHLY; clear tv|ie and line heavv paper. 



It is conducted by CHARLES NASH ABBCtT, Ilan- 

 well, W., London, England. Annual subscription, 

 half-a.gninea. 



We will send it with Gleanings and pay all nostaee 

 for S2.50. 



At a Cost of less than 

 CENT per weok. 



IE 



A Plain Practical Journal, devoted to the Farming, 

 Gardening and Household interests. Tells when and 

 how to])lant. Hints for each month. Domestic Econo- 

 my, illustrations, etc. Only 50 Cents per year. Sam- 

 ple copies (in receipt of stamp. 



Address N. J. AG'L'ST & OUR Ai\I. FARMER, 

 5-7 20 Cortlandt St., N. Y. 



You cannot look over the back No's of Gleanings 

 or any otiier Periodical with satisfaction, unless they 

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

 "Dear nie what a bother- 1 must have last 

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

 each No. in the Emerson Binder as soon as it comef. 

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

 any thing ymi may have previously seen oven though 

 it were months .ago. 



Binders ior Gleanings (will hold them for four 

 years) gilt lettered, free b.y mail for 50, UO, and 75c, ac- 

 cording to qualitj'. For tabic of prices of Binders for 

 any Periodical, see Oct. No., Vol. 2. Send in vot;r 

 orders. A. I. ROOT, Meiina, O 



