1877 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



235 



OUR FRIE'VnS IN THE SOUTH, AND 

 SOillETHING ABOUT HONEY. 



^ SEE yon have but few communications from the 

 m South and have concUi<le<l to pen you a few lines. 

 i3| My apiary is situated at Fort Hawkins, the (ceo- 

 graphical center of this State. I cannot get the yields 

 read of in the Western States. There are two advan- 

 tages we have— warm winters, and no foul brood. In 

 winter I let them remain on their summer stands, and 

 I have never known ot a single case of foul brood in 

 this section. The box gums are often destroyed by 

 the moth worm, but with the movable frame hives 

 and proper attention no loss occurs. This has been 

 one of the best honey seasons I hive known, and for 

 a honey yield the dry weather has been uncommonly 

 lavorable. Have had honey dew In abundance. The 

 upper surface of the leaves of the poplar, white oak, 

 and many other trees was covered with a glutinous 

 and very sweet exudation, for a longer time than 

 usual, and the bees are collected amongst them In 

 great numbers from morning till night. I have been 

 able to extract sealed honey twice this season, and it 

 is ready for extracting the third time, when hereto- 

 fore once was as much as I dared to do for fear of im- 

 poverishing the colonies— for wintering. The yield 

 has been about 50 lbs. to a hive at two extractlngs, 

 and one hive yielded 205 lbs. 



The demand for honey l» small, and the prices at 

 the low figures of 1'2X to 15c for extracted, and 15 to 20 

 for virgin comb. The valuation of hives and colonies 

 is also very low— 5 to 6 dollars for L. 2-story hives, 

 and sales very few at even these low prices. 



There are better localities than mine to be found 

 near the extensive river forests ot the Ocmulgee, 

 ■which might equal the West in honey yields. Very 

 few in this county use the movable comb frames. A 

 neighbor and myself were the first to Italianize In 

 this section. Many swarms have escaped from us, 

 and In the surrounding counties are occasionally 

 found hvbrlds. J. A. Nelson. 



Fort Hawkins, Macon P-O., Ga., July 25, 1877. 



FDN. MACHINES, STARCH VERSUS SLIP- 

 PERY EliM, ALBINOS, ETC. 



Sf^E have had only one complaint in re- 

 gard to the working of the fdn. ma- 

 chines, and this came about by our for- 

 getting to state that the sheets should always 

 be dipped lengthwise, i. e., that the dipping 

 boilers should be tall and deep, rather than 

 long and shallow. In dipping, the lower edge 

 of the sheet is always thickest, but this does 

 no harm, providing it is put through the rolls 

 so that both edges are of a thickness, and not 

 so that one edge is thick and the other thin. 

 After our friend got over this difficulty, he 

 seems to have struck on some very valuable 

 points, as follows : 



I have discovered a substitute for slippery elm. I 

 prepare starch with boiling water, preclselj' as the 

 women prepare it to starch clothes, and use it exact- 

 ly as you direct the elm to be used. It has many ad- 

 vantages over the elm. Everybodv has it, and it 

 takes but a moment to prepare it. It is every way 

 nicer to handle than the elm. It adheres to the rolls 

 much better, and never permits the wax to stick to 

 them. Try it, friend Root, and I think you will never 

 go back to your fussy, slimy elm. 



We have made another discovery. My frames are 

 exactly ten by fifteen Inches inslae. Now to fill a 

 frame with fan. from our little five-Inch machine, I 

 take three sheets nine Inches long and suspend them 

 Iroifi the top bar by one end, allowingthe edges to 

 overlap about one-eighth of an inch. Where the lap 

 occurs the bees fasten them together, and in two or 

 three days no man can tell that the beautiful sheet 

 before him was ever in three pieces. So well am I 

 satisfied with this that I would not give five dollars 

 more for a larger machine. I find It necessary to have 

 the fdn. at least one Inch from the bottom bar when 

 first put In, and a half Inch from the sides. 



Your mention of Albino queens, reminds me of one 

 colony of bees I have now. The queen I raised this 

 year from one I procured last year from Oatman. 

 There is nothing peculiar about the (lueen that I can 

 see, but there are workers from her with three difl'er- 

 ent markings. There are perhaps two-thirds of them 

 that look like other Italians, while most of the other 



third have the usual yellow just behind the wings, 

 but the bdnds are distinctly white, as is also the usual 

 Viuff patch on each side the jaws. There are then a 

 few bees in number that have not one particle of yel- 

 low on them. The abdomen, when seen just right In 

 the sun, is an almost steel blue with narrow white 

 bands. How will you account for this? 



it Is ridiculously amusing at this laie day to see ad- 

 verse reports on the use of comb fdn. I would not 

 take natural comb as a gift, to use as such. 



By the way, I would like to see in Gleanings a 

 comnletc history of the invention of artificial combs. 

 We know all about the invention of movable frames, 

 extractors, Ac. but I have never seen in print the his- 

 tory of the more important invention of artificial 

 combs. A. W. Foreman, M. D. 



White Hall, 111., August 12, 1877. 



As sure as you are alive, starch answers the 

 purpose beautifully ; friend F. we owe you a 

 big vote of thanks, if nothing more. Since the 

 Albino subject has come up, we too, have no- 

 ticed curious marking among the bees of dift'er- 

 ent colonies. Very likely we shall soon have 

 bees of as many colors as verbenas and pan- 

 sies, if those who are curious will follow up 

 the hints dame nature is throwing out to us. 

 Wagner's experiments with fdn., will be found 

 on page 143, Vol. IV. An account of Mehr- 

 ing's experiments in 1859, will be found in the 

 B. K. jlf.,.page 145, Vol. IV. 



WHAT WAS THE MATTER, LOAFING 

 BEES, &€. 



MiOW Sir, the first thing I want to know this morn- 

 ing is- what Is the matter with one colony in an 

 , ^ L. hive ? Yesterday I was showing several of 



my neighbors how nicely I was fixing them and they 

 were all working well and peaceably. This morning 

 I went out early and found the grass thick with bees 

 crawling away, and immediately under the portico 

 there was at least a quart of dead and half dead ones, 

 and still the killing and dragging out going on ; but 

 for all this, a great many workers were going In 

 heavily laden. All the other hives were alEO carry- 

 ing in heavy loads. 



I have another stand on the old long box plan. I 

 put a new swarm In It this spring; they soon filled It 

 and two honey boxes on top, and then began to lie 

 out and have continued to do so In such vast numbers 

 as to cover the hive entirely, and this has been the 

 case for two months. About two weeks ago I took 

 the two honey boxes full from them and put a large 

 cap on top thinking this would give them more room ; 

 they have gone to work in it, but they still continue 

 to ll8 out as much as ever. 



Now, besides this one, I have several hives from 

 which the bees have been lying out for two weeks. 

 Some in Langstroth and some in box hives and they 

 have not begun to work in the boxes on top at all. 

 They won't swarm, and they won't go to work, al- 

 though the bees from the inside are at work as finely 

 as any I ever saw. I think It can't be for the want of 

 room that they hang out, because they have two to 

 three honey boxes on top to fill, and they have not 

 worked any In them on either the Langstroth or the 

 box hives. I want you to tell me what is the matter 

 and what to do. Jas. B. Wilder. 



Taylor's Station, Ky., August 3d, 1877. 

 The matter is that some other swarm came 

 out and tried to make its way into the hive. 

 The clustering out business is sometimes rath- 

 er hard to cure ; but if you give them section 

 boxes or frames, furnished with fdn., you will 

 almost always, get them to go inside and go 

 to work. If they will not, just carry the hive 

 away, give them a comb of brood and a young 

 queen on the old stand, and they will get over 

 their "aristocratic" ideas and go to work in 

 short metre. Where you have bees enough 

 and want honey, this is not just what is to be 

 desired, but it will start them to the fields, 

 every time. Keep your hives in the shade, 

 give them room and fdn., and you will seldom 

 need to move the hive. 



