1877 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



245 



$dQS and §mrks. 



The honey extractor ordered of you came in good 

 order, and I am well satljfled. 1 extracted one barrel 

 in about 10 hours by myself. V. P. DUPUT. 



riaiiuemlQC, La., Aug. 4th, 1S77. 



The foundation of 5 cells to the inch Is a great suc- 

 cess; but that of 4>i to the inch you sent uie last year 

 is a complete failure for breeii ing purposes. 



O. J. Hethekington, East Saginaw, Mich., July 30. 



The bees are carrying in honey like fun, and it Is 

 taken awav as fast as we get It from the hive. Ex- 

 tracted at V2H cts., and in sections at 20 cts. per lb. 

 Cykus \V. McyuKEX, Buena Vista, O., July 10. 



[Prof. Cook writes as follows in regard to the Bing- 

 ham smoker.] 



You may say for me that your smoker is the best in 

 the field. I shall say so in future, till a better one ap- 

 pears. A. J. Cook, Lansing, Mich., August 8th. 



The fdn. machine came in order. Much obiiged for 

 your promptness. In a few hours we mastered Ihe 

 difficulties aud now we turn out splendid fdn. This 

 invention marks an tra in bee culture. 



M. D. Minor, Port Jackson, N. Y., Aug. 8th, '77. 



How can I cool bees-wax in large cakes without its 

 cracking ? P- 



[I knowof no way unle's the cracks are filled up 

 with more melted wax when the cake is partly cool. 

 Wax contracts very much in cooling.] 



Section honey sells well here, and even buckwheat 

 honey in sections will take. As soon as harvest is 

 over and I have time, I will detail for your Glean- 

 ings, my trials, tribulations and triumphs in the sec- 

 tion business. R. L. Joinek. 



Wyoming, Wis., Aug. ist, 1877. 



From my 30 colonies I have taken upwards of 1900 

 lbs. of honey, all sealed before extracting, and about 

 half my hives are again full and sealed up. If the 

 weather proves favorable, I will get that much or 

 more from the sourwood. J. F. Montgomery. 



Lincoln, Tenn., June 15th, 1877. 



I made a Doolittle smoker, as described in Glean- 

 ings of July, 1877, page 176. I am pleased and aston- 

 ished at its simplicity and utility. I have been using 

 pieces of rotten wood but the'smoker is superior as 

 very small bits of wood can be used, and I for one 

 thank friend D. for giving it to the public. 



C. C. Shipp, Spring Dale, Aug. 2d, 1877. 



Is there in all the land, a climbing vine that bears 

 honey producing flowers ? If so, what is It, and where 

 can the seed be found ? I want something of the kind 

 to construct a sun shade for my bees. 



D. B. Baker, Rollersville, O., July I6th, '77. 



[At present we do not think of any such vine that 

 bears honey largely, although we believe our readers 

 have mentioned something of the kind. Will the 

 friend who did, please "rise and explain."] 



Now. we don't belong to that class pf'Trjends to 

 ■whom the question was put, but if you will excuse the 

 impertinence, I will make a suggestion in regard to 

 l)alnting those shipping cases. Try shellac polish on 

 well made c?crtn pine. The honey will not lose a'ny- 

 thing by the contrast; it dries in a moment, and it 

 can be washed like a pane of glass. A pencil mark 

 or anything that is on the pine when the polish is ap- 

 plied will remain permanently. 



R. M. Reynolds, East Springfield, O.. Aug. 11. 



honey from corn. 



Do bees gather honey from corn when in bloom ? 

 One of my neighbors who has kept bees says they do, 

 and that the honey is excellent in quality and has a 

 pleasant corn flavor. Henry' Mortimer. 



Manteno, 111., June ifith, 1877. 



[Good careful observers, state that bees do at times 

 get honey from corn, but we have never seen them do 

 it. At present, ours gather large quantities of ijollen 

 from corn, and it, without any doubt, saves their 

 stores of honey ; for young colonies and nuclei, that 

 bring it in, are building up while others' would starve 

 if not fed.] 



From Different Fields. 



fET me caution you about packing section boxes 

 /ii as fast as taken Irom hives. If kept In a warm 

 ^— ill place moth eggs will liatch and destroy your 

 honey. To keep bees from cider and sorghum mills, 

 cellar them ; it is the only efl'ectnal way. Give them 

 a week's fly at the least, afterwards, more If possible. 

 I rejoice with you in tlie success of chaff In warm 

 weather. R. L. Joiner. 



Wyoming, Wis.. Aug. 3d, 1877. 



If the sections of honey are put into market 

 at once, as they should be, in our opinion, there 

 will be no need of any fumi<i:atiou with sul- 

 phur; and if the unfinished ones are left oa 

 the hives until frosty weather, no moths will 

 ever hatch in them. Perhaps the cellaring: 

 will answer; but I never again wish to see 

 our bees kept in-doors when the weather will 

 permit them to fly ; and in fact I never mean 

 to move them from their summer stands at all, 

 if I can help it. As a remedy for visiting ci- 

 der mills, enclose them with cheap cloth cur- 

 tains, as given in Vol. II, page 114. 



The season has not been so good here as we antici- 

 pated. Cool nights and much rain checked the flow 

 of honey. Our bees have gathered just a living since 

 the 20th of July. Buckwheat is now in blossom but 

 yields no honey. Our bees ai-e getting honey though, 

 and we find it is honey dew from a portion of the for- 

 est near us. Can discover no aphides ami bees com- 

 mence work at 4 o'clock in morning. What is your 

 experience with honey dew for wintering ? Is it sale 

 to winter bees on it? It seems to be of good body 

 and light color. J. H. Martin. 



Hartford, N. Y., August 15th, 1877. 



We have never had enough of the honey dew 

 to give it a test for wintering, but have had 

 reports of its having done nicely; see page 63, 

 Vol. I. If the honey is nicely sealed, and the 

 bees are in close warm quarters — surrounded 

 with chafl' cushions — we should have no fear 

 of the honey dew. 



All of your publications about "chaff" only chafe 

 me, half to death. If your industrious, inquisitive 

 and persevering bee raisers can make money up in 

 their frigid zone, in spite ot all the drawbacks which 

 beset them, what colossal fortunes must be waiting 

 for them here, where flowers blossom the year rouuft, 

 and the busy hum of the little bee is never hushed. 

 No winter packing, no cellar removals, ncithing but to 

 let them alone, when it is cold. If your energetic 

 farmers would come down here now, and work half 

 as hard as they do up there, their fortunes would 

 soon be made. The day of foreign rule, ol bastard 

 thieving and riotous governments, is at an end, and 

 honest working men will meet with welcome. 



E. GouKiER, Plaquemine, La., June Uth, 1877. 



Beg pardon friend G., but as we need chaff 

 in the summer to get the best results in comb 

 honey, we rather think chatt" would be a fine 

 thing for you, even in the. South. 



"RAW" HONEY, WHAT CAN BE DONE WITH IT. 



I have some basswood honey which I was obligeii 

 to extract long before it was ripe, and I am afraid it 

 will sour. I would like to know what to do with it. 

 Henry Tench, Pottagevllle, Ont., Can., Aug. 1. 



You can ripen your honey by setting it in 

 shallow dishes in the oven, until it is of the 

 proper consistency, but it will be pretty sure 

 to spoil both color and flavor. The bees can 

 do this work better than anyone else, and I 

 think I should feed it back to them, and let 

 them fix it. They will make it clean, pure, 

 and nice, even after it has commenced to sour. 



