348 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



1 never handlad bees until this summer, but 1 like it 

 very murh. At first I was very much afraid of thera. put 

 ;i bee hat on, ami was in lots erf trouble. The first svvarm 

 I divided. I put in a ne-v hive, three frames of which I 



COLONIES THAT WON'T BE QUEENED. 



I have been keeping bees for three years to no pur- 

 pose. Fir^t tryinsrone man's plan and then anoth- 

 er's until I have laecome disgusted with bees, my ad- 



had lilled with comb, but heinti inexperieneed, did not | visers, and finally with myself. A bwarrn came out 



know how to fasten it securely, Hnd when ready to take 

 off the sticks I found the comb in one fnime rolled up in 

 the bottom of the hive. I condude<l I mi^ht as well be- 

 Kin then as any other time, so I trave the bees a fev puffs 

 of smoke and ommenced. The v hofl fastened the comb 

 in two of the frames all ri^bt. I took the sticks off and 



on the 23d of May last; it swarnved again in a short 

 time, then again in July, and the whole lot now i& 

 not. equal to one good colony. The first swarm that 

 came out. swarmed again about this tinoe ia July 

 leaving it (lueenless. i have given it a frame con- 

 taining eggs and brood from other hives every two 



{)ut them back, but when ready to take out the comb, I i weeks and no queen yet. I gave it a queen cell at 



could not see very well, and so took ofT my bee bat. for 

 >?ettin'j; to put on anythins? else. 1 strai;j:htened the comb 

 on a cloth, and fixed i', all rii?ht iti the trame this time, 

 with the bees on my hands and hice- I thought onc« of 

 pinchini? one to see if they had anything to sting with. 

 My wife ^ays she thinks I give them rather too much at- 

 tention ; getting up in the morninz to see if they have all 



one time and that was soon destroyed by the beeg. 1' 

 have enquired from the knowing ones about here and 

 all the consolation I get is "yon should take 

 Gleanin'G8." So here goes for one dollar in Glean- 

 ings. Send me what yon think i» best, past, present 

 or future Vol's, to nive me a start in the right direct- 

 ion, and if I can learn anything to my advantage you 



gone to work, and looking, the last thinir at niiiht. to see i may consider me a constant subscriber 



that they have all returned safely, .and she wants to know 

 wht-ther I have them all named. Tney all like honey. ] 

 found a sm ill swarm hanging over the w.ilk. on the 1st of 

 •fuly. I hived them, and put in a board, givmii; them only 

 5 frimes. Did I do ridit? E. B. Blackman. 



Hudson, O., August 1, 1877. 



Quite right. 



covers of calico for hives. 



Have you ever used muslin or calico for covering 

 beehives? I use it and thins there ii nothing to 

 equal it. I stretch old muslin over the top and tack it 

 along the edges, then put on two or three coats of 

 paint and 'tis done and will last, lor years. It should 

 not be drawn too tightly, as in shrinking it is liable 

 to crack. There is nothing better for Hat to;iB, m It 

 ean't leak. R. Nickerson. 



New Canaan, Conn., Aug. 6th, 1877. 



Our objections to such would be that they 

 are easily injured. A (/ood board cover never 

 leaks, and it requires only the same painting; 

 as does the calico. A board is stron°r, sim- 

 ple, and neat, and you must have a board, 

 even if you do use the calico. 



WHY MRS. S. A. FHILr'S BEES S5IOTHERED. 

 SEE I'AGE 179. 



It is probable that when Mrs. P. closed the entrance 

 ot ihe hive to prevent the bees coming out. they 

 crowded the entrance so as to exclude all air ; and this 

 in a hot day would soon smother a strong s-.varm. 

 Had she raided the hive immediately alter opening it 

 she would probably have saved a part, at least, ot the 

 bees. Trie writer once experimented with a refracto- 

 ry swarm to prevent their leaving, by raising the Ironl 

 of the hlv^, just enouih for a worker bee to pass but 

 not enough for a queen. Out came the swarm and 

 circled In the .air, out the (lueen remained, and the 

 bees returning soon, went to work all rljht. Well, 1 

 had "struck ile" sure, and a few days liater, having 

 another sivarm bound to leave for the woods, 1 re- 

 ))ealed the experiment. The weather was very warm 

 and, it being a large swarm, some began to smother 

 and drop down clo-ing the entrance; and on looking 

 to them shortly after, I found them all smothered. 

 Well, that swarm didn't leave for the woods, but it 

 exploded that theory. 



J. A. Robinson, Battle Creek, Mich. 



J. G. Rice, Peosta, Iowa, Aug. 6th, 1877. 

 Our excellent friend Townley, the "chaft*" 

 man, has just paid us a visit, and several of 

 I us called on a neighbor who is new in the 

 \ business, but very successful in raising queens, 

 \ and when there, he said he was finally going; 

 I to confess that he had a colony he had beeu 

 trying to "queen" nearly all summer, but they 

 would neither build cells, nor accept a cell, or 

 queen. 1 told him they had a queen with bad 

 wings, but he declared they had not, for he 

 had looked them over, and if there was any 

 sort of a queen, he certainly should have seen 

 her. The hive was soon open, and in a twink- 

 ling each haJ a comb, and these were handed 

 about, until all seemed satisfied, that no queen 

 existed in the hive. This was somewhat puz- 

 I zling, for the bi-es behaved precisely as if they 

 had a queen, and I oegan to watch their move- 

 ments, to see if they would not indicate by 

 their manner, where or what the queen was. 

 At length I saw them extending their antenna* 

 to what appeared to be a rather dark slender 

 bee, and soon was satisfied she was the cause 

 of the whole trouble. She was in fact one of 

 those worker queens — see page 205 — and to 

 prove to my companions that she was held as 

 a queen, I tried in vain to make her protrude 

 her sting as I held her by the wings ; and af- 

 terward held her above the bees to show how 

 they would all gather around her. You will 

 have to be guided in fludiug such queens al- 

 most entirely, by the movements of the bees. 

 No matter how weak your bees were, if they 

 had laying queens, you should have had no 

 difficulty at all, in building thera up strong. 



Is It the difference in climate that makes It necs- 

 sary for bee ral;?ers at ihj North to give so much at- 

 tention to their bees V I seldom look into my bees 

 from one extracting time to another ; all winter they 

 .stand in the garden without, any attention whatever, 

 (1 have just now come In through the garden, stop- 

 ping as i passed to i)ull the weeds from 2 or 3 hives, 

 HO as to let the beeb in and out), and yet they nourish 

 and I do not chink of moths since 1 have Italians. In 

 extracting I pay no attention to brood, and comb fdn. 

 would be useless to me. as my bees will take an emp- 

 ty liive In a good season and All it lull of comb and 

 honey in iJ weeks. J. H. Onev. 



l>ixon'.s Springs, Tenn., July 2,i, 1877. 



Now, my friend, if you are satisfied with 

 having a new swarm fill their hive in two iceeks, 

 you certainly are easily satisfied, for with the 

 fdn. we cm have a colony ready for the upper 

 story in about three dnya, with a fair yield. 



In the spring of last year, I paid Mitchell's asrent at 

 Holland, Mich., 10 miles east from thl< place,, $1.25 for 

 the "Directory," back numbers Includeii. About mid- 

 summer I received the Ai>ril number, which Is all I 

 have seen. 1 also pj.ld S8 for the "A<'justable Bee 

 Hive and Farm Right." tor which my only receipt is a 

 tin cfteck. I wrote Mr. Mitchell concerning these 

 things, but without receiving a reply. I thereupon 

 wrote to a friend of mine at Indianapolis, a student; 

 at the Medical Institute, requesting him to go and see 

 Mr. Mitchell. His replv was as follows: "Mr. N. C. 

 Mitchell is not in bis bflice, and appears not to be in 

 the city. I have however spoken to one of his ac- 

 quaintances, who will see him as early as possible 

 about these thing-*. As soon as I shall have received 

 information, I will let you know." Up to this mo- 

 ment no information "has come to hand. Neither 

 docs Mr. Mitchell reoly to his agent at Holland. By 

 means of Gleanings I supposed there might be some 

 chance of hearing something from him. J. Els.ma. 



Vriesland, Mich., Marcb 28, 1877. 



We have had a good How from basswood and clo- 

 ver; since basswood tiave nearly starved. This 

 morning buckwheat begins to come. Have taken lOo 

 lbs. from some colonies. J. J. Swartwout. 



Union City, Mich., Aug. 7lh, 11:77. 



