304 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Nov 



I never heard or thought much about hjes until I 

 came across a swarm, one warm day in Feb., some 6 

 years ago, safely hived in a little oak tree. On my 

 si.le, it was love at flrst sii^ht; and I guess it was on 

 theirs als^, for thay have loved to sting me ever since 

 and I guess it i^ those whoai we love most, we sting 

 most. bYom that time on, I have been gleaning bee 

 literature from all sorts of papers, but disaster fol- 

 lo.ved and I lost my beea after keeping them about 11 

 months. I had cut them out of the tree, or rather 

 trees, lor by that time I had got two. Do you put your 

 chaff cushions in the hive soon enough for the bees to 

 coat ilism with nroiiolis, thireoy rendering them 

 moisture proofi' Or do you wait till cold weathrr sets 

 in, leaving the wails open and ]>orou3 that the moisture 

 ra>iy escape into the chaff? Ave you the man they 

 call " Novice ? " If so, 1 may be making a mistake in 

 going to you for iniormation, but then you see I imist 

 go to the " Root " of the matter. 



Chas. C. Bellows. 



Virmillion, Dak., Aug. Kith, '77. 



We never allow the bees to touch the chaff 

 cushions ; a sheet of duck intervenes. This 

 duck does, in time, get covered with propolis, 

 but I have not as yet been able to see that it 

 does smy harm. 



I suppose I ara " N'ovice," and I really hope 

 I always shall be, to the extent of being hum- 

 ble and willing to be taught. 



Tj3t me know what is best to prevent bees from 

 sticking wood with pronolis. M. F. Basun. 



lid V River, N. C, May '21st, 1877. 



I really know of no means of keeping propo- 

 lis from fi'ames. Don't know but we- shall 

 have to stand it as it is. Greasing the wood 

 with tallow, answers partially, but I think I 

 prefer the propolis. 



In the adjoining counties among the v^ountains, are 

 bee caves. Some of tuem contain tons of hoaey when 

 found Mils. J. L. Cunningham. 



Stricklinge, Texas, June 19Ui, 1877. 



Well now, that idea of a " bee cave " has giv- 

 en us a new attack of the bee hunting fever. 

 Would it not be grand funV 



I noticed in Sept. Gleanings that you had rec'd 

 your queens irorn Trcmontani. Your observations on 

 imported queens are same as mine ; that is, I, liiie you, 

 have found that some ot the queens are yellow and 

 some small and dark, but you will llnd thsm to be lar- 

 ger and lighter after they i)ogin to lay. Their prog- 

 eny is fine and well marked, and they are really very 

 prjlilic. Their daugaters present the same features; 

 some are light, and some even darker than the moth- 

 ers, but as a general rule they reproduce thcmsclvej 

 well. I have raised about 5i» daughters since July, 

 and all, with the escption of 3, are like the mothers. 

 Those 3 are small and very dark, though proliflc and 

 producing lins and well marked vrorkers. I have not 

 yet lound one of my imported queens to produce 

 workers witli only two yellow bands. 



Paul L. Vjallon. 



Bayou Goula, La., Sept. 12th, 1877. 



Bees nearly all died 4 and 5 years ago, when 

 th^y gathered honey from the so called Jack Oak. 

 Thev have done the same this faM. J. E. Jakket. 



West Poini, Iowa, Oct. Olh, 1877. 



Was it honey dew? Please tell us about it. 



The queens rec'd of you, 1 liked very much, and 

 succeeded admirably well in introducing them. They 

 vvere received in the evcnir.g, and in the morning I 

 caught the old queens and let the Italians on the 

 comi> immediately, closing up the hive. On looking 

 again in the evening, 1 found them all right. 



STEWAltT LAWKKN'CE. 



Linnville, Ohio, Oct. 8th, 1877. 



Many reports verify our statement that 

 queens will often be received all right at once, 

 while in other cases several days or even a 

 week is required to make a safe, sure job ol it. 



I have several very large (jueens raised from the 

 brood you sent me from your Blocd-eci quecu; in fact 



they are as large as the O that came out of the little 

 boy's mouth when he accidentally sat down on a big 

 dry thistle. I hope you will succeed in wintering her^ 

 lor I may want a lew hundred dozens of her egge. 

 next year. 



Bees, either black, hybrids or pure Italians, im- 

 ported or home bred, have done next to nothing since 

 I was at your place ; many stocks have required feed- 

 ing to prepare them for winter. I have made 21 hive& 

 with the inside arrangement the same as your Lawn 

 hive; the outside case is made of % inch ceiling 4 

 inches wide, toagued and grooved and covered with a 

 double rool made of shingles, and I now have 'i stocks 

 prepared lor winter in each box. Next May or June 

 the uijper swarm will be set out directly in front of 

 its winter entrance, and far enough from it so that J 

 can walk between the two hives. The lower one will 

 remain in the wintering box. I like them "muchly" 

 and see no reason why they will not answer very 

 nicely the purpose for which they were designed. It" 

 so, there will be with me no more packing and un- 

 packing bees, and no great mass of "lumbering boxes" 

 Ivlng round loose, eye sores through the summer. 

 The material for the boxes, dresseil ready to cut and 

 nail together, has cost about 80 cts. each, or 40 cts. per 

 hive; this includes nails and paint, and it has taken 

 me about ten days to make them. 1 commenced ma- 

 king my old boxes over, like them, but gave it up, 

 concluding to make all new next year. 



The Barnes' saw has helped me very much about my 

 wort in making hives, &c., the past summer; and af- 

 ter using it one season I would as soon think of doing 

 without an extractor as without a circular saw, either 

 foot or some other motive power. 



J. H. TOWNLEY. 



Tompkins, Mich., Oct. 10th, 1877. 



Bees are all in good wintering condition in this sec- 

 tion of country. I had 8 in the spring, increased them 

 to 17 and extracted one barrel of honey ; also look 

 IfiO lbs. of box honey. I wintered them in chaff last 

 season and they did splendidly. I shall try It again 

 the coming winter. S. B. Pontious. 



Akron, Ind , Sept. '22d, 1877. 



I am almost discouraged in the bee business, as I 

 lost all but 3, out of 12 colonies last winter, and one of 

 them was too weak to swarm this season ; but as 1 

 had some surplus comb v.'hich I did not wish to lose, I 

 Ijurchased some first swarms of a Iriend, and now 

 have my hivt\s all occupied again, and most of them 

 in good condition for winter. 



Last fall, I built a Irost proof house to winter in, but 

 lost three-fourths of my bees; 1 think because the 

 sawdust filling was too damp and had not time to dry 

 out belore winter set In. I will try it again this win- 

 ter, hoping for belter success. Thus. F. Wilson. 



Milan, Ind., Sept. '22d, 1877. 



I should hardly want to put so few as 12 

 colonies in a house, friend W. A cellar under 

 the room you live in, might do, but so few in a 

 house, would hardly keep it warm. 



Bees swarmed too soon after receiving your letter 

 to send for any hives, and I was compelled to use 

 rough Southern pine; if you ever worked any of it 

 you know how lo sympathize with others. From 100 

 gums an<l box hives, churns, trunks, barrels, &c.. we 

 secured 55 awarms. I never saw bees "cut up" so 

 badly before; alter hiving I have had them leave 

 thc'lr queen entirely alone In the hive. I have given 

 thorn young brood ami that did not seem to keep 

 them ; I have had them to build three large pieces of 

 comb, fill them with brood and then leave their liive. 

 It has been a very common occurrence for them to 

 leave their new hives, and in every case they have 

 lelt gradually, a few at a time and mixed up all over 

 the apiary. 



Of course you will put me into " Ulasted Hopes," 

 but you can't make me stick in that horrid column If 

 you try. I never will die in "Blasted Hopes;" lam 

 bound to be a bee man, and now friend H. I wish to 

 ask one question ; what has a man to do in order to 

 become a bee man ; tell big stories ? 



J. N. B. Thompson. 



San Antonio, Texas, Aug. lUh, '77. 



We have had reports about bees "cutting 

 up" as you mention, but never had ours do so. 

 If you want to be a genuine bee 7nan, work 

 hard and (ell the truth, even if it slimdd get you 

 into " Blasted Hopes." 



