1878. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



123 



From Different Fields. 



TAKING BEES OUT OF THEIR WINTER REPOSITORIES. 



eN the 20th. of this month, it being- very warm, I 

 thought best to set the bees out for a fly. I 

 had 3 colonies in the cellar, which I set out 

 firsts and then started for neig-hbor Rice's, where 1 

 had 16 more in his bee house. I set them out as 

 quickly as possible, and soon the air was nearly black 

 with bees. 1 had a young- Italian queen in one of the 

 hives, hatched late in the season, and 1 thought to 

 show her to Mr. Kice; but on opening the hive I 

 found about as many black bees as yellow ones, 

 and saw at once what was wrong; a wad of black bees 

 were clinging to the (jueen and trying to kill her. I 

 got her away from them and closed the hive so that 

 but a single'bee could get in at a time. They soon 

 cleared the blacks out; I then closed the entrances 

 to the other hives and started home to see to the 

 other 3. When 1 got there I found two of my hives 

 empty; one swaim had killed the queen and the 

 bees were helping carry the stores from their own 

 hive. 1 opened the hive to find it completely full of 

 bees. I shall, here-after, keep their entrances[small. 

 Jas. S. Cole, Amherst, Wis., Feb. 22nd, 1878. 



When bees are wintered in-doors, such 

 troubles are not unusual. Had you set them 

 oirt in the evening of the day before, all 

 would have been right, in all probability ; 

 but I am very much better pleased to have 

 bees always on their permanent summer 

 stands. 



QUESTIONS FROM A BEGINNER. 



I want a little advice and very naturally I come to 

 you. I have 7 hives of bees, no two alike. I am im- 

 mensely interested in bees and honey, so much so 

 that I have spent about ^500. in the business with 

 but little profit, unless it is experience; so please 

 don't scold me for having such hives, for 1 too am a 

 Novice and a "green" one at that. I am strongly in 

 the notion of adopting the L. frame, and Simplicity 

 hive. 1 think I can "swop" my hives and bees for 

 box hives, and new swarms put into new hives which 

 I will furnish. 



Now would you advise this course to get rid of my 

 troubles, even if I have to do so at a considerable 

 discount? 



I would, by all means, advise using only 

 one sized frame in your apiary, and I think 

 you will save much trouble by adopting the 

 L. frame. This season, our orders are more 

 entirely than ever before, for frames, hives, 

 extractors, sections and almost every thing 

 else, of the L. size ; and the convenience of 

 uniformity is now being realized, as it never 

 was before. Several times we have had im- 

 ported queens ordered, to be sent in nuclei, 

 of Gallup, Quinby, or American frames. 

 To do this, we would have to make such a 

 niicleus hive to order, then the combs must 

 be transferred, and after all was done, it 

 wOidd be very unsafe to ship combs that had 

 just been transferred. I have often talked 

 of purchasing bees of neighbors, but unless 

 the frames ^\^ll hang in our hives, we must 

 consider the expensive task of transferring 

 the whole lot. A neighbor near me, has now 

 over a hundred colonies, and when asked 

 tJie size of his frame, he said he never 

 measured them. When he started, he might 

 have taken the L. frame, or even some other 

 regular size, just as well as not, but now, if 

 his bees were to be sold, they would bring at 

 least $100.' less, just because they are in a 

 frame like no body's else. 



Will it pay me to furnish hives to my neighbors 

 and give them $1,00 for all now swarms (especially 

 1st, swarms) they put in them? 



I should think it would pay, at three times 

 the amount. 



If I use the Langstroth Simplicity exclusixely 

 for box or comb honey, will I need an extractor? 



Being a young physician, of only moderate means 

 and practice, but industrious and hopeful. Will it 

 pay me to make above change of hives? My am- 

 bition is to have 30 two storj' Simplicities all in full 

 blast for comb honey in sections, so that I will not 

 have to look after them so closely as for extracting. 



You say you do not wish to be obliged to 

 look after your 30 two stoiy hives so closely 

 as you would if you used the extractor ; when 

 swarming time comes, you may conclude 

 that the easiest way will be to get an ex- 

 tractor and take their honey away, to stop 

 that "everlasting swarming.'' You cannot 

 evade the responsibility by using sections. 



In last December I put a candy and flour slab into 

 my weakest colony and in 3 weeks they bad plentj' 

 of brood, but 2 weeks later after a cold spell 1 found 

 "nary" sign of brood. How's that? 



The brood got chilled, and was carried 

 out, as is often the case, after sudden 

 changes, with a weak colony. 



Why is it that I find eggs all through the winter 

 but never see any sealed brood? Some of the brood 

 spoken of as resulting from candy and flour was 

 large, but not sealed. N. C. Steele. 



Kossuth, Miss., Jan. 19th, 1878. 



For the same reason; the warm genial 

 weather induced the queen to lay, but the 

 bees would not nurse the eggs into brood, 

 until they had all the requirements, such as 

 warmth, fresh stores, etc. The eggs are 

 either removed, or eaten by the bees, I have 

 not been able to discover which. 



A Mr. McDaniels, of New Carlisle, Ind., is selling, 

 through here, a hive (and territory) called the Cot- 

 tage Bee Hive. He threatens to prosecute me for 

 using nails between the frames in the hive I am 

 making. What do you think of his claim ? I know 

 that nails have been used to separate frames, a long, 

 time. C. A. Russell. 



Plainwell, Mich. March 18th, 1878. , 



I am afraid if Mitchell or some of his kin 

 should come along and say he had a patent 

 on using pine boards for bee-hives, many 

 would hand over the money, especially, if 

 he threatened prosecution, ^o long as peo- 

 ple will hand over their money in response 

 to such ridiculous claims and thre-its, so 

 long will these fellows continue in the busi- 

 ness. Nails have been used for spacing 

 frames for the last 20 years, and accounts 

 of them are given in the very first volumes 

 of our bee-journals. I feel that we are all 

 wasting time, in discussing anything so ab- 

 surd, saying nothing of the money wasted. 



Ovn- experience in trade with bee-keepers has 

 been very pleas.int. We find them intelligent, gene- 

 rous in their ideas of trade and fnir honest dealers. 

 We wish every class of jjeople were as true to the 

 right. W. F. & J. Barnes. 



Rockford, 111., Feb., -ith, 1878. 



I think the above speaks very favorably of 

 the writers, for when a. man feels pleasantly 

 toward those about him, he is generally on 

 good ground ; but when he has a lot of 

 grievances to unfold, of how one after an- 

 other has wronged him, I ,of late, begin to 

 fear he is the worst one of the lot he has 

 been talking about. I take the lesson home 

 too, for I am a "tremenduous" hand to 

 grumble and find fault with folks, and the 

 way they do things. It is early in the morn- 

 ing now. and I am in a good natured mood. 



