182 



GLEANINGS LN BEE CULTUEE. 



June 



in the olil fa?hii)iiefl "gum," and have bought 3 

 LangstroTh hives complete, tor !?5.()0. 



Now, Professor, some questions; shall I feeej) my 

 black beesy if I rio, will they mix, if I keep my Ital- 

 ians on one side of my orchard and Itlacks on the 

 other? or had 1 better make frame hives, at once, 

 and put all my black swarms into them, and sell 

 them? 



Had I better let my Italians swarm naturally this 

 season, while I am so iireen in the business? 



I can not understand how I am to get the svirplus 

 honey in the "section lioxes" you describe, and so I 

 have concluded to send to you for a Simplicity hive. 

 My father, who is still living, has had bees for more 

 thiin 50 years, 20 years before I was born. Often 

 we had 30 "stands," as we call them, and often not 

 more than 2 or o. We always used the "guta" 

 hive. So, you see, I have been loohittfj at bees all 

 my life, but, I confess, I have heard and learned 

 more about the habits of the busy little fellows in 

 the last 12 houi-s. (since receiving the "A B C," and 

 Gleanings, and the hivr, itself) than I had learned 

 in all my life before, thanks to you. Excuse my 

 length this time. S. G. Hillis. 



P. S.— In answer to your notice on shipping tag, 

 (which I overlooked at first) I take pleasure in sta- 

 ling that the bees were securely packed, and ar- 

 rived in perfect order, with every evidence that 

 you take a proper interest in your customers. The 

 people here are perfectlv delighteil with the Ital- 

 ians, !.nd the looks of your hives, but none of us 

 have any practical knowledge of the improved plan 

 of managing boes. S. G. H. 



Concord, Ky., April Cth, 1878. 



Stop calling me ''Professor," and talking 

 about compensation, and I will tell you all 

 I know. 



Keep your black bees, of course, but 

 ciiange the black queens for Italians, just 

 as soon as you can scrape u\) bee knowledge 

 enough to raise the queens. Your hives 

 may as well be within one foot of each oth- 

 er, as to have the blacks on one side of the 

 orchard, and the Italians on the other. 

 They often mix, when as much as 2 or 8 

 miles apart. With the A ]> C book, and the 

 Simplicity hive, you will have no trouble in 

 getting the "•run" of it all, especially, if you 

 study the 6ee.s-. as well as tlie books. You 

 are on the right track, and will very soon he 

 able to talk brood combs, queen cells, larvte, 

 and all that, with any of us. It seems but a 

 very little while ago, that Nellis, Viallon. 

 Shaw, and many others of our most expert 

 queen rearers. Vvere asking just such (luts- 

 tions as yours, and now they bid fair to 

 leave even the veterans far in the rear. 



THE $5t). DAMAGES TO MK. BITRCH. 



WT seems from the May A. B. J., that this 

 JT is not yet dropped, after all. It is true, 

 I did, in a i)rivate letter, accuse friend 

 Burch of falsehood, but the circumstances 

 were such, that I felt it my duty to do so, 

 and I tried to do it in a kind way, for his 

 own good, and not because I had any ill 

 feeling toward him. It was on a niattei- 

 that did not concern fdn., at all. On learn- 

 ing afterward that he was a Christian man. 

 and, if I am cori-ect, an earnest Sunday 

 scliool worker, I wrote liim an apology, feel- 

 ing sure there was some strange mistake in 

 the matter, and that I had erred in judg- 

 ment, in the course I had thought best to 

 take. I am perfe'^tly satisKed to pay him the 

 $-j(). because I think'he is honest in thinking 

 he ought to have it. and lor the sake of 

 peace, if money would bring peace and good 

 will, 1 am willing to i)ay even more. "But 

 there is another sidi' to tliis, and one that. 



for the good of others, I mnst mention. The 

 affair establishes a bad precedent. Seeds- 

 men have invariably, I believe, declared 

 they cannot be responsible for the crops 

 raised from the seed they sell, even should 

 it transpire that the seed was bad. They 

 will furnish more seed, free of expense, in 

 such cases, but this is all they can do. If 

 the fdn. I send out is unsatisfactory, I will 

 return the money, and pay all expenses botli 

 ways, on leturn of the fdn. 



I received from Mri Burch pay for only 

 24 lbs. of fdn.. something less than $18. He 

 did not use all of this, as appears from the 

 card below. I think it was not right for 

 him to ask for, or to take the $50., because 

 it left the door open for similar demands 

 from others, and in transactions I have had 

 nothing to do with. Several cases have 

 come up since, concerning bees that have 

 been sold, and other things, and some of our 

 readers have come to me, to settle cases of 

 like nature for them. I would suggest that 

 Ave make it a general rule, that goods, bees, 

 or other things, that are sold, if the matter 

 cannot be arranged by the payment of small 

 differences, be returned, and the shipper pay 

 expenses both ways. Of course both parties 

 are to use all possible care in saving each 

 other all needless expenses. Do not return 

 the goods, until full explanations have been 

 given, and both parties are fully agreed in 

 the matter. Do it all pleasantly, and when 

 over, remain friends. 



I do not wish to throw blame on friend 

 Burch, and am willing to call it all errors of 

 judgment, rather than intentional wrong. 

 I hope he is a better Christian than I am; 

 in one respect lie has set me a good example, 

 for he has been laboring for the good of the 

 young men of his town, and has been con- 

 tent to say nothing about it, leaving others 

 to tell ol his good deeds, if they are ever 

 told at all. To show that he was, at least in 

 part, at fault in liis judgment in regard to 

 tiie fdn.. I append a postal card, that just 

 came to hand. 



Pleasf^ send H. W. Rurkholder sample copj' of 

 GfEAMNfJS, to Bear Lake Mills, Vantuiien Co., 

 Miih. PI' ase send me your price list. Buckholder 

 told me, 1 he other day, ho got 5 lbs. of fdn. of the 

 man to whom you payed ^50. for making his wa.x up, 

 and it worked all right. He wanted to know where 

 he could buy it this year; so I write you in haste. 



D. Bdtton. 



Bloomingdale, Vanburen Co., Mich., April 27, 1878. 



BEES TO IL.OOK AT. Ac. 



/p-^lAN you furnish me with a four frame nucleus 

 (!| J of Italians on fdn. started combs? I want 

 *^^ them in standard L. frames, and would partic- 

 ularly like the "yellowest" or lightest colored to be 

 had. "Albinos," if there arc any such, would please 

 me, as I want them to Inoh at. I would pay a high- 

 er price for them than for dark colored bees. 



I am sorry to say we cannot send 

 combs built on fdn., until they are 1 or 2 

 years old. because they would be pretty sure 

 to break down in shipping. We, on this ac- 

 count, usually select the oldest and toughest 

 combs we can find. If bees to look at are 

 what is wanted. I do not know but that 

 friend Pike's Albinos may be a pretty good 

 thing after all. There is so much call for 

 the very yellow bees, tliat I confess I have 

 hard work to keep a choice colony of this 



