228 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



nearly tos^ether, that the wax between them, 

 l)eyond tlie rim, is almost as thin as tissue 

 paper. In building natural comb, of course, 

 the bottoms of the cells are thinned in the 

 same way, as the work goes along, before 

 any side-svalls are made at all ; but the man- 

 ner of thinning the bottoms of the cells in tlie 

 foundation, or artificial comb, is quite an- 

 other thing. 



Dollar queens are now a "dollar," and I think 

 we can send you as many as you want, by return 

 mail. 



Dollar queens are always young- queens; tested 

 queens are not necessarily young-, therefore the dol- 

 lar queens have one very important advantage over 

 the others. 



Our losses of queens, dviring the months of May 

 and June, have been very heavy, especially, when a 

 cool spell of weather ensued, but during the warm 

 weather of July, we seldom have much trouble. 



through, we have never had any trouble. If vou 

 want bees in the Chaff hive, you had better get the 

 hive by freight, and we will furnish without charge, 

 a simplicity hive -ivithout top or bottom, to send the 

 bees in by express. 



One colony has already filled and sealed 40, lb. 

 sections; the one on the scales, shows a gain of ,5 to 

 s lbs. every pleasant day, and I do not see but that 

 they g-am nearly as much where well r^uiiplicd with 

 sections, as where the honey is taken awav with the 

 extractor. Of course, the filled sections are to be 

 taken out every few days, and their places supplied 

 with empty ones, containing the fdn. 



Over ;.',Ono of the A B C, part first, 

 in the first 6 months; part second, 

 about hive and section box makiiij: 

 be ready in about 10 davs. Price of 

 or Mc f iir both in one. *Bear in mind 

 is prnite 1 only so fast as sold; and, 

 up in t- •> ', every improvement and 

 is at ouco added, so that it is always 

 times. 



have been sold 

 containing all 

 ?, etc., etc., will 

 each part 25c; 

 that the A B C 

 as it is all kept 

 new invention 

 clear up to the 



The boys in the apiary were just looking a good 

 deal troubled, because they had hived a swarm 

 three times, and then they would not stay. Said I, 



"Did you give them a frame of unsealed brood?" 



"Oh no: we forgot that part of it." 



They were given the brood and hived again, and 

 then they stayed. We have now 300 fair colonies. 

 Most of them were made early in June, to accommo- 

 date the early queens sent in; and now, the young 

 bees are just getting ready for the basswood. 



If you would have your orders for fdn. filled im- 

 mediately, and get it before you have hardlv had 

 time to expect it, please order our regular sized box- 

 es that we keep on hsnd, all readv to ship. See 

 price list. 



We have had one importation of queens from 

 Italy only, during this month; nearly half of these 

 were dead, owing- to the cool weather. Another 

 large lot is now on the way. We will do the best we 

 PDHsihly can to fill orders, and will return the money 

 at any time when you may become tired of Avaiting. 



We have had one report of brood hi the small sec- 

 lion boxes. It was drone brood; every box in the 

 frame was filled with it. The owner had put the tin 

 separators next the side of the hive, and turned the 

 open side of the boxes next the brood combs. To 

 be sure you will have brood in the sections, when 

 you do things thus carelessly. 



If you don't stop sending queens without any 

 mark on them, to tell what they are, I do not krow 

 what I shall do. I have threatened several times to 

 sell all such for hybrids forthwith ; but I don't quite 

 dare to, even if it would be serving you right. Do 

 you "spose" we can fuss to introduce queens, and 

 then have you write a few days after that thev are 

 Injbriclsf 



We have bought and sold hundreds of queens 

 during the past month, and nearly every order— 

 except for imported queens -has been filled bv re- 

 turn mail. Many are rejoicing over nice queens at 

 small expense in the month of June, but it has been 

 a tearful task to send them long distances, thus 

 early. In some cases we have sent 3 tested queens 

 in succession, before we have succeeded. 



Hayhurst, of Kansas City, Mo., and Henderson, 

 of Murfreesboro, Tenn., seem to be rather ahead in 

 preparing queens for shipment. We have received 

 packages of from 1.5 to 25, from each of the gentle- 

 men named, without so much as a single dead bee 

 among the lot. Several others have done nearly as 

 well. 



At least 0-10 of all the queens we have tested in 

 our own apiary have proved pure; so there is little 

 inducement for purchasing tested queens. As a 

 consequence, hybrids are scarce; and we do not get 

 enough to fill half of our orders. It is the same with 

 the black qneens; we send out all that are sent us 

 at 2.5c, but of course no one can raise them for that 

 price. 



A GREAT many are asking me to buv their bees. 

 As I cannot possibly reply to you individually in 

 this matter, I will try to do so in" a general way. To 

 buy bees largely will require a great amount of cap- 

 ital, and it will be a very risky business; however I 

 will try it in this way. 1 will' pay $5.00 for a good 

 colony of Italian bees, with io metal cornered 

 frames of comb filled with the usual amount of 

 brood, delivered at our R. R. station. In any other 

 kind of frames, the price will be §4.00; and for black 

 bees, $3.00. You may ship them in any kind of a 

 hive or box you choose, but as every extra lb. adds 

 to the express charges, which yoii are to pay, I 

 would suggest that, they be put in a light strong 

 box, with the top and bottom of wire cloth. The 

 Express Go's will return you the boxes and wire 

 cloth without charge. 



We have so far recovered from the severe chas- 

 tisement inflicted by the "Growlery," that we are 

 able to fill ail orders .nlmost the day they are re- 

 ceived, and I trust with but few mistakes. The 

 brick factory is located on the IT acre honey farm, 

 the cellar dug, and the stone for the foundation 

 partly on the ground. A side track from the R. R. 

 is to-day being laid, that our lumber, tin, wax, etc. 

 maj' be unloaded directly at our doors ; while the 

 apiary runs back into the grounds, where there is a 

 stream and a bit of natural woodland. This stream 

 is to be made into a pond for a pleasure boat in 

 summer, and for skating and ice for the wax works 

 in wnter. So much for business. 



One of the buildings formerly used for the Fair is 

 to be our chapel for our Sabbath morning Bible 

 class, and wo ai-e just now digging a well, th;it is to 

 supply a constant stream of water for the drinking 

 tank to be placed in front of the factory. Every 

 body is to be induced, if possible, to drink pure 

 water, and a rope of moral suasion is to be put 



around the saloon across the way; and Tut! tut! 



tut! Novice ; before you find very much fault with 

 your neighbors, had you not better look after your 

 "Gi-owlery" at home ? 



W e have had so many cases of suffocation in 

 shipping powei-ful colonies in hot weather, that we 

 now ship all in the Simplicitv hive, with wire cloth 

 over top and bottom; with this current of air right 



Prof. Cook's new Manual of the Apiai'.v is out, 

 and a very pretty book it is. It is brimful of pic- 

 tures, and they are not only excellent in execution, 

 but are chosen from subjects that will be most sure 

 to interest bee-keepers of the present dav. The 

 paper and printing are benutiful, and friend Cook's 

 style of writing is much like his way of talking, so 

 kind and genial, so friendly and considerate of the 

 feelings of all, that I feel like thanking God that we 

 have such a man as Prof. Cook, to take hold of the 

 subject of bee-culture, in this inth century, in the 

 masterly way in which he has done it. This is my 

 verdict on reading it over. 



"Of course then, you will advise all to buy this 

 book, and to buy it in preference to all others, since 

 it is new, and' quite up to the times?" perhnps a 

 thousand or two of my readers will say. My friends. 

 I know from past experience, that it is my duty to 



