234 



gleani:ngs in bee culture. 



July 



amount of brood, we sometimes find their 

 size ([uite moderate. I think transfemng 

 would be the readiest way of fretting rid of 

 drone brood, aiul if the hives contain a great 

 number of live drones, I guess you would 

 l)etter ilx the entrance so the worker bees 

 can get in, but not the ch-ones, and then 

 take all tlie bees out of the hive and shake 

 them in front of the entrance; when all 

 have gone in except the drones, the poor 

 fellows may be killed in some easy way, 

 that you probably can invent. It is an easy 

 matter to adjust an entrance between two, 

 straight, wood or metal bars, so as to keep 

 the drones out. Wire cloth, made with 

 meshes exactly right, would answer the pur- 

 pose nicely. 



HOW THE FRAMES OF CANDY WORKED. 



The one copy of your Gleanings in Bee Culture 

 that you sent me, 1 read thoroug-hly. 1 would not 

 take one dollar for what I learned about the culti- 

 vatl m of bees, from that one .iournal. I made a 

 e indy slab as you stated, and spread the cluster of 

 bees, and hung' it in the centre, and they all went to 

 liciiin?. In 3 or :i days I uncovered them and looked 

 in, and thev were Ml! licking-. M. D. Tyler. 



Manchester, Ohio, Dec. :ilth, 1877. 



FOUNDATION VEEISOS NATURAL COMB FOR STARTERS. 



I furnished two section boxes, one with natural 

 o )mb, the other with fdn., and find that the bees 

 have commenced workiny: well on the fdn., but have 

 tint yet worked on the natural comb. I make this 

 statement thinking:, perhaps, it may be of benefit to 

 you, or to some of the subscribers. 



A. B. Seidner. 



New Springfield, Ohio, June 7th, 1878. 



SMCiTHERING BEES, ETC. 



r am well pleased with the frames, and the smoker 

 is ,iust splendid ; but the express charges, $1.25, just 

 h-ilf the price of the frames, I think were high. 1 

 had 9 colonies in box hives, so as soon as I got some 

 of the frames rciidy, I went to transferring; had 3 

 transferri'il all ri;;ht, when robbing set in. Well, I 

 thought I would "fix 'em," so I closed the entrances, 

 and did not look at them for some time (a few 

 hours); and behold! one of them was smothered; 

 bees, honey, comb, and all were in a pile, nearly 

 boiling hot.' The other two were all right. I guess 

 I won't shut out robbers any more. 



Joel Tilman. 



North Manchester, Ind., May 15th, '78. 



I know it is expensive, getting such goods 

 by express, and the only remedy I can offer, 

 is to order a little sooner, in larger quanti- 

 ties, and by freight. We are doing all we 

 can, to get lower rates by express, and have 

 a clerk whose business it is, to examine the 

 routes and decide upon the cheapest and 

 b?st way for you to get your goods. 



Many cases of smothering, in just the way 

 you mention, are reported every season; be- 

 ware of closing liives in hot weather, unless 

 they have ventilation l)y an ample surface 

 of wire cloth, or something equivalent. 



not, I would timi back the cloth sheet, and 

 put in a division board in such a way, as to 

 let them into only as much of the upper sto- 

 ry cis they could till. A chaff cushion might 

 be put in the vacant side, until they are 

 ready to occupy the whole upper story. J 

 would hive a swarm in the chaff luve, by 

 simply shaking them in front of the en- 

 trance; if the weather is vei'y Avarm, you 

 might raise the cover slightly, to give them 

 more air, but do not let them get into the 

 upper story, until they have got their combs 

 well started below. Keep them down, by 

 the cloth sheet. 



GLASSED AND UNGLASSED SECTIONS. 



We have sold several tons of glassed sections for 

 an eastern house at 13 to 15 cts. for buckwheat, and 

 15 to 18 cts. for white honey. We also sold 22 cases 

 of ichite honey to a Chicago house at 15 cts. 



Yours without glass would, in our estimation, 

 bring 2J tf) 22 cts., but will try to get more if you 

 send it.' We will give you 20 cts. per lb. here, or sell 

 for you as visvial, whichever you prefer. 



Htair & Kendel. 



Cleveland, Ohio, May 14th, 1878. 



SURPLUS, and hiving SWARMS IN THE CHAFF HIVE. 



Is not the top part of a chaff hive most too large for 

 a small swann? How do you contract, if necess:n-,\V 

 Whicli is the best way to hive a swarm in a chalf 

 hiveV I am going to be absent about a month. Will 

 have to lea\e care of bees with my son. It is for 

 his benefit 1 wisii j-our advice. Samuel C. Ware. 



Tov/anda, 111., May ;?:tth, 1878. 



1 sliall l»e most happy to tell the boy. that 

 a small svarm should be built up to a large 

 one, before they are allowed to go into the 

 upper story. If the weather is warm, I do 

 not think it will do harm, to let them liave 

 tlie whole- upper story at once, but if it is 



extracting and cross bees. 



I wish to ask you or your correspondents, if it 

 makes bees crosser to extract than it does to "box" 

 them, provided you have an expei-ienced hand with 

 the extractor, who will smoke them until they hum. 



West Grafton, N. Y. W. L. Coggshall. 



Without doubt, the bees are many times 

 made cross, by the use of the extractor; 

 but, if it is properly used, there need be no 

 more stinging than when the apiary is 

 worked for box honey. And proper use 

 does not mean smoking them so they ''hum" 

 either; for I do not believe in using smoke 

 while extracting, as a general thing. The 

 work should only be done, while honey is 

 coining rapidly, and the hives and frames 

 should be such that no bees are ever killed, 

 during the necessary manipulations. If you 

 can avoid all robbing, you will not have any 

 trouble with cross bees ; but, if you get the 

 robbers to following you about from hive t«> 

 hive, you will soon have cross bees, to your 

 sorrow. 



queens, by mail. 



Please let us know, through Gleanings, what the 

 post office law is about sending (lueens by mail. 

 The post master, at this place, refuses to mail them. 

 Have 1 a rigiit to the use of the mails in sending 

 queens to my customers? or have I no right? Let 

 us know just wliat rights queen dealers have in tho 

 matter, and oblige many. N. S. Ames. 



Napa City, Cal., May 3.5th, 1878, 



Thei-e is no law against sending queens 

 by mail, as some have stated it, but there is 

 a'ruling to the effect that bees are unmaila- 

 ble matter. This ruling was made, I be- 

 lieve, by one of the assistant P. M. Gs.. 

 for tlie reason that the officials woidd get 

 stung, if bees were so permitted to go, and 

 also "tliat the honey sent with them might 

 daub the other mail matter. With strong, 

 secure cages, the former objection is remov- 

 ed, and with the use of the candy instead of 

 honey, the latter is removed. If I am cor- 

 rect, every P. M. has the privilege of tising 

 his own jfidgment to a certain extent, in al- 

 lowing the public to use the mails for their 

 accomodation. Accordingly our Medina 

 P. AI. has, all along, told us we miglit send 

 our queens by mail, if they were carefiUly 

 and strongly" put up, at least until positive 



