230 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



June 



I must say your little smoker is a perfect little pay for, and no more. Where the price is 

 ♦fem. Thomas H. Price, j veiy low, a publisher cannot well atford to 



i run small accounts, all over the land. 



Geneva Lake, Wis., May 12th, 1878. 



REMEDY FOR THE BLACK FLEAS ON RAPE. 



If you are troubled wntii the black flea on your 

 rape patch, dust it with ashes, when the dew is on in 

 the morning-. I have no trouble now. The Chaff 

 hive is ahead of all others for section honey, with 

 me. I made new honey in Feb. Bees all wintered 

 well. Sweet clover is beginning' to bloom, 4 feet 

 high. Alex Fiddes. 



Centralia, 111., May 9th, 1878. 



Ought the leather part of the smokers to be oiled? 

 King's Creek, O., May 38th, '78. A. L. Morgan. 



I presume it would do no farther harm, 

 than to make the implement untidy, and 

 rather unpleasant to handle. Unless the 

 leather should get very hard and stift", I do 

 not think I would oil it, but you might try 

 it and rei>ort. 



I live in north Mississippi, at a point near latitude 

 :i4^ longitude 90 '. I keep bees. I have tried comb 

 fdn. and find it insures straight comb, if one-half a 

 slieet, cut diagonally, be fastened by the long base 

 uii(( the hypothenuse), to the top bar of each al- 

 ternate frame in the hive. 1 find that the top bar of 

 the all wood frames you supply to the trade, is too 

 thin and flexible for safety in tliis warm climate, at 

 least 1.5 per cent of them saggin-r, when the Lang- 

 stroth frame is filled with eight 11 is. of honey in new 

 (•omb, whether built on fdn. or not. I think, but do 

 not know, tliat threads of strong linen, or fine wires, 

 worked into the (;omb fdn., would be a great safe- 

 guard against cracking and bending while extract- 

 ing, or in th'j lower story (lurintr hot weather. You 

 (!omplain of propolis being liard to remove from the 

 lingers. It is generally a species of waterproof 

 pitch or gum, of a nature similar to tar or pine resin, 

 and can be readily removed, by dipping the smeared 

 part in lard or other oil, nibbing it until the pitch 

 and the greise are blended, then using ordinary 

 soap and old water. The process need not occupy 

 half a minute. H. A. Moody, M. D. ' 



Longtown, Miss , May 21st, 1878. 



Our top bars are now made stronger, as 

 has l>eeii e\i»l-iined. Threads of linen, or 

 of any other substance of sucli a nature, will 

 be picked at by tlie bees, until it is all torn 

 out, thus wasting their valuable time, be- 

 sides defeating our object. They doubtless 

 feel suspicious of any such foreign body, be- 

 cause it so nearly resembles the'tibres of the 

 nests of the moth worais. The copjier wires 

 will answer, but. at present, I l>elieve we 

 are generally well enough pleased with the 

 fdn. as it is. "without going to all this troub- 

 le. Many thanks for your hint on lu-opolis. 

 We sliall have to have a neat little '-lard 

 l)ot.'' fastened uj) by the soap and Avash 

 t)asin. 



STOPIUNG .JOURNALS. 



The April Xo. of CiLEANINGS being my last, for the 

 year for which I subscribed, I am pleased that you 

 do not send more, until you are asked to do so and 

 paid. I should be pleased, if the habit of sending 

 papers which have not been ordered or paid for 

 were broken up. I have had my patience some- 

 whiit tried in this way. " E.Cheney. 



Winnecnnne, Wis., May 21st, 1878. 



I am very glad, my friend, that you ap- 

 prove of our course. . Some of our "friends 

 scold, if we stop it at the expiration of the 

 time, and some, if we do not stop it ; and it 

 is. tlierefore. a little dillieult to strike just 

 tlie best way to i)ieasc- all, but I think by 

 far the greater numbei- approve tlie more 

 modern way of giving you just what you 



I send you my account of last year's "beeing." 

 The season was not good. No honey gathered to 

 speak of after July 5th; drouth very severe. I win- 

 tered my 28 swarms safely; half in" cellar, the rest 

 on summer stands packed in boxes with hay. Lost 

 two by thieves. Here is the result. 



Dr. 

 To lumber and machine work on hives and 



boxes $21.00 



'• two queens 2.20 



" foundation 1.50 



" obser-ving hive l.Oi) 



Totol expenditures $25.70 



Cr. 

 Extracted honev 2.52 lbs. 

 Comb " 250 lbs. 



Total 502 lbs. Average 18c $;90.3f> 



By 4 swarms sold without hive 17..50 



" 8 hives and boxes on hand _ 20.00 



" 12 swarms increase, (5j $5 " 60.00 



Total receipts 



Total expenditui-es. 



87.8e 

 35.70 



My own work and profit S163,ie 



Not much honey gathered from fruit blossoms 



(too cold and wet), only sufficient for brood rearing; 



but thev are getting strong, ready for white clover. 

 Ann Arbor, May 18th, 1878. N. A. Pkudden. 



I would like to have some of your subscribers in 

 Mass., and in Worcester Co., in particular, inform 

 me, through Gleanings, how much honey good 

 hives of Italians will produce in the state and coun- 

 ty named. I mean surplus honey and taking the 

 hives as they average. Will some bee-keeper be 

 kind enough to give the information and oblige. 

 Geo. O. Churchill. 



Darwin, Cal., May 22d, 1878. 



If I am not mistaken, such questions are 

 very difficult to answer. In almost any lo- 

 cality, if the circumstances are aU right, 100 

 lbs. or more may be obtained from one colo- 

 ny in a season, but the general results will 

 be all the way from nothing up. Perhaps 

 the general average is about 50 lbs., when 

 increase is prevented, throughout the coun- 

 try. What do our friends in Mass. sayV 



SWARMING WITHOUT BROOD. 



I transferred 15 stands April 18th, and got only 

 two stings, one by accident, the other intentionally. 

 Bees were in good condition. Lost none >vintering. 

 May 4th, one colony east a large swarm. It was a- 

 raw chillj' day, so much so that the beos, by the 

 thousands, were chilled and fell on the ground. At 

 first. I was at a loss what to do with them; but I 

 finally concluded to give them a sheet of brood and 

 a new hive. I went to the mother hive to get the 

 brood, and to my utter surprise, not one particle of 

 brood was to be found. Now, why was there no 

 brood? There was a queen came out with the 

 swarm for I saw her. Why did they swarm on such 

 a day? E. H. Crippe.v. 



Moscow, Ind., May .5th, 1S78. 



If the hive was full of bees, they had cer- 

 tainly had brood very recently: I think they 

 swarined out because they kiiew something 

 was wrong, and kneAV not what else to do. 

 Bees will swarm out of their hive, for a v<i- 

 riety of causes, when things do not please 

 tliem. Sometimes for want of stores, some- 

 times because their hive is too large and 

 open, or too small and close; because their 

 entrance is either too large or too small; 

 because the hive is too hot ; and I think, in 

 a few cases, because tlieir queen is not doing 

 her dutv, as in the case mentioned. 



