25S 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



[That is j II 5t what I want yvJii to do, mj' friend, 

 com? right alony anl tike the "rockin? chair," 

 whether you bring- sa'orcribers or njt. You are all 

 of you always welom?, and I wish you to feel per- 

 fectly at hoin3. Now for th3 questions; but do not 

 all speak at 0^33.] 



Ian 13 vears old, and am trying- to learn bee keep- 

 ly. Mv father his 21 hive? of bees and I have 7. 

 Kind's Creak, O., June 21, ISTf*. A. L. Mor3AN'. 



We hid a swarm of Italians which we bivel, and 

 they cime out again at 1 o'clock, and started for tall 

 timber. The bjys followed them one mile, run them 

 into a tree, cat it, and brought them back, and I 

 clipped the queen. Byron Bigos. 



Fairbanks, Sullivan Co., Ind., June 22, 1878. 



I had a swarm of bees one week ago to-day. and 

 to-day they (the new swarm) threw off another 

 swarm. Htw is that for the "frozen zone" ? 



J. M. Cheat.^am. 



Six Oaks, Minn., June2M, '73. 



I am n )t in very good trim for writing to-night, as 

 I went up a black oak tree after a swarm of bees, 

 and g )t one eye closed; but want to ask vyou a few 

 questions. Our bees in this section were ready to 

 swarm in May; but, owing to the c^ld rainj- weather, 

 they did not swarm, but killed off the drones, and 

 most of them hive been very cross. The last of 

 June and the first of this month they began to 

 swir.n and t-) "light out;" could nit do anything 

 with them. One man lost seven out of nine swarms. 

 The second swarms act better. A good many of the 

 swarms that left were fo\ind hanginer on bushes. 

 What was the cause of their killing^off the drones? 

 [Scarcity of hiney.] What made them so cross and 

 act so about swarminj. [Same reason, and swarm- 

 ing mania.] Frank Polleys. 



Melrose, Wis., July 10, 1878. 



VENTILATION'. 



One of my last young colonies, I put into a new 

 hive mide after the diagram in the .iournal you sent 

 m ;. It being made good and tight, the bees left it 

 next day and settled again. I bored holes in the 

 back end of the lid, which let off the strong, hot, 

 pine smell that was in the hive, which I am satisfied 

 I cjuld not hive lived in myself. After doing that, 

 mv bee? went t J work, and 1 think are doing their 

 very best. J. T. Cooper. 



Viola, Mercer Co., 111., July 13, 1878. 



[Do not b ire holes in your hives, my friend, but 

 .l'u?t shove the hive forward on the bottom board, 

 and you can get all the ventilation ever needed. 

 New swarms should have a very large entrance.] 



I have tried the smoker, and it sent the bees down 

 into the lower part of the hive a "howling," as the 

 boy said ; but we got it very hot and melted the sol- 

 der, and we came near never getting it open again. 

 It has not bothered anj', however, only the first time. 

 O, it is so much better than the mouth smoker ; it 

 has paid for itself in the last two days, we have kept 

 it hot most of the time. Jeue.miah Wood. 



Lebanon, Ohio, July 5th. 1878. 



[We have lately commenced soldering the joints, 

 .iust to have them stand the banging in the mail bags 

 better.] 



We are having the finest honey harvest I ever saw. 

 Our plains are covered with sumach, and bees have 

 filled their hives completely full during the last 

 week, and are now in boxes. Give them fdn., and 

 th'^y will extend it and have it filled with honey in 

 4H hours. Charles Pool. 



Carthage, Mo., July 9th, 1878. 



how to transfer. 



The hive that you sent came in due time, all 

 straight as a string. Thanks for vour promptness. 

 I think you would have laughed if you had seen the 

 preparations that I made tor transiferring. I got all 

 the tools that I could think of, saw, hammer, chisel, 

 and i pans of smoke to keeo robbers away, and as I 

 had no honey knife, I used an old cavalry sword. 

 Well, I got the hiv^e open, and those bees .fust toolt 

 one look at the array of tools that I held against 

 them, and gave up in despair. There was not a 

 cross bee in the whole lot. I got them all neatlv 

 fixed in the movable frames, and to-dav thev are at 

 work as lively as ever. W. P. Hall. 



Pembroke, N. Y., June 25, 1378. 



questions and troubles from the north pole. 



Do drones go into other than their own hives? 

 [Yes, frequently.] I had a large swarm one day, 

 and the next m )rning early they killed off their 

 drones. [Their queen had beconae fertilized, and 

 they had no further need of drones.] I have had 

 four cases where swarms lit on other hives, to my 

 great vexation. [Fix bushes for them to cluster ori. 

 and cover the hives they try to light on with a 

 sheet.] I had a large second swarm come out the 

 3d day after hiving, and go into a hive near by that 

 had swarmed the day before, and all were peaceful, 

 onl.v the intruding mother bee was soon killed and 

 brought out, but I saw n^ funeral procession; only 

 three i>ees brought her out and dumped her down 

 with )ut a liit of ceremony. [That is "b^e stjde."] 

 The earliest swarm I ever had, before this year, was 

 June 'iid. My first swarm this season was April 

 2tth, and thereafter I had swarms every few days 

 all along. Italians were ahead by three "weeks; and 

 chuff protected hives out of doors were the same. 

 I did not lose any bees last winter, either in the cel- 

 lar or out of d wrs. I like chaff 1 ft. all around and 

 over the hive, and out door wintering best, espeeial- 

 I3' if you will insure winters like the last. I would 

 rather have natural swarms than make them. Hiv- 

 ing them is better fun than a dozen circuses. Oh, I 

 forgot to say my cellar bees all killed off their 

 drones a few daj-s after the killing frost. May 13th. 

 The first 6 swarms were from out door hives. Cel- 

 lar bees are livelj' and swarming now. [I agree with 

 you about the circuses.] J. E. Breed. 



Waupaca, Wisconsin. 



I would like to see the following questions dis- 

 cussed in Gleanings: 



1. What is the best way to get queens fertilized 

 when raised in great numbers? [The 3 frame nu- 

 cleus.] 



2. What is the best way to keep fertilized queens 

 on hand? [Same as aboVe.] 



3. What is the best time and way to Italianize an 

 apiary without loss of brood and honey. [In Au- 

 gust. See A B C] 



Give us your way, and induce other bee-keepers 

 to do the same. Chas. W. Grote. 



Mauston, Juneau Co., Wis., July 22, 1878. 



I wrote you May, 1876, that I was going into the 

 bee business, and would follow the teachings of 

 Gleanings. I hive done so with the following re- 

 sults: I bought 4 weak swarms May 1st, 1876; I have 

 now 55 strong swarms, and expect 10 or 13 more. I 

 have had a fair yield of honey each year. My suc-- 

 ccss is all due to vour teachings. W. H. Jemison. 



Adams, July 1st, 1878. 



Sections are very valuable just now. I did not 

 think 1 would need over 500, but I could have sold 

 quite a lot. Everybody that has a few bees asks, 

 "Have you any more of those patent honey boxes 

 than you want? I would like to get some." They 

 all seem to think they are patented, because they 

 are so much nicer than the old glass boxes. 



W. H. Frederick, Maximo, O., June 29, 1878. 



[It has been much the same here. Steady old far-, 

 mers have been calling for sections and fdn. all daj' 

 long, and even into the night in some cases.] 



The stand I reported 3 swarms from in April gave 

 me 2 more in May. All are doing well. Those hav- 

 ing a cross of black blood are doing much the best. 

 I purchased 10 queens of H. Alley last year; not on'." 

 of them arc extra layers. They are small, but the 

 brightest queens that I have ever had. 



Milton, I 1., June 20, 1878. A. L. Foreman. 



[As almost everybody insists on having yellow 

 (lueens, I presume friend A. was trying to please 

 them.] 



In acknowledging the receipt of the queen I pur- 

 chased of you, last month, 1 said that I had trans- 

 ferred her to friend Cla.xton. and that he showed 

 some disappointment because she was not so large 

 as the one you sent to him. I saw her this morning, 

 and must say that she looks very different from 

 what she did when received, and should say that in 

 looks she is very good. What her progeny will be I 

 can't tell yet. I think I owe this explanation to you. 



Wm. Shinton, Patterson, N. J., July 7, 1878. 



[Queens rarely show to the best advantage, until 

 they have been "a week or more in a strong colony.] 



