304 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



'jimd§ of Irak, 



From Different Fields. 



INTRODUCING. 



SN July, one of my neighbors told me that he would 

 give me 3 young queens, if I would divide 3 of 

 my hives. I thought that a good chance, and 

 gave him $1.00 to cage them and put them in the 

 hive. I left them in the cages 36 hours, then let 

 them out, and, in 18 hours, I found both my queens 

 dead in front of the hives. My neighbor then 

 brought me 3 more young queens; he took out the 

 queen cells which had been started, sprinkled the 

 bees with peppermint, shook them off from one 

 frame in front of the hive, and let the queen down 

 with them (after sprinkling her), and allowed them 

 to go in together. In four hours, I found my queens 

 both dead in front of the hives. I then let them 

 alone, and they raised <iueens for themselves. Why 

 would they not accept those queens? 



A. PiNKERTON. 



Marshalltown, Iowa, Aug. 13th, '78. 



They did not accept the queens, because 

 you did not watch them until they were ac- 

 cepted. We have introduced queens by the 

 hundreds, this summer, and tind the only 

 way is to look after them in 10 or 15 min- 

 utes after they are let out, and again in a 

 few hours or a half day. Qneens, received 

 all right at first, will often be balled in an 

 hoiu- or two. In that case, cage them, and 

 then try again next day, and so on. While 

 some can be let loose at once with safety, 

 other stocks will not receive them under a 

 week, and about one colony in a hundred 

 will not receive a queen at all. After try- 

 ing a week or 10 days, we use such a colony 

 for rearing queen cells, and try the queen 

 in another stock. No plan of introducing is 

 safe, unless you watch your queen for a tew 

 hours after she is let out. 



I had three swarms of black and hybrid bees In 

 the spring; divided each once, making six; and 

 have taken 367 lbs. from them this season, of clear 

 honey. Under providence, you have our greatf ul 

 thanks. D. Tyrrell, M. D. 



Saxon, Ills. 



FUEL FOR SMOKER. 



Readers of Gleanings who use the Quinby 

 Smoker, and have a difficulty in obtaining rotton 

 wood for fuel, will be interested to know that com- 

 mon grey paper is excellent for the purpose. Cut it 

 Into strips about five inches wide, roll it up loosely 

 enough to allow the smoke to pass through, and 

 light the end thoroughly In the stove. When the 

 paper gets well lighted, you wll be surprised to see 

 how much smoke you will have, and how long it will 

 last. Economise during the winter, by lajing away 

 all the grey paper that comes from the grocery, and 

 you will have a supplj' that you can rely on for 

 some smoke. M. H. Tweed. 



Mansfield Valley, Pa., Aug. 17th, 1878. 



I received the smoker all right, some time ago; 

 and it proved a fiery furnace for the sanctification 

 of my bees, from angry passions, J. W. Stokes. 



Seymour, Ind., May 24th, 1878. 



CALIFORNIA. 



I am a boy and a beginner with bees, this being 

 my first season. I commenced with 8 colonies in old 

 boxes of all sorts, no {.,,.0 alike; and have now 50 

 Stands, besides losing 15 or 20 swarms, on account of 

 not h:iving hives for them. Do your bees swarm 

 like that? They are making a great denl of honey 

 now; but the very best strained honey is worth only 

 5 cents per pound, and comb honey from 7 to 10c; 

 eo, you see, I do not make much monev. 



San Diego, Cal., Aug. 3rd, 1878. Ware Boyd. 



Your Simplicity feeder was received all right; but 

 it will not work in my apiary. It is filled with Yel- 

 low Jackets all the time, but no bees. Can you sug- 

 gest a remedy? S. C. DeGakmo. 



Visalia, Ky. 



Bless your heart, my friend, you are at- 

 tempting to feed your bees when they are 

 getting so much honey that they will not 

 look at it. The remedy is to wait until there 

 is a dearth of honey ; it will be siu:e to come 

 after the first frost, if not before. See Bee- 

 Ilunting in the ABC. 



ENAMELED CLOTH FOR TRANSFERRING. 



In transferring, I found a piece of enameled cloth, 

 laid on the cushion, of very g;reat advantage; as it 

 lets the transferring sticks slip under very easily, 

 and is very easy to keep clean from dripping honey. 



Athens, Pa., July 28th, 1878. D. F. Park. 



The smoker came all right, and 1 was the best 

 pleased man you ever saw. Gleanings has been 

 worth $50 to me. The first thing I did, after getting 

 the smoker, was to examine a young swarm that had 

 come out the last day of Apr. I had filled the hive 

 with old comb, and I found about 30 or 40 lbs. of the 

 nicest honey I ever saw. J. R. Hardin. 



Rono, Ind., May 18th, 1878. 



Please send me a simplicity smoker by mail. I 

 used a clay pipe and tobacco to smoke my Ijees with, 

 and in a few minutes, I felt as if somebody had me 

 in an extractor, and was whirling me around. 



William S. Morehouse. 



Fairfield, Conn., July 32nd, 1878. 



BEE STINGS. 



In looking over the May number of Gleanings, 

 we were not a little amused by Mr. Kirke's Aiews 

 about bee stings. The idea that bee stings would 

 canso the amputation of limbs compares favorably, 

 with the remarkable idea that drones lay eggs. 

 However, we have heard of persons who lost their 

 lives by the stings of bees; and, as friend Kirke says 

 he gets some less than 2000 a year, it's not impossi- 

 ble that so much poison entering his system would 

 justify nim, in his views. That our friend may 

 know the cause of the loss of our limb, we ^vill say 

 that it was caused bv a sprain in the ankle. 



Rome, Ga., May 20th, 1878. A. F. Moon. 



I have just commenced to sell my honey, and am 

 shipping small lots to Saratoga Springs, at 17c per 

 lb., in sections. I don't know what extracted honey 

 will be; perhaps 5c, but I have strong hopes of 15 or 

 20 cts for mine. 



I have a genuine novelty, a 4 oz. box for candied 

 honey, to be sold for 10c. I will send you one in a 

 few days. 



My 100 swarms will average me 100 lbs. to the 

 swarm; but I have made but little increase as yet. 



Hartford, N. Y., Aug. 15th, 1878. J. H. Martin. 



QUEENS BY MAIL IN CANADA. 



I could fill some of your orders for dollar queens 

 in Canada, as they go to any part of Canada, by mail, 

 for one cent each. My experience with Italians is 

 this. Those beautiful yellow ones are not much bet- 

 ter than pure blacks; only they are not inclined to 

 sting much, and they will not run like a Hock of wild 

 sheep, whenever the hive is opened. But I can pro- 

 duce from them a race of bees equal to the import- 

 ed. Get a pure Albino queen fertilized with a black 

 drone, rear queens from her, and if you can get them 

 fertilized with pure Italian drones, their progeny 

 will be ?i Italian, of course, and they will be equal 

 to imported stock in every respect, color not except- 

 ed. Ila Michener. 



Low Banks, Ont., Can., Aug. 12th, 1878.; 



ANOTHER BOY BEE-KEEPER. 



I Started in bee-keeping last spring and 

 am 16 vears of age. I bought a Langstroth 

 bee hive of Chas. F. Muth, and it was two 

 months before I got it, and the freight was 

 $3.40; it weighed 104 lbs. Would it cost that 

 much to get a Simplicity hive from your place? 

 and would it give any better results than the Lang- 

 stroth? I bought 5 stands of bees in box hives, and 

 had 6 swarms, all in box hives. I have 1 swarm that 



