1878 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE, 



307 



ence to bear upon the P. O. department, to have a 

 reasonable ruling' made. Si>eak about it, and let us 

 pour in petitions from north, east, south and west, 

 which must have sotne effect. This is a serious 

 soiatter, and something: must be done. 

 Terrj', Miss., Aug-. 5th, '78. K. Thomson, 



I ngree %\'ith you, friend T., that some- 

 thing should be done, but it will probably 

 take both time and patience. Friend Alley 

 Avrites its that the trouble came about by 

 some pereon"^ sending a hundred or two 

 Ijees by mail, in a pasteboard box ; the box 

 *)f course was broken, and the bees got into 

 the room and stung several of the officials. 

 If such is the case, and I have no doubt of 

 it, can we blame the department very much? 

 This is a world of careless and thoughtless 

 people, as some of the mail packages we 

 open bear ample evidence. Careful people 

 are at a premium. 



belongs to us all 

 w^th it? 



boys, what shall we do 



The queen came to hand Tuesday nig-ht, I had ! 

 my hive ready, and hung the cage in it after 9 i 

 o'clock, &c., &c. I liberated her Thursday morn- : 

 ing, and was very much disappointed in her appear^ i 

 ance: she had the Dadant spot on the tip of the ! 

 abdomen. The bees were all dead but 2 and the ■ 

 <iueen seemed very much fatigried. I examined j 

 her every day that week, and she did not improve 

 much; Monday she was laying and had improved 

 \iery much, in size and color (a dark leather). On 

 Ihe whole I am. well satisfied with her. 



G. R. Huffman. 



Stewartson, 111., Aug. 7th, 1878. 



The above queen was sent before the ad- 

 vent of the new bottle cages. I have given 

 the letter for the benefit of those who scold 

 about the looks of a queen, when they flret 

 get her. 



All the goods that I hixve ordered from you have 

 come all right. The 6 smokers have all given entire 

 satisfaction; there has been not one word of com- 

 plaint from any of them. Many thanks, friend 

 Koot. for the smoker you sent me, as a premium. 



Bees have done splendidly this season, up to date. 

 The honey is all dark, being principally honey dew. 

 Geo. W. Kennedy. 



Carrollton, Mo,, Aug. 6th, 187S. 



I can not help telling you how proud I am, to see 

 young Italians flying out in 30 days after I got the 

 viueen. It is my first eflfort and may puff me; hope 

 not. H. Little. 



Atalla, Ala., Aug. 5th, 1878, 



The Italian queen you sent me was introduced 

 July eth, disclosed "her progeny July 30th. and 

 proves to be pure stock. I purpose Italianizing 

 next spring the 25 colonies I have now, so j^ou can 

 kook for some orders. A. B. Thompson. 



JNew Comerstown, O., Aug 7th, 1878. 



"CORNER STONE." 



The q-ueens came to-day all right. I think that 

 you deser\"e a premium on putting up queens for 

 shipment. For the enclosed #6,00, please send me 

 10 lbs. fdn. And keep the balance as a premium. 



Brighton, Mich., Aug. 2d, 1878. C. Thomson. 



Well now. that is5 kind of you. friend T., 

 but as the cage wtis given me for the good 

 of the people. I hsirdly feel that I have any 

 right to the .50c, wliicli you so generously 

 tender me <\s a ]>remium. In our Sabbath 

 iiuorning Bible class, Ave have for some time 

 taken up a collection, but after buying our 

 lesson papers and gospel songs, etc.. I was 

 obliged to ask the boys what we should do 

 with tlie money remaining. .Some of them 

 suggested that it should be used for a corner 

 intone for the little chapel which the Bible 

 ■class may sometime own. I guess we had 

 better have the oOc for a corner stone of a 

 fund to do gootl witli. and consider that it 



HOW much does comb foundation ^'pav," and 



OTHER QUERIES. 



What is the difference between frames with fdn.. 

 and frames without fdn., financially considered? 



It is a pretty haixi matter to determine in 

 dollars and cents, as there are so many con- 

 ditions ; but, as a general thing, I should 

 say that one who is building up an apiary 

 will produce twice as many colonies by the 

 use of the fdn., as he will, if he uses simply 

 empty frames; besides he will get all perfect 

 worker combs. 



Please give us the pronunciation of those letters, 

 '^dn."; neither Webster nor Worcester give the 

 pronunciation or meaning. 



I supposed I was the one who coined the 

 abbre\iation, ''fdn.," to avoid spelling comb 

 f(^undation in full every time it was to be 

 written, but my friend, Perrine, saj-s he 

 used it in ANTiting a letter me, before t ever 

 put it in print. Although I do not recollect 

 it, he may be right. The whole matter has 

 been invented since the dictionaries were 

 written. See A B C book. I do not know 

 how you can pronounce it, other than to say 

 '•foundation." 



Of the glazed cloth which you recommend to cov- 

 er the frames in hives, please teil us which side 

 goes down. 



Use the glazed side next to the bees, 

 of course. 



My bees (black) in box hives have filled their 

 hives. 1 placed caps on top, but they will not work 

 in them. They have been lying outside for a month 

 doing nothing. I have 4 stands in frame hives; they 

 have remaine<l outside but very little. 



1 send you a circular of a patent bee gum. There is 

 a man canvassing Webster, Ky.. selling farm rights 

 at ?10.00. If It is a patent, please tell us so. Ho 

 claims to have a special right on the movable di%-is- 

 iou board. The gum is a nice thing to look at; it 

 has a double bottom which gives ventilation through 

 wire cloth. This double bottom is also a moth trap, 

 drone and robber trap, also a trap for the inex- 

 perienced. C. B.4TES. 



Beda, Ky., July 25th, 1878. 



Yon have answered the hist question 

 youi-self. Any man who goes about selling 

 rights for SIO.' or any other price, for using 

 division boards, ventilators, or moth traps, 

 is either bad or ignorant, and the best thing 

 you can do is to let him alone. Starve him 

 out, and make him go to work. I feel guilty, 

 for taking so much space to notice this old 

 swindle, mouth after month. 



OCR FRIEND LANGSTROTH, 



Mr. Langstroth remains quite feeble; he has not 

 been off the place but 3 times in 18 months. 

 Oxford, O., July 26th, '78, H. C. Cow AN. 



MOVING BEES SHORT DISTANCES, 



I notice a great deal in Aug. Gleanings about 

 moving bees a short distance. Why not move them 

 a mile or so, and leave them a day or two, and then 

 return them to the new location? it certainly would 

 work and not disturb the honey gathering but little. 



Clinton, Mo., Aug. 5th, '78. M. L. Bonham. 



Your plan will do very well, but I did not 

 mention it on account of the expense. 

 Where we have to hire such work done, it 

 counts up; but with those who live in the 

 cotmtry. it might be the simplest way. 

 They would need to stand 2 or 8 weeks in 

 their new location, or they would remember 

 their old groiuuls. 



