340 



gleani:n^gs in bee cultuke. 



Oct. 



winter. Have just exhibited a crate of corab honey 

 at our State Fair ; it took the first premium and at- 

 tracted a g-ood deal of attention, as did also Novice's 

 Honey Extractor, which received a diploma. 



Now, Mr. Root, just solve this problem. Two 

 years ag-o, I bought a daughter of an Imported 

 queen, of Nellis ; last year when her colony swarmed 

 I cut out the cells and made nuclei, but her queens 

 were so near black that I killed all of them except 

 one ; tjiis year I haTc bred her again and she pro- 

 duces very fair colored queens. The queen is clip- 

 ped so there is no mistake in regard to her identity. 

 Her colony gave me 80 lbs. of honey and is my best 

 stock, as it was last season. If you can tell why a 

 queen breeds dark queens one year and light (fair) 

 ones the neyt, I would be pleased to have yon do it. 

 Seems to me all this talk, about Imported stock 

 being better than homebred, is gammon, though 

 my imported bees are 5 lbs better than our home- 

 bred stock. I believe inbreeding is what ails so 

 many bees, not lig'ht color, though close breedln? 

 tends to albinoism. "Why does not close breeding 

 take place in Italy as well as here ? I believe it 

 does, and I believe a queen reared in Italy is no bet- 

 ter than one reared in "Old Vermont" or Ohio. I 

 confess I have a strong liking for pretty things- 

 bees not excepted. Hare one stock (new queen) 

 that about suits me so far as color is concerned. 



Wish you would continue your researches until 

 yoti can tell us how to make our queens hrcM true 

 every time. I hatched a couple of fine cells (from 

 one mother) a few weeks ago, one produced a fine 

 queen, the other nearly black. Please explain all 

 the knotty points in queen breeding-, in Gleanings 

 when you have the space. 



Fdn. has proved a grand success with me. 



East Berkshire, Vt„ F. W. Cumings. 



I cannot explain the matter, any more 

 tlian I can why a flock of ducks or chickens 

 are variously colored. I presume by careful 

 selection in breeding, we could get 'them all 

 light colored, but shall we waste time on 

 tins, which seems to me a secondary matter? 

 Shall we not rather choose gentleness, good 

 honey gatherers, hardiness, etc.? If i am 

 correct, your black queens will produce just 

 as finely marked workers as any. 



ASKING QUESTIONS. 



Edison, the inventor of the plionograph, 

 IS said to have made the following remark : 



The impression has gone abroad that I don't like 

 newspaper men, because I don't want to be bored. 

 I like newspaper men well enough ; but what I ob- 

 ject to are those New Jersey farmers that oome to 

 see me every day, and have me explain the phono- 

 graph to them. That's what worries me. My assis- 

 tant has almost grown consumptiretftlkinfftothem. 



The clerk of the apiary has been very pa- 

 tient all summer, and I thought he rather 

 enjoyed having visitors, but a'few days ago 

 he made a remark that seemed to imply that 

 he, too, was beginning to feel the pressure. 

 What shall those do who want to learn? 

 Why, come and see us by all means, if they 

 IJxefer to, but an A B C book would be far 

 cheaper, and it would stand the wear and 

 tear of being asked the same thing over and 

 over. 



ent (?) bee hive. As Mitchell is trying it get a hold 

 in our neighborhood, I would take it as a favor if 

 any one that has had any dealing with him, that 

 has not proved satisfactory, would send me a 

 short account of the transaction on a postal card, to 

 be used at our next meeting. Did he raise any 

 queens at Sandusky this last summer ? 



The next meeting to be held in the same place, on 

 the second Friday of February, 1879. W. S. Botd. 



Hamilton, 0., Sep. 2l8t, 1878. 



Thanks ; but you are mistaken about loose 

 queens being dead. I have cut them out of 

 the cell, and held the still white, almost per- 

 fectly formed, queens in my hand, put them 

 back, waxed over the cell, and had them 

 hatch out all right. I have also hatched them 

 all right, without any cell at all, when kept 

 in a wire cloth cage right among the bees. 



Any number of MitcneH's frauds will be 

 found in back Gleanings. His division 

 board swindle has been repeatedly shown 

 up in all the journals. 



AILANTHUS HONKY. 



Can you, or any of the 4,000 readers of "Glean- 

 ings," tell me whether the honey taken from the 

 blossoms of "Ailanthus Glandulosa" is poison or 

 not. J. F. Barton. 



Chicago, Sept. 4, 1878. 



The matter was pretty thorouglily dis- 

 cussed a few years ago, and I believe the 

 conclusion was reached that it was not poi- 

 sonous, the fatality among bees, at that 

 time, being due to other causes. 



REPORT FROM A "NEW HAND." 



My bees have done very well, considering the 

 cold wet spring ; bees brooded up very strong- 

 through February and March, but April and May 

 being very cold and wet, many colonies dwindled 

 down to mere nuclei. I started with 17 stands, and 

 increased to 43, mostly by artificial swarming, and 

 took an average of nearly 100 lbs. of honey from the 

 parent hive. I took most of the honey from 7 

 stands ; the largest amount taken from one stand 

 was 306 lbs.,; 303 of extracted and 104 of 1 pound sec- 

 tions. 1 also made 3 artificial s.varms from the 

 same stand ; from the first swarm I took 43 lbs., and 

 from the second 48 lbs., which gives from one stock 

 a product of their increase, and 396 lbs. of honey. I 

 presume this is as much as a new hand should ex- 

 pect. P. A. Reigle. 



A rlington, O., Sept. 14th, 1878. 



I should think it was as much as a new 

 hand could expect, friend R. If you go on 

 at this rate, I shall begin to think years of 

 experience amount to but little, unless it is 

 to break paths wherein the A. B. C. class 

 may walk or rather "skip ahead." 



I send you a condensed report of the meeting of 

 the South Western Ohio Bee-Keepers' Association, 

 held in Lebanon, Ohio, Sept. 14th, 1878. 



Drones can be kept for late queen raising-, by ta- 

 king the queen from a hive that has plentv, and 

 keeping her in a nucleus till late, when she can be 

 returned. 



By shaking a queen cell that is nearlv ready to 

 hatch, the queen will be loose, if she is dead; but, 

 if she is alive, she will not shake about. 



Nine pounds of honey will last a moderate sized 

 colony from Nov. 1st till Apr.lst ; but it will take 

 3o lb. to last a strong colonv all winter and spring. 

 Bees should be protected bv chaff, if possible. 



There were exhibited, a Root smoker, a King smo- 

 ker, a Savage queen cage and N. C. Mitcholl's pat- 



ENAMELED SHEETS TOR WINTERING. 



You do not propose to use the enameled cloth over 

 the bees in winter, do you? 



That cloth Is water-proof, and if placed above the 

 bees, will be moisture proof: that is, it will not al- 

 low the breath and moisture from the bees to pass 

 upwards, so it will condense on the cloth and proba- 

 bly freeze a solid mass of ice and bees, and any 

 quantity of chafT cushions or absorbing material 

 you might place over the enameled cloth would be 

 that much trouble and expense taken for nothing. 



T. C. Hunt, Richmond, Ind., Sept. 20, 1878. 



You are giving us theory, my friend. Prac- 

 tical work gives no such result; the reason 

 is, probably, because the chaff cushions pro- 

 tect the enameled cloth so well that no frost 

 ever reaches it, and consecjuently no mois- 

 ture is ever condensed on it. I used it last 

 winter, and shall use it again. It may not 

 be best to follow me, for I sometimes make 

 mistakes. If you want something i)orous, I 

 would suggest'the burlap. It is much cheap- 

 er than any other kind of cloth. 



