H8 
“ novice's " GLEANINGS IN ItEE CCLTL’IlE 
though I had a half ton of white clover | 
and basswood, and have got all yet, but 
two kegs of ten gallons each, which I sold j 
for 16c. per pound to a store in Madison. 
I find that it will grow anywhere if culti- |j 
vated, and in very poor sandy land with- 
out cultivation. I raised some of it in 
my garden last season, and I tell you it 
gave me a good deal of pleasure to see 
the bees work upon it. It is far ahead of 
catnip or anything else that I have seen ; 
there ure other flowers that they work on j 
as well, but they don’t get the honey so 
plenty. When you see them going quickly 
from one flower to another, just about long 
enough to smell them, there's not much 
honey there. 
James McLay, Madison, Wis. 
We hope our friend will send us some 
seed of the Monarda for our experiment- 
al honey garden. Ilia remarks in regard i; 
to the hasty visits bees give some flowers 
we believe correct, for bees, like “we poor |! 
mortals, ’ sometimes work industriously 
early and late and yet get but “little hon- 
ey.” We propose to test the honey quali- 
ties of all plants of which seeds are sent 
us (so far as we can on a small scale,) and 
will report at the proper season. Please 
give names and description as far as pos- 
sible. 
No. 57. — Novice: — Our bees are carry- 
ing in wheat flour at a fearful rate. Hare 
bad an unusually severe winter, but look 
for a glorious long season this year. Do 
keep us posted on the honey market. 
We are going for extracted honey entire- 
ly, and expect to have tons to sell. Jn 
haste, 
S. W. Cole, Andrew Chapel, Tenn. 
Feb. 6th, 1873, 
Glad to hear it. No danger of loo 
much- 1 
No 58. — 1 have l'or years made the 
simplified Langstrolh Hive you recom- 
mend, and my honey extractor is all that 
could be desired, with a stationary can ; 
and galvanized screen inside, made by a 
neighbor mechanic. 
S. Lijethi, Gnadenhutten, 0. 
Thank you Mr. Lnethi. We wish a few 
more would get neighbor mechanics to do t 
the same. In our instructions for making 
an extractor in our Feb. No., we supposed 
we hod given all the directions necessary, 
taking it for granted that all bee keepers 
knew that an extractor was simply a frame 
to hold the combs from breaking, while 
they were revolved inside of a can to 
catch the honey that flew out by ceutrifu- 
gal force ; and we endeavored to give the 
simplest and cheapest way of making it, ! 
yet we are almost discouraged at the num- 
ber of letters from all points, saying they ij 
can’t make it out. Perhaps those that we 
have assisted most and do "make it out,” j| 
don’t write us because they have no 
occasion to. We will hope so any way. i 1 
(Encouraging! Throe just report having 
succeeded.) 
No. 59. — E. M. Johnson, of Mentor, 0 , 
Jan. 1st, 1873, writes ns follows : 
I am trying the “vinegar hitters," as recoin - 
uiendeilhy the anonymous writer in the Jour 
not, and so far it is doing finely. The stock* 
led With it are as small and lively as in sum- 
mer. The size of the bees is meant and not 
the strongth of the swarm, while those eating 
honey lire already getting distended, and if 
they are confined long without getting out 
are going to suffer with dysentery; have on- 
ly a couple, however, that show any signs of 
it ; neither did I have more than two or three 
last year, until March, after which I lost about 
one hundred swarms. H. M. Johnson, 
Mentor, 0. 
No. 60.— 
,,§• PKiy*’ Canandaigua, N. V., asks: 
flow shall I make a feeder for encouraging 
brood for every day feeding? Can young fer 
tilized queens be kept in cages in large hive* 
with laying queens at liberty, two or thre'e 
weeks t How can I keep swarms from issuing 
without cutting out queen cells or clipping 
queon ? The best way of keeping empty comb 
through the summer, and comb with honev 
in? 
1st. Don t have a feeder; turn up one 
corner of the quilt and pour the feed on 
their backs. 
2d. Generally, but expect exceptions 
when they are not gathering honey. 
3d. Take all their honey awav with ex 
tractor. 
4th. , Put 'em in a dollar hive and “pile 
’em up.” 
No. 61. — “ How am 1 to manage to ov- 
erhaul hives in the cold, bleak weather of 
Apeil, to cat out moldy combs, clean out 
dead bees, contract space, feed to get bees 
to breed, etc ? When the weather is chilly 
and damp the bees fly out on account of 
the disturbance, get chilled and never re- 
t» r n Is it not about time for me to 
stop fooling away money and time on 
bees? on the ground that the section is 
unfavorable or I am unqualified for the 
business of bee culture. Think of it— I 
have been trying to get a start for the past 
three years— have paid out for bees alone 
not less than sixty dollars, for lumber, 
hives and fixings, enough to bring it up 
to a hundred — my wife says more than 
time enough to make as much more — two 
hundred dollars is a large sum for a poor 
man with a large family. Last fall I had 
managed at a cash cost of all they were 
worth, and trouble and worry enough to 
pretty nearly add as much more, to get 
four hives. But what I consider to have been 
the strongest one, is dead; one of them 
is rather weak ; two have no brood, yet thev 
have queens and eggs. The one that is 
dead lmd nothing but honey; the weakest 
living one hail nearly all sugar syrup....... 
D the bee fever continues to rage, what 
section had I better emigrate to? 
Very Respectfully, Yours, 
Ax Unsuccessful Novice. 
Never cut out moldy comb, however 
bad, until yon have found by putting one 
comb at a time in the middle of a strong 
colony in May or JuDe, that they won't 
