“ NOVICE’S ” GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 
79 
Hurrah for Basswood Ten and fifteen 
pounds stored in 2% days. Gallup says the 
first crop at least is mainly a failure. Mr. 
Bindley hero says if 1 had got hero one week 
sooner they would have stored several times 
as much. Hundreds of Linn troes perfectly 
covered with bloom. The honey nice and 
thick* If they store at this rate I will soon 
have to extract. Went to see Gallup, lie’s 
a very pleasant, sensoible man, with lively 
flow of good humor. Not a single colony 
died on the way here. Generally in good 
condition I think. Just 165 hives, (yours) 
counted twice, llad an awful hard fight to 
keep tho beos from smothering on the way. 
l!se<l good many barrels of water on them. 
You know how they squeal when smothering. 
Water only saved them. W. IUnitiSOK, 
“Beekeepers’ Paradise” (Osage, Iowa.) 
No. 103.— Tho days have been sunny with 
cold, frosty winds, so that every bee that was 
enticed by the sun to leave tho hive, was cut 
down by tho frost. What would you do in 
such circumstances? To return tho bees to 
their winter quarters would be considerable 
work. The “Gleanings” informs us that the 
entrance to all your hives arc toward the 
east or west. 1 am very curious to know 
why. Is it. to keep the bees within doors on 
unfavorable days? Another question which 
I wished to put, not to a Novirr, but to one of 
Novice’s experience in bee keeping : During 
the winter months, aro the frames of hives to 
he left as close to one another as in summer? 
1 am under tho impression— though I never 
acted upon it— that if the bees had more 
space in the center of the hive to form a 
cluster, they would winter better. Combs 
partly full of honey ami bee-bread passing 
through tho cluster must, I should think, 
operate against them. What say you on this? 
I f I could get all mu hives from winter quar- 
ters, and through tho spring season, in as 
good condition as 1 find some of tin m % I could 
astonish tho world. And I cannot see why 
one colony docs not succeed as well ns the 
other, whon, as far as I can see, all things 
arc alike. J know some bees consume more 
food in winter than others do. This perhaps 
may affect them, as too much food affects the 
glutton. One winter I had a good colony that 
wintered well and required no feeding in 
spring with 15 lbs. of food : another of equal 
strengh, and next to it in winter quarters, al- 
most, perished for want of food before 1 got 
thorn to their summer stand, though they had 
double the quantity of food the others had 
when put into tho cellar. So I feel that 1 
ha ve much to learn yet about bees. 
J. Anderson, Ontario, Canada, Apr. It). 
We have experienced the same trouble 
our lriond mentions, and know of no 
remedy except to build a high, tight fence 
on the north and west sides of the apiary, 
and in fact on all sides if it be so arrang- 
ed as not to obstruct the sun. Such a 
fence makes a different climate, almost, 
and bees regain their hives where the 
wind would otherwise destroy them. A 
belt of evergreens when grown would he 
excellent. Our trellises run east and 
west, that the vines may shade the hives 
in summer, and our hives obstruct the 
paths less and leave the best place for 
working on the north, side when placed 
east and west, for no other reason. As 
we like the sun to strike them in the 
morning we have them all east. \\ ill 
some one who knows answer in regard to 
more room between the combs lor winter. 
We, too, “could astonish the world if we 
could make all colonies equal our best : 
and wo are laboring with “Gleanings' for 
just that result, or that some of our sub- 
scribers who have got the energy may do 
so, when we unitedly work and study out 
the wav. 
104. — X have succeeded in getting ton good 
queens from tho hatching of eggs 1 got from 
you July 2d. 1 am much pleased with them. 
1 term them my live-cent queens. Who cun 
boat that for cheap queens? S. II. Miller, 
Ashland, 0. 
We are very glad, indeed, to hear of the 
above success with the eggs, simply be- 
cause it shows that 'twas not all an error. 
However, so many failures were reported 
that we think queens for a dollar mu'ch 
the surest plan for Italianizing. 
No, 105. — 1 have received over 100 lbs. comb 
honey from one colony, llonoy was made in 
frames ; Langstroth hive. Wintered in cel- 
lar— taken out in March, and fed sugar syrup 
all they would take, perhaps two pounds per 
week, until May 7th, when they sent out a 
large swarm, notwithstanding no blossoms 
were out at the time. Swarm was returned. 
Bee* were hybrid. One comb weighed 21 lbs. 
Colony was built up in the fall with sugar 
syrup and was wintered entirely on sugar 
syrup. Cjias. lloor, Sheffield, 0: 
The above somewhat shakes us in our 
belief that plenty of food sealed up in 
the combs gives us all t he advantage of 
feeding liquid food daily or two or three 
times a week. Jn this case, also, the large 
y ield of comb honey was at a time when 
other colonies in same locality gave no 
surplus at all, for they were at that time 
getting built up into condition to stoic 
surplus. With fifty colonies or more 
feeding twice a week even, is a task, and 
is M'ldom attended to promptly. Novice, 
suggests that with “car apiary” (see prob- 
lem 17) an arrangement could be made to 
feed the w hole at “one dose. ” 
ITEMS. 
/'.[‘JIMS number closes the volume for 
those who only subscribed to “Glean- 
ings ! as a quarterly, and we have mailed 
all such, six numbers instead of the four 
promised, and presume all are satisfied 
that they have received their 25 cents’ 
worth, unless, forsooth, there be those 
who would have been better pleased with 
a lesser number than a greater; for we 
do know, kind reader, that, in this age of 
periodicals," such things arc sometimes a 
nuisance. 
Now, in view of this, (for we should be 
very sorry indeed to send anyone “Glean- 
ings” who did not value it.) *wc propose, 
for the year 1871, to have no non-paying 
subscribers, and to send it to none, not 
even the President or Queen Victor i a } 
should they happen to be bee-keepers un- 
less they manifested their wish to receive 
it by the usual remittance of 75 cts. 
Of course we will with, pleasure send 
sample numbers when requested, hut in- 
asmuch as we like full liberty to purchase 
what we choose without urging, we wish 
our friends to fully enjoy the same free- 
dom. If we succeed in making our little 
sheet of such importance that our friends 
iiud it. a good investment, we will wel- 
come subscribers and do our best, to serve 
