1874. 
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 
59 
duces workers after having at first only laid 
drone eggs, but a drone layer at this season, 
rarely if ever produces any thing better. The 
deserted queen cell is a common occurrence, 
and only indicates they have discovered some- 
thing to be wrong. If given worker larvae, 
they Will probably rear a Queen just as if they 
had none. 
My bees have, on account of the very backward and 
cold soring, no brood yet. Not until last Friday did 
I finish taking out all my bees. I found so far 32 dead 
and Queenless ones, out of 850, but fear 1 will lose 
more. A good many of them arc weak, and 5 of them 
froze only a week ago. A. Fuerbrlnger and my broth- 
er C. have lost but very few stocks. On an average 
bees have wintered very well so far in this part of the 
country. 
Jefferson, Wis. April 14. Adam Grimm. 
As the above loss is less than 4 per cent, we 
must call it very well, and that reminds us 
that we have been thinking of making up a 
list of those who have wintered with a loss not 
exceeding one per cent, and calling it the “Roll 
of Honor”but as we cannot call them wintered, 
until about June 1st, we will postpone the mat- 
ter until next mouth. Of course our next friend 
will be included for she has had no losses. 
We hope she may continue, to do as well. 
FRIEND NOVICE: — I enclose 75 cts. for Glean- 
ings In Bee Culture. Should have done so before, 
but I have only one hive and 1 waited to see If It 
would come out alive. Put them out-doors the 7th of 
this month ; they seem strong, so I scud the money. 1 
think Gleanings very suitable for small folks, 1 can- 
not afford a $2.00 magazine for one hive. I hope to 
Italianize them, although I think they have a prolific 
Black Queen. Hannah W. Williams, 
Springfield, Iowa, April 9, 1874. 
DEAR NOVICE Do you know anything about tho 
Buckeye as a honey producing tree ‘t I see it spoken 
of on page 30, Vol. 5, A. B. J. 
And do you kuow whether It Is true that the leaves 
ol that tree are poisonous? I never knew of cattle 
being poisoned by them, but Intended to cut some of 
tile trees down on account of the popular belief. 
Hudson, Ills., April 7, 1874. E. SAGER. 
Bees do not work on the Buckeye here, at 
least we can’t find them on it. Don’t kuow 
about the other. 
Mr A. I. ROOT, SIR:— I find mvself minus two 
numbers of Gleanings which I am obliged to have, 
can t get along without It; lam afraid without a re- 
minder I shall get back Into the “patent” business 
again, which I have discarded for life, cause why — 
p’hLANlNGS. I flud my bees with more honey than I 
, t them in October, leaving no space for brood ; I 
nave therefore extracted four frames from each colo- 
ny, which they seem to be disposed to re-fill with 
honey. I am going to try to raise Queens this spring; 
ml!* chapter in Gleanings on the subject, one 
that will not fall. I received a colony of Italians from 
air K. M Argo, of Kentucky, last April, which prov- 
ed to be ull I bargained for. 
Sparta, Ga. March 7, 1874. Judkins Hunt. 
Ldt'e Blue eyes may like to know that there is a 
}!•“* “oy here, who Is very fond of bees. He was just 
iVin ^ eara °'d last November, and yet last spring lie 
in', ,r Ut ,, an d told me where two swarms were issu- 
" !*>• He lives a mile away now, aud the first thing he 
“'hen he comes, Is, “Let us go see bees,” and 
ln jp the hive almost he will go, not being at all 
.TL . 8t *ngs, or even crying for them. We 
! ln , of his being badly stung sometime, but he 
t®* 8 "°W8 a disposition to trouble them and we try 
hbn away, as much as possible, from them. 
“ °y® 8 arc at a premium here. We would like to 
tr.n inn ,.. UI which we have so often seen mention, 
on little Blue Lyes from hor Aunt Anna, 
oodvillu, Miss. 
Is it not a fact that small children are sel- 
dom stung? Years ago, a blue eyed chick who 
s o| der now, used to terrify her mamma by 
uuning away to the hives, ancLthrowing saw- 
dust into the entrance until a shower of Ital- 
ians hummed about her ears, while she crowed 
in great glee, to think that “mamma” durst 
not come and get her. Was site stung, think 
you? Of course not, for she unconsciously 
preserved just the demeanor that secures the 
safety of an experienced bee-keeper, whilst 
bystanders at a respectful distance are sure to 
be attacked. 
I had four swarms of bees last spring In box hives, 
but transferred them to Simplicity hives, which I had 
made at the cost of 90 cts. each. Had an Extractor 
made for about $10.00. Extracted 180 lbs. Clover hou- 
ry. and sold at 81 cts. per pound for 120 lbs., and gave 
away and used the rest. Increased my swarms to 9. 
One being weak, I took the bees and empty combs of 
a neighbor’s box hive, and put with it, and fed sugar 
syrup. Also took the bees and empty combs of anoth- 
er swarm late In October, and transferred to Simplic- 
ity hive, and fed sugar-syrup. The rest had natural 
stores, and all are doing well in cellar, to date. The 
last one fed has six spaces filled with bees, and plenty 
to eat. What is the use of the quilts ' 1 have not 
used them. Wm. II. Root. 
Port Byron, N. Y. Feb. 23, 1874. 
By the use of Quilts we are enabled to secure 
the benefit of closed top frames witli none of 
their disadvantages in opening and closing 
the hive ; they can be pressed down on the 
bees without hurting them, the hive can be 
opened or closed without noise or jar, and we 
can turn up one side to take out one or move 
frames, without uncovering the whole hive, 
when robbers are troublesome. 
A. I. ROOT, Dear Sir:— I herewith enclose view of 
my Apiary, It was taken two years ago when I had 
upwards of 100 colonies, now I have but 22. 1 have 
just made an examination of them and found them all 
In good condition; wintered on summer stands. I am 
not educated up to anything but box honey as yet ; in 
fact I have only tho box hive but have had good luck 
with it and hesitate to quit it; to tell the truth I have 
$500.00 invested in 200 box hives, with cross bars, well 
made anil painted, and am not satisfied that I could 
gel any more box honey in any other way, so I contin- 
ue on in the old way, It having paid me very much 
better than any thing (in proportion to outlay) that I 
have ever engaged In. 1 began bee-keeping 16 years 
ago with 9 colonies, aud have now 22, having lost in 
wintering in that time, perhaps 300 or 400; had at one 
time 165, that was In the fall of 1871, this being the 
best figures that I ever reached ; in the mean-time 
however, I have sold box honey to the amount of 
thousands of dollars. J. F. Temple. 
Ridgeway, Mich. Feb 2t, 1874. 
Weather very cold and windy -here; a good many 
bees blown away and lost every day that they fly. 
Work well on flour nice days, but they don’t conic 
often this spring. A. J. Hoover. 
We have few honey producing trees in our neigh- 
borhood; we have plenty of white clover, but for 
some years the bees tlo not gather much honey from 
it, and buckwheat yields almost none at all with us. 
Rape might help us If there was a market for the seed 
but unfortunately there are no oil mills near, and 
without having sale for thirsecd, I doubt whether it 
would pay for the honey alone. Alsike clover I un- 
derstand blooms at the same time as white clover and 
when the one falls I think the other would too, and I 
doubt the utility of raising; any other plant, that re- 
quires tho yearly tilling ot the soil, for honey exclu- 
sively. S. Leuthl, Gnadenhutten, O. 
B. H. Stair & Co., Cleveland O., will purchase 
rape seed. Our experience with honey plants 
confirms friend L’s statement. Has any one 
had honey from Alsike, at a season when white 
was not yielding it also? Would it not be ad- 
visable to expend the time and money toward 
building up strong colonies in time for the 
usual harvest, instead pf venturing very much, 
as yet, on artificial pasturage? Of course, 
careful experiments, by those who can afford 
to risk losses, are always to be approved. 
