1874 
.cleanings In bee cvltube, 
J 
B!) 
si <vsrft * of ■ 
PROM DIFFJDREN'E FIELDS.. , 
[MESSRS A. I. ROOT.&^O. -tT.niiii ryl 1 1 g fpp “IJeeB 
1 anr"’ — 1 -i. . - - - 
and Hondy. ’> I Sa'Vje nearly <;mrii')icted,my high' 
- — i fence ofplaufc', oh TOiir. pinn-Ibi! itn'- Ap'iaj-y.' 1 
have nine coloiue9 In. good*i!pndUlon at..pi>escnti lo?t 
ay iron loftt live Co Strengthen tiie “B»sjff»' 
ren” and such beginners as yoirt- bumble servant, . 
Parkersville,.Ey>cUcc. 22iuf, 187S7 ... JsYIvaukins. 
We are right hy ypur side. (ViendJi.';. we‘hrc 
certainly going to try and do better, but Whetlr- ' 
er we shall succeed, or root remains, t'Q he'beefi: 
We trust your nine .colonies, --are-,' nine this 
spring. , . . f/i, 
FRIEND NOVICE : — l’have.23 out. of 25 1 colonies, 
wish they were ail in about 15 hives with' the best 
Qiiccns-think they would be more profitable than as 
they are: they are gathering a little pollen ebuivno 
honey. Those that were the best last tall are the best 
now-used lire heat (o keep theriv wftrih in the housc- 
sec no bad effect from It-emtca Wired td keep the tem- 
periiture from 40“ to 45% .f ' 'IIbnkv Rai.m'rh. 
Itjirt, Mich. May 2nd, IS74. 
FRIEND NOVICE:— t have ' been iryiny so keep 
bees in Texas four years, , This is etfrtainly.a Hue bee 
country, as we hnveiuo expense or trouble -(n WiUter- 
Ing Iteos, anti there is almost aii. 'endlest vaHetvof 
flowers, front which bees gather honey.,, The. beet 
that i have a knowledge of, is thfi horse' mint. 1 do 
not think however after, nil, that-beus gather' More 
honey here than with you, .as thafirontw'seasbn is fre- 
quently cut short by dry weather, ;imd • perhaps on an' 
average is not longer than in your State. The Advan- 
tages here are, no expense *or trouble in wintering, 
and facilities for early Queen-rearing; last fail I put 
up ten Queens in my small hive? or -bqxcs; made to 
Imld three frames, with a suffiCleitCmimber of Work, 
ers as an experiment, and this sprilig. 1 Uml eight gbod' 
tested Queens as the rositlt, stipll. try it on a Iprgrv 
se.alc next winter. I oncned'oiie of' ini' Italian' colo-i 
mes to-day, from winch I had removed the- Queen 
"me days since, and fouird'31 Queen. ueils t nrfinv o# 
them were so close together that I;i cuildbatcuc them 
apart without injury. I never saw, .or henrd'of..!m 
many Queen cells in a Idvt} hnfbre,' did you 
Austin, Texas. Apr. lith, 18jd. ' , T, KiSM^t 
Mr. ROOT, Dear Sir:— TWp colonies -of thfe tei in., 
the bank cellar are confined to their hlvOa (UltlTiaVe 
no chance to liy, only when ket Slit; one offhe/two 
colonies has as tine a looking IttlHau Queen as' t Oyer 
saw; she was reared last Jnfie and hn» not raid njv 
'jSK mat I can find up to writing. The other had. a 
fiiack Queen which must have stolen Into the lave 
late last fall and killed the Dalian Queen. I killed 
her March 1st, site had eggs and capped brood' at the 
time. March 12th, the cotofiy-'llRU It? niOb a capped 
Queen as is often seen, destroyed her and rate them 
brood and eggs from an Italian'sfock.' 
AprilMh— Had a hatched Italian Qijeen, ■ 
, ‘jl , ™,l !| th -I.ook8 nice, but no eggs uiid-.iia dronbs 
to fertilize her. . * 
where thy Italians nave nearly all faijed., The 
bltl'Ejpar^icular difference in .tinaiment jtBaV we 
ku«\y; Of,, was ttiittt the I'tnli-.ihs were iiscdfor 
Qne^vear.itrg uhfrl huitv la«V.amt tlfe Blacks 
wei'e.ift.bitxi hiffes ;t nrlg.vyc .nn swarms and 
lulfl.J.'HQjti'ejrftlu'ht:'’ . ’T tyij] .bp advisivhlei to' 
“go-slow'’ fi*rining;c 9 lu;luKion.s' in tiie matter, 
hi! t if tire Black's do really u ar more brood 
cd/toin the spring ’tiyill he well to kiiowdt. 
, This YQky ■ likely the* Italians in their cagey- 
npKs, have flown out •during our bad spring 
weathe;V'andvgat tost yvlieu tine Blacks did not.. 
‘Before being positive that the “tafilespoonfui 
of rs'taroh” had '.any agency in the. matter,. 
shoiild fte not decide by experiment whetkey 
tile fesftltjwoul^ npt have been tiie same, had 
tliat beeihdmitted, from the honey. fed 7'"' 
Wiii JsoVi piefisb d'es<;ribe'the “Straw mat” in Ucbax-' 
, I ROOT How arethCy made? how J.hlrk are they', 
what arc tjiey sewed with? or are they -braided;-' i 
know . how straw hives .ai'e .made. Anything I ikyi, 
them?. Tltanks fpy wilx.y.x tractor. Have just nfildc 
one— cost sacts— Works good. Vfbtm plan, or H.'I?ah 
pier. page 23,’nnd my >j!in. pagdAtfl will work in'eori- 
junction nteej^as?- jntdwiitana' it, and i meap ip fry. 
. CORN STAltOH DII) IT. • , 
if r.® been trying corn starch for pollen: 
Melted 
mi.veiV 
j.andleil honey without water and whil^i w\inn 
it a tahlo-spoonful of dry starch, to a- haLtf'pint Of 
noiiey, and oil the (5th day of April strewed it on’ top 
, , i nme ? ot :i c °l°oy °n summer stand, that had no 
pollen, brood or effgs. They ate it readily. They 
Ski 110 l ,ollen 11 1 > to this dale, April 19th, at 
wmch date I examined them. They now have eggs 
tim capped and uncapped brood in two combs. 
, ll: av V use< ^ corn starch difl'erentlv propared on 
c R? r colonies, but the result not so decided, 
cni , *1 cellar works right. No loss in bees or 
tw i 8 A 1,oes 119 strong to-day as first of March, 
tnSo 0 1099 of the old wintereif bees is impercep- 
!“• . ' «'»'« truly. M. Miu.br. 
I eninsula, 0. April 19th, 1874. 
ii " r . e ,] lave tKis spring for the first time no- 
_ L ccu Black colonies that had brood, while the 
Allans had none. One Apiary of 27 colonies 
blacks, wintered finely in a neighborhood 
it'.. Bet'.if wrjif^tore ‘bimey...a*s hiv.froin entrama; as 
•posstb.le .' '<* w '. M*- Wm. H; KlliK,: 
>V aterburyj COnn . .. ■ - ■ 
Very well, just .Wait imtil wells i heading. 
-Thetefl' ; .% 
iSTRAW MAT%,HOW .TQ'MABvE T'hEMv 
: From Ifeter Hendec,sqii!ff excellent work, en- 
titled Gardening For Profit, we glean tiie fol- 
lowing:. . i> • , ' . • 
•‘Straw mats are, however, by tar the warmest cov- 
ering, and in hot-bed culture are almost indispensable. 
They are always made at home, during wet days or 
stormy weather 1 la winter. Tiie manner of making 
them is vpry Simple, anil will readily lie learned at 
the. first attempt.' 'L'he “uprights', ” (ot warps), are 
'formed of live strands of a tarred string, known as 
“marline ; ” these are tiglftly ^trained 10 filches apart - , 
by being attached to lira strong' n, ails at bottom of a 
wall, corresponding with the same, number, 7 feet 
from the bottom. Agaihs these strings (beginning at 
the bottom) are laid small handfuls of rye straw, the 
•out' slab ouceas long and straight as cam be procured : 
this Is. secured to the uprights by fi lighter kind of 
da>rrcd..string, by taking a single turn ttround the uu- 
ffght and tiie straw, Sum so eontinuedl until the mat is 
finished. Some usfe a frame to which' the .strings, 
forming the warp, (ire attached. 
Tills allowS'the operator to have his work upright or 
horizontal, as may be most convenient.' Two work- 
men' vvTfl make about five mats in a day. VVhen fin- 
i-ihe'K the .m'als should be 7 feet in, length and-4 ).. feet 
• hi tviiUh, twb being sufilctent to cover three sashes. 
The reason for havlng thenrmade ofie foot longer than 
the sa.sh . is, that thery may be if Inches -tq ovortaji at 
top and' bottom, which 'are .flit* mosVrtefiessary. points 
to s^enre fyoili lj4ist. In making i be.se' ijiats they may 
be fconstrueted.. of sedge from 'the marshes, or salt • 
meadow, nay, when rje straw cannot bfc procured. It 
is important. However, that they may be Made as 
lighi as possible, one inch in thlokfie'SS being quite 
sufficient, By cai'6 In handling them, these mats will 
lasQfoj' six or elglit josh# ... ■ . . 
, n^lie mats for Iljves, wpuUl.npb need tarred 
string, .fis they are ut>t exposed to raitj and'suu, 
>nid the dis.tahee‘at\d'immber' of the strings as 
well as thd bizoof the .mat , sfum Id lie arranged 
according to the size of the hive. 
In a Second letter, friend 'lv. explains that 
his 80e. wax Extractor was made by using a 
lard pai!, an old wire-cloth dish covet,' and 
sundry other utensils found at home, so that 
80c. was only what he paid -the, tinner. • ‘ 
There seems to be a diversity of opinion, as 
to whether bees prefer storing nearest, or far- 
thest from the entrance. In our opinion, 'tis 
governed more by other circumstances, than 
the locality of the entrance. 
