2066 0333 2697 2 ^x-^ ^fW- DDDDDnnDnDaDnDnannnnnnnDDDDDnnDD ^enst UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LIBRARY D D D D a D D D D D D D D .D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D n D D D D D D D D D DDDDDnnnDDDDDDDaaaDDDaDDaaDDDDnD JJBRARY UNIVERSITY OF ft^ASSACHlOTS amherstTmass. 4= 3 « . C) S Gr47 v,^ GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. -a.id'vtbk,tiseivi:ei>tts. We require that every advertiser satisfy us of responsibility and intention to do all that he agrees, and that his goods are really worth the price asked for them. In fact, I hold myself responsible for every advertisement on these pages. Bates for Advertisements. All advertisements will be inserted at the rate of 20 cents per line. Nonpareil space, each insertion. 12 lines. Nonpareil space make 1 inch. Discounts will be made as follows: On 10 lines and upward, 3 insertions, 5 per cent; 6 insertions, 10 per cent; 9 insertions, 15 per cent; 12 insertions, 20 per cent. On 50 lines (Vt column) and upward 1 insertion, 5 per cent; 3 insertions, 10 per cent; 6 insertions, 15 percent; 9 insertions, 20 per cent; 12 insertions, 25 per cent. On 100 lines (whole column) and upward, 1 insertion, 10 per cent; 3 insertions, 15 per cent; 6 inser- tions, 20 per cent; 9 insertions, 25 per cent; 12 in- sertions, 33H per cent. On 200 lines (whole page) 1 insertion, 15 per cent; 3 insertions, 20 per cent; 6 insertions, 25 per cent; 9 insertions, 30 per cent; 12 insertions, 40 per cent. A. I. ROOT. BARNES' PATENT FOOT POWER ITIACHINERY ! CIRCULAR and SCROLL SAWS. Hand, Circular Rip Saws for hca^-y and light ripping. Lathes, &c., &c. These machines are especially adapted to Hive Making'. It will pay every bee-keeper to send for our 64 page Catalogue. Ma- cbines Went on Trial. W. F. & JOHIi BARNES, Rockford, Winnebago Co., 111. HUBBEE STAMPS DATING, ADDRESSING, BUSINESS, LETTER HEADS, ETC. No. 1. Address only, like No. 1, $1.50; with bu- siness card, like No. 2, f2.00; with movable months and figures for dating, like No. 3, $3.00. Full outfit included— pads, ink, box, etc. Sent by mail postpaid. Without ink and pads, 50c less. Put your stamp on every card, letter, pa- per, book, or anything else that you may send out by mail or express and you will save your- No. 3. No.2. world of self and all who do business with you "a trouble." I know, you see. We have those suitable for Druggists, Grocery- men, Hardware Dealers, Dentists, &c., &c. Send for Circular. A. L ROOT, Medina, Ohio. OliM COMB FOUNDATION MACHINES, from $15.00 to $3o.t0. Sample and Circular sent free on application. Address, 9tfd C. OLM, Fond du lac. Wis, Comb Foundation MachineS $15.00 TO $100.00. SAMPLES OP FOUNDATION WITH OUR ONE POUND SECTION BOX BY MAIL FOR FIVE CENTS. For illustrations see our Illustrated Catalogue of Apiarian Implements and Supplies, mailed on ap- plication. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. Names of responsible parties will be inserted in either of the following departments, at a uniform price of 20 cents each insertion, or $2,0() per year. $1.00 Queens. Names iiiserted in this department the fi-rst time uith- out charge. After, 20c each insertion, or $2,00 per year. Those whose names appear below agree to furnish Italian queens for $1,00 each, under the following conditions: No guarantee is to be assumed of purity, or an j'tbing of the kind, only that t he queen be reared from a choice, pure mother, and had commenced to lay when they were shipped. They also agree to re- turn the money at any time when customers become impatient of such delay as may be unavoidable. Bear in mind that he who sends the best queens, put up most neatly and most securely, will probably receive the most orders. Special rates for warranted and tested queens, furnisned on application to any of the parties. Names with *, use an imported queen mother. If the queen arrives dead, notify us and we will send you another. Probably none will be sent for $1.00 before July 1st, or after Nov. If want- ed sooner, or later, see rates in price list. *E. W, Hale, Wirt C. H., Wirt Co., W. Va. 2-1 *A. I. Hoot, Aledina, Ohio. *H. H. Brown, Light Street, Columbia Co., Pa. Itf *E. M. Hayhurst, Kansas City, Mo. 1-12 *Paul L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, La. Ittd *D. A. McCord, Oxford, Butler Co., O. 1-13 *S. F. Newman, Norwalk, Huron Co., O. Itfd *B. Marionneaiix, Plaquemine, Iberville Par., La.55 *Jas. P. Sterritt, Sheaklevville, Mercer Co., Pa. 6-2 *J. T. WUson, Mortonsville, Woodford Co., Ky, 6-6 Jno. Couser, Glenn, Johnson Co., Kan. 7-2 *Chas. G. Dickinson, Sou' Oxford, Chen. Co. N.Y. 1-10 *Wm. Ballantine, Sago, Musk. Co., O. 2tfd Hive Manufacturers. Who agree to make such hives, and at the prices named, as those described on our circular, A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. Sid. D. Buell, Union City, Branch Co., Mich. 2-7 P. L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, Iberville Par., La. Itfd S. F. Newman, Norwalk, Huron Co., O. Itfd Sprunger Bro's, Berne, Adams Co., Ind. 3-2 J. F. Hart, Union Point, Greene Co., Ga. 4-3 M. S. West, Pontiac, Oakland Co., Mich, 8-1 We will send Gleanings— With The American Bee Journal ($2 00) . . " The Bee-Keeper's Magazine (100).. " The Bee-Keeper's Exchange.. (75 c.)... " AU three of the above Journals " Bee-Keepers' Instructor (50 c.). " Bee-Keepers' Guide (50 c.). " American Bee-Keeper (1 00). AU above (Bee Journals of America) $2 75 1 50 1 50 3 50 ..1 30 ..1 30 ..1 80 ..5 25 With American Agriculturist ($1 50) " Prairie Farmer (2 00) .. " Rural New Zorker (2 50) " Scientific American (3 20) " Fruit Recorder and Cottage Gardener (1 00) " U. S. Oflicial Postal Guide (1 50) " Sunday School Times, weekly, (2 00) \A bnve rates include aU Postane. i 2 26 2 75 3 25 3 90 1 75 3 2.5 3 25 1881 GLEAXIKGS IX BEE CULTURE. Contents of this Number. Bee Botaxt il Bee Entomology '" Blasted Hopes 10 BoTS' Department Cartoon 16 Editorials li* Growlery iti j Humbugs and Swindles INDEX OF HEADS OF GRAIN, NOTES AN AND OTHER SHORT ARTICLE Honey Column 48 Heads of Grain 27 Kind Words From ouk Customers 5 Ladies' Department 10 Notes and (Queries 11 QUERIES, A Beginner's First 3 Seasons. 17 Abraliaui's Report 10 Adams ' Horse-power :i7 Advantage of Italians aiuoug Blacks 3G Almost Blasted Hopes :« Alsike Clover 36 Amber Cane 30, 11 Answering Promptly 6 Archangelica 11 Bad Report from Sugar .'io Barrel -making 30 Bee-Stings and Rheumatism, 21.30 Bees Leaving during Cold Weather 10, 27 Bee Talk, and Lazy Bees 31 Bees that won't accept Qu'n.37 Bee Poisoning 12 Beglmier's Troubles 30 Blue Thistle 27 Blowing Bees from Bo-fes 27 Black Bees in Italy 31 Blacks and Italians 28 Box Hives and Black Bees. . . .29 Bonliam's Process for Fdn... 26 Brood Late in Fall 31 Cages 28,32 Califomia Letter 7 Calendar Clocks 48 Candy-making 27 Cellar Wintering 21 Celebrating the Fourth 33 Chatf Covering for Winter. . .19 Chase's Receipt Book 49 Clarifj-Ing Syrup with Clay . .35 Corn as a Honey -plant 11 Cotton as a Honey- plant 11 Cottonwood for Honey 41 Doubling up in Spring 41 Doolittle's Review 20 • ' Down-East ' ' Scholai-s 32 Dysentery in December 34 Experiments with Honey- plants 23 ' ' Fair ' ' Treatment 36 Faris Machine 29 reeding Comb Honey 40 Feeding New Swarms 37 Fireweed, Great Yield from. 26 Fifteen from One in 1 Season 27 First Summer with Bees 34 Filling Combs with Syrup 42 Florida, Report from 27 Foul Brood 19 Galvanized Iron 34 Getting Cells for Rearing 33 Given' s Colunm 16 Grape Sugar 29 Hardening Plaster Casts 33 Home Decoi-ations 11 Honey-Beetle 22 Honey-Dew, Origin of 22 Honey -Plants, vai'ious 13 Hununel's Report So Hyloc.apa as an Enemy 22 Iii-and-in Breeding 49 Journals from Publishei'S, etc 17 Kleinow's Swa-m'g Troubles 1.5 Letting Bees Sta.^'! 11 Mallows as a Honey lant 12 Mandrels, Cheaper 42 Marking Hybrids 31 Mignonnette 13 Millers on Spider Plants 37 Mrs. Cotton 50 Newell's Report 10 New- Year Greeting 18 No. of Stocks for one locality36 Not " Blasted Hopes " 38, 40 "Parody" on Winter 37 Peet Cage 33 Peach-Blossoms 41 Phacelia Congesta 23 Planer Saws 38 Poisoning Bees, etc 8 Pollen in November 30 Prepared Paper for Fdn 36 Quarter-blood Italians 41 Queens thrown from Hive in Winter 28 Ramble No. 1 2.") Recipes, Selling 49 Report of Crop of 1880 31 Report from an Illinois Bee- Keeper 32 Reports from Medina Co 9 lieport from Red Clover 38 Sagging of all Fdn 17 Scale to Register Daily Yield. 39 Scotland, a Letter from 12 Seed Farms , 32 Sep's of Pert. Metal 10 Shipping Bees from South.. .28 Simpson Plants 13 Simplicity Hives 17 SUver-drip Syrup 30 Stingless Bees 18 Stoiy vnth two Morals 41 Suggestion on Introducing.,.. 38 Twenty-live Dollars per Col... 7 Two Colonies in a Chaff Hive 17 Weekly Bee Journal 48 What to do for Bees having Dysentei-y 49 What 1 lb. of Bees in June did 34 White Wax 29 WUlow 14,28 Wire Cloth over Bees in Win- ter 3.5 Wire Cloth for Cages 35 To send for Moore's 4th annual circular of Perfec- tion Honey-Box, Italian and Cyprian Queens; Paper for separators, &c. Address Id J. E. MOORE, Byron, Gen. Co., N. Y. OUR NEW ILLUSTRATED DESCRIPTIVE CIR- CULAR of Italian, Cyprian, and Holy-Land Queens; also club rates of bee publications, sent free. Send your name on postal card to 1 EDWARD B. BEEBEE, Oneida, N. Y. CYPRIANS and Italian Queens or ISTuclei. Des- criptive Circular and Price List sent free. Address JULIUS HOFFMAN, l-4d Fort Plain, Montgomery Co., N. Y. Ha! Ha! History, Ha! Ha! The Hethering-ton Brothers are the largest Bee- Keepcrs in the LT. S. Bingham & Hetherington smo- kers and Honey-Knives were the only ones at the last American Bee-Keepers' Society; also at the Michigan State Society. They were invented for our own use in our own apiaries, and patented to secure us the credit of their invention, and the means of advertising them so as to guard bee-keep- ers against worthless imitations. There are no oth- er smokers advertised which were not made by sup- ply dealers, and not for their own use. Twenty thousand of ours are in use in the best apiaries. All praise them as best. None complain. We are the only legal makers of them, and we sell no other sup- plies. We are proud of them. Send card for circu- lars or wholesale rates to BINGHAM & HETHERINGTON. Id Otsego, Michigan. Italian, Cyprian, AND HOLY-LAND QUEENS! Single Queen, Tested $2 00 " " Untested (laying) 100 Sent by mail and safe arrival guaranteed. 8 Frame Colony 6 00 3 " Nuclei 3 00 2 " " 2 50 Safe arrival guaranteed by express. Address W. P. HENDERSON, l-61nq Murfreesboro, Ruth. Co., Tennessee. BE SURE To send a postal card for our Illustrated Catalogue of APIARIAN SUPPLIES Before purchasing elsewhere. It contains illustra- tions and descriptions of every thing new and desi- rable in an apiary, AT THE LOWEST PRICES. Italian, Cyprian, and Holy-Land Queens and Bees. J. C. & H. P. SAYLES, l-8d Hartford, Washington Co., Wis. Willow Cuttings. I will send postpaid to any address in the United States, ten cuttings of the willow on which the kill- moiiark is budded, 6 inches long, assorted from '3 to ?8 of an inch in diameter, on receipt of 25 cts; of 13 cuttings,- 8 inches long, for 30 cts. HENRY CULP, Id Hilliards, Franklin Co., Ohio. CHEAP SECTIONS! All Oiic-Piece Sections. Pound and Prize size at $4.50 per 1,000. JOHN McGREGOR, 1 Freeland, Saginaw Co., Mich. MAHER & GROSH, 34 N. Mon- roe St., Toledo, Ohio, ask your at- tention to their brand of Hand Forged. Razor Steel Cutlery, every lilade warranted and replaced free, if soft or Hawy. Cut shows exact size of medium 2-blade Knife, price by mail, post-paid, 50c; lar- ger and stronger Knife, 60c; extra strong 2-blade, made for hard ser- vice, 75c: Our Best, oil temper and tested, highest finish, $1. One blade size of cut, 25c; extra strong 1-blade, 50c. Ladies' small 1-blade Pen Knife, 25c; 2-blade 50c. Pruners, oil temper and tested, $1. Hunt- ing Knife, $1.00. Illustrated list of Knives, Razors and Scissors free. Address as above. Sample 6-inch, hand forged Butcher Knife, 50c., or Chicago Stock-Yard Skinning Knife, T5c. 10-12 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Jan. Keceiit Additions to the COUNTER STORE. Our friends will bear in mind the price of single articles are given at the head of each list, and that the figures refer only to lots of 10 and 100. of 100 I 4 25 I 3 50 I 3 50 3 00 4 25 3 50 4 25 4 25 3 50 3 50 10 FIVE-CENT COUNTER. Postage.] [Pr.oflO, 10 I Brackets to hold clock-shelf | 45 2 I Copper Wire, on spools; suitable for mending things when they get broken | 40 6 I Hammer, Tack, coppered; iron handle | 40 4 I Hammer, Tack; wood handle 35 16 I Hammer, Carpenter's, full size j 45 1 1 Pencils, red one end blue the other, the best pencil of American Lead Pencil Co | 40 2 I Handkerchiefs, all-linen; good size; tine, and neatly hemmed | 45 2 I Knives and Forks, small size, and very neatly finished, knife and fork are two I 45 1 1 Pie-plates, Tin; just right for pump- kin pies I 40 4 I Tablets, Suitable for writing and coun- ter-slips; on excellent writing paper | 40 TEN-CENT COUNTER. 20 I Coal Shovels, wrought iron, with a tin- covered handle to prevent their get- ting hot I Egg-beaters, single-geared; a wonder for the money | Butter-Dishes, individual; glass, 3 for 10 cents I Handkerchiefs, all-linen; good size for gentlemen | Knives for boys, Two-bladed; although the blades are not American make, they are steel, and a wonder for the money | Pencils, 1 doz. for 10c. Am. Pencil Co; and very fair pencils (doz. packages) | FIFTEEN-CENT COUNTER. Combination Salt and Pepper, gives both or either condiment at pleas- ure I 1 40 113 00 Honey or Syrup Cup; glass, with hinged tin cover 1 1 20 | 10 00 Berry Comports, no foot; glass; very pretty 1 1 30 | 12 50 Butter-Dish, on foot; glass; a very nice piece of work for the price ... | 1 30 | 12 50 Wire-ringed Pot-Cleaners, The cele- brated Iron-Dish Cloth | 1 20 1 10 00 Twenty-Five Cent Counter. Clock Oil, an excellent oil for clocks, watches, or any light or delicate machinery [3 Counter Brushes, a neat and useful article 1 1 Family Egg-beaters, double geared; a regular flf tj'-cent article | 1 Lantern, Convex reflector; a very good lantern for only 25 cents ... .12 Twine Boxes, ironed japan | 2 Vise to screw on the bench, with anvil |2 Wheat-bread plates, glass; has the motto, "Give us this day our daily bread," blown in the glass around the edge; a most beautiful plate .. | 2 Clothespins, best wooden, (i doz. in a basket, basket and all, only 25c | I Watchmaker's Eye-glasses, a most useful magnifying-glass for a vari- ety of purposes 48 85 1 8 00 85 1 8 00 25 1 2 25 90 1 8 50 95 1 8 50 75 1 T 00 00 1 18 00 75 1 16 00 75 1 16 00 10 20 00 00 18 00 35 I 21 00 2 00 i 18 00 I 60 1 15 00 1 50 1 14 00 Thirty-Five Cent Counter. Glass Pitchers, '/^ gallon, very hand- some Berry Comports, glass, on foot; a most beautiful article / 50 20 I Hunter's Sifter. The regular price is 75c. A rotary flour and meal sifter, mixer, scoop, measure, weigher, egg-beater, rice-washer, pumpkin, tomato, starch strainer, etc I 3 80 I 25 00 30 j Vises, Iron parallel jaws, 1J4 inch wide, to screw on table or bench, very handy j 3 25 | 31 CO Seventy-Five Cent Counter. 60 I Coffee-Mill with a covered hopper. Extra nice | 6 00 1 55 00 2 I Silk Handkerchiefs, Beautiful | 7 '00 | 65 00 ONE DOLLAR COUNTER. 64 I Wrenches, Coe's pattern, malleablp, black, 15 in. long, extra heavy and strong I 7 50 1 70 00 A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. The A B C of Bee Culture. Bound in paper, mailed for Sl.OO. At wholesale, same price as Gleanings, with which it may be clubbed. One copy, fl.OO; 2 copies, $1.90; three cop- ies, $2.75; live copies, $4.00; ten copies, $7.50. The same, neatly bound in cloth, with the covers neatly embellished in embossing and gold, one copy, $1.25; 2 C(ipies, $2.40; three copies, $3.50; five cop- ies, $5.25; ten copies, $10.00. If ordered by freight or express, the postage may be deducted, which will be 12c on the book in paper, and 15c each, on the book in cloth. Cook's Manual in paper or doth at the same price as A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. "w. 0.^" iNKr In 2 oz. bottles, black, violet, or blue, in H gross boxes, per gross $4 00 In quantities of 5 or more gross, $3,20 per Gross. In Pint Bottles, per doz $3 00 In Quart " " " 6 00 In Gallon Jugs " " 13 00 Green and Red ink are necessarily more expen- sive, and the price will therefore be one-half more. Liquid Bluing, in 6 oz. bottles, per doz 50 " " " " " gross $5 40 I will send l^ gross, 3 oz. inks, assorted colors, black, blue, violet, and one bottle each of green and red, as a trial order for $1.00. WM. OLDROYD, Columbus, Ohio. THE Britisli Bee Journal. The British Bee Journal is now mailed to our ad- dress in packages, each month. In order to dispose of them, we offer them at present at $1.00 per year, postage paid, beginning Jan. 1881. Will guarantee safe arrival of every No. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. IMPEO VED Langstroth Hives. Supplies for the Apiary. Comb Foundation a spe- cialty. Being able to procure lumber cheap, I can furnish Hives and Sections very cheap. Send for a circular. A. D. BENHAM, 2tfd Olivet, Eaton Co., Mich. FINE MIXED CAR13S, with name. 10 cents, postpaid. M. L. Dorman, Sinclairville, 12tfd Chaut. Co., N. Y, 50 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. JOIN our club and get free one pound paekag'e of a NF.w SEEDi.iNO, potato — the finest we ever saw — or 20 Strawberry plants of varieties that sell for 50e to il per do/. Particulars free. 1-1 P. SUTTON, Kansom, Lack'a Co., Pa. WANTED.— An experienced apiarist; one who can do all kinds of farm work, and handle tools to some extent. Single man preferred. Ap- plicant must be of good habits, a "man of activity," and ready and willing to take hold of whatever turns up. Address immediately, W. P. CLEMENT, 3d Mouticello, Green Co., Wis. FOR Catalogue and Price List of young Sour- wood, Black Locust, Buckthorn, Buckbush, and other forest trees and seeds. Address CHAS. KINGSLEY, 1-3 Greeneville Greene Co , Tenn. KIND WORDS FROM OUR CUSTOMERS. I am very much pleased with the Sunday-school books you sent. Austts M. Magee. Coopers, Chilton Co., Ala., Dec. T, 1880. 1 received my watch to-day, Dec. 23, and It is a beauty; and let mo thank you for it, for it is just the watch you said it was. H. C. Kersten. Brooklyn, Iowa. The ink-powder, gauge, and file, came all right to- day; ink is made, and I am writing with it. It Hows well. P. D. S. Greene. Barry, Pike Co., TIL, Dec. 13, 1880. I want to say this, that the 15c coal-shovel, though the handle got broke in the mail, is still worth twice the money. If you only could send tongs to match it! If j'ou get any tongs before my box of goods leaves, put a pair in. Isaac B. Rumford. Bakersfield, Kern Co., Cal., Dec. 13, 1880. The goods came last Saturday. The charges were $1.3,5. That was very reasonable, I think. The ex- tractor is just splendid— much nicer than I expected it to be, and the box of bee material was all packed in good shape. A. Osbun. Spring Bluff, Wis., Nov. 23, 1880. Inclosed find SI. 00 for Gleanings another year. Thanks for the Home Paperp. They help us in West- ern Connecticut to be unselfish, and thoughtful of others. May the "great Lover of us all sustain and keep" you until you come to his everlasting king- dom. Mrs. a. E. Jordan. Redding, Ct., Nov. 25, 1880. The ABC book came to hand. The paper, print- ing, and liinding, are all that could be desired, and yet $1.35 pays for it all! The minute precision of its details makes it a handy book for the novice in bee culture, and is a guarantee of sound information and instruction. Geo. H. Waddell. M. D. Coronaca, Abbeville Co., S. C, Nov. 19, 1880. The Waterbury watch ordered on the 8th inst. ar- rived safely on the 16th. Thanks. To say that 1 am pleased with it, does not express the full truth of the matter (I do not wish to beggar the English lan- guage.) What a revolution there is in watches! and they keep on revolving (?) providing we keep them wound up. D. P. Lane. Koshkonong, Wis. T was much pleased with the several small arti- cles. They are cheap, if they are what they appear to be, and I have no doubt they are, for I have sent to you several times, and was always well pleased, and will risk sending to you once more. I was es- pecially pleased with your ten-cent balance. Send me two more. W. L. Millspaitgh, Catherine, Schuyler Co., N. Y., Nov. 33, 1880. I received the watch on the 14th inst., all safe. I wound it up and started it in 2;i minutes after I got it, and it has run to a minute with my clock ever since. I am well pleased with it. You may look out again for orders. I also received the scissors and Gleanings for December. Thanks for your prompt- ness. J. D. Cooper. Traveller's Rest, S. C„ Dec. 16, 1880. The ABC book is received, and ray wife and I are very well pleased with it. I can hardly see how such a nice book can be sold for so little money. Book- keepers in these parts would charge $3.00 for just such a book. All the goods that I have ordered from you have been received, and give good satis- faction. They were also packed in the best of order. ■rj "c^ r^ FTAMHT EY Spanish Ranch, Plumas Co , Cal.', Nov. 16, 1880. • BE YE TEMPERATE IN ALL THINGS. Inclosed find 45 cents, the price for sending 5-cent Sunday-school books for 8 weeks. I think they come weekly, the same as a newspaper. 1 would rather tt ey would come so, even if I had to pav a little more postage; for, although I think that I am strictly temperate, as far as the use (or, rather, the disuse) of ardent spirits is concerned, but not always so when I have too much on hand at once to read. White House Station, MRS. Walter Smith. Hunterdon Co., N. J., Dec. 16, 1880. I can not for my life imderstand why any single subscriber can ask for Gleanings at club rates, or complain at you for allowing a small margin to agents. If they want the profit, they should get up the club. Perhaps a great many complain just for the fun of a growl; if so, just let them growl on, as it perhaps enables them to sleep better. Gleanings is worth a dollar, without the Home Papers; and they alone are worth more than a dollar a year without the bee department. Enoch Arwine. Bean Blossom, Brown Co., Ind , Dec. 14, 1880. The above order I culled out of the pamphlet you sent to Miss M^— list week. About bees— ahem! she wants to know if you can not send her some Italian queens for samples on trial!! N. B.— 1 am innocent if there be a joke In the mat- ter. A. B. C. Med way, Greene Co., N. Y., Nov. 29, 1880. [Why, friend A. B. C, I am really sorry to refuse to oblige Miss M. ; but you see it is such awful hard work to raise queens, that, if we did that with ail the brothers and sisters, there wouldn't be enough to go round; at least I am afraid there wouldn't, and you know I am of a careful turn of mind. Ahem !] The two Sunday-school books that you sent me of late we all like very much, and are hungry for more. The names of those two were "Pilgrim Street," (God help us all to gain the victory as little Tom did!) and "General Peg and Her Staff." I enjoy reading Gleanings as much as ever — especially "Our Homes." My prayer is, that God will continue to bless our Christian friends in India. I felt sorry for you when I read the Growlery of this month, be- cause J. A. Hopkins had such bad luck with his per- chases. We like our little thermometers very much, and Edward Carson thinks his little 15c plane as near perfect as any thing could be for the price. Mary E. Hartwell. Medora, Macoupin Co., 111., Dec. 6, 1880. The ABC book came to hand all right, and after reading it all through once, and some of it twice, I think— well, I will just tell you what I think. 1 think, friend Root, You made a pretty good shoot When you undertook That A B Cbook; And we all should peruse. With joy profuse, A book so free In its knowledge of the bee. And long may you live. And happy should you be. In such a book to give, As the ABC. W. H. Turner. Fifes, Goochland Co., Va. I would as soon be without an almanac for 13 months as to do without your bee journal. I do not write for it, for I do not want to be consigned to either the Growlery or Blasted Hopes. I can not boast of as much as some of your people do; yet I concede that I am doing far better since I adopted the Simplicity hive and got the Italian bees than I ever did before. But while I can not boast of as much as some do, 1 love to read their reports. And GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Jax. now, brother Root, don't ever give up the Home Department, you do not know the good that you are doing. It will" tell in eternit}-. Toil on and the Lord will bless you. E. E. Smith. Settle, N. C, Dec. 3, 1880. I see, by last No. of Gr.EANiNGS. that our year is ended; and my husband would about as soon think of dispensing "with his dinner as your useful paper; and so, liking to give him pleasant surprises. 1 write and inclose one dollar for the coming year. Besides, I have felt a "big drawing" to pen you a few lines this long while, to "sort of rest" j'ou again when you sit down after a hard day's work, with your slip- pers and dressing-gown on, and your feet a little el- evated; for the many different businesses you are getting engaged in must be tiresome to mind and Dody. I can not conceive how you can think of hav- ing "so many enemies, when every faculty of your soui and body seems intent on doing somebody some good. Even the long-neglected prisoner is made happy by your visits and instructions. The printer you spoke of as now being in your employ, we 'are greatly interested in. Go on, dear brother, in your good work; and, if you faint not, in the great judg- ment-day Christ will make mention of your labors of love to that unfortunate class. I told my husband this morning that I would like so much to see your operations, and I should go to Medina with some- thing like the same feelings that the queen of Sheba visited Solomon. Our bee business has occupied the time and mind of Mr. Mattison quite a good deal: indeed, I might say almost entirely. We began with 1-t swarms, and increased to 23, all artificiiiUy. AVhen bees seemed too many for a hiye, lie would take frames from sev- eral hives, and sm(jke them to make them smell alike; then give them some Italian larvte in the right state to make a queen of, and they would sren- ernlly soon be found to have " set up housekeeping" nicely. The queen we got of you a short time ago was, he thinks, gratefully received bv the mother- less bees, though it has been too cold to make a thorough examination. 1 see some of the women in the country are turning their heads in a "bee-line." Indeed, no*w-a-days they claim great liberty, and must have their say too. Some of the communica- tions from them read quite sensible. My husband is trying to instruct m^, so if I survive him I shall be able to carry on the business. I think favorably of your intention of making a little book of your laj--sermons, as they may truthfully be called. It is encouraging to think tbat if any one is in straits, and needs help of God, they can send their requests, not only to the Fulton-street prayer-meeting, but to Medina, Ohio. Go on, dear brother, in carrying the needs of a dying world to God; and remember all your patrons in their various necessities. Remem- ber me particularly to your dear wife, whom 1 feel aids you in your arduous and trying labors. Emeline Mattison. Ocean View, Cape May Co., N. J., Dec. (5, 1880. [Why, my dear kind friend, I never had such a thing as a dressiiw-gowu and slippers in all my life, and 1 hardly think 1 ever shall. The clerks all had a good hearty laugh at the idea; and when I read it at the dinner-table, we had another. My wife says I do not even sit still on Sundaj-, unless I am obliged to while in church; and then my restless disposition re- venges itself by making me go to sleep, if they keep me very long without letting me "do something." We should be most glad to see you among us; but I fear you might be sadly disappointed, and you know that wasn't the case with the queen of Sheba.] KIND WORDS TO OUR CUSTOMERS. I FOUND the following sentences on a postal writ- ten by one of the clerks to one of you:— .We beg pardon if we have been " short " or " crusty." It was not intended. The " 1-90 " to which you refer, means that your account stands on Ledger 1, page 90. Our short sentences mean haste — not churlishness. Now, inasmuch as quite a number have taken of- fense at our brief way of answering, I thought it best to remind you to try to have charity, even if we are short in our replies. Very often, at this time of the year, a great number of letters are waiting for answers, and we felt that brief ones were better than none at all. It is quite likely that the clerks are sometimes a little impatient in a way they should not be, for I have a great' many times made them write their cards over again, just be- cause of this very thing. Please try to bear with us when we get cross; and when j'ou get cross, we will bear with you. Shall we not call this a bargain, while we all try hard to do better? Please, my friends, do not take the trouble to send certificates from your postmaster, justice of the peace, or anybody else. Just make a plain, frank statement of the case ; if any thing is wrong, and if I think you have not told it fairly, I will be equally frank. The more I become acquainted with my fellow-men each j-ear, the more I am convinced that by far the greater part of them are trying to be just and honest. We lack wisdom and judgment, many times; but the cases are very few where we deliberately try to rob our fellows. If I am think- ing too well of you, may God help you to come up, instead of my faith going down. "vVhat shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" One more word about answering letters promptly: As usual, about the close of the year we have quite a little ' tu3sle," if we may so term it, with some of the friends, to get them to answer postals, and have all littl3 matters closed up. Well, after writing to some of you four or five times, during nearly as many months, we finally get quite a letter, and sometimes a small "blowing up," if I may be ex- cused again, because they did not owe the little bal- ance, or else thought they didn't, which amounts to the same thing, fir else that some of the goods were lost or broken, or we were at fault in sending them wrongly. Now, my friends, I do not mean, by these statements, that you are necessarily owing me any- thing, for very often the fault is all mine and not yours at all; but are you not at least in fault in waiting several months without saying a word? Very likely I deserved the blowing up; but why not give it to me at once, and have it done with? If any thinff is wrong, why not say so, right off, and have it done with? The poorest way in the world to settle accounts, that I know of, is to keep putting off, day after day, and month after month. If you have not got the money, and are "hard up," say so, in a manly way; if yoTi have paid the account al- ready, or even think you have, by all means say so; and if the blunder is ours, I will pay you for time and postage, and for going to the postoflice too. Our book-keeper receives the highest wages of any one in the establishment, except Mr. Gray, and all these delays cost me severely; in view of this, will yoti not try harder to just scratch a line or two on a card, and drop it into theoflBce? In trying to settle up every thing before another season, we have written repeatedly to some of your postmasters, and when that didn't do, I have gone to the expense of hiring a man to hunt you up, and ask you the simple ques- tion as to whether you honestly owed that little bill. Now, my friends, for your own good, and that you may prosper and build up a thriving business, and be an ornament to your neighborhood, please do at- tend to these little matters. Do not have these lit- tle sins lying on your conscience; but, rather, be "diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." Is it not the better way? Do you not feel from the bottom of your heart, brother, that I am right? I>EVOTEr> TO I3EE.«?5 A^VO IIOTS^EY, A:vr> H03IIiJ TIVTKRESTW. Tol. IX. JANUARY 1, 1881. No. 1. A. I. ROOT, Publisher and Froprietor, \ 1 medlna, O. J Published Monthly. f f EKMS: $1.00 Per Annumc in •^ Advance; 2 Copies /or $l.t)U; A 'for $2.75; 5 for S4.00; lO or "i more. 75ecach. Single ]S'nmher,V)c. Established in 1873. td^'S.'"''"^' '''"'""' '""'^ "' NOTES fro:ti the banner apiary. No. 14. f:?5 PROFIT, PER COLONY, ANP HOW IT WAS DONE. M S the figures that I gave one year ago, repre- Jf^^_ senting the profits of my apiary, were not shrunk by the cold weather, I will venture once more to send in my report without waiting un- til next June. You will see from the above heading that my prof- its this season have reached a good round figure; but perhaps you would be more interested n learn- ing how such results were obtained. I commenced the season with 15 colonies. The warm weather came earlier than usual; I began starting queen-cells the fore part of May; in the middle of the month I commenced forming nuclei, while the first of June found me shipping queens, with 25 good, strong, three-frame nviclei started. There is no use trying to rear queens either late or early in the season, unless your nuclei are liept strong. I will say, right here, that there was almost a steady yield of honey from early in the spring un- til the frosts came, although there was no great yield at any one time. By July 1st, my 25 nuclei had increased to 50, and by July loth I had formed 30 more; as this number enabled me to keep up with orders, I did not start any more. I have once or twice before given my method of queen-rearing, and I will not repeat it here; but I would like to say just a word or two in regard to the importance of always having nuclei furnished with vmsealed brood, and of always having on hand a good supply of queen-cells. I know it is quite a "chore" to go around every three or four days and see that every nuclei is fur- nished with brood; but it is just such little "chores" as this that help to bring in $25 profit, per colony. I did this work so thoroughly that not one fertile worker put in an appearance. Whenever there was a scarcity of orders, and I had a lot of laying queens on hand, it used to be one of my " besetting sins " to neglect starting queen-cells; but this state of affairs never failed to be followed by a "rush" of orders that would take every laying queen from the j-ard, leave me with no cells to put in their places, and teach me the folly of such neglect. During the past season I kept such a large stock of cells constantly on hand that I frequently had to kill young queens when they hatched, there being no place to put them. I do so dislike to kill a queen, that these newly hatched queens were frequently introduced to nu- clei at the same time that the laying queens were re- moved ; perhaps three-fourths of these queens would be accepted, and the time thus gained more than counterbalanced the queen lost. My increase was only four colonies; my surplus honey was 40 lbs. to the swarm, and the number of queens sold, per colony, was 25. I have kept bees four years, and the average profit, per colony, has been §18.82.« Friend Doolittle, what has been your averaie profit, per colony, since you first engaged in bee culture? W. Z. Hutchinson. Rogersville, Genesee Co., Mich. CALIFORNIA LETTER. WE have had a 3-lnch rain, and bees are in fine condition. We are still eating grapes from " -^ the vines in our apiary. Over 400 white hives, six feet apart, in hexagonal shape, on clean, light-colored ground, when the glare of the sun is on them, 1 am inclined to think is rather hard on the eyes, especially when one has to look through glasses and a bee-hat ; but the grapevines, when in leaf, relieve the dilliculti' somewhat. It is true, they take up some room, and are sometimes in the way; but we rather like this obtrusiveness, just as we do with wife and children; we rather like to have them rub against us, even if we do have to shove them to one side rather rudely for business consid- erations. BEES AND GRAPES. I hear considerable said of late about the injury of grapes and other fruit by bees. The yellow jackets, or yellow hornets, are exceedingly numerous here this season, making the trouble by bees very consid- erable, especially where the sweet varieties of grapes are being dried into raisins. They take them almost wholesale where they can get at them. In Los Angeles county, where grapes are raised in great abundance, there will be a special effort to have a State law passed to prevent bees being kept in the vicinity of vineyards. But I suppose the gen- eral law of the State is at present sufficient to pro- tect their property. However, your late statement of one being liable to a penalty for killing another man's bees the same as any other kind of stock, I GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Jak. think is not fully correct. The law of Ohio supposes that all domestic animals, commonly understood not to be dangerous or injurious in running at large, does not make the owner liable for damage for acci- dental injury from such animal; but if the owner knows that any animal owned by him is inclined to mischief, he becomes liable for the damage; or if he keeps a bear, or any animal generally supposed to be dangerous, the owner becomes liable for all dam- ages by such animal's running at large; also any kind of animals or stock that in its very nature is not within the control of the owner, the owner is li- able for damages by such animals; but, besides this, if the owner can not control his own stock (as bees), it gives extra liberties to the one injured to protect him- self against it; so that, so far as law is concerned, I would feel comparatively safe in killing a man's bees or pigeons if they injured me, rather than his horses or sheep. HONEY-KNIVES. I used the Bingham & Hetherington knife the past season, and, although some of our neighbors call it a " trowel," I lay aside all other kinds, and use noth- ing but the trowel. It throws off all the cappings so nicely. R. Wilkin. San Buena Ventura, Cal., Dec. 11, 1880. ^ I ■ I ■* — ^ POISONING bx:e:s, and bi<:i<:s and GKAP£S. fURTHKR FACTS IN REGARD TO THE CASE GIVEN ON PAGE 530, OCTOBER NO., VOL. VIII. MUCH interest Was been expressed, and many questions have been asked, in regard to this sad affair, and I have waited thus far, hoping that some amicable settlement of the trouble between the two neighbors might be brought about. As I have given but one side in the article re- ferred to, I will now give both sides of the matter. Mr. Boot:~l have been to see Mr. Krock, and 1 will give you the substance of what he had to say. "Mr. Rosekelly, I told Klasen two years ago that his bees were damaging my grape crop, and that he must do something with them; but I have never been bothered as much as I have this fall. My girls had to wear gloves all the while they were picking, and would then get stung often; and the baskets, after they were filled, would have from fifty to one hundred bees in them, and we could not pack until night. We worked several nights all night. I saw Klasen, and told him that his bees were dama- ging me, and he told me that I should 'put them in the pound," as I could easily tell bis bees by 'tick- ling them a little behind.* " I then asked Krock if Klasen did not offer to pay him damages. "No, sir; he only offered to buy a mosquito-net to put over my door and windows, and that would have been of no use. I first thought that I would sue him for damages, but could not prove that it was his bees. Then I thought I would go to the town coun- cil and prove them (the bees) a nuisance; but that body refused to act upon it, stating that they had no right to do any thing about it. So you see that the law was out of my reach; and when I went to him I was met with blackguarding talk, instead of his meeting me as man should meet man. I have lost a third of my grapes, and if you do not believe toe, ask" (he here gave me several names). I showed him my letter and your answer, and explained to him how the poisoned sweets had drawn many bees that would not otherwise have come. "I know that this has brought trouble upon the bee-keepers, and it would not have been if he had not overstocked the town, and he does not feed them, and so they have to eat people's fruit. "I must either dig out my grapes, or the bees must be moved; and as for the lawsuit, you have known me from your childhood, and you never knew me to have any thing of the kind, and I would like to drop the case, on condition that he take away his bees." Geo. Rosekelly. Huron, Ohio, Nov. 17, 1880. The following is from a mutual friend of the parties : — Mr. A. I. Root:— At the request of my neighbor, Mr. H. I. Krock, 1 take the liberty of addressing you on the subject of a difficulty between him, Mr. Krock, and Mr. Peter Klasen, for damage, which he, Mr. Klasen, has sustained in the loss of his bees, wherein he accuses Mr. Krock of poisoning them. Mr. Krock emphatically denies the charge. The two gentlemen are my neighbors, both of whom I hold in high estimation as citizens, and am sorry to see them in a dispute which must eventually be an injury to both, as there are doubtless two sides to the question. Mr. Krock commenced the cultivation of grapes in this village in 1861. He now has about 1 acres un- der cultivation, which is his principal revenue for the support of his family. He is 64 years old, with a wife and two daughters depending upon his vine- yard principally, for support; so it would not do for him to abandon it. He is willing to abandon all claim for damage heretofore sustained in conse- quence of the bees if Mr. Klasen will remove them out of reach of his vineyard. It is very evident, that Mr. Klasen can not prevent his bees trespassing upon the grapes when they are located so near the vineyard— less than half a mile. Mr. Krock says that he has heretofore frequently called Mr. Klasen's attention to the subject of the injury his bees were doing to his grapes, but was answered in a sneering and provoking manner. I can scarcely think that Mr. Klasen really intended to be insulting. He probably did not think how irritating his remarks were. I don't think that Mr. Krock would make a false statement. He says that he used Paris green to poison the potato beetle, as they were destroying his potatoes which were growing among his grapes. When the hugs quit, he put the dish containing the poison inside his packing house. When the grapes began to ripen, he cleared out the packing house, and the dish containing the remains of the Paris green was set outside. He admits that the bees may have gotten some of the poison, but if they did it was accidental. I have been in Mr. Krock's vine- yard, and I know that the bees were very annoying; so much so that Mr. Krock dare not take his horse into the vineyard. Mr. Krock wishes to avoid litiga- tion, and would be glad to drop all contention, and I think that Mr. Klasen would take the same view, and drop the matter if some of his bee-keeping friends would give him the right kind of advice. I don't think that Mr. Klasen is really a bad man; but when temper is up, reason leaves. I fear that I may have trespassed too long upon your patience; but if I have, you will please excuse me when you take into consideration that my ob* 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. ject is not selfish. I only wish to make peace be- tween my neighbors. Mr. Krock wishes me to in. form you that he will be glad to give you any infor- mation you may think proper to ask. I think that Mr. Klasen intends to remove his bees from town, as there are others who are annoyed by them. With the hope that you will patiently take mj- remarks into consideration, I remain yours truly— Huron, O., Dec. 9, 1880. Geo. S. Haskin. In a later letter, Mr. Rosekelly adds the following: — Mr. Klasen is with me now, and says:— "My damages are more than I first thought they were. I told him to make out his bill of damages, not only of what my bees had done, but what others had done, and I would pay it; and he said he would not; that he would not be bothered with them; says he, 'You think you will get rich out of bees, but you won't. I will Qx them.' Now, as for the damages done his grapes, it is queer that my bees should fly over other peoples' grapes and not damage them, but should do all the damage to his grapes. When I found that my bees were dying, I tracked them by their dead bodies to the vineyard of Mr. Krock, and I found the poison on boards (syrup and Paris green mixed, poured upon m:ished poaches and grapes; a dish of the same I have in my possession yet.) Mr. Krock, undoubtedly, in his letter, tells that he has offered to settle with me; but I would here like to state the conditions. When I was in his vineyard, I happened to meet Mr. Krock, and he ordered me off, and took a grape-stick in his hand to make me go, and I pointed a revolver at him, to keep him from striking me; and for this ho complained of me, and we had our trial before the Probate Court, and there he offered to withdraw his suit against me if I would not sue him for damages, which offer I could not ac- cept, because I would not settle. He subpoenaed all the witnesses he could, in order to make my cost as great as possible, which was $1.00 flue, with the cost of prosecution, of which the lawyer fees were about $20, and other expenses amounted to about $60. I have sued him from the encouragement I have had from the boe-keepers; and as some want to know what proof I can bring, I will here mention, first, he told three men that he would poison them; to me, he said he would ' fix them.' Four other men be- sides myself saw the poison as prepared on the boards in his vineyard. From the encouragement of the bee-keepers, I employed Mr. King (attorney, of Sandusky) to prosecute the case to the fullest ex- tent of the law, if he does not settle. "If any one desires to ask any question regarding the case, I will gladly answer by return mail.' N. B.— Gentlemen, as you are interested in the business, we should like to hoar from you through Gleanings, or direct. Some have advised us to set- tle; but what terms shall we make with Mr. Krock? I hope you will all feel interested in this matter, and a few I will call upon to give their views; viz.. A. I. Root, Messrs. Doolittle, Blood, Hayhurst, Fish, Boardman, Mackey, Dadant, and others. Geo. Rosekklly. Huron, Erie Co., O., Dec. 30, 1880. My friends, inasmuch as I am called upon first, I presume it is proper that I should speak lirst. You all know how strongly I have urged upon you, "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." The temptation is strong to use might and power here ; but let us be slow in judging. Nearly all whose eves meet these pages will be interested parties, and inter- ested on one particular side. It is evident that both these men are stirred up, and hardly show forth their better selves. Is it not i)lain that both have done wrong? Per- haps God only knows how uuicli wrong. Mr. Krock is a stranger among us. It is more than likely that we shall feel a prejudice against him which he hardly deserves, be- cause we are all bee-men. May I not plead for a little charity fro m him V Shall we not let the world know that we can overlook a wrong, be forgiving, — yes, and be magnan- imous V Our good friend Klasen (I know him, for, in fact, I gave a little picture of him on pages 293 and 294, June number for last year) has lost $160. (JO already, but he brought all this trouble on himself' by point- ing that pistol at his neighbor. What in the world made him so foolish as to have a pis- tol V Do you remember the talk I gave you in regard to them awhile ago V To come to the point : my advice is, to let it drop right where it is. Let God judge friend Krock if he has not told it all just as it should be. My advice is safe ; you all know it is. If friend Klasen's neighbors want him to move his bees away, by all means let him move them. Who would wish to even seem to be a nuisance to the neighborhood V Eor our dear Savior's sake, friends and neighbors, let us do nothing that will make these two men get further estranged from each other. Let us subscribe money, if need be, to get them to drop it, far rather than to enable them to go on with it. Help us, O Lord, in our weakness, as thou hast helped us in times gone by. REPORTS FROM THE BEE - MEN OF MEDINA COUNTY. M CCORDING to your request for the bee-keepers J^\ of Medina Co. to send in their reports for the ' past season, I reply as follows:— We had, at the opening of the honey season, 130 swarms, all in good condition, yielding us 3000 lbs. of comb and 1500 lbs. of extracted honey. The comb honey was sold at an average of about 15c per lb. ; the extracted honey is worth 10c at wholesale. We increased our number of swarms to 185, giv- ing us 55 new swarms. We allowed our bees to swarm naturally, and also to build their combs with- out any artificial assistance: and by proper manage- ment we secured nearlj' all perfect worker combs. A summary of the proceeds for the season gives $600 for the honey product; and, estimating the new swarms at $5.00 each, they would be worth $275, making the gross proceeds $875, giving an average of nearly .?7.00 for each swarm. The flow of honey from fruit-blossoms was the best we ever had. White clover yielded honey moderate* ly, but did not continue nearly as long as usual. Basswood blossomed unusually full, and the pros- pects for a large yield were exceedingly good. But we were doomed to disappointment; for, after the bees had fairly got to work, the weather became very unfavorable on account of the almost incessant rain, which continued until the basswood season closed, — thus terminating what might be called a moderate honej' season. W. H. Shanh. Medina, Ohio, Dec. 17, 1880. 10 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Jan, We started last spring with 60 swarms of bees, and about half of these were in old L. hives. These came through very weak. We put them all together, but they would not have made 10 good swarms. We now have 85 good strong swarms, and took about 1000 lbs. of honey. We fed back about 400 lbs. of this, leav- ing 600 lbs. This has been the poorest honey season we ever knew, or, at least, one of the poorest. We sold no queens this season. We have used ovir hive three winters, and have never lost a single swarm yet in them. Get away Langstroth frames for vis. F. K. Shaw. Chatham Center, 0., Nov. 25, 1880. I have tried to get reports from the rest of our Medina friends, but some way th^-y don't seem to get around to it. m !>■ ^ SEPAKATORS OF PEKFOR^T » MET- AL. ALSO ABOUT PERFORATING THE SEPARATORS WE ALREADY HAVE IN USK. OINCE our last, I liave had considerable ^) correspondence in the matter, and find "*^ that the perforators of sheet metals will furnish us tin or zinc separators, perfor- ated in any way we may choose, either round or oblong holes, and of any size, so that sep- arators in lots of 10,000 can be furnished at an even 5c each. I am sure you all agree with me, that this is too much. Well, here is something to the point:— I inclose sample of perforated tin from J. C. Car- penter, of Cherry Valley, N. Y., and his letter con- cerning his machine. My opinion is, that he has "Struck ile." 1 have suggested that he make the perforations closer, and alternating each other. Also that he send a machine to you or Nellis, that you may pass upon its merits for simplicity and dura- bility. J. S. Hughes. Mt. Zion, 111., Dec. 14, 1880. I notice in Gleanings, page 536, Nov. No., an ar- ticle from you expressing a want among bee-keep- ers of open or perforated separators for honey- boxes. I think that open separators are desirable, provided they do not cost too much. I have just completed a machine for perforating tin or paper, with which I can do the work quite rapidly. I can perforate the separators for an ordinary hive for 20 cents, or perhaps less; or I could furnish separators to order for the above percentage. I inclose and send you a specimen of my work. You will natur- ally inquire what the machine costs. They may probably be afforded for f 5.00, after getting used to making them; still, I am not quite prepared to say what will be the cost. I should like to hear from you upon the subject. J. C. Carpenter. Cherry Creek, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., Dec. 10, 1880. Here is something further from friend C. himself: — I send you by this mail a specimen of my perfor- ated tin separator. I can perforate tin or paper very rapidly and cheaply. If there is any, or but a small gain in honey with open separators, it will soon pay all expense and afford a profit. I have a hand machine that does the work. J. C. Carpenter. The holes in the samples of tin sent are t inch in diameter, and f inch apart. It seems to me the best size of these holes, and the proper distance, can be determined only by exjieriment. Can not friend Doolittle help us in tlie matter V It is my impression, that bees will sometimes bulge a comb of honey into a hole^ inch across. Who can answer"? Our blacksmith is now at work making a tool, something like our tinner's snips, but rather heavier. It is to have movable dies, so as to cut any size holes, and a gauge is to be attached for spacing the holes at exact distances, quickly and rapidly. I presume about $.5.00 will be as low as it can be made. Now, it may be that the right kind of wire cloth will be cheaper and better than any perforated metal, so it will be well to move slowly in such matters. Friend Abbott, of the British Bee Journal, gives, in his price list, an engraving of the zinc excluder friend .lones has mentioned, and I have samples of zinc with oblong holes that I should think just right to exclude queens and drones, that can be furnished in small lots, sLieets any size, for 40c per square foot. REES liEAVlNG THElRrHIVES DU ING COLD AVEATHER. f' HAVE selected the following letter, re- ceived just as we go to press, from — ' among several of like, tenor. It seems we are going to have trouble this winter, in many localities. I fear I shall lose .all my bees. They are dying off very fast every day; even during this cold weather they fly out and fall in front of the hive, and perish by the hundreds. Some of my neighbors have al- ready lost all they had. Mine are well packed on summer stands, with quilts and carpets, straw and boards. I attribute it to bad honey, as they are strong in numbers and stores. 1 have to-day given them candy, in hopes that they would eat it instead of their honey. I have just seen a neighbor, who has his bees in the cellar, and they are acting in the same way. Some whole colonies have died, leaving plenty of.honey. Am I right as to the cause of this destruction of our pets? if so, how can we save what remain? I might add, that all the bee-men whom I have heard from in this vicinity make the same re- port. M. H. WOLFEH. Richmond, Ind., Dec. 26, 1880. I should say, candy is your only hope, friend W.^ I If the weather comes off warm soon, I would take away their stores and give them other combs and a pure candy diet; that is, where the bees are coming out in such numbers as to make it certain they would surely die if left to go on in this way. If only a few come out thus, say a dozen bees in a day, I would not disturb them ; but where you see the colony is surely going, I would use only granulated sugar for the can- dy, without any flour or any thing else. Lumps of white rock candy are almost chem- ically pure cane sugar, and, although it costs a little more, it is perhaps the most whole- some food for bees that can be found, when given to them in small lumps at a time. If you can not find it at your grocer's, we can furnish it for 1.5c per lb. 18S1 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 11 CORN AS A HONEY-PIiANT, ETC. EASTERDAY S REPORT. t COMMENCED the season with 12 colonies, and increased to 23. Took ofif 1089 lbs., all comb *~^ honey— an average of over 00 lbs. I boug-ht 5 old colonies in August for $12.00, from which I took 180 lbs. Nearly all of this honey was produced dur- ing very dry, hot weather in August and September ; principally from corn-tassel and smartweed. I am aware that many contend that corn does not yield honey; but I have always got more from that source than from white clover. My honey sold readily at an average of about seventeen cents, net. Nokomls, Ills., Dec, 1880. E. S. E.4Sterdav. There now! I alvvay.s thought corn was good for bee.s ; or, perhaps, I should say, rather, I hoped it was. Last season I bought a bushel each of three kinds of sweet corn, and ]ilanted patches of them on our grounds. The bees worked on all, and got large quan- tities of pollen, if they did not honey. Well, to kind of make my honey farm pay a little something, I sold green corn and some other garden stuff. Neighbor II. is a farmer, you know. AVell, he and Mr. Gray were one day laughing at my market-garden speculation. I had a man hired at $1.2.5 a day, and I had hoped to sell enough stuff to pay his wages. Said II., "Mr. R.. you are a tip-top hand to run a bee journal and factory; but w^hen you get to farming,, you are off from your beat. You may possibly make your ground yield the 2.5c part of the 11.2-5, but, if I mis- take not, you Avill be just about a dollar a day out of pocket.*' Well, it was a good deal so, my friends, on a great part of my crops, because I had so little ground, and could not be with the boys personally much of the time. But there was one thing that paid expenses, and a little more. It was the green corn. It was very little cash out for labor, and the corn sold readily at 10c per dozen ears, the whole of it. More than that, a lot of it w^as dried, and it is certainly the most delicious corn now of any w^e have ever used or tasted. Caddy and Blue Eyes both testify to its excellen- cies. The corn was the Mammoth Ever- green ; and next year I am going to have a field large enough to keep our lunch-room supplied, not only during the summer, but with dried corn through the winter months. Who knows but that we may be able to put a package of superior dried corn on the 5c counter, large enough to make a good meal for the whole family? Wake up, boys! Who among you, ye sons of toil, Avill furnish me with dried corn by the ton, so I can sell it low, and do good, and all get paid for it too? The honey will be clear profit, you know. The corn mentioned w'as so sweet that we all accused mamma of putting sugar in it. You see, when you get a lot of it ready for market, you can just send samples by mail. W^hy has dried corn never yet been before the public? Good canned corn can be had, it is true ; but think of the expense of cans, and the extra bulk of corn boiled in water, juice and all, compared with dried corn. Our dried corn is, besides, vastly su- perior to any canned corn we can get in our market. Who will furnish me a ton? Where are our feminine friends who have nothing to do? and who will tell us the best method of diying it? If this article is not all about corn as a honey-plant, it is a good one, I am sure. If you do not think so, come down to dinner Avith us, and have a dish of that dried corn. I ])resume it w^as that jiew book of the Home Papers that startea my mind off in this direction. \ciamj, OB H09ET PLANTS TO BE NAMED. fSEND you by mail to-day a honey-plant which is of considerable value in this locality. No. 1 grows in wet places, and is rare here. 1 have }i acre of it. It is in bloom from middle of May till middle of September. Bees work on it all day. It grows 6 ft. high; has a branching top, with numer- ous bunches of bloom, similar to the elderberry in appearance. I send you one branch of stalk, with seed inclosed inside. J. W. VanDorn. El Dorado, Kan., Oct. 6, 1880. The piece of stem is that of a large plant belong- ing to the Parsley family (wjn^cHi'/erfc). Flies work on these plants a good deal. It is most likely some species of ArchangeUca in the order above named. Lansing, Mich. W". J. Beal. The stalk referred to looks like a joint out of a dock-stem, only it is of mammoth size, and so hard it seems as if it might do nicely for some kind of timber tubing. It must be a curiosity indeed to see such a thing grow- ing ; and if it bears honey in proportion, it must be worth while indeed. Will you please send a few more seed, friend V.? We Sent all those with the stalk, to Prof. Beal. COTTON AS A HONEY-PLANT. I come to vindicate my staple honey-plant,— cot- ton. I see friend Cathey, of Cabot, Ark., classes it as a poor honey-plant. His description of the bloom is correct. My bees seldom enter the bloom, as there is but little honey secreted on the inside of the cor- olla. They get their honey between the corolla and the live-pointed calyx which hugs the corolla very tightly, admitting only the tongue of the bee; and as the honey is secreted at or near the base of the corolla, where the little boll increased, aad as the calyx is si.x-sixteenths of an inch in depth, and the tongue of the Italian bee is only four or live six- teenths of an inch in length, it is impossible for the bees to get all the nectar, and frequently the calyx Is so tight around the corolla that it is impossible for the bees to get at the nectar. My bees gave me a surplus of 30 lbs. per hive in July, and during Aug- ust and September they stored from 50 to 60 lbs. per hive from cotton alone. I had fifty acres of cotton on my own farm, extending to within fifteen feet of my hives. I spent many hours in the cotton-fields, to satisfy myself that my bees were getting their honey from the cotton; and as I live on a high, open prairie, three miles from timber, and nine-tenths of the land is under cultivation, and fully three-fiftha planted to cotton, with no other flowers from which my bees could get honey, I know that is the best honey-plant we have; and if it were not for the countless millions of small black ants that appropri- 12 GLEA^^INGS IN BEE CULTURE. Jan. ate a greater part of the nectar, our bees would gather tons of honey every year from the cotton alone. I do not write this to got up a controversy with any of my Southern bee-keepers, but to set them to watching closely for the honej^ for the bees, and how they get the honey, and for the greedy little ants that g%t most of the cotton honey. The honey from cotton is white and very transparent, and after standing a few months is equal to the famous white-clover honey of the North. B. F. Carroll. Dresden, Navarro Co., Texas, Oct. 30, 1880. MALLOWS AS A HONEY-PLANT. Inclosed And some seed and some of the stalls which blooms from July till the ground freezes. My bees are working on it to-day, and have been ever since basswood. J. K. Oren. LaPorte City, la., Oct. 6, 1880. The plant sent is Malva alcca, a kind of mallow which has escaped from cultivation. W. J. Beal. Lansing, Mich. The same plant was in bloom in our garden last season, and the bees were busy working on it November 5th. I can not now remember who sent it to us, l)ut it has excited considerable attention tliis season. Tlie blossoms are exactly like little holly- hocks. I heave no doubt but that a half-acre of it would be a sight. It grows nearly as high as the hollyhock, but has a much more branching habit. Below is a report from the same plant, from still another locality : — I send you to-day a parcel containing leaves, flow- ers, and seeds, of a plant we call "Malice." It blos- soms from early spring until late in the fall. If it is of any account for bee-food, will you please give no- tice of It in Gleanings as soon as possible, and oblige a subscriber and lover of flowers and bees? Kichmond, Mich., Nov. 6, '80. A liETTER from: SCOTI^AND. FROM AN enthusiastic ABC SCHOLAR ACROSS THE WATER. MAKE bold to write you, as you are a friend to every one interested In bees. Your book fell Into my hands In the spring of this year. I happened to find it in a friend's house, and as he was making no use of it I begged a reading of him. The result was, that your name became a house- hold word in our circle. Your plans of bee-keeping were at once adopted by me, and, though laughed at by many an old-fashioned apiarist, I persevered with my pound section-boxes till, in the first week of July, I experienced the delight of lifting off from one of my hives one completely filled. It weighed exactly 1GV4 ounces. My dear wife, who, since that, has, by our all-wise heavenly Father, been taken from me, was very much pleased, and so were all our friends. The enemies of the system were all amazed. Encouraged by my success, I still went on supering my hives with these little boxes ; de- vised tin separators, which, while they made the bees work straight combs, freely admitted the laden workers to the honey-chambers; then in the begin- ning of August, just as the heather was bursting into bloom (a moor containing four thousand acres 13 within three miles of our village), on a dull night I had my hives carted otf and set down on a meadow, with heather in front of them,— heather, purple- blooming heather, as far as the eye could reach. How the bees worked! Making a noise like a stream of water, they poured in and out as only bees in earnest can do. In the first week of September, at our annual flower show, I exhibited a crate glassed at b :rth ends, containing 3lj lbs. (in 1-lb. boxes), each box so beautifully and smoothly flUed, capped with a snowy wax capping, that not a drop of honey was escaping; not a bit of comb protruding. The first prize was obtained for the exhibit. Next day, the same crate took first prize against all comers— against men who have been bee-masters for forty years, at the show in Sterling. I did feel some pleasure ia being at once looked upon as an author- ity in bee culture; but I told those whom I thought worthy of enlightenment, that they must procure a copy of the book which had been of so much value and service to me. All thanks to you, dear friend. You will, however, allow me to say, that a man's love for these busy creatures, and his ingenuity, will do much to win success, even in bad years, and that these are required over and above the aid of a valuable book, such as you have given the world. I always like to think of my bees being the crea- ti(jn of Him who said to the disciples, " Gather up the fragments ihat remain, that nothing be lost." They truly are the gatherers of nectar that would be lost had he not sent them -skilled laborers— into the harvest-field to prevent waste or loss. You may be sure that my "little fellows" are all comfortably housed; strong in numbers, and plen- tiful in stores. John Main, Violet Bank, Douno, Perthshire, Scotland. Nov. 37, 1880. BEE POISONING. MjDITOR GLEANINGS:— I wish to relate my case I of singular poisoning of the bronchial tubes, which I receive whenever I am about an open hive, or in a room where several bees are confined, or where an angry bee passes within a few inches of my face. You are all aware, that often an angry bee throws ofC poison which you can smell readily. Were you also aware, that nearly every bee that flies about you (not loaded or en route for the fields) also throw off a lesser quantity of poison? Well, such I have proven to be the case. The same is true when hives are opened, at nearly all times. This shows us how careful we should be about ir- ritating the bees when removing surplus honey, in order that the honey may not become impregnated with the poison. This trouble commenced about six or seven years ago, and the first symptoms were an itching in the glands between the ears and roots of the tongue; next, a tingling, itching sensation in the back part of the roof of my mouth, very hard to bear. Then this sensation crept down the bronchi- al tubes to the lower portion of the lungs, till I found I had bronchial asthma. I had to get out of bed and go to the window to catch my breath, at night. I had every evidence that the poison from the bees caused all the above symptoms, but still I would doubt it at times. Whenever I was away from the bees for two weeks at a time, I would get all well again. Finally I decided to settle the mat- ter. I kept away from the hives till I was entirely free from any of the symptoms. When I opened a 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 13 hive, and when the bees were quite enraged, I drew a long- breath upon them, and I tell you, I shall nev- er try that experiment again. I was in terrible dis- tress for a half-hour. I coughed with a "tight" cough for about two days; then I began to "raise," and this kept on about three weeks before I healed t be wounds. During all the rest of the fall just past I kept away from my apiaries, except to go in occa- sionally to direct the work, and then with a hand- kerchief tied over my nose and mouth. Xow I am as well as any of us, but much disappoiated when I think that next season I must shun my favorite la- bor. AVhen you consider that bee culture has been a specialty with me all my married life (12 years), and that nearly all my capital is in it, and that just now the honey-producer's future seems to brighten, you can readily imagine that an antidote for this trouble would be very acceptable. 1 have tried many and various remedies, among which the best is ammonia, gargled and swallowed; but none of them are equal to the task, and soon become nega- tive to the poison. I have business enough now, with my supply trade, to keep me at work out of the apiary; but my greatest trouble is to get good reliable help who un- derstand the business. I used to take good men, and teach them the trade; but now, as I can no long- er work among the bees, educated help becomes a necessit}', and, I fear, a very scarce one too. With the present low rate of interest for money, and out- look in our pursuit, I should be enlarging rather than contracting, but for the above-described trou- ble. Has any one ever experienced or observed any thing like ity Any information would be thankful- ly received. James Heddo.v. Dowagiac, Mich., Dec. 9, 1880. T have noticed sometliing of what friend n. mentions, in regard to the poison from bee-stings, although it never affected myself, nor any one whom I have conversed with, in the manner he states. I am inclined to think that handling bees was not the origin- al cause of the disease he mentions, but that the virus from the stings only aggravated a complaint that proceeded from otlier causes. Of course, I may be mistaken in this. 'In any event, I do not think we should be in haste to conclude that working among bees is necessarily an unhealthy pursuit, even though friend II. be correct "in all his prem- ises. Prof. Cook has recently written in re- gard to a. kindred matter, showing that Avhat is '•• one man's meat may be another's poi- son." You will find, in this No., very strong proof that these same stings are of great ad- vantage in some cases of rheumatism ; well, may it not be that the same virus that proves l)oisonous to friend H. will be exactly the medicine needed for some other brother or sister who is afflictedV m tm> m REPORT ON HONE ¥-PIi ANTS. ^"^ S I have previously promised, I will now make a full report on my success with honey-plants during the past season. I tried four kinds; viz., touch-me-not, or the common garden flower called balsam and lady slippers; mignonnette, Simpson and Spider plants. TOUCH-ME-NOT. Of the first-named, I have tried some for two sea- sons. This season I had a patch, say 30 by 60 feet. They bloom freely through the last of July, August, and Sept., and, having a great variety of shades and colors, they make a very attractive appearance to any one who does admire nature's beauties. I have watched them quite closely, as a honej'-plant, and I have come to the conclusion that they do not pro- duce the nectar in very paying quantities, while they do serve to keep the bees out of mischief, such as robbing and pilfering, at such times as there is not much else they can find to work on. MIGNONNETTE. I became pretty thoroughly disgusted with mign- onnette last season. 1 planted a piece, say 150 feet square, of the very finest of ground, rich and mel- low; but I had to plant it over three times, and then did not get half a crop from it. I have planted it two seasons, and I have found the seeds of it the very hardest to germinate of anything I have ever tried. I can beat it with the Simpson seed a thou- sand to one, as a honey-plant. I conclude, it is fair, but not the best. Sometimes the bees seemed to work on it quite fairly, and at others scarcely at all. If it could be easily grown, I would be satisfied to raise it every year; but my patch last season cost me, in ground rent, seed, and cultivation, at least SIOOO, and I do not think I got $5.00 benefit from it. But I was consoled in the fall by the information that the kind I had cultivated, which was the small sweet, was worthless as a honey-plant, but that the mammoth, or grandi- flora, were the only ones worth the culture for pro- ducing honey. If this be true, what have all our bee journals been doing by advertising and selling the seeds of the worthless kinds"? Do they not merit a place in Humhugs and SivindlesJ Next season I in- tend to try the larger kinds. THE SIMPSON PLANTS. Of the Simpson, I conclude the half has never yet been told. I cultivated a small patch of about a thousand plants. I saw the first bees on them the first day of July, and they were fairly at work by the 8th or 10th; and from that on, for fully two months, it was one continual big boom, from early dawn until fully dark, wet or drj% hot or cold; yes, even in the rain they would not give it up, for I went out one morning after it had been raining hard, and was then raining quite briskly, and the bees were flying there in quite goodly numbers. Two mornings I got up at four o'clock to get ahead of the bees, to see how early they would get to work ; but both times they were there first. One night I remained to see how late they would stay, and I could hear them as long as I could see them; but it was not only a few bees that would be seen, but a large multitude of them. To look into the patch, it would seem as if a swarm was settling there, As the patch was not over ten feet from my shop, my opportunity for observation was good. It was a common thing, when my friends came to see me, to take them out and show them the sight; and, without exception, they said it was the greatest wonder in that line they had ever seen. About the 10th of Sept., it began to seed, and by the last of the month, scarcely a bee was seen about it, and I pronounced it done for the season. A couple of weeks later, I went to it to strip the seed, and was not a little surprised to see new green shoots, new buds, and new blossoms, and the bees working on it again quite lively. A fresh rain had renewed it ; but as I wanted the seed, I stripped it. I also 14 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Jan. raised several hundred plants from seed in the sprinsT that bloomed finely in the fall. As this is already too long, I will report on '•,[ der plants next month. A. A. Fkadenburg. Port Washington, Tusc. Co., O., Dec. 13, 1880. Are yoii not a little hasty, friend F., in ac- cusing the bee journals:' 1 have tested the large kinds of rnignonnette on a considera- ble scale, and, if 1 am not mistaken, have reported in regard to the matter in these (col- umns. Mv experience has been about like that you give, if I except some small patches that were sown on a very deep tine soil. It has never come anywhere near the Siuipson plants, in our locality. HOITIE DECORATIOjVS. ipkNE of the clerks came into the office a IJ) few days ago, wearing an apron, the ^^■^ print of "Which was beautiful speci- mens of ferns and forest leaves. In answer to my question as to how it is possible for calico-printers to give us patterns so beauti- ful and true to nature, I was told that it was only home-made calico, prepared from a piece of white cloth. By request, she has furnished the following description of the work. I presume our friends will study up a great variety of ways in which this new art may be applied. Some of the blank books we use in our work have beautifully embellished covers of leaf w^ork done in the same way. Here is the description:— SPATTER WORK. To make these beautiful spatter-work pictures, which every one admires, provide yourself with a "spatter-frame," a tooth-brush, a saucer, some ink, either common (not Oldroyd's, as it runs too freely) or India ink, and some foolscap or sized drawing- paper. Have ready some prettily shaped pressed leaves, such as ferns, honey-locust, delicate vines, or any wild trailing plants. Spread a newspaper over a bare table, to protect it from ink-spatters; lay your blank paper in the center of it, and arrange your pressed leaves in any form you pleas 3. Fasten the leaves down with pins or needles stuck through into the table. Pour a little ink into the saucer, and dip tke tooth-brush into it; shaking off all the ink you can into the saucer. Now hold the spatter frame over the paper and rub the brush lightly across it, allowing the ink to sift through and fall like spray on the paper below. Move the frame slowly about, stopping occasionally to allow the ink to dry, or the particles will run together and make large dots. If the tint is not uniform, go over the lighter places still more until a smooth tint is se- cured. When the tint is several shades lighter than it is intended to have it when finished, take off some of the top leaves, which are required to be darkest in the design, and then proceed with the spattering again. When it is several shades darker, remove more leaves, and repeat the spattering, and so on, till only those leaves remain which are to appear white in the design. Fine stems and tendrils may be produced by careful scratching with a sharp- pointed knife. Dark stems and veins in the leaves can be produced with a fine pen or brush, using strong color. Also, in the same way, decided shades T,nd effects are made by the use of fine dots or fine parallel lines drawn regularly, and of even thick- ness; but this is not necessary to the production of very beautiful results. A little practice will make you quite an expert in picture-making, and you can decorate your walls as much as you please. Beau- tiful tidies ahd pillow-shams can be made by spatter- ing on book muslin or common bleached muslin in- stead of paper. The spatter frame or sieve is an oblong piece of fine wire cloth 5x3 bound with tin, and with a tin handle attached to one end. What has all this got to do with bee-cul- ture? some may ask. W^ll, I do not know, really, unless we ornament our cases for sec- tion honey by this plan, or, possibly, some one may choose to make a hive and orna- ment it with maple leaves, ferns, etc. WIIiliOAV. B FEW years ago I cut off a limb of what I ^?\\ thought was the most beautiful willow-tree I ever saw. It was standing at the head of a grove, and I found it had been the stalk of the kill- monark willow that had been broken off. [See page 599, Dec. No.] I planted it near my well. The sec- ond summer, the abundance, beauty, and fragrance of its bloom were the admiration of all who saw it. The first season, the weather was such that the bees could not work on it. The next spring it was thronged with bees throughout the day; and, to my astonishment as well as delight, they gathered not only the pollen, but they also cut to pieces and packed in their little baskets the entire anther, and carried it to the hive. The flower, when well de- veloped, is about I'/i inches long, and 5£ of an inch in diameter. I have counted over 50 well de- veloped flowers on 36 inches of a single cane. The flower is of a rich golden color, and consists of a center, out of which spring up hundreds of thread- like filaments that support the anthers, or, it may be, the flowers proper. These are nearly 1-16 of an inch in diameter, and from 6 to 10 anthers are enough to load a bee to its utmost capacity. I can't give the name of the willow. It blooms very early and continues in bloom from a week to ten days. The tree seldom sends up a sucker, and never, to my knowledge, any distance from the tree. To ob- tain suitable canes for nice trees, or to bud the kill- monark, the tree needs to be grown in a moist place, and to be cut back every spring. To insure the growth of such canes, they need to be cut before blooming. I keep about 50 colonies of bees, and have had such a desire to have them reap the rich stores, that I have done my cutting after blooming; hence my increase has been slow. I have no trees for sale; but to satisfy all as far as I can of the truth of my statements, I will send a tree to friend Root for his grounds free of charge, from a cutting a year ago last spring. I will send a cane also, such as I plant, and a cane showing about what I have found to be the maximum flowering capacity. I can fur- nish about 1000 cuttings. For terms, see advertising columns. Henry Gulp. Hilliards, Franklin Co., Ohio. Lest some of the friends accuse me of par- tiality in permitting references to the adver- tising columns like the above, I will explain, that new and meritorious articles offered at a low., price, which I think will be of public benelit, I often advertise entirely free. We 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 16 are very much obliged to friend C. for his vahiable communication, and I know by ex- perience that he would necessarily be be- sieged by api)lications for cuttings from the Avillow, entailing, perhaps, an expensive cor- respondence, did he not anticipate it by offering them for sale as he has done. At the very low price he offers them, no one can well accuse him of wishing to make money by it. I shall be very glad indeed to get one of the trees. FRIEND Kl.EI^'OA^ 'S SWARMING TROl- RliES, AND ?0ME OTHER TROUBLES NOT CAUSED BY SWARMING. fTAKE the liberty to send you my report for 1880. In the spring I had about 50 strong- colonies and — ' a few weak ones (mostly Italians), and a few hybrid colonies; 2t colonies in your chaff, 16 in your Simplicity, and 10 in your l!i story hives; also 2 in the "Patented Palace," 1 in King's "Patented Im- proved Double W'all American," and 2 in box hives of my own make. So you see, I had a variety of hives. But the best report of comb honey I can make is from one of your chaff hives. It is 60 of your 1-pound sections, completely full, as white as snow. The great trouble was in not having hives and other implements ready in time; and I will just tell you a little of my experience that I had last sea- son. The middle of May I went to a carpenter here in Detroit; showed him one of your Simplicity and one of your IJi story hives in flat. He promised to make me 60 of them, and to have the most of them ready by the first of June (the rest by June 15th.) After sending and going there myself about a dozen times, I received 10 of them. When I came to nail them together, there was no entrance on one side. I took them back again, and he returned them July 1st; but then I could not use them. I then told him to make no more. Then I sent to Mr. Bell, of Union City, Mich., for some hives. He had sent me a pos- tal, saying that he was making hives like A. I. Root's, because he had the pattern to work by, from you; but when I told him thej- would have to be just like A. I. Root's hives, to be used two story high, he sent me back my money, and said that they could not be used two story high. Well, what was to be done? I sent to you, friend Root. Well, you sent the hives before I expected them, and that helped me out of the swarming trouble some. The reason that I or- dered the hives here in Detroit, and by rail, was, 1 thought I could save the freight charges on them, at least some of it ; and I knew you were very busy at the time, and I would have to wait a long while. But after all I had to send to you for them. Now I want to come to the groat swarming trou- ble. During the time that I was waiting for the hives, my bees commenced to swarm (the first swarm issued May 15, the last swarm, Sept. 3.) Dur- ing the month of June, my bees were swarming at the rate of about 12 per day. Some would come out 2 to 5 times in one day. One day 14 swarms came out — nearly all first swarms; 4 swarms united, and alighted on a cherry-tree, 4 inches thick. I had to brace it to keep it from breaking over. It looked as if there was a black flour-barrel in the tree. I had the greater part of mj- old queens' wings clipped, which came very handy, so I could always make the swarm go back again. The reason I returned them again was, it was bringing me a little nearer to the time of receiving the hives. But finally the young and the old queen came out together. Well, there was no more stop to them. I lost about 25 nice test- ed queens. The bees would kill some of them by re- turning them so often. When three or more swarms would come out together, some of them would go in the wrong hives, and get killed; sometimes, when there were three or more swarms out together, they would all return to one hive. So, you see, I did get my bees pettry well mixed up. The honey season was about a half-crop. With all my trouble, I received about 900 lbs. of honey, al- most all in your 1-lb. sections, and about 25 lbs. of beeswax. The reason that I did not get more honey, I think, is, first, because I did not have the hives in readiness when they swarmed. Of course, some of them would have the swarming fever for about two weeks; they would not work any during that time; second, that it rained during the summer, especial- ly during the white-clover bloom. It rained every day and almost every night besides, so the white clo- ver was always full of water. It got no chance to get dry. If I had not had a large patch of raspber- ries, and the Simpson honey-plant, I would not have had any honey at all. One colony give me 60 lbs.; 6 gave me 50 lbs.; 12 give me 25 lbs.; the rest were scattered through the other hives. Sometimes I would take out about .500 section boxes, and would not get a drop of honey in them. That was not very encouraging, was it? I had over 5000 of your sec- tion boxes, in the hives during the season. Now, in the early spring, I put a section frame with sections and starters on each side, in the lower story. When the bees had started in them, I put the section frames, bees and all, up in the second story, then filled the upper story with section frames complete. The reason that I put the section frames and the second story on early was that 1 thought I could stop swarming (at least to some extent), and secure a good crop of honey. I did not want any increase in bees; honpy was what I wanted. So, you see, I did alllcoulato keep my bees from swarming; but it was no use. During swarming season, I generally put 2 or 3 swarms in one hive (2 or 3 story hives), to have them strong. They would give 1, 2, or even 3 swarms; and some of them would not even touch starters in lower or upper stories. On some of them I put empty stories, just to keep them from swarming; but there was no use. Even the new swarms would swarm again after being in the hives about a month or so; but they would store no honey. Swarming was what they were after. Sometimes they would hang on the outside of the hive, with the empty upper story on. Well, they increased to about 115, but I united to 91, that I have now. Detroit, Mich., Dec. 1, 1880. Otto Kleinow. Your bees had what we call the swarming mania, friend K. If it will make you feel any better about it, I can tell you that friend Doolittle had about the same experience one season, and I am not sure, either, that he succeeded in devising any thing to prevent it, to his satisfaction. You of course tried the plan of hiving them on a comb of un- sealed brood, did you not? It is bad to have such a quantity of partly tilled and empty sections on hand, but they will come in nice- ly for another season ; and those partly built out will be just what you Avant to get stub- born stocks to take a start in the sections. 36 GLEANINGS IX BEE CULTUEE. Jax. f/j^ "§rcwkrn" This department is to be kept for the benefit of those who are dlssatisfled ; and when anything is amiss. I hope vou will ' ' talk right out. " As a rule, we will omit names ancl addresses, to avoid being too personal. QIVEN'S COLUMN. Jj\ LTHOr GH your condemning my press was the f^ means of cutting' my sales square off for the ' time being', and made me feel that I was out- rageously wronged, I can now see that it has been of more benefit to me than a standing advertise- ment, as it has brought the truth squarely before the people, and my line prospects for sales this season I attribute to this. Whilst I am thankful for this, the motives I leave with yourself, and shall let by-gones be by-gones. I only ask that I may of- fer a little advice, as coming from one who has had experience, and hoping it may be a benefit to my brother-inventors that may yet come. First. If you have asked a man to advertise with you, and taken his money, you should be very care- ful about condemning his invention; for, if you should be mistaken, surely this money is not a tit money to be used in those charitable objects you tell us of. Second. If you have purchased from him, and are unable to get his invention to work, then sit down and write him wherein you fail; at least, give him some chance to help you. Don't presume you know all about it after seeing it a few hours, and that he knows nothing after working perhaps years on it. Take one step down from that high and exalted seat we often see you take, and at least tell him before you kill him. Third. If you have condemned an invention, and find that all others who have bought it speak against you, you should then come down at least one or two steps; yes, you might be willing to come down among us— we might do you good. Don't you know you have fitted a great many suits on some of us when we happened to growl a little about things you sold us that we could not get to work? Come down, now, and we will fiod you scores of those suits you have cut for us that will fit you so snugly that not a wrinkle will be found from head to toe. Come, now, and take for yourself a few of these. Again, we would advise the use of one kind of specs. Don't use a pair that will show a sample at one time as all that could be desired, and order from it, and then afterward use another pair by which you are able to look back through a space of 3 months, and see that same sample as being poorly made. Certainly it would be better to always use the good ones, and then you can see the imperfec- tions in the sample before you order; or are the good ones intended for extreme cases? We think it's your privilege to advertise what you please in your extra leaves of Gleanings; but for the part you sell to us for a bee journal, we surely have some rights. If our inventions have been sold through it and condemned in it, we certainly have the right to say through its pages that we will take back our inventions and return the money to all who are dissatisfied. There is much other advice v,e might ofTer; but as we are allotted just one col- umn, we can not go further; but I hope these lines Jmay be the means of some help for my many broth- er - inventors^ and that Gleanings for 1881 may be conducted with more charity for all; that all use- ful inventions, whether manufactured in theMedina shops or invented and manufactured elsewhere, may be treated with due respect, and that we all may be a band of brothers, advancing hand in hand, step by step, onward an't upward, and that no one may be found trying to exalt himself above his brother. "For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that i« proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up, and he shall be brought low."- ISA.3:12. Hoopeston, 111., Dec. 8, 1880. D. S. Given. Whj', friend G., you have no idea what a long breath of relief I drew when I got to the end of your letter. Visions of some awful thing that I might have said or done during the hurry of last season flitted through my mind, and of something, possi- bly, that could never be explained to any one but God, who knows the heart. I be- lieve you are right, my friend, and that I should have more charity. I know I do not see my faults as others see them, and I am sometimes literally appalled at the horrible picture I see of myself, when some kind friend holds it u]) before me as you have done. Although I can not recollect it now, I presume I did solicit an advertisement of you ; but I did it Avith an honest and sincere purpose of helping you, even though it should spoil tlie sales of my rollers. I had proposed to give you one of the best helps in the way of notices I ever gave any one, be- cause I thought you an honest, hard-work- ing inventor. When we got your machine off the cars, I was most grievously disap- pointed. Perhaps I should have reflected that, for the price, we could not expect a good flnish ; notwithstanding the jokes and smiles of Mr. Gray and Washburn, I stoutly stood up for it. Tlie handle, being made of cast-iron, and left on the machine, was snap- ped off in transit, and I had first to have that repaired. The hands, I presume, had caught the general spirit, and decided the machine would not work, before it was tried. I gave them the directions, and when they decided it would not work, I tried it myself. Very likely I was nervous and impatient on account of the many cares that then weighed upon me. The machine was tried at differ- ent times, on several days, and the sheets were hung in the hives. They worked all right after the bees got them, but we found it very hard to get the sheet to stick to the wires long enough to carry them to the apia- ry; Avhile, by our regular way, we could put them in quite rapidly, and have them stand shipping safely, long distances. As our room was Umited, and orders pressing, there was no other way but to move the press into the back room, as I mentioned, that we might go on with our work and fill orders. It did not occur to me, until now, that I should have returned the money you paid me for advertising ; but I will most cheer- fully do it now, friend G. The principal objection to the machine was the dies ; and, if I am correct, the i^air sent me have never been used, — friend Ileddon having procured a new set after he got the press from me. Did I not publish every favorable report from the iiress that has been offered, after others said I was mistaken? Now, friend 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 17 G., I want another machine, all complete for L. frames, and I will pay for it in cash as soon as received, or before, if you choose. If we can not make it work, I will pay yon to come out here and show us how, as I did friend Earis ; but ])lease do not ever say again I object to certain wares because they are going to conflict with something I may have had for sale. Have you not all known me long enough to know that I am not thus selfish? I take greater liberties in recom- mending things on these pages, because I somehow feel that you know me, — the great- er part of you, — and give credit for good in- tentions, if I am sometimes sadly at fault in judgment. A REPORT FROill A REGINNER'S FIRST THREE SEASOISS. M S we have delayed our report for 1880 so long, J(^_ we will try to make amends by giving you a ' condensed report of our business for the last three seasons, which comprises all of our experience as a bee-keeper. We bought our first swarm in Oct., 1877, and win- tered safely, without protection, on their summer stand. In May, 1878, we found a bee-tree, the inhab- itants of which we safely transferred to a Lang- stroth hive. During the season we increased to 9 stocks, and took 50 lbs. of box honey and 150 lbs. ex- tracted. Although the winter of 1878-'9 was very se- vere, every stock answered to roll-call on May 1st, 1879— thanks to chaff division-boards and chaff pack- ing in outside boxes, as described in Cook's ^fanual. Taking an inventory Dec. 1st, 1878, we found we had 34 colonics and 900 lbs. surplus, one-half of which was in sections, and one-half extracted. Thirty col- onies were in Root Chaff hives, and four we e well packed in Cook's "overcoats." TWO COLONIES IN ONE CHAFF HIVE. Three of those in chaff hives were double, with a thin division board between them, and an entrance at each end of the hive, as described by friend Nellis. They all wintered safely, and on the first of May last we had bees in 35 hives. The past season has been the poorest for surplus honey within the memorj^ of the oldest bee-keeper here, many apiaries giving no income whatever. All we have to show from our 35 colonies In the spring, is an increase of 20 colonies, 500 lbs. extract- ed honey, 200 lbs. section honey, and 700 lbs. gross in combs, reserved for stimulative feeding next spring. The bees are all in Root chaff hives, twelve of which have an entrance at each end, with thin division board in the middle, each containing two small col- onics with young queens. What do you think of this idea of a double hive to winter nuclei? Those I tried last winter did nicely; and I think, from ob- servation, that if each nucleus is strong enough to cover three frames, they are just as safe with a thin division board between them as if they were united late in the fall, and one queen destroyed; and in the spring we have the extra queen for profit, worth at least half as much as the swarm. SAGGING OF ALL KINDS OF FDN., DVNHAM INCLUDED. We have used f dn. in the brood-chamber largely, both Root and Dunham, and see but very little dif- ference, if any, in the value of the two kinds. Nei- ther kind will sag or warp if properly fastened and given to the bees during fruit-bloom; but If given to a strong colony during warm weather, and a heavy flow of honey, both prove very unreliable. We had sheets of Dunham fdn., 4'2 ft. to the lb., sag over an inch ; and many of them broke down during the basswood yield this season, and they were in chaff hives too. Next season we shall try your method of wiring, and endeavor to have all not wired drawn out during fruit-bloom. MAKING SIMPLICITY HIVES, ETC. For our new swarms, artificial swarming, nuclei, queen-rearing, etc., we use the " Nellis-VanDusen- Simplicity" hive, and think it has several points of superiority over your Simplicity. We make all of our own hives, and fancy they are just as good as those furnished bj' the supply dealers, and they come a " heap " cheaper. In making our first chaff hives we followed directions in A B C to a dot, and when we had about twenty hives completed, we found that, instead of li or ?« space between the frames in upper and lower story, we had fully Vi inch, and the same between frames and bottom- board. Every time we handle those frames and find the space between upper and lower story filled with comb, as it is sure to be, we feel a good deal like scolding somebodJ^ If we figure rightly, the width of end-boards should be 9 inches, and side-boards 9!4 inches, instead of 9;8 for former, and 9?8 tor latter, as it reads in our ABC. Don't want to "take any- body's head off" about it, but suggest you make the correction, if not already done. JOURNALS COSTING MORE OF THE PUBLISHERS THAN OF SUBSCRIPTION AGENTS. When we last wrote you, we intimated that if you practiced the doctrine you preached in " Our Homes," you should furnish j'our own publications as cheap as anybodj' else. For this you put us in the Growlery; and, while there, friend Sayles has a whack at us, and accuses us of advancing a doctrine that "savors of Communism." Now, if bringing the producer and consumer, publisher and subscriber, nearer together, thus crowding out unnecessary middlemen, is Communism, then we plead guilty to the charge. The fact that others advertise to fur- nish Gleanings to single subscribers cheaper than the publisher, seems to us proof positive that either your retail price Is too high or your wholesale price is too low. When you say that "Gleanings is a standard article" you " hit the nail squarely on the head," and you might have truthfully included the ABC. We have read all of the modern works on bee culture, and are a subscriber to all of the bee journals. Friend Sayles thinks if we had spent a lit- tle " time and mental effort " in obtaining 10 sub- scribers at the State Grange at the full price, and thereby pocketed $4.00, we would view the matter in a very different light. In answer to this, we would simply say, we have taken many subscriptions for the standard publications, Including some for Glean- ings, and have always considered ourselves well paid when we reserved 10 per cent for ourselves; and should we ever take 40 per cent profit on a stan- dard article, especially from our brother-patrons, we should consider ourselves unworthy of the name Granger. And now, friend Root, begging pardon for the length and broadcast shooting of this "report," and promising never to "do so" any more, hoping you will not consider anything I have said as a "growl," but only a little friendly criticism, I will conclude by wishing you all (middlemen too) a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. George W. Jones. West Bend, Wash, Co., Wis., Dec. 9, 1880. 1* GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Jak. Many thanks, friend J., for your report and kind admonitions. — The Simplicity hive is so made that tlie shrinkage of the Inmber can in no way affect any of the dimensions, except tlie vertical depth of the hive. Now, as all lumber will shrink, more or less, no matter how well seasoned and painted, we liave allowed this i for shrinkage. After yon have used your hives one season, you will find they will settle down, — at the very least, the i you complain of. Then you will have the standard I, that has been so long decided to be about right. If I am not mis- taken you will find some of the hives having only about i inch ; and if we have any more shrinkage than this, yoii will be piliching the bees; but even then, you will find some stocks that will build solid honey in this i- incli space. The Italians, I believe, are more addicted to such tricks. If you will grease the top and bottom bars of your frames with tallow, however, you can ef- fectually stop it. — I did not mean any harm, friend J., even if I did put you in the Growl- ery ; for I thought you were just about right. I too should feel guilty if I took from my friends 40 per cent for a standard dollar ar- ticle ; and it is by selling goods at a profit of 10 per cent, instead of 40, or even 25, that I have builded up such a trade on the coun- ter-store goods. You know I enlarged Gleanings, and changed the discount from 40 to only 25 per cent after your letter last year. Well, luiless I change my mind, the discount next year (please all take notice a year in advance), will be only 10 per cent, unless the papers are all sent to one address ; and then it will be the same as now. This is done solely to correct the inconsistencies you have mentioned. A STATEMENT THAT WASN'T TRUE. STINGLESS BEES. N Mr. Hawley's Brazilian stingless-bee circular, alluded to in our editorials, — ' appears the following: — But Rev. Mr. Clark, late editor of the ^)7ienVrt)i Bee Journal, the man who later accidentally got a bee in his mouth while drinking, and died from the effects of having been stung on the back part of his tongue, and, in short, others who have lost their lives in one way and another in handling bees, will not be apt to ask to be placed in the "don't care if they do get stung" army of bee-men. While I was meditating sadly enough up- on the suddenness of his death, and wonder- ing that we had heard nothing of it before through different channels, I was most agreeably surprised to get a letter from friend Clark, and he didn't say he was dead ther. I copied and sent himthe above, and here is his reply: — Friend Root:— Thanks for the above extract from Hawley's cir- cular. I embrace the opportunity afforded by its re- ceipt, to reply through Gleanings, and assure my apicultural friends In the United States, most of whom, I presume, read your journal, that I have not yet departed this life, and hope to be able to do a little more good in the world before I am called to leave it. I had a severe and painful experience in the way of a bee-sting, of which I gave an account in the A. B. J. for Sept., 187t. The sting was not in- flicted "while drinking," nor was it inflicted on ihe "back part," or any other part of my tongue, but on the extreme point of the upper lip, just where the mustache «livides. Among others who kindly re- sponded to my account of the accident, was W. S. Hawley, who furnished me a liquid remedy for stings, which is certainly a very good thing. I never heard nor read of abee-keeper, who accidentally got a bee in his mouth while drinking, and died from the effects of being stung; but I have known a great many cases of bee-keepers and others who got a far worse creature than a bee in their mouths while drinking, -even that which "bitethlike a serpent and stingeth like an adder," and died from the ef- fects of having been bitten or stung. The saddest feature of these cases was, that they took the ven- omous thing into their mouths, not accidentally, but willfully; not in the prosecution of an honorable calling such as beekeeping, but in the foolish pur- suit of dangerous pleasure. After a life of seclusion for several years, owing to ill health, 1 am now in active work again, and, among other multifarious duties, intend to act my part in trying to promote bee-keeping. I have not lost my interest in the science and art of apiculture; and, although I handle bees under difficulties, being, not like some favored mortals, bee-loved, but, for some unknown cause, bee-hated, I shall not let them alon« while my eyesight is good enough to see through a bee-veil. The indications point to a great revival and ex- pansion of bee-keeping throughout the Dominion of Cauada. Now that the secret of successful winter- ing has been discovered, the chief obstacle to the prosecution of the business is removed. Yet I do not fear that it will be overdone by too many going into it, for it is only a small minority of the human race who possess the qualities necessary to success in this line. The exploits of D. A. Jones are doing much to draw attention to the possibilities connect- ed with bee-keeping in this country, which, in regard to honey-producing resources, is probably equal to any on the face of the globe. Wm. F. Clarke. Listonel, Ont., Dec. 18, 1880. Friend Ilawley, unless you "rise and ex- plain," we shall have to think badly of yon, for aught I see. A OIi\1> NEW YEAR TO GIiEVNIN«S. AN AOBOSIIC. A glad Xew Year to Gleanings! (iod bless its patrons, one and all; Lonn' may tlie savor of its teaehing-s Abide in tnith, with great and small, Delivering them from Satan's thrall. No matter thdUgli Its lessons Kmhody what tci some seems new; Waked not our Lord ciiiaint musings, and [brought strange truths to mortal view? Yes: he arraigned fixed e\istonis, Exeept where truth and right bore sway, And then, with one great offering, Redeemed from death its helpless prey. Then let the ransomed everywhere. On grateful hearts his image bear. Glad should we be, with sacred gladness, Like Moses coming from the mount ; Expressing, even in our visage, A happiness no words can count. Nor need we shrink from pain and trial ; I f Jesus Christ marks out the way. No foe can harm us, and no shadow Give daikness to otir heavenly day. So, now, God speed our upward way. f'ottam, Ont., Can., Dec, 1880. Mrs. H. A. Awke-s 1881 GLEANINGS IX BEE CULTUllE. 19 FOlIIi BROOD. /p^iROAKING like a bird of evil omen came friend %JII Detwiler— "Foul brood, foul brood; perhaps ^^^ you've g-ot it on the yard now and don't know it." We looked into several of the least prosperous colonies, but found nothing wrong. I had never seen a cell of foul brood, never wanted to, and some- how never expected to. As the sum and substance of what I have read about the plague, I had a very incorrect idea about what to look for. I suspect that hundreds of the boys have just as poor an idea of what they should be on guard against as I had, and perhaps a few words on the subject will be timely. I expected the disease to be heralded by a dreadful smell, of the knock-you-down order. Doubtless it does smell bad enough in extreme cases; but in its mild beginning you smell nothing, unless you poke your nose almost into it, and then the odor is almost precisely that of common glue. I expected a mass of dead brood, spreading al^road like the rot in a mellow apple. In i)nint of fact, the commencement may be in less than half a dozen cells, and no two of them near each other. I expected a disease which the bees themselves would be powerless to resist. From what I have seen, I think the bees sometimes hold the disease at buy for many months. I even suspect that they sometimes eradicate it altogether without outside, help. Having been posted by friend Det. as to what I should look for, it was not long before I found some of it. And while I meditated what was the best way to destroy them, bees, brood, honey, frames, hive, chaff, and all, I found more of it, and then still more. Five colonies certainly affected, and as many more on the doubtful list, all sprinkled through an apiary of 104 colonies! I'm in for it now. Don't you wish •you were In my shoes? Meantime the season closes, brood-rearing stops, pjnd the whole matter is ad- journed over to next year. How came I in this mess? I hardly know. Some- what late in the season I noticed very many bees working on one )>recise line, and also coming in quite late and very heavily laden. I suspected at the time that they were robbing a bee-tree. In that same direction lies an extinct apiary. A farmer who kept many bees in the old let-alone way lost the most of them, and sold the rest to keep them from dying on his hands. Perchance those bees died of fdul brood, and the swarm in the tree caught it from them, and mine brought home the curse when they roltbed the tree. Curiously enough, the two colonies which are my champion robbers are not affected. Either they didn't get the disorder, or they had en- ergy enough to stamp it out. Kemembering the ap- pearance of certain unprosperous colonies in times past, I am not without suspicions that a little of the disease, in a very mild form, has been hanging about the apiary these two years. This matter of the different phases of the disease, and its different grades of virulence, needs light. It may be that there are really two diseases called foul brood; one caused by the fungus Cryptococcuti AJ vear i (>, an6 ihe other by the Somcthinoelsus Not- tsobadis. In that case, I'll take the Somctldnaehus. In the disease variola (small-pox), there is a morbid growth in the human blood, somewhat as in foul brood there is a morbid growth in the substance of the young bee. Two children may take the germs of variola from the same source, and one will bo- come an encrusted mass of corruption over a large portion of the surface of his entire body, while the other will need parental authority to keej) him from playing outdoors just as usual, each and every day the disease lasts. Between these two extremes there are all intermediate grades. I think, when we get at the truth of the matter, we shall And thiit the Cryptocficcus iiroduces just as wide a range of re- sults. What is the slightest perceptible touch of the dis- order? I think, that a very slight growth of the fungus causes the young bee to give some sign of discomfort, which is recognized by the delicate senses of the bees, and that they respond by taking off the caps of the cells. Don't fly off the handle, gentle reader, and accuse me of charging foul brood in all cases of bareheadedness. I don't charge or believe any such thing. 1 merelj' sujjpose that the bees incline to pull off caps whenever there is un- easiness among the brood from any cause. They have no catnip tea to give them, and what can they do but to uncover and rub their little aching heads? The young bees so affected hatch out in due time (or a little later than due time), the least diseased be- coming useful members of the commonwealth, and those more affected becoming useless weaklings. When the disease has reached its third grade of vir- ulence the young bee does not come out of the cell at all, but dies, with his head thrust out and his tongue protruded at full length. I find so many in this condition in the affected colonies that I can hardly be mistaken about this being one phase. I may mistake in supposing that there are any milder phases. A fourth phase is where the bee dies before it is time to emerge from the cell, but after the va- rious integuments of the body have become some- what hardened. With matter at this stage, the cells can still be cleaned out readily, and the bees are still capable of holding the disease in check. One degree further, and they are nearly helpless. In the fifth stage, death takes place while the young bee is yet soft; and the body speedily changes to a mass of li(iuid glue, in which the fungus swims. To pull this stuff out of the hive is impossible, and the inability of the bees to keep their hive clean makes what is really but an increased virulence seem an entirely different disorder. Probably some of the more zealous of the workers try to get rid of the filth by sucking it up, as they would any other unde- sirable liquid, to carry it out and disgorge it. It may readily be imagined that such stuff can not be disgorged so completely but that germs of the fun- gus will remain in the sac. Every larva subsequent- ly fed by such a bee must be poisoned by receiving some of the fungus with the food. I think much more brood is infected in this way than by the spores that cling to the hairs on the bee's feet and drop off in the cells. liut I will wait till I see more before I surmise more. The worst combs I have yet found had less than one-half of the cells dead, and not over one-quarter of the comb affected at all. CHAFF COVERING FOR WINTER. A word now on a more agreeable topic. Laziness hath many inventions. Last year, in packing bees for winter, not having time to make the additional cushions I needed, I tore otf generous pieces of mus- lin, laid them over the top of the hive, poured in chaff', tucked it nicely into corners, folded neatly over top, and— liked 'em so well that I'm not for making any more sewed cushions at all. A sewed cushion, when tucked down, is in a state of tension, 2© GLE.V^'I:JsGS in J3EE CULTtRE. J AX. and sooner or later it will crawl back and leave Ghiaks. Folded t-ushions are readilj- made to fit all sizos jind shapes; they will "stajpiit," and are al- most as pood as yoiir loose-chtiff arrang-ement. The ease with which th"y are emptied and boiled to dis- infect them, is in their favor. The chaff can readily be chang-cd if leakage wets it. Moreover, the cloths, when empty, enme handy for a variety of purposes. Eeall.r, dear Novice, do we want our bees so we can not open them without deluging them with chaff? Vou didn't like that foundation machine that "ker- squashed" a waxen spray all over your apparel. Pity, then, the sorrows of The nf at but helpless bees, and allow no dusty, musty chatf to be bcsnowed all down amongst them. E. E. Hasty. liichards, Lucas Co., O., Nov., ISSO. If it is proper for one to liazard an opin- ion on foul brood that has never seen a hive of it, I -svoiild say, that I am inclined to ac- cept what friend Hasty says. I do l)elieve a real, earnest, faithful modern bee-kee])er can rid his apiary of even foul brood, and with- out burning the hives and bees up either. I quite agree with him on chaff too ; why. tfiat is just what I have been doing, last win- ter and this too, only I used just a little loose chaff, to make ciishions fit and hll i)er- fectly; then, when a hive is to be opened, after taking out the cushion it is a very sim- ple matter to push this looss chaff over to on© side, while we turn back the covering over the frames enough to make our exam- inatioi>s. This can be done Avithout getting any chaff on the bees. We do not have musty or dusty chaff in our hives, friend 11., for they all have water-tight tin roofs ; and, while 1 am about it, perhaps I should apol- ogize a little for what I said about spatter- ing the wax on my clothes. If friend Faris had not hurried matters, to see how many poimds he could make in 15 minutes, I pre- sume the machine could be worked without any such unpleasant features. DOOIilTTIilB'S REVIE^V AND CO.IIMENTS ON THE ABC BOOK. fjr'T will be remembered, that I offered our J|| friend Doolittie SlOO, a few months ago, for a careful going-ovei' of the A ]3 C book, that he might point out its faults, and add such suj;gestions as his large experience might dictate. He has done this; and his remarivs are of so much value that we shall embody the greater part of them in tlte book itself, as an appendix. Where obvious er- rors are i)ointed out, of course nothing re- mains but to correct them, and so these points need not be given here. Those who have the book will recognize where these re- marks belong, by the readings. Those who have not the book will, I think, lind the notes interesting and profitable. ABSCONDING SH'^B.VS. CLIPPING QUEENS' WINGS. Scarcely a queen need be lost, as a few bees will always gather around the queen; and by walking over the yard, and looking on the ground, this ball of bees is easily seen, and the queen picked up. It is not so easy, however, always to tell where they came from; but this can be done by keeping them till near night, and taking the queen from the bees, ^hen they will return home to their own hives. Very good indeed I The idea of letting stray bees find their <.nvn hive is a new one —to me, at least. SAVING AFTER-SWARMS, AND BUILDING TIIEM UP TO GOOD COLONIES. T can not agree here. With the after-swarms goes all prospect of surplus honey; and, if prevented, the old stock is by far the better. AVait T'i days after the first swarm leaves, and, as a rule, the first young queen is hatched then. Cut ail cells, and after- swarms are done away with. PLURALITY OF (QUEENS IN A SWARM. I find that a plurality of queens is just as common in second swarms as in third; and I have had as many as half a do/.en in a first swarm, issuing from, the loss of the old queen ten or more days previous- ly. During the height of swarming, the cells are not properly guarded, and thus the young queens run out. CUTTING OUT CELLS, AFTER A FIRST SWARM ISSUES. This is not sure, as the bees can rear more from the brood remaining; but, cut them after the first queen hatches, and you have a sure thing. SETTING THE NEW SWARM IN THE PLACE OF THE OLD STOCK, TO PREVENT AFTER-SWARMS. This is not a good plan with the Italians, as they will nearly always swarm after being thus moved; but with the blacks it generally works well. AGE OF BEES. HOW LONG BLACK BEES WILL LIVE, IF AN ITALIAN QUEEN IS GIVEN THE BEES IN MAY OR .TUNE. They will live l.j days, from three e.Yperiments I have tried. ANGER OF BEES. The following refers to my remarks about bees turning suddenly cross, after a severe rain or storm has washed the honey out of the flowers: — Have you not made a mistake here somewhere? During a heavy yield of hoTioj', our bees seem to be glad of a rest, and it takes at least :H hours before our bees think of robbing, after a full How of honey. We have taken off honey after a shower, as you speak of, when each bee was so full of honey that, if squeezed a little, she would throw the honej' out on the tongue; and. if jammed a little, the honey-sack (filled with honey) would burst through the sides of the abdomen. After -4 hours has ehipsed, or the season draws to a close, we agree with all yon say. I hardly think I have made a mistake in the matter, friend I).; but, very likely, more time had elapsed after the rain, than what I have given. I have noticed all you say. imracdiatchj after a very heavy yield; but so many otherg have spoken of having trouble in trying to extract, after a storm, that I can not but think my caution a wise one. My remarks in the A B V in regard to ar- tificial fertilization being impracticable, they have called forth some censure. In a foot- note, r have mentioned the experiments of Prof. Ilasbrouck, and it is in regard to this foot-note that friend Doolittle writes the following: — I thoroughly tried Prof. Hasbrouek's plan the past season with the sugar-barrel with a hole in the top and a glass on the inside. While I could get the droTies and queens to fly together attd drop to the bottom in the embrace, or laying-hold of each other, yet not one was f^tilized. 1881 GLEAKIXG^ IK BEE CULTUEE. fl In regard to this same subject of artificial fertilization. I remark that now, nearly everj^ apiarist of 50 hives or more, has at least one imported queen. In regard to this remark, friend D. writes:— I can not agree here. I have had three daughters of imported queens from as many breeders, and none of them commenced with the stock I had taken pains to breed for honey. With the majority of apiarists, probably, your remarks are correct; bvit we have a few breeders whose queens are far ahead of a promiscuous Importation from Italy,— at least, such is my opinion. Five hundred dollars would not hire me to breed all my queens from an imported mother, and let my present stock go down. If better honey-gatherers can be obtained by going elsewhere rather than Italy, by all nieans let us have them. As friend D. now offers queens for sale, we can give his stock a very thorough test the coming season. ARTIFICIAL S WARMING. In the plan I have given, where one can provide a laying queen during the swarming season. I have advised simply moving a hive away and putting a new hive in its place, witli the queen caged over the frames ; and if the colony gets weak before tSie new bees hatch out, giving a frame of brood ; or, in tlie absence of a laying queen, giving them a comb containing eggs only, from which to rear a queen. Friend D. makes the follow- ing objections to the plan: — You know my views on old bees as queen-nurses, and I think the same holds good here, und that this is almost the poorest plan given for making swarms. I know that they will bring lots of honey, for that is the instinct of old bees. If you had said, give this frame of brood when the swarm was made, I should ha.re scarcely any objection. In view of the above, I have altered my instructions a little ; but I supposed it was to be understood, that where a queen was to be reared, I did not expect much of a colony until she commenced to lay ; and I have then given directions to build tlie colony up full with combs of hatching brood. As a matter of economy, I would not make any colony a full one until they have a laying queen, 'in moving old stocks in swarming time, I have always found plenty of young bees in the new hive, of Avhat I should consider just the best age for queen-rearing, — those, for in- stance, just bringing in their first loads of pollen. HOW TO REAR QUEENS. The first-hatched queen will destroy all remaining queen-cells, providing it is not in the height of a tlow of honey. If it is, our experience is, they will swarm instead. For my ^■iews on this, see A. B. J. for Oct., 1880— Doolittle's article. The reference to the article on queen-rear- ing is, I presume, in regard to friend U.'s l)Osition that queens reared under the swarm- ing impulse, are better than those reared iii the manner I have given. If this were the case, should not apiaries managed on the natural-swarming principle, produce superi- or queens? There are plenty who have fol- lowed the latter plan all their lives, but I do not learn they have more honey to sell, than those who have made their swarms and reared their queens according to the meth- ods I have given. It seems to me, friend D. and our good friend Prof. Cook too have been a little thoughtless in tlieir condemna- tion of all queeuvS sold for a dollar, as ii' they were necessarily inferior on that account, — especially after the great numbers of great yields that have been reported from the prog- eny of ({ueeiis that were purchased for a dol- lar, and in tlie hands of A 15 C scholars at that, ])iitit is possible tli;it tViose reared from natural swarming will be better yet, other things being the same ; and let "us by all means, give the matter a fair test. If friend I), can supi)ly the demand for such, even at $8.00 each, we shall very soon have plenty of reports from them. BASS WOOD. In a period of 13 years, I have never known bass- wood to fall to yield honey,— the very shortest sea- son yielding 4 days, and the longest 20. 1 place bass- wood at the head of all honey-producing trees or plants as to yield. From it I once obtained Oti lbs. iti 3 daj'S, from one hive. In speaking of our cut of the basswood. friend D. says:— This is a picture of which you mn.v well be proud; for a better picture to convey to the mind just what basswood is, was never executed. BEES. BEES, HOW TflEY GROW. You do not mention water as being mixed ^vlth the honey and pollen for food. If water is not mixed with this food, why is it so eagerly sought in spring and summer, and not at all in warm days in October and November? Now, I claim that many things point to water being one element in this food. BUCKWHEAT. We have given up placing any dependence on buckwheat for honey. It has yielded honey only 5 times in 13 years, so that any was stored. See our report for 1880. CANDIED HONEY. SEALED COMB HONEY IN A CANDIED STATE. Sealed hoTiey seldom candies in the hive as you say; but I never, to my recollection, had sealed hon- ey away from the bees over winter without its can- dying. SCALDING. How about changing the flavor as soon as honey is scalded? Our experience is, that honey that has been heated hot enough to scald is spoiled, or near- ly so, in flavor. CLOVER. RED CLOVER FOR HONEiY. If I understand yini correctly here, you and I do not agree at all. I never pulled the blossoms from a head of red clover yet, but that there was honey in them. But I have frequently found the corolla so long the bee could not touch the honey, I think there is nothing in the world that secretes as much honey, year after year, as red clover; still, it is of little use except to the bumble-bee. In our locality, the red clover certainly contains no lioiiey, perceptibly, some sea^ sons. I am ahvays in the habit of plucking the heads and sucking out the nectar, when- ever I find them in bloom; and when>iver I can squeeze out cpiite large gloliules, I al- ways, so far as I can recollect, find the bees gathering honey. GLEANINGS IN BEE CCLTUKE. Jax, THE ORIGIN OF HONEV-DEAV, PIIE following interesting article in re- gard to honey-clew is translated for our columns by our proof-reader, from Der AJsaskh Bienen-Zuditcr (a bee journal printed in Sarregnimines. Alsace, lately ced- ed to Pi'ussia by France.) Not long: ago, as I was taking a walk one after- noon in a certain neighborhood, I came to a bee- farm. Our conversation naturally turned upon our pets, and the bad honey season we had just had. "No more honey-dew falls down here from heav- en," remarked my colleague; "and so our bees must die off by little and little." "Neither from the bright starry heavens nor from the clouds does the honey-dew fall," I remarked. "It is simply the product of certain plants and trees; direct, when they exude sweet sap, or indirect when licked up by lice and excreted from their bodies." But this answer did not satisfy my friend. "With my own eyes," said he, "have I seen honey- threada floating in the air; and with my own tongue have I, even when a boy, licked honey-dew from the leaves of the trees of the forest." "And why not from the tiles of the roof?" I re- joined. "These must drip with honey-dew as soon as it falls from a clear skj-." "Mildew originates in the air also," he said; "and why can it not as well be the case with honey-dew?" Whereupon I remarked, "Not in the air, but hy the air— that is, by the change in the temperature of the air, the bitter, sticky dew originates on the hop- leaves and other vegetables, and sweet dew on the pine, larch, linden, oak, willow, ash, plum, maple, mulberry, etc. Honey is not a volatile substance, like water, and therefore can not change its form by becoming mixed with the air and falling again from the sky. A thousand observations prove that honey- dew is self-formative when plants and trees, in con- sequence of warm and damp weather, are very full of sap-shoots, and when the temperature, through the influence of the weather, thunderstorms, or gales, becomes suddenly lowered. By these means the ascending sap becomes suddenly hardened, and starts back; it then presses through the pores of the buds and leaves, and covers them. So long, then, as fine weather continues, and the morning dew falls, the moist honey-sap will trickle from the leaves. Toward noon the sweetness is somewhat stronger, and the falling drops form long honey- threads, which the currents of air cause to float around like gossamer. These honey-threads are es- pecially noticeable in the vicinity of pine and larch forests. The bees eagerly suck up the sweet, exu- ded sap, carry it to their hives, and prepare there- from a good honey; especially when they have aro- matic blossom-honey to mingle with it. Pine honey, however, has a flavor of turpentine. To this exuded honey the air conveys a quantity of fungus, form- ing a hatching-place, and thus mildew is occasioned; hence the saying, " Mildew falls from the air." " But when a heavy honey-dew falls," interrupted my friend, "the grass in the forest, as well as that in the vicinity, is covered with honey. I remember that once my shoes were all sticky and shiny from this cause. From whence, now, was this honey?" "The sweet saps, which the shrubs and trees ex- ude," I replied, "are not only brooding-places for various species of fungi, carried there by the wind, but they afford feasts, not only for the bees alone, but for leaf-lice. The latter lick up the sap vora- ciously, and spirt it out. From this a fine dust or honey rain originates, and which the air spreads all around the vicinity. When certain plants and trees do not of themselves yield sweet sap, one can often see a bunch of leaf lice and other kinds sitting on the buds and blossoms, in order to puncture them and suck the sap from the wounds and pores, and exude it again as sweet excrement. This dirt-min- gled sweetness is also gathered by the bees, and forms the so-called leaf -louse honey; but this is such a poor quality that the bees, as soon as obliged to use it for winter food, beconu? stricken with dysen- tery." f Or Enemies of Bees Among Insect Tribes. fpIE following is a correspondence sent tis by friend Cook, and will doubtless be interesting to many who are study- ing our bee enemies. THE HYL0CAP.\ AS AN ENEMY. The first part of the following letter referred to the Hylocapa which he previously sent. He teHs, in reply to a query from me, how it kills bees. Lansing, Mich., May 1."., 1880. A. J. Cook. Your kind reply to mj' letter, sending the bee, was duly received. I have not yet found any more of the same species; or, at least, have not been able to catch them. I will send you the first perfect specimen I can capture. In regard to the manner in which he kills the bees, I would say, he would alight at the entrance, and when the bees would "go for him," he seemed to bend his body in (much in the same way a honey-bee prepares to sting), there- bj' crushing the mass of bees attacking him. THE THIEVING HONEY-BEETLE. I send you to-day five or si.v beetles which I found trying to force their way into one of my hives. The bees kept them out to-day, but could do them no in- jury. A few days ago I found one of the same fel- lows inside on the comb among the bees and honey. He had cleaned out the cell where I found him, and I do not know how many more. If you will give me any information through Gleanings, it will be ap- preciated. F. N. Wilder. Forsyth, Ga., April 30, 1880. The handsome beetle sent by Mr. Wilder is Eiiryi)- mia sepulcliralis, Lac. Its broad form— it is seven millimeters (J.4 inch) broad, and only eleven (7-16 in.) long - short, lamellate antenna-, and short, fossorlal legs, at once indicate its family relation to the May beetle, Lachnofitcrna fusca. This large and interest- ing family is named, from the Greek for beetle, Scarahividiv. The very convex, triangular thorax, and short wing-covers point at once to the genus Euryomia. Eiiryomia inda, a somewhat larger beetle of very much the same form, is quite common in the Northern States; and when seen flying in the spring or autumn, is often mistaken by the novice for a bumble-bee. This latter beetle also has a re- fined taste, as it is not uncommon to find it buried in some luscious peach or mellow fall-pippin. The Euryomia i-\', not larger than 8x10 inches, nor deeper tlian ti inches. Fill even full with leaf mold and sand, mixed; then s days, the young plants will come up. Then remove glass, place box in a warm window, and as the plants grow, transplant to larger boxes; and when warm weather comes, set out in almost any kind of soil, and by thelast of July you will see a fine lot of blossoming plants with plenty of bees on them. J. T-. Bowkrs. nerryville, Va., Nov. 20, 1880. canuy-making; a valuable siggestion. Allow a novice to make a suggestion relating to the formula for making candy for bees, in winter. Instead of mixing your sugar and flour with water, and boiling it, first mix sugar and water, and boil, as suggested in A B C. When done, take it off, and then, to the amount of flour that you wish, add just enough of the hot syrup to make a liatter, with all the lumps worked out. Then pour this batter slowly into your syrup, and stir it vigorously; then pour. By this method all danger of scorching is avoided. Kirksville, Mo. , Nov 27, 1880. I. D. Pearce. BEES LEAVING THEIR HIVES IN COLD WEATHEH. I have a very large swarm of Italians that are act- ing so strangely that I wish to ask you if you know what T can do to quiet them. About two weeks ago I noticed they were flying out. It was then so cold that they would drop into the snow within Ave or si.x feet of their hive, and they continued to do so right along through the last cold weather up to last Friday, when I fastened them in by nailing wire cloth over the entrance. They will now come down to the entrance and try to get out, and they will staj' there until they die in great numbers of cold or hunger, I can't say which. They are in one of your chair hives, with a cushion that fills the whold" top. I laid this off for two or three days, thinking it might be too warm. It is now over them, with one of your wood mats lying loosely under it, the en- trance is all open, and they are on eight frames, with one division-board on one side of them. Ravenna, O., Nov. 20, 1880. J. C. Converse. The cushion is not too warm : in fact, I fear it is the opposite. Put some loose chaff under the cushion so as to make all tight above. I should be inclined to think the trouble comes from a sort of dysentery caused by unwholesome stores. 'When bees are so affected as to come out of their hives in cold weather, it is a pretty hard case, un- less the weather changes enough so you can take away all their stores, and feed them on pure sugar, say a syrup made of granulated sugar, or granulated sugar candy. FIFTEEN NEW SWARMS FROM ONE IN ONE SEASON; GOOD FOR TEXAS. The queen j-ou sent to J. J. Taylor came all right. My 154 stands of bees are doing well, and are still gathering some honey. I have not killed their drones yet. I had 8.") swarms of bees come out from July 2tjth to August 27th. I extracted all the honey from all of my young swarms twice, and all are full now. The fore part of the season was bad. Bees gathered very little honey till September. Since then I have taken SiSit lbs., as nice as the nicest ex- tracted. I find ready sale at 15c. I had one stand of bees last spring which sent out 3 swarms. In July they sent out 3 swarms. The 3 swarms that came out in the spring all swarmed 3 times apiece. That makes 15 swarms from one hive in one year, and all in good condition for winter; that is, if winter c. 445, Sept. No. We may adopt the iilau of letting the (jueens out, embodied in the Peet cage. Friend Martin's remarks in this Xo. ill regard to it, so nearly coincide with my own experience, tliat I feel anxious to get as many reports as we can, Itefore making cages for another season.— -Most assuredly. we can not send a pound of bees by mail. JIow long do you think the department would allow us even to send queens, should such a thing be attemiitedV— Cover the wire cloth, by all means. MeCord's cage accom- plishes this nicely.— The account-book will be out some time this winter. ORAPE SUGAH. I am thanklul that there is such an article as grape sug-ar. My bees take it up rapidly out of the barrel as it came from the factory, or in a liquid state out of inverted glass jars, or candy, molded in wooden butter-plates, in\'erted over the bees on the frames in hives. 1 have no fear that feeding grape sugar to my bees will injure the sale of my honey. Du Page, Ills , May 18, IS.'^U. S. Anglemire. THE PARIS machine; WHITE WAX FOR STARTERS; GROOVINCi SECTIONS FOR STARTERS, ETC. Concerning the Faris fdn. machine: I inclose sam- ples, so that you can see where the trouble is. I can not get perfect impressions on both sides by dipping one plate; but by dipping both plates I can get it right, except that it is a little too thick for starters. I have no trouble with my large plates. I have quite a quantity of this white wax (like the spniple inclosed.) Is it not better for starters than the yellow? When one of 1 he plates gives out, will they both have to be put in? if not, how would you do it? P. S.— I forgot to say, that the sections came all right. I was a little disappointed when I found that you did not go as per order; but when I found that "Parker machine" away down in the middle of one of the boxes, and tried it,— well, I wilted. I suppose you know better what we want than we know our- selves; you did in this case, any how. How much shall I send you for that Parker machine? Lekoy Vankirk. Washington, Pa., Dec. 11, 1880. I think you are succeeding as well as any- body, friend y.\ for, if you will recollect, I have never yet decided the Faris machine to be a success all around. There is this to console us, however : although the work does not look just as we would like to have it, it is used by the bees, so far as I can see, just about as well. White wax is not good; it is too hard. This has l)een fully deiiionstrated by many experiments. If the yellow is light colored and veiy thin, it makes so little tlif- ference in tne appearance of the honey, that it is really no object to have white. When one of the Faris plates gives out, I presume you will have to make a new pair. This is why (or, rather, the constant liability of the machine to give out) I have declined to offer them for sale. However, if each bee-keeper makes his own, and can set to work and till his machine anew as often us a plate fails. I do not know but that it may do very well. Now a word in regard to nice sheets of fdn. for making these plates. As we have to take umisual care, to get the cells perfect, and have also to take extraordinary care in packing, we shall have to charge, hereafter, double ordinary prices for sheets wanted for makinj^ plaster casts.— Many thanks for your P. S., friend Y. Once in a great while we have a customer ^\•ho orders his sections grooved for fdn.; btit as Ave know very well he is making a mistake, and the trouble of grooving them will be more than the cost of a "Parker machine," we have been in the habit of putting them in without charge, as we did yours. A GOOD REPORT FROM BOX HIVES AND BLACK BEES, ETC. I Started this spring with .5(5 swarms, ail blacks, ex- cept 3 that were hybrids, and all in box hives except 4, and those were in such bad shape that there was only one whose frames I could remove. In June, .'> of my swarms proved to be queenless from some cause. Perhaps the cause was old ago of queen. I transferred them into Simplicity hives, and had some dilficultj' in getting them to raise queens and build up, as there came ou a honey dearth just at that time, and I had to feed the most of them through July, as I took about all the honey from them when transferred. I have had only 5 natural swarms this season, and one of them went to the woods. I have made one artiflcial swarm, so that I have til good swarms; 10 in Simplicity hives, and 51 in box hives. Those in the Simplicity have not made any surplus honey this year, as three of the natural swarms came in August. Honey all told this year, from new swarms and transferred, would be about 50 lbs. My 51 other hives have done better for me this year than the average, 1 think. I have taken 5C00 lbs. of honey in ~-\h. sections from the 51 swarms. Two swarms in box hives, and black bees, made ~50 lbs. of honey apiece in 2-lb. sections. How is that " for high," and black bees and box hives? I have sold almost all of it, and could sell 5 tons here if I had it, at 14 to 15c per lb. ; of course, it is not a very large price, but it pays at that. I shall use the Simplicity hive after this. They are the best style of hive that 1 ever had, and I have tried a good many different kinds. 1 have had bees for 23 years, but never paid any attention to them until lately, of any amount. There has always been trouble in getting bees through the winter here, and I was in hopes that somebody would find some plan that would work well without loss. I have always let my bees remain on the summer stands with sur- plus-honey boxes on, and the last two or three win- ters they have done well— hardly losing a swarm. They face the south, and are under sheds; and when the sun shines too warmly I put boards up before them, if it was not warm enough for them to get back to the hi\ es. I shall pack them this winter in straw, but shall leave them on the stands. E. Rathbun. Millington, Tuscola Co., Mich., Dec. 8, 1880. 30 GLEAXINGS IX BEE CULTURE. Jan. STINGS AND RHEUMATISM. I saw a notice of stings and rheumatism in your magazine. I have been stung less than 500 times; but before being stung, I suffered from rheumatism in my shoulder, and it has all gone, and I have thanked the bees for it. A bee-sting poisoned me frightfully, and, as a remedy, I find nothing so good to keep down the swelling and allay the intlammation as the brine of mackerel. Hub on quickly and free- ly. Mrs. a. E. JORD.i^N. Redding, Ct., Nov. 25, 1880. LEARNING TO MAKE BARRELS FROM A BOOK, ETC. I see, in Nov. Gleanings, that Mr. Isaac B. Kum- ford, of Bakerstield, Cal., thinks he might be able to gain sutficient knowledge from books to enable him to make barrels to hold his honey, if there was any work published on the subject of cooperage. I woi'ked at the coopering business nearly forty years, and yet never heard of a book on the subject. The thing is entirely impracticable, any way. 1 know from expc^rience that the trade can not be learned from books. There have been instances where men have picked up sulticient skill to make what we call slack work,- -potato, apple, or salt bar- rels; but to make a barrel to hold honey requires a tirst-class workman, and even then, about every other one Avill leak. He had better offer some good cooper an interest in his apiary, and get him to lo- cate with him. I am not saying this, thinking he will make mo an offer, for I have quit the trade, and am raising honey. I think Northern Iowa, take it one j'ear with another, will compare with California as a honey country. I ha^e not had what might be calle be one which should be taken into con- sideration when making selections for breeding stock. A. li. Weed. Detroit, Mich., Nov. 5, 1880. I presume there will be a diversity of opin- ion in the matter, friend W.: but as for my- self, give me the bees and queens that will raise brood at any or at all times of the year. I will take care of the supplies and the young bees. Now let us hear from others. BEE talk; lazy bees. ^itw, friend Novice, does it not disturb your quiet repose somewhat, to even contemplate such a sub- ject? That part of animated nature, the honey-bee, that upon so many well-fought battle-fields has just- ly earned the title of -'busy bee," and now, at this late date, to apply the epithet lazy bees, is more than I can stand. I will give you one volley of experience on this subject, and then leave it for those who arc interested to ponder over, before abusing our (Jod- given pets by calling them lazy. I had a colony of nice Italians last spring that was strong in bees; and when other colonies were storing honey, this colony was not gathering enough stores to keep up the consumption in the hive. Here, now, said I, is one of these lazy colonies that I have been reading about in Gleanings. I decided, in my own mind, that I would not keep any queen that would produce such workers, and so I opened the hive with the intention of cutting off her head and givins- them another queen; but when I got a glimpse of the inside of their home I changed my mind very quickly; for I could see clearly, or, at least, to my satisfaction, where all the trouble was. The queen that I had condemned to be executed had that hive filled from shore to shore with brood, and it took so many bees to hover and nurse the young brood that field laborers were scarce. What was to be done? Well, here is just what I did: instead of killing that large and beautiful queen, I took away two combs of brood, and hung combs containing honey and pollen in their places. I then picked out two more combs of hatching brood, and hung them on the outside of brood-chamber; by this process I soon crowded the queen on to five or six combs instead of ten, and had the satisfaction of seeing, in a short time, as good a working colony as I had in the apiary. Bloomdale, O., Nov. 10, '80. K. B. Bobbins. "N^ery good, friend R. It is true, we should go slowly in condemning any queen to de- capitation ; but what are you going to do with the statements from tnis next brother 'r* Head : — REPORT OF HONEY CROP OF 1880. Bees have done so little in this section of country, that it is almost Impossible to find any one besides myself who got any surplus honey from their bees. 32 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Jan^. I wintered 49 colonies that came through nice and strong. I got all my surplus of 10 hives (8 Italians and 3 blacks), and 2 swarms of Italians and 1 black. I got 100 lbs. of nice Vi lb. section honey from one stand, and all my bees received the same treatment, so that I am convinced there is as much difference in bees as there is between day and night as to their working qualities. The queen in the hive that yield- ed so much honey is the daughter of a queen raised from an imported mother. I claim that, by careful selection, wo can now pick out just as good queens as those that are imported, if not better. I intend to raise all my queeas this next spring from these hives, —the one that made so much honey, and from the mother of the queen, which will be 3 years old in the spring. The surplus amount of ten colonies was :.'r>0 lbs. I had to feed 10 old stands and 2 young swarms, which took about :iOO lbs. of sugar. I have now 53 colonies in wintering condition. Greenfield, O., Nov. 30, 1880.3 J. (". Pomjiert. PEET CAGE. 1 would say in relation to the Peet cage, that I have used several of them during the past summer, and can indorse ncarlij all that is said of them. For all purposes, there isn't a better cage in the market : and the only failtire I made with them was in in- troducing queens according to directions. 1 intro- duced several safely V'y applying the cage to an e\en frame of brood and removing the slide: but after losing two tine queens by the bees digging under the edge of the cage. I was in a stew about all the rest. I prefer to hang the cage between the combs, and not remove the slide until the propter time. That proper time is the third day. I have intro- duced over forty queens during the fall, losing not one. J. H. Martin. Hartford, N. Y., Dec. :l, 1880. The above objection is the one I feared in regard to the Peet cage, and that this one thing Mould cause disappointment. As yours, friend ^I., is the only case of failure Ave have had reported, I thiiik we shall have to conclude the danger is not a very great one, even in the hands of inexperienced per- sons. AVith a valuable queen, say an im- ported one. I would by all means adopt the plan you mention, of letting the queen out myself, rather than to trust to the bees to do it. Of course, if we do this we can not let her out on the brood. SEED FARMS AS HONEY FARMS. (See p. 379, Aug. No., 1880.) As you wished to hear more from my bees, situa- ted next to D. M. Ferry's seed garden, I thought I would give you their work now, while it is fresh in my memory. Of course, I keep an account of re- ceipts and expenses; but stilt there arc other things we don't set down, and consequently they are for- gotten. I commenced there with 4 swarms of what I supposed to be Italians, 2 of the queens from your yard, and 2 from Alley's. The two from your yard were both hybrids; but those from Alley were just splendid. I had some queens of Alley this summer, l)Ut not so nice. During this summer we had 14 nat- ural swarms from the four; have doubled up until there are now 15 in all, all of which are strong and rather too full of honey. We also got considerable surplus. We have not weighed it yet, but think there is over 100 lbs. This is the bright side I have given; now for the dark side. I visited the yard about two weeks ago, which, by the way, is ten miles from here, and found a num- ber of the swarms have the dysentery already- one of them very badly; thousands of bees were lying around, and their nicely painted chaff hive was all besmeared. I think it is the honey that affects them. There is lots of white clover in their vicinity, but they seemed to gather none, preferring the honey from the onions, etc. It has a peculiar taste to me, not very agreeable : others, not so used to eating honey, don't notice it so much. I will let you know in the spring how they come out. iNIy bees at home have done Aery well considering the season. My best swarm gave me 111 one-pound sections; another 9S, and so on down to nothing. All my bees are in chaff hives, well painted in two colors. I took some honey, hives, sections, fdn., smokers, bee journals, etc.. to our county fair; had much the same experience that friend Hutchinson did. I was awarded the lirst premium on honey, but, through some mistake, I got nothing for it. I received first premium on hives, which they paid: some one stole my September Gleanings, which leaves my number for the year incomplete. M. H. HrNT. Bell Branch, Wayne Co., Mich., Dec. 4, 1880. REPORT FROM AN ILLINOIS BEE KEEPER. I have never made a report since I have been in the bee business, for the reason I knew just where my report belonged. But I will make one now at a venture. T went into winter-quarters last fall with 5.5 colonies: wintered on summer stands, partially supplied with chaff' diAision-boards, with a cheap box set on top, filled with chaff. Came through with 54; had no spring dwindling. I united none in the fall nor in the spring, for the reason I wanted in- crease as well as honey. In our localitj', I don't think feeding in the fall, to stimulate breeding, pays. Neither do 1 think spring feeding is necessa- ry, unless it is for increase. If our bees get strong by the first of July that is all we want. August and September is our honey harvest. June is the time to feed. We get no honey from linden nor white clover. 1 raised about 90 queens; sold $40.00 worth, used the balance myself. Proceeds and sales are as follows:— Queens $40.00 Section honey, 1370 lbs. at 10 Extracted honey, 3:W lbs. at 10 - Increase, 30 colonies, worth $5. On each Total, Less incidental expenses. Net proceeds, . - . . 19.20 ;«.00 loO.( U 442.20 89.00 - $40;i.2O RuFus Robinson. Laclede, Fayette Co., 111., Nov. 39, 1880. HOW "DOWN -EAST" ABC SCHOLARS GET A START. I thought perhaps you would like to hear from one of you eastern A B C scholars. I commenced last spring with one hive of bees. They gave a good swarm in June. I put them in a box hive, having no other. I got a swarm of bees that were in a box hive of a neighbor, and a friend showed me how to transfer them. I got a large swarm late in the fall that were on the underside of a limb of a large tree, 43 feet high. They had seven combs. In No- vember I took another swarm having 9 combs, from a projection under the eaves of a house. The duy was so cold that I transferred them in the parlor. I now have four hives three in P^ story, and one in 1881 GLEANINGS IX BEE CULTURE. :i box hive made in the good old way, with hand- saw and plane. Nearly every one here keeps their bees in box bives. E. H. Cook. Andover, Ct., Dec (i, IKSO. ALMOST "BLASTED HOPES." I reckon I am in Rlasted Hopes, but still I will try to get our. Three years ago I bought U stands of l)ees, and ]:> since, in chaff hives. I have 27 now all in chalf hives. One has frozen to death alreadj' this winter, and I fear that very few bees will be left ali^e till spring, l)ccause brood-rearing stopped ear- lier than common, and the bees are too old to stand a severe winter. We got no honey here in Clark Co. this year, and our greatest bee man here (O. Olson) has gone to Florida to try it there. liees here are mostly hybrids and Italians. They have not done nearly as well since the introduction of the royal blood as before. They are death to the miller, but I don't belie\e that, after a few years, they are nearly as hardy or proliHc as the common black bee, nor are they any better honey-gatherer*. JOSKPQ Garst. Springfield, Ohio, Dec. 10, 1880. celebrating the fourth of .tfly. I celebrated hist Fourth of July (or, rather, the .")th, as the 4th fell on Sunday) by purchasing, in Rockland Co., N. Y., my first swarm of bees. They were black bees, in an "American" hive. Don't you think that was a good way to celebrate the Fourth? Some time in August I discovered they had no queen. I at once purchased a tested Italian queen of Messrs. A. J. King & C«., and now I have a colony of beautiful Italians that plainly show all the three bands. It is a rather weak stock, however, and I have been obliged to feed some. About a week ago 1 bought a box hive of blacks, but it is too late to transfer them this fall. The Italians are in a small empty room in second story of house, east side. The blacks are outdoors— protected, however. I hope to have some good results to show next fall. Samuel A. Miller. nioomfield, Essex Co., N. J., Dec. 1, 1880. I think it a tirst-rale way to celebrate tlie Fourth, friend M.: but I am afraid if you have put your Italians in a room, as a good many of the .V ]> (' class do, you liave, by your mistaken kindness, defeated any chance of celebrating the Fourth in issi,with that colony of bees. The trouble is, with any room aliove ground, that you can not well make it perfectly dark; and as soon as a warm day comes," the bees will get out in the room, and never get liack again. ^Vnd even if you should make it iierfectly dark, which I hardly ever knew a green hand to do. you would give the bees a colder place to live in than outdoors, because they could not have the benefit of any sunshine. Leave the bees outdoors, on their summer stands, ixnless you can i)ut them iti a warm, dry, dark cel- lar; and never, under any circumstances, put them in a room above ground, unless it has all the conditions of a cellar, or allows the bees to go out through the* wall, as in the house apiary. hardening plaster plates, etc. In Colby's communication, page 444, your answer is incorrect. I was glad to see Doolittle's answers on page 571, and I think I know why he lost his bees; thej' didn't go into winter-quarters with enough j'oungbees; had been queenless in the fall, or else frames of brood had been removed to strengthen other hives. I never lose a full hive, even if not prepared for winter, except from want of stores; and I have wintered, without a single loss, a two- frame nucleus, but I never failed to have plenty (if young l)ees in them. I always winter outdoors. Oxford, Pa., Dec. ti, 1880. S. W. Morrison, M. D. jSIy answer referred to. which friend M. says was incorrect, was that I feared adding alum to the water in which plaster was dis- solved, for making Faris plates, would not prevent water from dissolving them. It is possible that the alum enters into a chemic- al combination so as to become insoluble, and I shall be very glad to know tliat I was wrong. Who can report from experience? I presume a great many can tell friend I), why they think his bees died ; but we have very few among us who have not been com- pelled, sooner or later, to own up that the bees died, sometimes, when they did not know the reasOH why. getting queen-cells for queen-rearing. I was interested in reading the articles by Messrs. Tow^lsend and Brooks, pp. 333, 303, Volume VIII., Gleanings, in regard to obtaining queen-cells, as I had been experimenting in the same direction; viz., placing the strips of brood so that the base occupies a horizontal Instead of vertical position. I hare ob- tained the best results by cutting the brood-comb into strips containing but one row of perfect cells, and fastening these to the ordinarj' thin comb- guides, two or three of which are then tacked to the empty frames horizontally, and so that the queen- colls will be built within the frame. The principal advantages of this method are econ- omy in the use of brood, and of time in preparing it for the cell-building colony; also, where the queen- cells are finished they can be easily separated with a sharp knife, leaving each one attached to a short piece of wood in the nicest shape for use in the nu- cleus or nursery. For some reason which I do not uiiderstand, the bees will build more and better cells if the comb is placed on the strips of wood in such a manner that the base will be below the lower edge of the strip. To fasten the comb, I prefer to pour the melted wa.\ on the wood and lay the comb in it. 1 think better queens are obtained by doing the "stealing" of condemned larva? when they are three days old, and by removing them from about two- thirds of the queen-cells started. E. M. Hayhurst. Kansas C:ty, Mo., Dec. 8, 1880. Thanks, friend IT. If I get the idea, the comb-guides are tacked to the side-liars of the frame ; the strip of larvte is then pretty nearly in the usual position of a comb, when fastened with melted wax against these strips; and that the bees may have full i)lay in working all around their queen-cells, the strip of brood should be slipped down on the comb-guide pretty well. The cells Avith their opening uppermost will suffice to hold the inverted ones securely ; then, after hav- ing them start a great many from young, 3- days-old larva?, a part of them are torn down, that they may concentrate their efforts on only a few. and have these few strong and healthy. 34 GLEANINGS IN J3EE CULTURE. Jax. BLAClv BEES IN ITALY. I see that friend Jones says there are black bees in Italy. I had come to that conclusion myself. Hav- ing bought quite a number of dollar queens of friend Ila Michencr, that he reared from the select import- ed queen he got of you, I was surprised to find so many produced what I call hybrids. Friend Ila came to show me they were not hybrids, by placing them on the window, where he said they showed the bands plainly enough (dirty-looking bands they were, though.) Now, the bees produced from that import- ed queen look just the same, and are cross. "Why! if it were possible, I would think she had flown half way across the Mediterranean, and mated a drone from the African coast. I left my bees until now for chafC packing; and, cold as it is, they will boil out on the snow whenever the hive is touched. If friend Jones' CypHan and Holy-Land bees beat that, I don't want any of them. For gentleness, beauty, proliflcness, and honey-gathering, I like the albinos; for, although they may not gather quite as much honey, one can work among them with so much comfort that bee-culture is pleasure if not protit. Anson Minor. Low Banks, Ont. Can., Oct. 25, 1880. You have got it exactly, friend JSI. 1'ho hands are sometimes dingy and lirowii; hut they are there, ])lainly enougli, wiien you look for them right. Very likely, the prog- eny of one queen will he much crosser than another, for this is the case with all races of hees, if I am correct ; hut I would prefer the hees that make the honey, even if they are cross, I think. DYSENTERY IN DECEMBER. My bees are all dying. I have lost live swarms out of eight; two swarms died in the latter part of Oct., and the other three in Nov. They had a full supply of hone3'-a sullicient amount to have fed them through the winter. Those that have died are the black bees. I have one swarm of Italians, which seem to bo strong and vigorous. My neighbors' bees are all dead. The honey looks well, and is free (rom moth or any infectious trouble. What is the matter? and what is the remedy, if any? James Dodd. Clear Creek, Ind., Dec. 4, 1880. I do not know what is the trouhle, friend I)., tmless it is the extremely cold spell of weather we have just had, with had stores, or, rather, unwholesome honey, and perhaps insulficient protection, Neighhor JL lias just l)een in, and reports that his l)ees are spotting the liives the worst of any thing he ever saw or heard of, lie has never lost in wintering, you may rememher, and was feel- ing quite coniiderit of his ability to carry hees tlirongh safely, any winter. His hees are down by the river, and they filled their hives nicely on fall tlowers, wliile we were obliged to feed sugar to get ours into win- tering trim. Well, ours have scarcely si)ot- ted the hives at all, and are in excellent con- dition. Some, in both apiaries, are yet in the Simi)licity hives, where we had queens we were intending to take out. He lias lost T) colonies outright, by this aggravated dys- entery, while ours, in the Simplicity hives. are briglit and healthy. I attribute the dif- ference solely to the stores. Ours, you may remember, were fed up on candy made of granulated sugar, and A grape sugar. His in the Simplicity hives were much worse af- fected than those in the chaff hives. This seems to indicate tliat chaff hives will do a great deal toward making poor stores Avhole- some ; but that pure sugar is much safer, as a general thing, than natural stores. GALVANIZED IRON FOR HONEY UTENSILS, ETC. In answer to I. B. Rumford, p. 545, Nov. No., I will say, that I have used galvanized-iron tanks for hon- ey for the last 10 years, and the tanks were as clean and bright the last day as the first. If honey acts on the galvanizing, it must be a very slow process, as I have not been able to detect it during that time. You may also inform j'our readers, that beeswax makes a cheaper, easier, and almost as good lining as tin for home-made wooden extractors, boxes to carrj' combs, uncapping-box, and other utensilsthat can be washed with tepid water. I made this year an extractor, all thoroughly seasoned wood except the wire cloth, honey-gate, screws, and nails, and coated it inside with melted wax. I put a cork or plug in the gate/r(»/»i the inside, while coating it. I made also two tanks of .55-gallon whiskj'-barrels, holding 600 lbs. each, and they cost me $3.50 apiece. They have honey-gates near the bottom. The heads were knocked out, and the barrels coated inside with wax. Wm. Muth-Rasmus.sen. Independence, Inyo Co., Cat., Nov. 10, 1880. Galvanized iron keeps bright, friend M., just because it is all the time being slowly dissolved hy the lii|uids it contains, or that fall on it. Even pure water will thus dis- solve it. It is not positively dangerous for most kinds of food, unless they stand a con- siderable time in it, in small quantities. If you let a thin stratum of honey remain sev- eral days on galvanized iron, you can readily taste the salt that is formed 'with it and the honey; and if the quantity be sullicient, you will experience the bad effects of a mineral poison. It has been almost entirely dis- carded on this account.— ^Vaxing barrels and other utensils has been very fully discussed in our l)ack volumes and the A }> ('. There is no objection to its use, except a slight stickiness and the inconvenience of not he- ing able to scald such utensils as we can tin. WHAT 1 LB. OF BEES IN JUNE DID. My bees did well this year. They made me 800 lbs. of box honey, 50 hives. I feel well pleased with that pound of bees I got of you. I put them in their hive the ^Oth of June, and they filled it. On the 15th of August they swarmed, making me 2 good swarms of Italians. Can you beat that from 1 lb. of bees from June 30th? L. S. Sour.KS. North Lacrosse, Wis., Nov. ;!0, 18S0. AN A B C scholar's FIRST SU.MMER WITH BEKS. Good morning, friend Hoot 1 I will try to write a few lines about my first summer in handling bees. I commenced with 5 stands of bees in the spring of 1880. I bought chaff hives of friend Good, and hired him to transfer them from common box hives into the chaff hives. May 32d I bought 4 Italian queens of friend Good, and introduced them successfully. June Ist I divided 5 stands and made 10 of them. June 2nd, I bought 5 queen-cells of Good, and had bad luck with them. One was dead in the cell; one came out missing; two were lost, I suppose in thei r wedding trip; the other is a very prolific queen.and 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 3o breeds very nice, gentle, three-banded workers. 1 have increased those 5 stands to 27, and taken two late swarms from box hives that were to be killed. I united them together, and they are doing well. I took two from the woods rather late in the fall, and they are doing tolerably well. I bought 10 other stands in box hives; transferred all of them into chaff hives, and these arc doing pretty well. Six of the ten ha%-e not stores enough to winter; but 1 am feeding them. I will not let them starve, if grape and coffee A sugar will keep them. I have now 30 stands, all packed in chaff, mostly in good order. The Cypi-ian queen that I bought of friend Jones, of Canad.'i, is doing well. She is very prolific. Her bees are nice, handsome, and gentle as any pets can be. I did not get much honey this summer. It was a poor honey season. I got about TO lbs. of honey. I have been working for bees more than for honey. I intend to raise honey-plants of different kinds. I am offering buckwheat to my neighbors, free of charge, if they will sow it. I will sow 5 acres my- self. Wishing all my brother bee-keepers good suc- cess, I feel very well satisfied with my bees. I think they have done rll that was in their power. Philip Morningstar. Wakarusa, Elkhart Co., Ind., Nov. 22, 1880. BRIEF REPORT. I have been at bee-keeping on a small scale in this county four years. I had three good seasons out of four. The third year was a season of drought. Out of 60 stands in spring, 14 weak ones remained at the end of a year. These U I increased to 42 (I used old comb), and gave about 1800 lbs. extracted honey; all sold at an average of lie per lb. A. Hummel. "Webb City, Mo. ■ A BAD REPORT FROM SUGAR-FEEDIKG, APPARENTLY. I have inclosed one dollar for Gleanings for an- other year, but I think you will have me in Blasted Hopes long before the year is up, for my bees are dying so fast I am afraid they will soon be all gone I did not get a teaspoonful of honey out of 5 hives and no swarm at all. I gave one last year's swarm about 18 lbs. cf the best sugar I could get, and they are dying faster than any of them. Now, I do not want to be put in the Growlery, but the Simpson seed you sent me did not grow. I got only two plants, and I am not sure but they are weeds. The Spider plant did well. The bees worked a good deal on it. Isaac Staples. Dayton, O., Dec. 4, 1880. It may be tliat the sugar is not a prevent- ive of tlieir dying in winter, friend S.; but tliere are two points you have not made very clear. At what time did you feed this colony 18 lbs. of sugar? If it was early in the season, they may have consumed it all, and may be now on fall stores. You say you got the best sugar you could find. Was it as good as coffee AV ' Granulated sugar is quite a little purer still, and friend .Tones in- sists that it is by far the most healthful. We are very sorry to hear of your poor suc- cess. ' WIRE CLOTH OVIR THE BEES FOR WINTER. Hns the experiment ever been tried, that you know of, of substituting wire cloth for the mat over the frames of bee-hives in winter, and then filling the upper story with well -sifted chaff? I have thought of this since putting my bees into their winter-quarters, or I would have tried it. It seems to me that the moisture, which is always found on the enameled cloth especially, would be absorbed by the chaff, and that dryness in the hive secured, which seems to be regarded as of importance in suc- cessful wintering. James McNeill. Hudson, N. Y., Dec. 7, 1880. The idea is an old one. friend M., as you will see from back volumes. I used it for one Avinter, and liked it well, only that it was a good deal of trouble to open a hive, and was. besides, pretty expensive. A good many of these wire-cloth mats were sold, tin lined. You see, you have got to remove all the chaff every time you open the hive, or else have the Mire cloth form the bottom of a sort of box, as it were. If you do the lat- ter, you will kill bees when you set the box back, as you would not do with any soft or yielding material, like the enameled cloth or burlap. Besides, the bees will, at the first opportunity, wax over the meshes of the wire cloth, and then you have virtually an oil cloth, or something a little harder, after all. Wire cloth has also been frequently suggested for the inside of chaff hives ; but it would be more expensive than wood, and, after it is waxed over, probably not as good as the wood, after all. CLARIFYING EARLY-AMBER SYRUP WITH CLAY. The following is from The Indiana Far- mer, and should have been given some time ago. The ■' clay " idea has been mentioned before in our columns. Those who have raised the early varieties of cane are now working it up, and the reports that reach us of the yield and quality of syrup, are very favor- able. The strong- sunshine and high temperature of July.and August secured this result. We have reports from several manufacturers who are using the clay (the light-colored clay is preferred), and as the juice runs from the mill it is transferred to a proper tank, and a half-bushel of clay is mixed with 100 gallons of the .iuice, and briskly stirred until the mixture is thorough. Jt is then suffered to stand quiet till the clay settles to the bottom, when the juice will be found to be as clear as spring water, the clay having carried the gum and green coloring matter with it in settling— thus freeing the syrup from the peculiar sorghum taste. The juice is care- fully drawn off from the sediment and rapidly evap- orated to the proper consistency. If the cane is well ripened, litmus paper will show little or no acid; a pound or two of powdered chalk may be mixed with each half-bushel of clay. It is claimed for this pro- cess that it not onlj' makes a better syrup, but that it effects a great saving of labor in heating, skim- ming, etc. The chief objection is that it exposes the juice so long before boiling that the sugar is chiefly converted into glucose. This can be prevented, to a great extent, by the use of four ounces of sulphite of soda to 100 gallons of fresh juice. Try clay. WIRE CLOTH FOR QUEEN-CAGES. Don't use painted wire cloth on queen-cages. Jolt- ing about in the mails, the paint gets crumbled off, and drops on the candy within. Last season I re- ceived by mail two queens, and I could see a great many particles of paint on the candy. Is it not probable that the bees, in licking the surface of the candy, will eat some of the smallest particles of paint, and in feeding the queen impart the poison to her? G. H. Pond. Bloomington, Minn., Dec. 7, 1880. This matter has been several times sug- gested, but I have never known bees injured iby the painted cloth we have kept in stock. A neighbor mentioned having had bees and queen all killed by using a wire cloth that 36 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Jan. was supposed to have contained Paris green. If I am correct, they warmed the cages over the stove for some purpose, and the fumes from the Paris green permeated the wood and candy, so as to kill every bee that was tried, very soon after being put into the cages. We have discontinued the tinned wire cloth, because it is too bright for the eyes in trying to see the bees through the meshes. The best thing we have found is the blued wire cloth. This is so dark, the meshes so large, and the wire so fine, that we can see the bees almost as well as if noth- ing intervened at all, to cut off the view. This is the same wire cloth as that used for the blued-wire dish-covers. At present, it can not well be obtained at less than about 5c per square foot, while the painted is only 3^c per square foot. NUMBER OF STOCKS THAT CAN BE KEPT PROFITABLY IN ONE LOCALITY. I have about 60 swarms of bees, mostly Italians, and I have them scattered In 4 places, and desire to know how many are profitable to keep in one place, and bow many will thrive in the area of their flight. It has been not much more than starve the past season in this part of our State. The Italians have proved their superiority as honey-gatherers in most instances, but the honey harvest is quite small. AMBER CANE. Just at this time there is quite an excitement up- on the subject of raising Amber cane for sugar and syrup. Some persons have experimented quite largely, and produced a very nice arHcle. Now, I desire to ask, through Gleanings (if any of your contributors have experience), how an apiary would flourish near a mill where this cane is ground and made into syrup, or how a sugar manufactory and apiary would be likely to work in proximity to each other. An answer through Gleanings would be gladly received. How would this sj-rup answer to feed bees? This Amber cane is not the old sorghum, but seems much superior in every respect. "fair" treatment. We obtained the first premium on our honey at the Bradford Co. fair, probably one of the largesf fairs ever held in this part of the State. Bela Cogswell. Silvara, Bradford Co., Pa., Nov. 22, 1880. Locations differ; but, on an average, it is found that about 100 are as many as it is well to keep in one place, where honey is the object. If one is rearing queens, he may keep as many as three, four, or even 500, in one apiary; but, of course, he will have to feed more than if they were scat- tered more widely. If it were not for the advantage of having all your bees right un- der your eye and hand, I presume more honey would be obtained by scattering them in apiaries of not over 50 each, and as much as four or five miles apart.— Early- Amber sugar-cane has been pretty fully discussed and reported on in our last year's volume. At times, the bees trouble "the sorghum mills, and at other times they do not. I be- lieve no trouble has been experienced where proper precautions have been taken to keep the bees out of the syrup when they were not getting stores from other sources. If a nice article, it is as safe for feeding bees as cane sugar. IS IT AN advantage TO INTRODUCE ITALIANS AMONG BLOCKS, PAYING THEM NO ATTENTION? Do you think it a good plan to add a few stands of Italians to the apiary, all the others being blacks? Will the blacks, in a short time, run the Italians out into the common kind? G. G. Kenyon. Central Square, Oswego Co., N. Y., Dec. 15, 1880. I should consider any admixture of the Italian blood an advantage, and I do not think the Italian blood would be apt to run out, from the fact that almost all the bees in the forest are now getting to be more or less Italianized ; and some of the prettiest marked Italians I have ever found have come from bee-trees in the woods. Unless you take pains to rear queens, or get queen- cells from your Italian stocks, the work of Italianizing would go on slowly ; and if the blacks greatly outnumbered the Italians, and all were left to swarm naturally, the Italian blood might run out entirely. Inasmuch, however, as Italians often gather enough to survive the winter where" blacks would starve, the cliances are greatly in favor of the Italians running out the blacks, in the course of time. PREPARED PAPER FOR THE BASE OF COMB FOUN- DATION. As there is a lull in business just at the present moment (although I am liable at any moment to be called on to show dress good*, weigh out groceries, fit a pair of stoga boots to a customer, or wait on the post-olHce), I thought I would drop you a few lines in regard to your observations on paper sepa- rators, and paper as base for comb foundation. The bees cluster in boxes more readily', we think, with paper than tin separators; and our experience is, they do not attach wax to the paper as much as to tin. Our prepared paper does not absorb anu of the wax as does a wood base; and, as the paper forms the base, almost all of the wax is placed in sides or contour of cells, thus saving the bees much labor. It will not sag nor crack while extracting; and if I succeed in making it a success, I think it will be the "boss" for shipment. Bees are veri) 'inict, with fair prospect of a long winter. J. E. MoORE. Byron, N. Y., Dec. 13, 1880. Be not weary in well doing, friend M. The trouble is not with paper and wood for fdn., that they absorb the wax, but that the bees are obliged to pile up wax on them, as it were, to get the proper shape for the base of the cell. This same objection holds good for any material, that leaves a flat base to the cell. If you will weigh a piece of finished comb with a paper or wood base, and com- pare it with the natural-wax base, you will see the amount of Avax that is wasted ; or take such a comb and scrape the cells off, and then you will find the ridges of wax that have been saved by a convex and concave Avax base. Wood and paper bases are a suc- cess.witliout doubt, only in this one particu- lar: they are awfully expensive, when we consider the wax that is used by the bees in making them. I write you in regard to Alsike clover. Is it a clover that will stand pasturing with cattle and sheep, and is it as^ood as our common red clover? I want to seed 60 acres in the spring with clover for 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 37 pasturing- purposes. I have had considerable ex- perience with the common; can't say it is very good, especially if it is too dry. Lee Warner. Allison, 111., Dec. 8, 1880. Here is an answer to the above by "Neigh- bor H." :— If your land is a ricb, black, damp, or sandy soil, I know of nothing that will produce more pasture than Aisike clover. I think it would thrive on the prairies of the west (will someone report?) I would not recommend it for a dry clay soil, though it is said to grow luxuriantly on the Green Mountains of Vermont. If you are seeding for pasture alone, I would mix the common white clover, about one- sixth part white, with the Aisike, and you will have bee pasture, or any other kind that will suit. BEES THAT WON'T ACCEPT A QUEEN. During the past summer I endeavored to intro- duce a queen to a hybrid colony of bees. I followed instructions in A B C; released her every 48 hours for 33 days, before the bees would permit her free- dom. She commenced laying in a few days. In 6 days thereafter, the bees commenced building queen-cells; as soon as they were capped over, I de- stroyed them. In a short time they repeated the operation; I again destroyed the cells, but they were determined to outwit me, and so I repeated these operations. I then let them have their way. In due time the cells were capped, and within i days after capping the cells they killed the queen. The queen was a nice one, and a good layer. Do bees act in this way often? If so, how can we tell when we have a queen introduced? Wm. Parmalee. Bean Blossom, Ind., Dec. 8, 1880. This was one of the kind of stocks I men- tion in our directions, that won't accept a queen at all. I have estimated that we find such a colony about one time in a hundred. You did the very best you could, I believe, unless'it was to have kept on destroying the cells until your queen had some bees of her own hatched, and then she would have been safe. When we meet a colony of bees like this, all attempts to introduce a queen by let- ting the bees liberate thein themselves, would be throwing queens away ; and this is why I can not think it well to advise any style of cage embracing such a plan. ADAMS' horse-power; home-made! ones, etc. I see a good deal about the Adams horse-power (see p. 393, Dec. No., 1878, and Jan. and Feb. Nos., 1880), that it won't work. I made me one last Janu- ary, and I have used it ever since. I am not much of a carpenter, but I built that myself. I run a lathe with it; the wheel is 14 ft. in diameter, which is rather small, but does well, as I have proved by run- ning it nearly every day since starting, and I make saw-arbors cheaper than the most of your readers. I make mine of wood, by screwing a piece of wood to the arbor of the lathe, and put a saw on that, not using the tail of the lathe at all. I don't get much room from the lathe head, but make my hives on it very well. H. T-. B. Palenvllle, Greene Co., N. Y., Dec. 14, 1880. FEEDINa NEW SWARMS, ETC. My bees, 3 hives in number, I commenced dividing the 1,5th of May. I divided till I got four, and then they began to swarm; the third swarm went to the Woods, I suppose because they had nothing to store on. I cut the tree, and got them back home the next day. I fed them for eight days on melted sugar, and the eighth day they had their hive full. I commenced on 3 swarms the 10th of May, and now I have 11 swarms with the 3 old ones, and 2 in the woods, making in all 13 swarms. The last swarm I saved came out Aug. 23. I did not aim to get any surplus honey this year, as 1 was after bees. Gilbert Summe. Bringhurst, Carroll Co., Ind., Dec. 11, 1880. It seems to me, friend 8., I should hardly advise feeding new swarms, because the bees seldom swarm unless they are getting honey from the fields pretty freely; but as you succeeded well by feeding, it may be all right. My experience has been, that feeding bees when honey is to be had, just makes them stay at home, and they very often fail to get as much out of a feeder as their com- rades who are not thus fussed with get from the fields a mile or so away. millers on the spider plants, etc. I am a subscriber to Gleanings, and also have your ABC book. I have gained a great deal of knowledge from them. I had been keeping bees for fifteen years in the old box hives, but never got as much honey from 6 hives as I have from one colony in the Langstroth, with Italians, or, rather, hybrids. I purchased a dollar queen last season, and am Ital- ianizing. I took 90 lbs. from one colony and 60 from another this last season, though I think the past season has been a poor one. I prize the Spider plant very highly. I could see the drops of honey on it early in the morning, though I had to fight the mil- ler and the taripin bug every night. There are thousands of them. I burn them with a torch of pine, at dark. J. D. Cooper. Travellers' Rest, Gremville Co., S. C, Nov. 29, 1880. I too, friend C, have noticed the great moths on the Spider plants in the night; and as I saw them, by the light of the lamp, fill their great bodies'with the sparkling nec- tar, while they buzzed about in such num- bers as to make it seem probable that not a sip could be left for the bees by morning, I too, thought of trying some plan to destroy them; but the only ])lan I could think of was to raise a field large enough so that bees and millers both could have a plenty. Per- haps your plan is cheapest, however; but somehow I rather dislike to lure the poor fellows with such a tempting Horal feast, and then burn them to death. A "parody" on winter— and black queens. The tlowery months of summer have come and gone, and all nature is bound up in the iron grasp of winter, and the hum of the honey-bee is silent in the retirement of their waxen home, and the jingle of the merry sleigh-bell is the order of the daj'. T think it would be a good time to "pop the question," Where did my black queen come from? On the 28th day of May last, I had a very fine hive of Italian bees; and, to keep them from ruiinlng away in swarming, I divided them, putting the new swarm in a hive with comb where a black swarm had died about six weeks before. Three days after they had been put into their hive 1 opened them up, and found them all right and filling up with eggs. I thought I was getting on lovely; but, to my sur- prise, when the young bees came out they were all S8 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Jak. black; and in the meantime I had raised two queens from it which also proved to be black. Could it be possible that a queen would live that length of time alone among empty combs? There was no new swarm at the time. I did not see the queen when they were divided. There was no change in the old hive till September, when I found a dead queen ly- ing in front of it. Shortly after, I had bees of a dif- ferent color. My bees came out very well this spring, considering the condition they were in the fall previous. Most of them are very light. Six of them died from starvation, leaving 23 alive. About one-third of them did not swarm this summer. 1 have 43 this fall, mostly in A'ery good condition. One-half of them will average 80 lbs. ea'ch, and I have taken 300 lbs. of box honey. I keep them in a cellar, ranging from 25 to 50 degrees. Francis Graham. Delhi, Delaware Co., N. Y., Dec. 15, 1880. Why, friend G.,I am really ashamed of yon. Your "parody" on winter was very fair if you "hadn't went and gone" and up- set it all in such an out-of-place way, and right before all this august company too. Just take a look at us,— sober, staid, and respectable as we are. No wonder you turned it off, and wanted to know where your black queen came from. So far as I can see, the black queen must have come from some other hive, and got in there l)y accident. Did not a small swarm of blacks unite with them, shortly after your division? It would seem such must have been tlie case, if you found freshly laid eggs within three days. The change in September I should explain by saying the queen was su- perseded, and her daughter had met an Ital- ian dix)ne, and thus produced Italians. An- other explanation would be, that they had two queens in the hive all this time; but that is quite improbable. A queen would live in a hive alone without bees, scarcely 24 hours. NOT "BLASTED HOPES" AFTER ALL. We expected to go into Blasted Hopes this year, but we had quite a "boom" during the fall months. We took off all the surplus the latter part of July, which amounted to but little. Upon examining them again, about three or four weeks ago, we f oinid the hives to contain from 25 to 65 lbs. of very nice honey, and lience we feel encouraged to persevere. Where the honcj' came from is a mystery to me. There was no buckwheat within two miles of us, and, besides, the honey is much lighter colored and better flavored than that obtained from buckwheat. M. C. Stevens. LaFayette, Tnd , Nov. 20, 1880. PLANER SAWS. The planer saw I got of you last week cut very nicely, but is entirely too slow. I got it for cutting off sections so they would do without planing. I do not like to buy a thing and then return it iniless the person I bought of is perfectly willing to take baclt again; if you are, please tell me what you will al- low me for it in trade ; I do not want you to take it back at the price I paid you for it, but am willing to lose something for your trouble. T. FOOTER. Cumberland, Md., Dec. 13, 1880. The above seems to be the general verdict, that they cut too slowly, and we have taken back nearly every one we have sold. They are also quite difficult to file, compared with the coramon saws ; but in spite of these two objections, there are many places where a planer can not be used, where a planer saw comes in beautifully, and on this account Mr. Gray says he would not think of run- ning a bee-hive factory without at least one on hand. In regard to taking goods back : I am always glad to take back any staple goods that are in good order, you paying all expenses both ways, where it will be an ac- commodation. Goods made expressly to your order would be of no use to us. I make no charge for trouble. A GOOD SUGGESTION ON INTRODUCING QUEENS, ETC. My bees did very well as to honey this year, al- though I had but one swarm from 13 stocks, and lost the parent hive. It become queenless after the swarm left it, and, being in a box hive, I did not find it out until it was too late to save it by transferring. I made 3 stocks by dividing; have now 15—12 in Sim- plicity hives, 3 in box hives; were all blacks until August. I got 3 untested queens of W. P. Hender- son, of which I lost one in introducing, saved the other two, then sent for three more and safely in- troduced all of them. They are all the Italians that are near here. I have never showed them to any one that had ever seen any before. The plan I suc- ceeded with the best in introducing, was to feed well while the queen was in the cage; then when I went to release her I poured about a gill of strained honey along on the tops of the frames, and when every bee in the hive got his "bill" into it, I let the queen out, and she ran down on the combs, and I suppose she went all through the hive before she was noticed, as I could not find the bees paying any more attention to her than if she had been " native to the manor born." My idea of it is, that by running through the hive she gets the scent of all the rest, and is ac- cepted as a matter of course. J. L. BuGG. Fredonia, Ky., Dec. 16, 1880. 'i^pMi fnf OMmgmg. ^gmOOKS arrived this morning. Thanks for JSjQ&j) promptness. We began season with 19 colo- onies; took 84T!i lbs. comb, 530 lbs. honey, 11?^ lbs. wax, increased to 47, which arc well packed, warm and comfortable at present. Mrs. E. M. Parsons. Terry Station, Bay Co., Mich., Dec. 20, 1880. good report from red CLOVER. As 1880 is coming to a close, T will hand in my re- port. The season opened about ten days earlier than last season. The yield from fruit-bloom was the best that we have had for a long time. When the locust was in bloom, bees commenced swarming; we had several swarms during locust-bloom. Our hopes were then high, but they were soon to be blasted; for white clover was an entire failure in honey, and almost in bloom. Basswood furnished honey enough to start brood-rearing. The 20th of July I had a report ready for Blasted Hopes. Hark ! 1881 GLEANOGS IX BEE CULTURE. 39 what does that hum of joy mean? why, honey from somewhere, and I must find out from whence it comes * * * * from red clover! and how they do work! August lOih. still at work, and one hive has sent out a rousing- swarm. I gave them i combs, containing brood in all stages; 4 frames filled with fdn., and 2 empty frames, and also 48 one-pound boxes. August 20th, still hard at work on iron-weed, boneset, goldenrod, and buckwheat. September 10th, Jack Frost settled the business on short notice. Itesult: 12 hives last spring, 22 at present, with abundant supplies for winter, with about 30O lbs. surplus. My August swarm filled ten American frames and 20 one-pound sections. November I'Jth, bees all in good winter trim, I think. This morning the thermometer indicated 10° below zero. I peeped into a hive, and found the outside of a cluster mov- ing about, and concluded I have them in very good shape. I will tell you next spring how I succeeded in wintering them, and how manj' section boxes I want. S. H. L.iNE. Whitestown, Boone Co., Ind., Nov. 19, 1880. A SCAl.15 THAT WILL TAKE A COMMON HIVE, AIVD REGISTER THE DAILY YIELD. f' TOLD you last month that I had under way a scale that I thought would meet — ' all requirements. It was made by our great scale man, Chatillon, and will weigh from i lb. up to 128 lbs. One of them is now in the office, and, by setting it on the floor, we can weigh the girls (the most of them) as fast as they can step on and step off from the platform. Of course, it will weigh boys too, providing they do not weigh over 128 lbs. In off the tare, much the same as the Family Favorite scales, and a small screw just un- derneath this quickly adjusts the scales, if it ever gets out of adjustment. These scales are very nicely made, and I do not know but they are just as reliable as a beam scale, al- though there was a prejudice against them before the recent great improvements were made. The screw mentioned will take off tare to the amount of 25 lbs., and the makers say they can make them to take off still more, if desired; so you see we can set the dial to show just the weight of the bees and honey if need be. J3y a little figuring, you can get the weiglit of an article weighing 150 lbs., for the 25 lbs. tare will make a little over that amount; but of course the pointer will not point it out as readily as it does any thing less than 128 lbs. The scale can not be injured by an over- strain, because the platform strikes the cast- ings after it has been loaded doAvn to the 150 lbs. or thereabouts I have mentioned. The smallest divisions on the dial are ilbs.; but with practice we can get at even 2 oz. pretty accurately, so it will answer for all practical purposes for weighing honey. As the whole machine is only 83 lbs. in weight, it can be readily lifted by its convenient handles from floor to counter, and vice versa, as occasion may require. There is a dial and pointer on each side, so if you are in any part of the apiary, or even off quite a distance, you can tell at a glance what the bees are doing. Now, as these scales cost me $11.50 at the factory, I can not well sell them, after paying freights, for less than 814.00, and I belieVethe usual price SC VI 1 1 ol 1 J J Kl 1 PLRS. fact, it will exactly weigh me with coat mid hat off, as I work at the type-writer. Where a great many things are to be weighed, such as hives of bees, or boxes of honey, etc., it will weigh them as fast as we can readily set the weights down with a book and pencil. Above, we give a cut of the same. The scalehas a marble platform that can be used, when not wanted in the apiary, to set a hive on. This marble slab is neat and convenient ; for if you let a little honey drip on it, it can be quickly cleaned with a damp cloth; also in weighing any kinds of food or vegetables, you will not need to get a paper to lay on flrst, to keep the edibles from being soiled. A screw at the left of the dial takes IS d5.vju. This suni IS quite nil iteui,! know, especially for those of us who are in the Blasted Hopes department; and if they were to be used for no other purpose than to set a hive of bees on in the summer time, I should hardly feel like recommending them; but, my friends. I do not believe there is one of you but would save a great part of the price of this scale, if you made it a point to measure and weigh every bit of merchandise you purchase during the year, and insist on having full weight and measure every time. I want you to do the same with me. and I expect "to do the same with you. Let us check each other, and have every thing right every time. 40 GLEAKINGS IN BEE CULTURE, Jan, ladk-f §^pjivbii(int IE started bee-keeping only last spring, with one colony, and now wo have three, and had about 100 lbs. of extracted honey. We feel very much encouraged with our bee-keeping, hoping we shall be able to winter our bees all right. Mrs. H. Bangham. Windsor, Out., Can., Dec. 'J, 1880. NOT BLASTED HOPES (?) Guess .vou wonder where I have been all this time. Well, we are a large family, and we all do like sweet very much; and so, instead of selling any to get money to buy an extractor, or even keeping any honey on haad to feed in a scarce time, we "just ate all we had." I would here remark, that in three months I increased 9 to 19 good swarms; but I had no smoker, and no money to buy; the bees were mostly hybrid, and stung me rather badly. I want- ed to earn some money, and saw no way of doing it with the bees. Having no extractor, no surplus boxes, no money, and being a poor carpenter, I just opened a private school, and now hav^e the public school of this place. My experiment was not "blast- ed hopes," by any means, because I knew if we sold nothing we would have no income. The poor bees have all perished but 3 colonies; one of them had my pet queen, but she's gone. She was no imported one, but I thought as much of her, I think, as if she had been. Please exeuso my haste; but, being "school marm," I have to be careful how I spend time in writing letters. Clara Slaugh. Daytona, Volusia Co., Fla., Dec. 30, 1880. I think it was a ''tip top" idea, your turn- ing ''•scliool marm," friend Clara; but I do not quite see my way clear to approve of your course of letting "the bees starve. P^ven if it was "fun for you," (and it wasn't fun either, was itV) it was death to them. You won't do so any more, will you, even if I do stop and not scold another word? Or Letters from Those Who Have Made Bee Culture a Failure. ^q|RIEND NOVICE :-Should you run short of sub- Jn jects for Blasted Hopes, I can furnish you with a big batch from this localit.v, right from the State of Wisconsin, from which State you have pub- lished some of the most flattering reports of honey yield for the season; for instance, the report of Frank McNay, in Nov. Gleanings, who reports •1700 lbs. of surplus honey from 4t colonies— an aver- age of 106 lbs. and over, per colony. Then there are the reports of neighbor H. V. Train and C. H. G., of Mansen, Juneau Co., and Tibbets, of Downsville. These are all " wallopers." In the Oct. No. we have the report of our friend Morgan, "the ABC child that grew so fast," from Arcadia, who reports that there was one continuous flow of honey from May until the time he wrote, Sept. 3d, and still it con- tinued to flow. It flowed so fast that the bees built combs on the outside of their hives, and stored honey under projections of hives in large quantities. " A swarm hived July 15th, and weighed July 31st, showed a gain of 79 lbs." Hurrah for Wisconsin! This is the land that floweth with— with— that flow- eth with honey. Well, hold on. I guess I have got off the track. I started out to furnish you subjects for Blasted Hopes; but the above don't look much as though their hopes were blasted. I hate to do it; it is very humiliating; but then, I will, and here it goes: In the township of Fayette, LaFayette Co., State of Wisconsin, there are about 30 persons who keep bees. They have all the way from one colony to 75. There were, last spring, about 350 stands of bees in the township, mostly blacks, and kept most- ly in the old box hives. Some are beginning to use the frame hives, and are Italianizing their bees. From these 350 colonies, 1 think I can safely say that there has not been 700 lbs. of surplus honey taken this season; that is an average of onl>- 3 lbs. to the hive. There has been but very little increase. I predict that there will not be more than two-thirds as many bees in this vicinity next spring as there was last. The past has been the poorest season for honey for many years; there was but very little white clover, which is the main dependence for honey here. Notwithstanding this drawback, some of our bee-keepers feel quite hopeful, trusting that their luck will chtuige, while others feel like giving up the business in disgust. Now, in conclusion, I wish to say that my hopes are not blasted. I do not keep bees alone for profit, but for amusement. I like to handle and fuss with the little pets; and yet I should like to have them pay expenses and furnish what honey 'we want for our own use. Last spring I had 30 stands; increased to 35; bought two queens of you with 3 lbs. of bees, from which 1 built up 3 very good stocks. My bees are all in the cellar. I have 8 Italians, 39 blacks. I got about 40 lbs. of honey in 1-lb. sections from one hive, and not more than 40 or 50 lbs. from all the others together. The most of my bees are in Sim- plicity hives. Dr. C. Abraham, Fayette, Wis., Dec. 11, :8U FEEDING COMB HONEY. I believe Gleanings to be a safe investment. My bees have done no good this year. I am feeding them nice comb honey at 15c. per lb. George G. Waddell. Troy, Doniphan Co., Kan., Dec. 15, 1880. 1 would not do it, friend W. I am fully satisfied that a like weight of granulated sugar syrup will keep the bees longer than honey, and, as a general thing, will prove liealthier besides ; 1 lb. of sugar will make 1 2-5 lbs. of syrup as thick as honey ; and as the sugar is now but lie per lb., the more wholesome syrup will cost but little more than half of Avhat the honey will sell for in the market. My bees nearly all died last winter. I lost 70, out of 85 stands. The season was a very bad one for bees; a great scarcity of honey, and my health was bad all summer and winter, consequently, bees were not cared for, and through neglect they died. I have 15 stands left. D. Newell. Phillipstown, Ills., Nov. 39, 1880. 'J-'he old saying, "In trouble to be troubled is to have your trouble doubled," seems to be literally true in your case, friend X. It seems to be a uniform report from the friends, that wliere their bees liave not had the proper care, from any cause whatever, nn / vt y^ /v- 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 41 they have died as by a pestilence. This holds true of all domestic animals, however, and shows that, to make them available, they must have our best attention. ^chi and §mfk§' II AVE worked with bees over 20 years, and used the ehaff hive the last three years with good satisfaction. H;ive put up 14S stocks for win- tering, the present winter. They all appear to be in good condition. I got a very short crop of honey the past season. J. M. France. I almost forgot to say, I can smoke the eyes out of a regiment of rebels with your smoker in a hall- minute. ' Wm. S. Robertsox. Lostant, La Salle Co., 111., Dec. 14, 1880. AMBER SUGAR-CANE. Our cane manufacturer said he made the best mo- lasses out of my "Amber" cane he had seen since he commenced, IH years ago. N. J. Israel. Beallsville, Monroe Co., O., Oct. 28, 1880. Don't put me in Blasted Hopes any more. I don't think I have lost any thing yet; for, if I should sell out, I could get about $'50.00 more than the entire business cost me. Lee Warner. Allison, 111., Dec. 8, 1880. AMBER SUGAR-CANE SUED. From one pound of the seed which I purchased from you last spring, I obtained 63 gallons of most excellent syrup. J<^l,etcher E. Awrey. Cottam, Out., Can , Dec. 6, 1880. HONEY FROM PEACH-BLOSSOMS. My bees made from 10 to 20 lbs. of honey to the stand, from the peach-bloom this spring, besides what they have gathered from other sources. S. A. Street. Rocky Comfort, McDonald Co., Mo., May i;3, 1880. HONEY FROM COTTONWOOD-TREES. Please let me know if bees work on cottonwood trees. If you do not know, please inquire through Gleanings, and oblige. C. W. Kennard. Carey, Wyandotte Co., O., Nov. 24, 1880. [I can not answer. Can some one else?! I have 27 swarms now in pretty good condition. I got two swarms of bees this fall for nothing. The party was going to brimstone them, so I took my smoker and gave them a good smoking; took them out of his hives, and took them home in empty hives and put them with two of my weakest swarms. G. H. Sheeves. Clarksburg, Grey Co., Ont., Can., Nov. IT, 1880. DOUBLING UP IN THE SPRING. The season has been the poorest for honey ever known here. As I am a farmer, and do not wish to keep a large stock of bees, how will it do to double up my stocks in the spring, even if they are pretty good? Some bees are dying already; some have fed a good deal and some are feeding now. Montague, Mich., Dec. 4, 1880. E. Z. Green. [I think, friend G., it will do first rate for farmers, or anybody else, to double up their stocks in spring, or at any other time, until all are strong and ready for business. Especially is this the case where one does not care for increase, and seasons are as poor as they have been in most localities for the past two years. Strong colonies will usually make a surplus, even during poor seasons.] A STORY WITH "TWO MORALS" TO IT. The particulars of our deal has beeu the follow- ing: I sent two dollars by mail— one to pay for Gleanings, and the other for ABC. After waiting some time, I dropped you a line, stating the fact. You had not received themoney, but you sent the A B C book, paper cover, and offered to stand half the loss. I answered, saying I would stand my own loss. The money eanie back to me after going to Wash- ington. I sent it again. ITpon receipt of same, you sent me another ABC book, cloth cover, with letter stating that I might send back one of the books; but I concluded that, as I was dealing with a friend and an honest man, I would give the paper-cover book to a very poor man, as honest as he is poor, and a bee-keeper. He once had a fair property, but the patent-right men have used him up. W. C. Newton. Fulton, Oswego Co., N. Y., Nov. 29, 1880. [You did right, friend N.; and may God bless you for your kindness to your neighbor, and your kind words to us. Once more, boys, beware of patent rights.] letting the bees starve. My bees arc dying rapidly this fall. I have lost 0 stands already; might have saved them if I had been able to buy the sugar to feed. But such is a poor man's misfortune. E. L. Kregloe. Lexington, Va., Nov. 30, 1880. [I am very sorry for your misfortune, friend K.; but are you sure you have done the very best you could in the matter? Could you not have sold a part of them at Sf)me price, and obtained money to buy feed enough for the other part? Of course, I do not know that you could have done better; but after in- vestigating some cases of a like nature in our own vicinity, I have almost always found some way by which the sugar could have been provided. Do you use neither cigars nor tobacco? do you never re- main idle a day when you could earn 50c.? Are you sure you do not invest in a single thing that you could not have done without better than to let your bees starve? Please excuse me, if this sounds med- dlesome; but such questions have started more than one brother on a better path, and they may help more than one whose eyes meet these pages.] quarter-blood ITALIANS. I notice on p. 216, May No., where one of your con- tributors speaks of quarter-blood queens. Now, I had got it into my mind that there was no such thing as a quarter-blood queen. Dr. Harrison, a bee-man living about five miles from me, said tome at one time, while talking, that, even if an Italian queen were mated with a black drone, the drones of that queen would be pure, and vice versa. Now, do queens lay drone eggs without being mated? If so, will such eggs hatch? If they will, then the drones from such eggs must be pure, and, consequently, there would be no such a thing as a quarter-blood queen. Thos. R. Turnham. Rockport, Spencer Co., Ind., Maj^ IT, 1880. [You have got the matter a little mixed, friend T, A hybrid queen, such as you mention, will produce pure drones, but not pure workers nor queens. The queens would be half blood, of course; and if they 42 GLEANINGS IN J3EE CULTURE. Jax. mated again with black drones, we should have hy- brid drones and quarter-blood Italians, as the pro- geny of such a queen. Such a hybrid queen does no harm in an apiarj' unless she is allowed to raise queens, as in natural swarming. Then we may have any admixture.] FILLING COMBS WITH SYRUP FOR FEEDING. Do you know of any plan of filling empty combs with honey, so that they can be used as feeders? E. L. WOODSIDE. Baltimore, Md., Nov. 30, 1880. [Yes, sir; pour the syrup so as to fall a foot or more, from a sprinkler, and you can fill a comb completely. The plan is old, and has been mostly dropped, because of the trouble and daubing it usually entails, and the danger of inciting robbing.] A CHEAPER MANDREL FOR FOOT- POWER SAWS. GREAT many have been asking, for some time baclv, if we could not fur- nish a cheaper mandrel for those who wished to use home-made foot-power saws like the one (or similar) described by friend Hutchinson on page 385, Vol. VI., and by friend Carpenter, page IBS, May Xo. for 1879. It is true, our friend G. A. T^., on page 366, Vol. A'lII., did give a very ingenious plan by which a wooden mandrel might be made ; but not all have skill to make even this. Some of the friends wished us to make them ; but if one were going into the busi- ness of making mandrels, it would be better to make a durable steel one. "Well, just in the nick of time, as it were, our friend below comes up, bringing a very pretty mandrel, or, at least, sending us a sample by express, which amounts to the same thing. We at once ordered a couple of dozen, and are looking for them daily. Here is what he says of it, with a picture made from it by our engraver. DE WORTH SAW-MANDREL. I shipped sample saw-mandrel to-day by express, as postage costs nearly as much. The mandrel Is subject to your alterations, if there is any. Your price list says, 10 inches long; but as I dispense with the journals, I make them only 7 in. long, and there is no need of their being over 6 inches long; but I can make you mandrels the same as sample for $2.00; but I would want an order for more than a dozen or so, as I would have to buy several tools that I could not get along without. Now, then, if you will give me a chance, I will get to work. I am trying to build myself up with bees, and I don't spare any time in doing so. I have 1" hives, and will get 10 more this week. DIRECTIONS FOR USING FOOT - POWER SAW - MAN- DREL. See that both boxes are level, and then tighten set- screw only until there is no shake in the mandrel. Apply a little oil, and j'ou will find it will work fine- ly. Please notify me when you try it; and if it comes in good order. Wm. DeWorth. Bordentown, N. J., Nov. 8, 1880. To see how the mandrel would work, when sent out to our A B C class, I used it to till the first order we got for one of the wooden ones spoken of. Ilere is the result: — I received the goods several days ago. When I got the bill 1 was much surprised to find myself charged $2.60 for a wooden mandrel (which I or- dered), but when goods came I was as much sur- prised to find a better one than I expected. Thanks for you discretion in sending it. I put up a saw yes- terday, and it "works like a top." Greenville, Gn , Dec. 13, 1880. F. M. Ledbetter. You see, I have given our friend who made the mandrel, a free advertisement; and I am willing to give you all one when I find any thing that I tliin'k will ])rove a pub- lic boon. Is not this rightV If I discourage patents. I certainly ought to do something else to encourage invention. Xow, here is another point. I am going to make a pub- lic test of your good nature,— or call it, if you choose, liberality. I told "•right out,'' just what these mandrels are going to cost me, and what I am going to sell them for. It is generally accepted, in all kinds of business, that it won't do to let customers know what goods cost. Why won't it doV AVell, be- cause we are all so prone to selfishness, I sui)pose. Xow for the test : if you know those mandrels cost me only $2.00 each in two-dozen lots, are you willing to pay me $2.75 for themy I am pretty sure a great many of vou will say 50c profit would be a plenty. Well, I wrote the same thing to friend De Worth, but he thought it hardly enough, and suggested, if I am correct, thait we should retail them for $8.00. I split the difference, and called it, in ray editorial no- tice last month, $2.75. As a reason for ma- king the profit 75c instead of 50, 1 would suggest, that the freight is to be paid on them from friend D. to myself ; that I have to invest cash to the amount of $48.00 each time I order, to lie still, perhaps, several months, besides the i)robability that some- thing later may at any time supersede any such goods, and necessitate selling them at cost, or not at all. If I tell you what all my goods cost, and what I sell them for, are you sure you will not feel less friendly toward me than you do now, and that I shall never look confused and embarrassed when I own up that I charge you $2.75 for an article that costs me only $2.00 or perhaps a little more. When the matter comes right out before you all, I confess I rather wish it was put at only $2.50 ; but friend I), does not wish me to sell them so low, and I do not feel right to de- cide the matter without his permission. Do you not catch a glimpse of what a millenni- um we should have in business matters if there were no longer any necessity for hav- ing any thing to be concealed V We suggested only one change in the man- drel sent us, and that was, that the coHar that holds the saws be made so as to be one piece with the pulley, except a small divid- ing groove. If Avanted by mail, the price will be 58 cents more ; the price to be $2.75, unless friend D. consents to have it $2.50. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 43 lur tcmf He that g-oeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come affain with rejoicing, bring- ing his sheaves with him. —Psalm 126:6. QUNDAY-SCIIOOL was over ; I had fin- O^ ished my dinner, and was on my way '^-"^ down to visit my mother, as usnal, dur- ing the three hours that intervene before the young people's prayer-meeting. I had gone about lialf a mile, and was reriecting that my life seemed rather unfruitful in the work of saving souls for the past few weeks. ,^Vas it possible that, amid the cares of business, I was losing that hai>))y entliusiasm that I had especially enjoyed Sabbath afternoons, and that my life was settling down to a kind of letting the world go on as it pleased, so that it did not interfere with my plans and pur- poses? How many a Christian worker has had similar thoughts! The Abbey ville school was stopped ; it seemed no fault of mine, but still was it not possible I could have done more to have kejit it going? Our class at the Infirmary is stopped too, because of the inconvenience of finding an hour for ser- vices not contlicting with other duties in the short winter days. It is true, I have our own great Sabbath-school on my hands ; but they have abundant helps and good teach- ers, and some way I do not feel just as happy after the school is over as I do after my work among those who have not had all these advantages, and to whom the gospel is, at least in a measure, new. I longed and hungered, as it were, for that joyous exube- rance of spirits that I feel after explaining the way of salvation to some poor boy in jail. Was there any such work within my field that'God wanted me to do? In that lit- tle book called the Still Hour, by Austin Phelps, he says that a Christian has a right to have this joyous feeling always. I firmly believe it is possible for us to have it, if we are right in the harness, where God wishes tis to be. As I walked along I prayed to have my way pointed out, and promised to follow in it. Almost immediately my mind recurred to a young man whom I had met a few times, but whom I felt pretty sure was not a Christian. Somebody told me he had lost his property by some misfortune. I knew he was working hard, for I had no- ticed him pushing ahead Avith considerable energy in different employments, and the last time I met him he had a lemonade and candy store next to our counter store at the fair. My thoughts ran 'omething like this : "Go and see this brothtr this very after- noon." " But I do not even know where he lives, and I am half way down to mother's now. I will go next Sunday." " Next Sunday you may not feel like it ; the roads may be bad, and your besetting sin is to never do at all the things you do not do on the first impulse." I began meditating whether or not this were not really the voice of God, speaking sometliing as he might have talked to Jonah when he was told to go to Nineveh. As I pondered, I walked slow^er. " Why, I rather think he lives at or near B ; but that is three or four miles an- other way, and I am now a full mile toward mother's; besides, she is watching for me, and will feel sadly disappointed if I do not send her any word I am not coming. Be- sides, it would be almost dark before I could get there." The objecting voice almost said, too," What in the world will he think to see you coming away off there on Sunday, with ho sort of a rational errand in the w^orld." But the last observation was very feebly of- fered. I had come to a standstill. " Nine miles is nothing for you, my boy ; and if you get tired, you know, from pastex- perience, that God will give you strength by simply asking for it. You have told mother before, that, when you fail to come, she must keep in mind that a call has come for you to go elsewhere." " Bight about, face," I turned, and I was happy already. As I passed thej ail, I stopped and explained to the one inmate there, who was just about turning from a wasted life to immortality, that I might be late before I had my tisual talk with him ; and when lex- plained where I felt called to go, he knew the man, and with the help of the sheriff, told me where lie lived. As I passed out through the iron-barred door he said: — " My best wishes go with you on such an errand, Mr. Root." " Do you not mean, friend D., that you will pray for me while I am gone?" I can not remember what his reply was ; but I know, by the look in his face, that it was not an linpleasant suggestion. As I passed over the hills I wjis somewhat weary ; but God gave the strength as it was needed. To be sure, I went on foot ; for, some way, it does not seem as if I could do good work without the exhilaration of walking ; and, besides, people treat me differently (at least it seems so) when I come on foot and alone. When on a hill, where I could see the house, I spoke to a couple of young men, and after I had passed I saw them watching me. Per- haps they Avere curious to know Avhat had brought me out of the way so much on such a day. As I crossed the bridge near the house, a crowd of temptations assailed me, just as they have a hundred times before. All joyousiless had gone, and I felt for the time that my errand, and the whole thing, was the biggest piece of " tom-foolery " that lever went into before. I stopped and gazed into the frozen river, and at the same time gazed into these feelings in my own heart. I wondered where they came from, and wiiyit should be so every time. I w'as not afraid now, for I had seen them soon give way be- fore, to a different feeling when I pushed ahead. I trembled some as I raised the latch to the gate ; but I prayed more earnestly than usual, if possible, that God would show me plainley why I was thus called away over here, and that liis Spirit might go before me and make the work sure. After I had got into the house, and received a pleasant wel- come, the painful feeling vanished, and it was no great task to speak. " My friend, I have taken the liberty to come clear over here on foot to talk with you, and to invite you to accept Christ as 44 GLEA^IKGS m BEE CULTUKE. Jak. your savior and your guide. If I have made a mistake, or if I am intruding, I will go away at once, without another word." "No mistake at all. Mr. Boot; I am very glad to see you, for I know it is just what I and all the rest of us ought to do." In a few minutes the young men I have spoken of came in. At tirst, I was so short- sighted as to think this might prevent my having my talk with him ; but almost at once something whispered that God was guiding it all, and had sent them. Thereup- on I told them my errand, and that, inas- much as Christ knew no differences, I would tender the same invitation to them. Pretty soon, still another yoimg man came in, and I said the same to him, and tinally we had almost enough gathered there for a little prayer-meeting. After some talk with them all, some one suggested we should have a Sunday-school started there every afternoon, and you may be sure I gladly enough accepted the invitation to lead them. After singing " Sweet Hour of Prayer." and asking God to bless our undertaking, I came away. As I got outdoors, I found it was dark ; but there was no darkness on my spirits now. Pretty soon I saw some one coming after me. I spoke, and found it was one of the young men I had left there. He told me his father had recently died, and that, while on his death-bed, with his Bible near him, he enjoined his boys to lead Christian lives. A few weeks had passed, but yet he had taken no steps to unite with Christian people. Was it accident that led me over in this out-of-the-way place this afternoon, or was it the still small voice that so often pleads with us, and yet is so often disregarded when we can not see exactly the whys and wherefores of it V Do any of you ask, my friends, what is the good of a Sabbath-school, after all V ^Vell, 1 will try to tell you a little of what I hope it will do. As I pass the saloons of our town, I notice that very may of those who enter are boys from the country. They live a few miles out of town, and have always been in the habit of getting a glass of beer when they come to town on almost any kind of an errand. Once in a while these boys get into jail, and then I get acquainted, aiid have a good talk with them. They almost always say they have never been to Sunday-school, and a good many times it seems as if no one has ever invited them to come. Suppose I could have these talks with them before they get into jail ; do you not think it would save some expense to our State and county V May be it might save an immortal soul. Will it not be worth while to try? Again, it is a hard thing to reform a man grown. If they are reformed, they are very apt to get back among their old associates unless they are pretty closely watched and cared for. If we can take the boys and girls before they have grown into fixed, bad hab- its, they are far more apt to stand. It makes a terrible wrenching of things, if I may so express it, to take a strong man and bring liim to Jesus' feet as a little child. Battles have to be fought day by day that might have been saved if he had been led into wis- dom's ways when his mind and appetite were young and tender. May God have mercy on those who have grown up in their sins! Some of the friends will have it that I pro- pose to teach in the Sabbath-school, and on these pages my views, while I will not give them a chance to answer and express their views. They are right thus far, and no further ; viz., 1 certainly can not consent to have these pages filled with arguments and controversy on theology, doctrine, which day is Sunday, baptism, or any like matters. It is not my business, and I know God has not called me into any such fields. If such subjects must be discussed, talk them over with your pastor, or the best men in your churches, and decide for yourselves. My work I can illustrate best in the following little story : — A poor market-woman was once, in order to get along and "keep even with the world," in the habit of using a peck measure that held a scant peck. She knew it was wrong ; but competition was so close she had to do it, or, at least, she told her conscience so, and so the best friends she had, together with her foes, were treated (or, rather, cheated) alike, day after day. Finally she decided, one Sabbath, to go to meeting. It some way happened tliat the sermon was on honesty, and, although much of the talk was beyond her comprehension, sh3 gathered enough so that she went and burned up the scant peck measure the v(ry first thing she did when she got home. The next day a friend said, — " Why, ^lary, they tell me you have been to church." " Yes, I went yesterday.'' " Who preached?" " I don't know." " What was the text? " " I do not know." " What was the sermoii about? " "• I can not remember that either." " Why! can you not remember some story or anecdote, or something the minister said in his sermon? " She declared she could not remember any thing. "Why!" said her friend, "it certainly didn't do you any good, if you don't know who preached, what he said, nor any thing about it." " But I tell you it did, for I went and burned up that small peck measure the first thing I did when I got home, and I am go- ing to give full, honest measure, after this, as long as I live." Who sent home that sermon to her heart? and whose voice was it that she heard? Was it not God's voice? and are not such ser- mons just the kind we %vant? Is there any difference of opinion in this matter? Now, if I can so write to you that you forget me, what I say, and every thing else, except the truth that I am endeavoring to send home to your hearts through God's voice, which I hope sometimes reaches you through these pages, I am content. Now, to those Avho are suggesting a differ- ent course for these Home Papers, and Avho think I am omitting important subjects, I would respectfully suggest that my way 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 45 seems to be bearing good fruit. I can not say tliat any one of you really burned up a bad peck measure literally, because of these talks ; but great numbers have written me that they had started with fresh vigor in serving the Lord, and some few have turned right about, and are leading new lives. A few days ago a good friend wrote he was not a ]irofessor of religion, and did not attend Sabbath-school ; but his letter seemed to say he was not very far off from the king- dom. I wrote him briefly, and, if I am cor- rect, then kneeled down and prayed God to move his heart, for I felt then vividly what a tremendous undertaking it is to get a full- grown man to relimiuish his stand and sub- mit to be led as a little child. I know he wields a strong influence in his vicinity, and so I was more deeply anxious. Here is a postal from him, right under my hand. Friend 2? lo?:— Between you and my children, I am "boxed." As I was on my way to Sunday school Sunday morning-, I said to my oldest girl, "The next thing after goi ting me in'^o your Sunday-school will be getting me into your church." She very coolly replied, "If the church can stand you, I think you might stand the church!" 1 said nothing more then; but before the close I had to give five dollars towards a Christmas tree; and now they want $5.00 more for a library. What will a library for say 140 scholars cost with you— say 3, 3, 4, or 500 volumes in neat book case? L. M. Shumaker. North Danville, Pitts. Co., Va., Dec. 14, 18S0. May the Lord bless that "oldest girl," friend S., and all the rest too, as well as the whole school. I felt like shouting glory as I read the card ; and were it not one of my besetting sins to get extravagant, at times, I do not kn'ow but that I should have done so. I do not sell the things you mention, but I have desired two of the best publishers I know of to do the best they can for you. The work that is opening before you may take some of the treasure you have laid up here on earth ; but when you are on your dying bed, takin;^ your last leave of these kind friends, with all these Sabbath-school scholars gathered about you, a crown of glory will be yours, and the companionship of angels will be yours, as you cross the dark river. " Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these, you have done it unto me." Every time I get a letter from the friend who next writes, I fall to wondering why I could ever have done any thing that should merit such kind words as he writes ; but at the bottom of the letter I always tind the well-known signature of our friend Parshall ; and when I reflect that liis life seems, through God, to have been the fruit of these Home Tapers, I feel like shouting glory again. Now a word to you, brother Root I How I wait and look for the first of the month to hear you talk, and how it encourages me, and I feel like grabbing you by the hand every time I read Our Homes. My brothers have forced on me the office of class-lead- er, besides Sunday-school superintendent, and your kind words does me worlds of good. May God bless and keep you, is my prayer. After reading the last Homes, which I did before breakfast, 1 opened my Bible, as you spoke of " in the middle," and read the 91st Psalm. Oh what blessed comfort and prom- ise we find in that psalm! Read it; and I should like all the readers of Gleanings to read it and ap- preciate it as I do. James Parshall. Skidmore, Nodaway Co., Mo., Nov. 11, 1880. In regard to the matter of midnight assas- sins: Here are two letters on the subject,— one on one side, and another on the other:— Is it not a Christians duty to protect his house and family? AVhosoever stealeth, murdereth. Would you stand back and see your wife and children bound, and perhaps gagged and abused by the burg- lar to complete his spoil, and offer no resistance? I should think that takes a coward. Do you think it is a Christian's duty to suffer himself to be robbed of his hard tellings, and perhaps bread, and offer no resistance? I answer. No! And I will say that I think it Is a Christian's duty to protect his wife and family, by crippling the midnight prowler, as it is a warning to others to lead a holier and better life, and pray to the Lord God for their daily bread. Preston J. Kline. Coopersburg, Lehigh Co., Pa., Dec. 7, 1880. In reading Our Homes in the Dec. No., I was so glad to see the letter of June 4th, from J. Sykes Wilson, that I have wanted to write you on the sub- ject of non-resistance, but circumstances prevented. Now, you say, " What is the Christian to do when ho finds some one with his hand in the pocket of our trousers? Answer, any one." Suppose it was our own brother according to the flesh, the one we love more than life; would we shoot? would we strike? would we not pray, rather, that he might not be found out? Would we not say, Omybrtoher! this not only, but my life, is thine ; come and get it If thou has need; but do not come in that way? If we are disciples of Jesus, laboring for the love of God to bless humanity, we will not care who takes the money, so we can do them good. If we recognize tnat all there is belongs to God, and he causes the rain to descend upon the unjust as well as the just, I am well satisfied that. In the case above, we should pray to the Lord for instruction, and for the conversion of the thief; and remember- ing, "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit," we should depend entirely upon this Spirit; and if the money was taken away, wait to see the object of the Lord In permitting such things to happen. It might be to try our faith; it might be to bring the thief to Christ by the workings of conscience. There are many ways of bringing sinners to the Lord, and our ignorance should not presume to question God's wisdom; and the example set by Jesus, of living to do good and bless humanity in- stead of making and keeping money, should be more practically considered to-day. The teachings of Jesus are practical to those who live to do the will of God-, but they are impractical to those who seek rather the riches of this world. ' 'Give unto him who asketh of thee, and from him who would bor- row, turn thou not away." Who would steal from any one who practices that teaching? No one ! Still comes the question. What shall a Christian do if some one steals his money? I hold, a Christian can not own any money; It is all the Lord's, and all he has to do is to ask the Lord what to do with it; and does he not promise to instruct us on all occasions? I am afraid that if we are not careful we will be in 46 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Jan. the position of the priest and elders to whom Jesus talked. (See Matt. 31:31.) I used to be an infidel and a public advocate of infidelity, and know their strong point is, that Christianity is not practical; they say, "Voii Christians care as much for money as we do, and depend as much on the strong arm of the law by force to protect it for you." Now, I be- lieve Christianity is practical, and wo do not need the law; but the government of Christ is sulficient; his kingdom has come to those who will recognize and look entirely to him. AVho will trust the Lord —make Christianity practical, and take away the strong weapon of the inflde ? I want to be a Christian, and with the Savior stand; To live as he has taught— be guided by his hand; For grace and love is all there is on earth worth liv- ing for. Though many blessings are around and many more in store. I would gladly give them up, or lay their pleasures down, To take the Christian's cross and wear the Christian's crown; To be at one with Jesus, Lord, in the blest abode above. To live in heavenly harmon3-— be filled with holy love. Praying that the good work j'ou have started to do may go on to perfection in Christ, I am yours, ISA.\C B. RUMFORD. Bakersfleld, Kern Co., Cal., Dec. 12, 1880. Gently, my friends, both of you, while we reason together. You may not be aware that this question is now agitating the great- est minds of the world. — What shall we do with criminals? It is not likely it will be settled all at once ; and it may not be in our day that it shall be decided there is a better Avay than to shoot down for the sake of pre- serving life. Great difficulties stand in the way of friend R."s plan, and I will give you one of tliem. Suppose you are a bank clerk, and are employed to giiard the i)roperty of your fellow-men ; are you going to tell the thief to take it along? A great part of us are guarding the property of others, and are in a measure responsible. Now, in defense of — let us say not shooting— i)lease consider that you are in a measure responsible for every man that turns assassin. In a great major- ity of cases, you have open saloons in your town where boys are trained to be assassins. You can close these in a twinkling, if you will, only a few of you, join hands. The boys of your county are i)ining in solitude in your jails, where they would gladly listen to a kind word from any one of you, and yet you withhold it, most of you. These boys can be raised to a post of honor and useful- ness—nay, tliey may be, by the love of God, led from their bad ways, and sometimes, in just a few months they may be at work res- cuing others. Well, now while stich is the case, is it not a terrible thing to shoot these boys down? You may say it is all very well to talk to them while in jail, and ask me to try such talk while they are in the acts of robbery. Perhaps I am not equal to the task ; but I think there are those who might do it. Per- haps there are many of us w-ho miglit attain to it. In any event, it is our privilege to labor with humanity before they get to these lengths. No man becomes a burglar or as- sassin at once. He has to be drilled by Sa- tan, and pass through many intermediate stages. On another page we are told of two of our fellow-men who are in the interme- diate stages that lead to crime because of their bees and grapes. It is a terrible thing to take the life of a fellow-man, my friends, and I Avould to God you all thought it a ter- rible thing to quarrel with a neighbor. If it is necessary that life should be taken, shall it not be only as the last, the veri/ last, resortV MR. MERRYBANKS AND HIS NEIGHBOR. HOW FRIEXD M. BROUGHT THE "SUK- SHINE." f^EFORE going on with my story, I shall f\JM have to go back a little, to show- just why it was that even the sight of friend M."s good-natured face brought abetter feel- ing to both father and son. You doubtless remember about the swarm that ran away last summer. AVell, you remember, too, do you not. how the horse got frightened and broke his buggy, and he came tumbling into the dust? Come to think of it, I believe I Avill give you the picture again, so you will recall the whole scene to mind. "SWARMIXG TIME.'' Well, friend M. picks himself up, not much w^orse for his sudden stop. Old ''Dobbin," as the distance widens between the general commotion and his nag-ship, is not so badly scared as he thought, and is easily caught by a neighbor hurriyng to the scene of action. a>ut the bees— oh where are they? sailing away, a mere speck in the blue sky. Mr. M.'s neighbor was completely discour- aged, and as he turned away, says, discon- solately,— "There! that's just the Avay with bees; there goes all honey and profit too, for this year."' Not so Avith friend JSIerrybanks, however. His tumble in the dust had in no way abated his zeal, and uiion the spur of the moment he burst forth with, — "They ain"t gone either; we'll follow "em and bring "em back. If you don"t want to go after them, I'll give you $2.62ic for them up there on the winar, and get them myself." I confess it was a little singular that friend ]\[. should offer just the above-named sum, to the splitting of a cent; but as our story proceeds, we shall perhaps find out why he 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 47 named just that exact amount. As for the bees, no time was to be lost ; and as the offer was immediately accepted, he started in pursuit, while his neighbor resumed his occupation of nailing up the hog-pen. Somehow that hog-pen seemed to need a great amount of tixing to make it so the pigs wouldn't get out and make a general raid on the neighbor- hood every now and then. Off goes' friend M.\s coat and vest; and, with his eye on the l)ees and his feet any- where but on solid ground, lie starts off, down the hill back of the church. 3rR. 3iekky];axks after the bees. Now, since friend ]M. has become a bee- keeper he has improved in health l)y out- door exercise, until you would hardly recog- nize in him the same individual that he was when we first met him. In fact, so robust has he become, that, when his foot hit on a round stone which turned over, he tumbled flat, and rolled clear to the bottom of the hill. ''nUKKAir FOU THE IJKESi As he picked himself up at the bottom of the hill, and rubbed the sore places, looking first one way and then the other, to collect his ideas and get the points of the compass, the first words he heard were,— "Hurrah for the bees I'' These words came from John, his neigh- bor's boy. xVs he heard his father selling the bees to friend M., he set down his hive on the top of the swill-pail, and watched earnestly to see what M. was going to do with them after they were bought. As he doffed his coat, John viewed the proceedings very in- tently, and was not slow in following after the decamping swarm. "With his light sum- mer clothing, he very soon outran the owner of the bees, and the shoutthat friend M. heard was occasioned by the sight of the whole swarm of bees settling upon a leafy limb of one of the highest trees in the woods. John had caught a portion of the bee fever from our friend ]M., and the fit was on, after his exercise of the brisk run. On the impulse of the moment, he climbed a small tree that stood near Avhere the bees were swinging from the end of a limb, and. with a 10-cent jack-knife that friend M. had made him a present of, he cut the limb, slipped carefully down the tree with his prize, and, by the time Merrybanks had found out Avhere the boys and bees were, he was standing on the ground, the center of an admiring audience (of two), while he held up his prize. Our artist has tried to depict the expression of pride and joy that shone in John's eyes (and mouth(V) ) as he held the limb containing that whopping runawav swarm up to view. JOnX WITH TIiE BEES, AFTER CLIJIBINCt XnE TREE. Now you know why John and friend M. were fast friends, and why just the sight of friend M.'s rosy face and round figure brought relief to John that wintry morning. Next month Ave will try to tell what hap- pened to that bee-hive John left sitting on the swill-pail, when he started after the bees. MRS. COTTON. At the request in our last No., for facts from those who had seut Mrs. Cotton money, from which no returns of any kind had been received, it seems there were, after sifting it all down, very few such. If her fault has been one of sending goods that did not give satisfaction, rather than not sending goods at all, it is quite likely we have been too severe on her. It is true she did not send me goods for the money I sent her, but she claims now the money was returned to me. Although I never got it, it is quite possible it was sent, and if she has settled sat- isfactorily with all others, I will cheerfully drop my complaint. Now, friends, is the time to speak out, if you have aught to say against Mrs. Cotton ; if not, forever hold your peace. 48 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Jan, gcmu ^olmffn. Under this head will be inserted, free of charge, the names of all those having honey to sell, as well as those wanting to buy. Please mention how njueh, what kind, and prices, as far as pos- sible. As a general tiling, I would not advise you to send vour honey away to be .sold on commission. If near home, where you can look after it, it is often a very good way. Bv all means, develop your home market. For 25 "cents we can furnish little boards to hang up in your dooryard. with the words, ' ' Honey for Sale, ' ' neatly painted. If want^-d by mail, 10 cents extra for postage. Boards saying ' ' Bees and Queens for Sale, ' ' at same pnce. I have for sale 509 lbs. honey from heartsease, which I will deliver on board cars here for 9e per lb. No charge for packages. James A. Gkeen. Dayton, La Salle Co., 111., Dec. 13, 1880. Wanted, one barrel pure extracted honey, Irom near this place. Correspondence solicited. J. B. Dines. Annapolis, Iron Co., Mo., Nov. 30, 1880. CITY MARKETS. Cincinnati.— Honey.— Comb honey is of slow sale, and brings 16c on arrival. There is an active de- mand for extracted honey, which brings 8@l0c on arrival. Choice clover honey scarce. 1 have paid lie per lb. in several instances. Beeswax—is quoted from 18@32c. Cincinnati, O., Dec. 23, '80. C. F. Muth. Chicago. — Honey.— There is plenty of honey in this market to supply the demand, and prices re- main the same on comb honey— 30@3ic for choice light lots in small boxes, and 13(aMc for dark. Ex- tracted honey, 8@l0c. Beeswax.— •M@:iSc for light, and 15@lTc for dark. Alfred H. Newman. 973 West Madison St., Chicago, 111., Dec. 23, '80. St. Louis.— Honey.— Dark comb, U@16c; fancy do 17@19c; strained and extracted, 9@10 in bbl3.,"and ll@13c in small packages. J3eesim.c.— Prime yellow salable at 21, dark at 20c. Dec. 23, 1880. R. c. Greek & Co. No. 117 North Main St., St. Louis, Mo. New York.— Ho7iey. — Best white Comb, small neat packages, 12@18c; fair, 14@16c; dark, 12@13c. White Extracted, 9@10c; dark, 7@8c. Southern strained, per gal., 80@8.5c. Bee8ioa.c.— 23@24c. The can of honej- you sent us is on the writer's desk and will be 6 Bovs.AVhnt to do with 96 Black Willow 83 Bottom-Bars 8.5 Calendar Clocks 97 China Letter 96 Circulars Received .58 Cottonwood 85, 86 Clovers 77 Comb Fdn..toMake 76 Combs, dead Bees in. etc — 99 Cost of Journals from Pubs. 63 Cvprian Bees at Home 71,72 Com, How to Drj- 80 Cora as a Honey-Plant 80 Cross Bees as ("iatherers 83 C ilifoiTiia Notes, etc 84 Granulated Sugar. Hives, IJi Story 84 Heather Honey 91 Honey. Medicated 86 Honey-Plants, Exp'ts with..87 Horse -Powers 91 Hyatt vs. Italians 89 1 litroducing Queens 87 Law against Frauds 83 Labels 100 L>inch-Room 100 I,ight in the Darkness 91 Machinery for Sections 9S Mammoth Bee-hive 78 Jtoving Bees to New Locat)on74 Mrs. Cotton's Book 62, 75 New Bees 78, 89 New Honey-Plant 92 Notes from Baimer Apiary. .59 Novel Bee-hive 61 Orchard Apiary 76 Peet Cage 59, .99 Paper Honey-Comb.etc 85 Profit on Bees 70 Progress 77 Poisoning Bees 66,70 Queen-Cages 59 Q'ns Reared at Diff. Seasons. 69 Red Clover S3 Religion and Business ,57 Rood's Ideas on Wintering.. 67 Robbing, How to Stop S3 Simonds Saws 99 Simpson and Spider Plants.. 62 , -- Sending Monev 62 California Sage 92 ] Swallows and 'Bees 82 Doolittle's Review 68 i Smoker.the Best 84 Doolittle Answers Questions. 69 j Stanley's .Stoi-y 7■^ Drones, Good Ones 76 . Starting Watches ; 99 Dollar Queens 9-lOths Black. 82 Separa tors. Perf. and Slot' g.. 70 Dead Queen at Entrance 89 , Sweet Cora 90 Early-Amber Sugar-Cane — .59 i Tobacco Column 65 Ext. vs. Comb Honey. ^. 100 | Ups and Downs of a Scholar. 84 X883..- 188X. Italian, Cyprian, AND HOLY-LAND QUEENS! Sln!?le Queen, Tested S2 00 " Untested (laying) 100 Sent by mail and safe arrival guaranteed. 8 Frame Colony 6 00 3 " Nuclei 3 00 2 " " 2 50 Safe arrival guaranteed by express. Address W. P. HENDERSON, l-6inq Murf reesboro, Kuth. Co., Tennessee. BE SURE To send a postal card for our Illustrated Catalogue of APIARIAN SUPPLIES Before purchasing elsewhere. It contains illustra- tions and descriptions of every thing uew and desi- rable in an apiary, AT THE LOWEST P BICES. Italian, Cyprian, and Holy-Land Queens and Bees. J. C. & H. P. SATLES, l-8d Hartford, Washington Co., Wis. 50 FINE MIXED CARDS, with name, 10 cents, postpaid. M. L. DORMAN, Sinclairville, 12tfd Chaut. Co., N. T, Entrances, Upper, and Pollen 82 Entrance of Chaff Hives 86 Fire and Brimstone 89 Faris Machine 86 Foster's Improve' ts in Ftln. .99 Foundation, Dipped 77 Foul Brood 6t Gem Planer 97 Gardner's Big Report 90 Virgin Queens 82 AVintering 77 Wint'ng with Ch. and Cellar 83 Wint'ng Bees in a Cistera . . .75 Wiring Brood-Fra-ues 79 Winchuills 85 Wisconsin, Cold Weather 87 AVillows 91 "ttTiolesale Price of Filn 99 Comb Foundation! In regular-sized sheets, 10x11, 8x16; 2, 12x18, 2.5 lbs. or less 40c I 50 to 100 lbs 38c 25 10 .50 lbs 39c | 100 to 200 lbs 37c Add lOe per lb. for thin fdn. for surplus honey; 5 per cent discount if ordered before March 15. Send for circular of Bee-Hives, Honey-Extractors, and Smokers. Address F. W. HOLMES, 2 Coopcrsville, Ottawa Co., Mich. WANTED.— A good steady young man who is thoroughly posted in Bee-culture, to take charge of an apiary; must produce good reference as to his qualification as an apiarist. Address 2d W. G. CRAIG, Claremont, Nodaway Co., Missouri. The A B C or Bee Culture. Bound in paper, mailed for ?1.00. 'At wholesale, same price as Gleanings, with which it may be clubbed. One copy, ^1.00; 2 copies, $1.90; three cop- ies, $2.75; live copies, $4.00; ten copies, $7.50. The same, neatly bound in cloth, with the covers neatly embellished in embossing and gold, one copy, $1.25;" 2 copies, $2.40; three copies, $3.50; five cop- ies, $5.25; ten copies, $10.00. If ordered by freight or express, the postage may be deducted, which will be 12c on the book in paper, and 16c each, on the book in cloth. Cook's Manual in paper or doth at the same price as above. A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. CYrRIANS and Italian Queens or Nuclei. Des- criptive Circular and Price List sent free. Address JULIUS HOFFMAN, 1-4 Fort Plain, Montgomery Co., N. Y. CHEAP sections] jMI One-Pioce Sections. Pound and Prize size at $4..50 per 1,000. JOHN MCGREGOR, 2 Freeland, Saginaw Co., Mich. No. 132, Price 60c. MAHER & GROSH, 31 N. Monroe St., Toledo, Ohio, show here a new knife, No. 133, metal ends, strong blades; price, postpaid, 60c. Our goods are hand-f urged from 7-azor steel, ev- ery blade warranted, and ex- changed free if soft or flawy. F. H. Day, Wilmington, Del., writes, Jan. 12:— "After receiv- iner the knife I honed it down to a tine, keen edge, and tried it on hard, dry white-oak; the edge neither turned nor broke, which is more than I can say of any other knife I ever owned." We expect to build up our trade by selling good GOODS; will you help us? Our extra-heavy 2-blnde, made for farmers and mechanics, is the best knife in the market; price, postpaid, 75c. Boy's knife, 2oc; ladies, 1-blade, 25c; 2-blade, .50c; Gent's 3-blade, $1.00. Extra strong Pruner, every blade tested, $1.00. Our hand-forged butcher-knife, 6-inch blade, postpaid, 50c. Illustrated list of knives, razors, and scissors, sent free to any address. oG GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Feb. Itslmn nii^^^ncf headquarters Italian queens i / ^, I m tJEie boutJi tor tJis MANUFACTURE AND SALE OF Bee-Keepers' Supplies SIMPLICITY AND LANGSTROTH HIVES And Frames. lUEraALL.lN'ONg'M Bred from imported mother. Safe arrival and satisfaction guaranteed. Send for circular. Untest- ed Queens in May and June, $1.50. July and after, $1.(10. Tested Queens, May and .luue, $a.50. July and after, $3.00. Select tested, $.iM. Address— L. C. M'FATRIDGE, M. D.. 2-7 Carroll, Carroll Co., Ind. 11 francs in Gold. , - 10 In April, - - - - - May and June, - - - July and August, - - - - 9 " " September and August, - - - 7 " " Queens which die in transit will be repl.iccd only if sent back in a letter. CHARLES BIANCONCINI & CO., 2-7d Bologna, Italy. "W. 0.1" lUKr In 2 oz. bottles, black, violet, or blue, in H gross boxes, per gross $4 GO In quantities of 5 or more gross, $3,20 per Gross. In Pint Bottles,.per doz $3 00 In Quart " " " 6 00 In Gallon Jugs " " 12 00 Green and Red ink are necessarily more expen- sive, and the price will therefore be one-half more. Liquid Bluing, in 6 oz. bottles, per doz 50 " " " " " gross $5 40 I will send M gross, 2 oz. inks, assorted colors, black, blue, violet, and one bottle each of green and red, as a trial order for $1.00. WM. OLDROYD, Columbus, Ohio. THE British Bee Journal. The British Bee Journal is now mailed to our ad- dress in packages, each month. In order to dispose of them, we offer them at present at f 1.00 per year, postage paid, beginning Jan. 1881. Will guarantee safe arrival of every No. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. IMP BO VED Langstroth Hives. Supplies for the Apiary. Comb Foundation a spe- cialty. Being able to procure lumber cheap, I can furnish Hives and Sections very cheap. Send for a circular. A. D. BENHAM, 2tfd Olivet, Eaton Co., Mich. 3D. Si. O I •\7' DB 3>a- , Inventor and Sole Manufacturer of tlie FOUNDATION PRESS. All Presses warranted to give satisfaction. The only invention to make fdn. in wired frames. Our thin and common fdn. for '81 is not surpassed. Send for Catalogue and samples. 3 D. S. GIVEN, Hoopeston, Illinois. Having purchased from A. I. Root a machine for making the sections, I am ready to supply them in any quantity. Comb Foundation, made of pure yellow wax, and worked on shares, etc. Honey and Wax-Extractors; Knives, Bee-!^mokers, etc., etc. ITALIAN QUEENS AN9 BEES ! All bred from imported mothers of my own im- portation. Dollar queens, ready April 1st, $1.10 un- til .June 1st; after, $1.00. Tested queens, from March 1st to November 1st. Safe arrival guaranteed, and all queens sent by mail. I send no queens that I would not have lor myself. Full Colonies of Italian Bees from $.").00 to $8.50, ac- cording to quaJiiity, etc. Earlj- 4-framo nucleus, with Tested Queens, $.").U0— No black bees in the neighborhood. Send for my Illustrated Catalogue of prices, etc. Address rAUL. li. VIAliliON, 2d Bayou Goula, Iberville Par., La. FOR SALE! THE CARSON CITY APIARY and Supply Factory, consisting of 150 colonies of pure Italian Bees, one 10-horse boiler and engine, new and complete, with all machinery necessary for manufacturing hives, crates, sections, etc. Dunham fdu. machine and other implements too numerous tomentiiin. Business been running 5 years. Local trade, $2500 per year. A bargain. Address— HIRAM ROOP, 2d Carson City, Montcalm Co., Mich. Also, a Beautiful Farm of 75 acres, with No. 1 buildings included, if desired. Will not exchange for other property. Cause,— I have lost the use of my right arm. GOOD QUEENS, only 80c. Send for circular. 2-3d E. A. Tho.mas, Colerain, Franklin Co., Mass. b.asfbz:b.b.ii:s for sake. per 101) by oxp. $1 00 1 00 1 50 per lOiiU 1 50 $8 00 per doz. by muil. Doolittle, - - - - 30c Clarke's Red, - - 30c Mammoth Cluster, - - 40c Davison's Thornless, - 30c Ohio, 40c Ohio is one of the best ; will yield a third more than any berry I know; is very llrm and large; one of the best for drying; begins to ripen about the time of the Doolittle, and lasts till after the M. Cluster. Will pick as much as any of the varieties at a picking. It is equal to the Gregg, if not better. If by mail, add 20c per doz. J. IRVIN JOHNSON, 2 4d Box 405, Palmyra, Wayne Co., N. Y. WANTED.— By a young man, a place to work In an apiary. Ample experience in handling bees and rearing queens. Good references. Address for one month, C. SHERRICK, 2d Care Mo. Medical College, St. Louis, Mo. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 57 28 ih Year— 65 First-Premium Medals and Dinlomas. Send postal card with name and address lor my new illustrated Circular and Price List containing- valuable information to all bee-keepers. Sent free. CHAS. H. LAKE, Successor to the late Richard Colvin, 2-4d 96 West Pratt St., Baltimore, Md. SUCCESS IN BUSINESS! THE SECRET OF A LIBERAL USE OF PRINT- ERS' INK. BUSINESS CARDS, Border Bristol, assorted tints, 100, 6oc;:.>r)0, $l.:ir>. White Bristol, 100, BOc; 250, $1. NOTE HEAUS, g-ood stock, 100, 65c; 250, .fl.25. ENVEliOPES, ffood heavy stock, white or col- ored, 100, 60c; 250, $1.00,— all postpaid. Sat isfactlm guaranteed or monen refunded. Samples free. Ad- dress S. P. YoDER & Co., Vistula, Elkhart Co., Ind. RAISING TURKEYS AND CHICKENS. Send 15 cents to NATIONAL. FAKMER CO., CInoiniiati, and get by mail "Wl»at 20 Persons (noted lV>r their lireat Success In Raising Turlteys and Cliickens) Have to say." Read- ing' what these experienced persons have to say will give one more information how to be successful than the reading of any Dollar Poultry Book. 2-4 HEAD(iUARTERS FOR Pure Albino and Italian Queens and Colonies for 1881. As I make queen-rearing a specialty, I guarantee to those ordering from me just what they bargain for. Circulars free. Address D. A. Pike, 2-4d Box 19, Smithsburg, Washington Co., Md. H ONEY-RACKS, NEW KIND. Circular free. ,2-3d E. A. Thomas, Colerain, Franklin Co., Mass. 1881 ITALIAN (QUEENS! 1881 Tested Queens $1 50 ■\Varranted Queens.. 1 00 Cyprian Queens, untested 1 00 As most all the Dollar queens I sold last year were pure, I will warrant them this year. J. T. Wilson, Mortonsville, 2-Vd Woodford Co., Ky. FDN.! NEW MOLDED FDN.! Best in the market. Only trv it. Samples free. New machines, |5.C0. OLIVER FOSTER, 2d Mt. Vernon, Linn Co., Iowa. /^^OMB Foundation Machines from $1.00 to $5.00. Kj Comb Fdn., less thau 5 lbs., 40c; over 5 lbs., 35c; over 50 lbs., 34c; over 100 lbs., 33iiic. Price list free. Italian queens from Imp. mothers, fl. ready in April. 2tfd JOHN PARIS, Chilhowie, Smyth Co., Va. KIOT WORDS FROM OUR CUSTOMERS. My nippers came all right. They look to me cheap at a quarter, when only 5c is the price. G. H. O'Bannon. Dresden, Green Co , Tnd., Dec. 28, 1880. I was fairly delighted when I opened the box. Oh that nice little rule, only 10 cents! and the plane, spring balance,— in fact, every thing was more than I expected for the money. J. M. Engle. Morristown, Shelby Co., Ind. The watch is at hand, and a very nice little watch it is. It is a real nice, neat, and clean little time- piece. Thanks for promptness. The watch pleases and suits the boy exactly. E. J. Atchley. Lancaster, Texas, Dec. 28, 1880, I bought your ABCafew months ago. I have read and re-read it until I have it all, or nearly all, by heart. John G. Fox. Middle River, Madison Co., Iowa, Jan. 7, 1881. One word for the Home Papers: We are without a pastor at our church, and you have no idea how far they go toward tilling the blank. Moberly, Mo., Jau. 10, 1881. J. M. Epperson. You beat the world sending things nice. I wish you were a little nearer, so that we (that is, wife and 1) could order of you all that we have to buy. Peru, 111., Jau. 18, 1881. Geo. Perry. Please send us another 15-cent thermometer, wife claims this one for her flowers. A. P. Hartwell. Medora, Macoupin Co., 111., Nov. 2", 1880. My Gleanings and goods came to hand much sooner than we expected, and were more than satisfactory. How they can be gotten up so cheaply, and sent 1200 miles by rail and 100 by stage in five days, is yet a mystery. M. C. Swan. Mason, Mason Co., Tex., Jan. 6, 1881. Since I wrote you, I have been visited by a scien- tific friend, who has used one of your Water buiy watches for more than a year, and likes it first rate. That principle of winding up without the bother of a key is nothing less than splendid. Sel \hammah. Fall River, Mass., Jan. 7, 1881. I presented to my little cimsin the watch you sent, and he thinks with myself that it is quite a treasure for so little money; he and his father compare their timepieces every morning and night, and his is al- ways just right. His father's may be a little too fast or too slow, but his Waterbury, as he calls it, is just right. Austin M. Magee. Cooper's, Chilton Co., Ala., Jan. 17, 1881. Please find inclosed one dollar for Gleanings for 1881. The house has got so accustomed to the ring of your voice, we couldn't well do without it now. The children all talk of Mr. Root as if they knew him. The good wife joins me in wishing yourself and fam- ily tlie compliments of the season. A. B. Harrison. Walnut Creek, Contra Costa Co., Cal , Dec. 11, '80. [May God bless the good wife and children, friend H., and yourself too, for your very kind words, which I can not but feel are certainly not more than half deserved.] The "knifes" arrived in good condition, and one "childer" has been made happy with one of them. I once bought a pair of "specs" for 25 cents, which I thought was "'mazing" cheap; and, not believing you obtained yours on the ready-made, " stoleu- broom" principle, I can hardly conceive how or where you find them to sell for a single dime. Topsy, of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," when she declared that she never was born, on being inquired of to know where she came from, said that she " spect she growed;" and perhaps you grow "specs" out there on the banks of the pleasant Ohio. Selahammah. Fall River, Mass. I have been carefully examining the contents of j'our ABC book, and find that in it is comprehended the whole alphabet of bee culture. During half a century I have had a practical knowledge of bee- keeping, and I have sturiied about all of the bee- books by American authors,f romthatof J. M. Weeks, of Vermont, to the most modern works; besides, I am acquainted with most of the European books that treat on honey-bees. Were I now to select a treatise on bee culture to put into the hand of anew beginner in that branch of husbandry, I should un- hesitatingly take a copy of the ABC C. J. Robinson. Richford, N. Y., Jan. 14, 1881. religion and business. I wish to say, I like Gleanings, and especially your Home Papers. I fully approve of mixing re- ligion with all our business matters. I do not be- lieve that we have any right to engage in any busi- ness in which we can not sincerely ask God's bless- ing upon it. And now, friend Root, I want to say 5S GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Feb. right here, that it is by asking and receiving a bless- ing from God, that T have succeeded so well with my bees, for I am an old man, and in poor health, and God knows all my needs and hears my cries; and blessed be the name of the Lord! Go on, brother, doing good in the name of the Lord; trust also in him, and verily thou shalt be blessed. Dennis Gardner. Carson City, Montcalm Co., Mich., Jan. 8, 1881. CHARITY. Please send price list, and oblige one who learned to love you for your " broad charity." Sir, the lead- ing theme in the Devil's programme is selfishness, while that of the pure ia heart is " a broad charity to all," with love to God and man. Many thanks for kind, comforting words. J. H. Koderick. Dodd's City, Fannin Co., Texas. [Many thanks for your good opinion, friend R.. but you do me more than justice. As I kneel and ask to be shown my faults, it comes to me day by day that a lack of charity is perhaps my greatest and most grievous sin; and, if I am not mistaken, there are those whose eyes meet this page to-day who man be shut out of the kingdom of heaven by this same fail- ing of mine, covipled with my professions.] I am 80 glad to read of one walking in the same path as myself, in so many respects. Yes; we ought to have the "bell runsr" when we talk so ugly. I have sometimes wished to bo struck dumb until I cotild talk just as I ought. When calmness comes, I think, pray, and ask forgiveness, and heartily desire to be set free forever, and determine to strive hard- er, and ask for God's help. But another storm will come soon, and at a time when I am not readr, and here goes again. Is this our weakness that we can not strengthen? Shall it always be thus? Blessed God, help 1 J.H.Roderick. Dodd's City, Fannin Co., Tex., Dec. 35. 1880. [May God bless and help you, friend R., for con- fessing your weakness. It helps me, and I am sure helps us all, t') know that some other one Is strug- gling for the right, and is sorry for his past weak- nesses.] Inclosed find $1.00 for Gleanings another year. It is of more benefit to me spiritually than any thing I can find for the money invested. " They that do good here, are rich in good works, ready to distrib- ute, and willing to communicate, lay up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come."— (1. Tim. (J:18, 19.) Those who, out of com- passion, do works of love and mercy to the poor and needy, though it be only to the least of the brethren of Jesus, shall receive in return a rich reward in eternity; for the Lord will reward them for these things, as though they had done them to himself; and should they give to drink but a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, they shall in no wise lose their reward. The exhortations, and words of kind- ness which appear in Gleanings may be the means of converting sinners, or at least one soul may be saved, and that Is worth the whole world; for what profit shall we have if we gain the whole world and lose our soul? or what shall we give in exchange? Nothing; lost— lost forever; lost. God help us to rescue the perishing. Chas. Z. Dennes. York, Pa., Dec. 20, 1880. Your postal of the .3d inst. at hand, crediting me with a balance of $1.00. You are a queer genus Tiomo. Your honesty is almost painful. I thought I closed up accounts with you st.me time ago. Now, my dear sir, I really do not wish that dollar at all. I suppose it is for the ET"OTEI> TO BEES AlVO HONEY, AT^D IIOMK ITVTE«ESnrs. Tol. IX. FEBRUARY 1, 1881. No. 2. A. I. ROOT, I Publisher and Proprietor, \ Mcdiua, O. j Published Mouthly. Established in 187S r TERMS: Si. 00 PER AXNIM, IX APVAXCE; I 2 Copies for 81. 90; 3 lor 82. To; 5 for 34.00; 10 I or more, 75 cts. each. Single Number, 10 ctsi. -j Additions to clubs may be made at club rates. Aliove are all to be pent to OXE posT- I OFFICE. Clubs to different postollices, XOT [^ LESS than 90 cts. each. NOTES FROM THE BAXNER APIARY. No. ]5. QUEEN-CAGES. ^j?54 URING the past season Ihave received nueens Wn) from several different breeders. Some of the cages were provisioned with candy, some with candy and water, and some with honey in a sponge. All the queens arrived in good condition, but none of the cages conformed to the letter of the law. I agree with friend Heddon in saying, " I can not help being mistaken sometimes, but I can and will help being dishonest enough to trs' to cover it up." For instance, last spring I thought we must have water in our shipping cages, and I used the tin bottles furnished by friend Root, until I saw the re- port in September Gleanings, of friend Viallon's candy, to be used without water, when I commenced sending queens without water, making the candy very soft. I have just left my writing, and "counted up" the queens that I lost last season, and out of 245 with water in the cages, IT died; while out of 130, sent without water, only 6 died; and I think some of these perished from exposure to the cold. 1 have an idea, in my " thinking machine," that I shall probably put in practice another season; it is possible that it has been tried and discarded, but I have never heard of it. Partly fill your cages with candy that is very soft, just about like molasses, and over this pour a coating of candy that is just hard enough to stay in its place and not "run." The bees can " drill through" this outer crust and "strike" water. Oh yes! one thing more: I have found that a light grade of yellow sugar is more moist in its na- ture, and seems to retain its moisture longer than does the coffee A sugar. As so many of you are talking about THE PEET CAGE, I feel as though I must have my say. In the cage that I received last season, the candy was broken loose, and also broken into several pieces; but, strange to say, not a bee was injured. You see the candy is poured against the wire cloth, and the least bending of the wire cloth is lia- ble to loosen the candy; but I think this objection might, in some manner, bo overcome. Last summer I introduced U queens with this cage. After confin- ing the queen with the cage, I always left the colony undisturbed for two days, and at the expiration of that time I never failed to find the queen released and accepted. Somehow, without being able to say iu»t why, 1 feel as though the cage, as an introduc- ing cage, is all right,— per/iaps a little ahead of other cages; but as a sZiippniff cage, I do not f/i ui/r I shall like it. I wonder, did anybody ever have any BEES KILLED BY LIGHTNING? A. C. Mosher, of San Marcos, Texas, writes that, a day or two after a heavy thunder storm, in which the electric fluid visited a house near by, and one stroke of lightning sounded as though it struck their own house, one of their strongest colonies of bees was found dead, with the exception of a very few bees. If the lightning did not kill the bees, friend M. would like to know what did. W. Z. Hutchinson. Rogersvillc, Genesee Co., Mich. Friend H., the objection j'ou make to the Peet cage has been remedied, or at least it was in those friend Peet has sent me, for the candy did not touch the wire clotli at all, but was "kept from it by a thin piece of wood running under the candy. The many good reports from the cage, as well as yours, with- out question indicate that it has succeeded better, all things considered, than any cage ever before used as extensively as this has been. It is simpler to use, in the hands of a novice, and entirely cuts off the possibility of the queen taking wing when first let out, as has been the case with so many others, besides friend Merrybanks. m i«i * THE EAR liY- AMBER SUGAR-CANE. jHE cane industry is taking a grand boom this winter. The past season has been a very suc- cessful one, although the yield has not been as great as some seasons. The quality has been fine, and the demand beyond our capacity to sup- ply, and the prices for sjTup have been such that the business has been very profitable. In Minnesota they have had the greatest success. They were sup- plied with ample machinery, and turned out a fine quality of sugar, and a refined syrup, which sur- passed any thing in the sugar line I ever saw pro- duced in the Xorth. 60 GLEANIXGS IX BEE CULTURE. Eeb. Now is the timo for parties interested in the cane Industry to make arran^fements for next season's operations. All who are intending to manufacture syrup next season should have machinf ry on the ground in the spring-, or have it ordered at least so that your neighbors will feel safe in pLmting- the cane. In reg-ard to mills for crushing the cane, I have used three different makes. One was rigid, and one was arranged with rubber springs. But the one that I now use is the Adjustable Mill, made by the Madison Mfg. Co., Madison, Wis. This is adjusted by weights and levers. They will dj one-third more work with the same power than any mill I have ever seen in operation. The weights and levers are to the mill what the safety valve is to the steam-engine. The Early-Amber variety of cane is the best. The producer should be careful to select pure seed, and that which has the greatest vitality, as the seed has a great deal to do with the strength of the plant. Seed should be thoroughly tested before planting, by placing the seed in some favored location, and by laying a piece of thin cloth next to the seed. You can then at any time inspect the seed, and you can more accurately tell the result. Soil. Cane gives the best results on a sandy upland soil; a clay soil gives a good quality, but not so large a yield. Generally speaking, cane will do well on any good wheat or corn land. W. P. Clement. Monticello, Wis., January, 1881. We have now for sale, syrup from the Early Amber that is as thick as houey, and nearly as white, and our children, on seeing some of it brought home, thought of course it was honey. We retail it at 75c per gallon . or 7cts. per lb.— just half the price of honey. We have also in stock Early- Amber sugar that we sell at 74c per lb. at retail, or 7c by the barrel. There may be a difference in taste in regard to this sugar ; but for myself, I greatly prefer it to the Southern cane sugar for puddings, pies, or anyplace where yellow or brown sugars are used. That sugar can be raised at the Xorth is now proven be- yond question ; and this sugar can doubtless be used for feeding bees, just as well as any sugar. As I have never seen any refined in- to the white coffee or granulated sugars, I presume a different process of refining is needed ; but it will be done, Avithout ques- tion, before another season passes. The taste of it is rather more like maple sugar than the sugars from the South. MR, MERRYB.^NKS AIVD HIS NEIGH- BOR. FRIEND MERRYBANKS INVENTS A HIVE. TOLD you last month, that John set the hive down on the swill-pail Avhen the ' bees started off. Well, the pail was over by the fence, near the pig-pen ; and now I think I will tell you just how it came to be on that precise spot. They had just finished their dinner, and John's father sat down to smoke a pipe before going out to his work again. .While he smoked, he read in his bee journal ; and, although lie knew it was past the time he should be at his work, he yielded to the temptation to sit a little longer, in spite of the suggestion from his good wife, that he might be needed, until he began to feel decidedly uncomfortable, and just in a mood for finding fatilt with somebody. As he stepped out of the door he passed John, who was rigging up a box for bee-hunting. "John, have you fed those pigs tliis noonV" Xow, .John was a very well-meaning boy, and would jump and run in a minute when his father or mother asked him to do any thing for them ; but he had one very sad fault : he could never remember any thing very along ahead, lie always would forget to feed those pigs, and it made very little difference whether they squealed loud enough to raise the roof from their pen or not, John never heard them, and rarely remembered to go and feed them, unless told each morning, night, and noon. Perhaps one reason was, that they were almost always squealing any- how, and he had got used to it. W^ell, when his father asked the question, he was so used to saying, " Oh! I declare, father, I for- got it,"" that he said so this time, as a mat- ter of course. His father was a little out of tune, as you know, and, under the impulse of the mo- ment, he gave him a cut with a halter-strap he had in his hand, saying, — " There I take that, and learn to remember what you are told.-' John went crying after the pail, but it could not be found. Come to think of it, he did feed the pigs, after all. promptly, just before dinner, and there stood the pail over near the pen, just where he had left it. So he came back to his father, rubbing his eyes, with the humiliating confession that he was not derelict in duty, but forgot to mention the circumstance, in time to avert the clip with the halter-strap. As John looked up at his father, and his father looked down at John, the situation was a little embarrassing for both parties. .John loved and respected his father, in spite of his sometimes harsh ways, and always enjoyed being with him in any work or play. The father also loved his boy, in his way ; and as he stood there with the traces of tears on his cheeks, he re- called to mind how very dutiful and obedient he had always been. In fact, there Avasn"t a better boy anywhere round about than his boy John, as he had often said, if it were not for his awful propensity to forget every commission, seemingly, that anybody en- trusted to his care. Scolding did not" seem to help the matter any, for he forgot again, almost before the words were out of his ears. I am a little inclined to think the father was then remembering how he used to forget, too, when a boy. and how earnest, kind words seemed to lift him up and make him strong, more than any amount of scolding. Should he confess to his boy that he had been hasty ? and would he not think less of a father who should so humble himself V Is it really well to " own up " to your boy when you have done wrong V As the father medi- tated upon the consequences of weakening the boy's confidence in liis wisdom and fit- ness to stand in the position of father, he al- so thought within himself, " Oh that I could learn to be more careful, and to have perfect command over that temper of mine!'' He did not think, " God be merciful to me a 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 61 sinner,'" but it seems to me it amounted to almost that. JOnN AND niS FATIIEK. " Papa I John ! The bees are swarming I don't you see them V' It was httle Mary"s voice; and, sure enough, the bees were swarming. The particulars of the event you have had already. Well, after John got back from the woods with his bees still clustered on the limb, he gave them to friend jNIerrybanks to hold, while he went after the hive left sitting on the pail. The pail was over near the fence, and as the hiv.e was lifted otf of it, some stiff grass and weeds underneath it raised. up so much as to upset it, and it rolled over against the board fence. Now, the bottom board of the fence was a rather broad one, and as the pail rolled against it, it fell with its mouth against this board in such a way that the pail was all closed, except a small opening at the lower edge. The picture will show you just how the pail lay against the fence. After the weeds had risen up back of the pail, it was ob- scured from view so effectually from the inside of the fence, that no one would have ever thought of there being a pail there ; and, in truth, neither John nor THE NOVEL BEEHIVE, ^ig father Bver did find the pail. After the excitement of bring- ing the bees home, John was not even as good as usual at remembering, and so it never occurred to him that the pail was down in the weeds just where it tipped over when he lifted the hive up. After he and his father had botli hunted for it in vain, they gave it up ; and when the latter went down to the grocery in the evening to get some more " tobacker,'' he bought a new pail. Now, one great reason why John's father was a poor man was, that he seldom took care of his tubs, pails, etc. When a hoop tumbled off, it was seldom put back and fastened ; but the utensils and tools were mostly left out in the sun and rain until they fell in pieces, and then new ones were bought as a matter of course. His plea was, that it was more expensive to fix and fuss Avith old things than to buy new ones outright. Mr. Merrybanks did not agree with him, and they had often talked over the subject. Mr. M. even went so far as to make a new stave for a bucket, rather than to throw it away ; and his plea was, that even if it was more expensive than to pay lo cents for a new pail, it got one into a way of stopping things from going to pieces, and thus saving out- lays to the amount of many dollars in a year. It was ttie same way with the tinware. A good tin pail at John's father's would often have the bottom rusted out in about two months, because the water was left standing in it. or it was left with just a little in, with- out being wii)ed out and turned over. Now, Mrs. Merrybanks had a way of taking care of her tinware, that I think I will have to tell you about. She did not buy the thickest tin pails and dish-i)ans, because she did not want heavy utensils to handle ; but before each article was i)ut to use, it was warmed slightly, and a little clean lard rubbed in- to all the seams, Avith a soft rag. This was then rubbed off Avith another clean portion of cloth, and the operations repeated at in- tervals, according to the Avay in which the article Avas to be used. The tin Avater-pail was thus dried and ''greased " inside about once in a Aveek or ten days, and the effect Avas such that the pail had been in use for years, and the bottom A\;as not rusted even then. Mr. Merrybanks treated his sap- pails the same Avay ; and even though they were made from light tin, they Avere bright and clean after years of service. Now, a few days after that great SAvarm- ing time Ave have mentioned, Mary and Freddie were at play in the lot adjoining. This lot was one where cattle were allowed to pasture, and the grass was eaten down closely. As they passed along opposite the spot where that unlucky pail tipped over, Ereddie exclaimed, — " Why ! look'e here ! Here are bees going out and in under the old board of this fence." " They must be bumble-bees," suggested ]\Iary, " and they have got a nest under there, I'll bet you." "I'll bet you they ain't bumble-bees," said Freddie ; "I guess I knoAV bumble - bees when I see them, and these are real honey- bees, like my papa's." " Well, I know they are bumble-bees, for honey-bees don't ever go doAA'^n into holes in the ground and grass as these do. My pa has got honey-bees too, just as well as yours." John, hearing the dispute from where he was trying in vain to dig up the great Aveeds that had nearly SAvamped the potatoes, came to hear what it Avas about. Both children called out at once, — " Say, John, ain't these bumble-beesV" " Say, John, ain't these honey-bees?" At this, John clambered over the fence ; but the fence was poor and shaky, like the general surroundings ; and as he jumped doAvn, the fence Avas shaken so violently that all hands soon had a pretty fair prospect of knowing the disposition if not the kind of bees that inhabited that old pail and were pouring out from under the fence in a way thatmeantonly " business." Discussion AA'as 62 GLEAKINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Feb, dropped with a unanimity that would have done credit to a bee convention, and all hands cut for the house, laughing and screaming. "Whom should they lun against, as they turned the corner of the house, but Mr. Mer- rybanks, as jolly and rosy as he was when we last saw him rolling down the liillV hive. Little did any of the parties dream that morning that this same little incident, or perhaps accident, was eventually to make such a stir, not only throughout all Onion- ville, for that was the name of the place, but clear out into the outside world as well. As Mr. Merrybanks has promised us a descrip- tion of the Wooden-Pail-Cracker-Barrel bee- hive, belonging to himself and John, for next month, I think I won't tell you any more about it now. It winters bees perfect- ly (even if they haven't a drop of honey), and costs only — dear reader," Barney" says I have got to stop, for he can't squeeze an- other word into this number of Gleatstixgs '• no how." I^f turning over the great bundles of papers that come to me from all directions daily, I scarcely know from whom or why, I occasionally catch a glimpse of many g6od things. The following caught my eye this moment, from the Philadelphia Chris- tian Slandard :— Xothinp can equal in power and influence a holy life. The in- flnence may be silent, but it is luijfhty. Books anil tracts may 111' read, and their instructions and advices and appeals may be (lisresrardcd: sermons maybe preached, and their expositions of tmtUnnd their exhortations to repentance may gro unheeded ; but a Christ-like example, a quiet, blameless, beautiful walk in the path of purity, is, at least, more difficult to resist. ARE THEY BU3IBLE-BEES OR HONEY-BEESV Friend M. hustled the children into the house, and the bees, after buzzing about the door awhile, buzzed back to their pail hive. Mary had a bee or two tangled in her flying hair, but these friend M. got out quietly, without even a sting, and John was the only one of the three who got stung at all. The bees that got out of Mary's hair, when found on the window, proved to be one-banded hy- brids. Friend M. lighted a chunk of rotten wood, and after rigging out the different members of the family with sundry veils, the whole party cautiously approached the pail bee-hive. A little smoke was blown in at the entrance, and friend M. carefully turned the pail so that a view could be had of the inside. Sure enough , there was a good colony. They had evidently built the first comb parallel with the bottom of the pail, and the next one right by its side, and so on. The queen had commenced her brood in the center, and circled around so that their stores were above and at the sides. All were loud in their praises of these beautiful " wheels " of honey-comb and honey, except friend M. He stood with his smoking chunk of rotten woodiuhishand, and gazed as if spell-bound. Mary first broke the silence, — " I guess pa is studying up a patent bee- hive, made out of pails : don't you think he isV" At this, John grabbed hold of friend M.'s other hand and exclaimed, "Oh Mr. M.! Mr. M.! it'll be half mine, won't it, 'cause I in- vented it when I lost the swill-pail?" At this sally there was a loud laugh all around, and even John's mother joined while she suggested he would certainly make a great inventor some day, if every thing he lost or forgot turned out like the pail bee- SOME one of my kind friends sent me a little book entitled "The Christian's Secret of a Happy Lite," and by so doing he has conferred a greater favor than if he had sent me a thousand dollars (yys, a great deal greater, for the money would very likely have done harm; but the book will do good through endless ages.) May God's choicest blessing rest on the woman who wrote it, and all praise be to Him who put it into iny power to call your attention to it. I shall probably make some extracts from it next month. THE SPIDER PLANT, AND SIMPSON-PLAKT. I WOULD not advise any one to raise plants to sell, for last year's experiments abundantly proved that both could be raised in the open ground soon enough to get a good crop of honey. Of course, you will get better plants and an earlier yield, by starting them as you would tomatoes and cabbages, in the house, in a hot-bed, or even in the open ground, covered with sash, until all cool weather i.s past. We had several thousand raised in the latter way last sea- sou, and they bloomed nicely in the late fall months, when needed most. MRS. COTTON. On page 571, Dec. No., I asked all who had com- plaints against Mrs. Cotton for keeping their money and not sending any thing, to write to the address I then gave. Well, in the Jan. No., page 47, 1 said very few had reported. The truth of the matter is, no o?iereported. All cases of that kind seem to have been adjusted before Mr. Holmes undertook to look into the matter. The only thing that now remains unsatisfactorily adjusted is the complaints of her customers that the goods she sent were not satisfac- tory, nor what one would expect from her adver- tisement. My way of fixilig these complaints would be to refund such damages as they think they should have, or ask them to return the goods. Inasmuch as she is not the only supply dealer who has declined to settle with their customers in that way, she hardly should be classed with humbugs aid swindlers on that account. 1881 GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTURE. 63 JOURNALS €OSTI>G IttOKF- OF THE PlJBIilSHERS THAN OF SUBSCRIP- TION AGENTS. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE QUESTION. ^^RIENB ROOT:— I desire to talk in a friendly jirJ way to you and friend Jones, about what you — ' say on paffos 17 and 18 of Jan. Gleanings, and desire a space in the Growlcry or elsewhere so to do. Friend Jones says, "You hit the nail on the head when you say, 'Gleanings is a standard article.' " Now, I wish to ask, "How has Gleanings become a 'standard article' V " First, by advertising- it by the editor; and second, l)y its being advertised by sub- scription agents. Which has paid the better? We will let A. I. Root answer. Under date of Feb. .5, 1874, friend Root writes me as fallows; "Our num- ber is now 840, but wo have paid out about $150.00 advertising, so that we are not making Gleanings pay as yet." Under date of Dec. 25, 1874, he writes; "If you don't stop sending us full price for sub- scriptions, M'e will reveLge ourselves by swelling the amount on your credit page until we can put it out on interest for your wife and family. We bhould soon have a larger journal if we had a few more such friends." Again, under date of Oct. 3, 1875, he writes: "We really feel as if we owed you much for the subscribers you have been the means of our getting." Thus it will be seen that subscription agents paid the better in bringing Gleanings to a standard article. That was when Gleanings was in its infancy, and" friend R. insisted, at that time, on our taking 50 per cent as pay for our labor in getting subscriptions for him; or, in other words, buying Gleanings at wholesale, and selling at retail. As 50 per cent was more than ■vve wished to take, the next year we conceived the idea that we could help friend R. more by way of introducing his paper, if we gave all our suV)Scribers 35 per cent of this profit, and also be a help to them by reducing the price to all such as would buy Gleanings of us. Thus we have worked up to the present time, and the many letters we have received thanking us for our under- taking has cheered us on, and helped smoothe over several losses we have sustained. Also, friend Root has expressed his thankfulness to us for helping him to a large circulation. But now Gleanings has become a standard article, and as many children forget, when grown up, the labor and kindness be- stowed upon them in childhood by their parents, so friend Root apparently forgets the many friends who helped him in his time of need, and places them in a position whei-e they will either lose all their customers, or else get no pay for their labor. If we place Gleanings to subscribers at 90c, and have to pay friend Root the said 90e (as he says we must an- other year) where will the $100 come from it cost us to print and get 4000 club lists into the hands of bee-keepers all over the land? If we put the price of Gleanings at one dollar, we shall get no sub- scribers, as they will then send to friend Root for Ihem, just as we would go to any store if we wanted a watch, rule, knife, etc., if we could get them just as cheaply at the store as of friend R. And now we come to the inconsistency of friends root and JONES. Friend Root refers us to counter store; that he there sells at a profit of 10 per cent, and has thus "builded up such a trade;" but he must have for- gotten how he has told us, all along back, how, by buying large quantities at wholesale, he has been enabled to get the goods at from 25 to 50 per cent discount, so as to sell to us thus cheaply, thu=» mer- iting the approval and thankfulness of bee-keepers all over the land. How many 10 per cents do you think you would raakf^, friend R., if some one of us should sit down and write to all the mauufauturera j-ou buy of, and tell them you were selling goods at retail for less than they were, and convinced them that it would be a benefit to mankind if they would raise their prices so that all parties would have to pay alike for their goods? And now, friend Jones, to carry out your theory (of "bringing the producer and consumer, publisher and subscriber, nearer to together, thus crowding out unnecessary middle- men"), suppose you sit down and write to all these men of whom friend Root buys, that their "vvhule- sale price is too low," and thus cause a wail to be heard from Maine to California, and fn m Cana'ia to the Gulf of Mexico, from those who have bought of friend Novice at the present low prices fn m his counter store. And Nfivice says, "Amen I this is done solely to correct the inconsistencies you have mentioned." O consistency ! thou art a jewel. G. M. DOOLITTLE. Borodino, N. Y., Jan. 11, 1881. That is right, friend D.; speak out; all you say is true, and some more that you did not say is true also. Wlieu 1 wrote you those letters of thanks, you received the full price from each subscriber; wlien you spoke of working without pay or commi.ssion, I suggested (if I am correct), that it was not a good way to do, even among tlie best of friends, and I think so still. If I am not mistaken. Gleanings became a ''standard article" while you and friend lleddon both were dealing clips at it and its editor month after month, through the A. B. J.; and it was during this term of years that you com- menced sending circulars to all of its old regular subscribers, offering it to them for 75c instead of a dollar, if they would buy of you. Letters came to me, inclosing 7.")C, say- ing that they supposed the publisher was able to afford Gleanings at the regular ad- vertised price, and if he could not. send the money back. Of course, we sent the money back ; for if I should let one of our friends have it at 7.5c, and charge the rest $1.00, 1 should think it litde better than stealing, and that, too, from the best friends I have. I might put it at 7.3c to everybody, and have no wholesale, but this you would by no means consent to, if you took subscribers. Those wdio sell me goods for the counter store do not retail, as a general thing; and I have never heard one of them complain because I sold them too low. A bee journal is wanted year after year by a special class of men, and it is an easy matter to put a cir- cular into their hands, just about tlie time they are ready to subscribe. Our friends across the ocean often commission me to purchase for them certain goods, and I can give them as low rates on every article as anybody else, with the exception of Glean- ings; and it is a hard matter to explain to them,— in fact, it can't be consistently ex- plained, why I, the publisher, charge them a full dollar, when it is advertised extensively at 85c. As I now see it, it is my duty to fur- nish Gleanings for 1882 as low as it shall G4 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. i^Eli. be advertised in any of tlie subscription lists ; or, at least, so near near it that my old friends and customers will have no reason to complain ; at the same time, I wish to pay (and pay well) the friends who take the trouble to canyass thoroughly in the vicinity of their own postofflces. The first page of reading matter in each No. gives the terms for doing this. Friends are often made bet- ter friends after having had a plain, square talk in regard to differences. MY FIKST TEN YEARS OF BEE- KEEPING. SHAVE been keeping bees sixteen years. Hop- ing that it maybe interesting and profitable to — ' some of your ABC class at least, I send you a f hort account of my first ten years' experience. 1. How I not into the husincsn. I often wanted to buy honey, but could get none, except once; I got from a farmer, who had brim- stoned a hive, a few pounds in old brood-combs, half full of bee-bread. It was not very good eating, but we made the best of it. In the fall of 18(51 I met a clergyman from the West who told me of the new methods. I bought Langstroth's book and studied it. I bought a hive of bees in March, 1875. I sent to Mr. Langstroth for a sample hive, and got a carpen- ter to make others, for ^\ hich I paid $i.T)0 apiece. I read my book, and practic.'cd what I read. In one year I had gone the whole round of dividing, taking honey, wintering, etc. By that time I had learned pretty thoroughly the theory and practice of bee- keeping, and was prepared to advance. My bees and hives cost me the first year $'>\. I got 80 lbs. of box honey, which I could have sold at 40 cts. per lb. I had four good colonics to winter, which I could have sold for $13 apiece. Had I sold out at the end of my first year, I would have netted $19 on the one hive. i?eMiO)7c— Ifeel very confident that, as a general rule, it is best for beginners to commence in a small way with a few hives and as little expense as pos- sible; learn the business, test their own capabilities, and make the bees pay their own way. This would have saved many persons I know considerable loss and disappointment. 2. Expenses, increase, and profits. The account I kept was a cash account. I did not charge the bees with my own labor, but with cash paid out for hives, queens, etc. Neither do 1 credit them with the increase, nor with honey used in my own family, or given to my friends and neighbors. This amounted to several hundred pounds a year. The cash account for ten years stands as follows:— Year. No. of col's. Dr. Cr. 1865 1 $;n.oo $00.00 1866 4 33.00 00.00 186T 6 60.00 5.00 1868 13 80.00 1-25.00 1869 23 86.00 195.00 1870 31 58.00 326.00 1871 40 80.00 515.00 1873 34 15.00 363.00 1873 16 OO.on 223.00 1874 10 Total, 10.00 138.00 $451.00 $1890.00 $451.00 Net profit in ten years, $1439.00 Remarks.— After the prosperous year of 1871, 1 be- gan to sell my bees, and to work out of the business. Had I continued the next three 5'ears to increase, or even if I had kept up the number of working colo- nies, the profits might have been much larger. I began to go out of the business just when I had got- ten into a position where I could make it profitable. The profits for succeeding years were principally for surplus honey remaining over from 1871, and colonies and hives sold. 3. TIow I got out of the business. 1. For reasons I need not mention, I wanted to keep no more bees than would raise honey enough for my family and friends. I sold some colonics in the spring of 1873. 3. Until 1873 I wintered my bees successfully in a good dry cellar, out of the reach of the changes of cold and heat. That fall, owing mostly to careless- ness, and in part to the fact that my neighbors had for some years wintered their bees so successfully in Langstroth hives on their summer stands, and without protection, I left my bees out unprotected. That was a severe winter. I lost over one-half of my colonies, and the other half was so reduced that it took them all summer to recover. Foul brood also made its appearance, and I lost several colonies be- fore I got it exterminated. My neighbors lost near- ly all their bees that winter. FOUL BROOD. 3. In the spring of 1873 I began feeding up the 10 colonics left, to make them increase to fill my emp- ty hives. One day in April I found a crock of honey that I had forgotten about. I divided it among the 10. After three weeks, when they all seemed to be prospering, on examination I found foul brood In every one of the hives. Then I remembered that the honey in the crock had been saved from hives destroyed by foul brood. I had intended to boil it before feeding, but forgot about it. Here was trouble— foul brood in every hive. What could I do? Pre\ious experience had satisfied me that I could not save them without destroying the brood, and boiling the honey; and I was somewhat disgust- ed with keeping foul-brood honey. Most of the bees were old, and would not live long. I doubled up the colonies, putting them into three empty hives and removing them into the cellar to make them eat what honey they had saved before I would give them combs. I made a brush-heap, set it on fire, and emptied the contents of the ten hives into it, and set the hives away to freeze the next winter before they could be used again. After two days I brought out the bees, gave them clean hives and combs, which had been saved after the destructive work of the winter of 1873. In three weeks more, I found foul brood in every hive. Ah nve ! 1 had an- other fire. The three colonies were put into one hive, and placed in the cellar for four days, and fed a little. They did not get foul brood again, but died from old age before the young bees had increased enough to save the colony. Thus ended my first ten years of bee-keeping. Remarks.— 1. A man must mind his p's and q's if he does not want to make bee-keeping a failure. 3. Some years, bees will winter well out of doors in almost any hive. Most winters, when bees can fly occasionally, out-of-door wintering in chaff hives, or hives well protected, will probably prove the best. But in winters like that of 1872-'3, when the bees could not fly once from early in December until the middle of March, I am disposed to think there is nothing eqiial to a good dry cellar, 3. It makes me sad yet to think of the desolatioTi which reigned in my apiary in 1874. I did not find it 1881 GLEAXIXGS IX BEE CULTURE. 60 so pleasant to be out of the business. I also found that I needed the recreation, the exercise, and the pocket-money my bees gave me. I am now trying to winter 50 colonies. 4. I have other experiences, which I can not put in this article. Wishing a happy New Year and a prosperous busi- ness for 1881 to you and all your readers, I remain,— Milroy, Pa., Jan., 1831. John W. White. Many thanks, friend W., for your valuable experience, especially in regard to wintering and foul brood. I have no doubt but that many of us could furnish facts corroborative of the point you have brought out so strong- ly— the ■ importance of care and thoughtf ul- ness, year after year, if we would make a continued success of the business. TOBACCO COIiVMiV. ESEE you offer to give one of your smokers to any one who has been an inveterate slave to the use of tobacco, who will pledge to abstain from the use of it. I, perhaps, have been as much a slave to the use of it as any one, and if you will send me one of your smokers, I will pledge myself never to chew or smoke it again, or forfeit fourfold. Jas. H. p. Henderson. Co\-ington, Ga , Dec. IT, 1880. I have noticed your offer in Gleanings, to give a smoker to any person giving up the use of tobacco. I have smoked tobacco for 11 years, more or less; the last 4 or 5 years regularly. I am 27 years old; have been discussing in my own mind lately whether "to quit or not to quit," and have about concluded to quit. Send along that smoker, and away goes pipe, tobacco, aud cigars for good. L. E. BrssELL. Ridgeway, Osage Co., Kansas, Jan. 6, 1881. You sent me, by request last week, a sample copy of Gleanings, and in it I found a singular offer. To any one who will leave off using tobacco, you offer to furnish, free of charge, one of your smokers— he to have his choice. Now, I have been a slave to the weed for 18 years, although I am only 34 now; but I am going to take you at your word. I am not pre- pare! at present: but if the smoker comes all right, I will subscribe for Gleanings. I want the large size Cold Blast. I am just commencing in the bee business. I am going into it more for the pleasure I may get out of it than for the profit. I shall want a queen in the spring. My wife says that the minute I begin the use of tobacco again, she will write and tell you of it: but I guess I have honor enough left to pay if I fail. E. A. Em.mons. Tampico, Whiteside Co., 111., Dec. 30, 1880. I have got into my old path again, and have for- gotten the many kind words you spoke to me while I was in Medina jail. Mr. Root, I wish I could be with you and leai'n to be a Christian ; but I never can be a servant of the Lord as long as I live where I am. I have left off chewing tobacco, but still smoke some, and I hope you will forgive me for breaking my promise to you on the smokers, and I am willing to pay you for your smoker, as it has done me a great deal of good. Perhaps you have heard of my smoking the pipe; if not, this will let you know that bad company will do almost aHy thing. I shotild like very well to work for you in the spring, so I could get away from the comrades I have in this town. Samuel Young. Chatham, Medina Co., O , Jan. 20, 1881. I am very sorry, friend Y., that you have gone back to smoking again, but I am very glad that you have come rigcht out, and con- fessed it like a man. I should be very glad to give you work, and may be able to do so ; but, friend Y., can I not impress on you that it is not to me you must look for help V I am but a poor weak erriug mortal, and if you should depend on me alone, it would be like the blind leading the blind. Take your Sav- ior as your friend, and you are sure to win immortal life in the end. If I am not mis- taken, you have good Christian people all around "you. friend Y., and you are holding a little aloof from them. Xow, as you value my advice, friendship, or wisdom, go right straight next Sunday morning to your near- est church. Tell the minister, and the su- perintendent of the Sabbath-school that you are coming right along, and want to help in the Lord's work ; and if you do not tind it one of the happiest Sundays you ever spent, I do not know any thing about it. I know it will be hard work, and that you would rather do almost any thing in the world ; but I tell you, we shall never get that golden crown unless we do some hard things. Just read this promise: — He that overcometh, Ihe same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.— Rev. 3: 5. I am sorry, very sorry, but I fear I shall have to charge you with that smoker until you write me tliatyou have broken off again. D. is just breaking off tobacco too ; and if he sees you with a pipe in your mouth after you have once tried, do you not see how it may hinder instead of helping him in his new life. By referring to p. 571 of last year's volume, I see you were the first to accept my offer of a smoker ; and now I am sorry you are the first one to be called on for payment for one. Or lietters from Those AVho have ITIade Bee Culture a Failuvc. ^j;(^S) EES were almost a total failure in this part of /[jaj) the country this year; no increase, and " — scarcely any surplus, and a good many light swarms went into winter-quarters. John Xoblb. Eureka, Winnebago Co., Wis., Dec. 12, 1880. I have lost 3 out of 7 swarms, and if this cold weather continues I shall lose all; then what shall I do? Nobody was looking for such a winter as this. A. BiXBV. Foristell, St. Charles Co., Mo., Jan. 12, 1881. Our clover and other flowers utterly failed last summer, so that we had to feed our bees in July and Augvst, to keep them alive. You may set down a large section of Illinois, under the recent terrible drought, among the growlers; I suspect you could buy out their bees for a tin whistle, if they have any still alive. J. B. Turner. Jacksonville, Morgan Co., 111., Jan. 13, 1881. (i(; GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Fbk. POISOM^iO BEES. AN EXTRACT FROM THE LAWS OF OHIO. ^^RIEND ROOT:— As I have seen considerable Jip discussion in Gleanings of late in regard to — ' the law protectingr bees, and in regard to hives, poisoning, etc., I have jiist been reading a portion that is found in Ohio Laws, Vol. 68, page 87, which I think will fit the Klassen-Krock case pretty well. It reads as follows: — That if any person shall steal any hive, box, bee palace, or other contrivance containing honey or honey-bees, the property of another, of less value than thirty-five dollars; orif aas^ person shall steal honey from any such hive, box, bee palace, or other contrivance as aforesaid; or if any person shall will- fully and maliciously disturb, injure, or destroy any such hive, box, bee palace, or other contrivance containing honey or honey-bees; or if any person shall steal, or by any art, device, or contrivance, or in any manner whate%-er. decoy from any such hive, box, bee palace, or contrivance, any such honey-bees with intent to convert the same to his own use, or with intent to damage or defraud the owner thereof; or if any person shall, by any art, contrivance, or de- vice, unlawfully and maliciously injure, damage, or destroy any such honey-bees by means of poison, or otherwise, every person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not exceedingonehundred dollars, and shall be confined in the jail of the coun- ty not less thantcn nor more than thirty days, and pay the cost of prosecution, and shall, moreover, be liable to the party injured in double the value of the property stolen, injured, or destroyed. Now, friend E., I am a littlesurprisedatthe course you, and especially friend "Wilkin, takes on page 8 of Jan. Gleanings, advocating the idea of poisoning property. I think friend W. has not looked at the laws of Ohio carefully. Of course, I do not sanction the idea of carrying a revolver, but I should think more of the man who would point a revolver at my face than one who would go behind my back in the dark and poison my property, which I think is one of the most heinous and meanest of criminal offens- es. A. H. DCTFF. Flat Bidge, O., Jan. 8, 1881. Tut, tut, friend D.I Did I say any thing that could be construed to encourage poi- soning bees or other stock? I am very glad indeed to get the above law, and I am sure we all owe you a vote of thanks for looking it up. Now, you see, if friend Klasen had not had a pistol along with him, we should have had a "dead open and shut"' on friend Krock, as the boys say. Neither 2)lstols nor poison, are according to the spirit of tlte Fourth of July in settling neighborhood dif- ferences, and so I would advise both the parties to shake hands and help each other fix up their bee-hives and grapevines. If they won't do it otherwise, I think it would be a good idea to have a "donation party'' for both of them, to make up what they lost by being foolish. TJIVDER THE BOX-ELDERS. fjjRiEXD NOVICE :-Situated under the shelter of one of the many beautiful little groves so ■ common in northern Illinois, is the home ot a plain gentleman, to whom I wish to introduce you and your readers. He is a bee-keeper with his other business, and to show you the style and tastes of the gentleman I will say, his cows are Jersey; chickens, Plymouth Rocks; bees, Cyprian and Italian; dog, black and tan, and bis cat Malte. His home is an in- expensive one -neat and tasty. Around his dwell- ing is quite a number of box-clJer trees of his own setting; and almost any hot afternoon in July or Avigust you can find him seated in a large rustic chair under one of these beautiful sweet-scented trees, watching his bees and chickens, both of which are in plain sight. It is here we have met so often and had our bee talks, of which I may give you a synopsis; and it is here we will introduce— Mr. Dust- er, Mr. Root; Mr. Root, Mr. Duster. His neighbors say, the reason he was called by that name was be- cause he could dust around occasionally £o lively; but I think, upon due retiection, that the reason was, "because it was his name." Having introduced him, we will proceed to give some of his ideas on — BOXES AND separators. " Well," said Mr. Duster, in answer to my inquiry, "1 have used almost all kinds; I now use but three; viz., the 4f.i X -IJi, the Prize box, and Harbison sec- tion box. They all have their good qualities. You may think strange that 1 should name Harbison's in connection with the others. I have used the H. sec- tion box for several years. I do not make them of such heavy stuff as Mr. Harbison; I make them very light; bottom-piece nearly like Prize box— leav- ing, however, a wider space for bees to pass into the box. "Let me say here that I have heard a good deal about section boxes. Well, I do not know of but this one of Harbison's, unless j-ou call Adair's of tenor twelve years ago one. This Harbison box is reoMy in sections, and I know of none other that is. " I have for years prepared the box or sections in this way: Running a wax-guide on the top of every section, crescent form, and '/4 inch in depth, and placing a piece of white comb in the center, and having at least one piece that would reach from top to bottom as a climber. I never used separators, and almost invariably the combs were straight and nice. There is another thing to be said for them, — you need no racks. I can gather more honey in this style of box than in any other I have used, and have it in good shape. The Prize box is good, and I do not see why, if put up in racks ivithout separators, and prepared the same as Harbison's section box, they would not be filled as soon as the H. box. The two past seasons have been so poor for honey, I have not been able to satisfy myself in this regard. When honey comes in slowly, and little at a time, as in the two past seasons, there will be a great many imper- fectly filled sections, let them be prepared in any way or manner. The sticking of little bits of comb to separatoi'S comes from the same cause; viz., a small and irregular flow of honey. There is no great question in my mind but that bees will store more honey in sections without separators, and I mean to test the matter the coming season more fully. I am afraid we can not get along without separators in our Prize boxes, but I'll venture one prophecy: The future separator is not invented yet. One item more in regard to the Prize boxes: I am much in- clined to think that the entrance to the Prize box should be more than 14 inch, and especially so if I were going to use them without separators." Here our talk on boxes and separators took a sud- den turn, for in our conversation we had wandered into his bee-yard, and as we came up to a certain hive, Mr. Duster stopped, and, pointing at it, said: ISSl GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 67 " I can never pass that hive without thiniing what a hot set of hybrids I had in it last year." Lookiug at me inquiiingly he asked, "Did my wife ever tell you about it?" "No, Mr. Duster; why?" "Well," said Duster, "if she never told you, I rt ckcn I can keep it." " But I'll ask her now," said I. "Yes, yes," he drawled out; "I see, I see. Per- haps I'd better tell it myself, as women are so given to embell'shing- things, and this scrimmage I had with these hybrids needs nothing of the sort; so, here goes. "It was a hot dayin August, about this time in the afternoon, and I had come from my business very warm. I stripped off all my woolens, so that when I stepped out among my bees I had on only mj' shirt and an old thin pair of overalls, scudding under bare poles, nearly, you see— close reefed, anyhow. Well, I was just passing that hive, and happened to think that the boxes were about ready to come off, but for- got what manner of bees these were of. I removed the cap, and ccmmenced to lift the boxes; they did not stop like the Italians, and fill the space between the frames, holding on to the top-bar, and looking at you as much as to ask, ' What's the rumpus ? ' No, I guess not I They just streamed out and up both mj* hands and seized ' each particular hair' as fast as they came to them, humped their backs, and I felt some- thing! Yes, I could stand that; but they knew a trick worth two of that. They went to work to try : the te.xturo of mj' overalls, and just here was an ex- ! cellent opening for business, and I assure you they j improved it. Did you ever have bees stiug you i when (hey could just reach through the cloth to ; your hide? Yes, T guess you remember it— just like ! red-hot needles— that's it. Y'ou ask why I did not at i once put down the boxes and run? That's about what they asked the Irishman who had mounted a wild celt that ran with him under the apple-tree limbs until he had lost almost all of his clothes. ' " Why didn't you get off? " Get off, en' by gorry, is it? Faith, en', en' how could I get off whin I had a tough match to stick on?— d'ye mind? ' That was about m5' fix. "'Mr. Duster! why don't you dust? run, or the bees will certainly sting you!' "I stopped just long enough f o see my wife stand- ing on the back piazza of the house, trying to cover a smile with one hand when it was too big to be cov- ered by both. Run I a man never had more induce- ments-so pressing, so warm. Run! well, didn't I run? I dropped my boxes somewhere, and 1 con- fess I ran — I, Mr. Duster, the bee-man. A small out-house close by (not built for any such purpose, though) gave me shelter. 'Any port in a storm,' thought T. 'Hold the fort,' came from that back piazza. You see, I had an audience too big by one. What I said or what I tltought, while I fought the bees in there, is no one's business, I reckon," said Mr. Duster, sententiously. " I've read somewhere," said Mr. Duster, " about the devils among the swine, and huw they ran, and so on. Now, some of these scientific fellows don't believe it. If they had been where I was, they'd believed that Satan was in the bees, and I think too they certainly would have run as bad as the hogs and I did." At the close of (his philosophical conclusion, I bade Mr. Duster good-day. R. H. Mellen. Amboy-on-Inlet, 111., Jan. 12, 1881. FRIEND ROOP'S IDEAS ON WINTERING BEES. ALSO SOMETnUKG ABOUT THE HIVE HE USES. ijpiR\lJR excuse for writing this article is, we want MM to help our fellow-beings to save their bees. We have now had eight years, in which half of all the bees have been lost each winter north of the Mason and Dixon line. For fear some of our brethren will consider us wild in our estimate, we hand in the following, clipped from the Wauseon Herald, a count j- paper of Fulton Co., Ohio:— EFFECTS OF THE LATE COLD WINTER ON THE BUSY BEES. strange as it may seem, that, with all the care and the benefits of experience, investigation, and im- provements in the methods of bee-keeping, yet the mortality has never been so great among the honey gatherers as last winter. We have made some in- quiry on the matter as to the extent of the losses in this vicinity and tind that— M. S. Pray hart :53 Lost U AVm. Lewis " 53 " 46 Wm. Wilforrt " 40 " 35 a. W. Piatt " 25 " 2.3 Dr. Ramsev " 10 " 10 Judge Catelv "1 "0 Judson Smith "6 " (5 R. E. Terwiliger " 11 " H Robert Bartly "6 "6 John Watkins "8 "7 J. D. Gay " U " 11 .7. W. Currv " 5 " 5 Jacob Huth "7 "7 Jacob Luke " 16 " 12 Wm. Dowel, of Ai, kept 3.') swarms of bees burled in a cave; are all living, while out of 23 that were left out. only 11 are now alive. We also learn that Daniel Kepler, Secretary of the Northwestern Ohio Bee -Keepers' Association, at Napoleon, out of 55 lost 45; while W. F. Williams, of Napoleon, out of 150 lost 75; and Mr. Rakestraw, of the same place, out of SO lost 76. The above shows how well a few apiarists succeed- ed w'ith modern appliances two years ago. We have spent much time during the past several years to find out the condition of bees each spring in all the Northern States— how wintered, etc. The first year or two of mortality set the bee woild wild with ex- citement, and many new methods for safe winter- ing were heralded abroad, to the great detriment of young apiarists,— the advccates of these different methods not knowing themselves whether they would prove a "bonanza" or a "Peter out." Shall we then fold our hands and sit down contented with chaff packing and standard hives? We have nothing to offer as an excuse for showing our hive, for the reason that we have tried it the past seven years, and if "ye editor" will, we will tell you how it works for us. The brood chamber of this hive is 12 inches deep, 11 wide, and 18 long. It takes 12 frames 10x10 inches inside measure, or 1200 cubic inches of comb space, 68 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Feb. and 5 compartments around the broodnest, holding 3 frames each. It will be seen that we have 27 frames all ylike in the body of hive, or cases may be used as shown in cat. When the 5 side compart- ments have the cases in and the crate is on top the brood-frame, the colony has room to store just ICO lbs. of comb honey. When we work colonies for comb honey on top the brood-frames, and extract from those side chambers, we get an immense yield of each; for by that method our colonies never Bwarm. When we prepare colonies for winter, as soon as they are done gathering honey in the fall, or a little before, we place the division board in the back groove, see cut. INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT OF FRIEND BOOP'S HIVE. By the way, the side-boards to the brood-nest have ?8-inch grooves cut the same depth that the side- boards are rabbited, to receive the brood-frames— thus not only contracting the space bee-tight but air-tight, by the use of the division board. Remove all surplus frames and boxes from the side and rear compartments; shake the bees in front, and they will crowd themselves on to the 8 frames left, which should contain at least 25 lbs. of good sealed stores. Place the chaff cushion on top the frames, and fill all outer compartments with dry sawdust packed tight; leave them on the summer stand. If j'ou find any weak in the spring, which Is seldom the case, crowd them on to two combs with the division board, and see if they do not outstrip three times their number on two standard L. frames. Two combs of brood and bees may be taken from this bive every 10 days throughout the entire honey sea- son, without perceptibly affecting the working force of the hive. A two-frame, nuclei on two of these frames is in better shape to defend themselves than on two L. frames, and will do us a better job of queen-rearing than twice their number could do on two standard L. frames. To increase bees with this hive, close all the entrances to the side compart- ments by means of tin or wooden slips; drop the di- vision board in the forward groove, and set up one strong two-comb nuclei in each of the 6 compart- ments. After each of the queens have been laying about one week, sell 5 of them, always reserving the one in the main brood-nest forward of the division board. Open all passages and allow the bees to communicate with each other overnight; then place all together in the main brood department, and you have a strong colony ready for the sections. It will be seen, by opening 10 hives, that we can examine the condition ol 60 nuclei, and a safer way of rearing queens and having them fertilized, we have been unable to find. The above is our system for suc- cessfully wintering bees, and will answer many questions. It is not patented, but cost us a great deal of hard study. Hiram Roop. Carson City, Mich. ^ ■(>■ ^ DOOLITTL.E'S REVIE^V AND COMMENTS ON THE ABC BOOK. Continued from last month. COMB HOyEY. moth worms in comb honey. I think you miss it in not saying something just here in regard to moth-worms that always infest comb honey to a greater or less extent. If they don't bother your honey they do mine; and if a man down in Pennsylvania adopts this stylo of sending off Lis honey, and the worms injure it, he won't feel good, even after you tell him they don't bother yours. TAKING sections OFF THE HIVES, BEFORE THE CELLS ARE ALL CAPPED. Quinby said, and with much truth, too, that all boxes two-thirds full of white honey should be taken off before buckwheat honey was stored in them at the beginning of that yield, as partly filled boxes of white honey would bring more than when finished out with dark honey. If j'ou will adopt the plan of storing it in a warm room for a month, all your ad- vice will not be needed, as in that case unsealed honey will not heat or run in the least. DANDELION. This blossoms just with fruit with us, and so is of little account, except the little they get before and after, at beginning and ending. Dandelion honey, after it is a year or two old, is just splendid. DISEASES OF BEES. Can't you manage to tell us why bees did not spring-dwindle prior tc ISVO? When I first com- menced to keep bees, there were 100 swarms around me, kept by four or five parties that had kept bees for 30 and 40 years; and, although they kept on using box hives, still not one of them has a bee to- day. Tell us what did it. I confess I can't see through it at all. To come right down to the point, I can't either, friend D., even after all the learned and exhaustive articles we have had on the subject. Once they lived almost without care, and now they don't. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 69 DRONES. AGE OF DRONES. Fultz, of Muscatine, Iowa, sayp, in A. B. J. for January, 1880, that drones live only 2-1: days, while I claim they live to about the same age as a worker, if the bees allow them to live that long. FEEDiya AND FEEDERS. FEEDING BACK. Ha%-en't you changed your mind on this feeding back? I have again tried it this season, only at a l.iss, as I have to feed '2 lbs. to get one in the boxes. Betsinger and my neighbors succeeded no better. I agree with yoii that such is the case ex- actly until the brood apartment is crammed; Init after that, there are not more losses than I have mentioned. THICKENIKG WATERY HONEY. If this is so, how came j'our thin honey from bass- wood you told us about a little while before on these pages? Why did they not thicken this in the same way? I still believe all evaporating of nectar is done in the hive, as I once wrote. I should explain it thus: The basswood yielded in such quantities that they carried it right to the hives. The Simpson plant furnished only a limited amount compar- atively. FOUL BROOD. If you don't give them any comb, they don't want f.ny confining, as I repeatedly found in 1871, '2, and '3. A new swarm from a diseased hive, hived in an empty hive, will never have the disease, unless they get honey after the larvae has hatched from a hive that has the fuul brood; so your "starving part " should be left out. I ought to know, as I renovated my whole apiary in \S',3. FR UIT-BLOSSOMS. Betsinger says, and I agree, that if we had the same number of bees in a hive in apple-bloom that we do in basswood, the yield would be as great. I once had 8 lbs. stored in one day, with not over one- third the bees I have in basswood. Appk' is a great yielder of honey, sure. Then we have a most excellent reason for Imxing poicerf id colonies to commence the season with." HIVE-MAKING. A good colony of bees nnU store almost as much honey in a half-barrel or nail-keg., as in the most elaborate and expensive hive made, other thinQs beinQ equal. If I am correct, it was E. Gallup who said this; E. Gallup certainly said it, and Quinby may have done so: but I do not remember that he did. How is it, friend Root, that when you write a book you give only a description of your hive? AVhen L. C. Root writes a book he gives a description of the Quinby hive only. Has not Prof. Cook set you both a good example by giving several, and then giving his reasons for adopting the one he uses? As j'ou know, I do not agree with you on hives, and think J'OU are prejudiced on many points; but I have gone over the ground so much in the bee journals, that I will not say more here, except to say that, if I used the L. frame, I certainly should use side boxes as well as top; and as I took out the full ones on top, raise th*^ partly filled ones from the sides to the top, placing the empty boxes at the side each time. This is the principle to secure a large yield of box honey, and we think we have proven it to you by our re- ports the past eight years. Still, you do not even mention the matter, but drive ahead as if yours was the only way. Please excuse, but so it seems to mo. I know you consider the interchangeable side and top boxes complicated; but can't we well afford it, if from 5 to 10 lbs. extra can be secured from each stock each year thereby? I know, friend D.,that tliis matterof hives is a very important one, but if Quinby and Gallup were right, as in a few sentences back, does it really matter so very muchV I have described minutely how to make both summer and winter hives for the L. frame ; but if anybody prefers any other sized frame, they can vary the directions to suit, without any great ditliculty. I have not described the hive preferred by yourself, Prof. Cook, L. C. Koot, Uadant, ilarbison, and many others, because it would make the book too voluminous for one thing, and because I could not give directions for each operation all the way through, without modifying all the time, to suit the different hives, lie- sides, I should perplex and confuse the be- ginner beyond measure if I tried to do so. Even though Prof. Cook uses your sized frame, he uses a differently made hive ; and, if I am correct, you would hardly agree with his directions any more than you do mine. Friend Cook gives a general idea of the whole subject, without going into minute details as I have, and his book in this respect fills a need that many of the others do not. In deciding to have my whole book written principally for the L. frame. I did it with the belief that you would do nearly if not quite as well with that frame as with your own, and also that by far the greater part of our bee folks had that frame already in use. To advise everybody to throw away the hives they have, and adopt another, would be a most serious matter, and I have not intended so to do in any thing I have written ; but I would advise all new begin- ners to fall into the great beaten path as far as may be, in deciding upon implements to be used, I feel now as I did at first, that it is best not to confuse beginners by attempt- ing to describe more than one frame, and the summer and winter hives for holding this one frame. I indorse your idea in re- gard to raising up the side boxes. ITo be Continued.'] ^ lai tm DOOLITTLE ANSU'ERS QLESTIONS. QUEENS REARED AT DIFFERENT SEASONS. ^^'PON recovering from a long and severe illness, HyJ I find Doolittle has many questions to answer; and, to answer all within a given limit, we will try to be as brief as possible. First comes W. Z. Hutchinson's questions on late queen-rearing in Dec. No. After reading his report in Jan. No., we were almost inclined to laugh atDoolittle'sadmittiug, that "we queen-breeders have greater facilities for learn- ing facts in regard to any specialty, etc.," when facts would show that Doolittle raised four times more queens before Hutchinson ever went into the busi- ness than friend H. has in all his life. Years ago we rode the hobby of queen-rearing, and raised queens 70 GLEANI2^GS m BEE CULTURf:. Feb. by the hundred, bolh in senson and out of season, till we supposed we know something of queen-rear- ing'. It was through these experiments that we ar- rived at the conclusions given in Oct. Ko. of A. B.J., and it was only when we came to the' conclusion to rear all our queens, as far as possible, from natural cells, and during the honey season, that we were en- abled to produce the results in honey, given for the past eight years. Now, just a few words in regard to following nature: Friend H. tells us about farmers controUirg the stock, fruit-growers pruning their vines, poultrymen stimulating their hens to " shell out" the eggs in mid-winter, etc., but none of these things touch the piiint. Now we ask. Does apoultry- breedertry to or succeed in raising line breeding stock from chicks hatched in November or Decem- ber? or does the shepherd raise his choice stock fi-om lambs dropped at that season of the year? or the horseman his pet horses, selling for perhaps $1000 and upward, from colls fouled in October or Novem- ber? Nay. If ho wishes stock looking toward per- fection, he rears them at the time nature intended to have them reared. In fact, it would be hard to so pervert dame Nature as to have animals come into existence at the season of the year above mentioned. But with the bees we can compel them to rear queens, even in mid-winter, if they have brood. And now, fricTid H., I pr( pose that you try reaiiug some of those line queens in January and Februarj-, as brood can almost always be found at this season of the year in strong swarms; and as friend H. uses none but strong swarms for queen-rearing, it will do no harm to feed them and rear us some just as good queens as would be hatched out the last of June from u'ltural cells. We think that, by this time, friend H. has come to the couclusion that if he had his choice he would prefer, for his own use, queens reared in June and July, as the Creator of all things designed they should be, and so we M'ill drop the matter. DOOLITTLE'S AVERAGE PROFIT ON BEES. Next we are asked by friend H., in Jan. No., what has been our average profit per colony since we first engaged in bee culture. Our experience with bees covers aperiodof 12 years, beginning with 1869, which was the poorest season ever known in New York. Our average profit in '69, per colony, was $3.03, and $35.40 in 1877, whioh was our best season. Our average number of stocks during the 12 years has been about 48, and the average cash profit from them during said 12 years has been $19.30, or an average of $9;^2.28 for each year. We have hired perhaps 40 days labor during the period of 12 years, my wife and I doing nearly all the work. DOOLITTLE ON THE BEE POISOKINQ MATTER. Next I am called upon by Geo. Ilosekclly to give my views on the Klason vs. Krock case. We wish to say, that the trouble all came by those few harsh words at the outset. When will men learn to carry the impress into practical, every-day life, of the words, "A soft answer turneth away wrath"? etc. When Mr. Krock told Mr. Klasen that his bcea were damaging him, the proper thing for Mr. Klasen to do was to have told Mr. Krock that he was sorry; but, as he could not control his bees, he (Krock) should be as patient as possible, and at the end of grape harvest he would pay him for all damages. Again, a few pounds of honey given now and then by Mr. Klasen to Mr. Krock, and a plate of grapes oc- Cdsioaally given to Mr. Klasen all along through life would have so smoothed the way that Mr. Krock would have borne much before he would havecalled for any damage. Is not this far preferable to con- tention and strife, and of less cost in the end? As the matter now stands, I think the course advised by our friend A. I. Root the better one to pursue. PERFORATING, AND SLOTTING SEPARATORS. Nc.vt we are asked in regard to perforating sepa- rators, when used for box honey. We first used sep- arators in 1872, and the thought at once presented itself, that the more openings there were between the boxes, and also between the surplus arrange- ment and brood-nest, the more honey could be ob- tained. Our first experiment was to have the tin cut so as to leave Vi inch space at both top and bot- tom of the boxes or sections for the bees to pass through; but at the end of the first season's trial we were convinced that we had much too large space, as many of the combs jutted out beyond the sections, both at top and bottom, so we could not crate it, to say nothing of glassing it. Our next move was to leave % at the top and bottom, and also to construct a few so as to leave % slots through the separator so the bees would be divided up as little as possible. A second failure was the result, for our combs were nearly as bad at top and bottom as the previous year, while the sides of the combs much resembled a washboard, especially those built when honey was coming in rapidly. The next season wc left only J4 inch above and below the separator, and made a few with quarter-inch slots in separators. We also made our side-box hives with the division-boards be- tween side-boxes and brood-combs slotted plentifully with quarter-inch slots. Now, while the H inch proved to be the right width to prevent the bulging of the combs, yet when the season was over we could see no difference in favor of the perforated separa- tors. Since that time our hives have been made without the perforations. After six years of prac- tical work in the apiary, with those hives still in the yard, we have not seen difference enough in favor of those perforated to warrant making more like them. Having the sections near the brood, with enough space at top and bottom of the separators to admit of the warm air generated by the bees passing freely into all the sections, as well as to convey to the bees the idea that they are not excluded from the warm cluster or brood-nest, is all that seems to be required. G. M. Dooltttle. Borodino, N. Y., Jan., 1881. If I mistake not, friend I)., xery fine-look- ing queens have been raised in tlie winter, biit I do not know how we are to tell how good they were, because it was impossible to have thein fertilized. — ^lany thanks for the valuable facts given us in regard to separa- tors. We have a machine now in our tin- room that will perforate four sheets of tin at a time ; bnt the expense of it is $20.00 in- stead of five, as we hoped it might be last month. We can now furnish perforated separators to any who may choose to try them, at just double the usual prices. From experiments I have made, with and without sei)arators, I am strongly inclined to the opinion, that the perforations will be an ad- vantage when a great crop of honey comes, with cool nights. It will likely be tested pretty thoroughly the coming season. Our machine at present is fitted with punches to cut I holes 1881 GLEAXINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 71 CYPRIAN BEES IN THEIR NATIVE L ANI». By OCR OLD FRIEND FRANK BENTON. ^q LEANINGS has been a very welcome visitor in w|5a"J my island home each month during the past ^^""^ trying season; for, though my health, my eyes, and the work in the apiary would not permit me to read any of the journals thoroughly, I could still look them over and read some. Had it been possible, I would certainly have added my testimony in regard to many points which have been discussed during the preceding months, especially the ref- erences made to the new races of bees lately intro- duced into America. My work with these bees has led me to several conclusions which I believe, if stated, may aid not a little those whose experience with them has been more limited. I will tell you first a little about the season here, that you may see that I have had a chance to handle the bees under various circumstances— oftentimes very unfavora- ble conditions. THE SEASON. My first work with Cyprian bees in Cyprus was done in the month of March, at Kythrea, among the mountains of the north coast. The winter had been one of unusual severity, and had continued long, while cold rains had prevented the bees from flying much during the weeks just preceding the time of my work. Of course, as the natives cut all the hon- ey-combs from the rear portion of their hives — clay cylinders— just at the close of each honey season, those colonies that had managed to survive the win- ter and early spring were scantily provisioned, and cross enough when touched during the chilly, rainy weather. I had no smoker with me, but with the greatest smudge I could raise I could not escape multitudes of stings. After two mule runaways, in one of which I was literally covered with bee-stings while saving some seven or eight mules from death by stinging, and several sleepless night -journeys over mountains where the only passage is a break- neck mule-path, "the Cyprus Apiary" was found to number something over one hundred colonies. Dur- ing the following weeks, the supply of honey brought in by the bees was scarcely enough to favor queen- rearing, and nuclei had to be fed sugar syrup. After about the middle of May, very little was gathered; and during the later months, since July, nothing; for no rain fell here between May 10th and Sept. 15th, and with no source of irrigation, the fields be- came perfectly barren under the fierce tropical sun of the long summer days. The mercury rose to 114° F., and sometimes a hot wind— the sirocco of the African desert— blew from the south. Cool nights began about the middle of last month, though the days continued warm— even hot at mid-day— until the second week of December. Cold rains and wind followed, until to-day it Is sunshiny, and the bees are again bringing in pollen. HANDLING THE CYPRIANS. After transferring a large number of colonies, and spending some hours getting the frames nailed down ready for their journey over the mountains, I thought Cyprians would defend their hives against two-legged intruders quite as well as any bees I had ever seen. 1 knew, however, that it would be hard- ly fair to denominate them cross, simply because they resented handling during cold spring weather when provisions were very limited. With a smoker and more moderate weather, especially if I had baited them a little with sugar syrup, I found I got along very well in the main, but every now and then some hive would refuse to be quieted by smoke. Many of these instances I could not account for, be- cause I was sure I had handled the combs carefully, and observed all the little points necessary to suc- cessful manipulation— at least, all I would have ob- served with Italian or black bees. But now I under- stand the matter better, and find that Cyprians are less inclined to sting than Jtulians, provided they are handled with as much reference to their pecul- iarities as is necessary with Italians. Under allcon- ditions and at all times of the day, even from daj- light until nine o'clock at night, I have handled Cyprian bees, without smoke, and with no bee-veil nor even a hat on my head. Bare-headed, bare- handed, with low slippers on my feet, no coat nor vest on, my shirt cut low in the neck, and all my garments thin, I have worked hour after hour among the Cyprians just as fast as I could make my limbs and body move, transferring colonies, dividing swarms into nuclei, and putting up queens for ship- ment, all the while shaking and brushing the bees about ju'Jt as though they were so many Italians, and a big basswood harvest was on hand. I say shaking them, for they can be shaken from the combs quite as easily as can black bees, and hrugh- imj them is a datigerous experiment unless they are well filled with honey. Now, it must be remembered that all this was done at a time when no honey was coming in, and when feeding had not been kept up regularly, the colonies that had not been fed and those that had having been opened indiscriminately; the handling was often at the most unseasonable hours of the day; and, lastly, there were often many visitors present; yet I was rarely stung, and I rec- ollect but one instance in which a visitor was stung. The only points I observed carefully were the fol- lowing:—I ope«ed the hives with extreme caution; the quilt was removed slow! ij, and the hecs left to them- selves for a moment before I touched the frames; then the first frame was very carcfalhj removed, after which no further especial caution was needed, except that thei-e musthe no jarring of frames, either in remov- ing them, in handling, or in replacing them. Any one would be likely to say, "These things are all very good to observe with any race of bees; but will they prevent Cyprians from stinging, when their observance in handling blacks and Italians, under the conditions you mention, would avail little as far as keeping these races under subjection is con- cerned?" It seemed to answer with me, and I dis- covered that the Cyprians were very susceptible re- garding the sudden admission of light into the brood apartment, and they resent in the strongest manner any jarring of the hive or combs. I think they ore far more likely to be aroused by either of these things than are the Italians or blacks, and are not as easily subdued with smoke, or, in fact, at all. They will follow the bee-keeper with great pertinac- ity as he leaves the hive, going a long distance, and even through several doors, for a chance to sting. When a hive is once thoroughly aroused, the better plan seems to be to close it and leave it for an hour or more. They meddle with passers-by who do not touch them, less, even, than the Italians. The above would likely lead to incorrect inferences should I close this subject without statmg the conclusion which the season's work among the bees of Cyprus has caused me to form regarding the relative rapid- ity with which Cyprian and Italian bees can be han- dled; hence I state here that I fully believe I can n GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Feb. handle the Cyprians with one-half grreater rapidity than I can the Italians; that Is, with proper man- agement, a given operation in manipulating bees can be performed with three Cyprian colonies while the same operation is being done with two Italians. THE MARKINGS OP CYPRIANS. Time will not permit my treating this topic as I would like, yet I can not forbear a word or two, since It has so often been brought up in Gleanings this summer. The bees of Cyprus are very uniform —surprisingly so, I think. We obtained colonies at many points distant from each other, and saw bees in many places where no purchases could be made, but all presented the same appearance, taking into account, of course, the age of the bees and the amount of food they were likely to have in their bodies. The true Cyprian is a yellower bee than the Italian; indeed, I think the average Cyprian is yel- lower than the brightest Italian. I refer to the worker bees alone. Its body is more hairy, and the abdomen more slender than will be found among Italians. When filled with honey, the worker shows three yellow bands, as does the Italian. Mr. Curi, of Bohemia, who first described these bees, and pro- cured the first colony from Cyprus, stated the work- er bee has only two yellow segments, but he surely failed to count the end segment, next to the thorax, without which the Italians would have but two yel- low bands. The fourth yellow band, as with the Italians, is sometimes seen, but a more distinctive mark is that the segments back of the yellow bands are so tipped with whitish hairs as to give the abdo- men of the Cyprian a very ringed appearance. The two most distinguishing marks are, however, the following: The pure Cyprian is yellow on the un- der side of the abdomen, from the tip nearly for- ward to the thorax; and, second, the shield on the back of the thorax between the wings is very prom- inent and plainly yellow. On account of its shape, I call this the crescent, and it shows that its bearers are from the Turkish empire, or descended from those who did come from this far eastern land. The Cyprian drones are in general much more mottled with yellow than the Italians; and, though they are not uniform, many are of a very brilliant golden hue. But I claim that the true Cyprian will make Itself known quite as much by its QUALITIES, AND NOT MARKINGS. I find the Cyprians active, strong-winged, sturdy defenders of their hives, fighting against fearful odds to preserve an existence, exceedingly keen- scentcd, so that no drop of sweet escapes their no- tice under conditions which would conceal it from other races of bees. They are very prolific, and rear brood late in the season. We have had frost here, yet to-day I find brood in all stages in hives of Cyprians. One other quality of great importance is noticeable: A strong wind is heeded by the Cypri- ans, and, upon its approach, they gather In their hives to avoid it; or, if the day open windy, they do not venture forth. Those who have them in Amer- ica will note this, and that they will not dwindle as Italians do during the coming spring. Still another point in their favor is, that they can be shaken from the combs very much as though they were blacks; but if left to themselves do not run off, having in this particular the same disposition as the Italians; namely, they spread evenly over the combs and re- main quiet when the latter are handled. Frank Benton. Larnaca, Island of Cyprus, Dec. 14, 1880. My experience with the Holy-Land bees very nearly agrees with the above ; for when I once get them thoroughly aroused and up to the ''fighting pitch," I have never suc- ceeded in quieting them with smoke, nor any other means, except to close the hive and let them get quiet themselves. I presume most of you have seen hybrids that mani- fested much of the same spirit. If the col- ony is weak, there is not so much danger of their getting thus roused up ; but when the hive gets boiling over full, just look out how you set a frame'down wliere it will slip and jar. or pinch a few of the bees. Use them well and they Avill use you well ; but woe betide the man who is awkward or indiffer- ent. Such people would better get some very yellow Italians, that have been bred several years for their gentleness and yel- lowness, letting alone other qualities. Knowing how anxious our readers all are to hear every word from friend Benton, I have taken the liberty of giving, also, the letter below, although it was evidently not intended for publication. Friend B. will excuse the liberty, will he not V By all means, let us hear of your travels in pursuit of these new bees. With the aid of the good wife, who has done much writing and copying for me lately, I have gotten off a letter for Gleanings to-day. I hope after this to give you something oftener. You know, of course, that my long silence was an unwilling one. A few words as to what I have before me for the winter will no doubt interest you. I leave here In a few days for India and the East Indian Islands, whither I hope to find some valuable bees, which will, in that case, go direct to Mr. Jones, in Boeton, Canada. The two races to be looked up especially are Apia dorsata and Apis zonata, but I trust others may also be f (jund. The route will be as follows: Beyrout, Jaffa, Port Said, Suez, Aden (Lower Arabia), Bombay (Hindoostan), Colombo (Island of Ceylon), Singapore (Farther India), to Ba- tavia (Island of Java), and perhaps I will visit Timor, Celebes, and the Philippine Islands. Besides the bees, I shall try to obtain seeds of honey-producing plants, and shall not forget valu- able grains. I take with me 35 Cyprian and several Syrian col- onies, and shall employ various styles of boxes and manners of giving food. I expect to return here early in 4he spring, to rear Cyprians next year. Will write you from varlouH points of my journey. Frank Benton. Larnaca, Dec. U, 1880. SUCCESSFUL! BEE CUIiTUUE. THE NEED OF TACT IN BEE CULTURE. ^iW^R. EDITOR:— The above caption covers so MiM. much ground, that I propose only to touch — upon one or two branches of the subject, and I don't propose to say a word about queens, comb foundation, bee feeders, hives, or any of this class of useful Implements, for all about them has been told, and well told, very many times, by able and ex* perienced bee-keepers. Has it not occurred to you that men who were first-class mechanics were rath* er more apt to fail, when trying to carry on business "on their own hook," than the class called "botches,'' 1881 GLEAKIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. 73 or even those who knew nothing of the trade? My observation teaches me that such is the fact. I know it is often true, that men who possess great ability as manufacturers (in the broad sense of the term), or capitalists, are forced at first to begin as journeymen mechanics, in order to get their first little "start;" but I always notice that these men of sound financial ideas are usually poor mechanics. The ability to earn a dollar, and that of making it earn another, are quite different powers. Nearlj' all our successful men have repeated the same adage, "It was harder to get my first thousand dol- lars than the next twenty thousand." No one sup- poses that a company start a glucose-factory be- cause they or one of their number knows the pro- portion of the different chemicals used, or even their names; no, th«y 7iuc a man who knows (?iat part to perfection, and this fellow "lives from hand to mouth" all his life, while the profits of his skill go to the men who saw the commercial need; who knew enough to keep their property running night and day through thie busy part of the year; knew enough to tell an honest man by looking at him; knew enough to keep their property insured against fire; knew enough to keep perfect system and order throughout the factory; knew how and when to sell for the highest price. I fancy that a man of this kind, though ever so unscientific, "w)i7I not down." He will catch a swarm on a bush, and then— look out. As there is hardly a calling known to man, in which the operatives are .so universally the capital- ists as in this pursuit of ours, I deemed that a few thoughts upon this important side of the business will not bore your readers. No one is willing to pay a higher tribute to talent than 1 am; but I believe that it requires fact to make talent pay a dividend. Now, in our business I call the man who knows all about the physiology or hy- pothenogenesls of the bee, the chemical elements of beeswax, honey, etc., a man of talent; but the ques- tion is. Has this genius got the tact to make this knowledge applicable to the business he is pursuing? It has been said that "talent knows w/iat to do, tact knows 7iou) to do it; talent speaks learnedly; tact, triumphantly. Talent makes the world wonder that it gets on no faster; tact excites astonishment that it gets on so fast." " Tact clinches the bargain. Sails out of the bay, Gets the vote of the Senate, Spite Webster or Clay." Ready tact will often prevent a disaster that slow- er talent finds, later, that it can not cope with. Tact being a great aggregation of little thoughts and ac- tions, is almost indescribable. It can by no means be written on paper, as can talent. The successes of tact and failures of talent are, by the failing class, universally credited to "luck." Poor luck I who ever heard of his getting any credit for a success by the one who knew the most about it? I once heard a smart practical and successful honey producer Say of one of our leading and bright- est men of talent, ".Give him my three apiaries, and the best locality in Michigan, and he could not sup- port his family. I know him; his bee-keeping is all on paper." If I started out with any intent to try to tell of what this tact consists, I fear I shall have to give it up. I am sure that it is the open sesame to success, however, and all who need to make bee-keeping sup- port, or help to support themselves and families, should try to cultivate to the fullest extent this art of handiness, quick perception, and practical way of doing things, called tact. Honesty, caution, en- ergy, and a will, arc all important requisites to suc- cess. It is fatal, to suppose that mankind are all as honest as you are, or all as dishonest as you may be. "We need not be weak because we are honest. A "happy man" between the radical and conservative, is also a key to success. James Heddon. Dowagiac, Mich., Jan. 4, 1881. Very good, friend II. ; but what shall we poor fellows do wlio are conscious that we nave not tactV It seems to me the outlook would be a little sad, if we had no way pointed out to us whereby we might climb above these natural lacks and dehciencies. Let us as you say, cultivate to the fullest extent, this art of handiness, etc., and if you will excuse the liberty, I would like to suggest to the boys and girls who have l)egun to feel that they are not handy about things, and have not tact naturally, "the lit- tle text, — If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.— James 1: i. FRIEIVD STAINLEV'S STORY. WHAT HE HAS DONE WITH BEES IN FOUR YEARS. fAM, or have been, located on the prairie, with a narrow bottom of timber reaching halfway — ' round me, the edge of which reaches within IJi miles. The other side is all prairie, or, rather, farms, now. There is some white clover, but very little ; the land is run mostly to wheat, and corn, and red-top grass, which makes our hay. Four years ago there was a great deal of the land uncultivated, which produced an abundance of Spanish needles, which is our main honey-producing plant. Buck- wheat and smartweed sometimes yield some honey, though I have never been able to see the bees get more than enough to raise brood on either. Two years ago there were 30 acres sowed the 1st of June for fertilizing, and I could get none, though I think it did my bees good by keeping up brood-rearing through July and August. I have had honey stored in June one year, and that was in 187"; and at that time I was not well satisfied what it was gathered from, but think from clover; but almost with cer- tainty you can rely on having some honey the first or second week in September from Spanish needles. I have never known an entire failure of it, and the partial ones were caused by cold and wet weather, which is uncommon at that season. Bees have al- ways been able to fill up on it. I have seen hives that did not have 3 lbs. of honey in the brood-cham« ber the 27th of August, storing honey in caps in 8 or 10 days, and it is very fine honey, though a little strong until it has age. It lasts ten days to two weeks, and then we are done unless we have buck- wheat. There is some goldenrod and smartweed, but they do not yield much honey here, though the bees generally get a living until frost, which usually comes about the 10th of October. Getting our sur- plus so late, we need no feeding for winter. Almost any colony will have winter stores. Well, in 1876 I began making hives for myself, and they were liked so well I soon engaged about 40 hives, to be trans- ferred on shares— a hive for a stand of bees in a box or log hive, which were then selling for S5.00 to $7.00. Well, I got worse and worse with the bee fever; 74 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Feb. those 20 stands didn't give me more than 300 lbs. of honey, but I consoled myself with the tales of some other bee-men about what they had got, such as 800 lbs. from 15 hives, and another 8 gallons from one hive, and another "8 caps" thought about 100 lbs., etc. So, In the winter of 1870 and '77 I made some. 200 hives; sold some, transferred some on shares, bought a stand of Italians from Dadant's warranted queen, $14.00. Some got as high as 90 lbs. of section- bo.x honey from one stand; some not over 15 lbs. on an average. So, by October I numbered 80 stands, sold 20 for §=125 00. I should have stated, that in the winter of 1876-'77 I got me a saw and sent for Gleanings, and made me a hive as described in cir- cular. You were then blowing the hoop hive, which gave me the idea of a half-story, and raising it and putting an empty one under it, and I like it rather better than the full story. By using 2 caps or hoops, it just holds a brood frame, so it is truly an adjust- able hive, ^yondor if Mrs. Cotton knows it. MlTCHEIiL. Well, right here I will tell what a Mitchell man wanted me to do. He had bought the right of Wayne and Edwards counties. He heard I was trespassing, and came over to have the matter fixed up. Yes, I told him I was using division-boards; could not dis- pense with them hardly at any price. Well, you ought to have seen him smile and try to teil how in- dispensable they are to successful bee-keeping, and how much better I could manage my bees in an L. hive, and proposed to sell me the right for the divi- sion-board and hive. I then asked hira if he had really bought the right. He said he had, and that he would try to sustain if I would not pay for using the board. I stepped in and got a few numbers of G-LEANiNOS, and read from Humbugs and Swindles. I then told him he was the man that was humbugged, and that, instead of reading Mitchell's book, to send a dollar for Gleanings, then he would be swindled no more by patents. Well, he said he would write to Mitchell, and if ho did not stop me he would not pay him any more on it. So we talked the matter over, and parted friendly. I was to use them until Mitch- ell "did some thing;" after that I sold his partner some hives, but have never heard of Mitchell " do- ing any thing" but duping ignorant farmers. Well, of course the 90 lbs. were from an Italian that I raised early in the spring, and '77 was the best year we have had since I have been in the business, and now I thought that all I needed was enough bees like that to get rich, or, at least, to make it self- sustaining. So, in the fall I bought 3500 ft. of lum- ber; made 2.50 to 300 hives; sold some; transferred on shares, and by the 1st of August I had 110, half of which were scattered through the country, where they were transferred, and about that time I bought the fdn. machine. The season so far had been a bad one; only a little while the last of May and first of June bees had swarmed quite lively, and now many of the swarms were starving right in August; but I managed to save all that I had charge of. MOVING BEES TO NEW LOCATIONS. Some time in July another bee-man (DalzcU) came tip to me and Sibley, who also was a bee-man, and in conversation said that his bees were storing honey. After talking awhile he left us, and as he went away Sibley remarked that Dalzell was "gassing," and that he would bet his bees were starving, for he saw him bring honej' to town some time before that, that his bees ought to have had to live on. 1 re- marked that he was near the bottoms, and perhaps Dalzell was correct, and I believed I would go down in the neighborhood and see if bees were doing any better. So, in a few days I went, found some bees in log and box hives, and they were carrying in honey. I then made arrangements with the man to move 8 stands of mine, to tr.y the location. I took them down in a few days, and as soon as I opened them they seemed to scent the honey, and in 3 hours you could not have told they had been moved; they were rolling in honey and pollen at such a rate I did not go back for about 10 d;iys, but they had done so well I went and got 8 more stands that I had out in the country that were on short rations, but I was too late with them. It was now about the first of August, and as blue as things looked, I went to work and made some fdn., for I knew they would need it the first of September. Well, there were plenty of my bees that hadn't 5 lbs. of honey in their hives on the 20th of August, and (?(ttt was what 1 fed them; but relief did come the 27th of August, and in ten days they were in their boxes; but my 90 1b. hive made only .50 lbs. Well, down I went to the bottoms, about the 24:th or 25th of September, and found things " lovely." The -most of those at home were just nicely started in their boxes when the bloom failed, and so I was not lang in making up my mind. I went to where I had more on shares; got a load, drove down, and the lady of the house plead to have me take the load somewhere else, for they " stung the children." She directed me to a man that would take them; it was in sight. Off I put, although it was then noon. I soon drove a trade for locating them, and all the rest; and so I wOTked, night and day, until I gut all moved; but I got paid for all my work. Not as big wages as some get, but enough for me at that time. I got $250 to $300 worth of honey. They stored honey until hard frost. The first two frosts didn't seem to alfect the bloom in the bottom, while every thing on the prairie was dry enough to burn. I will state, that the most of them I moved 10 miles; some 17 miles; now, it was in July of this same year, while things were so blue, that you sent me the first imported queen (that I wrote you an article on, and I have always thought you ought to have published it.) HOW FRIEND S. INTRODUCES Qt'EENS. Well, the second one I have never written you about. You sent her, I suppose, as she came to you, and left me to be the judge of what she was worth, and how was I to know how she would compare with the lot; whether she would look like a $i, $5, or S6 queen? But it was all the chance; then I intro- duced her all right, and I would not fear to try a $'0.00 one if I had her, for I have never lost one yet that I took any kind of pains with, ana I believe I never lost but one, and I have turned them loose at the entrance, and in at the top, and caged them. I just do according to the circumstances, but am al- ways sure there is no other queen in there. Well, now, if you will send me another one as good as this one, you may set the price; and if nothing happens, I shall have some early queens to dispose of from her. I have between 175 and 180 that I raised from her last season. I now have 240 stands ; have bought a piece of land, and intend this summer to improve it. I have now got up to the fall of 1878, and have not told what I started to tell; but if you think it will do any good, you can put it in on one of those extra 1881 GLEAXIXGS IN BEE CULTUKE. leaves you are going to give 113, and then I will tell you about last year, and who should keep bees, and who should not, and where they may be kept, and where not ; and I might tell you how they can be kept in this co\inty. I have never lost a stand of bees by moth, blacks, nor Italians; and for three years have never lost one from anj' cause. I have Ijst queens in the winter, but I always save the bees, and set them to work. Thos. C. Stanley. Jeffersonville, 111., Feb. 17, 1880. The above very good letter is just about one year old. as you see, and it has been waiting all this time for a i^)lace. principally on account of its length. Ihe one friend S. thinks ouglit to have been printed was. I fear, passed by on the same account. Xow let me suggest a little. Had friend S. broken this letter up into several small ones, it might have all lieen given during the year, and the part of it referring to moving bees to new i)astur;ige would have made an ex- cellent article of itself, and might have done a great deal of good during the past poor season. It is my impression, that every apiarist of -50 or more colonies Avould. in many localities, find it profitable to either scatter a few colonies at different points, or to visit hives belonging to others, until the most favored points were hunted up ; then move a part of his bees, wliere they seem to be doing best. A success, instead of a fail- ure, might often be secured with compara- tively little labor. Who will give us some more facts in this especial matter? RAHBLE NO. 2. WINTERING BEES IN A CISTERN. OUR ramble this lime leads US to the residence of our esteemed friend Mr. B., who has over " 100 swarms of bees in the old Clark patent box hives. Mr. B. and brother run a large farm, and the bees do not receive the attention they should, to achieve the best results from them. Mr. B. is a breeder of fine horses, and if you would converse with him teu minutes, some way the bees would be forgotten, and you would find yourself in the stable discussing the fine points of that jet-black stallion "Honest Dan," or the record of '-War Eagle," who stands in another stall. Tbis stallion has come out ahead in several races, and the owner is proud of his record. But I soon tire of horse talk, and suggest we re- turn to the bee-yard. We start with that point in view, but the first I know we arc in another stable, and B. is expatiating upon the style and action of that line black team. The pedigree is pure Rysdic Hambletonian. When I can get a word in edgewise I tell him my best queen " Fancy Bell " is daughter of "Cleopatra;" she of "Gazelle," she of "Alley," and Alley of "Bianconeini," of Italy. 1 found, upon reaching the bee-yard, that to keep his mind on the bees I must mix in a little horse talk. Said I, " Mr. B., Rysdic Hambletonian, did this swarm take the pole?" "Oh, yes!" said he; "I got them on the mulleins the first heat." " Well, how about this swarm that lays out so all over the hive?" "Oh! that got the inside track, and took the home stretch." "Have you got much bottom this year, Mr. B.?" "Not much; I wintered them in a cistern, and it took the wind out of them, and they didn't make the first quarter; i. e., quarter crop of honey." In answer to my incredulous remarks in relation to wintering his bees in a cistern, he explained that Mr. H., a near neighbor, had a dry cellar under his barn, and he obtained permission to use it. The water had troubled them somewhat the year before, and the cellar had been thoroughly cemented, bot- tom and sidps. It was very dry, and wintered finely until the January thaw. The proprietor had made no provision in relation to surface water, and it ran into the cellar, and, being cemented, i^held water like a cistern; in fact, for the time being it was a cistern, and began to fill up rapidly. " Why," said I. " for the land's sakel what did you do?" "Oh! I put in a pump, and pumped it out. of course." He remarked that his bees came out considerably demoralized. There were but few dead swarms, but the rest were all weak, and the swarming fever didn't possess them to a great degree. I think the foregoing shows why everybody should not keep bees. If his bees had come out strong, he would, with proper management, have secured a profitable crop of honey. Since keeping bees as a business, we have never had a season that failed to give a profitable return if our bees were in good condition in the spring. There is a time during every season, perhaps for a few days only, that honey is secreted by some flowers; and if our bees are ready for the yield with extra stories of empty comb, you will find them fuU quite suddenly. Dur- ing the past season, about the only honey we ob- tained was from bass wood; the yield was short, and if we had depended upon comb honey we would have recorded almost a total failure; but by ex- tracting we obtained almost 40 lbs. to the hive, while our best gave us lOV. This swarm of hybrids. No. 67, has been ahead for three years. I thought so much of this queen I thought I would use her as I would an old horse— keep her as long as she would live, for the sake of the good she had done. In examining the hive in September, I was surprised to find a young queen doing duty. I was about to drop a tear in memory of the old one, when, upon lifting out an- other frame, I was rejoiced to see the familiar face of my dear old queen. I carefully replaced the frame and closed the hive, and, upon a subsequent examination in October, she was still there, but very decrepit. It seemed as though she ought to have a cane and a pair of spectacles. We hope much from the young queen, that she will perpetuate the qual- ities of her mother. John H. Martin. Hartford, Washington Co., X. Y., Jan , 188J. — ■■■ ^ BEE-KEEPIXG FOR PROFIT; B¥ 7IRS. lilZZIE E. COTTON. I^^IIE book is neatly printed, well gotten Jjl up, and would be well worth a dollar, — ' if the same information could not be otherwise obtained for less money, or, per- haps I should say, with a great deal more in- formation for the same money. In fact, the principal fault I should find with the book is its small size for a dollar; viz.. 128 small pages, in light paper covers. I know that everybody does not agree with me in pricing 76 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Eeb. books according to size ; but for Mrs. Cot- ton's own good, and that sales of the boolc mav be increased, 1 would suggest that it be sold cheaper, or more matter added to it. People are in the liabit of getting a pretty good-sized book on bees for a dollar, and I fear they will be disappointed. I believe Mrs. Cotton to be an earnest, hard-working w^oman, and I wish to see her succeed. In fact, I shall be glad to sell her book, if she will permit me so to do. I am satisfied she sees the mistakes she has made, and is will- ing to correct them. Her advice in regard to feeding bees sugar syrup to produce tine comb honey will prob- ably meet with more severe censure from other hands than mine. The recipe for making bee feed, for which she charged $10.00 (see Gleanings, page 8, Jan. No., 1874), Ave copy from page 33 as follows:— RECIPE FOB FEED. To eij^ht pounds of coffee crushed sugar, add two quarts of ssofl water, and whites of two eggs; bring to the boiling point over a flow tire, being very care- ful not to burn it. Skim off carefully all scum or sediment that rises, so that the feed, when cool, will be perfectly clear and about the consistency of new honey. I confess it is a little hard to see how one Avho is trying to do right should charge $10.00 for such a recipe, but at the same time, I do not know but that it is the best recipe I have ever found offered for sale. You knoAv how I have talked to you about selling recipes in these years past. Well, although this is an excellent bee -feed, whether you use the eggs to clarify it or not, I should hardly like to indorse the following, which we tind in Mrs. C.'s book, page 39: — The feed is of the same color as the nicest white clover honey, and when put in boxes bj' the bees with the honey collected from flowers (I have no doubt in many instances in alternate layers in the same cell with honey from flowers), it can not be distinguished, either in color or taste, from honey collected whoUy from flowers. Although ]\Irs. C. does not quite say so di- rectly, w^e are led to infer that the great yields of box honey she has obtained (over 380 lbs. from a single hive) were secured by feeding the bees with this sugar syrup. This honey was all sold at 3.5c per lb. Now, if people will buy this honey at 35c, or even 2.5c per lb., there will be no great difficulty in getting $50.00 profit from a single hive, as Mrs. C. has so long claimed in her advertise- ments. The hive Which she calls the Con- trollable hive, is only a slight modification of the large hive of Jasper Ilazen, and the one later made by j\Ir. Quinby. It is simply a very large hive, with boxes all over the top and sides, giving ample room for a very strong colony to store honey during a great yield. The chaff hive embodies the same principle, with a permanent winter covering. Why do I consider the book a good one, and wish to extend its saleV Mostly because of one point. This one point is the energy and zeal with which she recommends building each stock up to its fullest strength by feed- ing with sugar syrup, clear up until the white clover opens. In fact, she insists that the hive be crammed with bees and honey ( !), and even commence building the comb in the boxes, and storing some honey (!) in them before they get any from white clover at all. Sucli a course can not fail to give an enormous yield, as we almost all of us know already, if a little of the sugar syrup should get mixed with the honey, I presume it Avould do no great harm, for it is not poison- ous at all. To get these great yields, she recommends but about a dozen hives in a lo- cality. Now, although the book says noth- ing of the extractor or comb foundation, it is well worth the dollar for the energy with which she puts the points above mentioned. A very good picture of Mrs. Cotton is giv- en as the frontispiece of the book; and as one takes a good look at the face of the au- thor (which by the way is by no means an unprepossessing one), it is with a feeling of sadness that so much energy has been spent, at least in part, in a mistaken direction. STRAY THOUGHTS FBOITI ORCHARD APIARY. No. 1. IMPORTANCE OF GOOD DRONE? ANY of you have doubtless noticed that, while some stocks will store honey all through the season, others equally strong do nothing. Now, I believe the cause of this is because queen- breeders are too careless in regard to mating their queens. I think It is just as important to have good stoek on the side of the male, as on that of the fe- male; and if bee-keepers would take as much pains in selecting their drones as they do their queen- breeding stock, I think the number of idle stocks in the country would decrease every year. For the past few years I have been trying, by close and careful breeding, to secure a strain of bees that would excel in the three most important points; namely, industry, proliflcness, and hardiness. To at- tain this end, I adopted the following plan: I kept a record of all my stocks through the summer, and marked the ones that stored the most honey under the same favorable circumstances. In the spring I marked those that appeared to winter the besti judging from their condition in the fall, and also those that bred most rapidly in the spring. I then let the marked hives raise all the drones they wished, and kept all others cut off. I then bred from the best imported stock, and mated my queens with m.v selected drones, and kept a record of them the next j'ear as before. Those that proved the most industrious, prolific, and hardj', I allowed to raise drones, keeping all others cut off. By this plan of the "survival of the fittest," I think I have succeed- ed In obtaining a strain of bees that are industrious, good breeders, and that will stand this cold climate well. It has taken a great deal of pains and perse- verance to accomplish this; but I think the result more than pays me for my labor. MAKING COMB FOUNDATION. In rolling fdn. 10 or 12 ft. to the pound, the sheets stick to the rolls badly when they come through, and have to be picked up, which takes a great deal of time and patience. Two years ago I thought of a way to remedy this, which is, to fold a strip of very thin paper over the end of the sheets. They can be put on very fast with starch, and can be taken away from the machine as rapidlyasthe very thick sheets. The paper can be cut off, ancl the wa.x melted up 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 77 agaiu. I do not think the paper will injure the rolls it It is very thin and properly put on. WINTEKING. I have four ventilators to my cellar, and by means of them I can keep the temperature very even, not varying more than three or four degrees all winter. I believe it is \"ery important to keep bees quiet while they are in winter-quarters, and for that rea- son I place my hives on racks which do not touch any partition, but stand on a stone tloor, so that nothing short of an earthquake can jar the hives. E. A. Thomas. Colerain, Franklin Co., Mass., Jan. 1, 1881. PROGRESS. BJ' SUSPECT that we are just on the point of mak- I ing one more good stride ahead in our knowl- ' edge of bee nature. The word is given almost simultaneously from Minaesota and Florida, by friend White in December Gleanings (p. 598), and friend Boutelle, in December No. of the Bee Jimrnal. I read the latter's article first, and had a quiet "guffaw" over it. Pretty soon I quit laughing, and came down to sober second thought. Why not? If we may be allowed to assume one fact not yet pro- ven (but not at all unreasonable), there is nothing to hinder the rearing of drones from worker eggs to any extent the bees desire. A bee's egg as first formed has in it a germ that, upon being developed, becomes a male bee. If the egg is deposited in this condition, we call it a drone egg. The addition of a spermatic particle while the egg is being laid pro- duces a worker egg. A worker egg contains two germs. It is not at all probable that the original germ is annihilated or killed by the spermatic par- ticle. It is simply set on a back seat by a new and more vigorous power. It fares just as the lieuten- ant of a military company does when the captain arrives. If the cgptain is killid, the lieutenant re- sumes command. Suppose, now, that a worker egg with its two germs be left uncared for for an indefi- nite period. Sooner or later, both germs would die, and the egg become a mere bit of inert matter. Germs of such different origin and character may differ greatly in their powers of endurance. If the oriuinal germ is capable of living a few hours the long- er, a drone may be hatched from it as soon as the sixr- matic particle dies. Consider further. There is a good reason why the spermatic particle should per- ish first. Exertion is exhaustive in its nature; and the spermatic particle, as seen by the microscope, is continually making spasmodic motions— like a little live poUywog. The germ of the drone egg has nev- er been detected by the microscope, but it probably does not keep up such an expenditure of force. In your reply to friend White, you unconsciously offer further evidence. You remark, "It is not un- frequent to find a queen that suddenly, as it were, lays quite a patch of drone eggs in worker cells, and this, too, at a season when drones are not needed." That the eggs in such cells were laid as drone eggs, l8, of course, an assumption. It is more probable that they were laid as worker eggs, and became drone eggs by neglect. When brood-rearing is on the decline, eggs are often neglected, if I mistake not; but a sudden betterment of prospects, as a fresh run of honey, makes the bees desire more brood, and causes them to care for and hatch eggs which they had previously resolved to have nothing to do with. The drone patches, according to this theory, are patches that were neglected just a little too long. For the benefit of those who desire to follow up this matter, I would suggest a simple way of testing it. Pour a little thin honey into the lamp nursery (in order that the air inside may be moist enough not to dry the eggs), and put in a frame containing only worker eggs. Remove the queen from a good colony until they become rather eager for brood. Give them this frame just before the time when eggs might be expected to perish. If the eggs hatch, and prove workers, try again with some six hours older, and so on until drones result, or until the point is reached when eggs can no longer be hatched at all. The whole could be done at one trial by inserting an inch or two of comb with fresh eggs into the frame every six hours, until enough time was covered. SOVEREIGNS BORN, VS. SOVEREIGNS MADE. It is just possible that friend Klar (page o9T, of 1880), has shown us, as he says, another step for- ward, and a still more important one. His fact is, that a queen of very remarkably good qualities was known to be hatched from a worker cell. I agree with you, that the mere position of the larva is not likely to signify much; but that is not the point, necessarily. The true question I take to be this: Is this rearing of queens in woi'ker cells a mere freak of the nurse bees (if so, a trivial matter), or is it a remarkable outburst of the reproductive pow- ers of nature? It is imaginable that, on rare occa- sions, a larva might have, by birth, such tendency to become a perfect female, such irrepressible royal vim, as to commence developing without any special treatment. As soon as the delicate senses of the bees could detect the royal odor they would natu- rally give it some royal jelly, and rim out the cell as described. The position would be an unimportant matter, the late feeding and cramped quarters some- what injurious; but such innate gifts and vigor as would show themselves by refusing to be repressed might well outweigh, by a hundred fold, all the un- toward circumstances. It certainly is not asking too much of us to ask us to keep watch for these cu- rious queen-cells, and save enough of them to ascer- tain what sort of queens they do produce. DIPPED FOUNDATION. It certainly looks as if the grand desideratum was on the door-step just stepping in— a simple, cheap, durable, workable, and buyable contrivance, with which anybody with ordinary "gumption" can work up a half-dozen pounds of wax all clean, and do it well. To sell us, each one, a pair of dipping plates, at three dollars, will be a better business than sell- ing a roll mill to one in a hundred of us, will it not, eh? When we get just the right Idea about temper- ature and manipulation and the rest, I believe foun- dation can be made with a pair of cast-type metal plates, if they are perfectly true and smooth. My first essay, if I could get around to the experiment, would be to use the plates warm, dip in the style friend Bonham does his plaster ones, and conduct the whole operation in a large muffler box, into which the operator could thrust his arms, and view operations through a pane of glass, the air inside being kept nearly up to the melting point of wax. THE CLO^TIRS. Artemas Ward always had to have something in every letter about his "kangaroo." Clover is my GLEANIITGS IX BEE CULTURE. Feb. kangaroo, and it won't do to close a letter on prog- ress without telling how 1 have "walloped" it. I still keep my ten dififereut kinds, or sub-varieties, endeavoring to develop each one separately, "not knowing which will prosper, this or that." I raised a large number of plants to select from, especially of No. 4 and No. 9, which are the most hopeful spec- imens. Have got ahead some this season; but it is likely to be a good many years before the new plant is complete and ready to introduce. I propose to have No. 4 when finished snowy white, as to its bloom, like the original plant; but an immensely large percentage of the seedlings are determined to go back and be red clovers again. I have fair pros- pects of carrying my point in the end. Space for- bids giving details much, but I will add a few notes of tube lengths from nij- memorandum-book. The average of field plants in June is 43 one-hundredths of an inch. Clover No. 5.— When found, 36 to 46 (very variable.) Same, June 38th, 36 to 40. Aug. 5th, 33 to 42. Best plant of 1880 marking as low as 33 on July 36th. Clover No. 3.— Wnen found, .38; June 38th, 34 to 37. August 7th, 33 to 36. Best plant of 1880 marks as low as 30 on July 36th. Diminutive head on another plant, '26. As I have had a bee empty a filled clover tube for 33 hundredths deep, these figures look hopeful. THE NEW BEES. Ah, yes I among the minions of progress are those new Assamese and Brazilian bees— worthless, no doubt; but we shall be very happy while investiga- ting them. Make way for the new bees! But we have also made some progress in getting our eye- teeth cut. AVe want " piles " of information about friend Hawley before we shell out those ten dol- lars—es. E. E. Hasty. Kichards, Lucas Co., O., Jan , 1881. A MAMMOTH BEE-HIVE. A STORY FROM OUR "ABC CHILD." THOUGHT I would report an experience I had this season with a monster bee-hive. Our vil- lage doctor, Mr. George N. Hidershlde, took the bee fever ia June, and, having more money than experience, he jumped right into the middle of it at once. But he was not going to have any small hives, so he hired a carpenter to make a hive for him. It was built to hold 73 L. frames, being the length of a L. frame, and made to take 3 sets high. 24 each. He asked my opinion, and I told him it would be a failure The hive done was double walled with 6 in. chaff packing, double doors, packed doors opening on flat side of comb, and inner doors glass, making it an observatory hive complete. It looked more like a safe than a hive. It was placed in an upper story of his barn, a hole cut opposite for an entrance, and the hive set up to the hole when all was ready. I was employed to transfer 4 large swarms of blacks into it, also one swarm of Italians, which I sold him with combs and brood, 8 frames filled. These were placed in the center, in lower part of hive nearest the entrance. Then com- menced the work of transferring, which was nicely done in about four hours, and the 5 swarms nearly filled the hive. A very close watch was kept up, and all the black queens killed. They united peace- ably, having been brought by wagon about 6 miles; the 73 frames containing no brood were filled with fdn. starters, and were put in position and they commenced at once to slay the drones, so that with- in 13 hours not one remained alive. Three swarms were the large brown bee and one small blacks. Now for results: The work was done July 13th in the midst of the largest basswood yield. They did not fly much for 8 or 10 days; at the end of that time they commenced to let out, and in three weeks every frame seemed filled with honey. In43da>s they deserted the outer combs, and in 84 dnys were no larger than any ordinary strong swarm. They had 400 lbs. of honey in frames, and the bees clus- tered in one corner. Thus we exploded the great and mammoth swarm stories. My ideas proved cor- rect; estimating the 5 swarms at 50,000 each, we had 250,000 bees to start with; the queen, laying her full capacity, 3000 per day, in 43 days we have only 136,000 bees; the disturbance, perhaps, caused the queen to cease laying her lull capacity for a few days; this was overbalanced by the transferred brood hatching; the 84th day we found only 50,000 bees. Now for th« doctor's figures :— Cost of hive $34 00 Cost of 4 black swarms - - - - - 16 00 Cost of Italian swarm and queen - - - 10 00 Cost of transferring 3 00 Total $53 00 For the experiment, the doctor still says he is sat- isfied, as he always believed he could fit up a room and have honey by the ton, and swarms the size of a load of haj% as we read of found in caves and rocks. He would certainly have built his hive four times the size he did had I not advised this smaller one for a start. I hope all persons who believe their uncles and grandfathers had garrets filled with tons of honey and mammoth swarms of bees will, before trying the experiment, stop and drop a line to G. N. Hildershide, M. D., Arcadia, Wis., first, and hear what he thinks of it. E. A. Morgan. Arcadia, Wis., Jan. 5, 1881. iSlany thanks, friend M.. Yon and the "doctor" have given ns a very valuable ex- periment, even ttiongh it did cost some mon- ey. To try to help a little to bear the ex- per S3, we have placed to yonr credit $5.00, and you can give such a part of it to the doc- tor as you choose. I was pretty well con- vinced of what the result would be; but with your yield of honey this season 1 should have rather expected a little more than 400 lbs. from the 5 swarms all together. Per- haps it was because they waited and lost that 10 days in the start. We are all the time hndiiig people as you say, who seem to think it must be that "several swarms in a room together would make one mammoth swarm, and hold out thus, year after year. HuleMk §^iimhrim^. LETTER FROM A LITTLE GIRL BEE-KEEPER. fWISH you a happy New Year. I have three swarms of bees. They came out and alighted in the grass, but they are very tame now. i read my father's bee journals, and like to read them. I have all black bees but one, and they are Italians. They sting very hard, I think, but father don't think so. Father has bees also. He has a new hive this winter. I like bees very much, but not if they sting. A year ago papa gave me a sw^^rm, and it increased 1881 GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTUKE. 79 to two swarms, and did not swarm this year. I like father and mother very much. I like to read and sing. I go to Sunday-school. I like to go to school. I try to obey my teacher. Mamma has no swarm of bees, but would like to ha%-e ons very much. They are very nice. I am seven years old. I himt bees with father. I got stung on the finger. Bees gather honey on flowers; we hare sweet flowers. L. O. Lindsey is my father. He keeps bees, and they sting very hard, but not so hard as some. Some bees arc very tame, and some are wild. The ones that live in the woods are wild, and the ones that live in hives are tame, and don't sting so much as those that live in the woods. The swarm that came out and alighted in the grass is in a red hive. I have two big brothers, and they have one swarm apiece. Papa has more than any; they have plenty of hon- ey; he packs them in chaff : he put two swarms in a dry-goods box, and heaped snow around it. The lightning struck our house on the 6th of November. We were all in the kitchen, but no one was hurt. My brothers had just got home from school. It ran down the rod, and four other places on the house. It tore the rods and eavc-?p()uts off the house, and a stone out of the woodhouse wall, about four feet. Louie M. Lindsey. Corry, Eric Co., Pa., Jan. 1, 1881. Well done, Lottiel Why, that is a tip-to]) letter, and I will go right this minute, and tell Stella to send yon one of the best of those Sunday-school books, and you can show it to your Sunday-school teacher, and tell her your friend A. I. lioot made you a present of it. Let me see— I guess 1 will send you theone about the-'Buttoned Boots.'' See if you don"t think it funny about the little girl that lost her uncle's watch, and then found it in such a queer place a long while after. Xow. if I read your letter to Blue Eyes, I wouldn't wonder if she w^ould write one to you. What do you think about itV Every time you write me a letter telling about your father's bees, I will send you an- other book (just as I offered Freddie in Dec. No.), and I would like one every month. I have nothing of interest for you this month. We are having extremely cold weather here, which will be very hard on what bees are left. The major- ity of the colonics over the country are dead already, and reports coming in of others dying. W^e do not know what condition our bees are in, for papa will not let us go near the apiary, or disturb them in the least. We had a Chrietmas-tree at our church. I got a sack of candy and an orange. The candy was this cheap 'stuff, painted in all the colors of the rain- bow, and not fit to eat. Freddie L. Craycraft. Salem, Ind., Jan. 11, 1881. Yery good. Freddie, and we have sent you your book. I think your father is just about right in refusing to let you disturb your bees during cold weather. "By the way,' my little friend, I am almost afraid you are in danger of getting into a way of fault-finding. Some- times grown-up folks And fault with what God sees fit to send them, and I know a man real iceU, who gets into such ways of think- ing and talking sometimes. You see, the candy was a present, and we should be care- ful how we find fault with presents. If vou buy some candy, and it is not Avorth "the money you paid for it, then just "go for" the man of whom you bought it, "lively"; but always make the best of every thing you find on the Christmas-tree. Isn't that the best way':* GIVEN 'S DEVICE FOR PUTTING AVIRES INTO BROOD FRAMES. |q?lRIEND GIYEN has invented, as an ad- ^' jnncttohis machine for making fdn. ' right in the frames, a machine for ])ut- tiug the wires in also. The plan of it seems to be to draw the wires into the top and bot- tom bars before the frame is made up. The cut below, and the explanation he gives to follow, will, I think, make the general fea- tures of the apparatus plain. GIVEN'S FRAME-WIRING MACHINE. The two arms above the seat-board are separated by springs. They are made to open 13 inches, but the machine can be set any distance under that. They are pulled together by the foot-lever. The up- per and lower bars of the frame fit in these arms, and are held by springs on the outside and two pegs and a groove in the inside. When pulled together, these bars are just Va inch apart. The wire is run through both holes in the pieces at once, bj' using a harness needle. First, draw one arm's length through; press the needle back, catching the slack on the other thumb; draw in the slack, and with the other thumb draw in another arm's length; this arm's length is dropped over a very light spring, scarcely seen, djwn by seat board. This spring will easily pull up, and the wire slips off it, when it's too short to kink. We go on with the first arm's length, and _C^sew back, placing the other thumb in the slack, and pull in the wire off first spring, and put it on another spring on the oth- er side; then we proceed and sew back ind forward, leaving slack each time, ind fasten the last end with a small tack. The wire is seen about thus: Now, the two thumbs are placed in A, and it slacks ; the foot-spring lever is let up, and the long slack is pulled in by the thumbs, and left on the last thumb; this la the d c: ^ 3 80 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Feb. middle of the frame. The spring separates the pieces, and all the slack is taken up excepting what is on the thumb. Now there is almost enough slack on the thumb to allow the pieces to separate to these set distances. We rub the finger down on the wires, and with the aid of the springs, this slack is soon pulled in, let- ting the last arms strike first, then what is needed is pulled in from the spool, then we pull in enough from the spool, and break it, to run the angle wires. They are run thus, with us, and the end is fastened on the same tack with the other end. Hoopeston, 111. D. S. Given. [HOW TO PREPARE AND DRV CORN. ALSO HOW TO COOK IT AND . SSEE by Gleanings that you wished to know something about drying corn. I do not know that I can enlighten you any on the subject, but I have experimented considerably in that line, and have finally adopted the following as the best method: In the first place, pick off all the silks, and have your corn as clean as possible. Now, do not cook or scald it in any way while on the cob. Take a sharp knife, cut the corn so as to cut the kernel about half way down to the cob, or in other words, cut the kernels in the middle, so that one-half the corn is left on the cob; then turn the knife over; with the back of the knife scrape the remaining corn from the cob. Do not hold the knife as though you were trying to cut with the back; but as you scrape the cob with the back of the knife, incline the edge of it from you, and you will readily see that you will scrape all the corn from the cob without getting any of the cob, and only about one-half the hulls will be cut off with the corn. After your corn is cut and scraped off in this way, place it on plates or any clean tin shallow dishes; then place it in a stove, oven, or other dry, hot place until the corn is cooked which will take but a few minutes. You will know when cooked by the watery appearance, instead of the white, milkj' appearance it has when first cut off the cob, as it is only the milk that is necessary to cook. If it is not cooked in this waj' it is apt to sour before it will dry. After it is thus scalded, as I call it, with hot air instead of water, it may be put out in the sun and dried in any way you please; but do not allow it to get wet with rain or dew while drying. Beware of drying by the stove, as a little careless- ness will result in getting the corn burnt, wtiich will in a greal measure destroy its flavor. Now, friend Root, it may not be out of place for me to suggest, that all kinds of dried fruit, and corn not excepted, should be put up in tight paper bags, and kept in a dark room or closet, in order to keep it from getting wormy, as the moths love corn and fruit as well as honey or honey-comb. To prepare dried corn for the table, put it to soak in a little wa- ter for a few hours (say over night) before you want to use it; then put on the stove, add a little milk and butter; season to taste, and just bring it to the boiling point, and it is done. Follow the difections, and if you do not like it, sue me for damage. I have not written the above for Gleaninqs ; but if you think it is any thing new, or worth publishing, I have no objections, as I believe the saying, "His light is none the less who lights his neighbor." T. A. R. Well, well. Novice, what will you be up to next? You are a funny one, surely, to run a bee journal. First course, honey ; second, dried corn, and relig- ion for dessert. But what if you do? bee-keepers can not live on honey alone, and need love to God and man, and to deal justly and love mercy. We are not one of your feminine friends "who have nothing to do," for we are as busy as a bee in a tar- bucket; but yet we have found time to tell you how we dry com. There is no fruit or vegetable that loses flavor sooner, when pulled from the stalks, than sweet corn and peas. So when we purpose dry- ing corn, we rise early, gather, and boil until the milk is cooked; cut the berries off, and get to drying as quickly as possible. As fast as it is ready, it is put into a pretty hot oven in bread-pans and pie tins piled up zigzag, and stirred frequently. Put in the oven in this way, it will hold all that can be cut off from two bushels of ears. As the moisture escapes it shrinks, and can be put into fewer utensils, and much less fire will be neces- sary. If we have attended to our corn faithfully, by night we put thick brown paper in the bottom of the oven, and empty all the pans upon it, except one that remains in the upper part of the oven. We burn coal, and the remaining fire keeps the oven warm all night. In the morning the corn will be ready to put up in brown paper bags, and tied up tightly. Corn dried in this way will be delicious, and not get worm}', as flies have had no opportunity to lay their eggs in it. We've not a "capacity," but our partner has, and he says that "bees gather pollen from the sweet- corn tassels, and also work for honey upon the leaves— more especially upon the axils close to the stalks, where the dew runs down." The action of the dew and hot sun combined upon the sweet stalks may cause a sweet substance to exude, which the bees gather. Mrs. L. Harrison. Peoria, 111., January, 1881. "Mrs. Liicinda Harrison, as sure as you are alive,'' said I, as I got to the end of the letter. Well, now, my friend, I am real glad I wrote about corn, for it is the longest letter we have had from you for many a year, and I have written about almost every thing that bears, even remotely, on bee-cul- ture, just on purpose to draw out something good from somebody. Letters from busy lolks are just the very best kind of letters — when we can succeed in getting them to write. CORN AS A HONEY-PLANT (?) I have just read your article in Gleanings, page 11, Jan. No., about corn as a honey-plant, etc., and, although not one of the " feminine friends," I think I can tell you the best method of drying the corn, and would take a contract to furnish s'ou a ton at prices given in circular sent. If you have never used any evaporated fruit, you can not imagine how much better it is than any kind of sun or oven dried. I have used the evaporator described in circular the past season, and believe there is none better; they dry apples, peaches, berries of all kinds, tomatoes, pumpkine, squash, string beans, corn, etc., perfect- 1881 gleain^ings in bee culture. 81 ly. One would, no doubt, keep several of your boys and girls profitably employed some time after the busy time of honey supplies^s over. A largo crop of berries could be raised for the honey; and what ber- ries are not disposed of profitably green, could be dried at paying prices. Full directions accompany each machine, for preparing all kinds of fruit and vegetables. I have 46 swarms of bees in the Root Simplicity and Chaff hives, packed in chaff on summer stands; last season was a poor one for honey in this section. The thermometer has been 20° below zero part of the winter, but I have faith that most of the bees will come through all right yet. C. L. Brooks. Deansville, Oneida Co., N. Y., Jan. 2, 1881. Many thanks for circular, etc., friend B. The price quoted on sweet corn is J U to 15c. At 10c, it ought to sell "lively ; " but as dry shelled corn brings only about 2c per lb., it seems to me it could easily be furnished at that price. A real nice brand of sweet corn, such as I have mentioned, would be excel- lent food even at lUc per lb., and I do not think it would be very expensive, compared with other foods either. Who has some for sale? Go to work and get some ready for market, and I think I can find you custom- ers. I send you a small sample of our evaporated corn by mail to-day. Tnj it. It is all disposed of for this year, but next year we shall be glad to sell to you if we can agree upon a price. W^e make this a part of our business— evaporating corn, apples, and pumpkins. N. F. Case. Glensdale, Lewis Co., N. Y., Jan. 3, 1881. The corn is most excellent, friend C, and we could hardly tell it from corn that had just been gathered from the field. If any- body has any for sale as good as that, I should like figures on it. Pertalnlnsf to Bee Culture. CAUTION TO DEALERS. BjTKR. EDITOR:— A little over two months ago I fj^ received my first lesson, and I think the last one, while I remain a supply dealer in apiar- ian supplies. Mr. W. L. Woodward, formerly of Salford, Ont., wrote to me, stating to me that he had 275 lbs. of beeswax for sale. I offered him 28e per lb. cash on delivery ; but he thought thar, as we had had dealings with each other the last two years, I ought to remit first, which I declined to do, as it would amount to $77— he being a stranger tomepersonallj', and I to him ; so, finally, he said if I would remit $28 he would forward the 275 lbs. of wax at once, on re- ceipt of money, at the same time stating that two other parties were after it, at the same offer. I re- mitted the $28 in a registered letter; he received it, and that is the last of it, for he left Salford for parts unknown. He stated he gathered it for me through the country. M. Richardson. Port Colborne, Ont., Dec. 6, 1880. After getting the above, we immediately wrote Mr. Woodward, as he is one of our subscribers ; but getting no reply from him, we wrote his postmaster, inclosing a postal for reply ; but after w^aiting quite a time without getting a reply, we wrote to a sub- scriber there, and got the_ following: — In answer to yours of the 29th, would say in refer- ence to Woodward, he was not counted a responsible man when here. He took all the honey-comb, and queen bees, and left the others to starve. I heard he went to California, but don't know his present address. He has swindled others as well as Mr. Richardson. He is entirely deaf. If you wish any more information, I shall be glad to give it to you. Salford, Ont., Jan. 5, 1881. John Gregg, Jr. As the matter now stands, it seems to me that our bee friends need to be warned against trusting any man of the name given above, should he turn up in any new locality. If it were possible to find his address, I should much prefer trying to hear from him personally, especially as his deal with us has always been honorable. The transaction, as detailed by friend Richardson, is of a most aggravating character, and the poor man must have undergone some severe tempta- tions before he yielded to this bad impulse. If any one can give us his present address, I will do all I can to help him to reconsider his bad start, and come back to the right again. Now, friends, allow me to suggest, in sim- ilar cases, where you do notknow each other, you just send your money to a bank and di- rect them to make the purchase, or put the whole transaction in the hands of the ex- piess company. You can do this, and still have the wax or honey shipped by freight. It seems that Mitchell is not out of bus- iness yet, for two circulars, dated Jan., 1881, have been sent in by friends who have re- ceived them. I find nothing that requires notice, except the following on a little slip of paper, pasted in the front: — NOTICE. We would announce to the bee-keepers of the fol- lowing-named Counties— Randolph and Jay Coun- ties, Indiana; Mercer, Auglaize, and Shelby Coun- ties, Ohio, that we will visit the counties named as follows: — Portland, Oswalt House, Tuesday, Jan. 11, 1881. Celina, Miller House, Wedaesday, Jan. 12. Wapakonetta, Heinrich House, Thursday, Jan. 13. Sidney, Read House, Friday, Jan. 14. Winchester, Franklin House, Saturday, Jan. 15. We extend a cordial invitation to every one that is interested in the busy bee to call on us; and we would say to those who are using our hive, or any part of it, without a right to do so, that you are re- quested to meet me and settle up, or we will bring suit in the U. S. Court against you. Many of you have said that we have no patent on our hive. If you will call, we will show you our patent. We re- quest our friends to report all infringers. Any par- ties using the so-called Root's Chaff Cushions are in- fringers of the worst kind. We are sorry that we are thus compelled to assert our rights. N. C. MITCHELL. Well, I am sorry too, Friend M. I had hoped you would come out straight too, and that we might take the head of this depart- ment and put it away up on a high shelf, perhaps never more to be needed. I can hardly think any of our new beginners will be so foolish as 'to pay you for tiie right to use a division board when you do not even speak of making me settle. You know I am infringing the "worst kind." 82 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Feb. From Dilfereut Fields. SHOULD DOLLAR QUEENS EVER PRODUCE BEES NINE-TENTHS BLACK? fjRIEND ROOT:— The queen you shipped me "* May Ist came all right. I removed the queen — ■ from a populous stock, and introduced her in a cage 48 hours, and then released her, when she was received all right. I looked at her in about an hour, and shut up the hive for good, thinking it all right; and ten days after I found her dead at the entrance. I opened the hive and found just one queen-cell, and no eggs nor larvte. I ordered another dollar queeu, and from her progeny there is not more than one bee in ten that shows the Italian mark. Where did she come from? Perhaps it is too much work; but why is it not well to keep track of dollar queens— where they come from, and then we would soon learn who breeds for purity. I don't find aay fault, but some one has got their Italians strained down below par. It is my opinion friend L., tliat no queen raised from an imported mother should do as badly as that; yet the results of crossing are so diverse that it may be possible, after all. We have the names on a book, telling where every queen we have sold came from, and we have decided pretty well already where Ave can not afford to buy in tlie future. There is talk now of guaranteeing the pur- ity of all dollar queens next year ; and if we do this, queen-breeders will be pretty sure to get the black bees out of their neighborhoods more effectually another season. EAVE SWALLOWS EATING BEES. Theeave swallows have made havoc with my bees for a few years past. They nest about J4 mile away, under the eaves of the barns, over a running stream of water; and to get rid of them I know but two ways. One is to shoot them; the other is to take a long pole and teach their young to swim before they are old enough to eat bees. The old swallows catch the bees to feed their young. I tried the former way, and it cost me a dollar to kill sixteen with pow- der and shot, and I am a good marksman too. At that rate it would cost several hundred dollars to getrid of them, besides my time. That won't pay. Please inform me of abetter way. Are you positively. sure, friend L., that the swallows were eating bees ? It js well known, that they destroy large numbers of insects, and I think we should be very careful before we decide upon such a destruction of them as you speak of. ARE BEES FOND OF PARIS GREEN? Is it careless to use Paris green on potato tops, in the vicinity of my bees? I do not believe bees will ever touch Taris green unless it is mixed with honey or syrup. UPPER ENTRANCES, AND POLLEN. Are bees more apt to carry pollen in the surplus boxes when they have an upper entrance? An upper entrance would certainly make it more likely to have pollen stored in the surplus receptacles. VIRGIN QUEENS. Will bees accept a yirgin queen the day they swarm? If so, please inform me. I introduced sev- eral last season, but not one lived. The bees that have swarmed out will al- most always accept any kind of a queen ; but those that remain in the hive are just as likely to refuse a new queen as if no swarm had issued, so far as my experience goes. I went into winter-quarters with IT stands of bees —one in chaff hive, 11 set in boxes packed with chair, and 5 exposed to the weather, one of which is frozen up solid. Zero weather here for the last three weeks. Mercury 23° below zero—the coldest yet. No signs of a thaw, and very short of water. E. W. Lund. Baldwinville, Mass., Dec. 15, 1880. AN ABC SCHOLAR'S REPORT. 1 commenced with 3 swarms, waich I took on shares in 1877; but the story would befooling if I told the ups and downs until now. I will say, If I had taken the A B C or Gleanings,! could have made a better report. I have sold over $100 worth of bees; had last year 1000 lbs. surplus; this, 1500 (.500 extracted, 1000 comb;) sold for 13'/2 extracted, 15 to 16 in sections. I have now over 80 swarms in the cellar. By the way, I have always kept my bees in the cellar, in the winter, I mean, and have never lost a swarm by disease, and but one in any way, and that was by using an old hive with a mouse-hole in it. You can guess the rest. One year ago last win- ter manj' lost their bees in this vicinity. One of my neighbors lost 31 swarms— all he had. I saved 31— all I had. This year was a poor one with us here; no surplus until about the 10th of August. My surplus was all from less than 40 swarms. One made 144 lbs. in large frames, my best. D. Houghtaling. Dimondale, Eaton Co., Mich., Dec. 26, 1880. ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL QUEENS. As friend Doolittle Is sa. ing so much about dollar queens, I wish to say a word. Novv, I feel sure that queens raised according to the rules in the ABC are better than queens raised under the swarming Impulse. Bees often swarm without having started a queen-cell; the swarm finding themselves queen- lass will set about raising queens from larva that is ready to be capped over for a worker. The result is, you have a queeu about half worker. She will live about six weeks, and die. Then what is the matter? Don't know. Mr. Doolittle says that the queens raised according to your plan are raised by old bees. I think not, for young bees are hatching every day, and many of them have just learned their course. Now, queens raised in the natural way, I think, are often put on short rations, for the hive is full of brood, and the bees have all they can do to give them all a little. I shall raise all of my queens according to the ABC book. I don't wan't to find fault with friend Doolittle, but I don't think he ought to be quite so stiff in the neck, and hang off so much on one side. I don't raise queens to sell- probably never shall. G. A. Wrksht. Nicholson, Wyoming Co., Pa., Jan. 13, 1881. Gently, friend W. You know friend D. gets the honey, and as long as he does that, he has a right to be " stiff-necked " if he chooses. When we do as well as he does, year after year, we shall have earned the 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 83 right to be so too ; but as it is we are glad to hear from him, even if we do not just exactly agree with all the deductions he makes. RED CLOVER AS A HONEY-PLANT. Friend Doolittle says (on page21, present Volume), bethinks "there is nothing in the world that se- cretes as much honey, year after year, as red clo- ver." In this he is perfectly right; but when he says, "Still, it is of little use except to the bumble- bee," in my mind he is a little wrong. What were the bees doing when friend Doolittle "got off his mowing machine"? (See Gleanings, page 152, Dec. No., Vol. III.) There he tells us, Ital- ians were working on red clover, four miles from their home, and he even saw blick bees working on that same red clover. You have my views on page 164, Gleanings, May No., Vol. VII., and I still think that if we have good Italians there Is no honey-pl int equal to red clever. But the heads must be small, or the corolla will be "so long the bees can not touch the honey." I will tell you how to manage it. A few years ago I was crossing one of neighbor Henry Root's fields, and there I found our nice Italians, and hybrids too, working. Why I the whole field was a perfect hum. I wondered why they did not work on my own fields; but I soon found out the cause. We had always sowed our seed too thin, and the ground was rich; consequently, the heads were 1 irge. Moral.— Get your neighbors to sow more seed than usual, even if you have to "furnish the extra seed gratis. It makes better and finer hay, does not freeze out so easily, and in no way interferes with raising seed, and you will be delighted and well re- paid. ILA MiCHENER. Low Banks, Ont., Can., Jan. 10, 1881. A NEW WAY OP STOPPING ROBBING, ETC. I started last spring with 3" stands, all Italians, ex- cept one black and a few hybrids; lost none through wintering the last two years. I winter them on sum- mer stands, with chaff on top of frame, which I think is a good way in this part of Pennsylvania. I do not keep bees for profit only, but more because I like them. I increased by artificial and natural swarming to 40 stands, and got between 800 and 900 lbs. of honey, all comb, in frame and sections; also some in boxes. The season was so poor that I have to feed some of my first natural swarms that came out as early as May 9th, and are not self-siistaining; but I expect to get them all through. A good many of my neighbors did not get any honey at all. We have to depend on clover entirely for surplus, and the nectar failed, and hence a poor season. The queen which I received from you some time last July proved to be pure and prolific. I will here give you my way of curing robbers, which always proves satisfactory to me whenever I try it. When the robbing commences, and the stock to be robbed does not fight the robbers away, I close up the entrance pretty small; then I take a small piece of broom corn (which I like best) or quite a lit- tle whip, and stick it in at the entrance, and shako it pretty often. That makes them so cross that they will mount a robber before he is halfway down to get in; but put on a veil, or they will take you for a robber. If they have full sway of a colony before I find it out, I close it up entirely till next morning, when I make them defenders before the robbers are up. Sometimes it must be done pretty often before they stop it. BLACK WILLOW. You spoke about a willow-tree on page 599, in last No. of Gleanings, that was budded with a kilmon- ark. That willow is called black willow about here. I have raised from just such a nursery tree, budded the same way (and the top dried), a good many trees. They produce the earliest natural pollen (and honey too) that the bee can get in spring. They are raised the same as grapes, bs' cuttings, and grow very fast, and will bloom about a week or two. Mine are just swarming with bees almost as soon as the ground opens in spring. I generally top my trees in the spring after the pollen is all gone. I will send you some cuttings if you wish to have some. Val. D. Urich. Myerstown, Lebanon Co., Pa., Dec. 28, 1880. A LAW AGAINST FRAUDS IN WEIGHT, ETC. I inclose $1.00 to continue Gleanings. Will you not urge all j'our readers to join in petitioning, through their representatives in Congress, for a law to protect us against short weights, short count, and short measure, and' particularly against adultera- tions in all we eat, drink, or wear? that Congress pass a law requiring that every package destined for sale shall show exactly its weight, measurement, count, or composition, so each consumer can see ex- actly what he is buying, selling, or using; so the people may know exactly what they are using, and the pure and the adulterated articles would be put upon their individual merits, and there could be no premiums in the way of profits to deception and dis- honesty? Without such restriction, these evils must go on increasing, until every pure article of consumption will necessarily be driven out of the market, and the buyers left entirely at the mercy of dishonest manufacturers and speculators. Surely, Congress can not refuse to grant us such relief if the people will show that they need it. W. R. Whitman. New Market, Ala., Dec. 27, 1880. With all my heart, friend W., and, while Congress is getting around to it, let us, each and all, reform ourselves in every thing we make or sell. If any one has a "peck meas- ure"' that don't hold out, let us '^burn itup."' CROSS BEES GATHERING MOST HONEY. I wintered four swarms last winter. They in- creased to nine, and made 200 lbs. of comb surplus honey, most of it in 1-lb. sections. Mine are com- mon blacks, and the best swarm to gather honey is the worst to sting me if they can get a chance, and they watch close for a chance too, unless the honey is coming in freely. WINTERING WITH BOTH CHAFF AND CELLAR PRO- TECTION. My bee's are wrapped up in a cloth, and oat chaff is packed around them, top and sides. They are in Simplicity hives. I took out the brood frames, and took a cloth that would go over the remaining frames and down on the sides to the bottom-boards, and then packed in the chaff. I wintered them in my cellar last winter, packed in that way. My cellar is damp, but my bees were dry all winter. The chaff took the moisture, and I never had so few dead bees, nor had them winter so well before. I sent to you last spring for hives and other fix- 64 GLEA^maS IK BEE CULTURE. Feb. tures, and they came all right and were satisfactory, and the freight charges were quite low; and, as luck would have it, my order went In when the rush went, and the consequence was, that I had to hive some of my bees in my old box hive without any brood frames. ONE AND A HALF STORY HIVES. I like the one and a half story Simpliolty with the 28 one-pound section-crate very much; but I should like it better if the cover, or the upper story, was high enough to take on two sets of those crates, and then, when the bees have got far enoiigh along, raise one crate and put one under. H. M. Guild. Chester, Windsor Co., Vt., Dec. 17, 1880. A story and a half hive, with two tiers on, would be virtually our regular two-story hive, friend G.; and if you will look into the mat- ter, you will see that it would make a much more complicated and convenient rigging, to make the cover still taller, and get your boxes properly held in ])lace,than to make another story, just like the lower one, in the usual way. ADVERTISING IN THE READING COLUMNS. What in the name of common sense has come over some of the bee papers? I refer principally to the unbusiness like "free space" given through the reading columns of certain bee papers, which are nothing more than covert advertisements. For in- stance, something like this: — "I received 3 blank queens early this spring, from Mr. Blank Blank, and although the colonies c on- taining these queens were no stronger, and had no better chance than Italians that were alongside of them. They gathered more honey, and were easier to handle than the Italians. Blank Blank. "Blank Blank, Oct. 13, 1880." Now, I would ask any one (except the two Mr. Blanks) if such is fair dealing with advertisers and subscribers? If so, I have not another word to say. I have noticed that other journals, representing other industries, do not wrong iheir patrons in this way, and am free to confess that I can't understand why bee papers can'i do business on business prin- ciples. Gleanings, I lay no charge of this kind to you, and yet I should fear to scrutinize your back pages too far upon such a search, for fear I might find some. Right here, I firmly believe, I should throw the pen aside; but a "wee small voice" says, "Tell brother Root for this time, ' don't advise us to have charity.' " Charity is one thing, and business is an- other; and let us place each under its proper head- ing. R. C. Taylor. Wilmington, N. C, Nov. 10, 1880. But for all your caution, I fear I shall ask a little charity, friend T.; not only for the journals, but for their contributors. Where a letter is written, plainly with the inten- tion of advertising, I shall refuse it, even though I am offered more than our regular rates for every line of it. In fact, advertis- ing dodges shall not go into the reading col- umns at any price ; but where a bee-keeper, in making his report, naturally speaks of the supplies he has purchased of different ones of our number, I have no objection to his doing so. How else shall we know who does business in a careful and conscientious mannerV I know the editor may be accused of partiality in so doing ; but if he is con- scientiously working for the good of his readers, the best he knows how, he should not be troubled, even if some fault is found. I have all along been in the habit of freely advertising articles of great merit, where I thought the owner was conscientious and unselfish. I advertised friend Given's press that way, and I also took the liberty of crit- icising it afterward. Do you not wish me to do just this way? UPS AND B0WN8 OF AN A B C SCHOLAR. I have kept bees more than thirty years, but in the old box hive, and on the old-fogy style, until the spring of 1875, when I began with the Langstroth hive and two stands of bees; increased from 2 to 6 stands, but got no honey this year. May, 1876, start- ed out with six stands; increased, mostlj' by divid- ing, to 15 stands; took 600 lbs. of honey, mostly ex- tracted. May, 1877, began business with 15 colonies; took 1460 lbs. extracted, and 40 lbs. comb or box honey; increased my stock from 15 to 35 stands; lost 5 stands in wintering; came through to May, 18T8, with 30 live stands; took this season 2300 lbs. extracted, and 50 lbs. box honey; increased my stock from 30 stands to 15, mostly by dividing, but had only a few swarms. Packed them for winter on their summer stands in the best condition I ever had bees— at least, that was my conviction. But, alas! May, 1879, found me with but 15 stands alive, and 4 of them nearly gone, and more honey left in the hives with the dead bees than I knew what to do with. I extracted 400 lbs. of honey, made by divid- ing 6 new stands; lost, in wintering, 7 stands. May, 1880, 1 had but 14 left alive. Got no honey this year, but increased my stock to 28 stands. Just before the weather turned cold, I packed them snugly in the cellar in a dark room by themselves, to stay un- til some time next April, dead or alive. J. C. Phillips. Westchester, Butler Co., O., Jan. 1, 1881. CALIFORNIA NOTES, KTC. We have had a long, steady rain, which has start- ed the sages and early honey-plants; and if the weather continues warm and damp, bees will be making tbeir own living in 6 or 8 weeks, and early swarms will be coming out by the first of March. The indications are now good for the best honey season we have had for several years; and you need not be surprised at reports of 300 and 300 lbs. of honey to the hive. Bee-men are happj', and hire- making will soon be the order of the day. which is the best smoker? Now, Mr. Root, I want a smoker— one that will burn anything, from dry rotten wood to stovewood; make lots of smoke; blow the smoke well in any position; not get out of order every five minutes, nor go out as soon as laid down. Now, what kind would you advise me to get? I have had roses in bloom all the year, and the bushes are now sending out buds in profusion. Corn, potatoes, and early garden stuff are coming up. Now beat that if you can in Medina. Carpenteria, Cal., Dec. 19, 1880. E. CaDWell. Really friend C, I wish you had not asked me that question about smokers; for I would much rather you would, after looking over the prices of different makes, order the one you think you would like best. What shall I tell him, boys? Somebody having no smoker for sale, please answer. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 85 AN A B C scholar's EXPERIENCE. I thought I would saj' something about my bees. I have 25 stands of bees. I began in the spring of 1879 with 3 stands; in the fall I had 6. That was a Tery poor honey season. I got no honey, but fed 100 lbs. of sugar; so you seel made nothing that season. In the spring of 1880 I bought 10 stands, $5.00 each. Another very poor season; had 16 in the spring of 1880; took 100 lbs. of cap honey. I took that in May; got no more that season, but fed some sugar in the fall. I started in the winter with 25 stands. I put 16 in boxes; packed hay all around the gum; put cushions on the frames; left 9 on their summer stands; those I left on their summer stands were the strongest and best stands. They ha%'e had two flies since I put them away for winter, while those in the boxes have had no fly at all; but they all seem to be doing very well. I don't know whether to let them stay in the boxes when spring comes or not. As soon as su^ar-making comes on, I will com- mence to feed, as my bees didn't breed later than August. I fed them in the fall, but they didn't com- mence to breed. My bees were not as strong as I would have liked. White clover was a total failure both years. I do hope next year will be a. good one for honey. The honey I took in May was from poj)- lar. Gleanings is worth all it costs. It is very in- teresting. D. F. Steele. Gosport, Owen Co., Ind., Jan. 2, 1881. BOTTOM-BARS TO FRAMES, MADE OF THIN HOOP IRON. I am an A B C student, but liave no other than the old box hive, and wish to make a beginning soon, if I have to make my own hives and frames. How would a tie used for baling cotton do for the bottom and sides of a frame, riveted to a wooden top-bar? When dipped into melted wax it would not rust. . J. H. Roderick. Dodd's City, Fannin Co., Tex., Dec. 25, 1880. Frames made as you mention will do very well, only that they are liable to be bent, or the comb injured in setting them down ; in fact, frames may be, and have been, used with no bottom-bar, and there is no objec- tion that I know of, except the liability to injury while handling. The general verdict, after a time, is, I believe, that a light strip of pine is best, all things considered. You see much depends on the bottom-bar, to keep the rest of the frame straight and firm. PAPER HONEY-COMB, ETC. Won't you induce Mr. Gray to make a machine that will turn out artificial honey-comb complete- made from shellac tissue paper, and In a way simi- lar to that described in Quinby's "New Bee-Keep- ing," which uses tin? I am sure it would be a suc- cess, for I have used a small square of hornet's-nest comb, inserted in ordinary brood comb with success. After "uncapping" it to !i in. depth of cell, I just dipped the rough edges in melted wax, to make the bees think they were composed of that material all the way to the bottom. The shellac would serve to hold the strips together in this case, as the solder does In the other. These little bottomless cells could then be stuck to a flat sheet of shellac paper (one set on either side), then by touching the edges to melted wax your comb is finished. The machine should turn out these bottomless cells in webs of a certain width, and an indefinite length, like a loom, in order to make it pay. Don't let Mr. Gray alone till he produces this comb, for it is almost impossi- ble to make a paying business of producing honey, without some such cheap comb, and which can i\ot be destroyed by worms. F. Della Torre. Aiken, S. C, Jan. 1, 1881. Your experiment has been made before, friend D., and it is pretty well known that it will succeed. You are right; if some sort of fdn. could be produced that needs only to be dipped in melted wax to make it ready to hang in the hives, it would be a boon indeed. The difficulties m far have been that the bees would object, and tear out our artificial substitutes. The fact that hornet's-nest comb will be used by the bees, is a fact that has often made me feel some- thing of the kind, made entirely of the same kind of a papery substance, would eventual- ly be the thing used. Making it in the way Mr. Quinby made his tin combs is too slow, and it does not give us the proper shape for the bottom of the cells for economy of space and material in the bee hive. BEES ON COTTONWOOD, ETC. I see on page 41, Jan. No., 1881, that friend C. W. Kennard wishes to know if bees work on cotton- wood. They certainly do; but whether they get on- ly pollen, I can't say. I have a large cottonwood within 20 feet of my shop, and in early spring, when it blooms, it's a sight to see the bees work on it. The bloom is easily blown off, and I have seen 5 or 6 bees on one flower on the ground. Friend Root, I am so glad friend Given is among us again ! don't let us lose any of these bee veterans and inventors. I can't do without Gleanings, and don't want to lose their counsel. WINDMILLS. Friend Root, can't you give us an article on wind- mills? Tell us all about a 2 or 3 horse-power mill, the best and easiest managed— price, etc. A. S. Davison. AuUville, Lafayette Co., Mo., Jan. 5, 1881. As our older friends remember, Glean- ings was first printed on a press that ran by wind power; and, in fact, our whole bee- hive factory was run in the same way. So long as I did the work myself, and could wait until the wind blew, it answered very well ; but when I was obliged to hire hands, and they were obliged to wait, or work with a low and irregular speed, it began to be rather expensive. If I am correct, there is no way yet invented by which wind power can be made to give a regular, steady mo- tion like steam, although it will do very well when there is wind enough, as there is many days in the spring and fall. The wind is also much more reliable in some localities, as on the prairies of the West. Pumping, and grinding grain seem to be the legitimate work of windmills at present ; sawing wood can sometimes be done very profitably by wind also. ^ ^ HONEY from COTTONWOOD-TREES, ETC. I think bees get little or no honey from cotton- wood in this locality; but I do know that they get a "right smart chance" of propolis (see A B C, p. 145) from cottonwood in the spring. Bees have had only one fly since about Nov. 15th. I notice one or two colonies have been coming out GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Ebb. this cold weather, and have specked the snow badly. Almost all of them fall to get back into the hive. All are chaff packed. The colony with imported queen has not lost over 25 or 30 bees so far. J. B. MCCORMICK. Neoga, Cumb. Co., Ill , Jan. 10, 1S81. DO BEES WORK ON COTTONWOOD-TREES? is asked in this month's Gleanings. I will answer for one. They do, and in large numbers, creating that joyous hum we always hear when the liltle fel- lows are gathering pollen freely. The bloom is sim- ilar to the willow, except much larger. It produces no honey; but I think that a few large trees near the apiary is quite a help, as it blooms just after the elm. There are two kinds; one produces light yel- low, and the other dark red pollen. S. A. Shttck. Bryant, 111., Jan. 5, 1881. another report from COTTONWOOD. Bees do work on cottonwood, especially the "bit- ter" kind. There was a great flow of the so-called honey-dew on the cottonwood this season about me for miles around -so that it dripped from the leaves. n. H. C. Bbeece. Greenwood, Custer Co., Col , Jan. 10, 1881. MEDICATED HONEF, ETC. My bees are flying to-day, but there is nothing for them to gather. The first two weeks of this month they carried in pollen rapidly from the "broom" weed. The years 1879 and 18S0 were exceedingly dry here, and the honey crop was consequently short. In some neighborhoods, however, the yield was very good.— I will say in regard to medicated honey, that I have taken some 300 lbs. of honey this fall, gath- ered from the senna flower, but can not discover any of the medicinal qualities of the leaves in it. W. A. McPhail. Pleasanton, Atascosa Co., Texas, Dec. 2T, 1880. THE FARIS MACHINE. In January No., page 29, you say you have not de- cided that the Faris fdn. machine is a success. AVe have made it a success; we got a frame cast to hold the plaster. We can turn out fdn. as perfect and as fast as any roll machine in use. It will not sag in warm weather, and the bees work it out faster than that made on the rolls, as it is softer, and the grain of the wax is not broken. Bees that are in chaff hives are wintering as well as could be expected. This is a very severe winter. J. Russell. Lifford, Ontario, Can., Jan. 9, 1881. I am very glad to bear of your success, friend R., but I think you will iind the plas- ter plate objectionable before you have made very much of a quantity of fdn. I presume a cast-iron frame, properly made, would go a great way toward remedying the difficulties I have mentioned. CHAFF hives; BEST POSITION FOR THE ENTRANCE. Friend Root:— J have been engaged for some time manufacturing your chaff hive, from a pattern you sent me some time since. In so doing, I have been led to think considernbly about its construction. It is certainly a grand hive, ingeniously constructed. But while it Is almost without a fault, I have been led to change it a little to suit my own notion. It may not be considered by you or others any improve- ment at all, for, you know, doctors differ, and so may apiarians. My improvement, or, we may call it. change, consists in placing the entrance, not in the end, but in the Side. According to model sent me, your entrance is opposite the ends of the frames. In the lower department. This necessitates the bees traveling the entire length of the hive to deposit their load, when engaged in filling the back ends of the frames, and this distance is augmented still more when engaged in filling the back sections in the upper story, making a distance of about three feet they have to travel in going from the entrance to the upper sections. This distance must, of course, be retraced. Wc have thus a distance of about six feet that every bee must travel in depositing its load, and returning. This distance is considerably reduced by placing the entrance in either of the sides, so that the bees will strike the center of the frames, whenever they enter the hive. I know it may be replied, that the tunnel is longer, through which the bees have to pass to strike the sides, than to enter at the ends; but this distance is consider- ably less than to travel the whole length of the frame. Besides, it improves the wintering qualities of the hive, and will enable it to bo used in carrying out Mr. D. A. Jones' idea about perforated tin or zinc divisions, to prevent the queen from depositing eggs in the same comb in which the workers are de- positing honey. Still further, it obviates the objec- tion sometimes urged about the eave of the cover causing the rain to fall more violently on the en- trance than on the other sides. I have been manu- facturing the hives, modeling Ihem after the above notion. If you think these suggestions worth any thing, give them a place in Gleanings. Wm. Ballantine. Sago, Muskingum Co., O., Jan. 10, 1881. The position of the entrance, not only in chaff hives, but all other hives, has been much discussed. While there are some rea- sons besides the ones you have mentioned for having the entrance at the sides of the combs, there are other ones for having them in the way 31 r. Langstroth gave us the hive called after his name, with the entrance at the ends of the frames. I believe it is gen- erally thought that the bees gain access to any of the combs more readily by this latter plan than by the other way, and that tliey also have less trouble ui hot weather in ven- tilating from the entrance, as no other means of ventilation is, as a general thing, now used. For the same reasons, it has been suggested that an entrance at the sidcR of the combs is a warmer arrangement for win- ter. I confess, friend ]>.. I can not quite see how the bees are saved very much travel by one arrangement more than by the other. the PEET CAGE. I commenced this letter to tell you about my suc- cess with tae Feet cage. Last season I used it alto- gether, and of all the queens I introduced in my api- ary, I lost but two. I sold 5:5 queens to J. J. Rohrer, South West, Ind., that I' introduced the same way, and last but one, and there was not one lust out of 42 others that I sold to different ones of my neigh- bors, and Introduced myself. Now, remember, those queens were introduced at different times of the season, and to all different kinds of bees. Friend A. P. Blosser, of Goshen, Ind., had the biggest loss of any one I know of. Out of about 50 queens bought from me he tells me he lost six or seven, in- 1881 GLEA^^IXGS IN BEE CULTURE. Iroduced with the Pect cage. To take everything into considcratiim, I think the Poet cage comes very near being just the thing. I. R. Good. Nappancc, Ind., Jan. 10, 1881. EXPERIMENTS VTITH HONEY-PLANTS. I send you a few seeds of the Iris Lcvvujata, a plant of the order of touch-me-nots, but much more beau- tiful, and a great hcc-pJant. The Rural New-Yorher sent me six seeds; only throe of them eame up, and the bees were sucking them till the great frost in November. I sowed two rows, 300 feet Ijng, in sweet Basil. I have gathered over a peck of them to sow next spring. They are good bee-plants. I sowed two acres in Alsike clover from August to middle of Sep- tember last, and turnips with the clover seed, so as to come on in succession. I sowed a great many Spider plant seeds from the lise plants that came up. I shall sow 4 bushels of silverhuU buckwheat, begin- ning, as soon as all dangerof frost is over, with ahalf- bushel, and continuing with the same quantity every 8 days till all is sown. I sow on highlj- manured land. In like manner I shall plJnt 2 acres of the great Russian suntlower. I have planted out upwards of a thousand Cuthbert raspberry plints, but not more than 50 will be of any benefit to the bees this coming year. I have sown five acres of land of Ital- ian-clover seed with wheat. I have saved a great many Susette Fontaine mustard seed to sow In the spring. A little cousin of mine in Mississippi sent me a few seeds in 18T8, in a letter. She says that it Is a cross between the colewort and mustard. Be that as it may, it has leaves about ~ feet broad, and It grows from 8 to 10 feet high in good rich land, and is the strongest mustard I ever tasted. I will send you some if you wish them. On the sides of our roads we have growing a plant which grows about 3 or 3 feet high, blooms very early, and remains in bloom till checked by the frosts about the last of November; we call it sheepmint. It is a great bee- plant, and so is the mustard. Did you know that bees gather honey from the bloom of the tobacco- plant? I raise a great deal of pearl millet. When in bloom it gives the largest quantity of pollen, and a great deal of honey where the fodder comes from the stalk. The sourwood, tulip poplars, and Judas- trees flourish in great quantities on my farm. Se- quoia. The viol;'t-colored l.ivender, and the broad- leaf thyme, of which I sow a great deal, are splendid bee plants. Well, you see this ABC scholar is pro- viding magnificently for his Italians, even growing five acres of grapevines in the Concords, the Dutch- ess, the Lady Washington, with gooseberries, cur- rants, and Kittatinny blackberries; and yet he does pot know that he has a single bee living. The last time I saw them was on the 16th of December. I fed them well, gave them '2 lbs. of coffee sugar, A No. 1. They were very lively then, and appeared like 2 large swarms. That in the Simplicity hive was rather the larger. I have a splendid house for them, well cov- ered and inclosed; stuffed around the hives with oak leaves up to thetop, with separators and cush- ions in the large hive, two doors, with lock and key. WASHBO.A.RD BEE-FEEDER. I sawed a common washboard, that was not tinned in two parts, each holding 1 lb. of dissolved sugar. None get drowned in these. Wm. S. Fontaine. Reidsville, Rockingham Co., N. C, Jan. 4, 1881. I fear, friend F., some of your invest- mcDts will be only money out of pocket. Our half-acre of ISIammoth Russian sun- flowers hardly attracted the attention of the bees at all. I have also expended nearly $50.00 for raspberry plants, and got nice fine plants too, but I do not believe one in ten is now growing. Go carefully, boys, on these new things. THE COLD WEATHER IN WISCONSIN. The mercury froze up again last night at 10 p.m., and continued to be in that state until 8 a.m. to-day. I think that it probably would have shown 50° had we any way of measuring it. This is the coldest spell ever known in this country. Since the first it has not risen above zero during the day, and has ranged from 30^ to 40 below every night. Can bees be expected to come out alive out on summer stands? Mine keep up a buzzing noise all the time, but I think it will give them dysentery. Birds, fowls, and pigs, are freezing to death. E. A. Morgan. Arcadia, Wis., Jan. 10, 1881. I do not think the extreme cold will harm the bees if colonies are strong and well packed in chaff hives, friend M. The buzz- ing is all right; they always do this when it is so very cold, and I do not think it will result in any great additional consumption of honey, if protected as above. INTRODUCING QUEENS. The three queens which I bought of you last fall, were introduced to colonies in the following manner with success: Deprive the bees of their queens as usual; take hive, bees, and all, indoors; takeall their frames out, and place them around the hive in any way so their frames will be secure. Bees will soon fill themselves with honey, and begin to look up their queen. I then place the cage containing the queen to be introduced near them on the floor. The bees will soon cluster on the cage ; then replace the frames; shake the bees off' the cage in front of the hive; re- lease the queen, and all will enter, apparently with joy. Carry the hive to its former place; raise the window and let the remaining bees go home, and then the work is done. Wii. Parmerlee. Bean Blossom, Ind., Jan. 11, 1881. Taking the bees away from their hive, or away from their combs, will often make them accept a queen Avhen they would not otherwise ; but it can be by no "means relied on in all cases. Reports of such experiments are valuable, inasmuch as they give us facts that enable us better to understand the hab- its and disposition of bees. ]\Iany thanks, friend P.; but I would not advise you to risk a valuable queen thus, without careful watching. making an artificial swarm IN APRIL UNINTEN- TIONALLY. I can't find any thing in A B C or Gleanings that fits this case: Last spring, the latter part of March, a neighbor had two black and one Italian stocks of bees standing on their winter stands, on the south side of a building. About the 1st of April the two blacks were moved 10 rods away to their summer stands, and the Italians left for parts unknown for want of stores (too early in the season to live out here.) The hive that the Italians occupied was left on the winter stand, with empty combs. Bees came back from the blacks that were moved to summer stands, and occupied the empty combs, and I sup- 88 GLEAl^mGS IN J3EE CULTURE. Ebb. pose must have carried honey enough from the orig- inal hives to live on till they commenced work out of doors. They carried in honey and pollen enough topartly fill 5 Gallup frames. They lived that way for a month, when I introduced an Italian queen. She was accepted in good faith, and still lives, and they are a thriving colony. There are no bees near that could have come from any other yard. Some of your readers here would like to know how it was done. George E. Northrop. Southport, Fairfleld Co., Ct., Jan. 13, 1881. It is all very plain, friend oST., except on one point, and this is, the difficulty of ex- plaining where the honey came from to sus- tain them, until it could be had from the fields. Unless you know positively to the contrary, I would suggest that the Italians swarmed out, before they were quite out of lioney, as they often do in early spring, when weak. The blacks came back to their old stand as a matter of course, and, finding no hives, both went into the only hive remaining, and finding at least a small patch of brood, went to work to take care of it. The stocks moved were probably quite strong, and so the two together make a very fair new swarm. As they were all fiying bees (the whole force of two colonies), they gathered and stored hon- ey from the first bloom out; and, having little brood to feed, filled the frames, as you state, very quickly. Either they failed in raising a queen, or your fertile one killed her, and then they were a fair colony. 1 have once known bees to carry all tlieir stores over to another hive, where there was a queen, and it is therefore not impossible that the bees you mention did not carry hon- ey back to the'ir old locality, if you are posi- tive the Italians, when they decamped, left none. The plan was, in fact, almost exact- ly the one I give in the A B C for making artificial swarms, only it was done rather early in the season. BEES UNDER THE SNOW. In reply to Charles B. Ellis, on page 5'J2, you say that bees are better off covered with snow, etc. Now, I think you are mistaken, as my grandfather lost 100 swarms of bees, 40 years ago. They were standing In a bee-house, four feet from the ground. There was a board one foot wide that was hung on hinges In front of them. He neglected to shut it down that night, and the snow drifted in and closed the en- trance of the hives and smothered them. W. w. Bliss. Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., Cal., Jan. 10, 1881. I must think you are mistaken, friend 13., about the snow killing the bees. Thousands of colonies are now covered entirely with snow, and I never heard of its doing any harm, unless the snow became so wet as to settle down so the water from it ran into the hives, or closed the only openings. In all modern hives, there is abundant ventilation up through the chaff coverings, even though the entrance be closed hermetically. It is possible the hives you mention were made so tight, and waxed above, that the snow smothered them ; but I can hardly see how it could be. Prof. Cook once poured water all over a hive, and let it freeze on ; but it did not harm the bees. Under a snowbank is almost as good as buried in the ground. THE BEES AND GRAPES; AND HOW TO SAVE EX- PENSE OF GOING TO LAW, ETC. I to-day have been reading about the troubles be- tween friends Kroek and Klasen, which I very much regret. No doubt friend Krock has been very much annoyed, and perhaps damaged, by friend Klasen's bees, and also by his don't-care and saucy manner; but I fear that friend Krock put it rather " thin " where ho admits the " accidental " poisoning. I hope he will not set any more Paris green and mashed peaches and grapes where bees will find them. I am sorry friend Klasen went into the vineyard with that pistol, and hope he will throw it away. I am opposed to going to law if it can be avoided, and it can usually be done if meu will only wait to cool off and reflect. I never advise men to go to law, but advise them to each select a man, and these two men select the third man, and they shall hear both sides of the matter in dispute, and shall render a verdict accordingly, which shall be final,— first having the parties enter into a written agreement to abide by such decision; and I think that would be the better plan in this case. I fear I shall lose all my boes. Nov. 18th the ther- mometer ran suddenly down to 20° below zero, and caught them scattered all through the hives, freez- ing thousands of them, and it still continues cold. This morning the thermometer went down to 17° be- low. H. H. Fox. Tribulation, McDonald Co., Mo., Jan. 10, 1881. BEES AKD GRAPES. I have the very best opportunity for making ob- sei-vations in regard to bees eating grapes. I am lo- cated in the immediate vicinity of quite a number of vineyards; have kept bees a good many years. I had, during the grape season of last year, something over 200 swarms. I have two small vineyards ad- joining my apiaries (about 1 acre each.) I raised a fine crop of grapes last year, a part remaining on the vines until frost. Tho most experienced grape- growers in this vicinity, whose opinions upon this subject are highly credib'.c, are settled in their con- victions that bees eat only such grapes as have had their skins punctured or broken. There is one other thing, also, about which there is no disagreement: they arc oftentimes quite an- noying about the packing-house and in the vineyard, for they are ready in an instant to appropriate every grape that becomes broken, no matter how small the break or puncture. I consider this question of no little importance to both bee-keepers and grape- growers, as some very grave charges have been made in this matter against the bees. H. R. BOARDM VN. East Townsend, O., Jan. 17, 1881. BEES AND GRAPES. I have had, for the past year, 75 colonies near and among a quarter of an acre of old bearing vines; and, although last year, and especially the fall, was a poor season for honey-gathering, I considered the grapes damaged very little by them. One of my men says they never break optn a grape, but only suck the juice where they are already open; but he has observed the yellow-jackets, and thinks they do open the grapes. Now, if they are so destructive, why did not so many bees destroy mine? I think, as you say, a little Christian charity for each other would have got along with the matter without diffi- culty. A. D. Benh.vm. Olivet, Eaton Co., Mich., Jan. 18, 1881. 1881 GLEANINGS IN J3EE CULTURE. 89 FIKDING A DEAD QCEEX BEFOKE THE ENTRANCE. lam a uew hand at bee-keeping'; i. e., in frame hives. My bees are all packed in frame hives in the cellar, e.xcept four, which are in chaff hives, and I find that one of them is queenless. I chanced to see her as I cleared the dead bees out to day. Now, will you be so kind as to tell me what to do? Can I g-et a queen in time to save them, or shall I have to give them brood from some of my others, when it is time? A. W. Merrill. Parkman Cor., Piscataquis Co., Me , Jan. U, 1881. I do not think you need to be alarmed, friend M., for in all probability this was on- ly an extra old queen, unless you should find the colony very much reduced. In the lat- ter case, unite them ^Yith some other weak colony. If they are really queenless, it will do no'harm at present. They are just about as well off, to start no brood until they be- gin to fly. "When such a time comes, give them a little brood from another colony, and if they rear a queen that does not get fertil- ized, "kill her and let them raise another. The second one will probably become fertile. It will help matters, if they are not very strong, by purchasing a queen for them of our Southern friends ; but we have as yet never been able to get any before some time ill April. Who among you will be first to report having new-laying queens ready to send out V Such a one shall have a free ad- vertisement. MORE N«W BEES. My report for 1883: 17 stocks, with an average of 50 lbs. to the stock. The bees are having a 1 jng cold pull of it this win- ter, and unless they can have a cleansing flight be- fore long, there will belotsofbse mourners next sprin?. Althoush it may be hard on the bees, this snow is splendid for wheat and rye. I have made arrangements to have some bees sent from Tahiti, an isl.md in the South Sea, and would like to have your opinion, and directions for ship- ping bees that distance. The time from Tahiti to San Francisco is three mouths; but I think that, with candy and bot lie, we can get them through. I should like to have the name of some responsible bee-keeper who could receive them at San Francisco, give them a fly, recruit them up, and mail them to me. I will also try to And out about those "bobtail bees" of Brazil, if such there are. W. Buger. Conklin, Broome Co., N. Y , Jan. 19, 1881. I have g"iven all the directions I am able, on page .581, Dec. No. By all means, let us tind out all we can about all the bees on this little world of ours. I would suggest the name of Andrew White. 31.3 Yallejo street, San Fran- cisco, Cal., as a proper person to take charge of the bees on their arrival. WHAT TO DO WITH BEES THAT H.4VE THE DYSENTERY. My bees had the dysentery the worst I ever saw. I went into winter-quarters with 13 colonies, and be- fore January I had lost 6, and 7 had died on account of the cold weather and dysentery, so I had to prac- tice something to keep up my 6 colonies. I put them in the cell ir, took out their stores, and gave them a frame of candy, and the same time I fed them syrup in which I put a few drops of mint. Both were made of granul.ited sugar. I also gave them all the venti- lation I could to get out the foul air. In about a week they were all well, and their excrements are now dry, and the bees are all well up to date. I wrote this, that others might save their bees. I hope this will prove a good testimonial in regard to the soundness of your advice in January No. of Gleanings. Wm. K. Deisher. Kutztown, Berks Co., Pa., Jan. 24, 1881. fire and brimstone. 4 My heart bounds when you touch a sympathetic chord in defense of the bees. I always had a terri- ble dread, when a boy, of a lake of fire and brim- stone, which we then hoard so much about; and, al- though we do not hear so much of it nowadays be- cause it is getting unpopular, yet the dread still sticks to me. I hate even the scent of a match in a room now. I never got out with the bees when they were mad, and trying to have their way, so that I felt like sticking a match under their nose. I saved the lives of nine swarms a year ago last fall, which one of my neighbors was going to kill. I took honey to winter them on, which I had saved for family use; this last fall I took 20; 7 I bought; the rest were given me; they were all light in store; and with shame I will confess I have let two of them starve. It was very late, and frozen up hard when I got them, and I overlooked two, and did not give them honey. I have plenty of sealed stores for them. This is my feed for bees— they like it; they made it, and I like to let them eat it. I hear of many in this vicinity losing their bees by dysentery. Mine are in tolerably good order yet— no signs of dysentery, only in one case. The complaint is about as general in cellars as in chaff hives out doors. D. HOUGHTALINQ. Dimondale, Eaton Co., Mich., Jan. 19, 1881. As the fear you mention seems to have worked wholesome results, friend II., I do not see but that the best thing you can do is to go on ; for it certainly will be a fine thing for the bees that are doomed to such a death. WHY friend HYATT DON'T LIKE ITALIANS. I purchased two nuclei of you last spring, one for myself and one for my neighbor. My neighbor's filled the hive, but not one pound of surplus. He divided them, and in a short time one stock robbed the other. There are a few in the old stock alive yet. Now for my own: They filled the hive, and threw off a good swarm, and that swarm gave me another; that made me 3 stocks. In the faU I returned that swarm to the original one that they issued from, but I think I did wrong, for they would have wintered alone. I think that for supply men, the Italians are the bees, but not for me; uuless I want my farm all covered over, I want no more of them. My first Italians, two of them, swarmed the 15th day of June. They filled their hive, but not a pound of surplus. The same day a native swarm came out. They tilled their hive, and six 3;4-lb. boxes, both in the same kind of hive. Neither of the Italian stocks made an ounce of surplus. I put two boxes on the nucleus that was half full of honey and comb, but they would not touch them; at the same time, the hiv-e was full of honey. The natives are ahead for me. G. Hyatt. Three Mile Bay, Jefferson Co., N. Y., Jan. 18, 1881. I think all the trouble is, friend II., that you have not yet got used to the Italians. More than one has decided just as you do at first ; but they all take it back after a more thorough acquaintance with the Italians. 90 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Feb. ^^dfl^^ni f THANK you for the lessons of faith and charity you give us; and may God bless you, and fill — ' you with his Spirit. The Nov. No. just an- swered some questions in part that I wished to know about. Would friend Jones please explain his way of feeding bees on sugar— whether in candy or syrup, in winter, out of doors, or in cellar, as he says, in Nov. No., he wintered 160 swarms on sugar? The care of beos is to me a pleasant recreation, although it is a science of small and nice cares, and it has much to learn. This spring I had 14 swarms— 8 in the new Lang- stroth hive, 5 of which gave me over 200 sections of honey, and one old-fashioned L. hive, which gave 40 lbs. box honey. From one hive I tooli two frames of honey and brood— one to each of two others that I was feeding in the spring, and it gave me a small swarm the 8th of June. Then I put the new swarm in place of the old one, so it should not swarm again. It never seemed to do well, and I think the queen was lost when on her wedding tour ; fiually the other bees robbed and destroyed the swarm. The yield of honey from apple-bloom was extra good this spring. No rain fell till out of bloom. White clover was abundant, but fresh showers dur- ing the day hindered the bees from collecting. It seemed to me that there was not as much honey as usual in the bloom. I had only two first swarms, and one second swarm. The hives seemed so full of bees In May that I looked for swarms. My seven swarms in box hives are fit only for Blasted Hopes. Makv a. Munson. Independence, Cuyahoga Co., O., Dec. 8, 1880. now FRIEND JONES FEEDS GRANULATED SUGAR If I am correct, my friend ]SIr. Jones does all his feeding in warm weather, during the fall. He feeds the sugar in the form of a syrup, and feeds it by pouring it on the bot- tom-board of the hive. Of course, the hive has a permanent bottom, made tight by melted wax, if not already made so by the bees, and the front end is slightly elevated, while feeding is being done. The syrup is poured in just at }iight. The idea although it has many good features, has also its ob- jections, such as holding rain-water after storms, etc. It is a plan that has been many years in use, but I believe has not, of late, had very much favor. If I am wrong, will friend Jones please correct V 'i^lierl^ ffif OMMgmg. 5650 LBS. OF HONEY FROM 53 COLONIES OF COMMON BEES IN ONE POOR SEASON. HAVE sold, of comb honey in sections, 2153 lbs. that I have an account of. I also sold about 20O lbs. in brood frames. I have also sold be- tween 9 and 10 barrels of extracted. Well, to make a long story short, I think it safe to say that I ob- tained 5650 lbs., which would be 107 lbs. for each old stock that I had in the sprmg, which was 52— mak- ing, at prices obtained, about $550.00. How is that for a poor season, and black bees at that— or, rath- er, what they call black bees around here; but I call them brown bees? Any how, they can't be beat for work by any thing I have ever seen yet. I put 92 colonies into winter-quarters, with plenty of honey for winter, and expect to extract about 2 barrels ia the spring. Dennis Gardner. Carson City, Montcalm Co., Mich., Jan. 8, 1881. When the spring opened out I found myself with 20 colonies to begin the season with. Eight out of 20 were so weak in bees that it took the whole honey season to build them up to anything like a fair stock of bees. It will be seen that I reduced my number to 12; from the 12 I took 850 lbs. comb honey in 1-lb. sections, and increased to 45 strong swarms. My bees are wintering nicely so far this cold winter. Thomas Chilly. Grafton, Lorain Co., C, Jan. 17, 1R81. FROM 1 TO 4, AND 50 LBS. OF HONEY IN ONE SEASON. I wintered one swarm last winter in a Langstroth hive, which gave two good swarms in May, and 50 lbs. of box honey; one of the May swarms gave a swarm in August, and it filled its hive by the 1st of October. John G. Fox. Middle River, Madison Co., Iowa, Jan. 7, 1881. S<^4^ (tnd (Imrie^s. NEW COVER, ETC. SN regard to Gleanings' new dress, I will say that it is perfection— stylish and artistic, and I can't see how anybody can find fault with such a splendid cover. Give us, my apiarian friends, as much practical informa(i(jn through Gleanings as you did last year (with the honest teacher's help), and I should think all ought to be satisfied. Now, Mr. Root, give us an illustration each month of some apiary, and a cartoon, and I for one am willing to pay 50 cents more for Gleanings per year. Preston J. Kline. Coopersburg, Lehigh Co., Pa., Dee. 7, 1880. I sold all my honey at 18 and 20 cts. per lb. (box;) 2-lb. jars at 40 cts. (extracted). Casper Capser. St. Joseph, Minn., Dec. 23, 1880. We are having a very cold winter. I have some fears for our bees. It has been below zero from 5 to 26 degrees. D. A. Pike. Smithsburg, Md., Jan. 4, 1881. sweet corn FOR BEES AND " FOLKS." How many bushels per acre will sweet corn pro- duce? How many bushels of green corn will it take to make one of dried? F. J. Wardell. Uhrichsville, Tuscarawas Co., O , Jan. 5, 1881. [Who will answer?] I do not see why friend Johnson, of Danielsonville, Ct., can find any fault. I sent him, as a personal fa- vor, one swarm of Italians and a wintering box for $0.00, and I warranted them to winter all safely. If they do not winter, I am to send him another swarm. A.W.Cheney. Kanawha Falls, West Va., Jan. 10, 1881. [I think he did not mean to find anj' fault, friend C, and I presume he did not intend his letter for print. You certainly did a great deal more than I should want to, especially during such a winter as this.] 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 91 My 50 swarms of bees are ia grood condition to date. I think this winter will call for another cartoon for Blasted Hopes. L. D. Gale. Stedman, Chaut. Co., N. Y., Jan. IT, 1881. I began bee-keeping last spring by taking a hive on shares. I got about 30 lbs. of honey, and two swarms from it, which I thought was doing pretty well for last year. We shall probably get more bees in the spring. I use Mrs. Cotton's hive, and, so far as I know, it is a good one. Chas. O. Meloon. Portsmouth, N. H., Jan. 8, 1881. It has been cold here; 24° below zero has been touched. Box-hlvc bee-men are reporting heavy losses of bees. Mine in chaff hives are still able to raise a whiz-z-z. They haven't had a good fly for nearly two mom hs. How do your Palestinites seem to stand severe weather? J. W. Carter. Pleasant Dale, Hampshire Co , W. Va., Jan. i;!, '81. [Palestine bees are "O K" so far.] REPORT IN BRIEF OF AN A B C SCHOLAR. In 1878 T got '.i colonies In box hives, and lost them all by dwindling in March, 1879. I then began again and got my first colony, a swarm, June 28, 1879; got 25 lbs. comb honey in 1879, and 149 lbs. ditto in 1880, mostly 1-lb. sections: 81 lbs. extracted in 1880. How is that for an A B C scholar less than two years old? Milton Kru.m. Hurleyville, SuU. Co., N. Y., Dec. ."?, 1880. SCOTLAND HEATHER-HONEY. As far as I can lejira from various districts in Scotland here, bees are all in excellent condition, in which I hope they will continue till spring. The last heather-honey harvest here was the best for upward of 50 years. The weather has been stormy for the past 10 days, but more settled and mild to- day. John D. Hutchison. Glasgow, Scotland, Dec. 14, 1880. I have been looking through my bees, and 1 find they are standing the winter very well. They have a sufficient amount of honey to last them until spring, and I also notice eggs and young brood in the combs. I am glad to tell you that I have been successful. I also profited by giving my attention to them during the leisure hours I have had from my farm. J. W. Traylor. Mt. Joy, Delta Co., Texas, Jan. 14, 1881. I should like to ask you a question if it isn't too much trouble; that is, will It do to turn bees on the honey or in the hive that our bees died in? D. C. Stringe. Clinton Falls, Putnam Co., Ind., Jan. 12, 1881. [It will do no harm whatever to pvit your bees in the hive where other bees have died, after the weather gets warm.] bitter honey. Bees last year increased from 14 swarms to 47; sold 13 tested queens, and took 400 lbs. of hone5', and might have taken 400 more, but the honey was so bitter we could not Sell it, so left it for the bees. We think it was made from a yellow weed that grows very plentifully in our streets. I Intend to remove them into the country, 3 miles from Ft. Smith, and see if the quality of the honey will not be improved. Stacy Pettit. Ft. Smith, Ark., Jan. 17, ItiPl. home-made horse-powers. Will H. L. B., who speaks of his Adams horse-pow- er in Gleanings, page 37, please give your readers a description of his power, showing how the rim, or felloes, were made? of what kind of lumber? whether he had to strengthen it with iron rods for ties, etc., so that a person with or without the aid of a carpenter could make one the first time trying? Lucius Snow. Blakesburg, Wapello Co., Iowa, Jan. 12, 1881. [Will H. L. B. please answer?] Will you tell us in next Gleanings what are the peculiar properties of the little piece of steel or iron that comes with the magnet? It seems to have ways of its own. J. E. Dart. Farmer City, 111., Jan. 8, 1881. [It is, or should be, simply a little piece of pure soft iron; it has no property different from any oth- er iron, and is simply put on the magnet to unite the poles, and thus hold or keep the magnetism. I have been thinking of giving some of the experi- ments that may be performed with one of these lit- tle magnets, if we have a sufficient number among our readers who would be Interested in the matter.] ALFALFA AS A HONEY-PLANT. Do you grow alfalfa clover on your honey farm? If you have not, doubtless some of your readers in Ohio have. Will It pay for bee pasture and feed for stock, or will Alsike pay better? I have about 15 acres to sow to clover next spring. J. C. Phillips. Westchester, Butler Co., O., Jan. 1, 1881. [We have a small patch of alfalfa, and It does pret- ty well so far as forage is concerned, especially in the way of standing drought; but although it has been in blossom two seasons, I have never yet seen a bee on it to my recollection. It may be that it is because the plat is small; still, I can not think bees would find very much honey on it, or they would be there sometimes.] bees and baskets; more about willows. I here inclose a cutting taken from a small tree growing in my garden. It was in bloom last spring, and the bees seemed to be very busy on it. It was given to me by a Mr. Samuels, of Clinton, Ky., about 10 miles from here. Mr. S. is one of the proprietors of the Mississippi Valley nurseries. I also inclose their description of it, cut out of a catalogue: Viminalis— Basket Willow. Bee Willow. A rapid growing tree with catkinlike ttoweis in early spring. A grood shade tree, and the Hower.s are valuable for bees. The twigs are excellent tor inakinR ba.skets. It is of a very thrifty growth, and blooms young and early. Eli Reeves. Cayce, Fulton Co.. Ky., Jan. 15, 1881. [Here is the point, friends. We will grow willows to make up baskets during the winter, and to fur- nish the first honey and pollen in the spring. Wil- low baskets are the most durable known, are they not? and there is always a good market for them, if made cheap enough. Who will tell us more about it ?] LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS. One of our little girls got snake-bitten, and all to- gether kept Mr. Mosher so much at home that he could not make a living for his family. Now, we are all well again, and he has not time to write, so 1 have to do his writing for him. He told me this morning that he expected we should have to do 92 GLEAKINGS IK BEE CULTURE. EeB. without Gleanings, for awhile, but I would rather live on half-rations for a month; and as I have a dol- lar of my own, I will send for it any how, and I in- tend to take in sewing and make money and send to you for an Italian queen and 1 lb. of bees in the spring. Mrs. A. C. Mosher. San Marcos, Hays Co., Texas, Jan. 11, 1881. BEES AND GKAPES. THE PREMIUM ARTICLE. Have those silk handkcrchiePs, of which you speak, a picture of a bee on? William Folts. Great Valley, Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., Jan. 5, 1881. [No; but I thank you for the hint. If we ever get such a one, you shall have it.] CALIFORNIA WHITE SAGE. Will the California white sage do for common use? I have a few plants growing, and it seems to me to have a better tlavor than the common sage. Chas. Kingsley. Greeneville, Greene Co., Tenn. [Who will answer friend K.? We had a plant in the greenhouse, but the "big freezes" was too much for it.] SILVERHULL BUCKWHEAT. I was advised to sow it on the 30th of June; but if It can be sown on the 10th, or earlier yet, it is bet- ter, because it will be in bloom if the basswood is blossomed out, and will not bo as apt to freeze before it is ripe. Honey from the silverhull is much light- er than that of the black. The millers claim that the silverhull gives from 10 to 15 per cent more flour than the black. Ernst S. Hildeman. Ashippun, Dodge Co., Wis., Jan. 18, 1881. OR HGNEY PUHTS TO BE NAKED. A NEW HONEY-PLANT. I WILL send you some of the weed that the bees are getting honey from. It commences to bloom the middle of Sept., and blooms till Dec. Frost don't hurt it. Nothing but a freeze will hurt it. This weed we call flaxweed. It resembles the common flax, but it brushes out more. You can sow the seed I send you. Sow as soon as you get them. It grows here all over the face of the earth. It is easily killed out by cultivation. II. Devenport. Richland Spring, Tex., Nov. lo, 1880. Here is Prof. Beal's reiily:— I have spent an hour over it— all the time I can now spare. It is not described in my books; or if it is, I get on the wrong track some wa}'. It is much like goldenrod of some species. With more time I know I could get it straight; but 1 do not feel as though I could afford to neglect my other work for this. Identifying plants is mostly drudgery. W. J. Beal. Agricultural College, Lansing, Mich. I have published the above, that our friends mtfy not trouble our kind friend by i)lants of little value as honey-i^lants. I have sent him a dollar for the time spent on this one, and will willingly do the same with all that promise to be important. Send as many to us as you please, for we have time and the necessary books, and can identify a great number of them ourselves. LTHOUGH not called upon in the matter of Mr. Klasen and Krock, my experience, in ~^^^ pretty much the same thing, might benefit both parties, and a good many others who might get into the same fix. Mr. B., a real good neighbor across the street, having a fine large garden and or- chard, complained to me, off and on, during last summer, that my bees were injuring hi3 peaches, grapes, etc. I tried to explain to him that a bee can not pierce the skin of fruit, and that bees are very useful in fertilizing the flowers of fruit-trees and even grapevines, as best I could: but finally he came to me and said, " Mr. Schneider, I am trying to make cider; but we hadtoquit on account of the bees an- noying us; besides, I hired a man, and have to pay him. I can not stand it any longer; you will have toshut up your bee-hives, they are beginning to be almost a nuisance." At this time I wa? very much tampted to give Mr. B. some such answer as Mr. Klasen did to Mr. Krock, when he told him to tickle the bees a little behind, whereby he could tell them apart; but, thank God, there w^is another voice in me that com- manded, "Hell on, and be gentle now!" I therefore told Mr. B. that others have bees in the neighbor- hood, besides myself; but as my bees are nearest him, I would do any thing he thought proper for me to do, only I could not shut up my hives. I then proposed to furnish screens for doors and windows, but he said he Lad no vacant room to make his cider in. As he hnd quite a small cider-mill, I told him that if he would agree to make his cider after dark I would haul him over my large mill, furnish him a man, and help along myself until all the cider was made. This proved to be more than satisfactory, as Mr. B. accepted only of the cider-mill, but declined the help; and we are to-day, if any thing, better friends and neighbors than before the dilliculty arose. Now, by this I do not mean to show what Mr. Klasen and Mr. Krock should have done at the criti- cal moment; but since both have made mistakes in the matter, they should have a meeting, not with lawyers and constables, nor with might and power, but with a determination on the part of each one of them to make a sacrifice, in order to regain peace and good will toward each other; pay the damages mutually, and listen to that voice that undoubtedly exists in both, and cries, "Hold on! be gentle now; go no further! bring it before disinterested friends, and let their decision be final." A. Schneider. Louisville, Ky., Jan. 20, 1881. Well done, friend 8.! That is what I call carrying religion into business, and that kind of a spirit would get along almost any- where. If you will accei)t it, I will credit you with $0.00 for the al)ove article, and thank God for having put it into your head to send it, besides. Why ! such a monitor within your heart to wani you, when anger is pending, is worth more than (can't I be extravagant just tliis time, dear friends? I feel just like saying) ten hundred thousand million dollars in the bank. Your letter makes me feel that the " song the angels sang" has come to pass— "peace on earth, good will toward men." 1881 GLEAKINGS m BEE CULTURE. 93 |?fr f «»i#. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing', and that there be no division among you; but that ye be perfectly joined tog-ether in the same mind and In the same judgment.— I. Cor. 1:10. fIjH E Sabbath-school mentioned last month is growing and prospering finely. I — ' found over a dozen little girls and boys waiting for me when I came at the appoint- ed hour the Sabbath following ; and, what was better still, a great many of the parents were there with them. If you want a Sab- bath-school to be a success, you want old and young too. We first sang,— " I am so glad that our Father in heaven," from the Gospel Hymns, and then I told them we would open the school with a peti- tion to God to bless our work, and to show us what he wished us to do, and why he had called us together. Did not God call us here, my friends? If not, M'ho did? I told them how it was that a thought came into my mind to come over there, when I was out in the country in another direction, and that when I turned about and came, I found some friends gathered together, who asked me to come over and start a school in their midst. Some of these friends were there before us. If it was not God, or the Spirit of Christ, that put it into their minds and my mind, what was it? After the opening prayer, we read the les- son together, and then the school was divi- ded into classes. As between 30 and 40 were present, we had five very fair classes, — three of the children, and two Bible-classes. As there was no schoolhouse near, we had to use a private house ; but by dividing off into different rooms, and bringing boards to put across the chairs, we had things ar- ranged very pleasantly. After a half-hour's talk between the pupils and their teachers, we all gathered again into the largest room, and each child came up before the table where I sat, and repeated a text. Some of them gave several verses of their own se- lection. The very smallest ones repeated little texts that their mothers had taught them. After a few Sabbaths, more of the parents came in. Quite a number of these people seldom went to church, and a few of the men there, I knew, were in the habit of taking God's name in vain, or at least had been in former years. These little texts, coming from such childish voices, were a power, as any one who has heard them, can testify. One wee little chick came up bash- fully, toward the last ; but when she turned around and saw so many eyes upon her, she could not remember a single word. In pity for her, I asked if no friend of hers could not start it for her. After a little pause, a man stepped up to the door from one of the back rooms, whom I had failed in getting to come in with the rest, and he suggested to her the first words of her verse. But she was so much frightened now, that she could not even say them after him, and so he gave the beautiful text, one word at a time, him- self. It was the first time I had ever heard him use such words as those, with any such gentle accents, and I wondered at the time if it were not possible that even that little child, standing there before us in mute si- lence, might not be the means of leading that great strong man even into the kingdom of heaven. I selected the very prettiest card for her, and told her that God was just as well pleased to have her come up on the floor and try, as if she had repeated the long- est A'erse of any one, and she sat down feel- ing happy, after all. I learned the names of all of my juvenile class the first Sabbath, and before closing I suggested that we should have Frankie, who is about 11 years old, act as treasurer; and so we passed around the hat, and obtained, if I am correct, 26 cents. Oscar, of about his own age, was appointed secretary, and was desired to write a letter for some lesson pa- pers. I submitted to the school a library of ten books, which they were to read through and report on the next Sabbath, and then purchase if it was the wish of the school. All were approved, and the treasurer paid me 45c for them, for which I gave him a written receipt. One of the ladies present volunteered to hold a singing-school for them eveiy Wednesday night, where they might practice and J earn hymns for the Sabbath. As the pieces would then be already select- ed, I would have but little to do. I would urge, in all mission schools, or in schools of any kind, having the labor and responsibil- ities divided around as much as possible, and, as far as may be, letting it rest on young shoulders. Boys and girls almost always want something to do, and some light office of this kind will many times hold them and make them love to attend, where they would not otherwise. I am by no means the only one who is in danger of getting dull and sleepy if I can't be "• doing something." Do you not see, my friends, how Sabbath- school work tends to make us all of "the same mind," as in our opening text, and to dispel discord and contention ? Well, I mentioned, last month, stopping to see my friend in jail, to tell him why I should be later than usual in making my visit that night. After I got back, I told him all about the work, and he in turn told me more than he ever had before about his past life. There are some such good les- sons in it, that I think he will pardon me if I give a part of it here. D. is a bright-looking young man of about 30. I think he tells the truth when he says he always found plenty of work, always wore good clothes, and always had at least some money in his pockets. It was not much over two years ago that he was employed in a neighboring town, and had fair wages. His employer was in the habit of sometimes taking along a jug of cider when they start- ed out to Avork. This is nothing very un- usual in our community, or at least it was not a few year ago. I am not sure but that ■we have farmers who do the same thing now. His employer was a yoimg man, and a farm- er's boy, and probably had been brought up to so doing. This particular day, they took the jug of cider along with them after their work was done, and with it between them, 94 GLEAKINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Feb. played cards, pretty Avell along into the night, lu one sense, this was nothing so very ter- rible either, because it is not so very uncom- mon. A few years ago, I went one Sunday after- noon to see a bee friend. Of course, this was before the era of Sunday-schools and such like dawned upon my life. Not finding my friend among the bee-hives, I wandered through the orchard, and, hearing voices,went over the hill, and found four or five men and boys sitting on the green grass, playing cards, with a jug in the midst of them, containing, I suppose, cider. " Well, what of it?" Why, nothing particular, and yet the scene has oft- en recurred to my memory. At that time I was pretty well known as a skeptic, but still it was also known, I believe, that I did not drink cider nor play cards, and the group seemed to rather stop their merriment as I came up. Pretty soon they broke up and went away. It may be hard to put your finger on any precise sin, right there; 'but still, my friends, without any regard to what you believe, would you not a little rather your boy should not be found in such com- pany V it would be a little rough to call these men and boys either intemperate. Sabbath- breakers, or gamblers ; but, my friends, was it not just a little start toward "the stone jail in which D. and I Avere sitting that Sabbath night ? Header, do you know what it is to feel,— Where is my wandering boy to-night— The boy of my tendei est care, The boy that was once my joy and light, The child of my love and praj^er? Let US go back to D.'s story. After they had played until the employer went home, D. drank still more deeply from the jug. In a stable near by was a horse that 1). some- times borrowed. Near by was a wagon, be- longing to another acquaiutance. D., under the influence of the cider, put the horse into the wagon, without saying a word to any- body ; took a load of stuff from the shop, be- longing to his employer, and, not forgetting the inevitable jug, started off' in the night. About daylight he drove into a town sufii- ciently far away to be safe, and bargained for the stuff at a fair price. The purchaser not having the money in his pocket, went out for it, but was cautioned against buying the goods. He went back and spoke to I). about telegraphing to where he came from, to see if it was all right. D. assented ; but, anticipating trouble, walked to the nearest station, took the first train, and left horse, buggy, and all. Before going out of the State, however, he stopped, got work again, but soon afterward, in another drimken spree, got into trouble again, which sent him to the penitentiary. Before going, how- ever, a kind lady visited him in jail, and told him of a Savior's love and a new life. U. promised her to go to prison and behave himself, and when he got out he would try to be a man and a Christian. He kept this promise, and one who knew of the facts told me that when he bade the boys good-by as he left at the expiration of his sentence, he said, "Boys, I am going out, but never to come back here again. And the reason I shall never come back here is because I am going to behave myself and become a good man." Alas for good resolutions! D. had not yet stepped out into the open air, a free man, before a warrant was served on him for horse-stealing, and he was taken up and lodged in oui^county jail, where I first found him. Now, my friends, the whole point of my discourse comes in right here. J^. was de- spondent and discouraged. He was in the attitude of nearly all I meet in our jail, and not very far from the attitude of some out of jail. He insisted that the world is unkind, uncharitable, and corrupt; that the prevail- ing tendency of mankind is to "■ kick a man when he is down," to use a common ex- pression, and that when really he makes an effort to reform and lead a "new life, he is met straightway by some underhand clip or set-back, that "makes it a wonder anybody ever succeeds in stemming the current of evil that is met everywhere. My friends, have you ever talked or thought that way V Oh that I could persuade you to believe me when I tell you it is the promptings of Satan himself that gets you into these moods, and that makes you judge so harshly of the world, of which you are a member! In do- ing this, you are placing yourself with the great army of criminals ;ind guilty men, who invariably talk thus. When I have a class of saloon-keepers in jail, as I have now at this moment, their talk about hypocrites, and denunciations of church-members, and even ministers, is such that I have to insist on their stopi)ing, or I could not get in a word. W^hat does this indicateV Are these men better than those they so bitterly stig- matize? Well, now, for a contrast, just go and talk with some one who is a real, hon- est, earnest Christian worker. I have often spoken of a young friend who is fitting him- self in college for mission work in Africa. I have spoken of liis successful work with our boys in jail. Do you think he spends time in talking about the hypocrites he finds in the world? He has just passed the holi- days with us, and I have had long talks with him, but I never heard him utter a word against humanity. I never heard him speak of ever having known a hypocrite. J5ut, my friends, I have heard him, with bowed head, speak of his own sins, and beg of me that I would join with him in praying that (iod might keep him from any temptation that would mar his usefulness to his fellow-men. His whole life seems wrapped up in the work of leading men to repent, but no word of censure or reproach ever ])asses his lips. He reproves and rebukes sin, but the one re- proved is ever his friend afterward. Some there be, it is true, who at first laughed at his meek, inoffensive ways; but when he left, I am sure that from almost every heart went up a ''God bless Mr. House!" Well, when I first met D., he was settling down, as it seemed to me, in a hard, bitter, stony spirit, toward everybody. It was not so much what he said, as a hard, bitter curl of the lip, when he said, " Oh! I know ; you need not talk to me ; I know all about it, and that is just the way it goes always. If they will let me try, I will show them I can be 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 95 just as good a man as any of them ; but if they think to mal^e nie better by sending me back to prison, I do notknow whether I shall ever try again or not." I could lift him up a little while ; but be- fore my next visit he would get away back again, and so I asked M. to go in, ana others of the young men who belonged to our young people's meeting. Their bright young faces, and their trust in God, had its effect, and D. was rising up to where he could begin to hold on to the Savior, who died for just such as he. AVell, on the evening I have mentioned, D. gave me a fuller history of his troubles than he had done before, and I was encomaged to seehim take the blame himself as he had never done before, instead of laying it on others. After he had finished, I spoke in a kindly Avay, and said, " Why, is it possible that you, D., really you, took your employer's property in the way you have mentioned, and tried to sell it?" "It is true, Mr. Root; and to come right down to the facts, I do not deserve the com- panionship or recognition of a single good man or woman ;" and he bowed his head in real thorough conviction of the great sinner he had been agaiust God and his fellow- men. I do not mean these were his precise words, but it was the substance of them as nearly as I can recall it. A little later, he on bend- ed knees asked God to be merciful unto him a sinner. D. had passed from death unto life, and it only remained for him to show God and the world that he could live what he had professed. Not only did angels min- ister unto him spiritual comfort, but kind friends began to be visible to him all around; and as the new life unfolded, he saw the world was full of people who "bear long, and are kind."' D., instead of considering the world as his natural enemy, was beginning, as in our text, to have cgniidence in it, and to be in the "same mind and in the same judgment." Will any thing else but the Bible bring a man out and up in the way I have described y I jnayedwith and for D., and then I wrote a letter to the man who owned the horse, and another to his old em- ployer, and God heard and answered our prayers, and D. was given only 4U days in our jail, and then he is coming to work for me. Do you wonder I went home that night praising God for having turned me around in the road, and shown me what he would have me do V At such times, it seems to me that I can get at least a glimpse of the prom- ise found in the chapter following the one containing our opening text,— Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man. the things which God hath prepared for them that Ijve him.— 1. COR. 2:9. M. went and vLsited him, and finally Mr. House followed up our efforts until 13., in- stead of saying he would not go back to Co- lumbus any more, on his knees asked God to keep him in jail until he saw it was best for him to come out, and he would say, " Thy will be done." Now, my friends, it is not the boys in the jail alone who need our opening text, but sometimes it is church-members, and those who call themselves Christian people. Some friends came in just when I was writing, and I asked them about the Sabbath-school in their neighborhood. They said it was given up, and the preaching too, because the peo- ple could not agree. These were Christian people too, but of several different denomi- nations. Away down in Missouri I heard of a similar case, where the Sabbath-school was dropped, and it could not be kept up, be- cause some belonged to one churcu and some to another. There were people enough to make a good congregation, but they could not forget their differences even long enough to listen to one sermon a week, and so they — well, I am not sure I know just what they did do. Dear reader, is there any such state of affairs in you vicinity ? and are you sure it is not to you that God is directing me to read this little verse to day V Now — I — beseech — you, — brethren, — by — the — name— of— our— Lord— Jesus— Christ,— that— ye — ail —speak— the— same— thing,— and— that— there— be — no —division— among — you ; — but — that — ye — be — perfectly -joined- together— in— the— 8ame— mind — and— ia—the—same— judgment.— 1. Cob. 1:10. Most of you know our neighbor Mr. "W.II. Shane, whose reports have been given for several years past in our joiu'iial. A few weeks ago a little girl m our Sabbath-school asked her teacher if they might have chil- dren's prayer-meeting in the afternoon. She came to me with the request, and I gave no- tice that one would be held that afternoon. Quite a number of children were present, and many of them signified, that first day, that they would like to be little Christians. The meeting was kept up, and a few Sab- baths after, a wee little girl belonging to friend S. came to the meeting. Small as she was, she seemed to realize the full import and the solemnity of the occasion ; and when opportunity was offered, she arose for the prayers of her little mates. On going home, she told her mamma what a real good meeting they had. A week later, and the little one M^as prostrated with a severe earache, which failed to succumb to the usual remedies. I called to see her, when it was feared she could not get well, and she lay like a fair llower in her little crib, insensible, for it had gone to her brain. " lias she spoken of dy- ing?" asked I. "Only once," said her father, "and then she asked her mother if little girls ever died with the earache." A few days later, and I heard she was gone. I called again, to say what words of comfort I could to the poor father. "Did she speak before she died?" said I. " 1 es, " said he, and his countenance brightened. " Shortly before she died, there came a change ; and as w^e gathered around her, she opened her eyes so intelligently, and looked from one to the other. The pain seemed gone, and we waited to hear what she was going to say. Her lips moved, and as we listened in breatliless silence, she spoke clearly and distinctly, — ' Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep ; If I should die before I wake, 1 pray the Lord my soul to take. Amen.' " The last word came clear and plain, and that was all." As I told of this in our Sabbath-school, 96 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Feb. and afterward to that school over among the hills, which now numbers toward forty, strong men and women were moved to tears. It was the little prayer her motlier had taught her to say before she lay down at night. Has any one the hardihood to say that God, the creator of the universe, did not hear this simple little petition from the dying breath of the work of his hands ? Can we not, my friends, so live that our dying beds may be like that V Except ye become as little children, ye can not en- ter the kingdom of heaven. FKOM THE WORKERS BEYOND HIE SEAS. As the following treats of bees as well as mission work, I presume it will be read with interest by all our readers. It is an extract from a letter seat to one of our bee-men from his brother, who is a missionary. Sending our iournal free to missionaries may not be so biad an idea, after all ; but I confess it did not occur to me how much help tliey might give us in the way of looking up the diifer- ent races of bees that are to be found on our globe. As w^e catch glimpses of their work from these extracts from their letters, we feel better acquainted with them, and more like praying for them intelligently. I was invited into the house of a tea farmer, a Cantonese. I noticed that there were several bees around, and just then he asked me to change my seat. I had been sitting with my back against the table, and as I changed he pointed to a drawer in the table, which seemed to be lull of bees. He drew it out an inch or so, and, sure enough, there was a swarm of bees. He informed me that they settled there last year. They seemed very gond natured. One alighted on his neck, and his little boy began to call out; but he quietly waited a moment, and off it flew. As I came past the other houses on my way back, I was invited in, and found a man trying to read a book I had given him. I sat down and ex- pounded it. He asked, " What is God?" and I tried to explain to him. Then he asked if I hid any more curious things. After awhile I took out a jiocket- compass, and a knife with a magnetized blade. They knew what the compass was, but did not know the principle on which it works, nor any thing about magnetism. Of course, they "ai-ya-d," and won- dered, and admired. They passed around some rice turnovers. These are mjide of a glutinous rice, boiled, and then pounded into a hard dough. The inside is filled with a conglomerate of bean sprouts, greens, red pepper, garlic, salt fish, pork, and I don't know what else. They were piping hot. The first few mouthfuis tasted rather strong; but the taste improved as I ate, and I disposed of two and a half, withovit trouble. There was one man on the boat said to me one evening, that he would like to go with me to foreign lands; would do any sort of work for me if I would take him. I began to moralize on going to heaven as infinitely better. He said up in heaven we could see all lands at once. He asked how long one would have to practice Christianity before he could ascend to heaven. I replied, it was after death. He an- swered rather sadly, " When I die. I won't be." The Buddhists and the Taoists both believe in the possi- bility of translation, if one can only becnme perfect- ly abstracted, and stay so long enough. Focchoo, China, March 1, 1880. WHAT TO DO WITH THE BOYS. As you are a Sunday-schoc 1 man, Mrs. T,. wishes me to ask you how to entertain and instruct a class of —well, I'll call them" street Arabs," for mi st of them ni'ver attend church, and none of them attended Sunday-sckool until she called on and persuaded them to attend. The class now numbers 21 pupils, from four to eleven years of age; and how to enter- tain them sorely perplexes her. W. W. L. Otwell, Pike Co., Ind., Dec. !», 1?80. Your wife has struck on one of the bard problems, friend L. I told you last month, that the question of what to do with criminals is one that is now puzzling our greatest minds. Well. it is not unlikely that your wife has to do with criminals in their earlier stages, and therefore I would bid her God-speed, and tell her not to be discouraged, even though her work seems the most hope- less. ^\ny thing is better than giving tliem up and letting them go. If she has got 21 that care to come and listen to her, she has already proved her ability. I need hardly tell her that the first thing is the Bible for a daily teacher, and much earnest prayer to God for help. She seems to know what a power there is in visiting them through the week, because, if I am correct, it is in that way she has brought them in. If they will look at books and papers, these are excellent mediums for catching and holding their at- tention. If they won"t, interest Ihem with curiosities; show them simple tricks and experiments ; post yourself on the leading events of the day,— the news for instance; study the especial forte, or hobby, of each member of the class ; learn their names, so you can call each one by his es])ecial famil- iar title ; set them to work, and, through it all, strive to show them of the spirit and love of the ]\Iaster. Avho is calling to them through their better selves. Teach them how to be brave and magnanimous ; teach them the true elemei.ls of gentility and re- tinement ; get acquainted with their parents, brothers, and sisters, and call on all you help. (iCt everybody to help that you can lay hold of ; get the boys themselves to labor for the salvation of each other : and every time you get discouraged, and feel like giv- ing up, go to that Master and beg and plead for them. Hold on and importune, and when you see one soul safely into the Idngdom, it will give you a joy that will brighten your whole life thereafter. Our friend ]\I. has a class of little girls in that school over among the hills, and the light and hope that beams from his face as we go home after the school is over is — I can't tell it, but the Master can. Hear him:— 1 thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wiseand prudent, and hast revealed themiuitobabcs.— Matt. 11 : 25. WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH THE MIDNIGHT AS- SASSIN. 1 must confess I was somewhat taken aback when you said, " Perhaps it would be best to shoot theman that had his hand in our trousers pocket." I really did not expect such advice from a teacher. When I am at work at the mill, and come home, [ find the boys have brought in all the axes and bolted all the doors. Their ma asked Ihem why they did not do it 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 97 when pa was at home. They said, "Nobody can hurt us when pa is here." Can we not put that trust in our heavenly Father that our children put in us? None need fear when the Lord is near. When the war was over, and I was coming- home on the steamer, it was so crowded I was compelled to lake deck for my place of rest. Just as I had got to sleep, I was awakened by a man trying to get his hand iato my pocket, and one hand on my collar. What was I to do but say, "Lord, save or I perish"? and the thought struck me, I would give up my money and save my life; so I thrust my hand in my pocket as quickly and as best I could, to give up the coveted treasure. ]t would have done you good to have seen him run. I guess he thought "perhaps" 1 would shoot. Spring Station, Ind. Geo. W. Stites. Very good, friend S., and I am very glad indeed to have this side of tiiis subject brought out. I would suggest, that some might say that it was the fear of the pistol after all that saved yoiu- money, and perhaps your life ; but as Vou had no thought of a pistol, and was only trusting God, it seems to me your prayer was plainly answered. I know Avhat some of you will say ; but, my friends, let us have a broad charity for each other on matters of this kind, fm* our opin- ions and our methods of acting would, I know, differ very widely on such matters. I presume it woiild be well to ask you to keep cool while reading the following, and to look out you are not swayed by these nat- ural feelings that well up so naturally while you form in your own mind an opinion as to what you would have done under the same circumstances. Bear in mind, we are coolly and deliberately discussing the subject of crime, Avith a view of deciding how best to treat it. just as we would do in regard to the yellow fever. Since reading your Dec. No., there was a little oc- currence that gave additional interest to your question, " What is the proper thing to do in case you find a man with his hand in your pocket?" (A lady suggests that the proper thing is to "screech.") I will briefly state what I wish to bring to your no- tice. We have seme fine turkeys, and, hearing a distui banco among them about 11 o'clock at night, I jumped out of bed, putting my head out of the win- dow. I soon saw the cause, and called out to the persons to leave. They commenced to call their dogs, pretending that they were hunting; but I could see no dogs. They passed on to our next neighbor's, and went through their outbuildings, leaving open doors and gates, and ia an hour and a half returned. I got up, but ciuld not see them. I laid down again; then I heard the turkeys shriek, "quit ! quit 1" and, on looking out, saw one man run- ning along the fence, under the cover of the shadow of it. I called out to him to "move on," three times; but he stopped with three or four companions under the tree where the turkeys were roosting, and seemed determined to have one. I told my brother to lire his revolver to see what effect it would have. As soon as he fired they called us names, and threw clo3s and stones at the house. We then told them to move on or we would fire closer the next time, and they, not doing so, my brother fired again in their direction; then they left our place, and gathered up chickens and turkeys from the neighbors. Did I do the proper thing? In all, there were five or six of them. We saw five. I would like to have your opin- ion. I believe it is right for a man to protect his property, always in a legal way when it is practica- ble; in an emergency, the best way he can, accord- ing to his judgment. In support of this view, I give one section of Bishop Hopkins on the ten command- ments. Comment on the sixth commandment: "Yea, we find, Exod. 23:2, that God allows the kill- ing of a thief if he breaks into a man's house by night, but not so if he attempts it by day. And pos- sibly the reason of this law might be, because, when any cometh upon another in the night, it might be presumed that he takes yie advantage of the dark- ness, not only to steal his goods, but to harm his person; and therefore God allows it as lawful to kill such a one as a part of necessary defense; from which I think we may safely conclude, that it is law- ful also to kill those who attempt upon our goods, when we have reason to fear they may likewise de- sign upon our person." In the light of the fore- going, I think 1 was justified in my course. God permits men to own property, and also to protect it. We should form our conclusions, not from a single passnge of God's word, but from the general tenor of the whole, as it is its own best interpreter. John Baird. Elm Grove, Ohio Co., W. Va., Jan. 6, 1881. Now, friends, did friend B. err in letting them off so easily that they might go and steal his neighbor's fowls, and go on in such work unpunished ? or was he wrong in us- ing a pistol at all, and in having one about the house V What are you going to do when you tind yourself in just such a predicamentV By a recent arrangement, the manufactures of our planers have enabled us to offer the Gem planer at the same prices as we have been selling the Lillipu- tian. The Gem is a much better machine, for, be- sides being heavier, the bed raises and lowers for stuff of different thicknesses, instead of having the cutters movable, as is the case with the Lilliputian. Where plaining is to be done, one of these machines will pay for itself in a very little time. THE SETH THOMAS CALENDAR CLOCKS. About 25 have applied for one of these, and the order is already at the factory. In answer to many questions, I would say, the clock is 8-day, spring strike. The height is 20 inches, and the diameter of the dials, eight inches. The case is beautifully fin- ished in mahogany and rosewood, with a sort of oc- tagonal top. The works are heavy steel and brass. The calendar tells, in large plain figures and words, the dayof the week, the day of the month, the month of the year, and makes all the changes for the dif- ferent numbers of days in each month, even to giv- ing February 2d days one year in four, without a single motion or bit of prompting on your part, only to wind the clock once a week. If the clock runs down by carelessness, you can set the hands of the calendar just as easily as you set the hands of a common clock. This latter feature is a late inven- tion. Every clock is guaranteed by the Seth Thomas factory, and their name attached to any clock is about the highest praise you can give it. Send on the ST 50, and you can have your clock by return ex- press. If ordered with other goods, they can go safely by freight, as each one is securely boxed by itself. Thej' will be shipped from here. 98 GLEANINGS IX BEE CULTURE. Eeb. WIACHINEKY FOR MAKING 0:^E-PIECE SECTIONS, AND HOW TO USE IT. THE WAY WE AVORK AT OUR SHOP. aT takes three different machines to make these sections to advantage, besides the — ' usual planers and cut-off and ripping saws. I have explained to you in the A B C, and in Gleanings about a year ago, how the bolts of pieces of plank were to be cut off and dovetailed across the ends. We here give you a picture of the gang of eight saws, mounted on a table, ready for use. spurs, to cut the end of the Avood down squarely. These are also adjustable, for grinding and setting. The machine is mount- ed on a frame, similar to the one above. The expense is exactly the same, — $30.00 for the whole machine, or only i?22.00 without the table. SIACniNE FOR CUTTING THE GROOVES, OR DOVETAILING, IN THE ENDS OF THE FLANK. Our friends often complain of tlie expense of this machine ; but unless it is made very strong, with a heavy mandrel, and wide pul- ley for the belt, much trouble will be expe- rienced in having the mandrel heat, the saws smoke, etc. The whole expense of the ma- chine, nicely fitted ready for use. will be S30.00. CUTTER - HEAD FOR MAKING THE EN- TRANCE FOR THE BEES. After the bolts are grooved with the above machine, the passage for the bees is cut in each piece. This can only be done nicely and rapidly with a cutter-head, as shown. Just the head and mandrel are shown, that we may understand clearly the con- struction. It is as you see, really a small planer, having adjustable knives to be taken out and ground and set, like any planer knives. Besides these knives, there are four GRAY S IMPROVED MACHINE FOR MAKING THE ALL- IN-ONE-PIECE SECTIONS. The three saws are set on an arbor so as to be adjustable at different distances, as they were last year ; but instead of a drum to feed the pieces, we have a table that slides back and forth. The stripes are placed in a sort of hopper, which you see rising above the rest of the machine. Well, this sliding table pushes one piece for vard so as to slide un- der the saws. This iillows the pile to drop down, and the slide then pushes another against it, and so on. The mechanism that moves the slide is as follows : On the oppo- site end of the mandrel that holds the saws, from the driving pulley, is another smaller pulley. A belt from this goes on a wheel seen in the lower part of the machine. On the shaft of this wheel is an endless screw, working in the teeth of a wheel attached to an upright shaft. On the top of this shaft is a crank that carries the sliding table by means of a pitman. The machine grooves 40 sections a minute. After some rather ex- pensive experiments with saws made of teeth Qt different patterns, we have got one that cuts a clean, smooth groove, without any fibers hanging. Two of the teeth are large half-circles, something like a chopping- knife, and then comes on a straight square tooth, to scrape out the wood. Next, two more knife-teeth, and so on. The speed of these saws is about -l-.OO per minute. Eor making Farmer's honey-boxes, or boxes of any kind requiring wider stuff, the pitman is detached, and the sliding table is moved by hand. The machine, as it is now made, can not well be furnished for less than about ST5.00. The handle at the right, is for stopping the feed; the rod in the centre, is to be pressed Avith the foot, when putting in more strips. 1881 GLEAININGS IN BEE CULTURE. 99 GIEAWIWCS m BEE CULTURE* -A.. I. I^OOT, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, MEDINA, O. TERMS: $1.C0 PER YEAR, POST-PAID. FOR CLUBBING RATES!, SEE FIRST PAGE OF READISG MATTER. 3vcx;3=>z3>a'.i^, 3f»< C^*9/o FOU 1S81 ^^- O IS ITO W HEADY ! Every Bce-kcepcr who expects to purchase a dollar's worth of Bee-li:eej>ers' SXJ I* PL I E S I should read it. Send us YOUR NAME ! ALSO THAT OF YOUR BEE:-Kc:E:PI^G fkiends, PLAINLY WRITTEN on a postal card, and it will be mailed you at once. Address 11. A. IJUKCH &. CO., SOUTH HAVEN, - - - - MICH. SXSCI'XOlNrS dte HITT-ZES ! We have concluded to extend the time another month. We will make the "Boss" Sections during the month of February, any size up to 5x6 for $5.00 per 1000. Material lor Lnngstroth hive. 50o. JAMES FOKNCROOK & CO. Watertown, Wis., Feb. 1, 1881. Tal;e JVot ice.— Patent pending on the "Boss" One- Piece Sections. 2d Clla||TML||P||a I will send, postpaid, to any part of the LTnitcd States, 10 nice little trees, g-ood roots, one year old, for 30c, or 100 for $3.50. Seeds, ppr packasre of 50, 25c. Seeds germinate as easily as corn. The Catal- paisone of the hest hce-trccs\ Hangs full of long clusters of yellowish-white blossoms, very fragrant and ornamental, and yielding a heavy flow of honey. Wood very durable, shoots from young trees making grape-stakes which last for vears. 2-4d H. M. MORRIS, Rantoul, Champ. Co., HI. 1881. Send for our new Circular and Price List of Full Colonies, Nuclei, and Queens. We guarantee satis- faction. S. D. McLEAN & SON, 2-7d CuUeoka, Maury Co., Tenn. FOR Catalogue and Price List of young Sour- wood, Black Locust, Buckthorn, Buckbush, and other forest trees and seeds. Address CHAS. KIXGSLEY, 1-3 Greeueville Greene Co., Tenn. FRUIT _ JreIsXch£jper)5mnXeveH As I am going out of the nursery business, I will sell apple-trees at the following low figures:— 4 years old, 6 to 8 ft., ... $5 00 per C. 3 " " 5 to G ft., - - - $4 00 per C. 2 " " 4 to 5 ft., - - - fSOOperC. If taken by the thousand, 20 per cent discount. Any parties wanting 10,000 of the three different sizes, a deduction of 25 per cent allowed. No better trees are grown in the State than I offer. I have also pear and cherry trees, and other nursery stock too numerous to mention, at very low figures. 2-ld J. B. MURRAY, Ada, Hardin Co., Ohio. FOR SALE OR RENT ! I will sell or rent my shop on easy terms. Built last year, expressly for manufacturing bee-keepprs' Supplies; or I would take in a partner for a term of years— one capable of running that business. Shop well located, and business well started. Capital re- quired In either case, about ?500 down. Send for price list of Bees. Queens, and Apiarian Supplies. 2-3d I. S. CROWFOOT, Hartford, Wash. Co., Wis. C. OLM'S COMB FOUPATION lACHlHE. 9-incIi.-Price $25.00. The cut represents the 9-inch machine; the cheap- est made until now. Send for Circular and Sample. 2d €. Oli.TI, Fond du Lac, Wis. FOR WHAT THEY'LL BRING! Thirty colonies of bees, Italians and hybrids, in good hives, and first-class condition, for sale for what thev will bring Address 3 C. L. STR.\TTON, Ktioxville, Knox Co., Tenn. CHAFF HIVES! A SPECIALTY! SEND FOR CIRCULAR. J. V. WATTS, LUMBER CITY, 2-1 Clearfield Co., Pa. FINE Concord grapevines, $1.00 per dozen, post- paid: 85 other varieties, very low. Also 5000 fine basswoods. 5 to 10 ft,, 75c per doz.; $5.00 per 100. 2d F. L. WRIGHT, Plainfleld, Livingston Co., Mich. DON'T buy any Italian Bees until you have read mv circular, which contains something new. 2-3d E. A. THOMAS, Colerain, Franklin Co., Mass. Bee-Keepers' Supplies It will pay you to got our prices before purchasing your Supplies. Good Langstroth Hives with 8-inch cap, frames, quilt, etc., in the flat. 60 cents each. Manufactured from good pine lumber. Workman- ship unexcelled. Crates, Sections, Extractors, and Dunham Foundation, a specialty. HIRAM ROOP, 2-6d Carson City, Montcalm Co., Mich. 1881 GLEANIXGS IN BEE CULTURE. 107 Contents of this Number. INDEX OF DEPABTMENTS. Black List — Bee Botany — Bee Entomology — Blasted Hopes 149 Cartoon — Editorials ] 53 Heads of Grain IM Honev Column 153 Humbugrs and Swindles 131 Juvenile Department 142 KindWords from CustciiijrsllO Ladies' Depaitment — Lunch-Room 132 Notes and Queries 143 Reports Encouraging 142 Smilery — The Growlery — • Tobacco Column 144 INDEX OF HEADS OF GRAIN, NOTES AND QUERIES AND OTHER SHORT ARTICLES. ABC Scholar in Louisiana. 119 ABC Scholar in California. 124 ABC Scholar with Box Hvsi:« ABC ChUd.Our 13; Apiai-y, How to Build up 138 Artiticial Swarming 138 Artificial Comb Honey 139 Battery Swindles 152 Best Bees to Winter 115 Blasted Hopes. Cause of 123 Building Bee-Housees 135 Bees and Grapes 152 Bees b.v the Pound 114 Bees Complaining 140 Black-heart 140 Buckwheat 141 Bees Freezing 141 B . ' s Dileriiina 141 Candv for Dysentery 126 Caste'Uo ' s Report 150 Cellar Wint ' g .... 128, ia5, 136. 143 Circulars Received 1.52 Corn-cob vs. Chaff 135 Cotton Seed 143 California 143 Chinese Tea-Plant 144 Dipping Ffbi 143 Deaf and Dimib Fiiend 135 Dried Com 133 Dooiittle' s Review 127 Dysenterj-. Cause of 116 Enemies of Bees 123 Experience not found inB'ksl32 Four-frame Extractors 140 Foul Brood 118.131,143 Foster's Fdn. Machine 112 Feeding Ext. Honey 126 Flanag.an's Visit to Fair 1.30 Fr's without Bottom-Bars. .137 Glass-Tumbler Feeder 122 Hasty 's Report 115 Heddon vs. Chaff Hive 116 Heddon 's Hive 116 Hains Feeder. Improv't on.. 122 Hives, Unpainted 134 Honey-Dew in the East 119 Honey- Dew in Oregon 121 Honey Gran, in Combs 136 Honey for Sore Eves 144 Ladd's Story 133 Location for Apiarv 135 L. Frames for Cold Climate 136 Langstroth. Xews from 143 JlerrN'banks' Neighbor 1.50 Jliles"' ' •Wonderful' 'Success 121 Maple-Sugar Candy 1.34 NaU-box.A New 122 New Tools 113 N.E.B.K. Association 129 Notes from Banner Apiai-y . .111 Onions as a Honey-Plant 117 Orchard Apiary 126 Oatmeal for Food 1.32 One Swarm for the Lord 1.39 Pine Grosbeak 123 Peet Int. Cage 113 Perforated Separators 137 Pollen and Dwindling 151 Portulaca 139 Queens. How I Raise 1.34 Qu ^stions on a Postal 1.39 Rape 140,141 Ramble No. 3 125 Robbing, How Stopped.. 123, 143 Report for 1880 125 Simpson Seed 1.52 Stanley's Story 115 Spider Plant 115 Sicunk Cabbage 1.37 Sweet's Report 138 Sugar Syrup for Winter 116 Swarming Mania 132 Selling Bees ." 138 Source of Honey, How to tell 140 Seps. of Paper and AVood 141 Snow's Report 144 Talking to Bees 138 Under the Box-Elders 119 Viallou's Candy 144 Wax vs. Wires 139 Wintering Bees 116, 119 Wild Cucumber 143 rtttt?t?lVO ♦ ranted, ^1.3.5. Plymouth Rock efrgs fur hatching-, SI. 25 per doz. For price of hives and other supplies, send for circular. Address 3 HARTWELL BARBER, Adrian, Len. Co., Mich. XOGX.- -XOSX. ITALIAN QUEENS! Single Queen, Tested $2 00 " " Untested (laying) 100 Sent by mail and safe arrival guaranteed. 8 Frame Colony <> 00 3 " Nuclei 3 00 2 " " 3 50 Safe arrival guaranteed by express. Address W. P. HENDERSON", l-6inq Murf reesboro, Ruth. Co., Tennessee. YonmstMoiillItolflyoiiso! For combs sagging, warping, and breaking- down in the hive if you don't use foundation in wired frames. It is ahead of any thing in the foundation line for brood frames. 1 hIso make a very superior thin foundation for sections.. Send for circular of Apiarian Supplies to J. A. OSBORNE, 3 Rantoul, Champ. Co., III. BE SURE To send a postal card for our Illustrated Catalogue of APIARIAN SUPPLIES Before purchasing elsewhere. It contains illustra- tions and descriptions of every thing new and desi- rable in an apiarj% AT THE LOWEST PBICES. Itilian, Cyprian, and Holy-Land Queens and Bees. J. C. & H. P. SAYLES, l-Sd Hartford, Washington Co., Wis. DUNHAItl FOUNDATION, 35 Cts. Per l.b. Wax worked up, 10 cts. per lb. Cash paid for wax. For particulars address 3 R. HYDE, Alder ly. Dodge Co., Wis. CA FINE MIXED CARDS, with name, 10 cents, nil postpaid. M. L. DORMAN, Sinclairville, vU mtd Chaut. Co., N. Y, The A B G of Bee Culture. 1881 QUEENS ! QUEENS ! 1881 sSt& IT^iSS'^ol We are prepared to furnish Queens in April, Ma.v, and June. For tested Queens, $2.50; aifterward, f2.00; untested, .Sl.OO. Queens reared in full colo- nies from imported mother. In addition to our im- ported Queens, we have some fine Queens in our apiary from some of the leading breeders of the U. S. We not only select our imported Queens to rear Queens from, but we select the best imported and the best home-bred Queens we have to rear drones from. We allow no colonies to have drones, except such as are from the choicest of our Queens. Satisfaction and safe arrival of all Queens guaran- teed. No circular. HALL & JOHNSON, 3-4d Kirby's Creek, Jackson Co., Ala. Bound in paper, mailed for $1.00. At wholesale, ime price as Gleanings, with which it may be clubbed. One copy, $1.00; 2 copies, $1.90; thi ies, $2.75; live copies, $i.00; ten copies, $7.50. The same, neatly bound in cloth, with the covers neatly embellished in embossing and gold, (me copy, $1.25; 2 copies, $2.40; three copies, $3.50; five cop- ies, $5.25; ten copies, $10.00. If ordered by freight or express, the postage may be deducted, which will be 13c on the book in paper, and 15c each, on the book in cloth. Cooke's Manual in paper or clotli at the same price as above. A. 1. ROOT, Medina, O. No. 132, Price 60c. MAHSR & GROSH, 34 N. Monroe St., Toledo, Obio, — show here a new knife. No. 132, metal ends, strong blades; price, postoaid, 60c. Our goods are hand-f urged from razor steel, ev- ery blade warranted, and ex- changed free if soft or flawy. F. H. Day, Wilmington, Del., , writes, Jan. 12:— "After receiv- I' ing the knife I honed it down to ' a tine, keen edire, and tried it on bird, dry white-oak; the edge neither turned nor broke, which is more than I can say of any other knife I ever owned." We expect to build up our trade by selling- good goods; will you help us? Our extra-heavv 2-blade, made for farmers and mechanics, is the best knife in the market; price, postpaid, 7.5c. Boy's knife, 25c; ladies, 1-blade, 2.5c; 2-blade, 50c; Gent's 3-blade, fl 00. Extra strona: Pruner, every blade tested, $1.00. Our hand-forged butcher-knife, 6-inch blade, postpaid, 50c. Illustrated list of knives, I'azors, and scissors, sent free to any address. »-« 10s GLEAKIKGS IK BEE CUL'TUJtE. MAit. QXTXSXIISrS ! 11 francs in Gold. - 10 iTwa:r»orLTEiD In April, May and June, - - - July and August, - - - - 9 " " September and October, - - - 7 " " Queens which die in transit will be replaced only if sent back in a letter. CHARLES BIANCONCINI & CO., 2-7d Bologna, Italy. "W. 0.^" lUE. In 3 oz. bottles, black, violet, or blue. In J4 gross boxes, per gross $4 00 In quantities of -5 or more gross, $3,20 per Gross. In Pint Bottles, per doz $3 00 InQuart " " " COO In Gallon Jugs " " 13 00 Green and Red ink are necessarily more expen- sive, and the price will therefore be one-lvxlf more. Liquid Bluing, in 6 oz. bottles, per doz 50 " " " "• " gross $5 40 I will send M gross, 3 oz. inks, assorted colors, black, blue, violet, and one bottle each of green and red, as a trial order for $1.00. WM. OLDROTD, Columbus, Ohio. Orders may be sent to me when more convenient. A. I. ROOT. HEADQUARTERS FOR & Imported and home-bred; nuclei and full colo- nies. For quality and purity, my stock of bees can .not be excelled in the United States. I make a specialty of manufacturing the Dunham foundation. Try it. If yon wish to purchase Bees or Supplies, send for my new circular. Address Itfd DR. J. P. H. BROWN, Augusta, Ga. Before Purcliasing any Italian or Cvprian bees, send for our 20th annu- al price list. Full colonies. Nuclei and Queens, at greatly reduced prices. Also headquarters for Api- arian suoplies in New England. WM. W. CARV & l^ON (formerly Wm. W. Cary), 3tllnq Colerain, Franklin Co., Mass. 28 th Year— 65 First-Premium Medals and Diplomas. Send postal card with name and address for my new illustrated Circular and Price List containing valuable information to all bee-keepers. Sent free. CHAS. H. LAKE, Successor to the late Richard Colvin, 2-4d 96 West Pratt St., Baltimore, Md. THE British Bee Journal. The British Bee Journal is now mailed to our ad- dress in packages, each month. In order to dispose of them, we offer them at present at $1.00 per year, postage paid, beginning Jan. 1881, Will guarantee safe arrival of every No. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. RASFBERRIES FOR SALE. Dooiittle, - Clarke's Red, Mammoth (^luster, - Davison's Thornless, Ohio, jiC-I' iloz. by mail. - oOc 30c - 40c • 30c - 40c per 1000 $1 00 1 00 1 50 1 50 $8 00 Ohio is one of the best ; will yield a third more than any berry I know; is very firm and large; one of the best for drying; begins to ripen about the time of the Dooiittle, and lasts till after the M. Cluster. Will pick as much as any of the varieties at a picking. It is equal to the Gregg, if not better. If by mail, add 30c per doz. J. iRVIN JOHNSON, 3-4d Box 405, Palmyra, Wayne Co., N. Y. IMP BO VED Langstroth Hives. Supplies for the Apiary. Comb Foundation a spe- cialty. Being able to procure lumber cheap, I can furnish Hives and Sections very cheap. Send for a circular. A. D. JJENHAM, 2tfd Olivet, Eaton Co., Mich. HEADQUARTERS FOR Pure Albino and Italian Queens and Colonies for 1881. As I make queen-rearing a specially, I guarantee to those ordering from me just what they bargain for. Circulars free. Address D. A. Pike, 2-4d Box 19, Smithsburg, Washington Co., Md. 1881 ITALIAN QUEENS! 1881 Tested Queens $1 50 Warranted Queens.. 1 00 Cyprian Queens, untested 1 00 As most all the Df liar queens I sold last year were pure, I will warrant them this year. J. T. Wilson, Mortonsville, 2-Vd Woodford Co., Ky. Eggs for Hatching ! I was awarded first premium on Brown Leghorns and Black B. R. Game Bantams, at N. Y. State Fair, Albany, in Sept. last. Am booking orders now, to be filled in rotation, at the foUowiDg very low prices: Brown Leghorn Eggs, - - $1 00 per doz. B. B. R. G. Bantams, Imported, - 1 50 " " With my style of packing, in new baskets, eggs will go safely any distance, and hatch. I guarantee safe arrival. C. W. CANFIELD, Athens, Bradford Co., Pa. N. B.— Above prices take the place of prices given on last cover of this journal. 3-6d WESTERN BEE-KEEPERS Can save money by sending for our now illustrated Circular and Price List of Apiarian Supplies; Nute and Letter Heads. (Jard/<, etc. BRIGHT BROTHERS, 3-4 Mazeppa, Wabash Co., Minn, TAKE NOTICE! I will work this summer for some good straight honest bee-keeper, reasonably, as I understand all of its branches, and have had long experience. Ad- dress O. DOUGLASS, Whitmore Lake, Mich. 3d CSECTIONS ]rAHD^ HIVES Q I \r T IP We will make the dovetailed, or "Boss" One- Piece Section, any size up to 5x6 for $5.00 per 1000. Material for L. hive, .50 cents. JAMES FORNCROOK & CO. Watertown, Jeff. Co., Wis., March 1, 1881. Take iVotice.— Patent pending on the "Boss" One- Piece Sections, 3d 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 109 PUI\E STOCK! |M Koncoo njfu Mn I shall devote the coming season to rearinerj*** IIMIIUIIU VI IJ^ IIEUI H0I7 - Land Queens for sale. They will be reared in an apiary by them- selves, away from other bees. The price will be as follows: — Dollar Queens, before June 15, - - - $1 25 Each, after that date, 1 00 Tested Queens, after June, each - - - - 2 50 Safe arrival and satisfaction guaranteed. I. R. GOOD, 3-8d Nappanee, Elkhart Co., Tnd. 15 ONE-GENT STAMPS will pay for our exhaustive pamphlet on raising, handling, and marketing extracted honey. COLOyiES WITH IMPORTED CTPRIAN AND ITALIAN QUEENS OF OUR OWN IMPORTA- TIONS, GUARANTEED PURE AND GENUINE. Our Comb Poundation was awarded the diploma at the N. E. Bee-Keepers' Convention held in February. Smokers, Knives. Extractors, etc. Price list, with 3 samples of foundation, free. CHAS. DAD ANT &.SOX, . 3d Hamilton, Hancock Co., 111. HOIVXE JSJT LAST! Having bought the planing mill of H. C. Smith, and supplied it with new and improved machinery, and experienced workmen, I have 30,000 feet dry white pine lumber, and got the Simplicity Bee-Hive pattern of A. I. Hoot, and manufacture "the Lang- stroth Hive and Apiarian Supplies. Send and get a Price List. SID. D. BUELL, 3-5d Union City, Branch Co., Mich. COMB Foundation Machines from $1.00 to §5.00. Comb Fdn., loss than 5 lbs., 40c; over 5 Ihs., 35c; over .50 lbs., 34c; over 100 lbs., 33h'c. Price list free. Italian queens from Imp. mothers, fl. ready in April. 3 JOHX FARIS, Chilhowie, Smyth Co., Va. 33. s. oiT7-i:3>a-, Inventor and Sole Manufactnrer of tlie FOUNDATION PRESS. All Presses warranted to give satisfaction. The only invention to make fdn. in wired frames. Our thin and common fdn. for '81 is not surpassed. Send for Catalogue and samples. 3d D. S. GIVEN, Hoopeston, lUinois. CHEAP SECTIONS! All One-Piece Sections. Pound and Prize size at f 4.50 per 1,000. JOHN McGKEGOR, 3 Freeland, Saginaw Co., Mich. Pure Bred Plymouth Rock Fowls and eggs for hatching. Ambcr-cane seed, and Dhoura. Send card for circulars, etc., to 3-4d N. J. ISRAEL, Beallsville, Monroe Co., O. A No. 1, by mail, prepad, splendidly rooted, prices awav down. Send for descriptive price list. R. SHERFY (Round-Top Nurseries), 3 Gettysburg, Adams Co., Pa. CYPRIANS and Italian Queens or Nuclei. Des- criptive Circular and Price List sent free. Address JULIUS HOFFMAN, 1-4 Fort Plain, Montgomery Co., N. Y. I breed pure Italian and Cyprian bees for sale. I warrant my '"Dollar" queens to be mated by pure yellow drones, and guarantee sale arrival and per- fect satisfaction. Tested Queens, in May - - - $3 CO in June - - - - 2 .50 after " - - . - 2 00 "Dollar" " in May - - - - 1 50 in June - - - 1 25 after '• - - - - 1 00 Bees, per lb., same prices as Dollar queens. Please address all letters plainly to 3-5d E. M. HAYHURST, P. 0. Box 1131. GUARANTEED Italian Queens! I guarantee all my queens to be purely mated from imported mother. Safe arrival and satisfao tion guaranteed. Send lor circular. Untested Queens in Mav and June, $1 .50. July and after, 51.00. Tested Queens, May and June, S2.50. Julv and after, $2.00. Select tested, S3..50. Address— L. C. M'FATRIDGE. M. D.. 2-Td Carroll, Carroll Co., Ind. XZIVE ^ArnrFACTVRZSRS. Also imported and home-bred Queens, Full Colo- nies, and nucleus colonies. Bee-Keeper's Supplies of all kinds. Market price for beeswax. 3 NICHOLS & ELK INS, Kennedy, Chant. Co., N. Y. GRAPE SUGAR For Feeding Bees ! Send for our Price List before you buy. 3-5d I. 1.. SCOFIELI>, CHENANGO BRIDGE, BROOME CO., NEW YORK. VAN PRANK'S DIRECT DRAFT GOLD-BLAST BEE-SMOKER! Simple and durable and not liaMe to get out of re- pair. Price $1.00. Write for a liberal discount on M doz. lots. Single smokers sent bv mail on receipt of S1.15. Address W. W. VAN FRANK, 3d Newberg, Cass Co., Mich. S5 C0Ij01vriE."3 of Italian Bees in good condition, for sale; also two Faulkner Bee-Houses. Will sell cheap. Address MRS. WM. STUMP, IS* Scott St., 3d South Pendleton, Cincinnati, O. Seeds and Plants! My combined catalogue of Seeds, Plants, and Agri- cultural Implements, free to all applicants. Every thing warranted. WM. F. ELWOOD, 3d P. O. Box 526, Rome, Oneida Co., N. Y. OHOIGE ITALIAN BEES AT ZERO PRICeS Dollar Queens, only SOc; Tested. $1..50. Ten-frame colonies, $5.T5 to $s.'00. Every thing first-class, and equallv low. ^^Send for circular, and save money. 3tfd E. A. THOMAS, Colerain, Franklin Co., Mass. STRAWBERRir FLAIffTS! Miner's Great Prolific, and Crescent Seedling, the two grpat market berries. All the best kinds by mail. Prices very low. Send for price list. 3-4 W. d. POST, Essex, Middlesex Co., Ct. no GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Mar. THAT CALENDAE CLOCK. Last December one of our friend- ar.,v> d me what I could get 100 calendar clocks for. After some cor- respondence t learned I could get them so as to sell to our bee friends at the price given below. The following is a description of them. The clock is S-day, spring strike. The height is twenty inches, and the diameter of the dials eight Inches. The case is beautifully finished in ma- hogany, rosewodd, and black walnut. The works are heavy steel and brass. The calendar tells, in large plain figures and words, the day of the week, the day of the month, the month of the year, and makes all the changes for the differ- ent numbers of days in each month, even to giv- ing February 29 days one year in four, without a single motion or bit of prompting on j'our part, only to wind the clock once a week. If the clock runs down by carelessness, you can set the hands of the calendar just as easily as you set the hands of a common clock. This latter feature is a late inven- tion. Everj- clock is guaranteed by the Seth Thomas factory, and their name attitched to any clock is about the highest praise yoii can give it. Send on the $7.50, and you can have your clock by return ex- press. If ordered with other goods, they can go safely by freight, as each one is securely "boxed by itself. They will be shipped from here. Feb, 1, 1881. A. I. HOOT, Medina, O. Feh. OtTj, ISSl.— The above was given in our Feb. Gleaninos, but now the following is at hand, from the Seth Thomas Clock Co.:— New York, N. Y. , Feb. 2, 18S1. A. I. Root, Esq. :— Dear Sii-,— We hereby withdraw our quotation madp. you Dec. 21, 1880, for our No 5 Parlor Calendar, in lots of 100. We do this because we understand you advertise to retail tlicm for less than the trade can buy them. Yours rcspoctrully, Seth Thomas Clock: Co. You will see, my friends, that my good intentions in the way of selling you clocks at a low price are, for the present, frustrated in spite of any thing I can do. The regular wholesale price of the clocks to dealers is $8.00, and my offer was a little under this. I am very sorry for this unlooked-for mishap, and all I can do now is to make the price of the deck f 8.50, instead of $7.50. P. S.— Several have asked for alarms added to these clocks. With the experience I have had as a jeweler, 1 would not advise such an arrangement, but would rather have the small nickel clock we ad- vertise for an alarm clock. This can be carried about anywhere like a watch, and can therefore, if you choose, be placed right at your head, in your sleeping apartment. Price $3.25; by mail, |3 40. KIND WORDS FROM OUR CUSTOMERS. The 13 Waterbury watches all sold at a good profit, and have given good satisfaction to every one. Arcadia, Wis., Feb. 7, 1881. B. A. Morgan. The A B C is, in my estimation, the most valuable work of the kind published. I would not think of excbanging it for five times the cost, and do without. Somerset, Pa., Jan. 31, 1881. A. H. Ferneh. I must say the A B C is the best book on the sub- ject I ever read. Jt explains every thing so plainly, that any child can understand it by the aid of the nice engravings it contains. Oh how I wish I could spend a busy summer day in your apiary! I bought this book for my neighbor; but if I could not get another, I could hardly let it go. I learned more on one page than ten times the cost of the book, and that is lit making hives, frames, and sections. Wm. K. Deisher. Kutztown, Berks Co., Pa., Jan. 39, 1881. Dear Sir.'— When writing to you, I say "DearSir;" but I feel like saying "Dear Brother." Many thanks for promptitude. Wii. W. MoClaran. Marshall, Tex., Jan. 26, 1881. [Say "Dear Brother" by all means, dear brother M.; and when the time comes that you get tried with me, and I need reproving, then bv all means remember to say, "dear brother Root," when you administer the reproof.] I have succeeded, by disposing ot some unprofita- ble property and close attention to business (outside of the bee business which has been more of a recreation than serious business), in freeing my- self of the greater part of my indebtedness, and I trust that, if I ain favored by a kind Prov- idence, in another year or two I will be a free man once more; and when i attain ihat long- striven-for condition, I seriously contemplate giving my whole attention to the bee business, trusting that, by that time, I shall have attained sulficient knowledge and practical experience to enable me to conduct it successfully. Now, why have I written in this manner to one who has never seen, and probably cares nothing for, me? Simply for the reason that I do believe you care for me and my success; not, perhaps, as an in- dividual, but as one of a large class whom j'ou have, by precept and example, induced to try a new pur- suit—a pursuit that can not help, in the very nature of things, if he be observant and thoughtful, leading him to a better acquaintance with nature, and through nature to the Author and Giver of all good. I have been for years trying to live a Christian life, and 1 assure you the Home Papers have helped me no little, and I am sure I am only one of many thousands who can thankfully say the same; and from my heart I say, go on; follow every leading of Providence, and success will surely crown your ef- forts here and hereafter. If I were as well assured that I were where I could be the most useful, I would be happier, and necessarily a better man; but "'tis a long lane that has no turning," and I think I see indications of a change, and that for the better; it seems at times to be so unwise to labor so hard and long for success in mere money-making, that dwarfs and numbs and deadens allot our better feel- ings. But pardon me for detaining you so long with merely personal things. Put this in the fire, and I will not trouble you in this line for at least another year, if ever. But take courage in your good work inasmuch as you have helped one poor fellow to strive more earnestly to "do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before God." E. T. Flanagan. Belleville, Ills., Feb. 5, 1881. [May God bless you for your kind words, friend F. I do remember you, and pray for you ; and T have thought of you every time I see anything from you ever since you told me about your business troubles. Try now to help others, in the way God has so gra- ciously helped you, and make the beautiful little text you close with, your guiding star through life.l i>E"VOTEr> TO BEES AiVD iiOK^EY, A]^r> iTo^m t>"t>::tsestw. Vol. IX. MARCH 1, 1881. No. 3. A. I. B.OOT, Publisher and Proprietor, \ 9IedLna, O. Published Monthly. Established in 1873 r TERMS: $1.00 Per Akkum, in Advaxcb; I 2 Copies for Si. 90; 3 for $2.75; .5 for 34.00: 10 I or more, 75 cts. each. Single Kumber, 10 otii. ■{ Additions to clubs may be made at club rates. Above are all to be i just where we want it when we are through with it in the spring; that the chaff or shavings {ibove are easily held in a small bin. The board-rims are piled up out-doors. We have now used this method three years, and alongside of costly boxes made all nice and light, and painted, and it is as perfect in its results as the more ccstly and complicated method. The earth does not dampen the sawdust. The rain does not wet it. We have not described this plan without first knowing that it was cheap, practical, and as safe as any out-door method of wintering. We have found planer shavings fully the equal, if not supe- rior, to chaff, as an absorbent and protector, and with us they come much cheaper. We maintain that walls of sawdust are better than chaff because they are a better conductor of heat. Chaff walls are better than a dead air space, just in proportion as they are a better conductor. A wall that is a partial conductor is capable of absorbing heat from the bees, which would otherwise escape by circulation through the entrance, during a higher degree, of temperature; also of absorbing much heat from every ray of the winter's sun that strikes It. Dur- ing the breeding-time of spring, are these slowly ab- sorbing walls of much value. No side absorbents are required when the whole top of a flat hive is ex- posed to them. We think the day is close at hand when side absorbents, division-boards, side storing, and short or deep frames will have but few if any advocates. We consider the L. frame by far the best shape; but if only equal to other styles, we would as surely adopt it as we would have a wagon tracked the same width that other folks used. Every implement I ever saw or heard of, that was made to accomplish many objects, was like the stove-hook, pie-tin holder, glass-cutter, tack-ham- mer, screw-driver, and, and -(ours is lost; it never was used)— good for nothing really. The hive is no exception to that rule. In this article Lhave given you my reasons for the opinions I have been forced to hold, from actual ex- perience. James Heddon. Dowagiac, Mich., Feb. 13, 1881. In regard to the comparative cost of sugar or honey, I would add, that even granulated sugar can be bought now for only 94c. per lb., in New York ; and as 1 lb. of sugar makes H lbs. of very fair syrup, the cost is only about 7c. per lb., while good white honey ought to bring at least 10c. Perhaps this difference would hardly pay for uncap- ping the honey and feeding it after all, un- less we were pretty sure the honey was not as good food for the bees as sugar. — In re- gard to the chaff hive, I would remark that our honey reports for a few years past seem to indicate that the chaff packing is about as important in summer as in winter. If one stands up while he handles the frames, by leaning against the edge of the chaff hive he can reach down into the lower story almost as well as if no upper one were in the way ; but where the frames are handled a great deal, as in queen-rearing, and one sits on a stool, he can certainly get along faster with a one-story hive only. I do not like the idea of those great roagh'boxes. and the task of patting tliem on and taking them off every spring and fall, friend H.; bat very likely it may suit you and a great many others, bet- ter than tiie more expensive and permanent chaff hives. I should be inclined to give chaff the preference over sawdust; but if you succeed in wintering your large apiary clear through in that way, we shall have to say as we do with friend Doolittle, that suc- cess is the best proof we can have of whose ideas are the right ones. Let us know just how many you save and how many you lose by May first, will you not, friend 11. V ONIONS AS A HONEY-PIiANT. f' WANT to pi mt an acre of onions. Would the "English multipliers," or potato-onion e not sets, be the best and surest crop for first season? or would you think the Fiat Italian Tripoli the best in seed or sets? I know this does not belong to bee culture, but I thought you could give me the in- formation, and price per bushel or barrel of sets, and might furnish them cheaper. I got Early- Am- ber sugar-cane from j'ou for just one-fourth what seed-stores sell it at. G. A. Willis. Enfield, 111., Jan. 21, 1881. As I have had no practical experience with onions, I submitted the above letter to neighbor IL, and here is his reply :^ The multipliers, or potato onions, are an old stand- by; come off early, and are good for summer and fall markets; but it is more work to set them out, the sets cost much more* than the black seed, and they will not yield nearly as much per acre. The great onion crop of the world is raised from the seed. I would not recommend the Flat Italian Trip- oli, as they grow too large and coarse, and are apt to crack open; are not good yielders or keepers. The best and safest varieties, in our opinion, are the Yellow Danvers and Wethersfield Red. The land must be very fine and rich; manure from under an old stable is best. Sow in drills about 14 inches apart as soon as the ground will work, in March if you can. In raising seed, select the onions of a fair size; these with small tops; plant in drills from 3 to 5 inches deep; hill them up as the tops grow heavy, to keep from falling down; they make a beautiful flower-bed, and the honey will glisten in the large white blossoms from morning till night. The seed- stores sell onion seed from ?3.00 to $5.00 per lb. With the experience I have had, I think it could be raised for 25 or .50 cents, at a fair profit. H. Boys, would you like to be told of a plan by which you could be almost sure of having any business man in the land hasten to do your bidding with alac- rity almost as soon as you made your wishes known? Well, it is partly accomplished by having a reputa- tion of never ha\ing been dunned. I do not mean that you should never go into debt, but that j^ou should always make an agreement as to just when you wish to pay, and then always be on hand with the pay, unless frcchj granted permission has been given you to let it run longer. 118 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTpRE. Mar. w FOIL BROOD. HOW DISTINGUISHED ; HOW CURED. ffj^E are requestPd by severnl to g-ive an article on foul brood. Well, what are we going to do? We have several articles blocked out in answer to as many questions, but we can't get time to write them. We are booked as a corres- pondent to six different papers, and have a corres- pondence of from 10 to 30 dally, besides the work re- quired at all seasons of the year to make a success in managing 100 stocks of bees. Well, we are going to request all of our correspondents to put their questions on a separate sheet of paper from their letter, and leave room under each question for the answer, thus saving us the trouble of writing both question and answer, thus hoping to gain time to write more articles, or at least fill our present en- gagements. All questions thus arranged will be cheerfully answered. If of general interest, we shall reserve the right to answer through the bee journals- FOUL BROOD. Father kept bees when we were about ten years old, and it is one of the pleasint memories of the past that frequently come up before us, of the nice white box honey that was taken from ihe bees in 16 to 20 lb. boxes that went to buy the family the com- forts of life. This was when the bees were prosper- ous; but the time came when no swarms issued, and the bees got to robbing each other in the fall, and, as a last resort, all were brimstoned one cool morning the fore part of October. We were anxious to see the inside of a bee-hive, so were close at hand when father announced that ho was about to take the honey from the hives. The hives were turned over, when our olfactory organs were greeted with a stench never to be forgotten. An examination re- vealed combs filled with dead brood which was one putrid mass, with hei-e and there a vacant cell from which some bee, more luckj- than his fellows, had hatched. Thus hive after hive was split open with but little variation, except in a few of the stronger colonies, whose cells were probably quarter filled with this dead brood. We have given this to show you foul brood in its worst form as it used to scourge N. Y. State in 1855 to 1865, when box hives were used. HOW DISTINGUISHED. Foul brood as above is first discovered by finding a few cells in a hive, containing brood with sunken caps, and probably a small pin-hole near the center. Upon opening the cell the larva is found stretched out at full length, dead, of a dark brown color, dy- ing from one to three days after being capped over, we should judge. If the larva has recently died it is in shape as perfect as the live larvas are; but those alive are white, while those dead are of a light brown color at first, but soon change to a dark brown, and finally to nearly black. Upon touching a dead larva it is found to be a salvy mass, and the whole hive, if far advanced, emits a very disagreeable smell. The disease progresses, as a rule, very rapidly; and irom a few cells in the spring it so spreads that by fall nine-tenths of the cells will be filled with dead lar- vae, the smell of which is worse than carrion. Thus what should have constituted an Increase died, and as none are removed from the cells, the bees grow less and less until all are gone, unless the apiarist comes to the rescue. We have been thus particular in describing the disease, so none can mistake it; and also because there is another disease similar, called foul brood, which is not foul brood. With this last-named, the caps to the cells have very much the same appearance as in the genuine, but the dead larva is of a grayish color, and instead of being stretched out at full length in the cell, it is drawn up in a more compact shape. After a time it so dries up that the bees remove it, and no harm seems to arise from it, only as there are a few larviB that die here and there through the combs at dififerent peri- ods; sometimes never to appear again, and some- times appearing with the next season; hence we hear persons saying, "My bees had a few cells of foul brood which I cut out, and all was prosperous again." All cutting out of cells with the genuiae is of no avail, as the germs of the disease are in the honey. Also the dead lar^'a never dries up so as to be removed entirely, although some strong stocks of Italians come very near doing so at the approach of cold weather in the fall, when but few cslls are in the hive at that season of the year. HOW CURED. We have never experimented with acid, and from all accounts we should say it would be better, in this day of comb fdn., to use the old way,— melt the combs into wax, and give the bees fdn. The old way is this— the same we used to eradicate it from our apiary: when a swarm is believed to have the gen- uine foul brood, mark the hive, and if there are bees enough to ward off robbers, let it entirely alone for a month, when it should again be examined, and (if in the breeding season) the genuine will have pro- gressed so you will be sure that it is foul brood, while the other may be all gone, or remain about the same. The genuine means progress every time, although in some cases a colony may hold out over two seasons. As soon as it is determined that the disease is foul brood, shake or drive the bees into a clean empty hive, and render the combs into wax, and boil the honey at once before you forget it. Don't set it away thinking you will do it some other time, for if you do you may repent at a great loss some future day when, through some mistake, it gets inside the hive* again. Boiling such honey de- stroys the germs of foul brood, and makes it as good as ever for bees. If in time of plenty of honey, so there is no danger of robbing, drive or shake off three-fourths of the bees, and leave the remainder to care for the brood. In 21 days treat as at first given, and your disease is gone as far as that hive is concerned. After the bees have been in the clean hive long enough to have the larvaj hatch from the eggs laid in the new comb the bees have built, j-ou can then give fdn., empty comb, or frames of brood, the same as with any healthy stock. Burn the frames, or throw them into a kettle of boiling water after the foul-brood combs have been removed, and scald thoroughly any thing that has the foul honey upon it, and set the hives away for one year, when they are as good as any, as far as our experience goes. Right here we wish to say the disease is. in the honey; and if you let a robber get a load of this honey, or carry it on your fingers, knife, or any thing else, to a healthy hive, that hive is doomed. We have now told you how to cure one hive, so of course you know how to cure a hundred; and if we had a hundred hives we should go to work in just the way given, knowing we would succeed; but if we were satisfied we had only two or three hives in a yard of from 50 to 100, we should adopt the resolu- 1881 GLEANIisGS IN BEE CULTURE. 119 tion of the N. E. B. K. Association, which was this: " ResoJvcd, That this convention believes that foul brood is a very dangerous disease, and that we ad- vise all to be careful in experimenting in regard to its cure. If but two or three colonies are afflicted in any apiary, destroy hives, combs, and all." We would do this for the reason that we should consider the risk of experimenting, or trying to cure the two or three, greater than the value of them. We are happy to announce that the disease has pretty much disappeared in Xew York State. Borodino, N. Y., Feb. 16, 1881. G. M. Doclittle. TINDER. THE BOX-ELDERS. AN ABC SCHOLAR IN LOUISIANA. LLOW me the liberty of giving you my expe- rience in bee culture for the last two years, as I have been in your ABC class for twelve months, and to ask what steps to take next. Two years ago I began to take quite a likiug for bees. I had one swarm in an old box hive to start with; the first thing, I went in the woods to hunt for a few more during the summer. I found five and hived them in boxes of my own make; but I could not ex- amine them, as they did not have frames in their boxes, so I rode o%-er to see one of my neighbors who had six swarms in what he called Simplicity hives, and I was much pleased with them. They had glasses in them that enabled me to look at them without moving the bees. I made six exactly like his, and moved all mine into them by smoking, and breaking the old boxes to pieces. Being ignorant of the business, I lost all the young bees and comb. I was not aware that there was any such thing as transferring, which I have learned since. After all, they went to work, and in six weeks they had their hives full of comb and honey. I had them in a row 7 ft. apart, in nicely painted hives. On the 1st of September, 18T9, we had a severe storm that blew them on the ground upside down, killing many of the bees and crushing the comb. I went to their as- sistance, placed them up again, and put them in a row behind a large tree, to protect them from the wind as much as possible, as it was blowing a per- fect gale. Unfortunately, the tree blew down, and crushed the last hive and bees underground, just as if Providence had ordered it done so. I did not do as Blasted Hopes did — leave for Kansas. I said, better luck next time, and concluded to get the ABC and learn as I went. In Jan., 1880, I bought 6 swarms for S15, and commenced again. They were all black. In April I made 4 artificial swarms, and they did well. What I wish to know is t|hi8: how many times can I make artificial swarms out of the same old swarms? Last year I made an artificial swarm out of one of my artificial swarms as late as the 5th of August, and they are doing well. I in- creased my number up to 22 strong colonies, for which I give your ABC credit and good luck to- gether. M. A. Garrett. New Iberia, Iberia Parish, La., Feb. 15, 1881. I can not well say how many times you can increase, friend G.; but as you have tried making a ss\arm from a swarm, I sliotild think yon would be pretty good au- thority in the matter. From your letter, I should opine that I could do a pretty large business increasing in your favored locality, even if the wind does blow sometimes. Why not set your hives right on the ground, then they can never fall down? HERE is nothing about our homes more restful, more pleasing to the eye, than a well-trimmed, well-kept lawn; and it is within the reach of almost every one who owns an acre of land and has a desire to make heme pleasing and attractive. It is inexpensive, likewise, and, when once established, "it is a thing of beauty and a joy forever" to its possessor. These thoughts passed through my mind as I opened the gate and stepped out upon the neat, shaven lawn of our old friend Duster, who, by the by, was swinging under his favorite box-elder trees, in his hammock, with one leg carelessly hanging over the side, while his lawn-mower, close at hand, told what had been his occupation. After the usual greeting, Mr. Duster at once introduced the subject of WINTERING BEES IN CELLARS. "I have been thinking of the matter since our last talk, and the different reports and ditferent results by individuals of which we read, and have come to about this conclusion: that those who have reported wintering in cellars as a partial failure, the fault is in the cellar and not in the method. Any and every cellar will not do; and if the cellar is not clean, dry, and sweet, and likewise free from all frost, there will no doubt at times be partial failures. I have never lost a stock of bees in all these years that I have wintered in such a cellar, and I am sure of all my bees coming out in the spring alive and strong, as the spring season comes. Comply with the con- ditions, or, rather, requirements of their nature, and we are just as sure of wintering them as we are our sheep, calves, or any tender stock which we properly shelter and care for in our cold winters. I do not want to seem too persistent or dogmatic about this matter of cellar wintering; but I do want those to know who will take the pains, that there is but little risk in wintering bees in this way— that's all." Now let me say right here, that I have been in Mr. Duster's cellar the coldest days of this cold winter; there was not a particle of frost or moisture in it ; it was as dark as a dungeon ; the bees were perfectly quiet, and the air seemed dry, warm, snd pure. I could have sat down in it in comfort but for the darkness. HONEY-DEW IN THE EAST. "You ask me," said Mr. Duster, "what I know about honey-dew. I can recollect seeing it, when a boy, in Massachusetts; but it seemed different from any thing I have seen in the West. I found it there principally on the leaves of the shell-bark walnut— sometimes on chestnut. On the walnut leaves, at times it would be in quite large drops as late in the day as 1 o'clock p.m., and be so thick at that time the bees could not take it up. I never saw it there except in the fall of the year— say the last of August or first of September. Now, under this very tree where we are sitting I have seen it dropping in fine light-colored spray until the grass under the tree was quite sticky with the substance; and every morning for some hours the bees would be very busy gather- ing it from the leaves of the trees. The leaves seemed varnished with it; never saw it in drops as in the East. Usually it comes in May cr June on these box-elders, and some seasons it comes two or three times, giving the bees quite a harvest. I al- ways found aphides at such times, but I also found them, as well, at other times. I am inclined to think, in the case of these trees (if no others), that the 120 GLEANINGS IN BEE CXJLTURE. Mae. weather and condition of the sap have a good deal to do with It. We tap the rock-maple; if the condi- tions are right, we get a flow of sweet sap. The aphides may be the tappers in this case, and at cer- tain times the sap, being in a right state, hence the honey-dew. The veins of the leaves may burst, too, under certain conditions of the sap and weather; and 1 incline to think we get the dew from both causes. •'And now a word about the BOX-ELDER. " Its true name is ash-leaf maple. I think a good deal of it, and so do the bees. It blossoms quite early in the spring, and if the weather is favorable the bees Mill just cover the trees, gathering honey and pollen nearly all day. In the spring I have only to strike a narrow-bladed hatchet into the bark and the sap will flow abundantly. The bees soon find it, covering the body of the tree in their eagerness to obtain it. There has been but little said about it as a honey-producing tree, but I place it among the best. It is a handsome tree, either on the lawn or roadside. You can plant the seed like corn, and it will come up regularly, growing very rapidly, and soon making a beautiful tree. "I told you," said Mr. Duster, "when you were here the last time, a little experience I had with a bad lot of hybrids. Well, this time it is another fel- low—Zach Brown— 'Old Zach,' as he is commonly called. One colJ day last winter I found old Zach and two or three of his cronies in one of our stores hugging close to a hot stove, and telling yarns. Old Zach was JLjst closing one about the way he could handle bees. Why, he could scoop 'em up in his hands, carry 'em in his hat, they'd never sting him— oh no! etc., etc. "Well, last summer as I was returning from dinner to my business, I heard a most terrible din just ahead of me, and I soon found the cause was the swarming of some bees belonging to a young widow lady; and all her lady friends, some four or five women, were at it with every conceivable thing that would make a noise -and they made it I If I thought bees could be stopped and made to alight by this process, I would certainly hire a woman to manufac- ture the noise; such energy, such persistency— whj-, one of them asked me, after the bees had alighted. If she had not better keep an old sheet-iron or tin waiter she had, a rattling! I told her I thought it would do as much good now as ever. I meant to be a little sarcastic; but I'll be blamed if she didn't take me at my word, and at it again she went. Yes, give me a woman for a racket of this kind. The bees had alighted in the worst place possible— on the body of a small tree, among the thick small limbs, and about twelve feet high. I saw at once I was in a fix, being the only man present. Already I had caught the young widow's soft pleading e3-e3 resting upon me; I knew their meaning as well as the next man. Who don't know the meaning of a widow's eyes, if she means it? and I saw she did. I looked at the widow, then looked at the bees; looked at the bees, then looked at the widow, and I might have looked a little foolish besides, between-times. But as good luck would have it, I just then thought of old Zach's story. So I told her that, as my business was very pressing, and not knowing, as well as some, how to hive bees, I would send a man who knew all about it. She looked her thanks, and I looked for Old Zach. I found him and one of his cronies on the street, and he was willing and ready to go. Crony and I went too. Business, with me, seemed drlfer- ent under the circumstances, you see. Old Zach, after looking at the situation of things, and taking two or three big pinches of snuff, concluded he would stand on a chair and hold the hive bottom-side up under the bees, while some one would shake the tree, and he would catch them, as ho could just reach up to where they clustered. I had another pressure of business about that time, "SO I went a little way up the street, then crossed over to the other side, and down opposite the bees; got behind a big cot- tonwood-tree and— awaited events. Old Zach was already on the chair, with the hive nearly over his head and under the bees, and his crony friend had hold of the tree ready to shake. Old Zach gave the word, and down came the bees— about one-half in the hive, and the other half on Old Zach. He got down from his chair ' sort of spry,' and he really looked astonished! but whether it was the small quantity of bees he caught in the hive, or the large quantity that was in his hair and all over him, he gave me no time to ask; for up the street he went as fast as his legs could carry him, and with a good portion of the bees after him and on him. He tacked short at the first corner of the street he came to, as though he thought he could dodge them and throw them off the track. He soon disappeared behind some buildings and it was the last I saw of him for several days. "Just then my attention was called to the demon- strations of his friend and crony. He was a man tall, lank, and lean, with a long neck, scraggy, bony shoulders, and hips the same, and his knees the size Of small tea-kettles— all joints with a little bone be- tween. Well he was balancing himself on the front- yard fence and holding on to the upper rail with his great bony hands, and as he see-sawed back and forth, his head nearly touched the ground in the yard, while his feet were high in the air over the side-walk; and as they came down upon the walk, he would give such a guffaw as would have aston- ished man or brute, while at the same time he kept talking between-times, as he could get breath, and I could hear something like this: 'Did you see them bees after Old Zach? haw, haw!— streaming out after him like a Chinee's pig-tail— haw, haw! He could scrape up bees iu his hands— could carry 'em in his hat, eh? haw, haw! I seen 'em in his hair, and—' here he stopped suddenly his sec-sawing and talk, slapped his lantern jaws first with one hand and then with the other. 'Bees!' was all he said, and away he went down the street, swiugiug his legs and arms in the air in all directions, looking like so many old-fashioned flails. He, too, suddenly disappeared around a street corner with all his unexpressed comments with him, and I'll venture to say he never did so much work in so short a time before in all his life." Here I bade Mr. Duster a good-afternoon, and we parted. II. H. Mellen. Amboy-on-Inlet, 111., Feb. 13, 1881. I most heartily approve of your ideas about la wns; t'rintl M., but really I can not say that I do about leaving the widow with her bees flying round in the air without any- body to put them in a hive for her. If she lost them, just tell your neighbor Duster that I think he ought to give her another out of his own fine apiary, and not a hybrid stock ■ either. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 121 FRIEKD MILES' "\* ONDERFUI. » SUC- CESS AVITH BEES. A STORY WITH A MORAL, FOB THIS SEASON. HAVE never given you a report of my wonder- ful success in bee culture. I have kept bees three years, beginning with two swarms. ] knew nothing about bees except that they would sting me every lime they saw me, run as I might. But though I lived in constant fear of honey-bees, I did so love honey that I was persuaded to give a good cow for the two swarms, in early fruit-bloom. They were very small and weak, and had not a bit of honey. I knew this; but as plum-blossoms were coming out I supposed they were just going to scoop in the honey. So, with this sweet, comforting thought I went about my farm duties. There came on a long cold rainy time, with hardly a sunny day; it hindered my pljwing a great deal. I kept that in mind, but I never thought of its keeping the bees from their work, who needed every hour much more than I, for they were living from hand to mouth. One day I felt a great longing for a taste of honey, so I took a plate and knife, bee-veil, and cotton rags, and went out to rob my pets. The first thing I saw of my bees were a great many dead ones about the entrance and on Ihe bottom-board; my first ex- clamation was, "My bees are dead!" I lifted out the middle frame; a few bees were clustered on it, with just barely perceptible life, and not a particle of honey. The terrible truth at once flashed upon me, "My poor darlings are starvingi Of course, bees can't gather honey in such cold wet weather! What a mean old fool I have been, that I did not think of this!" I ran to the house and got some sugar and hot water in a cup, and stirred it as I ran back; then I immediately began to sprinkle the bees and combs of both hives, as they were both in about the same state of dissolution. In a few minutes they were all buzzing with joy all over the hives. 1 should have been thrashed for neglecting those bees in that waj% but there was nobody able to do it except myself, and I hadn't time. But I fed them from that time until warm weather, and in the course of the summer and fall they stored up honey enough to winter them. I left them out on summer stands, and they came through all right. I borrowed a bee-book of a neighbor— the first book I had ever seen on the subject. It was a Mitchell book. I was greatly interested, and learned how to manage my bees, raise queens, and divide. Of course, I thought Mitchell was the boss bee-man, and his hive the best hive; so I made several M. hives and divided my bees, making, in the course of the honey season, four new swarms, six in all. I wintered them in the cellar and fed them some. They came through to spring weather nicely; but after I set them out they dwindled and robbed each other badly; but I watched them and fed them, and finally got some honey to eat. Last spring I set out nine good swarms, but they dwindled down to five — not for want of honey or sugar syrup; I think it was rob- bing that used them up. I have now nine (five are Italians), once more buried in the snow, well packed in chafC hives, surrounded and covered over with hay, and over all is the snow, a foot or more. I don't know anything about how they are getting on ; I have not seen nor beard any thing of them since November. I have never sold a pound of honey. We can eat more than any apiary of bees can gather. I have 50 or 63 lbs. in the cellar, that I intend to feed back in the spring, or trade it for sugar to feed. Pawnee City, Neb., Feb. 14, 1881. C. R. Miles. THE HONEY-DE\t'S OF OREGON. NOT ONLY IIONEY-DEW, BUT CANDIED HONEY HANGING FROM THE TREES LIKE DEW. SHOPE the following can be fully substan- tiated. I give you all the facts in my ^^ possession, and" hope our readers from Oregon Avill do all they can to help us to get at the full truth of the matter. If there is really a locality where honey -dews come every season, for several months in the year, it were certainly wjell to have some of our bee men wake up and have this new El Do- rado worked up and developed. I visited the Centennial, but must have missed the speci- mens alluded to. Does an>- one else remem- ber of liaving seen them V Can anybody send me any of tliese specimens V Well, just read for yourself. I clip this from the Willamette Farmer, published at Portland, Oregon, under date of Jan. 21, 1881. If there is any thing in the article which you can use in anyway, do so; if not, throw it into the waste- basket. Eugene Secob. Forest City, la., Feb., 1881. During the summer and fall of 1S75, while engafced in collect- injf, classifjinp. and arranging material for Oregon's Centenni- al exhibit at Philadelphia, in 1876. my personal investigation and letters of inquiry often brought me information of i>roduc- tions and the peculiarities of certain localities, that I imder no " other circumstances would have obtained. By special request from the Botanical Department, to have theconifiers of Oregon cla.ssified, and specimens on exhibition at the World's Fair in 1876. I visited several of the coa.steo>in- ties. as well as quite a number of localities along the snow-lino of the Cascades, and among others a wild countr)- east and south of what is known as the ' • Palmateer Settlement, ' ' and ly- ing between the North Fork and the main Clackamas River. Here, I had been informed, I could find the • ' Abi Xoblis. ' ' or "l.irch;" also the "Rhododendron" and the " Ceanothis Oderatis," or "Mountain Balm." The most cordial hospitalitv was tendered me by all the front- ier settlers I met, and abuhd.ant Information and assistance freely given me to assist ill increating the importance of Ore- gon's exhibit. Among other rarities on the table wherever I dined, I noticed an abundant supply of honey, in beautiful white combs, and I't the most delicate flavor; and on inquiry was told that tins belt of countn-, for several miles in width, and extending along the little valleys and foot-hills far into the Cascade Mountains, was subject at night to a fall of honey-dew during the months of June. July, and August, and not unfrequently the deposit is so abundant" that in the morning it resembles hoar frost, and drops from the leaves and boughs of trees when the sun rises. The statements of all with whom I conversed on this subject were so direct that they should not have left the shadow of doubt in my mind of the fact: but on mr return, in expressing a little incredulitv at the house of Mr. Mills, on the amount that fell in that viciiiltv, "Oh yes!" said Mrs. Mills, " such is really the case; and I have some very fine sjtecimens given me by my brother, who spends a great deal of his time hunting and pros- pecting in that part of the counti-j-. " - , ■With this she brought from her parlor several boughs of cedar covered with a thick coating of ciTstallized honey-dew, strongly resembling boughs that had been dipped in melted white sugar and then hung up and allowed to cool. Mrs. Mills kindly funush - ed me with a small package of these boughs carefully wrapped up in fine paper, which I took to the Centennial, where they were examined and conuuented upon by the thousands who daily thronged the Oregon Exhibit. I have since ascertained that this honey-belt extends to the east side of the Cascades, but not so abundant as in this section of country I have already described. I also learn that it is no uncommon thing for bees in the I'almateer district to fill their hives, and then commence building and storing their honey on the outside, on any thing near the hive where they can hang their comb. And now-, Mr. Editor, might not some young man who is wait- ing for something to turn up, do well to post himself on bee- keeping and try the business of practical bee -husbandry ; the ex- pense would be small, and the experiment easily tried, and it properly conducted would doubtless prove as remunerative as it does in many ijarts of California. A. J. Dvflr. The editor of the Farmer adds:— We have a word to add to Mr. Dufur's interesting communi- cation. We remember that he told us of those facts at the time, and showed us the leaves, frosted with honey-dew. He also told us of seeing, in the same locality, honeycomb filled with hone.v, weighing 40 or aO lbs. that the bees had made be- tween rails in a standing fence. This illustrates the prodigal supply of honey in that region. Last suinmer we bought a box of rich honey of a fanner who must live within tliis honeydew region. He'assured us that it was much more delicious flavored than California honey, with which our market is well supplied, and we found his statement correct, for the honey was most ex- cellent, and after it was gone the best of California comb honey went begging on our table. Will friend Secor please accept thanks ? 122 GLEAKINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Mar. A Fl'RTHER IMPROVEMENT ON THE HAINS FEEDER. I.ITE directions I have given for filling the Hains feeder, are, as you know, to imff>erse it in the syrup while held by one corner, as you may" remember. Well, a great many do not like this way, and I rec- ollect that one of our friends in Canada, who attempted to do this with thick honey, was not only disgusted with such a sticky way of doing things, but 1 do not know but that he came pretty near being- disgusted Avith the whole race of Yankees, on account of their flimsy, dauby, and slip-shod way of doing things. It is true, he did not say all this, but I am a little afraid, from the way he wrote, that he came pretty near thinking it. If he didn't, I beg his pardon. You may re- member what I have said about our grooved- board feeder being such a splendid way of feeding grape sugar, for all we had to do was to fill the jar with lumps, pour on some water, and then invert it. It all works hand- somely, except the inverting part. In fact, this inverting part seems to be an objection to all of the atmospheric feeders. Well, a few days ago a gentleman who was visiting us was telling me of a feeder he used, but I had heard of and seen so many feeders. I fear I did not pay very much attention to it, thinking it would probably be too much ma- chinery, like the greater part of them; but when he said he could fill and invert it witli- out spilling a drop, I asked to see one. It seemed, wlien examined, but a common Ilains feeder, and so I asked to see him fill it full of water, and then invert it without spilling any. .Sure enough, he did it, and he explained to me that it gave the bees a larger feeding ground than the usual Ilains feeder. Come to look into it, I found where the secret lay. After he had gone (!?o.00 bet- ter off, for his invention) I made one after my own fancy, as per the figure below. I simply got a honey- tumbler f ro'm the 5-cent counter, and asked the tinner to drive his 2- inch hollow punch through its tin cap. Then he made a little pan, 4 inches square, with sides i inch tiigh ; with a pair of tinner's snips and a soldering iron you can make theni •■' like smoke,'' of a sheet glass-tumbler of thin light tin. The feeder. tumbler ca]i was then placed in the bottom, raised on four bits of folded tin, and sold- ered fast. It was then filled Avith water, the cap with its stpiare pan attachment placed over it, and, sure enough, it could be invert- ed very easily witliout spilling a drop. If you can't make them, Ave Avill make them for you for luc each, $1.00 per dozen, or $7.00 per hundred. These hold a little more than half a pint ; pint size, just double the money. As the glass is not mailable, Ave shall use a tin tumbler when ordered by mail. Post- age on each will be 5c. What shall we call this feeder? To call it after the inventors' names it would be the ''Ilains, Finch and Crane, Root feeder." You see, my part of it Avas in thinking of making it out of tin- topped honey-tumblers. Messrs. Finch and Crane, of Strongsville, O.. invented the idea of having it open, to put in the sugar, and invert Avithout spilling. To cut it short, I haA^e called it the glass-tumbler feeder. Put in some sugar, i)our on some water, then put on the cover and tuni it over, and tell the bees to come to supper. If you put it in the upper part of the hive, you can bid them come to dinner if you clioose. It Avill also work Avith very thick honey or syrup ; but a little Avater put in Avould perhaps make it work faster. No bee cnn ever get daubed or soiled by any possibility. Now, really, do you not lliink it is a handsome feeder for such a little bit of money? I should not wonder if it would please our English, friends aAvay across the water. I do not blame them one bit for wanting nice, strong, and substantial things. My wife is one of England's daughters, you see. and she has talked to me so mucli I begin sometimes to really think I may yet turn out ''right smart."' A NEAV NAIL-BOX. S our lives are smoothed by little things, I will mention a convenience which I have never seen used but by myself, although perhaps everybody knows of it. I have had them in use many years. Square empty oyster-cans can almost always be procured in abundance. Now, take them and cut away one end and a part of one side, as seen in the picture; then take a strip of wood Jax'a, long enough to go across the end inside. Bore a fj hole through the center, and tuck it in at the end thus:— NORMAN CLARK'S NAIL-BOX. and you have a tack or small nail box which, when laid down, is right to take nails from; and when not in use they may be hung on nail?, in a row, one for each kind of nail^, tacks, and screws, brad?, etc. They will hold about 2 lbs. each. Sterling, 111 , Jan. 25, 1881. Norman Clark. Many thanks, friend C. I would suggest that, after the boxes are nicely hung up in a row, Ave have a A'ery plain and conspicuous label over each, that the boxes may all be put away in the same relative position, so that you can at any time lay your hand in- stantly on just the box you Avant. Under no circumstances pei'mit nails of different kinds to be put in the same box, for it is more than they are worth to sort them out so they can be used conveniently. We have tried it here, and knoAv just Avhat it costs, especially Avith tacks and small wire nails ; and yet ev- ery ncAV handAvill, if not AA'atched, almost always put a handful of these small tacks or nails in some otlier nail-box than the one it belongs in. 1881 GJiEANIXGS IN BEE CULTURE. 12S ENEMIES OF BEES AMONG THE BIRDS. THE PINE GROSBEAK. SSEXD a packag-e by mail that contains the heads, and sample from the crops of a male and female — ' bird that, during certain months, seem to pre- fer worker bees for a diet. S. W. Sherfey. La Mcsilla, Dona Ana Co., Xew Mex., Jan. 18, 1881. AVe forwarded the above to Prof. Cook, who replies as follows : — The birds are grosbeaks, as denoted by their- large bills; and, from the color and shape of the heads, they appear to be the Pine Grosbeak {Pinicola Cana- densis.) The male of these birds have a head of brilliant carmine, and the female of brownish yellow. The material from the stomach consisted of the remains of beetles, grass-hoppers, and bees. The sting, pollen-baskets, and jaws, were those of the worker bees. The Pine Grosbeak, according to Cones, inhabits the northern parts of America, extending down south through the Sierra Nevada Mountains even to Mexico. It visits the northern United States in winter. We have them in our museum, taken in December in the pine forests of Michigan. If this is the bird in question, it would seem curi- ous that it should be injurious to bees, as it usually comes where bees are kept in winter, when bees tly very little, and it takes, probably from necessity, little food other than seeds. But it belongs to the Finch family, the birds of which live on either in- sects or seeds, according to circumstances. It is now an accepted fact, that difference of habi- tat may change even the color of birds a'tad other animals; and so it is not hard to believe that our Pine Grosbeak in New Mexico may live in the cool, congenial atmosphere of the mountains, and fly forth to the warmer plains for its food. Thus a new habitation may have changed the bird's habits. Of course, there is a bare possibility that these birds are not the species I take them to be. It is im- possible to decide positively with only the heads. If Mr. Sherfey will send the birds entire, I will pro- nounce with certainty as to the species. A. J. Cook. Ag. College, Lansing, Mich., Jan. 31, 1881. r BLASTED HOPES. SOMETHING ABOUT THE CAUSE. IE have one of the finest fields in the world for a subject in Blasted Hopes. More than one-half of the bees in this locality are dead, and I do not think one-third of the remainder will live till spring; yet I see nothing to discourage the intelligent bec-keei^er. I have visited many bee- keepers in the last year, and have not found one that takes the journals and keeps up with the times, and manages his bees intelligently, that has not made a profit from his bees the past season. Nature is only doing what the apiarist has neglected, in pruning out the worthless bees. A good colony of bees will gather honey enough any season to \Vinter them. We have got to be more careful in rearing our queens, and keep none but the best. There can be but one object in keeping bees, and that is for the honey they can gather. Queen-rearing may be prof- itable for a time, but that is far from being perma- nent. Before we make bee-keeping the success it should and doubtless will be, we have got to turn more attention to improving our stock of bees. This can not be done by the reckless management we now have in queen- rearing. Each bee-keeper must strive to improve his own stock. This should be done by breeding from the best stocks we have, and none other. We should work for the very best honey-gatherers. No intelligent bee-keeper will be long in discovering that some colonies are far supe- rior to others. Let him breed from these, and when he finds he has a better kind, then take it for his queen-rearing. When he wants new blood, let him buy a queen of some one he knows to be a success- ful bee-keeper, even if he has to pay the price ot an imported queen. Do not work for beauty in color: that should be no object. I have had far better luck with the dark-colored Italians than with the light. The best colony I have is of the dark color, and the third generation from the imported queen. I be- lieve we can improve more from the home-bred than from the imported. I believe they are better after they become acclimated. I breed only for their honey- gathering and amiability. I can handle my best colonies without veil or smoke, and with no fear of being stung. I have not fed a pound of sugar or syrup in the last two years. My average for the past season was 23 lbs. comb honey, and I packed them for winter with 25 to 30 lbs. to the colony. I could have done far better than this by feeding; but I was putting them to the test of what they could do, and I can do better than this without feed. I would have no use for a colony that could not gather enough the poorest season to winter on. I have never lost a colony of bees in wintering. Fairland, Ind., Jan. 22, 1881. L. R. J/^CKSON. HOW AN A B C SCHOI.AR STOPS ROB- BIKG, ETC. ^^^HE ABC came to hand Saturday, and I came J-*[[ nearly staying up all night reading it. I would undoubtedly have become oblivious to every thing had not my " better half " admonished me that it was Sabbath morning. Well, It is just splendid, and I can't help expressing my satisfac- tion to you. I am a beginner in bee-keeping, and I can appreciate such a help as your A B C is.. I have 5 colonies, and I do not e.xpect to keep more than that number, as my time to attend to them is very limited, as I am foreman in a manufacturing estab- lishment in town. I have read that portion of your A B C relating to "robbing," and I will give my experience in that line. Last year I had a very strong colony of blacks in an American hive. The queen was clipped. On a Saturday, in the early part of June, they swarmed. I move J the old hive away and put another Ameri- can hive in its place, filled with Dunham fdn. The bees had clustered on an apple-tree not far off. As soon as I laid the queen-cage containing the queen on the alighting-board, they came back. I released the queen, and all was right. Previous to swarming they had stored considerable honey in top box. In the evening I took the box off, took out about 10 lbs. of honey (there was considerable honey left), and put the box on the new stand. The next day as I came home from church, I noticed an uncommon number of bees flying in and out of that hive. I knew there was something wrong, but did not know what it was. After mature deliberation, I conclud- ed that some of my neighbor's bees were robbing the honey left in the top box. I was sure they were 124 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Mar. not my other bees, because they were Italians and the robbers were black. I closed the entrance, but that would not do, for it was very warm. Finally I took off the top box, turned it upside-down, and smoked the bees out (it was literally full of bees), and took the box in the house. By this time it was evening, and the robbers went home. In the morn- ing they returned in great numbers. I was afraid they would kill the queen, and so I opened the en- trance fall length, took some grass and weeds, and laid it before the entrance, so that my bees had plentj^ of air, but could not get out, and the robbers could not get in, though they would try hard to get through the grass. By this time the robbers were literall.v swarming arotind the hive. I took an old wash-basin that had many little holes in it, and fixed it above the entrance, and filled it with water, which caused a continuous shower on the grass before the entrance. This settled them. They tried the other hives, but my Italians slaughtered them unmerci- fully, and that was the end of it. Please tell me if I have done any thing which you would not have done. Please accept my sincere thanks for your ABC book, and I will try to remaio your very obe- dient scholar. F. C. GaStinger. Keiaton, Ohio, Jan. 31, 1881. If the bees were gathering honey at the time. I should hardly have supposed robbers would have found their way into the honey- box, under the circumstances; but as they were blacks, it is quite likely the Italians were getting honey while the blacks were robbing. You managed as well, perhaps, as any one. would have done under the circum- stances. ^ 1 8 1 <>*i HOW AN A B C SCHOLAR SUCCEEDS IN CAI^IFOKNIA. ^T will be remembered that friend Bridges, Jl Avho writes the folloAving, is the unfor- — ' tunate brother who lost his house and chilflren by fire, as mentioned in our Decem- ber No. Friend Root .'—According to promise, I will give you a report of my success with bees, honey, etc., the past season. But had I made it out last fall be- fore that sad accident which took away my children, I should have done so with far more enthusiasm than I can now. I believe I have never told you that I was only an A B C scholar— that the past sea- son is all the experience I ever had with bees. Pre- vious to buying my bees, one year ago, I knew noth- ing whatever about bees. I did not know a queen or a drone; I never saw a swarm of bees hived until I hived them myself in my apiary; I never saw any bees transferred until I transferred my own; I nev- er read any thing on bee culture until I subscribed for Gleanings last March, and got it just before my bees commenced swarming. I did not have anybody with me that knew any more about bees than my- self. So you may guess there were many times during the season when I had to use my wits to the very best advantage. Although a journal and a work on bee culture are indisjiensahle articles, yet I believe if one were to take a whole catalogue of books and journals he would still need a good deal of what might, in homely English, be termed "gump- tion," if he aspires to successful bee culture. I bought my bees from forty to fifty miles away from home, and after deducting out the "stealings," and what died out and were robbed out for want of care. 1 hauled them safely home during the winter and spring months. I got through the spring with 100 stand?, many of them very weak and in poor condition. About forty of them were in old boxes and barrels, which I transferred all right, though some of them I didn't get transferred until they had swarmed two or three times, which left the old swarms verj' weak. I increased by natural swarm- ing to 160 stands; but if I had allowed them to swarm less, and doubled up a good many of the weaker ones, I should have made more honey. A great many of the old stands didn't have the lower box half full of combs, and but little honey to start with in the spring. I had no combs at all, nor fdn. for any of the top boxes, nor any for new swarms; and so you see they all had a late start for making honey. A great many of them I did not put top boxes on till the honey season was half over, and many more un- til nearly over; and about 20 stands did not get built up soon enough to store any honey in top boxes, though I got combs enough built out by using some strategy to supply the whole 160 stands with top boxes filled with combs. I extracted, during the season, 150 cases honey, each case containing two 60- Ib. cans. You will see, by figuring up, I had nine tons of honey. I did think I would extract again in October; but the honey (goldenrod) was dark and poor, so I left it in the top boxes; some of them were about full, and are now. I probably left, in top boxes, 1500 or 2000 lbs. for spring feed. I had tried out 125 lbs. of the whitest wax I ever saw that was not bleached; but it was destroyed by the fire. 1 intended to make me a machine a la Far is, and make all the comb foundation I should need for next sea- son; but my bees will have to do it themselves again, as I have but a few pounds of wax left. I must tell you HOW OUR BEES SPENT THEIR CHRISTMAS. We had just had about two weeks wet, rainy weather in December, when one day the sun came out for an hour or two. I went to the apiary, and the bees were carrying in yellow pollen, while be- fore the rain they had got nothing but a little white pollen. I could not think where it came from, as there were no new fiowers out. The next day was Christmas; it came off warm and pleasant, and the bees were working as in May weather. I stood be- fore one hive, with watch in my hand, and actually counted 2i bees, heavily laden with pollen, enter in one minute, besides many were bringing in honey; and this all came from desert sacre- aplant Ihad sup- posed worthless, as old bee-meu have toll me that bees never work on it. Chas. Bridges. San Fernando, Los Angeles Co.,Cal., Jan. 27, 1881. You are right, friend B. "Guijiption" is exactly the word; and it is juaj. what is wanted. Not a few of us know,4)y expe- rience how you must have got around to have accomplished so much in your first year's work. Ever since we got that honey from friend ^Yilkin, I wonder, every time I hear a report from California, if the tons of honey secured are all like his. If it is, well may it have a world-wide reputation. Per- haps the plant you mention has never yield- ed honey or pollen before, so as to be no- ticed. Every season seems to bring to view some feature in bee botany never noticed before. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 125 RAlTIBIii: NO. 3. KINGSBURY AND BUCKWHEAT, ETC. ^f ] HOULD you stand in our apiary and look away ^^ to the west, your vision would be interrupted '~-^ by a range of mountains, blue and hazy with the intervening- twenty miles. Could we look over this barrier and to the northward, our sight would descend upon the famous Adirondac Park, of north- ern New York, with its rugged mountains, beautiful lakes, and spruce and cedar scented forests. Start- ing from our home, with these mountains in view, we pass the boundaries of our town and enter the township of Kingsbury. The greater portion of this town is quite level, and was formerly designated as Pitch Pine Plains. The Hudson River is its western boundary, and in olden times it was the thorough- fare of contending armies. Heroes of the Revolu- tion, and previous wars, here faced death, and it may be truly said, that these ancient roads were tracked with blood. The principal village in this township is Sandy Hill, and it takes its name from the nature of the soil. One of the principal crops of this township is buckwheat ; and if some of our friends who are skeptical in relation to the secretion of honey in this plant would come to this place, where a la»'ge area is annually sown, they would find more or less honey gathered from it every year. In our own lo- cality, only twelve miles distant, but a few acres of buckwheat are sown. Our bees probably find from ten to twenty acres to forage upon, and we could put the yield down as a failure, as we seldom get more than a taste of buckwheat honey, while our neighbors in Kingsbury are reveling in its produc- tion, and the hives are becoming filled from top to bottom, and we have seriously thought of carting over about fifty swarms and setting them down in the midst of these hundreds of acres of snow-white blossoms. And here is another point for those who believe bees fly a score or two of miles for honey. These fields are perhaps ten miles in an air-line from us, and we can testify that our bees do not collect honey at that range. We think five miles a good working distance. Mr. Seth Devine is the most extensive bee-keeper at present in Kingsbury, having over 100 swarms; but owing to light yields of honey and low prices, and other business on his hands, he does not give much attention to his bees. I believe at swarming time he tells his neighbors to bring on their hives if they want a present of a swarm of bees. In the pleasant village of Sandy Hill we find seve- ral bee-keepers. Mr. Horace Harris has a small but fine apiary of black bees. He is enthusiastic over his pets, but thinks he will be compelled to sell out his entire stock on account of the effects of stings upon his wife and children. The effect is of such a nature that death would result if remedies were not at hand to counteract the poison. Mr. Thomas, of the same place, has been compelled to give up keep- ing bees on this account. Having been stung upon the ear he was rendered insensible-; and but for im- mediate medical assistance would have died. Mr. Harris claims that his bees use much more water while at work upon buckwheat than at any other time during the season. The pools around his well are thronged with them. Mrs. David Hall is another bee-keeper with a growing apiary, left her by her husband, who died suddenly several months ago. She heroically takes her husband's place, and is quite skillful in their management. Mr. Ira Brayton is another patron of Gleanings. His apiary is in charge of his son, who is so unfortu- nate as to be deaf. He can not interpret the lan- guage of the bee from the contented or angry hum of its wings; but his eye is quick to discern the movements of his wicged stock, and thus their moods are understood. We wish this young man success, and not only the ability but the opportuni- ty to manage a large apiary. There are several other bee-keepers in Kings- bury whose homes we have not visited, but know that warm hearts are ready to entertain us the same as we have been by others of the fraternity. Success to the bee-keepers of Kingsbury ! Near Sandy Hill are located the grounds occupied by our county agricultural society, of which we told you in Riimble No. 1. We paid them for the privi- lege of selling honey and other bee-keeping articles, and could have done a good business if the location agreed upon had been given me. We were so dis- gusted with otir treatment that it is doubtful if we ever exhibit any thing in the bee line at a county fair again. It don't pay. J.H.Martin. Hartford, N. Y., Feb. 1, 1881. Friend M., if the managers of your county- fair sold you a location, fairly and squarely, and then gave it to another party Avho offered more, they should be "straightened up." and if you will give me their address, I will try to do it if no one else will. I am sure it is a misunderstanding. — Thanks for vour report on the buckwheat district of 'York State. REPORT FOR 1880. 17,003 LBS. OF HONEY FROM 250 COLONIES. fHAVE heretofore refrained from writing any thing for the bee papers until I got sufficiently posted so I would not have to take back any thing I might write; but after an experience of 25 years, I begin to fear I shall never learn it all, and may as well, therefore, contribute my share of ex- perience to the general fund. I commenced the spring of 1880 with 250 swarms— 80 of them black, the rest Italian and hybrid; they were divided as follows: 6 miles west I owned a half- interest in 80 black swarms; 6 miles northwest, a half-interest in 30 black swarms. These two lots were watched and hived by the parties where they were located, they owning a half-interest in them. The rest of the 250, viz., 180, were mostly Italian and hybrids, and divided into 4 lots— 40 at home, 24 two mites north, 41 three miles southwest, and 00 five miles south. The home lot was divided for swarms; the rest we ran for extracting, and depended on keeping the swarms from absconding by keeping all old queens cropped, and giving plenty of room ; and where they showed a persistent determination to swarm, we gave them two hives of comb, which gen- erally kept them, and gave a better j-icld of honey than where only one super was used. Probably our entire loss from swarms leaving would not exceed 10, which is not so bad when we consider the number, and that there was no one to regularly watch four of the lots more than to tell us which had swarmed and gone back during our ab- sence, if they happened to see them. 126 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Mar. As soon as weather would permit in spring, we commenced to spread tlie brood in the stronger, and give brood to the lighter; and from the middle of April to the middle of May they seemed to do well; but the cold and wet weather then commenced, when they went down hill instead of up; and before they could live again, we had to feed 6J0 or 700 lbs. of honey. We did not lose any swarms entirely by starvation, but I have no doubt that more feed would have paid good interest on the investment. White clover was a failure, having, like the winter wheat, mostly winter-killed. We got 2 bbla. of honey before basswood, which was largely sumac. Bass- wood bloomed heavily, and we were in hopes of a large yield from this source; but when I tell you that we had rain on 7 days of the 16 that basswood was in bloom, bee-keepers will see that it was not the most propitious for a big yield;] and yet, by hav- ing over 200 swarms ready with 'the second stories on, ready for every drop, and giving them prompt attention, we succeeded in securing 12,000 lbs. of basswood and 5000 lbs. of buckwheat and fall flowers mixed. The basswood was fair for quality; the late was very thick, and good quality for late honey. We had far too much rain for a good yield; still, for this year of failure, I am well satisfied with the result. It took a good deal of figuring, and I might add traveling, too, for the seventeen thousand pounds, having the bees in six places. If 200 to 400 stocks will do well in one place, as some contend, I traveled much more than was nec- essary. There may be places where 200 to 300 colo- nies may thrive; but my opinion is, that 100 or less will do better, and give better returns than a larger number. I have 23 swarms that I have moved twice this winter; the first time, Nov. 15th, moved them 5 miles, and put them in a neighbor's cellar; and Jan. 18th I moved them home into my cellar. If this lot does extra well, so that I am satisfied that winter moving is what they need, I will report in the spring. I will add, that my increase was 100; I therefore went into the winter with 350, 35 packed in straw and chaff, out of doors; the rest in cellars. AVe have had a very steady, cold winter, from zero all the way down tQ 38° below. Bees are wintering only moderately well. ' I have swept up about 3 pecks around 90 swarms, so far, in one cellar; I can not tell as to those outside as yet. Ithaca, Wis., Feb. 1, 1881. S. I. Freeborn. STRAY THOUGHTS FKOM ORCHARD APIARY. No. 2. FEEDING BACK EXTRACTED HONEY. ^F course, bee-keepers should endeavor by every means in their power, to increase the demand for extracted honey at a fair price; but when it falls below that, it must be worked off in some other way. Even if we run for comb honey, there will always be more or less extracted on hand at the end of the season, from unfinished combs and hives that were not strong enough to work in boxes. At the present market prices, in localities where there is but little home demand for extracted, I think it will pay the apiarist to feed it back and let the bees put it into combs. I never had very good success in feeding back until last year, when I adopted a new plan with very good success. I selected one of my strongest, heaviest hives, and took out all the brood except one frame of larvjE, nearly ready to seal, and changed them for frames of solid honey from other hives. A colony prepared in this manner will be obliged to put all the honey they get into the boxes, and will not waste anj' in unnecessary breed- ing. I then selected the best of my unfinished box- es, and tiered up according to the strength of the stock, giving all the bees a chance to work. 1 fed from a closed feeder on the outside of the hive, as fast as the bees would take it, keeping honey in the feeder night and day. As fast as the sections were filled I removed them, putting others in their place until all were finished, when I removed them and changed the combs in the hive back to the hives I took them from. I then gave the stock brood enough to make up for what they had lost while I was feeding them, so that they lost nothing by be- ing fed. Now for the result: Counting the weight of the sections before they were put back, in with the exti acted, I found that it took 155 lbs. extracted honey to make 100 lbs. of comb. As I sold my comb honey for 20c per lb., and as extracted sold slow at 9 and 10c, I think it has paid me to feed back. I advise bee-keepers who are not sure of a home market, to try feeding back by theabove method. I feel sure you will be well satisfied with the result. ' E. A. Thomas. Colerain, Franklin Co., Mass., Feb. 1, 1881. Thanks, friend T.; bnt I am sure the greater part of that 15o lbs. was put in other combs than tlie sections— in the hive some- wliere ; for in making a similar experiment, while the whole hive, feeder and all, was on scales, there was scarcely any decrease in weight while the honey was being taken from the feeders and sealed up, in the unfin- ished sections. Even after you have a hive filled with combs of sealed honey, they will manage to stow away a great deal in the different corners and crannies of the hive. CANDY FOR DYSENTERY, ETC. ALSO SOMETHING ABOUT " LONG NOSES." EN Jan. No. Gleanings you ask for reports on "candy for dysentery." I have 10 swarms out of doors, and 5 in the cellar; 2 outside are not packed, one of which (a very strong swarm of hy- brids) became uneasy at Christmas and kept up a loud buzzing until the middle of January, when they showed signs of dysentery— flying out and spotting the hive, and blocking up the entrance with dead bees. I thought of giving them candy; and when I read your advice in Gleanings I was determined to do so. After making the candy I went to the hive, shoveled away the snow, took out the chaff in the upper story, and lifted the quilt a little; but the bees were bound to come out and fly away, and so I got the smoker and loaded it with rags; but the smoke seemed to have no effect on them. Come out they would; but I put the candy in, at all events, but lost quite a small swarm of bees. After closing the hive, I cleaned the entrance again; when, hap- pening to get my nose (which is a rather long one) near the entrance, I noticed that an awful stench came out with the air from the hive. To tell you that I was astonished will not express it. I was electrified, and so excited that I trembled all over. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 127 It was an awful smell. It being a hive of your make, I lifter! it up and found about an inch of dead bees on the bottom-board, all putrid and stinking-. No wonder the poor little things wanted to get out ; and no wonder they got the dysentery. After cleaning off the bottora-board I put the hive back, and in two hours they were as quiet as ever bees were, and are 80 yet— no more signs of dysentery. I have treated those in the cellar the same way, with the same suc- cess. As I have bad a good deal of experience in making and feeding candy, I would like to tell you about candy and brood-l-eariug and moisture in the bee-hive. You have suggested taking away their combs, and giving them new. I do not think it nec- essary, as the bees will not eat poor stores if they have good candy. Now, Mr. Root, I want to thank you for teaching me to use a Simplicity hive with a loose bottom. I thank you with all my heart. W. "W. Wilson. P. S.— Do not publish this, as I have studied bees far more than grammar. W. W. W. Hartland, Waukesha Co., Wis., Feb. 4, 1881. You see, friend W., that notwithstanding your plain and explicit P. S., I have gone and flatly disobeyed you, by publishing your letter. My only excuse is, that it is not good grammar we want, so much as practical facts from real working bee-men. — I agree with you, that your bees needed to have their liives cleaned out, much more than they needed candy ; but why, let me ask you, did they get into such a state of affairs? How did an inch of dead bees come on the bottom board? It is my impression that, had they been given a chaff hive instead of" the un- Erotected Simplicity, these bees might have een alive and on the combs. By all means clean out tlie hives, whenever there are dead bees enough to make them smell badly. Do not complain of having a long nose, friend AV. It served you well then, and doubtless has done the same many a time before. You see I know, for I am somewhat so my- self. Let us continue to keep our noses pok- ing about the entrances. — m » — — BOOLITTLB'S REVIEW AlVU COMMENTS ON THE ABC BOOK. Cn^itinued from last month. EXTRACTED HONEY. DOOLITTLE'S ARTIFICIAL HONEY. Take and make a syrup of A sugar, of the consist- ency of honey; then for every 5 lbs. of this syrup, put iu 3 lbs. of clover or basswood honey, and thor- oughly mix, and there is not one in twenty but will prefer it to clear honey, and not one in ten that can detect it by the taste. RIPENING EXTRACTED HONEY. I am just one of those persons who have proven to their entire satisfaction, that there is no differ- ence between honey extracted before it is sealed and ripened in an open cask or can in a warm room, and that sealed by the bees, and ripened in the hive. EXTRACTING UNRIPE HONEY. I think your honey, when first gathered, must be very poor stuff, or else you are carrying this thing too far. We have tiered up hives, as you tell, and left till October; then u*ed in the comb, and extract- ed it by warming the combs so we could, and for the life of me I could see no difference between this and some I warmed that was taken before it was sealed. Both were so thick you could turn a saucer over, as you tell, and not have it run out, and so clear you could read through it six inches deep. Just tell your readers to extract when they will, but ripen in open cans in a waim room. dadant's honey-pails- Candied honey in Dadant's pails is selling well in all the markets we have tried, and it is by far the nicest way to put it up. Don't say tin cans are "next best," but saj, <7i6 way to keep honej' is in tin cans holding 300 lbs., in a warm dry room, with a cover made of your duck cloth. If you want to sell it in that shape, fill the Dadant pails just before it ceases to run, and set them away. HIVE-MAKING. THE 1-LB. SECTION BOX. Would it not have been well to have told your readers that Manum, of Bristol, Vt., made a section that was nicer than any thing could be that was planed, and that, too, with nothing but a saw, and that it held 15i£lbs. ? that Betsinger made prize boxes that were very nice that held ~}i lbs. glassed? that Hetheriugton, the largest bee-keeper in the world, used a box still different that Thorn & Co., and Thur- ber & Co. pronounced the best for New York market of any thing there was used? How should I know of any thing but 1-pound boxes if I did not read it else- where outside of this book? Many can not afford to buy several books, and so want to be posted by read- ing one. I have described but tlie one section, for the same reason I have described but one hive. I do not wish to confuse my reader and leave him in a broad sea of uncertainty as to what style he had best adopt. Should he choose the liiv§ I have described, and then try to use some of the other forms of sections, without experience, he would be likely to have the same troubles so many of us have gone through with in patching up and trying to make system out of chaos. Harbison produces more comb honey than any yoit have mentioned, and he uses still another box ; but I have not described it. I have once given a letter from Thurber, say- ing the 1-lb. section sold the best of any in the market; but he may have given differ- ent opinions at other times. Hundreds who had no knowledge of bee culture at all, have, by following the plain and direct teachings of the ABC, succeeded at once, rejoicing at every step ; but had I taken in all these other points (and I grant they are important), I can have no idea that such would have been the case. As it is, every implement, box, frame, and tool, fits exactly with all there is in the book. Had I described and advised the things used by others (even though they are better, mind you), such could not have been the case. H0NEY-C03IB. BEES PACKING IN THE COMB COMPACTLY. Betsinger says that the bees never pack them- selves in the cells except in cases of starvation. I am not posted, so can not say from my own ex- perience. As I have often pulled combs apart in win- ter, and found them thus, I can not quite agree with friend B. 128 GLEAKIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. Mar. IS IT THE RESULT OF AGES OF SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST? Now, really, friend Root, do you think bees build comb any differently than they did when the great Creator pronounced all his works good? That there is a difference in the qualities of bees, I know; and so I believe there was then. If God knows the be- ginning from the end, he knows just what is wanted, and so makes it good. We have no reason to believe that there has been much improvement made, as a whole, since the creation, if any thing; for wherein one point is gained, another is lost; for instance, man has perhaps a better intellect to-day than he had 3000 years ago, but he does not live a tenth part as long. So with our choice breeds of cattle, sheep, etc.; the more choice they are, the more petting it takes to keep them up, while the lean, uncouth "scalawag" will live and thrive anywhere. MAKING BEES USE LARGER CELLS. We tried to so improve the bee as to make them take cells 4!4 to the inch, but we had to give it up, and believe God knew best when he taught them that five is right. HYBRIDS. WHY DO HYBBIO QUEENS BRING ONLY M PRICE OF ITALIANS? Just because anybody and everybody can raise plenty of hybrids themselves, if they have an Italian to start with; but if they have a queen producing hybrid workers, they soon have nothing but blacks. BLACKS ARE MORE TROUBLESOME ROBBERS THAN EITHER HYBRIDS OR ITALIANS. You are just right here; and still we have those who claim the Italian is superior to the blacks, only as they rob others. I have been so annoyed by these black chaps following me around, as to get fairly nervous. I have had pure Italians that were ordinarily quiet and peaceable get so roused up as to sting worse than any hybrid ev^r thought of stinging. INTBODUCINO QUEENS. FINDING THE OLD QUEEN. I would say, draw one of the outside brood combs, for the queen is of tener found on the outside brood combs during the day than she is on the central one. THE "PEET-CAGE" plan OF INTRODUCING. I have succeeded to my entire satisfaction the past Bummer in introducing queens by making a cage as you used to, to cage queen-cells; and make it so it is 4 inches square; find a place where the bees are hatching out rapidly, and place your queen thereon, after getting all the bees off; then place your cage over the queen, and press into the comb. Of course, you must have some cells of honey inside the cage too. As the bees hatch, they become attached to the queen, and she commences to lay in the vacant cells, and in from 34 to 48 hours she will fill them all, and these young bees will protect her after you have lifted the cage off from her and them. ITALIAN BEES. IS FRESHLY IMPORTED STOCK BETTER AS HONEY- GATHERERS? Can't "swallow" that yet; and I candidly believe further importation is useless for the next five years. THE FOURTH YELLOW BAND. I have had those on which the fourth was just as Visible on the honey-scale as it usually is on the third, and that while they were on the window. LAMP NURSERIES. Are not your queens weak and feeble if hatched in the lamp nursery? Mine were so much so that, after using it two years, I laid it to one side, and have not used it since. Queens hatching over a swarm of bees in a wire-cloth cage seem to be as strong again. LETTING NEWLY HATCHED QUEENS INTO A HIVE WHEN A LAYING ONE HAS JUST BEEN TAKEN OUT. Out of 20 so let in the past season, I lost all but one, and had nearly as bad success before; so I should say, if I were writing a book, that, as a rule, all so let in would be killed. UNSEALED HONEY GETTING THICK IN THE LAMP NURSERY. A good argument in favor of my theory in ripen- ing extracted honey, and also of keeping box honey till it is so thick it will not leak from unsealed cells. We have faith enough to believe that, if you were to once store your box honey in a room that maintains a temperature of 00° for three weeks, you would never ship it as it came from the hives. MOTHERWORT AS A HONEY-PLANT. As I said at the Chicago convention, so I say now: if I were to cultivate any plant for honey, it would be Motherwort; for our bees work on it from morn- ing till night for weeks. MOVING BEES. HOW FAR DO BEES FLY FOR STORES? You know we don't agree here, as I claim they go from 3 to 0 miles from choice. My bees went 4 to 5 miles to work on teasel the past year, without any teasels within 3'/i miles on the first part of the route. This I know, as a bee working on teasel is always partly covered with a whitish dust, as they are with yellow when working on pumpkin and sqtiash. Thanks ; very likely I have put the dis- tance too small. NUCLEUS. HOW FEW BEES, WITH A QUEEN, MAY START A COLONY. We once had a colony become so reduced that, by actual count, there were 81 bees and the queen, and so they held on till warm weather, when they built up without help, and actually gave a surplus of 5 lbs. on buckwheat, in sections, and were in splendid con- dition for winter. IS THE GALLUP FRAME TOO DEEP? I don't see how you can call the Gallup frame deep, when it is only two inches deeper than the L. frame. If you had said the old American or Kidder that were 14 inches, I could have agreed. The Gal- lup frame is the best proportioned frame of any, all things considered. So think I. DOES THE BOTTOM PROJECT BELOW THE CLUSTER? No more than the ends do, for it is exactly square. A good swarm of bees in the Gallup frame will touch the bottom and top of the hive, and also each end where only 9 frames are used, but not the sides; while with the L. frame they touch the bottom and top only. Why, friend D., it seems to me our bees don't act just as yours do, but perhaps we are both a little prejudiced. ITo hz Continued.'] mt ft ^ CELIiAR \riNXERING. BY MR. GEORGE GRIMM (SON OF ADAM GRIMM ) ^fipR. EDITOR:— You wish me to state how I win- P/f| tcr my bees in cellars. Well, here is the — " ' statement. I do not claim that mine is the hcst mode, but I have been sulBcieutly successful to give mc satisfaction. It waS) with fewmodiflcatioriej 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 129 my father's plan, and mostly the result of his expe- rience. The three main requisites with me are, strong colonies, plenty of good ripe honey, and a cellar that the frost can not penetrate. As soon as the summer honey season is over, I begin to prepare my bees for winter. The fall honey crop is a thing rarely known here, and I am generally well satisfied if my bees obtain enough from buckwheat to supply them with their winter stores. If there are fields of buckwheat in the neighborhood, I extract most of the white honey from the combs, and let them fill up on buckwheat honey. If the yield is good, they will breed fast; and by the time the storeroom is filled, there will be brood in abundance. It is desirable, and in my opinion necessary, that all this brood should hatch, and the young bees fly out before they are removed to the cellar. But buckwheat does not always yield honey, and it then becomes necessary to feed early and abundantly to induce the bees to breed, and quit in time to allow all the brood to hatch before it is too cold. Nothing but the best ripe honey or white sugar syrup should ever be fed in the fall. I never put my bees in the cellar before 1 am compelled to. I am always considerably later than my neighbor bee-keepers; but I am always con- siderably later, too, in taking them out in the spring. My theory is this, and my practice has verified it, that bees can not well stand more than a certain length of confinement, and that they can stand a little cold in the fall of the year, when young and healthy, better than in the spring, when old and weak from long confinement. Of late, my bees are never taken out for a temporary fly, and I have very little trouble from spring dwindling, except in ex- ceptional years. In removing them to the cellar I have often delayed so long that I was compelled to brush the snow from the hiyes. It is not necessary to have them perfectly dry, or the cellar either, when both are properly ventilated. I have wintered with splendid success in a cellar where the water was nearly two feet high for several weeks, and all but entered the hives. Had I not anticipated it, and raised it from near the ground, the lower rows would have been drowned out. I will now describe my best cellar. It is about 'Z2 X 40, 8 feet high, dug into the side of a hill, the floor being level with the ground at the front end. The sides are well banked up, and the whole is covered with a building used for storing the supplies of the apiary. A space of about ten feet of the front is partitioned off, and is used for storing vinegar. The rear is used for wintering bees. The bottom is hard gravel; the ceiling and walls are plastered. In the center of the partition is a chimney with a ventilat- ing flue for the bee-cellar. In each of the rear cor- ners is a three-inch pipe, one reaching to the floor, the other only through the ceiling. These two tubes enter the storeroom above, while the chimney reaches the outer air. The bees are placed in rows on 2 X 4 scantling, the rear of the hive being about one inch higher than the front. They are placed one on top the other, six high. The ventilation of each hive is simple; the entrance is opened full size, and the honey-board slid forward so as to allow an opening of about 3-16 of an inch at the rear. This allows of a draft through the whole hive. I am nev- er troubled with moldy combs. If the temperature is too high, I open the door communicating with the front part of the cellar, and let in the cool air. If it is too cold, I put a stove in the front part and heat the room, then slightly open the door to the bee- cellar. Thus T aim to keep the temperature at about 43°. In the cold weather it is easy to keep them suf- ficiently warm; but in warm weather I can not al- ways keep them cool enough. I have been thinking of connecting the front room with an ice-house, as so much depends on keeping the temperature even throughout the winter. I have wintered as many as 350 colonies in this one cellar, and wintered them well. My loss has never exceeded five percent. I expect to winter successfully, cA'en this severe win- ter, although I fed very late, and my bees were not over-strong. They are at present very quiet, and show no sign of disease. The dead bees on the bot- tom are not nearly so numerous as I have seen them at this time in other years. Another thing I consid- er of importance, not alone to winter safely, but to prevent inordinate dwindling in the spring; and that is, never to let bees start breeding in the cellar, unless the season is far enough advanced to admit of taking them out of doors soon. Breeding in the spring is only then profitable when it can be carried on without interruption. By keeping the tempera- ture moderately low, breeding in the cellar will be prevented; and by keeping the bees in the cellar as long as possible, when taken out they can breed un- interruptedly. The addition of an ice-house to my cellar I believe would accomplish this. Jefferson, Wis., Feb. 8, 1881. Geo. Grimm. Perhaps some ma}'^ think this valuable ar- ticle should have been given sooner; but I presume that, with the experience we have had, we are, many of us, prepared to read it understandingly, and we can easily turn back to it when we are ready to begin mak- ing preparations for another winter's cam- paign. That so many of the old veterans who number their colonies by the hundreds, adhere to cellar wintering is a rather signiti- cant fact. ^ Hi » THE NORTH-EASTEKN BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATIOi\. f'llIS session seems to have been one of unusual interest and harmony. Some — ■ thoughtful friend has been so kind as to send me the report in the Utica Morning Herald, from which I clip as follows:— WINTKRING. Mr. Doolittle said winters vary, therefore he thought it good policy to winter in the cellir and out of doors in equal proportion. A winter favora- ble for wintering out-doors is not favorable to win- tering in the cellar, and vice versa. One winter he had 90 swarms under heavy snow, in places 11 feet deep. Out of these 90 swarms he wintered but 15. The same year he pvit 00 swarms in the ce;llar, and saved 55 of them. He had a cellar with an even tem- perature of 44 degrees. The bees do not get restless at this temperature. Last winter he had better suc- cess in wintering out-doors than in-doors, although those kept in-doors did pretty well. Mr. House said his experience was precisely like that of Mr. Doolittle in regard to wintering under the snow. Mr. Doolittle said he had kept bees In a cave, dis- tant from the outer air no less than three feet at any point. The temperature of the interior did not vary more than one degree the entire winter. The bees wintered very well. Mr. Ncllis thought bees winter nowhere better 130 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Mar. than under the snow. Bees under the snow are very dormant and consume but little. He prefers to have the snow as deep as possible; shoveled them out in the spring while the snow was dry. He fav- ored Mr. Doolittlo's plan of mixed wintering; that is, partly in-doors and partly "out-doors. Mr. Cyrenus said it makes some difference wheth- er bees are kept on the ground or a short distance from it. He believed in having just a mound of snow OA'er the hive, and not a heavy bank. With a heavy bank, the hives are apt to become damp. He has practiced keeping bees under snow, a dozen years. Mr. Nellis has kept bees under snow the same length of time, and Mr. Snow about three years. Mr. Adsit said he had wintered bees in the cellar for fifteen years, with good success; never tried wintering out-doors. The president said the best bee-keepers and wri- ters differ from him on this subject. He has win- tered bees under from one to fifteen feet of snow. He thought it important to have honey enough in the smallest number of combs. The matter of pre- paring for winter is the work of an. entire season. Bees are from a warm climate, and need an even temperature. Eriend D., I should say, has made a very good point, in advising that we settle the old and long controversy about out and in door wintering, by advising to try some both ways,— on the principle of advising mixed farming. If you fail in one, you probably will not in the other. QUESTIONS AND ANSAVERS. A few of these may be considered some- what evasive ; but as it is difficult to give positive answers to questions of such a na- ture, perhaps it was wisdom to give evasive ones. In this climate, do we have weather cold enough to freeze bees, provided they have in the hive honey to which they have access? No. Is the side-box system a success? " Yes" by two; "no" by one. Is wired foundation a success when used for a brood-chamber? " No " by two. Is it advisable to use full-sized sheets in brood- chamber? Yes. Which is preferable, a hive without bottom, or bottom fastened to hive? Bottom fastened to hive. Is comb foundation six months or a j'ear old ac- cepted by the bees as readily as that just made? No. What amount of surplus room for box honey is it advisable to give a swarm at one time? What the swarm requires. What is the best method of getting bees started in surplus boxes? Fill the boxes with comb. Would you recommend full sheets of foundation for surplus boxes? One for "full sheets;" two for " starters." Whioh is best, natural starters or foundation? Natural starters. What objection is there to a centei'-bar in the brood-chamber? Does it not make a better winter communication than making holes through the combs? No center-bar needed. What is the best quilt for wintering? Any thing porous. What is the moat convenient arrangement for side cases? "Our own" by two; "no side boxes wanted," by one. Will it pay to construct an inner part just large enough to hold combs to winter 6 Langstroth or 5 Quiuby frames, that will set into the main hive, the object being to carry just what is needed to the cel- lar, instead of the main hive; they can also be used for nucleus hives in summer? No. \yhat extractor is best for the beginner to use? A. T. Root's for honey; Swiss extractor for wax. What time of year is it best to purchase queens when you have all natives, and want to change to Italians? Any time you have the money. Is it objectionable for bees to breed in winter, say February? No breeding necessary till spring. Are bees more inclined to supersede clipped queens than queens not clipped? No. Can bee-keeping be made profitable in a locality minus basswood, with plenty of white clover, alsike, goldenrod, and buckwheat? Yes. The quality of wax and weight of foundation be- ing equal, which is preferable for use in surplus boxes, flat-bottomed or lozenge-shaped bottomed foundation? Bottoms as the bees build them. Would it be advisable to take a swarm of bees known to be short of honey, into the house in a room without tire, giving them supplies till they are quiet, and then putting them in their summer stands for the rest of the winter? Be sure all have honey in the fall. FRIEND FJLANAGAN ANB HIS VISIT TO THE FAIll. MN the first place, I must thank you for introduc- ing me to the most interesting and fascinating '^^ pursuit it has been my lot to engage in, and the more I become familiar with it, the greater hold it has upon me. I have succeeded, too, beyond my expectations. Beginning 3 years ago next March, with 3 colonies in box hives, and black bees, I had, in Nov. last, nearly 51), all Italians, and all in chaff and Simplicity hives. I have disposed of all but 25 to my neighbors, at good prices, and the remainder are in good order, in spite of the severe weather. In October last I took to our county fair a lot of chaff and Simplicity VA and 3 story hives with glass observatory hives, Italian queens, fdn. machine (Dunham), honey in boxes and extracted, extractor, smokers, etc. It was a success, I assure you. I am not much given to talking, but I had to do more of it for the 4 days the fair lasted than for the same time in my life. The officers complimented me by giving me several premiums, a diploma, and assuring me it was one of the chief attractions of the fair. The re- sult was, I sold and engaged every hive of bees I would spare. I ran only 4 hives for extracted honey, and one hive for comb. The result was 550 lbs. extracted, or over U5 lbs. per hive, and 40 lbs. in section boxes. When I stated the above to those that thronged around my exhibit, few would believe the statement, as but little honey was gathered in this section, ow- ing to the failure of white clover and the extreme drought. Mr. Chas. Dadant, son of the old gentle- man, visited our fair, and afterward spent a day with me, and seemed pleased with my apiary, and said it was very good for an A B C scholar, and after exam- ining nearly all my colonies, pronounced them very pure Italians. I ha\'e written to D. A. Jones for one of his Cyprian queens (direct importation), and have 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE GULTUKE. 131 received a letter from him urging me to try Holy- Land queens, which he pronounces superior, if any thing, to the Cyprians. If I can spare the money, I think I will try both. E. T. Flanagan. Belleville, 111., Feb. 5, 1881. Yery well done indeed, friend F.. and I am glad to hear that onr fairs are becoming more and more a means of imparting and receiving information. After one goes to the tronble and pains of taking things as you have done, it is no more than fair that he should have some recompense for his trouble. FOUL BROOD, AIVD ITS EXTEBITHNA- TION BY A l,\\V OF THE STATE. I HE following is the contents of a print- ed notice which some friend has been kind enough to send us: — state of MiehiKan. File No. 54. House of Representatives Xo. 98. Inti-oduced by Mr. Root. Recommended hv Committee on Horticulture ' Lansiner, Mich., Feb. 3, 1881. A BILL to prevent the spread of Foul Brood among bees, and to extirpate the s;inie. Skction 1. Till- jM-ople of the State of Michigan enact. That it shall be unlawlul lur any persnii to keep in his apiary any colo- ny of bees atfec-lcd witli tli>' ivnifagious malady known as foul brood; and it shall be the duty of every bee-keeper, as soon as he becomes aware of the existence of said disease among: his bees, to forthwith destioy or cause to be destroyed all colonies thus affected. Sec. 8. In any county In this State, in which foul brood ex- ists, or in which there are good reasons to believe it exists, it shall be lawful for any five or more actual bee-keepers of said county to set forth such fact, belief, or aiii)rehension, in a peti- tion addressed to the judge of probate, requiring him to ap- point a competent comraissionei' to jjrevent the spread of said disease, and to eradicate the same: which petition shall be tiled with and become a i)art of the lecords of the court where such application is made. Sec. 3. It shall be the dut.v of the judge of probate, on the re- ceipt of the petition specilied in section two, of this act, to :ip- Eoint within ten da.vs thereafter a well-known anil cuTniicteut ee-keeper of said county, as a commissioner, who shall hold his office during the pleasure of said court; and a record of such api)i>intment, and levocation, when revoked, shall be filed as a part of the records of said court. Sec. 4. It shall be the duty of said commissioner, within ten days of hiji appointment as aforesaid, to tile his acceptance of the same with the court from whom he received his appointment. Sec. 5. Upon complaint of any two bee-keepeis oi^ said county in writing and on oath, to s:ii(l connnissioner, setting forth that said disease exists, or th.it they have gnod reason to believe it exists within said county. (lc>iun,itinK the apiar.v or apiaries wherein they believe it to be. it shall become the duty of the connni.ssioner, to whom such conijilaint is delivered, to proceed without unnecessary delay to <-xaii\ine the hccs so designated; and if he shall become s:itisficd that any colnny or colonies of said bees are diseased with foul brood, he shall, without further distui'bance to said bees, fix some distinguishing mark upon each hive wherein exists said foul brood, and immediately noti- fy the jierson to whom said bees belong, personally or by leav- ing a written notice at his place of residence, if he be a resident of such county; and if such owner be a non-resident of such county, then by leaving the same with the person in charge of such bees, requiring said person, within five days. Sundays ex- cepted, from the date of said notice, to effectually remove or destroy said hives, together with their entire contents, by bury- ing them or by fire. Sec. 6. If any person neglects to destroy, or cause to be de- stroyed, said hives and their contents in manner as described in section five, after due notification, he shall be deemed trniltvof a misdemeanor, and punished by a tine not to exceed fifty dol- lars for the first offense, and for each additional olfense he shall be liable to a fine not to exceed one hundred dollars, at the dis- cretion of the court; and any ju-tice of the peace of the town- ship where said bees exist shall have jurisdiction thereof. Sec. 7. The commissioner shall be ;ill.jwed for services under this act, two dollars f 1881 GLEAKINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 139 he thought the millers were In the hive. They went to the hive and looked in, and it was all full of millers and their webs, and the swarm was all ruined. This is what ho told me. If there Is any thing in talking to bees, [ want to talk to mine before I put them out in the spring. R. H. Bailey. Ausable Forks, N. Y., Feb. 4, 1881. It is vei\v like]}' that all you say actually happened, 'friend 13.. for you might talk the same ■u-ay to a great pait of the hives of bees usually kept by farmers, and those who neg- lect them, and have it all come true. Of course, no one supposes the talking had any effect on the result, either one way or the other. The day of such superstitions has long gone by. It is the doing instead of the talking, that does the business with bees, as well as any other kind of business. PORTCLVCA AS A IIOSEY-PLAXT. I have nevir noticed anything said about portu- lacH as a honey-producer. It is a beautiful flower- ing annual, flowers opening with the rising of the sun, and bees fairly swarming on them; if they pro. duce much honey it would be profitable to raise it, as it is as easily grown as pursley, and ia this locali- ty seeds itself. Mention it to some of your enter- prising bee-keepers, and beg them to give it a trial, and report. T. L. Davidson. Early Branch, Hampton Co., S. C, Feb. 7, 1881. One fall one of our girls had a beautiful bed of portulacas in a slieltered nook by the side of the building, and after all flowers were gone, and bees too, as we supposed, we had a bed of brilliant flowers covered Avith Italian bees, just as soon as the sun reached them in the afternoon. I have tried since to have just such a bed again ; but somehow they don"t seem to thrive exactly like ''purs- ley"" under my management. asking questions on a postal, etc. In answer to my advertisement, I begin to receive postals and letters of special inquiry. Some parties ask more questions on a postal than can be replied to on another, and it costs us 3 cents, paper, and en- velopes for what, in all probability, will never be worth a cent to us. Others write a letter inclosing postal card for reply, and still others inclose 3-cent stamp for answer. W^. P. Henderson. Murfreesboro, Rutherford Co., Tenn., Feb. 7, 1881. Gently, friend 11. If your querist sends a stamp, he must use a stamped envelope to write to you ; and if he sends such queries to a great many people, it will cost him a good deal of money, while if he nses a post- al, it is but one cent for each of you. If they ask questions on a postal, or without inclos- ing a stamp, they have no right to expect more than you can write on a postal. I know that many of our friends are severely tried with us because of the brevity of our answers ; but I do not know how I can well help it, if they will not bear in mind that we can not hire clerks to write long letters, such as they would doubtless like to get. At the same time, I think that whoever advertises in any business should expect to have ques- tions asked, and should, in fact, be thankful to have them. Every business man should expect at least to make his business pay for postal cards, and I think Ave should be ve;:y careful about deciding that any sort of an inquiry, " in all probability will never be worth a cent to us."" Will it not be best for us all to take these burdens cheerfully, and to decide to err on the side of doing a little more than is really our share, raj;her than the other way? ''Do good and leikl. hoping for nothing again, and great shall be your reward."' I have tried this little text a good many times, and it always comes out right, many times to my great astonishment too. ONE SWARM FOR THE LORD. I have not lost any swarms yet, but some have got uneasy. There are about forty quarts that have come out and died They commenced that as soon ; as.the last of May. Some died on the bottom-board ; I some of them are in the cellar, and some in a dark ' room. I have got 46 altogether. Here is what I have done for four years. I bought 13 swarms the \ first ot July, 1877, and only one swarm was strong : enough to work in the boxes. Here is what I have i done since:— \ 1877, 13 swarms gave .350 lbs. 1878, 13 18.9, 19 1880, 33 AJ 1238 1810 2300 .5688 Total - Surplus combs 330 I have sold 14 swarms in that time. I should like to be Doolittle's neighbor one year, and if I didn't find out if bees could get honey when there was none in the flowers it would be funny. Oh ! I almost forgot. I have one swarm at work for home missions, and they made §3.00 worth of comb honey. Bless the Lord for that! Can't all of us bee-keepers set aside one swarm for the work this year, and the windows of heaven will be opened, and we will receive a blessing? If these is any one that doubts it, trj' it, and you will say before next fall, " Bless the Lord!" Fayette Lee. Cokato, Wright Co., Minn., Feb. 7, 1881. ARTIFICIAL COMB-HONEY. Our opinion has been asked of the follow- ing, which is going the rounds of the papers: Some unsophisticated purchasers of honey imagine that by buying honey in the comb they are sure of getting an unadulterated article. A great mistake. There is an establishment in Boston where artificial combs— not foundations merely, but combs — are made in such perfection that it would require an ex- pert to detect the fraud. Parafline, not wax, is the material used. When the combs arc made they are filled with an imitation honey made from glucose, worth three or four cents per pound, and flavored to taste. A hot iron is then passed over, the cells are sealed, and the " comb honey " is ready for sale. It is, of course, a sensational scare, with- out a word more of truth in it than the ab- surd stories about our white sugar being adulterated with glucose. Xewspaper edit- ors should know better than to publish such stuff. Almost as well might the public be told that the strawberries we find in the markets are "manufactured.'" WAX VERSUS WIRES, TO PREVENT FDN. SAGGING. Honey-producers want very much fdn. made with- out wires so it will not sag, so we can fill up a frame and not have it bulge. Last season I tried some ex- periments that satisfied me that it can be done very easily. I joined strips of fdn. V/i and 2 and 4 inches together, by lapping and pressing them together so that they would stick well, and filled frames full 140 GLEAJ^INGS IN BEE CULTURE. Mar. and put them in perpendiculai-ly and the bees drew them out without their bulging at all. I did not see but that i inches wide answered just as well as that closer. Now, to prevent sagging, I would simply make it ribbed, any where from 1 to 4 inches, and make the ribs say U wide, and so they would be about 3 times as thick as the rest, and made so the impressions will run right over the ribs. My im- pression is, that about 2 inches will be about the right distance for the ribs. You may object to the waste of wax, thus adding to the cost; but it would not cost as much as wiring the fi-ames, besides be- ing much more easily done. If ribs the size I men- tion will not answer, larger ones will. FOUB-FRAME EXTRACTORg, ETC. We want an extractor that will take 4 frames and turn them inside the extractor. The turning of frames where you are taking large quantities of honey, adds very much to the labor. Can't you give us such an extractor? As my letter is not Aery long I will add, we want, very much, a way that every one can make his own fdn. machines. I have watched with a great deal of interest the progress made the past two years in perfecting them. Los Gatos, Cal., Feb. 11, 1881. S. S. Butler. Your plan for keeping fdn. from sagging, friend B., has been given in our back vol- umes, and works all satisfactorily. The ex- pense of the wax, and the need of wired combs for 'shipping bees, are the principal objections. With one of the Foster machines you can easily put as many ribs in the fdn. as you need ; but with the newly dipped sheets, I think there will be no sagging auy way. — An extractor can be made, such as you describe, without trouble ; but it will of a ne- cessity be so lieavy and unwieldy that you would get along faster with the ordinary kind. Extractors for four frames we have made for years, but I never have heard a favorable report from one of them. RAPE AS A honey-plant; A BIG REPORT FROM IT. I would like to hear the experience of bee-keepers in regard to rape as a bee feed. My bees began to work on it about the 25th of May, and it kept in bloom for about 8 weeks. After the seed got ripe it came up early in the fall, and the bees gathered honey and pollen until the 5th of November. I put one stand of bees in it the 3d of July, and they made about 200 lbs. of honey, besides helping another weak swarm. I would recommend a trial of it, es- pecially in dry weather. A. Rater. Monroe, Iowa, Feb. 18, 1881. I am well aware, friend R., that rape is a great honey-plant ; but with us, as 1 have many times explained, the little black tlea makes a good crop almost impossible. I have seen a tew stalks of it furnish honey in abundance, when it escapes this pest, even in our locality. ro BEES ever complain when out of stores? As I was passing around my bees on thelCthof the present month, I heard quite a humming among some one of the colonies. It put me in mind of a queenless colony during the summer. When I found where the noisy colony was, I was at a loss what to do with them, as the theimometer indicated 2° below zero. I arrived at the conclusion to unpack them and ascertain the cause. I looked and foimd them running over their combs excitedly, but I failed to find any honey in their combs; I then gave them some nice basswood honey in one-pound sections. In a short time all was quiet as usual. 1 ha^e had one other colony act the same as this one did — quiet- ed as soon as I gave them honey; was it for want of stores, they did this way? They are in nice condi- tion at present. Wm. Parmerlbe. Bean Blossom, Ind.,reb. 19, 1881. I once made the remark, that if a farmer starved his pigs they would squeal, but that the poor bees had no means of making them- selves heard when suffering. The above seems, however, to indicate I was at least slightly mistaken. I can offer no explana- tion of the matter, only that a weak colony will sometimes make aloud humming, when just about to succumb to a zero temperature ; but in such a case, feeding would probably be of no avail. HOW TO TELL THE SOURCE FROM WHICH THE HONEY COMES. I shall want some honey labels next summer; but there is one thing I should like you to enlighten me on: How does a person always know from what source the honey comes? I have been long used to bees, and have noticed that they work on all, or nearly all, kinds of flowers that will give honey. For instance, I might label a section or package white clover, when it might have come from a dozen dif- ferent flowers. I want labels giving name and ad- dress of producer, and source from which it was pro- duced, provided I can be informed how to distinguish it. black-heart as a HONEY-PLANT. Last fall at the time buckwheat was in bloom, the river bottom here was covered with a wet-weather weed. I think it is called black-heart. Some call it smartweed; it grows as high as a man's head, pink flowers as long as a perse n's finger. The bees seem to work on it more than the buckwheat. I had honey stored last fall, nearly as light colored as June honey, and well flavored; seme hives had dark, I suppose from buckwheat; others, the light colored. Perhaps the light colored was from the black-heart. I think I live in a preti y good place for bees. lama quarter of a mile from a good sized stream of water, well fringed with maple, elm, and willow; besides, the bottoms are pretty well supplied with wild flowers, pariicularly in the fall. So far, it has been a pretty hard winter on bees. I have lost none yet; most of mine are chaff -packed on summer stands, 14 colonies. Four that I took from the " brimstone" last fall I looked at this week, and they are all right, rearing brood the same as my other colonies. 1 gave them sealed frames from my strong colonies. I use the 10-frame Langstroth hive. I take out the side frames of honey in the fall, and crowd the bees on just what frames they will cover nicely, from 5 to 7; put in chaff division-boards 2 inches thick, cushion on top, quilt of duck underneath ; have wintered last winter, and so far this, with good results; think this will be a good test if 1 come through without loss. Wm. H. Graves. Duncm, Stark Co., 111., Feb. 11, 1881. You can not tell ])ositively the source of all your honey ; but it is a pretty easy matter to label clover and basswood correctly, both by the well-known flavor of each, and by the time of the year in which it is stored. Buck- wheat we know by the color and taste both ; and in the case you mention, I think you 1881 GLEANIJ^GS lis BEE CULTtTRE. 141 would be very safe in labeling yonr white fall honey black-heart, and the other buck- wheat. The instance you cite shows plainly that bees seem rather'to prefer to work on one kind of blossoms at a time. I too have seen one hive storing dark buckwheat honey, while the one next to it stored white honey from red clover. You will find the black- heart mentioned in our price -list of seeds of honey-plants. A GOOD REPORT FROM BUCKWHEAT. Bees did very well here last summer, through white clover, and went into winter-quarters in very good condition, owing to a good flow of honej' from buckwheat and golicnrod. I think we can thank our neighbors for sowing large fielJs of buckwheat, for hives were very light before this latter yield came. The winter has been very severe and steady, and bees have not had a good fly for about two months, until within a few days, when it has been warmer, and they have had a chance to get out and limber up a little. DO BEES FREEZE? Quite a good many swarms have frozen to death this winter. 1 know that some believe that bees do not freeze; but it seems to be the case here, for I have seen them dead, frozen to death, fast to the sealed honey. I commenced the winter with six swarms, and have lost only one yet. The rest seem in good condition. They are in the 8-framo story and half Gallup hive; there are no chatT hives used around here. I packed mine in oat straw, leaving the front open. As I am only a beginner in the bee business, I did not have very good success List year. I increased from 2 swarms to 6 by buying 2, and took only about 85 lbs. of comb honey. PAPER AKD WOOD SEPARATORS. Why will not common pasteboard do for separa- tors as well as any thing in the paper line? or would they warp out of shapo by getting damp in the hive? I used wood separators last year, but the way the bees plastered the propolis on to them was a caution to wood separators, and I shall have some tall scraping to do to clean them for use this season. J. C. Hitchcock. Hoag's Corners, Hens. Co., N. T., Feb. IT, 1881. I do not think a good strong colony of bees, properly protected in old tough combs, will eyer freeze, though the weather be as low as 40' below zero.— You have given the objections to paper separators; but besides that, bees will often set to work and gnaw pasteboard, spoiling the separators, besides wasting their time. Xothing seems to an- swer in place of tin, especially in regard to the propolis accumulations. The bees evi- dently seem to tliink the tin is as smooth as they can make it by varnishing, and so let it alone. RAPE for bees. Having four acres of fall wheat I hurried it off, and there being lots of rain I plowed and sowed about 3 lbs. per acre, broadcast, at two different times, a week apart. It came up in a hurry, and in about forty days be.jame a perfect sea of yellow bloom; and if Novice had only seen the beautiful Italians going for that rape patch he would have smiled— yes, he would. But although they worked hard and gathered lots of pollen yet they did not in- crease their stores of honey much; yet I have no doubt but it helped them a great deal toward mak- ing a living, and kept them out of mischief, and did a great deal toward helping them to increase from 8 colonies in the spring to 22 in the fall; and at this time, Feb. 16, they look as if they would live to hum next summer; and taken all together, I am well pleased with it; besides, it kept ihe Canada thistles in subjection. H. Smith. New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada. FRIEND B.'S DILEMMA. In your price list you say, "Don't get in debt." Now, that advice came too late, as I am in debt, and I wish you would give me some advice that will get me out, this very year. This is what I want to know: I want 50 hives this year, and I have not one dollar to buy them with, and have to wait until some honey is sold this year, and then it will be too late in the season for them. Is there any way that I can keep them from leaving, as I have nothing for a house for them? Charles R. Ballow. Half Moon Bay, Cal , Feb. 2, 1881. All right, friend B. Stop using tobacco, as you have promised to do on page 144 ; stop every thing else that is useless, and hoard up the pennies like a miser. Stop doing every thing that you know is wrong, or even use- less. Tell God you are going to be obedient to him in every thing, just as faithfully as you know how, and that you are going to depend on him for help, right straight through. Work every minute ; work like a tiger ; don't stop to fuss or waste your time, for any thing or anybody. Go to meeting and Sunday-school on Sunday, and work as hard for the Lord as you do for yourself on week days. If there are no churches or Sun- day-schools near you, start one or both. If you can do no more, get a few of your friends around you, and read the Bible to them, and other good books. I will furnish the books if you will undertake it, ZSTow for the bees : You must try to buy or make frames enough, of some cheap kind, to have your combs all built in frames. Well, as it never rains in California in the summer, you can hang these frames on sticks supported by stakes driven in the ground, and cover the whole with some kind of cheap cloth. Make the cover like a sort of bag, and bank dirt or sawdust over the lower edges, to keep rob- bers away, and I think you will get along very well until you sell honey enough to buy some hives, and then all you have to do is to hang your frames in the hives, before win- ter comes. I have used hives with nothing but the ground for a bottom-board, and they did very well during the summer. I have also used only a cloth cover over the frames, in the house apiary. N'ow, mind, you are not to let a swarm go off, and you are to re- port regularly every month, until the end of the season. You see, friend B., if you come out all right, there are hundreds of others who are ready to follow; and. therefore, you must not fail. Xow look out how you spend your Sundays. 142 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Mar. ^u^enik §^nariigm^' AM a little girl 11 years old. My uncle takes Gleanings, and I like to read it. I would not know how to do without it. My uncle has 20 colonies of bees; they are almost all black ones; the remainder are Italians. He keeps his bees in the^ cellar, 19 of them, and one in a chaff hive. My uncle's name is D. M. Welch. I have a swarm; it is in a patent hive, and I would like to have it in a 114 story hive. Could you tell me how to do it? I go to two Sunday-schools. I like to read the library books. I would like to get a letter from Blue Eyes. I like bees, but I like honey better still; I like buck- wheat honey better than clover honey, but our bees made boneset honey last summer. It was so bitter that we could not eat it. I used to think that honey was always sweet; but that was bitter. Did you ever taste any like that? Aunt Mardie has six col- onies. She buries hers up in the snow-drift, and digs them out when it thaws. She has kept them that way for 3 years, and they are always all right when spring comes. I like the cartoons, and uncle Dan likes Our H«mes. Jennie SCHERMEiinoRN. Curwinsville, Pa., Fob. 14, 1881. Many thanks, Jennie. I have just told "Stella "to send yon a nice book for yonr letter. I think I will tell her to send yon " Silver Keys," for I have just read it, and I like it ever so much. See if yon do not feel sorry for poor Mrs. Sands, when she was trying so hard to do right, when everybody accused her of stealing the funny gold piece. I have seen some honey that was bitter a lit- tle, but I guess it was not as bad as that you had. Give my best wishes to aunt Mardie and imcle Dan. How do you like the car- toon this month? Tell uncle Dan that I said he must put your bees into a better hive for you. I think the reason of bees making dark honey is the neglect of the bee-keeper. He just lets the hive go, and does not look into it, so that the hive gets dirty inside; and when the bees gather honey and fill the little holes in the comb, the comb and honey get dirty too; so this is what I think makes dark honey. I am eleven years old. Mabel L. Nelson. Wyandotte, Kansas, Feb. 8, 1881. I fear, friend Mabel, you hardly give the bees credit enough; they are usually the most scrupulously neat in their house-keep- ing, and even if their combs are old and dark, they have them scrubbed and scraped so that they would hardly make the honey dark, if I am correct. Get your pai)a to let you see them some time, when they are " cleaning honse." I am glad, however, yon are studying in regard to'these tilings, and so we send you a book too. As papa has not sent in his reports of his bees, I thought I would write and tell vou about them. He has 19 in the cellar, and one chaff hive. I have i of my own. They are in good order. I am 11 years old. I love to go to Sunday-school. I go every Sun- day. My mother is superintendent of our school. My papa is D. M. Welch. He has taken Gleanings 6 or 8 years. He thinks he couldn't do without it. Mother thinks the Home Papers are splendid. I like the cartoons, for I have to laugh when I see any one running from bees. They don't sting me. Charlie Welch. Curwinsville, Clearfield Co., Pa., Feb. 19, 1881. Why, that is a tip-top letter, Charlie. Give my best respects to your father and mother, and thank them for their good opin- ions. With such a father and mother, I can not really see how yon can help growing up a good boy. We send yon a book for your letter too; tell us how yon like it when you write again. I suppose Jennie is your cousin. My bees are gone where the woodbine twineth, but you must not put me in with the Blasted Kopers. Papa's bees are all dead; they all died with the cholera. When it got warm enongh to open them we found them dead and all daubed over with their filth, with plenty of honey in the hives. I have not given up yet. I will keep bees and will try until I learn to keep them safely. Papa has sent to the South for some bees. There are only a few bees left in this county. W^heu we make candy for our bees we spread a paper in the dish and pour the candy in on the paper. It comes out nice, and the paper sticks to the candy, and we put it in the hives with the paper up, and press the covers down tight. Try this and see if you do not like it. Our bees were out. what were alive, January 30th. They had a good fly. It has been raining three days and nights. The rivers are getting high. Papa sends you money for Gleanings; we can not do without it. I like to read all the papers. We take four of (hem. Freddie L. Craycraft. Salem, Wash. Co., Ind., Feb. 9, 1881. Yery good, Ereddie. I am glad yon do not want to be among the ]ilasted Ilopers, and I am glad, too, that you like to read the papers. Tell us how you like the book we send you this time. /i?%UR bees, 90 swarms, all right thus far, on their ||J9) summer stands, with ehtff cushions in the — cap. W& protected them by banking up ori three sides (leaving the front open), with straw and coarse litter from the horse stable. For the past two months we have had plenty of snow, so the brood-chamber has been protected from the severe cold. Bees had a purifying flight on the 9th of Feb. White clover all right under the snow. Mrs. L. Harrison. Peoria, 111., Feb. 13, 1S81. Well done, w^ell done, Mrs. II. I am sure I shall never say again that women can not keep bees. Why, we have had such a dismal string of reports from Blasted Ilopers for the past few Aveeks that I had thought seriously of advertising for the names of a few, if there were any .such, who had not lost all their bees. Vou see, I wanted to have these few names to hold the A 35 C class up, ior fear they would all get demoralized and put off in one vast stampede. Ninety colonies, and all, all right, out west on the prairies on their summer stands, and only a woman — beg pardon, my friend ; you know I was just saying what others say, in that conclud- 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 143 ing remark. Now, there is one more bit of comfort in your report. You saved your bees (like a sensible woman) by protecting them with litter from the horse stables ; and that old experiment of mine, where I bought 40 loads, was not faulty in theory, bnt simply in practice ; I had not yet got the hang of it. $d^§ and §nwi%i. COTTON SEED FUR WINTER PACKING, ETC. f|HE{lmisinbloom. Queens are laying- nicely. Lost one colony during' winter. Those packed ■ — ' in cotton seed ai-e all iu the best condition. Hurrah for cotton seed I it is the thing for bive pack- ing; it will not mold if it gets a little damp. The busy season is upon us. Oats are being- put in the ground in a hurrj'. Corn-planting will commence in ten days. B. F. Carroll. Dresden, Navarro Co., Texas, Feb. 5, 1881. Bees In cellar all quiet and right thus far. Coleraln, Mass., Feb. 7, '81. Wm. W. Gary. WHICH IS THE BEST SMOKER? I have used the Quinby, the Bingham, and your smokers; and for all purposes I like the large-size new Quinby smoker best. J. G. Martin. Reidenbach's Store, T.an. Co., Pa., Feb. 7, 1881. In reply to Mr. E. Cadwell about smokers, T will say I have tried hot-blast smokers, but they send down sparks, and are liable to set the hive on fire, and are so hot that you can not bare your hand in the smoke. I used one, and I did not lilje it; so I sent for a Simplicity tmoker, and there is none made to beat it. First, it does not blow hot smoke; sec- ond, it gives more smoke than any other smoker; in fact, it is the best smoker in the market. West Woodstock, Ct., Feb., 1881. A. S. Myers. We are losing our bees in this section, with what seems to be dysentei-y. I am feeding mine candy. They seem better. Hope to save some of them. D. B. BuziCK. AsLland, Saunders Co., Neb., Jan. 31, 1881. DIPPING foundation. I think I have got up a dipping machine that is a success. I sent and got a Faris machine, but mine beats it. I have us?d mine two years, but have im- proved on it. Geo. W. Penn. Colfax, Iowa, Jan. 24, 1881. CELLAR WINTERING. My bees, 100 swarms, seem to be doing well in the cellar, and with our steady cold weather I can't see how they would be better off out of doors in chaff. Winter set in about Nov. Uth, and no days since, warm enough for bees to fly. L. Beckwith. Berlin, Green Lake Co , Wis., Feb. 4, 1881. CALIFORNIA. Bees have been working briskly on willow ever since Christmas. I have had some seven-top turnip in bloom since New Year's; will send you some blooms. If some of you had the pollen that my Ital- ians have gathered, and could spare, you would not think of flour as feed. John S. King. San Jose, Santa Clara Co., Cal., Jan. 28, 1881. WILD CUCDxMBER, ETC. Last year was n':»t a good year with us; but by mo- ving part of mine out they did very well. I in- creased from 81 to 16.5 colonies, and sold $85 worth of honey. We have a honey-plant here I never heard you mention. We call it wild cucumber; it grows abundantly on the bottom, and bees gather from it extensively. It will do well on any soil. Peru, 111., Feb. 7, 1881. H. S. Hackman. FRIEND MUTH AND HIS VICINITY. Examined 20 of my colonies, and found them in first-class condition. One of them was rather weak, but will pull through. Some had brood in all stages. Weather would not permit me to finish my examin- ation. From the reports I hear, I have reason to be- lieve that 75 per cent of all the bees in Ohio and Ind- iana are winter-killed. Chas. F. Muth. Cincinnati, O., Feb. 11, 1881. not in blasted hopes after all. Notwithstanding you pushed me into Blasted Hopes last summer without my permission, we still survive, having about finished selling the heaviest crop of fall honey we ever had gathered, and pros- pects for the future are at present encouraging, provided our pets get through this extremely cold winter in good shape. Chas. H. Rue. Manalapan, Mon. Co., N. J., Jan. 18, 188L ROBBING, HOW TO STOP. Simply fold a wet rag, and regulate the entrance according to the extent of the robbing. Peru, 111., Feb. 9, 1881. fl. s. Hackman. [Thanks, friend H. ; but 1 believe the above has been substantially given in our back No's. A wet cloth, or wet grass, seems to have the effect of at least dieeouraging and repelling robbers, when placed near the entrance.] GOOD NEWS PROM MR. LANGSTROTH. Deir Brother Root .-—It has pleased the kind Father to restore me to health; and, excepting the increas- ing infirmities of age (I was 70 last Christmas), I am in most respects as well as I have been for many- years. L. L. Lanqstkoth. Oxford, O., Feb. 13, 1881. [Knowing how deeply you all are interested in any word from our friend and benefactor Mr. L., I take the liberty of giving the above brief note.] THE FOUL-BROOD QUESTION IN MICHIGAN. Several bee-keepers iu this vicinity are consider- ing the feasibility of holding a convention in De- troit this spring. The question of foul brood is de- manding attention, and the elEciency of the law about to be passed in our State in regard to it de- pends on the activity of bee-keepers. Will those who favor the enterprise please send me their names? A. B. Weed. 75 Bagg St., Detroit, Mich., Feb. 18, 1881. How are bees wintering? Mine are wintering very poorly. I have over 40 swarms in cellar. Bees have not had a day they could fly since Nov. 6. William Vanauken. Wocdville, Jeff. Co., N. Y., Jan. 21, 1881. [Ours, at this date (Feb. 8ih), are in pretty fair condition, except the ones in the house apiary. Of those out of doors, we have lost about 5 per cent, and the worst part of it is, this 5 per cent includes two Holy-Land queens and one Cyprian. One of the Holy Land queens had what we called the best col- ony of bees in the apiary, and the best supplied with stores. They seemed to have dysentery, for their well-filled combs were pretty badly daubed,] 144 GLEANINGS m BEE CULTURE. Mar. viallon's candy for queen-cages without wa- ter. The last queen bee you sent me came in splendid order. The cag-e had no bottle of water in it, as you well remember. You sent me three, and thej' got all wet with the water in the cage, and one of them died. The one you sent instead came in good order, and started laying in a few days, and had a nice bit of young brood in the hive. Jas. Anderson. Caledon, Ont., Can., Jan. 20, 1881. HONEY FOR SORE EYfS. A neighbor of mine had inflammation in his eyes. He tried many things of many physicians; "was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse," until he was almost entirely blind.- His family was sick, and I presented him with a pail of honey. What they did not eat he put in his eyes, a drop or two in each ej-e, two or three times a day. In three months' time he was able to read coarse print, and now, after four months' use, his eyes are almost as good as ever. I have also found honey very good for com- mon cold-sore eyes. S. C. Perry. Portland, Ionia Co., Mich., Feb. 18, 1881. THIRTY-SIX SWARMS FROM ONE IN EIGHT MONTHS. I had 1 swarm last spring; I now have 5, and have extracted 50 lbs. of honey. I had, however, some extra comb to help me. But this is nothing. Two years ago, Mr. Archer, of Santa Barbara, made 36 swarms from 1 in 8 months, besides extracting about (I forget the exact figures) 1500 lbs. of honey. I am acquainted with Mr. Archer, and do not doubt the statement. But it is not all rosy in California. Some seasons we come out with half the number of bees we start in with, and no honey at all. Again, in good seasons the price is so low there is no profit. Santa Barbara, Cal., Feb. 9, 1881. S. P. Snow. CHINESE TEA-PLANT AS A HONEY- PLANT. If bee-keepers will get the report of the Depart- ment of Agriculture for the year 1877, they will find that the " Chinese tea-plant " is spoken of as a valua- ble honey-plant. Can not they do a good thing for themselves and the country too by disseminating it throughout the land? The plant is nearly as hardy as the peach-tree; can be propagated by cuttings, and is easily cultivated. There are a good many trees in the Southern States, and cuttings ought not to be difiicult to get. William Haravood. Newberg, Cass Co., Mich., Feb. 12, liSl. [If the tea-plant can be grown as easily as you say, friend H., it will be a matter of great surprise to us, as we have not beard of any experiments with it be- yond the State cf California. Can any one tell us about this matter, and also about the honey-produc- ing properties of the tea-plant?] TOBACCO COliUMN. HOW IT STARTED. fSEE by Feb. No. of Gleanings that a few care- less words of mine [see p. 493, Oct. No.] are like- ly to cost you quite a number of smokers. I am not able to give away smokers, but would like, through Gleanings, to give all who are trying to quit the use of tobacco, a word of ad%nce and a word of comfort; and perhaps the best way is to give a little of my own experience. My mother used to tell me that I was taught to smoke when about two years old, and that my father taught me. I can not remember the time when I did not like to smoke, better than to eat. I am now 46 years old, and, as nearly as I can estimate, smoking has cost me about eighteen hundred dollars, and I think no man ever had the smoking habit more firmly fixed than I did. Three years ago I began to think of the awful waste of time and money that I was guilty of, and to want to reform in this respect, as I had long be- fore done with regard to drink; but all my friends (those who were woi-kiug side by side with me in the cause of temperance) told me that it was no use for me to try to break myself of this awful hubit. Fi- nally I began to look upon the use of tobncco, n it as a habit, but as an awful sin in the sight of God. With these thoughts in my mind I went to bed one night, but not to sleep. 1 lay awake and thought of my condition until about two o'clock in the morn- ing, when all at once these woids came into my mind: " Take it to the Lord in prayer." I got out of bed and got down on my knees, and there in the darkness, and with none but God to hear, I asked for strength to overcome the awful habit of smok- ing, to which for forty yenrs I had been a slave. I thus wrestled with God for about two hours, when I arose from my knees, conscious that 1 had gained the greatest victory of my life. The next day I worked all day in the shnp by the side of a man who smoked all the time, but with no desire on my part to smoke at all. This letter is now too Ijng. At some future time I will tell of the many, who, under God, hive quit tobacco through my intluenco, and I want you all to remember that one who knows the power of prayer prays every night for all who are trying to leave off the awful habit of smoking. Henry M. Smith. Frankfort, Mich., Feb. 10, 1881. Do not, I i)ray you, friend S., call the words careless, for 1 am sure it was God who prompted you to write them. Do you not see the good that is coming from it? Never fear about the cost of the smokers ; God will take care of that too. Having seen your offer to tobacco chewers in Gleanings, I accept the .)ffer of a smoker. Send me one of Bingham's o: Id-blast, large size, and away goes tobacco-b'^x and all. Our bees are ap- parently doing well. We have 10 colonies. We have had quite a thaw. Bees flew very lively. W. R. Trussel. Cclby, Montcalm Co., Mich., Feb 10, 1881. Now I will take that smoker, you bet. As I have to smoke fifty cents' worth of tobacco in one day, you can have some idea how nice I must feel at night, as I never could get used to getting along without it. But I will take that smoker all the same, as you say you will make every tobacco user a pres- ent of one of your best smokers, he to have his choice, if he will agree to give up tobacco. If I don't use tobacco, I don't know what you would call it; but I can use corn-cobs in your Simplicity cold-blast smoker, and if I use tobacco again for the love of the weed, you may shoot me. Chas. R. Ballow. Half Moon Bay, Cal., Feb. 2, 1881. It occurs to me, friend B., that tobacco must be very high in California, or else you have been using a great deal. I commend your good resolves, and your energy ; but, iny friend, you will have a terribly hard pull unless you trust God to help you in the mat- ter. Remember that we are praying for you , and that you can hardly expect God to help you to get out of debt while you waste money on tobacco. [See page 141.] 1881 GLEAi^mGS IN BEE CULTURE. 145 gjtr f CTP^. And we declare unto you irlad tidings.— Acts 13:32. fllAVE for many days looked forward to the time, dear friends, when I should — ' come before you, as I do now this morn- ing, and it is because I have something to tell you. Please think over, if you will, each one of you, and lix your minds on what would, in your opinion, make you happiest, just now. What would be the gladdest ti- dings that you can think of? As in my mind's eye I scan you in your different homes, 1 fall to wondering Avhat are the great wants of the little army of those who read these Home Papers monthly. Some of you. doubtless, would be made "happiest by having something to do ; others, by having better pay for their labor; still others, by having a little less to do ; some of you, by receiving the money for the work you have done ; still others, and many, doubtless, by having good health, and the ability to earn honest, fair day's wages. Many of you are doubtless in pain, and I fear, too, that not a few are suffering mental agony for sins that are past, or from sins that hold you in bond- age. Besides all these, there are a great many, I am sure, who are discontented with- out any apparent reason. Is life unsatisfac- tory? I once heard a man say that, in his opinion, life costs all it is wortla, and a little more. Will it be saying too much if I de- clare I have glad tidings for you allV Yes, all ; all I have mentioned, and to every one else who is in sorrow, or suffering from any cause whatever, or who. has wants and needs that conduce to make them unhappy. Have I put it too stronglyV Come unto me, all yc that Liboi- and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke i> easy, and my burden is lig-ht.— Matt. 11:28— 30. There is certainly no trouble with the promise in the little text ; the only trouble is, that we will not accept that yoke. Is it a yokeV Yes. it is, but not a' hundredth part as grievous a one as the yokes I have pictured above ; in fact, when you once get it adjusted, it is truly easy, and the burden is light. jS^ay, more ; it is a real, positive pleasure to bear it; and methinks I have heard of people who shouted for joy, or at least felt like doing so, because of the privi- lege of bearing this burden. I wonder if I can not make it plain. Y'ou have a little one at home in its crib. It has been out during these spring days, and, forgetting the cool March air (and mamma's injunction) during the bright new sunshine has thrown off its wrappings and caught cold. As you come home at night, the poor helpless little one is moaning with the ear-ache. It has transgressed, and is now suffering the consequences. Y'ou bend over and kiss the little soft tear-stained cheek; remedies are applied, but to no avail. Y'ou, its father and. mother, are pow- erless, at least for the time. ^Vhile your hearts are wrung with anguish at the suffer-. ing of the poor little helpless one, has the thought never occurred to you, — in fact, have you never said to the poor little suf- ferer, "Papa would gladly, oh so gladly! bear the pain for you, my precious, if he could"? AVell, suppose this were possible, and that you could take it all yourself, and see the little one's smile for joy at being re- lieved from pain. Would you grumble at the pain when it came? To be sure, not. Y^ou would, right in the midst of its severest twinges, say, "Tliank God ! thank God! my darling is spared;" and I am not sure but that a peace and joy would shine from your face, even though the intense pain brought tears to your eyes. Now, please just liold on to one point I have made clear to you. It is this: there is a possibility of being happy and thankful, yes, even joyous, amid severe bodily pain. There may be fathers (but I am sure none whose eyes are on these pages)- who would refuse to accept the pain, preferring to let the little one bear it. I have no glad tidings for such a one, or at least none so long as they hold to that at- titude. They decline the yoke that Christ has spoken of. Well, if all the trials in life were as plain and simple as the above little incident ; if, in fact, you could see and imderstiind just how all you are called upon to bear were for your own good, or for some loved one's good, there would be, at least so it seems to us, little trouble in saying, right along through all the trials and wants I have spoken of, ''Not my will, but thine, be done." But be- fore I enlarge on this point of submission, as it is my purpose to do, I wish you to clearly distinguish between submission in a hopeful way, and submission in a discouraged way. If you are out of work, you are by no manner of means to suppose it is God's will you should be a burden on your friends and so- ciety, and so sit down and give up ; but you are to submit to the greater trial, perhaps, of going out through the storm, buffeting the elements, and possibly unkind words too, from those to whom you apply, because, without question, it is God's will that you should submit to this, as the first and most apparent duty. With it should also be a willingness to accept of whatever position will enable you to turn an honest penny, even though the wages be but small, accept- ing whatever your fellow-men may be in- clined to offer, as an evidence that it is God's will that you should, at least for the present, have no better place or better wages. Ask him to open your eyes and brighten your in- tellect, then plunge fearlessly into the duties of life and living. Accept the situation of affairs as it is, but resolve within yourself that, by his help, you will make yourself of such value that you will be sought for in- stead of having to seek places all your life. Now keeping this in view, I wish to quote from the little book, " The Christian's Se- cret of a Happy Life," that I mentioned last month. I have selected a passage to bring out Avhat it is to trust in God ; but, mind you, during all this trust you are supposed to be working hard with both mind and body, day by day, and to be in no sort of sense, dead or idle. I quote from p. 16 :— 146 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Mar. Suppose I were to be describing to a person who was entirely ignorant of the subject, the way in which a lump of ciay is made into a beautiful ves- sel. I tell him first the part of the clay in the mat- ter, and all I can say about this is, that the clay is put into the potter's hands, and then it lies passive there, submitting itself to all the turnings and over- turnings of the potter's hands upon it. There is really nothing else to be said about the clay's part. But could my hearer argue from this that nothing else is done, because I say that this is all the clay can do? If he is an intelligent hearer he will not dream of doing so, but will say, "I understand. This is what the clay must do; but what must the potter do? " "Ah," I answer, "now we come to the impor- tant part. The potter takes the clay thus abandoned to his working, and begins to mold and fashion it ac- cording to his own will. He kneads and works it; he tears it apart and presses it together again; he wets it and then suffers it to dry. Sometimes he works at it for hours together; sometimes he lays it aside for days, and does not touch it. And then, when by all these processes he has made it perfectly pliable in his hands, he proceeds to make it up into the vessel he has purposed. He tiu-ns it upon the wheel, planes it and smoothes it, and dries it in the sun, bakes it in the oven, and finally turns it out of his workshop a vessel to his honor and fit for his use." Once more, p. 31:— Most Christians are like a man who was toiling along the road, bending under a heavy burden, when a wagon overtook him, and the driver kindly of- fered to help him on his journey. He joyfully ac- cepted the offer, but when seated continued to bend beneath his burden, which he still kept on his shoul- ders. "Why do you not lay down your burden?" asked the kind-hearted driver. "Oh!" replied the man, " I feel that it is almost too much to ask you to ■ carry me, and I could not think of letting you carry my burden too." And so Christians who have given themselves into the care and keeping of the Lord Jesus, still continue to bend beneath the weight of their burden, and often go weary and heavy-laden throughout the whole length of their journey. When I speak of burdens, I mean everything that troubles us, whether spiritual or temporal. I mean first of all ourselves. The greatest burden we have to carry iu life is self. The most difiicult thing we have to manage is self. Our own daily liv- ing, our frames and feelings, and our especial weak- nesses and temptations, and our peculiar tempera- ments,—our inward afEairs of every kind— these are the things that perplex and worry us more than any thing else, and that bring us oftenest into bondage and darkness. In laying off your burdens, therefore, the first one you must get rid of is yourself. You must hand yourself and all your inward experience, your temptations, your temperament, your frames, and feelings, all into the care and keeping of your God, and leave them there. He made j'ou, and therefore he understands you, and knows how to manage you, and you must trust him to do it. Say to him, "Hero, Lord, I abandon myself to thee. I have tried in every way I could think of to manage myself, and to make myself what I know I ought to be, but have always failed. Now I give it up to thee. Do thou take entire possession of me. Work in me all the good pleasure of thy will. Mold and fashion me into such a vessel as seemeth good to thee. I leave myself in thy hands, and I believe thou wilt, according to thy promise, make me into a vessel unto thine honor, ' sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work.' " And here you must rest, trusting yourself thus to him continually and absolutely. And again, p. -So: — Do you recollect the delicious sense of rest with which you have sometimes gone to bed at night, alt- er a day of great c.xeition and weariness? How de- lightful was the sensaticn of relaxing every n.uscle, and letting your body go in a perfect abandonment of ease and comfort! The strain of the day had ceased for a few hours at least, and the work of the day had been laid off. You no longer had to hold up an aching head or a wearj' back. You trusted your- self to the bed in an absolute confidence, and it held you up, without effort or strain, or even thought on your part. You rested ! But suppose you had doubted the strength or the stability of your bed, and had expected each moment to find it giving way beneath you and landing you on the floor; could you have rested then? Would not every muscle have been strained in a fruitless effort to hold yourself up; and would not the weariness have been greater than not to have gone to bed at all? And still again, p. 37: — Who is the best cared for in every houscholJ? Is it not the little children? And docs not the least of all, the helpless little baby, receive the largest share? As a late writer has said, the baby " toils not, neither does he spin; and yet he is fed and clothed and loved and rejoiced in," and none so much as he. This life of faith, then, about which I am writing, consists in just this: being a child in the Father's house. And when this is said, enough ii said to transform every weary, burdened life into one of blessedness and rest. Let the ways of childish confidence and freedom and care which so please you and win your hearts in j-our own little ones, tern h you what phould be your ways with God; and leasing yourselves in his hands, learn to be literally cari ul for nothing, and you shall find it to be a fact that "the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep (as in a garrison) your hearts through Christ Jesus." " Trust in thi' Lord anrl do good; so shall thou dwell in tho land, and verily tlion shalt be fed. ' ' Di'lijjlit thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him, and he shall lirintr it tii i>ass: " And he shall brinff forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy .iudgnient as the noon-day. '■ Rest in the Lord, and wait patientl.y for him. " And the work of righteousness shall.be peace; and the ef- fect of righteousness, qitietness and assurance for ever. ' ' And my people shall dwell in a jjeaeeable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places. * ' Now a few words about how we shall start in this happy Christian life. I will quote again, p. 4.: — A great many Christians actually seem to think that all their Father in heaven wants is a chance to make them miserable, and to take all their bless- ings; and they imagine, pnor souls! that if they hold on to things in their own will Ihey can hinder him from doing this. I am ashamed to write the words, and yet we must face a fact which is making wretch- ed hundreds of lives. A Christian lady who had this feeling was once ex- pressing to a friend how impossible she fotmd it to S9y, "Thy will bo done," and how afraid she should be to do it. She was the mother of one only little boy, who was the heir to a great fortune, and the idol of her heart. After she had stated her diflScul- 1881 GLEAKINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 147 ties fullj% her friend said, "Suppose your little Charley should come running to you to-morrow and say, 'Mother, I have made up my mind to let you have your own way with me from this time for- ward. I am always going to obey you, and I want you to do just whatever you think best with me. I know you love me, and I am going to trust myself to your love.' How would you feel toward him? Would you say to yourself, ' Ah, now I shall have a chance to make Charley miserable; I will take away all his pleasures, and fill his life with every hard and disagree:>ble thing I can find; I will compel him to do just the things that are the most dilHcult for him to do, end will give him all sorts of impossible commands'?" " Oh, no, no, no I " exclaimed the in- dignant mother; "you know I would not. You know I would hug him to my heart, and cover him with kisses, and would hasten to fill his life with all that was sweetest and best." "And are you more tender and loving than God?" asked her friend. " Ah, no," was the reply ; " I Fee my mistake, and I will not be any more afraid of saying, ' Thy will be done,' to my heavenly Father, than I would want my Charley to be of saying it to me." Of course, I have skipped a great deal that I would have been glad to give, had it not been for want of space; but I am almost sure after giving you thus much, that you have the same feeling with myself, that this kind writer, whom 1 know only as "II. VV. S.," would go still further and tell us all ex- actly what to do — even the very words we should utter in giving ourselves fully up to the kind care and guidance of the great Ea- ther who made us in such infinite love. I had been praying for many weeks for more light on this very matter, and for veiy" plain directions as to what was my duty, that I might grow and rise above some of the sore temptations that I am sure mar my Christ- ian work and my Christian usefulness. Chief among them is my great temptation to uncharitableness, as I have often spoken of before. Well, this book seemed so perfectly to cover the whole subject that I felt truly God had sent it, and that he had raised up this kind woman to lead a multitude of sin- ners, who were stumbling with the cares of this world. Well, in view of this you can probably imagine with what joy I hailed the following, which I found at the close of one of the chapters:— A lady, now very eminent in this life of trust, when she was seeking in great darkness and per- plexity to enter in, said to the friend who was try- ing to help her, " You all say abandon yourself and trust— abandon yourself and trust— but I do not know how. I wish you would just do it out loud so I may see how you do it." Shall I do it out loud for you? "Lord Jesus! I believe that thou art able and will- ing to deliver me from all care, and unrest, and bondage of my Christian life. I believe thou didst die to set me free, not only in the future, but now and hore. I believe thou art stronger than Satan, and that thou canst keep me, even me, in my ex- treme of weakness, from falling into his snares, or yielding obedience to his commands. And, Lord, I am going to trust thee to keep me. I have tried keeping myself, and have failed, and failed most grievously. I am absolutely helpless. Sonowlwill trust thee. I give myself to thee. I keep back no reserves. Body, soul, and spirit, 1 present myself to thee, a worthless lump of clay, to be made into any thing thy love and thy wisdom shall choose. And now, I am thine. I believe thou dost accept that which I present to thee; I believe that this poor, weak foolish heart has been taken possession of by thee, and that thou bast even at this very moment begun to work in me to will and to do of thy good pleasure. I trust thee utterly, and I trust thee now!" Are you afraid to take this step? Does it seem too sudden, too much like a leap in the dark? Do you not know that the steps of faith always "fall on the seeming void, but find the rock beneath ? " If ever you are to enter this glorious land flowing with milk and honey, you must sooner or later step into the brimming waters, for there is no other path. And to do it now, may save you months and even years of disappointment and grief. Hear the word of the Lord,— " Have not I commanded thee! Be strong and of good cour- age; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thj God is with thee wliithersoever thou goest. " Again, in«,nother part of the book, I find this: — To sum it up, then, what is needed for happy and effectual service is simply to put your work into the Lord's hands, and leave it there. Do not take it to him in prayer saying, "Lord, guide me. Lord give me wisdom, Lord arrange for me," and then arise from your knees, and take the burden all back, and try to guide and arrange for yourself. Leave it with the Lord ; and remember that what you trust to him you must not worry over nor feel anxious about. Trust and worry can not go together. If your work is a burden, it is because you are not trusting it to him. But if you do trust it to him, you will surely find that the yoke he puts upon you is easy, and the burden he gives you to carry is light, and even in the midst of a life of ceaseless activity you shall find rest to your soul. " If your work is a burden, it is because you are not trusting him." This has been ringijg in my ears, as it were, since I com- menced reading the book. Visitors, after going over our factory and premises, often turn round and say, " Why, Air. Root, how is it possible that you can stand it, to look after and supervise so many different trades and industries, without being worried to death ? My reply is that it don't worry me, because I do not worry about it ; but it is not always that I have i^een able to carry my cares and "worries" to that great strong Friend and leave them there, as our friend so aptly expresses it ; there is a lack of faith and trust that almost constantly stands in the way of this new and happy life, and yet no one ever gave the Bible teachings in this matter a fair test and found them wanting. I liave read thie book to a great many friends, and it has been a surprise to me to see how many there are who, although they almost hold their breath as they catch views of a de- liverance from the burdens of this life, turn back with a sigh, and refuse to accept Bible teachings in any such way as this. It is too good to be true, they say, by actions, if not words. We have got to stand up for our rights in this world, and v/e have got to take care, worry, and darkness, when God sees fit to send them. When I was a boy, I used to go in swim- 148 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Mar. ming almost every day in the summer time, and, although we had beautiful ])onds of clear soft water, the gravelly bottoms to walk and play on, I never learned to swim. The rest swam all about me, and told me how, and tried in vain to get me to do as they did, and trust to the water to bear me up ; but summer after summer passed in the same way, and I could not muster up the courage to take my feet rightoff the bottom, and launch out as" they did. I would do it almost ; but unless I could have at least one toe on the ground, I was afraid I would sink. Finally, one day, I was persuaded so much that I said, "All right; I will sink then." I pushed out boldly, and raised both feet clear from the bottom ; but. to my great sur- prise and astonishment, I did not sink at all, but in one minute, almost, I sailed off like a bird, and have always been able to swim since then. I simply trusted the water. It is exactly in the sande way, my friends, that we are to tru.st God. Cut clear loose from self and selfishness, and trust to that gentle Spirit to rule in and through you, and to do all that needs to be done. The ])arlicular point that this book brings out is, that inas- much as wrong actions are the result of wrong thoughts, and thoughts of a wrong at- titude of the mind, the surest way of forestall- ing both is to make God an inclweller, as it were, of our inner selves, and then none of these sins and acts that give ourselves and others so ipuch pain would ever have a start- ing-point at all. To illustrate: Supposelhave a boy in my employ who is exceedingly heed- less and forgetful. Over and over again I tell him to attend to some important duty, but he forgets it. Finally I tell him some morning, that I wish him to attend to this duty right now, before he forgets it, and he as usual promises to do it right away; but. before he gets started to do it, he forgets it again, and I find out, a couple of hours after, it is still undone. If I should decide that forbearance had ceased to be a virtue, and dischargedhim peremptorily, the greater part of the world would say I had served him right, and he had no right to expect any thing more. Or suppose I should, under the an- noyance of linding he had not touched the work, break out something like this: — " Look here, Z.! you go and do that work, or let somebody else take your place ; I beg to have you understand, sir, that when /tell you to do a thing, I mean it. Now, let this be the last time I have to tell you more than once. Do you undeustandV" You see, I started out to be mild ; but as I " got going." my tone waxed harder and harder, until the last word was about as harsh and rough as one could well speak. AVell, I would try to think it was just what he de- served, any way, and that it was for his own good that I made him '• toe the mark ;" but as the hours passed I began slowly to repent. Pretty soon I remembered that it' was only a few days ago that I had exhorted this boy to accept "the Lord Jesus Christ for his savior, and carry all his cares and troubles to him. The hour of our noon service approaclies, and as in fancy I see his troubled face among the rest of the boys and girls who come up to hear me read and pray for tliem, the feeling is awful. I fe^l as if I could never open the Bible again. The awful inconsistency of my position, even in his eyes alone, for no one else may know a word of it, makes me al- most feel as if I never wanted to come up before them again. Will it be better to give up the whole thing V Ah ! but there is no comfort there. Oh that this hour were pass- ed ! What shall I doV what shall I do? God have mercy on me a sinner ! There is on- ly one way, dear reader. Ilumilaiting as it is, I must go to the boy and apologize, be- fore I can stand before these boys and girls without the awful feeling that I am, in at least some measure, a hypocrite. The boy accepts the apology, but "for all that I have lost hold of him, and of my ability to in- fluence him to be a Christian. I liave sunk in my own estimation and his. Are these but trifles V Suppose you are trying to work for the Master, and a great many such little trifles are lying around and about you, and people are talking about the inconsis- tency of your life, while you profess to love the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you say peojde will talk any way V The older I grow, the more I feel that there is little need of people talking very much ; and if you have half tiied to put your life in God's hands, as we have been reading about, the chances are very great that people will be talking good about you (instead of evil), and give you a great deal more credit than you deserve. Who are the people who complain so bitter- ly of the unjust gossip and scandal that is talked about them V Now let us go back. Suppose that, at the time I felt so impatient because Z. should so utterly disregard my jilain, positive orders, I should have held this impatience in control until I had gone away by myself, and prayed God to guide me in the matter, more for the boy's good than for the interest of our bus- iness; suppose, in f.ut, Iliad said to myself, 'Ton have placed your whole life, business, body, and soul, in God's keeping, and he is to manage this matter, or at least to dictate the way in which ym are to manage it, ;ind therefore the first and most important idea is the saving of this boy's soul." The result would be something like this : after having quietly subdued all feeling of annoyance, the boy is' told pleasantly that he has not done that work yet, and watched until he has really set about it. It is soon done, and then comes a natural feeling to let it drop and say no more about it ; but now comes in God's Spirit, and rebukes your indolence, and in- sists that, for the boy's own good, you take the matter in hand. After it has passed from his mind, and he is feeling pleasantly, j^ou speak to him alone, something like this: — " Z., why is it that you and I do not get along better?" This speech takes him by surprise ; but it appeals to his manhood also, because you have by it placed him on a level with your- self, ai if the relations between you were like those of any business trade or transac- tion between two friends and neighbors. " Why, Mr. lloot, do we not get along well?" '• Usually, Z., except in one thing, and that one thing has annoyed and pained me 1881 GLEANIXGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 149 very much indeed. It is because you neg- lect to do so many things I ask of you. vSome- times I have been uncharitable enougli to think you purposely disobeyed, or did not care. It seemed to me that it was almost impossible that you should forget so many times ; or if you really did forget, it was be- cause your duties were unpleasant and irk- some. Xow, if such is the case, will it not be better for you to give up vour place and let some one else try it V There are, you know, a great many begging for places." Tears c*ome into the boy's eyes, and he con- fesses, in part, his sin of forgetfulness, and in part he tells me something that I did not know, or even dream of, as a reason why he did not like to do the one thing that had an- noyed me so much. In fact, it so happens that liis greatest fault here was in erring in judging between two evils, and not any de- liberate wrong. While I tell him kindly that he must learn to overcome forgetful- ness, or some one will Jutve to take his place, though much to niy sorrow and regret, he feels that I am a friend to liim all the same ; and, although there are tears on his cheeks as we part, they are not teai's of anger. And now, my friends, do you suppose I am afraid to conie before those young folks, Bible in hand, or that I am afraid "to have them hear my voice in prayer V Why. bless you ; I go up the stairs three steps at a bound, and run for my Bible with as joyous a step as ever urchin' bounded out of school at the close of a summer day, 2so matter if I am a little late, and if the girls have commenced singing, my eye lights on this little verse, — Whosoever Cometh to me, and heareth my sasings, and doeth them, 1 will shew you to whom he is lilie. He is like a man which built a house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it; for it was found- ed upgn a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like aman that without a foundation built a house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruins of that house was great. ^Luke 6:47—49. Do you wonder that, when the time comes for the closing prayer, my eyes, before clos- ing, rest fearlessly ,"and, thank God, lovingly, upon the boy whom I have just repriman — why, come to think of it, it does not seem to me that he has been reprimanded, nor do I believe it rests on his mind so either. I am going to help him, and he is going to help me. O Lord, I thank thee, I tliank thee. I thank thee that there is really a rest for the weary, and " glad tidings of great joy " for every poor sinful creature ; yes, for even you, dear reader, if you will only surrender, and accept the guidance of ilim who has said, " my j-oke it is easy, and my burden it is light."' The Mr. Woodward, spoken of Inst month in Hum- bugs and Swindles, is found, and is among pefiple who will do all in their power to lead him to fix up all past irregularities. Let us give him a helping hand if he is truly penitent, and meanwhile, please do not utter one word more of censure. The great call for Simpson honey-plant seed has exhausted our seed already, and we have been oblig- ed to buy more at more than our advertised price. Therefore the price is changed to $2.00 per ib., or 20c. per oz. ; 18c. per lb. extra for bag and postage, where wanted by mail. tglmhd %cm, Or Letters from Those AVho baTe Made Bee Culture a Failure. m LECTURES ON THE EXTINCT AN- IMALS AND INSECTS OF AMERICA. To -wit, The Megatherium, The Mound-builders, and The Honey Bee, especiallv the lat- ter, to which the undersigned ha-s devoted untiring energy in re.search. Correspondence so- licited. Address with stamp. Apis Xon Est. REPORT FOR 1880, '81. Tj? HAVE enough hives and supplies to run the Jfjl bee business of Union county for one year from date. Don't enlarge factory on our account. Will you let us have bees per pound, at former prices, this next season? if not, the lectures must go on ; the bee, dead or alive, must get me out. As, far as I can find, there is hardly a single swarm of bees alive in this locality. Chas. Swetzer, ot Plain City, one of the best apiarists to my knowl- edge, told me last week, that he had lost more col- onies this season than he had altogether since he be- gan the business; did not know how he would come out. All others with whom I have talked have lost all. Don't put us in Blasted Hopes. I have one hive packed in a box of chaff, and all alive yet, and no dead b ees about the entrance. My others were not so protected. " Experience is a fool's school and a wise man's best friend." Robt. McCrory. Jerome, Union Co., Ohio, Feb. 8, 1881. Xow, friend M., deliver your lecture about the Megatherium, and the Mound-Builder, but please wait just a year before you give that about the honey-bee, for you do not know what ]\Ir. Merry banks is going to work out yet, besides what some of the rest of us may do. W^e are going to try to sell bees at old prices. Bees are nearly all frozen around here. I fear you will not be crowded with orders next season. L. H. COBLEXTZ. New Madison, Darke Co., O., Jan. 19, 1881. Bees in tils section did nothing last season; made no surplus honey; 99 out of 100 of our bee-men use the old box and linn hive. They lost, last season, at least nine-tenths of their bees. Howell Whitsitt. Wahalak, Miss., Jan. 20, 1881. Seventy-flve per cent of the bees in this county are dead already, with the prospect of more dying. Reynolds Bros. Williamsburg, Wayne Co., Ind., Feb. 1, 1881. 150 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Mar, I must go into Blasted Hopes now, I guess. I got very little honey last year, and my bees will about all die again this winter; tbey are about half dead now, and I have paid out about f300 for bees in the last two years. I have no chaff hives; all single-wall hives. I never saw the deer mice so bad as they are this winter. My bees have the dysentery, caused by long confinement. Some have eaten all the honey in the center of the hive, with 2 or 3 full cards on each side of them yet; but it was so cold they could not get to it. A. J. Hoover. Huntsville, Luzerne Co., Pa., Feb. 15, 1881. I have had the grape fever and the peach-tree madness, and haven't lost over a thousand dollars on both of them, and am now well of both. But, about five years ago I took a hive of bees on a slow debt, and since then the bee folly has been slowly developing. I have spent $100, and got $30 worth of honey and $20 worth of fun, which still leaves me SiO out, and bees all dead but one swarm, all leaving plenty of honey to have kept them. I have set my face against lotteries in general, but despise back- ing down until I know " what's the matter with Han- ner." U. N. Mellette. Nineveh, Johnson Co., Tnd., Feb. 12, 1881. How is it? have you for sale any mourning-gowns for bee-keepers to wear this spiing? If so, what is the cost? I believe that you may realize a good business. I think you ought to keep such in your counter store, and advertise, and you may have quite a call from this section of country. Yesterday I went on business five miles away from this place to a box-hive apiary of 103 colonies of bees. We looked over their bees, and found about 10 colonies alive, and the rest all dead with the dysentery. The hives looked like molaeses-barrels— the honey drip- ped down and came out of the bottom of the hive. The color of the honey was like molasses, and very bitter. Mr. D. could never see any good in frame hives. This is not all, for I hear from all around here about the same. I have lost, but not so heavily, but may yet before spring. Geo. Castello. Saginaw City, Mich., Feb. 23, 1881. MB. MEBRYBAIVKS^ NEIGUSOR. THE NEAV BEE-HIVE THAT ALWAYS KEEPS THE BEES FREE FROM DYSENTERY. 'ELL, I declare, dear friends, it has Tiim taken us a great while to get around -^'* to that bee-hive. You see I was a little afraid there might be a dispute some time, as to who was the real inventor, and so I have taken several chapters, to go over the whole story of the incidents that led to the great discovery. Well, when friend Merry banks came up to the door that-cold stormy morning, just as John was going out to see to thoBe bees (see page 572 Dec. No.), he carried something in his arms that John immediately recognized as the new bee-hive. Of course, the sight of this brought sunshine, for friend M. was al- ways a welcome visitor ; and as he came up the door was open wide for him to bring in the wonderful structure. John's mother, with a smiling face (for she too had been lift- ed through her trials and discouragements more than once by our genial friend) moved out the table so that, as the hive rested on it, all could have a view from all sides. Well, this hive, to all external appearance, was nothing more nor less than an ordinary cracker-barrel, with the exception that in one end was an auger-hole ; but even this is so common in barrel-heads that none but John would have noticed, probably, that a tube of wood just reached out through it, flush with the head of the barrel. This tube was so near the chime of the barrel that the end of the stave under it would have made a very fair, though perhaps narrow, alight- ing-board. John took in all these points while friend M. was warming his hands at the stove, and making inquiries about Mary, who had had a spell of the croup. As the wind whistled without, and sent cool breezes through the cracks of the house, friend M. was asking if the house had been properly banked up, that the children might not be exposed to these chilly drafts ; and as he did so he glanced down at the floor, which seem- ed neither very tight nor very warm under- neath. Just at this point, John had concluded his investigations far enough to decide, Avithin his own mind, what the contents of this mys- terious barrel were, and so elated was he with the idea, that he commenced dancing up and down, boy like, in token of his ap- proval of the bee-hive. Well, this same floor that friend M. was considering, w.as hardly equal to such demonstrations. You see, when John's father had the floor laid, the centers of the sleepers were supported on blocks of wood set on end. I do not know why he was so thoughtless as to use blocks when stone would have cost but little more time and trouble ; but so he did, and these blocks had lasted just about five years, when the lower ends were rotted off. Well, John's jumping seemed to give just the right-timed vibratioi s to set the room all in a teeter, and of couise the barrel began to roll ; and before any one knew it, it had rolled off on the floor. As it did so, one head came out, and with the head, out tum- bled a queer-looking cushion and a wooden bowl, filled with some white substance that John rightly interpreted to be bee-candy. While John is eagerly taking in all of the features of this great hive, I think we will take a peep over bis shoulder and see too. FRIEND M. AND IIIS HIVE AS IT ROLLED OFF ON THE FLOOR. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 151 Away back in the barrel he saw that iden- tical pail that we saw last month down by the fence. You see, the bees, being a late swarm, had starved out in October, and deserted the hive ; and as friend M. had asked for it, it was of course given him. The pail was put in just about the center of the barrel, and all was then filled in and around with packed chaff. The chaff was kept in place by bur- lap or bagging tacked from the edge of the pail to the edge of the barrel. To the head of the barrel was tacked a burlap cushion that just filled the cavity. The Avooden bowl filled with candy was only for wintering, and for giving destitute colonies all the stores they would need for winter, at one " dose." The entrance was a wooden tube with a one- inch hole, and it reached from the bottom of the pail to the opposite end of the barrel. The combs were made movable by cutting out each carefully, as built by the bees in the pail, and putting them in a little light hoop made of oasswood, steamed and bent, and left on a form until dry, that they might be perfect circles. On opposite sides of the pail was tacked a light tin rabbet ; and an arm of tin, similar to those on the metal- cornered frames, was tacked to the opposite sides of the wooden hoops. After the pieces were gathered up and plac- ed again on the table, and John was put "un- der bonds" not to jump any more, at least until the floor had been fixed, his mother, who did not usually say very much, was the first to break the silence. " Am I correct, in thinking you exnect the bees to winter better in such a hive, oecause they will be more nearly in the form of a sphere, something as they are in the old straw hive, or a hollow tree ?" " That is just the point exactly, my friend ; and when the queen commences to rear brood she starts in circles in the center of the comb, and as these circles enlarge, the bees find a close, warm inclosure all about them, instead of cold corners full of nooks and cran- nies for the heat of the hive to be constant- ly escaping." Here Mr. Merrybanks began feeling first in one pocket and then in the other, as if he suddenly remembered something. Pretty soon he brings out a letter, and, as he un- folds it, remarks, — " The idea is by no means new, for the Germans have for years used a hive with a round roof to it, the frames of which could only be taken out by turning the hive over.* On the Isle of Cypress, the natives use hives of a cylindrical shape,t and here is the letter I was trying to find, from one of our friends in Scotland, as you will see," and Mr. ]\L read as follows from" a letter that had a drawing of an octagonal frame on it: — I find the queen commences in spring to lay in a circle, and does not go near corners for a long time. One apiary here is nearly all as above, and the owner saj'Stheybreed much better in springthanon square frames. Andrew PR.iXT. Link's Schoolhouse, Kircaldy, Scotland. John's father, who had been listening ea- gerly, here interposed,— * See p. 237, Vol. IV. t p. 216, Vol. VIII. p. 61, Vol. V. " Would not that Avooden bowl full of can- dy winter a swarm of bees that had just emp- ty combs and no stores at all ?" Very likely he was thinking of that swarm out of doors, probably in just that predica- ment ; John's mother replied, — " But the candy would need flour in it, un- less they had pollen in their combs." " I am not so sure of that," replies friend M.; " in fact, late developments seem to im- ply that if we can keep pollen away from the bees, so as to hinder brood-rearing, until about the time they would get it from natural sources, we are really better off ;" and again he begins fumbling in his pockets. It is one of friend ]M."s peculiarities, that he is almost always looking for something somewhere in his pockets. He almost alwaj's finds it, though, and so he did in this case. lie has loaned me the letters, so I can easily give them here, you see. POLLEN, AND ITS RELATION TO DTSENTERY AND SPRING D-ITINDLING. I think what makes bees have the dysentery, is eating pollen in cold weather. I have been looking at my bees to-day. They were covered up in the snow. The first swarm I shoveled out was the one that made the most honey last season. The bees had melted a large place around the entrance. Oh what a mess ! Two quarts of dead bees out there, and they had "painted" the front of the hive. I don't like the color, the smell, nor the way they put it on. I remember this colony had a large lot of pollen in their frames last fall. I took a look at a swarm to which I fed good clear honey, so they could not get any pollen. They are in splendid condition. The en- trance is clean and dry as io summer. I went to an- other hive from which I had taken frames of pollen, and replaced with clear honey. I found them in a good healthy condition. Other swarms that I knew had too much pollen have got the dysentery. Two years ago last fall I fed a swarm with sugar syrup. I stirred in some flour with it. They had the dysentery before spring. I fed another colony the clear syrup, and it wintered nice and didn't want to fly for the winter. I have come to this conclusion, that pollen is very bad stuff for bees to eat in the winter; but frames of pollen and honey to give the bees the first of April or lust of March is just what I want. When I find swarms raising brood in Feb., I set them down as worthless. They are sure to stop and then dwindle. If I can keep my bees from raising brood until the first of April, and keep them in a healthy condition, they are all right for a large crop of honey when it comes. My bees are packed in chaff. E. A. Robinson. Exeter, Maine. "But," says John, "where are you going to put the honey-boxes when our hives get full of bees, and honey is coming in ' like split'?" Here his mother gave him a gentle tweak on the ear, just in play, you know, for using the slang phrase, "like split," and friend M. replied as follows:— Come to think of it, I believe I won't tell what he said un- til next month. You know you won't need any boxes just yet. Good-night, all. 152 GLEANiKGS IN BEE CULTUilE. Mar, GlEANmCS m BEE COtTORE. .A.- I. T^OOX, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, MEDINA, O. TERMS: $1.00 PER YEAR, POST-PAID. FOR CLUBBING RATES, SEE FIRST PAGE OF READING MATTER. nvTESXDXKT^aL, js^jhJFL. 1, xeei. Charity suffereth long, and is kinrJ, not easily provoked, thiuketh uo evil. -I. Cor. 13:4, 5. We have to-day, Feb. 38th, 3,635 subscribers. God has delivered " D." out of jail, and he is now at work among us. I wotTLD not advise ordering bees by the lb. be- fore about April 1st; this March weather is rather severe on small clusters. The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life will be found on the 35c counter. Although it is advertis- ed at 30c. in Canada, I am obliged to charge 35c. for It, on account of the duty. The oatmcil mentioned by friend CI irk, in the Lunch-Koom Department, can be purchased at the 'address given, for only §4.50 for a barrel of 3C0 lbs. Is not that cheap enough? There is, of course, quite a demand for sheels of fdn.. for making the plaster plates. As very perfect sheets are needed for this purpose, and additional packing is required, our prices will be, for the pres- ent, one-half more, where wanted for this purpose. If anybody else can furnish them cheaper, I shall be glad to have them do it. Tou will observe, by the clock advertisement, that I have at least once been guilty of selling goods be- low what the manufacturers wished me to. I wrote them at once that I had no desire to sell any goods at a less figure than what the makers would approve of, and I repeat it here. I do not want to crowd any- body, nor have I any dealing that I have any reason to wish to be kept secret. The man who makes the 15c. dictionaries said he had sent us ICO before I advertised last month; but after complaining that they did not come, he wrote it was a mistake-they had not been sent, but would be out in a couple of weeks. They are not here yet, but as he now has our order for a thousand, i think we shall have plenty some time. They are cei'tainly a wonder for the money, but I begin to think, as 1 have often before, that I will never advertise a thing again until it is right in our hands. O. JtJDD & Co. have just sent us a most beautiful and useful book, entitled "Barn Plans and Out- Buildings." It contains '^57 most beautiful engrav- ings, and it seems to me the book would save its price to almost any farmer in a single year. Those who are going to build, even though it be nothing more than a pig-pen (of course, I mean a better one than Mr. Merrybanks' neighbor's), would surely save the amount. It is full of hints and appliances that may be made cheaply for the protection and comfort of all the dumb animals about you. 1 wonder if our friend Mr. Bergh has over seen a copy of it. THE LITTLE " BATTERY " SWINDLES. Although it is a little out of the bee-line, I feel it a duty to caution our readers against the swindles in the line of what is called miniature galvanic bat- teries, Boyd's being perhaps the leading one. There is no more electricity about it than there would be about a brass b'Uton strung around the neck; and the way in which intelligent people, who should know better, have listened to such absurd nonsense, is positively awful. No doubt they " felt better " af- ter putting the things on. but so did those who " put on " the German bee-sting cure a few years ago; but who uses the stuff now? It is a disgrace to a nation of intelligent people to have such things advertised in respectable papers. There are certainly men in every community who know enough of batteries and electricity to explain to you the utter absurdity of a lump of metals giving out a "current." I have taken up the matter, because one of our advertisers was innocentls" led to advertise them in his circulars. BEES AND GRAPES. OcTR friend Peter Klasen has paid me a visit, and after quite a little talk with him, I am pretty well satisfied that the trouble between himself and Mr. Krock is only one of a series of troubles, originating long before the matter of the bees and grapes was ever thought of. The point, therefore, at issue is a personal dilHculty between the two neighbors, and does not concern bee-keepers and grape-growers at all. If the two men get over their other troubles, this one will right itself. Friend Klasen offers to leave the matter to arbitration, and I feel quite sure friend Krock will eventually consent to the same, if he has not already. If I am correct, neither party is lacking in the right spirit usually. Once upon a time, a neighbor's wife got stung, and her husband came over and complained. Friend Klasen good- naturedly remarked that honey is a sure cure for a bee-sting, and he would take some over and show her how bee-men always used it when they got stung. Instead of taking over a spoonful, however, he car- ried over two boxes; it not only stopped the pain, but cured all ill feeling, and both husband and wife de- clared they would be more careful in the future how they became impatient about so trifling a matter again. You see, this is the spirit we need. Friend Klasen is going to move his bees out of town, and now we look for Mr. Krock to be magnanimous, and at least submit the whole matter, as it now stands, to the arbitration of mutual friends. The law we published last month has, we learn, been repealed. CIRCULARS AND PRICE LISTS RE- CEIVED. Alfred H.Newman, 972 West Madison St., Chicago, III., sends us a finely printed 33-page catalogue, co- piously illustrated, of bee-keepers' supplies. Edward B. Beebee, Oneida, N. Y., has issued a 13- page circular of apiarian supplies, making a speci- alty of queen-breeding. The printing reflects great credit on Messrs. Jackson & Potter, of Oneida. Kiegel & Drum, Adelpha, 0.,areout with an 8-page price list of bee-keepers' supplies, this being their third annual edition. J. E. Moore, Byron, Genesee Co., N. Y., issues a 4- page sheet, being his 4th annual circular of apiarian supplies. M. Kichar.lson, Port C ilborne, Ont , Can., has sent us an 8-page price list of general supplies for the apiary. J. d. Facy, of New Hamburgh, Oat., Can., sends a 3-page circular of queens and supplies. H. Nicholas, Etters. York Co., Pa., sends us a 1- page circular of queens. Our friend Given has crirenus a most valuable cir- cular of fdn. of all makes. It contains 18 pages, and should be read by every bee-man and bee-woman. Friend Muth sends us a very pretty little book of 33 pp. entitled "Hints to Bee-Keepers." Itisrather a book (and a book of no small value) than a price list, for his price list, it seems, is a separate affair. Price 10 c. Bright Bros., Mazeppa, Minn., publish an 18-page circular of apiarian supplies. J. T. Wilson, Morfonsville, Ky., dealer in Italian queens, issues a 1-page circular. W. S. Ponder, Groesbeck, Hamilton Co., O., has sent us a beautiful 1-page circular of Italian queens and bees. Chas. S. Lake, Baltimore, Md., has sent us a •28- page circular and price list, gotten up in first-class city style. Mr. L. deals in the usual run of apiarian supplies. Friend Flanaean, Belleville. 111., sends a postal- card circular of bee-keepers' supplies. Friend Hayhurst, Kansas City, Mo., sends us a pos- tal circular relating to his speciality — Italians and Cyprians. J. A. Osborne, Rantoul, Champaign Co., Ill , dealer in apiarian supplies, publishes a 4-page circular of implements. F. W. Holmes, Cooperville, Ottawa Co., Mich., s?nd3 us a very pretty 4-page price list of useful imple- ments for the apiary. 1881 GLEANiKGS IK BEE CULTURE. 153 tomu ^cUuun. Cincinnati.— Under date of Feb. 23d, friend Muth writes: No change in the honey marlcet. Demand for comb honey extremely slow. New York.— Messrs. H. K. & F. B. Thurbcr & Co., iinder date of J'eb. ~;!d, write: Best white comb hon- ej', small neat packag-es,17®18; fair do.,H@16; dark do., 11(5 i:i; white extracted. WcW; dark do., 7@8. Southern strained, per gall ,85@90. Beeswax, prime quality, 20@"J5. Chicago, Feb. 22.— Present market quotations nre as follows: ILme:/.— For choice white comb honey, 1 and 2 lb. boxes, 18@20 c; for lair to good light comlis, 14@16 c; and for large boxes, dark honey and broken lots, lC@l'i c. Extracted honey remains the same — 8@."10 e. Beeswax. -'2.:.@'i'o for light, 15®17 for dark. In November and December, choice comb honey was very scarce, and the price went up to 22 cents; still, verj' little comb honey came in. Bee-keepers were holding back their honey for a further ad- vance; but as it failed to advance, they concluded to sell. The result is, the market to-day is flooded, and the price has dropped. If this honey had been in the market in November, it would have brought 22 c easier than it will bring 18 now, A. H. Newman. I have a barrel of white-clover honey, weighing 235 lbs., for which I will take 10 c per lb., and SI for bar- rel, delivered on cars at Gettysburg, Adams Co., Pa. Aaron P. Weidner. Recent Additions to the* COUNTER STORE. FIVE-CENT COUNTER. Postage. ] [Pr. of 10. of 100 5 I Bultcr-Prints; wood; very pretty | 40 | 3 75 8 I Cattle-Cards, for Cattle, or Horses'... | 4S | 4 00 2 I Soldering plate, for mending tinware | 45 [ 4 00 10 I Clothes-Liiics; ;:0 ft. long I 40 , 3 75 I Extracts, 2-oz. bottles, good; Jamaica Gineer and Vanilla I 38|350 4 1 Envelopes; fair quality; bunch of 25 | 40 | 3 50 1 I Garden Seeds, choicest and best vari- eties, carefully tested seed as follows: I 45 I 4 00 Beans, Beets, Cabbage, Carrot, CaiUillower, Celery. Corn, Cress, Cucumber, Lettuce, Melons, Oni.)U, Parsnip. Peas. Pep- per, Pumpkin, Kadlsh, Salsify, Spinach, Squash, Tomato, and turnip. 2 I Napkins; nice, but rather small | 45 | 4 25 3 I Purses; two kinds, buck and leather | 43 | 4 00 2 I Spectacle-Cases; Leather; excellent.. | 40 1 3 75 2 I Wallets; 4 pockets; full size; nickel- trimmed I 40 13 75 TEN-CENT COUNTER. 5 I Note Heads, such as we use; package of .50 I 70 I 6 50 2 i Saws; Scroll; 3-16, 4-16, and .5-16 in. in width, and 7 in. long, pierced at each end; best American make, for Barnes or other foot-power saws | 80 | 7 00 5 1 Spoons, Tea, German Silver, Hall & Elton's well-known make | 98 | 9 50 FiFTEEN-CENT COUNTER. 5 I Try-Square; 4 in. steel blade; Rose- wood handle, brass lined; a beauti- ful tool 1140113 50 6 I Nutmeg Grater, Rajah pattern, the best thing out, uses up all the nutmeg 1 1 30 | 12 00 Twenty-Five Cent Counter. 3 I Bits; best make, 4 sizes; viz., 'j, "-li;, ;>s, --ir, l 2 00 I IS CO 12 I Saws, Carpenters', 10 in.; Disston's make, a splendid tool for 25c. Nice because it is small ] 2 25 i 24 00 8 I Screws; Bessemer Steel; 4 sizes, ¥2, ?3, U, Js, in gross packages | 2 00 1 18 00 Thirty-Five Cent Counter. 3 i "The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life." Worth its weight in gold. .. 1 3 00 i 28 00 I Coal Hods, japanaed; good | 2 75 | 26 tO 1 Hammers, Carpenters', full size; solid cast steel, adze eye. This is ex- actly like our 75c hammer, only It is not so nicely tinished | 3 25 | 31 00 4 1 Knife as above, best, hand-forged, razor steel, 3! 2 in. long when closed | 3 00 | 28 50 15 I Saws, Disston's make, 12 in. blade; line steel, and beautifully finished. Nice for small work, or the women to have about the house | 3 25 | 31 00 26 I Screws, Bessemer Steel, 3 sizes, 1, I'i, V/2, in gross packages | 3 10 | 30 00 riFTY-CENT COUNTER. 8 I Envelopes, good, packages of 100, with your business card, etc., neat- ly printed on each (3 p'kages for $1.) | 3 00 i 25 00 Note Heads, tine i)aper, to match above, same prices. 34 I Screws, Bessemer Steel, 2 In.; in gross packages | 4 00 i 37 50 18 I Umbrella, tip-top for the children to go to school with | 4 00 | 38 00 Seventy-Five Cent Counter. I Scoop Shovels, iron; good and well marie | 6 00 | 54 00 20 i Umbrella, good, but only medium Eize I 5 50 1 50 00 ONE DOLLAR COUNTER. 7 I Postal Cards, printed to order, in packages of 5(i (Three for $2.25). . . . i 6 00 1 .55 00 2 I Watch Chain, Horsehair, and very pretty for the S4.0n watch. These were made by "D.," while in jail. . ] 7 50 | 70 00 A. I. ROOT, Medina, Oliio. HEADQUARTERS IN THE SOUTH For the Manufacture and Sale of BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES! SlMPLlClTr AND LANGSTROTH HIVES AND FRAMES. THE NEW ALL -IN -ONE- PIECE SECTIONS ! Having purchased from A. I. Root a machine for making the sections, I am ready to supply them in any quantity. Comb Foundation, made of pure yellow wax, and worked on shares, etc. Honey and Wax-Extractors; Knives, Bee-Smokers, etc., etc. ITALIAN QUEENS AND BEES ! All bred from imported mothers of my own im- portation. Dollar oueens, ready April 1st, $1.10 un- til June 1st; after, $1.00. Tested queens, from March 1st to November 1st. Safe arrival guaranteed, and all queens sent by mail. I send no queens that I would not have for mvself. Full Colonies of Italian Bees from $5.00 to $8.50, ac- cording to quantitj-, etc. Earlv 4-frame nucleus, with Tested Queens, $5.00— No black bees in the neighborhood. Send for my Illustrated Catalogue of prices, etc. Address PAUIi Ia. VIAI.1,0N, 3d Bayou Goula, Iberville Par., La. BEES FOR SALEI 100 Colonies in Simplicitv and Everett-Langstroth hives. Address J. P. HOLLOWAY, 3-4d Monciova, Lucas Co., Ohio. FOR SAIiE! Pure bred Pekin Duck eggs, for hatching. Packed securely and delivered at express-offlce on receipt of price, $2.00 per eleven. Address H. C. JOHNSON, 3-5 Reesville, Clinton Co., Ohio. 154 GLEANIN"GS IN BEE CULTUKE. Mar. , Cata/o IS now HEADY ! Every Bee-keeper who expects to purchase a dollar's worth of Bee-l5:ee]3ei:'s' STJ T* I*L I E S I should read it. Send us YOUR NAME ! AL?0 THAT OF YOUR BEEI.KSEPIING FKIENDS, PLAINLY WRITTEN on a postal card, and it will be mailed you at once. Address II. A. BXJKCH & CO.. SOUTH HAVEN, VAN BUREN CO., MICH. GlUI|T||A||L||P|H I will send, postpaid, to any part of the L^nited States, 10 nice little trees, good roots, one year old, for 30c, or 100 for $2.50. Seeds, ppr paclcase of .50, 25c. Seeds germinate as easily as corn. The Catal- palsone of the best bee-tixes] Hangs fuU of long clusters of j'ellowish-white blossoms, very fragrant and ornamental, and yielding a heavy flow of honey. Wood very durable, shoots from young trees making grape-stakes which last for years. 2-4d H. M. MORRIS, Rantoul, Champ. Co., 111. 1881. Send for our new Circular and Price List of Full Colonies, Nuclei, and Queens. We guarantee satis- faction. S. D. McLBAN & SON, 2-7d Culleoka, Maury Co., Tenn. "o Save "Your Fowls I ti SB and get Price List of High-Class Poultry, ^ft Eggs for hatching, Italian Bees, etc., by ^_ O addressing J. R. LANDES, 19 3-ed Albion, Ashland Co., Ohio. ^™ RAISING TURKEYS AND CHICKENS. Send 15 cents to NATIOIf AI^ FAKMER CO., Cincinnati, and get by mail "'What 20 PersoHS (noted for tlieir Great Success in Raising Turlteys and Cliickens) Have to say." Read- ing what these experienced persons have to say will give one more information how to be successful than the reading of any Dollar Poultry Book. 2-4 FRUIT TRlOXCHlAPl^ljHftHXWElJ As I am going out of the nursery business, I will sell apple-trees at the following Ijw figures:— 4 years old, 6 to 8 ft., ... fs 00 per C. 3 " " 5 to 6 ft., - - - $4 00 per C. 2 " " 4 to 5 ft., - . - $3 00 per C. If taken by the thousand, 20 per cent discount. Any parties wanting 10,000 of the three different sizes, a deduction of 25 per cent allowed. No better trees are grown in the State than I offer. I have also pear and cherry trees, and other nursery stock too numerous to mention, at verv low figures. 2-4d J. B. MURRAY, Ada, Hardin Co., Ohio. ALBINO, ITALIAN, I am prepared to fur- ' ' nish early queens, pure Albinos, Italians, and AND HOLY - LAND Holy-Land Queens, bred from select stocks. War- ^ ranted to be pure; safe QUEENS, FULL COL- arrival guaranteed. Also Hives, Novice's Extract- nm.T-.... ^^^ ^«T» or, and Apiarian supplies ONIES, ETC., FOR generally. Sendforprice list. Address , ^ ^ , . S. VALENTINE, i QQi Double Pipe Creek, -L(JU ± '. s-od Carroll Co., Md. FOR SALE OR RENT ! I will sell or rent my shop on easy term?. Built last year, expressly for manufacturing bee-keepprs' Supplies; or I would take in a partner for a term of years— one capable of running that business. Shop well located, and business well started. Capital re- quired in either case, about S.500 down. Send for price list of Bees, Queens, and Apiarian Supplies. 2-3d I. S. CROWFOOT, Hartford, Wash. Co., Wis. CHAFF HIVES! A SPECIALTY! SEND FOR CIRCULAR. J. P. WATTS, LUMBER CITY, 2-i Clearfield Co., Pa. Bee-Keepers' Supplies It will pay you to get our prices before purchasing your Supplies. Good Langstroth Hives with 8-inch cap, frames, quilr, etc., in the flat, tJO cents each. Manufactured from good pine lumber. Workman- ship unexcelled. Crates. Sections, Extractors, and Dunham Foundation, a specialty. HIRAM ROOP. 2-6d Carson City, Montcalm Co., Mich. C. OLM'S COMB FOUNDATION MACfflNE. 9-lncli.— Price $25.00. The cut represents the 9-inch machine; the cheap- est made until now. Send for Circular and Sample. 2tfd C. OL.ITI, Fond du Lac, Wis. John Baxter, Pickering, Ont., agent for Canada. 18S1 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 159 Contents of this Number. INDEX OF DEPARTMENTS. Back List — Bee B)tin> — Hep Entomology — lUiusted Hopes 20n C;u-toon 2(10 EditoiiaJs !'(« Heads of Graiu IRti Houey Column 20t Humbugs aud Swindles — Juvenile nepartnient 180 KindWiiTilR Ironi Custoin6rsl93 Ladies' 1 )eiia)tment 181 Lunch-Kiiom — Notes and Queries 19S Ke))orts Encouiaging Ifli Smileiy 1«'.) The Growleiy l^ Tobacco Column lUl INDEX OF HEADS OF GRAIN, NOTES AND QUERIES, AND OTHER SHORT ARTICLES. Apis Dorsata IfiS Araher Ciuie in Nova Scotia. 1X7 vM.sConding without Queen. 191 BlueThislle lilO Basket Willows 170 Benton 's Letter KiS Bte-eultiiie vs. Saloon 17r> Bees in Texas 17S Cihfonii I liil Circulars i eeeived 20t Ciirpeuter's Imp. on Peet Case ir,7 Chaff Hives for Summer 177 Chuff Cushions 186 Comb between Stoiiej 188 Chaff Packing 19i Doubling in Spring and Fall 174 Doolittle's Review 182, Dying for want of stores 191 Dried Corn 194 Expeiieuce of A B C scholarlOO liarly Feeding 175 Fdn. made from rubber 166 Foster Machine 190 Good-by, CeUariS 172 Gallup Once more 17:i Good Report 189 Green Corn 189 Havhvu-st's Report 192 - Hagen 's Story 177 Holy -Land Bees for Winter. 191 Implement to kill moth 187 Int. Virgin Queens 192 Jackson's Talk 185 Labels 166 Langstroth's Letter 105 Leaving Sections on all "Win ter . .171 ..187 Labeling on Tin Moving Bees in Winter. Merry banks '-'in Notes from Banner Apiary. ]6:i New Honey 194 Onions as a Honey -Plant... 176 Our Bees 1«4 Our Red-clover Queen 189 Out-door and Cel . Wint 189 Oak Leaves for Chaff' 190 Pollen vs. Dysentery 189 Price of Bees 20t Report of Neighbor H 169 Rubber Boots, to mend 191 Hoop's Hive 198 Scottish Apiary 179 Shall we give up Bee-keeping 170 Stingless Bees 188, 193 Toads 187 To Start Seeds 188 Trigona, or Stingless Bees.. 167 Type-writers 186 Telephone Detective 188 Thieves, etc 188 Tenement Hives 191 Tobacco Column 194 Under the Box-Elders 171 Wint without Protection ... 189 What shall the Friends do!. 164 SURPRISE RASPBERRY! A new seedling'. Fruit bright-scarlet; brings five cents per qt. mure than any other varietj-in market. PerCeotlv hnrdv. Try it, please One dozen V>lants by mail for $1.50. E. VAN ALLEN, 4d Bethlehem Centre, Albany Co., N. Y. CHOICE ITALIAN AND ALSO CVPRIAN QUEENS FOR SALE. Parties ordering of me will get jnst what they bargain for. Circular free. Address J. C. POMMERT, Box 134, 4-5 Greenfield, Highland Co., Ohio. 1881 QUEENS S QUEENS! S88I We are prepared to furnish Queens in April, Mav, .ind June. For tested Queens, $:ir)0; afteVwurd, $2.00; untested, $1.00. Queens reared in full colo- nies from imported mother. In addition to our im- ported Queens, we have some line Queens in our apiiiry from 6'ime of the leading breeders of the JJ. S. We not only select our imported Queens to rear Queens from, but we select the best imported and the best home-bred Queens we have to rear drones from. We allow no colonies to have drones, except such as are from the choicest of our Queens. Satisfaction and safe arriviil of all Queens guaran- teed. No circular. HALL & JOHNSON, 3-4d Kirby's Creek, Jackson Co., Ala. TKT A TvTTT^'n ^ situation in an apiary, for perienced hand. . he summer of 1881, by an ex- Good references given if desired. EDWARD KSTEY, 4 Clarence, Sheloj Co., Mo. CHEAP BEES! Forty cfilonics of Italians in good hives at five dol- lars each. E. A. GASTMAN, 4 Decatur, Macon Co., III. ■PmS C! A T 1? 25 bush, pure evergreen sugar J: \J£\ UXiJuH^." corn for Beed at «3.00 per bushel. Sample pound bv mail, 20 cents. Address J.A.WARD, 4d Madisonville, Ham. Co., Ohio. mo fi t t? ^Italian bees aud que dAU&» metal-corner fra leens; Root's raraes; smok- ers; comb fdn. and apiarian stipplics; Italian (tested) queens, ready for order. OTTO KLEINOW, 4d Opposite Fort Wayne, Detroit, Mich. 1881. QXTSESHNTIS! 1881. Bee-keepers who want early Italian Queens, or late ones of anv description, please send for prices on a postal card. Cheap. Address A. W. CHENY, 4 Kanawha Falls, Fayette Co., W. Va. COMB Fotindation Machines from f 1.00 to $5.00. Co'mb Fdn., le^s than 5 lbs., 40c; over 5 Ihs., lioc; over ,50 lbs., 34c; over 100 lbs., 33Hc. Price list tree. Italian queens from Imp.mnthers, $1. ready in April. 4tld JOHN FARIS, Chilhowie, Smyth Co., Va. Also imported and home-bred Queens, Full Colo- nies, and nucleus colonies. Bee-Keeper's Supplies of all kinds. Market price for beeswax. 4-7d NICHOLS & ELK INS, Kennedy, Chaut. Co., N. Y. Manufacturers of 4-5d 24 SU]?Ii»IIT ST., TOI^EDO, O. Strawberry Plants 4d Crescent Seedling. $1.50, and Chas. D.nvuing, $1.75 per lOiiO. Pure new-bed plauts. E. VAN ALLE"^. Bethlehem Centre, Albany Co , N. Y. FOR SAIjE.— 600 worker combs built mostly the past summer and fall from f'lundntton 4 to 5 Bhrets to the pound. A. FAHNE8TOCK. 4d Toledo, Ohio. Pure Bred Plymouth Rock Fowls and eggs for hatching. Ambcr-cane seed, and Dhnura. Send card tor circular?, etc., to 3-4d N. J. ISRAEL, BeaUsville, Monroe Co., O. Inventor aud Sole mauufacilurer of tlio FOUNDATION PRESS. All Presses warranted to give satisfaction. The only invention to make fdn. in wired frames. Our thin and common fdn. for '81 is not surpassed. Send for Catalogue and samples. 4-Gd D. S. GIVEN, Hoopeston, lUinols. No's 132, Price 60c. n tHTEK & GROSH, 34 IV. ITIonroe St., Toledo, Oliio, show here a new knife. No. 133, metal ends, .strong blades; price, postnnid, 60c. Our goods are hnnd-fi rfjcd from razor xted, ev- ery blarte warranted, aud ex- changed free if soft or Hawy. F. H. Diy, Wilmington, Del., vrites, Jan. Li:— "After receiv- ing the knife I honed it down to H tine, keen edge, and tried it on hard, dry white-oak; the edge neither turned nor broke, which is more tiiau I can sa\ ui aii.v other knitt' I ever owned." We expect to build up 4 W. O. POST, Essex, Middlesex Co., Ct. HEADQUARTERS FOR k Imported and home-bred; nuclei and full colo- nies. For quality and purity, my stock of bees can not be excelled in the United St;ites. I make a specialty of manufacturing the Dunham foimdation. Try it. If you wish to purchase Bees or Supplies, send for my new circular. Address Itfd DR. J. P. H. BROWN, Augusta, Ga. THE British Bee Journal. The British Bee Journal is now mailed to our ad- dress in packages, each month. In order to dispose of them, we offer tliem at present at $1.00 per year, postage paid, beginning Jan. 1881. Will guarantee safe arrival of every No. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. 1881 ITALIAN QUEENS! 1881 Tested Queens $1 50 WarraiilKl Queen.*.. 1 00 Cyprian Queens, untested 1 00 As most all the Dollar queens I sold last year were pure, I. will warrant them this year. J. T. Wilson, Mortonsville, 3-7d Woodford Co., Ky. Eggs for Hatching ! I was awarded first premium on Brown Leghorns and Black B. R. Game Bantams, at N. Y. State Fair, Albany, in Sept. last. Am booking orders now, to be tilled in rotation, at the following very low prices: Brown Leghorn Eggs, - - $1 00 per doz. B. B. R. G. Bantams, Imported, - 1 50 " " With my style of packing, in new baskets, eggs will go safely any distance, and hatch. I guarantee safe arrival. C. W. CANFIELD, Athens, Bradford Co., Pa. HEADQUARTERS IN THE SOUTH For the Manufacture and Sale of BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES! SIMPLICITY AND LANGSTROTH HIVES AND FRAMES. THE NEW ALL -IN -ONE- PIECE SECTIONS ! Having purchased from A. T. Root a machine for making the sections, I am ready to supply them in any quantitj'. Comb Foundation, made of pure yellow wax, and worked on shares, etc. Honey and Wax-Extractors; Knives, Bee-Smokers, etc., etc. ITALIAN QUEENS AND BEES ! All bred from imported mothers of my own im- portation. Dollar uueens, ready April 1st, $1.10 un- til June 1st; after, $1.00. Tested queens, from March 1st to November 1st. Safe arrival guaranteed, and all queens sent by mail. I send no queens that I would not have for myself. Full Colonies of Italian Bees from $5.00 to $y.50, ac- cording to quantity, etc. Early 4-frame nucleus, with Tested Queens, $5.00— No black bees in the neighborhood. Send for my Illustrated Catalogue of prices, etc. Address PAUL. li. VIAI.I.OTV, 4d Bayou Goula, Iberville Par., La. BEES FOR SAIE! 100 Colonies in Simplicity and Evcrett-Langstroth hives. Address J. P. HOLLO WAY, 3-4d Mouclova, Lucas Co., Ohio. FOR SAIiE! Pure bred Pekia Duck eggs, for hatching. Packed securely and delivered at express-olHce on receipt of price, $2.00 per eleven. Address H. C. JOHNSON, 3-5 Reesville, Clinton Co.. Ohio. 18S1 glea:n'ikgs in bee culture. 161 Names of responsible parties will be inserted in any of the following departments, at a uniform price of 20 cents each insertion, or $2,00 per year. $1.00 Queens. Names inserted in this depai-tment ths firat time wiUi- out charue. After, 30c eoc?! insertion, or f 3,00 per year. Those whose names appear below agree to furnish Italian queens for $1,00 each, under the following conditions: No guarantee is to be assumed of purity, or anything of the kind, only that the queen be reared from a choice, pure mother, and had commenced to lay when they were shipped. They also agree to re- turn the m(me.v at any time when customers become Impatient of such delay as may be unavoidable. Bear in mind that he who sends the best queens, put up most neatly and most securely, will probably receive the most orders. Special rates for warranted and tested queens, furnished on application to any of the parties. Names with *, use an imported queen mother. If the queen arrives dead, notify us and we will send vou another. Probably none will be sent for $1.00 before .luly 1st, or after Nov. If want- ed sooner, or later, see rates in price list. *E. W. Hale, Newark, Wirt Co., W. Va. 2-1 *A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. *H. H. Brown, Light Street, Columbia Co., Pa. Itf *E. M. Havhurst, Kansas City, Mo. 1-12 *Paul L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, La. Itfd »D. A. McCord, Oxford. Butler Co., O. 1-12 *S. F. Newman, Norwalk, Huron Co., O. Ittd *B. Marionneaox, Plaquemlne, Iberville Par., La.65 *J. T. Wilson, Mortonsville. Woodford Co., Kv. 6-() *Chas. G. Dickinson, Sou' Oxford, Chen. Co. N. T. i-lO *Wm. Ballantine. Sago, Musk. Co., O. 2tfd .1. S. TadlDck, Kingsbury, Guad. Co., Texas. 3-7 *W. H. Nesbit. Alpharetta, Milton Co.. Ga. 3tfd *J. O. Frtcey, New Humburg. Ont., Can. 4-9 *H. Nicholas, Etters, York Co., Penn. 4-8 W. S. Canthen, Pleasant Hill, Lan. Co., S. C. 4-6 *John Conser, Glenn, Johnson Co., Kans. 4-9 .7. H. Burrage, Concord, Cab. Co., N. C. . 4 *Fischer & Stehle, Marietta, Wash. Co., O. 4-9 Hive Manufacturers. Who agree to make such hives, and at the prices i named, as those described on our circular. I A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. Sid. D. Bnell, Union City, Branch Co.. Mich. 2-V P. L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, Iberville Par., La. Itfd \ S. F. Newman, Norwalk, Huron Co., O. Itfd I J. F. Hart, Union Point, Greene Co., Ga. 4-3 i M. S. West, Flint, Genesee Co., Mich. 2-7 Foundaiioii Manufacfyrers. I Who agrpc to make such foundation, and at the i prices given, as described in our circular. A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. .las. A. Nelson, Wyandott, Wyandott Co.. Kans. 4-9 i E. S. Hildemann, Ashippun, Dodge Co., Wis. 4-5 Bees by the Pound. Those whose names appear below agree to furnish bees by the lb., and at the prices given in our circu- lar. I I. L. Scofleld. Chenango Bridg-e, Broome Co., N. Y. S. C. Perry, Portland, Ionia Co.. Mich. J. P. Moore, Morgan, Pendleton Co., Ky. i W. R. Whitman, New Market. Madison Co., Ala. i Chas. Kingsley, Greenevil e. Greene Co., Tenn. C. D. Wright, Baxter spring'^, Cherokee Co., Kans. H. B. Harrington, Medina, Medina Co., O. W. St. Martz, Moonshine, Clark Co., Ills. O. H. Townsend, Hubbardston. Ionia Co., Mich. G. W. Gates, Bnrtlett, Shelbv Co., Tenn. W. S. Canthen, Pleasant Hill, Lancaster Co., S. C. J. G. Taylor, Austin, Travis Co., Texas. .1. H. Burrage, Concord. Cabarrus Co., N. C. Fischer & Stehle, Marietta, Washington Co., O. Oliver Foster, Mt Vernon, Linn Co., Iowa. Queens reared in 1881. The undersigned are prepared tomail dollar queens during this month for $2.C0 each. See conditions in the opposite culumn. Chas. S. Larkin, Racelat]d, La Fourche Par., La. W. Z. HUTCHINSON, Kogersville, Genesee Co., Mlcliigan, would bo pleased, upon request, to send you his cir- cular and price list (printed on the cheirograph) of Italian queens and bee "tixin's." 4tfd ^3ee - Hi.x7-ess «»,* Cossft i To close out my stock of Simplicity bee-hives, I will sell at cost for 30 days. Will take a few colonies of bees in exchange for hive=. For further particu- lars, address CYRUS McQUEEN, 4 Buena Vista, Tuscarawas Co., O. PURZ3 BRED ?OULTlLir. I am now prcpar.=d to till orders for eggs from the following: P. Rocks (Corbiii strain), L. Brahmas, S. S. Hambnrgs, S. S. Polish (Bearded), Brown Leg- horns, W. C. B. Polands, Rouen and Pokin Ducks, Toulouse Geese and Bronze Turkeys. Esrgs packed in the most approved manner. Poultry for sale in the fall. Send fur Price LiEVOTEr> TO JBEJES A?»ri> IIOISTEY, AT^O H:03XE HVTERESXS, Tol. IX. APRIL 1, 1881. No. 4. A. I. ROOT, Publisher and PropYielor^ \ Pnblislied Montlilv. Medina, O. \ Established in 1873 TtERMS: SlOO Pep. Annim. in AdvancK; I 2 Copies for $1.00; 3 for S"!. 75 : 5 for S*. 00; 10 I or iiuiie, To cts. each. Sinple Number. 10 etsi. \ Additions to clubs may be made at club rates. Above are all to be sent to OXK post- office. Clubs to different postoffieea, XOT [ LESS than 90 cts. each. NOTES FROM THE BANNER APIARY. No. 17. EE.iRIXG QUEENS OUT OF SEASON. aN my article on late queen-rearing I wrotejas fol- lows: "I think that he (Doolittlc) will aflmit that we queen-breeders have greater facilities for learning facts in regard to our specialty than has the bee-keeper who raises honey." After reading the above, and then reading my report in the Jan. No., friend Doolittle was almost inclined to laugh, because he says, "Facts would show that Doolittle raised four times as many queens before Hutchin- son ever went into the business as friend H. has in all his life." I have kejyt bees four years, and have reared 7C0 queens; and if you, friend D., reared 2feC0 in the 8 years previous to my commencing the business, you must either have destroj'ed a good many queens, or else, considering that you did not advertise queens for sale, you must have disposed of a goodly num- ber. As your average number of stocks each year has been 48, you certainly would not use 359 queens each year in your own apiai-y. But even if you did "raise four times as many queens," to be candid about the matter, did you, for three seasons, as I have done, make a specialty of rearing queens l:ite in the season, feeding the bees when no honey was coming in, having the cells built in full, strong col- onies, giving the young queens to full colonies so that they could lay a spell before cold weather set in, and then let these late-reared queens have a fair chance the next season? If you have done so, and found them to be inferior, I can only say that my experience does not agree with yours. I am thank- ful, friend D., that you are going into the queen bus- iness, because we can, some of us at least, have an opportunity of testing your "natural," "summer- bred" queens for ourselves. Tou say, friend D., that my illustrations about not following nature do not touch the point. I am aware that the illustrations given are not exactly parallel casps, neither were they intended as such; they were given merely to show that better results are sometimes obtained by not letting Nature have her own way. Of course, the illustration would have been better had I chosen parallel cases, and I thank you for calling my attention to it, and I also feel under obligations to you for so neatly remodeling one or two of my illustrations until they \ctrc paral- lel cases. I have reference to what you said In re- gard to rearing chickens, lambs, colts, etc., late in the season. Not having very much experience in rearing fowls, or stock, either in season or out, I wrote to about a dozen breeders of poultry, sheep, and horses, asking them whether it made any differ- ence in regard to the health, strength, size, vitality, or future usefulness of a fowl, sheep, or horse, as the case might be, if it was reared late in the season, instead of at the usual time. Most of them, think- ing that I wished to go into the business, wrote long letters, giving some excellent advice. Their replies were somewhat conflictiug, and aU of them were conditional. One breeder said: " Stimulate your fowls, and get them to laying and rearing chicks as early in the season as possible; early-hatched chicks are much the best." Another breeder said: "Some varieties are benelited by a late hatch, but not later than September, unless you can give them special care." Still another said: " It is not so much that a bird is hatched out of season; more depends upon the care that it receives." One sheep-breeder said: " I do not know the entire object of your question, or I might answer it in one word, no." Another breeder said: "Lambs dropped in the fall are not weaker than those of spring; but, as a rule, to the contrary, as the exercise of the dam at this time of the year in quest of her food naturally gives strength to the lamb at birth." Another said: " Care and conveniences may effect all the advan- tages of either time." Still another said: "I should greatly prefer spring lambs, as it seems more natu- ral for them on grass; but should lambs be dropped in the fall, and you can give them proper care, I do not think it would hurt their usefulness as breeders." I have, as yet, failed to elicit any response from horsemen. Of course, I can not give even extracts from all of the letters that I received, but the idea that most of the writers tried to convey was, that the season of the year when a creature is brought into existence is of less importance than the care that it receives; that is, as regards its "health, strength, size, vitality, or future usefulness." Are you not just a trifle sarcastic, friend D., when • you ask me to rear queens in mid-winter? You know I have never claimed that good queens could be reared at any time of the year. You claim that V\i GLEANIXGS IN BEE CULTURE. Apr. good queens can not be reared after abont Aug-. ^Otb, while I claim that, by proper care, they can be reared nearly if not quite two months later, or as long as warm weather lasts. Nevertheless, as an experiment, 1 would try rearing some in the winter, if they could bo fertilized. You seem to think, friend D., that if I had my choice I would prefer, for my own use, queens reared in June and July. Ac- cording- to theory, 1 should choose the summer-bred queens; but, as I ro to choose, these facts stare me in the face: Each spring, for the three past years, one-half of my stocks have been " mothered " by these late-reared queens, and they have done fully as well as the ones that had queens reared in June and July. Perhaps you will say that all of my queens may be "poor sticks;" well, perhaps they are; but if such is the case, why do I obtain, on an average, mere honey per colony than my neighbors, and rear on an average 20 queens per colony in ih3 baruain? Bat why, friend D., ('o you use the words '^for my cwn use," and then put them in italics too? Do you mean to insinuate that I would rear queens to sell that I would not keep for my oivn use? If you do, let me say (although I know it sounds like advertis- ing in the reading columns, but I can not help it), that I have never knowingly sold a queen that I would not keep for my own use. No, friend D., T am not like the breeders of whom you bought some dol- lar queens, who would like to rear Ihe queens for you, when he reared his own. 1 do not rear queens one waj- for the " little bugs," and another way for myself and the "big bugs," for fear the "big bugs" might "tell," if I sent them poor queens, and thus spoil my reputation. If a queen-breeder should write to me, friend D., as that one did to you, I would have nothing to do with him, and I should bo strongly tempted to give his name to the public as a fraud and swindler. AV. Z. Hutchinson. Kogersville, Genesee Co., Mich. I fear, my friends, we are getting into al- most too mnch of an argitment on this ques- tion ; but as a healthful, wholesome, and friendly rivalry may be productive of good, I have thought best to let it go on. Shall we not drop it right liere, and let the queens themselves, reared by both our friends, do the talking? Quite a lot of us want Doolit- tle queens, and we are going to report fully in regard to them, as we also shall in regard to those reared by friend II. and other breeders. WHAT SHAI.L THE FRIENDS DO TO STAKT AGAIN, ^% HO HAVE liOS >' AliE. THEIR BEES? ALSO, WHAT SHALL BE DONE AVITH THE HONEY, HIVES, AND E3IPTY COMBS? LTIIOUGII I answered these questions in our Feb. No., it seems I Avas not " suftieiently explicit. I am grateful for the confidence you have expressed in coming to me, and for the willingness with which you send me money ; but 1 think you can dobetter by not intrusting it all into my hands, and it is because of this I write. If you have any bees left at all, build up, by the directions I have given you in the ABC, and get bees in your empty Itives and combs. Close yoitr hives up so you are sure no rob- bers can get in at the honey, and they can generally be left safely on their summer stands, until about the usual swarming time. Clean out the hives, brush off the dead bees, and when you put the combs back, spread them a little apart so they do not touch each other, and then look at them oc- casionally until they are used. Do not fuss much with soiled combs, or those containing dead bees. Just set them, one at a time, in the center of a strong col- ony, in May or June, and the bees will fix up the worst comb you ever saw, so quickly you will hardly know how it is done. If you can get bees on all the combs a month earlier, it will be better ; but there is no need of losing any combs by the moth, if you keep a little lookout for "them. If the combs can hang a couple of inches apart, they will be less liable to injury. You can generally effect this by removing all division- boards, and spreading the combs out. WILL A LB. OF BEES, AND A QUEEN, BUILD UP TO A GOOD COLONY WITH- OUT ANY BKOOD, IF PUT ON EMPTY C03IB, SAY IN Al'RIL, MAY, OK JUNE? This is a question that has been asked a great many times ; but to be frank, 1 do not know that I ever tried it. If the bees are young Italians, I should have no fear but that ihey would, but very much would de- pend upon who had the care of them. A friend in Michigan with hives of empty combs, once built a single colony up so as to make SO of it in a single season. On the other hand, a neighbor s boy once bought a fair-sized nucleus of us, early in the season, and failed to build them up so as to winter, during the whole season. I can not tell what you can do. A pound of bees in our hands, in the month of April, would make a most rousing colony before the season was over, and I am quite sure we could make three or four colonies of it if we chose. If you wish, I will sell you the queen and bees, "but I do not like to say what you can do with them. If you can give them a frame of brood, or even one only partly filled, it will be a great help to them and the queen. If you have not this to give, they should, if they do fairly, soon have it by their own work. COST OF A LB. OF BEES ; AND, WILL IT PAY TO BUY THEM? As you will see by our April price list, 1 lb. of Italians is worth, in April, $2.00 ; in May, $1.50 ; in June, 81.2.5, and in July, $1.00. If you can buy common bees in box hives, or any other kind for .$5.00 or $0.00, perhaps you had better buy them, and buy Italian queens to put with" tlie bees. I bought nat- ural swarms of bees last season, that weighed six lbs., and at these prices the bees alone were worth, in July, $6.00. Now, if you all insist on coming to me, I shall have to buy bees to fill this enormous demand. Some- body will have to pay the express charges here, and another charge back to you, where- as if you would buy them directly of the pro- ducer, but one charge would have to be paid, and but one risk to run. Again, if Ave pixt a lb. of bees in a hive and let them fiy a week, they will, at the end of that time, have gone 1S81 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 165 flown to probably I of a pound or less. There is a loss every time they are handled, and more especially is it the case with old bees. A. new swarm will often lose nearly a half in weight in the tlrst ten days. Send to the nearest person who advertises bees by the pound. Get some good prolilic queens, either black or hybrid, if you can not get Italian, and just 'bend all your en- ergies toward making them increase and multiply. If you are short of funds, use hy- brids; feed whenever there is a dearth of pasturage, and next winter get ready to try wintering again, on a few strong colonies well hxed up, for just such another winter as we have just had. -^•••i THE CYPKIAN BEE. SOMETHING FROM MR. LANGSTBOTH IN REGARD TO THE MATTER. JJi T last we hare ample means for judging of the 5% temper of this bee, as shown in their native — ■^'^ island, where no questions can be raised as to their absolute freedom from mixture with other va- rieties. In a private letter to me, Prof. Cook, of Lansing, says of Mr. Frank Benton, who has done this good work for us, " He is scientific in his meth- ods and habits, very earnest and enthusiastic, and honest to the core." Writing out of his large expe- rience with them, in a season so unfavorable for honey-gathering that, if they possessed any unman- ageable irritability it could not fail to show itself, Mr. Benton gives them the palm, even over Italian bees, for easy control in all necessary manipulations. Two years ago Mr. Muth, of Cincinnati, after weighing all that our German friends had to say about them, agreed with me in doubting whether their decided merits in most respects were not more than counterbalanced by excessive irritability. Mr. Benton's explanation of the simple methods by which they may be kept peaceable has dissipated these apprehensions,* and I am strongly inclined to think that we have been fortunate enough to secure a strain of bees which tmites the best qualities of both the blacks and Italians. After a large expe- rience for many years witli the last-named races, I came to the following conclusions: — (1) Whcr elate forage is scarce, the Italians stophrcecl- inrj much earlier than the hlacl(S. / In Oxford, where, after the second crop of red clover fails, bees usually gather less honey than they consume, the Italians, unless artificially stimulated, raise so little late brood that they go into winter- quarters with too few young bees. Under the same conditions, the blacks breed quite late in the fall, rarely ceasing until after severe frosts, and often persisting in it when they have not honey enough to last them for more than a few weeks. Now, the ev- idence is quite conclusive that the Cyprians, like the blacks, are strongly given to late breeding. (2) The Italians, %inJess stimnlatcd hy judicious feed- ing, do 7iot resume breeding as early as the blacJ^s. In Greenfield, Mass. (see p. 339, 3d ed. of my work on the hive and honey-bee), where I had only blacks, the December of 1816 was extremely cold. Jan., ISi", was the coldest January on record, in that lati- *It maybe well to eaiit ion those who keep bees very ncnr to public hiifhways, to be eavelul to observe Mr. B.'s direi-tions; and it they have had but little experience witli bees it may be as well to let them alone, rather thau run the risk of rousing: tliem to fury. tude, for more than fifty years. Once the tempera- ture was 30° below zero, F., and there were two days when the wind blew a strong gale, the mercury get- ting but once as high as G° below zero. From the 7th to the 14th the mercury was, one-half of the time, below zero, and only once as high as 10° above — the wind blowing an almost continuous gale. Early in the forenoon of the llth, the mercury was 10!4° be- low zero. Later in the day it moderated eaough for me to examine three strong stocks, in the central combs of all of which I found eggs and uncapped brood, and in one of the stocks a little capped brood. On the 30th of that month the central comb of one of these colonies was found to be almost full of sealed brood, nearly mature. My experience with black bees led me to expect breeding to begin in good stocks about the 1st of Jan., aud sometimes a little earlier. In my Italian apiary at Oxford, where the mean of the winter is very little lower than the mean of March in Greenfield, I seldom failed to get an oppor , tunity of overlooking my stocks some time in Feb- ruary, and rarely foimd much brood in that month, even in the strongest; while in most of them, laying had not even begun.* The present winter here, though unusually cold, does not compare for severi- ty with that of 1847 in Greenfield, and there have been three thaws causing the resumption of naviga- tion on the Ohio Kivcr. Tn^o of my neighbors, the Messrs. McCord, examined, on the 11th of this month, a largo number of stocks, some of which were very strong, and in only two was brood in any stage noticed. While it is very true that a small col- ony of Italians, when breeding fairly begins in the spring, will, as a rule, rapidly outstrip a black one of equal strength, is it not equally true that what is called "spring dwindling" among Italians may in many oases be attributed to the above-mentioned causes? In localities where the main honey harvest is over on or befora the middle of July, early breed- ing is essential to success, and with Italian bees, ar- tificial stimulus must ordinarily be used to induce it. Some of the readers of Gleanings may remember my experiments in this line two years ago, inter- rupted by the return of my old malady. Thus far, all the experiments with Cyprians, which have come to my knowledge, show that in their pro- pensity for both late and early breeding, they re- semble, even if they do not surpass, the blacks. In the A. B. J., Feb. 3, 1881, Melville Hayes, of Wilming- ton, Ohio, writes, under date of Jan. 3d, of his Pales- tine bees: "To-day I opened the hives and found brood in all stages from the egg up, in six frames." I presume that the Holy-Land bees will be found to resemble very closely the Cyprians. In this connec- tion, I will mention the curiotis fact, that, some years before the Egyptian bees were introduced into Europe, many of the workers of one of my Italian queens had the peculiar crescent-like markings of the Cyprian, Palestine, and Egyptian bees. After importing the Egyptian bees, I could easily agree with Vogel, that the Italian is a cross between this bee and the black. Mr. Woodbury's hard experience with the Egyptian bee in England may easily be ac- counted for by supposing him to have attempted to handle them just as he did the Italians. *I have repeatedly noticed that, a day or two after examininpf colonicF. cither in'thefall or spi-ing-, whieli had no brood in any stafTC, tlieir queens would l)eKin to lay, the disturbance wliicn caused the bees to s'oi'pe themselves with honey having the same elfect as the stimulus of food. Where colonies are well provis- ioned, occasional examinations might do almost as well as feed- ing. 166 GLEANINGS IN BEE CtlLTURE. Apr. (3) Thn Italiars are rmtch mare indinrd to huikl drone comh than the Macks. When f!ed with Italians from those that are not. We shall, therefore, have to call those pure that show no traces of black blood, unless kept iu an apiary by themselves, as neighbor H. has them. ONE-POUSD HONEY-TUMBLERS. Pleasf: do not scold, friends, when I make a mis- take in my intentions of doing you a favor-. You see, I found some very nice ghiss tumblm-s that I could buy for cmly 28c. per doz., and I found we could make tin tops for them at about a cent apiece, so I advertised honey-tuinhlers at the very low price mentioned in Feb. No. When the tumblers came, it was found no two of them were exact ly of a size, and so we were obliged to have them all sent here, un- pack, fit the covers, box them up again, and re-ship. This has made it necessary to advance the price to 53.00 per box of C doz., to cover expenses. 'Amere tinge of yellow has often beon made to give golden hue to some very black transactions. HONEY-LABELS. Perhaps more than one of you have remarked that our labels on cans of honey do not beffin to compare with those on other canned goods. In view of this, I have had some large labels made by a label maker, fi)r canning establishments, and, to my sur- prise, 1 find that a libel ■llixia (large enough to go clear around a 2-lb'. can), printed in five bright showy colors, Clin bo had for only 250. per 100. Of course, at this price the address and source of the honey is left lilank; but we can print this in for 25c. more, per hundred; 75c. more for 500, t)r $1.00 more for a thousand. If wanted by mail, the postage will be 3c. per 100. These labels are just the thing tor any kind of tin pails or cans, but might be objected to for glass, because they cover almost the whole of the cati or jar. Samples of these new labels will be mail- ed free on application. FOUNDATION MADE FROM RUBBER INSTE.AD OF PLASTER PLATES. We have been hard at work on the problem, for thepast month, and have succeeded in making plates of pure elastic rubber, that will make fdn. better, and even faster, than plaster plates, while the intro- ductitm ot any foreign substance does not injure them In the least. Nothing seems to be In the way of making fdn. ria-ht in the wired frames, although we have not done this as yet. The sheets turned out are perfectly trimmed the size of the rubber plates used. A pair of plates to make fdn. to perfectly fill an L. frame {S%x\'J'-i) will at present cost $5.00, and other sizes in proportion. If mounted and hinged, ready for work, the price will be $7.00: the whole ap- paratus, including wax boil-r and fountain, as per- fect as we are now able to make them, will be $15.00. Voucan now have them to make any kind of fdn. you choose, by sending us a perfect sheet. A metal pi ito has to be nude, to work the rubber on, and as this metal plate has to be a perfect copy of the wax she^t, this is where the expense comes in. By ap- plying pressure, the wax can be nearly all forced out so as to leave only a n^t work of walls. The suggestion of using soft rubber came, I believe, first from Mr. Gray. We have not, as yet, made plates larger than about 4xii inches. We may be able to make the price lower, after a while, but so far it has cost quite a little money out, in the experiments. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 167 trigona, or rraziiilan stingl.ess hoin£\:-be:es. m S the stintless honey-bees are causing some J^\ excitement in America just now, by Mr. W. ' S. Hawley, of Rochester, N. Y., trying to form a " Stiugless-Bee Association," and to get hold of ten dollars from bce-kcepers, and as he states he never heard of these stinglcss bees until lately, I send you an account of my stinglcss bees, as they arc the only ones that ever arrived in England alive. These bees came to England in a hollow piece of logwood, from Honduras; and when being unloaded at Manchester, on Saturday, July 17th, 1809, the nest fell out of the hole on to the ground, and was carried into an office and placed on the desk. When they came to the office on the Monday morning following, the desk was found covered with the bees (but at first they were thought to be ants.) The gentleman in whose oflice they had been placed, being a scien- tific man, placed the bees and their nest in a box which he covered with glass, and knowing that I took such a great interest in bees, brought them out to me at Newton Heath. As I had never seen any of these Trigona bees be- fore, I sent some of the live bees, with a piece of the brood comb in which young bees were just being hatched, also a section of the nest containing honey- pots filled with pollen, etc., to the late Mr. Frederick Smith, of the British Museum, late President of the Entomological Society, and one of the Vice-Pres- idents of the British Bee-Keepers' Association, he being one of the greatest authorities we had in Great Britain on hymenopterous insects. Mr. Smith kind- ly wrote to me, saying, " The bees sent are the Bra- zilian honey-bees belonging to the genera Trigona; they being exotic, I do not imagine it will be possi- ble to propagate them here. They do not construct honey-cells, but honey-pots ; as you have the brood, the most imjjortant thing you can attend to is to se- cure the queen. I once obtained one from a brood sent from Brazil in spirit. I can not find that your bees are a described species, as it is not in the Brit- ish Museum. Tou will have ascertained that these bees are the stinglcss bees of South America; they are found also in India and the Islands of the East- ern Archipelago." The nest of the Trigona is nearly the color of log- wood, with a smooth, hard, outside casing, in shape the same as the size of hole in the logwood, which measured 8J4 inches long, and 5 inches wide, and about IV^ in. in diameter; each of them nearly round, but joined together. The nest and insects weighed lli oz., and the pots are filled with pollen and honey, ■which is of greenish color,— thin, and tastes sour, or like fermented honey. The brood combs contained brood in all stages of development. On August IVth, the thermometer went up to 98 degrees in the sun, and the Trigona were very busy flying about in the box, so 1 placed it in the garden and allowed a number of the bees to fly out; but I did not see any of the bees return to the box, so I concluded they must have lost their queen, other- wise they would not have deserted her; and this af- terward proved to be the fact. As the brood combs when brought to me contained eggs and brood in all stages of development, the queen must have been in the nest within a day or two from that time, so I think she must have got lost when the nest fell out upon the ground, or that she swarmed with the bees when left on the oflice-desk, and got lost. So the bees gradually died away; but I think I could have kept them in a warm room over the winter if they had not lost their queen. It was very amusing to watch these beautiful active Lilliputians, as they were constantly brush- ing themselves and smoothing the hairs on their body with their hind feet, and sometimes with four feet at once, holding on with the two fore feet. I have no doubt they thought themselves great dan- dies, being so very particular about their dress. At night they all returned into their nest. These Tri- gona were nearly shining black, less than 3-16 of an inch long, with wings of rainbow colors longer than the abdomen. I have had a number of them dissect, ed and mounted for the microscope. These were the only Trigona, or stinglcss bees, that ever arrived in England alive; the late Mr. Woodbury tried to import these bees into this coun- try, and a nest was sent to him from Australia, which is now in the British Museum. The brood was fed with honey and water, but they all died be- fore they arrived in England. William Cahb. Newton Heath Apiary, Near Manchester, Eng. (To be Continued.) ^ i^*^^ FRIEND CARPENTER'S IMPROVEMENT ©N THE PEET CAGE. fi RECEIVED the Peet cage all right; very much obliged for the same. After looking the Peet ' cage over I went to work and made a cage for which I will send you a model for your inspection. I have added a quill for water. If it becomes necessary to use water io the cage, put the water in the quill with an oiler, then take an apple or a pota- to, cut in slices U, inch thick; push the quill in one of these slices till the quill goes clear through. This makes the stopper. Take a wire the size of those that are at each corner of the cage to fasten the cage to the comb. Take alike wire and punch a hole in the stopper of the quill; this will let the water out just as fast as the bees lick it off the stopper. You can put 3 or -t quills of water right in the cage with the bees, by running a wire over or across the cage overthe quills to keep them in place. As the ventila- tors are open on both ends, it don't make any differ- ence in what position the cage is; they can get air. It is not very apt to have both ends shut at the same time in the mail pockets. I have also made a half-inch hole in the tin slide to put the bees in at, by raising the slide till the hole just comes above the candy-box. Well, friend Root, if you can improve it any after looking it over, just tell us how tb do it. We won't grumble a bit, but thank you for so doing. I think there is still room for improvement; but I can't just see it now; but just as soon as I see that it can be improved, I will send you a model. H. F. Carpenter. Polo, Ogle Co., 111., March 1, 18S1. Friend Carpenter lias given us one idea in the above, tliat is so simple I almost feel ashamed to think I never thought of it. It is the use of a quill for a water-bottle. I have often wished for some thing as substantial as tin, and as clean and trans- parent as glass, but supposed it out of the question. I would suggest taking large quills, and cutting them off so as to have both ends closed. Now take off just the point of the quill, draw out the silk, and 168 GLEAKINGS IN BEE CtlLTUKE. Apr. you have a bottle complete, that can be filled on our plan with the oil-can, which will al- ways keep the water pure and sweet, and will never leak, although it lets the bees sip at their pleasure. Two quills, pointing in different directions, will make the water al- ways accessible. jSTow, friend C. has another very ingenious idea, and I opine it will be of great value for other purposes besides making queen-cages or boxes. Suppose you have a block ]ix2ix5, for this is tlie dimensions of the one he sends. S\ ell, we will first make the block in two pieces by making two saw-cuts on the dotted lines as follows: — BLOCK OF WOOD FOR QUEEN-CAGE. After A is removed, place B on the saw, and cut out the center so as to leave D. Place A and D together again, and nail with slim wire nails ; now dress off, and you will have C, as shown below. CASE FOR THE CAGE. BLOCK FOR CAGE. If B does not slide nicely into C, dress it a little until it will. Now 'by boriug a large hole near each end of B, with one of our ex- pansive bits, and cutting out the wood be- tween, we have a nice little sliding box for a queeji-cage, or other purpose. To make a queen-cage of it, friend C, with suitable cut- ter-heads, cuts shallow grooves on each one of its four faces, as belcrw. CAGE PARTLY MADE. CAGE COMPLETE, READY FOR THE CASE. Wire cloth is tacked on one of the faces, and the tin slide on the other, as given last month, and the narrow slits have a ventilat- ing hole run in with a saw. This last slot will also hold a quill for water, on each side. To hold the cage up against the brood comb, wires are put in that lie in the side grooves, when the cage is pushed into the case. This makes a very strong, safe shipping-cage, and is also very easy to open and close ; in fact, much easier than the form we gave last month, although it is somewhat more expen- sive; yet where a great quantity are made by machinery, I think they can be sold at the usual prices. The candy is held at one end, and a thin slip of w^ood, almost a shav- ing, in fact, keeps the candy from touching either the wire cloth or tin slide. LETTERS FROM FRANK BENTON, FROM THE ISLiE OF CEVLON. APIS DORS ATA; A SINGLE NEST OF BEES FURNISHING HONEY ENOUGH TO LOAD THIRTY MEN. fpIE following letters were forwarded me by the kindness of friend Jones, to whom they were written, by our friend Frank Benton. I presume more tlian one heart wall be stirred by an ambition to go and explore too, by reading over the accounts of his adventures. Hold steady, boys; it takes "a mint o' money" to do this work, and I presume friend .Jones will have it done pretty thoroughly. We can help him bear the expense, if we choose, by buying his queens. I have made every effort to secure bees here, but none are kept in hives in those parts I have visited, and I do not think in any part of the island. Of those found in trees, few can be secured, because the trees are valuable cocoanut palms, and the en- trance holes are in the trunk, and are, of course, very small. I have gathered three hives only of the small bees, havins? also spent some time fixing up the bees I brought with me, and trying to iiod the largo bees, to say nothing of searching for some place where bees could be purchased in hives or pots. These natives are far worse than Cypriotes to get along with and accomplish any thing. They seem to tell lies simply for the sake of giving an an- swer, even when no pecuniary gain could come to them. Again, they seem to wish to avoid, in all in- stances, saying, " I do not know," when the Lord knows it would be the most appropriate thing for them to say in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred. The result is. that it is hard work to sift the state- ments made by natives and Europeans. Nearly all the English know absolutely nothing of value to us. The new bees, which I think are also found in India and many of the East India Islands (in which case, East-India bee would seem to me to be an appropri- ate name), are real beauties. The workers are % of an inch long, and build worker comb fi of an inch thick, 36 cells to the inch (that is, 73 on both sides;) the drone comb is exactly like worker comb made by the bees already iu Europe and America. The workers are brown, with a very ringed abdomen, the bands to the tip of the bodies being broadly marked with yellow, and the thorax very fuzzy, with a large shield between the wings. The drones are black, inclining to a blue black, and are 54 inch long; queens leather-colored, and large, compared with workers. These bees are very active, wonder- ful brood-rearers, regular little beauties, and can be handled without the least smoke, scarcely ever offer- ing to sting. It is a pity I can not get more of them in the time I have here. I am bound to find out whether Apis dorsnta Is found here or not, if time will permit, and if two more races I have heard of here really exist or not. I am now where a few shillings' railway fare will bring me to the interior of the island. More by next mail, with samples of bees and combs. I had one horrible time, getting stung with lai'gc hornets while 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. iCd in the jungles. It laid me np for one whole day. They are fearful fellows— worse than those in Cy- prus. Frank Benton. Colombo, Ceylon, Jan. 2i, 1881. lie writes again later : I have seen two native races of bees here, and the comb of a third. One race is stiuglcss, but worth- less. One race is Apis indica. The third race I do not believe is valuable, since it is a very small bee- smaller than Apis indica. Apis dorsata is a wonder- ful bee, whether it can be domesticated or not. It builds in the open air on branches, often making combs six feet long; and I have good authority for saying that (/ii)'\ enough to give you a little "taffy;" not that ' I take you for a " busy bee," nor that I think you out of stores, nor even unwell (?). But, you see, I am contemplating keeping bees, and a little ex- perience is necessary to success in any business. I shall probably be "taxed" more, financially and physically, feeding bees than on any other account. This reminds me that I haven't said what I started out to say. The cheerful, happy way you have of treating every thingand everybody, and the little embellish- ments of wit and humor are in such great contrast with the long faces, sepulchral groans, and freezing coldness of many professed Christians, that on first acquaintance one is inclined to incredulity. It is a great pleasure, and a raritj% to find a man who is willing to do more than hebelievcs is his duty. I am persuaded the number of professed Christians Is large, who believe that levity in any form is a sin. 170 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Apr. There is another matter I wish to mention; in fact, it is what I have beea trying to come at; but I thought it best to give you the "tafify," as you did Mrs. C. before commenting on her bools. I enjoy a good " yarn " or joke as well as the next man. Why, sir, it makes me feel good for half a day to take a good hearty laugh. Of course, I believe in them; and, friend R., if you disagree with me, I must beg of you not to publish such "funny" things in Gleanings. "Old Zach Brown," for instance; trying to hive the handsome widow's bees, and the part " Crony " took in the affair! Fancy painting is my favorite, and while reading of the affair, as I rode over on the car, I could see the participants as distinctly, from that vivid pen-picture, as if it had been on canvas. I never was so "wrenched" in all my life; burst, I wanted to; but the surroundings were unfavorable. I realized the impropriety of such a thing in a car full of passengers. Cleveland, O., March 10, 1881. D. C. Shull. If f ten results from allowing such a draft of air throuprh the hive, that the bees can not work the wax, unless during the extremely warm weather. To test this matter, I covered a large colony in the house apiary with woolen blankets while they were gathering clover honey, to induce (hem to remain in the boxes, even after the weather had turned quite cool. So long as the blankets remained on, the bees would remain in the boxes working wax; but as soon as the blankets w-ere removeil at each time the experiment was ti-ied, they retreated to the body of the hive. Tlie same thing was tried with thin-walled hives out of doors.— A B C, page 257. You are just "shouting" here, and this is one great secret of success in getting box honey. (G. M. Doolittle, in review of ABC book.) Also the following extracts from back vol- umes : — CHAFF HIVES AHEAD AGAIN FOB COMB HONEY. I have 64 colonies, one only being in a chaff hive. It has been a very poor honey year with me. I have taken only 600 lbs. of comb honey, and 73 lbs. of it came from the chaff hive. A. M. Sawdey. Poolville, N. Y., Dee. 9, 1879. — Gl., p. 31, Jan., '80. We advocate protecting bees from the cold blasts of winter and the scorching rays of the summer sun, but the intermediate temperatures we say but little about. I had one colony, this spring, in a Langstroth hive, so reduced in numbers that all must stay at home to keep the brood warm and alive, no increase in stores being possible. This seemed to manifest itself particularly on windy days, of which we have had many this spring. I re- moved them into a chaff hive, and ever since then as many workers have gone out from this colony as from others twice as strong. J. L. Hartwell. Odell, 111., June 9, 1879. -Gl., p. 260, July, 1879. Without doubt, the chaff hive would keep bees exactly as well, unpainted, but as a matter of durability, as well as looks, I would want hives painted, any way. Paint- ing the outer wall of the chaff' hive does not, of course, affect its absorbing power, as it does single-wall hives, because it is purpose- ly made in narrow strips of siding. Again, where there is an outer shell to oe fetched and put on, even though it be but little trouble, the average ABC scholar is very much inclined to put it off, forget it, or per- haps delay it altogether. Our chaff hives can be inspected as quickly as you can raise a quilt with one hand and "turn back the mat with the other. At the same time, friend H. , very many will perhaps prefer your plan, and it actually is very much cheaper, espec- ially if you want no upper story to hold the same size frames. — I presume you are about right, in saying 1 lb. of granulated sugar would make only about li lbs. of , stores, when sealed up in the combs ; but am I not right in saying that this H lbs. will go further than even 1} lbs. of the best honey V This is ptire cane sugar, while honey is, a large per cent of it, composed of grape sugar. BEES IN TEXAS. also something about young CYPRIAN QUEENS. M'Y bees have passed through the cold winter in the best condition possible. It is true I lost ' one colony out of 23, but the queen was not very prolific, and it seemed her bees would allow the others to take their stores without any resistance. My stocks are all strong, with from three to five frames of hatching brood, March 1st. The queens began laying the 20th of January. I had two young Cyprian queens mated Dec. 8th with pure Italian drones, that are now ahead of any other queen I have. They have thousands of young bees, five frames of sealed and hatching brood, and the young bees arc simply beautiful. These queens were win- tered in three-frame nuclei hives with empty box placed over ihem, sides and top packed in cotton seed. I packed about half of my hives in cotton seed; the others were wintered with woolen cloths on the sides, and chaff cushions on top. The cotton- seed hives have wintered almost without any loss, and the queens began laying about a week to ten days before the others. To-day (March 1st) my bees are pouring in and out of their hives, loaded with pollen and honey. One hive has gained 15 lbs. in ten days. They began bringing in pollon the 2d of 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 179 Feb., and have continued, with a few days' excep- tion, to the present time. CAN A QUEEN REARKD IN THE FALL BE FERTILIZED IN THE SPRING? I thought you said young queens, wintered over before laying in the fall, would be drone-layers and worthless? Now, the two queers above alluded to are truly an exception, for I would not take to-day $5.00 for one of them; if she continues laying at the rate she is now, she will have her hive cltuck full of bees in three weeks more. The peach, plum, apri- cot, and almond trees are blooming. The red elm has been in bloom ever since the 1st of Feb. I look for a large inci-ease of bees this spring, and am prepar- ing to increase my little apiary to 50 hives, which will keep me busy, and cultivate 7 acres in corn, 5 in cotton, 5 in honey-plants, and one in potatoes, and 14 acre in garden truck, with 5 acres in fruit-trees, to plow over three times, and 100 Simp, hives to make, and 60 acres of oats to sow this and next week ; so you see I have my hands full. B. F. Carroll. Dresden, Navarro Co., Texas, March 1, 1881. Glad to hear yon are prospering, friend C. My remarks you allude to were to the eifect that no queen that goes into winter-quar- ters, unfertilized in the fall, can ever be fer- tilized in the spring, for the simple reason that she will have passed the age when fer- tilization is possible. In your warm climate, where bees may fly every montli in the win- ter, it would, of course, be quite a different matter. A SCOTTISH APIARY. OUR BEE FKIENDS IN SCOTIjAND. A PEEP INTO A COSY BEE-GARDEN, AWAY ACROSS THE WATER. fJjRIEND ROOT:— Enclosed find photo of a Scots- man's apiary — 34 hives huddled together in a — ' small cahbage-garden, right in a small town. The owner, Peter Alexander, is a journeyman shoe- maker in rather poor health, but he hopes soon to be able to give up his unhealthy trade and live by his bees. He gets Gleanings, and will be mightily pleased to have you just mention his photo. Many of his hives are very expensive ones, $15.00 and over, but they are his pride. His town is called Kirrie- muir, in the county of Forfar. Wm. Raitt. Blairgowrie, Scotland, Dec. 31, 1880. Many thanks, friend Eaitt, and you just tell friend Peter that, if I mistake not, there are more than one whose eyes rest on the beautiful picture above, who are mightily pleased at the view he has given us. Why ! one almost feels like walking up and shaking hands, not only with Peter, who stands with 180 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Apr. something in his hands near that hive, but with the good hxdy in the doorway, and that modest individual in the background. I can hardly decide whether it is the fear of stings or the fear of strangers that makes him so prone to stand back out of sight. And those hives ! Did you ever ! No won- der some of them cost over $15.00. Are they not pretty? Why, Peter, I almost feel as if I should just like to live with you all the while. I wonder if it shall ever be that I may make a visit to these many friends away across the seas. Oh bow gladly would I do so, if it were God's will that I should even make you a brief visit ! Go on, friend Peter; be care- ful aud prudent, and remember the promise, that those who are faithful with a few things shall, in due time, be made ruler over many things. ^ AM 8 years old. I have three brothers and one M sister. When the bees stiug father around the face and eyes it swells all up. Mother read to me about a little girl named Louie in your Glean- ings. I have not any bees yet, but father says he is going to give me a swarm of bees. He says he is going to give me a grapevine too. Mother is teach- ing school this year, and I am going to her. I am studying the Third Reader, and spelling, geography, and arithmetic. When father transferred the bees I washed up the things and made vinegar out of the sweetened water. I sell my vinegar to grandpa, and I get my money from him. I am named after my grandma. What is your little Blue Eyes' name? I lilie to go to Sunday-school. I got the prize there for the best lesson. My name is Ellen Christine Wilder. Forsyth, Ga., Feb. 22, 1881. Yery good, Ellen. Blue Eyes' name is Constance, but we call her " Connie," as you will see in the back part of the ABC book. That is a first-rate idea about the vinegar, and I hope you will keep on making it, so that no honey is wasted. We send you a book too. I read a good deal in the bee papers papa takes, and I Bee letters from other little boys, so 1 thought I would write you a little about our bees. We have had a very hard winter, and papa has worried about them ever so much. Last year our bees did finely. Papa packed down 33 stands in flax chaff In the fall, with chaff cushions on top. To-day, Sunday, is the first day that has been warm enough for them to fly, although it snowed yesterday. So papa came right home after church and took off the top cushions so the sun could shine right on top of the frames. You don't think papa did any thing wrong, do you, Mr. Root? To-morrow it may be cold again, and the bees have been shut up ever since Noventber. Papa says they were in good condition. He found one swarm dead, and that was starved. Papa says he must have overlooked it In the fall, for it did not have honey enough. I am ten years old. Roy Morris. Rantoul, lil., March 6, 1881. Very well done, Eoy. I am glad that you thought about it being Sunday when, your father opened the hives, for it shows that you have a wish to remember the Sabbath i day to keep it holy. When our domestic an- imals need care on Sunday, it is perfectly right to give it, for the Bible says so ; and if the first day the bees could fly came on Sun- day, and your father judged they needed care, it was perfectly right to give it. I would make it a point, however, when it is any way questionable about Sunday work, to be sure to ei'r " on the Lord's side." We have had Sandaj^-school here all winter. I like to go. Our bees are not doing very well this winter. We have part of them in the cellar, and some of them in the room. Those in the room got to coming out, and we had to take them out. We take the bee journals. I like to read about the bees. I have to read it for papa. I like to read for him about the bees. I like the bees when they don't sting. Papa says they don't hurt him, but they swell on me, and you bet it hurts too. We have lost about 15 stands of bees this winter. Bees are all dying off around here. I like to read the Home Papers. Pa- pa says if his bees don't all die he wants some queens and some flower-seeds that are good for bees to work on. Grandpa has got two stands of bees. Papa has got one stand of Italian bees. He sent for two queens last summer, but only one of them proved to be good. Minnie B. Lee. Grant City, Worth Co., Mo., Feb. 28, 1881. I am a boy 14 years old. I have one colony of bees in good order. I have them packed i» chaff on their summer stand. They made 40 lbs. surplus comb honey. I expect to be a bee-keeper. Bees do not sting mc very much. WHY COMBS GET BLACK. If I may be excused, I do not think that Mabel L. Nelson is quite correct about the cause of comb getting black. The reason is, that the larva spins a fine silken cocoon, so thin that it takes sev- eral years to reduce the size of the cell so that we can notice that it is any smaller. This cocoon is left in the cell, and gives to the comb a dark color. The bees clean the cell out again before it is used. The honey in this comb is as clear as that in new comb. The comb is tougher after it has been used for brood. Eddie Jackson. Fairland, Ind., March 5, 1881. Very well done, Eddie. Your reasoning would do credit to an older bee-keeper, and your crop of honey from your one chaff hive does credit to both you and the hive, during such a season as last. Mamma was reading to me from the Juvenile De- partment, and I thought if other little girls could write I could. I am only eight years old, and can not write very well, as I am left-handed, and mamma says I must write with my right hand. I would like to know aU the little writers in Gleanings. We have no bees, but papa wants to get some, and that is why he sent for your book. I think the pictures of Mr. Merrybanks are very funny. Anna Spencer. Hockiugport, Ohio, March 7, 1881. That is a very good letter, Annie, and we send you a book called " Sheer Off." See if you do not almost feel like crying when you read about poor Nora Peel. When I was eleven years old a swarm of bees went across the street and clustered on a little cherry- tree. I took my bive and smoker over, and went to 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 181 work hiving them. I shook them several times, and they went in the hive pretty well. The rest I smok- ed down. When they all got in the hive I threw an apron over the front of it, and carried it across the street and set it in its place. Well, in all the work I did not get stung once. I like to hive bees when they are good natured. I have not hived any more alone, but I help in hiving them. Will some girl or boy tell us whether they can hive a swarm of bees alone? If they can, I wish they would please tell us how they do it. Lizzie Harrison. Peoria, 111., March 11, 1881. Well doue, well done, Lizzie ! and since I come to notice your name and address, it strikes me that you must be Mrs. L. Harri- son's little girl ; is it not so? I really do not wonder you have energy, and are not afraid of bees, with such a mother as you have. I am a little girl 13 years old. My pa takes Glean- ings. I go to Sunday-school almost every Sunday. There are from 75 to 100 scholars. I like my super- intendent. Pa keeps bees, and last spring he put them in an L. hive, and they made 150 lbs. Can any one beat that? He would like j'our ABC book, and he intends to send and get It when he has enough money. Nettie Wakeman. Ouaquaga, Broome Co., N. Y., March 7, 1881. Very good, Nettie ! If your father can do as well as that every year, he will hardly need an A B C book. I really hope he will get some more money ; don't you think I am very kind? kpMitmnt MRS. LUCINDA HARRISON TALKS TO THE JUVENILE CLASS. '-K think, Mr. Editor, that our young friend Mabel, of Wyandotte, Kansas, is a very ob- serving little girl, and partly correct, with reference to "dark honey." We know that bees clean and varnish up their combs, but they are des- titute of scrubbing-brushes, hot soap-suds, and boil- ing water, for their necessary spring cleaning. Where hives stand like ours, in a city, amid coal smoke, soot and dust, and especially after a long, cold winter like the one just past, with so few clean- ing-house days that the bees could not carry out their dead and comb-cappings (and it is now satu- rated with moisture, rendering the task too great for their strength;) if the bee-keeper does not come to their assistance, no snow-white combs will gladden his eye or tickle his palate. How can the bees pre- vent soot and dust from shading the honey if they have to walk over a filthy tloor to deposit it, or keep their feet or antenna; clean ? After a mild winter, with plenty of cleaning-house days, their floors are tolerably clean ; but a winter like the past produces a very different state of affairs. The winter of 18"9-'80 was mild, and bees were healthy. When we cleaned the hives in the spring, we came to the con- clusion that healthy bees voided their fseces in a dry state, judging from the little mounds of an inch or so in height, invariably found underneath the cluster. On hearing such remarks as this about a neighboring apiarist's honey, "I'd as soon have soap- greage in ray store as that man's boqey; I could neither sell it nor give it away," we concluded to pay the apiary a visit, and see what was the matter. We found the apiary to be a large one, in a first' rate locality; the colonies were immense, and tons of honey on hand, but none first-class. The hives were black, dirty old things, innocent of paint, and had never been cleaned. The surplus honey was permitted to remain on the hives for months after the boxes were filled, and uncompleted ones during the winter. This bee-keeper came very nearly beingf in the same boat with another old settler of the brimstone persuasion, who says, "When I used to tuk up a gum, I could sell the honey; but I can't do it any more. Why?" My dear Mabel, Hare Bell, or Blue Bell, when the weather is warm and pleasant, remove your bees to another hive, and then scrape the old hive as clean as you can get it, scrubbing it afterward with a brush and hot soap-suds, and finish by scalding with clean boiling water. This will kill all the bees' "bed-bugs," and when the hive is dry you can lyg- turn the bees to it, and they will thank you with their happy hum and shaking of their antennae, and repay you with storing beautiful honey in snow- white combs. "Thus endeth the first lesson." Peoria, 111., March, 1881. Mrs. L. Harrison. Now, Mrs. II., while the veterans may not all exactly agree with you in regard to the propriety of cleaning off the propolis from the cracks and crevices of the hives, which your hot water and soap-suds might do, we certainly all agree in regard to cleanliness being next to godliness. The question has sometimes been asked me, as to why I al- ways have women in almost every room in our factory; it is because luen and boys will not, as a rule, be clean and neat in their hab- its. As our wax-room is not a very pleasant place sometimes for women, we tried for awhile having only men take care of the room. Of course, they did pretty well (we always do ;) but after awhile I offered one of the gti'ls a little better pay, just to take a kind of supervision, you know. Well, the jirst thing she did was to move the boxes and pails out of the corners, and give the room a tremendous sweeping. Why, I just felt happy to see her do it ; and after she got through, it seemed so much more homelike, I could have sat right down in the middle of the floor and laughed, and I should not have stuck fast either. Since then, I have a sort of feeling that I do not want to live — no, nor even work in a room, where there are not some women around. Somebody once said my wife was such a good housekeeper she had spoiled me ; but I do not believe it, do you, Mrs. 11.? Now, begging your par- don, we are all ready for the next lesson, are Ave not, Mabel, Freddie, Louie, Jennie, Charlie, Ellen, Roy, Minnie, Eddie, Anna, Lizzie, Nettie, and the rest of youV It is now reasonably certain, says the Prairie Farmer, that the manufacture of fine syrups and sugar from sorghum can be made a vast and profit- able industry, advantageous alike to the intelligent grower of the cane and to the manufacturer of the products obtained from it, and saving to the coun- try millions of dollars annually which are now sent abroad for these indispensable articles of daily con* sumption. 182 GI.EANIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. Apr. DOOLITTIiE'S KEVIE\r AND COMITIENTS ON THE ABC BOOK. Continued from last month. NUCLEUS. A good swarm of bees in the Gallup frame will touch the bottom and top of the hive, and also each end where only 9 frames are used, but not the sides; while with the L. frames they touch the bottom and top only. How is it that you have only seven frames in this hive, when you say you use ten .In the chapter on hives? "We iisually use but 6 or 7 brood frames; in winter, cliatt' division-boards take the place of tlie other three, and in summer, a frame of sections on each, outside. POLLEN. BASSWOOD YIELDS NO POLLEN. If I am correct, basswood yields no pollen at all. BEES ON CULTIVATED-GRAPE BLOSSOMS. Did you ever see a bee on a tame-grape blossom? Although they get pollen freely from the wild, or frost grape, yet I never saw one on a tame variety. Yes, sir! they work on our Concords nearly every season. DO BEES SEE OR SMELL HONEY? Above, you give that the bees find honey by see- ing the blossoms, etc.; but did they go into the hon- ey-house by seeing- the bowls and boxes of honey there? I think not, and guess you have got off the track. It can be easily proven, that bees are drawn toward honey by the perfume, for you can place it where they can see It all day, and yet yield no per- fume, and not a bee will notice it. DO BEES OR PLANTS CHANGE THEIR HABITS. UNDER DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES OR SURROUNDINGS.'' Is not this figurative language? The touch-me- not is probably just as it was when it was first created ; if not, God did not know the neoessitios of flowers when he created them. That a flower has " learn- ed" how and where to place certain organs to accom- plish desired ends is a little strange talk, is it not? POLLEN AND BROOD IN THE SURPLUS BOXES. I find it right the opposite. I never had any brood in the side boxes but once in my experience, that I know of, but often have it in top boxes. PROPOLIS. PROPOLIS FROM BALM OF GILEAD AND POPLAR. I have repeatedly seen bees getting propolis from balm-of-Gilead and poplar buds, and a few at work on the horse-chestnut; but this is so sticky they do not like it so well, QUEENS. DOES THE QUEEN OR WORKERS DESTROY RIVAL QUEEN-CELLS? As far as my experience goes on this point, the workers do this destroying of the cells. I know queens do tear open cells, but believe the workers do most of it when the idea of swarming is not enter- tained. PIPING OF QUEENS. I guess no piping is ever heard in a hive till one queen has hatched; at least, I never could hear any, and I have experimented quite thoroughly on this point. WHAT DO BEES FEED THE QUEEN TO MAKE HER LAY? What is this food that the bees feed the queen? I claim it is the same as that fed to the young larvae. When the queen takes honey, she helps herself to it. AT WHAT AGE DO QUEENS COMMENCE TO LAY? I once had a queen laying in just ten days from the time the cell was sealed over, or three days after the queen had hatched, and at another time I had one that did not lay till 26 days from the sealing of the cell. QUEEN-BEARING. INSERTING QUEEN-CELLS AT THE TIME THE NUCLEUS IS MADE. I have tried this plan till I know that my bees des- troy at least nine-tenths of all cells so given, and do not understand why yours do not. With my experi- ence, I should not put such a plan in a book, if I were to write one, but would say, wait 24 hours. KEEPING THE BEES OF THE NUCLEUS FROM GOING BACK HOME. I should say that this one would get half the bees that were in the old hive; at least, when I make nuclei in that way the bees seem bent on going back to the old stand; so I generally confine them for the first day, letting them out toward sunset by the second day. INSERTING A CELL IN PLACE OF ONE THE BEES HAVE BUILT. That is correct; and I say, wait till they commence to build cells, and you are safe. ROBBING. WHAT TO DO WHEN A COLONY CEASES TO DEFEND ITSELF. I cover the hive all up with a large sheet, and then there is no chance of smothering; and, also, the robbers are not confined to the hive. A ROBBED COLONY GOING HOME WITH THE ROBBERS. Did anybodj' ever know the bees from a robbed hive to go home with the robbers? I never knew such a thing to happen, and doubt its ever occurring. I have had a few cases of the kind, and several have been reported. Perhaps, friend D., you do not have the experience(?) in rob- bing we do. DO BEES DISLIKE SNAKES? I had plenty of snakes live under my hives tho past summer, and the idea that bees dislike snakes is all bosh. SMOKERS. SMOKE FOR YELLOW-JACKETS. Smoke will drive yellow-jackets and bumble-bees much quicker than it will bees, so they will leave their nests entirolj' — the yellow-jackets rarely re- turning, but the bumble-bees will return. STINGS. HOW DOOLITTLE MANAGES IN REGARD TO STINGS. This is the way I always remove them; and if you learn by instinct, as it were, to strike your hand against your clothing at the moment you feel the strike to sting, you wiU, in nearly all cases, remove the whole sting, and suffer scarcely any pain. I always wear a veil, as I don't want them in my face if they did not sting at all. VISITORS STANDING IN FRONT OF THE HIVES. This is the worst trial I have, and I sometimes feel like telling such persons that it seems as if they should "know something;" but instead, I request them to come back where I am, only to repeat it when I open the next hive, and so on. KILLING BEES IN HANDLING HIVES. I think you make more of killing bees than is call- ed for. When a bee's life is worth more to me than my time is, I take much pains to prevent killing one ; 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 183 but, on the contrary, if my time is worth more than the life ot a bee, the bee is killed, always striving to kill as few as possible consistent with accomplishing what is to be accomplished. We keep bees for the profit there is in them, and that is what they were created for— the benefit of man. Do you object? Let us see: you keep a cow for the profit there is in the milk and butter she affords you to eat or sell; but when she gets old, so as to be of no value for milk or butter, do you keep her for the good she has done? No: you look to the profit again, and fat and kill her, and, as you reason, God should hold you re- sponsible for this act. Why not? Because he has created the cow for the benefit of man, as he 5id the bees; so when a bee's death is more profitable to me than his life, there is no more harm in killing him than there is in killing the cow. USING SMOKE IN OPENING HIVES. I always blow a little smoke under the quilt as I raise it, and after that use no more unless they show signs of stinging. In this way no time is wasted to have them off from the tops of the frames out of the way. Any colony can be subdued by blowing in a little smoke at the entrance, and closing it, and then rap on the hive a few times. In two or three minutes you can do any thing with them. SWABBIING. NON-SWARMING HIVES. Why not say bees swarm because it is God's plan to keep them from becoming extinct, as much as it is his plan for the birds to return to us each spring, mate, and raise their young? With an apartment that is suited to the bees for all seasons of the year, that is not enlarged or contracted by man, the bees invariably swarm if the season is propitious, and all the combined ideas of man have not as yet been sufficient to produce a non-swarming hive when worked for comb honey, that was reliable. DO BEES WORK LESS THE DAY THEY ARE GOING TO SWARM? I never could see a bit of difference as to the work of a swarm, and I have watched closely to see, when I knew a swarm had a sealed queeu-cell. BEES SWARMING BECAUSE THEY HEAR OTHER HIVES SWARMIMG. No mistake, as far as my experience goes. » FIRST SWARMS ISSUING TWICE ON THE SAME DAY. I never knew but one first swarm to issue the second time on the same day— a returned swarm, I mean. REMOVING THE QUEEN WHEN BEES ARE AT WORK IN THE BOXES. Both Elwood and Hetherington now take away the queen from their stocks at work in boxes during the basswood bloom, and claim that is the correct way to get box honey with no swarms. I do not yet agree, but may some time. EXTRACTING THE HONEY TO PREVENT SWARMING. I don't agree; your extracting reduces them, for the time being, to a state of poverty, the same as a dearth of forage; hence, all idea of swarming is given up the same as it is when the flowers yield no honey, on the principle that God has given them knowledge enough to know that they can't prosper outside of the old hive without a yield of honey. TEASEL. I have never known it to fail but one year during the past eleven years, the time I have kept bees. These road-side teasels are wild teasels, on which I never saw a bee in my life. These have a blue blos- som, while the tame, or Fuller's teasel, have a white. TRANSFERRING. DRUMMING THE BEES OUT, IN TRANSFERRING. Why don't you drum out those bees to start with, and have them out of the way? Because I like the way I have given, best. DOOLITTLE'S natural combs, VERSUS THOSE BUILT ON FDN. I have 1000 that I would not trade with you even handed at venture, for they are perfection. If you had to buy your fdn., I think you would save all the comb you could. The drumming is done by getting off the side of the old hive, and getting the nails out of the cross- sticks so no time is wasted. UNITING BEES. Alternate the frames, and thus mix the bees thoroughly, and they will never fight at any time of the year. But tliey do sometimes, friend D., with us, nevertlieless. I wisli you would try uniting Cyprians in that way. LOSING QUEENS WHEN UNITING BEES. I never lost one in my life. WHEN TO UNITE BEES. I don't agree. August is the time to unite bees, as I gave in A. B. J., Oct. No. The first part of Sept. would do, where fall flowers are abundant. It is far easier to unite bees in the brood form in August than in the bee form in October, for the brood the last of August are the bees of October. VEILS. I use the grenadine for the whole veil, and wear one most of the time. USING SHEETS OF MICA IN BEE-VEILS. The mica does very well In hot weather, but in cool the breath steams it up so it is entirely useless. VENTILATION. KEEPING SURPLUS BOXES WARMLY PROTECTED, WHEN THE BEES ARE STORING HONEY. You are just "shouting " here, and this is one great secret of success in getting box honey. VINEGAR. Vinegar is also used for cleansing wax. See p. 209. WATER FOR BEES. EVAPORATING THIN, NEWLY GATHERED HONEY. For my views on this matter, after conducting many careful experiments, see " Evaporating Nectar," on p. 173, Vol. 3, A. B. J. WINTERING. FEEDING UP FOR WINTER. Why not feed the whole 30 lbs. in one or two nights if they have plenty of comb room and plenty of brood and young bees? That is the way I do. CELLAR WINTERING, AND OUT-DOOR WINTERING. Notwithstanding there are probably at this date more bees wintered in cellars than any other way, I winter half of mine in a cellar, and half on summer stands, so I am sure of being right in one place or the other every winter. DOOLITTLE'S BEE-CELLAR. My bee-cellar has not raised three degrees during the winter since I built it, and we have had weather all the way from 30° below zero to 65 above. Two or three days of 65 ' above does not affect it a particle ; I do not use a stove as do Elwood, Root, and others. 184 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Apr. WHY BEES WINTER WELL ONE WINTER, AND DO NOT ANOTHER, UNDER THE SAME CIRCUMSTANCES. This is candid, and I agree exactly. No one can tell why two swarms, sitting side by side, as near alike as two peas, should not winter alike; and yet, often one dies before March, while the other comes through a splendid colonj'. FASTENING BEES IN THE HIVES IN AVINTER. Packed in chaff, as you propose, bees do not need an entrance at all, especially in the cellar, and out of doors only where they can fly. Hence I close mine as tight as I can make them at the bottom in cellar, and generally do those out of doors. WHEN TO TAKE BEES OUT OF THE CELLAR. As you advise waiting till pollen is plenty (which advice is good), your advice as to the time of day in putting out is bad, as it is so warm at this season of the year that robbing will likely result from those set out previously, or from those wintered on sum- mer stands. Set out when sun is an hour high, on a warm day, and they will have a nice fly, and protect themselves the next morning. WEAK COLONIES THAT CONSUME SCARCELY ANY STORES, COMPARATIVELY, NOT BEING OP MUCH VALUE. Beg pardon, but this is not so. The colony that consumes the least stores in cellar wintering is al- ways the best colony in the spring, and the one that will remain quiet till pollen is plenty. Now set them out, and you willhave no spring dwindling, but each bee in the hive will be strong and vigorous, and as the weather is warm, they rush things. I agree with this, but my remarks were meant to apply to those so small they could not need much. NO. OF STOCKS IN A PERFECT CELLAR, NOT IM- PORTANT. With a cellar like ours it makes no difference whether there is one or 100 colonies in it, as it is not dependent on the bees for warmth, but it is the tem- perature of the gi'ound at a depth of 8 feet, and that temperature is from 43 to 45 degrees above zero. BEES THAT ARE FOUND ON THE FENCES AND W/VLKS IN THE SPRING, LADEN WITH POLLEN, ETC. I believe these bees die of old age, caused by a used-up vitality from holding the excrement so long, as I gave in the A. B. J., which friend Root and oth- ers "blowed" about so much. If you will consider, you will see that all evidences point that way. SAVING SOILED OR MOLDY COMBS. This sounds better than what you say on page 250. I believe it well pays to save all pieces of worker comb 6 inches square. This you save, while fdn. costs money. Conclusion. G. M. DOOLITILE. Borodino, N. Y., Nov. 1, 1880. "OUK BEES." FROM AWAY DOWN IN FLORIDA. S BOUGHT them last February, and paid $5.00 for three boxes of bees. Also another, badly in- fested with moths, for which I paid nothing. From this one I drove out the bees, took out the comb and killed the moths, replaced the comb, and returned the bees. In mooring, the comb broke down in one box and killed the bees. We moved them by boat 30 miles. Three swarms at home were soon all right and at work. There is nothing pecul- iar about them, only they are our bees. We had been housekeeping 35 years, and these were the flrst bees I ever owned. Tlwir home is our "Island Home" on Merritt's Island, in Indian River, Florida. This is not only a land of flowers, but of sunshine. This is true of all Florida in a general sense, but it is particularly true of Indian River. The showers of summer are much alike in all parts of the State. But in winter, when old people, invalids and bees, need sunshine, it is most abundant here. The sunshine of winter is diminished on the Gulf coast by fogs, and in the northern part of the State by cloudy, rainy weather, I am confident that no part of the American Union has as many hours of sunshine, particularly in win- ter, as this Indian River country. Perhaps I don't know, but I have lived in ten of these United States, and made the study of climatology a specialty for years. Our bees, then, have plenty of sunshine, and that, too, when it is most enjoyable, most conducive to their prosperity, and makes wintering a subject of quite another aspect as compax-ed with Ohio. It is even quite different here from what it is in the northern part of the State. All that part of bee lit- erature that relates to wintering is of no value to us. Every letter I get from the North tells of a ter- ribly cold winter; but here, more or less bees could be seen on the wing nearlj' every day, and choice tropical and hot-house plants have bloomed in our yard all winter. Of tropical fruits, we have in culti- ' vation the guava, pine-apple, oocoanut, mango, sapo- dilla, cheremoya, and coffee; none of which show any marks of frost. So j'ou can see that winter is really eliminated from an Indian River year, and that, too, when even in Florida not less than a mil- lion of oranges were ruined by being frozen. This much about winter and wintering. Now for the summer. The two best colonics gave us two more in MaJ^ These were hived in boxes, which they filled in a very short time with the finest honey I ever saw. It was from tho saw palmetto {SabaJ ser- rulata.) It was thicker than white-clover honey, equally as light color, with a peculiarly rich flavor. The saw palmetto is very abundant here, and the books say it blossoms from June to August; but here U: blooms from February to June. The cab- bage T^almetto (Sabal Palmetto), from some cause bloomed but little in this region. Early in July we transferred the five colonies to movable-frame hives. Befoi'e and at the time of transferring we took from them about 100 lbs. of honey. July and August are said to be bad honey months here. During these months they about hold their own. The partridge pea {Cassia Chamcvcrista) is abun- dant in this region, and blooms mostly in August; but these and all other flowers were destroyed by the terrible gale of August 20. About this time we made a sixth colony by dividing. They went to work as best they could, and seemed to be doing as well as any of them; but none of them did much more than get their living. As the weather grew cool they were cross, and I gave them little attention until Nov. 20, when I opened my eyes to the fact that oiir bees were starving! One colony was already dead, and others fast going the same road. Wo be- gan at once to feed them with sugar-cane syrup, on which they lived and prospered. Dec. 24. Looked them over and found brood in two of the hives. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 185 Jan. 1, 1881. They are beginniug to work quite briskly. The West India pea-tree, called the pigeon pea {Cajaniis indicus\ blooms all winter and affords good bee pasture. Of these we have a few. A few citron {Cilnis mcdica) blooms begin to appear, and these atford both pollen and honey. So also the lime iCitius limetta), and the lemon {Citrus limon- um), furnish both pollen and honey and are begin- ning to bloom. A few blossoms of the Spider plant (Cleome pungcns) have made their appearance. In the West Indies, its native habitat, this plant is called " wild massambee," where it blooms the whole year. Beyond these and a few other flowers in the yard, I do not know where they obtain their supplies. No more feeding is necessary. Jan. 15. Found brood in all the hives. In one, three frames of brood in all stages, and quantities of young bees. Feb. 1. The saw palmetto is beginning to bloom quite freely, and the bees are having a grand time. They are at it early, and hurry as if it were harvest time. Bright sunny weather, ranging from 65° in the morning to 75= at noon in the shade. It is noon, Feb. 2oth, and orange-trees are bloom- ing, and the bees are happy. Present indications are that they will now have a continuous harvest until the middle of June. And were it not for the uncertainty of counting chickens before the eggs are laid, I would tell you how much honey they will gather. It is safe to say we shall have all we can eat. J.4S. H. White. Island Home, Brevard Co., Fla. FRIEND JACKSOK'S TALK TO THE ABC AND OTHER CL.^SSES. WHICH IS THE BEST SMOKER? EN regard to the best smoker (see E. Cadwell,p. 81, Feb. No.) I would say I have used the Simplicity cold-blast for the past two seasons; it has giv- en entire satisfaction. I have gone one mile without its going out when I was out transferring bees. It has never been out of order. I find all work best with good fuel. Rotten wood is best. HOW TO GET RID OF A FERTILE WORKER. To remove a fertile worker, take a strong colony, cage the queen, and exchange places with the one that has the fertile worker. In 2-t hours release the queen with the same care as when introducing. The one with the fertile worker should be given a frame of young brood and eggs, and placed on the stand where the strong colony was removed from. The old bees coming in will destroy the fertile work- er. In the evening, place a caged queen in the hive, and introduce in theusualway. I have never known this plan to fail. LEARNING THE TRADE. I fear two many of our young bee-keepers do not realize what it is to learn bee-keeping. I have work- ed at the watch-maker's trade for over 20 years, and do not know it all yet. I have taught several young men the trade, and the most of them think they know more in six months than they do in ten years. They soon think they should be allowed to set the jewels and put the new staffs in the balance-wheels. While watch-making is a very fine trade, I think it more easily learned than bee-keeping. I do not say this to discourage any one, but that they may be more careful, and go slowly. I have been watching the new beginners very closely through Gleanings, and have learned many valuable lessons through the failures of others. I have kept run of many, and can see the cause of their failures. I think one or two colonies are far better for any one to begin with than ten or twenty. Then be in no hurry to increase : if you double your number each year, the bees will increase as fast as your knowledge. If we could spend two years with some good apiarist, I think we might be safe in starting an apiary of our own with 25 or ;)0 colonies, provided wo take and study the journals. We could then see tke cause of success and failure, and, with the good advice of the editors from time to time, we need have no fears of blasted hopes. BOX HIVES TO START WITH. Now, friend Root, T do not think your advice to L. S. Smith pp. 135, 136, of March No., very good. I will admit that, when he can manage bees in the box hive he can in any other; but how is he ever to learn how to manage them in the box hives? It is like learning to swim before going into the water. This being a very severe winter on bees, I think It a good time to notice something about what kind of aframe is the most successful in wintering. I have worked on the plan of testing all things before adopt- ing. I have used frames from 16 inches deep down to the L. frame, and have adopted the Gallup frame as the most practical. It is easier handled than the L. frame, and for wintering, the bees are far more compact. 1 packed 19 colonies In chaff on their sum- mer stands, and in the Gallup frame, about Oct. 20, and did not get to examine them till Feb. 26; then I found 17 as strong as they were in October; 2 had lost about a of their bees, and one queen was lost. They all had brood in all stages, except the queen- less colony; but none have enough to hurt them much. I would rather my bees would not rear much brood before April. I like the new cover on Gleanings much better than the old one. It looks cleaner and neater. THE JUVENILE DEFJiRTMENT. I do not think you can give the juvenile class too much encouragement. Once get our childeren in- terested in the study of bee culture, and we are on a "specie basis." I like your idea of giving them book presents for their letters. It gets them more inter- ested in the works of God. Once get them thoroughly interested in such studies, and we need have but lit- tle fear of the haunts of the bar-room and gaming- dens. LADIES' DEPARTMENT. My wife thinks the Ladies' Department should re- ceive more attention. Many of the ladies could write as good letters as the men; and it would be more en- couragement for the ladies to study bee culture if they knew what others are doing. Many of them could make a far better living for themselves than they do at much harder labor. My wife has two colonies that she is learning to manage. She thinks your Homes is one of the best departments you have. My daughter can beat any of us catching the queen when the bees swarm. Fairland, Ind., March 7, 1881. L. R. Jackson. You misapprehend my remarks in regard to box hives, friend .J. I expected, of course, the beginner would transfer them, and it was that he might go through with this op- eration, and thus gain experience while he saved expense, that I gave such advice. 186 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Apr. From Different Fields. fHAVE often thought of writing to you about the box-elder, it being', in my mind, a first-class — ' bee-tree; but I had never seen any thing upon the subject from others. Now 1 see that R. H. Mel- lon, in March Gleanings, brings up the subject, and his views coincide with mine exactly. The tree is perfectly hardy, and its greatest virtue as a bee- tree is, I think, in blossoming so much earlier than anything else; and, as friend Mellen says, one can cut a slit in the tree and have a flow of sap that will keep the bees humming. I think it would not be advisable to cut the trees much until thoy are of good size. They are, however, a rapid-growing tree and soon attain a good size. I have a little over 3i of an acre, set 4 ft. apart, the trees seven years old from seed, and from 15 to 25 ft. iu height, and, of course, being so closely planted, are rather slender. In spring they are one mass of blossoms, and the vboes go wild over them. I have sold a good many of them, and given awaj' a good many more. I live in a legion of box-elders, lean get seed by gathering it. I have a great many seedlings, and I have this spring about 1500 or 2000 more that I want to set out, and I Avill send, to any one who wishes to try a few, 10 nice little trees for enough postage-stamps to cover expense of wrapping and postage,— say about four 3-cent stamps; or, if you think I can do it for less, say so, and I will try it. You have sent bass- wood trees by mail, and know how much it costs to dig, pack, and mail them. I should not like to agree to send them for much less than the sum men- tioned, as I am a busy man, and I am afraid I could not afford the time. Perhaps, friend Root, you will think my object in writing this is to get a free advertisement, but it is not. I have advertised catalpa seedlings iu Feb. and March Nos., and have had loss than half a doz- en orders (unless I count the postal cards I have re- ceived telling me to forward trees or seeds as the case may be and they would remit at some future time). J can hardly do business in that way, my friends. So I thought I would not advertise box- elders, but as nearly as possible give them away. H. M. Morris. Rantoul, Champ. Co., 111., March 7, 1881. We can hardly call it free advertising, friend M., when one charges only enough to pay postage and trouble of taking up the plants. I do not think any of the brethren will accuse you of selfish motives in making such an offer. THE TYPE WRITERS; DO THEY PAY? Do you still use your type-writer for general writ- ing, and do you consider it valuable? Do you know aught of Yost's "Calagraph," claimed to be superior to the type-writer? What we wish to know is, whether these machines are pratical in actual use. H. A. B0RCH & Co. South Haven, Mich., Mar. 2, 18S1. I use my tyi)e-writer constantly, and, for aught I see. Gleanings would well nigh be a failure if I were to be deprived of it. It enables me to write very much faster than I ever did with a pen or pencil, and the mus- cular exercise needed to work it is quite a relief over the comparatively still and steady task of grasping a pen. On account of the extra rapidity, it is a great help to an author, where ideas come faster than they could or- dinarily be jotted down in the usual way. This much in its favor. Now, on the other hand, a type-writer is hardly ])ractical for postal cards, because the labor of fixing it in the machine, and taking it out, is more than when we simply use a pen or pencil. Much the same is true with a letter, unless one has to write quite a long letter. Unless one is an editor, author, minister, or something of the like, I hardly think a type-writer would pay; and where one has the free use of his right hand, and writes easily and rapidly, I am not sure but the type-writer might be laid aside for the more simple implements, even after it has been i)urchased. I work mine entirely with my left hand. I know nothing of the machine you mention. now TO START SEEDS QUICKLY. One of our girls who always makes seeds grow when nobody else can, wrote the fol- lowing to one of "our customers, and I have appropriated it for the benefit of you all, as you will see : — We have just sprouted Simpson seed in 4 days, this way: Take a common earthen flower-pot, with a hole in the bottom. Fill with fine leaf-mold and sand; pour hot water on, and jam it down well into the pot. Sprinkle the seeds on thinly, and roll them in; then put a tumbler over it, to fit tight, and set it in a saucer of warm water, always keeping the saucer full. Then set the whole in a warm place, such as the top of the reservoir of the cooking-stove, or on the shelf of the pipe. As soon as they begin to sprout, give plenty of light, near the window. CHAFF CUSHIONS; WILL THEY PAY AS FAR SOUTH AS GEORGIA? I read reports in Gleanings and A. B. J. every week from bee-raisers all over the country, but sel- dom from my section. A cording to statements giv- en by some apiarians, of the heavy losses from severe winter, it seems enough to discourage the experienc- ed, let alone the A B C class. Were they all put in Blasted Hopes, that department would swell to a journal of considerable size. In our section. Provi- dence has blessed us with milder winters, and winter- ing is not so dilHcult as in your section. In October last I transferred four colonies, and took all the honey from them, the comb being too crooked to put in my hives. 1 fed them on A sugar; they gathered a little honey until frost, possibly 2 or 3 lbs. Satur- day, the 2(5th, I went into the hives to find the queen laying. Brood in all stages was found. The swarms were in as flue condition as I could wish them to be. I took the precaution, just after the long cold spell (unusual in our climate), to examine and clean out every hive, air them a few minutes, and feed each one pound of sugar, made into candy; the latter, I suppose, " pushed " the queen to a sense of her duty. CHAFF CUSHIONS. As bees had always been wintered here in boxes without protection, it was thought that chaff cush- ions was a hobby of mine. Two hives had cushions on each side, a blanket and cushion on top; one had blanket on top; one with no protection. Result: The first two came through all right, without any perceptible havoc ha\'ing been made on their winter stores; the one half protected had destroyed about 1881 GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTUKE. 187 half of theirs, while the one unprotected ate up all; about one-fourth of the bees dead, and the rest too weak to do any thing; but by careful nursing- it is now all right. I owe all my success to Gleanings and ABC which I have read and re-read with great pleasure as well as benefit. 1 am studying the sub- ject very carefully, and I do not want my name ever dropped from your subscription list. Greenville, Ga., Feb. 28, '81. F. M. Ledbetter. We are just in receipt of Dr. Chase's sec- ond Ileceipt Book, from the Chase Publish- ing Co., Toledo, U. The book has been re- vised, in bee culture as well as some other subjects, so as to bring the whole up to the present time. The siibject of ''diseases of women and children" has also been revised, and additions made thereto. While glanc- ing through it, my eye caught the following, which some of you "have recently inquired about: — LABELING ON TIN. The difficulty of making labels stick upon tin arises from the extreme smoothness of the surface; to overcome this inconvenience, roughen the sur- face with sand-paper before putting on the label. This is a quick process on the tops of tin boxes; but for labeling upon the sides of boxes, or cans, the quickest way is to have the label made long enough to go more than around, the extra part being blank, or without printing, to allow the other end to lap over it, and all is right, even with common paste. "Wetting the tin with common white- wash and wip- ing off, after it is dry, roughens the tin about equal to sand-papering, as the lime corrodes the surface somewhat. The price of the book is $2.00, and we can mail it to any address on receipt of price. MOVING BEES IN THE WINTER. Please inform me what I can do to keep my bees. I bought 3 hi%-es last fall, and moved them in the winter. Two swarms have died already, and the other is very uneasy, and every warm day the bees come out and do not go back, but try to run away. I put a screen over the box so they can not go far, and they will not go back into the hive, although they have plenty to eat. The other hives that died had 5 lbs. apiece, so did not starve. N. Dunbar. Tallmadge, Summit Co., O., Feb. 36, 1881. It may be that your bees would have be- come diseased, and died as they did, with- out their having been moved in the winter, friend D.; but as a great many reports have been given of bees that died after having been moved in cold weather, I think it very likely that it often so stirs them up that it gives them dysentery. It has been suggest- ed that the moving causes them to gorge themselves with honey at a season of rest, and, being unable to tly out and relieve themselves, disease results. Your bees came out as you describe, be- cause they were diseased; and at such times, trying to confine them in the hives is of no avail. Bees are often moved, however, dur- ing winter, without apparent harm, especial- ly if moved in moderate weather. IMPLEMENT FOR DESTROYING THE BEE-MOTH. I send you a plan of a lamp, etc., that is very use- ful for destroying moths. It consists of a pan of vis- cid matter placed upon a stake, which is set in the center of the apiary. A block of wood is placed in the pan, upon which is placed a lighted glass lantern. The moths, being attracted bythe light, dashagainst it and fall into the pan, and are thus destroyed. This lamp, as above, is used in the cotton-flelds of the South for the purpose of destroying the cotton- moth {Leucania umpuncta), and the plan is given by Daniel Breed, Washington, D. C, in his report upon '•Inventions for Insect Destruction," 1876. It will pay to have one burning every warm night in every apiary. Try it and see. N. F. Case. Glensdale, Lewis Co., N. Y., March 5, 1881. Thanks, friend C. The plan has been given, substantially, before. 8o far as I know, tlie bee-moth has almost ceased to be called an enemy, unless it is the trouble they some- times'make with combs left out of hives. They do not annoy us otherwise, enough to be hardly thought of, late years. Still, in some localities, the device may be of great value. Without question, a great many kinds of harmless millers will be destroyed also, if, indeed, there are any such. Will Prof. Cook please tell us if all nocturnal moths and millers are of the order of injuri- ous insects? AMBER SUGAR-CANE IN NOVA SCOTIA. Like yourself, I am trying to sweeten the general business of life with honey, and syrup from the Am- ber sugar-cane. In this I have been greatly aided by Gleanings, which I have carefully read from its first number to the last issued. Our household has become so familiar with you and your surroundings that you appear more like a near and highly es- teemed neighbor than a resident of distant Ohio. But, to business. Last spring we inti-oduccd the Amber sugar-cane into this section. It grew well, but owing to late planting and drought did not quite ripen. I put up a mill— a rude one for ex;veriment. The various patches planted yielded from 100 to 200 gallons of syrup per acre. The quality, however, is not up to our expectations. It is about as good as ordinary W^est India molasses, and quite as dark. I want a sample of the beautiful article you mention in the Feb. No., p. 60. I know the sight of it will en- courage the people to persevere. G. C. Miller. Middleton, Annapolis Co., N. S., Feb. 26, 1881. toads; how to banish from the apiary. If they are quite numerous, Iget a dipper and go to the cistern and get it full of water ; soft water is best. Get some one to accompany you with both hands full of salt. You go first and wet the backs of every toad or frog, and your assistant comes afterward, sprinkling them freely with salt. They will at once start to hop off, and they hop, hop, as long as they live; and when they get far enough away they stop to die, if the dose of salt has been large enough. This, I think, is the cheapest, quickest, and best way to exterminate those " hoptiles. " Please publish this in Gleanings for the benefit of toad-afllicted friends. Wesley Baer. Benmilter, Ont., Ca., March 4, 1881. I have no doubt but that your plan will work, friend B.; but really it seems almost as if it was too much like "' fun for you, but death to us." Can not these poor dumb friends be carried away somewhere and set at something useful? It is said they are splendid in a garden, to rid it of Jioxious in- sects. As I see them in my mind's eye, 188 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Apr. hopping off by themselves to die, it some- how seems appropriate that somebody somewhere should drop a tear over their sad fate, even if they have been guilty of gob- bling up the bees. SOMETHING ABOUT THE STINGLESS BEES OF SOUTH AMERICA. We, the Washtenaw Co. [Mich.], Bee-Keepers' As- sociation, met as announced. It was a very inter- esting meeting, of 30 members. Several papers were read and discussed. Prof. Steer, of the Michigan University, gave a very interesting account of the "stiugless bees" of South America, and others, as seen by him in his three years' travels around the world, which he describes as no larger than our house-flies; though they can not sting, they get into the hair and whiskers, and bite. They would be of no account to us, as they make but little honey (and that is poor), but considerable wax, which is black. They build their nests under limbs of trees near the body. He thinks they would not endure our climate. After his graduation, the professor started, by the way of the Amazon River, with his gun and knap- sack. Where conveyance could not be obtained he went on foot. After his return with all his spec- imens, there was no room in the museum. The State appropriated §30,000 for a new building, which is now being occupied, and gave him $10,000 for one- half of the specimens. It is the largest and best ever collected in this country— animals, fishes, birds, reptiles, minerals, ancient crockery, etc., 20 tons weight. What is especially rare are his birds of par- adise, a large number. One can not conceive the exquisite beauty of their plumage and form, if he has never seen them. The professor crossed the Andes, and from Callao sailed for Japan; from there through the East India Islands. He describes a race of bees in the mountains of Formosa that are similar to ours; they are yellow, like Italians. Their habits of docility are such that the natives breed them in boxes made of slates, along the sides of their huts (like your house apiary), bat open inside as well as out, without disturbance to the family. As the climate in the mountains is similar to ours, he thinks perhaps they would be an improvement. We extended our society and called it South-East- ern Michigan Bee-Keepers' Association. Next meet- ing the first Thursday in May next. Ann Arbor, Mich., March 8, '81. N. A. Prudden. A TELEPHONE DETECTIVE. I think if friend Baird [see page 97, Feb. No.] had had a telephone running from his house to his " fine turkey roost," he would not have had to resort to the use of firearms; he could have said, "Boys, which turkey do you want?" They would have gone home satisfied. I took two 1-quart tin cans and wire No. 30, and made one run to the grist mill, a distance of 200 yards. I can, by placing my ear close to the can that is in my house, hear footsteps in the mill dis- tinctly; and when I am at work at the mill, and want any thing from the house, all I have to do is to go to the telephone and say, "Boys! " and here they come with whatever I want. Now, why not have one to run from the house to the apiary, where the distance is so gteat we can not hear the bees when they swarm? and if any rogues were to come after night for honey, you could tell them where the best honey was. The one I made cost only 15 cents, and has already paid ten times its cost, say nothing of the fun the boys have with it. Geo. W. Stites. Spring Station, Ind., March 4, 1881. Friend S., will you please describe those tin cans a little more definitely? Our boys have used something similar, but I believe they used thin parchment stretched over for bottoms of the cans, and tied the wire in the center of this parchment. Their principal trouble in keeping the machines in proper working trim, was the expansion and con- traction of the wire, by changes of tempera- ture. " COMB between upper AND LOWER STORIES, ETC. How to provide queens and Italian drones, and not lose strength in my stocks in the interim, is a problem, especially as some are in box hives and will require transferring. My Italian hive is from a dollar queen procured of you more than a year ago, and produced 60 lbs. of nice section-box honey last season. How shall I prevent the joining of broad section frames and brood frames below? In every instance they are joined by comb, and necessitates jarring to remove them. I see Kidder has tricked some of our N. C. neighbors, by the card of H. A, Da- vis In March Gleanings. They were here, and made the same pretensions, anxiously insisting on my influence to secure sale of State or county rights to another party. But I had read too much in the bee journals to engage in a swindle. I send you their card, and it would have done you good to see me showing the "Gen. Agt." some of my nice Sim- plicity hives and fixings. I prefer the Simplicity hives to any, because, in addition to the other ad- vantage possessed by frame hives having no bottom (fixed), it enables us to hold a hand with the moth miller, and build to any capacity required. My nice well-filled 1-lb. sections are the admiration of all who have seen them. L. C. Cannon. Spartanburg, S. C, March 9, 1881. The attachment between the upper and lower frames is usually prevented by reduc- ing the space to i or f inch; but some stocks, during a heavy yield, will fill it up solid even then. Greasing the tops and bot- tom-bars of the frames will, if I am correct, stop it effectually. We are glad to hear you so pleasantly baffled the patent-right men. WHERE THIEVES BREAK THROUGH AND STEAL. I would have ordered you to continue Gleanings before now, but a thief broke in on me and robbed me of all the money I had on hand, some $300,00 more or less. I do not know how much I had on hand. This left me very destitute of change for some time. I trust as God saw fit to permit it, he will also see fit to assist me to provide, etc. My bees seem to be opening out on the spring flowers splendidly. They are taking in the pollen from the early blooms. Every day the weather will permit, I find them on some of them. Like myself they are very low in funds. Whether the thieves " broke through and stole," or not, I can't toll, but I am trying to prevent any more stealing by feeding them in the open air every warm day. I am feeding sugar and water. They seem to take it up greedily, and I see no robbing now since I began to feed. I have lost six colonies out of forty, all on their sum- mer stands. I am using the Simplicity hive. I have no company in the bee business within forty miles 1881 GLEAJ^mGS IN BEE CULTURE. 189 of me who use any other than the old-style hives, ex- cept a friend experimenting with a few Simplicity hives. D. L. Murff. West Station, Holmes Co , Miss , March 7, 1881. No doubt (xod permitted the tliief to steal your money, friend M. ; but I am very sure it was not his wish that he should do so. and that one of the lessons he wishes you to learn from the transaction is, keep no such amount of money about you. where a thief might be tempted thereby. "Whenever you liave any such sum unemployed, put it in your bank, and ^ive a check to whomso- ever you wish to pay. If it is inconvenient to put it in a bank for any reason, put the greater part of it in an inside pocket, and handle it in such a way that no one shall know you have any such sum with you. Carelessness in handling both money and honey(is often the means of making thieves of both men and bees. niJft RED-CLOVER QUEEX. The two queens we got of you last summer are all right, while the ones we got from Mr. and are all dead long ago. I believe the red-clover queen to be a very superior bee. I also believe that the most of cheap queens are worthless. If Red Clover gets through all right, I will raise our own queens. Our bees have been a dead expense so far. Will try again. Mary A. Terris. Purdy, Barry Co., Mo., March 10, 1881. Such has been the case in our own apiary, friend Mary, and as the red-clover queen is once more strong and all right, while many others are dead, we shall again raise queens from our red-clover queen, at least to a con- siderable extent. A little more charity, my friend. Low-priced queens, raised honestly, should be exactly like all others, only that they are not as yet tested. A GOOD REPORT ALL AROUND. About two years ago I bought a " sample hive " of Mrs. Lizzie E. Cotton, for which I paid :?1.03. I thought this a high price for only a " sample " which I could not use. I saw in Feb. Gleanings an arti- cle, "Bee-Keeping for Profit, by Lizzie E. Cotton." I concluded to ask her to send me a copy gratis, be- cause I thought she charged me too much for the sample; and, behold ! the other day I received a copy free. I thank her for it. I had ten colonies of bees last fall; wintered them out-doors. In Feb., two which I transferred last fall, swarmed out and united with the rest. One had brood in all stages. One of the eight, which I have yet, I bought in Nov. last for thiriy cents. It was in an old store-box with broom-sticks for cross- bars, and had 6 lbs. of honey. I transferred it as soon as I got it home, and fed it sugar syrup and candy. It seems all right thus far. Henry L. Weiss. Spinnerstown, Bucks Co., Pa., March 14, 1881. wintering without protection, etc. I will try to tell you how my bees have done so far. I went into winter-quarters with 30 stands of bees -29 extra good, 1 not very good; sold 3 since, and the poor one died, so I wintered and have on hand 26 in as good condition as I ever saw bees at this time of year. The bees did not have a good fly from the 15th of Nov. until yesterday (March 10.) I fed rye meal yesterday; to-day Is not warm enough to fly again. The most of my bees have chaflf in up- per story, but those that have no chaff are seeming- ly as good as those with chaff. I left all the 10 frames in, and those full of sealed honey. Some of the side combs are yet untouched, and strong with healthy bees. I had, for a wind-break, corn-fodder set on the north side of the hives of most of them. On one hive I left the section boxes on, and these were filled with honey, and some bees clustered on them, and yet wintered all right, while the ther- mometer near them stood, Dec. 29th, 17° below zero. I think I shall have plenty of bees to start in with the early bloom. I also think I can sell bees by the pound this spring, as it looks all right now. No Blasted Hopes for me. W. St. Martz. Moonshine, Clark Co., Ills.. March 11, 1881. POLLEN, AND ITS RELATION TO DYSENTERY. Has not friend Merrybanks struck the keynote at last, in regard to the great bee malady, dysentery? I made the remark to a neighbor, but a short time ago, that if any one could find out the true cause of the disease, it would be worth a fortune; here is what I have observed this past winter. Last fall I put flour candy over several stocks of my bees; soon after, we h:id our first zero freeze, which lasted about 2 weeks, then "one warm day that the bees could fly freely, and at once I noticed signs of dys- entery. Some stocks spotted their hives with the well-known yellowish-brown color, and others with a white or milky color, which made me think then that the flour was giving dysentery; audi observed particularly that the flour seemed to pass them un- digested, or apparently in grainy lumps. Well, after reading the E. A. Robinson letter, I went out and examined a good stock that had died with two good frames of sealed stores, but had got clustered off away from them, in one corner of the hive and had starved, and they were bright and dry, and not the least spot or sign of dysentery about any part of the hive; and further examination showed butnow and then a scattering cell with a little pollen in, perhaps a dozen in all, and nothing to indicate that they had eaten any pollen. Tney had no candy. Question: Can any bee-keeper who reads this show that a single stock of bees have ever had dys- entery when they have had no pollen at all? A. A. Fradenburo. Port Washington, Ohio, March 14, 1881. green corn, again. The only way we care to dry corn or eat it is to boil it first, then slice off outer ends of grains thinly, and scrape the rest so as to leave the hulls on the cobs; then spread on nice boards, tins, or plates, and dry in dry-house or stove, without scorching or souring it, and we consider it far superior to the old way, and a nice dish, and it requires but little cooking after it has been soaked soft. As none mentioned this way in your paper, I thought they had never had any. Maria Demino. Watertown, Washington Co., O., Feb. 26, 18S1. OUT-DOOB AND CELLAR WINTERING. Our bees did very well last season. We are winter- ing 35 swarms— 20 in the house and 15 out-doors. Ten of those out-doors are packed in chaff, and 5 with boxes over them. They have been well^overed with snow, and we do not see much difference in either way of wintering. They are all doing well. M. & W. Ottaway. Volusia, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., Feb. 28, 1881. 190 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Apr. M'HAT AN A B C SCHOLAR HAS LEARNED BY EXPE- RIENCE. I have just commenced bee-keeping, and I don't expect to make a failure. I have 3 Italian queens that I bought last year, and one I got from E. M. Hayhurst. She was out of the hive 36 hours, and it was 8 days before I could get her to lay, and then I had to give her a frame of eggs and larvae, and had to build her up in the fall for winter. But her daughters are hard to beat. I was over them all, yesterday, and they had sealed brood in 4 or 5 combs, but she hadn't an egg. "Would you breed from her or her daughter? She is very dark, and her daugh- ter very light, and two spotted. Would you raise drones from the same queen this j'ear that you did last, or would you change? I am going to work for honey till I get thoroughly Italianized, and then for queens and honey. This has been a hard winter on bees. I think 50 per cent of bees in this pait are dead. One neigh- bor has lost 13 out of 16. I have lost 25 per cent. CAUTION ABOUT DIVIDING. One thing I have learned, and it has cost me 80 lbs. of sugar and 4 stands of bees, and that is, not to di- vide too much. Will it improve Italians to cross them with Cyprian and Holj--Land bees? BRINGING FROZEN BEES TO LIFE. I found a colony of bees dead, and was anxious to see the queen; and while I was looking at her through my magnifyiug-glass, she came to life, and I fetched the bees in the house and warmed them up, and in half an hour I had a good swarm all right. Wm. Malone. Oakley, Lucas Co., Iowa, March 7, 1881. I should not want to rear queens nor drones from any queen that was not a good layer ; but so far as the latter are concerned, it is quite unlikely your young queens will meet any drones reared in your apiary. I should pay very little attention to the color of a queen, if I were rearing bees for honey. I can not tell whether the Cyprian and Holy- Land strain is going to be a benefit or not ; but I am inclined to think they are. The present season will tell, doubtless. You are not the first one, friend M., who has brought a swarm to life, after they were apparently dead through cold and lack of stores. BLUE THISTLE AGAIN; A CAUTION. Being desirous of knowing more about the quali- ties of blue thistle (jEc/iiion viilr/are),! sent a number of letters of inquiry to bee-keepers and others liv- ing in New Yo rk, Virginia, Georgia, and other States, and from their kind replies the following was gleaned :— That beside "blue thistle" there ai'e two other weeds growing in the U. S., belonging to the Composite family, which are sometimes called blue thistle; that the blue thistle that you sell Is "the most enterprising" of the lot. The most of the friends agree that, once in the ground, it is there for ever, and that all efforts to eradicate it will fail; that it spreads rapidly; that it injures oats, corn, wheat, hay, etc. But the greatest damagp is done to pastures. Several writers agree that, if let alone, it will completely cover the ground and choke out all other vegetation except briers. This would be a very serious matter to us living in the North, who depend so largely upon producing cheese, beef, and wool. I believe the most of us bee- keepers would rather stick to our splendid yield of white-clover honey than have our pastures covered, or partially covered, with blue thistle, and allowing it to take the place of clover. They all agree that stock will not eat it. But perhaps you will say, "Don't let it spread all over; keep it where you want it." Ah! that is where the rub comes, for birds carry it, and there are so many ways of scattering seeds, and then, once disseminated, will it not cost the people millions to keep it in subjection? A farnier living in Virginia writes: "Shun it as you would an approach to the 'deadly upas-tree;' it is the greatest nuisance we have to contend with." He sent me a package of it, which proved to be Echium vulgare. I may add, that some do not think blue thistle of much harm ; but no one advises me to sow it, but, on the contrary, some say, " If you want a fertilizer, sow clover; for it can never give trouble." Permit me to say, in conclu- sion, that E. vulgare was brought from Europe, and is now, a weed in fields, from New York to Virginia, and grows profusely in the South and West. S. T. Pettit. Belmont, Ont., Canada, March 8, 1881. OAK LEAVES AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR CHAFF. I see and hear accounts all around the country of bees dying while there is plenty of honey in the hives. I have been in the habit, years past, of pack- ing my hives in chaff; but in the spring the chaff was moldy and damp, and injured the hive as well as the bees, and had an unpleasant smell. This year (or last fall) I used dry oak leaves with old carpet or quilts laid over the brood nest. I examined them this spring, and find the leaves all dry, and the bees all in good condition. My experience proves that dry oak leaves are the best to pack in, as they will not mold or gather moisture, and will keep out the cold when packed close, and can always be found. W. H. Shedd. Watseka, Iroquois Co., 111., March 9, 1881. Leaves have been frequently mentioned in these pages, but, friend S., I hardly see why oak leaves should be better than any other. "We have had no damp or unpleasant-smell- ing chaff in our hives since we used the tin roofs. THE FOSTER FOUNDATION MACHINE, ETC. I got a fdn. machine, or mold, of Foster, of Mt. Vernon, Iowa, arid I must say that it is a perfect success with me. No trouble, no slop, no waste, no washing off of soap suds, and no tedious picking off, bit by bit, of wax from the rollers, or imperfect sheets, as I went through last season with the Dun- ham machine. My Dunham cost me over $40.00 (with express charges), but to-day I would much prefer the Foster, if compelled to choose between the two. But we must have copper instead of plaster. I have gone over my bees in the last few mild days, and cleaned up the hives, removing dead bees, etc.; rather awkward job with the chaff hive when the upper part is filled with loose chaff and planer shavings. I found all but one in good condition, with brood in all stages, but not in large amounts. Placed a frame of candy on top of frames of each one (though all had honey) to induce continued brood-rearing. E. T. Flanagan. Belleville, St. Clair Co., 111., March 7, 1881. ISSl GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUSE. 191 HOLY-LAND BEES FOR WINTERING. ^fy experience in wintering Holy-Land bees has been different from yours. Mine have stood the winter much better than Italians or blacks. I hav3 never had bees in better condition than the colony is that contains my imported Holy-Land queen. "Perhaps one reason is, because they have been pre- pared for winter with more than ordinary care. TENEMENT HIVES. I got some 15 or IS swarms of black bees late last fall, that were to be killed, and put them in chaff tenement hives. I put my black bees and some Ital- ians in such hives; gave them 6 frames of honey each; put thick chaff cushions on top. Now, when I had them thus prepared I felt happy. I thought they would certainly stand the coldest winter; but now for the result: The bees prepared thus never clustered on a small place as sensible bees do; they kept up a continual roaring, commenced breeding in the winter, got the dysentery, flew out the coldest weather, and perished, and now are nearly all dead. The moth worm got in some of them and ate them up; others, where I have but four in one hive, are in good condition. Does not this go to show that bees can be kept too warm, even on their summer stands? I also wintered some in half chaff hives made with chaff only at end of hives. I put 3 colon- ies In each of those hives. The colonies prepared thus clustered against the division board, and out- side combs got frosty, and some of the bees starved with plenty of honey in outside combs, and the most of those bees have dysentery, and are in bad condi- tion. I. R. Good. Nappanee, Ind., March 14, 1881. "We never think of wintering our bpes anywhere else than on their summer stands. All have winter- ed safely. I have 26 stands, all in good order; we don't think of feeding; we leave them plenty of stores, so there is no occasion for feeding. Peach- trees are in bloom, bees bringing in pollen by the quantity. My colonies averaged about 35 lbs. to the colony, which I sold at 15c per lb. readily, while hon- ey from the common hive (or gum, as called here) was dull at 10c. Bees won't notice buckwheat here; I have planted several times, but it is no use; the only thing I plant for bees is mustard. That blooms in the early spring from fall planting. It is just be- ginning to shoot now; in a week or two it will be in full bloom. T. L. Davidson. Early Branch, Hampton Co., S. C, Feb. 18, 1881. CALIFORNIA, ETC. I have received a number of letters lately, request- ing me to give a description of California in regard to bee-keeping. "Well, I don't think there is one-flfth part of this State that a man can make a living in by keeping bees. The good places are in patches, and the most of them, I think, are already overstocked now. I know that my section of the country, which is a small one, is good for bees on a space not to ex- ceed fifteen miles square, but in the southern part of the State, I understand that bee-pasture is more reg- ular in the mountains, but well stocked with bees. We have a good prospect for a large honey harvest the coming season, because we have had plenty of rain the past three months. "When we have plenty of rain in the winter we look for large j ields of hon- ey; and when we don't have plenty of rain in the winter, bees don't do much, for we don't look for anyraiQ from the middle of April till about the mid- dle of November. That would be quite a drought with you, 1 suppose. I am in an irrigated district, so I have a little the advantage of mountain apiaries in a dry year, as they call them here, when we don't get much rain in the winter. "Well, I had '330 swarms of bees last fall, and have the same now; lost none, and they are getting plenty of pollen and some honey. Now I should like to hear how some of the bee-men succeed with if ppio nodiflora, our main de- pendence for good honey here. HOW to keep bees from BUILDING TO THE CAP OR HIVE. Can you tell me some cheap varnish, or something to put inside of super or cap to prevent the bees from sticking comb to it? I had considerable trouble with the bees sticking comb to the cap from the end sections. HOW TO MEND RUBBER BOOTS. Also can you tell your bee friends how to mend rubber goods after being cut or cracked? I once knew a shoemaker who could mend a rubber boot or shoe as good as new, and I would like to know how it is done. O. E. CoON. LeMoore, Tulare Co., Cal., Feb. 22, 1881. I know of but one way, friend C, of keep- ing the bees from building combs where you do not wisli any, and that I have given many times before; viz., greasing the wood witli tallow. — Mending rubber boots may be thought pretty far away from the subject of bee culture, but as many of our friends wish to get out among their hives in this damp spring weather, it may not be out of place, after all. One of our boys, who is a shoe- maker by trade, furnishes the following, which may be of service: — CEMENT, FOR MENDING RUBBER BOOTS. Take about 1 pint of benzine; put it in a bottle or can. then put a piece of pure rubber in with it, and let it dissolve. When dissolved, it should be as thick .is synip; if not, add .a little more rubber: or if too thick, add a little more benzine. Put the cement on the patch, and also on the boot, and let it dry; then piit another coat on each ; let that dry, then put the patch on tlie cut. Before putting the cement on, take a rasp or fde and make the pla<-e where you wisli to put the patch quite rough. The rubber must be perfectly dry. BEES ABSCONDING WITHOUT A QUEEN. Why could you not just as well have said some- thing about the singular circumstance of S. P. Yo- der's bees [p. 133, March No.], absconding without a queen, and not returning to their hive, as the A B C class so invariably believe such is never done? Nokomis, 111., March 7, 1881. E. Sandford. I beg pardon, friend S., for not considering the point you mention. It is, as you say, a very rare thing for a swarm to go off in that way, without a queen ; but, although I have never seen them do so, 1 have pretty clear evidence that they sometimes do. As a usual thing, they go back to the parent hive, even after being hived; but sometimes it seems they do not. If there should be among the bees one who might act in the office of a fertile worker, they would likely stay, and ]3erhaps this was the case with friend Yo- der's bees. These cases are, however, so rare that I should never chase after a swarm if I had their queen in my possession. DYING IN WINTER FOR WANT OF STORES. Upon opening my hives this morning to learn how they had come through the "hard times" of this un- precedented winter, I found one colony dead un- der rather singular conditions. The combs were all bright and clean, and no signs of dysentery, and 192 GLEiVNINGS m BEE CULTUEE. Apr. contained considerable sealed honey; but what puz- zled me the most was the fact that the bottom of the hive was covered to the depth of half an inch with granules of white honey about the size of homoeopathic pellets. These were not sticky at all, but dry and quite hard, as may be seen by the sam- ple I send you. I would like to have some of your readers explain the cause of honev being deposited in this strange place. I will add, that the colony was not fed in the fall, but had plenty of natural stores. Chicopee, Mass., Mar. 16, 1881. John D. White. I should say it was a dear case of dying for want of Avater, friend W.. exactly as tliey do when they have nothing but grape sugar, liardened in tlieir cells. The granules on the bottom of the hives were thrown down thus, because the bees unsealed cell after cell, and licked off the liquid portion, drop- ping the dry grains, and then perished. Their beautiful round shape is a peculiarity of certain kinds of honey in the candying process. I found some yesterday in our own apiary, that seemed to "be mostly basswood honey. After uncapping the cells, it was found full of these miniature shot, as it were, with a small portion of liquid honey in the interstices. These pellets have much the taste of grape sugar, which they doubtless are in composition, although they were formed by the extremely cold weather of our ])ast winter, from honey gathered from the tlowers. If losses of this kind were very common, it would well behoove us to make some provision for giving bees water during the winter ; but I believe they seldom suffer thus until they begin brood-rearing largely, and usually the condensation furnishes water enough, or more than enough. Fur- nishing water at the same time we give them candy, will greatly hasten brood-rear- ing, as has been abundantly shown in our back volumes. INTRODUCING VIBGIN QUEENS. My experience in introducing virgin queens differs from that of yourself and Mr. Lund, related on page 82 of Feb. Gleanings. I introduced seven last sum- mer; tive successful! J'; one of the two unsuccess- ful ones was given four days after the first swarm, and the other two or three days after. I simply put the young queen down at the entrance, and let her run in immediately after the first swarm issued,' though in one case not till 2-4 hours after. bee-stings and rheumatism. My mother had been unable to dress herself, sew, or lift a cup of tea with her right hand for over three years, from the effects of rheumatism. One morn- ing she was helping among the bees, and received a slight sting on the left hand. In half an hour she was as sick a person as ever lived. Her whole body, from the top of her head to the end of her toes, ap- peared like one mass of stings. She recovered in about three hours, under the use of aconite and camphor, and could use her arm and hand as well as she ever could. J. P. Mills. Mills' Mills, N. Y., March 13. 1881. FRIEND HAYHUKST'S REPORT. We went into winter-quarters with 93 colonies in our yard, all in first-class condition, excepting three ; these had the indiscretion to make a raid on neigh- boring cider-mills, after they were fixed for winter, and w-ere very much reduced thereby. We now have 90 first-class colonies, all breeding nicely. The three weak ones have brood in various stages, and, having excellent queens, I hope to make them val- uable also. The bees have been working on Graham fiour for several days. The past has been a most disastrous winter for bees in this locality, some apiaries being almost entirely depopulated. E. M. Hayhurst. Kansas Citj', Mo., March 17, 1881. CHAFF PACKING, ETC. My bees are all in good condition, with one excep- tion, as far as 1 have examined. I put in winter- quarters, on their summer stands, 19 colonies, packed above and on two sides with old carpets and chaff. I found one queenless; the rest are brooding nicely. Bees in this locality made very little surplus honey; from 12 colonies I got only about £00 lbs. sur- plus, and increased, by artificial swarming, 5, and 2 naturally. I have 3 colonies in the Quinby, 3 in Langstrotb, and the remaindf>r in the Mitchell hives. I get the best results from the Quinby, but it is too expensive for profit. The Mitchell has not sufficient space above the brood-chamber for surplus arrange- ments; I intend to convert them into L. or Simplic- ities. F. S. MOSSTELLEK. Sharonville, O., March 21, 18S1. >Tii§€uvaginQi ENCOURAGING. If^ KIEND ROOT : — You may put me in the Smile- ry or wherever you please, so you do not put me in bad company. The goods I ordered came all right, with the exception of the needles, which followed suit through the mail. But while I was pleased with the goods, this was not all that tickled me. This day, Feb. 35th, was mild, and I ex- amined all my colonies at home, and found them in excellent condition. The whole 24 bid fair for not only weathering the storms of winter, but for being in good condition to send forth their legions to sip the nectar of the flowers — the fabled "food of the gods." If the season proves a good one, I may have honey to sell and some to eat. In view of the terri- ble ravages our severe winter has made in my neigh- bors' bees, I feel grateful to be so fortunate as I am. In the language of Shakespeare, I feel— ' ' Jly nature tickled witli good success. ' ' But in this, as in other things, I am reminded to "rejoice with trembling." There are yet dangers to be avoided, and casualties may occur, that might blast our anticipations. In the language of the Scottish bard, addressed to a mouse whose nest he had turned up with the plow,— • ' But, Mousie, thoti art no thy lane, ^n proving loresight may be vain ; Tlie best-laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft a-glee, And lea'e us naught but grief and pain For promised joj- " Whether successful or not, if spared I will report in due time. I know of but fewstandsleft inall this section. Some have lost from twenty to thirty stands. Wm. Ballantine. Sago, Muskingum Co., Ohio. Bees all right; came through the winter splendid- ly. Wintered on summer stands. Think I never had them do better. But the fretful monthof March is just before us. J. W. Johnson. Shelby ville, Shelby Co., 111., Feb. 25, 1881. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 193 FRIEND HOOPS WIXTEK-PROTECTOR BEE-HIVE. I have read Gleanings with interest during the year past, especially the experiences of the various members of the ABC class. I have never publicly announced myself a member of that class, although I became one last May. I then bought 2 colonies of Hiram Roop, Carson City, 5Iich., in bis " Winter- Protector" hive. I brought them home all right; doubled them during the season; took from them 100 lbs. extracted honey, 35 lbs. crate honey, and kept a plenty for bees during winter. I was sick from Sept. 10th till Dec. 6, and bees received very little care during that time. I filled side and rear cham- bers full of good dry sawdust about Christmas, and left them, I feared, with not enough honey. During my sickness, one colony became queenless and re- mained so for some time, owing to a failure to rear a queen, and my losing the one I bought of you, by the cold. The winter has been very cold, and constantly so- only three warm spells. To-day, with some misgiv- ings I opened the hives. Result, as follows: Three hives with brood in each. Bees on all the frames. Dead bees on each bottom-board, which I cleaned off. As many live bees now in each hive as any time last fall. The fourth colony is the one mentioned as queenless, but will live through, I think, without trouble if the next 60 days are not too hard on them. I gave each colony more honey, and kept some for April and May. My account with apiary Is as fol- lows:— ? colonies at SIO.CO each (minus hives) §23.00 Cr. by i colonies (Dec. 31, 1881), at §8.00 each $32.00 By 100 lbs. extracted honey, sold atl2!4c.. 12.50 By 35 lbs. crate honey, sold at 20c 7.00 Total ."$51.50 Deduct cost of bees $20.00 Balance S31 50 Now, isn't 150 per cent on cash outlay a pretty good investment? If bees are all right next May I shall feel much en- couraged, and shall try Roop's hives another year. McBrides, Mich., Mar. 7, 1881. F. A. Palmer. My bees are in fine condition, storing both honey and pollen from peach, plum, and wild prairie flow- ers. All wintered finely in Simplicity hives on sum- mer stands without protection, and this is the sever- est winter in Texas for 30 years. The Italians you sent me last year are ahead too plain to question. I will Italianize this season. Dr. J. E. Lay. Hallettsvjlle, Texas, Feb. 28, 1881. Bees are all right yet; they all had a good flight yesterday. Last season was one of the best seasons that we have had for five years— one continnal flow of honey from the first of June till the 20th of Octo- ber; first, white clover; then smartweed the re- mainder of the season. Aaron Deardorff. Palmer, Christian Co., 111., Feb. 28, 1881. I cut fdn. in small strips, and don't care if they don't reach across the frame. My bees are all alive but one hive. I received 40 lbs. of honey to each hive last year, and an increase of two hives to each old one. Steward Francis. Dunbar Station, Neb., March 8, 1881. I was very much afraid 1 should have to go into Blasted Hopes, but matters have turned out a good deal better than I expected. Some time In January I noticed my bees getting restless, and were bound to come out, and I lost a great many in that way; but when I got the March Gleanings I found out it was dysentery; and now we have had a few fine days, though we have yet a foot of snow. They have had a good fly, and I made some candy out of coffee A sugar, and gave it to them, and they seem all right now. I could not get the candy to suit me, but did the best I could, though I could not get it to break off my finger like an egg-shell. I went into winter-quarters with 19, and came out with the same, but some were greatly depopulated, and some were first class. Thomas Purdy. Westover, Ont., Can., March 10, 1881. Sd^*} and flu^vie^. ^ HAVE now in my house apiary 82, which seem M all right; had 1C4 last fall; have about 16 in apiary 2 miles out; expect to lose some yet; nearly all the small colonies, and those in the old box hives have died, and some in my double chaff hives; but I think these were disturbed, and made restless and uneasy by the mice when the weather was cold. N. N. Shepard. Cochranton, Pa., March 16, 1881. THE STIKGLESS BEES OF SOUTH AMERICA. [Our friends will remember that we said we had written to one of our South American subscribers in regard to the matter. Here is his acknowledg- ment of the receipt of our letter]:- I received your letter and prospectus for Dec. 8th, 1880. I shall send you letter and orders next, and hope to be able to give you some information about the bees in question. I wrote to Paraguay for it, and offered good prices for hives with native bees. To introduce queens to black bees or Italians seems to me a funny idea. Mr. Noise is book-handler. I receive the Gleanings by him. Your subscriber and obedient servant is J. Noelting. 312 Calle Cangall, Buenos Ayres, S. A., Feb. 14, 1881. BLACKS AND HYBRIDS WANTED. Will you have any black or hybrid queens for sale this spring? My bees are nearly all gone, and I have lots of nice frames of comb, and would like to stock them up, but can't buy bees here for any reasonable price, as but few are left, and those are very weak. D. W. Fletcher. Lansingville, N. Y-, March 21, 1881. [We have no blacks nor hybiads, and it would hard- ly pay us to buy them to send out again. Will those who have such make it known? We will advertise them without charge, for the present, for accommo- dati on. Take care of j'our combs, friend F., and you will find use for them all.] My bees have wintered finely, and without loss, in my new chaff hive. The contrast between them and my former single-walled hive is very marked in the matter of wintering, and I am more and more con- vinced that chaff' hives are the hives. I make all my own hives now. P. R. Russell, Jr. Lynn, Mass., March 6, 1881. Bees are wintering very well so far in the cellar. They had a good fly the 8th of this month. Those left on the summer stands with no protection have died rapidly. One beekeeper reports, "Out of 140, I can not save 10." C. M. Crandall. Independence, Mo., Feb. 17, 1881. 194 GLEAXmGS m BEE CULTURE. Apr. Bees are wintering well so far with me, but it is not quite time for the pull yet. G. M, Doolittle. Borodino, N. Y., Mar. 7, 1881. > FIRST RECORD OF NEW HONEY. I began extracting yesterday! Willows have been in bloom two weeks— maple also. Eacelaiid, La., Feb. 15, 1881. CnAS. S. Larkin. I have 325 colonies of Italian bees. T. J. Martin. Rocky Mount, Bossier Par., La., Feb. 7, 1881. [A very goodly number, friend M. ; but can't you tell us a little more about them?] CALIFORNIA. At present the outlook for a good honey crop in Southern California is not brilliant. Rain has been driven away several times by north winds. Los Angeles, Gal., Mar. C, 1881. J. Madory. I feel thankful that my loss has been so light. Out of 184 swarms at the close of the honey season last fall, I have at present 156; but the severe test is yet to come during this month. N. E. Prentice. Castalia, Erie Co., O., March, 1881. I winter in chaff hives. Outof T5 put up one swarm had starved, and one was nearly gone -with old age I think. Several had become very uneasy, and were much reduced. All that 1 examined had more or less soiled spots in their hives, but were usually strong. S. C. Perry. Portland, Ionia Co., Mich., Mar. 6, 1881. improvement on CLARK'S NAIL-BOX. Suppose, instead of a label on nail-box (p. 122) you put a loop to hold a sample nail. This will show at a glance what is within. One-fifth of bees on sum- mer stands are dead. J. E. Dean. Fishkill, N. Y., Mar. 9, 1881. [Very good, friend D., and many thanks for the idea.] Bees are wintering in very poor condition in this section. Nearly all the bees will perish where they are kept out-doors. We have ours in cellar, and will have no loss to speak of; thej'' seem to be in as good order as when put in on the first days of November. The prospects are good for a good honey season; that is, if the people have any bees to gather it. Camargo, 111., Feb. 14, 1881. J. V. Caldwell. A LONG winter. Quite a number of bee-men in ihis county have lost every colony they toad. I think my loss will not exceed 8 per cent. I have examined a number; find eggs and sealed brood in strongest colonies. Bees had a good fly the 5th of Nov., and then on the 30th of Jan.— the longest cold weather ever known in southern Ohio. I had one ton of surplus honey last summer. J. B. Rapp. Owensville, Ohio, Feb. 25, 1881. another offer of dried corn. Having noticed in Gleanings that you want to know what you could get dried sweet corn at, we can furnish it to you for 7c per lb., not including freight. We dry large quantities every season— a hiuidred barrels or more, and have had no trouble to sell at that price. Wc can send you sample next fall, when we get to drying. We do not want to tell you what bad luck we have this winter, as you would class us in Blasted Hopes. E. Sherman. Preston, Hamilton Co., Ohio, March 7, 1881. SmOKER COIiUMlV. M'OW, friend R., I am one of those users of the vile weed put up in the shape of smoking to- ' " bacco. 1 thought of breaking the habit last summer; but it was so handy to smoke the bees with that 1 did not know whether you would send me one of your large size cold-blast Simplicity smok- ers. I \oill quit smoking. I have been a smoker for ten years, and during that time I think I have look- ed a good deal more like a simplicUii smoker than yours does; or, it may be'asiJ7i2:>lcto7!.s)7io/£er. Horton, Mich., Mar. 3, 1881. C. E. Larrabee. You offer a smoker to all your subscribers who will quit the use of tobacco. I have used the weed for 12 years. You send me one, and the day of its arrival I will quit, God beiug my helper. Send Bing- ham's cold-blast, large size. 1 am afraid j'our offer will cost you more than you expect. Bees are almost all dead here; they were killed by fruit and carelessness. Some left their bees as they stood on the summer stands. Arrista Bailey. Bedford, Ind., Mar. 5, 1881. Later:— The smoker came to hand all right, and I will honor the pledge I have taken. If my offer of smokers will be of lasting benefit to those who give u]) the tobacco, friend B., though it should be a temporary loss to me in the start, it will be a gain to others in the end, and God will, in some way, see that I am no great loser. Very simple means, in God's hands, often bring about great good. Let none of us be weary in well doing. Perhaps it may help you some to know that our friend " L>." is at this moment undergoing the ordeal. Although it comes hard, he is going to pull through, for he " is on the Lord's side." You will see that I have sent for a smoker without sending pay for it. If I am not entitled, I want you to send it just the same, and I will send the pay for it. If I am right, you off red a smoker to those that were tobacco-smokers it they would leave off the filthy habit. Well, I commenced smoking when I was 19; amnow57; have always been a hard smoker. I made up my mind to quit, the Lord beiug my help- er. Well, I prayed earnestly that he would help me in his own way. I felt that in my own strength I could do nothing. Well, before the day came I had set to quit, my appetite for it was gone, and now I am as much disgusted with it as can be. Bless the Lord for it! Chas. E. Larabee. West Chazy, Clinton Co., N. Y. Please send me one of Bingham's Standard smok- ers, for I have quit using the ivecd; have not used any since I saw j'our offer in Oct. Gleanings. I have used it for over 15 j'ears. If you send me a smoker, and I ever use tobacco again, I will send you a $5.00 greenback to pay for it. My wife is look- ing over my shoulder as I write this, and she says she will write to you and let you know if I use the nasty, filthy weed again. Ten per cent will, I think, cover the loss on bees in northern Michigan. J. A. Collier. Hart, Oceana Co., Mich., March 8, 18S1. Many thanks for the smoker. It is just splendid. It came on double-quick time. The boys are watch- ing me very closely; but let them watch; and with God's help I will stick to my pledge. Colby, Mich., March 10, 1881. W. R. Trussel. 1881 GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTURE. 195 §iur f CMi#. Choose you ibis day whom ye will serve. -Josh. 24:15. MY friends, the subject I would consider to-day is, whether any one can be a • Cliristian who chooses ; or. if you please, can any one be a happy and joyous Christian? In other words, can any one of you at any time step out of your desponden- cies and discouragements, and be happy, or, at least, peaceful, right off, at once':' The objections that will "be raised are, that it would be literally Ininging heaven upon earth, almost; and inasmuch as this is a world of sin and sorrow, it can"t be done ; it is impossible. If I read my Bible aright, God did intend we should have a heaven here on earth, if we would accept it; but if we will not take it as a free gift, of course we do not have it. I know this is talk, but so is bee culture talk; and if you did not verify it by practical work, it would end in talk ; but if you try what you see recom- mended by the different friends, and it proves right and good, the result is some- thing more than talk. I want you to try what I say, and see if it does not prove good. If I am correct, the dirticulties that lie in our way in choosing a Christian life, or a happy life, are much like the difliculties that lie in the way of getting up in the morning. Suppose we have decided in our own minds that it is best for our health, best for our work, and best for v>s in every way, to go to bed at 9 o'clock, or earlier, and get up at 6 o'clock, or earlier. You have over and over decided upon this course as the best; but when 9 o'clock at night comes, there is, as usual, so much on hand that you put it oif and put it off, until it is 10, and perhaps even ]l,and fiually you have only the old stor>- over again, of IJeing late in getting up, late at breakfast, late at work, and very likely are made unhappy all the forenoon, and possibly all day, just on account of this lazy, shiftless fashion you have got into, and have given way to, day after day. Joshua said to the people, ■' Choose you this day whom ye will serve." You have chosen lazy inclinations, or at least you have chosen to disobey your good sense and judgment and wisdom. Suppose you should say you did not choose it ; you chose the better waj'— but Avhaty Dare you tell me you could not help it? Do you not mean you icouhl not help ity Did Joshua mean the i)eople were to choose God on that day, and then go and serve idols? Perhaps you will say that you have tried going to bed at 9 o'clock, but'it wasn't any use. for you just lay awake an hour or more, while you might have been doing im- portant work. Well, my friend, if this is the case you are ready to get right down to work ; but you want to first learn that your feelings and your inclinations are one tliing, and your calm and deliberate reason anoth- er. Inclinations will continually clamor for the old order of things, or a worse one, if you give way to them, while calm reason says it won't do, and has got to be stopped. Heason,— or, if you choose^ you, yourself ,— the choosing, or deciding power that lies in you, must assert its prerogative as ruler, or ■'• boss of proceedings," and must take charge of the body and inclinations. The intelligent part of you that reaches up to God, and that prevents you from being only an animal, must step forth and take things in hand, something like this: — " Look here, old fellow, you have got to straighten up. I will put you to bed, and there you are to lie ; and if you choose to lie awake, do so ; but remember, you are to be up with the light, sleep or no sleep ; and if you lack sleep, you must learn to take it at the appointed hour. I am boss of this busi- ness, and know best, and you will certainly soon learn to be as ready to sleep at 9 as you now are at 11. God made the daylight and sunshine on purpose for such bodies as you ; and, besides being healthier, it is far cheap- er. In bed you sliall go, and there you shall lie during the hours that I, your lord and master, have calmly and deliberately de- creed are for your best and greatest good." Is that a new doctrine? " He that ruleth his spirit is greater than he that taketh a city." How would it answer, my friends, if you should take exactly that course in re- gard to all your habits in eating, drinking, bathing, exercise, etc., as well as sleeping? Have you any doubt of what the result would "be? Well, to go a little further, you may say that one day this higher self decides one way, and another day in a different manner. I'have before spoken of this, but I think it is mostly a mistake. You may be, for a day or more, biased in your reason by a feeling of spite against some one; but at such times you are to wait. Kemember, feelings (especially personal feel- ings) are not "• the boss;"' they are only ser- vants. Your cool, calmer, and better self tells plainly which course is best, in almost all matters of life. Especially is this the case with the heart that goes often to God in prayer, and therefore seeks the highest good of all mankind, rather than a solely selfish good. When this purer part of us comes out, this God part, as it were, and stands free and clear from selfish feelings and passions, all mankind think pretty near- ly alike. In questions as to what is really best for community, not only do all Christ- ians pretty nearly agree, butso, also, do un- believers, and people of every class, when you can get them to be really honest. Even the criminals in our prisons have good judg- ment, and a clear understanding, on most important questions. Although there are thousands who do not pay their debts. I have never seen a man yet who, when shown a promise of his, in his own handwriting, would ever argue that he ought not to keep that promise. All mankind have a respect for consistency; all love truth. Every one of you, my friends, could write down a feAv great principles for ruling your conduct in life, and you would, if you took a look at them in your calm moments, subscribe to them every day in life. Xot only this, your friends and neighbors would subscribe to them also. Let us see how this little text will work:— "Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before God." 196 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Apk. You all agree to the first, I am sure. There is not one among you all who would think of disputing the wisdom of such advice, even if he were not in his calmest moments. Have I put it too strongly? Well, how about mercy'? I am sure you would all say the same in regard to this, if the mercy were to be shown you, after you had transgressed in some way. Well, just apply the first a little to it, and we shall probably all agree in all of it, pretty nearly. In regard to walk- ing humbly before God, T presume that in this, too, almost everybody will think it at least a very good idea for their neighbors so to do ; and so applying the first, we all come round to about the same point. Well, if all mankind believe about the same thing in regard to all the great essen- tials, why is there so much trouble and mis- understanding, to say nothing about the crime in the world? The men who came to steal friend Baird's turkeys [see p. 97, Feb. No.], very likely believed just about the same as our liiend did w^ho was calling to them out of the window. Suppose these men could have been quietly captured in the act, and brought into the house ; wliat would they have had to say in extenuation of their course? Would they have said that, as they understood it, it was right, and fair for them to go in the night and take the turkeys friend B. had raised witli care and trouble? Would they have been likely to have pleaded ignorance of the laws of man or God? Not at all, for we all know w^hat is right and just, alas ! but too well. Their trouble and your discontent, my friend, is from the ' same common cause ; we know what is right, but we do not follow after that knowledge. It is not lack of wisdom ; it is only because we choose evil rather than good. Now, holding the points that have been made, let us take up another, that I have talked of to you before, many times. Sup- pose you have an alarm clock, to waken you in the morning ; but because yon don't feel like it, you pay no regard to its faithful sum- mons. You all know that you very soon get into a habit of not hearing it at all. If any of these calls to duty are disregarded, we soon cease to heed them. Well, now, there is a queer element in sin that makes him Avho sins bitter and uncharitable toward those who obey, or ai'e striving to obey. If you have a neighbor who gets up early, and you don't, you are almost sure to think he has some purpose in so doing that is not a good one. If you have yielded to your feel- insrs in doing "that which is wrong, and your neighbor is striving and praying for a pure heart, nine times out of ten you will call him a hypocrite, and take pleasure in railing about hypocrites as a class. Who has not heard bad men talk about the corruption of our ministers, condemning them as a class? I have told you something of how my class of saloon-keepers in the jail talked. They fairly got np on their feet, and gesticulated in the vehemence of their denunciations, and yet none of the clergy had been in any way instrumental in causing their imprisonment. I have heard that animals with the hydro- phobia become mad at the sight of water, and hence the name, signifying "water- madness." Well, one who has chosen Satan for his father ; one wdio is deliberately com- mitting voluntary sin day after day, is crazed, almost at the sight of a Bible, or at the mention of ministers, or any other ser- vants of Christ our Savior. Lost w'omen often show^ this in a remarkable degree. They would l)urn every Bible in the land if it were in their power. This attitude of heart is, of course, while they have chosen evil, and have most emphatically rejected, and are at enmity with, the spirit of Christ's teachings. Even 'their actions seem to say, — What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the tinie?-MATT. 8: 2y. Well, is it possible for such ones, steeped in sin, to accept Christ, even if they wished? Can one who is in the bonds of Satan believe in Christ or the Bible if he tries so to do? You see, of course, he can not, and hold to his sinful life or ways. The only thing to be done is to be remodeled, made over new, or, as Jesus terms it, "■ Ye must be born again." " But I do not believe in the Bible," says the poor crime-stained brother or sis- ter ; " I have tried to believe, but I can not." I am sure, my friends, the point is clear be- fore you. The talk about belief is simple folly and hollow mo(;kery. There is no need of wasting time and talk about what you be- lieve, or what you do not ; the great impor- tant point is, to obc)/. As long as the indi- vidual does not obey, and does not propose to, we can not expect him to profess any honest belief. Do yoit see how^ beautifully Christ's words come in here?— If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.— John 7: IT. Note also what Paul says,— For the preaching of the cross is to them that per- ish, foolishness; bat unto us which are saved, it is the power of God.— Cor. 1: 18. Do you not see that, at least to a certain extent, even our beliefs are subject to our control and our will power? In your calmer and letter moments, you decided" it was best for you to get up earlier in the morning, and in spite of the clamoring of inclinations, you literally put yourself to bed, and took your- self up. You put your weak and tired body to bed, because it "was the best and safest place for it. Instead of serving wrong and weak inclinations, you, like a wise and good ruler, chose wisely for your weak body. Now^ our text says, •' Choose you this day wiiom ye will serve." It does "not say any thing about beliefs. You decided about your earthly body, and for its best welfare and safety. Have you yet decided in the same way for your 'immorJal soul? Where will you put yourself when you lie down for that last sleep? Whom are you going to serve? Take the New Testament nnd read Christ's sermon on the mount. Read his sayings and teachings all through. As you read, ask yourself how it would probably'an- swer,— what would be the effect on your life, — if you should decide to serve him; or, if you choose, to lay out your life in accord- ance with ills teachings? No matter about beliefs now ; just candidly sum up what the result %vould be to make such a life your 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 197 choice. Doubtless a great deal of it looks strange and perplexing ; but is it not prolia- ble that miicli Avill be developed and unfold- ed as you look into it, that is not apparent now? Does it not begin to look safe, secure, plain, and restful, as you go into the sub- ject further? What harm can possibly come from taking up such a humble, quiet, peace- ful life as is here spread forth V — Take ray yr>ke upon you, and learn of mo; fori am meek and lowly of heart: and ye shall find peace unto your souls. For my yoke is "easy, and my bur- den is light.— Matt. 11:39, 30. Suppose you should choose it, and live it, and as you come down to death it should transpire that the Bible is a mistake, and that skepticism and infidelity are right, would you, on your dying bed, think you, have any thing to lamentV I am appealing now to this higher and purer intellect tliat God has given us all. Answer me soberly and candidly, or, better still, answer the God who made you. What answer would the highest wisdom known to mankind indicate? Where is the safest place to live and to die, — following Jesus and the Bible, or the world and skepticismV "Very well," some may say, "I am ready to accept the New Testa- ment; but what about the Old?" My friend, your house is on fire, andtiie thing.to do now is to go for water, wherever you can get it. After we have put the fire out, and the smoke has cleared away, we will have time and a clear vision ; but for the present, trust Jesus. He says, over and over, the Old Testament is all right, and we are just going to put it all on to his shoulders. If any trouble comes in here, at the bar of judgment, we will throw all the blame upon him, God's only Son. Nothing pleases God more than to have us show him we have ac- cepted his Son's words, and are determined to follow and hold fast to him, through all sorts of trials, and under all circumstances. Remember, if yon reject the Bible you have nothing. All the philosophy that was ever invented since man has been upon the earth gives no comfort, offers no savior, no help in trouble, and no peace on a dying bed.- Lis- ten to tlie words of that beautif alhymn from the immortal Charles Wesley:— Other refug-f have I none, Hangs my helpless soul on thee: Leave, oh, leave me not alone. Still support and comfort me. All my trust on thee is stayed, All my help from thee I bring; Cov'-r my defenseless head With the shadow of thy wing. You have looked the matter over calmly and quietly, with honesty and candor before God, contrasted a life guided by a pure and simple trust in Christ with one without any such faith, and have longed, hungered, and thirsted after righteousness. You have not only said I wish I were a Christian, but you have gone a little further, and said I want to be a Christian. Doubts, diffictdties, and, worst of all, inclinations, rise up and clamor and object ; but the soul that God gave you, that part of you which he created in his own image, rises up in supremacy, and asserts its privilege of saying, just as it did when put- ting the tired body to bed, " Child of weak- ness, ignorance, and sin, I, the responsible part of this temple of clay, after having care- fully and deliberately canvassed all points in regard to your best and greatest h^.ppiness, do unhesitatingly decide, that you are to be subject to the rule of Christ as your Lord and Savior; and I do hereby give warning to all feelings and emotions, all doubts, and fits of discouragement, that you are from hence- forth to be the servants, and Christ Jesus your Lord and Master. In this little tem- ple, of which God in infinite love and mercy has chosen me to be the head, there are to be no rebellious thoughts toward him tolerated, and I do hereby this day set my name and seal that, henceforth and for ever, so far as lies in my power, this whole life shall be put on the Lord's side. Will appetite, temper, uncharitableness, doubts and unbeliefs, dis- couragements, stubbornness, and all other feelings that may be apt to rebel, please take notice? '' Now, inasmuch as beliefs are greatly the effect of the lives we have led, as we have seen before, will it do any harm if the indi- vidual, or any individual, makes a choice of a Christian life, as given above, no matter what he believes, or thinks he believes? Suppose one whose stumbling-block in the way of becoming a Christian is unbelief, chooses as above, will God accept such a one? Can any one have faith in God who wishes he had it? My answer would be, most em- phatically, yes. It may not come just at the minute ; but put yourself right over on the Lord's side, with an earnest determination to stay there, no matter what comes, and the faith will be on hand, against any emergency. Whoso Cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.— JOBN 0:37. Choose you this day whom yo will serve * * * * * But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.— Josh. 24:15. 'Tis Saturday night. The rooms of the factory are now all deserted, and " JSI.," "D.,"and myself are sitting alone at the table. Tlie work of the week is over, and both young men are in their Sunday attire, looking clean, pure, and happy. I have just been reading from my well-worn Bible, — Whosoever wiil be great among you, let him be your minister; aud whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.— Matt. 20:26, 27. I will tell you why we are here. On the day before D. came out of jail, as we knelton the stone floor for the last time, I remarked, " D., we are now going to kneel together for the last time,*' meaning the last time while he was a prisoner under the law ; but I care- lessly omitted to put in the words, " here, under these circumstances." He looked at me, and I caught his bright dark eye as he said, — " It may be for the last timehere; but, Mr. Root, I hope it shall not be the last time that you and I shall kneel together in prayer, by any means." I hastened to apologize, but the words have followed me. M. too had said several times that he missed the long talks we used to have together, and so I suggested that we should have every Saturday night for a sort of anni- versary of old times, and for a little prayer- meeting of our own. Now, was there not 198 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Apr. rare wisdom iu the suggestions from both these boys? Are we not in danger of forget- ting that when one comes out, or even joins the church, he is only just started on tlie right track? Do you remember what Jesus said, in almost his last words, to the way- ward Peter?— So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Tea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.— John ^1:1.5. Now, my friends, I need not ask of you whether you think It will be a good tliing for all three of us to meet thus "together in prayer (of course, all others are welcome to come who choose), for the finger of God is so plainly stamped on it that no one could hardly err therein ; but the point I wish to make is this: the new lives of these two, — yes, of all three of us,— is simply the effect of— Choose you this day whom ye will serve. If we remembei the choice we have made, and hold to it, God only knows what may be the ending of just these three lives. Sunday evening, at our usual evening prayer-meet- ing, I was looking round a little une^isily, be- cause I did not see " D." in his accustomed place. A few minutes more, and in he came with one of his old associates, whom I should not be surprised to hear had never been in such a meeting before. " iSIay God bless the boy!" I mentally ejaculated ; and methinks I hear a prayer of similar import breatlied from many a'heart away along the line of my readers. Is it so? And are there not more who will say to-day. and say it again at the tirst opportunity, before your pastor and friends, — ''As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord"? It really seems as if God prompted my good friend Uumford to send the following lines to close up what I have been saying. Read them, and see what you think about it, dear reader: — rXDER HIS EYE. When 3-ou tliink, when you spe.ak, when you read, when you write, When yoxi sing, when you w.illc, when you seek for delight, To be liept from all evil at home and abroad, Live always as under the eye of the Lord. Whatever you think, both in joy and in woe. Think nothing you would not like Jesus to know; AV'hatever you say in a whisper or dear. Say nothing you'would not like Jesus to hear. Wliatever you read, though the page may allure, Read nothing unless you are perfectly sure Consternation would not be seen in your look If Uod should say suddenly, ' • Show me that book. ' ' Whatever you write with haste or with heed, Wiite nothing you would not like Jesus to le.ad; Whatever you sing in the midst of your glees. Sing nothing that God's listening ear would displease. Wherever you go, never go where vou fear To answer if God asks, •• Why are you here;" Whatever the pastime in wliicli yuu L-ii;;age. For the cheering of youth, or the solace rn frioi-y must eclipse The iiroudest monarch's proudest breath. No far-famed bishop's last adieu Can cast such death-scene in the shade. Be ours a trust as pure and true. When we must in the grave be laid. And to this end be ours a life Dcvctcd wholly to the Lord; With every inl)rcd sin at strife. Accordiii;^- to tlie Savior's word. A7id, hriuKiii!-' forth (he daily fruits Of ri).rlitic>usiii'ss ;i]id peace (ind joy, A L'liristi:in life stril;es deeper roots Than aught that's earthly can destroy. Mrs. HestekA. Awhey. Cottam, Ont., Feb. 16, 1881. I presume many of you will be pleased to know how brother Matthews is succeeding in the line that God seems to have so striking- ly marked out for him. Head: — Another year Is gone, and we (the Prison Mission) have abundant cause to be grateful to a kind Provi- dence; for over 3,000,000 pages have gone out to Tex- as, La., Ala., Tenn., Ark., Col., Mo., la., Kan., Neb., Min., Wis., Ills.. Ind., Mich., and two boxes ready for Raleigh, N. C. No railroad fare in seven States during 1880. Financially, the first year of any suc- cess since '75. All would have gone free if friends had been thoughtful and careful In sending. One broth- er gave (sent me) $50,00 for incidentals and when the year's work was balanced, there was !J cents left 200 GLEANINGS m BEE CULTURE. Apr. over. Brother and sister Axtell gave a swarm and hive; also divided them, and we received 105 lbs.— $21.00. This furnishes the stationery and all deficien- cies in postag-o and postal cards, and leaves ¥14.77 for stationery for 1881. Your $5.00 and sister ^\'.'s $5.00 nearl3' covered stamps, and others' postals. Not be- ing quite enough, sister A. covers deficiency. One kind brother raised house and o(Bce rent. Thus the good Lord has cared for us. Drayman brought 13 boxes yesterday, 9 from Bro. Hastings, Boston; one ton fresh choice matter. Railroads passed it free; also 3 Iowa sacks and one Michigan package, all in one day. I am busy on boxes for California, and sacks for Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois prisons. Sent bo.x (100 vols.) magazines to Detroit- House of Correction. If you see fit, I wish you would empha- size friends sending me by mail; thus I receive thousands of choice pages, otherwise lost. I now ask the express companies only to carry to prisons from here. Railroads will bill sacks and boxes free upon application from me; but some suppose all roads carry free if a box is left at any depot. Here lies my trouble and expense. I gratefully acknowledge receipt of yoiir journal. It is of great value, and I preserve it for future use. May God reward j'ou, my dear brother, for your deep interest in our prison mission. Prosperity and success to you in your labors for 1881! Onarga, 111., Jan. 13, 1881. "W. D. A. Matthews. Or Iietters from Those "Who have Made Bee Culture u Failure. THIS CUT EXPRESSES MV FEELINGS AT A LOSS OF ABOUT 15 COLONIES.— C. H. L.4KE. LET US MEDITATE (AFIER SUCH A WIKTER). fHAVE just looked over my bees, and find 16 out of 38 colonies with " nary " a live bee. Among ' the dead ones are queens from M'Cord, Burch, Cyprian, Palestine, Roop, Oatman, and daughters of imported queens, so I shall not be able to tell who has the best stock. I now have plenty of hives. frames, and combs, for another year at least. " Ad- versity hath its benefits." I shall need no supplies for 1881. J. L. Mock. Columbus, O., Jan. 31, 1881. I think fully five-sixths of the bees are dead in this locality, and, as a general thing, left considerable honey. D. B. Teague. West Milton, Miami Co., O., Feb. 8, 1881. There were 87 colonics of bees in 1 his township Nov. 1, 1880. At present alive, 18; 14 percent of box hives lived. I. P. C. Steddom. Webster, Wayne Co., Ind., Mar. 13, 1881. My neighbor who lost 10 out of 26 colonies has now lost 5 more, and says he expects to have almost none left by May 1st. He has been in the business for 35 years. Too much experience makes some persons careless. Do you not think it no more than fair that those who have given such good reports in the past should also report when they lose so much? I should like to see them in Blasted Hopes when they deserve it. May be I had better tell you that another neighbor who has 10 colonies has no losses this winter, so that I am not the best, you see, and the danger is not all over yet. I think I'll wait until May 1st and then send a report. James A. Nelson. Wyandott, Kans., Feb. 12, 1881. Keep on writing, friend N. As I am always anxious to see reports from others, I will endeavor to give a report (not very encourag- ing) of the loss of bees in Randolph county. The crop of surplus honey, in a manner, was nothing; yet they had plenty stored in the brood-chamber for winter iise, some having 50 to 75 lbs. In order to give a little idea of the different modes of wintering, and how they came out, I will give the names ot a few of the leading bee-keepers. E. Davis had 37, lost 37; in Mitchell hive, out- doors, with cloths on top. A. Frazier had 14, lost 13; packed in chaff on summer stands, Mitchell frame. J. Henshan had 14, lost 14; not protected at all; Langstroth hive. J. Thornburg had 31. lost 17; in Simplicity hives, packed in chaff on summer stands. Z. Edwards had 18, lost 18; in American frame, not protected at all. Wm. Johnson had 16, lost 15; in chaff hives, without cushions on top. A. Hoke had 21, lost 30; in bee-house; sawdust-packed walls; temperature kept at desired rate. This looks like worse than Blasted Hopes, docs it not, friend Root? The most of us are tint going to give it up yet. I think it is better to spend a little money for a few bees than to let the hives and those nice straight combs go to waste, and also the honey, which is so nice for spring feeding. Winchester, Ind., Feb. 14, '81. J. H. Thornburo. BLASTED HOPES, EVEN IN MISSISSIPPI. I had last fall 34 hives of bees. They are all dead but 6, and 3 of that number will play out with all the feeding I can do. When thej' get out of honey they become perfectly demoralized, and feeding seems to do no good. The fruit trees are in bloom, but it seems to do them no good. The long-protraoted rains which commenced the last week in August de- moralized the people worse than the bees. There is not one man in twenty who will pay his debts. I worked all last year on a credit, and am now nearly 1881 GLEANIXGS 12} BEE CULTURE. 201 as bad off as mj' poor little bees. They were brought to starvation by the floods, and we are nearly in the same fl.x from the same cause. But the clouds have dispersed, and every tbinj? is reviving- a little. I hope we shall be all right in a short time again. Ofahoma, Miss , March 6, '81. A. G. Dento.v. Well, friend D., you make out a pretty sad case, even down in your land of almost per- petual flowers. There is certainly some truth in your remark, that when bees get demoralized and discouraged, feeding seems to be of little avail ; but, my friend, even if the bees do get thus, you must not. J.,ook up ! there is a God above, and one too who has left a letter, written expressly to just such poor sinners as you and I, which says, "Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, "■' etc. lio you not sometimes read this letter, friend D.? MR. M£RRYB.\NKS AND HIS NEICa- BOR. (^(g wpHIS hive," says Mr. JNIerrybanks, "is Jjl"' not intended to be used so much for — ' getting surplus honey, as for fur- nishing bees by the pound, and rearing queens for the market, etc. However, when a heavy yield of honey comes, and it becomes desirable to have it stored in a shape proper for table use, we will take full combs built on nice clean fdn., and when they are nicely capped over, we will set them aside, either for table use or for the use of colonies that need such aid in the fall. These circular cakes of honey can be laid on a plate, and cut up as we cut up an ordinary pie, giving the children, of course, a smaUer slice than the older ones, lest they get sick by having SURPLUS HONEY FllOM THE PAIL BEEHIVE. too much sweets.'' Here friend M. gave a glance at Mary, who sat over by the stove, coughing from the effects of her bad cold. " Should the colony get very strong," resumed friend M., "and show no signs of swarming, we will put another pail right up against this one, placing the mouths oT both close together. Xow there will be two ways of getting surplus honey in this second pail. One is to attach fdn. to the side, in such a way as to have the bees build the pail full of solid honey, the combs running from the bottom to the top, so that when the pail is carried by the handle, in ttie usual way, there will be little danger of the combs breaking down." " But what Avill prevent the queen from rearing brood in this second pail, and vour having brood and pollen in it instead of a pail full of pure honey?" suggested John's mother. " Oh!" said Mr. M., " we can easily manage that by putting a separator of perforated tin or zinc between the two pails. This bucket of honey, you know, will be easily carried to market, and even if a little should leak out there will be no dripping, for the pail will hold honey just as well as water. A round pane of glass can be put over the top of the pail, to keep out dust and insects. By the way, this round pane of glass can also be used to close the mouth of the hive, so as to make a very pretty observatory bee-liive, for timid people. In this case, we should need to sew a sort of cushion around the edges, so as to make the glass fit bee-tight, and also keep in the warm air of the hive." At this juncture, John's father pulled out his pipe, and began feeling in his pockets for tobacco and matches. Whenever he got an idea in his head to which he wanted to give utterance, he instinctively began to seek for that self-same pipe. Friend M saw the motion, and so pleasantly shook his head at him th^it he put the pipe back in his pock- et. Of course his neighbor never presumed to dictate in such matters, but he had such a pleasant, kind, good-natured Avay of re- minding one of a failing, that the two were never any the less friends, even though they Avere not alike in many of their ways and habits. He knew that his wife very much disliked to have him smoke in-doors also, and so he very pleasantly put the pipe back in his pocket,' and proceeded to criticise the new hive withoiit it. Friend M. here took a chair and sat down, for he was well aware that the soundest and most sensible criticisms would come from John's father, for he was, despite his many shiftless and dilatory ways, a man of good practical common sense, and one who might easily have been a man of means and intlu- ence'had it not been for some failings of his, and his love of the companionship of a class that were really very much his inferiors. He commences, — ■' But, neighbor M.," says he, "even for rearing bees and queens, you have got to take out all the frames before you can get at the last one, and you have not only got to put each one back in its exact place every time, but you have got to put each comb the same side'to the front as well. Is this so?" "Exactly so." " And is not this a great objection? " " On the contrary, it is just what I think w^e need to do, to make the most bees and honey." " Why, then, do you not go back to the old straw hive, or hollow gum, and be done with it?" "I would go back to the straw hive, or some thing pretty nearly like it, if the combs were movable. JSTowjust look here a min- ute. To say nothing of the advantage of these round combs, to retain the animal heat, we will consider a little the way many of the movable combs are used. Hives are made to open easily, nowadays, and with the modern smokers it is easy to open a hive safely any time we wish. Well, a new be- ginner gets a hive of bees, and iiroceeds to open up the brood-nest, some cool day in April. He gets the combs all out, finds the queen, turns the combs, many of them, end for end, throwing a patch of unsealed brood right opposite a cold cake of honey, or some empty cells that the bees had not yet covered with their cluster. Perhaps he thinks to put the combs back in the same order they were before, and perhaps he does not. j\lay be, 202 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Apr. as he lias read an empty comb should be placed in the center, to give the queen empty cells in which to put in eggs, he pur- gosely divides the brood-nest. As the combs ad been built by the bees, or at least trim- med and lengthened out so as to give just room for the bees to pass and do their work (letting a depression on one fill an elevation on the next, etc.), when they are swung around and replaced, the bees have all this work to do over again. Very likely, if one should look carefully after the hive was closed, he would lind great empty hollows left between some of tlie combs, and bulges pushed right into some comb, in another place. In the latter case, perhaps a dozen poor little bees were mashed into^the next comb.* AVell, this is not the worst of it. Bees have a wonderful tact for economy of steins in the working season. They put the new pollen for the young unsealed brood right in the cells opposite, that the nurses may have the food right where it is needed. Wliere you find a comb of imsealed larva;, you Avill often see the comb opposite to it one solid mass of pollen-lilled cells ; and if a couple of rainy days ensue, tliis pollen will be all used in an almost incredibly short space of time. Now, what will be the effect of interposinga comb just here, or of placing this great wall of pollen off to some other part of the liive? Madam, what would you say," here friend M. jumps up and turns to John's mother, — " What would you say if some one should come into your house some ironing-day, and put your cook stove over in the lot across the way, your basket of clothes up stairs, and your ironing-table down cellar, and tell you to go on with your work that way, for modern science had shown that more and better work could be done thusV Now, this is not exaggerated. As we look over the journals, we fall to wondering why it is, that beginners make such awful work of wintering, while the old hands winter their hundreds, losing not to exceed 5 per cent, and some not even a colony. Is it not rather a wonder that they succeed in getting colon- ies through the summer evenV" Here our friend wiped his face with a large red handkerchief, and began feeling in his pockets for something he wanted. While he was hunting, John stepped backward, and, striking his heels against the wooden bowl that had not yet been placed on the table, fell over into it, and si)lit it in several pieces, leaving the candy in nice shape to give that poor colony out of doors. John's mother was perhaps the most troubled one of the party, at tliis his second accident, and commenced a most humble apology ; but friend M. stopped her by say- ing he was more than half glad it was brok- en, for the bees would have built an empty coml) in the bowl any way, and that, on the whole, he preferred a division-board made with a cushion around the edge, with a good stout handle attached, so it could be ])ushed into the hive with a sort of revolving motion, making so tight a fit that no particle of the warm air of the hive could get out, to say *I have found bees thus imtiiisoncd, and still aliv(>, on opcninp; iv hive fuuriliiys after it hail Ucou hastily closed by the careless owucr. nothing of leaving cracks or channels where bees can get through. Here he fished from one-of his pockets a copy of the British Bee Journal, giving some of friend Abbot's ideas about working with hives and combs. Here is what friend M. read to his little audience:— WHAT TO DO, AND WHEN AND HOW TO DO IT. Increasing THE Brood-Nest. — Under the influ- ence of stimulative feeding' in hives in which the bees have been crowded together by the dividing- board, the breeding will go on so rapidly that every available cell will be occupied with eggs and larvte before there has been time for young bees to come into life, and, acting upon impulse, amateurs will be apt to enlarge the nest to give further liberty to the queen to deposit more eggs and cause more brood to be created. In this matter we would advise extreme caution. Bees that arc well able to maintain life- supporting heat for themselves and the brood (for the brood generates comparatively little and needs the presence of bees) in, say, three frames of comb, may IJlnd a dilTiculty in cold weather in generating sufficient for that of a fourth frame, and its intro- duction would probably do mischief. We would, therefore, refrain from adding the fourth until the population has begun to increase and the chief of the brood approaches maturity, and then we would place the added empty comb by the side of it vro trm. Many writers advise that the com!) in question should be placed between those containing brood, which advice is sound when the weather is sufficient- ly mild to preclude danger, but in early days we would prefer that the bees Indicate sufflcicney of strength to take charge of it (by commencing to breed in it) before we would force its absolute care upon them by giving it a central place. Bee man- agement is like playing a game of draughts or chess — it may bo very easy to make a dozen moves, but it is stupidly absurd to move at all without considei'- ing what is likely to happen afterward. "There!" exclaimed he after he had fin- ished. " That is wiiat I call good sound sense. Now I want to tell you some of my ideas about feeding:" but," friends, as our story is getting long, I think we will listen to the feeding part next time. ClEA«mCS m BEE CULTURE. -A.. I- :eicdot, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER. MEDINA, O. TERMS: $1.C0 PER YEAR, POST-PAID. FOR CLUBBING RATES, SEE FIRST PAGE OF READING MATTER. 3Vi:3E3UIl\r-A., -A.I>IT. 1, 1881. Foil the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a Hint, and 1 know that 1 shall not be ashamed. — Isaiah 50:7. » ♦ « We have to-day, March 31st, 3935 subscribers, and a yard of snow "on the ground — more or less. Make every day count, and at night ask God's blessing on what you have done through the day. We will pay 15c. each for the April No. of Glian- INGS for is;9. Put your name on the wrapper, and drop us a postal. A orkat number of letters are on hand, waiting for a place, so do not be disappointed if your own is not in this number. 1881 GLEANIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. 203 Not even yet any Dictionaries, but we bare most excellent promises of some very soon. "We will re- turn the money any time you wish. I OMITTED to say, last month, that the price of the book. Barn Plans and Out-Buildings, is $1.50, and that we can mail it on application. Ip anv one who advertises in Gi-t;anings does not fulfill all promises and settle up all differences satis- factorily, you will confer a favor by reporting him to Friend Biirch, too, reports having wintered every colony in his large apiary; but I really wish he had told us how m;iuy there were. Please say how many, friends, when j ou report. Nice, pure, maple sugar, stirred, white, in lib. bricks, at lOc. per lb. Tin-top for bees or children. Nine cents per lb. only, in large cakes, just as we buy it from the farmers. TuF. Kansas Bee-Kecper is the iWe of a fair-look- ing little sheet published by our friends Scovillo and Anderson, of Columbus. Kansas. Vol. 1 No. 3 is just on our — corner of the type-writer. FuaNiSHiNG bees in the spring months will likely be precarious, and. therefore, ple.ise let us all resolve to bo patient. You can have your money back any time, when you get tired of waiting. Our friend R. Wilkin, of San Buenaventura, Cal., has received one order from England for 20 tons of honev. What do you think of that? If all he sends out is as good as the lot he sent us, I don't wonder. Do not stand around with your hands in your pockets, and have the neighbors all lausrhing- at you. Go to work, and let the neighbors see that, if a bee- keeper is down, he by no means proposes to stay down. Buy your bees and queens of those nearest to j-ou who advertise; but do not send to me, unless you are willing to wait until your turn comes. If you are in a hurry, teli them to return the money, unless they can ship inside of a specified time. We shall not be able to send our bees by the pound before Aprin5th, and not then unless the weather is favorable. If you must have them right olf, I think some of the friends in the South will be best able to furnish them. After gettingthe engravings made for a sun evap- orator, for ripening honey, we are so unfortunate as to have lost the b-tier that came with ihe draw- ings. May wo trouble the friend who sent the plan, to give us his name once more? Sign your name to your letters, or— get some en- velopes and paper with your name printed on them. See how little they cost, by referring to the counter store. Two letters are at hand to-day, containing money, without a scratch to tell who sent it. Wk have tried four queens by mail, in the Pcet cages, and all died promptly. At their present val- ue, this is rather expensive business, and I think we shall not try many more before about May, as per our price list. We have sent some cages to a South- ern friend, with instructions to send us one queen at a time until they begin to come through all right. Thk willow-tree friend Oulp mentions on pape U. Jan. No., has arrived, and it is a thing of beauty, I assure you. Even some cuttings sent along with it are covered with the white catkins, almost ready to bloom, showing that it blossoms at a very early age. It will be one of the bright objects on our honey farm, when covered with bees the first thing in the spring. Save your hybrid queens, and fill up those empty hives. Save all the blacks, and hybrids too, that you can Ity hands on, anywhere about you. Stop buying supplips and high-priced queens, but maue that apiary bring in some money. Atk your wife if she does not think this good advice. Put your name and address on your letter, hcforc you write a ivord. If you can not afford to have it printed on, write it. Letters containing money are now of almost daily occurence, without any trace to tell who wrote them, or where to send the goods. "Whatever does ail you," to be so careless? I a'nt cross a bit,— only in earnest. " Do you mind?" A SWAIIM OF bees HALF A MILE LONG. No. no, dear reader, it isn't one of owr swarms, but it Is the Apis dorsofa, where Frank Benton is, in the Isle of Ceyhni. He didn't see them, but a gentle- man told him that, when they swarmed, the swarm was almost half a mile long. I will give you the let- ter telling about it, next month. Don't get uneasy, boys. Frank will take gtiod care of them. In giving credit for the tutnbler feeder last month. I should have said Finch & Bartlett. where I said Finch & Crane. This came about innocently, by supposing it was the present partner of Mr. Finch, instead of his former one, Mr. F. J. Bartlett. of Strongsvillo. O. This latter gentleman seems to be the inventor, while Finch only presented the feeder to my notice. I presiune it was also partly, if not all, my carelessness, in getting the idea that Finch was the principal inventor f)f the feeder. I hope both gentlemen will pardon me. We have just had a most pleasant visit from Dr. C. C. Miller, of MarCngo, Ills. Friend Miller has declin- ed what most of us would call a large salary, just that he mwy live out in the country, and work with bees. As he raises hcmey and nothing else, he takes just as much pains to keep good hybrids as any oth- er; and I am inclined to think there is a good point for all of us who are honey-raisers. Take good care of the queens you have, instead of wasting time and money, and keeping your hives queenleas, and then perhaps getting a queen that will produce less honey than the ones you took out. Several have written me that the Waterbury watches are offered by others at a less price than what I sell them at. 1 admit this; but it is for those sent out untested. We are now testing every watch that we send out, and those we sell singly at retail are all carried in the pocket before being sent you. If we do this, I can not sell them any less than our advertised rates. My experience has been, that none of you are satisfied with a dead watch or dead queen at any price, and I therefore shall not ask you to pay your money for such. Perhaps not more than one in five fail to go right off. as they come from the factory; but nobody that 1 know of wants to be that fifth man. Every few days some friend writes an indignant letter, saying he ordered something just as plainly as could be, .and yet we sent some other thing. The letter is lookedup, and the fault was not ours, but in the order. We miiil the letter back, to show we were not at fault, and then comes quite a humble apology. Now, in view of this fact, would it not be well to be a little mild in complaining, and say you think you ordered so and so, instead of being so very posi- tive? Suppose even when you know you are right, you should use the little preface to your remarks, " If I am not mistaken," 1 ordered so and so. Our boys and girls here are trying hard to be faithful, just as you are; but it eases the burdens of life amazingly, to get gentle, kind words. The most of you are gentle and kind; but I think we can all im- prove a little if we try. Do not you? Sometimes I have a dim recollection of something that " sutfereth long, and is kind." Was it you or I, think you? GOOD NEWS. The American Grape Sugar Co., of Buffalo, N. Y., have at length produced a sugar entirely free from the slight bitter taste that has heretofore character- ized even the best refined grape sugars. It is a pure product of Indian corn, and is as pure and simple a sweet, as the best grades of maple sugar. Just "taste of it yourself, " if you are incredulous. We will mail you a sample for 5c. . which, I think, will settle the discussion. You might as well try to stop the snow from coming down (this 29th day of March) as to try to stop this wonderful new industry of mak- ing good sugar from Indian corn. lustead of the un- kind words in regard to it that have been mostly prompted by ignorance and prejudice, it seems to me more meet we sh luld unite in a prayer of thanks- giving for a blessing s.'^nt to the children of men, hardly less, in its promise, than the one that came so suddenly a few years ago from the depths of the earth, which is even now shedding light through your home, and, for aught I know, illumines strong- ly the pages your eye rests on this moment. 204 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Apr. duiriJh Underthis head ivili be inserted, freeoE charge, the names of all those having honey to sell, as well as those wanting to buy. Please mention how much, what kind, and prices, as far as pos- sible. As a general thing. I would not advise you to send your honey away to be sold on comniission. It near home, where you can look after it, it is often a very good way. By .all means, develop your home market. For 25 cents we can furnish little boards to hang tip in your dooryijra, with the words, ' ' Honey for Sale, '" neatly painted. If wanted bvmail, 10 cents extra for postage. Boards saying "Bees and yueens for Sale," same p-ice, CITY MARKETS. St. Louts, March 23.— Present market quotations are as follows: Honey. — Ready sale. Comb 16@18; top rate for tanc.v bright; strained and extracted, ll@.12cl^B). Beeswax.— Firm. Prime yellow 21, dark at 20c. K. C. Gbker & Co. New York.— Replying: to your postal of the 19th inst., permit us to say, that buyers' quotations are as follows: Honey. — White clover. In ueat packages, 16@IT; fair clover, in neat packag'es, li©15. Other off grades are selling at lower prices. Buckwheat honey in neat packages, 11 to ll>. Large boxes, 2c per pound less than above prices. aeesivax.—Fvime quality 2i to 27c tor 2001b. lots. March 23, 18S1. H. K. & F. B. TnuRBER & Co. Cleveland.— We give you Cleveland market re- port as follows: Honey.— Choice white, 1-lb. sections, unglassed 19(?ii20; choice white, 2-lb. sections, un- glassed, 17@18; choice white, 2-lb. sections, gUssed, 15@16; dark, I and 21b., unglassed, ]4@16. Extracted, in 10 to oO lb. cans, 12® 14. Comb honey is scarce, and good demand; extracted, fair suppl.v, light de- mand. A. C. Kendel. March 20, 1881. Cincinnati. — Under date of March 22d, friend Muth writes: No changes in the prices of honey and wax. The demand is fair for extracted honey. Comb honey entirely neglected. Chicago, March 22.— Present market quotations are as follows: Ho/iey.— Light comb honey is in great plenty, and prices weak and uncertain, btit quoted at 18@20c for 1-lb. and 2-lb. boxes for choice, and 14© 16c for fair to good, while dark lots, large boxes. &c., are worth 10 to 12c. Extracted honey, SCgjlCc. Bccs- tt'a.r.— 20@23c for light, and ISQ-lTc for dark. Alfred H. Newman. I have for sale 1 bbl. of mixed clover and fall gath- ered honey (not buckwheat, however), which I will sell for 9c per lb., delivered on the cars here. Bar- rel, 7uc. BvitoN Walker. Capac, St. Clair Co.. Mich., March 20, 188L CIRCUI.AKS AND 1»RICB LISTS KE- CEIVKD. Wm. C^ary & Son send out a vfi-y neat circular. We arc so much pleased with their notice of the Cyprian bees that we copy their remarks. ' 'Cy PRUN Bess— We v.-ill raise a few queens of this variety dur- ing the coming season to sujiply those of our customers who may wish to trv tlum. but can'givc no guarantee as to their working nu.iUt'ics, as they h.ive nut been thoroughly tested; all we can sav i-i, they arc beauties as tar as looks is concerned. Tiieprii-i' '„: the-r .'imviis will be .$1.00 each ' ' AVe will fuini.sh botli Cyprian and Holy-Land queens at same prices, ujuUt same conditions. J. r. H. I'.rown, Augusta, Ga., issues a ta.sty 26-pago price list of .apiarian sujjplics. Hiram Roop. Carson City, Mich., has sent us a one-leaf cata- logue of .apiarian fixings. J. P. Moore, Morgan, Ky., sends out an elegent cheirograph price list. W'. ^V . C.ary, Jr., Colerain, Mass., sends us a ipage price list of hives, bees, etc. H. >I. Morris & Co., Rantoul, HI., send a 4-page circular and price list of fruit and shade trees. From H. P.aiber, .\cliiaii, Mich., we have received a 2 page price list of liives, bees, puultry. and small fruit. James A. XcImiu, Wyandott, Kan., dealer in fdn. , etc., has sent a 4-page priiv li^t of liis spccialt.y. F. L. Wright, I'laiiilidd. Mich., has issued a neat cheirograph circular relative to small fruit, bees, queens, etc. The Champion HcL-Uive Mfg. Co., Newcomerstown, O., send out an 8-page circular of apiarian supplies. (t. W. Thompson. Stelton, N. J., has sent a 4-page price list of bee-keepers' supplies. A. Lamontagne, Montreal, Can., has sent us some sticcimen )).agesof ••The Ration.al Culture of Bees. Grapevines, and Sugar- cane." The work is in the French language, and beautifully illustrated. Paul L. Viallon, Baj-ou Goula, La., has issued a very pretty 16-page circular of apiarian supplies. Friend Good, Nappanee, Ind., issues a nice cheiro-postal price list of queens and bees. Holy-Land strain. J. F. Hart, Union Point, Ga., sends an 8-page price list of hives, frames, etc. W. H. Mcltoniel, New Carlisle, Ind , sends a G-pagc circular of hives and bees. George H. Lamb, Wilmington, N. C, sends us a postal price list of Italians queens. The American Novelty Works, Worcester. Mass. , send two neat circulars of hives and bee-keepers" supplies generally. S. Valeutinc. Dciubic Pipe Creek, Md., has sent us an elegant 4-page price li.st of queeii>, bees. etc. L C. Root & Bio. , Mohawk, N . Y. , send us a nice 12-page cir- cular of beekeeping supplies. F. A. Siiell, Milledgeville, 111., sends out a pretty 18-page price list. J M. Brooks ct Bro , Columbus, Ind , dealers in Italian bees and fancy pigcuiis, t-cnd a two-page circular. t)ur friend ijliver Foster lias sent a most beautiful elieiro- grajili circular of his fiiii. iiiacliiiie. est strains, tested for excel- lence. My imported queen of 'T9, picked from Root's be-Wl:i:>1L,. 4-9d Cambridge, Henry Co., Ill, IJIVES, SECTIONS, AND B0Xe3 Material for Langstroth Hives, including Brood- Frame. i\) cts. each; Lewis V-shaped groove One- Piece Section, any size to 6x6, $5.00 per lOOO. Lewis One-Piece Honey-Boxes, all sizes, $2.00 to SI. 00 per 100. including glass; Dovetailed Sections, any size to fixC, Sf.uO per lOOii. Manufacturing experience of 20 years, t-eud for Price List. G. li. LEWIS (Successor to Lewis & Parks), Watertown, Wis., April 1, 1881. A'. J3.— There is no patent on the Lewis One-Piece Section. 4tf SEND FOR MY LARGE ILLUSTRATED CIRCt'- LAR ! It will tell you what I have for sale. If you keep Bees, don't fail to do it. Address B. S. UNDERHILL, •i-6d Williamson, Wayne Co., N. Y. Seeds and Plants! I will send prepaid, and guarantee safe arrival in good condition, purchaser's choice, of the following collections:— 20 Verbenas, $1 00 15 Basket or Bedding Plants, 1 00 12 Geraniums, 1 fni 12 Tuberoses 1 00 12 New Varieties Colesu 1 00 12 Varieties Hou«o-Plants, consisting of 3 Gera- niums, 2 Coleus, 1 Centur.v, 2 Abutilons, 2 Besronias. 1 Cigar-Plant, 1 Heliotrope 1 00 12 Best Varieties Vegetable Seeds, .50 12 " " Annual Flower-Seeds, 75 9 " " Pansy Seeds, 1 no 6 " " Perennial Flower-Seeds 60 6 Choice " for Greenhouse or pot culture 100 12 Best Early Tomato Plants, 25 12 " Late " " 25 12 Sweet-Mountain Pepper Plants 23 Purchasers may divide collections. Send for Cat- alogues. WM. F. ELWOOD, 4d (195 Dominick St.) Rome, Oueida Co., N. Y. i, Cyprian \imi and h% •'> Cheap !' I will sell my bees, 100 stocks of Cyprians in L. hives, and in good condition. Last senson. neisrhbor J. S. Hughes and I Cyprian- ized all of our bees, and those within range, with queens reared from the Jones importation, and Hoflman's drones. Prices after June 1st:— 1-frame Nucleus, from $2.00 to $2.50; 2-frame, $.3.00 to $3.50; 3-f rame, $1.00 to S^.^O. Nuclei will be well stocked with bees and brood, including pure Cyprian queen of this year's raising. Full stocks (10 L. frames) $7. to $9.00. A few mismated Cyprian queens for sale at COc in Peet cage. Warranted Cvp. queens, $1..50. Tested, aftpr July 1st, $2.00. No foul brood in this section. Bees for sale by the pound after June 1st. Satisfaction guaranteed. For further information and ref., please address J. B. R. SHERRICK, (No circulars.) Mt. Zion, (This ad. appears but once.) Macon Co., 111. 1 Plymoyth Rock & Light Brahma From extra-flnc breeding yards, at R2.00 per 13, or $3..50per23. ]V. II. A^I^T^T-::^, 4-6d KIRKWOOD, ST. LOUIS CO., MO. CHOICE ITALIAN BEES FROM ORCHMD APIARY. Dollar Queens, only SOc; Tested, $1.50. Ten-frame colonies, $.5.75 to $8.00. Every thing first-class, and equally low. JS^Send for circular, and save money. 3tfd E. A. THOMAS, Colerain, Franklin Co., Mass. Eggs for Hatching! From my prize-winning Brown Leghorn Fowls, which are unexcelled in America for Size, Laying Qualities, and Beauty, at $2.09 per 13. §3.50 per 26, or $5.00 per 39, packed in baskets, and warranted to hatch well. W. N. CROFFUT, 4 Box 796. Binghamton, Broome Co., N. Y. J. M. BROOKS & BROS', AMERICAN ITALIANS. PURITY OF STOCK A SPECIALTY. 4-9d CIRCULARS FREE. COLUMBUS, - BARTH. CO., - INDIANA. 206 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Apr, "There's nothing so successful as success." For many years past, we have labored to improve the Italian bee, aiming- to obtain a strain of bees that would safely survive our coldest winters. That wc can write success upon our (apiarian) banner is in- dicatei by the fact that even in this most disastrous winter, every colony of our large apiary is in tine condition. ()th(ns report tine success with our Ital- ians. On Miirch Hth, M. E. Loehr, of Palestine, Ind , wrote U8 that, last fall he had 98 colonies, and now all are dead but three — two of these beinp- very weak. The other ctlony contained one of our queens, concerning which he says: — "I was sur- prised to And this colony strong and healthy, and am sorry I did not purchase all ray queens of you, they being stronger in bees now than in the fall. Could say much more in praise of your bees." To the READEf^S OF CLEANINGS wo would say: If yoti want bees that are peaceable, industrious, aad hardy— in short, want to possess the BEST bees, 'fry our Italian!!). OUR 40 -PAGE CATALOGUE, FREE TO ALL. 4d II. A, EXJrtCII «fc CO., SOUTH HAVEN, VAN BUREN CO., MICH. VAN FRANK'S DIRECT DRAFT GOLD-BLAST BEE-SMOIER! Simple aud durabl', and not liable to get out of re- pair. Price $1.00. Write for a liberal discount on ^ doz. lots. Single smokers sent bv mail on receipt of $1.15. Address W. W. VAN FRANK, 4d Newberg, Cass Co , Mich, 1881. Send for our now Circular and Price List of Full Colonies, Nuclei, and Queens. We guarantee satis- faction. S. D. McLEAN & SON, 2-7d CuUeoka, Maury Co., Tenn. GRAPE SUGAR For Feeding Bees ! Send for our Price List before you buy. 3-5d I. L.. SCOFIELD, CHENANGO BRIDGE, BROOME CO., NEW YORK. WANTED ! Employment in an apiary during the summer months. Have had .5 vcars experience in the work. 4tfd E. P. STILES, Student, Ann Arbar, Mich. CHOICE QUEENS FOE, 1881 ! Dollar Queens $1 GO Ttsted " 3 00 I guarantee satisfaction every time, or money refunded. No blocks in my neighborhood. All queens raised Irom A. I. Root's imported stock. Send for cir- cular. HOWARD NICHOLAS, 4-Pd Etters, York Co., Pa. ALBINO, ITALIAN, I am prepared to fur- ' ' nish early queens, pure Albinos, Italians, and AND HOLY - LAND Holy-Land Queens, bred from select stocks. War- ranted to be pure; safe QUEENS, FULL COL" arrival guaranteed. Also Hives, Novice's Extract- n.wo ^n^^ ,,«*,. or, and Apiarian supplies ONIES, ETC., FOR generally. Sendforprice list. Address , ^ ^ . . S. VALENTINE, I XXi I Double Pipe Creek, -^ <--"-' -L i 3-5d Carroll Co., Md. CHAFF HIVES! A SPECIALTY! SEND FOR CIRCULAR. J. P. WATTS, LUMBER CITY, 2-4 Clearfleld Co., Pa. Bee-Keepers' Supplies It will pay you to get our prices before purchasing your Supplies. Good Langstroth Hives with 8-inch cap, frames, quilt, etc., in the Hat, 60 cents each. Manufactured from good pine lumber. Workman- ship unexcelled. Crates, Sections, Extractors, aud Dunham Foundation, a specialty. HIRAM ROOP. 3-Gd Carson City, Montcalm Co., Mich. BEES FOR SALE ! fKf\ Colonies good healthy swarms of Italian rjvj Uec-s at $10. eacli, in nearly new, 8-frame. well-painted hives, delivered on board ears in good shipping order. E. H SHERWOOD, 4-5 Fishkill, Dutchess Co., N. \'. C. OLM'S COMB FOUNDATIOI MACfflNE. 9-iucli.-Pricc $25.00. The cut represents the 9-inch machine; the cheap- est made until now. Send for Circular and Sample. 3itar , luT'entor and Sole Makiufacturer of tlio FOUNDATION PRESS. All Presses warranted to give satisfaction. The only invention to make fdn. in wired frames. Our thin and common fdn. for '81 is not surpassed. Send for Catalogue and samples. 4-6d D. S. GIVEN, Hooposton, Illinois. BEE-KEEPGRS, Send one dollar for the EX- CELSIOR COLD-BLAST SMOKER, the very ' best. Sent free by mail. W. C. R. KEMP, 5 Orleans, Orange Co., Ind. mmm um im mn m ss m \ MAHEB, & GKOSH, 34 N. MONBOE ST., TOLEDO, OHIO. Hand-Forged Razor Steel Knife for 50 cents. Maher & Grosh, 84 N. Monroe St., Toledo, O., will mail Knife like cut;, post-paid, for 50c. Extra heavy 2- blade for rough "= )ge, Tuc. Our Best 2-blnde, oil mper and tested, SI. Pruner, oil uiper, §1. Pruning Shears, ^1. .lil goods exchanged free if soft or flawy. 212 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. ^IaY Names of responsible parties will be inserted in any of the following departments, at a uniform price of 30 cents each insertion, or |2,00 per year. $1.00 Queens. Names inserted in tJiis dkpay-tment the first time with- out charge. Afte/r, 20c each insertion, or $3,00 per year. Those whose names appear below a^ec to furnish Italian queens for $1,00 each, under the following conditions: No guarantee is to be assumed of purity, or anj-thingof the kind, only that the queen be reared from "a choice, pure mother, and had commenced to lay when they were shipped. They also agree to re- turn the money at any time when customers become imTEtient of siich delay as may be unavoidable. Bear in mind that he" who sends the best queens, put up most neatly and most socurelj', will probably receive the most orders. Special rates for warranted and tested queens, fumisned on application to any of the parties. Names with *, use an imported queen mother. If the queen arrives dead, notify us and we will send vou another. Probably none will be sent for $1.00 before July 1st, or after Nov. If want- ed sooner, or later, see rates in price list. *E. W. Hale, Newark, Wirt Co., W. Va. 3-1 *A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. *H. H. Brown, Light Street, Columbia Co., Pa. Itf *E. M. Hayhurst, Kansas City, Wo. 1-13 ♦Paul L. Viallon, Bavou Goula, La. Ittd ♦D. A. McCord, Oxford. Butler Co., O. 1-13 *S. F. Newman. Norwalk, Huron Co., O. Itfd *J. T. Wilson, Mortonsville, AVoodford Co., Ky. 6-6 *Chas. G. Dickinson, Sou' Oxford, Chen. Co. N. V. 1-10 *Wm. Ballantine. Sago, Musk. Co., O. 3tfd J. S. Tadlock, Kingsbury, Guad. Co., Texas. S-T *W. H. Nesbit. Alpharetta, Milton Co.. Ga. 3tfd *J. O. Facey, New Hamburg. Ont., Can. 4-9 *H. Nicholas, Etters, York Co., Penn. 4-8 W. S. Canthen, Pleasant Hill, Lan. Co., S. C. 4-6 *Jobn Conser, Glenn, Johnson Co., Kans. 4-9 *J. H. Burr;ige, Concord, Cab. Co., N. C. 5 *Fischer & Stehle, Marietta. Wash. Co., O. 4-9 Mas. P. Stcrritt.Sheakleyville, Mercer Co., Pa. .Itfd H. Barber, Adrian, Len. Co., Mich. .'')tfd *01iver Foster, Mt. Vernon, Linn Co., Iowa. 5tfd Black and Hybrid Queens. I expect to have, some time in May, ten or twelve black queens. If you would like to purchase them you may have them at whatever figure you name. K. MaIjLAlieu. Hopewell, Bedford Co., Pa., April 2J, 188L I have about a dozen hybrid queens for sale at f 1.00 each. Otto Kleinow. Detroit, Mich., (opp. Fort Wayne.) I do not make a business of queen-rearing, but have a f^w blacks that 1 would dispose of at 3.5c, and if you will tell me how to put up bees, I can let 1 lb. or more go with queens if wanted at $1.00 per lb. J. J. D.vvinsoN. Grand Baj-, Alabama, April 8, 1881. Hive Manufacturers. Who agree to make such hives, and at the prices named, as those described on our circular. A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. Sid. D. Buell, Union City, Branch Co.. Mich. 2-T P. L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, Iberville Par., La. Itfd S. F. Newman, Norwalk, Huron Co., O. Itfd J. F. Hart, Union Point, Greene Co., Ga. 4-3 M. S. West, Flint, Genesee Co., Mich. 2-7 Feundafion Manufacturers. Who agree to make such foundation, and at the prices given, as described in our circular. A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. Jas. A. Nelson, Wyandott, W.vandott Co., Kans. 4-9 E. S. Hildemann, Ashippan, Dodge Co., Wis. 4-5 W. Z. HUTCHINSON, Rogersville, Genesee Co., Mlclil^nu, would be pleased, upon request, to send you his cir- cular and price list (printed on the cheirograph) of Italian queens and bee " flxin's." 4tfd SEND for my circular and price list of Italian Colonies, Queens, and Apiarian Supplies. 5Ud H. H. BROWN, Light Street, Columbia Co., Pa. ITAliIAN QUEENS ! I am prepared to furnish pure queens at a low price. Untested, in May, $1.00; June, 90c; after. 8Jc. Send for circular. CHARLES D. DUVALL, 4-9d Spencerville, Mont. Co., Md. Ai\ Italian Queei\ FOR 15 CENTS. We guarantee to every one who sends a dollar for the American Bec-Kceper, to send a pure untested Italian queen for 1.5 cents more. 4-Td E. M. HARRISON, Lebanon, Laclede Co., Mo. PURE STOCK! I shall devote the coming season to rearing HOLY- LAND QUEENS for sale. They will be reared in an apiary by them- selves, away from other bees. The price will be as follows: — Dollar Queens, before June 15, - - - f 1 25 Each, after that date, 100 Tested Queens, after June, each - - - -2 50 Safe arrival and satisfaction guaranteed. 3-8d I. R. GOOD, Nappanee, Elkhart Co., Ind. Bees by the Pound. Those whose names appear below agree to furnish bees by the lb., and at the prices given in our circu- lar. I. L. ScofieUl, Chenango Bridge, Broome Co., N. T. S. C. Perry, Portland, Ionia Co.. Mich. J. P. Moore, Morgan, Pendleton Co., Ky. W. R. Whitman, New Market, Madison Co., Ala, (;;ha5. Kingclev, GreeueviHe, Greene Co., Tenn. C. D. Wright, "Baxter Springs, Cherokee Co., Kans. H. B. Harrington, Medina, Medina Co., O. W. St. Martz, Moonshine, Clark Co., Ills. O. H. Townscnd, Hubbardston. Ionia Co., Mich. G. W. Gates, Bnrtlett, Shelby Co., Tenn. W. S. Canthen, Pl.-asant Hill, Lancaster Co., S. C. J. G. Taylor, Au^rtin, Travis Co., Texas. J. H. Burrage, Concord, Cabarrus Co., N. C. Fischer k Stehle, Marietta, Washiugton Co., O. VANDEVOORT FOUNDATION ! Ten square feet per pound. This foundation took the iirize over all others for use ia surplus boxes at the N. E. B. K. ConventicMi. Send for samples. 5-6d G. W. Stanlky, Wyoming, Wyoming Co., N.Y. COMB FOUNDATION MACHINES I^1103J Sl.OO TO 55.00. Comb fdn. from 33 to 40 ets. Italian Queens from imported mothers. Untested, $1.00; Tested, $3.00; 50 now ready. Fountain Box, to run the wa.x right on the plates, without spilling a drop. Send for my new circular. JOHN FARIS, 5tfd Chilhowie, Smythe Co., Va. WANTED ! A four or live horse-power engine and boiler. If to be bought at a bargain, must bo in good condi- tion, and in running order. Description required. 5d O. H. TOWNSEND, Hubbardston, Ionia Co., Mich. 18S1 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 213 Hives, sections, and boxeJ Material for Langstroth Hives, including Brood- Frame, 40 cts. each; Lewis V-sbaped groove One- Piecc Section, any size to 6x6, $5.00 per 1000. Lewis One-Piece Honf-y-Bo.\es, all sizes, *:i.00 to $4.00 per 100, including glass; Dovetailed Sections, any size to 6.\6, $4.00 per 1000. Manufacturing experience of 20 years, tend for Price List. G. B. LEWIS (Successor to Lewis & Parks), Watertown, AVis., April 1, 1881. N. JB.— There is no patent on the Lewis One-Piece Section. 4tf GUARANTEED Italian Queens! I guarantee all my queens to be purely mated from imported mother. Safe arrival and satisfac- tion guaranteed. Send lor circular. Untested Queens in May and June, $1.50. July and after, $1.00. Tested Queens, May and June, $3.50. July and after, $3.00. Select tested, $:J.50. Address— L. C. M'PATUIDGE, M. D., 2-Td Carroll, Carroll Co., Ind. Before Purchasing any Italian or Cyprian bees, send for our 20th annu- al price list. Full colonies. Nuclei and Queens, at greatly reduced prices. Also headquarters for Api- arian supplies in New England. WM. W. CAUIT & SON (formerly Wm. W. Gary), 3tfinq Colerain, Franklin Co., Mass. IMPBO VEB Langstroth Hives. Supplies for the Apiaiy. Comb Foundation a spe- cialty. Being able to procure lumber cheap, I can furnish Hives and Sections very cheap. Send for a circular. A. D. BENHAM, 2tfd Olivet, Baton Co., Mich. NOW readYi Our new circular and price list for 1881. We have something new for every bee-keeper. Remember, we arc lai-gely engaged in practical bee-keeping, and know what supplies of are most value in the apiary. Yovi should see a description of our feeder. You will want one. Our new Doiible-Mraft Smoker is perfection. See what one of the most practical and best-informed bie-keepers of the country thinks of it:— "Since your gi^at improvement in smokers, as re- gards to the double blast, you undoubtedly have the inside track of all the others in the market. This, with the superior workmanship and materials used, should place your smoker at the head of the list, and secure for it a favorablei patronaife for 18H1." G. M. DOOLITTLE. Price of smokers: By mail, $1..50 and $1.75. Our book, QUINBY'S NEW BEE-KEEPINQ, is pronounced the most practical work published. Price, by mail, $1.50. We furnish every thing used in advanced Bee-culture. Send for illustrated cir- cular. L. C. ROOT & BRO. Mohawk, Herkimer Co., N. Y. 4tfd FU&B BRBD FOVXiTRlT. I am now prepared to fill orders for eggs from the following: P. Rocks (Corbin strain), L. Brahmas, S. S. llamburgs, S. S. Polish (Bearded), Brown Leg- horns, W. C. B. Polands, Rouen and Pekin Ducks, Toulouse Geese and Bronze Turkeys. Eggs packed in the most approved manner. Poultry for sale in the fall. Send for Price List. Address 4-6 H. S. ROSS, Box 138, Seville, Medina Co., Ohio. IQOI ITALIAN BEES AND QUEENS FOR SALE, lOul and Bees by the pound a specialty, cheap as can be and live. Address A.W.CHENEY, 5 Kanawha Falls, Fayette Co., West Va. BEE-KEEPER'S SUPPLIES ! SEND FOR PRICES. A. F. STAUFFER, Sterling, Whiteside Co., 111. Will take hees in excliavge HEADQUARTERS FOR Early Italian & GyBriaii IJneeiis. Imported and home-bred; nuclei and full colo- nies. For quality and purity, my stock of bees can not be excelled in tho United States. I make a specialty of manufacturing the Dunham foundation. Try it. If you wish to purchase Bees or Supplies, send for my new circular. Address Itfd DR. J. P. H. BROWN, Augusta, Ga. 1881 ITALIAN (QUEENS! 1881 Xestetl Qneeiis $1 oO Warranted Queens.. 1 OO Cyprian Queens, imtestcd 1 00 As most all the Dcllar queens I sold last year were pure, I will warrant thcra this year. J. T. Wilson, Mortonsviile, 2-7d Woodford Co., Ky. YaMevoort Coi Foiiatioi took the premium over Flat Bottom, Dunham, and all other makes at the N. E. Bee-Keepers' Associa- tion at Utica, Feb., 1881. Price of foundation made on same machine, 1 to 25 lbs., for Section Boxes, 550 35 to 100 " 50c 1 to 35 " " brood chamber, 45e 35 to 100 " " " " 40c I. L. SCOFIELD, Chenango Bridge, 4-6d Broome Co , N. Y. FOR SA1.E! Pure bred Pekin Duck eggs, for hatching. Packed securely and delivered at exprj^ss -office on receipt of price, $3.00 per eleven. Address H. C. JOHNSON, 3-5 Reesville, Clinton Co.. Ohio. MAKE BEES PAY By introducing the best strains, tested for excel- lence. My imported queen of '79, picked from Root's hest grade, still reigns with power. — Queens from her:— Tested, $2.50; untested, $1.00. After July 1st, tested, $L50; untested, 75c. Same warranted pure, $1.00. Mailed safely, free. My drones are best pure stock. Full colonies of bees, $S.00. Nuclei, 2-frame, $2.00. Use molded fdn.; it needs no wire, will not sag, and pays hig. Price, 40c. My new raachiue, $5.00; outtit, $10.00. Any size made to order. Sat- isfaction guaranteed. Send for circular, and keep poKfed. OLIVEK FOSTER, 4ttd Mt. Vernon, Linn Co., Iowa. At Kansas City, Mo., I breed pure 7tfl?iVm and Ctjp'iaji bees for sale. I warrant my "Dollar" queens to be mated by pure yellow drones, and guarantee safe arrival anfl per- fect satisfaction. May - - - $3 00 June - - - - 3 50 after " - - - - 2 00 in May - - - - 1 .50 in June - - - 1 35 after " - - - - 1 00 Bees, per lb., same prices as Dollar queens. Please address all letters plainly to 3-5d E. M, HAYHURST, P. U. Box 1131. Tested Queens, "Dollar" 214 GLEANI:^fGS IN BEE CULTURE. May KIND WOPS FROM OUR CUSTOMERS. The smoker came all right. I like it first rate: think it is the boss. Away g-oes the tobacco for g-ood. Sandwich, 111., April 25, 1881. G. M. Tue.a.t. 1 srncss all the goods ordered have been sent and received. The diutionary is very nice; saws work nice. >[■. A. Saunders. Hudson, Mich., April 19, 1881. The pnttj"-knife is the handiest thing I have about the apiary. Jon.v C. Gillilaxd. Bloomlield, Ind., March 14, 1881. T have just received the 1.5-cent dictionary. It is a " houncor" for the price, sure. Rob't Qoixn. Shellsburg, Benton Co., Iowa, April 15, ]8sl. I h.irdly see how you can sell envelopes so cheap. I pnv more here lor envelopes wilhout printinq:. Wiutleld, Mich., April 9, 1881. Lee S. Cobb. I have received my two dictionaries. 1 memoran- dum-book, 1 dinner-born, and one rule— very nice things for the price — wonderful for the money. Please accept thanks. David Scqwahtz. Berne, Adams Co., Ind., April 18, 18Sl. I like your book best. I would not be without the ABC. alter having once seen it. It looks as if a child might manage the bees after studying it. Mks. Fred Bethe. Abilene, Kan., March IT, 1881. Please find inclosed $1.00 for the A B C book you so kindly intrusted me with. I am well pleased with it. I think it would be well lor every bee- keeper to have one. I would not take a $5.00 gold- piece for it if I could not get another one to fill its place. 'KVm. Astrv. Franklin Square, Col. Co., O., March 15, 1881. A KIND WORD FOR THE RAILROAD COMPANIES. The extractor arrived this morning in good condi- tion. Those whose hands it passed through in so long a journey certainly deserve a great deal of credit. Fruit and forest trees are in bloom. Bees busy, drones tlying, and— now for business. Mason, Mason Co., Tex., Mar. 7, '81. M. C. Swan. I received the two little knives yesterday O. K. One pleases the lady at the sewing-machine and work basket; the other, the little sister with her pencils at school. We think it so funny to receive Things of all sorts by mail, besides letters, that I think I must keep a deposit there. A. W. Bryan. Gadsden, Etowah Co., Ala., April 5, 188 L As it is rather dull without Gleanings, I thought I would drop you a line with a doUir inclosed. Please send from the first of the year, if you can; if not, a year from now. My husbund is away, and I want to happily surprise him when he comes home, with Glealings. F. V. Button. Cob Moo Sa, Oceana Co., Mich. I have sometimes in life shed tears when angry; again when grieved ; but a feeling of sorrow fol- lowed. On reading Our Homes in your paper I have shed many tears, but they were tears of joy. I keep no bees. Nearly 50 years ago 1 rambled through the woods in Medina. 1 am now 73 ^ ears old. Inclosed please find $1.00 for G oEAMNCis. Luciu.s Bkach. Port Huron, Mich., March 10, 1S81. If Merrybanks and John have never hit others they have me. and have taught me, too, more than one serious lesson. Severe dignity and intense respectability have been the death of numberless papers and journals, while the homely, sincere, earnest periodical that tells of the ups and downs of real life, as people live, prospers, for, they are al- ways welcome visitors. L. M. Shumaker. Danville, Va., April 20, 1881. ABC book came to hand all right. One item In it was worth more than the cost to me already. I had been reading about Simpson honey-plants all winter; had made up my mind to invest $iMO hard earnings, and ABC let out the right name, "Carpenter's Square." Just any amount all around here. I have seen it in several States, but it grows larger here. To-day I picked up some old stalks l}i in. square, and nearly 10 ft. long. W. T. Kitter. LincolQ, HI., April 19, 18S1. Every article that I sent to you for arrived here promptly, and gives entire satisfaction. The mag- nifyiug-glass will help me to look for eggs -in the comb, as I can ni)t sec them without glasses of some kind; and the smoker, I do not know; it may not be so good as some others, but I would not take double the money paid for it and be without it one week, which is just the time from writing to you for it and the time that it arrived here. With it I can tame bees that are as fierce as B°ngal tigers. Kocheport, Mo., Apr. 10, IS'^1. Tiios. Cuapman. [Our friend S. Young, who wrote us last month that he had given way to temptation, and got to using tobacco again, has made a fresh start, and on a better basis 1 trust. I have heretofore been un- able to get him to attend the Sunday-school near him; see what a start he has taken now:]— Mr. Wilson and mj'selE went to meeting to-day, and we had as happy a time as F ever had. We went early, and had to go into the Bible-class the first thing, and you can bst we stood up to the rack, read in the Bible, answer.^d all the questions that were asked us, and we intend to go again. I think I shall work at the blacksmith trade from this on. My kind respects to you and all the shop hands. Samuel Young. Chatham Center, Ohio, March 2S, 1881. [To be sure, you were happv, friend Samuel. Now do not let Satan coax you off the track any more, but stick right to that Bible-class, and, my word for it, j'ou will be one of the sti-ong pillars in a very lit- tle time. Both you and your friend want to go early and "stand risht up to the rack," every Sunday. You have hit the nail right square on the head, and may the Lord bless and prosper you in that black- smith shop!] MAN PROPOSES, BUT GOD DISPOSES. [If our friends will look at pp. 141 and 141, of March number, and thea read the following letter, Ihey will see that I have been the innocent victim of a h>ige"joak;" but for all that, God seems to have taken the matter in hand, and I hope, trust, and pray it may result in a huge Sunday-school. Bead:] Now, friend Root, many thanks for your advice, and I will try not to let a swarm go. But I must have your heln until the first of August; and now, with the Lord's permission, I shall try my best. Bees have wintei-ed first rate, and every thing looks as if we should have a good honey crop. You make me say, on page 144 of Gleanings for March, " I never could get used to getting along without it," when I meant to say that "1 never could get MSCcJ to it." I sent to you, thinking I should receive a smoker, and you have sent me two; but I have sold one, and it is all right. You think tobacco must be very high, $1.00 per lb.; well, I know that if honey were one-fourth as high, it would be very nice. Now for the Sunday-school. I have 21 names, but have not had time to see them all. I think there will be 2' or 28 in all. I hav^e said to them that it is to be free to all who will come. You must send mo the rule that you wish me to go by. I have always had to use tobacco with my bees, as I coulil not find any thing that would subdue them; but I was thinking that 1 shoulil have to give them vip, as the use of tobacco was hurtful to me. Charles P. Ballow. Half Moon Bay, Cal., Feb. 15, 1881. [To be sure, you are to tell them all to come, friend B. A Sunday-school that was not free to every hu- man being, high, low, rich or poor, 1 would not give much for. Invite them in that way, and after they get there, treat them in that way; and If every one who goes and helps that school along has not reason to feel that God has sent them an especial blessing, just set me down as lacking in wisdom. I will at once send you a simple outfit to start with, and you can pay me for it whenever you get contributions enough. Now, friends, let us pray for friend Ballow and that Sunday-school, away off there in California, started under such a queer combination of circum- stances. Whj% that extra smoker must have been a providence, for I have no son of an idea how it came to be sent. Give the money you got for it to that Sunday-school.] DEVOTED TO BEES A:VI> II03VEY, A>'D iI<»rJ2 IINTEIIESTS- Yol. IX. 3IAY 1, 1881. No. o. 1 Published Monthly. A. Z. ROOT, Publisher and Projmetor, \ - Medina, o. J EstciUisliecl in 1873. \^£^'£M^''^^''^^^'^^^^^ fTKRMS: Si. 00 Per AKNUM. is AtivaxcE: I 2 ( 'oiiks for Si. 90: S for §2.75; 5 for Sl.OO: 10 I or iiioic, 75 c-ts. each. Sinprle Xnmbtr, 10 cts. { Aililitioiis to clubs may be made at club Above art' all to hv sent to OXE Posi- IVOTES FROM THE BANTVER APIARY. No. 18. MY "revised" report FOR 18S0; HOW THE COLD WEATHER SHRANK THE " FIGGERS." ^^S/f-Y. haA'c been having a " spell " of cold weath- er, for this time of the year, but this 7th day of April it is warm enoujrh for rae to sit out in the sunshine, upon the wheelbarrow, and compose this article, scribbling it down in phono- graphy upon a scrap of paper, while I keep an eye on the " twins," and see that they don't run into the mud. I suppose, by good rights, that the Banner Apiary ought to be draped iu mourning, the flags hung at half mast, and its owner consigned to "Blasted Hopes;" but as it is, there are three colonies (1 had eleven last fall) holding the fort (yes, and two of these were bought this spring cf a neighb' :—I scribbled this note yesterday with a pencil, but came away without mailing it in Batavia. The matter of selling the bees is more cer- tain now. I brought them a day or two ago to this place by rail, and am fixing them up as best I can; and as soon as the sale is completed will remove them to the Government Agricultural School, which is near the hotel where 1 am slopping. The queens are all right, but in some hives there are but a hand- ful of bees, and in the strongest only three combs. They are brood rearing, and I shall keep it up by feofling all they will take, and equalizing brood. Then I will leave instructions about continued feed- ing. The Government wants to make a thorough test of the matter of introducing European bees here. The bees Mr. Itykens took from Europe, 24 hives, nearly all died before he reached Port Said. Five colonies in very weak condition arrived here, and have since gone up. Mr. Rykens is now in Europe, sick; but they expect him to return sometime. The head of the Government Department of Agriculture has instructei one of the officers of the Govern- ment Agr'l School here to furnish me aid in secur- ing some of the wild bees, opis duisata; so as soon as I have gotten the hives 1 bought in fair shape I wiU start out after them. I have not yet seen a bee of this race, but have seen two combs of these bees, which are three feet by three and a half feet, and are IV2 in. thick where brood was reared; 20 cells, about, to the square inch. Bees must be 7iof an inoh long. The combs are never built horizontally— could not be, but are perpendicularly placed on the branches ef trees. The natives get the honey and wax from them, although I was told this morning by a gentleman who has been here for 50 years, that they "sting fearfully." Of course, too much depen- dence must not be placed upon such a statement. Many who are not bee-keepers would say the same of our honey-bees. I can not now tell exactly how much money I will have when I get back to Cyprus, for I do not know what I must pay out yet. The very cheapest man- agement I can adopt is still costl}-. Everj' move made by an American or European costs " like six- ty" here. There is no choice; the money must be " forked over" or notlthig can be done. They bleed everybody who comes, else he goes away without having accomplished any thing. I hope to leave here March 4th for Singapore, and take the steamer, which should meet me there for Ceylon. I have promised to arrange the boes I have left tkere, some hives of which are now in Point de Galle, and for which I was to be paid on their delivery in Colombo. Then I expect to get colonies of apis dorsata there, now that I have learned more of the matter, and know where they are actually plentiful. From Ceylon I will sail about INIarch the 3Tth, ar- riving in Port Said about April 13th; then Cyprus, as soon as possible; thereafter, where I expect to re- ceive further iuPtructlons as to future operations. Fr,a.nk Benton, BOX HIVES. wh^vt heddox says of them. ^J E VERAL years ago I proposed to run an apiary ^> on the box-hive system. Novice at once made a ' department for mo, and any other old fogies who might still adhere to such old notions. When I made the proposition, that if any one would purchase ray present apiary I would commence a box-hive apiary and would start with box hives and black bees, I expected to soon write an explanation of the style of box hives. What first moved me to make such a proposition was, that I had just visited the Bingham apiary and found tho only hive of any merit that I had ever seen, that did not embrace the Langstroth principle. The box hive, a» you all know, was a hive made of frames whose ends were tight-fitting. Just before my article abo^■e refaered to was written. Novice called this same plan "a box hive." Well, I thought if that was a box hive, surely a box 0 inches deep, 24 long, and 11! 2 wide, would be also. In a box of that kind, I proposed to put eight movable top- bars, to which the bees would attach their combs, 220 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUllE. May also three or lour inches down the end of the hive. On these bars we set our boxes (on a honey-board), and when wo had them placed, covered all with a eap. "When our practiced eye said, "Some thing is wrong- with that colony," we proposed to whop it on its back, and look to the top of the shallow concern, and cut out or insert queen-cells if necessary. In cases where the combs must conic out, slide our long knife along- the ends of the hive, and sever the con- nection, and whop it back, and remove the combs the same as with frames. Well, for some cause or other I did not write the description, ami visions of old rough boards, iy4 in. thick, nailed up about 20 in. high, with grain running up and down, were in- dulged in by our readers all over the counti-y. The advantages of these modern box hives were that they were Simplicity-er, cheaper, a good thing to go after a swarm with, much quicker manipulated where the combs were not necessarily to come out, and, though not such good educators, a good thing for well-learned bee-keepers, whose business was honey-producing on a large scale. But for reasons that I am about to mention, I would be using them to-day. You will recollect that at that time comb founda- tion was a thing of doulit among the masses, espe- cially the practical producers. We were then testing it, and the lots that we could get were either cheap- ened with paraffine or ccresin, or else beautified by l)leaching the wax. All of these compounds, when made into fdn., were f ailiu-es. But since we have got comb f < lundation that thf; bees draw to honey-coml) (full brooding depth) in 24 houi-s, we need a frame to put it in; and why? because it canuotbe used in full sheets, with new hives (with full and large swarms), unless wires, or some similar and more costly and complicated device be used. We can't wire a top- bar without a bottom-bar. We can't use the two without end-bars, and there is the frame. Thus we see the frame grandly fits a place it was never made for. Very likely, had fdn. been successfully invent- ed first, it would have suggested frames. About black bees: I had both blacks and Italians in my yard. The latter had nothing to boast of su- periority. Not till I got of Mr. Oatman some of the long- leather-colored strain, of Dadant's importation, did I see yellow bees that were superior to the large brown German bees that I had, all points consid- ered, and as yet they have little to boast over these bees. Crosses between the two strains have been the best bees I have ever seen. Each have many superior points, hence the controversies oi the past, " Blacks vs. Italians," " Italians vs. Blacks." Let us have the good traits all in one race. It is easily ours. At that time I was using l^i-lb. sections, in which I stuck pieces of suitable comb. Here let me say, that the best of these pieces were not equal to the f oimdation of to-day. I know that friend Doolittle says, "Use these strips of comb yet;" but I say imto you, just try fdn., properly made In full sheets, in your sections, and you will not go back to any other system. For three years I never let any per- son (except some experienced bee-keeper) see fdn. about my place. I feared it would injure the sale of comb honey. I thought ignorance might be bliss. Well, ojily one person out of hundreds who ate combs made from fdn., and some poor fdn. at that, ever said a word. We ate it, and we do still. " Fire i!< the great purifier," and I feel right well about chewing any beeswax that I ever saw. My hands who work for me, visitors who oomc in to see the wonders of the new system, are sure to be chewing scraps of fdn. much of the time. Did you ever stop to mechanically analyze impurity? Let us be gov- erned by our reason and not our emotions. Savages have more emotion and less reason, by far, than ci%-- ilized folks. You can'not turn me against any com- modity that presents pleasant sensations, and leaves no unpleasant reaction. Whims have cost this world much comfort and many grand improvements. A^•oid the whims of people, and do liy them as well as you do by yourself, and fear not. REPORT TO DATE. Out of 212 colonies, nearly one-half are dead and worthless; about one-half were packed with chaff, and one-half with sawdust and shavings aboA-e. The loss is greater among those packed with chaff, though they being in another apiary it is no test of packing, that we can be sure of. I use two styles of boxes,— the one described in March Gleanings, page llii, and a costly, well-painted box that incloses the whole hi\e. The old rough boxes are ahead, but we think the style of box not the cause. More than nine-tenths of the rest of the colonies in this county are dead, I think. While occasionally a man has a majority left, I know of several owning between 50 and 100 who report, " all dead long ago;" " I am done with bee-business," etc. In my acquaintance, not one bee-keeper in fifty (not a specialist) has come out even, in the l<>ng nm. Most of them fail by sup- posing that they can get the modern income by the ancient outlay. Some thing has not been seen to come from nothing, since the world was made. lam now having a big time with fdn., and will report at some further day if desired. If my readers will excuse the plainness of the ex- pression, I will say, that he who says that tinned wire for comb fdn. is not a perfect success, has found out just that much less than I have. James IIedixin. Dowagiac, Mich., April 18, 1881. BlilSS' SUN E VAPOR ATOK. fjRIEND ROOT:-I noticed on page412,Sept.No., that W. S. Hart wanted to know how to con- — ■ struct a sun evaporator. Inclosed you will find a rough sketch of one that I made mj'self this summer; which may be of use to him, and some of the other bee-keeping friends. In sketch No. 1, A is an opening two inches wide, covered with wire cloth extending the whole length of the tank, and the whole is covered with a narrow roof, to keep out the rain; B is an iron rod to hold it together; C C are posts, 3x1 in.; F is a piece of 3x1, extending across from post to post under the bottom, and is let into the posts VA inches, to sup- port the weight. E E are pieces of iron bent around the posts, and bolted to F to keep it from spreading apart at the bottom. 1881 GLEA]S"INGS IN BEE CUETUIIE. 221 Sketch No. 2, A A A A arc window glass, B B B are the posts; C C C are the ends of the bolts; D is the houey-s'ate. The tank is made of two-inch plank, and is 7 ft. long, 3 ft. wide, and 20 inches high, all inside measure. The ends should set back from the ends of the sides about two inches, and let into the sides and bottom about ■'« of an inch. Thereof should be made tight, so that it will not leak; one side is made of boards; the other side has glass in it, so as to let in the sun, and should face the south. HOW TO PUT IN THE LINING. Go to the tin-shop and buy some sheets of L C. tin, and have the tinner turn the edges and eads for clinching, as they do fcrronfing. Lay the bottom out on a tloor, hammer down the clinches, and solder all tight. Take the measure of the inside of the tank, and then turn up the edges and ends of yourbottom lining to that size, making it hi inch smaller all around than the inside of your tank. Now put the bottom lining in its place; begin on one side and put in the rest of the lining, one sheet at a time, clinching and soldering as you go. The lining should be bent over the top of the tank, and nailed to the outside with lath-nails. The above tank ought not to cost more than $15.00, and will hold about 3000 lbs. of honey. The whole should lie treated to a good coat of paint. It would be difficult to tell just how fast it would ripen newly extracted honey; it would depend upon the weather and how thick the honey is when ex- tracted. If the weather is cloudy, cold, and damp, it would not ripen the honey as rapiaf6r:— I made a little change in the evaporator. I put rods through the legs, below the tank, the same as aliove. Tell them to paint it black, or some o. her dark color, as it will absorb tho heat. W. W. B. REPORT FROM FRIEND TOWNIiEY, THE OKIGINAL CHAFF-HIVE MAN. ™^.w^.,^ ROOT:— With the hope of inducing fpl others to subscribe for Gleanings, I have given away nearly all of the back numbers. Not having them now to refer to, I am not able to state just when I wrote to you, recommending chaff as a winter protection to bees. Soon after its ap- pearance in Gleanings, some of your correspond- ents claimed "priority of invention." Now, I have no wish to deprive any one of well-deserved "credit;" on the contrary, I shall be most happy to divide tho "honor" with all claimants. Present your claims, gentlemen, but don't all speak at once. Previous to the winter just past, I have had tho best of suc- cess wintering bees packed in chaff; but the last winter has been " too big a boo for the colt. " Out of 60 colonies in my home apiary, I have lost 9 up to date, April 18th, and about the same percentage of loss in the one away from home. In conclusion, you will confer a favor that will be reciprocated in any way you may suggest, if you will please insert, in the reading department of Gleanings, the following advertisement:— FOR SALE, But not recommended, 38 chaff-packed, wintering hives, at a price much below their actual cost. J. H. TOWNLEV. Tompkins, Jackson Co., Mich., Apr. IS, 1881. Why, friend T., you do not mean to say n out of ()0 i.s sutlicient grounds for feeling blue, do you? Or is it that you prefer to use the phaft in tlie original plaii we lirst started on, without having any ))ermanently packed chaff hives at all? Please enlighten us. Those who have lost less than 1-3 per cent this year belong in lleports Encouraging department it seems to me. GAI.l.i:P>S IDEAS ; ON PLENTY OF STORES. ^[pjDITOROF GLEANINGS :-Our Califoniia bec- J>[jij]| keepers complain of eastern bee journals, and say that they contain too much about winter- ing; that there is no trouble about wintering here, etc. The great trouble here is, al)out cari-ying our bees through a dry summer. My impression is still strong, that they can be carried through every sea- son here with perfect success, but not with the pol- icy that some pur.sue. Boos should not be robbed here of all their stores in the fall, any more than in tho East. Stocks that were left full of stores last July are now full of brood and bees, while stocks that were rolibed of their stores lato in the season are now comparatively doing nothing, while their near neighbors' bees are doing nicely. It requires good management here in California in order to lie successful, as well as it requires skill and manage- ment in the East. True, bees will winter here suc- cessfully on a very small supply of honey; but in order to be successful, they must either bo strongly stimulated, or they must have a large amount of stores to fall back on. They can gather pollen in some localities the entire year. By the way, I know of a splendid locaJity for raising bees and queens, and thoy could be kept perfectly pure; but the qual- ity of honey would not bo good for market, and 1 do not know tho quantity that would bo stored, but they could be bred at all seasons. Some good relia- blo queen-breeder ought to occupy that locality. Well, Mr. Editor, you see I am off tho track, as sure as fate. A good two-story Langstroth or Simplicity, well filled with stores and bees, will be self-support- ing, even in a California dry year, and they will yield their owner from 100 to 300 lbs. of honey in a good season, and ha\-e their hive well stored with honey for the dry season, if it should come; and if it does not come, the surplus honey can easily be taken out in the spring. Do not rob your bees too closely, e^en in California. GLEANINGS IN I3EE CULTURE. Mat GALLUP'S PLAN OP INTRODUCING QUEENS. The reailcrs of Gleanings, or at least quite a num- ber of them, know that I have had quite a large practical experience with bees, and now I am going- to toll them how I introduce a valuable queen when I want to bo certain of success, and without a proba- bility of failure. It is a well-known fact to practical bee-keepors, that at certain seasons of the year we can introduce with ease by various processes, and then again we will fail. Now, it is the old bees that play the mischief, and not the yuungones. We once in a while find a colony that will not accept a strange queen on any conditions. Now, when I receive an imported queen, or any valuable queen that I wish to be certain about, I go to any populous stock and take out one card of sealed and hatching bees, to- gether with the adhering bees. Then go to another and do the same until I have three or more cards or combs (be sure not to get the queen from any of those stocks), place them in a new hive and on a new stand, and you have a stock prepared to re- ceive your new queen. By mixing bees from sev- eral hives, they discover their queenlessness at once ; and by allowing the queen to be caged 24 hours in your prepared stock, or until your old bees are all gone back to their parent stocks, which they will do the first fair day, liien there are none but young bees left. Liberate your queen, and build up to a full stock by giving sealed brood as fast as required. Of course we use a division board in the new or pre- pared stock until filled up. In 40 years' practical experience I have never once failed by the above process. We introduced the imported queen we got last fall, by the above process, and wintered her on 4 cards, and built up this spring to a full colony. E. Gallup. Santa Paula, Ventura Co., Cal., April 4, 1881. We like your ideas of plenty of stores first rate, friend (t.; but after having given the plan of mixing bees to get a place for intro- ducing queens a pretty thorough trial, v:e have decided rather in favor of nuclei con- taining bees from only one hive. The re- sult was rather contrary to my previous opinions, I must confess." ^■•■1 POINTS OF DIFFERENCE BETVVEEN BLACK AND ITALIAN BEES. [Continved from page 166.] flHE Macks are more ready than the Italians to work in surplus-honey receptacles not closely ' ■ connetted with, the main hive. My shallow cbamber between the tops of the frames and the honey-board, which admitted the bees and the heat of the hive so freely into the supers, was a great Buccoss with the blacks. When the hive was crowd- ed, and the honey harvest good, they so filled the su- pers that the newly forming eomb could seldom be seen, except when the bees were taking their after- noon playspell; and if the honey-board was left off they began their new work at the top of the \ippor cover. The Italians, however, as though distrust- ing the safety of storing elsewhere, are reluctant to begin comb-building, except in close connection with their brood-nest. Supers placed on the shallow chamber are often neglected, even when supplied with combs, while they so overfill the combs below as to check greatly the proper increase of bees. If the boney-board is removed they usually begin to build from the tops of the frames, extending their tombs upivard, even when their weight eauscs them to bend more or less before thej' can be attached to the top.* I was finally compelled to dispense with the shallow chamber for Italians.l- 5. Tlic comb honey made hy the Macks from any li'jht-colored supplies is usually more attractive than that stored from the same sources hy Italians. This is owing to the former leaving a larger air-spaco than the latter between the cappings and the sealed honey.1; 6. With a queen of the current year, the blacks will hardly ever swarm, while, long after the usual swarni- ing season, young Italian que»ns will often lead off swarms. v. " Black bees are much more sensibly affected by th» loss of their queen than the Italians. The almost frantic agitation which usually follows the removal of a queen from a black stock, is well known. Re- moving large numbers of queens for sale during the working season, from Italian colonies, such agita- tion was the exception instead of the rule. In most cases the only special sign that the bees missed them was the building of queen-cells. This greater attachment of the blacks to their queen is in some cases a loss, as they seldom attempt to supersede an old or inferior queen, and are thus much more liable to become queenless than the Italians, who do not hesitate to take timely measures to replace a queen whose fertility is much below par.§ A careful ob- server has given, in the French Bee Journal, satis- factory proof of the numerous losses resulting from the death of aged black queens. It is probablj' the fact, however, that more bees are lost in winter in Italian than in black stocks, oven if more entire col- onies of the former than of the latter do not perish — the strange attachment of the blacks to their queen inducing them to cluster more compactly, in order to be nearer to hor. 8. In biiildinr/, an Italian swarm seldom begins as many combs as the blacks, and therefore toorlcs them more compacthj, squaring them out, as it were, as they proceed.W 9. Black bees mill readily build, between guide- frames, worker combs, tohile it is very difficult to get any satisfactory result in this line from Italians. They will abandon the hive over and over again, or sulk for days doing next to nothing, as though they were conscious that, in the combs thus unnaturally separated, they could not prosper, ignorant, of course, that the separators would eventually bo re- moved. 10. The Italians, both young and old, adhere with much tenacity to their combs when they are lifted from the hive, while the blacks, more especially those neicly - Thov sometimes'build a number of small eoiubs in the shape of buttresses, to keep their main work in proper position until they can reach to the top. + If the supers rest upon the tops of the frames, nnc easily sliaken off from their combs, thev might reseuible them also lii their falling propensity. *'In unusually guod honey rears, the blosjsoms of thefirst crop of red clover are so surcharged in the sweets, and bees can ob tain It so easily, that they pay little attention to \yhite clover. In expressing the opinion, that the Cyprians unite the best qualities of the blacks and Italians, I do not speak from any personal experience with them, but rely largely on the testimony of exports, both in Europe and America. M. Cori and CountKrakouski, after having, for over twenty years, sought out the best varieties, and who seem to have tested more kinds than any other apiarians, have at last settled down upon the Cyprians as greatly superior to any yet tried (See British lice Jo?)OUt half of the bees in this part of the State are dead. I wintered in the cellar, and had unusual success. Out of 90 stocks, Cyp- rians, I lost onlj' 3 (one was queenless, and one starved.) In an experience of some 10 years, I never had my bees conic through so well be- fore. Give me a good cellar for a winter such as this. For early and late breeding, give me the Cyp- rians. I. B. R. Sheurick. Mt. Zion, Macon Co., 111., April 15, 1881. In consideration of the multitude of gloomy re- ports, we would add another cheering one to ours of an earlier date. We have a small apiary of 8 stands of blacks, about 0 miles in the country; 3 chaff, i L. and 3 old box hives, all of which are in splendid or- der, and are to-day testing the new candy you sent us last week. They.were warmly tucked up under 4- inch chaff cushions, but had no other protection or care; were out on their summer stands. Cleveland, O., March 31, 1881. A. C. Kendkl. I put 155 in a cellar, or bee-cave, on the loth of No- vember, and have just finished taking them out to- day, the 1.5th of April, live mouths, or 151 days, with- out a fly, and all are alive and kicking. Have not lost one so far. Some few had dysentery. One of these were Italians; about 30 were hybrids; the rest were blacks. Now how will this jibe with friend E. A. Morgan's report in last Gleanings? he says, "If you must winter in cellars, put none in but pure Italians." I merely refer to this to show that black bees can be wintered in cellar as well as Italian. Quite a large number of bees have died in this coun- ty, as we have had a terrible winter. There is still lots of snow on the north hill-sides yet. ROBT. QuiNN. Shellsburg, Benton Co., Iowa, April 15, 1881. Or liCtters from Those "IVlio Iiave MficIo Bee Culture a Failure. (^ITAKTED. into winter-quarters with ^jj) about 140 stocks, in chaff hives, well protected, but pretty weak in bees. During the Avinter and spring, the queens Avere sold out of perhaps 20 of them, and the bees were put Avith otliers. To-day, April 22, I have 12 hives with bees in them. Three of the 12 are gathering pollen fairly, but the other 9 will pull tlirough, only Avith the A'ery best kind of weather and care. The cause of the loss, so far as I can tell, is, hrst, too few bees ; second, that the combs were liandled and mixed during the process of uniting after queen-rearing, so that the bees 1881 GLEANII^GS m BEE CULTUEE. 225 had no chance to build and ^yax up in old tough comLs before the approach of cold weather, as they usually do ; third, the long Avinter, which gave them no aood opportuni- ty to fly, for a period of nearly G months. I am not (^uite sure in my convictions, from the fact that others lost heavily, who complied, so far as I can tell, with the lirst of the above conditions, and also that some wintered well whose bees were in as bad shape, or nearly so, as mine. Another thing, I do not know why those three fair colonies came out better than almost a hundred others. The above report is from myself, A. I. Eoot, Editor of Gleanixgs. P. S.— I should feel agreat deal" badder,'' but there are so many other sufferers in the " same boat,'' that, some way, in one sense, I rather rejoice at being among you, espec- ially if my presence will in any way " en- liven the gloom "' that seems to hover over the greater part of the bee-keepers of our land. P. S. No. 2.— I just want to say, that, with God's help, I don't mean to be here another spring. How is it with the rest of you,ljoysV I have fought bravely and long against the— what 1 am now persuaded— inevitable; but I was forced to succumb at last, and came with feelings of indig- nation and chagrin to the inhospitable door of Blast- ed Hopes. I knocked; the door was opened with alacrity. I stepped within : I saw enthroned upon a throne built up of ruined homes and lives, of shat- tered purposes and plans, of blighted prospects and expectations, a monster in looks and attitude — Blatitcd Hiypcs ! Why are so many bright hopes and anticipations born within us, only to be crushed and trodden to death by this fiend? In the summer of 1878 I was seduced, by tlattering accounts published in your journal and other papers to embark in the bee-kecpiug- business. I bought six colonies of bees, in Langstroth hives, and win- tered them successfully that winter, but did not get any surplus honey. The next winter was much the same, and last summer was worse than any previous year, so that I had to feed as late in the fall as the '^'^ weather would permit. When the first line day of spring came this year I went forth with buoyant spirits to examine my stock. I opened a hive ; not a live bee in it. 1 went to the next; it was in like con- dition . My heart began to Ei' smite within me. I went Hf down the whole length of my apiary with like result, llp^ and, coming to the last, I • sank down upon a box, =^ overcome by despair. I send you a sketch of my- selt at this point of affairs, times, and is the only thing that can stop the fast- flowing tears of despair. R. W. Rudney. Dayton, Ohio, April 4, 1881. PECULIAKLY AGGRAVATING. About five-sixths of the bees here died this winter. I had 7, and 5 died; and one of the others came out and united with the other, and then they killed both queens. That leaves me queenlcss. Noah Milleu. Bradford, Miami Co., Ohio, April 14, 1881. I do not think you will get to buy many bees in this section of the State, unless they be the dead ones, for there are more of that kind than the other; but I suppose, you have enough of that class in Ohio, though I hope they are not so plentiful as they are around here. David C. Smith. Lewisville, Henry Co., Ind., March 2*i, 1881. Bad luck to me in wintering! My bees lost 70 out of 88, with prospect of losing more if cold weather continues much longer. The last six weeks has been death to them. I have lost over 50 within that time. Chaules E. Glaziek. Adams Center, Jetferson Co., N. Y., April 9, 1881. I know how it is, friend Charley. " I've beenthar." " Busted " again ! One stand of bees left out of 2:1 in fall. That makes 136 colonies in 3 winters. Now, you fellows who are taking the bee fever, just take a look at my apiary; 100 little cedars, set of hives, frames, boxes lying around ; dead bees, bare ground, piles of snow and ice, 3 feet deep. The linden har- vest last season lasted 3 or 4 days all told, and that was the best of the year. No swarm of bees here could make enough to last over winter. I fed over 300 lbs. in frames last summer. Heaviest snowstorm of the season fell on the 19th. J. E. Jarrett. West Point, Iowa, March 17, 1881. blasted hopes. taken by my little daughter, who happened to be looking out of the window. Do not frown when you see the pipe; it gives me great comfort at such Never before, in the recollection of our old bee- keepers, has there been a winter so detrimental to our industrious little pets. There have been sea- sons when the useful insects were few in number, but never, previous to this date, have bees been so nearly extinct as now in this vicinity. Last fall no less than 3C0 colonies of the little follows decorated and made happy the homes of our neighbors; but at present about 293 colonies are no more. Apiarists gave but little attention to the little honey-gatherers last fall. Out of 30 good colonies, I have but one feeble colony remaining to mourn the loss of their deceased neighbors. E. J. Hinshaw. Lynn, Ind., April 1, 1881. After thinking I was doing a nice thing by feeding up my weaker stocks of bees last fall for winter, this spring's examination revealed the fact, that my 18 stocks were all dead but one. Your cartoon for April represents me very correctly, meditating what I should do with hives, besides some 35 new hives over, not used, mostly filled in top story with sec- tions, foundation starters, and tin separators. Truly these are blasted hopes. The winter was so long continued and cold, without any warm days for them to fly, I feared the result. My bees ware all common blacks, and I thinli I shall try again with Italians. I should have said, however, that the bees were most- ly short of stores. Horace Kingsbury. Lockport, Niagara Co., N. Y., April 15, 1881. 226 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. May SUCCESSFri-i CE1.1.AR WINTEKIXG. fijP TAKE this moment to fulfill my pledge to re- Jjl port my success in wintering my bees; and I do it very cheerfully, for the great desidera- tum ill bee culture is wintering, and we are all anx- ious (I suppose) to adopt the best methods. You may recollect that at my last report I had 138 liives in cellar, 9 lli-story box hives, and 129 imp. Simplicities. I put them in about the 15th of November, and took thoin out April 15th. I have handled them all over this week. I find one box hive with bees all dead; they died in January of dysentery. Two Simplici- ties had no queens, and the bees all left them at the first fly, and went into the other hives. In one other hive I found no brood nor queen, but about 4 quarts of boes. All the others, 125 Simplicities, have brood in all stages, and plenty of eggs. The 8 box hives seem strong, and that is all I know of them ; 4 of the 125 were so weak in bees that I put in division- boards to help them keep warm; and 10, which had plenty of bees, were so light in stores that I gave theiu one card each of sealed basswood or clover, and should have given more, but there were eggs or brood in nearly all the combs, and it was difficult to make room for it Avithout taking out brood, eggs, or honey. The rest, 111, are all very heavy, and full of bees; nearlyor quite one-half of them are literally full of bees, so that they lay out when the sun shines on them. I think there are more bees to-day than there was when I put them in the cellar. This, I think, is better than last year. To guide or help those who may adopt cellar wintering, I will again describe my cellar. It is 16 by 26 inside measure, 7 feet high, in dry sandy soil, the bottom paved with pounded stone. A 4-inch tin pipe goes from cellar to a very tall chimney, which receives the pipe from a large sub-burning stove, in which there was tire kept, day and night, while the bees were in the cel- lar; and a 4-inch pipe enters one cellar window at opposite ead from chimney, and turns down by elbow terminating near the cellar bottom. But this was not enough ingress, and I had to open an out- side door many of the nights. The pipes, both from stove and cellar, arc made very tight so as to admit no air to the chimney, but from the cellar when the stove-dampers are closed. If my memox-y serves me, you said you would give one insertion of bees for sale by the pound. (That is just like you, to advertise gratis when it is to cut off your own business, just because it will help some poor fellow who has lost his bees.) If I am correct, you may say to the friends that I will supply bees by the pound at your rates, to the extent of 10 bushels or so, and will put in queens when I have them, for 50 cents each (mind, they are blacks and hybrids raised from Italian drones), but they are large, healthy, and enterprising bees— a good strain of workers or honey-gatherers. H. V. Train. Mauston, Wis., April 31, 1881. Many thanks, friend T., but I think your ten bushels of bees will be gone quickly, as soon as the friends ^et this journal. You give me more credit than I deserve ; it was partly because it was next to impossible for me to fill the orders, that made me give this offer. Your offer of putting in queens, oven blacks, is very liberal, and will doubtless prove a great hel]) to many who are anxious to get bees on their combs. I think I shall have to build a cellar like yours, or similar. ENCOUR AGIXG REPORTS AlVD BliASTED HOPES BOTH IN THE SAME LETTEU. f THOUGHT I would write a few lines to you and let you know how we poor (?) bee-keepers in "^" this section of the country have made out this cold winter which has just passed. It has been a very bad winter for the most of the bee-keeping fra- ternity: but as for myself and a few of my neigh- bors, we have no reason to complain so far. A few of us here wore wise enough to put our bees in a good cellar built for the purpose (well ventilated), and have been very successful with them; and, by the waj', I am inclined to think it the best way. There were four of us who put our bees in one cel- lar, and I will now give you the number of colonies put in this cellar, and the amount of losses, which we consider very light:— A. Jennings 146 lost 5 W. Turner 30 " 0 C.S.Lobdell 35 " 1 G.S. Merritt 18 " 1 Total 229 7 Another neighbor, Mr. C. S. Hand, put in his cel- lar 74 colonies, and lost only 3. We think this a pret- ty good report, and we don't any of us feel like be- ing put in Blasted Hopes. Our bees are all doing finelj" at present, tilling from five to eight spaces in hive with bees. I will now give you a different list, although we do not feel like bragging over them, for some time we may have bad luck as well as they, and we would not like to have them brag over us when we have bad luck:— W. Makely, in cellar 300 col., lost CO H.Gould, outdoors 185 " " 185 J.Snyder, " 70 " " 70 E.Snyder, " 100 " " 100 E.&G.Snyder, " 15 " " 15 J.H.Lamb, " 15 " " 15 Z. Lockwood, " 55 " " .55 H. Kelley, " 13 " " 10 J. M. Hannay " 15 " " 15 Total 608 525 All of these were within a circuit of about three miles of me, ia different directions, and there is a number from whom I have not heard any thing. If you consider this report worth putting in Glean- ings you can do so; and, bj' strict attention to bus- iness, we hope to be able to give a good report next fall. By the way, I think that Gle.\.nings is one of the most interesting papers I ever read. I would also Siiy, if any dealer in apiarian supplies or queens who happens to read this will send me his catalogue and price list, it may be some benefit to them some time. C. S. Lobdell. South Waterloo, N. Y., April 20, 1881. Some kind friend has sent us a copy of the Sagi- naw (Mich.) Moniinfj Herald, detailing the losses of the bee-lvcepers of Flint and Parwell counties. The reporter states that, out of 1359 colonies, but 433 are alive. O. J. Hetherington lost 349 out of 250. Dr. L. Whiting lost 50 out of 90, while the Wilkin sisters, of Farwell, Clare Co., lost only 2 out of 50, and came out ahead by a long way of any of the old veterans in the vicinity. It may not be fully demonstrated that women are equal to the task of handling the reins of government, even should they want to do so; but I think it Is pretty certain they can manage bees- ay, and liecp them, about as well as men can. ISSl GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. TIN CANS FOR RETA1I.ING HONEY. WT seems to me that tin is, without qnes- III tion, destined to be the material to hold — ' the great bulk of our extracted honey. All of our canned fruits are sold in tin, al- most to the exclusion of glass, and it would seem as if the reasons for so putting the fruit on the market would equally well apply to lioney. The Dadant pails, or a pail with a cover! are without question the best thing for retailing lioney in places near to your api- ary; but ill no way that I can see are they adapted to shipping honey long distances. I regret this, for the idea of having a ))ail that Avill be worth all it costs, after the honey is used out, is a very ini])()rtant one indeed; but I can see no ])racticable way by which we (jan solder a pail up tight, as it "must be to hold honey safelj', and then get the lid off without marring it, after it is in the hands of the consumer. It is true, we might solder a very tlnn cover of tagger's tin over the top of the pail, just under the cover proper, but to unsolder this, or cut it out, without leav- ing sharp and dangerous, to say nothing of unsightly, edges, is a matter not easily man- aged. (Jf course, a tinsmith might do it; but to devise means or tools by "which the average housekeeper could do it is another question. Well, suppose we drop this idea, at least for the present. What kind of packages shall we use for soldering up honey as they do fruity Our friends in California have de- cidedpretty unanimously, I think, on at least two staple sizes— fifty-lb. cans for honey in bulk, and 2-lb. cans for honey for retail- ing directly to the consumer. The 50-1 b. cans, or at least those sent us by friend Wil- kin, are made 9i inches square,' by 13i deep. I presume this square form is chosen be- cause two of them can be cheaply crated in a strong-box, making a secure lOU-lb. pack- age. The plan of making these cans is ex- tremely simple. Take 4 sheets of tin, of such size that, when i inch is fc^lded on each of the foursides of each, they will measure just 9jxl3i. Now, these folds" are not to be clear over, nor are they to be a right-angled fold, but only at an angle of about 4-3 degrees. In other words, a miter angle, such as we see on a picture-frame. In fact, we will put the four sheets tog<4her (their longest edges to- gether), like a picture-frame, and solder them so as to make a tall square can, without top or bottom. The top and bottom, made in the same way, 9i square, are now dropped in and soldered! This makes a strong can, and very smooth looking, on the outside ; but on the inside these folded edges are all sticking in toward the center. Such cans can be made with very few tools, and by one who is not a practical tinsmith. To get the honey out, we have only to punch a hole in one corner ; Avith a smaller hole for a vent, in the opposite corner of the same end. we can pour it out as readily as we would pour from a pitcher. Three sheets of tin, 14 by 20, make the Whole, with some to spare. I pre- sume a fair price for such oO-lb. cans would be about 50c. , or perhaps 40c. by the hun- dred. Now. the other popular can, the 2-lb. one. is of course made round, to save labor and material. The most economical shape for a honey-can, as well as for a hive for bees, would be a sphere ; but as that is out of the question, we take a cylinder as the next best form. I fear many of the can manufacturers have not hgured well on the best proportion for these cylinders. I mean the proportion the height'should bear to the diameter. I'er- haps we should use the tin to best advantage if we had the height and diameter about equal ; but we find, in cutting tin, that the circles for tops and bottoms waste largely, while the piece for the sides can be got out so as to use almost every i)article of the sheet. Now, while friend Wi'lkins' 2-lb. can holds exactly the same as mine (about a i)int and a half"), his is ii in diameter, and 8 inches high, while mine is .3+ in diameter, by 4 high. Mine is about the proportion of an "ordinary 2-lb. fruit-can. There may Ije a reason for making cans so large arouiid ; but if there is, it is unknown to me. Of course, we must have a hole left in the top of the can, to pour in the honey. We make this in all the covers, with a H-inch punch. A two-inch punch Avill then cut a cap to just cover it. We (ill these cans rapidly, by selting them in a large tin pan. and fixing this just at the proper height under the gate of an extractor can. To make the honey run rapidly. Ave warm it until one can just be.ir his hand on the can. This will make it flow fast, and it is much easier to stop when the can is just full. Not a particle is allowed to get on the "cover, or the solder will not stick. A hole must be pricked in the cap before soldering, or the steam Avould interfere Avith a perfect joint. After the cover is Avell soldered, a little sol- der is dropped into this liole. The cans are now labeled, and then are ready to be packed into boxes, two dozen in a box. For the sake of keeping the labels clean and bright, AA'e use new clean sawdust. Thurber's price for choice honey put up in this Avay is 8S.00 lier case of tAVo dozen boxes. This Avould be o3ic. per can, as the cost to the retailer. At this price, he could not well sell it for less than 40c. Our price is, for the best honey we can get, S6.00 ]ier case, and Ave retail it for 28c. ])er can. Where one has freight to pay on it, it Avould have to be sold for 30 or 3oc. Honey soldered up in this A\-ay is clean to handle, and AAill keep in good condition for a hundred years. TRIGONA, OR BRAZI1.IAN STINGLESS IIONEir-BKE!!^. {Continued from page IGT.) ^p] HERE are about fifty species belonging- to the Jl"' genus Trigona described, and thirty of the — ' genus Mclipona; these insects are the sting- less honey-bees of South America; there are also as many in Mexico, and they are found in India, Africa, Australia, and the islands of the Eastern Archipela- go. A few of these are black, but the majority are of different shades of yellow or reddish brown. The Trigona vary in length from about two to four lines_ Their wings are longer than the abdomen; the stig- ma is distinct, with its inferior margin rounded; the abdomen is short, somewhat triangular, compressed beneath, and forming a corona, or sharp edge, down ■ 2f^8 GLEAJflNGS IN BEE CULTURE. May tho center; the mandibles are serrated, denticulate, •r sometimes edentate. The form of the palpi differs considerably in the various species; in some, the two elongate basal joints of the labial palpi are narrow, and only slight- ly widened at their base; others are more widened at the base, and have also a broad, thin, semi-t):ans- parent, llattened margin. The tongue also varies g-reatly in its relative proportion to the labial palpi, being longer or shorter in different species. The arrangement of their brood-cells resembles those of wasps — horizontal combs and vertical cells at one side of the comb only. These are about one and a half inches in diameter, and used for brood only. The honey-pots in the nest belonging to me are from three-eighths to half an inch diameter, and are coated with resin, with an opening at the en- trance large enough so that oTily one bee can pass through at a time; these pots are filled with pollen and honey. Some of the Tritjona construct their nests in the hollow trunks of trees, others in banks on the ground; some suspend their nests from the branches of trees, whilst (me species constructs its nest of clay, it being a large size. Mr. Stretch found a nest of TrUjona at Panama several feet in length, in the hollow of a tree, containing thousands of in- dividuals. Mr. Peelialt, of Catitagalla, in Brazil, kept four species of Trbjona in his garden, to study their habits. He had one hive of Trifjoiia Mosiiuito, one of Tri\jona riifiaus, one of Tr'njona Mnndacaia, and one of Trignna Urucu. He says he has observ- ed " Trigana r-iijicrus swarm just like the European honey-bees, about the end of March, when the cold time begins, whilst in April, May, June, and July, they appear to increase very scantily — I suppose in order not to raise loo many useless feeders. Their mode of life appears almost identical with those of Apis Mdliftca. I have found only one queen in a hive." Tho quality of the honey varies considerably in the ditferent species of Tr('(/o?ia; of one it is said to be very good; that of another, tolerably so; of an- other, it is poor and rather tasteless, whilst that of Bonie is said to be unpalatable. This may be account- ed for by the different species of the genus Trigona visiting different flowers, caused by the different relative length of their tongue, adapted for reaching the nectaries of the particular howcrs which they usually frequent. Those species of Trigona that have their tongue short, frequent flowers having open corollas, whilst others, furnished with an elongated tongue, extract their food from elongated tubular flowers. Although the Trigona can not sting, an apiarian would be compelled to beat a hasty retreat if he should attempt to meddle with their nest. For such an offense, the little fellows will make a terrible at- tack on any person, and in a second the hair and eloth<;s of the attacking party are filled, and with an offensive sq»eaking they will cut off his hair — a much worse disfigurement than a sting. (Here we seethe wisdom of the Creator in endowing all liv- ing creatures with instincts or instruments for their preservation.) It is therefore impossible to succeed in any way with such a species, and the natives can get possession of only a taste of tho honey which is found in their nests, by threatening them with death and destruction by building a large straw fire, and stifling the bees with smoke. A) I of these stingless bees, and also the better qualities which do not make an attack on the hair, and which are In some respects similar to ours, resemble ours in outward appear- ance only, but in nature have nothing In common with the Apis 3IcJlifica. The wax-like material of the comb is resin, which Is gathered from the trees and leaves, and accord- ing to its kind is more or less greasy, black, gray, and yellow. The hind part of the Trigona body, in consequence of the missing organism for the secre- tion of wax, is comparatively too small, and there- fore this wax is not of animal origin, a'^ is the case with ours, but a vegetable substance. For this rea- son, those bees need less honey for their nourish- ment; they do not live together in large families, and have small houses and little work. I think I have said quite sufficient to prevent my clever American-Cousin bee-masters from wasting their money on such profitless insects as " stingless bees." William Cakr. Newton Heath Apiary, Near Manchester, Eng. ■ ^ i«>^— the: coiuiivg bee. " AND HOW TO CATCn niM." ^pp^EAR GLEANINGS:— As you give me so many Mn) ^ood ideas onmypetoccupation, bee-keeping, I don't know but I ought to add a mite to your useful store of knowledge, provided your worthj' editor thinks it worth adding; and as the "Coming Bee" S(!ems to be the great absorbing theme of the day, ransacking the distant "isles of the sea," and the far-off " Eastern climes," if possible to " find him," I thought perhaps a few items as to how to "catch him" nearer home might be of interest to many of your readers, and especially your ABC class. My experience in bee-keeping runs back over a period of 35 years, in Virginia, Iowa, and Cal- ifornia. I think I owned the first Italian queen west of the Mississippi River, which I got from Mr. Lang- stroth in July, 1801. For the first 6 or 8 years I " bred for stripes," as that seemed all the go; but I finally came to the conclusion, that honey pays better than stripes, and so changed my "base of operation," and soon had tho satisfaction of knowing that I was right. I sold out in Iowa in April, 18T2, and came to Cali- fornia, and soon had a lot of foul brood on shares, to try my luck in bees in California. Then in Novem- ber I bought 45 colonies, intending to make bee- keeping my business while I remained here. Arid now, in as few words as I know how, I will tell you how I have managed them, and let you be the judge as to whether or not I acted wisely; and if I am on the track of the " coming bee " or not. I tacked a label on each hive, and made a note, not of the stripes (some had one, others two and three, and some had none), but of the amount of honey each one made, and also of their other good and bad qualities. Then when the season closed I made a note of each colony in my memorandum-book, se- lecting my breeders, and condemning those with un- desirable qualities, while all was yet fresh in my memory. 1 then bred my queens and drones from my best queens, and destroyed my poorest, and this I have kept up ever since. I also get bees from dif- ferent places, far and near, to improve my stock and prevent in-and-in breeding; and as a further improvement of my stock I sent an order for 13 Ital- ian queens to Mr. J. Oatman & Son, Dundee, 111., as Mr. J. Heddon and others claimed that he had the best stock of Italians in this country for business. 1881 GLEANINGS m BEE CULTUEE. 229 When, in August, 1879, eleven arrived safe and sound, my neighbors took 3 and I kept 8, but lost one in introducing. I raised only 8 or 10 young queens that fall, as I don't like to raise many queens from a stock until I have Qrst tested it. This brings us to the season of 1880, which will bring out the sjjccia? points I wish to notice in this article. The season was cold and windy, and bees did nothing but swarm until after July ~flth. I raised about 60 queens in the spring, and about half Avere Italians. I aimed to have half of my drones Italians, but don't think I succeeded. When I say Italiau, I mean the Oatman stock. I call my stock the American bees. Yes, full-blooded American stock. But out of all my young Italian queens, I don't believe I have one that mated with an Italian drone. Whether any of the American queens mated with any of the Italians, I do not know, as they do not yet breed up to a fixed typo of rings, horns, etc. I pronounced all the queens I got fxom Mr. Oatman as pure. On the 20th of July I commenced hauling my bees to the river. I was then living three miles out on the phiins, and every thing dries up during the summer. I moved fi3 on the Stanislaus, and left them in charge of a neighbor bee-keeper. They made but little honey there, and 24 I moved on the Great San Joaquin, where I had charge of them my- self; 12 were full-blooded Americans (9 were young queens, and the other three were one and two years old;) my 3 Oatman queens (the other 4 having died, and another died this winter) and 8 Oatman daugh- ters, and one which, I think, was a granddaughter from a '79 Oatman queen, that I think was super- seded last spring. Now, here I will give you a table of my 24 colonies, as I copy from my memorandum-book:— Year when made. No. Col. Stock, Etc. 1878 1879 isso 6S A ' 79 American queen 70 l.oO 70 Oatnifin'..' .".'.'.'.'.".'..'.". .!....'!..!!!..'."!.' ns 71 American lOB 7'Z Anu'iican lH <;i (iranddaughter, Italian, nicelionej' 2'!5 71 Italian 90 7.A Italian J 118 715 Oatiiian, dfnd now 87 77 Aiiii'i-ir-an, I'dudcinnccl 50 78 '79 Italian, bnt littk'grtim . 1(10 79 American, very t'ummy . 108 «(» American 100 81 '79Italiau ■ 100 82 Italian, no gum • 90 8.3 American, condemned M 84 American 81 8.5 -TOAm.-riran 140 135 86 'TSAmorii'an 90 150 135 87 '7yitalian lS:i 88 Oatman - — . • 22 89 American ■ 1X1 90 American * 91 Italian, no jjnm ■ 120 Now, from the above tabic you will see that 3 made no honey. They were very weak, and lost their queens when I moved them to the river. Some of the others were weak too; so you see thatldidu't have all my best colonies in this lot. The above table summed up makes over 2300 lbs. all comb honey; the 11 Americans made 1341, an average of 113 lbs. per colony; the 3 Oatman made 117, an average of 59, while the 7 daughters and granddaughter made 1093, an avernge of 136. But a glance at the above table shows that the granddaugh- ter beat them all. While she made 235 lbs., she is also credited with making the nicest honey. Among the different lots of bees that I got I never before last fall figured up so closely the amount of honey each strain of bees made, and I must confess that the figures astonished me. Now, I never found fault with Mr. Oatman's queens or bees; but I have no doubt but that he has as good a stock of Italians as can be found anywhere. My neighbor who got twoof those queens we got from him claims they arc the best stock he ever owned, and that about the only honey he got last fall was from his full-bloods, and from the few queens he raised from them, and he told me, just the other day, that ho wouldn't take $10.00 for them. But what puzzles me is this : while the full-bloods figured so low in honey, why did their daughters, mating with ray improved drones, figure so high? The average of 50 lbs. for the full-bloods, against 113 tor the Americans, clearly shows the su- periority of my strain; but why did none of the young Italian queens mate with the Italian drones? were the American drones so much more active and long-winded, so that the ItHlian could not keep up in the chase after the queen, or what was the cause? Can you, friend Root, or any of your readers, solve the problem? Now, am I not on the right track to " catch him "? Doesn't my plan embrace "long-livedness," "long- windedness," and " long-tonguedness," and every other "long thing" that it takes to make up a su- perior strain of honey-gatherers? A few of our bee-men. and they are by far too few, claim that the drone is " a mighty factor in the im- provement of the honey-bne." But I claim that he is not only "a, but the mighty factor." I have long since been satisfied that the " drone does more to determine the character of progeny than the queen," and have acted accordingly, and have had no reason to regret my labors in that direction. Now, friend Koot, what advice ought I to give your manj' read- ers; to go and do as I have done, or to get an im- ported queen e^ery few years, and breed from her only? Another question I would like to have many of our queen-breeders answer: In many of their circulars sent out, they set forth in glowing terms the superiority of the Italian bees, and especially their " fine improved strain," which has cost them years of painstaking and care to breed up to its present standard, and then wind up by saying all, or nearly all, our queens will be bred from an i-ra-p-o-r-t- e-d m-o-t-h-e-r I And right here I shall make a bold challenge, without the least fear of a successful contradiction. Not one queen-breeder that is breed- ing onlij from imported mothers ever has or ever will make any improvement over the original race; but those who adopt a course similar to the one I have adopted will be the ones that J, at least, shall look to as the ones that will give us the coming bee. Neither do I care where he comes from, nor what he is made out of; but he is on the way as sure as fate. Now, friend Doolittle, what do you say to this? Isold my little farm, hence am not settled; but as soon as I get settled again, and if I continue in the bee business, which I expect to, I hope to of- fer a reward for a better stock of bees than mine. Now, friend Novice, if you will pardon this long letter, I will quit right square off, and not say anoth- er word on this subject. 1 was going to say some- thing, but I see I can't, about that hive. I sent you a model filled with raisins. I have so improved it that you would hardly know it. I have used it three years, and consider it the best hive I know of, in the way I handle bees. J. F. Flcjuky. Hipon, San Joaquin Co., Cal., March, 1881. I think you are pretty nearly, at least, »n the track, friend F.; but as I understand your experiment, is there not room for us to 230 GLEA^'IXGS I:N J3EE CULTUEE. May consider lliat a good many of the results may liave been accidentar:' It is very likely that no further considerable good luay come from more imported bees. We shall this season rear queens largely from our red- clovei' queen, and other breeders will proba- bly select some extra queen from among their stock, and it Avill then rest with the purchaser of queens to say whetlier they want one from a choice honie-bred queen, or from imported stock as heretofore. Last season, nearly half of oiir orders were for queens from our red-clover stock. FRIEND MOORE'S "TWO-HIVU" API- ARY. AND ■WHAT HE DID WITH IT. ^ COMMEXCED lust season with two colonies of Jjl bees, one Italitms and the other blacks. So you sec I had just half and hulf of each kind. Well, the Italiiins are far ahead of the blacks. I run the blacks entirely for Increase. Also increased the Italians some. Increased both to seven very fair colonies, though the season was so poor that I had to double the number up to five colonies, and feed syrup made of coffee A sugar to keep them from starving- in the fall. I Italianized the blacks, bought three wen k colonies from a neighbor, united them Into one, and now have si.x colonics, which have wintered nicely up to date. NATURAL QUEEK-CELLS, AND TWO QUEENS IN A HIVE. The Italian colony described above builds natural qneen-cplls all the season, commencing, as they did, ia the latter part of May, and continuing so late in the season that the last queen that hatched could not get fertilized on account of there being no drones. The colony was not stimulated in the least. In fact, the surplus arrangement was on all the sea- son, and the b?es drew out ten frames of fdn., and gave 46 lbs. of nice extracted honey from white clo- ver (which was about twice as much as obtained from any black colony in an apiary near by), and built about 40 natural queen cells. I also made two strong two-frame nuclei from it, and took some frames of brood to build up weak colonies occasion- ally. Strange to say, the bees kept on building queen-cells. 1 list as if they had been crowded for space or stimulated under the impulse of natural swarm- ing, which was not the case, as they showed no sign of swarming the whole season, and the last thing they di'l in the fall was to hatch out a fine young queen, which was kept in the hive for several weeks, and then killed by the bees just before cold weather, as she was not fertilized. So you see they will keep two queens in the hive. The bees are the yellowest I ever saw. A great many of them show four dis- tinct yellow bands. The queen is very prolific, and her daughters are also, one of which has shown the same disposition of always keeping a laying daugh- ter in the hive to help her. Of course, I always take the young queea out when she has commenced lay- ing; but, as an experiment, I let one stay in the hive 25 days after she had commenced laying, and have seen the young and old queen on the same frame of brood in less than hulf an Inch of each other without showing the least sign of fighting. I am experiment- ing, and as all of my queens (except two) were rear- ed from natural cells, I hope, by the end of the com- ing season, to have several that will keep two queens in a hive. DIVISION-BOARDS MADE OV SLATS LIKE THE MATS. By the way, friend Itoot, what is your decision on those comb-guide division-boards, a description of which I sent you last year? I am wintering three two-frame nuclei in one of your L. Simplicity hives, by means of said division-boards (two of each kind), and on examining them Feb. 9th, I fcuad them in splendid condition. What is the price of basswood strips for the mats per 100? I see by the mats that thej^ are cheapcrthan comb-guides, and will answer just about as well, if not better, as the strips are thinner. M. B. Moore. Morgan, Ky., March 15, 1881. Please let us know more about that queen, friend M.. and especially whether the young queens have the same distinctive trait. It is certainly a very valuable trait in a queen. — The mat division-boards have been fre- quently suggested, and used, if I am correct. The oiily objection I know of, is the labor re- quired to tack so many strips on, for they have to be tacked in many places in each slat, to make the board substantial. It would, without doubt, make it more like the old straw hive, in its property of keeping dry, and absorbing moisture. We can furnish the strips forl.jc per hundred; by mail, 40c. SOME NOTES FRO.TI GEORGIA. fi HAVE been reading Gleanings today, and, as I notice no reports from Georgia (except one in — ' Growlery) I venture a short account of my lit- tle apiary of about 20 colonies. I have been using the movable-frame hive but two years; but during this short time I have made more money, and re- ceived more genuine pleasure from my bees than from all the former period of my bee-keeping in the old way. I think I am making progress; have been very successful in introducing Italian queens; intro- duced 11 last year without loss; attempted to intro- duce one received from Hutchinson, without having water in the cage, which was the only one I ever lost. Last fall, in preparing for winter, I used your chaff division-boards and thick chaff cushions; was laughed at a little by my Southern friends, but as the winter through which we have just passed has been unusually severe, the laugh is now on the oth- er side. Every culoiuj came throwjh in splendid con- dition. Even one nvicleus, 2-frame, came through all right, and is now on the high road to ])rosperlty. We are still having strange weather for this section. On the night of the first inst., all of our peach crop was killed, the mercury going down to 2()\ The fig-trees were killed down to the ground during the severe winter. I have not seen a single live fig-tree in our section. The weather continues very windy and cold, ice an inch thick the first three days of the month. Corn, which was planted at the usual time, about March 10th, was killed, and the farm- ers are plowing up and planting over again. The apple crop is still sate, not having advanced suf- ficiently to be injured. The poplar (or whitewood as you would call it) is about to bloom, and as it is to ua what linden is to you (a very important crop, both for honey and brood-rearing), the prospect of having it cut off indicates "Blasted Hopes." Bees have done but little for the past three weeks, as it is too cold and windy for them to fly during the greater part of the day. I have been feeding a little to keep up brood-rearing, and stocks seem strong and ready 18S1 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 231 for business. My Alsike clover, now in its second j'car, is looking fine, ami may supplement some of the bloom which has been cut off by frost. It blooms new in May. By the way, friend Root, one of those tested qvieens which I bought of you last fall has now a hive full of the most beautiful bees I ever saw, and they are working just as well as they look too. I wish I could get 20 queens reared from the same mother. WHAT TO DO WITH LIVE DRONES. I suppose you will say that I should rear from this queen what I want; but during that long cold wet spell of weather, thousands of drones hatched out in some old box hives which 1 had bought, and I don't know how to get rid of them. How will It do to make the entrance small, so that when they get out thoy can't get back? Also, how would you destroy them after shutting them out? A word about bottom- boards. BOTTOM-BOAHDS OF ARTIFICIAL STONE. Last fall a man came to my house with a load of Portland cement, and wanted to make some hearth- stones. I saw his samples of work, and concluded to let him make me one bottom-board, just to try. I gave him a pattern of Cook's bottom-board, and in a few monienis he had made the best one I ever saw. It is perfectly true, will never warp, and is hard as granite. He molded it as we would lead. It cost 40 cents; entrance, alighting-board, and all, is one solid rock. He had a patent on his mixture, but I sup- pose any good worker in cement could make up tiie mixture with the same result. 'VN'hat do you think of it? F.N. Wilder. Forsyth, Ga., April 5, 1881. Fastening drones out of the hives does not seem to work well ; but shaking all the bees, drones and all, into a box, and then cover- ing it with wire cloth, or perforated metal, that will just let the workers crawl out, is a practical way of getting rid of all the live drones in a hive. After the workers are all out, kill the drones with hot Avater, and feed them to the chickens. — ^Bottom-boards made as you relate have often been suggested, and, if i am correct, tried to some extent; but the objection I should have would be the coldness of the stone in cool weather. This may not, however, be a very great objection in your climate, friend W. m m ^ REPORT FROilI DR. C. C. mililiGR. OVERSTOCKING. f STARTED in the spring of 1879 with 154 colonies, and increased to 250; but, about July i, the bees — ' stopped storing, and, the swarms made latest remaining weak, I united down to 230, and got the last in the cellar Nov. 25th, having taken 4263 lbs. box honey. I lost not quite 4 per cent in wintering, and finished taking them out of the cellar April od, 188i), in fair order. Sickness and death in the family pre- vented proper attention, and I am ashamed to say that, by apple-bloom time, 21 more had perished through queenlessness or starvation, so that I com- menced 1880 with 200 colonies. The season was a poor one, and my bees did not seen* to do as well as did those of farmers 2 or 3 miles distant on either side of me. In fact, most of mine seemed to lose rather than gain, and I am stronsly inclined to the opinion that they would have dune much better if there had been only half as many. At the begin- ning of buckwheat bloom, I moved some 80 colonics 3 miles away, putting most of them on the edge of a large field of buckwheat. These gained considera- bly, and those left at home did better than they had done. Was it not because there were less of them? For the last few years I have been watching very closely this matter of overstocking, and I think it is bound to come to the front as a point of vital inter- est; but it is a point in regard to which it is exceed- ingly difHcult to come to any definite conclusion. I would give considerable to know just how many colonies I can keep in my home apiary with the greatest amount of f of o? profit. Looking at my ex- perience of 18T9, I should think perhaps from 100 to 150. In that season the 151 colonies seemed to do well the first part of the season, storing- 4263 lbs. honey, and increasing (artificially) to 250 culonies. When the bees ceased storing, July 4, f he clover was apparently in good condition, plenty of blossoms, and weather all right, and up to this time the force of bees had been increasing very rapidly. Was not the sudden stoppage of storing caused by the great increase of brood and flying bees to bo fed? Still, climatic influences, of which I understood nothing, may have been at work; and I confess myself very much in the dark on the whole subject. I should like very raKch that those who have had experience, or who have been making close observations, would give us the benefit thereof. The man whom I have been watching with most interest in this direction is D. D. Palmer, who has kept a large number in one apiary, and, if I mistake not, said that he expected to keep 400 in the same place. Will he kindly In- form us whether he has had any reason to change his views? THE PAST WINTER. It is not time yet (April .5) to make a full report; for with the thermometer at 5^ this morning, apples will not bloom for some time. But as my report is a bad one, and perhaps something may be learned from it, I give it now. Commenced Mny, 1880, with 200 colonies ; decreased to 162, and took 58 lbs. sec- tion honey (not 58 lbs. per colony, but the grand total from all my apiary was 53 pounds.) Nov. 20 to 24 I put 149 in cellar, and packed 1-3 in chaff outdoors. April 2d there were in the cellar 40 dead and 109 liv- ing; outdoors, 7 dead and 6 living. How many more will go I can not tell. As my average loss in wintering during the previous 4 winters was less than 2 per cent, there must be some reason for so great a change, having already lost nearly 2" per cent of those in cellar. On the whole subject of wintering, I don't feel that I clearly understand any thing for certain; but by talking over what we do know of failures, we may gain some lesson for tho future. Last fall (as, indeed, all last season), forage was scarce, and my bees were within half a mile of two sorghum-mills and a cider-mill, with others at greater range. Nov. 15th the ground froze up and remained frozen; and after waiting till Nov. 20th tho bees were taken into the cellar in this frozen weather. Nov. 29th I closed tho house and went to Pennsylvania, not opening it again till March 24th, tho thermometer having stood as low as 30° below zero, and I have no doubt it froze in the cellar. On attempting to make a Arc in the stove in the cellar, I found there was in one chimney no draft, soot and ashes having stopped it. It seems as if here were 232 GLE AXING S IX BEE CULTUKE. May reasons enough for los? ; loss of bees by the thou- sand at the sorghum-mills, bad stores from cider- mills, bees taken in during freezing weather without a fly for perhaps 2 or 3 weeks previous, and left in a cellar without sufficient ventilation, and part of the time in a freezing condition. But all of these causes put together I do not believe were as effective as one other, and the cause of nearly all my loss can be expressed in one ^vord,— starvation. True, if they had been kept warmer, less stores would have done, and some of them that, starved away from their stores would have been able to reach them; but we may as well call things by their right names, how- ever humillatiTig the confession may be, and let the errors of the past be so much experience to help in the future. April 7.— I have examined with some care 25 of the stocks that died in the cellar, and find 10 contain honey and pollen, and the hives arc daubed with dysentery; 3 have no honey, some pollen and the hives daubed; 1 with a httle honey and pollen and clean combs; 10 with neither honey nor pollen, and clean combs. In some of the hives classed as hav- ing no honey, there was a little honey out of reach of the cluster. This docs not give so many as I sup- posed of clear cases of starvation, but leaves my former ideas, in the main, correct. niVES OF PEAU UEES should bo taken at once from the cellar. Don't leave them a day, but take them out now, for every «3ay they are left in the cellar the combs are spoil- ing, and will soon be worthless. Clean out the hives, clean off the combs, and keep them in the dry till needed for new swarms. If any combs contain honey, of course they should be where bees can not reach them, but not in the cellar. Marengo, 111., April 7, 1881. C. C. Miller. called dark Italians. §aid hybrids all showed the three bauds when we "looked for them right "—that is, beudiug the body, or placing them on a window, etc. I have never seen any dark Italians (that showed all signs of purity) that were any crosser than the light ones; in fact, not cross at all. No necessity for a bee-nat or veil while handling them, and I know they are better honey-gatherers, and win- ter better than the light beauties so much admired by some. Mr. Adam Grimm came to that conclu- sion years ago, for he told me a few years previous to his death, that, for profit he advised" keeping the dark Italians in preference to any others." The above is not theory, but facts, for I have not .lumped at these conclusions, as I have made bee- keeping my business for the last fifteen years, hav- ing handled plenty of blacks, hybrids, and both light and dark coloi-ed Italians; and for my use I greatly prefer the dark pure Italians to any of the others; and I am sure, when bee-keepers use a proper amount of care in testing their bees, the dark Ital- ians will no longer have the name of being cross. O. H. TOWNSEND. Hubbardston, Ionia Co., Mich., March 10, 1881. In regard to the test of purity, t would say that I kuow of no other standard than the ItaUau bees in their native home. As those from our imported queens, many of them, do not show all the Ijands distinctly, unless placed on a window, I consider it safe to say pure Italian bees do not all show all the bands unless so placed. DARK ITA1.I.1NS; AKE THEY CKOSSEU THAN THE lilGHT-COL- OKED ones; tDO not think it fair, in testing Italians, to bend the bees or place them on a window to facili- ■ — ■ tate the finding of the three bands, as I am fjuite sure that the worker progeny of a simon-pure Italian queen will all show the three bands peculiar to the race, as they stand in a natural position on the combs. In connection with this, they all have light rings of hair, or down, on all that part of their bodies back of the yellow bands above referred to. These rings of down are sometimes worn off from some of the bees when they have had honey cr syrup on them, as in case of robbing. If the absence of these rings is caused in this way, the back part of the abdomen will present a shiny appearance. If a colony has the least trace of black blood about it, some of the worker bees will lack part of these rings of down. Such will not be shiny black unless they have had honey or sjTup on their bodies. I have two or three colonies of hybrids which show the three bands, and that without beudiug or placing on a window; but some of the bees in these hives lack part of the rings of down. Some of the yellow bands are somewhat cloudy, but they are there "all the same." We do not allow any drones in the above hives, as the (iueens are daughters of a hybrid queen whose workers were nearly all marked with the three bands— somo two, an<* once in a while one was black. I have known some who kept Italians, and some well-marked hybrids, whieh latter they >mi9n THE UEASON H HY AVE AUOPTED THE rLAN OF SH>E AND TOP MTOKING COMBINED FOR SECTION HONEY, I^•STEAD or TIERING UP, ETC. KEN we first commenced bee-keeping we used the Langstroth frame, and used Avhatis termed the tiering-up plan to secure box- honey; that is, as soon as the first lot of boxes were two-thirds full, raise them up and place an empty set between them aud the brood-chamber. To do away with the trouble of raising those partly filled, many put on two tiers at once; but the results, as a rule, are in favor of the former. The year 1870 was the first really good honey season we enjoyed after we engaged in the business of bee-keeping. Whoa the season was over, upon footing up we found our best stock had given us, in box honey, 110 ll>s. We considered this a large yield till we found that our friend Betsinger had done much better with hives adapted to both side and top storing. The years 1871 and 1872 proved to be rather poor seasons, and so our experiments were, most of them, a failure all around. In 1873 we made a few side and top storing hives, to test the matter thoroughly. At the end of the season wc found we had used too many boxes, as the bees had more commenced than they could fin- ish; still, those finished were fully equal to those taken from any of those worked on the tiering-up plan, and we had nearly as many more which were unfinished, as a clear gain. This experience con- vinced us of one thing, and that was, that bees built comb much faster at the sides than on top, while they stored honey much the fastest over the lirood. We were obliged to arrive at this conclusion: that, if we wished to secure a <^03d yield of box honey from 1881 GLEA:S"INGS IX BEE CULTURE. 233 our bees, we should raise the sections built full of comb, or nearly so, at the sides, to the top as fast as full boxes were taken from the top, placing the emp- ty sections at the sides as far as possible. Thus we worked till 1ST7, discarding the tieriug-up process more aud more, and adopting the other. At this time our hives were about equal, being half for only top storing, and half for side and top storing com- bined. As the season of 187T closed, we found that ISo lbs. was the hcut done by any of our colonies that had been worked with top boxes only, while three of those worked on the side and top storing plan com- bined, had collectively produced the large amount of 890 lbs. ; one giving :30ii, another 301, while the third gave28fi; while those stocks in our combined hive, taking the whole together, had averaged 2J0 lbs. each. This was a clincher in favor of the combined plan, and to-day all tieriug-up appliances arc out of date in our apiary. AVe now uge the Gallup frame exclusively, for wo have become convinced that more surplus honey can be obtained by its use than by any other; still, there is no trouble in ■working the L. frame on the combined plan. We also were forced to the conclusion some time ago that , if we wish to make the most box honey possible, the frames in the brood-apartment must be full of brocd (Jiof honey, nor tmply vomh) at the time the honey harvest commences; if not, the first storing will be done in the space luioccupied with brond, in- stead of the bees going into the boxes, AVe have found, from experience, that, if there is room in the brood-chamber for the bees to store from 6 to 8 lbs. of the first honey gathered, they are very loth to en- ter the boxes. Instead of going to work in the boxes with a will, they will crowd the queen with honey to more or less extent, whenever such conditions are present, to the end of the harvest. But let them have every available cell full of brood, and the first honey gathered will go into the boxes, thus inciting an ambition to store in the boxes rather than in the brood-chamber. To this end, if we were using the L. frame we would use but 7, as 7 L. frames give about the same brooding space as 9 Gallup. If 10 L. frames are used (as a rule), the two outside frames will be filled with honey, and bees will not travel over a frame of sealed honey to go into boxes at the sides, as quickly as they would enter them if the brood was close to the boxes— on the principle that the further from brood the boxes are, the less honc}' will be obtained. To sum up, if we wish a good yield of box honey, use so few frames in the hive that the queen keeps them literallj' full of brood, and so arrange your boxes that they come close to the brood, both at the sides and on top. As fast as full boxes are taken from the top, raise those partly filled at the sides to the top, putting the empty boxes at the side. To use friend Heddon's words, we would say of this plan, " I am not prejudiced in its favor because I adopted it; but I adopted it because I was prejudiced in its favor." G. M. Doolittle. Borodino, N. Y., March 24, 1881. If I am correct, the above is one of the most valuable of friend D.'s contributions, and I do not know why so few use side- storing boxes, and raise them to the top when full ones are taken off, unless it is that it is some trouble. There is no way to get large yields of comb honey without care and trouble, that I know of; and, for that mat- ter, any thing else that is really desirable. baitible: no. 4. LAKE GEORGE, .VXD LAST OF THE MOHICANS. j^l'TILL keei)ing our e3-('s upon those mountains, ^> and our foot still upon historic ground, we ranil)le from our county due westint*^ Warren county. Hej'c, fifteen miles from an apiary, is lo- cated the lively and growing town of Glen's JFalls. The noble Hudson here dashes over a barrier cf black rooks, forming a iMi'ttu'escjue fall, and a spl«u- did wati'r privilege, of which the enterprise of ni lu has made abundant use. Here are located a number of saw-mills, and thousand-^ of logs are annually floated down from the up))er Hudson to feed the never-ceasing demand of the maiuifacturer. Glen's Falls is the head of railroad navigation. If you would travel further north you must seat yourself in one of the many stages that ply here for the trans- portation of the thousands of summer tourists who visit that beautiful and world-renowned sheet of water,— Lake G.eorge. Sometimes, when we wish for a few days of relaxation from the cares (^f home, several families will club together, hire a cottage near the lake, and spend several days in fishing, boatiug, aud htinting. The waters of this lake are so transparent that the bottom can be seen from the boat for many feet in dojirh. A few years since, at < j|e of .■%edii seen half subm(!%ed in the gravily bed of the lake, twenty feet from the surface. The waters of this lake seldom get entirelly frozen over until late in January. We would like to invito you, friend Novice, and your wife aud your children, and any number of our brother bee-keepers, even to a whole conventiou of them, to one of our autumn vacations here. We M'ould guarantee you one of the finest fish chowders you ev divide and make two, and she did it 1881 GLEAXIXGS I:N BEE CULTURE. 237 hfrsolf, just as she had seen him do. Isn't she a dear little girl? I'm so sorry that her papa didn't bring her to Cincinnati with him, for then I should have taken her in my arms and loved her, and kissed her In aunt Luoinda's sweet plaoc, which is under her chin, where no one else ever thought of kissing her. Who will tell me next month who are going to take care of the bees when those are gone who arc taking care of them now? Mas. L. Haukison. Peoria, 111.. April, 1881. HOW AN A B C SCHOLAR MANAGES. FRIEND PHEIiPS' APIARY. ^^OD have frequently expressed a desire to visit W the homes and apiaries of your many friends — ' and subscribers. With your many and in-- gent duties, that would of course be an impossibili- ty, and it remains for us to do the next best thing; i. 0., send you the homes and apiaries— on paper. Inclosed, find a rough drawing of mj'' apiary, show- ing also a rear view of my home, etc. The arrange- ment of my hives may interest some of your readers. APIARY or W. G. PnELP<;, QALEXA, MU. They are laid out in blocks of 9, six feet apart from center to center, with entrances facing in- ward. A 12-foot center avenue runs the entire length of the apiary, with the honej--houso at the upper end. Intersecting this at right angles are similar avenues which communicate with outside ones. Each hive in each block is painted a different shade from its fellows, and run in colors from light red to pure white. Thus any confusion among the bees is avoided, and each can easily mark his own dwelling. The apiary, likewise, presents a very at- tractive appearance from the street, which is al- ways a desirable point. A cedar hedge protects the apiary on the north from the wintry blasts, and a large apple-tree affords a delightful shade for the honey-house in summer. Last year I planted grape- vines in front of each hive, with a view of shade; but the intense drought killed 9i of them. I shall try it again. Hitherto, tomato-vines well trained on trellises have proved excellent protec- tion for my bees, but it is some trouble to renew them year by year. My bees have wintered finely, and without the loss of a single colony, which, consid- ering the mortality every where, is very flattering to my methods of management, packing, etc. I have many items in reference thereto which would doubtless interest your readers, and I may give you some of this when I have leisure. Galena, Md., March 1, 1881. W. G. Phelps. f BOUGHT the bees that I asked your advice about, and am well satislicd with them so far. ' — ' I moved them to my home on the 2d day of March, and found onlj' one stand dead; they had starved to death, as there was not one cell full of honey in the hive. I cleaned the combs all out nice- ly and hung them back in the hive for a new swarm when they come out. I have taken the C empty gums and made frames for them, so that I can try my hand at transferring when it is time. I had 6 wagon loads of fine coal cinders hauled, and laid off two seven-hive apiaries as directed in A B C, and made a mound of cinders about S or 10 in. high un- der each hive, and put a strong thrifty Concord grapevine to each mound. I have ordered a load of sawdust, to go in front of my hives, and also my scantling, 2x4 in. for the trellises. I have made one chaff hive from dimensions in A B C, and it is some- thing of a curiosity around here, as none of the bee- men have ever seen any thing like it. I have also made me a honey-knife like the pictures in your cii-- cular, with blade 15x1 ;i in.; is that too large to be handled with care? I also made a Simplicity cold-blast smoker that works like a charm. I don't know but I can smoke the bees clear off the place with it. I shall try it if they sting me much, I as- sure you; but I hope I shall not have to use it at all. I have 14 stands to commenc e with, and only 4 of them in movable-frame hives, and I presume that the combs are built in all directions in those 4. Eight of the others are good box hives, with two boxes in upper story, some thing like the Farmer's honey-box. Would you transfer them, or would you fill the upper story with frames for this season, and get what you could out of them? I want to adopt the chaff hive altogether as soon as I can; but, as you say, I want to "go slow" until I see my way clearly. I don't think that I am out any thing yet, as my bees are alive, and working every day that is warm enough, and I could sell them to-morrow for more than they cost, if I would, but I am going to have a little fun myself watching them work this summer, if it is the Lord's will. Union Mills, Pa., Apr. T, 1881. TiM. Calveb. Well done, friend C. I think your lioney- knife a little large, but it may be all the bet- tei', if you get used to it. I would by all means transfer them if I had time and want- ed to learn. As long as you can sell out so as to pay all expenses, you are on safe ground. Last season I told you of the progeny of a black queen that was up earlier in the morning on the Spi- der plant, than any of the Italians. Well, we had an- other black colony that, for a time, seemed to equal any stock in the yard, and the queen did about as good business in filling the new fdn. with brood as any I ever saw. Do you wish to know what the point is of all this I am saying? it is this: When I find another such queen, I am going to keep her; and if you think there is danger of getting hybrids if yen send your orders to me, send them to somebody else. I am going for the most energetic queens and bees I can find; and if 1 lose my queen trade, I shall be happy raising honey. The most of our queens this season Avill ba reared from our red-clover strain, probably. Of course, we do not propose to let such black queens as we choose to tolerate, rear drones. 238 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUIIE. MAY From Different Fields. CHAFF HIVES VERSUS SIMPLICITY, EVEN IN SOUTH CAKOLINA. fi SEND you my experience with chaff hives vice Simplicity, to show you the difference in this — ' climate. In the fall of 1879 I had two colonies of Italian bees that tallied the same amount of sur- plus that season, the amount heinf? 03 lbs. comb honey per colony. Wishing to try chaff hives in this mild climate, I made one according to directions given in your ABC, and transferred one of the above-named colonies to it in November, first weigh- ing the frames and honey of each hive, so as to give them the same amount of honey. Each colony came out in the spring of 1880 in good condition, but the chaff hive did not consume as much of their honey as the one in the Simplicity. The consequence was the colony in the chaff hive commenced brood-rear- ing much earlier in the spring than the one in the Simplicity; however, the one in the Simplicity was strong in bees before the first honey in the field was ready to gather. Now, those two colonies were run for extracted hooey, and below you will find the re- sult. The colony in the chaff hive gave mc 133 lbs., and cast two swarms; the one in the Simplicity, 87 lbs., and cast one swarm— a difference of 45 lbs. and one swarm. As extracted honey is worth I'ZVi cents per lb. here, and a swarm of Italian bees $5.00 without the hive, we have a difference of $10.63- a pretty good sum I think. Now, Mr. Root, I would like to have you or some one else explain why bees, unprotected from the sudden changes of temperature, consume so much more of their stores than when they are packed up so as to prevent sudden changes. W. S. Cauthen. Pleasant Hill, Lan. Co., S. C, Jan. 25, 1881. It is very simple, friend C, is it not? The honey in cold weather acts as fuel, and there- fore the better the protection, the less fuel will be needed to keep up the temperature. Is not such the case with all other stock? THE CARE OF SURPLUS COMBS, ETC. Mr. G. M. Doolittle said, in one of his letters to Gleanings, that all straight worker combs are the sheet anchor of bee-kcepiug. Will he please inform us through Gleanings how he cares for his empty combs and keeps them from being destroyed by moth worms in warm weather? Will tarred paper answer to cover the lloor of a honey-room? Will the smell of the tar affect the honey? AVill bees clean combs in which swarms have died with dysentery? and is it safe to piit new swarms In such combs? Can you inform me how to put sweet corn in tin cans so it will keep? E. D. Howell. New Hampton, Orange Co., N. Y., March 19, 1881. If I am correct, friend D. always has bees enou^^i to cover his empty combs by the time the moth is liable to injure them, say in ]SIay and June.— I should be a little afraid of the tarred paper. Use the nntarrcd sheathing.— Your question about combs from bees that have died has been asked and ans- wered so many times I begin to almost fear some of the older ones will begin to com- plain at so much repetition. The combs are just as good as they ever were, to put new- swarms on, no matter if they are soiled and lilled with bees. Give a new swarm a chance at them, and see. All experiments that have been made seem to determine, also, that, aft- er being thus worked over by the bees, they are just as good for another year.— Canning corn is a trade of itself, and is pretty sure tu be a failure in the nands of a novice. Better evaporate it or dry it. DOES IT PAY TO PACK BEES IN CHAFF OR COTTON SEED IN TEXAS? I answer, it docs. I packed my bees in cotton seed, and 1 had the pleasure to-day (March 28) of hiving the first swarm of bees around-a full peck or more of bees— over 50 nice queen-cells, and thou- sands of drones. I have kept bees about 15 years, and never had a swarm come out before the lUth of April before. I havcmy handsfuUnow; remember, every tenth swarm is the Lord's and will be so marked. The Judas-tree gave us a fine yield of honey from Feb. 20th to March 30th. The apple is now in full bloom. All other fruits have shed their bloom. The dewberry is beginning to bloom, and soon we will reap a rich harvest from this, as it af- fords plenty of nectar. The Cyprians, although first to commence brood-rearing, are making no prepara- tions to swarm. The December-mated queens (Cyp- rians) are doing good service; from small 3-framc nuclei they have 6 frames of brood and 4 frames of honey, all made since Feb. 3d, the daj' they began bringing in pollen from the elm. Apiculture is re- ceiving more and more attention every year. All bee-keepers ought to be teuipc ranee men. Our bees would not sting us half so hard if we were. I threw the old pipe ivhirlliw, but you need not send me a smoker. 1 have quit the pipe for good, just as I did whisky ten years ago. B. F. Carroll. Dresden, Texas. Nevertheless, friend ('., you shall have a smoker too, and maN i^iod ue praised for the stand you have taken. TEA AS A honey-plant, ETC. Many in this State and Georgia raise tea for home consumption. I can not say as to its honey-produc- ing qualities ^as mentioned in March No.), but should think it might be a good honej'-producer. The flower looks very much like that of the strawberry. I will also state that a lady in this State is growing coffee successfully. Some of the berries were sent to the Department of Agriculture at Washington, and there tested and pronounced good. The pre- mium offered by the Commissioner of Agriculture for the first pound of coffee raised in the U. S. was then paid to her. I see no reason why we can not raise most of the tea used in this country, after we have once invented a process for curing it by machin- ery instead of by hand, as they do in China. New Smyrna, Fla., Mar. 38, 1881. W. S. Hart. INDIVIDUALITY IN BEES. During the last season I had a little experience which was new to me, and as I don't remember to have seen any thing in the books about it, I give it for the purpose of drawing out the experience and observation of others in the same direction. One swann—hybrids 1 call them (possibly they are pure Italians),— hived July fi, 1880, after filling their hive below, they went up into section boxes, and contin- ued to work in them more or loss all the season, 1881 GLEANINGS m BEE CULTURE. 239 making in all 38 lbs. of surplus iu section boxes; and when it was taken off in the fall, I found the entire lot to be white-clover honey of the most delicious character, while the honey from the remainder of the hives was mixed— some clover and some fall flowers, as proldenrod, thistle, etc. Fall flowers were quite plentiful, and the most of the hives left the white-clover pasture for " other fields and pastures new." ^yhy didn't this colony al?o? Is it possible to breed a race of bees with individual peculiarities so marked? If so, some of your vineyardists' neigh- bors ought to try to develop a race that will not like arafic juice. Etgese Sixor. Forest City, Iowa, March 21, ISSl. You afe correct, friend S., in your obser- vation in regard to individuality among bees. Similar cases have been known iiere- tofore. This brings out a valual)le point, and we are ghid you ha^■e called attention to it. "Who can say more? AMBER CANK. The main thing is to get it started; after it once gets a start it grows very rapidly. Have your ground newly plowed, so as togive the cane a chance with the weeds; and to give it a still better chance, have your seed sprouted; dampen the seed with warm water, and keep warm until the sprout makes its appearance. If the weather is favorable, It should be up nicely iu three days after planting. In answer to inquiry on p. 86, Jan. No., I would saj', our apiary has been located for two years with- in one mile of a cane-mill, and we have had no trouble with bees bothering the mill. If you will clean your evaporator every morning with sulphur- ic acid and water, in equal quantities, you will find it will improve the color of your syrup, and it beats the old plan of scraping the deposit from the pan, ail to pieces. M. L. Hudson. Charles City, la., Feb. 16, 1881. BEES DOING WELL OUTSIDE OF THE HIVE IN COLD WEATHER. In November, 1879, 1 drove through the c juntry in my one-horse express. I stopped in Stanly ville some time in the afternoon on account of a severe snowstorm and cold wind. I stepped into a shoe- shop; and as I am known as the "Bee-man," the subject of conversation soon turned upon the hon- ej--bees, by some man telling me he had heard I made " bee-kings," and sold them. Another man living near there said that his father's bees had nev- er swarmed in 10 or 13 years, l)ut they build all over their hives on the outside. I expressed my desire to see them, and he kindly accompanied me to the bee-yard, an old-fashioned shed. The only access to the bees was in front. Soon the old gentleman joined us, as he had seen us come across lots; how- ever, he was so hard of hearing that I could not get much satisfactory information concerning this won- derful looking hive. They were box hives, about 1 foot square by 18 inches high ; they were suspended in a sort of rack about 15 inches from the ground; no bottom-board; the brood-combs extend within 1 inch of the ground; the combs were very black; might have been several years old. Upon close in- spection I found the whole colony packed away in this comb, looking like a big round ball. The top of the ball did not reach the hive proper by about 4 inches. I opened my eyes wide. Here was a nice swarm of bees in the open air, so to speak, clean and snug, no dead bees lying around. Very little comb was built in front of the hives, but the sides and back of the hives were finely decorated, at least to a bee-keeper's eyes. The combs were built regu- lar and straight from the roof down, from 2 to 10 inches wide, and about 3 feet long; nice white comb, both worker and drone comb partly filled with sealed honey. If all the combs had been well filled, they would have weighed 200 lbs. or more per hive on the outside. 1{. Stehle. Marietta, Ohio. Thanks, friend S. From the reports we have had during past years, I can readily understand how this may be ; but how about robbing, when there comes a season of scarcity? Are all colonies so strong that they defend their honey when out in the open air, with no sort of a hive about it? Friend 8., I will pay your expenses in going to see this same apiary again, just to see how the bees stood this past winter. Who can guess, now, boys, in wnat condition he will lind it? If they have wintered well, will it not help friend Renders idea of ample ventilation ■;' WIXTERIXG TWO COLONIES IN ONE CHAFF HIVE. Friend Root; — We have experienced the severest winter to our memory. Our bees were confined to the hives 8 weeks, the longest period we ever knew. The cold weather began earlier in the season than usual; but, fortunately, like friend Merrybanks, I had my bees all prepared nicely for winter before the cold weather came. I went into winter-quarters with 11 colonies, 10 in 5 chaff hives, arranged as des- cribed on page 577, Dec. No., and 4in a tenement hive of mj' own make. I have not lost any yet, for which, you may know, I am thankful, when I tell you that about 80 per cent of the bees in this vicinity, tliat were left to take care of themselves, have "gone where the woodbine twineth. " J. P. Moore. Morgan, Ky., March 14, 1881. The plan alluded to by friend M.. is divid- ing the two colonies by a division-board made of slats similar to our comb-guides, and in this case, at least, it seems to have answered all right. I would warn those try- ing it, however, that if your division-board, by warping or carelessness, should permit a single bee to get through, one of the queens will be sure to be killed. It ought to be a crime for anybody to trouble a man who is as busy as you seem to be in the bee line. When a man is in trouble", it is a relief, some- times, to talk with others about it. I have read Gleanings and the ABC you sent me, and I have been blowing and talking A. I. Boot management ever since. My next neighbor is a man 65 years old, and has always kept bees, and his father before him. He says, "■ I don't believe aivnrdof it." Itellhimany man ought to be knocked down on the spot to dis- pute almost any theory upon any subject nowadays. I gave him the A B C to read, and it has " laid him straight," and his exclamation is, "I do not know what this world is coming to." The trouble is, my neighbor had 20 hives, and I had 15, and all of them in splendid condition, and very strong swarms the first of last December. My neighbor took one course with his and I another. He let his stand out (as he says old-fashion), and they have taken the blasts and storms of this uncommon winter, and lost them all 240 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Mat but one swarm, and that is a good one. I saw it yes- terday. I tell him they were frozen to death, as they were mostly dead the tirst of March; and in re- gard to my own, I built a snug tight house or cover- ing, double, and stuffed it with short straw, and dur- ing mild sunshine would open it, and the 1st of March my bees seemed to be all right, with no indi- cation of loss. I let them out for a fly the 5th of March, a beautiful sunshiny and warm day, and it seems they all came out and had a fearful emptying of themselves. Since that time, March Mh, they have dwindled and died, and have all died but three swarms. They are strong and all right. Now, then, my conclusions are: my neighbor's bees ought to have died, every one of them, for the want of care, and they have except one; and my own, what shall I say? Kot a storm of any description has touched them; only the hard frosts of 20° below zero al- most all winter, and that they all lived through; none of either lots were short of honey. The ques- tion is, why have my bees died so? I do not ask you to write me, but I inclose you a shinplaster for some thing tliat will tell or explain it. We live in a country where white clover and basswood abound. Your management of bees is certainly wonderful. G. A. Legc.ett. Schodack Landing, Reus. Co., N. Y., April, 1881. ilany thanks for your concluding remark, friend L. I confess it is '' wonderful," even to myself ; for I have " managed "' about 140 colonies down to about 2-5, more or less. When the sun comes out again, I will try to tell you exactly. I feel just now as if I would rather do something with bees that wasn't wonderful, if it would result in teach- ing this great A 1> C class how to keep them over from fall to spring without losing any. I should be very glad to be "troubled" by any and all of you, if I could be of any use in the way of an adviser. MARKING QUEENS TO TELL THEIR AGE. One of your correspondents suggests marking queens bj^ painting their backs different colors, cor- i-esponding with different years, to know their age ; and for the benefit of those wishing to mai-k their queens so they can always tell their age, I will de- scribe a plan that will do it all times without fail: As soon as your queen begins to lay, clip her wings on one side only, which will prevent her from ever flying again, as well as to clip all; next season, as you are overhauling your bees in the spring, catch the queen and clip one of the remaining wings, which shows this to be her second season, and the next season clip the remaining wing; or, in other words, clip a wing every season until all are clipped. It is no long job, usually, to find them at this sea- son of the year; and if you do not find them readily, mark the hive and try again the next time you look them through. DRYING SWEET CORN ONCE JtOKE. We think we are a little ahead yet for nice dried corn, which we prepare as follows: Pluck your corn while in full milk; then draw a "hetchel" (made by driving ,5 or 6 shari)-pointPd carpet tacks through a thin piece of wood so the points stick through from li to 14, in.) over it Until all kernels are broken open; then with the 7jac/: of your knife you can scrape out all but the hull, which will all be left upon the cob. To dry, spread upon dishes thinly, add set in a moderately hot oven- hot enough to scald. Stir occasionally until dry. The above saves the trouble of boiling, of exposure to flies, and is quicklj' dried and taken care of. The only fault we can find is, it is uU gone weeks ago. If you wish, we will tell you how to prepare corn for " corn oysters." We think it is one of the best dishes to prepare from corn. F. H. Cyrikius. Seriba, N. Y., April, 1881. Many thanks, friend C. Your plan of marking queens is given by Langstroth, but we have found it unreliable, as so many queens get their wings mutilated, from dif- erent causes, especially after they get to be a year old or more. Your suggestions in re- gard to drying corn are excellent, and I know from experience they will prove valuable. Our mammoth sweet corn is now such a mag- niftceut dish, if I may be allowed the e.x- pression, that I have desired Sue (my wife, you know) to give me her recipe for cooking it, and I am a going to have it printed on a thousand little i>aper bags, and next fall each bag is to be tilled (1 lb.) preparatory to being placed on the ll)c. counter. If we can get it put up equal to that we have now, I shall expect it to retail for 10c per lb. about as fast as Eliza can pass the packages over the counter. Perhaps not (juite so fast, but I shall expect every one Avho buys a package to become enthusiastic on the corn business. Send us your recipe, by all means, friend C. Young man, raise corn. Don't '' go west," but raise corn where you are, and then — dry it. coMMirNTS ox doolittle's comments. 1. If the bees that are robbed do not go with the robbers, where do they go? 2. The comparison between a bee and a cow is too large, and proves too much. Wc kill cattle for food, but not bees. They are God's " creatures as much as the cattle "—not ours. I believe he notices every bee that we kill by our carelessness. I do not stop to think about the profit, when trying to save their lives. A. A. Bradford. East Jeffroj-, N. H., April, 18S1. - EXTRACTING OLD HONEY, ETC. Can cards of sealed honey that have remained in the hive several years be extracted so that the combs can be used again? What per cent, if any, will remain in the comb after extracting? At what temperature must the honey be to flow freely from the combs? I started into the winter with 61 stocks, mostly in the Langstroth hive; have but 44 left; they have stood on their summer stands, but in a sheltered po- sition, which is one reason why I have not lost as many as my neighbors have. I started five years ago with one swarm; have sold and given away 4; all descended from the one; they are the black bee. K. MEATYAltD. EUicott, Erie Co., N. Y., March 37, 1881. Some old honey is quite difficult to extract, especially if it is partially candied in the combs. Sometimes you may not be able to get out more than half of the honey. Of course, the weather should be as warm as possible, without melting or softening the combs, so they will be liable to break down. I think I should use such old combs for building up new stocks, and let them take 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 241 out this old honey for rearing brood, and get my crop of extracted from the new. Bees will manage candied liouey without trouble, in the summer time. REPORT FROM MRS. AXTELL. We are losing largely in our bees this cold winter; 50 colonies are already dead, and probably many more will die; but "the Lord gave and ho taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord." We do not feel that we have any right to feel one murmuring- thought, neither are our hopes blasted in respect to the bee business; for i£ the Lord gives us strength we will sec how much we can m ike out of the re- maining ones, as tht-y all belong to him, not to ns. Those in the cellar seem veiy quiet, and have, as far as we can judge, wintered well; but it may be the quiet of death, as the weather is yet too cold to set them out. D. D. Palmer, of Sweet Home, says his are all dead, and he wants to sell all his hives and cjmbs. Mr. Sculder, of same neighborhood, had only 30 left out of 180 some three weeks ago. Our queens last fall, it seemed to me, did not fill their hives with eggs as heretofore; consequently colonies were weak. Sarah J. W. Axtell. Itoseville, Warren Co., Ill , April 15, 1S81. WHAT ARE OLD COMBS WORTH TO WORK INTO WAX? What had I ought to pay for old comb to work into wax? Bees have wintered very well in this part of Maine, although it has been the hardest winter known for a number of years. C. M. Jones. Solon, Somerset Co., Me., April 8, 1881. This is a very hard matter to answer, friend J. It depends very mucli upon whether the combs are new, and mostly wax, or whether they are largely made up of old cocoons and propolis. New white combs are almost all wax, but oftentimes the old tough ones are scarcely i part or even less of wax. I know of no better way than to buy a few and see liow you come out. If you do not get wax enough to pay for what >ou paid, and the trouble of rendering, you' will have to pay less next time. I am very glad indeed to hear that bees have wintered well in one northern locality. WATER FOR BEES IX WIXTEH. Mr. Langstroth says that in the winter, 5 out of 6 bees die for want of water. I have a " patent " of my own for watering bees. It has saved my bees for several winters on their summer stands. I claim no patent. I break up chunks of Ice and lay them on the frames. The heat of the bees will melt all they want to drink. JOHX Clixe. Watson, Effingham Co., 111., April, 1881. I hardly think bees die often for want of Avater, unless they are confined to stores of candied honey. The matter is one that needs looking "into, Avithout doubt ; but most of us feel as if our greatest difficulty was in keeping the bees sufficiently dry. No doubt tliey melt the ice, but this assuredly chills the cluster, by so doing, and I should greatly fear it would harm them, unless the colony were very strong, or the pieces of ice very small. cellars AHEAD. I feel about as much like going into Blasted Hopes this spring as I ever did, and perhaps you will think best to put me there. I have kept bees, or had the care of them, some 40 years; and duiing that time have had ups and downs, losses and crosses and dis- appointments; but none have inflicted a wound deeper than in the present caso. Last fall J had !„';> swarms, all in good condition, as I supposed; 20 swarms were Italianized with choice queens of my own raising, from 4 nice queens I took from the woods (that made it seem all the better, you know), and what was better yet, the young queens were all right and piirely fertilized late In the season by drones kept for the purpose. But to the point: Of the 123 swarms, I sold 24 last fall and the fore part of winter; of the 99 left, I have lost all but 29, includ- ing 15 of my choice queens. I think I shall lose down to 19 swarms. Here let me say, my bees were put into a building prepared for the purpose, about the middle of January. My building was prepared thus: 8 in. of sawdust on the outside, 8 in. straw on the inside, all well packed. Why didn't my bees win- ter better? Others have lost from }i to all. Cellar wintering is ahead here. H. F. Newtox. "Whitney's Crossing, N. Y., April 12, 1881. I think you are right, friend N., in decid- ing that good cellars are almost the only sure winter repository, in a winter like the past. It is quite a difficult matter to make any building frost-proof during such weather, unless it is at least partly under ground. DROXE-LAYIXG QUEEXS. I have one queen that won't lay an}- thing but drone-eggs. What must I do with her? Must I kill her and raise another one? I have taken all the drone larvae from her. AVas that right? She was a fine queen last year, and I lost one queen; but along came a starved-out swarm, and I took care of them, "you bet." Almost all of the bees hero are dead. I was the first man that ever used a frame hive here, and everybody is watching me. One says, " You will kill your bees." J. W. Travlor. Mt. Joy, Delta Co., Tex., April 9, 1881. The best queen in the Avorld, friend T., is liable to turn drone-layer at almost anytime, and there is no better Avay than to kill them, that I know of. Removing the drone comb from the hive will be of no avail, for she Avill lay in Avorker comb all the same. Either give them another queen, or remove all the brood comb, and give them some good brood to rear another queen from, "i'ou Avere for- tunate to find a runaAvay swarm, to put into your queenless hiA^e just in time. IXTRODUCIXG QUEEXS. 1 had a call last fall to go 50 miles from Wenham to introduce some Italian queens. I wanted to in- troduce them and return to Wenham the same day. To make quick work of it, I prepared some introduc- ing cages as follows: I made a ll^-inch hole in a piece of wood 3 inches square and half an inch thick; nailed a thin piece on one side to keep the bees in, and wire cloth on the other. I cut a slot in one edge clear through to the cavity and filled it with home-made sugar candy. The bees were in movable-comb hives, and the frames were covered with thin quilts. After removing the queens from the hives, I placed the introducing cages on the frames under the quilts, and let the sugar come di- rectly over the opening between the frames, so the bees could get at it and release the queen. The re- sult was, the queens (8 in all) were all safely intro- duced. Can any one do better? H. Alley. Wenham, Mass., April 14, 1881. 242 GLEAKINGS IK BEE CULTURE. May TO PREVENT SWARMING. As a good mauy have lately Inquired how to pre- vent swarming, I will toll how I prevented it, or, rather, circumvented them after they had swarmed. This may not be a very important subject at this time, as most honey-g-rowors are probably anxious to have all the swarms they can this season. Yet there will be some who may have more swarming than they wish— especially late in the season. In this locality, where we get most of our surplus in the fall, it is generally best to let each colony cast one swarm; but it is the August swarming we wish to prevent. The plan I have practiced for the last three years is this: I hive the first one that comes out. The second swarm I unite with the colony that sent out the first swarm, and so continue, always uniting the last swarm with the colony that sent out the last preceding one. I have done this when sev- eral swarms issued the same day. It is not neces- sary to cut out the queen-cells, but it may be well to do so, especially if j'ou do not expect the next swarm to issue before these cells could hatch. "When all are done swarming, the last colony can be united with the first swarm. I like this plan much, as it pre- vents increase, and yet gives each colony the vigor of a new swarm. It is well to give more room at the time of uniting, even though the new colony is not larger than the one that previously occupied tjie same hive. E. 8. Easterday. Nokomis, Mont. Co., III., April, 1881. liEAVING SECTIONS ON Alil. W^INTEK. ¥0U ask for some brother wh(5 has had an experi- ence with sections on all winter to stand up. — ■ Well, as I stand C ft., I will say, " Don't do it." I have been keeping bees here for 5 years, and never lost a colony in winter or spring until this winter. Last fall I left a few boxes on one hive for the bees to carry the honey below. When I examined them in February I found them dead. They had consumed every drop of honey in those sections, and then starved with about 30 lbs. of honey below in the body of the liivc. My neighbor, Mr. Gibson, had about 20 colonies with sections on most of them, and every one of them died. I gave a stock last summer to an old friend, and he left the sections on two tier high, and lost every bee before Jan. 1st. Now, don't make the change in the ABC you speak of until you have tried it for three winters. My experience for five winters justifies me in putting an enamel cloth down tight over the frames, with a six-inch chaff cushion on top. My bees came out all right every spring. Should you want my plan of wintering, I ■will send it. Bees are wintered on summer stands five inches from the ground. 11. D. Cutting. Clinton Mich. There, " that is just as I expected, and al- ways thought it would be." 'Twou't work, and Ave have got to give it up. But hold on, friend C; were those colonies packed in chalf hives, and Avere they such as had given good yields of honey the season before? AVere they good strong stocks on old tough combs? You see, I do not like to give up such a wonderfully easy way of doing things. You almost make a body think that friend Ivendel's colonies that came through thus only wintered well in spite of unfavorable conditions, eh? Later:— The following is just at hand from friend.Kendel: — Having just read your comments and suggestions upon our report on page 171, April, 1881, we are very strongly reminded of our xarious experiences of the past 21 years with bees. We started about 1838 or '59 with a box hive, purchased of the venerable bee- keeper, E. T. Sturtevant, who divided it for us and transferred into 3 L. hives. They did well, and wo ran up to .5 or C hives. We always wintered out of doors ia the poor (not good; old careless way, some- times losing a hive or two in wintering, but never lost one, except where the cuts in the old honey- boards were closed. AVe would usually leave the 6x6 boxes on all winter, which usually were quite emptj\ It seems to us now, as we think back, that, with this course, bees w<'iuld not H^'- out every time the sun thawed the snow a little; and, in fact, they do not now Avhen we do not have them perfectly aii'-tight abOA'c, nor do we think they begin brood-raising o\it of seasoTi, which in a measure necessitates their fly- ing out for water when it is too cold for them to re- turn. AVe know that many old bees will crawl out in comparatively cold weather, and die; the same would probably die and blockade the entrance if they remained inside, but there are not many serious losses of bees in their prime. AVhen they fly out and become chilled before thej' can retui-n, colonies will sometimes become almost depopulated in a few hours. If by slight top A'cntilation you can thus keep them quiet until suitable weather for brood- raising, and then cover snugly, and stimulate by feeding, should we not in a great measure overcome the dreaded " Spring Dwindling "? Cleveland, O., April 5, 1881. A. C. KtNDEL. In April Gleanings you wanted to know some thing about leaving sections on all winter, and said, " Now, has anybody else (besides A. C. Keudel, page 171, last No.), ever been guilty of leaving the sections on all Avinter?" In this neighborhood the people raise their honey in boxes, and they all invariably leave them on all winter, and claim that they do bet- ter than any other way. Last year I had my comb honey built in small frames extending crosswise over the brood-frames (L. hive), and these frames were 6 inches deep, and long enough to reach across the hive. Over the top of these frames I put a coa-- er, leaving it entirely ojien between the two sets of frames. Noav comes the point : six hives have been left that Avay all Avinter, and they are in splendid condition; in fact, they ai-e stronger tlian those that had quilts on top of the bottom frames. I closed the entrance of the six hives so that only one bee could pass at a time. I think I shall winter all mine that way next winter. Charles Kingslev. Greeneville, Tenn., April 8, 1881. Seeing an article in April Gleanings in reference to sections left on all winter, 1 would say, a neigh- bor has Avintered all his without protection, with caps left on (empty). Every one to-day is extra, strong, while I, Avho thought I Avas doing right, took caps off and put quilts on; cups were glass to hold aboiitTlbs.; hives (Quinby's simple movable comb) sitting side by side; mine are all weak, his are all strong; mine were the better in the fall. We have had only 12 days that bees have flown at all, E. Ladd, Jr. Beverly, Macon Co , Mo., April 5, 18S1. 1881 GLEAI^INGS IK BEE CULTUKE. 243 On page 171, April No., you say if there is such an Individual in the company, let him stand up. I will stand up long enough to answei- your question. In the winter o£ 1876 I left the sections on five stocks as an experiment; they wintered well, but no better than others. Two of those stocks had their sections left during the spring. The result was, they did not breed up as fast as those that received better care. I have tried leaving the sections on twice since, but can not think I gained a single point by it. The past winter I left an extract ing-t op filled with honey on a strong stock. They left the main hive, and moved upstairs where I found them this spring in fine condition. About that idea you kept so long: Do you want us to believe that you held it over thirty days? H. T. Bishop. Chenango Bridge, N. r., April, 1881. In April Gleanings you gave a statement of bees having wintered well where sections and cases had been left in hives above the frames or brood-nest, same as during the honey season, and ask if others have had bees wintered in same way; if so, " let him stand up." Now, my dear sir, I would like to obey, and "stand up;" but I have been so severely afflicted for years, I can not; but as I recall, you can not mean me, but the other man. My father. Rev. J. B. Miller, did not get his bees all cared for before winter set in, and five colonies were left with all the sections on during the winter, and they are on yet, April 20, 1881. Of 30 colonies wintered, but 3 were lost, and but few, if anj', are as strong as these five. They wintered in chaff hives bought of you two years ago. To-day they fly strong; are very busy gathering off the little now offering for the busy workers. A part of these filled their sections once last season, and partly the second time. One of them sent out a strong swarm May 3,1880, that made ■iO lbs. of surplus honey in section boxes; another a swarm May 4, that did well; but no record was kept of how each colony did. So much for the 5; but were they really neglected? Many bees in this local- ity died during the winter; some of dysentery, but more from starvation. "Who next? Alliance, Ohio, Apr. 23, 1881. Jesse Millek. *iol^jS and §mrkf W HAD 15 stands of bees last fall, 12 of them in L. J*|[ hives. I have lost 3 of them. Three that were in chaff hives are all right. This winter has been a hard one on bees; half of them are dead now. ' S. L. Dennisxox. Peoria City, Polk Co., la., March 14, 1881. My bees wintered almost without loss; but the springing is horrible' N. A. Prcdden. Ann Arbor, Mich., April 19, 1881. Dear friend : — 1 tell you, the cellar is the place to winter bees, and no more words about it ! C. R. Miles. Pawnee City, Neb., March 28, 1881. My bees are still all alive, but a few of them are weak. I had some mixed oats and rye flour out for them to-day. I counted 60 bees, loaded, enter their hive in one minute — one a second. S. M. Mohleh. Covington, Ohio, Mar. IS, 18S1. THE NEW GRAPE SUGAR. The grape sugar came through all right on the 7th. It is very nice— I think better than the sample you sent me a year ago. The bees take it readily, and seem to enjoy it hugely. B. Both. Port Allegany, Pa., April 11, 1881. I started to winter 4 swarms, but lost one with dysentery. The rest I am feeding maple sugar, and I think they are doing finely. I have had but little experience with bees, but find that I can work with them without any difficulty. G. W. Wolf. Clayton, Mich., April 11, 1881. NEW HONEY. On March 14th, from 5 hives I took over 150 lbs. willow honey from upper stories, since which I have transferred to L. hives, and increased to 12, all very strong. W. W. AVilson. San Bernardino, Cal., April 6, 1881. cotton-wood for HONEY, ETC. The winter has been long and cold, but at Intervals bees have had a fly, and, in chaff hives, have winter- ed well. Some will lose heavily; all out of chaff will lose some. I have 27 in chaff, all in good condition so far. Bees here gather both honey and pollen from Cottonwood In as dry a season as 1880. Arvada, Jefferson Co., Col. R. H. Rhodes. POLLEN FKO.M SKUNK CABBAGE, ETC. I went into winter-quarters with 22 swarms; have 21 left; almost all of them now are pretty strong in numbers; they have been carrying in pollen from skunk cabbage for the last 8 or 10 days when the weather would permit. Jonathan D. Hutchinson. "Windsor, N. J., March 18, 1881. plaster casts FOR FDN. In my description of the plaster casts, I said, take 2 parts plaster and 3 parts sand; but I have found, after working the machine a while, that the sand don't help the casts. I believe it makes them hard- er; but after working the machine awhile, it be- comes rough, and makes the fdn. imperfect. Cicero, Ind., April 16, 1881. Eli.as Berg. As to the bees, I am short just 10 hives out of 93; lost most of them by their coming through queen- less, and had to unite them. So far as I can learn, most of those who did not give their bees winter protection have lost hea^^lJ^ some losing all they had. J. Mattoon. Atwater, O., April 16, 1881. winter queens. "We see a little in Gleanings about winter queens. There is one in our "yard" that made her appear- ance last February that tec think can get away with any of Doolittlc's summer queens; and when she can not have just what she wants, she can " pipe" louder than "Henderson's best." E. M. Havhurst. Kansas City, Mo., April 4, 1881. We have had very bad luck with our bees this win- ter. Some men have lost as high as 123 swarms. I am a new beginner, but I made f9.00 from four swarms, after paying for the hives, in one season ; but the honey the bees gathered this last season was of a very poor quality; it was thin, and no substance to it. Two of my swarms ate as much as 40 lbs. of honey apiece. Geo. W. Dean. Shelbyville, Allegan Co., Mich., April 18, 1881. 24.1 GLEANIKGS IN BEE CULTUKE. May THE SIMPSON PLANT IN COLORADO. I send you a few seeds of the only flgworl plant I have seen in this county. It has been watched for the last three years. It commences to bloom about the first of June, and from that time to about the first of September there will be from 15 to 30 bees on it constantly, "from early morn till dewy eve." It seems to me no plant can be more valuable for honey. It grows very bushy, and not over 18 inches high; comes up from the root every year. Last sea- son it had no rain nor irrigation, and continued in blossom two months. Chas. B. McRay. Canon City, Col., April 18, 1881. [It appears to be the regtilar plant such as wc have, friend W. With cultivation, I think it would grow as ours does, from 4 to 7 feet high.] RED CLOVER, ITALIANS, ETC. My bees being Italians, why did they not work on red clover, as there were 40 acres or more in this neighborhood? Why did I not get any surplus when those who kept blacks around me did? What will be the best way to get my bees pure again, as they are now hybrids, and my pure queen is dead, and most all the bees around here are blacks? I suppose I can't do it until there are no more blacks here, can I? Otto G. Josenhans. Owosso, Shiawassee Co., Mich., Mar. 21, 1881. [Red clover, like most other plants, sometimes fails to yield honey. If the blacks got honey from it, and your Italians did not, why try to have your bees pure, friend J.? Keep on with your hybrids. I am inclined to think it was because your Italians were weak, and the blacks were very strong, if such were really the case. You can rear pure Italians, no matter how many black bees are around you, if you choose. See " Italianizing " in the AB C] We are having by far the worst snowstorm of the season. Hill, of Mt. Healthy, has not lost one stock; has 112; since 1868 he has lost not one in wintering! and he uses mj- hive, and has always had over 80 stocks. L. L. Langstroth. [Do you see that, my friends? Friend Hill has re- ported all along his system of wintering (chaff pacli- ing, etc.), and now friend L. reports that, with to- ward a hundred colonies, and 113 this year, he has not lost even one colony since 1868. There may be a mistake in the figures, and friend L. may have meant tosay]8T8; but even then I doubt whether we have another man in the United States, if we have in the world, who can say that. Is it accident, think you, for so many years in succession? Now I will tell you: Let us go next fall and see friend Hill, and learn his secret. Would we iiot make a fine bee convention if we should bring our baskets and give him a surprise party?] MR. niERRYBAJVKS AND HIS NEIGH- BOR. A CHAPTEHTIIAT TELLS SOMETHING ABOUT GETTING DISCOURAGED IN BUSINESS, AND GIVING UP. ^?^ERIIAP8 some of the friends would Jf* like to know Avhy the town in which Mr. Merry banks and his neighbor lived was called Onionville. Well, I have thought for some time I would like to tell you the story ; and as there is a good moral in it that seems to be quite in season just now, I think I will tell it. Near the site of the town there had for many years stood a tract of low swamp lands that never produced any thing but wild swamp-grass, and was considered by all of no value particularly, for any ]iurpose. .Finally, some eccentric youth took it into his head that, by a system of underdraining, etc., this land could be so reclaimed as to raise good crops. This piece of foolishness, so the neighbors said, he got from some papers or books, or some other like imprac- ticable nonsense on which he had been wast- ing his time ,whenhe would have been better employed at work like the rest of them. He did not argue the ]:)oint with them much, but very quietly went to work and tried the matter on a small scale ; and, as luck would have it, his first venture happened to be on onions. The crop was excellent, and the demand good ; but he still kept quiet, al- though he did a vast amount of thinking, and studied those foolish books and papers more than ever before. The next season he had his plans matured and ready for business. lie rented, at a very moderate sum, perhaps 5 acres of this swamp land, and with a force of picked men he went to work letting off the surplus water by means of open ditches. Every thing seemed to favor him, and in due season rows of bright green onions, as straight as the streets of a city, rose up be- fore the astonished gaze of the people ; and the clean culture, with the bright green con- trasting against the background of the black soil, made a sight that was worth going miles to behold ; and, in fact, people did go miles just to see the beautiful sight. Did they all give u]), and admit there was some thing in book-farming after ally Well, some did, but a great many did not. Some who knew from experience what a crop of onions might be expected from a growth as was there before their eyes, de- clared that the whole United States could not consume so many, and that his crop would bring them clown so that onions would not be worth 10 cents a bushel. Our friend still kept still ; for, in fact, he could not afford to waste valuable time in argu- ment. He just minded his own business. In due time, the bulbs began to show them- selves, and when the crop was beginning to ripen, he was still on the ground, curing them and preparing them for market in the best manner. Not a weed had been allowed to grow in the whole plat, and the sight was almost as grand in the fall as it was in June and July. Where in the world will he put them aliv In due time they found out. With wagon-loads of boards about a foot square, and like loads of cheap lath, the same hands that cared for the growing plants in a twink- ling reared pyramids of cheap boxes, or ship- ping-crates, and soon the whole enormous crop of over liOUO bushels was not only safe- 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 24o ly sliippecl to ;i distant city, but a sudden de- mand for a nice article of onions so turned things in his favor tliat they sold for about $3000.00 cash, and our hero was owner of the whole tract of land, a]id had money in bank besides. Onions, onions, onions, was the cry everywhere, and the next year every- body Avent to raising onions. Losing sight of the fact that oui" friend had not only se- cured the very best ground for the crop, but had put his whole life, soul, and bjains into it, they expected to do likewise, l need not tell you how they failed ; you have, most of you, seen it. They were too lazy to pay the price of the crop that he paid for his. Now, the saddest part of it comes yet. The next year he went to work to do the same thing over again. Of course he could do it again, if he had been all through it, and had done it once. But he didn"t. I do not know whether it was that so much success had spoiled him, or whether it was accident that favored him so much the first year ; but I do know thftt, as I drove past his place in the fall of the next year, I saw him idly sitting on an empty basket in the middle of his field, with a single hand with him, and this hand also was sitting down in the rich black soil, doing nothing. The onions had failed in a great many places ; and where they had not, they were small in size— some of them not larger than hickory-nuts. AVorst of all, the ground was covered with Aveeds. Our friend, a young man, just in the prime of life, looked like the fellow in the back of the ABC book, who sits on a bee-hive, with a shingle say- ing, " For Sale," sticking on a stake beside him. All his enterprise and energy were gone. Could it really be my friend of the year before? I got out of my buggy, and went over into the field. Said I, " Boys, why do you not gather these onions, and get them oft to the marketV" " They are so small it won't pay ; be- sides, they won't bring over 25 cents a bushel," " Why, my friend, 25 cents a bushel is bet- ter than nothing. Fix them up nice and send them off." lie laughed a sort of sickly smile, crumbled some dirt in his fingers, and sat there in misery. Of course, he was in misery. Any- body is who sits doAvn on the bottom of an empty basket and says, " It won't pay." I plucked a little one, and rubbed the skin oft'. It was beautifully white and nice, and all at once it came into my head that these were exactly the thing for the little onion pickles we buy so often at the groceries. " Look here, my friend, you can save your- self yet by making these small onions into pickles. I have paid 40 cents for a quart bottle of them, over and over again, and if you Avill just work the thing up you can make as good pickles as any of them." " I haven't got any bottles." " Jjut you can get bottles at a litt'e ex- pense. There is plenty of time for you to put up some samples. Take them or send them around, and get orders." And as I saw the acres of nice small onions scattered about, it seemed to me just as if I would like no better fun than to go into this pickle business. But he didn't, and I have since heard that he has become a bankrupt and gone to Texas. The success of that one season has very likely ruined him for life. Well, now you know how Mr. Merrybanks came to live in Onionville. "Well, Mr. Merrybanks wintered his 25 colonies with the loss of only two. His neighbor wintered his 20 colonies, and saved only tAvo. More than that, he Avas out of work, and had been for some months. While brooding over his misfortune of being out of AA^n-k, and almost out of bees too, he smoked almost incessantly, and his tobacco bill Avas getting to be quite a little item, es- pecially Avhere there Avas no income. His good AA'ife took in Avashing when she could get it ; helped some of the near neighbors to clean house during the pleasant spring months; seAved carpet-rags, and did eA^ery thing she could think of to keep up appear- ances, and have John and Mary at least Jialf AA'ay presentable Avhen they Aventto Sabbath- school over to the little church, and hoped and prayed for better things. Yes, prayed for better things. She had never belonged to any church, for in her childhood she had hardly known AA^hat want was. Years had made changes. She was far aAvay from her former home and friends. None seemed to care for her or their family particularly, un- less it was kind-hearted Merrybanks, To AA'hom should she go in her trouble? In one of Mary's little Sunday-school books she had read of answers to prayer ; and from that, in her late trouble she had taken to reading her Bible, "Come over and see our pail bee-hive," This was the salutation that caused the fam- ily to look around suddenly one May morn- ing ; and as they did so, they saw friend ]SI, at the open door, and John just behind him, Avitli a smile on his face almost as broad as the one Ave saw when he had climbed down out of the tree Avith that SAvarm of bees. John's father arose in a sort of listless, ab- sent Avay, but Mary and her mother got their things with a cheerful willingness that shoAved they expected to see some thing pleasant at least, and all followed John, who could hardly restrain his impatience as they crossed the road over to their neighbor's a little beyond. Under the broad spreading limbs of a large apple-tree w^as a rustic seat where John's father and mother sat down. At a little distance two stout stakes had been driven, so that their tops were about tAVO feet above the ground. On the top of each Avas a common wooden pail, laid on its side in a hollow cut in the top of the stake. To keep it in place securely, a piece of hoop iron Avas nailed to each side of the stake, so as to pass over the pail. To keep the pail from getting loose by any possibility, after it Avas croAvded tightly into the hoop attached to the stake, a cou])le of tinned tacks Avere pushed into the Avood, back of the hoop. The hollOAVs in the tops of the stakes were so made that the bottom of the pail stood ex- actly perpendicular. One of the pails had an entrance made through the bottom of it, like the pail hive Ave saAV put inside of the barrel. The other permitted the bees to pass out just under 246 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. May the glass circle that closed the hive like the one we saw clown by the fence, and oh I but the bees were working on the apple-bloom, and carrying in loads of honey and pollen. MB. 3IERK\BANK!s TAIL-IIIVi. APIARY. "Why, Mr. M,," said John's mother,"there are more bees going out and in from these pail hives than from your large chaff hives ; why is this? Can it be they are stronger in this small compassV" " They are not as strong, ma'am, but you see their hive is in a circu^lar form, and fewer bees are needed to keep up the required tem- perature to keep the brood from chilling, and the hives are really tighter, so far as cracks and crevices are concerned, this time of the year, than even the chaff hives." Just here John's father roused up a little and interposed, " Why, neighbor j\I., if the bees should all die, as mine have done, the pails would be just as good as ever, with this kind," pointing to the one where the bees came out of the mouth of the pail; " and if combs were melted up, one would have nothing left on his hands but those hoops with the rings on them, and the pail covers, which certainly can not cost very much." "The hoops to hold the combs can be made for about 3 cents eacli ; and as only five are needed for a hive, the whole cost, including the cloth-lined glass, will not ex- ceed 25 cents, and such a hive is all we shall ever need to raise queens and bees for the market." " Mr. M., Mr. M.," said John, as he shook him by the arm," just show them how easy it is to open the hives." " All right," said our friend, and he sat doAvn in front of one of the hives, on a low seat made on jiurpose, and after blowing a very small puff of smoke into the entrance, he drew out the cover, then twisted or rolled the glass a little, to sever all wax fastenings, and then gently drew it out and laid it down. You will observe, that the minute this door was drawn back tJie least bit it was perfectly loose, because of the flare of the pail. The first comb presented a view of many cells filled with various colored pollens, and new honey. I'ou will observe, from the cut, that friend M. has dispensed with the arms to the frames, and nses, in their stead, three wire rings, soldered to the metal hoops which hold the combs. THE PAIL BEE -HIVE, WITH THE COMBS REMOVED. These rings are placed at such distances on the hoops that the two lower ones sup- port the weight of the honey, while the up- per one guards the top of the comb from striking the pail and mashing bees, and the three rings at the same time prevent any comb from being pressed so elose to the one back of it, as to injure the bees. Eriend M. took hold of these rings, turned the combs slightly, and it lifted out without even the slightest jar. The comb was hung by one of tlie rings on a bent nail placed in the stake, and the whole five were quickly taken out in the same manner. After they had been ex- amined, and the queen duly admired, as she kept on with her work of swinging around in circles, the whole were quickly replaced, and the door was gently pushed into its place so as to push any bees clustered on the inside of the pail, before it. " You see," said Mr. M., " I have no mat, enameled sheet, burlap, or any thing of the kind to fuss with, before putting the cover of the hive on, and yet not a bee is killed, for I can see plainly through the glass what it is doing, as I crowd it back into place." "But," said John's mother, "will not the rain beat in around the edges of the cover? or, in other words, will this pail hive do to stand outdoors like this, even in the summer time?" " Why, madam," said friend M., " if the rain should beat in, do you not see it would run right out againV fSee! the bottom of the hive slants outward, and, so far as I have noticed, no rain has ever gone beyond the outer tin cover." Here John's father knocked the ashes out of his pipe and listlessly picked up the cover, exclaiming, — " Why, this is nothing but a common tin pot-cover, painted green. Why do you use tin in place of woodV" "Because it will neither warp, twist, nor shrink ; and, on account of its perfectly round shape, will always close the mouth of the pail against the weather and inquisitive robber bees, who might be prying around the cloth-lined edges of the glass circle." " Mother! mother!" and John shook his mother's arm to attract her attention, "don't you believe Mr. M. has promised to make me one to put right through my window upstairs, where that glass is broketi out, so I can look at the bees all the time while they are at work. Jt is to be just like the one lie made for Mr. Boot, that he has got in his green- house. But won't it be fun?" Well, I declare, my friends, I shall not be able to get to the point in the story where friend M. gave us his ideas about feeding; and next month I hope to be able to tell you how God answered John's mother's prayers. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 247 §Mr %€nm. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.— John 1:29. fpifpR. ROOT:— I do not wish to complain, but PJtII simply to make a fair, unvarnished state- ' ment. My employer is perhaps paying- me all he thinks I am worth to him; but I am not satis- fled with what I am getting, simply because I am not making a living for my family. I have a wife and four children to support, and if I make ••JT.OO per week I have only 81.00 left after paying my board away from home; and if I go homo Saturday nights on the cars, as I have had to lately, because of sick- ness in my family and bad roads, that takes out $1.30 more, leaving for my week's support of a family of five, less than §3.00 per week. This barely buys them food, leaving nothing for fuel, clothing, or, in case of sickness, medical attendance. Of course, I could stand this for a limited time, but for a limited time only. My clothing is about worn out. and unless lean earn more I shall soon be obliged to stay home from church and all public gatherings, simply for the want of decent clothing to wear; and more, I shall be obliged to keep my children from Sunday-school for the same reason. It is hard, but I do not know how to help it. You with a riper, richer experience, may be able to point me out some plan for my improve- ment. I should like to stay and work where I am, could I live and support my family by the closest economy; but my employer can not afford to pay me more than I am worth to him, and I should not wish him to. Could you not help me into something better? I write this, hoping that you may advise me in some way, point out a way, or suggest some thing by which I shall better my condition. I am willing to work any where, either go on the road, or any place where I could make the most for him and my- self. As I am proud as well as poor, and extremely sensitive, you will do me a favor to keep this com- munication strictly confidential; and if you can point out a way for me, or assist me in any way, I shall be very grateful. If I were alone in this matter I should not think of bothering you with a statement of my circumstances; but with loved ones and helpless up- on my hands, I am compelled to look out for them. How to do it, or which way to turn, are riddles to me as dumb as the Sphynx in Egypt's land. I some- times feel that God made a mistake in my creation, and at such times long for death, could I be sure of either utter obliteration or peace on the other shore. Are these feelings foolish? I know they are wicked, but hearts o'er tried know not reason, but only de- sires. It is easy to wish to be, but hard to bo always gooil. Oh this ceaseless fight with the " wolf at the door"! will it never end? I sometimes feel like Cain, that " every man's hand is against me." X. Y. Z. Although I may not be able to help you, friend X., there is One who can, and with pleasure I point out to our opening text. It is lie who says, — Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.— John- ltj:24. I know how many there are who have grievous burdens like your own to bear, and I know how many there are, too, who feel that thsir prayers have not been answered. A few days ago, at our noon service, I asked the boys and girls which is the most griev- ous of the sins that mankind are addicted to. The first answer was, a want of trust ; the next, selfishness ; another said pride ; one more, a lack of faith ; and in a few brief mo- ments these young people told pretty cor- rectly just what the trouble is with you and myself, and all the rest of us. Our friends and neighbors can tell us where we lack, every time ; and one of the lessons we are to learn is to be willing to be corrected by those about us. I am glad you have come to me in this friendly spirit, for it indicates a willing- ness to be told of your faults, and a sincere wish for improvement. One other point in your letter I like. You say you do not want your employer to pay you more than you earn, and that you think very likely he is paying you all he can afford to. This is good too, for it drives you back on yourself, and on your own resources. When you kneel in prayer, you are not praying that God may send you money without an equiv- alent, but that he may open your under- standing, and give you wisdom, that you may make yourself worth more to your em- ployer. If I am correct, you would have the matter stand some thing like this : You Mish, by your own efforts and industry, to make your- self so valuable to the one for whom you are working, that it will be felt and realized to such an extent that, in due time, instead of being obliged to hunt for situations, people will be coming after you, and trying to make engagements for you, before your time has expired. Then when somebody has made you a better offer than the present one, and you, of course in a manly way, inform your present emploj'erof the fact, he replies some- thing like this :— " I declare, X.. it seems to me I am pay- ing you about all I can afford ; but if you have a chance of a better place, of coiu'se I must either pay as much, or let you go;" and he sits down meditatively, and sums up your doUars-and-cents value. Yfe will, if you please, make him think out loud : " Let me see. X. is one of the best hands I have got ; is always at his post promptly every morning at 7 o'clock ; if he ever does'absent himself, I always have notice of the fact that he wishes to be away, so I am never kept waiting and expecting him every moment for a half-day or more. He does not di'ink, nor use tobacco, nor am I ever uneasy as to his whereabouts on Sunday, for he has a class in the Sunday-school. I declare, these three single items are worth more than I ever thought of, until I am compelled to think of losing him, as the matter stands just now. He is a beautiful and rapid writer. Come to think of it, whenever I want a nice letter written to some large firm, "^ith whom I am anxious to stand well, some way I al- ways give it to X., without hardly thinking why. I have other nice writers,' but some way they are not accustomed to busuiess, or do not think what they are doing, and make some ridiculous mistake that upsets the whole of it ; and, worst of all, is pretty sure to upset me too. If any of the clerks are sick, X. has the run of the business, enough 248 GLEi\:j^INGS IN BEE CULTURE. May so that he can take it up and carry it along, or overloolv a new hand if I should be obliged to set one at work. Another thing, he seems to love his business. I often catcli a smile on his face when we have made some lucky hit in advertising, and orders begin to l)our in like smoke. lie has a knack, too, of getting low figures on goods. Just one more thing occurs to me right here. It is only once in a while we find a clerk, especially among the younger ones, who keeps a con- stant bird's-eye view, if I may express it in that way, over what he is doing. ,Su])pose interest is to be figured ; X. would at a glance form an idea in Ins own mind about what the result shovild be. before his computations are completed, and thus throw out an error, almost, as it were, Ijy intuition. One who cultivates the faculty can learn, in time, to guess almost to a dollar what a column of figures will foot, before the addition is made. Again, X. is extremely industrious. In passing him a dozen times a day, I always find him busy, and his hands moving rapid- ly. He never stops any story or discussion because I come along, and I never find him, out of idle curiosity, looking at the work which belongs to some one else, in working hours. I know he is interested in new books as they come out, and the new inven- tions of the age ; but he never stops his work to examiiie them, without asking me, and I never find him discussing them or ar- guing over them during working hours. " Xow, while I think of it, X. has always been a good friend of mine. Why, he has more than once ]K)inted out " to me the fact that I was selling certain articles for less than it cost me to make them, and did it, too, in a respect- ful way, and not at all in a way that implied he thought he knew better how to run my business than I did. I declare, I did not know before how much I have been depending on liim. Still one more thing occurs to me just now. He seldom arguet!* points with me. ^''ery few i)eoi)le like to admit they are wrong, and it is not every one who will confess himself at fault when the matter is pointed out to him. I presume we are all too luuch disposed to think the fault all on the other side, rather than that Ave have done anything amiss. X. has a fault in being forgetful, sometimes. Once wlien he had forgotten the same thing twice, may be three times, I spoke a little impatiently perliaps ; he gave me one of the best rebukes I ever had. Shall I tell you how he did it? He said, — '''Mr. Jirown, I have been careless, and now if you will justgiv^e me a scolding every time I make tliis mistake, I will pretty soon learn not to do it any more.' I finally soft- ened down my face, and laughingly prom- ised to do just as he said, buc he has never made the mistake since. " I declare, it does not hardly seem as if my business would stand it to pay — — a week ; I am in debt thousand dollars now. I can get plenty of men for what I am already paying. Yes.T have had offers with- out number almost, to hire ])retty fair writers at a dollar a day, but for all this I am pretty sure X. is the cheapest hand for me, e\en at what he has been offered.-' You see, my friends, I am only guessing at the circumstances, and projecting you forward, as it were, to indicate roughly the way in Avhich you may really earn more, as you say you wish to. Am I making a picture too near perfection, and requiring more of poor humanity than it is as an average cap- able of? Very likely I am, as humanity stands luiaided ; but with Jesus' help, with the oi)ening text before you as your motto, it is all easy. The first point I mentioned was being early at yoiu" post promptly every morning. A'ery likely this one point will require much earnest prayer, simple as it is.. If you are not accustomed to it, a thousand apparently real obstacles will stand in the way. tio to bed early, as I told you last month, and push through them. Our city and town people need to learn a lesson of the farmers in this respect. Stop going out evenings, imless it is to your weekly prayer-meetings, and then be sure you are at home and in l^ed by 1) o'clock. Satan may tell you tliat, unless you attend the lectures and read the papers you will grow up in ig- norance of what is going on in the world ; but just make up your mind that ignorance is better than being behind hand and in debt, lie as prompt in going to church and Sunday- school as you are in getting to business week-days. If you are going to ask God to help you, you must be consistent, and show him by your daily life that >'ou are really striving to obey the command, — Seek ye first the kiug-dom of Gud and his rifrht- eousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.— Matt. 6:33. Remember,— God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man sowoth, that shall he also reap.— Gal. 6:7. % In regard to the clothes, I would go to the places of worshii> any Avay, with such as I liad, and trust God to ('nableme to get Ijetter when I could. At the noon meeting, one of the hands saidpr/de is the most grievous sin that afflicts humanity, and I am sometimes tempted to think he was not very far out of the way. It is a glorious thing Avhen yon get where you can tell God you are willing the world sliall know you exactly as you are, and that you have fought down the last rem- nant of a "disposition to have the world think better of you than yo\i really are. In regard to sickness and medicine : With- out carrying things to too great an extreme, I would recommend dispensing, in a great measure, with the services of a physician. Get up in the morning and go to work, even if you do not feel well, and do not get into a habit of " laying off: a half-day," even if you do feel badly. Ask men and women who have been really obliged to push through work, sick or well, if they have not felt, hun- dreds of times, as if they were about " too sick to move," but that after they got right into the midst of their daily tasks, they forgot all about it, comparatively, and came out all right without doctor or medicine. Old Avatches are frequently j^oorer timepieces af- ter having been at the watchmaker's than they were before he touched them ; and I have no doubt but that thousands, ay, mill- ions of human beings are in poorer health , — yes, in more Iwpelesslij poor health,— after 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 24'.) having paid a large cIoctor"s-bill, than they were oefore they ever went to the doctor. Go to your Bible' instead of the doctor, and see where you have been trespassing on God"s laws. If you go about your work Avith a bright faith in God, and a love for him and humanity that will shine out on every feature of your face, it will ward off fevers 'and ma- laria better than any drug that was ever in- vented. Few people work over ten hours a day. Well, there are of sunlight in the summer, three or four hoiu's more. If your work is indoors. I would spend as much of these ex- tra hours as possible in the open air, with your wife and children, making garden, raising liees and chickens, or some siich pas- time. Do not let these pursuits run away with the money, but make them help sup- port the family. Stop outgoes: have money coming in, l)ut stop letting it go out unless it has been decided, by family council, that the expense is a necessary one. A great many emi)loyees are in the habit of purchas- ing things right along, that their employer would not think of doing, because they are too expensive. Pray over this matter, and ask God to make you wise. If you have tried to make garden, etc., and did not suc- ceed, try again ; and while you try. pray for God's blessing on the work. Make your Savior your business partner, your elder l)rothei , as it were ; and when you succeed, be sure you do not forget to give him thanks. ~\^isit your neighbors who are successful in gardening, and make up your mind you will succeed as well as the best of them. When you learn to be master of these little things, when you get the knack of making things grow and thrive, whether or no, so to speak, you will find you are growing and thriving too, and that your faith in God is growing and thriving. There is a kind of feeling, as it were, in feeling yourself master of these things, as if God had taken you into his con- fidence, and was showing you. step by step, of his wondrous power tln-ough animal and vegetable life. God in his wisdom has not placed you alone, friend X. It is far Ijetter tor you that you have a wife and family; and, although it is hard to see these loved'ones destitute of what you feel they ought to liave, it is an in- centive to you to action that you could not have otherwise. Often in life we feel that we would not mind it if no one else depended on us ; but it is a mercy they do depend on us. You do not need lo understand these riddles. They are none of our business. To think of death is cowardly. There is an old Scottish song that speaks of lying down to die because a loved one had been taken away. You and I, my friend, do not want any of that advice at all. We are to get up and live; live for those who are left, and not only to make them re- joice, but to rejoice with them. It is Satan himself who tells you every man"shandis against you. You' have no business tolerat- ing such tJioughts a minute ; it is one of the blackest of lies, coming from him who is the father of lies. I can prove it to you at once. Are you against every man ? and yet you are probably, like myself, about a fair average of humanity. You are doubting God and doubting your fellowmen. Stop it ; get out and make garden, and keep both your hands and brains so busy you will never have time agam to think of such things. Does Satan ever tell you that a man may M'ork his life out for his employer and never ])e appreciated either? That is another falsehood too. Do you not appreciate those who work faithfully for you i God may try you by letting you work a long while before he rewards your diligence ; but the reward will come sooner or later. Do you not re- member how many years Joseph stayed meekly and patiently in prison? Do you suppose he had no task to keep out hard and rebellious thoughts? and yet we find God was all this time preparinghim and school- ing him for his great life of usefulness. God has a life of usefulness for you too, and a life of joy and peace, if you will look up and ac- cept "it in God"sownway. Only trust him. 1)0 you say that if all hands are as faithful and efllcient as the one I have pictured, there would not be room for them all? That is a mistake equal to the one the English operatives made when they arose in molis and destroyed the power-looms. If all were like him your employer could do Imsiness on smaller margins, and could sell goods at lower prices, so that thousands could use them now. Avho find them beyond their reach , and a still greater demand for hands would spring up. The same remarks I have made will equally well apply to tillers of the soil, and men and women "in all the avocations of life. People Avho work for themselves, and who have no employer, frequently waste time fearfully. I presume, without doubt this bright ^Vpril Monday morning thousands are standing with their hands in their pock- ets, wasting their time. Some will say, doubtless, they have nothing to do ; nobod'y has set them to work. ^1>' friend, it is your ov:n business to set yourself to work. If there is nothing else to" do, there is always a chance open to us to cultivate the soil. If you haven-t ground of your own, you can get enough to keep you busy, almost for the asking. Now, a word about being satisfied with moderate wages, and a little of the good things of this world. "\\'hen we are doing the best we can. we should be thankful. Having very small wages is certainly better than having no Avages at all. Of course, I do not mean you should be satisfied Avith the product of a lazy and slothful Avay of going about your Avork, for in that case you ought not to be satisfied Avith yourself. To avoid the danger of repining against God and om- fellow-men, we should strive to be satisfied Avith Avhat (jod and our fellow-men see fit to give us, and to constantly fall back on our- selves for the things that are lacking. IIoav can one have a happy, thankful spirit, if he constantly dwells on wrongs he thinks he has suffered. Let us school ourselves to expect moderately of the world, and then, if Ave get more than Ave expected, Ave shall of course feel thankful. One Avho is working for a dollar a day. and has laid out his life so as to live within that income for the next year, is very agreeably surprised to find that he is 250 GLEANIXGS IN BEE CULTURE. May to have $1.25. I know it is hard for very- many of us to humble ourselves enough to come clear down to the point where our ex- penses are less than our income, especially where that income is very small ; but, my friends, it is the only way to secure real hap- piness. There is really a rare kind of happi- ness, to one who is strongly tempted to ex- travagance, when he can so school himself as to get down below that line of safety ; to get where he can be willing to have folks think he is poorer than he really is ; to be willing to be called poor and stingy, for Christ's sake ; to be willing to have folks laugh and make unkind remarks about his clothing, that he may have the satisfaction of being able to meet all his promises promptly and squarely. You have not only paid your debts, but you have baffled Satan, and you have come out victor, thank God! Your clothes may be poor, your hands rough, and your cheek browned ; but your name is spotless, and you are not only not afraid to meet anybody, but you are ready for lots more work of the sauiie kind. Sup- pose some of those dandily dressed fellows do sit on the hitching-posts snickering to themselves as you go along when you go to town. What does it matter? Almost in- voluntarily you quicken your steps as you think fondly of the little home and the gar- den, with the chickens and bees, and, more than all, the happy prattle of the loved ones as they welcome you home. They know you, if the world does not. Your wife knows your true w^orth, and God knows, as you kneel at night with her hand in yours, it is with no formal words, but it wells di- rectly up from the heart, — "O God, we thank thee. We thank thee for this little home, so bright and joyous, and for these loved ones thou hast given us to care for, and bring up. AVe thank thee that thou didst, in thine infinite mercy and kindness, put into the hearts of thy servants to point us to the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world." Friend Boot : —I like to read your ideas on men and things that you come in contact with, although i t causes a smile, sometimes, when you write that God answers prayer. I do not care how much you mix your business up with your religion ; it is none of my business, any more than if you should mix salt with your tea for breakfast. What concerns me is, are you an honest man, and trying to do to others as you would like to bo done by? Now, I wish to give my testimony that you arc an honest man, and you are doing a great amount of good for the people, who read Gleanings, notwithstanding your ideas of salvation and eternal life. Much in the Bible is to be commended, much to be despised. I once thought God wrote the Bible; I know better now. Head the 109th Psalm, and ask yourself if God had any thing to do with it. Again, read 38th chap- ter of Genesis. A. I. Root, Esq., would not write such infamous sentiments in Gleanings; for when I wrote you a sarcastic letter, your answer was in kindness, and taught me a lesson not to be forgotten. You are doing good, and I want to help all men who are trying to help others, but I don't think that God has any thing to do with it, for I don't know as there Is any such being, and I know as much as any other man living does, as the finite mind can't compre hend the infinite; hence, no one knows. One point you and I can agree on, and that is temperance; and I hate Christianity, because it will not attack this curse of the world. It bows down to the lousy god Mammon, and the wealthy liquor-dealer is called a good brother in any Christian church, if he pays a large sum of money for the support of the church Now, don't misunderstand me; I do not hate the men an women who believe in Christianity; what I mean is, I hate the creed they profess to believe, as (to my mind) it causes drunkenness and crime throughout the land, as there are more Christian thieves and drunkards in our prisons than there are infidels. My idea is, that if I do you a wrong I must pay the penalty; no Jesus to save me; and when this idea prevails, no more prisons will be required, no more drunkards in the land, no more preachers, but teachers like yourself who are doing good by deeds as well as words. Now, I have written you some words, but thoy would be of little use unless there were deeds with them; hence find my subscription for one year, and it is well worth the money. W. E. LeoNvVRD. Port Huron, St. Clair Co., Mich. I thank you for your good ophiion and kind words, friend L. A few years ago a man came to visit me who was an old bee- keeper, and, after looking at the apiary and asking a few questions, he declared, point blank, that there was no such thing as a queen in a hive, and that neither I nor any one else had ever seen one. Do you think my faith was weakened, and that I rushed to a hive and opened it to see again if I had always been mistaken V or do you think I argued the point with him ? Well, what you say about answers to prayer strikes me much in the same way. I had been working with the queens all day, and, althougli the mau may have been 'ho'.iest, my acquaintance with queens was such that his remark— why, you know it is utter folly for me to say I knew there were queens in the hives. Now, please do not think me harsh Avhen I say the evidence, to one, of a personal God, and one who answers prayer, is just about the same. Not that I see God with my eyes as I see a queen, but that I feel his presence very much as I feel this April morning sun when I close my eyes. I wonder if a little experience of the past few days may not make it plain to you. In my work of trying to save souls, I often meet with sad discouragements. Just re- cently, in a case where forbearance ceased to be a virtue, as it seemed to me, I rejn-oved and rebuked most severely. In fact, I over- stepped the line, and, I fear, took upon my- self the responsibility of judging, where God had not constituted me a judge. I thought it was needed, and that I had done my duty; but as the hours wore on, there began to be a dull pain, as a sort of under-current in my spiritual life ; and as my mind ran back, it seemed to stop at the incident I have men- tioned. The individual was gone, and I could see nothing to be done. If he suffered and wanted help, it was his place to come and accept of it, for my last words had been proffered help. During the after- noon, the feeling increased so that I went to 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 2.51 mj' room and asked G od to forgive me. This brought some peace ; but for all that, the burden kept increasing. It was Saturday night. ;My evenings, especially Saturday evenings, are usually my happiest moments. To-niglit, nothing gave peace or rest. I went down into the greenhouse and looked at the bees in the pail bee-liivie. They were doing finely, but this burden chilled and deadened every thing. I went u]) into the ofliee and read the Amrrrican Aqriculturist. For a time, I forgot, and was as cheerful and pleasant as usual ; but presently a great load that began to seem almost mountain- like, swept over me, coming from I hardly knew where, enveloping and chilling me to my heart's core. I told' Mr. Gray of the in- cident, and he said I had done exactly right, if I recollect correctly ; but against this rose up the voice of God "in his displeasure, with a condemnation that settled the matter de- cisively. It was late, and surely nothing could be done at this hour. Oh that I had been more mild and gentle ! I was just thinking I would give fifty dollars to have been able to recall those few words. Then I remembered the words in that little book, the Christian's Secret of a Happy Life, that God forgives instantly, and peace always comes at once when we are truly penitent, and ready to obey implkithi. I have had such trials before, and I knew by experience, the pain would, in time, wear off. I sat down gloomily, thinking it was God's just punish- ment, and there was no other way but to live it through. A sleepless night and un- fitness for my Sabbath-day's labors rose be- fore me. but'there was no help for it. I must bear it. and try again to learn better. It was, I confess, with a lack of faith that I again knelt alone and asked God's forgiveness. Xow should I say that, while on my knees, God told me what to do. you would call it visionary, and therefore I 'will state it this way : VViiile on my knees the thought came to plunge out into the night and hunt up the one who was, very likely, even now giving himself wholly iiito the hands of Satan. The feeling came stronger, and seemed to say, " He whom you have helped and cheered and encouraged with kindness and long patience thus far, now in his hour of greatest need and sorest trial you have de- serted; an immortal soul is likely at this very instant feably wavering on the verge of ruin, and no hand near to stay his fall." Some thing did suggest faintly that I knew not where he was ; but strong and clear came the voice, '• I will guide thee.'' Off I sped, and before I knew it, the load had gone, and I was happy— happy as a bird in the air. It was among those who were almost strang- ers that God led me, and it was with a little trepidation that I intruded ; but very soon I knew why God had sent me there. It was not much that I said, and I fear little was the good I did, more than to say a few kind, hopeful words, and then I was directed to visit two or three others, whom I knew would sleep better after having heard the re- sult of my mission. One of them was the dear friend Avho was to i)reaeh to ns on the morrow, and it was worth a great deal to see his face. light up, -uid the load of care lifted a little, and the thought occurred to me that I he would not only rest better, but that his sermon on the morrow would reach further I in its mission of saving souls. Home at last, and happy. JNIy wife does not wony when I am late now, for she feels sure that some- body will be made happier for my absence. j And is this indeed myself, and my life':* The I old life is not forgotten yet. even though a half-dozen years have passed; and as 1 lie ! down to rest, almost too happj' to sleep, I praise him again and again for his mercy and kindness. Behold the Lamb of God, which laketh away the I sin of the world. Yes, not only the .sin of the world, but the ! pain and sorrow of the world, to all who will i ptit their trust in him. Now, I do not wish ; to say by the above that anybody was saved I or converted l»y my visits that night, for the [ events are in tiod's hands, and the responsi- bility rested on him, and not my poor self, after I had obeved the promptings of that moving spirit ; "but the point I wish you to ! see is, that God answers prayer in the way I I have indicated, and gives relief. I know ' yoii may explain it away by saying that it was only a feeling of uneasiness, and that I felt better as a matter of course, after having done a humane act; but, my friend, who and what prompts these feeUngs, and what will be the result of following them V Sap- pose we call it (rod, or the " God part " that is in us all ; and, to go a little further, what will be the result of cultivating this prompt- ing spirit within us V Is it wild to think this gentle influence might in time grow so as to envelop you like a robe, and, while it guards and holds you from evil, that it may also give yoti a "feeling of happiness and safety that can be, without exaggeration, compared to the text,— Eye hath not seen, nor car heard, neither have en- tered into the heart of man the things that God hath prepared for those that love him?— I. Cok. ~ : 9. Now a little further : If one is going to cultivate this influence, he must have (luiet and meditation ; es]iecially is this the case with a beginner. He must commune with himself— with his inner nature. It is no easy matter for untrained humanity to sub- mit to be led by an influence so gentle as to be compared to a summer breeze. A bruised reed shaU he not break, and the smok- ing tiax shall he not quench.— Isa. 4~ : 3. Well. now. friend L., how better can we place ourselves than in the attitude of pray- er, when we wish to seek this straight and narrow path V The bowed head indicates humility and obedience ; the closed ey(^s, a willingness to forget earthly objects ; and an audible voice, even though you are alone in the woods, that you are not afraid to ask the God who made you to j?uide you in ways of wisdom and in paths of peace. I have only tried to tell you how I feel about answers to prayer, friend L..so far, and at another time I will try to answer some of your other difh- culties. ^^ Envelopes directed to myself will be furnished free to any of our patrons who may want them. Postal cards, directed in same way, for one cent each, postage paid on all. Just say how many you Avaut, and they will be forwarded at once. 252 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. May SMOKER COIiVmN. fll AVE spent the evening in reading and review- ing April Gleanings, and have found manj^ iu- ' teresting articles, and lastly ran upon "Smoker" column, the most singular offer I ever heard of. As to this, I will give expression to my views. Your offer to give a smoker to all those who will abandon the use of tobaeco, on simple statement, you taking a person's word only, no oath required ! By the way, I am inclined to think that a great many will make use of your extreme liberality, and you will suffer quite a loss that will amount to quite an item at the end of the year by giving away your smokers. It is likely that perhaps about one-half of these in- dividuals are sucking away at their pipes as usual, in spite of their promises. Auo. TiGGES. Marathon City, Wis., Apr. 12, 1881. Friend T., you are to me one of this vast sea of humanity. I do not Ivuow you any more tlian I know those wlio have publicly made this promise, except from what I can judge from the letters they have written. Now, would you keep the promise, if you had given it under the same circumstancesV To be sure, you would ; and so will the oth- ers. They are not under my eye, and the promise is not, in one sense, given to me. It is made before God, and it is God whom they offend, if they break it, without com- ing out honestly and acknowledging their fault, and paying for the smokers like men. Is there one among us who would break such a promise for the paltry sum of one or two dollars? God forbid! There is a great strong arm back of me, in tliis, friend T., and He will take care that I do not suffer very mucli. Thanks for smoker, all O. IC. When promise is broken, I will pay you for ten smokers. Beverly, Mo., April, 1881. Ed. Ladd, Jr. I will ask you to send me a smoker, for I shall never use tobacco again, under a penalty of Ave dol- lars the first time I smoke, chew, or use it in any way as a stimulant. Send me a large Bingham smoker on the above conditions. N. B. H. Dean. Brighton, Ont., Can., March 10, 1881. Do not send me a smoker for leaving off using beer and tobacco, but please help me to form other reso- lutions, which I consider worth more than presents. Chillicothc, la.. Mar. 15, 1881. Jo.sEni Ball. I want to join your tobacco army; and if you will send me a smoker I will pledge my word Hd'ev'touse tobacco again. Please send me one of those Lu-gest- sized ones— one that holds two quarts. If you do not intend to give that size, I will pay the difference, and if I use tobacco again, I will pay you $1.01 for it. Los Angeles, Cal., Feb. 31, '81. W. W. Bliss. About the smoker you sent me: it seems easy now to keep from smoking. I have promised wife, God, and you, to keep from it, so if I break one I b)-eak nil. Thanks many times for it, and hoping God will bless you and your " Home Papers," I remain, E. Ladd, J«. Beverly, Macon Co., Mo., April 5, 1881. REPORT FROM NEIGHBOR SHOOK. WINTERING 4.5 COLONIES AVITHOUT LOSS. fjjHIS is my first attempt at letter-writing. I will tell j'ou my experience in bee-keeping. 1 have kept bees since lS6i. I kept blnck bees about ten years in box hives, averaging from one to eight, with no honey to eat, until 187.5; then I got up to eight again. I then bought eight Italian queens of Mr. Dean, about Sept. 1st, 1875. I Italiaiaized all, and changed to movable-frame hives. In 18761 increased to 15 colonies bj' artificial swarm- ing, and procured 400 lbs. of honey. Since then I have had all the honey to use 1 wanted, with bets and honey to sell. In IS79 I incrensed to 41 colonies, of which I lost 2; in the spring of 1883 I sold 19 col- onies; started agiin wiih 2J colonics; increased to 45; procured about .500 lbs. of honey: lost none. These colonies are very light, but I think tbey will come ont all right. I winter in house. The outside is sided up with Js drop siding, sealed inside with inch lumber; have sccentcca inches of s.iwdust be- tween walls. It is warm; the lowest that I saw the mercury this winter was 8° below freezing. This is rather warm — perhaps chaff would b3 better. I have it ventilated at top and bottom; have wintered in house three winters, with go id success. Daniel Shook. Seville, Medina Co., O., April 21, 1S8L A FRESH ABC SCHOL.iR'S STORY. MSI am one of the ABC class, a new and green ^\, scholar at that, I wili mnke my report. I am "'^ an invalid, and have b(_cu for several years. I had to quit business on accounl of my hc;iLh. I bought Vi cclonies last October and November at public sale. Thej' were in miserable old rotten hives; about 4 had stores sulHcient to winter on; remainder had plenty ( f bees, but had but little stores. I bought pine luiibcr and had hives made, 20 inches in the clear; set the old hives in these, and packed straw between them, and put gunny sacks and baling stuff on the frames, and left them to care for themselves until spring. We had an unusually cold and long winter. They had one day in Febru- ary and two in March they could fly; but a great many died on the snow. I began to feed coffee A sugar syrup the 20th of March, by putting the syrup in plates and saucers placed on the frames and under the gunny bags. I gave each colony two saucers of syrup a week. They ate it readily. But 3 of my weakest colonies died, one in February and two in March, leaving me 10— one with dysentery bad, but cleaning up and working now. Gathered first pollen from hazel April 13, mercury 43, and have been busy every day but one since that. We had a hard rain this morning; cliudy all day; bees boil- ing out at the entrance, and packing pollen as if their very existence depended on to-day's work. They are hybrids and the common black. Api-il 16th one hybrid colony sent out a fair swarm. They set- tled and acted exactly as a swarm would in summer. I went to the mother colony and found a hybrid queen near the entrance in a small clump of bees. I picked her up, put her in a cage, and opened the hive to see what the trouble Avas; found plenty of bees, some sealed honey, eggs, and unsealed larvae. Well, you have left plenty to keep house, and now what's the matter? I examined the cluster and found another hybrid queen. I then put tbem in a 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUIIE. hive that was full of combs; gave them one sash of cg-gs and unsealed brood from the mother colony; and one sash with some honey and a saucer of syrup on top of frames; put in some oM rags and tucked them up warm and nice; found my saucer empty next morning. They are now gathering pollen, and working finely. A swarm of bees day before Easter in North-western Missouri: How is that? Have 1 overdone the business, or what is the matter? To- day, April £0, is the first day the bees have worked on the elm bloom. All vegetation is very late. Fruit-buds just beginning to swell. Well, I must quit— too iDUg now, etc. " There, John, hand round the waste-basket." Alexander Floyd. Guilford, Mo., April ;:0, 1881. No Avaste- basket at all, friend F. I am always glad to hear from the new scholars, aud a letter like yours, full of hope and fresh enthusiasm, is a "jewel after our long season of blasted hopes. You have done just right, and your new swarm is the reward of faith- fulness and diligence, and nothing else. Go on and prosper, and let us hear from you often. ^VIIAT KILL.ED THE BEES? HAS THE SHALLOW L. FRAME liEEN WORSE lOR WINTERING ? COMMENCED five years ago in the A B C class with one swarm, and have now some few over one hundred, all from that swarm, aud I have never lost any of any account until this winter. The advocates of a def p frame who have wintered their bees, claim it was the frame that did it; but I think that the facts will show that bees in hives with deep frames crosswise of the entrance have died just as badly, if not worse, than those in the usual hives. Out of o~ hives of bees liought by a Medina man this spring of the Nunn brothers of Norwalk, IT' were in the Am. hive, aud 20 in Langsiroth. They all died in the Am. hives but two, aud there were 10 in the L. hives that lived. POLLEN AND ITS INFLUENCE ON DYSENTERY. I have a small apiary in Litchfield, located on a branch of Black lliver, where the bees gathered so much pollen that they tilled frames from top to bot- tom aud from end to end. The bees were all in chatr hives on 2-1 frames. In Sept. I packed the bees on the ten lower frames, taking all the frames that had pollen in to build up the Holy-Land apiary. Wherever 1 put a frame of that pollen, the bees win- tered badly, were sick, and a good many of them died. The bees that I left without the pollen, though I did not see them again till the 18th of April, were everyone alive aud in splendid condition. 1 hear from one of his neighbors that R. Crow's large apiary in his square-frame hives, only one mile away, are all dead. Jt was not the hives, but the pollen that killed them. In our Cyprian apiarj-, in the old chaff hives that the bees had well waxed up and were packed earl J', though part of their stores were grape sugar, all arc alive and strong, while those that I packed late in ucav hlvos, though I united two or three small colonies, to make one large one, almost all are dead, and what are alive are very weak. I never had good luck uniting bees in the fall; 1 would rather feed the weak colonies, and build them up strong. I don't think it is luck wintering bees, but Jfnowlug all the conditions under which bees should be put into winter-quarters. Dl (h^ fireplace, you must have young bees; for if the bees arejill old in the fall, they will all die of old age l)ef ore fpVing. I think that is the thing that killed A. L Root^ls beo.S;\ he would fill every order for beee, an4 incputtidg; them up, by shaking the combs they?ia b^es will fly^^ and the young bees only fall into th{>cage; and be- sides, the old bees arc those that do ttie out-d6or. work, aud the young stay at home and do fhe-bausS- work and are, therefore, the ones that get sold. I know this is the case, for I helped put up his bees, and besides, I know how it worked in my apiary. Another thing- that helped to kill them: There was a large fruit-evaporator about sixty rods from his apiary, and the bees worked on the decayed fruit. I know some of our hives had the scent of bad peach- es, and I tell you that is not good winter stores fur bees. I will ti-y to give some more hints between now and next fall. fl. B. Harrington. Medina, O., April 26, 1881. A VISIT TO NEIGHBOR H.'S APIARY, ¥0U see, he came along with that fast horse of his, just about supper time, — and asked me to step in. lie didn't have the old rickety buggy, tut he has got a new light one, just right to go around to his apiaries with. I observed a hole in the bot- tom, even if the buggy was new, and men- tally resolved not to step through that hole. 8upper time is a very important hour with me, and so I just stepped up to the door of the lunch-room and asked *•' Lu " to give me a paper bag of sandwiches. You know I am always careful and prudent. Patsy bounced us over rough roads, and fairly made us skim the ground, when we came tb a level piece, and finally landed us at the apiary. "Neighbor II.,'' said I, " do you know when it was I first saw this garden V" "No, "said he, "I don't." " Well, it was about 20 years ago. I ad- mired the garden very much then (more than I do now, in fact), and I admired a straw- berry bed that stood over in that corner; but if I recollect aright, I admired the farmer's daughter who lived here a great deal more than either, as she helped me pick straw- berries that June evening." II. said he didn't remember the strawber- ries, that he knew of, but he did remember admiring that farmer's daughter's younger sister a few years later, and, come to think of it, I do not believe we either of us ever got really over it, and that is how we came to be brothers-in-law. I lifted the cover to a chaff hive, and took out the cushion. Under a sheet of duck Avas a tin-pan cake of maple sugar, tunneled and honey-combed all through, and a rousing colony of bees it was. I opened another and another, and every hive had the same cake of sugar, or the remnants of one. and about the same amount of bees. We took a queen and 1 lb. of bees (worth now $6.00) from one moderately sti'ong colony, but did not seem to hurt them materially in numbers. I pre- sume the apiary would furnish SoOO.OO worth of bees and queens to-day, and then build up, without trouble. Said I, — "Look here, H. Y"ou Avould kill a weak 254 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. ]\LVY colony by giving it a whole cake of sugar like that, in cool weather." " "Well, don't T know that? I h<(ve killed four or five in learning it by experience." In putting the frames back into one of the hives, it struck some thing on the bottom of the hive. It was fine dry sugar that had rat- tled down, after they had sucked out all the moisture. IL replied that he knew that was one nuisance in feeding sugar cakes or can- dy. I told him I would lix it if he would show me a dipper of water. "With this we dampened the sugar on the bottom-boards, and the bees soon did the rest. The large cakes, that had been eaten out to a dry shell, were dampened and used up in the same way. II. will, without trouble, make his hundred hives bring him a tliousand dollars in selling queens, and bees by the pound. As the sun was going down, we got into the buggy to go home, and I began looking around anxiously for my bag of sandwiches. Sad, sad to tell, they must have slipped out of the hole in the bottom of the buggy ; and the more I thought of it, the more I meditated on the excellencies of sandwiches. " There they are," said II., and Fatsy was on the spot in a twinkling, and we both de- clared it had not hurt them one bit by lying in the middle of the road on the top of the hill an hour or two. Do you know how they are made? Get some nice biscuit and butter, boiled ham, and a pot of mustard. Put the mustard on the slices of ham, then the but- tered biscuit each side of the slice ; put 'em in a paper bag, and when you are out riding, after supper time, just — taste yourself, and see. CLEANmCSlOEE COUmE. -A- I- KT.TSr.A., IVLjATST 1, X08X. 15y their fruits j^e shall know them.— Matt. 7:20. Don't quarrel. _ Save your money. Raise your own queens, and then you will be sure nobody has cheated you. Please "go slow" in finding fault with each oth- er. It is the easiest thing in the world to be mis- taken. We shall now have all kinds of que ens on hand, ready to ship by return mail, at our table prices just as we have for years past. April 20th.— We have 4205 subscribers, aud the catnip and nuAluricort plants are up in the optn ground, as well as the others. AxD would you believe it? The Spider plant has self-sown its seed also, aud under the influence of this fine weather the young plants are coming up as thick as " spatter." Do not be in too much haste to divide. Yovi con raise more bees by making each colony a strong one before dividing it, than by crippling the queens by giving them only a small cluster of bees. The amount of matter on hanil is far beyond what we can find room for, and the letters in regard to losses are so many that we shall hardly find room for one in ten. It is time now, friends, to take some other topic, until another winter. I DO not want to buy empty combs, nor do I know who does. All our comb.-< are now built on wired frames, for convenience in shipping Ijoes. Those who have them may advertise them, if they wish, at 20c each insertion, as in the bees, queen, and hive columns. Let it be distinctly underctood, that those who send out queens are to be in no way responsible un- less a full and complete sjujIj address is given. An order is now puzzling the clerks, where the letter is headed one P. O., and another given after the sig- nature. Do not let your empty combs go to waste. If they are nice ones, do not try them up for wax either. Look at them often, fumigate them if the worms get started on them, and save them for another year, if you do not need them all this. I have often saved them over, without a particle of injury. The price of our one-piece sections will l)e, for tlio present, $4 50 per thousand; but at this price there can be no wholesale, and I can make no rebate to those who have already purchased. Demand and supply fixes the prices of rntiy such g.iods, and I can neither well forsee nor be responsible for fluc- tuations in prices. Neighbok Dean has wintered 00 cclonies, and lost only 8. Do you not see that the veterans are surely gaining ground? With the exception of my- self, I really believe our Medina Co. bcc-mcn have wintered better than the. do on an average. Friend D. wintei-ed part in his cellar, and part in his saw- dust-packed house, but says he found little differ- ence. When you get something from the Counter Store that is not as it is described there, please bear in mind that it is probably because we could not get the article we are accustomed to have, and so did the best we could by sending the nearest thing to it. I am sure I am more sorry than j-ou can be, when I am obliged to do this. RouiNSON Crusoe has finally come out in cheap book form too. It is published complete, with quite a lot of pictures, in a book of 240 large pages, for on- ly 25c. The frontispiece is a picture of Friday's as- tonishment at the power of the gun. No boy's or girl's education can be said to be complete tmtll they have read Robinson Crusoe. Wc can .nail it postpaid for 23c. Neighbok Shake, with an apiary of about 190 col- onies, has not lost to exceed 10 per cent, and wintered outdoors at that. The hives were ordinary L. hives, with chaff cushion over the frames. He borrowed one chaff hive from us, which wintered without a loss of over two dozen bees, and consumed much less stores than those in his other hives. Although he always wintered in cellars until of late, he now thinks he shall winter out of doors next winter. I confess I am a great deal puzzled. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 255 Right before us is a letter with money in for a queen, and the writer says he is going to " hold " a colony queenless until he gets her, and yet he hasn't signed his name. I opine both he and the col my will get tired before he gets her. Do not depend too much on buying queens from other parties. Both "Will and neighbor H. say they would almost as soon raise a queen in a nucleus as to take the chances of introducing one. A queen- cell ready to hatch will often get a laying queen in a hive as quick (or (juicker) as to buy one and try to introduce her. The dictionaries came at last, a whole thousand, and regular little beauties they are. I have had a big scolding all round for selling them so cheap. Mr. Gray commenced it, my wife then took it up, and finally my 18-year old bjy took me to task, and talked to me like a father. Seud 15c for the diction- ary (and 5 more for postage, etc.), and then you can scold too if you like. THE RUnUER PLATES FOR MAlvING FOUNDATION. We have n* length, after much and expensive ex- perimenting, got rubber plates for a f uU-sizod sheet for L. frame. The imprint is for Dunham fdn., fur- nished by Dadant, and is perhaps the best, all things considered, that can be used. It makes about 5 feet to the pound. There are some things about the machine that we wish to improve before filling or- ders for machines. I know it is bad to keep you waiting this time of the year, but I really see no help for it. We hope to be sending out machines in a week. PRICES OF BEES AND QUEENS FOR MAY. Queens will be as per table in price list, but owing to enormous demand for bees by the pound, and the scant supply, the prices for May will this year be the same as April, or $3.00 per lb. Of course, those who have sent money before this reaches them will be served at the usual May prices, $1.50 per lb. If others can do better, I shall be very glad of it, for 1 know that it will be better and clioa per for you all to deal directly with each other, instead of passing so much through my hands. I have already pur- chased 90 fine colonics, but I rather prefer not to cripple them all at once by selling off all the young bees by the pound. A FEW days ago we lost our half-gallon measure for kerosene oil, and the tinsmith made another. As I had often talked to him about having measures absolutely exact, he made it so, but when the old one turned up, it was found the new one held half a pint the most. This measure was one bought at our tin-shops, and was perhaps about as nearly right as the average. I have for j-ears cheated every cus- tomer who has purchased oil of me, to the above ex- tent. Do you not see the need of some thing better than the usual slipshod way of doing business? Our glass graduates on the 2.5c counter are intended to correct all the measures about the house, and I can but regard them as a boon to humanity. MAPLE SUGAR. I HAVE bought, of the Medina Couuty farmers, somewhere from three to four tons of maple sugar this spring, and our girls are busy making it into 1- Ib. bricks. Fifty bricks will be packed in a box, each wrapped in a nice clean paper. The price will be lOe. per brick, or $1.75 for a case of 50 bricks. The sugar, as we buy it of the farmers, in tin-pan cakes, will be $9.00 per hundred lbs. It is pure ma- ple sugar. In making into bricks we only boil it so it will not drip or drain in ship])ing, stirring it well to give it a fine graiu. I do not know of anything better for bee candy, and it is also a fine thing to have when you want to coax the children to be "good." Wouldn't you be good if you were in their place.*? SIMPSON PLANTS. AVE did not get all our Simpson-plant seed gather- ed last fall, but after shaking out some, and trying it, we found it to grow splendidly. Now, what do you think I found last evening? Wh3% while 1 was admiring the great green shoot from the old roots, a.s they raised the soil, trying to push their broad heads into the sunlight, it occurred to me I should have to cultivate them at once, as there was such a great quaiitity of weeds .starting. In fact, these weeds fairly made a carpet of green that covered the ground. I stooped down. Simpson plants, as sure as you are alive, in countless millions. Why, I can furnish you all you will want at 10c. a hundr(;d if I can only get them mailed to you safely. Will some of our nursery friends kindly instruct me in the best way of packing, and tell me where I can get the proper material, etc.? Postage will probably be another 10c. ^^ Neighbor Sh.\w, who uses the dead air-space in- stead of ohafl: packeng, i-eports as follows:— I havi- lost two swarms by starving;, out of 17; all the rest ranie tlnoiif-'h in g'ood shape O-vcept tlie loss of two queens; all winteretl on siiiumer stands without any protection whatever exeeiit tin- hives. F. R. SHAW. Chatham Center, O., April 20, 1881. A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEED. Just as we go to press comes the following:— Your postal of 'JOtli .\pril is at hand. AVe can funiish bees in May at Sl.iin per lb. ineludint,' shippinj?-easo and insure safe de- livery by express (you iJ.aviii^' e.xiiress c'liarfres. i I can also fur- nish'whole swarms duriu';;- s.ime montli at $•:.''!> in 1-frame nu- clei to tlie amt. of 00 lbs, of l)eis and 'M swarms, if ordered im- niediatelv. If we eau ftniush more will let roll know. We think, by u'eltin^' early swarms you could g'et tliem in time for vour houev en 'p. our blacks are almost ready to swanu. Ital- ians behind, and wc:ik. W. K. WuiTM.\.v & Co. New .Market, Ala., April 25, 1881. Here is another: — I have received your postal of the 20th. I will furnish bees by the lb. to your e iistomers from now until tile last of Ma.v for S'^.CMI per lb. .and jiuarainee safe delivery by express only.buyer paying' transportation cliarn'cs. I will guarantee safe delivei-y byexpri'ss iinly, and only when the purchaser gives his ftill plain address; and if his P. (>. and express office address ai'e not the same, he must Rive both. You ought to stipulate tllis eonspciously in eveiy i.ssue of Gleanings, because we can not pay for other people's carelessness. J. G. Tavlor. iJox 131, Atistin, Travis Co., Tex., April 2i, 1881. I agree, friend T. Will customers please take no- tic c ? SUGAR-CANE TH.4.T BEARS THE SUGAR IN THE BLOS- SOMS. It's coming, boys, as sure as can be. Just listen ;— I will send you some seed of oranpre cane. If yon .are going to plant any eane, it's far ahead of Amber, as it is so much larger, and nep^rly as early; makes twice as much syrup or sugar. I have sugar 1 made from Louisiana ribbon cane, and thai from ' ' orange "is nicest. I notice the bees work on the blooui also . My Simpson plants are now neaily 2 ft. high. I. O. FiTZGEK.M.D. BrookstonTex., April 20, 1881. To be sure, I want some seed, friend F., and I pre- sume several others will too. Sugar-cane that the bees will work on is .lust what we have been looking for. FAIR PL.VY. The following was carelessly omitted in the proper place: — LET VS ILIVE FAin VLXY . Several friends of ours having informed us that Mr. Jones, at the national convention held at Cincinnati, had said tliat we were selling spurious Cy|)i'ian i|Ueens. wo wrote to him, and in reply, he said that we had sold, as Cyprian, queens that had not 'a drop of Cvpri:tn blood in ihem. Mr. Benton, besides, wrote to the ' •'l!ee-kct.)iers' Magazine" that but few i|Ueens liad been sent from Cyprus to Kuropean breeders, and that jiart of them had died on the way. Wi' have notilied Mr. Fiorini of these allegations, and received, in I'cply, among several other proofs, a certilicate from the railroad agent, stating that Mr. Fiorini had i-eeeived, in 1880, seven shipments of living beei from I.aniaca. Cyi>rus. CiLis. Dap ANT .* Son. Hamilton, Hancock Co , 111 , March 19, ISSl. 2.50 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. May THE TUKN O' THE TUNE. BY A BEE-KEEPER'S DAUGIITEK. Once I wandered in the garden, In the happy days of June, When the roses were in blossom, And the birds were all in tunc; And I sang in purest pleasure, " What a happy world is this; June has sweetness without measure, And to live Is almost bliss !" So I stooped and pulled the roses, Till a sudden bliuding pain Shot like lightning thro' my body, Numbing hands and dulling brain. There, within those dewy roses. Fresh with fragrance, wet with dew, Lay a honey-bee reposing. Filled with sweets and -venom too ! While the honey-bee reposes Undisturbed, untouched by me. Even mid my choicest roses, I severely let him be; For I've wiser grown, and sadder, And my life is not all bliss; So I chant in minor cadence, " What a bitter world is this !" Eliza M. Shekman. f on^K ^elumn. Under tbis head will be insei-ted, free of charge, the names of *11 those having honey to sell, as well as those wanting to buy. Please mention how nmch, what kind, and prices, as far as pos- sible. As a general thing, I would not advise you to send your honey away to be sold on commission. If near home, where you can looK after it, it is often a very good way. By all means, develop your home market. For 25 cents we can furnish little boards to hang up in your dooryard, with the words, ' ' Honey for Sale, ' ' neatly painted. It wanted by mail, 10 cents extra for postage. Boards saying "Bees and Queens for Sale," same p'ice. CITY MARKETS. New York, Aprils;'.— Honry.— We quote you comb honey, put up in neat packages, as follows: Best white, in 2-lb. boxes, l.")(?7il7c; fair white, in 2-lb. boxes, 13(q}.Uc; buckwheat, in '.J-lb. boxes, 10® l;Jc; large boxes, 2c per pound less than above prices; best clover, extracted, 9@l0c; buckwheat, extract- ed, 7@7W c. Honey market is very quiet this spring, with no demand for comb honey. J3eesu'a.i;. — Market is qviiet and very firm; but very little in the market, and Is selling at 24@38c. H. K. & F. B. TlIURBER & Co. Cleveland, April 20, 1881.— JJojicy.— Market is not very lively; in the absence of stock, I have no posi- tive reports, but choice white l-lli. sections would bring 19(5 '^Oc; dark,lC@18; 2-lb., 18@19, and dark 15 @L7. Extracted, 13@14. A. C. Kbndel. Cincinnati, April 20.— No change in the honey market. Demand still pretty fair for extracted, and almost uo trade in comb honey. No change in pi-ices. CnAS. F. Muth. CHICAGO, April 21.— ITofKiA— There has been no change in the market in this city since my last quo- tations, except a slight decline in white comb honey —some having been sold as low as 10c. The supply is still abundant. Bcc«iifa.r.— Kemalns the same. Alfred H. Newman. St. Louis.— ^larch 23.— Present market quotations ase as follows: Jfojici/.— Ready sale. Comb IfiClS; top rate for fancy bright; strained and extracted, IKffiiac ip lb. Becswar.—Firm, Prime yellow 21, dark Rt 20c, R. C. Greer & Co. ]m%^n%mi§. CONVENTIOar DIKECTORY. time and place of meeting. 1881. May 5.— Central Mich. Bee-keepers' Association, in Pioneer rooms of the State Capitol, at Lansing, Mich. May 10.— Cortland Union Bee-keepers' Association Cortland, N. Y. May 11.— South-western Wisconsin Bee-keepers' As- sociation, at Darlington, LaFayette Co. Wisconsin. May 10, 11.— The Eastern New York Bee-keepers' Association, in Court House, at Schohar- ie, N.Y. May 12.— The South-eastern Michigan Bee-keepers' Association, in Court House, at Ann Ar- bor, Mich. May 17.— The North-western Bee Union, at Hastings, Minn. May 19. — Champion-Vallev Bee-keepers' Association will be held at Bristol, Addison Co., Vt. Recent Additions to the COUNTER STORE. FIVE-CENT COUNTER. Postage. ] I Pr. of 10, of 100 3 I Copper Wire, on spools, suitable for mending things when thev get bro- ken. Two sizes. No. 30 and 2.5 | 45 | 3 50 4 I Envelopes; fair quality, bunch of 25, three bunches for 10 cents | 30 | 3 .50 4- 1 Soap, containing pumico stone | 38 | 3 50 Called "Pumicine." An excellent thing for re- moving propolis, A'arnish, or stains of any kind from the hands. 2 I Spectacle cases: leather; excellent ..I 40 | 3 75 4 I Slate Pencils, best soapstonc, 6 in a neat tin box | 40 | 3 53 2 I Ferules for tool handles, dozen pnck- ases, brass, handsomely tiiiishcd, 3 sizes, =i and 1 110 | 35 | 3 25 1 1 Pens, Steel, IDoz. Gillott's 404 | 40 | 3 75 7 I Sandpaper, best, assorted piickets of 5 sheets, 3 different grades. No. u,l,i;^ I 40 3 50 TEN-CENT COUNTER. I Honey Jars, ornamented with glass cover, a beautiful dish for only lOc. 1 95 | 9 00 5 I Hats, straw, tor summer, (good for those who have lost their bees — only 10 cents) | 85 | 8 00 1 Maple Sugar in 1 lb. bricks, good for bees and children | OS | 9 .50 1 I Pens steel, ldoz.Gillott'sCclebr,i'd303 | 85 | 8 00 FIFTEEN-CENT COUNTER. 28 I Wooden Bowls, 14 in. in diameter... 1 1 35 1 13 00 OLASSAVARE. I Spoon Holder, London pattern, looks like a picket fence 1 1 35 1 12 00 Twenty-Five Cent Counter. 18 I Bags for grain, 2 bushels, seamless | 2 25 | 21 00 2 I Knife, Ladies, Ivory handle. 2-bladc, a beautiful knife for the money. . | 1 75 1 10 00 3 I Butter Knife, silver-plated on steel, finely finished I 3 00 1 18 00 14 I Steel Trap, a gond one with a stout 3 foot chain attached | 2 00 | 18 00 GLASSWARE. I Honey or Batter Dish, Albion pat- tern; new pattern, something like a butterfly and wonderfully pretty | 1 75 I 15 00 1 Graduated Measure, glass | 3 30 | 22 .50 A most valuable article in the householJ, as it measures absolutely correct, from Vi gill to 1 quart, and is a very strong and handsome utensil. ONE DOLLAR COUNTER. I Caster, Brittannin, 5 bottles, a splen- did caster for a dollar 1 9 00 j 85 00 .\. I. ROOT, I?I«ain», Olilo. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUHE. 257 1001 CHOICE ITALIAN AND ALSO IQOI 1001 CYPRIAN QUEENS FOR SALE. 1001 Parties ordering' of me will get just what they bargain ten-. Circular free. Address J. C. POMMERT, Box 134, 4-5 Greenfield, Highland Co., Ohio. IssFqUEENS! QUEENSr~i88l We are prepared to furnish Queens in April, May, and June. For tested Queens, $3.50; afterward, $3.00; untested, f 1.00. Queens reared in full colo- nies from imported mother. In addition to our im- ported Queens, we have some fine Queens in our apiary from simo of the leading breeders of the U.S. We not only select our imported Queens to rear Queens from, but we select the best imported and the best home-bred Queens wo have to rear drones from. We allow no colonies to have drones, except such as are from the choicest of our Queens. Satisfaction and safe arrival of all Queens guaran- teed. No circular. HALL & JOHNSON, o-6inqd Kirby's Creek, Jackson Co., Ala. SECTXOlXrS AKD HIVES! James Forncrook has just received a patent on his machine for fecciiug Honej--Box Sections, dated March 29,1881; No. of patent, 239,47(5. He has not sold any shop rights on the machine, nor does he in- tend to; therefore any one using a machine to make the One-Piece Sections arc infringing. We will make the "Boss" Section, any size up to 5x6, for $5.00 per 1000; Material for L. hive. 50c. JAMES FORNCROOK & CO. Watertown, Jeff. Co., Wis., May 1, 1881. 5d CVFRIArr, KOLV- LAND, HUNGARIAN, AND ITALIAN' ■ I have made queen-brccding a specialty for 20 years, all our queens are reared in full colonies, and we send out no inand-in or nuclei-bred queens. Our queens are reared on a now and scieutihc principle, combining beauty, purity, industry, and docility. All queens ^varrauteil pure, and safe arrival guaran- teed by mall. Warranted queens, $1.00 each; choice selected, $1.25 each; tested, $2.00 each. Send for my 20th annual circular. Try the new races and their crosses. HENRY ALLEY, 5d Weiiham, Essex Co., Mass. HEADQUARTERS IN THE SOUTH For the Manufacture and Sale of BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES! SIMPLICITY AND LANGSTROTH HIVES AND FRAMES. THE NEW ALL- IN -ONE- PIECE SECTIONS ! Having piu-chased from A. I. Root a machine for making the sections, I am ready to supply them in any (juantity. Comb Foundation, made of pure yellow wax, and worked on shares, etc. Honey and Wax-Extractors; Knives, Bee-Smokers, etc., etc. ITALIAN QUEENS AND BEES ! All bred from imported mothers of my own im- portation. Dollar queens, ready April 1st, $1.10 un- til June 1st; after, $1.00. Tested queens, from March 1st to November 1st. Safe arrival guaranteed, and all queens sent by mail. I send no queens that I would not have for myself. Pull Colonies of Italian Bees from $5.00 to $8.50, ac- cording to quantity, etc. Early 4-framo nucleus, with Tested Queens, $5.00— No black bees in the neighborhood. Send for my Illustrated Catalogue of prices, etc. Address PAUIi li. VIALIiON, 5d Bayou Goula, Iberville Par., La. Save Yoixr Fo^vlsl and get Price List of High-Class Poultry, Eggs for hatching, Italian Bees, etc., by addressing J. R. LANDES, iJ-tJd Albion, Ashland Co., Ohio. . Colerain, Mass., April 11, 1881. Men&rs. Bingham A Hctlieriniiton,— Deau Sir:— I concluded to use the Large Smoker instead of sending it awa.y. It is the smoker, 1 don't wan't any better; shall throw all others away. Respectfully, E. A. Thomas. The Original Direct Draft ! Patented Jan. 9. 1878; Mav, 1879; Re-issued July 9, 1878. If you buy a Bingham Smoker, or a Bingham & Hetherington Honey-Knife, you are sure of the best and cheapest. The largest bee- keejiers use them exclusive- ly. Twenty thousand in use; not one ever returned, or letter of complaint receiv- ed. Our original patent Smokers and Honey-Knives were the only ones on exhi- bition at the last National Bee -Keepers' Convention. Bingham Smokers, all but the Small, have fire and cin- der proof bellows. The large and extra Standard Smo- kers have extra wide shields to prevent burnt fingers. These are the only real im- provements made in bee- smokers since the Direct- Draft invention. Bingham is the inventor and only Ic(ial maker of them. Bingham & Hetherington Honey-Knife, 3 in., - $1 00 Large Bingham Smoker, 2i4 in., - - - 150 Extra Standard Bingham Smoker, 3 inches, - 1 25 Plain Standard Bingham Smoker, 2 " - 1 00 Little Wonder Bingham Smoker, l^i, " - - 75 If to be sent by mail, or singly by express, add 25 cents each, to prepay postage or express charges. Send card for tcstimoiiiiils. To sell again, apply for dozen or half-dozen rates. Address BINGHAM & HETHERINGTON, 5tfd Al)ronia, Allegan Co., Mich. ESSEX PIGS A SPECIALTY! 75 to 100 Pedigree Pias for delivery in June, six weeks to two months old. Write for prices. Also Brown Leghorn (prize winners) EGGS, (<1*- $1. per ddz., and B. B. R. G. Bantam Eggs for Hatching (imported), (gi $1..50 per doz., in new l)askets. Safe arrival guaranteed. C. AV. CANFIELD, 5tld Atlieu)^, Bradl'ord ('o.. Pa. Single Queen, Tested, $1 50 Untested, Laying, 80 Warranted, 100 Three-Frame Nuclei, 2 50 All Queens from imported mothers. Safe arrival guaranteed. All that favor me with orders shall be well used. DAN WHITE, 5d New London, Huron Co., Ohio. QEND FOR MY' LARGE ILLUSTRATED CIRCU- O' LAR ! It will tell you what 1 have for sale. If you keep Bees, don't fail to do it. Address B. S. UNDERHILL, 4Cd Williamson, Wayne Co., N. Y. K /\/^ worker combs in L. frames for bees by t# vrVr the pound. Address, J. A. Bucha.van, 5d HoUiday's Cove, Hancock Co., W. Va. J. M. BROOKS & BROS\ AMERICAN ITALIANS. PURITY OF STOCK A SPECIALTY. 4-9 CIRCULARS FREE. COLUMBUS, - BARTH. CO., - INDIANA, 258 GLEAKIKGS IN BEE CULTUEE. May "There's nothing- so successful as success." For many years past, wc have labored to Improve the Italian bee, aiming to obtain a strain of bees that would safely survive our coldest winters. That we can write success upon our (apiarian) banner Is in- dicated by the fact that even in this most disastrous winter, every colony of our large apiary is in fine condition. Others report tine success with our Ital- ians. On March l-lth, M. E. Loehr, of Palestine, lod., wrote us that, last fall he had !)S colonies, and now all are dead but three — two of these being very weak. The other colony contained one of our queens, concerning which he says: — "I was sur- prised to find this colony strong and healthy, and am sorry I did not purchase all my queens of you, they being stronger in bees now than in the fall. Could say much more in praise of your bees." To the READERS OF CLEANINGS we would say: If you want bees that are peaceable, industrioJS, aad hardy— in short, want to possess the best bees, Try our Italian!!!. OUR 40-PAGE CATALOGUE, FREE TO ALL. 5d II. A. UUKCH & CO., SOUTH HAVEN, VAN BUREN CO., MICH. One-Cento s WILL PAY FOR OUR EXHAUSTIVE PAMPHLET ON RAISING, HANDLING, AND MARKET- ING EXTRACTED HONEY. COLONIES WITH Imported Cyprian AND ITALIAN QUEENS or oui; m mfomiis, Guaranteed Pure and Genuine. Our Comb Foundation was awarded the diploma ai the N. E. Bee-Keepers' Convention held in February. The following letter will show its superiority: Medina, Ohio, April 4, 1881. To Citas. Dadant & Son, HamiUon, III.: Please send me 10 or 15 sheets of your very nicest Dunham Foundation, 8J4xl7?3. As I want them to get rubber casts from, I want them nice and true, and nicely packed; don't care what the expense is. I send to you because you have sent me the best specimens. A. I. Root. SMOKERS, KNIVES, EXTRACTORS, ETC. Price List with 3 samples of foundation, free. CHAS. DADANT & SON, otfd Hamilton, Hanooclc Co., 111. QueenS! |tau4[) QueenS! Bred from selected queens of ray own importing. Sent by mail; safe arrival guaranteed. Warranted! If any queen ordered of me proves hybrid, I will, when notified, send another, free (but in such cases unwarranted, just begun to lay). Queens in June, f ll'j; after July 1st, Sl.OO each. Discounts— on an order for 10 queens, one extra will be given; for 35, three extra. Write for discounts on larger orders. Tested queens, double abosc prices. CHAS. R. BINGHAM, Edinburar, Portage Co., O. Money Order Office, Ravenna, 0. 5-7d GHOIGEQUEENS FOE, 1881! Dollar Queens f 1 GO Tested " 3 00 I guarantee satisfaction every lime, or money refunded. No blacks in my neighborhood. All queens raised from A. I. Root's imported stock. Send for cir- cular. HOWARD NICHOLAS, 4-Sd Etters, York Co., Pa. ALBINO, ITALIAN, AND HOLY- LAND QUEENS, FULL COL- ONIES, ETC., FOR 1881! :. I am prepared to fur- nish early queens, pure Albinos, Italians, and Holy-Land Queens, bred from select stocks. War- ranted to be pure; safe arrival guaranteed. Also Hives, Novice's Extract- or, and Apiarian supplies generally. Send for price list. Address S. VALENTINE, Double Pipe Creek, M Carroll Co., Md. Bee-Keepers' Supplies It will pay you to get our prices before purchasing your Supplies. Good Langstroth Hives with 8-inch cap, frames, quilt, etc., in the Hat, CO cents each. Manufactured from good pine lumber. Workman- ship unexcelled. Crates, Sections, Extractors, and Dunham Foundation, a specialty. HIRAM ROOP. 3-ed Carson City, Montcalm Co., Mich. BEES FOR SALE ! PKd Colonies good healthy 0\J Bees at " swarms of Italian $10 eacl»,"in nearly new, 8-frame, well-painted hives, delivered on board ears in good shipping order. E. H. SHERWOOD, 4-5 Fishkill, Dutchess Co., N. Y. 1881. Send for our new Circular and Price List of Full Colonies, Nuclei, and Queens. Wc guarantee satis- faction, s. D. McLean & son, 3-"d CuUeoka, Maury Co., Tenn. GRAPE SUGAR For Feeding Bees ! Send for our Price List before you buy. 3-.-d I. 1j. SCOFIEliD, CHENANGO BRIDGE, BROOME CO., NEW YORK, 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 263 Contents of this Number. Can receive a few more orders ■ INDEX OF DEPARTMENTS. CnFfil/ for ItHliiin Queens. Prices. 80c, AIIIOV wr kHIV $).< 0, and #1.511. E. A. Thom -s, UUIuIV Coleraine, Franklin Co., Mass. — Black List — Bee Botany S7:i Bee Entomology 2&!> Blasted Hopes 300 Cartoon — Editorials 307 Heads of Grain 290 Honey Column 256 Humbugs and Swindles — Juvenile Dep.artment 282 KinilWords from Customer.s2G6 Ladies ' Department 300 Lunch -Room — Notes and Queries 296 Reports Encouraging '497 Smilery 273 The Growlerv — Tobacco Column 304 INDEX OF HEADS OF GRAIN, NOTES AND QUERIES, AND OTHER SHORT ARTICLES. About Queens 267 Aspens 27'1 Banner Apiary 267 Bees, How to Winter 271 Borax for Dysentery 290 Bleaching Honey in Sun 29i Box-Elder 294 Bees by the Pound 29.3 Burying Bees 296 Box Hives for Winter 297 Care of surplus Combs 268 Chaff Hive for Amateurs. . . .307 Chaff Pack. Contrasted. etc., .289, 29.5 Cook's Talk 279 Cellars, etc 294 Dragonfly 285 Doolittle's Letter 267 Fate of Bees when Robbed.. 268 Flanagan's E.xperience 269 Foul Brood in Utah 296 Fastening Fdn 295 Ferry ' s Seed garden 289 Given Fdn . Press 270 Gallup on Q. Rearing 277 Gr. Sugar for Wintering 277 (jood Crops in poor Seasons. 294 Hives on Benches 296 Hill's Apiary 292 Heddon's Report 272 Honey Plants from Denmark273 Hints about Reports 280 How to Get Subs 280 Hopes not Blasted 291 Italians in Australia 286 Italians turning Black 291 .luvenile Class. . . ; 295 Killing bees a Wrong 268 Large Increase 290 L Harri.on's Talk 270 Machine for punching frames, 271 Mcllwain's Comb-Holder.. .'278 Merrybanks 305 Miller's letter about Sec'ns.281 New Honey 290 New Industi-y 274 Onions vs. Bees 296 Our own Apiary 298 Packing in Chaff or Cotton Seed 271 Preparing for Winter 295 Raising Bees 297 Red-Clover Honey 291 Remedy for too many Bees. 273 Swarming without Queen. . .290 Sections on in Wint..287,291,295 Stingle.ss Bees 286 Sending Plants by Mail 277 Swarmmg-Box, device for.. 276 Toughness, etc., for Winter 279 Ups and Downs 288 Ventilation 285 Viallon's Candy 275 Willow, Ornamental 273 Winding the W. Wat<-h 274 Wintered Successfully 291 Worthless Queens 291 Watermelons for Bees 293 Wonders never Cease 294 FOR SALE CHEAP! A new Kverttt Extractor, and a lot of hives and honey sections. E. A. GASTMAN, 6 Decatur, Macon Co., 111. ITALIAN QUEENS! From Sh'lect imported or home-bred queen. Tested, in June, - - - $3 50; after, - - $2 00 Untested, in June, - - - 1 ^5; " - - - 1 00 Bees, with tested queens only, price same as un- tested queens. All queens warranted to be purely mated. Safe arrival and satisfaction s:uarantei d. 6 S. A. SHUCK, Bryant, Fulton Co., III. LIVE BEESlN MICHIGAN I Italian Queens, Bees, and Supplies; also Dollar Queens the rest of the season. Descriptive price list free. Address O. H. TOWNSEND, 6tfd Hubbardston, Ionia Co., Mich. ITALIAIV ANI» CYPRIAN QUEENS, bred from imported mothers. Write for prices to H. T. BISHOP, 6-7d Chenango Bridiare, Broome Co., N. Y. The Latest Offer! We will furnish Comb Foundation, made on the Dunham latest improved machine, and warranted to be as grood as any in the market, for 3.5 cts. per lb. I have a large amount just made up, on hand ready for orders. Will worii up wax for 10c per lb. Send for circular. F. W. HOLMES, 6 Coopersville, Ottawa Co., Mich. Italian (tested) Queens from Root's very best. Imported or home-bred Queens, $'2.00; Italian (un- tested) Queens, Laying, $1.00; Bees, $1.00 per lb.; 3 (L.) frame Nucleus (no queen) $1..50; 3 (L.) frame Nucleus (no queen), $3.00; 1 colony of Italian Bees (no queen) in 10 (L.) frame hives, $7.00. Add price of queen to priae of bees, colony, and nucleus. Di.*- count on larger orders. OTTO KLEINOW, 6tEd Opposite Fort Wayne, Detroit, Mich. ID. S. CSr I ■\7' E 3>a- , Inventor and Sole IWanufacturcr of tlie FOUNDATION PRESS. All Presses warranted to give satisfaction. The | only Invention to make fdn. in wired frames. Our thin and common fdn. for '81 Is not surpassed. Send for Catalogue and samples. 4-6d D. S. GIVEN, Hoopeston, Illinois. ONE-PIECE SECTIONS A SPECIALTY. Pound and Prize size, $4.50 per 1000. Sample sec- tion free. BYRON WALKER, 6d Capac, St. Clair Co., Mich. ITAIiTAN QUEENS, untested, $1.00; tested, $3.00. •jd Kev. W. H. Steele, Kossuth, Alcorn Co., Miss. 1881 N THE MARKET! 1881 Owing to the great demand for bees, I have con- cluded to furnish them at the following prices: Four- comb Nucleus, with Italian queen, in the Roop frame, $4.00; for each comb less, deduct 50 cts.. and for larger Nuclei, add 7.5 cts. per comb, up to full col- onies (13 cc mbs) $10.(10. F. E. TOWNSEND, 6tld Hubbardston, Ionia Co., Mich. lOR SALE CHEAP ! A few fine Colonies of Italian Bees in Langstroth hives. Hives well made, and painted. Address at once, W. G. SMITH, 313 N. Second St., St. Louis, Mo. C. OLM'S COMB FOUNDATION MACHINE. SEND FOR SAMPLE AND CIRCULAR. 5tfd C. Oliin, Fond du Lac, Wis. HIVE ]MIArrUFACTUB.Z:RS. Also imported and home-bred Queens, Full Colo- nies, and nucleus colonies. Bee-Keeper's Supplies of all kinds. Market price for beeswax. 4-7d NICHOLS & ELKINS, Kennedy, Chaut. Co., N. Y. EANSWEHM STEEL mF£ M SO m MAKER & GB.OSH, 34 N. MONROE ST., TOLEDO, OHIO. Hand-Forged Razor Steel Knife for 60 cents. Maher & Grosh, 34 N.Monroe St., Toledo, O., will mall Knife like cut, post-paid, for 50c. Extra heavy 3- blade for rough usage, 75c. Oiir Best 3 -blade, oil temper and tested, $1. Pruner, oil temper, $1. Pruning Shears, $1. All goods exchanged free if soft or tlawy. 264 GLEANINGS IN UEE CULTURE. June Names of responsible parties will be inserted In any of the following departments, at a uniform price of 20 cents each insertion, or $2,00 per year. $1.00 Queens. Names inserted in this depai-tment the fimt time withr out charge. After, 20c each visertion, or $2,00 per year. Those whose names appear below agree to furnish Italian queens for $1,00 each, under the following conditions : No guarantee is to be assumed of purity, or anj-tbingof the kind, only that the queen be reared from "a choice, pure mother, and had commenced to lay when thej' were shipped. They also agree to re- turn the money at anj' time when customers become impatient of such delay as may be unavoidable. Bear in mind that he who sends the best queens, put up most neatly and most securely, will probably receive the most orders. Special rates for warranted and tested queens, fumisned on application to any of the parties. Names with *, use an imported queen mother. If the queen arrives dead, notify us and we will send you anotlicr. Probably none will be sent for $1.00 before July 1st, or after Nov. If want- ed sooner, or later, see rates in price list. *E. W. Hale, Newark, Wirt Co., W. Va. 2-1 *A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. *H. H. Brown, Light Street, Columbia Co., Pa. Itf *E. M. Hayhurst, Kansas City, Mo. 1-13 *Paul L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, La. Ittd *D. A. McCord, Oxford, Butler Co., O. M2 *S. F. Newman. Norwalk, Huron Co., O. Itfd *J. T. "Wilson, ]Nrortons\-ille. Woodford Co., Kv. 6-6 *Chas. G. Dickinson, Sou' Oxford, Chen. Co. N. V. 1-10 *Wm. Ballantine, Sago, Musk. Co., O. 2tfd .7. S. Tadlock, Kingsburv, Guad. Co., Texas. 3-7 *W. H. Nesbit, Alpharetta, Milton Co.. Ga. 3tfd *J. O. Facey, New Hamburg, Ont., Can. 4-9 *H. Nicholas, Etters, York Co., Penn. 4-8 W. S. Canthon, Pleasant Hill, Lan. Co.. S. C. 4-6 *John Conser, Glenn, Johnson Co., Kans. 4-9 *Fischer & Stehle. Marietta, Wash. Co., O. 4-9 *Jas. P. Sterritt, Sheaklcy ville, Mercer Co., Pa. .5-10 H. Barber, Adrian, Len. Co., Mich. .5tfd *01iver Foster, Mt. Vernon, Linn Co., Iowa. 5tfd *V. W. Keenev, Shirland, Win. Co., 111. 6-9 *0. B. Curtis, Selma. Dallas Co., Ala. 6-11 *T. W. Dougherty. Mt. Vernon, Posey Co., Ind. 6 *L. E. Welch, Linden, Gen. Co., Mich. 6tfd Geo. W. Baker, LewisviUe, Henry Co., Ind. Hive Manufacturers. Who agree to make such hives, and at the prices named, as those described on our circular. A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. Sid. D. Buell, Union City, Branch Co.. Mich. 2-7 P. L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, Iberville Par., La. Itfd S. F. Newman, Norwalk, Huron Co., O. Itfd J. F. Hart, Union Point, Greene Co., Ga. 4-3 M. S. West, Flint, Genesee Co., Mich. 3-7 Foundation Manufacturers. Who agree to make such foundation, and at the prices given, as described in our circular. A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. Jas. A. Nelson, Wyandott, Wyandott Co., Kans. 4-9 E. S. Hildemann, Ashippan, Dodge Co., Wis. 4-6 Bees by the Pound. Those whose names appear below agree to furnish bees by the lb., and at the prices given in our circu- lar. I. L. Scofield, Chenango Bridge, Broome Co., N. Y. S. C. Perry, Portland, Tonia Co., Mich. J. P. Moore, Morgan, Pendleton Co., Ky. W. R. Whitman. New Market, Madison Co., Ala. Chjis. Kingsley, Greenevil'e, Greene Co., Tenn. C. D. Wright, Baxter Springs, Cherokee Co., Kans. H. B. Harrington, Medina, Medina Co., O. W. St. Martz, Moonshine. Clark Co.. Ills. O. H. Townsend, Hubbardston. Ionia Co., Mich. G. W. Gates, Bartlett, Shelby Co.. Tenn. —Fischer & Stehle, Marietta, Washington Co., O. W. S. Canthen, Pleasant Hill. Lancaster Co., S. C. J. G. Taylor, Austin, Travis Co., Texas. T. P. Andrews, Farina, Fay. Co., 111. Allan I). Laughlin, Courtland, Law. Co.. Ala. E. J. Atchlcy, Lancaster, Dallas Co., Texas. D. McKcnzie, Carrollton P. O., N. ()., La. H. L. Griffith, Sumner, Law. Co., 111. J. H. Jlartin, Hartford, Wash. Co., N, Y. W. A. Pirtle, Cabot, Lonoke Co., Ark. E. T. Flanagan, Belleville, St. Clair Co., 111. J. K. Mayo, Stafford. Fort Bend Co., Texas. J. F. Hart, Cnion Point, Greene Co., Ga. 25 6d Black Queens for sale, .30 cents each, free by mail. ■ T. F. WITTMAN & CO., 4109 Hutton St., Philadelphia, Pa. HEADQUARTERS IN THE SOUTH For the Manufacture and Sale of BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES! Italian Queens and Bees, all bred from mothers of my own importation. Dollar queens, $1.00. Tested queens, $2.50; 4-trame Nucleus, $6.00. Safe arrival and satisfaction guaranteed. Send for my illustra- ted catalogue. PAUL. I^. VIAM.ON, 6tfd Bayou Goula, lber\ille Par., La. FOU SALE CHEAP A few fine Colonies of Italian Bees in Langstroth hives. Hives well made, and painted. Address at once, W. G. SMITH, 213 N. Second St., St. Louis, Mo. SEND for my circular and price list of Italian Colonies, Queens, and Apiarian Supplies. 5tfd H. H. BROWN, Light Street, Columbia Co., Pa. ITAI^IAN QUEENS ! I am prepared to furnish pure queens at a low price. Untested, in May, $l00; June, 90c; after, 8Jc. Send for circular. CHARLES D. DUVALL, 4-3d Spencerville, Mont. Co., Md. Ai\ Italian Queei\ FOR 15 CENTS. We guarantee to every one who sends a dollar for the American Bee-Keeper, to send a pure untested Italian queen for 1.5 cents more. 4-7d E. M. HARRISON, Lebanon, Laclede Co., Mo. VANDEVOOB.T FOUNDATION. Ten square feet per pound. This foundation took the prize over all others for use in surplus boxes at the N. E. B. K. Convention. Send for samples. 5-6d G. W. Stanley, Wyoming, Wyoming Co., N.Y. W. Z. HUTCHINSON, Rogersville, Genesee Co., ITIielilgan, Makes a spccinJty of rearing fine Italian queens. A 11 queens bred from imported queens, and from the purest and best home-bred queens; and the cells built in full colonies. No black bees in the vicinity. During June, queens will be $1.00 each. Testcl queens, $3.50 each. After July 1st, single queens, $1.00; six queens for $5'00; twelve or more, 75 cts. each. Tested queens, $3.00 each. Safe arrival by mail guaranteed. Send money by draft, registered letter, or by money order drawn on Flint, Mich., as Rogersville is not a money-order office. 6tfd ESSEX PIGS A SPEGIALH! 75 to 100 Pedigree Pigs for delivery in June, six weeks to two months old. Write for prices. Also Brown Leghorn (prize winners) EGGS, @ $1. per doz., and B. B. R. G. Bantam Eggs for Hatching (imported), @ $1.50 per doz., in new baskets. Safe arrival guaranteed. C. W. CANFIEL.D, 5tfd Alliens, Bradford Co., Pa. 1881 GLE^VNINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 265 IjlVES, SECTIONS, AND B0Xe3 Material for Langstroth Hives, including Brood- Frame. iO cts. each; Lewis V-shaped groove One- Plece Section, any size to 6x0, $5.00 per 1000. Lewis One-Piece Honey-Boxes, all sizes, $-ZM to ^4.00 per 100, including glass; Dovetailed Sections, any size to fix6. $4.00 per 1000. Manufacturing experience of 20 years. Send for Price List. G. B. LEWIS (Successor to Lewis & Parks), Watertown, Wis., April 1, 1881. • X B.— There is no patent on the Lewis One-Piece Section. 4tf GUARANTEED Italian Queens! I guarantee all my queens to be purely mated from imported mother. Safe arrival and satisfac- tion guaranteed. Send lor circular. I^ntestpd Queens in Mav and June, $1.50. July and after, $1.00. Tested Queens, May and June, $2.50. July and after, $2.00. Select tested, $3.50. Address— L. C. M'FATRIDGE, M. D.. 2-7d Carroll, Carroll Co., Ind. Before Purchasing any Italian or Cvprian bees, send for our 20th annu- al price list. Full colonies, Nuclei and Queens, at greatly reduced prices. Also headquarters for Api- arinn supplies in New England. WM. W. CAR if & SON (formerly Wra. W. Cary), 3tlinq Colerain, Franklin Co., Mass. Our new circular and price list for 1881. We have something new for every bee-keeper. Remember, we are largely engaged in practical bee-keeping, and know what supplies of are most value in the apiarj'. You should see a description of onr feeder. You will want one. Our new Double-Draft Smoker is perfection. See what one of the most practical and best-informed bte-keepers of the country thinks of it:— "Since your gieat improvement in smokers, as re- gards to the double blast, you undoubtedly have the inside track of all the others in the market. This, wiih the superior workmanship and materials used, should place your smoker at the head of the list, and secure for it a favorable patronage for 1881." G. M. DOOLITTLE. Price of smokers: By mail, I1..50 and $1.75. Our book, QUINBY'S NEW BEE-KEEPING, is pronounced the most practical work published. Price, by mail, $1.50. We furnish every thing used in advanced Bee-culture. Send for illustrated cir- cular. L. C. ROOT & BRO. Mohawk, Herkimer Co., N. Y. 4tfd J. M. BROOKS & BROS'. AMEHICAN ITALIANS. PURITY OF STOCK A SPECIALTY. 4-9 CIRCULARS FREE. COLUMBUS, - BARTH. CO., - INDIANA. FURZ: BRED FOULTRV. I am now prepared to fill orders for eggs from the following: P. Rocks (Corbin strain), L. Brahmas, S. S. Haraburgs, S. S. Polish (Bearded), Brown Leg- horns, W. C. B. Polands, Rouen and Pekin Ducks. Toulouse Geese and Bronze Turkeys. Eggs packed in the most approved manner. Poultry for sale in the fall. Send for Price List. Address 4-6 H. S. ROSS, Box 128, Seville, Medina Co., Ohio'. CVFRIArr, HOLV- LAND, HUNGARIAN, AVTD ITALIAN I have had 20 years' experience in the queen-rear- ing business. All my queens are raised in full colo- nies, on a new princii)l(', and we send out no in-and- in-bred queens. We combine beauty, purity, indus- try, and docility. I consider the Hungarian bees, crossed by the Cyprian or Italian, the best race in the world. They are very hardy, gentle, and indus- trious. Qupcns very i)r'olitic and large; they arc sure to winter on summer stands. I did not 1 ise one of these stocks last winter — all came out strong. Try them. All queens warranted pure. Safe arri- val by mail guaranteed. AVarranted queens, fl.t'O; choice selected, $1.50; tested, $2.00. Send for 20th annual circular. Remit by registered letter, check, or money orders on Salem, Mass. 6tfd HENRY" ALLEY, Wenham, Essex Co., Mass. HEADQUARTERS FOR Imported and home-bred; nuclei and ftill colo- nies. For quality and purity, my stock of bees can not be excelled in the United States. I make a specialty of manufacturing the Dunham foundation. Try it. If yon wish to purchase Bees or Supplies, send for my new circular. Address Itfd DR. J. P. H. BROWN, Augusta, Ga. 1881 ITALIAN QUEENS! 1881 Tested Queens $1 50 "Warrant«-d. Queens . 1 00 Cyprian Queens, untested 1 00 As most all the D' liar queens I soil Inst j-ear were pure, I will warrant them this year. J. T. Wilson, Mortonsville, 2-7d Woodford Co., Ky. 1 Coi Foiiiatii took the premium over Flat Bottom, Dunham, and all other makes at th« N. E. Bee- Keepers' Associa- tion at Utica, Feb.. 18SI. Price of foundation made on same machine, 1 to 25 lbs., for Section Boxes .^oc 25 10 100 " '• " " 5'ic 1 to 25 " " brood chamber, 45c 25 to 100 * " 40c I. L. SCOFIELD, Chenango Bridge, 4-6d Broome Co , N. Y. At Kansas City, Mo., I breed pure IfaZ/an and Cyprian bees for sale. I warrant my "Dollar" queens to be mated by pure yellow drones, and guarantee safe arrival and per- fect satisfaction. Tested Queens, in June - " after " - - - - "Dollar" " in June " " after "... Bees, per lb., same prices as Dollar queens. Please address all letters plainly to 6tfd E. M. HAYHURST, P. O. Bo.r 1131. $2 50 2 00 1 25 1 00 FOU SALE CHEAP A few fine Colonies of Italian Bees in Langstroth hives. Hives well made, and painted. Address at once, W. G. SMITH, 213 N. Second St., St. Louis. Mo. "S Save Your Fowls ! "ti 35 and get Price List of High-Class Pouliry, ^h Eggs for hatching, Italian Bees, etc., by ^^ O addressing J. R. LANDES, ^ 3-«d Albion, Ashland Co., Ohio. r~ 266 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. June KIND WORDS FROM OUR CUSTOMERS. I received the g'oods on the 20th that yoii shipped to me on the Vith, all in first-class order. Adamstown, Md., May 21, ISil. J. C. Michael. The smoker came to hand yesterday in good order, and is '* all my fancy painted." Many thanks. M. C. Swan. Mason, Mason Co., Texas, April 11, 1881. I think you are doing a good work. Yonr counter goods are a marvel for cheapness. I could not buy the same articles in this country for at least }i more than I pay you, postageincluded. AVaruen FoOTE. Glendale, Kane Co., Utah, Apr. 15, 1881. I received the bees all right — not half a dozen dead ones in the lot. Thanks for promptness in sending, and good way of putting them up. I hope we may have better success in wintering in future than we had this winter. John Myeks. Stratford, Can., May 17, 1881. You will be glad to know the tested qvieen and pound of bees came all right. I let them go upon 4 frames (and division-board) in a Lansrstroth hive. Each frame had good comb and honey two inches deep at top. Next day 1 looked and found the queen "at home." It. G. Warner. Columbus, Ohio, May 3, 1881. The A B Cls a larger book then I expected. It's a nice clean print, and easy to understand. I have received a good deal of good already, and have not read it all, yet I would not part with it for double what it cost If I could not get another. Saukville, Ozaukee Co., Wis., Apr. 13, 1881. OUR 244-LB. scales FOR ONLY Sl.oO. The goods and scales were all received in good or- der; the scales, we think, are very nice for the mon- ey. The rest of the articles are a wonder for the mone.v. Highly pleased with the smoker. A neigh- bor wints a scale of the same capacity, 214 lbs. JsA.\c Ely. New German town. Perry Co., Pa., Apill 13, 1881. The ABC book ia well arranged, and pleasant to read, and free from affectation. Novice and Blue Eyes look to be of the salt of the earth, and as such will be welcome in Carmel Valley, if ever they hap- pen this wa.v. Edw. Berwick. Monterey, Cal., April 4, 1881. [Many thanks, friend B., for kind words and invi- tation; but if you lived next-door neighbor to Nov- ice and Blue Eyes, you might think them both quite commonplace people.] Please accept thanks from two m >re of vour many customers for your prompt manner of shipping goods. Our box of supplies for the apiary arrived In good condition, and gave entire satisfaction, both for (juality and price; freight charges were also reasonable. Perhaps we shall be able to send you a much larger order next time. ^ V. H. & L. D. Ormsby. Pierpont, Ohio, May 23, 1881. It pa.ys to take Gleanings. I bought a swarm of bees of E. A. Gastman, Decatur. HI., and nuclei of S. D. McLean & Son, Culleoka, Tenn. They are both men to the mark. They were all that they were ad- vertised to be. This i,^ our first year for Glean- ings, and we could not do well without it. I'm sorry I'm not a smoker, that I might reform and get a smoker by your liberal offer. Success to Glean- ings. B. F. Snyder. Liberty, Ind., May 33, 1881. "THINKETH NO EA'IL." [One of the kindest words I ever had, and if I felt sure I deserved it, I would consider one of the great- est compliments I ever received, is the following. It was at the close of a letter explaining why a promise had been neglected.] As I know you are governed by that spirit of char- ity which "thinketh no evil," 1 am sure you will ac- cept this explanation. Isabella Harhison. Walnut Creek, Cal., March 15, 1881. [May God help me to make these words true, my good friend I] gleanings as an advertising medium. If there is any one who is a little skeptical about Gleanings being a good advertising medium, let him insert a small advertisement in some out-of-the- way corner of it, and note the result. I was very agreeably surprised, myself, for no sooner had I commenced advertising in Gleanings than orders for colonies, nuclei, and queens, began pouring in, and they continue to come thicker and faster. May will be a busy month at Orchard Apiary if orders continue to come with such a rush as they have. E. A. Thomas. Colerain, Franklin Co., Mass., April, 1881. [The above was crowded out of the May No.] Seeing that you are trying to Induce your fellow- men to quit their bad habits, I would like to do something to help stop the use of profane language. Looking through an old work recently, 1 fovind the following, which may be of some use to ynu:— "Two gentlemen having called at a coffee-house, and drank a bottle together, both insisted on paying for it. One put a piece of money on the table, and swore dreadfully that his friend should be at no ex- pense; the other said, 'That piece is a bad one,' on which the other swore still faster. " The master ' of the house, hearing what passed, said, if they would let him examine the money he would tell them whether or not it was good. Re- turning soon, he, in the most polite manner, laid it before them on a card, printed as follows: — U L'hills my blood to hear the blest Supreme Rudely appealed to on each trilling theme. Maintain your rank; vulgarity despise; To sw ear is neither brave, polite, nor wise. You would not swear upon a bed of death : Retleit; your Maker now could stop your breath. "The gentleman read it, owned he was justly re- proved, and would in future be more guarded in his language." What will you charge for printing some cards with the above-quoted verse? Who knows, t)ut the giving of a card to a friend when he is swearing, and at the same time ask God to bless the means wc use, will stop some one from using profane language, and perhaps to lead a better life? A. T. M. Abbeville. S. C, April 19, 1881. [Many thanks, friend M. I will at once print a quantitj' of the cards, and thej^ will be furnished tree to anybody who will make use of them. Please say how many you want, and see that none are lost or wasted.] I clipped a queen's wing5 for the first time a few days ago. I cut about half of each wing, and it took about an hour to do i^ 1 think it was about the hardest hour's work I ever did. Chas. O. Meloon. Portsmouth, N. H., May 16, 1881. [There is an excellent moral to your little story, friend M. I have often wished I could explain to the brothers and sisters why it is I am often appar- ently unaccommodating. One of you wrote a few days ago, and wanted us to make him a tent for handling bees, only about a foot longer than our reg- ular size. To furnish it would cost him double the usual price, for we have them all made up in quan- tities, tied up, ready toship. Several different hands have a part In the making of the pieces, and to get out a single one, with even a trifling difference in the size, would cost about as it cost you to clip your queen's wing. Our boys and girls will go right along rapidly at their regular work; but start them on some thing they are not used to, and don't under- stand, and, ten chances to one, they will be stopped an hour. Those who have plenty of leisure don't mind this; but with me, every minute and every hour has to be aggregated into a lump of cash out, every Saturda.y night. To ask a clerk to explain it would be an expense over again, and. to save my- self, I am obliged to say, briefly, " Our regular tents are $1.00; one a foot longer will cost you $2.00." The difference Is still more marked in other goods. A regular L. frame, filled with sections and starters, we can sell for 30c. ; but Mr. Gray could hardly make a single one, of an odd size, for less than three times the amount; and to do this would necessitate chang- ing the adjustment of our tools in a wa.v that would cost us perhaps-a still larger amount. This is why I have so strongly urged the importance of uniform hives, implements, etc. Now is an excellent time to get your hives uniform, when your bees are all out of them.] I>EVOTEI> TO UEEf^i A.iVD HONEY, A.:XD ilOMI-:: HVJTJElHiST'W. Vol. IX. JUNE 1, 1881. No. 6. A. I. ROOT, Publisher and Froprielor^ nicdina, O. Piiblislied Moutlily. \EstaUis\ed in 187 3. fTERMSn $1.00 Pek Axnim, in Advance; I 2 Copies for $1.90; % for $2.75; 5 for $4.00; 10 I or more, 75 cts. each. Single Number, 10 ots. Additions to clubs may be made at club rates. Above are all to be sent to one Post- office. Clubs to different pottolllces, not LESS than 90 cts. each. NOTES FROITI THE BANNER APIARY. NO. 19. fJlO-DAY is May 11th, and I am so busy buying bees, getting them home, and transferring — ' them, that I hardly have time to think cf any thing to write, much less to put in shape for publi- cation; like friend Heddon, I have been foolish enough to promise six regular contributions each month, and, having made the promises, they must be fulfilled. ABOUT QUEENS. A friend writes as follows: — Friend HrTcniNsoN: — We organized an association here last week, and at the meeting we had quite .a discussion about im- ported queens. Mr. Weed claimed that we did not need an im- ported i^iieen to breed from, but I told him that we must chang-e our Italian bees by imported stock, or very soon we will have nothing but black bees. Please give your views in next (iLE.\N- iNGs. Otto Kleixow. Detroit. Mich., May 9, 1881. If we are always careful to rear our queens from pure queens, I do not see why we can not keep our stock pure without an imported queen; but there seems to be a "vim" about imported stock that is obtainable in no other way, unless it is by crossing with the blacks. I think a (yaot? imported queen is very desirable property; but friend Rdot has hit the nail on the head (I had my hammer all ready to strike, but he was a little ahead of mc) in his re- mnrks on page 237. You know that I told you, last month, that i brought through only one colony, and that was a swarm of blacks that I bought last fall, of a man who had 38 swarms. All of his bees, except one swarm, died last winter. Now, if I were not rearing queens for sale, I should keep this black queen, and breed from her; but as it is, her head has been off some time. I tell you, my friends, I be- lieve some of us are paying too much attention to the looks of a queen; we should pay more attention to the bees that she produces, and to what these bees rio. 1 have seen some extra good swarms of bees that had verj' commonplace-looking queens; just the same as some of us smart men have very ordi- nary-looking mothers. (No olTense intended.) Neighbor Long has a queen three years old, the daughter of an imported queen, that has always out- stripped every queen in his apiarj% and her swarm has always stored the most honey, and has always come through the winter in good condition. Out of 28 queens, neighbor L. brought through only 5 this spring. This queen was one of them. Now (as friend Doolittle says), I should prefer queens reared from this queen to those reared from en imported queen that had not been thoroughly tested. W. Z. Hutchinson. Rogcrsville, Genesee Co., Mich. I agree with you, friend II.; and the mat- ter of choosing a queen to get cells from is one that has just come up in our apiary. I have had nearly a hundred nice queens, reared from imported mothers last season by neighbors Rice and Dean, to choose from. I should have used the red-clover queen largely, but she, too, is dead. All of my own imported queens were lost. After consider- ing the matter from all points, I felt that I would prefer to have queens reared to send out to you, from one of our finest imported queens, and so we are using her. We should use, also, an imported Cyprian or Holy-Land queen, but I believe none have wintered over in Medina Co., and friend Jones does not seem to have any just at present, either. DOOIilTTIiE ANSWERS QUESTIONS. IMPROVEMENT OF BEES. fj? SEE in May Gleanings that Doolittle is called Ji|[ upon to answer a few questions, first of which " — ' is by J. F. Floury, in regard to breeding bees for honey, or breeding from imported stock. I wish to say about this, as I should on all other matters of improvement, that if we settle down on the idea that we have the best stock in the world, and that we will try no further, but breed our own to perfection, we may soon find ourselves behind others. Well, what shall we do? buy an Imported queen and breed wholly from her? No: do as those who are success- ful in improvement do; i. e., if you have a good thing, which you believe to be such, use that as a means of success mainly; and in addition, try, on a small scale, any thing that looks like being an im- provement on what you already have; and after you have proved such to be the case, adopt it, to the exclusion of the other. For instance: as we are talk- ing of improvement of bees, you will see on page 21, Gleanings for Jan., 1881, 1 say, "Five hundred dol- lars would not hire me to breed all my queens from an imported mother, and let my present stock go 20S GLEANl^'GS IN BEE CULTUliE. Junk down." Now, while this is the truth, still it docs not debar mo from trying different queens, both imported and otherwise, to see If by some of them I can not improve tlio stock I now have. liast season I bought a queen from A. I. Uoot's rcd-cloverqueen, and one from another party, both looking toward improvement. Now, while the latter proves to be of no value, 1 think the former promises success, for both her colony and those of the live young queens I reared froni her wintered far better than the average of my old stock of bees. While I can not say posiiively what they will be as honey-gath- erers, yet, should they prove 'equal in that respect to my old stock, it will be seen I shall have made an improvement bv getting this stock in ray yard. To sum up, " prove all things, and hold fast that which is good." CARE OF SURPLUS C05IBS. Ne.'ct: E.D. Howell wishes to know how Doolittle cares for empty combs to keep moth worm from destroying them; and friend Root thinks Doolittle has bees enough to cover them by the time warm weather comes. This is a mistake, for I have sum- mered over from two to five hundred for the past two seasons, and it looks at present as if I should carry over 1000 the present season. To preserve them, T had a cupboard or small closet built, in which I could bang on racks 350 combs, which filled the room to within two feet of the bottom. Fill the room with combs, or put in what you have; get a kettle and place some ashes in it; put in a shovel of coals, and on this pour 1 lb. of sulphur for every 100 cubic feet contained in your room. Shut the door, and, if necessary, cork all tight with strips of cloth; then leave it for 48 hours, at which time you can take them out and put more in if you have them. If j'ou wait till the eggs which are in the combs are pretty generally hatched, once sulphuring seems to suflice unless the combs are where the moth miller can get at them. From experiment, we have found the above amounts of sulphur to bo none too much, for in case of matted webs or cocoons, if less is used they will not be killed. WHAT HECOME.S of CEES when KOBBEDy Ncit we come to "comments on Doolittle's com. ments," by A. A. Bradford, of New Hampshire, where he asks, " If the bees that are robbed do not go with the robbers, where do thej' go?' ' It is a well- known law which governs the economy of the hive, that all bees which die leave the hive to die, if the weather will permit them so to do; hence at all times, except during freezing weather, we find no dead bees in or about the hives after the first clear- ing-out In the spring. If a colony becomes queen- less so as to die, the bees one by one depart from the hive as death approaches, till all are gone. Now, as far as my experience goes, this is what becomes of the bees when robbed; and if, as alleged, the robbed bees go home with the robbers, and even help, after being conquered, in carrying the honey away from their once happy home to that of a stranger, it is some thing that has never come under my notice. But I have frequently seen the bees, when robbed during early spring, perish in the hive by starva- tion, and also when warm enough to leave the hive one by one till all were gone. Friend Root says, on page 182 of Gleanings, that he has had cases where the bees from a robbed hive went home withthe rob- bers. Will he please tell us how they acted when going home with the robbers, and how he knew that it was the robbed bees that were going to the hive of the victors? Borodino, N. Y., May 20, 1881. G. M. Doolittlk. [Tu be contimicd.] I know the vcrbbed bees went along with the robbers, friend U., because none were left in the hive after all the honey was out, and the robbers were greatly increased in numbers. The robbers had a cjueen, and the robbed, none. I watched the whole pro- ceeding, but I do not now remember any other instance where I saw it all so plainly. SENDING GOODS BACK. It seem? pretty hard for some of the brethren to get over the idea of sending things back, if they are not just as they should be, or even if they Imagine such to be the case. Last season a customer mailed a queen back, a long trip, because she did not seem very lively, and some have talked of sending bees back, because a part of them were dead. Please, friends, do not think of doing such a thing; but, out of kindness to the poor little sufferers, if nothing else, take care of them the best you can, as if it were your own mishap, and I think you will always find the shipper disposed to be neighborly. Any one who has bad lu^k in shipping bees needs all the help and assistance we can give him. Do not, I pray you, think of being so unkind as to send any thing back until you have first notified the shipper, and then he cangivesuch directions as to the disposal of the goods as he thinks best. If you get a queen that is feeble after a long trip, put her on a comb of fresh honey, in the Feet cage, the very hour you get her, and then report. THE RUBBER-PLATE FOUNDATION MACHINE. The rubber plates for making fdn. are a success, except in two points. The first is, that we have not yet succeeded in making fdn. with them as thin as that made by the rolls, or even on the plaster casts; but as it is soft dipped wax, with excellent side walls, it will all be used by the bees, and is probably economy in the end. About .5 square feet per lb. is what the machines will probably average. The sec- ond trouble is the trimming. Unless we make larger sheets than we need, pile them up and trim with a knife, as we do with the rolled fdn., it takes more time to do the trimming than to make the sheets. It will work on wire without trouble; but if made in a wired frame, the surplus wax around the edges will stick to the wood of the frame. Who will solve this problem? We have sent out about half a dozen ma- chines, and will doubtless soon have reports from them. The prices are as gi\en in April No. We have at present rubber sheets for the L. frame only, about 8's by IV'a; but of course we can- easily cut them down to any thing smaller. The price of the above is $5.00, and they can be sent by mail for 80c. ANOTHER I.MPLEMENT FOR WIRING FDN. IN FRAMES. Some time last winter, W. W. Bliss, Los Angeles, Cal., sent us a little wire, to be used instead of the Blood roller, for fastening fdn. against the wire, in wired frames. We have had no occasion to use it until recently. We find now, that our girls work "it more rapidly, and it does better work, than the I'ol- ler. After using it a while, I picked up an ordinary button-hook, such as ladies use for buttoning their shoes, and after filing a little groove in the back of the hook, so it would not slip off the wire, I found it 1881 GLEAXIXGS IX BEE CULTURE. 269 was even better than the wire friend Bliss sent. You want your frame all wired as usual, and your sheets of fdn. cut so as to just fill the frames. Have a board also, eut so as to just slip inside the frame. Lay the wired frame over the hoard, and put the sheet of fdn. between the diagonal and upright wires. Now run your button-horik along on each wire, with force enough to imbed the wire slightly. Turn the frame over, and do the same with the diagonal wires, and it is ready to hang in the hives. We can mail you a hook, already grooved, for 10c. , if you can not make one cheaper. Of course, the Given machine does all this cheaper, but it costs $40. CO, and every- body can not afford one. FRIEND ALLEY ON QUEEN-CAGES. .VL,SO SOME RE.MAFKS IN JiEGARU TO SENDING QUEENS BY .MAIL. S SHALL use a sponge tilled wilh honey instead of sugar candy. Experimenting with candy last year cost me the loss of many queens. I do not lose one queen in fifty with sponge and honey. Now I will explain about the cage. ]t is made ?3 inch wide, so as to give more space of sponge tothebees. thus making the food hold out longer. In shipping, the tin might press in: but as I make them the tin is on solid against the wood on all sides, and can not press in. In shipping 2, 4, 6, or more queens at one time, I will place '.the wire face to face, but reversing the sponges, so that the bees in one cage can feed from the sponge in the other. In shipping 3 queens, I will make the tin one inch shorter, and cover the sponge with wire cloth, and then the bees in all three cages can draw food from their neighbors. Bees in such cages will live from 2 to 3 weeks. I think the press- ure of the wire cloth will hold thesponge in place; if not, drive a sharp nail through the side into it. Half a dozen bees to a cage will be all the company a queen will want. To put the bees in the cage, keep up the corner of wire not nailed down, and raise it with the index finger. The spring of the wire will keep it down. I have done this all my days. alley's improvement on the peet cage. I can bore the holes in them with power, and can do it much quicker than I can nail them up. Then again, the cages used to-day are much stronger and neater. I have put a few bees in them, and covered the tin with paper, to keep the bees away from the cold tin. I have no idea that the bees will be alive when they get to Medina, as they have not had a chance to fly for a few days, and the weather is too cold to ship them. Cloth would be much better than paper to protect the bees against the cold tin. My object in sending these cages is to have you make some improvement, if any can be made. My experience in the queen-shipping line is as exten- sive as almost any one's; but it takes everybody to know everything. I have bothered over cages more or less for a month past, and have finally settled on the style sent you to-day. H. Alley. Wenham, Mass., April 16, 1881. The principal feature of the above oa^e is the manner of holding the tin slide. This slide has each side folded up partially, say at about an angle of 4) degrees. Well, grooves are cut for this slide to slide in, on the same angle, near the edge of the cage, as you see in the cut. These grooves need to be far enough from the edge so there will be no danger of splitting out. We will place .•acked all of his, not leaving one colony unpacked for experiment, and therefore he really iloes not know whether it pays or not. I was sick about the time the bees ought to have been packed, and after I got well I had only time enough to pack the weakest colonies before it was too cold to handle them. I had no chaff cushions, and did not think of cotton seed, so I did it in this way: I cut oat straw the exact length of the frames, and after removing one of the empty combs on each side of the hive, packed the straw on end in its place. In this way I could contract the inside as much as I wanted by removing more frames. I packed only five of the swarms in this way, but I'll never do it again. My first swarm came out only two days after Mr. Carroll's, and was from a hive that had not been packed, and another bee-keeper of Austin had a swarm a few days before mine. I had 13 colonies in the fall; brought them all through safely until April, then the robbers began; they robbed one strong colony of their stores, and in the late freeze, April 14, they were killed; this is the only swarm I have lost. 1 now have 15, including new swarms. All of my bees wintered on honey from the bitter- weed, and are now bringing in hon^y from the mes- quite and hoarhound. The horsemint is commenc- ing to bloom, and I will get my main crop from it. I think I will send you a section of horsemint honey in the summer, and you will think it is at least next best to clover honey. We have had nearly a whole week of steady, soak- ing rains, and I think there will not only be a large honey crop, but a great increase of bees. Can not some other Texas bee-keepers let us know their opinion on chaff packing in Texas? I am will- ing to " give in " if I am wrong. Mr. Root, can j"ou not give U3 a column of " iees are there by the thousands, and when there comes a puff of wind enough to blow the bees out, it looks as if a swarm were settling there, and there are hundreds on the ground gathering up their loads. It lasts for two or three weeks. There is no one around here who knows the name of the tree, or where it came from. We have sever- al other yoimg trees which have some bloom on them this year. They are a very quick growth, and make a nice shade tree. If 3 ou are acquainted with the tree, I should like very much to know the name of it. I have never seen it mentioned by any writer on the bee or bee pasture. I think it is a tree that ought to receive attention by all whr» take an inter- est in bees, for it certainly is a great yielder of pol- len. We have no basswood in this part of the country. If you have none of the kind, let me know, and I will send you a few cions next fall. W.M. T. HlI.TON. B.irnesvillc, Md., April 18, 1881. Thanks, friend II. We have a tree here that I think is at least pretty near the same. It does not, however, bear lioney more than about a week, as it is so early the weather is often unfavorable for the bees to work on it. "We call it aspen, sometimes " . told us this with a smile, and confessed he had been hasty. If the losses of the past winter were only among those who used grape sugar, it would very likely never be used any more. The case Mr. Langstroth mentions in the A. B. J. of May 11th, seems to show very conclusively that grape sugar should not be used for winter stores, and I can not see why our friend McCord should have done so fool- ish a thing as to have given the greater part of the stores of 86 colonies a feed mostly grape sugar. Although I have never known a good article to produce dysentery, I should have certainly supposed it would have hardened in the cells so as to starve them. Perhaps friend M. can tell us some thing more about it. I am verry sorry that grape sugar is used for bad or dishonest purposes ; but even if it is, i can not see why this should be a reason why we should not use it to feed bees winle rearing queens, and bees by the pound. The concluding remark of friend Peirce, that it may be no economy, is the great point at issue, and friend P. should know some thing about it, for we have sold him at least one barrel of the best Buffalo. Our business is principally raising' bees by the pound, and now bids fair to be for years to come, unless somebody turns in to help ; and for this purpose I think grape sugar a great boon. I would suggest to friend Boardman, that glucose don't mean grape sugar, as he ■will discover by ordering a sample of both of the articles from the factory. MclIiW.ilN'S COITIB-HOLDER. E have had almost as many comb- holders as queen-cages ; but the one below is so easily made, it may prove a useful suggestion to some of the friends. COMB -HOLDER. Here is a picture of my comb-holder, which de- scribes itself. I have put a box with sloping cover, as shown by the dotted lines, on the other side of holder, to keep smoker and fuel in. Abbeville, S. C. A. T. McIlwain. ]3ut, friend M., I am afraid if your bees robbed as badly as ours do this 24th day of May, you would want some kind of a cover over it, or some thing like our comb-bucket. The boys do not even dare to carry a lot of frames of candy around to colonies needing supplies now, unless they use a comb-basket. Friend Heddon, in his report on page 2T3, don't toll us how the 50 colonies he sold turned out. Neighbor Dean has just been in with a load of bees, and he says he lost 6 colonics in May, by the "dwind- ling," and that, too, after he had counted them as all right. I want to see these old veterans all own up fairly and squarely just how helpless they are in the matter. 1881 GLEANIKGS IK BEE CULTURE. 279 FRIEND COOK'S TALK TO THE BLAST- ED HOPERS. IS IT TRUE, THAT "IN GOD WE TRUST"? S the mortality among bees seems to be of huge proportions in a vast number of localities, and as the wails of mourning arise from those who have lost, by disease or otherwise, a large por- tion of their bees, I am constrained to give a few very consoling thoughts upon our apparently very great loss as follows:— Job said, when hiscattle, children, etc., wore taken from him, " The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Let us ever be thankful in adversity as well as in prosperi- ty. But there is a class of individuals who are nev- er thankful, either in prosperity or adversity; in the former, they are negligent and wantonly care- less; in the latter, they of course sec nothing to be thankful for. I have given my rcpoi-t for 1880; now I will give my report for the winter. I put 11 stocks of bees (all I had) into winter-quar- ters on summer stands; packed in fine hay, or what we call " nimberwill," a fine grass that grows on shady ground; but, alas! they have gone to the next world, whore sickness and death never come. There is, to my knowledge, only 3 living stands in this township, out of about 100, and all round, as far as I have heard, it is the same. From reports in Gleanings, can there be any thing found to be truly thankful for? Can we find thankfulness in our hearts wherewith to be thankful for the circum- stances we are now found in? Our bees are gone, never to return, and some of us may be left without the wherewith to replenish our empty hives. Is there any thing here to be thankful for? It does seem as though things look very dark and discour- aging, and as though the bright side had become dark also; but there seems to be nothing that has only one side to it. There surely are two sides to every thing, and almost invariably one side is much darker than the other. There are two sides to the subject of our losses, and I have briefly penned the dark side, and now let us look at the bright side. There is much for us to be truly thankful for. We can thank God that circumstances are as well with us as they are. for they might have been a great deal worse. The question might arise, "What could b^ worse?" My friends, God could h:ivc taken its away .iust as easily as he did the hces; and if he had done so, without our being in a saved condition, it would have been utter and everlasting ruin. This would have been worse, Avould it not? We may well thank our Creator for life, health, and strength, by which we can build up our seemingly ruined fortiinHs; and with the supplj' of hives and broad sheets of honey- comb left us by our all-wise and divine Protector, fnr which we should be very thankful, we can S'lon buildup our npiaries as go^.d »s they were; yen. I believe better, if we. as atrenis, d'> our wh.de diitv. We should not e-rumblc at all it the hives nv dirty, and the once b»-autiful fram^-sand regular cnibs ."II covered with dead b'-es, and dri ping tr m the ef- fects i^f a terrible (or, rathe .fl't'iy) ili*c:iio; hut we should rejoice and be glud. and nivc thnnkstoO'd that we have them fvcn as they are. We should bo thankful for the knowlcdse we hrtve gtiined and skill acquired b> our past experience with be^s. and for the many very happy hours we hHve p.s^ed in our bee-yards. These things wo c ng cold winters, which we can get by procuring our b' es from any source where thev have swarmed nature lly tor a fe^v years, and in rai-ing our qu'-ens and drones we must lei them «warm themselves, or raise (jii'^'ens Hr'iflciMl'y as g led, which can only he •lone !iv ii'ieee-breeders of I >ng exp rience 2. We 'iiU"" see that the\ hi't- a 'od s'ores, not gra^p. appl •. penoh. ••an-, or anv other jnic* U' r b 'ney-d- w that h s so m ch -u()>taii(v in i that, in gp'iing the neecs iry honey t<> ke4 p them wHr'"^ thev g .' fiiiorl up "iih feces, which 'hf^ r tain un- til the> get a ehinc t • fly. thus ahing them "hat is ciillerl d sentery Xtiw I modestlx cliiin that I cmu priivr- to your and fViPiid D lolittle s mind-; -vhv they "int-'-r so poi.rlv, ilter y -ii hofi 'V it up ( e • Gr.KAMNGS, Fell. 18H1, p. HS.i he ni !1 CHii-e t bees wintering .so poiil- i" I 'h^- c .Id ^iu'eife is^ 280 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUUfi. JulsTE that they arc not tou^h. They have not the neces- sary strength to carry them throvigh, but they would have had if they had been allowed to swarm naturally. But the stock must be of the right stripe to commence with, not queens that have been raised by dividing, neither from queens that have been raised from queens that were raised in super- seding old worn-out ones. In fact, from queens found in this country, Italy, Cyprus, and Palestine, where they swarm naturally, and are far enough from bee-keepers that are dividing and raising by the quantity and not for quality. We can also get good stock from a few queen-raisers. The proof of good stock is in their wintering. If you look around the country, you will find men with bees in common hives, kept in the same place for 40 or 50 years, that have wintered them without any great loss, for that length of time. (See H. Alley, A. B. J., Feb. 9, 1881, p. 42; see Gleanings for Feb., 1881, p. 84, J. C. Phil- lips.) After awhile some neighbor gets an idea of keeping bees according to the latest scientific ideas. The ideas are nearly all of them right, but he does not know how to apply them properly; gets a few swarms, transfers to a convenient hive, so he can divide them and build up a large apiary very quick- ly. So ho divides every year until he gets a large quantity of them; but what is the matter? His bees at first wintered as well as his neighbors' in cnmmon hives, without any extra care; but in three or four years he begins to lose a good raaoy, and he anx- iously studies up the wintering question, tries chaff, cellar, etc., and gets along moderately well until, in eight or ten years, more or less, after commencing, there comes an exceptionally cold long winter, and away go his and his neighbors' bees — his neighbors' bees spoiled by drones from his poor, divided queens. Then they report to all the journals that common gums are no better than a frame hive. Why should they be? it is not the hive that makes the bees tough; any one can find (whore far enough away from any of these dividing men) bees that have win- tered well this season in common hives without ex- tra care. We can find plenty of such reports in the back numbers of the journals, where beginners have lost all their bees after a few years of dividing. The surest way for any one to get good queens is to raise them from his best stock, naturally, being sure to mark all cells that are started before they swarm, for they are always started from the egg, and when they are matured, make nuclei, giving each a cell. In that way he can raise bees that will winter well in common hives, but better in chaff ones. Need not be carried in and out of cellars, but you must see that they have good stores. My bee- keeping friends, it Is not the cold, for they live as far north as civilized man. It is not the time they are kept from having a fiy, for they are kept con- . fined 5 or 6 months in different places, but because they have lost that toughness which they had when they came from their Creator. If you will take this view of it you will sec that it is not strange that, of two hives side by side, one should winter well and the other should die out. One had a good queen, and the other a poor one. S. S. Butler, M. D. Los Gatos, Cal., April 35, 1881. There may be truth in what you urge, friend B.; but, if you are entirely right, wliy do not common bees, witli the old style of management, winter better? Our country is almost rid of common bees this spring. Again, why does L. C. Root always succeed M'ith liis cellar, and always get a good crop of honey? Why did my "neighbors succeed during the past winter? Neighbor II. got all his bees from queens that I imported, and the stock was precisely the same as mine. I am inclined to go back to proper care, rather than to natural swarming, etc. SOME HINTS IIV KKGARR TO MAKING REPOKTS, ETC. |[^RlENDHOOT:-you will not fail to get all the Jirl reports for Blasted Hopes you need to pub- lish for a year to come, and as many Reports Discouraging that, if all were published, your A B C class would conclude that money invested in api- culture is very liable to " take to itself wings and fl3' away;" but after all said that can be said, perhaps there areas many who succeed in honey-raising as there are in any other business made a specialty. Heddon has set an example in his report published in Bce-Kecpcr's Guide for April, that I would like to see followed; that is, stating the proportion of capi- tal invested in bees. Now, can not you persuade all who report for 1881 to report the proportion of capi- tal invested in bees, or the occupation in connection with which bee-keeping is carried on? For myself, the report for 1S80 runs thus: Mayl, 38 colonies; increase by artificial swarming, 3; nat- uralswarms, 15; surplus, 900 lbs.; 600inl-lb. sections; remainder extracted. Capital all in the business; had the rheumatism so that the fore part of the sea- son they were half cared for; the latter part of the season hardly cared for at all. One was robbed in the fall; 23 died up to date; hope to have 30 left the first of May. To-day, Apr. 20, the first pollen is be- ing carried in; Apr. 14, snow was four inches deep. The following I copy from my memorandum: — OCCUPATION. Blacksmith Blacksmith. I<"armer and Bl'smith. Blacksmith. Cai.)italist Hotel and Farnu-r. Physician. Farmer. Faimer. Farmer. Apiarian. APltlL. John Fleming, JI. Fleming, (). Miller. Jlr. Hollenbcry, J. Cheever, "\V. Tiflanv, Dr. Jleacl.' K. Eeynolds, 1*. Bi'ewer, F. Vanpelt, H. Kcranton, Most of the above use American hives. Vanpelt has a Root chaff hive filleR. C. C. MJI.LER. PARKER'S FOUNDATION FASTESER. fN using this fastener, my greatest trouble was in the wax sticking to it. After daubing some — ' honey on the fastener, it would do nicely for a very few times, and then I had to stop and take a good deal of time daubing on more honey. After some experimenting I settled on this plan: After se- curing the fastener on the table or bench, take a strip of cotton flannel a couple of inches wide and 8 or 10 inches long, and fold it in two or three thick- nesses so it shall be an inch wide or less. A little strip of wood is on each fastener to serve as a stop to make the section stop at the right place when put on the fastener. Let the strip of cotton flannel be stretched across the fastener, right back of this lit- tle stop, and tack each end down to the bench or ta- ble. Have some honey in a smallest-sized sauce-dish or butter-dish, and in it a little swab, made by tying some cotton flannel on the end of a stick. Swab the ^annel on the fastener till it is well saturated Each time, immediately after fastening in a piece of fdn., draw back the lever and let the end be pressed down into the honeyed flannel; then it is always lubricat- ed just in nice shape for the next operation. If the foundation is too cold it will not work, and a good plan is to let a pile of the pieces of fdn. lie where the heat from a stove will make one edge quite soft, taking care not to melt It. Do not try to flatten down too large a surface of fdn. on the section ; the smaller bite you can get with the lever the firmer it will hold. Press down the lever on the edge of the fdn. ; push up the fdn. so it will hang horizontally 282 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. June when the section is on the hive, then with a hard pressure slide bacli the lever off the fdn. Those who use only starters in sections may not care for these instructions; but beginners who fill the sections with fdn., and are annoyed by its falling out, will be glad of any suggestions. Indeed, I am writing particu- larly for beginners; so I will tell them HOW TO PUT TOGETHER ALIj-IN-ONK-PIECE SECTIONS. Lay the sections ia Hat before you on the table, with the grooved side uppermost and the narrow or top end at your left. For convenience, we will num- ber the four parts of the section beginning at the left, 1, 3, 3, and 4. Pick up the section with the right hand; with the thumb of the left hand upon 3, press the left fore- finger across the under side of 1, close up to the joint, and Itreak the joint by pressing the finger evenly the whole width of the joint, at the same time pushing the finger slightly toward the left; this will break the joint at ' the right place, so that the top piece, or 1, will go between the side-pieces 3 and +. Then with the thumb of the left hand on 3, the thumb of the right hand on 4, and the ends of the lingers of each hand under 3, by pressing the thumbs and ends of the fingers, start these two joints to breaking, then grasp firmly 3 in the left hand and 4 in the right, and with 3 on the table raise 2 and 4 to an upright position, pressing them hard on the table at the same time with a wiggling motion to and from you. This wiggling motion will make the joints much less liable to break entirely apart. Then bring down 1, and crowd the dovetailed ends together, and the section is complete, unless you may think best to hammer together lightly. Talk- ing of these all-in-one-piece sections reminds me how much BEE-KEEPERS NEED CHARITY FOR E.4CH OTHEK. These all-in-one-piece sec^tions are so generally liked, that it seems a foregone conclusion that they are tlic sections, and yet I must confess I don't like them so well as the dovetailed. Now, it will not do for rao to call every one a fool who likes the new sections best, for that would be Aery much like say- ing all bee-keepers but myself are fools; neither would I like to have the entire fraternity brand me as a fool because I prefer the dovetailed. And yet, in our talk and in our writings, many of us are apt to insist, in sometimes a rather unpleasant way, that whoever differs with us is wrong. To begin with, bee-keepers, as well as other people, are pret- ty strong in their prejudices, and each one is apt to believe that his way is liest. Twenty years ago I used hives with movable bottoms, and I doubt whe- ther any amount of argument would have made me willing to dispense with what I considered the con- venience of movable bottoms. Changing to the reg- ular Langstroth hive, and buying some ready made with fixed bottoms, I have for years used no other, and it would take an immense amount of eloiiuence to make me submit to what I now consider the in- convenience of movable bottoms. Again, observa- tions in different localities, and under different cir- cumstances, may lead to very diverse conclusions. It is common to see the advice given, to beware of leaving any piece of comb lying about the apiary, for fear of its proving a nursery for moths; whilst If I wanted to keep a piece of comb secure from the moth, I scarcely know of any surer way than to throw it on the ground anywhere about the apiary. Doolittle says," In uniting bees, alternate the frames, and thus mix the bees thoroughly, and they will never fight at any time of the year;" Novice says they (?() sometimes fight; and I have no doubt each one is telling the truth from actual experience. Let us, then, have faith in each other, and charity enough to believe that others may be honest, even if their observations do differ from ours, and that pos- sibly what may be the verj' best practice for jw may not be best for everybody else. THE PRESENT OUTLOOK. I think I shall be able to start the season with T5 colonies and a few queens, with a handful or less of bees to each. They seem to be doing well now; have an average of about three frames filled or partly filled with brood, and I think I never worked with bees more joyfully or hopefully. Isn't God good to give us such a nice world, anyhow? Tell the noon prayer-meeting I think of them often, and often pray God to bless the services. C. C. Miller. Marengo, McHenry Co., 111., May 3, 1881. Many thanks, friend Miller, for your very seasonable hints. In regard to the one- piece sections compared with the dovetailed, —it would be impossible to make the latter for any thing like the price we now do the all-in-one-piece. The appearance of them when on the market, filled with honey, is, I believe, admitted by all to be greatly in fa- vor of the one-piece. The labor of putting up, and putting in the starters, is also an im- mense saving. That the old style may have greater strength, is doubtless true ; but nailed sections have greater solidity still. Now, why not nail the one-piece, after they are folded ? We have never found it neces- sary, although some perhaps do. As only about one customer in a hundred, even last season, preferred the dovetailed, we have now stopped advertising them. We pay our boys 30c per thousand for putting up sec- tions.— By all means, let us try to have more charity, not only in matters of opinion, like and dislike, but also in business and inoney matters too. Suhnlk §^uaflimnl fAM 11 years old, and I thought as all of the rest of ihe little girls were writing I would write you — ' a few lines too. Our summer school begins next Monday. I am going to start. I did not go last winter. We had a five-months' school last winter. My pa keeps bees, and I plant flowers and every thing I can that is good for them. I like honey too. It does not hurt pa much when they sting him. It swells some when they sting ma round the mouth and eyes. It was a severe winter on bees. Pa was afraid ours would die. He is going to plant some buckwheat pretty soon. Elizaueth M. Edcmand. Very good, Lizzie. We send you a book, and I "trust you will keep on planting honey- plants, and get to know all about plants and bees both, when you get grown up. Whew! After I had written the above, Stella tells me she can't send you any book, because you have not told us where you live. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 283 I sometimes scold tlie big bee-folks when they are so careless ; but as you are only an eleven-year-old-little girl, I guess I won't this time. I am ten years old, and I go to school. 1 have not got any bees myself, but pa keeps some. He lost one stand, and had about eight left. I like bees bet- ter than I do honey, and I like to watch them when they swarm. We built a kind of a house over them. The roof was just tall enough to go over the top of the hives when they were in a row. We are going to raise all the bees we can this summer. We are going to build a bee house too this summer. Pa is a carpenter, and he expects to commence on a barn ia a few days. I think the cartoons and pictures of Mr. Merrybanks and his neighbor are very funny. Birdie M. Harden. Good Hope, McDonough Co., 111., May 3, 18M. Very good. Birdie. My pa used to be a carpenter too, so you see you and I are al- most related to each other. I suppose you will tell us how much honey your pa gets from those eight stands. ters from the little folks. Ma says you must be one of the best men in the world, and she likes to read the Home Papers. Emma Williams. Vanceburg, Ky., April '„'8, 1881. Many thanks, friend Emma. I am much obliged to your ma fov her good opinion ; but this morning I have been feeling very sad, because some of tliose near and dear to me scold real hard beciiuse I will not do things tliat I think would be wrong for both of us. That is a tip-top idea, your pounding up cobs for your pa's smoker, and I hope other little girls will take the hint. I am a boy 13 years of age. Pa takes Gleanings. We keep bees. Ours are alive, and dning Avell. AVe wintered them in the American hives with chaft cushings over the frames. We feed them candy' made of coffee A sugar. I believe I can And a swarm of bees. The Juvenile Department is getting very interesting. I think Freddie L. Craycraft Is quite right by not wanting to be put with Blasted Hopers. I think those whose hopes are so easily blasted do not have much faith; and the Bible says, have faith, hope, and charity. I have a brother 10 j-ears old. We go to Sunday-school. Bela M. Armstrong. Hancock, Harrison Co., Ind., April 2.5, 1881. Tip-top, friend Bela, and most especially do I admire your concluding remarks. If they have faith in God and the Biljle, they certainly won't have blasted hopes very long. I only wish the "chaft cushings" had worked as well with everybody else as they did at yotu' house. I am a boy 14 years old. My father, Mr. L. C. Sea- ton, keeps bees; he has 30 swarms, almost all Italian; they are coming out all right this spring. My father bought an A B C book, and he takes Glean- ings. I read them all. I like the " cartoons," and, in fact, all the rest. My brother, James Dightou, re- ceived a book from you, entitled " My Brother and I, and the Little Captain," which I think is very nice; it seems it was pretty hard for that man to break the chain, but he finally succeeded. I have signed a temperance pledge, and promised that I will never touch any more tobacco, neither to smoke nor chew, and I intend to keep my resolutions. I have not touched anj' tobacco for over a month. Frederick O. Seaton. Banks, Faribault Co., Minn., April U, 1881. Very good, friend Frederick. I hope you Will always keep that pledge. I am glad that you and your brother liked the books. I am a little girl twelve years old. Pa has a good many bees. I am afraid of bees, but I pound cobs for the smoker, and carry boxes up and down stairs. My younger sister has a swing out on one of the ap- ple-trees, and watches the bees, and runs and tells pa when they are swarming. I like to read the let- I am a boy 11 years old. I have one swarm of bees, and pa has about 65. He commenced the winter with 94 colonies, but 39 died, and more are likely to die, for it is never safe to count chickens before they are hatched. The reason pa lost so many swarms was, some were queenless, and he was sick and not able to give them brood to raise themselves a queen. My swarm is Italian, and I expect to rear queens from it. Pa says it is worth $25.00 for that. The past winter has been very hard on the bees. Our bees are set in rows, and dirt banked up against them with chaff next to the hives to prevent their rotting. Pa has been feeding them water to in- duce them to rear brood. I nail up some of the honey-boxes; they are made of 4 pieces. Ma makes the most of them. She is getting to be quite expert in the business. She has made 400 honey-boxes in a day. Who can beat that? I think those cartoons are splendid. Charlie A. Balch. Oran, Onondaga Co., N. Y., April 11, 1881. Very good, Charlie. I am real glad you told how many honey-boxes your mother could nail up in a day, for I suppose that some of the other women wiiose husbands are bee-keei)ers will, after reading your let- ter, get hold of the idea, and try to see how many they can put up in a day too. Has any other little boy got a mother who can do any Ijetter than Charlie's mother? Seeing so many nice letters written by little girls and boys, I thought I would write and tell about my papa's bees. Last fall papa made the nicest little houses for them, and mamma and I made the little cushions to put above, below, and around them. The houses were as large as a good-sized dog kennel, and lie put them upstairs before he used them, and one day two little girls came over to play with me, and we got in them (the little shingled top came off), and played we were bees. t)ne time our kitty thought the alighting-boards made a splendid place for him to sit on and sun himself ; so one morning he went out and sat down on one of them. Pretty soon he began to look around, and by and by he gave a hop, and ti'p all knew what the matter was. We used to have some chickens, and whenever a bee got on one hen another would pick it oft" in such a way as to kill the bee and not let him sting her. But our old roos- ter thought he would have a feast, so he went along, picked up a bee, and of all the noises that rooster did make! And he went around crying for a long time. Papa takes Gleanings, and I like to read it. Detroit, Mich., May 4, 1881. Lizzie. That is a very good letter, Lizzie, and the writing is beautiful; but as you did not tell us the rest of your name, I don't see how we can send you a book very well. Do youV 284 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. June I am a l,oy 10 years old. I have a brother who is going into the bee business; he has 4 hives of bees; they came through the winter in good condition; he winters in dry-goods boxes packed with chaff. He is going to get some more this spring, and so ara I. I have a sheep and three dollars. I am' going to sell my sheep and get a hive of bees with the money. A great many of the bees around here have died. Some men who have kept bees for years have lost all they had. I like to read Gleanings and the A B C. - Robert W. Murkar. Aberdour, Ont., Can., April 30, 1881. Very good, Kobert, and I wish also to commend you for such good handwriting, for a boy only 10 years old. If all the big folks would write as plain and neatly as you do, it would save us a " heap of trouble." A year ago last summer a swarm of bees came to papa up in one of our bird-houses, and Mr. Quinby came and put them in a hive. Last summer they swarmed, and then wo had 3 colonies. Last fall pa- pa bought 30 Cvilonies, and sold 3 to one of our neighbors. They put them in a cupboard that was damp, and they wore dead this spring. Papa put his bees in chaff hives. He put one of his best colo- nies in his cellar, and this spring it is dead, and 7 of those on the summer stands, it has been such a hard winter. Papa loves honey, and so do my 3 brothers; but mother and I do not care for it. It is so sweet it makes our teeth ache. We go out to see the bees; they are bringing in pollen very fast. Our dog Major was very much interested in bees early in the season, but one day they gave him too warm a wel- come, so he lost his interest in bees. Pa likes Gleanings very much. I am 11 years old. I attend the Methodist Sunday-school. We have 150 mem- bers, and my brothers and I go nearlj' every Sunday. We all like music, and we all can sing, and play the organ. Cora M. Russell. White Plains, Westchester Co., N. Y., May 3, 1881. A ^'ery good report, friend Cora, and we are all the more interested in it, because it gives us a glimpse of our friend I). M. Quin- by, of whom we have not heard in quite a spell. I have known other folks, with more sense than poor old Major, who lost their in- terest in bees "all of a sudden." If I liave figured right, your pa has now 11 colonies. I received your card, book, and sugar. Thank you ever so much. It was 57 quarts of strawberries 1 picked in a day. We had a good many little girls picking too, and some picked more than that; but 1 had to quit and help to wait on customers at the house. Anna A. White. Wolf Creek, Pa., April 14, 188L My pa takes Gleanings, and likes it real well. He reads it all through from beginning to end. I read it some too, especially Mr. Merrybanks and the Juvenile Department. I am older than some whose names I see in the Juvenile Department. I am about 13 years old, and this is the first letter of this kind that I ever attempted to write. My pa keeps bees, and has ever since I can remember, and he says he has ever since he was 10 years old; he is now 53. I like honey, and would like bees if they would not sting. I got stung when I was a baby, and it came very near killing me. I had one swarm last season, but they are dead now. Pa has lost a good many; he had 123 swarms last fall, but he says he will send a report, and you will know more about it than I can tell you. I like to read Sunday-school books, and I like to attend Sunday-school, and I do when there is any. Lydia A. Newton. AVhitney's Crossing, AUe. Co., N. Y., April 12, 1831. Why, friend J.ydia, your pa is quite a "big bee-man," if he has got so many colonies as you mention, especielly if he has got them all alive this spring. 1 suppose you help him " a big lot," do you not V Papa went to the P. O. yesterday and brought home four copies of Gleanings. We sat up until ten o'clock reading them. We like Gleanings. I am a little girl ten years old, and have one colony of Italians in the cellar, when they ought to be at work; but our bee-yard is under the snow about three feet. My papa put his bees in the cellar last Nov., but some have died, and the rest are getting uneasy. We have a nice strawberry bed close to the bee-yard, and if you will come and see us and bring Blue Eyes we will have fun picking berries, and swinging in the hammock, while you and papa are looking at the bees. Papa calls me curly head. Jennie Webster. Parks Corners, 111., Apr. 18, 1881. Well done, my curly-headed little friend Jemiie. I shoiild like to come and bring JJlue Eyes, above all things, for yovi know by what I said in the last Gleanings that I like strawberries; if you don't my wife does. But what do you suppose all these boys and girls would do liere if I should go away? Tell your papa I should dearly love to look over his bees with him. We have received Gleanings, and are having nice weather. You did not come out much better than we did, with your bees. We have just one colony left. It is strong, and carrying in pollen every day. We have not got our bees from the South yet, but we are looking for them about the middle of this month. This is going to be a good honey year. The peaches and apples are in bloom ; the woods are get- tin;^- green fast. I never saw a better prospect for white-clover honey than this year; the prospect for fruit is good. We will have a railroad coming here soon— the Evansville & Eastern Railroad. We are making preparation for a fair next fall. Salem, Ind., May 5, 1881. Freddie Craycraft. Why, Freddie, you are quite progressive, I should judge, from your letter. Going to have bees from the Soutli, a railroad, a fair, and lots of white clover. Our apiary is now booming under the influence of 40 fine colo- nies that came from the south too— about ten miles south, and we are sending out bees by the pound at a lively rate. Twenty pack- ages, with queens, go off to-day. Bee-keep- ers must "never say die." Isn't that so, Freddie? How (loth the little busy bee Delight to bark and bite; He gathers honey all day long, ^Vnd eats it up at night. I found the above in the Apostolic Times^ under the signature of our friend L. C. Root, and thought it would do very well for the Juvenile Class at this season of the year. Within a few days, I have found colonies in just this "predicament." At night, they would have honey scattered through the hive pretty fairly, but next morning not a drop nor cell full eoiUd be found. The se- 1881 GLP^ANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 285 cret of it was, so many young mouths to feed, and but few old ones to do the gather- ing. If a cold rainy day should happen, these little fellows would suffer. Who knows how much they often suffer in that way'r* ■ !>■ i^ VENTIIiATION, ANI> ITS RELATION TO OUR AVINTERING TROUBLES. fKIEND ROOT:— The speculation as to the cause of the terrible fatality to bees through the West, and its remedies, have been the theme for some time. Permit me to add, from my experi- ence and observation, that bad or no ventilation I believe to be the most proliflc source of dysentery. One year ago this past winter I had some 33 colo- nies in a new hive. 1 was apprehensive that the kind of hive had some thing to do with success in wintering. I took special pains to give them up- ward ventilation. The lid of the hive is in two parts; the front end of the lid is 6 inches wide, the back end 16, dividing the bees nearly ^^ of the way. I opened it about one inch, coming nearly over the center of the cluster. My hive is so arranged that I can give them one inch by ten at the entrance; this I did. I had no dysentery; lost none out of 53 col- onies. This past winter I was careless, and opened in front, but not on top. Some of them were badly diseased with dysentery; lost 10 out of 86, not all from dysentery, however; made some other mis- takes, from which I lost. One of my neighbors who was wintering five col- onies under my instructions called my attention to his bees in March; said they were laying out on the hive in the cellar. I told him I thought they needed more air; went to look at them; 2 colonics were in 8-frame Sayles hive (L. frame), the other 3 in box hives were tiered up, the two Sayles hives imder- neath, with no upward ventilation. The two lower hives showed considerable dysenters'; they were in two tiers, three and two; the two top hives with good ventilation had no dysentery; the one between two showed some; the dysentery showed itself in pro- portion as they had ventilation. Tt is the opinion of some, that the same opening that a colony needs or has in mid-summer is sulHcient for winter; but this is a mistake; they need more. A cellar under an out-house, or under a room where there is no Are, is objectionable, and four out of five times will prove disastrous. MOVING BEES FROM CELLAR IN THE DAYTIME. In an essay read before an Eastern convention by one of the Dadants, in referring to taking bees out of the cellar, he said they should be set out before noon, meaning that they should be set out in the daytime. This is a serious mistake. It is impossi- ble to prevent them from crowding out; they don't take their location, but crowd into other hiv'es than their own; disorder prevails, resulting in demoraliza- tion and a free fight generally. Set them out in the night, quietly and carefully. By next morning they are quiet — no rushing out, and every bee knows its location. My estimation is, that one hundred colo- onies set out in the night are worth at least fifty dollars more than if set out in the daytime. Brush Creek, Iowa, May 9, 1881. B. F. Little. Very likely there is something in your po- sition, friend L., for the reports we have re- cently had in regard to leaving sections on all winter seem to imply as much. On the other hand, I have repeatedly killed moder- ate-sized colonies outright, Ijy leaving a full draft of air right through the hive, after they had commenced breeding rapidly in the spring. One case was where I replaced a hybrid queen, in a colony that was doing nicely. The cage containing the new queen was a large one, that kept the mat up so the air passed freely through. They had con- siderable brood for the luimber of bees, aad, a cold spell occurring, they were killed out- right. Other colonies of equal strength, well and closely covered, came through without injury. What is it, then, that is wanted? 1 am much inclined to let the bees answer. In the house apiary, with a two- inch auger-hole entrance, they narrowed it down with walls of propolis, before winter, to about a f-incli hole. Colonies with sec- tion boxes left over them will close most of tlie apertures over them, leaving several where one or two bees can just pass, and bees will be seen down through these holes, nearly all winter. Of course, this is the case only where the colony is strong, and they are undisturbed .for several weeks before winter sets in. The combs from which our bees died were wet and damp this spring, and many of them are wet, damp, and sticky yet.— One of the great objections I have to cellar wintering is the troubles you mention, after setting them out in the spring. .Set- ting them out very carefully in the night would, I think, help matters at least. Mr. Quinby, in his book, advised setting them out the evening before a fine day is expect- ed, and Doolittle, in his comments, gives substantially the same directions. Or Enemies'oflBees Among Insect Tribes. MOSQUITO HAWK, OR DRAGON-FLY. S' SEND you by this mail a gentleman who had cheek enough to catch one of my bees and light on ray shoulder to eat him. I brought him up- stairs and fastened him to my table with a needle through his body, but he just went on with bis din- ner as unconcerned as if he were not in the condi- tion of a man with a crowbar through his chest. In fifteen minutes he was done, and for the first time seemed to notice that "something ailed him." I send him, thinking some of your friends might like to add him to their collection. I can count a dozen more sailing around my hives as I write. Geo. L. Shaw. ThomasvlUe, Thomas Co., Ga., May 1, 1881. The " gentleman '' alluded to is a very fine specimen of the bee-hawk, or mosquito- hawk, spoken of in Cook's Manual, and de- scribed in Gleanings in back volumes. Send the boys after them with sticks and whips. I think they are seldom plenty enough to do any considerable harm, and they are naturally so shy as to be pretty eas- ily frightened awav. The one you mention must have been slightly idiotic, I should think, to liehave in the way he did. "We have them here, of a smaller species, which we call dragon-flies, but I never saw them eating bees. (tLKaxings in mee culture. June •< M LI<.SS itl I)O^V\S. WHAT SHALL WE DO WHEN WINTER COMES AGAIN ? m NEIGHBOR of mine ; ell a colony of bees to J^\ another neighbor— a tjwede — and in a day ' or two after they were delivered, the Swede wanted the seller to take them back, saying that he had been cheated in the purchase, as there were "live dead bees in the hive." Most of the beo men inthls locality would have felt eucourtiged if they had found five live- ones in each CJlony this spring. When inquiry was first made as to losses (about April 1), I thought 80 per ct^nt of all colonies in this vicinity had perished. I now think 90. per cent loss would not be too large an estimate. Seven of my neighbors lost all. 1 have lost to date, 33 per cent. The remaining ones are apparently in good condi- tion. I do not expect to lose more. No one around here has wintered with so little loss, so far as I know. Nearly everybody winters in cellars, but not under proper conditions. I have before observed that, if a cellar is too cold to ke?p potatoes, it is too cold to keep bees. Every winter confirms the theo- ry that a damp cold is fatal. I think that in this latitude, 43° north, and aUiludc some ICJU feet above the Gulf, cellar wintering is the only safe plan. That so many have failed the past winter does not prove the contiaryto be true, when we learn just what kind of a depository they were in, and in just what condition they were when put away. I have taken some pains to get at the facts, and I am dis- posed to lay the blame, not to indoor wintering, but to ignorance and carelessness. Some people have to " tail up "their cows in the spring, although sta- bled all winter. Is that an argument against barns? It is a plea for better barns and hctlcr care. Bees began to bring in pollen April 20. The weather has been pleasant most of the time since, and the "music of the hive" has been delightful. 18S1 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 289 Silver-maple, poplar, willow, etc , ia bloom for some days back. Breeding is well under way. Please don't write to me for bees or queens this j'ear. I keep bees for the fun of it, and not to sell. Edgene Secor. Forest City, Iowa, May 5. 18S1. CHAFF PACKING CONTRASTED WITH OTHEK MODES OF AVINTEKI.NG. A FEW FACTS FROM "REAL, LIFE." SWILL send you my report how I wintered my bees. We have had a very cold and severe win- ~~" ter. It was 35 to 30° below zero when it was the coldest, and the bees had no fly from the middle of Nov. to the middle of Feb., and then only a few days that they could lly till the middle of April. I use the Langstroth frame. In the fall I had 50 col- onies; 33 were full colonies, and 17 were nuclei; these I built up through August and September to about half-full colonics. The full colonies I put on 6 frames for winter, and the nuclei on 4 frames. I then put a box o\er the hive that gave 4 in. space around the hive, which I tilled with wheat chaff, and packed it right well down. I then made holes through the combs, and put a sheet of duck on the frames, and then a chaff cushion 0 in thick, and then a good roof on the box. This I did in October; then I did not disturb them till spring. Now for the result: All are alive, and are breeding fast; they are as good as can be expected for such a backward season. I think packing in chaff the best method of wintering bees for this latitude. On the inclosed sheet you can see how the bees wintered in this locality, in what kind of hive, and how prepared. . HOW THE BEES WINTERED IN OUR VICINITY. £1 ?- NAMES. r/^ a; ^ 1 KI>-D OF HIVE USED, AND HOW ' io 0- WINTERED. o S J. Buckwalter, 10 10 L. hive, packed in chatf . Am. andbox hives, no protect" n. J. B. Sensenig, 15 i C. Sensenig, 12 2i Am. hive, packed in chatE. R. Sen!-enig, 2 0 Am. hive, no protection. E. W. Martin, 2 0 Am. hive, packed in chaff. I. Weaver, 5 0 JAin. and bo.'c hives, in cellar. D Nolt, i 2 1 Box hives, no protection. E. Sensenig, 15 0 lAui. hives, no protection. ' J. Reiff, 3 1 [L. hive, no protection. S. Taylor, 3 1 |L. hive, no protection. I. Mai-tin. i 1 L. hive, no protection. S S. Hem->-. 6 1 1l. hive, no protection. Geo. E. AVright, 9 2 L. hive, no protection. Daniel Nolt, 9 3 !Am. and box, no protection. 39 IMitchell hive, packed in sawdust. J. Davis, JO D. Stolzfus, 26 13 Buckeye hive, with straw or hay . S. Dillman, 20 22 1 Buckeye, with straw or hay. J. High, 1 0 Buckeye and box, no protection. 'i Dillman, 13 2 Tall frame hive, no protection. M. Wcnu'er, 3 3 L. hive, with chatf. V. W. Zimnitr.nan, 3 2 L. hive, no protection. L. hive, packed in chaff. I. G. Martin, 50 50 Total, 293 180 No. of colonies packed for winter, 198, of which 37 died, or 19 per cent. No. of colonies without protec- tion, 90, of which 71 died, or 79 per cent, and 5 were put in a cellar, fell of which died. I. G. Martin. Reidenbach's Store, Lan. Co., Pa., May 9, 1881. I must confess that the above, and similar reports, goes a great way toward making me hesitate in deciding that even cellar winter- ing is a safer plan to advise than outdoor wintering, with good chaff packing. One point should be borne in mind, and that is, that those who are so thorough as to give their bees good packing, would be likely to give thorough care in other respects, that those who entirely neglect their bees would not. It is not altogether whether old hands, with their hundreds of colonies, winter in cellars or otherwise, that we wish to get at; but how will the great masses of A 13 C scholars, — those who can ill afford these wintering losses, do the best? Our neigh- bors Harrington and Shane have wintered fully as well as those of our neighbors who used cellars. Many thanks, friend Martin, for your full report. Such a summing-up as your report gives, can not be accidental. FEKRY'S SEED-GARDEN AS A HONEV- FAKITI. HOW THE BEES WINTERED. * PROMISED you last fall to report how my bees wintered at Ferry's seed-garden. You will no- tice in my letter last fall (see p. 879) I mentioned one of my swarms they had the dysentery very bad- ly. That one died, and another this spring; the rest have wintered finely. I packed the upper story with planer shavings. No more chaff cushions forme; they don't fill the corners right. My bees at home are three-fourths gone. One of my neighbors had 100 colonies last fall, mostly in box hives; only live survived the winter, and three of them were in chaff hives I let him have. In your remarks on my letter last fall you expressed a desire to see an apiary near a seed-garden, and I am going to tell you how you can do it. This will probably be a dull season for the supply business, so just start some morning in June and I will meet you in Detroit with a good carriage and fnst horse, drive to the garden and apiary (the latter is situated just over the fence from the garden, on a beautiful lawn.) Then we will drive to Bell Branch to tea, and, if you will come so as to stay over Sunday, I will go to church and Sunday-school with you, which, by the way, would be quite an undertaking for me, as I have not been for five years, excepting once. There are two churches within forty rods of our home. I don't speak of this to boast of my heathenism; will ex- plain it to you, should you come. As another in- ducement, I will show you the best and handiest chaff hive in existence (no patent.) I expected to give you an order this spring for 10,000 sections, honey-extractor, 15 smokers, etc. ; but, alas for hu- man calculation! man proposes, but, but, but, the hard winter disposed of all the bees nearly. M. H. Hunt. Bell Branch, Wayne Co., Mich., May 5, 1881. Friend II., 1 rather think I will accept that invitation ; but as June is a very crowd- ing month with us, suppose we say July or August. Neighbor II. ttdnks he would like to see the seed-gardens too, and perhaps if we fix a day, some of the bee friends near you might like to meet' us there. Please bear in mind, we are all to go to church and Sundaj-scliool, and leave the bee-talk, all of it, for week days. This may be rather hard on neighbor II., for if he couldn't talk bees on every day in the week, Sunday along with the rest, I do not know but that he would almost suffocate. During what month will we tind the most plants in bloom that bears honeyV I have been looking over Ferry's catalogue, and I am considerably impressed with the magnitude of his grounds and business. 290 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. June From Different Fields. NEW HONEY. fjjHURSDAY, April 31, I extracted from 5 colo- onies, getting 10 gallons of tine honey; to-day, — ' 23, the same frames are refilled and partly capped; but on account of rain, almost incessant during: the da.v, I have not extracted. Monday will And me at it if the weather is favorable. I think I shall be able to send sample of holly honey to you again. I do hope the true position or classification of our Southern honey will yet be attained. I am sure our holly honey, when first extracted, and un- mixed with other honies, will compare favorably with the far-famed white-clover honey of the North and West. I sent you a sample a little mixed one year ago, and you pronounced it good, I am sure, if I could procure a sample as I did 3 years ago, un- mixed, you would exclaim, " Hurrah for the holly!" Why this has been overlooked by bee-men of the t^outh I am not able to say. Up to date, from 8 colonies I have taken 43 gallons, and, oh ! it would do your soul good to sec the bees at Avork to-day. Yes, right now, 5'/^ o'clock, and still it comes. We must thank God, and say, we'll never murmur again. W. F. Kouekts. Clinton. La., April 28, 1881. LARGE INCREASE. I received a copy of Gleanings from you last fall, and I thank you very much for the favor. One man said that he started with 15 colonies in the spring, and in the fall he had 80. How diread. There is no use in thinking of buying bees here to take up the combs, for there are none to buy — mostly all dead, and it seems little use to try to increase them just to die in the winter. I have a great many empty hives which I expected to fill, be- sides a great deal of bee fixings of no manner of use but to burn; if you can help any in this scrape by your advice, please do so. I have read Gleanings till now, so send it along, beginning with the April No. I am not sending for Gleanings because my bees are dead; but your answer, if it helps nie, may help others also who are in the same fix I am. I guess I thought too much of my bees; but my wife died about a month ago, and the last tmuble killed the first; we had lived more than .'»5 years to- gether; but, thank God, I do not sorrow as those that have no hope, for my wife was a Christian, and I am living in trust to meet her again. Ynu are not to put me in Blasted Hopes, for I have a hope that I would not sell for all the bees on earth. Do you think, if I were to steep the combs with no honey in them in cnld water, and then throw out the water with an extractoi", then drj- them, that that would kill the moth eggs that might be in them? Do not put my name to this; call me "Old Fogy," or any thing you please. J. D. Pontiac, Oakland Co., Mich., April ::0, ISSl. Friend D.. do not think of melting up your combs, or throwing them away in any other \Vay. Brimstone is a certain and sure reme- dy for moth or motli eggs, if used as direct- ed in the A B C By no means put the combs in water, or any thing of the kind. Keep tliem dry : and if you do not use them all this seasonlyou certainly will next.— Y on, like many others, will do well to go slowly in deciding to abandon bee culture. If you should decide to do so. retreat in good order, and by no means think of sacrificing valua- ble property. If there is no demand for the combs now, there certainly will be in due time.— Hold on to that faith you allude to in you last, friend D., and bear constantly in mind that, though heaven and earth shall pass away, Gods words shall never pass away, and those who put their trust in him shall in no ioifd management. I think this is without doubt the secret of his success; and if you visit him at any time, I don't think you will find any of his hives so poorly made that you can stick a finger through joints that ought to be tight, nor will you find the chaff he uses in packing them to be only straw. I think all of us can learn some valuable lessons in Mr. Hill's apiary; at least, I know my visit there was one of the most profita- ble as well as pleasant ones I ever made anywhere. O. O. POPPLETON. Williamstown, Iowa, May 5, 1881. UNTHANKFULNESS. On looking over Gleanings I noticed that some people murmur because they lost 5 or 6 colonies. I have often thought, if it would rain mush and milk some people would run around and murmur be- cause it did not rain spoons to eat it with. Two men here had 500, and lost all. I don't think we have over 24 in the township. We had 26, and lost all; but "don't you forget it," we have lots of honey. I guess Mother Shipton's prophecy came true after all, for some people made or thought the world of their bees, and it has come to an end. With a swing of my hat I'll go to Blasted Hopes. Locust Point, O., May 5, 1881. F. G. Windisch. Why, friend W., I do not believe you be- long in Blasted Ilopes at all. That is ex- pressly for unthankful folks who listen to such foolishness as Mother Shipton's proph- ecy and the like, and sit down with folded hands and give up. I do not know how I am going to winter our bees next winter; but for all that, I am going to have an apia- ry in full blast again this season as usual, and if I can not do any better, I am going to buy more every spring'of neighbors Rice and Dean. Losing bees makes us neighborly ; did you never think of it ? I do not believe the world will end with me, if I lose all the bees 1 ever try to winter. The bees may pass away, but our trust in God, never. swarming in MICHIGAN MAY 12TH, ETC. Well, I must say, "Hurrah for chaff packing! " I hived my first swarm to-day— a rouser. How does that compare with Mrs. L. Harrison's "bully" col- onies? I have 7 more clustering outside, and cherry fairly in blossom. I have put hives on top of 2 to keep them back from swarming, and filled the top hive with my nice comb of last fall. I saved 18 out of my 20; one had a drone-laying queen. I divided that colony to find the queen on "Good Friday," and one part has a young queen, and the other has queen-cells. I have only 2 that are weak, as I call them; others call them fair swarms. Now I am go- ing to sec what I can make out of my Good-Friday nuclei. Just tell the bee-keepers not to be discouraged, but be a little more careful not to disturb bees in winter. I gave this that swarmed to-day, 2 frames of coffee Aon the 2d of Feb.; one on the 2.")th ult. ; one March 10th, and some of the rest near the same, and disturbing did not hurt any of mine. I want to tell you that my bees made comb in the feed-boxes on top, that had nice sealed soft-maple and elm honey in it, and I got a good taste of it. It is very good, but as dark as maple syrup. St. John's, Mich., May 12, 1881. H. L. Warstler. Why, friend W., has not that swarm got you excited a little'? You say, do not dis- turb the bees in winter, yet go right on to tell how you disturbed them with frames of candy in February ! I am very glad to hear you report so well in regard to the chaff hives. SWARMING IN ILLINOIS, BEFORE THE IOtH OF MAY. Hoping to eucoiu-age others, and glad to report encouragingly, we ask, "Who is ahead of us, in this latitude?" This morning at 10 o'clock, "Bees are swarming!" came from the little wife, who keeps an eye on things about our place. A fine swarm it is too. The queen is two years old. Last season we had but two natural swarms. This queen was first, and from red clover at that, as we had no white- clover honey last season. It was the 14th of June, and they filled their hive, and gave us 50 lbs. of bass- wood honey, in sectiona. They were wintered out- ISSl GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 293 doors in sing-le-wall hive, with chaflf in top box, and sawdust banked up on back and sides of brood-box. Fruit-trees have been in bloom three dnys, and you may tell friend Doolittle that I think I will have the first queen from natural cells, as several colls are sealed, and more coming" on. As they are pure and well marked, I shall save 'em all, "you bet." S A Shttck Bryant, Fulton Co., 111., May 9, 1881. A ORE.iT SINNER, AND — WATERMELON - .JUICE FOR BEES. You say, on p. 225 of Gleanings, "The above re- port is from myself, A. I. Root, editor of G leanings." Now, this makes me think of an incident that hap- pened aboutthirly years ag-o. My father and I got lost In the then will woods. After my father had tried every direction in vain to find home, he said, "Washie, tie old Snip's reins up, and let her go. Look out for limbs." And she did go straight home, and, strange to say, we were within one-fourth mile of home! Are you lost or not? is there no society in Medina for the prevention of cruelty to animals? were you not Indirectly the cause of the death of three billion bees? Just think of it! I think surely there would be less sin in the old flre-and-brimstone mode. What would you think of me if I were to tell you I lost one hundred tine calves by selling the milk that belongs to them, and foran excuse I should say, " I could make more out of the milk"? You would say, " Shame on such a way ! " and so do I. I do not say this to find fault, but I do think there is a better way of treating our little pets; and, brother Eoot, I do think you need a little reproving right here. What say you? My bees wintered better than ever before. I found the hive that packed the most watermelon-juice wintered the best. I fed several hundred water- melons to m3- bees, and they were all packed in saw- dust. They are now working in the caps. I have several queens laying that [ raised this spring. The first one began to lay April 19. Geo. W. Stites. Spring Station, Spencer Co., Ind., May 9, 1881. AVhy, friend S.. I am a great deal n-orse sinner tlian you represent me. I have not only let all my bees die, but I have been in- striunental in bringing into existence bees all over our land, and other lands too, that have died as mine did, and not only this past winter, but other winters as well. I would mostgladly tie up the lines and letold '' Snip '' guide us safe home, if that would do it. If you mean they would have wintered better in the old brimstone way, and box hives, I will tell you that a neighbor across the street had a lot of box hives last season, and talked almost all se-i son long of the advantages of box hives and black bees to stand the win- ter, etc.; but his box hives are all dead long ago, and the only four he saved out of an apiary of 2-5 or HO were Italians in chaff hives, j)repared just as mine were. In fact, the past winter has almost '•extinguished"' black bees and box hives the country over, and we are now ready for Italianizing, in a way we never were before. If you mean that we let our bees starve. I can tell you that we have combs filled with good sealed honey, in such quantity that I hardly know what to do with them. You have wintered all right, but hundreds have wintered all wrong, where (to be frank) it is pretty hard to tell why. The only swe way that I now see is protection by good cellars, such as George Grimm and others use; but some of the reports would seem to indicate that even cellars are not •■ .*ffn'^?,(/ sure." Your water- melon report begins to shake my faith again, for I Avould have said, surely, that colony will die. Right on this point, the Prairie Farm- er gives a report of excellent wintering of an apiary right close to a cider-mill, where the owner expected they would all die, from in- cessant Avorking on the cider. So well con- vinced was he of this, that he moved a great part of his bees away to save them; but those he moved away died, while the cider-fed ones lived. How much do we know about it, after allV a disappointed ABC SCHOLAR, ETC. I suppose you want all of your ABC scholars to speak their little piece, so I will make my bow. Last June I bought an A B C book of you, and two colonies of bees of Wm. Gary, Jr., of Colerain, Mass., and took my place at the foot of the class. I began dividing and building up colonics, and by fall had seven strong clonics and two weak ones. The two I united with two others, and prepared them for win- ter by putting three in chatf hives according to your direction?, and four in a good dry cellar prepared as friend Gary does his. I determined to try both plans, and satisfj' myself as to the better way to winter; but to my disappointment all of them came out strong and in good condition, so I am as much in the dark as ever. Almost every one who has bees lost part or all In this section this winter. WHY THEY ACT SO. And now please tell me what one swarm of my bees are trying to act out; they are the only ones that came out naturally last summer. I hived them the 7th of July, and they have done as well as any of the lot; but from that day to this, when it is warm enough for them to be out, they are continually pulling and hauling each other around on the alight- ing-board; sometimes one and sometimes four or five will get hold of one, and they will go over him as though they would tear him all to pieces. I thought at first there was robbing going on. Some- times the victim takes it quietly until they get done with him, and then walks quietly away; at others, he tries hard to get away ; but I don't know that they ever kill one. It can not be they arc daubed, and these are cleaning them off, for none of the other swarms have any such trouble. If you can, please tell me what it means, and if I can put a stop to it, as it annoys me very much. I shall hope to see it in GLE.A.N1NGS for June. J. W. Merrill. Norway, Maine, May 9, 1881. The bees that they pull about so are, if I am con-ect, young bees from some other hive, that have got in there by mistake. They do not want to kill them, as "they would robbers, yet they wish to give theni to un- derstand clearly that they do not belong there, and are not wanted. The reason why you see it in this particular hive and no oth- er is, I think, that some other hive stands too close to this one, or at least has such a resemblance to it that the young bees are continually getting confused. It is a rather common phenomenon, and has several times l)een commented on. If any one has a dif- ferent explanation, we should be very glad to hear it. 294 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. June A GOOD CROP IN A POOR SEASON, AND THE SECRET OF SUCCESS. My report for 1880 is this:— No. of colonies May 1, 65; net pi-occeds for honey sold, $500.00. Secret of success, 3 pecks of Italians to the hive. Bees win- tered in cellar as directed in A B C. No. lost, 5 colo- nies; cause, too much cider. The rest, 60, are in good shape, with brood in .l to .5 combs, and plenty of honey. I have been watching your ehalT hive Avith interest, and like it very much, but object to cost in large apiaries. It may be I will like them better when tested for summer use (by myself.) J. E. Wai^cher. Mlllersville, 111., April 7, 1881. Well, I declare, friend W., I believe your secret is a grand one. AVliy don't you have it patented, and charge $5.00 for a "family right''? report from the tenement hive. You ask for reports from old bee-keepers in re- gard to the wintering of our bees the past winter. Here is mine. Of 6 swarms in Simplicity hives with shavings banked around them, and chaff-cushion di- visions, .5 are dead. Of 35 swarms in single chaff hives, I have lost one. Of 104 swarms in tenement hives, [ have lost 3. The chaff and tenement hives have consumed less stores than did those in the Sim- plicity, although they have wintered through, and only one of the Simplicities died. D. C. Underhill. Seneca, Lasalle Co., 111., April 30, 1881. Although we lost all four in our single ten- ement hive, 1 have no doubt but that they will answer as well, or even better, than the chaif hives, if the bees are well prepared in ample time to get well waxed up before win- ter comes on. wonders will never cea.se. I have a queen 3 years old that produced pm-e Italian workers imtil she began breeding this spring, and, to my surprise, she now produces the worst- looking hybrids I ever saw. You may suggest that this is a stray queen. I thought so till I examined her, and knew her both by her looks and strange habit of trying to hide from me when the bees are being examined. A. S. Smith. Atlanta, Ga., April l.'j, 1881. Now, friend 8., as it would be the most natural thing in the world for a, daughter to not only look like her mother, but also to have tlie very same habit you speak of, I would suggest that you niay be mistaken still. making dark comb honey light bv bleaching in the sun. I have been experimenting some in regard to those nice sections of honey, the cappings of which have become soiled by the bees running over them with their "dirty boots" during pumijkin bloom, chestnut bloom, etc., and have succeeded in making them as nice and white as any. I tried sulphur, hut it would not bleach it, although smoked for days; but by putting a section in the window in the sun a few days it will be as nice as though it had never been soiled; but be Careful, and ilo not let it get too warm, for the sUn shining through gla^s is apt to cause them to " wilt," as I have found out. This year I propose to make a rack in the window of my honey-room, with shelves from bottom to top, on which to pUt all soiled combs, shading from the hot sun; bleach one side, then turn the other. This plan, if practiced, will make a difference of hundreds of dollars in our honey crop, tor we expect to get a crop this year. W. Kugeb. Conklin, Broome Co., N. Y., Apr. 24, 1881. Friend K., you have struck on a most im- portant matter; and if this succeeds, as I am rather inclined to think it will, at least in a measure, it is going to be of great mon- ey value to us. Will those who have comb honey on hand please test and report as soon as they can conveniently V We have a little left, and will try to get at it as soon as the sun shines. ITALIAN QUEENS TURNING BLACK. The dollar queen bought of you last fall either died after keeping her two or three months, and her colony raised another, which was nearly black, and this spring lay nothing but drone eggs, or the one I got of you turned black and laid drone eggs. One of the two things happened. I am at a loss to know which. B. F. Payne. Bridgeport, Harrison Co., W. Va., Apr. 30, 1881. I can not quite agree Avith you, friend P. I think a black queen from some stray swarm got into the hive and killed your Italian queen. The reports we have had in the matter seem to indicate that this happens much oftener than Ave are aware of. My bees all wintered well, and are doing flnely this spring. Fruit-trees are in bloom now. BOX-ELDER I see advertised as a great honey-tree. I have one growing in my yard, which blooms every year; is in full bloom at this time, but I have not seen a bee on the tree yet. It may be good in some localities, but 1 think not here. WINTERING BEES WITH SECTIONS, ETC. I Wintered the stands of bees on their summer stands, with the caps on, and they are as strong stands as I have had. \''ery little spring dwindling. Phillipstown, Ills., Apr. 37, 18S1. D. Newell. CELLARS, CHAFF HIVES, ETC. I had 30 last fall, which all came through safe. I had 10 in the cellar, 10 in chaff hives on their sum- mer stands. Those 10 stands were in a very bleak situation, on ground sloping north-west. I had my boys, as thej^ cleaned out the horse-stable, draw the manure and bank the chaff hives on three sides up to the lids. I think the chaff hives have come through the best, although all the perceptible differ- ence is, their combs and hives are dry. Some of those that were in the cellar were quite damp, and some of their combs were quite moldy, particularly the back end of the frames, lower corner. I put them in the cellar the first week in December; put them out for a purifying lly March nth, for 24 hours; put them out April 15. At this date they are gather- ing both honey and pollen, and as many hives as I have looked into have lots ot eggs and young brood. J. T. Beech. Burnt River, Out.. Can., April 31, 1881. No combs should ever become moldy > either by chaff hives or cellar wintering ; in the lattc-r case, it indicates imperfect venti- lation of the cellar, and with chaff hives, im- perfect ventilation above tlie chaff. ''J'he re- ports of the past vv inter seem to be rather* in favor of cellar wintering, es])ecially where a great number of colonies are kept. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 295 THE .lUVENILE CLASS, AND OTHER ITEMS. My report to May, 1881, is as follows: Prepared for winter Oct. 23, 1880, 49 colonies apparently in g'ood condition on summer stands, with 10 frames below and quilt and chaff cushion top of all except one two-story hive with 10 Gallup frames below and 10 above; the other 48 are L. hives. May 1, 1881, had 47 colonies alive and in good condition. The Gallup- hive colony was rather weak; g'ood queens in all the hives, and building up nicely on fruit-bloom. I am glad to see you put yourself in Blasted Hopes, al- though I am sorry that you last so many bees. I would like to see a report from friend Hogarty, of Quindaro, Kansas. One year ago ho had 130 colo- nies; this spring he said he had 5 colonies left, and he has not sold any. He wants to sell out and quit the business. I think the bees in this neighborhood are about two thirds dead this spring. We have had a very hard winter, but my bees were not over 18 days without flying, at any time from Dec, 1880, to March 1, 1881, and they came out this spring in bet- ter condition, and stronger, than they did one year ago. I hardly know if it was the fault of the bees, the weather, the mode fd' preparation, or all com- bined ; but, as Mark Twain or some other philoso- pher saj's, "1 think it was." May be it was luck; who knows? One question: How do you know that honey will keep good in tin cans scaled tight "one hundred j'ears"? Won't you come down a year or two? Allow me to thank Mrs. Harrison and your- self for so much kindness to the Juvenile Class. Jas. a. Nelson. AVyandott, Kansas, May 13, 1881. You are right about the lioney, friend N., for I have never tried it a full hundred years, and it might not kee]) over 99; but Uien, again, it might keep a thousand. Suppose we label a can or two, and set it away for posterity, and have them report. You must not give me too much credit, friend X., for I expect the Juvenile Department to furnish us very important facts, and some that, per- haps, 1 could not get the old ones to give. ]iy the bye, young bees a day or two old are of no use as honey -gatherers; but every bee-keeper knows that, with his hives full of such, he will in due time reap a bountiful harvest. When we move off the stage 1 ex- pect iJlue Eyes and the rest to take our places, and the thought of it makes me long to get better acquainted with them all. More than all, friend N., I have a great longing to know that their little feet are already start- ed in wisdom's ways, and, to sum it all up briefly, that they are all Sunday-school scholars. LEAVING SECTION BOXES ON ALL WINTER. I have to report bees mostly dead all through this section. I think fully 75 pf>r cent or more have per- ished during the winter and spring. You made the inquiry if any had left section boxes on, and the re- sult. I use a IVo-story chaff hive, and .5x6 section box. The supers set on the top of the hive; the boxes on top of the frames; chaff all round, about 3 inches on top. When I took off the boxes, I lefts to experiment— one old, the other a young swarm, both Italians, and both are living, and among my best now. I have 16 living; lost 50 per cent. N. Case. Orangeville, N. Y., May 14, 1881. I confess there is something very perplex- ing to me in these reports. Is it really a fact, that there is some very important point in regard to wintering, of which we are in igno- rance? bees by the PODNn. If you will furnish the cages all provisioned, 1 will send you bees at 75 cts. per lb., you paying ex- press charges. If you do not want bees, I will fur- nih your customers at same rates. You must send cages prepaid. A. T. McIlwatn. Abbeville C. H., S. C, May 7, 1881. I fear it is too far for us, friend JSL, but there are doubtless many of our customers who will be very glad indeed to accept your offer. We will mail you a cage all prepared to-day, and you can try 1 lb., and we can then tell soiiie thing about what the express will be. fastening fdn. in frames. I have just invented a new plan for fastening fdn. in sections and frames. Take a tin tube about the size and shape of the one in the cold-blast smoker, with a very small hole in the little end. Put the tube, little end down, into a cup of melted wax; then put your thumb over the large end, and take the tube out. Your thumb will keep the wax from running out. Take your thumb off whilst you draw the tube along, letting it touch the wood and wax where they are to be joined, and the small stream will stick it nicelj'. This may be old to you, but I think it is a good plan, at any rate. Greeneville,Tenn.,May 16, '81. Chas. Kingslev. Your idea is quite ingenious indeed, friend K.; but since the Parker fastener, and the advent of rubbing the wax sheets fast where we want them, the melted-wax plan has been mostly discarded. Thanks for it never- theless. ] t strikes me, on the impulse of the moment, that you have given us an idea for our wax-fountain, in getting the right amount for a sheet on the rubber plates. CHAFF packing. I think it is my turn to recite next. I put into winter-quarters seven good swarms and one weak one. This spring I have eight what I would call ex- tra good ones. I lost none. They kept up brood- rearing more or less all winter. They increase in numbers instead of decreasing. I will give my mode of wintering and springing. I use the shallow-frame Langstroth hive. 1 make a rough box, about 4-icches larger all around than my hive, and about 8 inches higher, and a good' cover to keep the water out. From one side of the box I saw a hole about as large as the front of the hive; put a few inches of chaff in the box; set in the hive, the front thereof to cor- respond with the hole in the box. Pack chaff on three sides and on top. I leave the quilt on all to cover the frames. My hives face the south in win- ter. PREPARING FOR WINTER. I like to have plenty of young bees to go into win- ter-quarters with, and so as soon as the honey sea- son is over, and brood-rearing ceases, I stimulate the queen by feeding syrup and flour made into a batter, and spread on a comb and hung in the hive. I repeat about every week until cold weather comes, and before packing in the fall I see that all have plenty of good sealed honey to winter on. When spring opens I stimulate the queen the same as in the fall, for I want my hives crowded with bees and 296 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. June honey by the 15th of May at least, so they will be ready to work In boxes as soon as white clover makes its appearence. The man who gets the honey is the man who is ready with his bees when the honey is ready for him. If the weather is favorable, I think I shall g'Ct a little surplus from apple-blossoms this season. I have not lost a swarm for two winters; but my good luck does not depend on my own skill alone. Last fall I dreaded the approach of winter, and prayed that my pets might winter safely. My prayers were answered. I always bear in mind the following passages: " Aslx, and it shall be given un- to you. " "God will help those who help them- selves." H. AIjFHED. Lordstown, Trumbull Co., O., May 7, 1881. ,$cf4§ and §ti^m§. j^O-DAY I have CT hives with bees, 58 averaging some brood in 4 frames, and 9 having a little patch of brood, in one or two frames. Marengo, 111., May li, 1881. C. C. Miller. NEW HONEY AND A GOOD PRICE. I hope the honey tumblers will be in soon, for I have honey to fill them aready, and engaged at I6-3 cts. per lb. E. J. Atchlev. Lancaster, Tex., Apr. 22, 1881. At a meeting of the Southern Mich. Bee-keepers' Association, held in this city the 11th inst., 39 report- ed on hand last fall, 771 colonies; on hand May 11, 335. B. Salisbury, Sec. Battle Creek, Mich., May 13, 1881. BURYING BEES. I bury my beos as we do potatoes, and have for 3 years past, anijl lost 25 per cent. Also H. D. Mason lost 15 per cent of those buried. S. H. Corbin. Fabius, N. Y., May 1, 1881. APRIL SWARMING IN OREGON. I had one flue swarm of bees come out April 21. They are doing finely. Expect more in a day or two. A. J. Brumbaugh. Cottage Grove, Lane Co., Oregon, April 23, 1881. I have to-day finished taking my bees out of the cellar. They have been in 1.58 days without a fly; put in 137 swarms, and set out 130 in good condition. There has been great loss of bees in this section the past winter. N. F. Case. Glensdale, N. Y., Apr. 27, 1881.' FLORIDA. Our bees are gathering honey in large quantities from the lime, bananas, and oranges, and we think It beats the white clover in flavor. It does not look so white. It is not only ourselves who think so, but strangers who visit our tropical island. C. A. DE Louo. Key West, Monroe Co., Fla., Apr. 12, 1881. I have lost 80 swarms out of .55. I am the only one around who has any left; one of my neighbors has lost 58, all he had. I want to find, through Glean- ings, where I can procure a dozen nuclei Italians. Levi H. Baldwin. Hingham, Sheb. Co., Wis., Apr. 18, 1881. OPEN-AIR EEEblNG. I am feeding sugar syrup in the open air; feed as much as 12 or 15 gallons at a feeding. It is a suc- cess. I have now no bees in the neighborhood to in- terfere. I can furnish you a few million Simpson plants at 10c per hundred if you fall short. Spider plants and catnip same price. H. K. Boardman. East Townsend, O., May 4, 1881. NEW HONEY BY THE TON. I commenced this spring with 132 colonies; have increased to 1-16, and have taken to date .5760 lbs. ex. honey, with about 600 lbs. more to come out next week. I have had between 40 and 50 natural swarms, all of which I returned except 14 that would not re- main in parent hive after cutting out queen-cells. If I get as much honey per hive as I got in 1879, I will close the season with 14,430 lbs. J. D. Bedell. Franklin, St Mary Par., La., Apr. 24, 1881. CELLAR WINTERING. Mr. C. R. Miles, of Pawnee City, Neb., says, " I tell you, the cellar Is the place to winter bees, and no more words about it." I indorse every word of that: it is a whole sermon in a nut-shell. Erie City, Pa., May 8, 1881. C. H. Fronce. DRONE COMB ON FLAT-BOTTOMED WORKER FDN. I find that the bees disregard the cell foundations in the flat bottomed wired fdn., for in some sheets I find that they built up the greater part with drone cells, though the fdn. was for woihcr cells. Louis Knorr, M. D. Savannah, Ga., April 30, 1881. HIVES UP ON BENCHES. Two-thirds of the bees in this section are non est. I have lost but 3 colonies out of 8; wintered on sum- mer stands. My neighbor's bees sat on high benches, while mine are placed close to the ground, and were buried in snow, to which I attribute my better suc- cess. J. P. SWAUTHOUT. Crystal Springs, Yates Co., N. Y., Apr.2i), 1881. In regard to bee-keeping, I would report that I purchased two Italian colonics from L. C. Root in May, 1880; increased them to 8, and have wintered them without loss; also 4 black swarms bought last fall. Wintered in cellar, with occasional fires in coldest weather. At least 50 per cent of the bees in this county are dead. S. Markwick Ox Bow, Jefferson Co., N. Y., May 13, 1881. FOUL BROOD IN UTAH, ETC. Our bees have wintered well on summer stands in Salt Lake Co., Utah. We did well with beos last summer. They stored much honey, and have con- siderable bees and brood now. Some are swarming naturally at this date. We expect to have a good season for bees, from the present appearance of the times. I am the County Bee Inspector of foul brood , and there is considerable less of it now. I did not meet with any person last season, 1880, but was will- ing to destroy all the bees and hives that I found in- fected, by burning them up. Geo. B. Bailey. Mill Creek, Utah, May 10, 1881. ONIONS VERSUS BEES. My bees are all dead, but don't you say a word, and I will make it all O. K. I am going to raise onions this year, or at least make a trial. J. Patterson Watt. Duck Creek, Mercer Co., 111., Apr. 12,1881. [Well, if you really insist on it, friend P., of course I won't say a word about it; but I can not help thinking (all to myself, you know) that may be you will have as much trouble with onions as the 18S1 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 297 young man did who lived near Mr. Merrybanks. Don't you think you had better have a few bees just for old associations' sake?] RAISING BEES. What is the best way to raise /j^cs —by dividing them and giving them good queens, or by leaving them In strong colonies? J. H. Bdrrage. Concord, N. C, May 4, 18S1. [[ think, if not carried to too great an extreme, you can raise more bees by having ail strong colo- nies; that is, one good prolific queen, with a good hive full of bees, will raise more brood than the same quantity of bees woull with two good queens. During very warm weather, of course not as many bees are needed to care for the same quantity of brood.] Bees are doing well, and there is a good prospect for a flrst-rate season. First swarm of bees March 22d. I have had a tussel with foul brood. I think that it is tirst started by chilled brood. Los Angeles, Cal., April 9, 1881. W. W. BLI^s. BOX hives versus simplicity for wintering. I went into winter-quarters with 16 bo.v hives and 14 Simplicity. I have now 8 box hives left and one Simplicity. A. L. Clark. Buffalo Plains, N. Y., April 11, 1881. [This report might at first seem to indicate the box hives the better for wintering, and I should not be much surprised if such were the case; but if I am not mistaken, the former were old and well gummed up, and the bees on old tough combi*, while the Simplicities had new swarms, or artificial colo- nies, mostly, if not all, on new combs. This alone makes a vastdifiference. I do not think I would risk either kind of hive outdoors without protection.] Please send me a five-cent paper of Vilmorin's im- proved dandelion ssed. I want them for greens, and to remind "me of the " long ago.' ' I have not seen a dandelion since I left my native State, New York. None grow in this part of California. Mrs. May C. Stowell. San Rafael, Marin Co., Cal„ May 9, 1881. [Our VilmoriDS, at this date, May 17, are a s-ght, I tell you, but the bees are so busily at work on apple- bloom they do not notice them much now. If a dandelion blossom were not such a very common sight, these great vellow blossoms might rank fairlj' with our dahlias and yellotv roses. We hope the greens and blossoms may flourish abundantly in your land of gold, my friend.] imcuragmQi ^ IKE friend Martin, I have been visiting some of J»(|j|| my brother bee-keepers. The first call that I made was on W. 11. Bohannon. I found his bees all alive (19 cols.), and in good trim, and himself a good subject for the Spiilery. He says, " Tell R. H. Mellen, of page 24, Jan. No., that I am a near rela- tive of Merrybanks', but I am not so robust as friend M., because I have not been a bee-keeper so long," but, like friend M., he uses very large boxes and abundance of chaff in packing his bees, and that he has never lost a colony, and thinks that he will not so long as he follows that plan of paciiing. I think myself that friend Mellen was a little hard on Mr. Merrybanks and his connection in his article on wintering bees, and that he gave only one side of the subject, and not a very good display at that. I will admit, that bees would winter in a dark cellar (if at all) on less honey than they would above ground; but how is it about depriving them of the benefit of God's glorious light for four long months ? Don't you think that it would be an act of mercy to winter them where they could have the benefit of a prome- nade on those mild sunny days that we sometimes have in winter, and that it would pay well for the extra honey that they would consume? In regard to the beauty of the bee-yard, it does not look so nice when prepared for winter as it does in June, when he has it all spruced up; but it has at least a look of comfort in place of the desolation when bees have all been removed to the cellar. S. H. Lane. Whitestown, Boone Co., Ind., Apr. 2J, 1881. The L'Hommedicu Bros, have had their usual suc- cess in wintering their bees. Cellared Nov. 9; set them out April 13 and 16; 4 dead, 1 queenless; sold 2, which loaves us 71 colonies to date. D. E. & F. J. L'Hommedieu. Colo, Story Co., Iowa, May 4, 1881. I wintered 16 colonies in chaff hives of my own get up, without any loss; I now have from 5 to 8 cards of brood in my hives. I never saw bees build up so fast. I should like to exchange some bees by the pound for good queens. A part of my bees are Italians and part hybrids. A. H. Squire. Nicholville, N. Y., May 12, 1881. I went into winter-quarters with four strong colo- nies, and they are all — no, not dead, but just the livest colonies in all the country round; and I think it is all owing to watchful care last fall, all through winter, this spring, and all of the time. You see, I am a new hand, and have not got careless yet. M. M. Fay. Council BUiETs, Potta. Co., Iowa, April 16, 1881. The average loss among the bees, I should judge, in Southern Minnesota is 50 per cent. I am one of the lucky ones; wintered 23 hives of Italians in cel- lar under my living-room, without a single loss. Confined 5 months lacking 2 days; add to this time 10 days without a fly before placing in cellar, and you have 5 months and 8 days without a fly. All came through finely, and are now breeding well. F. A. TiCKNOR. Austin, Minn., April 29, 1881. REPORT FOR 1881. Went into winter with 84 colonies; come out with 82; some of them were weak in the fall. Prepared, or, rather, unprepared, as follows; I took the sec- tion boxes off in October; left the honey-boards on; they are }s of an inch thick, with 18 l^i-inch holes in them. I spread a clnth over the honey-board, and set a box of chaff on top. The brood-chamber was left just as I ran them for honey. I would have con- tracted the brood-chamber, but the cold crossed me out. I had 4 colonies queenless. I wintered 88 queens; that gave me 4 quesns to supply the 4 colo- nies with. The 4 hives that Ihadthequeensinlgave in this as 4 hives. They contained 8 queens. I took out 4 queens and united them. They were wintered on summer stands, with no protection but chaff on top. I will start this spring, if I lose no more, with 79 colonies. My report is 82, but I have sold three colonies. RuFus Robinson. lola. Clay Co., 111., May 7, 1881. 298 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. June OUR OAVN APIARY. ■'AY 10//i,.— Although fruit-trees are not yet in bloom, we have, for nearly two weeks past, had quite a flow of light- colored honey. I have been a good deal puzzled to tell where it came from. Very likely it is from dandelions, early cherries, and soft and hard maple— principally from the latter, I am inclined to think. We have been tiansferring right along, and the bees build combs and fasten them into frames just about as well as dwring fruit-bloom. We have about 40 colonies now, and more are coming every few days. Yesterday we sold about $35. 00 worth of bees and queens from the 40 colonies, and they were still working very fairly before G o'clock this morning. Selling bees by the pomid is proving to be a great success, and a great blessing— this spring especially. A great many are now keeping bees who are professional men, or men in business. Well, these men have nice hives, nicely arranged on their grounds, and they are just as nicely arranged now as they were last fall, except that the hives have no bees in them. They do not want any more hives nor any more combs ; neither do they want to buy bees in box hives, and under- take the troublesome job of transferring, as professional bee-men do. What shall they do to get going again, without any trouble or bother except to hand over the money? Simply buy one, two, or three lbs. of bees witli a queen, turn them loose at the en- trance of their hives in May, and the work is done. In fact, the bees can be put in the hive within five minutes after getting them from the express office, and in an hour you will have a nice w'orking colony. With the tunnel described in the August number last year, the task of putting up a pound of bees and queen is but a little more than letting them out. Go to any good stock, and raise the combs until you find the queen. Place the frame she is on otf a little to one side, and then proceed to shake the bees from the remaining combs. You will get a pound without trouble, by shaking a few from each comb ; but if you wish to get 2 lbs. or more, or many bees are in the fields, you may need to brush all the bees oif ; and the very best implement for this purpose we have ever found is the California yucca brush on our 5c counter. A bunch of grass is always let- ting blades slip out, which drop into the hives aiid bother the bees to get them out. Asparagus tops are but little better, and al- most any kind of a brush broom will hurt the soft young bees. If you have no assist- ant to liold the tunnel, lean it against the hive, holding it with your knee. This idea I got from neighbor II. While Favorite scales are by far the handiest, almost any scale will do to weigh the bees. The 10-cent scale will do very well if used with a little care. Weigh your cage first, and then make a mark Avith your pencil where tlie index should stand. Set the cage near tlie en- trance, with the tunnel in the top of it, as explained. You will soon be able to tell when you have about enough, and you can then shake it while on the scale until enough fly out to have the index just right. Now put on the cap ; but before fastening it with tacks, put the queen carefully under one corner. You can then tell your customer you know she was in, for you put her in the very last thing yourself. We often hear of a single colony of bees furnishing $25. (JO worth of honey, "and it is my opinion that a good colony and queen, worked for bees, would give full as much, if not more, and the demand now for bees by the pound is far in excess of any demand I ever knew for honey. \Ve have already sold bees and queens from single hives to the amount of over $10. 00, and they are fair colonies yet, and the season is before them. Wake up, boys, and do good and get paid for it. M(uj 24//i.— Well, I tell you, my friends, we have had a busy time during the past two weeks. IJees have come in by the wagon- load, besides what the friends have sent in by express, and they have gone out, too, by the wagon-load. All orders have been filled pretty well, except for dollar queens and pounds of bees, and for black queens and pounds of their bees. This latter feature a little surprises me. In putting black and hybrid queens into our price list, I did it, re- marking we could supply the demand only when we happened to have them ; but this spring, it w^ould have required an apiary run for each to supply the call. I presume it has been owing to the anxiety to get bees on the empty combs, and because these are so much cheaper. Well, to fill this demand I purchased 34 box hives of blacks. Ernest, John, neighbor IL, and myself, all went in- to the task of transferiing. They are all done but 10. Said I to my wife at supper, — " I do not believe I will ever buy any more box hives of bees at any price." '' 'iVliy, my dear husband, how can we be- lieve you? You have said tlie same thing almost every year ever since you have had bees, and yet you always keep buying them whenever anybody offers you any." " I tell you what, pa," said Ernest, " I would not take any more of the pesky mean things as a gift. The combs are all twisted and crooked, and full of holes, and the great- er part of them nasty and black, and good for nothing. Then the bees tumble right off their combs, scatter around and get stepped on. They won't defend themselves from either robbers or moth worms, nor do any thing else but crawl up a body's trousers legs and sting. One of the Italian stocks tliat you get of Rice or Dean is worth a whole half-dozen box hives, and I am sure yon lost money on them, even if you did get them for $4.00 apiece." " Gently, my boy ; you know we filled orders by buying them." " VV^ell, I wouldn't have any such orders. I wouldn't advertise them " I think Ernest is about right, my friends ; but for all that, I like to furnish what the people ask for. Perhaps I might remark, these black stocks were all wintered in a cellar. The owner is to have the old hives back again, and he says he is going to put more bees in them. If I were going to buy them, I would furnish him frames of fdn. almost free of charge, to save another such 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 299 an awful muss and waste, as the one we have had. In fact, we are not throvigh with it yet, for the bees rob so awfully, in spite of tents, comb-baskets, and every thing else, we shall have to give it vip until the locusts bloom. We can get a hive transferred, it is true, but the jobbers will pile on to it at such a rate (black robbers too, mind yf u), that we have to leave a tent on it all day, or until ihey lick up the honey. Pounds of bees lie dead in front of the hives ; three colonies have been robbed so badly that they swarmed out, and two queens "have been found dead in front of the hives, on account of robbers. II. found one runaway swarm on top of a grapevine stake, and shook them into a cage after tinding the queen, and thus filled one order without shaking these off the combs at all. Now for the Italians : We have transfer- red nearly a hundred, from combs of differ- ent sizes, but have never had a bit of trouble. The bees stay on their combs, and when there is loose honey around, they lose no time in licking it up, and putting in tlie proper cells in a neat and tidy way. No holes are found in their combs, made by dig- ging out moth worms all the time, for they do not allow any such work to commence with. My friends, what would you take to go back to box hives and black bees? SOME HINTS ABOUT (^UKKXKEARING, AND SELLING IJEES BY THE POUND. When you shake nearly all of the bees from a hive or nucleus, you often leave too few to care for the brood, and it may starve, if not provided for. Well, in such a case, think if you have not some colony raising queen-cells or the like, that could take care of the comb, and be greatly benefited by it. We can almost always dispose of a dozen combs of brood to excellent advantage in this way, for one good queen can almost al- ways lay eggs for two or three ordinary col- onies. The" way neighbor II. manages to raise so many queens, and keep his Avhole apiary strong all the time, is by making one queen lay eggs for several hives. Enid a queen that will bear it, and then give her an empty coiub just long enough to have it filled fairly with eggs, and then put it in your col- ony that is raising cells, waiting for a (^ueen to be fertilized, or that, from any other reason, has not eggs and unsealed larvae. You will often see the bees raise a hum of rejoicing, just at the sight of some thing to work at. Do not let a colony be idle, even one day. I know it takes brains to do this, and careful thoughtfulness ; but if you can not command this, you must be content to be a— small bee-keeper. Another thing : We are introducin.^ queens daily that Ave have purchased. ^V ell, sometimes when we have not places for them all, we introduce a queen to a colony having one or more queen-cells. Now, strange to tell, a laying queen will often go to work and lay the combs full of eggs witlKuit even stopping to tear down the cells at all. Well, we take her out with a pound of bees, and the cells then hatch out just as well as if she had not been there. You see, we got the hive replenished with eggs, without losing a bit of time, and the queen could just as well be doing this as waiting caged up in the office for a cus- tomer. INTRODUCING WITH THE PEET CAGE. At my first attempt, the bees dug a hole in the combs under one side of the cage, and killed her. Ernest was going to denounce the cage pretty vehemently at this, but I told him this was a very fair illustration of how we often judge uncharitably. Had I lost a half-dozen right along, with the mass of evidence in favor of the plan, I should have said I was wrong, and the rest Avere right. Since then, I believe we have lost none. When queens are received that are feeble, the idea of caging them right on a brood coml) of new honey is a grand advance. If any thing will bring a queen up, this will. Another point : We can put the queen right into the hive, at the same operation of tak- ing another out. Now, there is one point I wish to impress upon you. Neither this cage nor any other has any particular virtues in making the bees good-natured (unless it is that we don't have to open the hive so much, let in robbers, etc.), but the real facts of the case seem to be. that, the greater part of the time, the queens would be received if let rignt out, without any cage. I took seven queens into the apiary, and turned six of them loose, one after the other, and not one was molested. They Avere all given to hives that had built queen-cells, and had no un- sealed brood. The seventh AA^ould not take theirs at all, nor Avould they after I had tried her daily for nearly a week. They were cross hybrids, and killed her at last. If you are going into the queen business, you Avill save a greatdeal by having no hybrids at all. Neighbor Rice says he has no cross bees in his yard, and, what is more, he iDon't have any. THE (iUINBV SMOKER, AVITH BOTH DIUECT AND COLD BLAST. One of these has been in use in our apiary for some time, and at first the boys were sure the direct-draft arrangement Avas a great ad- vantage over the usual cold-blast Simplicity. With stubborn fuel, a direct draft is Avithout question an advantage ; but Avith a Avagon- load of fine rotten wood, such as we keep constantly in stock, I find our own smoker much the handiest for me, for I can light it with a match, and have my hybrids all driv- en down out of the way, long before the boys have got any smoke at all from the Qiiinby or IJinghahi. Of course, you are not all like myself. The Quinby smoker has a most excellent bellows, and is an excellent smoker in CA^ery respect. ROBBING, IIOAV TO CIRCUMA'ENT. After transferring, the bees Avould often pile on to the entrance so there was no such thing as defending it. and closing the hive during a hot day Avould be fatal to the in- mates. One of our raosqnito-bar tents, set over the hives, fixes it in a minute, and the transferred ones have all the air they need, and they can cluster outside, or go in and re- pair the broken combs, in perfect peace, as they choose, while the robbers buzz about inside the tent, and are prevented from do- ing harm elsewhere. 300 GLEANINGS IN BEE Cl^TURE. June Or Iietters from Those "Who liave Made Bee Culture a Failure. AM very sorry to be obliged to i-equest to be put at the foot of the list of Blasted Hopes, and to ask thee to draw a new cut especially for me. I have been in the business 8 years; packed last fall 8! stands for winter; thought all right; 45 were Italians, rest hybrids, 2 blacks only. I saved 2 Ital- ians, 2 blacks, 11 hybrids; 15 out of 83, and 3 of them only a handful. The queen I got of thee last spring Is all right, and one of the 3 pound boxes I got is alive yet, but very weak. I had a debt of $600.00 hanging over me; I thought perhaps I could get rid of it if I had good luck with bees, and invested ev- ery dollar I could spare in fixing up to handle bees; liut, oh dear! But I don't iutend giving up yet. I will try a few more as soon as they can be had by the pound, so I think I can stand it. I have about 25 lbs. of fdn. that 1 got last spring of A. I. Hoot, and plenty of comb; so I will send my wax and get some bees and queens. Where can I do the best? How is it with thee, brother Root? Can I get a few of thee to start again? Old Curley. New Sharon, Iowa, April 9, 1881. Now, friend "• Curly," I want to protest a little. Yon invested a sood deal ot" mon- ey, you say, with the idea of getting that $600.00 paid up. You bought bees by the pound of me, as I understand it. Now, why did you not raise your bees instead of buy- ing them V Neighbor II. has raised his whole apiary from a single stock, and never bought a pound of bees in his life. He has sold a good many, though. You speak of buying bees now. What for, I want to know y Build up those 15, and raise bees to sell rather. If you don't want hybrids, buy one pure queen, if you have none, and theii raise the rest yourself. Your hybrids, it would seem from your re])ort, wintered far better than the others. ''.Vliy not keep hy- brids ? It begins to almost seem to me, boys, that God is punishing us for our ex- travagance, and I do not know but I need the lesson as much as any of you. Folks who have plenty of money "in the bank, and keep bees only for fun, can afford to buy quantities of bees and high-priced queens, even when they have very good ones al- ready, but, friend C, I do"not believe you and I can afford to do so ; we are both of us in debt. Bees aro nearly all dead in this part of Wisconsin. 1 have lost from 56 last fall, to 9 at the present time ; and I do not know of any more than one man here who is coming out any better. If not, blasted, I am certainly busted. A. A. Winslow. New Holstein, Calumet Co., Wis , May 3, 1881. Whenever ray time for Gleanings expires, please stop the paper. I must catch my breath lirst after such a disxstrous winter on bees. Rout. M. Weir. Bloomiugton, Ind., May 17, 1881. I have the. promise of 2 or 3 weak stocks of bees to start up business. D. P. Lane. Koshkonong, Wis., April 13, 1881. Pretty cool, for one of our old veterans, is it not, friend Lane? I have spent $55 00 for bees, and have lost all. Now I want a pnper of Spider-plant seed, as the hon- ey can be dipped from the flowers with a spoon. You see, I will just gather my honey independently of bees. Mrs. M. J. Macquitiiy. Louisville, Ky., Apr. 2), 1881. THE DWINDLING. I have lost 43 swarms out of C3, which loaves me only 21. I never had bees " melt" away before; for it seemed as though they melted. Swarms that seemed strong six weeks ago are all gone. Spring dwindling is the cause, I suppose. R. Rathbun. Millington, Tuscola Co., Mich., Apr. 35, 1881. ]adi^§' §^p,adw^^^" SWARMING OUT IN SPRING. ^Tj^BES have had a hard time this winter. f^m persons have lost all they had. ~ Many Father had 19 swarms last fall. Only 7 are alive now. The imported queen he got of you last fall is all right. We had a hard winter — 100 days of good sleighing. Yesterday, as father was walking through his apiary, he discovered a cluster of bees on the top of the hive. On examination he found a queen there. He caged her and opened the hive, and put her back. He wants to know why she came out, having plenty of honey and some brood. Alice Humphrey. Redfield, Dallas Co., Iowa., Apr. 18, 1881. I think it was a case of absconding, friend Alice. The bees got dissatisfied with some thing, perhaps because tltey were weak in numbers, and, as poor h II man beings some- times do, tried to better their condition by " jumping out of the frying-pan into the fire." After flying around awhile, and find- ing no comfort out of doors, they likely went back and clustered on their old home, as you found them. When we find such a cluster, it is always well to ho sure where they be- long. If it did not happen that they cluster- ed on their own hive, and such is often the case, your father may have made mischief by putting them in wliere he did. A FURTnER REPORT FROM THE WILKINS SISTERS. On the ninth of March last, we had lost but 2 out of 55. We then expected to lose no more, having given our bees a thorough examination and putting to rights, and found them in much better shape than wo had anticipated. Our answers to inquiries at this time, and for two weeks later, were to this effect, so that I suppose wg are responsible, though inno- cently so, for the erroneous statement in circula- tion. [See page 226 of last month's journal. — .Bd.] We have now lost 7U?ie colonies, and have united others imtil we have reduced our number from 55 to 40. T/icsc we expect to keep We have had no acquaintance whatever with spring dwindling in previous years, nor had we ever bef')re lost a colony in wintering. I trust this may reach you in time to pi-event any undeserved credit being given us in Gleanings for May. Lucy A. Wilkins. Farwell, Mich., Apr. 22, 1881. Many tlianks, my friends, for correcting the mistake the newspapers were innocently making; I heartily wish our own sex were all as ready to correct any undeserved credit the world might happen to give them. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 301 $ur gfiimi' I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which ihou shalt go : 1 will guide thee with mine eye.— Psalm ',ii : 8. C^^\Ull I'riends will remember that we were Jlj considering?, last month, a letter from ~^ friend Leonard. Toward the opening of the letter he makes this remark: — " I do not care how much you mix your business up with your religion; it is none of my business, any more than if you should mix salt with your tea for breakfast. What conceras me is, are you an honest man, and trying to do to others as you would like to be done by?" If I am correct, this is the ^reat question that most of us care about. Is he who pre- sumes or undertakes to teach, thoroughly honest? In fact, this question comes up to me again and again; and as I weigh opin- ions of one great mind after another, I fall to wondering how many of them are thor- oughly honest. Yes, even in talking with and listening to ministers, T ask this same question. IIow much of what we hear or read is there that has not imderneath it all some thing that we do not know all about? I don't mean to allude to those who have a deliberate purpose of cheating, but only to the involuntary (as it were) deception that seems to well up from the heart, almost with- out poor humanity being for the time aware or it. The heart is desperately wicked, and deceitful above all things : who can know it?— Jek. 17 : 19. After all that has been said about honesty of purpose, it seems to me now there is no commodity in the world so eagerly sought for and so highly prized, as a wide-awake honest boy or girl, woman or man. TCvery- body rushes for him, and everybody wants him. It was his simple honesty that gave Abraham Lincoln the large place in the hearts of the people that almost no other man has had since the days of AVashington. One particular ])oint strikes me strangely and almost painfully, illustrating strongly the great need of a purer honesty of purpose than the world often finds. It is words just like yours, friend L., commending me for my honesty. I do not deserve it, and if the world at large make such bungling work of trying to be honest as I do, I tell you the state of affairs is bad indeed. At the time of my conversion, I promised God on my knees I would try to be honest and true to him and my fellow-men, no matter what consequences came from so doing, and I have been trying to remember this ever since; but it is with sadness I reflect that much of the time it has been too much by fits and starts, instead of a constant, steady purpose. Before this change of heart, or change of purpose, if you choose to call it so, I had been so much in the habit of making excuses and giving reasons that were not strictly facts, that it required a most power- ful effort to break away from the habit. AVhile the words were on my lips, I would sometimes remember, "thou, God, seest me," and stop abruptly, or change the con- versation in a way that might have puzzled my hearer, and often sadly embarrassed my- self; but God heard and approved. To my astonishment, it seemed as if men, too, heard and approved. I have been wonder- ing whether there were not intimate friends of mine who knew this weakness, and saw the strtiggles I was making to overcome it. My friends, all the arguments that were ever written in defense of the truths of the Bible are not as powerful to the eyes and ears of the world as the sight of a weak sin- ner fighting his way up to God in the way I have mentioned. 'The world pays a high premium for such work. It gives every such soul more credit than it deserves. Now, mind you right here that you will get no such credit if your inspiring motive is to earn the applause of men : it must be to win the approval of the God who made you. Tour prayer must be like that of David, — Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.— Psalm 51 : 10. Many of you know with what pleasure we receive some new discovery, or some new unlooked-for feature or help in bee culture. AVell, my friends, there are new truths that open ui^ and develop, just in the same way, to one who is striving to be freed from sin. I want to tell you of an experience of the past year. Almost every one knows what it is to have wrong thoughts and feelings in- trude tliemselves, and at times, too, when you are almost sure they came entirely un- invited. You can see no reason why they should intrude their hideous forms at all. Old temptations of years gone by suddenly force themselves into your mind, and you regard them more with surprise and curiosi- ty, at first, than any thing else. Could it really be that you ever in life harbored any thing so vile? I knew these thoughts were wrong and dangerous, and I first knelt in prayer, to have God keep me from tempta- tion. By and by they trooped back again. I took to praying wherever I was, and in a few months I was so used to saying to my- self, or aloud if no one was near, "Lord, help," that it began to come involinitarily. While in the street, if any thing happened to even remotely suggest the dangerous ground, " Lord, help," rang out sharp and clear, before I had even time to see why the signal of danger was sounded. After a little thought, I saw clearly what it was — well, let us say suggested the thought, that danger was coming. Is this not wonderful? and is it not glorious to think that God will, in time, as a reward for faitlifulness, send along, as it were, an ever-present monitor? I do not know but you, friend L., and some of the rest, may say I am going crazy ; but I think I can dispel that idea by what follows. A few weeks ago, I think it was not more than that, there came a temptation to make an excuse that was not quite an honest one, and, to my surprise, sharp and clear came the little warning, " Lord, help," to Avarn me of dangerous ground in that direction, as well as improper thoughts. The warning lias come here once this morning since I sat down to write. Now mind you, it is like the alarm clock I talked to you about a few weeks ago. It will be of no avail, and in 302 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. June fact it will never be heard, unless I jump to action in a moment, and heed its prompt warning. Should I once ignore its call, and go right on in what I ■was tempted to do, its voice would, in all probability, be fainter, and finally stilled. If, on the other hand, I look and listen for it, and recogniz3 it truly as being the voice of Him whose hands and feet were cruelly lacerated by the nails of the cross, my life will be nearer to him day by day, and new and brighter will be the ex- periences, until death opens the golden gates, and — " I shall be with him there." Does not the Bible promise some thing like I have mentionedV See:— He shall g-ive his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all ihy waj's.— Psalm 91 : II. There is something about this little warn- ing voice, commencing to take up the otfice of warning against any kind of sin, that re- minds me of a little incident of our home life. "Caddy," our youngest, is very much inclined to be boisterous during the minute devoted to asking a blessing at the table, and so we have been accustomed to ask her to fold her hands during the simple service. You see, if her hands were folded, and kept so, she could not very well get up a "clat- ter-' with her little knife, fork, and spoon. Well, for the first time in her life she went with her mother and sisters to some sort of an ice-cream festival in the public square. They sat at a little table by themselves, and after the dishes were set before them, dur- ing a momentary pause there wvs a move- ment of the little hands to clasp them in the accustomed way, while she glanced about to see who was going to ask the blessing in papa's absence. It was the force of habit and education, in her case, as well as with the warning voice of conscience I have been telling you about. She had been obedient, just as I had, and when the circumstances were changed, the force of former training would carry us both safely still. Now a word in regard to business matters. The greater part of you know me so well that you will not take my words amiss. Will such extreme honesty starve a man? Of course, you all know it won't, lie who strives to be honest before God, will surely be honest before men ; and if 1 heed this little warning voice, my business will con- tinue to build up until it reaches the utter- most corners of the earth, fen' it will be in God's hands, and he will be responsible for it. I used to have trouble in borrowing money when I needed it, or thought I needed it ; now I am asked to take people's money, as a favor to them ; this, too, when I have only half fought these battles as I might have done. Instead of giving me credit for what you have seen of me that you approve, give the credit to the book that teaches,— Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.— Matt. 5:8. WiU out- friends please turn to (he letter on page 250 of our May No., to which this is the answerf I have just read both chapters you refer to, friend L.; in fact, I used to wonder, as you do, why such chapters were put into the Bible. When I first noticed them, as they troubled me some, I concluded I would drop them until I got a little older in Bible lore, or until God saw fit to make it plainer to me. May I take the liberty to suggest right here, that it is hardly wise to speak as you do, in saying you know a thing is or is not soV The best-educated men 1 have ever met were very slow to make positive statements in re- gard to what they A?)c?«. If we wish to have our opinions considered of importance, should we not all be very careful in saying we knoa\ especially in regard to matters on which even wise and good men differ? The chapter in Genesis is one that would espe- cially stamp the Bible as a truthful narration, because it tells the bad as faithfully as the good. Had all these characters been pic- tured as pure and upright, we should have been discouraged in attempting to follow them. If you will look closely, you will see that the Bible nowhere indorses such sins, but only gives a history of them as they oc- curred. Every page so plainly exhoi'ts to purity and uprightness, that no one can pos- sibly mistake the tenor of the book as a whole. You would say, living in this en- lightened age, that such portions should have been omitted from the book. Those who have labored hardest for the suppres- sion of crime, and who have, as it were, had the greatest hand-to-hand conflicts with sin, decide, I think, with one voice, that the Bible, as it is, is the beat book to give one who wishes to reform. Again, how could we have ever admired the character of Joseph as we do, and how could wh have given him proper credit for his crowning act in life, did we not know how common was the sin of li- centiousness all around and about him? The psalm you refer to (109fh), is called, I believe, one of the " impiecatory '' psalms. At first glance, Uavid would seem to be praying that God would send curses on his enemies ; but if you read it through care- fully you will find, I think, that he alludes to the enemies of God, justice, and right. The keepers of saloons and gambling- houses are, in one sense, your enemies and mine. Would you want "to pray that they might prosper in their work of ruin? A few days ago, one of our boys was enticed to drink; and as often as we would get him back, some of the saloon-keepers' allies would Avaylay him and get hun intoxicated again. I asked the question of a friend, how it was possible that any one knowing him could have the heart to "hold the bottle to his lips, and why they should work so hard to accomplish his ruin. The reply was, that thej^ had no particular spite against him, but it was their hatred of our institu- tion, and the Sunday-school and reform work connected with it. They have not only an enmity against my poor self, but against God. Please, noAv, read the chapter, keep- ing this class in view, and I tliink you will find it not far from the sentiment you would indorse toward them. See— They cnmpassod me about also with words of ha- tred; and fought agaiast me without a cause. And again,— Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 303 Let mine adversaries bo clothed with shame; and let them cover themselves with their own confusion as with a mantle. If a man steadily devote himself to the task of getting boys to drink, and procuring it for them, and as years pass on there seems to be no hope of his doing any better, would it not be a real mercy to the world if he were under the sod in the churchyardV and if his children are to be brought "up in the same way, which they will in all probability, will it not be better that they should be cut olf in infancy, and thus spare tlie world their sad history of crimeV This you see would give US- Let his posterity be cut off: and in iho generation followinj? let their name be blotted out. I am very glad indeed, friend J^., that you were pleased with my mild answer, although I have no recollection of it at all now. I presume I did it in response to the spirit that Christ lias so plainly taught, and be- cause I was trying to follow in his footsteps, and not because of any virtue in myself. I have fought many hard battles before I could give such answers as you mention. May I not ask you to give him, my teacher, the praise and glory V Friend L., if you know any church that calls a liquor-dealer a good brother on ac- count of his paying a large sum of money, you have seen some thing I have not. Are you not taking this from hearsay? I am sure that Christian people all over the land will smile at the position you take in this. In regard to mercy, may I suggest that Jesus showed mercy only to those who were peni- tent. You surely would not cut oil: all chance to retrieve to those who wish sincere- ly to turn over a new leaf and do better? There is a truth in the position you take, and Jesus himself said, on this point,— I came not to sendpeacF,but a sword.— Matt. 10:o4. You are also right in your concluding words, and I really believe the way in which the world is to be converted hi by actions, and by showing the spirit of Christ in our business with each other. I presume, of course, you \vill turn in and help on that line, will you not? Give us this daj- our daily bread.— Matt. 6 : 11. Oleanings :— We admire your manner of dealing with your customers, your home writing, and your advice to X.Y.Z.; but it does not fully cover the case in point. What is the man to do while he is mukiug a reputation, if wages are too low to support him- self and family? It is like raising an orange grove in Florida, it one could only live while trees are growing. Many of us here are in the condition of X., only from 100 to 150 per cent worse. Our laborers can get only from 40 to 50 cts. per day, and then pay only for suitable weather when work can be done. If they turn their efforts to cultivating the soil, it is still worse. We, as merchants, lately sold what rep- resents a >i entire year's labor of one man for less than 100 dollars. One half of this amount went for use of land and horse, and vipon the remainder the laborer was expected to live honestly, and support himself and family, attend church, and send his children to school. The proceeds of labor on lands pay so little for rents of land, that the land-owners are in many cases advancing yearly rents to one- half of proceeds. Then the laborer will, on his 53 dollars a year, have to (in addition to the above) sup- port his horse, or reduce his wages. Is it not time that civilization and Christianity were tryingto solve this problem, before being forced to accept the Beecher prescription of " love and water" for sub- istence? W. H. W. New Market, Ala. JSIany thanks, friend \V. As you present the case, it does indeed seem sad ; and I grant that, from one standpoint, it seems a little discouraging. Without the help of God, Christianity, and civilization, it would be hopeless. You have spoken of civiliza- tion yourself, and so I presume those who get only SIOO.OO a year, as you say, are with- out education. Don't they smoke a pipe too, friend W.? They would probablv com- plain that their parents were unable to give them an education, for want of means, and that it Avas therefore a misfortune rather than a fault. Now, this is where the troub- le lies. These people can, every one of them, get an education now. if they will try. It amounts to just about the same thing as leaving off the use of the tobacco. It is really a matter of choice, and sums up the old story that Joshua told the people, " choose you this day whom ye will serve." Friend W., if you have a queen that is so poor she Avill not lay enough to keep the col- ony alive, you can never make a permanent, good stock of it by giving brood from other swarms. Now, if you will forgive me I would suggest that the men you name can not be made self-sustaining by giving them money, or by giving them larger pay than they ordinarily command in the neighbor- hood where they are known. Instead of the prices coming up, the men niu.st come up. More pay than they earn will do them harm rather than good. A queen can not well be changed; but a slow, dull, indifferent man may be taught to be quick, bright, and in- terested. I know, for it has been done, right under my eye. The sufferer, for sufferer he is, must tirst humble himself enough to ad- mit his failing. He must be led to recog- nize that the reason why he gets less pay than other ]ieople is not because he is un- fortunate, but that it is his own fault. They that be whole, need not a physician.- Matt. 9 : 13. The greatest trouble in such cases is, that the individual will have it that he is all right, and the world all wrong. He must be led to take an attitude some thing like this : " If •50 cts. a day is my market value, I do not want any more, and 50 cts. a day must sup- port me'." When you can get a man right there, he is generally all right. The hrst part of Our Homes tells you how a man can live on 50 cts. a day. and fare well too. How about a family? "Well, my idea is that no good man would willingly take a family on his hands until he could do a little better than this ; but I have no idea but that many a wife and mother could tell me how a family has lived on a smaller income than that. •'Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before God," and I tell you he icill get along. Fol- low the teachings and spirit of the Bible, and there is no such thing as fail. I have had 304 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. June abundant experience iu tliis matter, for I employ a great many bands, and I taketbcm from all classes tliat come along. Wbere one bas had small wages all bis life, and is often out of work, there is a reason as plain as day. Set him to Avork a week, and it will be siire to show itself. Lack of physical strength may be a hindrance; but cue who is thoroughly posted in regard to his work, and has his whole mind and soul in it, is wortb his weight in gold, even if he isn't stout. Give me a boy in his teens, who de- lights to do his whole duty before God, and he is worth more to me than a man of age and experience, wlio is a hardenyd sinner. I do not mean those who say it in words, but those who say it by the actions of their daily lives. Lord,lielp a poor sinful world. It is not money nor physical strength, nor even wis- dom, that we plead for, so much as for that honesty and sincerity of purpose that only thy lioly Spirit can give. I will instruct thcc and teach thee in the w:iy which thou shalt go : 1 will guide thee with mine eye.— Psalm 'i'Z: 8. TOBACCO COIjUMN. fi HA\'E made up my mind to try to sec if 1 can give up tobacco, for I know what I do use in- — ' jures me, and I will take the smoker pledge, if you will receive my application. I want it as a pledge; if I can't hold out, I won't say that I will pay for two smokers, but will pay full price for any one that I should receive; but 1 am going to keep the pledge, if possible, and earn the smoker accordingly. I would like you to send me one as soon as conve- nient, as I Lave some transferring to do, and need the use of one. K. F. Brooks. Thoniedale, Chester Co., Pa., May 13, 1881. I put 18 stands of bees in cellar last f'.ll; have got 10 good left, carrying in lots of pollen. Put me down for a smoker, as I have quit using tobacco. I will pay the price of two when I use again. Send Sim- plicity cold-blast smoker. J. E. Jewell. Shell Kock, Butler Co., Towa, May 4, 1881. I have used the " weed" thirty-one years; if you send me a smoker 7 tri7; quit. Bees lost in this part of Iowa about 85 per cent. M. L. Thomson. Earlham, Iowa, Apr. 26, 1881. All right, friend T.; the smoker is sent. May God help you to be strong 1 I have been a user of tobacco for fifteen years. I am going to quit the vile practice, with Cod's help. I want you to send one of your large size cold-blast Simplicity smokers, and away goes the vile weed. G. M. Theat. Sandwicli, Tie Kalb Co., 111., Apr. 19, 1881. You are one more, friend T., to the army of those who are " on the Lord's side." I saw your otfer to tobacco-chewers, that if they would stop chewing you would present them with a smoker free. You will please send me one, and I will quit immediately. I have but a few bees, or else I would have had one before. J. H. Cutciiawl. Greeneville, Tenn., May 5, 1881. And here is the smoker, friend C, and may God help you to be strong! I see in Gleanings that you give all a smoker who will quit smoking. I promise to quit, for one. If I fail I will be sure to send you the one dollar. I. R. Sneed. Henderson. Rusk Co., Texas, March 31, 1881. All right, friend S. We send you the smoker. I will take a smoker under your offer to tobacce- users. Please send one of Bingham's large sizr>. I would not ask this if I were able to buy one, but 1 am poor, with a large family. A. A. Annis. All right, friend A., and may God help you too. If you are poor and have a large family, you certainly can not afford to use tobacco, and have all your boys learning to use it after you, tan you? Smoker came all right. I like it best of any I have seen. You think my " nice eell.u-" saved my bees. If you could see them to-day carrying in flour I be- lieve you would conclude that a " nice cellar" is a very nice thing for a bee-keeper to have such win- ters as the past. Some of my neighbors can hardly believe that my bees are all alive and strong, when theirs are all dead. G. A. Wright. Orchard, Towa, April 16, 1881. If I am not mistaken, you offer a smoker to any of yoursubscribers who will quit smoking. I have been using the weed for about 20 years; started by its being recommended by the doctor. My wife has been trying to persuade me to quit ever since we saw your first notice in Gleamngp. Please send me a Simplicity cold-blast large size, and I will quit, God being my helper. M. G. Condon. Clinton, Mo., Apr. 21, 1881. That is the talk, friend H. God being my helper, you can give up tobacco, and all else that is hurtful to you, spiritually or morally. Well, brother Root, I have read Prof. Thwiug's "Facts about Tobacco." Result: Quit chewing a week ago. I never thought of y(,ur offer until this morning. Now, you may send me one of j'our larg- est cold-'olast smokers, and I will pay you for it with- in 90 days. My old smoker is about aui^gespicU. My bees got their first pcllen last Sunday, the 17th inst. Weather splendid now, and the bees are carrjiug honey from the elm. G. B. Replug lk. Union\ ille, Iowa, Apr. 33, 1881. We send you a smoker without charge, friend II.; and if you will be so kind, you may send me the work you mention. A B C and smoker received; have quit the use of lobacco; hope to be able to conquer; at present, a hard struggle. M. L. Thomson. Earlham, Madison Co , Iowa., May 5, 1881. Friend T., the Bible says:— He that overcometh, the same shall be cl >thed in white raiment: and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but 1 will confess his name be- fore my Father and before bis angels.— Rev. 3 : 15. Do not even think about the forbidden ar- ticle, but keep mind and hands busy about some thing else. You will soon lind that when your mind is off from the subject, you care comparatively little about it. Keep away from those who use it, but strive as far as possible to be iu the company only of those who will encourage you by precept and example in your new resolution ; and in a 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 305 little time both the victory and the " white raiment" of purity and a clean heart shall be yours. I saw 1q :i number of Gleanings that you would send a smoker to aiij' one who was a tobacco-smok- er, providing- he would give it up. Send on your smoker, and here goes pipe, tobacco, and cigars, in the fire. My wife saw it and showed it to me, and she says if I begin again she will write to you and let you know. 1 have been on a balance whether to quit or not; but that announcement of yours puts the balance in the right direction. D. W. Mooke. Tintern, Lincoln Co., Out., Can., Apr. 18, 1881. Let US thank God, friend ^NI., if so slight a thing as a bee-smoker turned the balance in the right direction, in a matter that at least closely pertains to the welfare of a human soul. Tell your good wife that I shall not only depend on her, but on the good women all over our land, to see that their husbands are faithful in these promises. Remember, it is Satan we are to battle with, and we must not expect him to give up without a '' tussle." Thanks, kind friend, for the smoker, but more for the faithful prayers in my behalf, that I might over- come tolnieco. By the united stix-ngth of you and kind friends at hume, to say nothing of my poor weak self, strength has been given me to overcome tobacco, and I feel that, in the spirit of the Master, I shall never be forced to take up the abominable weed again. I have lost one tooth since I gave up the habit, and began to think 1 would be forced to commence its use again, to save all my teeth, but, thanks to an all-wise Preserver, four months have almost wound up my taste for it, and I now sing,— As thy days may (k'liiand. sliall thy stvtngth evtr be. Please remember me in your devotions to our Fa- ther in heaven, and present my name at the noon- day prayer-meetings as a subject for prayer, that I maybe faithful to the end; and when the bell is heard that calls me to the noonday prayer-meeting on high, that then my chair may not l)f' vacant, nor my voice silent. W. F. K. Clinton, La., April 23, 1881. I am very glad, friend K., that you did not listen to the suggestion from Satan, that you would lose your teeth, etc. It is wonderful, the number of lies he puts into people's heads when they try to break off a bad lialj- it. To one he says, " You will have the toothache, you know, if you don"t chew ; " and. to another, '' You will get too fat, you know," and so on without end. Just tell him to get behind you, and then reach up and implore God for help. We will remem- ber you, friend K. inERKYBANKS AND HIS NEIGHBOR. HE THAT OVERC03IET1I AXD KEEPETlI 31Y WORKS UNTO THE END, TO UIM WILL I GIVE POWER OVER THE NATIONS.— REV. 2 : 20. eF course, there was no peace for any- body until John's pail bee-hive was '"' properly lixed in the window u^) stairs, near the bed where he slept. As the lights in the window were rather small, it was thought best to remo\'e the lower sash en- tirely, substituting a sash of John's own con- struction, covered with thin boards, through which a hole was cut, to let the pail go in about half way. The bottom of the pail pro- jected outward, and in this was the entrance. As John was supposed to be joint inventor in the pail hive, Mr. Merrybanks gave him a good strong working colony ; and as they were started just during locust bloom, they very soon had their hve combs pretty nearly hlled. Pretty soon "pollen-laden btes" be- gan to come round on the side of the comb next the glass, and the children thought there never was any thing, in the way of pets, so handsome. Every bee that came in with a nice load of bright yellow or orange- colored pollen, would shake himself, and wiggle in such a way that Mary and Freddie would have it he was doing it for pure joy, just in the way John jumped up and down when he made the barrel hive roll off the table. After they had got through the wig- gling, and had sobered down a little, they would thrust their little legs, with the "loaves" on them, into a cell, and kick them off very much in the way the baby sometimes kicks off his shoes and stockings, and then off they went for another load. After Mr. Bee had gone, the children could plainly see the two little loaves lying in the cell right where he left them, until some other bee would poke his head in and stay for some time, deeply intent on some im- portant operation, as they thought, by the way in which the only visible tip of his body wiggled, and after he came out, the pollen loaves were nicely patted down, and made smooth. Mr. Merrybanks told them that the bee patted and smoothed it down by rubbing his head against it ; or, at least, he had read so in the British Bee Journal. Mr. Merry- banks often quotes that journal, you know. Well, John was so taken up with his bee- hive that he hardly slept or ate, and, al- though it was the last thing he looked at at night before he went to bed, it was the tirst thing- he hastened to when he opened his eyes' in the morning. To tell the truth, his mother, on going into his room one night, after he had long been asleep, found he had moved his bed up near the window, and was sleeping, with a smile on his face, close up by that simple little pane of glass. The bees had just been building some new white comb, to fill a vacant place left accidentally, and as they did the greater part of the comb- building in the night, John had folded his pillows so as to raise his head close up to them. There they were, scampering about, and, as it seemed, fairly trembling in their eagerness as the snowy-white combs grew into those wondrous forms. Tn the stillness of the night, interrupted only by the breath- ing of her boy, she thought she heard a faint clicking noise, like the tramp in miniature, of a thousand horsemen. She turned her ear nearer to the bees ; it was indeed their busy work, and the sound of their tiny man- dibles against the glass ; for they were now fastening bits of new comb to it, in many places, as they wished to have their habitat- lion substantial and secure. How innocent and pure her boy looked as he lay there, un- conscious that any one was near, sleeping as 506 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. JrxE onlj^ those can sleep who are tired out with honest, healthful labor ! She reflected how faithful and industrious John had been of late. So absorbed was he with his bees, he had hardly had time to think of going off with any of the wicked boys as he had a few- months previous been somewhat inclined to do. What had made such a difference in her family? She almost started, as it flashed upon her mind that there before her she saw the answer to her prayer of but a few weeks ago. Down she fell on her knees, at the thought, and silently thanked, again and again, that Savior who had indeed been an ever-present help in trouble. Then as she remembered her husband, who was still out of work, she prayed for him too. It was Saturday night ; but as she at length lay down to* rest, it was with a greater feeling of nearness to God than she had ever known before, and with a happy, trustful, restful feeling, that seemed to her almost too much happiness for one who had. almost all her life before this, known so much trouble and trial. The next thing she remembered was hear- ing John's voice, calling, " O motherl fath- er! come quick! The queen is laying right next to the glass. Come quick, or she may go round the other side again! "' and off he scampered up stairs. At flrst, the feeling was somewhat of vexation at being awak- ened at such an early hour on Sunday morn- ing ; but as she thought of the events of the evening before, and reflected further that the sun was already up and shining, she hastened to get up, as did her husband also, after he nibbed his eyes until he was quite awake. ^lary was on hand too ; and al- though all of the family looked a little as if they had been scared out by an alarm of fire, they soon began to share John's enthusiasm, at least to some extent. There the queen was with her long tapering body, busily en- gaged at her appointed task, as unconcerned as if she was not the center of an admiring audience. Iler mock gravity as she settled herself in a cell, and remained the center of a caressing circle of bees, was such that John laughed until the tears stood in his eyes. "O mother! mother! mayn't I go over and ask Freddie ^Slerrybanks to come over and see her too? Please, mother, it won't be wicked to just come over a minute. You know she will get this side all filled to-day, and won't ever come out this way again. Please, mother, may I goV" Silence gave consent, so John thought, and off' he was, like an arrow. Fearing his mother might repent, as it seemed, he jumped almost the whole way from the top of the stairs to the bottom. and was soon out of hearing, if not out of sight. In a very short time, not only Freddie was seen com- ing, but friend ^NleiTybanks too. Johns father Avas a little surprised at this, knowing his strict ideas in regard to the Sabbath; but after all had looked at the queen, and friend M. had given them a little talk in re- gard to the greatness and goodness of God in endowing these little creatures with such a wonderful instinct, Mary apparently, by accident, turned the whole state of affairs in the right direction after all, by coming up to her father, and saying, as she took his hand in both of hers,— " Now, pa, we have all had such a real good time in looking at the queen, you want to come with iis to Sunday-school, won't youV You just see if we do not have just as good a time there." Friend M. joined in with the request too ; and, almost before he had time jto consider, he gave a promise, and then reflected that he had no suitable clothes to go to such a place. In fact, he had not been inside of a meeting-house in so long a time, he hardly knew how folks did dress or act there. John's mother listened, while her heart al- most stood still. Was the time of miracles still hereV Was it really ]iossible that God had heard that prayer of only last night? and was her husband really going with the rest to chiirch or Sabbath-school? He was a man of his word, despite his other failings, and he did go to that very little church, wh.ose stee])le you have so often noticed over among the trees. He did not seem to get interest- ed in the sermon, and finally went to sleep, much to his wife's mortification and sur- prise. After service, during the few mo- ments that intervened before the Sunday- school, the superintendent took him by the band and spoke pleasantly to him, though still in not such a way as to" remind him that it was singular to see him there ; and in the Bible-class, where he sat with his wife, there seemed such a pleasant and friendly feeling, he really, somewhat to his surprise, enjoyed it so that he was actually sorry when it was over. On the way liome" he asked so many questions of his wife in regard to the lesson and people present, that she forgot his sleep- ing during the morning, and was again inwardly thanking God for his great mercies. After sui)per he lighted his pipe, and. in spite of his wife's pleading, sauntered off up to the ■' Corners " as usual. Who shall fath- om the mystery of the human heart? Next evening friend JMerrybanks came over, with a number of the British Bee Joiir- nol. All hands gathered eagerly around while he spread it oat upon the table. Mary, too, was interested, for that pail bee-hive seemed especially the property of the chil- dren since the stampede down by the hog- pen ; and as friend M. announced that they had started a round cheap hive in England too, all were eager to see what it Avas like. We will just take a peep over their shoulders at the picture thej^ saw on the bread clean pages of the journal. THE CHEESE-BOX BEE-HIVE, 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 307 After all had taken a good look at the pic- ture, Mr. ;M. read from the description as follows:— CHEAP HIVE FOR AMA.TEUHS. I send you a sketch and description of a very cheap hive, which some of your readers who make their own may try their hands upon. It is made out of two and a half American cheese-boxes, which cost rae four pence each; one loin, in diameter serves for the inner skin, and one of 16 in. diameter for the outer skin of the hive. (The usual depth of these boxes is from 9 to 10 inches.) The Inner skin should be three-eifjhths of an inch higher than the outer to form the feather edge on which the frames are to rest. The two skins are kept apart by a double hoop ^4, of an inch wide, placed at the top and bot- tom. These may be made by cutting in half the hoops of the box, and as they are usually }i of an Inch thick, they will keep the two skins Yi inch apart, and thus form a sufflcient air space between them. As strong a hoop as can bf got from the box- es and lids must be put round the hive, standing 1 Inch above the outer skin, and another at live- eighths of an inch below the outer skin. Room will thus be given for the thickness of the framps and quilt above, and the floor-board will be overlapped below, and wet or rain excluded. The Hoor-board is made from the box-lid and bottom. Thfse are usu- ally in three pieces, and when nailed together should be crossed under side pieces. Of these the middle one should pro.ject, to form the alighting- board; and the deflcieney suf>plied from any piece of wood at hand. The floor-board will thus be double. The upper thickness is cut away sloping upward to form a siuik entrance into the hive. The floor-board is represented in its place in Fig. 1, which represents a section from side to side with one of the middle frames in position. The hive has a cover made of half a box, 5 inches in height, and over this is a conical top made of pRper-felt, painted and fastened with thin copper wire to the wooden part; the flight-hole, porch, and slot for slides or doors, which are made of strong tin or zinc bent to shape. Fig. 2 shows the arrangement of the frames, ten in number. Half of them have distance-blocks toward the front, and half toward the back, both blocks being on the same side of each frame. In 'he center are two movable blocks attached to the side of hive by a thin but strong piece of string. When manipulating they are lifted out. and thus room Is given to move all the frames. The whole cost of the materials, including paint, panel-nails (screws, if any), and putty, is about 'Z.*., and certainly does not exceed 28. Cri.; but I must add, that there is a good deal of work in ihe hive, and it requires much nicety in fitting, though not more than most ama- teur carpenters are equal to. The result is a round hive, which in shape corre- sponds with that of a cluster of bees, and I think is dryer than the square hives. In the corners of which moisture is apt to be ci ndensed; and, secondly, is much more shapely and ornamental in a garden, and equally adapted lor carrying' supers of any kind desired. " There,'' said Mr. M., " they have not got so near a sphere as we have, after all, and the hive is a deal more expensive every way. The combs wnnld handle nicely after one is out, for by moving them toward the center, every one" would be free, while, when in place and the loose block put in, all are tight and strong." "But,'" said John, "they have 8 frames, while we have in our hive but o, and such frames as those must be a great deal of trouble to make." You know .John was some thing of a genius, and knew the ex- pense of whittling out things. " Nevertheless," remarked Mr. M., " I am very glad to see this description, for it indi- cates a wish, on the psirt of the people, to make common implements and utensils serve a part in providing habitations and inijile- meiits for the care and comfort of our queer little domestic friends. Many thanks to the editor of the J5. B. /." And "he gathered up the journal, and put it in one of his many pockets, grabbed up Mary, and, placing her on one of his broad shoulders, started out in the darkness of the night, amid her protests and the laughter of tlie whole family. Be- fore he had gone many steps, however — come to think of it, I guess I will tell what an awful muss they got into by some more of that boy John's ■' everlasting careless- ness," next month. GIEAWIMGS IN BEE CULTURE^ -A.. I. I^OOT, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, MEDINA, O. TERmS: $1.C0 PER YEAR, POST-PAID. FOR CLUBBING RATEff, SEE FIRST PAGE OF READING MATTER. TsacESTDu^.A^, jxjoxn: x, leoi. The wages of sin is death.— Rom.vx.s 6:23. We have to-day 4329 subscribers, orders are filled pretty nearly up to date, and I am in a thank- ful frame of mind. We can furnish Spider and Simpson plants for 25c. per hundred by mail, postpaid, done up in the man- ner indicated on page 27". Daniel Speer, of Card- ington, Morrow Co., O., writes that he has thousands of Spider plants, and he will doubtless furnish them at the same price. One good thing has grown out of the loss of our bees, at any rate. It has obliged others to take up the trade of selling bees by the pound, and rapidly de- veloped the new industry that seems to me is going to teach us a lesson of helping each other, in a way we were never taught it before. A few of the supply dealers still show a little too much of the spirit, "you know you can't please everybody." If I should hear you say, "The world in general are not very hard to please," I should feel much more certain you were trying to be honest and just toward all. May 26th. — We have to-day 145 colonies, and the last box hive was transferred this morning by get- ting up before 5 o'clock, to avoid robbers. AUorders are filled, except for pounds of bees with dollar queens. We have the bees, but can't get the queens, although a great number are ready to laj'. We have finally got a very good pair of steel specs on our 10c. counter. The glasses are good, and the frames nice and well made. In ordering, you had better have them sent, for safety, in a 5c. case. Pos- tage on the whole will be 5c, making 20 for the whole complete by mail. Tell the number of the glasses you wear, if you can; if not. tell me your age, and I can guess pretty well what you will be likely to need. The revised edition of the New Testament is out, and the Gospel of St. John is now before me. The price of the latter is 2c ; postage Ic more. The whole Testament 10c, postage probably 3c more. I have not got any yet, but I have been having a real fight to get some to supply you, and will doubtless have 308 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. JUNJE them as soon as any one. If you care to intrust me with your orders, 1 will mail them promptly the min- ute they reach me. OiTR friends will please notice that up shall charge $2.00 per lb. for bees during this month. The prices for queens, frames of brood, etc., will be as other years. The reason of the great call for bees espec- ially, is that 1 lb. of bees will " fit " any hive, while a frame of brood won't. WIRE NAILS K EDUCED. Quite a reduction in the price of wire nails, as you will see by the last edition of our price list. As those we sell are made purposely for us, and of slimmer wire than any of those in the market, there are more of them in a pound. Please compare our nails and prices, with those found elsewhere. SOMETHING NEW IN SMOKERS. An original Clark eold-blast smoker, that blows so easy, and makes such a cloud of smoke I am real- ly afraid it will make trouble- among hybrids and smoker manufacturers. It lights with a match, and the price is 50c., or $i.03 for 10; if wanted by mail, 25c. extra. A circular with an engraving, sent on application. THE NEAV QUINBY SMOKER. In my mention of the new Quinby smoker, I should have stated, that, after we have blowed the fire with the direct blast until it is burning vigorously, throw- ing out sparks perhaps, by moving the slide and making it a cold blast, the sparks stop instantly, and we have only a blast of cold air, charged with smoke. We can furnish them in any quantity at friend Root's prices. See our price list. Our friend L. C. Root has wintered ngain in his cellars, with a loss not to exceed 10 per cent, and of these, many died of starvation. He preferred to let them starve rather than to risk the damage which he thinks would result from disturbing them by feeding in the cellar,orattemptingto takethem out before the usual time, when the soft-maples arc in bloom. BEES BY THE POUND WITHOUT WATER. We have tried a few cages provisioned with Vial- Ion's candy, without water, for sending pounds ot bees short distances, say in an adjoining State; and up to date of going to press, no complaint hcs been received. Our friend Gates, of Bartlett, Tenn., has sent us perhaps 2) packages in the same way; but while some of them came with scarcely a dead bee, others came with all the bees dead, and candy remaining. In very hot dry weather, the bottles of water seem much more necessary. W.4.TERBURY WATCHES CHEAPER. NOTWITHSTANDING the rcocnt improvements in Waterbury watches, we have been enabled to make the following reductions in prices, and every watch we sell is tested by ourselves before we send it out. One watch, $3.50; two, $6.75; three, $9.75: six, $18.00; twelve, $34.50. If wanted by mail, send 15c. ad- ditional for each watch. If you should order one, and it does not please, you may return it inside of 30 days, in asgoodorder as you received it, and get your money, you paying all postage. CYPRIAN AND HOLY-I.AND QUEENS AND BEES. Neighbor H. rushes into the office, just as the last form is being made up for the press, and says we must say this for him, to save him from answering so many postals:— The Cypiinns wintered the best of any bees I had. The Holy- Lands did not winter quite as well, but were not in as g'ood con- ditirin in the fall. They will net up earlier in the morning:, rty faster and lurtlior than any either bee 1 ever saw. The s. We have never had a complaint from anj^ we have sold. EXTR.\CTING WAX BY STEAM. From the 34 box-hive colonies, we of coin-se had ii considerable amount of old combs to render into wax. Well, a few da.vs ago friend D. A. Jones wrote about extracting by steam. Perhaps it was more than a month ago, but he writes so "awful bad," that I have been almost that time in trying to read his letter at odd spells, begging friend J.'s pardon. Well, after I got it read, and got the idea, I took a very Lirge honey-barrel and suspended in it, from a hoop at the top, a basket, made from queen-cigo wire cloth. This was set right under a steam pipe, and after the steam was let on. all vou had to do was to shovel in the combs. The business was done as fast as you poured them in, and when the contents of the basket was poured out, there seemed to be scnrcelv a trace of wax left in it. while that in the barrel was about the prettiest yellow wax you ever saw— so clean that it was poured directly into our dipping-cans.and made into fdn. at once. With any of our(jther arramrements it would have been about a day's work. Friend Jones, here Is our thanks, even 1881 GLEANIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. 309 if yoy do write badly. Now, at the end of the sub- ject of "Propolis," In the A B C, you will see that friend Pritchard almost touches on this very idea, and yet nobody ever thought of it before. At least, it didn't get into the book, any way. CITY MARKETS. Cleveland, May 23, 1881.— Ho7iciy.— As usual, at the beginning of the berry season, honey is entirely neglected. The little stock in market is nominally held at lG@18c per lb. for I and ;J lb sections of white; dark not wanted. E.ictracted held at ISfTf Uc, but very slow sale. A. C. Kendel. St. Louis.— May 23.— Season about over; small sales of strained at 8@a'ic. K. C. Greer & Co. Recent Additions to the COUNTER STORE. FIVE-CENT COUNTER. Postage. ] rPr. of 10, ot 100 2 I Mustard Spoons, best boxwood I 2.5 I 2 00 2 I Plates. A BC, 6 in., tin | 2.11 2 00 2 I Pie Crimpers, for making and cutting pie crusts | 2.5 | 2 00 '> I Candy, a whole bag full of all kinds for only 5c I 4.5 | 4 25 4 I White Envelopes, 1 30 | 2 ,50 For ladies, tine [laper, medium sizes. TEN-CENT COUNTER. 2 I Balances, pocket letter balance I 75 I 7 00 Weiprlis from 1-2 oz., to 1 lb. Nickel pl.ited, and accurate, and rerv pretty 3 I Butter Kni%'es, real plate, pretty pat. I 80 | 7 .50 13 I Dippers, stamped, 3 qt., (really SVi).. I 80 i 7 .50 4 I Knives, Kitchen, tine steel I 80 j 7 50 With beautifiillv finished handle. 5 1 Knives arid Forks 1 80 17.50 An excellent article in either cocoa wood handles, or white bone. A knife and fork count two. 5 I Teaspoons, tinned, a set of 6 for lOc. ! 85 18 00 2 1 Wallets ' I 85 1 8 00 Imitation calf, old Vermont bill holder. 2 I Wallets, ladies 1 85 | 8 00 Fine s
1 lbs. t'hatiUon's make. 1 Boy Ct>iseU, ; 3 00 : 28 00 A most handy tool for opening' boxes. PIPTY-CENT COUNTER. I Clothes Lines 1 4 00 i 33 00 Oalvanized wire; lOJ feet lung. 1 Spades, steel, full size; well made.. ; 4 50 | 43 00 A. I. ROOT, Medina, OIilo. MAKE^ BEES ^PAY By getting the best Italian stock tested for " biz." Oood prolific queens from 65 cts. up. Use molded FDN. Jt pays big, 40 ots. for common, 5J cts. for thin. Improved "L." fdn. mold. $3.75, other sizes to order. Metallic mold. L. size, $7. .50, ready soon. See Oliver Foster's free circular. OLIVER FOSTER. Mt. Vernon, Linn Co., Iowa. 6tfd Colerain, Mass., April 11, 1881. Me»irs. Bingham A Hitherinylon,— Dear Sir:— I concluded to use the Lai'ge Smoker instead of sending it away. It is (/ir- snio?f€)', Idon't wan't any better; shall throw all others away. Respectfully, E. A. Thomas. The Oeiginal Direct Draft ! Patented Jan. 9. 1878; May, 1870; Rc-issued July 9, 1878. If you buy a Bingham Smoker, or a Bingham & Hot herington Hone>- -Kni fe, you are sure of the best and cheapest. The largest bee- keepers use them exclusivc- l.v. Twenty thousand in use; not one ever returned, or letter of complaint receiv- ed. Our original patent Smokers and Honey-Knives were the only ones on exhi- bition at the last National Bee -Keepers' Convention. Bingham Smokers, all but the Small, have fire and cin- derproof bellows. Thelarge and extra Standard Smo- kers have extra wide shields to prevent burnt fingers. These are the only real im- provements made in bee- smokers since the Direct- Draft invention. Bingham is the inventor and only legal maker of them. Bingham & Hetherington Honey -Knife, 2 in., Large Bingham Smoker, 2V2 in,. Extra Standard Bingham Smoker, 2 inches. Plain Standard Bingham Smoker, 2 " Little Wonder Bingham Smoker, l?.i, " - - 75 If to be sent by mail, or singly by express, add 25 cents each, to prepay postage or express charges. Send card for tes-timoninls. To sell again, apply for dozen or half-dozen rates. Address BINGHAM & HETHERINGTON, 5tfd Abronia, Allegan Co., Mich. $1 00 1 50 1 25 1 00 Single Queen, Tested, $1 50 Untested, Lai iug, ------ 80 Warranted, 1 OO Three-Frame Nuclei, 2 50 All Queens from imported mothers. Safe arrival guaranteed. All that favor me with orders shall be well used. DAN WHITE, 6d New London, Huron Co., Ohio. THE British Bee Journal. The British Bee Journal is now mailed to our ad- dress In packages, each month. In order to dispose of them, we otter them at present at SlOO per year, postage paid, beginning Jan. 1881. Will guarantee safe arrival of every No. A. I. ROOT, Medina. Ohio. Farm for Sale. A farm of 80 acres, pleasantly situated, good build- ings, and well improved. Only 2^2 miles from the village of South Haven, and situated in the heart of the "Michigan Fruit Belt." Unquestionably the best and most profitable point for fruit culture in America. A full crop of peaches this season. Churches, schools, and excellent society. Climate healthful and pleasant. Mild winters, and cool sum- mers. Located on the east shore of Lake Michigan. For terms and particulars, address H. A. BURCH & CO., 6d South Haven, Van Buren Co., Mich. ITAlilAN and Albino Queens. Untested Queens, bred from Imported and Home-bred mothers, $I.O0; per doz., *10.0J this month. Albino queens, untested, $1.00 each. J. M. C. TATLOR, 6d Lcwistown, Frederick Co., Md. 310 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. June READ WHAT^HEY SAY ! The only swarm of bees alive In this township, contains ii queen I bought of you ; they arc lively. J. K. M. AlijEN. Greencastle, Ind., April 16, 1881. Of the 31 dollar queens purchased of you last season, only one proved impurely fertilized. They have wintered finely, while three-fourths of the bees in this section are dead. L. Densmore. Livonia Station, N. Y.. April 11, 1881. Could give scores of letters in praise of OurStrains of Italians like the above. If you want bees that arc hardy enough to SURVIVE OUR COLDEST WINTERS, and that will pile up the box honey, give us a trial order. Can furnish DOL.LAR QUEENS, WAKRAINTED QUEENS, TESTED QUEENS, and IMPORTED QUEENS. Bees by the Prmnd, NUCLEI AND FULL COLONIES. Before ordering goods, send us a list of articles you wish to purchase, and get our price for the same. OUR 40-PAGE CATALOGUE of Apiarian Supplies, free to all. Address, H. A. BURCK 6l CO., 6tfd Soiitit Haven, DUicIi. 15 One-Cent STAMPS Will pay for our exhaustive pamphlet on raisiing, handling, and marketing extracted honey. Colonies with imported Italian Queens of our own Importation, guaranteal imrc and genuine. Our Comb Foundation was awarded the diploma at the N. E. Bee-Keepers' Convention held in February. The following letter will show its superiority: Medina, Ohio, April 4, 1831. To Chas. Dadant A Son, Hamilton, III.: Please send me 10 or 15 sheets of your very nicest Dunham Foundation, 8\ixll^i. As I want them to get rubber casts from, I want them nice and true, and nicely packed; don"t care what the expense is. I send to you because you have sent me the best specimens. A. I. Koot. SMOKERS, KNIVES, EXTRACTORS, ETC. Price List with 3 samples of foundation, free. CHAS. DADANT & SON, otfd Hamilton, Hancock Co., 111. Hill Side Apiary, SUMMMIT, N. J. Queens, Bees by the poinid. Nuclei, or full colo- nies. Hives, Extractors, Smokers, &e.. &c. Send for circular. W. B. COGGESHALL, Supt., 6 Hill Side Apiary, Summit, Union Co., N.J. QueenS! IimN Oi'^S! Bred from selected queens of my own importing. Sent by mail; safe arrival guaranteed. Warranted! If any queen ordered of me proves hybrid, 1 will, when notified, send another, free (but in such cases unwarranted, just begun to lay). Queens ia June, f 1 15; after July 1st, $1.00 each. Discounts— on an order for 10 queens, one extra will be given; for 25, three ext'-a. Write for discounts on larger orders. Tested queens, double above prices. CHAS. R. BINGHAM, Edinburg, Portage Co., O. Money Order Office, Ravenna, O. 5-7d CHOICE^DEENS FOE. 1881! Dollar Queens $1 00 Tisted " 2 00 I guarantee satisfaction every time, or money refunded. No blacks in my neighborhood. All queens raised from A. I. Root's imported stick. Send for cir- cular. HOWARD NICHOLAS. 4-9d Etters, York Co., Pa. 1881. Send for our new Circular and Price List of Full Colonies, Nuclei, and Queens. We guarantee satis- faction. S. D. McLEAN * SON, 3-7d CuUeoka, Maury Co., Tenn. Bees by the Pound! H. V. Train, Mauston, Wiis., will sell bees and queens during June and July. Please correspond by card for terms and price. 6d For Sale Cheap A few fine Colonies of Italian Bees in Langstroth hives. Hives well made, and painted. Address at once, W. G. SMITH, 313 N. Second St., St. Louis, Mo. Any one knowing the address of Dr. Steven I. Young, M. D., late surgeon in the 79th Keg. 111. Vol. Inf., and sending it to the undersigned, will place him under many obligations. Rev. R. G. THO.VIPSON, 6d Kingsville, Johnston Co., Mo. (Late Chaplain 64th Regt. O. V. V. I.) ITALIAN QUEENS, NUCLEUS COLONIES. I can furnish Bees and queens cheap. Send for special rates. Comb Foundation and every thing pertaining to the Apiary. A. D. BENHAM, 6ifd Olivet, Baton Co., Mich. Full Colonies, 2 rs I am prepared to fill orders for bees by the pound, nuclei Cd and 3 frame), full colonies of pure Italians. Also Cyprian Queens (Dadant's importation), and Italian Queens at A. I. Root's prices. Given Fdn. a Specialty. Try it once, and see if you do not pronounce it the best you ever used. E. T. FLANAGAN, Belleville, Box 819, 6-8d Rose Hill Apiary, St. Clair Co., 111. 1881 queens: queens: issi We are prepared to furnish Queens in April, May, and June. For tested Queens, $3.50; afterward, $3.00; untested, Sil.OO. Queens reared in full colo- nies from imported mother. In addition to our im- ported Queens, we have some fine Queens in our apiary from some of the leading breeders of the U. S. We not only select our imported Queens to rear Queens from, but we select the best imported and the best home-bred Queens we have to rear drones from. We allow no colonies to have drones, except such as are from the choicest of our Queens. Satisfaction and safe arrival of all Queens guaran- teed. No circular. HALL & JOHNSON, 3-6inqd Kirby's Creek, Jackson Co., Ala. 1881 GLEAj^^INGS m BEE CULTUKE. 315 . Contents of this Number. INDEX OF DEPARTMENTS. Black List — Bee Botany - - Bee Entomology — Blasted Hopes.. 302 Cartoon — Editorials 36() Heads of Grain 312 Honey Column 361 Humbugs and Swindles 322 I Juvenile Department 325 I KLiidWords from C'ustoinerf317 I Ladies' Department 3.'>1 I Lunch-R • om — ' Notes and Queries 349 I Repoi-ts Encouraging — Smilery 3.51 The (irowleiy — Tobacco Column :!.)7 INDEX OF HEADS OF GRAIN, NOTES AND QUERIES, AND OTHER SHORT ARTICLES. Apis dorsata -Kl ABC Scholai-s' Lettei-s.327, 33iJ Axteir s Report 340 Average, How they 344 Another Aid for Ext 322 Absconding 348, 349 Bees at a Picnic 323 Buchanan' s Letter 335 Burch, Herbert A Sfil Bees on Flo\ir in March 339 Bees Stinging their own Members 341 Buzz-saw, Another .341 Bees from Texa-s 343 Bees not Working in Uppei' Storj- 346 Bees on Trees in Texas 347 Blacks r. Italians 347 Black Italians 34S Bee-sting in Eyelid 349 Bees Coming to a Well-kept Apiary 319 Blacks for Wintering .3.i0 Bees, less than 1 lb. July 4th. 352 Banner Apiai-j- ." 319 Candy for Cages 333 California Lettei-s 334, 338 California Shipping Cans. . .:i43 Clark's Cold-Blast Smoke.. 322 Com Oysters 344 Covering with Hay 345 Candy Feeding in Spring. . .345 Chaff Hives 346 Chaff Packing 346, 347, 350 Callfor Bees 349 Colorado 350 Candy for Bees X>0 Doolittle's Answers 331 Dadant ' s Pamphlet .342 Folks who don't sign Name. .337 Feeder, Large ' s 345 ( ;rimm on Wintering 32S Uauff 's Swarming-Bo.\ M-iO Getting Rich ;U3 Honey -dew in Arkansas XM Honey-dew in S. Carolina.. 312 Honev-dew in Oregon '.nn Huckleberi-y Honey 334 Houej' Required f'ew Jei-sev, Northern, from. :t40 Open -air Feeding 'M2 Our Own Apiary 358 Pollen 344, 3.50 Packing with Forest leaves. 346 Queen witli laying daughter 343 Queens . Marking ;il4 Queen, Non-laying 348 Ramble No5 327 Robbed Bees going with Robbers 3:t5, 348 Runaway Swai-ms 344 Raising bees in House 348 Ra])ld Increase ..350 Saved bv Sugar Candy :Ki3 Smith, from Pelee Island... .329 Sections on all Winter. .;i43, 350 Sweet Corn :J44 Starters, To Fa.sten :{47 Two Queens in One Hive. . .344 Ventilation ; 342, 'Mii Wintering Losses .313 What lib. of Bees willdo..;«S With Biggest Crowd 349 ESSEX PIGS A SPEGIALH! 75 to 100 Pedigree Pig's for delivery in June, six weeks to two months old. Write for prices. Also Brown Legiiorn (prize winners) EGGS, @ §1. per doz., and B. B. K. G. Bantam Egg.s for Hatctilng (imported), @ §1.50 per doz., in new baskets. Sate arrival guaranteed. C. W. CANFIEl.!), 5tfd Athens, Bradford. Co., Pa. 1TAI.IAN AND CYPRIAN QUEENS, bred from imported mothers. Write for prices to H. T. BISHOP, 6-Td Chenango Bridge, Broome Co., N. Y. Italian (tested) Queens from Root's very best. Imported or home-bred Queens, $3.00; Italian (un- tested) Queens, Laying, fl.OO; Bees, fl.OO per lb.; 2 (L.) frame Nucleus (no queen) $1..50; ;}(L.) frame Nucleus (no queen), S3.00; 1 colony of Italian Bees (no queen) in 10 (L.) frame hives, $7.00. Add price of queen to price of bees, colony, and nucleus. Dis- count on larger orders. OTTO KLEINOW, 6tEd Opposite Fort Wayne, Detroit, Mich. 1881 HIVES FREE! 1881 Where two or more nuclei are ordered at my June prices, I will furnish them in full-sized Koop hive, free of charge. Queens all from dark imported queen, or light. A few good breeders at 351.50 per one-comb nucleus. 1 am ready; send your order to F. E. TOWNSEXD, 7d Hubbardston, Ionia Co., Mich. THE BEST OFFER VET! I have a quantity of Simplicity and other frame hives lilled with comb and honey. 1 will put in 1 lb. of bees, I warranted queen. 1 frame of brood, and ship them at $5.00 each. Warranted queens from my superior strain E"VOTEr> TO 13EI>!4 AiVr> IIOIVEY, AT»3^r> iIC>>ir: IIVTJ^l^iiS'rf- Vol. IX. JULY 1, 1881. No. ^. A. Z. ROOT, Publisher and Proprietor^ \ Published Mouthly. Medina, O. J Established in 1873. { r TERMS: $1.00 PER ANXVM, IX Advaxce; I 2 Copies for Si. 90: 3 for S2.7.5; 5 for §4.00; 10 or more, 75 cts. each. Single Number, 10 cts. \ Additions to clubs may be made at club rates. Above are all to be sent to one post- OFKicE. Clubs to different postottices, not LESS than 90 cts. each. NOTES FROM THE BANNER APIARY. NO. 20. MAKE THE BEES PAY. MUNDREDS of bee-keepers this season found themselves the possessors of empty hives and ■ combs— but no bees. Some of them will give up the business entirely, while others will buy a few colonies, or else buy bees by the pound, and will go bravely to work to build up again. I suppose that most bee-keepers who lost bees last winter, and who have obtained a few bees with which to make a start, will bend their whole energies to making their bees increase as rapidly as possible, and will not at- tempt to obtain any surplus honey. If one can af- ford to lose all of his bees next winter, this course may be all right; but would it not be a safer plan to obtain 80/»6 honej-, and make the bees pay a profit tl\i» year? I know it is very tempting— I have felt the impulse more than once— this idea of building up a large apiary, and then doing some thing grand —get honey by the ton, for instance. I know of a bee-keeper who has kept bees a good many years, and thoroughly understands the principles of bee- keeping, and yet I honestly believe that, if he had kept a "bee account" for the past ten years, it would show that his bees have been little else than a bill of expense. He has never obtained very much honey, but has worked mostlj- for increase. Two or three times his colonies have numbered 75 or 80, and he was intending, the next year, to do some thing "big;" but a disastrous winter followed each time, leaving him with few or no bees. Would it not have been better if he had secured a good crop of honey each year, and been contented with a moderate in- crease? Then there was one other circumstance that contributed largely to the cost of his bee-keep- ing business: he invented, manufactured, and trans- ferred "his bees into a new style of hive at least as often as once in three or four years, setting the old hives one side as useless lumber. He also invested considerable money in modern improvements. Now, if one is a merchant, doctor, lawyer, minister, or some thing of that sort, and keeps bees merely for amusement or recreation, this kind of "doings" might be put up with; but the majority of us keep bees because we think or 'know that there is money to be made at the business; and if, after a series of years' faithful work with bees, any one finds that it does not pay, my advice would be to quit tho business. Many of us (perhaps I had better say I) imagine that we could go into some other man's apiary and tell him where he was making his mistakes; but can we do the same by ourselves? It is so difficult to " see ourselves as others see us " I If I should begin a season with a single colony, I should expect it to pa.v a profit Umt season; and if it had not at the close of the season, I should be very strongly tempted to sell, at some price, a colony of bees, in order to bring the balance upon the right side in the ledger. Don't think that I would advise you not to spend any money upon your bees; far from it; but be mirc that it is going to be money well invested. Try all new things upon a small scale, and after you are satisfied that any thing pays, use it, even if it does cost money. This is my fifth year at bee-keeping, and I have never made less than S15.00 per colony, while last season I cleared $2.5.00; but the loss of bees last win- ter reduced the profits to about $20.00 per colony. ^ Once more I say, make the hecs p(X)i, or else don't liceij them. W. Z. Hutchinson. Rogersville, Genesee Co., Mich. To be sure, you are right, frieud H., and it will be an excellent idea for a good many of us to make our bees fuiuisli net cash enough eacli season so that if they do all die the next winter we shall not be out of pocbet. Do this, and then don't let them die. ON THE PROBABliE CAUSES OF THE liOSS OF ODR BEES liAST AVINTER. BV L. L. LANGSTROTH. OUR heavy losses in bees affect me painfully. While I admire your cheerful spirit under such reverses, I know that the failure to win- ter your bees is much harder to bear than the mere pecuniary loss. I spenk from a vivid recollection of similar experiences. Before I discerned what pre- cautions were necessary for wintering bees success- fully in movable-frame hives, I more than once found myself in the spring in a plight almost as bad as your own. I can fully indorse your explanation of some of the reasons why your reverses have been so much greater than those of some large bcc-kcep- 320 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July ers in your neighborhood. I often met with great losses when my apiary was managed ehielly for the sale of Italian queens. At the close of a poor honey season, iny apiary often had many weak colonies. The temptation to winter every such stock which had a good queen was very great, as the demand at high prices for such queens in the spring was usual- ly greater than could be met. It was only the fact that my location was a poor one for honey, and that I could got large prices for nearly all the queens that I could raise, that at all justified my course. If in addition to the queen business, the selling of bees quite late in the season by the pound had been prac- ticed, the condition of my apiary after an unusually cold winter and late spring would probably have been very similar to that of your own. I give some comments on your replies to questions which I sent to you.* 1. "Did you spread the combs further apart?" " I did not. Although recommended, so far as I know it has been mostly abandoned." Mr. Harrison, of Buffalo, first called attention to the importance of keeping the combs in which the bees cluster for winter some ?3 of an inch further apart than the natural breeding distance. In the old box hives there are usually spaces in which bees can cluster in much larger numbers than in mova- ble frames properly spaced for the working season. In the very cold winter of 187iJ-'3, 1 wintered in the open air in hives only '3 thick, until February ,+ a number of stocks which were estimated not to have over two quarts of bees per hive. All the bees of a hive were placed between two combs full of honey, which were kept nearly three inches apart, and they formed a single cluster, shaped like a ball. If the combs of these stocks had been left in their summer position, no amount of chaff used in any fashion could have saved them. Mr. J. S. Hill, of Mount Healthy, O., who wintered last season 112 stocks without losing one, and who has wintered on an av- erage 80 stocks a year since 1868, without the loss of one, spreads the combs. 3. " Did you make winter passages in the combs?" "Perhaps half of the combs have winter passages. I have never been satisfied it made any material dif- ference." In this you differ from those who have had the best success in wintering bees. Mr. Hill, for in- stance, never neglects this point, and I am satisfied that the power of passing from comb to comb through the heart of the warm cluster, besides sav- ing the lives of many bees, greatly encourages early breeding. In the old box hive the holes around the cross-sticks for the support of the combs give the best of winter passages. 3. "Did you place burlap or any other non-con- ductor of moisture over the frames?" "We used burlap, wood mats, and enameled sheets, but saw no difference in favor of either." Whatever the material used for confining the bees below, it should, as a matter of course, permit the ready escape of superfluous moisture. With weak stocks in very cold winters, this is a point of great importance. 4. " Did you giv(! the bees a good space above the frames for clustering in?" ♦Friend L. wrote, liefore writing: tliis article, asking five |[ and in the summer time he gives me five cents every time I see the bees swarming; that is, if 1 see them before anybody else does. But I thought sure I was going to have a swarm last summer. I had been up to my uncle's, and on my way homo I saw some thing that looked like a large swarm just in the edge of the woods; so I hurried home and told father about it. Then he and I took the hiver and a hive, and went up where it was. Father told jne that if it was a swarm I could have it; but when we got up there it was nothing but a grapevine clus- tered together. So I did not have a swarm of bees after all. Father says that he has had bees nearly ever since he has kept house. When the bees sting mother it makes her sick, and sometimes she has to go to bed. It don't seem to cure father's rheuma- tism either. My brother used to keep bees too one time. Ho was out hiving a swarm of bees, and all at once he came up missing. We called and called, and after awhile we found him under a currant bush by the side of a bee hive, fast asleep. He said that he had just been eating a piece of honej\ Fa- ther thinks lots of his bee journals. I have one sis- ter. She has been siok for 4 years, and has not walked for two years. I am ten years oUl, Eugenie Steatjns. Lima, Fayette Co., Iowa, Feb. 16, 1881. Very s'ood, Eugenie. You can let your sick sister read the book we send you. or read it to her, and let us all remember to thank God that we can walk, and are not sick. Papa has three colonies of bees; he had seven last fall. What lived over are doing well. We have three Sunday-schools — in the morning and evening; I go to both whenever I can. I live in the country, and sometimes it is too bad to go. Cattie Goody Koontz. Tipton, Tipton Co., lud., June 5, 1881. Very good, Cattie. Take care of the bees and Sunday-school too, and God will bless your life and make it a good and happy one. Mrs. Harrison is mistaken, for I do not work with bees. My papa said if I worked with them he would give me a hive, liut not until I did. A good while ago, Josie Myer, my schoolmate, and myself joined a "bee convention," and went three times, when it broke up. I read of so many girls and boys of my size working with bees that I think I shall have to be- gin. I have a little cousin who goes out with my papa and looks at the bees, and he is not a bit afraid of them. I like the book you sent me very much, and I thank you for it. Maisel L. Nelson. Wyandott, Kansas, May 13, 1881. I am a boy 13 years old. We commenced winter- ing with 7 colonies. All were packed in chaff hives but 2, ont- of which was in a Simplicity, and the oth- er in a box hive. One hive was mine, one mother's, and one Frank's (my brother.) Mother's died (in a chaff hive) with the dysentery. This is not a very good place for bees. The way we dry corn is to put it in Hunter's steam- er and steam until cooled, and cut it off the cob and dry it in the Zimmer fruit-dryer. I think boiling takes some of the sweetness out of the corn. Poor "us," we can't get that smoker offered for quitting tobacco (and 1 am glad of it, because we don't use tobacco.) C. E. Israel. Beallsville, Monroe Co.; O., March 8, 1881. And SO " mother's hive " died after all, did it, in spite of chaff V— It is a little sad that the boys who have never learned to smoke can't have a smoker free ; but, my young friend, if you will read the Smoker Column of this month, and the Home Tapers too, you may thank God that he lias spared you the task of fighting these fearful tempta- tions. My pa has taken Gleanings for three or four years. I like to read the Juvenile Department and Mr. Merrybanks and his neighbor. I liave one stand of bees. Pa has one. We had 30 last year; 10 of them died during the winter, and 3 this spring, and pa sold the rest. I go to two Sunday-schools— one in the forenoon and one in the afternoon. I don't chew or smoke, nor do I ever intend to. My pa has just got a new ABC book of you, and I am going to learn how to take care of bees. 1 will be 13 years old in July. The bees are gathering pollen very fast. Charley W. Sch,i;ffek. Corydon, Wayne Co., la., Juno 3, 1881. May God bless you, Charley, in your good resolves ! Somebody in New York City once advertised parrots that could swear, and the tSunday-Sdiool 2'imcs, in comment- ing about it, said it was their impression that almost all the swearing was done by "parrots." They meant it was done by boys and men who had not brains enough to do any thing for any better reason than that they heard it from some one else. I have been wondering if the boys who learn to smoke and chew do not do it much in the same way— because they saw some one else do it, without thinking at all, or trying to think, whether this mimicking, or imitating somebody else, would do good or harm. How is it, boys? Shall we live to imitate other folks unthinkingly, like parrots, or shall we have minds of our own? I wrote a little letter which you printed in the April No., but the book you promised me never came, and I was so disappointed I wanted to write right away and let you know ; but mamma said she supposed it was lost in the mails. At last she let me write. Papa has bought some bees, but they are not at home yet. I expect mamma and I will have to take care of them, as papa is away from home most of the time. Mamma says she thinks she will have 82(> GLEANIKGS IN 13EE CULTURE. July to send for yom' ABC book, as she don't know any thin^ about bees. I have a little brother; bethinks he can help, but he is too little. He is only five years old. If you have forgotten to send my book, will you please send it? Anne Spencer. Hockingpoi-t, O , June C, 1881. "Why, I am real sorry, friend Annie ; and to make up for your disappointmeiit, we send you two l)o6ks this time. Tell your little brother he is all right, and he can help too. If you all try you will be sure to suc- ceed; and I know you will find lots of work that your five-year old brother can do. You didn't tell me what his name is. I have lots of boys and girls and men, and women too, to work for me; and when I find one who Trcntii in lidjj, he is often worth more than some who are " great big," who do not want to help very much. I am 11 years old. I go to school, and read in the Fourth Reader, and study Second Part of Arithme- tic, and Geographj". I have got three head- marks and 28 perfect marks. I go to Sabbath-school, and I got a Bible for learning my catechism, and repeat- ing it to Mr. Cleland, the pastor. 1 have learned the 23d Psalm. Grace McCkory. Winchester, Adams Co., O., June 15, 1881. Well done, (^racie. Even if your letter isn"t about bees, it is a good one, and as it don't take much room we put it in. Stick to that -:3d Psalm, and you will be good to take care of bees or any thing else when you grow up. I am a little girl 8 years old. My pa takes Glean- ings, and I like to hear it read. I like your car- toons too. I found a swarm of bees on the hedge a year ago, and in the spring pa bought C more. AV^e have got 41 colonies now, mostly Italians. My two brothers take care of the bees, and I help them some. I M'ot stung on the hand once, and you may guess I had a fat hand; but it didn't hurt much. I am my mamma's baby. My papa's name is A. B. Kirk. My pa is a preacher. I like to go to Sunday- school. I like to go to school too. I read in the Fourth Reader, and I spell and write. I am in an arithmetic class too. Emma Kirk. Columbus, Cherokee Co., Kan , May 13, 1881. AVhy, Emma, th^it is a first-rate letter for an eight-year old ''chicken," and I should think you were getting along pretty well in your studies too. ]3e sure you do not neg- lect your health in studying so much. Lit- tle girls eight years old need lots of air and sunshine to make their little bodies grow; and helping their papas among the bees will many times do them more good than studying ai'ithmetic. Our girl Maude has been to school so much, that the doctor said she was in danger of consumption. So you see we took her out of school, and she goes with her uncle (" neighbor 11. ") down to his apiary by the river. lie makes her drive "Patsy," and away they go like the wind. She says she won't drive any more, as it makes her arms ache so. When they get back, "Lu" gives them a lunch of slraw- ])erries and sandwiches from the lunch room, and then jNIaude writes cards and letters to the folks who send for queens and things; but Ave don't let her write very long at a time. We hope she will get well and strong again, so she can goto school some more; don't you hope so too? Seeing so many nice letters written by little girls and boys, I thought I would write one too. Papa takes Gleanings, and likes it very much. I like to read the letters from the little folks, and Mr. Merry- banks. My papa keeps bees; he lost all but one swarm, but he has sent for more. 1 had one swarm that I found last year, and that died too. My cous- in had a nice swarm come out last Sunday, and they went to the woods. He did not like it very well. I go to school. Our school is out in two weeks, and then we will have a good long vacation. We have a new schoolhouse. It is the nicest one around here. It is called Medina Center schoolhouse. I go to Sun- daj'-school too. 1 am eight years old. My brother and I have a pet lamb; he likes to nibble the rasp- berries. I help mamma raise chickens. We have 115 now. Lillian Ray. Morenci, Lenawee Co., Mich., June 14, 1881. Isn't that funny, that your schoolhouse is called "Medina" Center schoolhouse? I haven't got Ho chickens, but I set one old hen on l-") eggs, and she hatched lo chickens, and has got them all now, with their new feathers on. Isn't that pretty well done, friend 1 Jllian ? lam a little girl 11 years old. My father takes Gleanings, I i-ead it, and I like the cartoons. My father put 172 colonies of bees into the cellar. This spring, aboxit 75 colonies were alive. My father nev- er puts his bees in a cellar where vegetables are kept, because vegetables draw moisture. I hived a swarm of bees, and my father gave thena to me. I put a hive under the tree, and shook the limb on which they had alighted, and they all fell into the hive. I would like bees better if they did not have stings. My mother makes viaegar out of the water in which she washes the comb. I go to church and Sundaj'-sehool. I like to go very much. Eva Amery. St. Croix Falls, Polk Co., Wis., Jane 13, 188L Well, that is a very instructive and in- teresting letter, Eva, and I think you did pretty well in hiving a swarm of bees at on- ly 11 years old. Your remarks about liking bees "better if they had no stings, seems a little suggestive, especially as they follow so close on your account of hiving the swarm. So your papa lost almost a hundred colonies? You see, we get at some truths from the children which the grown-up folks might not think best to tell us. MRS. LUCIND.4 HARRISON'S TALK TO THE JUVENILES. In reading the Juvenile Department for June we are not only amused, but encouraged and instruct- ed. One little girl, 11 years old, says, "I plant flowers and every thing I can that is good for them." My dear, if bee-keepers, both great and small, the world over, would follow your e.xample, what a beau- tiful world we would soon have I Then " the wilder- ness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose." My dear young friends, you can increase the hon- ey flow in many ways. A gentleman in Iowa sent me some seed of the Rockj'-Mountain bee-plant, say- ing that " some soldiers brought home the seed from the Rockies, because they thought it was a pretty 18S1 GLEANOGS I:N BEE CULTUEE. 327 flower, and now it is growing wild all over the r town." We sowed the seed last spring, and only one plant came up ; but after lying in the ground a year they are now coming up in evers* place where the seed was scattered. In the ground, all around where the plant grew last year, the plants came up thickly, and so we took a dibble and a pan and lifted out the plants carefully, and set them in waste places, so that they can seed themselves another year. "Whenever you think of a thing, is the time to do it; if you see honey-plants growing so thickly that they can not thrive, such as catnip, sweet clo- ver, tigwort, etc., transplant some of them to differ- ent waste places. If the weather is dry, dig a hole, put in the plant, pour in water, and fill up with the loose soil. This is a much better way than planting first and then watering. Try it, and see if it is not. In rainy weather, plants grow if transplanted al- most any way; but then, you might get wet and drabbled, and make your mother more work. LUCINDA HAKKISON. Peoiia, 111., June6, 18S1. KA.1IBL.£ NO. 5. JOHN ANDREWS. fPON the western edge of our county is located a small hamlet, designated as Patten's Mills. The mills consist of a gristmill, and a shop for a variety of purposes. In this village lives our friend John Andrews, who, when we visited him, had about 100 swarms of bees. We found Mr. A. in his shop busily engaged making bee-hives. He uses a frame much smaller than the Langstroth, but tiers them up on the Simplicitj' plan. His bees have a good pasturage; and to aid them, several bass- wood-trees have been planted along the highway; and it is safe to say, that wherever you see basswood- trees planted along the highway, you will find in that vicinity an enthusiastic bee-keeper. We learn that Mr. Andrews has lost several swarms during the past winter, and he Vielieves bis Italian bees are much more difficult to winter than blacks. They dwindle down more in the spring. His bees are win- tered in his cellar. We have found other parties who are going to stick by the common black bee. The disasters of the past winter have opened the eyes of many bee-keepers to the fact, that hardiness is a point not to bo overlooked in breeding bees, and the breeder who will give us such a strain of bees shall have our patronage. While speaking with Mr. A. about bee-stings, he related a very peculiar instance of a sting received by his daughter. She was eating honey that had been taken from the hive several weeks or months before, and felt a stinging sensation in her throat. The parts began to swell; the family became alarmed; a physician was sent for, and, with proper instruments, he removed the sting from her throat. This sting, with its poison-sack, had been thus pre- served in the honey for a considerable length of time. We have all found people who can not eat even the Emallest amount of honey without giving them very disagreeable feelings, and even convul- sions. Are not these feelings explained by the presence of poison in the honey? We have found persons who could not eat the old-fashioned strained honey, but, alter many tastings, extracted honey was eaten without injury. There was not so much poison in the honey thrown out as in the squeezed' out honey, But we will return to Mr. A.'s shop, and I will in- troduce you to his son Cyrus, who is manufacturing row boats. We found a boat much harder to make than a bee-hive; nearly every piece has to be made after a different pattern, and the fit must be next to perfect. These boats are to be used upon Lake George, of which we wrote in our last Kamble. Mr. A. is interested in several cottages for summer boarders, upon the eastern shore of the lake, where, we have no doubt, a welcome would he extended to a goodly company of bee-keepers. Bee-hunting is indulged in on the mnuntains bordering upon the lake. Lines of bees have been traced directly o\er Buck Mtiuntain to ;he apiary of Mr. Adams, six miles away. These bees had an additional quality— they were not only long-flyers, but high-flyers. We could say much more of Mr. A. and his Itind family, but must bid them adievi for the present. Hartford, N. Y. J. H. Maktin. If the sting was in the honey the length of time you mention, friend ^I., it of course possessed no life, and therefore got caught in the throat like any other splinter. That it could empty its poison under such circum- stances seems liardly probable ; but if the doctor pulled out a sting, I suppose Ave shall have to admit it, or conclude that a live bee had, unknown to any of them, crawled into the comb. I confess the latter seems to me far the more probable. ^ i»i ^ A PL.EASAAT LETTER FROM A INEIV ABC- SCHOliAR. YOTJXG IN EKTHUSIASM, EVEN THOUGH WELL ALOXG IX VEAKS. fHAD often thought I should like to have bees, but was afraid they could not be kept here, ' where there is but little honey-making feed, and the climate is very cold; but last year I concluded to try. So I got a hive of the Langstroth pattern, and in June, 1880, got a swarm of bees and brought them home, 20 miles distance. I let them take caro of themselves until late in the fall; I then got your ABC book. I am rather old for an A B C scholar, being in my 69th year, but I tried to find the surest way to winter the bees. After considering the dif' ; ferent methods, 1 concluded the handiest to get at \ was to take a large packing case and lay in about 3 inches of chaff in the bottom, and place in the hive, I arranging an opening from the entrance of hive through the side of case, and then packing all . around it with chaff well pi'essed in, and I then cov- i ered the top with an old bed-quilt, and left them out ' on the stand, having many doubts in regard to them. Early in the spring they were found with a pretty good supply of food on hand, and all lively and in very good condition. So, early in May I got me a ! chaff hive, to have it ready for a swarm. On the 13th of May, soon after breakfast, I saw the bees coming out very numerously, but I was not quite certain whether they were about to swarm. I asked ' my wife to watch them, and went and got a swarm- : ing-box and my chaff hive; but before I was quite ready, wife came and told me the bees had settled [ upon the post 1 have at the garden gate. 1 got a j white sheet over them and put the box under, think- I ing they would go into the box, which they showed [ no disposition to do. So I sawed off" the upper end I of the post, and put it, bees and all, into the hive, I and I soon found it necessary to shiike them off in- 3-2S GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. JUIA' to the hive, getting- a good many of them buzzing around; but I covered them down, and they all very soon got in at the entrance, but did not seem in- clined to go to work, even till the next day. So I took u frame with brood and honey-eclls on it, and put it into the hive with them, and soon had the sat- isfaction of seeing them get to work in good earn- est. They are now doing well, having nearly filled 0 frames, leaving Imt one in the lower compartment for me to put fdn. on ; but I intend to place some in the frames in the upper story, ready for them. The old stocks are also doing well. On the 25th of May I was surprised to see bees again coming out of the old hive as though they were about to swarm. I again called my wife to keep watch until I could get up a temporary hive, but had scarcely begun when she came to my work- shop and told me the swarm was out, and had alighted on a small apple-tree about two rods from the t^tand. I asked her to still keep watch until I had got my hive ready, which I made from an old packing case, and put into it some frames from up- per story of chaff hive, then cut off the small branch with the bees: but many of them Hew around, but soon gathered in a cluster on another branch of the same tree, which I also cut down and got them into the hive. I think this swarm is about two-thirds as large as the tirst turned out, which was a very large and strong stock. I took another frame from the old stock, and put it into the temporary hive, and I find they have got to work like good busy bees, and are doing first rate. I am now making an upper box to put on the top of the first old hive so as to give the bees more room until I can get a chaff hive made for them. I intend to make one of the same kind for the last swarm, and I am in hopes they will do well. I have got me a bee veil, but I find it necessary to also get me a smoker. I believe the Lord has blessed and directed me in my efforts with these busy little folks, for which I olf er him my very grateful thanks. I like your ABC book; have found it a great help. I also like Gleanings. I find many very useful hints, and some good and interesting articles in it. My wife and children like to read it, and they feel interested by its perusal. We all like Our Homes; we also like your manner of doing business, and ap- preciate your very kind manner of treating your customers and correspondents. I wish you well. "Wife and children join me in kind wishes for little Blue Eyes. Geo. W. Buruidge, P. M. Saint John's, Tooele Co., Utah, June 9, 1881. Very good, friend 13., but I can not say I (luite admire your plan of ''sawing off" ev- ery thing the bees happen to alight on. It is a sure way, I admit, but I think you will have no trouble if you hold your swarming- box right over the cluster, and then drive them into it with smoke, or whip thein very gently with a little sprig of a leafy branch. Don't strike so as to hurt them, but keep patting them gently, and you can drive them as you would a flock of sheep. Give them a little time to move, and you will find they will soon be all in the box. In the aljsence of a swarming- box, I often use a common .5c market basket. When you carry them, keep it still upside down, and they will stay safe- ly until you go a mile or more. Thanks for your kind Avords. HOW TO WINTER BEES. BY ONE WHO DOES WINTER THEM. gp ET me tell you right here at the beginning, be- fore I make any remarks on the above sub- ject, that the ideas that I shall herein present to you were not all originally conceived by me. They were mostly the outgrowth of the long expe- rience and close observation of my father. The fact that, for many successive years, he wintered his bees with such good success, and that I can claim by the same means, in that respect, so far to have followed in his footsteps, ought to give some weight to the following remarks on the above subject. In March No. of Gleanings I stated many things in reference to the subject of " cellar wintering," but did not then state as fully as should be all that must be done to insure success. If it will not bore you too much, just read once again what I there said, and combine those and my present remarks togeth- er, and perchance a little seed wheat may be found among all the chaff. We will anticipate time a little ; till July, the time Gleanings reaches you. Your first move to make is to secure at once a lot of combs, well filled with basswood or white-clover honey and perfectly fin- ished. Store them away in a warm dry room till fall. Tf you do not need them they can be extracted at any time later as easily as now. Endeavor to ob- tain at least two combs (about ten pounds) for every colony you expect to have in the fall. This you can do very quickly by taking some of the side combs of every hive, already partially filled with honey, and placing them in an upper story of another hive to seal. When this is done there is nothing more to do till the beginning of September. At that time every colony must be earefuUj' examined, all old and fee- ble queens killed and replaced by young ones, of which every bee-keeper can have a supply on hand at that time. See to it that all are breeding well to the end of September. If the fall honey-crop is good, the extractor may be used to advantage to make room for the queen to lay; but this can be dispensed with by removing the outside combs and placing empty ones in the center. Do not stimulate breeding in October, but endeavor rather to have the queen quit laying eggs by the tenth. If neces- sarj", do not contract the entrance, which should or- dinarily be done at this time, but allows the cold to enter the hive. It is far better to have them quit breeding four or five weeks before removing them to the cellar, than that your bees should hatch after they are removed. In the early part of October, another important factor must be kept in view, and that is, winter pro- visions. Every colony should then be strong in bees; but if they are not, then double up all weak ones; unless, indeed, you prefer to run more risk in wintering, offset by the chance of wintering over a number of good queens. I always pursue the latter course, and in ordinary winters with good success. In spring you will always have gome become queen- less, when you can double up to more advantage. If your bees are otherwise in good condition, the only thing that remains to be considered is provisions. Now go to your storeroom and bring forth your combs of honey gathered in July, and give to each colony according to its wants, placing the honey on each side, and as near to the cluster of bees as possi- ble. This is the only division-board I ever use to ISSl gleaa'i:ngs in bee culture. 329 contract my bees. When this is done, give to each i colony a few pounds of best white-sugar syrup. They ought then to have twenty pounds of provi- sions to every colony, and are ready to store away; 200 colonies can thus be fed up by one man in three days. If, however, you were unable to obtain the combs of honey, or have not thought it of sufficient importance to do so, the feeding must be done ear- lier, to give them time to seal. Let your bees now stand till permanent cold weather has set in, and, unless already too late in November, wait till they have had a last good flight. I know that I herein differ with many good apiarists, and that Prof. Cook remai'ks in his manual that they should be removed to the cellar before " permanent cold weather sets in;" yet my experience has always corroborated my statement once before made, that it is safer to re- move them to the cellar late than take them out eai'ly in spring. If the winter and circumstances are such that bees will stand conflnement for five months, say from the 1st of November to the 1st of April, they will stand it.jutst as wcU from the ir)th of November to the loth of April; and in ordinary falls \ and springs 1 should certainly prefer the latter. But | to return to my instructions. I repeat, leave your . bees out as late as possible. They will thus con- sume all unsealed honey they have, and you may be assured that all hrood will have hatched -another \ most important thing; and, what is more, having been well chilled they will not again begin to breed till removed from the cellar in spring, if the temper- ature is kept even at about 42°. ! Often it has happened to me that snow and ice have clogged up the entrance, when I put them in, so that I had to leave the entrance blocks on till thawed off. Last winter was no exception. 1 And now as to the kind of cellar, ventilation of j the hives, and how to set them. I must refer you to March No., lest this article be too long. The tem- perature ought never vary more than six degrees, and whether this be obtained by extra good protec- tion of the cellar, by water, or by artificial heat, is, I believe, immaterial. If the temperature is even, your bees will be quiet, consume little honey, will not breed. Let them remain there all winter undis- turbed, only once or twice cleaning the entrance by means of a feather. If the winter is mild, a flight during the warm weather might not hurt them; but my bees never enjoy this privilege, and I do not ad- vocate the theory, except where bees are sick with the dysentery. My objection is, it is too liable to stimulate them to breeding. When permanent warm weather has set in, and here again not hcforc, unless dysentery makes it absolutely necessary, carry your bees to their summer stands for good, and in day time, notwithstanding Mr. Little or oth- ers. Wait till 10 or 11 o'clock in the forenoon; then, if there is no wind, and the weather is warm and promising, go to your cellar and make a dense cloud of tobacco smoke, blowing some into each hive (no matter if you do hit a dead one), and then begin to carry them out, always closing the door after you. At first, all will get restless, and a few will fly out; but an occasional dose of tobacco smoke will soon cool them all down, and you can carry them out in perfect quiet. Removing bees from the cellar in day time has many advantages; the most important is, that you know to a certainty the state of the weather, which you can ne%-er know the evening be- fore. As to the bees missing their hives, etc., inci- dent to the confusion they are in, that Mr. Little re- marks upon, I must say that I have had far less trouble from it than formerly from wind and weather. Let some one who has faith in the above-described manner of wintering bees try it and report. I can not claim that bees thus cared for will aZu'aj/s winter well; but so far they have every time I have tried it, or seen it tried, and that is ten or twelve years. There is no mystery about wintering bees if the es- sentials arc kept in view. It is so well established that all believe it, that "strong colonies of young bees, a g.iod queen, plentj' of pure, healthy honey, or its equivalent, even temperature ranging from 40° to 45°, and proper ventilation," constitute these es- sentials; and what I have said is simply applying them, one and all, to the 8-frame Langstroth hive, with tight bottom and old style honey-board. That I add to these, put them in cellar late; do not let them breed; remove them in day time, etc., maij be only pet hobbies of mine, and safer for me to ride than for j-ou. Geo. Grimm. Jefferson, Wis.. June IT, ISSl. There, boys, you have it right before you — plain directions from one who winters, winter after winter, so nearly without loss, and in such numbers, that it can not well be accident. If you follow carefully and thor- oughly the directions friend G. has given, there is no reason in the world why you should not succeed in the same way. Re- member, the writer is himself but little more than a boy, like many of the rest of you ; but he has learned from his father to do well what he undertakes to do. I presume friend G. would not undertake to say he could winter bees where the young ones and the queens are all the time sold off from the stocks, as is the case in our apiary. FKIEND SMITH, OF PELEE I^iLANU, TELLS HIS STORY ABOUT AVIN- TERING. WHY DID THE BEES DIE ? f THOUGHT last month that I would tell my sto- ry about wintermg; but as you kindly admon- — ' ished us in the May No. to drop the subject, I was discouraged from so doing. I know that it is not desirable to keep filling th*; pages of Glean- ings with this subject, especially where it is mere statements of every bee-keeper of the number he had in the fall, and the number he had left in the spring, which statements can be of interest to the majority of readers only as showing the great loss of bees last winter, of which we are all pretty well aware by this time. But when all the facts con- nected with the losses anf more general interest; and we have several such articles in the June No., and reading these has again put me in the notion of telling my story. My experience was with a variety of hives under different circumstances, and it seems to point to a different conclusion from most of the reports. I had 40 hives, prepared and unprepared in various 830 GLEANINGS IN BEE CUETUKE. JULY ways, all on siimnicr stands, in a very exposed situ- ation, and lost 11 — most of them by starvation ; but a majority of those that were alive lost from U to -a of the bees — some reduced to less than a quart; but I saved them all, as I know nothing about spring- dwindling. In making my spring examination I proposed to : note carefully the condition of each hive, to see if I | could determine under what circumstances they had wintered best. I will confess right here, that i when I got through and compared notes I was as much in the dark as ever, and more bewildered in trying to arrive at the conclusion as to which is the best plan for wintering on summer stands. A few hives were packed in chaff ; all others had ■ frames covered, either with cushions of chaff, or i carpeting, without any other protection. The chaff ' hives all wintered fairly, but I was surprised to find , the best-preserved colony in the yard in an old half- rotten L. hive, with only a light cushion of leaves on i the frames, and some loose boards piled on the top to keep out the wet, which they did not do very well. ; The second best was very much like the first. Two i "long-idea" hives, with bees placed in the center, and only a piece of carpet hung over the frames, coming down on each side near the bottom, were among the bost, as were also 2 two-story hives with 6 frames in each story, brought to the center, and , carpet hung over them, and cushions on the sides. To continue my investigations, I determined to see i every hive in the Island. 1 found only three men who had live bees. One had 14 in the fall, in thick box hives, tops nailed on tight, without any provi- ; sions for surplus boxes or upward ventilation — oii7i/ two alive. Next had three; one in abeautiful hollow section of a tree — dead ; one in a tall box hive, bees ' working out of small hole in top — very few bees, 35 ' or 40 lbs. of honey; one in an old candle-box, sides and top only % in. thick, in very fair condition. These two hives I transferred, and know their con- dition exactly. The third man had t» last fall; T of these were alive, and 5 of them were the fullest of bees, brood, and honey, of any colonies I ever saw at that season of the year. They were all in hives with V2 frames, the [ same as my own, but no attention was paid to them after the bees were put in — no protection what- ever; no cover of any hind on the frames; but the shallow covers of the hives, made like the roof of a house, from one to three inches deep, were put over them, and the bees allowed to fill the space above . the frames with comb and honey. Covers fit loosely I over the hive, and the bees were working out from i the tops of several of them. And these are the best out-door wintered bees that I have heard of this : spring. A near neighbor found a bee-tree some three years ago; cut off a section of 10 feet, and set it up in his yard. For three years they wintered well, and ' swarmed two or three times every season. This I | thought a perfect model of a natural bee-hive; but j they died. This led me to make inquiries of the wood-choppers and others as to the bees found last winter in the "bush." Heard of 5 bee-trees being cut, not one of which had live bees in them— no live ones found at all, and I think it probable that there are no bees left in the woods. This would argue that the natural home of the bee is not always the best. Now, what lessons are we to learn from all this to guide us in the future? I confess mj-self puzzled to give an answer. But it does seem to indicate, first, that a great amount of protection, with thick walls, chaff, etc., is not absolutely necessary to suc- cessful wintering, even in such a winter as last, as in the case of the 7 bi'ood hives without protection, and the thin "a candle-box. Second, that some pro- vision for upward ventilation seems essential. Third, that it does not depend entirely upon' the kind of food they have to winter on, as all the bees here must have had the same kind of stores. We all know that good food is essential, and friend Heddoii has a very fine-spun theory of "bacteria in the hon- ey," ariived at by jTasojiinflr from effect to cause ([ believe that no scientist has ever discovered such a thing- in honey with the microscope yet), but here is one fact which is worth half a dozen tlieorics; viz., the best-wintered and the worst-wintered bees were in yards not '^ of a mile apart, and must have had the siime kind of honey, as none had been taken from either ; consequently, the food was not the cause of the differences in losses. I have already made this communication too long; yet left out many particulars that I should like to have mentioned; but I wish to give an incident to show the astonishing amount of exposure bees will sometimes stand, and yet live. In March I found one hive had been overlooked last fall, and there was nothing whatever over them or in the upper story, which was a large one, 11x11x18 in.— not even frames, and yet there was a pint or so of live bees in it — as many as in some other hives, and I would have saved it as I saved all the others had it not been for an accident. Thaddeus Smith. Pelee Island, Out., June li, 1881. FRIEND GAUFF'S SWARITIINU-ISOX, AND HOW HE USES IT. MSI am one who reads GtiEANiNGS, I thought Jl^_ I would write you a letter and give you a dia- ' gram of a swarming-box that I have used for two years. THE "cheese-box" SWAlt.MINU-BOX. 1 got a cheese-box that was just large pnough for a frame to hang on the inside; then I nailed on two pieces with a notch cut in the upper end to hold the frame in; then I put a handle on one side, with a strap hinge, with a hole bored in the end, so that I could use a long pole or a short one as I wanted; then I bored holes around the bottom, except on the side where the handle is that I lift with, so the bees would not get on that side so bad; now, when a swarm commenced to alight, I would take my box, and put in a frame of comb and shake off the bees in the bo.v, and then, if they were rather slow, I would take a short pole, stick it in the ground, and hang my box on it, and let the bees get settled, and then I would take the frame out of the box and hang it in the hive, and shake the rest of the bees in front of the hive without any more trouble, D, K. Gauff. , Milan, Erie Co., O., May 1.5, 1881. 1881 GLE AIRINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 331 DOOIilTTIiE: ANS^VEKS QUESTIONS. [Continued from June No.] KILLING BEES A WRONG. fKI END Bradford thinks my comparison between killing bees and a cow too larg-e; that bees are — ' God's " creatures "—not ours, and that God no- tices every bee we kill by carelessness; also that he don't think of profit when trying- to save their lives. [q regard to the comparison being too large between the killing of a cow and a bee, I wish to say that we might say a sheep and a hive of bees, if that would please better; but it was not to compare things of equal value I was after, but to show that it was no more sin to kill one than the other; and the claim that, because you eat or sell the carcass of the one proves more than the selling the product of the other, is a difference without a distinction. Women are supposed to be kind and tender-hearted beyond men, so hear what Mrs. L. Harrison says in the Prairie Farmer:— Bee-keepers are apt to denounce tliose who brimstone their bees, as cruel and unchristian: how about those who let them starve? We were once talking with a kind-hearted Dane, who handled his bees so !?ently for tear of crushinct one, about what he was going to do with a number of his colonies tjiat were des- titute of stores. He replied, "I'm going to brimstone them. The farmer selects his animals that he has no further use for, fattens ajid kills them, and no one calls him cruel. Why has not a bee-keeper the same right? I'm not able to bity sugar for these colonies, and they would perish with starvation before spring. The fumes of brini.stone will kill them in a moment; and is not this better than to die a lingering death by stai-va- tion!" Mr. Jones, of Canada, saj-s. " There is one redeeming fe.ature about the system of bee-keeping practiced in Cyprus. Palestine, and Syria; that is, although they .are heathens they do not brim- stone their bees as do the Christians of Europe and America " Although they do not "brimstone their bees," we see. byh's own account, that they let them starve. He savs, ' ' It has bf en the worst honey yeai- ever known iir Cyprus Three-fourtI s o the bees died last spring, and since then three-fourths of tho e that were left have died, so there are none in some localities, and only a few in others . ' ' If we supersede a queen, we have first to decapitate the reign- ing majesty, or destroy her in some way before anfither will be accepted; and yet we have never heard this practice denounced as unchristian. We have never had an occasion to brimstone bees, for we unite the small colonies early in the fall, if we have any, and feed them, to insure young bees and plent.v of stores for winter; yet we think it is" a mistaken idea, about its being cruel to do so, any more than to kill a chicken. Question: If Mrs. H. is correct (which I claim she is), is it more sin to kill a few bees in handling, to save time, than it is to kill a whole swarm to save buying sugar for them? That bees are God's "crea- tures," and all else living, I am willing to admit; but all were created for the hem fit of man, and man has the control of all, as the inspired word of God tells us, where the Psalmist says,— For thou hast made him (man; a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned hira with glory and honor. Thou madesi him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things un- der his feet.— Psalm 8 : 5, G. Again, the apostle James says,— For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of ser- pents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind.— James 3 : 7. Thus we see God gave man control and power over all creatures he has made; and I can see no differ- ence between killing a sheep or cow to eat, or sell, thus receiving profit thereby, or a hawk, skunk, or crow, to save our property, and killing now and then a bee that is worth less to us than our time, thus saving time, "for time is money." As to killing God's creatures carelessly, if friend B. will look on the ground he treads upon he will see he scarcely takes a step in the summer season without killing some of the smallest of God's creatures; yet he stops not, but walks on regardless of it; yet he holds himself accountable to God for the bees he kills! If the ground were thickly strewn with bees instead of worms, spiders, bugs, etc , we would, all of us api- arists, step over or around them. Why? because there is a profit in the bees; and this is the reason we treat the bees better than we do the spiders and bugs, whether we are conscious of it or not. Now, ,iust one thing more while we are on this profit ques- tion. I see some bee-keepers think it is not right to spend time on the Sabb'ith to hive bees that swarm on that day. We have been in the habit of staying home from church during the swarming season to hive our bees, believing if God did not design man to care for swarms of bees on the Sabbath, he would not have allowed them to swarm on that day. Well, one day we were taken to task by a good brother in the church, who made duiryirg a business, for our neglecting the house of worship from four to six Sabbaths each year to hive our bees. Says he, " It is not right; go to church; and if your bees swarm and go off, thank God for what there is left." I said, " Brother C, you keep cows, do you not? " "Yes." "And milk them on the Sabb.ith?" . "Yes." " Why do you milk them?" "We— 11; the cows would suffer if not milked for 21 hours, and I milk them to relieve suffering." "Just so; but don't you take a pail with you when you go to milk on that day?" "Yes." " And don't you take the milk to the house, strain it, and, if it is very warm, skim it to keep the cream from taking hurt?" "I own such is the case." "And don't these chorea, as you call them, keep you from praj-er-meeting Sabbath evenings? or if you go, aren't yon tirfd and weary?" " Such is often the case." "Well, now, brother, you see, to save the milk from those cows, and care for them the year round, you work ten times the amount on the Sabbath, in the course of aryear, ihat I do with the bees, and all for the profit accruing therefrom." "I admit you are right, brother D., and hereafter I will not complain of you till I don't take a pail with me when I milk on the Sabbath." In conclusion, I wish to say I do not believe it right to make a business of working on the Sabbath, nor do I kill any more bees than I can help, consistent with doing what apparently is a necessity; still, I do claim that a man has a perfect right to hive his bees on the Sabbath, as well as to milk his cows, feed his horse, pigs, hens, etc., which no one considers as wrong. I also claim that it is no more a sin to kill a bee than to kill a spider or a snake, and that, when there is mere profit in killing them than in sparing their lives, we are justified in killing them. Borodino, N. Y., May 20, 1881. G. M. Doolittle. It makes me feel rather sad, to think we must have all this discussion in this niatter, and especially so much of it in favor ot be- ing less careful than we have been of taking their little lives. Our boys often leave queen- cages standing abotit, containing bees only, after the queen has been used. It is, of course, more trouble to take these dozen or so bees to a hive than to let them remain im- prisoned and starve ; but, my friends, the thought of these little fellows dying in this way would so haunt me that t could not be happy anywhere, and, busy as I am, I often take them to a liive and let them out myself, 332 gleaKikgs in bee cultuke. July when nobody else will do it. I let them in some gentle hive, where they will not get stung too. I presume it may be a dutj^ to stay at home from church during swarming time, but I would try hai'd to so arrange matters that it is not often necessary. TJie incident you mention shows how much weight your conduct has in your community, friend D. A few years ago I was in the habit of going out of church just at the close of the sermon, so I could get my dinner in time to take charge of a mission Sabbath- school. After a few Sundays, I noticed others would go out after I did, and finally quite a string of boys would start just after 1 did. They doubtless thought I went out because I was tired and sleepy, like them- selves, and that if I took such a liberty, of course it would be proper for ?/iem. I thought about it a little, and stopped ; and if the boys are going to follow me that way, I tell you what it is, I believe I would let consid- erable property go to waste before I would consent to even the appearance of evil. Ern- est and John both remained away from Sab- bath-school last Sunday, because the bees " might get to robbing," and they also stayed away from the young people's prayer-meet- ing in the evening, because — well, the prin- cipal part of their excuse was, so far as I can remember, that it was more than half over before they got started. Last Saturday night, 20 queens came in by the last express, in rather feeble condition, some of them. I prepared them as best I could that night, and found eight of them dead Monday morn- ing. Perhaps I erred in not putting them in Peet cages, over unsealed honey, very early Sunday morning, for the loss was $8.00 ; but, my friends, it is a glorious thing, when you do err, to think you have erred "on the Lord's side.'' POINTS OF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BLACK AND ITALIAN BEES. (Concluded from page 333, Ajml No.) '-HILE black bees assert no special claim to any food offered away from their hives, Italians will often try to prevent other bees from get- ting any of it, as stoutly as though it werepart of their own private stor-es. Wheu the humbug by which bees were claimed to be able to convert Cuba honey into some thing eciual to the choicest white -clover product was in full Vogue, I saw, in a Brooklyn apiary, one hundred or more black stocks all sipping their supplies from the same feeders,* and none asserting an exclusive right to the public supply. 18. Italians will utilize largely any wax which they find aivay from their hives, tvhile black brcs take no notice^ it. In the first edition of my work (1853), p. 80, 1 sug- gested, that "bees might be induced to use old wax for the construction of their combs;" and in the 1857 edition, I say, " I have ascertained that bees will *The seller of this patent, in his recipe for preparing the food, directs that the Cuba honey be mixed witli :ui eciual (ivlantity of water; and asiio allowance was made t'i)r thr wat>-r i t)ie bees mi doubt being asTvell able to change tliis water into Immy eis they wei-e to convert the dark honey into the purest nectar i, lie was able to reduce the apparent cost nf ids lee( water to the sap before boiling it. use fine shavings of wax to build new comb; but further investigations are needed to make the dis- covery of practical advantage." While the blacks are slow to accept wax shavings, the Italians would probably use them largely .+ 19. Black bces,trJicn examined by artificiql light, are much more iJiclincd thaii Italians to fly from their combs. After many hard experiences, I made it a rule never to open black colonies after dark. Even if not disturbed, the lights from a house, if the hives< are near to it, will often attract black bees as well as moths. Now, when queens are hatching, it is often quite important to examine colonies by artifi- cial light; and the ease with which this can be done with Italians is a strong point in their favor, as they seem even less disposed to fly than in the day time.:): 30. Black bees have a very much stronger attach- ment than Italians to the spot where their hive has once stood. Dzierzon, when he had only blacks, found it high- ly desirable to have two apiaries far enough apart to enable him to secure enough bees for his artifi- cial swarms and nuclei, while many of the methods given in my work, and which cost me so much time in observations and experiments, aimed to secure the same results from a single apiary. Those who have had no experience with the blacks, have little idea what a task it was, in many of the most impor- tant operations with them, to get a sutficient num- ber of bees that would stay in any new location. For example, in the fall union of weak colonies oc- cupying different positions in the apiary, many pre- cautions were necessary with the blacks to prevent large numbers of the removed bees from perishing in flying back to their old location, either to perish there, or to be killed by the neighboring stocks into which they sought to gain admission. With Italians, on the contrary, there is no difficulty in quickly uniting stocks, however widely separated in the same apiary. If on a good day for flying, the bees from one stock, after being made to gorge them- selves with honey are shaken down before another gorged stock, their loud hum as they enter their new home will quickly attract the attention of any of their companions who may have flown to the old location; and if their hive has been removed, they will soon join their companions, and ever after ad- here well to their new position. 31. When the union of blacks from different colo- nies is attempted, they are far more likely to quarrel than Italians. How common an experience it is, in spite of all our precautions, to have every black bee from one weak stock killed by another black colony, no mat- ter how sorely they may need an addition to their scanty numbers! while with Italians, such desirable unions are formed with comparatively little risk or trouble. t By the insertion of comb foundations we can make a still bet- ter use of our wax, 1 was at work on tlie artificial -comb idea in 1853 (see first edition of my work, p. 80), but learning from Mr. Sam '1 Wagner that He hail been experimenting in that line be- fore me, I relegated the wlmle matter to iiim. If, like Mr. Kocit, hec-iiuld havv availed himself of the services of such a genius as ,"\lr. Waslibnrn. he might hnve made his foundations a practical success before ailv one in KUicipe had even begun to exiieriment in that line. In his last conversation with me on this suljject, he said that the wording of his claims was so de- fective that he mUst have his patent reissued. JUcnlioff, the great German observer, ranks the bee and the dog as occuiiving the highest scale in intelligence. A black- and-tan tenier, so milch afraiil of lices that nothing could in- duce her to go near tlicir liivcs in the daytime, would lollow me, without any invitation, from hive to hive in my night ex- aminations, as thougli she had a deep interest in my doings. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 338 23. While all the defects of the Italians can be rem- edied by care and skill, hardly a single leading one of the blacks seems to admit of any cure. They can not be kept from racing and tumblinar off their combs, nor cured of their propensity to rob under almost any circumstances, nor made brave or self-reliant under adverse conditions, in any degree to compare with Italians, or willing, like them, to be persistently industrious when honey is to be got on- ly by the hardest kind of work. While 1 do not claim to have given all the points of difference between these two species of bees, I have been the more particular, because of the pain- ful conviction that so few are now living of the old generation of bee-keepers who have had a sufficient- ly long and large experience to be able to give the facts on this subject. Having now no interest of any kind whatever in the sale of Italians, or any other species of bees, perhaps my judgment in this matter may, with some, tind a more ready accep- tance. Of one thing I am sure,— that the Italians are in greatest favor with those who are best ac- quainted with the striking points of difference be- tween them and the blacks, and that the use of movable frames, with all the manipulations which follow in their wake, have set a seal of condemna- tion upon black bees which can never be removed. While accepting the judgment of the careful ob- servers who claim that the Cyprian and Palestine bees are superior even to the Italians, I am still hopeful that the coming red-clover bee, which is to make our land to flow with honey, even more than the Holy Land once did, will be born of a union be- tween Apis dorsata and some of the best kinds now in our possession. • L. L. Lanqstroth. Oxford, O., April, 1881. Very many thanks, friend L. I can hard- ly tell you how vividly the points you men- tion bring back to memory my own experi- ences in all these different points ; and if any one would prove the truthfulness of ev- ery assertion made, he has only now to get some black bees, and attem])t to work with them as we do now with Italians. In our older books, we see many points laid down, and wonder at them, while the explanation is, that the books were written for quite an- other race of bees than the Italians and hy- brids that we find now almost everywhere, even in the trees of our forests. I may, at some future time, embody these two papers in our A J3 C book. SAVED BY SIGAR CANDY, IN PLACE OF HONEY. ¥011 find inclosed an order for one of your hives complete and all ready for the bees. — ' I am a beginner in the bee line. I bought a three-frame nucleus last summer, but knew noth- ing about bees except what I learn from your A B Cof Bee Culture and Prof. A. J. Cook's Manual, but expect to learn more by experience. Last fall I fed them with syrup, so that they went into winter- quarters with plenty of food in five frames, just be- fore cold weather. I put a division-board on each side of the cluster, and then made a box of rough boards just like the one on page ICl of your ABC book, leaving a space of four inches all around the hive, which I filled in with short straw, leaving an entrance for the bees through it at the mouth of the hive. In Feb. we had two or three pleasant days, on one of which the bees came out. I saw they had the dysentery, and so I opened the hive and took but one of the outside frames; moved two of the others, and in the middle put a frame containing sugar. I left them until the middle of April, when I uncover- ed them, raised the hive, swept the dead bees from the bottom-board, and found sugar there, and, upon examining the frames, I found the sugar all gone, and the frame one-third full of comb. I have now got a pretty strong colony. The person I bought mine of had nearly 60 colonies last fall, but lost all except one. He told me of one man who lives a few miles from here who went into winter-quarters with nearly 300 colonies and lost all except 12. I know two other persons who kept a few colonies, but have lost all this last winter. W. Platts. Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa, May 17, 1881. I should say, friend P., that you saved your colony, without question, by the sugar. I presume you mean sugar candy poured in- to a frame, although you do not say so. Whenever you can get a colony to take the feed offered until you*get them into the con- dition of comb-building, you are all right. There is no further trouble, when they will build new combs. ^ ••* ^ CANDY FOR QUEEN-CAGES, BY THE BARREL. W SEND you to-day the "latest improvement" in Ji|[ "Peet" cages. First, I think they need more — ' air than you give them. The double wire makes smothering impossible. Second, the candy I would have "patented," but it would be too easily "in- fringed." It is the best thing- ever discovered for feeding bees under any and all circumstances, as it contains the exact elements in the exact propor- tions that the bees require, and will not dry out though exposed to the air a year. I have it manu- factured by the barrel, and can furnish it at 10c per lb. I provision cages as follows: Remove the cover from the box, and prick a small hole in bottom, and punch a Ji-in. hole in the side. Get a barrel of solid candied honey in which a hole has been dug in the center to allow it to drain. Invert the tin box over a smooth place, and press down until the honey touches the bottom of box; run the point of honey- knife under box, and lift out. Shave the honey otf level, and put lid tight. If the work is properly done, without breaking the honey, it will never run. I have used the cage some without loss. I can fur- nish cages provisioned at 12V4c (with 2 boxes.) KEPOBT. I wintered 19 colonies in house apiary without loss, all strong; 20 in chaff-packed hives; lost 6, and united 3, selling queens; 6 in cellar, lost 4. Total, 45; lost 13. All of my fecst QMt'Ciis sai't'c7; 95per cent of bees are dead in this section. The house apiary is on a new system, which I am going to adopt "unani- mously." It has been in use 2 years; is a success summer and winter. I will describe it If I get time. Oliver Foster. • Mt. Vernon, Iowa, May 25, 1881. Well, now, friend F., that is just like you. Every bee was spry and active, and I let them stand on my table a couple of days be- fore I let them out into the pail bee-hive. The bees had eaten but a small part of the honey in the box, and on opening it I found the candy moist yet, standing up firmly 334 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July around the hole eaten out in the center just large enough for a bee to go in and turn round. I have often thought of candied honey, but did not think of any plan to keep it so the bees would not get into it and get daubed. Your tin box seems to be just the thing; but where do you get sucli boxes, and what do they costV A barrel of candied honey, truly ! ^Vhy, I am almost ashamed of myself to think I never thought of it be- fore. I am going to try some of it at once in our new 5c cages. I have just been wor- rying about the difficulty of furnishing a provisioned cage for only 5c. Thank you.— I hardly think many bees die for want of air when all of the other conditions are all right. I am also glad to hear of a good re- port from the house apiary. It offers some very decided advantages to the queen-rearer in storm V weather. ^ ■>■ A CAIilFORNIA LETTER. CAUTION IN REGARD TO LAMP NURSERIES, AND SOME OTHER MATTERS. fjjHE way that you have headed the article sun evaporators, some one may accuse me on me of claimiutc to be the inventor, which I am not, as there are two others here that were made before I made mine. Please make a note of the above in Gleanings. I am afraid that the honey season will be a failure in this county, as the bees have made scarcely any honey as yet. The black sage has been in bloom about three weeks, and the white sage is in its prime; wild buckwheat is comraeucing- to bloom. The weather has been cold and cloiidy all the spring. Inclosed you will liod the record of the hive on the scales, and you can see just what they have done. Nearly all of the swarms are killing the drones. LAMP nurseries; look out for them. I have mine sitting at the foot of my bed. About a month ago, as the nights were cold, I set my bread to rise in it (see friend Gallup's article, Gl., 1880, p. 164.) In the night I awoke and noticed a strong odor of coal oil in the room. As I thought the lamp was out of oil, and had gone out, I paid no attention to it. Some time after, I awoke again and noticed that I could smell it plainer than before; so I thought I would investigate the matter. I made a light and found that the room was full of smoke. I opened the door to the box that the nurseries were in, and found the lamp burning, not on the wick, but around the tube just above the perforated brass of the burner, and a cloud of smoke rolling out of the top of the chimney. You may make sure that I was not long in putting that lamp out of doors. If it had exploded, you may imagine what would have been the result. It is the last time that it shall be lit in the house. If I ever use it again it will be out of doors, away from every thing, in a large dry- goods box. SUBSTITUTE FOR SOAP BARK. You Wished some one to tell you some thing more about soap root. Now, I can tell you this much about it: I use it, and nothing else, on the fdn. roll- ers, and know that it is better than soap, and think it better than soap bark. I will furnish it for 5c per lb., which will just about pay for digging and paclt- ing. A pound is enough for two ov three quarts. How would honey look in section boxes made of wood like samples inclosed? It is the only wood here fit to make them of. W. W. Bliss. Duarte, L. A. Co., Cal., May 23, 1881. I think, friend B., that your whole trouble was caused by poor oil. The oil we use will not light by throwing a lighted match di- rectly into it. The very stringent laws that have been passed in regard to using the cheap volatile oils, indicate plainly the great danger there is in using them.^ — The sample of wood, I should call beautiful. The red- dish tint would contrast nicely with the hon- ey, and who knows but that you may get up a great trade on section boxes on that very account, if you only have plenty of such wood? » ♦ • HUCKI.EBEflR¥ HONEY, AND SOME THING ABOUT WORKING AND WAITING. S I have not seen any thing in Gleanings from this county (Sampson), which, bj' the way, is noted for its Jiig Uue hucldebcrrlcs and for the fine quality of the honey made from the huckleberry bloom, I thought you might like to hear how we are getting along with the bees after the past unusually severe winter. Well, our bees came through all right. I lost 2 stocks out of oO; one, I am ashamed to tell you, froze, the cap leaking and ice forming in the hive; the other was queenless, and was united with an- other stock. Some of the others were rather short of stores, but I gave them a comb from stocks that could spare some, so that by the first of May, when our honey flow commenced, my stocks were all in good condition. The season was nearly a month la- ter than usual; but when it did commence, the flow of honey was unusually heavy. From 27 stocks worked for extracted, I have taken 1300 lbs., and have gone over them onlj' once; will commence the second round this week, and think that I will get nearly 1000 lbs. more. This is better than I have ever done, and I feel that I am well paid for the care gt\'en them for the last three years of almost no profit; but then, it is the men who are patient, persevering, and faithful, who are determined to succeed, who are willing to work and wait for their reward, that in the end will not be disappointed. This is as true in business as it is in the more Im- portant work of the soul's salvation. But, excuse this digression. I will say, that this season's experi- ence so far has proven beyond question the superior- ity of the Italians over the blacks. I have 10 stocks of Italians, the rest blacks and hybrids, and the pure Italians have given me the best results. The best yields were from 3 stocks with young queens raised last August from one of two qweens bought from you the j-ear before. The mother was very light, and her workers the yellowest and gentlest bees that I have ever seen. The daughters, on the con- trary, are dark, and their workers very dark, and not over gentle to handle; but such honey-gather- ers ! I have never seen any thing like them. I sold the mother last fall to a neighbor who lost her in in- troducing; but I have sold him one of her daugh- ters this spring, which he has introduced success- fully. I have some of Brown's and Alley's stock, but they don't "pan out" like this strain. I will re- queen all my blacks from them this season. I have ordered a Cyprian queen from Dr. Drown, and ex- 1881 gleani:ngs in bee cultuhe. 835 pect her next Thursday. If they beat the Italians they will prove to be the bee for the South, as the climate is nearer that of their native land. I will mail you sample of our huckleberry honey, which please test and give your opinion of in Glean- ings. I think you will fina it A 1. I forgot to say, that the 7 stocks worked for comb honey have given me 318 lbs. surplus so far, and will make up about 200 lbs. more. The hive that I am using is some thing like the Simplicity; holds 12 frames, 12; j wide and 9 deep, tiered up 2 and 3 stories, flat cap, and can use either sections or for extractor; brood frames hold i sections, 4' j deep by 5 It long. I would not exchange it for any other hive made. Hurry up on pressed foundation, as I want a machine. Don't allow the Home department to go down; it is worth more than all the rest of Gleanings; and if you will do me the favor to send me your photo- graph for my album, I will prize It more than I do my best stock of Italians. W. P. Wemyss. Clinton, Sampson -Co., N. C, May 30, 1881. Why, friend W., if I had not said so much about the California honey in times past, I should say this was by far the most exquis- ite honey that ever tickled the ])dlate of a son of Adam. 1 can not well give all the friends a taste, but I will explain that it has an aromatic (sore of cinnamon) flavor, and one faintly recognizes the huckleberry per- fume, from the" odor of the honey. How much have you got of this, as pure as the sample sent me? I have not yet got up my cabinet of samples of the choice honey of the world ; but when I do, huckleberry honey will occupy a prominent place, I tell you. — My heart is made glad by your kind con- cluding words ; and, although I have almost always crossed these out, before handing to the compositors, I have a sort of feeling to- day tliat not many will scold, if I do let it go just as you liave written it. I am very glad indeed to hear of your success this season. ROBBED BEES GOINO HOME WITH THE ROBBERS, ETC. ^N his criticism of your ABC, in April No., Mr. G. M. Doolittle asks: " Did anybody ever know the bees from a robbed colony to go home with the robbers?" I think I have observed a case in question. In 1879 I had, old swarms and artificial increase, 6 swarms of Italians. Not more than one square from me lived a man having 3 swarms of Italians, which were perfectly marked with the three yellow bands. They differed, however, very decidedly from mine, in that they had shining black tips, without any per- ceptible hair rings, while the posterior part of the abdomen of my bees shows a plainly defined (nearly white) ring of down at every segment of the body. My neighbor's bees gave, during the summer, one natural swarm, which he hived successfully. In the latter part of the summer I noticed most of my bees for several days in great commotion. They all seemed to fly in the direction of my neighbor's gar- den; and as it was in a time of dearth I soon sur- mised that they were robbing his new swarm. Aft- er a few days their excursions in that direction ceased, and then it was that, while looking through my bees, I found a good plain sprinkling of my neighbor's "black tips" in nearly every one of my colonies. They seemed to be perfectly at home, and remained theri! "for the rest of their lives." I later made the acquaintance of my neighbor, and learned from him that he had "lost" his new swarm. How, he did not seem to know; but I knew. CHAFF HIVES FOR AVINTEIt. I wintered tj colonics in open air, in Root chaff hives, with thick chaff cushions on top, and 2 three- frame nuclei packed between chaff division-boards, with chaff cushion on top. The nuclei were in com- mon single-walled Langstroth. I left from fi to 7 frames in each of the chaff hives, and closed tha space with a chaff division-board. All came through safely, though one of the nuclei was very weak. If I take into consideration that I was "caught out in the cold," and left them standing entirely unpre- pared during- our rigid November freeze, with sur- plus combs yet on, thereby losing heaps of bees by freezing in every colony; and that I was compelled to move into a new house, which I had built, on the 27th of December, carrying the bees a distance of l'/3 miles on a wagon, and sending them, of cpuise, into a perfect uproar, without a possible chance of a flight for about 2' 2 months afterward, I can con- gratulate myself on being extremely fortunate. I say the chaff hives are a success ; or at least some kind of chaff hives; but I am not yet full pleased with the shape of your hive. ABNORMAL BEES. If the observing bee-keeper could scrutinize ev- ery bee in his colonies, he would, no doubt, often come across bees which arc abnormally shaped or colored. I am in possession of two drones which I consider quite curiously and "wonderfully made." The one, I caught on a comb about 2 years ago, and it is a well-developed specimen of an Italian drone with a snow \i:hitc head. The other, I found strag- gling in front of a hive a week ago, and, casually picking it up, I at once noticed the extreme small- ness of its head. Looking closer, I saw that It had a veritable workerliead, with a short drone tongue. It is rather smaller, and much more hairy than a genuine worker-head; but in Its most prominent characteristic, the eyes, it is almost perfect. I have both specimens ia alcohol. Bees arc doing well here now on white clover. T. H. Kloer, Terre Haute, Vigo Co., Ind , June 1, 18S1. FRIEND BUCHANAN, AND SOME OF THE IDEAS HE HAS GATHERED FROM VARIED EXPERIENCES, SAD AND OTHERWISE. ^|jp|> EAR GLEANINGS:— Last summer I had eighty Mm strong stocks of bees. They were in prime condition during the time our crop of honey is secured here, and we think they were handled better than the average; and with all our bees, we failed to secure, on an average, more than one- fourth enough to carry them through. Twenty of the poorest stocks were allowed to perish in the fall, and the remainder were fed up in the early part of September on a mixture of grape and granulated sugar syrup; using one-third grape sugar, and a few were fed with one-half each grape and granu- lated sugar syrup. And right here I will say, these were the first to sicken and die. I should have lost all; but, finding they were going, I began to feed candy by placing it over the cluster, and covering with quilt; and In a few days they appeared to rest easy, and were restored to health and quiet. I win- L 336 GLEiVNINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. July ter in a first-class cellar. I set out in the spriug-, 51 stands in fair condition, and most of them were in chaff hives with chatf pillows on top, and confined on 5 and 6 frames. Had the weather been as usual after setting out in spring-, all would have gone right through; but you all know how it turned out. I found them growing beautifully less day by day, and after each spell of cold weather they were united until I could count but 16 weak things, and still scarcely any brood, and they confined on 3 and 4 frames. To-day they are filled full of brood, hon- ey, and bees, and I have had 5 swarms. If we have a fair season I will build them up to their original number. You maintain that, with proper manage- ment, there is no season so poor that bees will not secure enough stores for winter. Now, I fell safe in saying this is all bosh, and thousands will say the same on reading this. Tell your customers that one pound of granulated sugar is worth 3 pounds of that vile stuff called grape sugar. I know it is unsettling to the minds of beginners, and puzzling to veterans in the pursuit to know what course to pursue after reading so many re- ports of success and failures coming out of the same (or what seems the same) course pursued in the preparation of bees for winter. I spent some time this spring examining bees within 10 or 15 miles of my locality, and I will report, for the benefit of all, what came under my observation. Generally, all were dead; but here and there I found some living, and I want to give the conditions under which thej' were left for winter. I found one man with -t colonies, all he started with In the fall. First hive examined had all the sections on, as in summer, and in prime condition. Next hive had section frames and boxes removed, and covered with several thicknesses of old cloths, and just bees enough to run a little brood in one frame. Third hive had all sections on as first, and a perfect "boomer." Fourth hive fixed same as second, and In prime order— lots of bees and brood. Now, I don't see any thing proven in this case, as to which is the better way— to leave on or take off the section box- es; if any thing, better left on. Bees were wintered on summer stands. Another party had five hives in fall, and fi\e living in spriug; wintered in a bee- house facing the south, and in box hives raised on blocks half an inch all round, and honej'-boxes on with entrances opening into the same. Bees, pure blacks; one colony in the best condition ; the other 4 rather weak, but building- up nicely, and plentj' of honey. A small apiary, 13 stocks, in same neighbor- hood, left in same shape, all died. Examined 6 colo- nies of black bees, all the man had in the fall, and found them in prime order, and especially one hive having a ?i-inch crack from top to bottom, exposing combs to view, and inch blocks under each corner of hive. That's pretty "high "for last winter. Why, I could not have slept at night at all had I a stock of bees in that shape, even if they were blacks. The entrances to boxes were open, and honey-boxes left on in this case. The owner said to me, " Why, you fellers smother your bees In the winter by keeping them closed up too tight; they sweat and become damp, and in this condition soon perish." I want to tell a little experience of my own. One season I had a swarm come off on the 16th of May, several days in advance of other swarms. Aft- er hiving the swarm, I thought I would see if there were finished cells in the parent hive. When I took the cap off I was astonished to find the frames only half covered by the quilt, and that is just as they were all winter out on summer stands, as I had not opened that hive that spriug; but had I known it was in such a sorry fix as that, you may be sure it would have been put in what appears to me good shape. I got a queen from your red-clover queen last fall, and as she was put in a chaff hive with a powerful colony I left them out; so one day in March, after a cold spell, I wanted to see if there were any eggs in the combs of that hive. So I opened it, and found the whole business dead! I scratched out the queen and took her into the house, remarking to Mrs. B , "There is my red-clover queen gone up." " Well," said she, " that's too bad." " Yes," I said, "she is in the 'Blasted Hopes' de- partment, along with the rest of us." But just at this juncture I thought she moved slightly in my hand, and in a few more minutes she was as brisk as any bee. I gave her to a queenless stock, and day before yesterday she came off with a fine swarm, and left 7 L. frames filled with brood. Pretty well for a dead queen ! This is a good spring to select queens to breed from. A stock of bees that stored enough last sea- son for their support in localities where it was par- ticularly poor, and wintered without care or special protection, and did not dwindle, is worth propagat- ing. I have two such colonies. They are dark Ital- ians, and I will rear almost all my queens from these. I bought one powerful stock of blacks that had ''stolen enough honey from the beauti'fid Italians" to run them through; and, " don't you fail to forget it," I will rear some queens from her too. I think I hear some "fellers" who have just taken the Italian fever bad, and a few breeders of Italians. Cyprians, and so on, say, " Is not that awful? I'd like to pinch their heads off." I want to tell you a joke, if you don't say any thing about it. One season, while living in Jefferson Co., O., I was Italianizing bees for neighbors whenever I had a spare day from my farm work. So one day I drummed out the bees from a box hive, and as the queen had mated with an Italian drone, I took her to a queenless stock to experiment with. The first thing I did was to rear queens from her, and select one of the lightest-colored queens to have fertilized by an Italian drone, and from her rear queens, sav iug the lightest queen. The fifth generation gave me some of the finest queens and lightest-colored bees I ever saw. One day the party from whom I got the original black queen asked what I would take to let him pick a queen out of my apiary. I had been showing him one of these fine-colored queens above alluded to. I put the price away up, and he was only too glad of the chance; so he selected, as I expected, a queen that had descended from the old black queen taken from his hive two years before. I told him thehistory, but beauty was what he was after, and he seemed satisfied. I notice there are a great many lengthy articles concerning natural and artificially reared queens- some claiming that the queens reared as the aver- age breeder rears them arc the great cause of spring dwindling, bad wintering, etc. I think there is some nonsense about all this theory. I have some queens that were reared under the swarming impulse, and some 3 and 4 year old queens this spring that were reared in stocks allowed to run the thing to suit themselves after removing their queen, and for the life of me I can't see any difference, as all are now 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 337 full of bees and brood to overflow iug'. I had a queen of my own importation that died in April, over four years ago, and as her stock was weak I thought the queens they would reiir at that time of year would be poor things. Two queens were reared— one light and the other very dark. They were both prolific, and both lived till this spring, when one died for want of bees to protect her, and the other is still do- ing as good a job at filling csmbs with brood as any queen could do, and her bees are the best of workers. We have had a splendid yield from the locust bloom. White clover is now abundant, and with seasonable showers this will be a "boss" bee year. The two last numbers of Gleanings are grand - crammed full of interest. John A. Buchanan. Holliday's Cove, W. Va., June 3, 1881. Now, friend 13., I will tell yoii what I par- ticularly like about your letter, and it is a feature that is too seldom found in commu- nications. You do not start out to make any particular point, or to defend any pet idea of your own. You just give, plainly and honestly, the facts as you have found them, let them hit where they may.— After what you have said in regard to grape sugar, I would advise all to be careful that it in no way enters into the stores for winter. At the same time, we have had a multitude of reports indicating the superiority of pure cane sugar over natural stores of honey, as well as over grape sugar. It may be that, in your locality, bees sometimes will not make a living ; "but how is it that Doolittle always has a surplus?— There is some thing in the fact, that bees often seem to winter better for having a crack, or opening, right through the hi\'e ; but then, you found other apiaries, iu the same condition, all dead. It begins to look very much as if we wanted chaff hives with a good-sized air-hole, open all winter, right over the brood-nest. I agree with you, that a great deal of the talk about poor queens and impure queens is nonsense, as you term it. This season, ev- ery thing in the shape of a queen is being bought up at some price, and utilized; and, so far as I know, the cheap ones are, many of them, doing about as good service as any. UEPARTOTENT FOR FOLKS WHO DON'T SIGN THEIR NAIUFS. TOIJ) you in May No. of a man who was holding a queenless colony, but who did not sign his name to his order for a queen. Well, he waited 17 days, and then he wrote the following: — I sent to you for a black queen a few days ago. Why is it you don't send it to me? If not, send the money back. A. F. Eilenbergek. Laddsburg, Pa., May 14, 1881. Moral.— When you start out to complain, always reflect whether it is not possible it is just your own self who is at fault, and no- body else, and sign your name to it. We will forgive you, friend E. After my respects to you, you may send me the amount due me in registered letter; take register fee off. I think that I shall not invest in bees this summer — will see if they do any better. My losing over a hundred dollars last winter runs me ashore financially, as my means are very limited. Shannondale, Pa., June 1, 1881. After the clerks had exhausted all their re- sources, and given him up, they brought the letter to me, saying it would have to go into the proper box, to await his writing again. Now, although we often have to do this, I very much dislike to do it ; and, as a further effort, I reasoned that, if he lived iu a small town, we might try writing to his postmas- ter. So a letter was despatched as follows: " Mr. P. M.— We have received a letter from your P. O., written with a blue pencil, from some; one who seems to have money deposited with us, which, he wants. If you know of any bee-man who has had deal with us, it would be a favor, both to us and himself, if you would give us his address." You see, the man may be a regular cus- tomer, and we may have quite an account with him on our ledger, if we only knew his name ; but as our customers run up into the thousands, it is out of the question remem- bering, and also out of the question to hunt, without even the initials. Again, we can not expect postmasters to answer even such questions, unless we pay all postage, so we must take a stamped envelope, to inclose a postal directed to ourselves, and this is mon- ey out, besides the time of an expert clerk to handle troubles of this kind. Why do we go to trouble and expense for people who are so careless? Because I always feel sorry for careless people, and, to tell the truth, I am naturally very careless too. " Forgive U3 our debts as we have forgiven our debtors." Friend " What's-your name," do you not think it pays, in the general business of the world, to have your name printed on your stationery? • — ♦ » CALIFORNIA ITEMS. Here comes a friend who without doubt has the best intentions in the world, and also, without question, has money in our possession, to be used at pleasure, by simply dropping us a postal card ; but here is every jscrap we can find oji the sheet of paper. ALSO SOME KIN.D WORDS EROM AN OLD FRIEND. /i^UITE likely you have forgotten me, but I shall Wrjy) not soon forget my pleasant three days' visit ^5=^ with you and your kind social helpers about the last of January, 1880. I came here the next April; have worked a little among bees, and been a good deal with bee-men in this and San Bernardino counties. The year 1880 was called a " poor year; " but some took 200 lbs. to the hive, and doubled their stock; but that is above the average. I worked for a man who took 24,000 lbs. of honey from about 300 stands. His "top-bo.\es" had been on all winter, and he never looked into the lower story, or real brood-chamber. It is quite the fashion to leave on the upper stories through winter, as it saves work, and the bees keep the moth from the combs. A few take them off a while during spring breeding, but many do not. MR. HARBISON ON FOUL BROOD. Last Oct. I heard Mr. Harbison give his method of dealing with foul brood, and will give it as nearly as possible from memory. Move the hive, and put an empty box in its place; shake the bees into it, and 338 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July shut them in for 21 or 30 hours, until sure they have eaten aZf they took with them. Then give them a clean hive. This generally cures; but sometimes it must be repeated. Cut all infested combs from frames, and put in sun extractor, and (I think) boil the bonej'. Give the hive and frames a good "cook- ing " in boiling water, and they arc again ready for vise. I have talked with several bee-keepers who claim to have worked by this plan with success. In a late private card, Mr. Harbison expresses preference for Holy-Land queens as compared with Cyprians; also that the present prospect for honey in San Diego Co. is not nearly as good as last year; and this opinion, only more so, is shared by most bee-men hereabouts. Bees wintered nicply; no loss except by robbing, and all now generally very strong. In the flush year of 18T8, general extracting did not commence until the last of June or first of July; but I am told the signs are ditferent now from then. The full-sized L. frame is very little used here. A small frame, 9x1154. is much used; I.e., runs cross- wise of the 8-framed L. hive. A frame about llxi3J4 seems gaining in favor here. In San Bernardino Co. the popular frame is abopt 10x15 inches. All these are outside mensurcs. The can for extractors is generally of galvanized iron, large enough to take 4 to t> frames; across the top is bolted a strip of plank; in center, a hole to receive upright shaft with 2-inch beveled cog on top; a wheel about 5 to 6 inches matches this, and the shaft extends to outside of can, and generally a common grindstone-crank attached. "Eastern extractors" find no friends here. I saw an extractor for 6 L. frames with hinged wire baskets or ])uckets to receive the frames, so the comb was emptied without taking it out. I don't know how it worked. San Bernardino Co. is further inland, and liable to be hotter than here. Tor an apiary they like a southern slope, with honey-house at lower edge; two rows of hives back to back, 4 to .5 feet apart, and hives about 13 to 15 inches apart in rows; over this a shade of some kind, often brush. These rows run north from honey-hoase, and give a down grade to wheel honey, and under shade all the time. In both rows, bees get sun morning and evening. All are shaded in the middle of day. Some bee-men are extracting a little; but the prospect for a good honey crop does not improve much. Now, Mr. Root, if you can't keep awake in church 'tis pretty good evidence that you need sleep and rest. Please remember, that " Nature's demands are God's commands," and can not be disobeyed with impunity. Don't think you must print any part of this. If it pays you for your time for reading, I am satisfied. I feel you are doing much to bring about "goodwill to men on earth," and may the angels "bear you up." But you must bear in mind, there are physical laws of life and health, which, to obey, is life; to disolify, is death. "Choose ye this day which ye will serve" or do. " Slow up " — you can't stand this speed very long, and we ne^d you for years. J. H. Bemis. Los Angeles, Cal., May 23, 18S1. Many thanks, friend B., especially for your little sketch in regard to friend Harbison. We hear so little from him that every scrap is of interest. I am really ashamed to say that I do not remember your -s'isit, but as I read your kind letter, I am troubled to think that may be you were not treated with such kind cordiality as the writer of such a letter deserves. Uo you really mean to say, friend B., that everybody who goes to sleep in church is overworked? What an awful lot of poor fellows there is of us, if that is so ! By the way, I have lately taken to having a half-hour's nap between the morning Bible- class and the sermon, and my wife says that, every time I have that nap I always say " amen " to the sermon, no matter who it is that preaches. '' But they were splendid sermons, and somebody ought to say amen." "My dear husband, they were splendid sermons when you went to sleep too ; it's you. not the minister." Well, after I had just begun to be happy to tliink I had discovered a remedy for sleep- ing in mpeting, I discovered that it made me so late I was always with a crowd of tardy worshipers. I some way thought they looked as tliough they felt glad to see me among them, for if the superintendent were always in just before the sermon commenced, it was not so much matter if they were late too. You se^, it is just like going out before the last hymn. The week days are not long enough, and the Sundays are not half long enough. I know you are right, friend B., and I thank you for the application you have made of my favorite text ; but what is a body to do, when there is so very much to be done, and so many whom one can help so much, with only just a few words? A few days ago a woman asked if we could give her a hybrid queen, and bees enough with her to build up a swarm, for a dollar. Now, you know it could be done by putting them on a frame of hatching brood ; but as it would re- quire half a page, nearly, to explain the matter fully to her, and as we have hun- dreds of similar inquiries, all I could do was to send her a price list, which answers it all, if she only would read it. It seems she did not read it, for this morning an indignant and threatening letter was handed me, be- cause the queen and i lb. of bees the clerks sent her for the dollar, had not built up into a swarm, but had gone down to a dozen, and the queen was lost. I felt so badly at her dif?appointment, that I was moved to give her her dollar back ; but as the clerks sent her exactly what she ordered, and as the dollars are getting scarce, I felt I had no right to do it. I mention this to show those who complain that I do not take time to an- swer simple questions, why it is ; let a clerk do it? It takes an expensive clerk to fully answer questions like the above, and I can not afford it. I can do it fully with the big printing-press, but that is the only way; and in justice to myself, I must ask you to please be lenient. A great many of the questions you ask are yet undetermined, and we are all experimenting, much as you are. ^ly life is at your service, my friends, but it is my duty to make it go just as far as possi- ble. If I "do not answer fully to you all in- dividually, please remember I am trying to answer questions of piore import, to a great- er number. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 339 AN A B € SCHOLAR'S ARTIFICIAIj SWARMING. BOUGHT 8 swarms of bees last fall, with plt-nty of bees and stores; moved them ia the month of January. They were in L. hives without chaflf cushions. When I got them heme I put on top of frames chair cushions. In February, 3 colonies died with about 30 lbs. of honey. The rest wintered all right. One suffered some from spring dwindling ; the remainder were all strong the loth of May. Then I thought, as I had to be away from home the most of the time, I would artificially swarm the strongest of them, and have swarmed 4 of them. I shall have to be called one of the ABC class, as I have not kept bees before in movable-frame hives, and know but very little about bee culture. I have your ABC book, and value it very highly; also Langctroth. I am running them for bees instead of honey; and as I had 6 colonies, I numbered them from 1 to 6, and of course the new colony was No. 7. I took No. 7 hive, fllle'd it with old comb and some sealed honey, except one frame; then took a frame of brood from No. 1, placing No. 7 in No. I's place, then placmg No. 1 in No. 7's place on the further side of apiary. This was done in the middle of the day, and the bees that went forth in the morning in search of stores from No. 1, of course came back to occupy hive No. 7, to their disgust, as the comb was not very clean and neat. But they soon settled down to " solid business," and went to work; built up queen-cells, and now are doing well, except one from which I took the old Queen with the frame of brood, and they are doing as well as the others, and the old colony is rearing the new queen. The 3 last I divided the 25th of May; one I gave a queen-cell from No. 7. 1 think this plan a grand success for a new beginner to practice, although it may not be the best plan to adopt for others. I have had no expe- rience with any other plan, and do not wish to ad- vise others, as I am belter adapted to learn than to teach. I commenced in the latter part of March to feed my bees on bee-candy, made with 1-5 part flour and 4-5 granulated sugar; put on top of frames un- der the cushion; then the first days that they would fly I commenced to feed them rye flour, and that ac- counts for their being so str>.ng, and many of my neighbors' so weak. I think the object is, to get the bees as early as possible in spring; for without the bees we can not get the honey. 1 have built 33 chaff hives, and shall use no other, as I think the principle the best of any, and am in hopes to increase the 6 to 30 this season by the method 1 have adopted. Mr. O. L. Grennuff had;}6; lost all but 13. Perry Bros, had 40; lost all but 0. The above were win- tered on summer stands without any protection. C. J. Kobson had 4; lost none; his were buried in the ground. C. H. MoORE. Richford, N. Y., Juae 5, ISil. Your plan does very well, friend M., if you keep constantly in mind the idea that, every day you keep a strong colony without eggs or brood to care for, you sustain a great loss. This is why we should have but few bees in a colony until the young queen be- gins to lay, and then we can strengthen them up as much as we choose. While the bees are waiting for the young queen, they can care for a comb of eggs just as well as not, and this is where neighbor H. succeeds so well in raising queens. He keeps every queen in his apiary doing ner utmost in fill- ing combs, and all the bees in every queen- less colony supplied all the time with eggs to keep them busy. REPORT OF THE BEES THAT WORKED ON FliOUR IN THE HIVES IN MARCH. SEE P. 234, MAV NO. fKEPT the bees working upon the flour during cold days, by putting a hot soapstonc over the — ' feeder, and it would keep it warm almost all day. The bees did not carry down more flour than they consumed rearing brood. The swarm after- ward became quite small, but not more so than others as large that we could not induce to work upon flour. We have fed flour in hives other springs, and could induce about one in five to use it, and these invariably came out ahead. Mr. L. C. Koot's and Doolittle's localities are so much later than here, that that has to be taken into considera- tion, with reference to our own. This has been a remarkable season. We could hardly get bees to carry in honey, and they seemed not to have pluck enough to even rob. We have been lunesomc for stings. White clover is coming into bloom, and is very plentiful; but yet the weather is very dry, and if we don't have rain soon, the clover will not amount to much. Black locust and dandelions are now in bloom. Mrs. L. H.\rrison. Peoria, 111., May 33, 1881. My friend, this is just about as I expected, and I came pretty near adding, " And always thought it would be." March feeding, espe- cially late years, even though you thereby start brood-rearing, is pretty sure to leave the colony no better, and often not as well oif, as those not so fed. Of course, such would not be the case were the weather fa- vorable for them to fly out, as it is on occa- sional seasons. I can explain it in no other way, than that the excitement and stimulus of the food induces them to fly at unsuitable seasons, so that more are lost than are raised, by the feeding. I judge this from finding that the bees that are left, after the colony has dwindled down, are all young, downy bees. At the same time, and in the same apiary, queenless colonies will preserve all their old bees until June, and after a queen is given them in suitable weather they will bring up in very fair shape. I would by no means discourage these experiments, for J feel sure we shall eventually succeed in rear- ing as many bees as we wish, any month in the year. Friend Jones has just submitted to mo a copy of the letter which he wrote friend Dadant, and to which the latter alludes under the head of " Fair Play," on page 3;5, May No. I think no one would say, from reading the letter, that any reflections are cast on the honesty and fairness of our well-known friend Dadant, and I can see no reason why the mat- ter should not be dropped right here. 340 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July HONEY-DEW IN ORECiON. SN regard to your inquiries about honej'-dew in Oregon, I can say that there are many localities here where honey-dew falls in great quantities. The locality you speak of in Gleanings is one of the favorite parts for honey-dew. It is principally confined to the foot of the Cascade Mountains, and on the coast. I have seen honey-dew hero in Ore- gon where I could easily dip a teaspoonf ul up at one dip. These were favorite spots. Some years there is much more than others. Here on the coast we are favored with more or less honey-dew every year through June, July, and August. I am quite sure that, 20 years ago, there was more honey-dew than at the present time. Then the country was com- paratively new, and there were but few bees and a great field of tlowers; but since that time great wheat fields and sheep pastures have been opened, in my opinion cutting the resources of honey-dew short. However, here on the coast there is a great amount of " sallal,"* of which the common black bee can not reach the nectar; thus such a great amount of honey evaporating accounts for our honey-dew on the coast. I think if the Italians were introduced here, it would cut the honey-dew crop short, as it would take but a trifle longer tongue to reach the nectar, although there is some honey gathered from this shrub by the black bees, and from the dwarf blooms. W. E. McWiLLi. Collins, Benton Co., Oregon, May 4, 1881. We can hardly agree with you, friend M., tliat the honey evaporates from tlie flowers and condenses in the form of honey-dew; but it may be we are mistaken. If lioney ever falls from the atmosphere, or from the clouds, as some of the friends have claimed in our back volumes, it might be, I suppose, that it rises up from the flowers. The mat- ter seems still clouded in mystery. Many thanks for the trouble you have taken to furnish us these valuable facts. REPORT FROM NORTHERN NE^V JER- SEY FOR THE PAST ^VINTER. ARE LATE-GATHERED STORES LESS WHOLESOME? fj|WO-THIRDS of the bees in this locality are dead. The following include tlie loss to date — in my immediate neighborhood: E. Bellis had 70, lost 51; J. Weller 30, lost 20; I. Smith 5, lost 4; P. Cowel 9, lost 9. There are others who have lost heavily; but as 1 have not heard from them in a fortnight I am unable to give the exact amount, but think that I may safely affirm, that PaOf all are dead, and the loss may reach 4-5 of all. The above were all in box hives.. There arc but very few frame hives in this locality. I went into winter-quarters with 14 swarms— 11 in Simplicity hives, and 3 in Gallup hives; they were left on their summer stands. Each of the Simplicity hives had 8 frames, with division-board packed with buckwheat chaff, with space between cover and mat filled with chaff. Those on Gallup frames were left with the whole of the frames with caps filled with chaff. Of the 11 Simplicities, 6 are dead; of the Gallup, 1 is dead, leaving me 7 out of 14 alive. CAUSE OF THE MORTALITY. I do not think that the loss can be attributed to *We aie in doubt about this word, and print it just as it loolis. the cold weather alone. It may have helped to aug- ment it, but I believe inferior stores, with an over- plus of pollen, to be the main cause. What would seem to indicate that the stores were mainly in fault is this: That of the 7 that died, 6 were young, and one old swarm, and that I believe to have been queenless in the fall. Of those alive, there is 1 young, 6 old ones. My theory is, that the old swarms had a surplus of old honey, or stwres, gathered in the fore part of the season, which were better for win- ter than that gathered later in the season; hence they wintered much better. All of the swarms that died had from 5 to 20 lbs. of honey, and of the central frames of each, half of the cells contained pollen with sour honey on top, and as thin as water, so that it ran out of the cells and down on the bottom-board. The latter part of March I thought I would try an experiment with 2 diseased colonies. I went to my old swarms and took one frame of good stores from each of four of them ; put them in a clean new hive, and brushed the two weak colonies in on them to- together; placed a division-board on each side of them; filled in the empty space with chaff; put chaff over the mat, and shut the hive up and left them for five days; at the end of which time I no- ticed that they did not fiy any, but robbers were go- ing in and out; so I thought I would take a peep and see how they were coming on, when lo! all were dead. J. D. Brands. Delaware Station, N. J., April 19, 1881. While stores gathered early in the season are doubtless the most wholesome, I do not think this is the whole of the matter. Well- ripened, sealed stores are, without doubt, safer ; and I believe clover and basswood honey is, as a rule, most wholesome ; but if I am correct, the greatest point of all is, to have old thick combs, containing the co- coons of many generations of brood, to keep the bees warm. New colonies seldom have these, and they are ahnost always the first to suffer. REPORT FROM MR. AND MRS. AXTELIi. SOME GOOD HINTS FROM OLD AND SUCCESSFUL HANDS. 3!" THOUGHT I would write you, and let you know I our success in wintering. We had 134 colonies — ' (I think that was the number) that we wintered out of doors with chaff packing, but they averaged weak in the fall; 43 are alive; 23 are now good col- onies. The rest will save their queens, and perhaps build up good after awhile. I think I will give them the parent stocks in swarming time. We had 95 in cellar; all were alive when taken out on the 18th, 20th, and 22d of April, except one; 3 were queenless; united with weak ones. Many col- onies were suffering with dysentery; combs wet and moldy — so wet that some hives, on tipping up, a dirty, watery honey would run out of entrance; only a few so bad as that, and those that were weak in bees. The strong ones that were good in fall were mostly dry and clean. We took out all the combs but just what the bees could cover densely. The queens began to lay immediately, and fill every comb full of brood; then we extracted the unsealed honey from the combs, and have been adding one or more as they could care for them, eveiy few days. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 341 The warm weather and above trcalnicnt seemed to cure the dj^sentery immediatel3'. Bees arc doing finely now. They gathered but very little from fruit-bloom. It seemed to last but a few days, and the wind blew hard most of the time; but as we have so many combs with honey in wo set sonic on outside of division-board, and let the bees carry in honey if they wish. I think we never had more brood in hives, according to number of bees, than now. I believe that, in order to winter well, whether out of doors or in cellar, it is all important to have, first, strong colonies; second, plenty of honey; third, only a few combs; fourth, pack in chaff ; more combs can be given in spring. If in cellar, keep cool as ;)6 or 38 degrees, never higher than 40; without chalT. better to keep warmer, as per Quinby and L. C. Root. Ours were so wet because wc left in too many combs; weak colonies, and poor fall honey. L. C. AXTELL. RoseviUe, HI., May- 18, 1881. Perhaps many of our readers Avill recollect that our friends above use chaff packing and cellar wintering both, and that they have been very successful. The above report seems still to favor the cellar strongly. WHY DO BEES STING MEMBERS OF XHEIU OWN COLON V SOMETIMES? I^DjsJ HE question is asked (several times of you in Bjl"' GLE.iMNGS), why so many bees are killed in — ' front of hives, or are carried out dead in large numbers. Your reply is, that a swarm entered said hive, etc. Xow, I think that is not always the case; and, in fact, I will say that I hnoiv it is not always the case. Persons say that they are certain no swarms entered such hives, and yet great quantities of dead bees are carried out, having been stung to death, as they yet, on being dragged out, have strength to move a little. As we can profit by our experience in bee culture, it is our duty to give the same, if thereby we can benefit each other and advance the common inter- ests of our industry. Now for experience No. 1. A fine Italian queen, with wings clipped, was put into a hive; about five days after, the adjoining hive carried out dead bees; it being a box hive, I did not not look into it for several days after the work of death ceased; but another hive was killing and car- rying out next to the second, which had frames. I at once opened hive, and found a queen balled, and on dispersing bees I found my wing-clipped queen from No. 1. I immediately caged her, and looked in No. 1, and saw low-capped queen-cells. Where was the queen during all this time? EXPERIENCE NO. 2. A friend was looking at a young wingless queen in my hand, and in a careless manner on my part she dropped on the alighting board of an old colony. "There," said I, "they will make short work of her." She, however, ran into the hive out of sight. This occurred about noon. At nearly night I went my round as usual to see that all was right, and found great quantities of dead and dying bees in front of said hive. I opened it and found the queen balled just inside, and bees so intent on killing her that they killed each other. How long this would have continued I can not say, but long enough to de- populate materially. Now, I have not only had No. 1 and No. 2, but as many as six or eight cases since. and found, in several additional cases, where strange queens were balled; so you can easily conjecture that a swarm entering is not the only cause for such disaster. Without a knowledge of a swarm entering a hive it would be well to examine at once, and learn the cause, which will be found to be, sometimes, a valu- able queen saved, as in case of hive No. 3, and arrest the work of death of so many bees. You can decide the honey-dew question through columns of Gleanings by asking all, as honey-dew may appear in their several localities, to report at once during the coming summer where found, and in what quantities; why honey-dew is so thick some- times that your "breeches" stick to your boots in passing through prairie grass. None of your aphides production; yet we have such on our willows and sycamore sometimes. A. L. Klab. Pana, 111., Feb. 17, 1881. I think you are partly right, friend K., for I have had some similar experiences myself. We should always be careful to take a look into the hive whenever we see an unusual number of bees about the entrance stung to death. ^ m » ANOTHER HOME-MADE FOOT-POWER BUZZ-SAW. M S it will probably be of some value to some of p^ the readers of Gleanings, I will tell how I ' made my hand-power circular saw. I first obtained the cog-wheels of an old-fashioned wind- mill, the larger one being about 14 in. in diameter, and the small one about 4 in. I put the small one on a wooden shaft, and on this shaft I put a large cast wheel about 3 feet in diameter; from this wheel I run a band to the puUy on the end of the mandrel. HOW I MADE the MANDKEL. 1 obtained a one-inch bolt, 15 inches long; on one end I put two burrs: between these burrs I put the saw. In order to make the saw run true, I screwed one burr on first, and turned it with a sharp file; then put the other one on just far enough to admit the file between, then held the file between them while running, and in that way I got the saw per- fectly true. 1 made the bearings by pouring melted Babbitt metal into wooden molds, with a stick the size of the mandrel run through it. I made the saw out of an old hand-saw, by cutting it out with a cold chisel, and cutting the teeth with a file. This is all in one frame, about 3 feet square. It works so nice- ly one of my neighbors has made one like it to run by water, though he didn't use the gearing. Chas. Kingsle-y. Greeneville, Tenn., March 32, 1881. Many thanks, friend A. You have suc- ceeded in making a saw that will doubtless do all of your own work, and with almost no expense out. I presume few of our friends will be so fortunate as to find gearing with- out expense; and even if they should, if they have plenty of work that will pay, it may not be so very cheap after all. It is an excellent idea to be able to make your own tools during spare moments; but the natur- al tact for such work varies so much in dif- ferent individuals, that, where one succeeds, a great many often fail in trying to follow him. 342 GLE AIRINGS IK BEE CULTUBE. July From Different Fields. HONEY-DEW IN SOUTH CAROLINA. I NEVER had bees do so well in my life. There is more honey-dew on my farm than two thousand — ' colonies could gather. It is on all kinds of trees and shrubs. We have not had any rain for about four weeks, and the dew has been plenty for three weeks. The honey-dew is dripping from some of the oaks. T have tested the origin of the dew to my satisfaction. With the aid of the little magnifying-glass I got of you I thoroughly tested it, and I find that the insect gets it from the leaf or shrub, and crawls on top and puts it out. I took home some leaves that had some insects on the under side, and no sign of dew on top, and put them in my house at night, and the leaves were covered on top the next morning. I also saw them crawl and leave a stream on the leaf behind them. So the honey-dew is a settled fact in my mind. I am swarming my bees. I put a frame of larvae in and made a hive, and in five days they had 4 Langstroth frames full. I count that big for yield. I had 7 colonies, and I have doubled at this time, and •they are doing well. VENTILATION. Do you give your bees any ventilation other than at the entrance? Say some thing about it in Glean- ings. J. D. CooPEit. Traveler's Rest, Greenville Co., S. C, May, 1881. The report you give of the honey-dew is indeed wonderful, friend C. — We can get all the ventilation required, with the Simplicity hive, by moving it forward on the bottom- board. As the sun does not heat through the walls of the chaff hive, it does not need more ventilation than the entrance affords, when open the whole length, assisted by the ventilating holes in each end of the cover. OPEN-AIR FEEDING, AND HOW MANY POUNDS OF HON- EY DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE 1 LB. OF BEES? I failed to sell my honey, and ara feeding in the open air; have fed to-day VZ gallons of syrup, made of V-i grape sugar, and well diluted. I have about 2000 lbs. to feed during the season. Who can tell how many pounds of honey it will take to make 1 lb. of bees? I will give the price of Gleanings for a reliable answer. C. D. Wright. Baxter Springs, Kan., May 20 1881. A pretty hard question to answer, friend Wright ; for, if I am not mistaken, it will take as many or more pounds of pollen than it does of honey. J3y feeding tlour candy to bees confined to their hives, by cool weather it seems to me we might get at it pretty fairly. I Avill give $10.00 for the re- sult of a satisfactory experiment; I mean one that would be satisfactory to myself, and you know that I am sometimes pretty notional. Perhaps it can be managed with Hying bees, but I confess I don't exactly see how. an enthusiastic ABC SCHOLAR. I wintered my bees on their summer stands in chaff hives, and I do not think I lost a quart of bees in ten colonies. There has been so much said on wintering, that I will defer giving you my mode until next fall. One of my neighbors wintered his bees on summer stands, and during the hot weather last summer he raised the front of his hives and placed pieces of lath under them to give them ven- tilation. That was the " packing" they got for the winter. What do you think of that kind of winter- ing? he had 12 colonies; 6 of them died, and the others are good strong colonies. More than half of the bees died in this vicinity during the last winter. I had the pleasure of seeing the imported queen that you sent to brother Keeran. She is a beauty, and introduced and doing her duty as a good mother should. 1 dearly love to read those Home Papers. "Very often I fail to attend church and Sabbath- school; but I never fail to read those Home Papers, and they are a great source of happiness to me. Continue them as long as you live, for they are do- ing a world of good. Friend Novice, two weeks from this evening, if God spares mo and the queen, I am going to start a little nucleus. The hive Is made; the frames and every thing pertaining to a well-regulated house is in the hive. You are re- spectfully invited to attend. Thomas Butler. Bloomington, 111., May 31, 1881. Many thanks for your kind invitation and kind words, friend B.; but I fear 1 can't come, much as 1 would like to. I am not at all sure that the Home Papers will do you more good than going to church or Sabbath- school, even if you do like them better. You see, it is easier, and we are very often a lit- tle lazy about taking up important duties. Go to church and Sunday-school first, and then you can read the Home Papers with a clear conscience. We are to help the world along, and not always to be helped or pleased ourselves. dadant's pa.mphle^ on extracted honev. I hardly think your notice of the pamphlet by Chas. Dadant & Son, in the April No. of Gleanings, was as extensive as it deserved. I know it is hard for the editor to give extended reviews of all publi- cations pertaining to our favorite pursuit; but some are pre-eminently deserving, and contain a mass of interesting facts that should be more extensively known, and such is the work referred to. It should be circulated throughout the entire country, north and south, east and west ; for there is a lamentable degree of ignorance, even on the part of persons otherwise well informed in regard to extracted hon- ey and the adulteration of the same, and we can not ' do too much to impart the knowledge we possess; and the bee-keeping fraternity should return a vote of thanks to the Messrs. Dadant for the able man- ner they have conveyed the information thty pos- sess to the public; and every bee-keeper should ap- point himself a committee of one to circulate the same as much as possible, and so educate the public, and all comb honey and adulterated stuff will soon be things of the past. E. T. Flanagan. Belleville, 111 , May 5, 18S1. You are doubtless right, friend F., and I should, perhaps, have said more in praise of the book, were it not that 1 felt the amount of matter that it contained w;is rather small for the price. Of late, we have been in the habit of getting a pretty good-sized book, on almost any subject, for a dime. 1 know the matter a book contains has much to do with it, and I know, too, that a book on honey will not have the general demand that some other books would. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 343 POUNDS OF BEES FROM TEXAS, ETC. I ship this day by express 3 lbs. of black bees, and 1 lb. hybrids. I would ship about 20 lbs. more If I knew you wanted them. I am sending- them with- out an order. As I never shipped any bees, I thought I would try 3 lbs. to see if they arrived O. K. As you have not ordered any bees from me, please just take them and allow me whatever you think is right. I ship the hybrids in the sample cag-e you sent me without water. Vou will see I put a wet sponge in the other two. Please let me know what condition they arrive in, as I did not know how to make the kind of candy that was iu your cage; and as mine was harder and dryer, I thought best to put a little water, enough to last two or three days. You may laugh at the ugly cages I made, but 1 don't care if you do; you arc so far off I won't know it. They are the first I ever made. E. J. ATCHLEy. Lancaster, Dallas Co., Tex., May 18, 1881. AVell, now, friend A., we did laugh, but not at the cages ; it was because every bee was alive and in excellent health, in both cages containing the sponges. Your idea is a good one, only I am afraid the water would evaporate pretty fast from the sponges. The express was only a little over a dollar ; and if I could not get bees any nearer home, I should certainly buy them from Texas. In the one without water, they were all dead ; but your venture turned out pretty well for the first attempt. THE WINTERING LOSSES. As you, no doubt, with all the rest of those who keep bees, had a surfeit of the losses and crosses of bee-keeping, I will only say, in common with others, I have lost heavily the past winter. But in the ret- rospect, I can clearly see that a large share of these losses were from the neglect of the small details pertaining to the care of these useful little crea- tures. And Is it not almost always the cause of failure in any undertaking? for this same attention to small things, so often called business, after all seems the " open sesame" to abundant success. My report for 1880 stands thus: 25 good strong col- onies, when white clover opened; but on account of the general poorness of the season, I took only 1600 lbs. surplus, and increased to 39 fair colonies put in- to winter-quarters. But more of them hereafter. Am I discouraged? No, sir! Going to give it up? No, sir! For I believe with— somebody,— ' ' To earnest, patient endeavoi'. Conies an utter failure never. ' ' Mrs. Kose Thomson. Cowlesvlllc, Wyoming Co., N. Y., May 31, 1881. THE 60-LB. CALIFORNI.\ SHIPPING-CANS. It seems odd that you should describe the 60-lb. (5 gal.) can of California as " a 50-lb. can." They are extensively used in California for all liquids, espe- cially kerosene oil. That size seems to be adopted because they are most economical to make and pack, or case. For ecojiomy's sake, bee-keepers hei'C commenced using them second hand, and now they continue to use them because they are a staple article, always on hand. R. Wilkin. Ventura, Cal., May 19, 1881. Thanks for correction, friend W. I pre- sume it was my carelessness, in getting it into my head that those large square cans hold 50 lbs. I know your honey runs about 12 lbs. to the gallon, while the most of ours here only about 11. I discovered it by find- ing our usual half-pint jelly-tumblers hold just an even pound. Of course, they over- run i pint somewhat. As you state it, very likely they are the l^est packages you can use. SECTIONS ON ALL WINTER. There has been a good deal said in Gleanings about wintering with sections on or off. I leave my brood frames on all winter, and sometimes top story without any frames at all, leaving the entire top empty, with no protection over the frames at all. I went into winter-quarters with 61: colonies; have, up to date, 02; lost only 2, and they were the only two that had any protection whatever. All were on summer stands. THE LOCCST HONEY-CROP. We have the largest crop of locust honey that was ever known in this valley. My bees are storing in surplus boxes now, a thing I never heard of before so early in the season; the locust has been in bloom six days, and will probably list ten days more. Last winter was the most severe we have had for 40 years. My bees were without a fly for 42 days. The snow was about 3 feet deep nearly all that time. I piled snow on my bees, and left it there. J. Luther Bowers. Berr3 ville, Clarke Co., Va., May 21, 1881. the queen that always has a laying daugh- ter WITH her. Good news ! The colony containing the queen about which I wrote you, hatched out a young queen to-day. The old queen and the young one were on the same frame of brood. I at once removed her to a nucleus. They have abcut 8 or 10 more queen- cells started. No artificial queens have been reared yet, and drones are not quite a week old. So you see they are ahead of them all. I will report about her again soon. M. B. Moohe. Morgan, Ky., May 13, 1881. Erom the numerous reports we have had, aside from the similar cases we have found in our own apiary, I am strongly convinced we may get a strain of queens that will keep one (or even more) laying daughters in the hive with her, all the time. Has any- body ever heard of three laying queens in one hive at the same time? Two are com- paratively common. GETTING RICH RIGHT OFF, WITH BEES. After looking over Gleanings for May I find that a good many have lost bees all over, as well as around here. I began keeping bees in 1878. I thought, like a good many others, that I was going to get rich right off, so I got six swarms, and paid a big price for them. One swarm I gave $16.00 for; two more I gave $25.00 for. That winter I lost all but one swarm. The summer of 18T9 I increased to three; wintered them all right. In 1880 I increased to 8 swarms, and bought one. Last winter I lost 2 swarms, and have 7 left; 6 of these are working first rate, and the other is not in very bad shape. I had all of mine packed in straw. I am encouraged won- derfully, although I have been almost discouraged sometimes; but I am going to keep trying. I have learned more out of your ABC book since I got it, about a year ago, than I have out of all the rest of the books I ever read. J. W. Fleming. Jackson, Mich., May 9, 1881. 344 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July MARKING QUEENS TO TELL THEIR AGE. In May Gleanings, page 240, you consider my plan unreliable, as queens g-et their wing-s mutilated by age after one year or more. If this is the case, and the mutilation is so similar to that cf clipping that we can not discern the difference, how can nat- ural swarming be a success in the hands of the box- hive bee-keepers? Again, friend R., did you ever sec a queen's wing that was reduced one-half or more its length by mu- tilation, though she should live a decade of years? I have practiced the described method with hun- dreds of queens, and I never found one thus treated that I could not tell, at first sight, her correct age from the clipped wings. T'ei-haps you do not clip as closely as I do. It you do, I think you would find the markings reliable. SWEET corn; "corn OYSTERS." As you wish our recipe for corn oysters, I will give it gladly: 1 dozen ears, scraped as described in GLE.A.NINGS, p. 240; 2 eggs; 1 cup rolled cracker (or flour can be substituted;) 1 teaspoonful of soda. Add sweet or sour milk, if necessary, to make it the consistency of thick pancake batter; fry in butter. We plant sweet corn about May 1, June 1, and July 1, which gives us a — jugt such a " prolongment" as Doolittle gets from basswood. Scriba, N. Y. F. H. Cyrenius. Well, I have seen queens, friend C.,witli their wings all gone entirely, and I think a similar case is mentioned elsewhere in this No. The box-hive men don't "tinker" their hives and bees about as we do. Nev- ertheless, your point is a good one.— Many thanks for the corn recipe. It makes me hungry just to read it, and it is only half- past 10 o'clock. Why, it will do to plant corn for green corn after this journal reaches you, according to your figures, friend C, and, just as sure as you are alive, I am going to have some planted July Jst, too. Thank you. TWO QUEENS WINTERED IN ONE HIVE. A brother about half a mile distant had two queens that wintered friendly in one hive, and no mistake about it; for they were put in the cellar the early part of Dec, and the 25th of Feb. was a moderate day (and he lives at a rather sunny spot), and at noon ho moved them to their summer stands for a Hy. A few hours later, on examination he found one had two queens. He sent to my place for a cage, and to know whether any queen had left my apiary. Without any examination I knew that could not be, for mine were all in the cellar, except a few very strong colonies, and the temperature had not risen above 40°. I slipped a few cages in my pocket, and went down, and, sure enough, there they were. The first one we came to was a large bright young queen, apparently fertile. The bees had then balled her, and, after that, brother said the other one was darker. We soon found her also balled. She had been balled before, for she had not the least sign of a wing ; but she was large and active. I suppose she was the old queen 1 had reared a few years ago. There was brood in all stages, some young bees ap- pearing. Now, they either superseded the old queen late in the fall, and the old mother wouldn't die for them, or (what I think is more probable) one of my nuclei went in there late in the fall. The young queen looked like an albino, and I had several nu- clei that swarmed out and went down to this apiary. Let it be as it may, they were living very friendly. POLLEN ; IS IT ESSENTIAL TO BROOD-REARING ? Friends, it looks very much to me as if pollen does much of the mischief imong our bees during winter. Is it really necessary for brood-rearing? Who has had larvic analyzed, and what are the proportions? On the Uth inst. I selected several A-ery nice bright combs with neither pollen nor honey. I placed them in a hive, and put a rather small colony on them, and fed them pure A sugar syrup, and to-day they have nearly as much brood sealed over as thej' can protect. They have not had any pollen; how is that for brood-rearing? S. V alentine. Double Pipe Creek, Carroll Co., Md., Mar. 23, 1881. Why, friend V., you come pretty near tak- ing the ground that bees never need any pol- len at all, and that when they carry it into their hives, they are making a blunder. The experiments I made in the greenhouse are, I think, conclusive, — that no brood can be reared without access to pollen or some substitute ; but I may be mistaken. Your bees flew, doubtless, between March 14 and 23 ; and, although you did not see them car- ry any in, nor And it in the combs, I think they got enough for the brood they reared. — I am inclined to think the queens you men- tion w'ere mother and daughter, or at least were both hatched in the hive. Has any one ever introduced a laying queen into a hive having a queen, so that both would continue laying side by side? HOW the GENERAL RUN OF BEE-KEEPERS AVERAGE. I thought perhaps you would like to know how the bees in this part of the country have wintered the past season. The following is a list of the bee- keepers who live within about a mile of me, and their losses:— NAME. NO. lOST. lAME I Chas. Fell, S. Navlor, I J. J. Starr, S. Tracy. i.J. T. Diven, I T. B. Anderson, IN' FALL. 1 LOST. 1 (• E. Canoles, 33 7 Wm. .Tohnsun, 14 13 .Tohn Knight, 12 11 Harry Mays, 13 11 ,T. Vance. 14 7 .■Xnios Shultz, 2 2 R. Fell, 2 2 I Nearly all the above colonies which died were black bees in box hives. I had only 5 in box hives; 4 of them died. The others were in L. hives. I now have 1 in box, and 25 in L. hives. Those I have left are Italians and hybrids, except one, which is black. It has been the hardest winter on bees that was ever known here. All the above bees were wintered on summer stands. Most of the bees that died left from 5 to 30 lbs. of honey in their hives. I am beginning to receive orders from my three-line adv't in your May No. C. E. Canoles. Hereford, Bait. Co., Md., May 21, 1881. Well, it seems the above does not ^how greatly in favor of box hives and black bees, does it, friend C. ? BUNAAVAY .SW.4RMS; HOW TO REMEDY. How do you keep bees from swarming while you are away at church and Sunday-school? I had ten strong hives to begin with this spring. Las: Friday one of them sent out a large swarm, and I hived them and set them away. Saturday another swarmed. Sunday, all went to Sabbath-school, and when I came home I found another swarmed, and gone to parts unknown; but this is not what troub- les or puzzles me so much or what 1 expect to lind a 1881 GLEA^mGS IN BEE CULTURE. 345 remedy for. But while I was looking for the de- parted swarm, swarm No. 1 came out of the box that I had put them in, and alighted on their chosen limb again. I got another box and hived them again. They went in nicely, and seemed all right; but not feeling altogether easy about them I went out in about two hours to look after them, and be- hold, they were gone. Now, it is perhaps too bad to trouble you with all of this; but if anybody knows the cause and remedy for such a freak, I suppose you do; and I would like to. I forgot to say, they had made some nice combs in the first box. Smithfleld, O., May 30, 1881. N. L. Wood. Where you raise comb honey, it is a pret- ty difficult matter to fix a large apiary so you know they will not swarm during the swarm- ing season. Very likely it is one's duty to stay at home at such a time. Let one com- petent person look after the bees one Sun- day, and another the next, and so on. Of course, very much may be done to obviate the necessity of such staying home at all; and where artificial sivarming is practiced, it is an easy matter to fix each colony so there will be but a small probability of swarms issuing. From your writing, friend \V., I infer you have only box-hives; if so, you must expect to lose swarms. Use mov- able-frame hives, and give each swarm, as it is hived, a comb containing unsealed larvae, with as little honey as possible, and my ex- perience is, that not one in a hundred will ever desert the comb of larvte. Empty combs are a great help to a new colony, and have always seemed to me to have quite an influence in holding them to their new home. COVERING THE BEES WITH HAY, OR SWAMP GRASS. Last spring, 1880, 1 went into partnership in the bee business with Dr. Henrj' Munger, a true, faith- ful. Christian man. All things went well until the 9th of September, when he was taken quite sick. The doctor lingered, hovering between life and death until November 23, when he died. After he was taken sick I had 100 colonies left on their sum- mer stands. About the 1st of December I covered them with "slew-grass," each hive as it stood. For five months they were shut up, and never flew. I lost 7 stands, and came out this spring with 93 colo- nies in good condition. Now I have over 100 stands of as fine Italian bees as can be found anywhere in this country. I am well satisfied, considering my inexperience. I am truly sorry you had such heavy loss; but you have the pluck to "pick your flint" and try again. Isaac Edwards. Omaha, Neb., June 3, 1881. THE FEEDER WE USE. Take a square piece of tin, mark a straight line around it about H in. from the edge, and also from that line to the corner; then bend it over a sharp tool, and turn HP, lapping the corners with the pli- ers. I can make them without any soldering. Then when I fill up my oyster-can, fruit-can, or any tbing that is handy, just set my plate on top, and turn over without spilling. I would not have those Hains feeders with top fasteneil on. Moli^ie O. Large. MiUersvllle, 111. candy feeding during spring. You sent me a tub of grape sugar in March. It was very bitter stuff and I feared the bees would not cat it, but I made about 30 lbs. of candy according to directions, and put a small brick of it over the clus- ter on 25 hives, and tucked them up warm. They all seem to have nibbled at it a little, but I don't think they have eaten a quarter of a pound of it altogeth- er, and 12 colonies died— some of them evidently of starvation ; two colonies had cakes of maple sugar, though, and I couldn't see that that was any better. Jackson, Mich., June 5, 1881. Joseph Cook. When bees get to the point Avhere yours were, it is a hard matter to get them to take any thing in the way of food, as you found by using the maple sugar, which you say seemed to answer no better, f ^audy made of pure cane sugar would have made little dif- ference, and the best of sealed stores of hon- ey seems to be scarcely noticed when they get this spring malady. However, when the weather is ct)ol and the cluster small, they will often take to honey or stores sealed up in the combs, when they will not notice can- dy of any kind ; for candy, it should always be remembered, is food in an unnatural form, and they often have to learn how to take it, as it were, before they use it freely. I have very rarely found a colony, of any strength at all, that woitld neglect to use maple sugar, if put right over the cluster, and well cover- ed up. I liave hunted up friend Cook's or- der for sugar, and it reads as follows : — Inclosed I send you $.5.c0, for which please send me 100 lbs. grape sugar by freight. Please send the su- gar Immediately, as my bees are in a starving condi- tion. . Joseph Cook. Jackson, Mich., March 14, 1881. We have several times had complaints that bees have starved, while waiting for grape sugar or candy, that was ordered by freight. There is some thing radically wrong about all this. If grape sugar is to be used, it should be ordered, and on hand, long before the time it is likely to be wanted. If bees are suddenly found to be in danger of starv- ing, go at once to the groceries and buy su- gar or candy. Keep them going on this until your grape sugar comes, which, as freights are uncertain, and usually slow, is at best uncertain. Where it has to be ship- ped some distance, the sugar from the gro- ceries is often the cheaper, taking freights on small quantities into consideration. Last- ly, when bees are starving, you must not only give them the food, but make them, or, rather, see that they do take it. Many a colony has been lost because the owner hur- riedly placed food where he supposed they could get it, and then left them, only to find, a few days after, that they never found it at all. I once found a colony almost out of stores in April. I put a quart fruit-jar of honey over one of the holes in the honey-board, and said to myself, " There ! I guess you won"t starve now ; " but a few days after I found them all dead, clustered over to the opposite side of the hive from where the honey was placed. There is no other way, my friends, but to be on hand, and to make success cer- tain by watching and prompting at every step. 346 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July BEES THAT WON'T WORK IN THE UPPER STORY OB BOXES. I have a number of full colonies— large colonies in 2-story hives, but they will not work in the upper stories, cither in the L. frame for extracted honey, or in the section boxes which I have ia wide frames. What is to be done? The flow of honey at this time is immense, Jno. W. Hinsdale. Raleigh, Wake Co., N. C, May 11, 1881. This question is pretty sure to come up many times each season. Friend IL, you must mal-e them go up and go to work. With hives fixed for extracting, it is an easy matter, for they will usually go up on tin- ished combs without trouble; but if they don't, just put a comb of brood up among them. With our arrangement of section boxes in the wide frames, you can raise a comb of brood to start them in the sections also ; but a better way is to hang a frame of sections at each outside in the lower story, a little before the upper stories need to go on, and when they get well to working in these, raise the frames of sections above, putting more empty ones below. I suppose of course you have fdn. starters in all your frames and sections. Putting on the upper stoiies too soon is often one cause of getting the bees averse to going above. You should wait until they begin to be a little crowded, and then they will usually go right up and com- mence work, just as soon as the room is giv- en them. VENTILATION IN WINTER. My report for this winter is 3 out of 0 swarms dead, for want of ventilation; one swarm, with opening in top, 2x14 inches, saved In extra good con- dition. One box hive with two-inch hole in top, al- ways open, wintered without any dead bees; now ready to swarm; 4 in Simplicity hives, with oil-cloth cover; no ventilation; got dysentery badly in March. I fed each, one quart of coffee A sugar syr- up, and gave good ventilation: nil were well in two days. Ventilation is the thing. My bees had no protection. M. L. Hobbs. Middleport, Meigs Co., O., May 18, 1881. There is, without question, a significance in these reports of favorable winterijig, with an opening, or openings, of not too large a size, right over the cluster. Suppose we have a hole in our chaff cushions, right down into the cluster of beesV I know this idea is not new; but are we sure it has been sufiiciently looked after':* PACKING WITH FOREST LEAVES. My bees that were packed, 17 stands in all, are in fine condition. My box hives, with no protection, all died. I think fully ?i of the bees in this locality have died this winter and spring. I am fully con- vinced of the importance of packing in some form. I packed mine in forest leaves. C. L. Bostwick. Sandy Hook, Fairfield Co., Ct., May 13, 1881. I believe friend Dadant at one time used forest leaves, and may yet for aught I know. Will he please tell us about it? As these are much more loose and porous than chaff, it may be that they would offer some of the advantages secured by leaving sections on fill winter; viz., more thorough and com- plete ventilation. ITALIANS WORSE ON SORGHUM-MILLS. Last fall I had 24, all in trim on the ABC plan, painted like Joseph's coat: IT colonies were Italians. When I ground the amber cane (the seed of which I got of you), the Italians just swarmed over the mill, and were reduced so much during that winter I lost 10 of them. The blacks did not bother, and so all wintered well. With me, I came off better than mDst of ray brother bee-keepers here. W. WiNINGER. Glasgow, Barren Co., Kj-., March 17, 1881. CHAFF niVES AGAIN. Don't go back on chaff hives. My neighbors lost bees in cellars, in bee-houses, and in tenement hives. I have been several miles around, and examined them. Some have 3 out of 50, while others having 100 lost all. Mine on their summer stands in chaff hives are all right. May 12, drones flying; lost 1 out of 25. I don't want anj' space in Blasted Hopes this spring. W. D. Higdon. Jackson, Mich., May 16, 1881. Friend II., if you could see the number of chaff hives we are sending out, even in this month of June, you would think that neither ourselves nor customers had any thought of " going back on them " right away. CHAFF PACKING, ETC. It is about time I told you how I came out, for it was a~hard winter on bees. I am sorry so many have lost almost all their bees. Well, the trouble is in the stores that the bees had to live on through the winter. You see, two years ago I lost 67 out of 70, and it was not as bad a winter as the pnst. My wife said I had better give up the bee business now. I told her I would get my money out of where I lost it, and so I have. I didn't like to give up, for I had been at it for 15 years. Now I will try to tell you how many I lost last winter, and how I wintered. COLS. LAST FALL. HOW PAC'KEn. DEAD. 21 in c'haff hives, - - 0 OinliousoNo. 1, iiaokcd in chaff, - 0 4 in house No. 2, iKirked in ehaff, 0 5 in house No. H, starved, packed in hay, - - - - 2 1() in house No . 4, packed in iiay, 2 2 in house No 5, paelced in eliaff, ------ U 18 no protection, ._--..--- 8 These houses are 3 feet wide, and high enough for hives; frames to hives are all one size, and all have 9 in a hive, except a few weak ones I am building up now. STEPHEN Hill. Port Huron, Mich., May 8, 1881. You say the trouble is in the stores, friend IL, but yet you don't tell us what stores they had during this last winter, different from when you lost so many. CHAFF ONCE MORE. I have been reading so much in Gleanings about wintering bees, that I felt a strong desire to tell you of my success. I have not lost a single swarm since 1 have packed in this way ! I use Sayles No. 1 hive, with Langstroth frame; take out 4 frames, put di- Aision-board on each side, and pack tight with oat chaff, then put a piece of carpet over, then a peck of loose chaff, then a chaff cushion on top of that, and leave just as they stand through the summer. I packed 21 last fall that way and never lost one. The hives were all dry and clean, with hardly any dead bees. I do not like oil-cloth over them, for it always creates a moisture on the sides of the hives for me. Most bee-keepers in this section lost a great part of their bees. :^y bees averaged S!13.50 to the 18S1 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 347 hive last year, and were all strong this spring when I cleaned their hives. I go around my hives every day, winter and summer, and sec that the entrance is clean and every thing right. Mrs. J. S. CocHKAN. Macon, Macon Co., 111., June 1, 1881. HKKti ON THE BRANCHES OF TREES IN TEXAS, ETC. I sometimes get long letters from novices in hor- ticulture. Those letters would be a great hore to nic if they did not afford the gratification that I had set some one to studying- my favorite themes, and then I often do learn some tln)i{j, even tvoui them. Of course, I ean not reply in detail to such long letters. I have learned much from jour liook alread,\ — much that I am surprised to think I had not com- mon sense to see. I am ashamed to tell you of some things I have done witTi my bees, because I did not know any better. The more I have to do with my bees, the more I love them and wonder why they did not sting me to death for some things I ha\e ig- norantly done with them. This is an alluvial region. Among the mountains of Bandera Co. there are many "/jcc-carts." Be- yond the Itio Grande, beeS often occupy the under side of a large limb in the open tree-top. There they build comb and gather stores, just as if they were in a hive. The other day I was talking about bees occupying- open tree-tops in Mexico. One bystander remarked that he had found such a swarm in the adjoining county (Calhounj, that he took the honey and gave the bees to Mr. Hoff, of this county. I mean to learn from Mr. H. wliether they became contented in his hive, and whether they were a diffei'ent A'ari- ety of bees from those we are accustomed to. An- other acquaintance, so well known to me as a man of perfect veracity that I can not question any thing he would say, says that he took a bucketful of honey from a swarm similarly situated, in my own neigh- borhood. He has some knowledge of bees, and says they were the common black bee of the region. They had selected a position under the bent portion of the tree. Our preacher (a man of undoubted truth) sajs, that on the frontier, toward Mexico, whei'c he had once been on a frontier circuit, he had repeatedly seen swarms of bees occupying shel- tered positions on trees which had no cavity, and that in one instance he had seen them i)!. the yra.ss, where tall coarse grass had lodged together from different directions so as to form a shelter. This fact, for it is a fact, makes me smile when I read articles headed, '• Why Bees Work in the Dark." G. Onderdonk. Mission Valley, Victoria C>>., Tex., June 4, 1881. Many thanks for the facts furnished, friend O. You judge rightly; these letters are a great source of pleasure and profit to me, your own affording a striking illustra- tion of the point. I do not get time to re- ply, however, as I would like to, and thank the kind writers. Bees on the branches of trees are sometimes known, even here ; but I suppose it is more common in warmer climates. BLACKS OR ITALIANS; WHICH WINTER BETTER? You say, on page 2!I3 of Gleanings, that the past winter has almost " extinguished black bees in our countrj'." Well, the case seems to be different here. May.be the blackswintered better in some other places. It may be that is why there Is such a de- mand for black queens and bees as you say there is on page 298 of Gleanings. I had 65 last fall; have 5 hives now (4 or 5 hybrids; rest, 60, Italian.) I give a few reports below, here in Washington Co., Pa.:— Mr. Fordire, 80 Italians, has left 1 this spring. Sirs. Parkinson, 2 •• " '• 0 " " Mi. M. G. Mintou, 8 " " " 3 " " H. P. Bcatty 11 Blat-k, " "11 '■ F. Stanker, 601-8 " " " .5 " A. Elliot, 20 or 25 '• lost 1 The strongest hive I have are hybrids. I will con- fess, that I have some notions of getting the old black bees again. Let us get at the facts of the win- tering of bees. The people, most of them around here, think the black bees can stand the winter bet- ter. I have had Italians 6 or 7 years. The bees were all wintered outdoors on summer stands without protection. J. L. Hoge. Sparta, Washington Co., Pa., June 9, 1881. That is right, friend II., give us facts, by all means. I did not mean to say the blacks wintered worse than Italians, but rather that those who kept black bees are giving them up, so that the Italians had a clean sweep, as it were. You know, those who keep black bees mostly make bee-keeping a secondary consideration, as it were, and af- ter a few' reverses, they, as a general thing, drop bees entirely. The experts, on the con- trary, can l)uy every spring, and build up with Italians, and make a good thing of it even tlien. I am inclined to think that hy- brids, other things being equal, will winter better than either race pure. Let us have some reports on this matter. CHAFF, SAWDUST, AND A SUGAR, ETC. There was a great loss in bees in these parts last winter, as nearly all died. I had i colonies (Italians) last fall, good and strong, with plenty of honey; two died with dysentery; the other two came through, one very weak, the other tip top; had a fine large swarm on the 16th. They are also making surplus in top boxes. I have a friend who had 16 colonies last fall; he brought them all through without any lo.'s; had them packed in chaff and sawdust. His main dependence is chaff, or sawdust and A sugar. He thinks it is just as safe to winter bees as it is horses or cattle, or any other stock. Now, what think you of that compared with the loss of 128 out of 140 colonies? W. C. Neil. Strattonville, Clarion Co., Pa., June 18, 1881. HOW I FASTEN FDN., OR ST.iRTERS, IN SECTION BOXES. Take a tin pan, and put in clean wax; melt it, not too hot, your grooved section pieces on your left, starters on the right, with your melted wax in the middle, or front of you. First move: take grooved section piece in left and starter in right hand; dip starter in wax; stick right in groove; shove It to left, out of your way, and repeat. I tried this two years ago; stuck .5;0 starters at two sittings by the stove in July; had to nail the sections afterward. Not one of them dropped in nailing. I think I can slick full frames the same way, and beat any ma- chine I ever read of. J. E. J.a.rrett. West Point, Iowa, June 14, 1881. Very true, friend J.; but you did the work yourself. Suppose you set a child at it, or any cheap help ; they would daub wax ev- erywhere, and would not make it go either ; whereas, with the Parker machine they US GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July would do good work, and do it rapidly. I know your plan is a good one for one who can be trusted to handle melted wax. ROBBED BEES GOING HOME WITH HOBBEBS, ETC. Just a few words from our section. Bees never hare done better than now; 180 natural swarms May 12; more surplus to-day than all last >car; very heavy honey-dews. Now just a word on Doolitlle's comments, about robber bees joining- intruders. This spring one of my father-in-law's stocks began robbing one of a neighbor's, and robbed till all honey was gone. The I'obbed swarm gave up, and followed out in a mass- queen and all. They clustered on a barn-side for half an hour. All the while they were there some kept up a strong "line" to the robber's stand, and then all went to the stand and went in. If there was no queen, why did they bang so long? We saw them come out in a body, and so I, for one, am con- vinced. yUEENS THAT WON'T LAY. Did you ever have bees that accepted a queen for one month, kill her? I have been buying some Ital- ian queens, and one that was warranted pure and laying, I think was not fertilized; if so, would she come out twice, as if to meet the drones? I have had one act this way. The last time, she did not comeback; I presume the birds caught her. Now what ought I to do? She was received in good con- dition, with a postal stating she was known to be laying; but not an egg she laid for me. Will friend Flanagan tell what kind of candy he used to make his bees boom so? BLACK ITALIANS. I have one swarm of blacks that have cccru pecu- liarity of Italians. To handle them, you would nev- er know them t<) be blacks; comb is always built up- wai-d, but no yellow bands, and no one could buy that queen from me. Why? She is always the first to swarm, always the first to store supplies, always the strongest, and I have never lost one swarm from her in wintering yet, without protection either. 1 have taken full frames of brood from her all sum- mer, and nothing checks her. lam now trying to get her daughter crossed by Italian drones, but can't say for certain, but I don't think they have. I call her " Best," and she has well earned her name. If there were black Italians, I should call her one. Ed. Ladd, Jr. Beverly, Macon Co., Mo., June 17, 1881. I have known colonies to seemingly pro- test against accepting queens for nearly a month, and to finally kill them after they had laid the hive pretty full of eggs. Re- moving queens sometimes causes tliem to stop laying entirely Neighbor ][. carried one of his best queens down to his river api- ary, and introduced her; and, although she was a good laying queen, and was out of the hive only a few hours, she never laid any afterward. Have charity, friends, and be slow in accusing anybody of selling a virgin queen. If the queens we send out don't lay, after a proper time, say three or four days, if honey is not coming in, feed regularly for a day or two; if they don't lay then, say so pleasantly, and Ave will send another in' her place ; but please don't write back you think she never did lay.— I should not be surprised if such a queen might take another flight; you know I gave pretty good evidence that a queen received from Italy once met a drone here, before she commenced laying. Hold on to your black Italians by all means. They may have Italian blood in them, I sup- pose, even if they have no bands. WHAT A POUND OF BEES WILL DO., ETC. Last fall or the last of summer I bought one tested queen and a pound of bees; paid .f3.00. The bees she raispd were nice. They wintered well, but one day in March I saw the bees drag her out dead. I thought all was lost; but one day in April T saw a young queen out for a fly, but there were no drones. It was the last time I saw her. The bees soon died. Moral : The queen must have been old. Wm. G. Norton. Honeoye Fislls, Monroe Co., N. Y., June 1, 1881. But I must protest against that "moral" a little, friend N. I do not know of whom you bought the pound of bees and queen, but I would put the moral as it is in the ABC; viz., any queen is liable to die or stop laying, at any period of her life; and because you happen to be unfortunate, do not uncharitably decide that the person who sold you the queen knowingly sent you an old one. ABSCONDING OF X POUND OF BEES XfiD QUEEN. The pound of bees with queen came to-day in splendid condition — not two dozen dead were found in the case. But what ailed the pets? I think they took a sudden dislike to this northern countr3'. I arranged a nice hive for them, with a full frame of brood, capped and uncapped, and a frame contain- ing honey. I opened the case containing the bees with queen, and set it in the hive, and covered the same with usual honey-bu:a-il and top, and after watching their movements 15 or 20 minutes I left them about half an hour, and returned, when I no- ticed they seemed quiet; and in looking into the hive to see if they had all come out of the case, and intending to put in a division-board, I noticed the bees had taken "French leave"— not a dozen bees to be seen. What could have been the reason? lam sadly disappointed, and imagine I at first must have resembled Rodney, in the cartoon for May, page 220. I felt as he loolis, at all events. W. AVakefield. St. Paul, Minn., June 10, 1881. We had just one such report last year, and as we have sent 'out toAvard 1000 lbs. this season, Avith only one such report, I can hardly think it a very common freak. I do not knoAv Avhat more one could do, after giving them a frame containing unsealed larvtc. If the hive had any offensive smell about it, I should perhaps think that the cause. Although Ave Avere in no kind of way to blame in the transaction, I hardly felt right to let our friend have all that money and trouble out, without a bee to show as an equivalent, and so I offered to fill the or- der again at half price. "NEA'ER say DIE;" RAISING BEES IN THE HOUSE. Do you remember in Feb. No. you put me in Blasted Hopes. If I had lost all I would not despair nor give up. My hopes are not Masted yet. I saved two out of seven, and they are doing well. AVinter came on unexpectedly early and severe; frost gath- ered in the hive; after two or three weeks it thawed just enough to run on the bees, and before they could get dry it turned cold again and froze the little pets to death. I discovered the trouble when all 1881 GLEANINGS m BEE CULTURE. 349 were dead but two, and they had only a handful left. I took them into the house, set them behind the stove, and they warmed up and got dry. In three days the queens were layiufi-. I kept them in a warm room, and in less than ten days they were hatching young bees, " you liet." I took good care of them, and they are now filling their hives full of white-clover honey. A. Bixby. Foristell, St. Charles Co., Mo., June 14, 1881. The following little circumstance is not without in- terest to the ABC class: BKE-STIXG IX THE EYELID. On the 6th day of the present month my neighbor Fantcher was hiving a swarm of bees, when ho re- ceived a sting on the right ejelid, about a sixth of an inch above its lower margin. He scratched the sting oil, as he thought, and continued his work, thinking no nioro pf the accident until the 8th inst., when he began to perceive a very unpleasant sensation of scratching on the surface of the eye whenever the lid passed over the copnea (or colored part.) This soon became so intolerably painful that he came to me for relief. By the aid of a powerful magnifier I could see a minute dark point projecting from the inner surface of the lid. "With a sharp knife I shaved off a film of the mucous surface, having the point of the sting sutficiently exposed to be seized by a pair of forceps, with which I drew it out, thus complet- ing its passage through the eyelid. He has had no further trouble, but will hereafter follow my exam- ple, and wear a veil when he handles bees. H. A. MOODV, M.D. Lorgtown, Panola Co., Miss., June 14, 1881. NEW SWAKMS ABSCONDING. I will tell you how I cared for swarms that wished to leave for parts unknown. I put them in a secure place sheltered from wind and sun, and covered them with a wet sheet, and kept it wet and well tucked in, so they could not get out for three days, and kept them several times from leaving. When they wish to leave they are generally uneasy— don't act quite right. Sometimes it is too warm or windy, and combs break down. Mary. Independence, Cuy. Co., O., June lit, 1881. Why. friend Mary, would you keep the poor fellows idle three days, with the clover '• booming " V If I had them, I would expect them to earn almost as many dollars in that time ; and if they would not stay and go to work otherwise, I would divide them, giv- ing each part a comb of unsealed brood. This will surely hold any new swarm, no matter how crazy and excited they are. BEES COMING TO A WELD-KEPT APIARY. The 2 lbs. of bees came all right in good condition, and are doing well. You gave me good weight. Many thanks. Yesterday a large swarm of Italian bees came from your direction, and settled on a tree in my yard. Did you send them? I like that way of sending bees, as it not only saves the original cost, but express charges too. They must have come a good distance, as I know of no Italian bees in that direction in this countj'. I was in Rev. Mr. Ballen- tine's apiary last week. He wintered all his stocks, and is making a good thing of it this summer. I shall let you know by and by how my bees are doing. North Salem, O., June 17, 1881. J. W. Martin. I didn't send the bees, friend JM., but I am glad they went there, especially as they are good Italians. Is it not queer how they some- times come to a body in that way V and, if I am not mistaken, you think more of that colony, that seems to be a sort of present that God sent you, than any other in your yard. Is it not so V We get several runaway swarms in that way almost every year. I tell the boys it is because they think this is a good place to stay. WITH THE BIGGEST CROWD. Referring to your Postscript No. 2, in your May No., I wish to say I shall try, with God's help, not to be in a like position next spring; but,alasl we know not what a day may bring forth; and although not (juite so badly off as friend Rodney, of Dayton, Ohio, still I feel badly enough at my success thus far. In the spring of 1878 I invested in 20 swarms of bees, and Italians at that; they increased to 41; losses dur- ing the winter, 27; last winter I lost only one swarm out of 44; then " the goose hung high.' ' Sold during the year, bees, $^24.00; honey, $6.00. Went into winter-quarters last Nov. with 59, good, bad, and indifferent; this spring, hearing from all sides discouraging reports, it was with fear and trembling that I approached my bee-house to open up. Out of 59 I found 10 alive and well. Nearly all my neighbors' are in a like condition. I have no objection to being placed in Blasted Hopes when such men as Townley and yourself are there, and from reports, I think the largest crowd is there also. A. W. WiLLMABTH. Embarrass, Wis., June 5, 1881. $d^ and §mvks. fHE swarming season is over here, and I think that not more than one-tenth of the bees of — ' Southern California have swarmed. Bloom is abundant, yet there is almost no surplus coming in yet. ]Many think we are going to get no honey, and it seems the general feeling is, we will not have more than half a crop at most. R. Wilkin. Ventura, Cal., May 15, 1881. THE CALL FOR BEES. Bees are doing well. After selling 247 of the best colonies that have ever left my apiary, I have al- ready increased the remainder to about 325, and still 3 weeks before basswood blossoms. Bee-keepers are alive, anyway, even if bees are all dead; fori am besieged with orders dail}-, but must positively refuse to fill them. Geo. Ghim.m. Jelferson, Wis., June 17, 1881. I caged in a very hurried manner, and shipped 10 one-dollar queens yesterday; hope they will reach you safely. Please report immediately. I have adopted a rapid way of capturing the queens and attendants by placing the cages over them as they rest on the comb, then cautiously sliding the lid on. I get them in faster, and there is no danger of crushing them. Mrs. B. H. Loave. Hawkinsville, Ga., June 16, 1881. [Every queen was in prime order, my friend, like almost all you have sent, and I would say, for the encouragement of the ladies, that Mrs. Lowe has sent us the most early queens of any of our queen- breeders, North or South, and no one, unless it is our friend Viallon, has had such invariable success in getting them through alive.] 350 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July We wintered 3t colonies in the cellar, without los- ing any. DeWitt Brayton. Sandy Hill, N. Y., April 11, 1881. I had a swarm of bees yesterday; that is 20 days earlier than usual for this section. Centreville, la., June 3, 1881. G. B. Replogle. My best colony has stored over 40 lbs. of surplus in about 4 days. L. W. Vankirk. Washington, Pa., May 30, 1881. A hot wind blowing from the desert now makes it quite probable that we will get no surplus honey this season. R. Wilkin. Ventura, Cal., May 18, 1881. HONEY-DEW. Honey-dew has commenced falling, and bees are busy. I find it only on white oak. Why is this? Poteau, Ark., May 17, 1881. H. C. Betiiei-. I have wintered 125 hives of boos this past winter without losing one. Can you beat that in Ohio? Dr. F. Leashiek. Hooper, Broome Co., N. Y., April 26, 1881. Bees in our countj', 80 per cent dead. Our own, 50 per cent. Cause, dysentery, with a few starved. Those alive are doing finely. Have 18 colonies liv- ing. H. H. Laurence. Columbia City, Ind., June 9, 1881. BLACKS FOR WINTERING. Black bees seem to have wintered here better than Italians. The latter dwindled down so much in the spring that they are very weak. J. H. Martin. Hartford, N. Y., May 19, 1881. I see in Gleanings you oflPer free advertisement for those who have bees to sell by the pound. Please give this room: Italian bees, 75c per lb. Bright Bros. Mazeppa, Minn., June 14, 1881. POLLEN AS ONE CAUSE OF THE MORTALITY. I have been handling bees for forty years. I think the pollen did more damage than the cold. The few colonies that I saved had the least amount of pollen. W. G. Wright. Delphos, Ohio, June 9, 1881. I will furnish bees at $1.00 per lb. after the 15th of July, in lots of not less than 5 lbs., put up in good shape to ship, and delivered at the express olHce. I think now I could fui-nish one hundred 'bu»hels. H. R. BO.\RDMAN. East Townsend, Huron Co., O., June 16, 1881. CHEERFUL STILL. I have fared no worse than the majority, having 76 in winter quarters, and came out with 10 stocks; but they are doing famously. Being a young man, and just starting in life, its pretty severe on me; but this world is full of disappointments, and we must bear them cheerfully. En. F. Christie. Maple Landing, la., May 18, 188L HOPES NOT BLASTED, AFTER ALL. I lost all of mine this winter— 104 skeps. I have to start off anew. I have bought 86 to start. jAMts Mahkle. New Salem, N. Y., May 16, 1S8I. [I should call that philosophically cool, friend M.; but I presume it is the best way to take it.] pretty well FOR RAPID INCREASE. I commenced in 1880 with 10 stands, and increased them to 37, and came through the winter with 31 by giving them very close attention. I do not claim to be a beginner. I wintered on summer stands. Pomeroy, O., May 29, 1881. S. E. Bailey. We are having a very wet spring, and the white clover is very promising; but "the laborers are few." Bees are weak. I have 90 out of 120 last fall ; have drones flying. Some hives have 8 to 9 frames of brood. I think the prospect is good for a crop of honey. J. B. Rapp. Owensville, O., May 9, 188L Since the advent of June, the weather has been cool and wet; white clover very abundant, but very little honey in it yet. We've been making "bees by the pound" by feeding, night and day, all the dilut- ed honey that the bees can be induced to take. Mrs. L. Harrison. Peoria, 111., June 6, 1881. COLORADO. Bees are booming here; some hives have sent out their second swarm. But few died last winter. I am afraid the grasshoppers will play havoc with our surplus pastures; i, e., cleoma. Chas. E. McRay. Canon City, Col., May 16, 1881. SECTIONS ON ALL WINTER, ETC. Our bees have wintered very well; did not lose any from the cold; lost one that was disturbed by a mouse. Kept section boxes on all winter; wintered on summer stands. My friend Bacon lost 120 out of 140, part in bee-house. Charles Tobin. New Washington, O., May 10, 188L • A L.\RGE hive. I have a box hive which is entirely full of combs, and strong in bees, which I expect to transfer in a few days. It is a curiosity in size, being 2 ft. 6 in. high, 18x19 in., made of inch boards. Contents in the clear, 7688 cubic in. Frank J. Bell. Moosehead, Luzerne Co., Pa., Juno 3, 1881. CHAFF. I wintered 21 hives in a chatf bin 40 feet long by 4 feet wide; they came through all right, less one or two. Bees wintered verj- well in this, considering the care they got. They are making honey fa&t here now for this time of the year. W. G. RUSSELL. Millbrook, Ont., Can., May 6, 1881. My wife is the bee-keeper. lam a cripple from rheumatism. I have not stood on my feet for nearly four years. She wintered all our bees successfully. C. W. Miller. Grattan Center, Kent Co., Mich , May 19, 1881. [May God bless the wives, friend M., and may he help you to bear your affliction until it is his will you should be on your feet again!] CANDY FOR BEES. I commenced feeding your 10c bee candy oarly in the spring, and fed as long as the bees would take it; in fact, left it on until June 1st. Result: 1. It stopped dyseatery immediately; 2. The colonies were stronger than I ever had Ihem for the white clover. I lost about 5u per cent of my bees last win- ter; had 30 colonies last fall, and 19 in the spring. Jno. W. Bailey. Bridgeport, Harrison Co., West Va., June 16, 1881, 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 8ol FILLING THE TIN BOTTLES TO GO WITH POUNDS OF BEES. We use a Davidson "family syringe" to fill the bottles. Submerge the nozzle of the syringe, also the bottle; holding the nozzle a short distance from the openiuo-, the absence of escaping air bubbles shows that the bottle is full. E. M. Hayhurst. Kansas City, Mo., May :iO, 1881. L. C. ROOT'S REPORT ON WINTERING. Too busy to make full report. Our bees are out. AVe lose 10 per cent indoors. All starve. Have con- sumed from one-third to one-half more honej-, than during past winters. We have doubled and lost 10 per cent more since putting them out. L. C. Root & Bro. Mohawk, N. Y., April 39, 1881. [In an editorial last month, I gave the loss as 10 per cent. As I was unable to find friend Root's card just then it has since turned up, and I give it as above, as I am sure he would wish it correct.] 1. Who invented foundation? [An account of the invention of fdn. wns given in the liec-Kccpcrs' Magazine a few years ago, and it seems it was originally discovered by Mr. J. Mehr- ing, of Germany. Of course, it has come, like other things, by slow steps and the united work of so many people, it is almost impossible to give full credit to all who have had a hand in it.] 2. Will not water-lime cement do to make fdn. plates, instead of plaster of Paris? [Water lime has been used, but I believe does not stand as well as the plaster.] 3. Can you make your rubber plates to make the thin, flat-bottomed fdn. for sections, if not larger than 4 in. square ? W. W. Bliss. Los Angeles, Cal., May 23, 1831. [The rubber plates now make beautiful thin fdn. for starters, by simply pouring on a table-spoonful of wax, and no more. If put on the center of the lower plate, and then closed quickly, it spreads out into a beautiful thin sheet, and a single spoonful can be made to cover nearly a square foot of sur- face.] J-c O] •• Tills department was sugprested by one of the clerks, as an op- position to the Growlei-y. 1 think 1 shall venture to give names in lull here. fIjHATis it; stick to chaff for wintering. I had 76 colonies in your chaff hives, and lost only 7, and 4 of them were queenless last fall. Geddes, N. Y., May .31, 1881. F. A. Salisbcry. That "variety is the spice of life, "but few will controvert. That variety is the "spice" of every paper or journal, whether it be devoted to bee cul- ture, agriculture, horticulture, or any other " cul- ture," is equally obvious. All this may seem irrele- vant to a report on bees; yet these are the very thoughts that have led me to write. Your journal has been getting exceedingly monot- onous during last six months (in the matter of re- ports only, I mean), and has been pervaded by a spirit of gloom, cast over it by the misfortunes of the fraternity. I wish to break up this one-sided business, and will give you a few facts in my experi- ence that will, I anticipate, entitle me to a front seat in the Smilery. The cartoon of friend Rodney, in the May number, reminding one of the " Knight of the Sorrowful Fig- ure," gave a new impetus to my slumbering gen- ius(?) for drawing, and 1 hastily snatched up a pen- cil and involuntarily drew a picture quite the re- verse of that. Twill not exhibit it to the public; suf- fice it to say, that it showed about six inches of "ivories," which would seem to indicate a very hap- py state of mind. In the summer of 1877 I bought a very weak hive of bees, common blacks, and, by dint of great care and watchfulness, built them up to a splendid colony by fall. The next season I purchased an Italian queen, and by that means succeeded in changing my black pets into a hive of very respect- able yellow ones. I had no Increase by swarming the first two years. In 1879 I bought one more col- ony, and got two magnificent swarms. They went on multiplying until last fall, when I went into win- ter-quarters with twelve colonies in prime condition, and one rather weakly one. You know last summ er was a very poor one for honey, but, notwithstanding this, I took 250 lbs. of surplus from them, leaving them ample winter stores. My plan of wintering is this: Leave them on the summer stands, and build a rough board roof over the top, packing them well around with corn fodder or straw, and not disturbing them at all during the winter. I have the satisfaction of now reporting twelve apparently strong colonies on hand — the number, you will see, is minus the weak one only. Well, excuse this tedious report, friend Root, and, when you drop it into the waste-basket, let this re- flection modify the uprising of your outraged and long-suffering good nature, that I am an amateur in rhetoric as well as in bee-keeping. • E. F. Setford. Creekton, Ohio, May 9, 1881. ]adi^^' §^jiarli^mt^ M T this late date I think I can submit a correct J^\ report. Had 1 written Feb. 22, 1 could have ' said, with excusable pride, " My 15 colonies arc all alive and in good order," and perhaps, be- ing a woman, gained the praise as Mrs. Harrison did. But the month of March worked a change. April 8th was a fine day, and I discovered one hive (which I had overhauled and given extra wrappings in Feb.), to be very quiet. On examination, every bee was quiet, and great numbers lay on the bottom-board. I brushed all off the combs, and carried hive and combs to the house, picking out the queen, a pretty, yellow one, not without a sigh, and laid her careful- ly to one side. Two hours afterward I passed the place, and the queen and several bees had revived. Lesson No. 1. Not to be too hasty in pronounc ing bees dead because they are still; but let sunshine revive them. Now for the cause of that colony dying. Before Feb. 22, they had dysentery badly, which destroyed numbers. Then I shoved the frames too closely to- gether, and but few could get between the combs; also, winter passages were not made in the combs of that hive— a neglect which was not noticed when I looked at them in Feb. I think those winter pass- ages are very important; I shall remember that less- on another time. The 1st of May I found a colony of 352 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July blacks, very weak and queenless ; also my pet queen of Nellis, with but few adherents, and surely dwindling. I united the blacks, and was much amused to see how beautifully they behaved to- ward the Nellis queen, circling around and bowing- low to her, and offering food immediatelj'. I ex- pected a quarrel between the blacks and the few Italians; but no: without caging or smoking, they took up with thPir new abode, and in an hour were carrying in pollen, and now how jealous and cross they are when I open the hive I I wintered 4 colonies, or, rather, nuclei, in the cel- lar. They had so little honey I felt sure I must feed during the winter, and so put them in the cellar as an experiment. I am satisfied my cellar will keep bees better than outdoor wintering. They con- sumed much less honey; were not troubled with dysentery, and are among my strongest and best colonies. Box hives have suffered. The doctor has lost all, so if I had time to bother I might safely Italianize now, without fear of hybrids. But, I am teaching school; and if you will tell me how I can manage swarming, with no one at home while I am at the schoolhouse, I will be so glad. I have an ex- tractor, and I have clipped 5 queens. I fear I may fail to keep them, even if clipped; but there is one satisfaction -they certainly can not go to the woods to occupy hives set up to decoy them, and thus en- rich the apiary of bee-keepers who will not take a journal nor try to keep up with the times. But I don't want to lose my pet Italians if I can help it. Bees worked on and gathered stores from apples. Thousands of bushels lay on the gound last fall, and rotted. That may have been one cause of so much dysentery, ev-ery hive wintered out of doors being- more or less affected in this region. After all, I like the old Simplicity best of all hives. The VA story hive is not satisfactory to me. Another year I intend to stay hy my bees, and do better by them; but as I must be in the schoolhouse during June and July, I do not see what I can do with them, except hire some one to watch them for me. Mrs. T. M. Squihb. Redding, Ct., May 23, 188!. Well, I thought at first it would be a pretty hard matter, my friend, to tell you how to manage an apiary while you were in school ; but you can certainly do as we do, — raise queens, and sell bees by the pound. This is certainly a most effectual way to prevent swarming, and it is a pretty good way to pre- vent wintering too. I don't know that it would do to ask Doolittle to help solve your problem, for he stays home from church swarming time. I presume if he were a school-teacher he would stay home from school every day ; and I am not sure but I should too. WHAT WILL LESS THAN ONE POUND OF BEES DO ON THE FOURTH OF .TOLY ? The question has often been, what a pound of bees will do in a season. I can not tell what a pound of bees will do, but I can tell what less than that many bees did for me in 1879 -the poorest season I have ever seen in the twenty years I have kept bees. In the month of March I found one of my swarms was queenless, but it had a queen-cell which hatched in good time. She proved a drone-layer. What be- came of her I do not know ; but by the first of May they were again queenless. The hive filled with drones, and, the few workers that still stayed in the hive growing less every day until the 16th of June, I then put a qvieen-cell In the hive, and one card sparsely filled with worker brood capped over. Oq the 4th of July I opened the hive; there was the queen and the workers, a handful in all; the drones all gone, and no brood. They now went to work for several days. There seemed to be but one bee that worked, but she did her very best. By the first of August there was quite a colony at work. In the fall, when I packed them, they weighed 71! i lbs.; came through the winter strong and good; I expect they will swarm everyday; am now watching them from the window while I write. In packing bees for winter I take off the cloth and put the crate that holds the sections or empty boxes under the cover, early enough for the Itees to make all tight — always keeping them on their summer stands, about four inches from the ground on the lowest side, and six on the highest. Alzaida. Or Letters from Those Who have Mpido Bee Culture a Failure. ^ to Canada. LL my 23 colonies dead but one — on my road )anada. Oh! say, friend Root, I nearly forgot! Can't you send me a present of a nice colony? You are a pretty clever old "felly," I think. If you do, be sure to send a good one. Don't get huffy — you know we must ask if we receive, and knock before the door will be opened. John Baker. Saxonburg, Butler Co., Pa., May 11, 1881. You are right, friend 1>. I am real glad to know you do want some more bees, and I really think you ought to have them ; but after studying some over the matter, I am convinced that God sees it will do you and me both more good to go to work and earn them, than to have him give them to us without such effort. It just occurs to me. that there is another reason why I should not give you one. I have so many friends in the same boat as yourself, it would make me a poor man; and then, I lost about all my own too. Why, come to think of it, I have as many excuses to offer as the woman who would not lend her tub. She said it was broken, leaked, and was full of water; besides that, she hadn't any, and wanted to use it herself. Your card received. Thank you for your kind M'ords, but my bees are dead. I don't know of any more in this county, yet there may be more. I have sown some white clover a friend sent me, and when it blooms I will often think of bees, and will, if I am able, try them again. J. B. Harris. Plum Creek, Neb., May 15, 1881. I thought a few lines from this locality concern- ing bees would be of interest to bee-keepers, so here it is. Box stands for box hives; G. P., Gallup frames. L. for Langstroth. LAST FALL. SPRING. LAsf I'ALL. S. Foi-st, in 0 a. V. I L. Fossey, B. Brink, K. Llovd, X< ^V. Snow, 11 >".F. CoMi-pll ',1 Total A. Whaley, I H. Pomeroy, I S. Cotti-ell, SPRING. « (1. V. ft Bo.\- 3 G. F. 1 Box Payette, Ohio, June 7, 1881. 170 30 N. E. COTTRELL. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE, 353 |ttj' tmm- He that endureth to the end, the same shall he saved.— Matt. 10:23. fJjROM what I have written in regard to tliose whom it has pleased God to per- — mit me to direct to the ways of salva- tion, it might he interred that all are saved with whom I have labored and striven. Es- pecially might this be the case with those whom I liave met in jail, and finally taken into my employ. I presume you all know, dear friends, tliat it is a much pleasanter task to chronicle the way in whicli a sinner forsakes liis sins, and sits, " clothed and in his right mind at the feet of Jesus," tlian to tell how he forsakes his new life, and goes back to the camp of the enemy ; but for all that, I feel that I sliould hardly be truthful if I contented myself with telling the for- mer, and leaving the latter untold ; for, be- sides being in duty bound to give you trutli and facts, we may often draw helpful lessons and timely warnings by noting the down- ward course of those wlio will go back. Last February I told you, in the Home Papers, of a young man whom I called '' D." Well, in the April No. I mentioned both being present at our Saturday evening meet- ing— just we thr(e, and that we had all knelt together, before God, asking him to keep and guide us. Up to that time, I feel sure D. was in the straight and narrow path. He had not united with any church, as had M., but he was regular in his attendance at the young people's prayer-meetings, and usually took a part. During those days he was honest, bright, and happy, and it was particularly noticeable that he had lost all of the disposition to be bitter and sarcastic in speaking of his fellow-men, as he was when I first met him. My friends, I wish to digress a little here, to again emphasize the point, that it is al- Avays those who are guilty at heart who are so very vehement in denouncing the world, and especially the Christian people of the world, as hypocrites and thieves. In fact, whenever you feel like saying there are no honest people anywhere, bear in mind the trouble is surely in your own heart. Re- pent and reform, and you will find good, pure, and true people everywhere. The first thing I noticed about D. that troubled me was his showing me a picture of a woman he Avas corresponding with. Was there any thing wrong in this? I con- fess, I could see nothing to object to, but yet it gave me a feeling of trouble, without my being able to say just why. I knew that he had once been married, but he told me his wife was dead. He also said he was en- gaged to her. Shortly after, he asked me, one Saturday evening, if I were willing he should go to CJleveland to stay over Sunday with his brother. Said he, — "Mr. R., I came here to stay with you, and to learn to be a man and a Christian, and I won't go an inch anywhere, without your consent and approval." I thanked him for his confidence in my poor judgment, but told him to go, by all means, and tell his brother's folks, when he first met them, that he was a Christian, and wished to go to church. My friends, you do not know, all of you, as I do, how important it is that you should always, under such cir- cumstances, speak out at once, and pro- claim yourself '' on the Lord's side." Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful genera- tion, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. -Mark S: 3i. There is no bragging or boasting about it, but it is simply giving all your friends to un- derstand just where you are; and while it will often touch them, and pull strongly in the right way, it will prevent most effectual- ly even those who are unconverted, from throwing any kind of temptation in your way thoughtlessly. I do not know whether D. did all this or not. Shortly after, he asked to visit some friends in another di- rection ; and as I had seen nothing amiss, I of course gave consent. The next Sunday, after Bible class, he came to me with the confession that ne was a married man, and had been all the time he was in prison ; but having lost track of his wife, and her whereabouts, he was ashamed to tell that he was married. '' Why, D., you told me you were engaged to the "woman whose picture you showed me." "Oh! I was just joking then. I never told you I wasn't a married man." "But you told me your wife was dead, and we have all of us here in the factory con- sidered you as an unmarried man." " Well, she was dead ; but I did not say I had not married again. Here is a letter from her, and you can see her signature as my wife." I tried to explain to him that his actions and life had proclaimed him an unmarried man more plainly than words could do, if possible ; and that he stood before God, if not before men, as guilty of untruth. He confessed, and once more asked what he should do to retrieve the past, and commence once more on a fair and square foundation. I looked him squarely in the eye, and I con- fess I did not feel quite satisfied with such a ready confession and swift promises to amend ; but what should the boy do? He was once more placing the whole matter in my hands, and said he would do exactly as I said. I wish here to pay one just tribute to D.'s credit. He was a splendid hand to work at any thing ; and no matter what you set him at, he did a tremendous day's work, and did every thing he took hold of well. He would even take charge of hands, and look after them witli the eye of a proprietor ; and at night I was always sure to find a straight and honest result of the labors of the day whether he was looked after or not. I need hardly tell you that all who profess to be Christians do not do as much. Well, it was this feature of D.'s character that gave me faith in him, in spite of his wrong-doing. "I will do just what you say, Mr. Root, for I said I would stay with you and show you and the world that I could be a Chris- 354 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July tian, and I am going to do it. What shall I do, as the matter stands V' ] did not ponder long before I told him it seemed to me he should go at once and get his wife and stand by her as he had prom- ised before God when he married her. lie said he would go the last of the week, if I thought it best; but I told him I would ad- vise hitn to go and get her the very next morning. Our Abbeyville Sabbath-school is now go- ing again nicely, for God opened the way, and removed all opposition to it; and as I), had never been with me, I invited him to go with me in the afternoon. I went up and told our pastor of the advice I had given. and he said he thought it was, under the circumstances, right. D. went with me to church, and it seemed to me the sermon was one that must have moved the heart of a guilty man, if ever a sermon did. At the close, I), said he woiild like to be excused from going, on accoiint of a sick friend that he was going to stay with. My Avife re- marked, as he went out, that D. had a bad look in his face. I reproved her for unchar- itableness. Monday morning, before I was up, a knock at the door wakened me. It was D., who said he had been thinking so much about his wife that he could not rest. and, with many apologies asked the loan of $5.00. It was the first request of the kind he had ever made, and I granted it most willingly, being glad to do him a service. Before the train left, however, I heard a ru- mor that he had been in a drunken brawl the night before, and went to him about it. He denied it so promptly, I again decided him to be innocent, and he left. After he was gone, I found that, instead of staying with a sick friend, as he told me in church, he had hired a livery, taken one of my own reformed boys to a neighboring town, where they could get liquor without stint, and D. had then remained up all Sunday night. I was completely put out, and, although I did not lose faith in God, I lost faith in human- ity, and also in my powers of converting sinners from the errors of their ways. I pre- sume this latter did not hurt me any. D., true to his promise, although contrary to everybody's predictions, came back the next day as he had promised He acknowledged his fault and admitted it all, but declared he was as sorry as anybody could be, and asked just one more chance to show he meant it, and to support his young wife, that he had just brought to her new home. He said he would not ask me to take promises, but if I would let him go to work again, he would show me how much in earnest he was. What should I do? He Avent to work, and, as before, redeemed his sliortcomings by vigorous strokes. About this time he was seen smoking, but, after a rebuke, he confessed, and asfeed to be allowed to start again. I was introduced to his wife, and he took her to prayer-meet- ing and introduced her to our minister as his wife. He was very anxious to go to housekeeping at once, to save expenses, and begged me, as I never was begged before, to give him just a little credit, that they might get started. Although I was strongly moved to do so, I told him, kindly but firmly, I could not trust him nor could I take his word more, until he had, by weeks of steady, faithful work, shown himself worthy of trust and credit. About this time, conjectures began to be made that he was not married to the woman he Avas living with. I asked liim for proper .proof, and he promised to get it ; but at the same time he spoke bitter- ly about " folks not minding their own busi- ness." The proof did not come; and Avhen I insisted that he must bring it or confess he was doing an unlawful thing, he declared he would send her away and go himself, as soon as he had earned the money, to some town where people had " sense enough to , mind their own business, and let those alone who were doing them no harm in any sort [ of way." I explained and plead with him, i as I used to do in jail ; but the D. I knew in I jail, I began to be painfully aware, was not i the D. 1 had with me now. He sent her j away, thinking that would make it all ! square; but I explained to him, at length, i that Ave could not have a man among us on I Avhom such suspicion rested, and that the i proof must still be given, or he must con- j fess. Another thing: I felt the more troub- led that the Avomen of our establishment ! seemed disposed to treat him with a kind- j ness and courtesy that he did not deserve, 1 doubtless because I had, on his first coming, I begged them to be kind to one Avho, coming from a bad and Avicked life, Avas disposed to j struggle for a better one. They doubtless (at least the most of them) considered him a pure man, or he Avould not be in our midst. Finally he admitted he was not married, al- j though they had lived together as man and I Avife for more than a year and a half, and • had one child ! ' The confession had come ; and noAV, could ; he go to work quietly? i " D., you know that I am disposed to over- I look ahnost arty offense, and to forgiA'e as I hope to be forgiven ; but the good of our ea- ! tablishment, especially the girls Avho seem to feel a friendly interest in your Avelfare, I demands that I should at least ask for some j evidence of real sorroAv for your sin and crime. Why did you object to marrying the woman you were living Avith?" No ansvA'er. When I plead with him he tried to turn it off Avith a laugh one moment, and Avhen he saw I AA^ould not smile, again turned bitterly on the Avorld, and intimated it Avas a trifling thing, and did nobody any harm. A few Aveeks ago, Ave knelt together side by side; yes. side by side, but «o(o A\'e AA'ere thousands of miles apart. " D., you and I once thought alike. You said you AA^ould like to work under just the strict regulations we have here. You thought so then, but I am sure you do not now ; noir it is a bondage to you. You prefer to use tobacco, to go to the saloons and drink. Avhen you choose, and, to go further, to liA'^e Avith one woman awhile, and then take up another. Am I not right? Now, in vieAV of this difference of opinion, as we will call it for convenience just now, had Ave not best part? Let us put it like a couple of boys Avho are trading jack-knives. We can't 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 3oo agree, aud we will not try to trade any longer. Is this not the best way?" " "Well, Mr. Root, what must I do to stay here? I do not want to go away anywhere else." " AVhat must you do. D.V It seems to me that it is your duty to go at once and marry that woman, the niother of your child. I do not see how else you can stand right in the sight of God and your fellow-men." A gueer smile came over his face at this, and I heard afterward that he complained of the severe penalty I had imposed. Others, too. have smiled at my plan of remedying the evil ; but it seems to me a man who would live with a woman to whom he was not married has no right to complain of be- ing obliged to live with her as her husband. He thought he had better go away, and I thought so too. I turned back, however, and said,— "• D.. you know I am right. Yon know it is best for a man to have one wife to love, cherish, and support, and you agree with me. at least in heart, if you do not in actions, do you not? Come, lei us part friends, in any case."" •' Yes, ^Ir. Root, of course I know your way is best. " " And. I)., when you hear my name men- tioned, you are not going to blame and speak ill of me. I will try, too, to speak of your good qualities and not your bad ones. You know Avhat a Savior's love is ; but, my friend, you have left it. and I fear you are going straight to the prison again. Think on these things, and remember I shall not forget to pray for you." My last view of liim was as he left on the cars, with a cigar in his mouth. While Avriting this I thought, many times, that his eye might some time reach these lines, and I have tried to make them truthful ; but if he sees aught in it to criticise, I hope he will forgive it, for I have tried to give the substance of it, if not the words. The lesson for us is, that we are to be very careful of the tirst wrong step. Note how quickly Satan came in after D. had fust gone back to a companion of his bad days. It is said a bad woman has tenfold the ability to work ruin that a bad man has. After he met her. drinking followed almost inevit- ably; and with the consciousness of this guilt on his soul, it was easy for him to tell me the tirst falsehood; easy for him to listen unmoved to that soul-stirring sermon ; easy to hire a horse right after, and gooff on Sun- day with a weak reformed man ; easy to see him back again in the hold of Satan, and then he hated and sneered at the whole world of Christian people. Y'ou never, /KIT/', XEVER, can be a Chris- tian whileyou hold a single sin in your heart, concealed from God and your fellow-men. It must be a whole heart surrender, or it Avill never avail. I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, etc.— Ex.30 :5. You thought me vehement, my friends, when I tirst took up the cross before you here on these pages; but you little knew how life and death stood before me. I was sometimes tired and wearied with my strug- gles with and against Satan ; but you can not tell the joy I feel now and then when I look back and see that these fights with so many different temptations were only bricks laid "in a foundation for future usefulness. You know how much I have spoken about my besetting sin of fretfulness and impa- tience ; well, for the past few months I have been almost entirely delivered from this. I say it tremblingly, for I expect Satan will give me some fearful tussles, just to pay for my having said this much ; but. •' the Lord is my shepherd." I fear I have been a little proud of the success of my jail work ; but I am humbled now, and have been taught a most useful lesson. Blessed be the hand that afflicts and chastises, for we read, — Whom he loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.— Heb. 13:6. TAKING THE NAME OF GOD IX VAIX. Dear Bro. Root:— Ihavc just been reading your kind offer in last No. of Gleanings, to furnish to any one who would use them properly, cards with some pointed lines against profane and vulgar swearing. This is a good inspiration; may the Lord bless you for placing this means in the hands of his servants, for checking this very pre- valent practice of blaspheming " that worthy Name by which we are called." I inclose stamped envel- ope. Please send me a dozen. Our neighbor's son across the waj' uses the most shocking profanity; but for this one fault he is a good, honest, kind- hearted, generous boy. His parents do not try to check him, and now the habit has grown on him, until a volley of oaths is his common resource for even trifling vexations. I have so often wanted to help him be ashamed of it, but could not see my way clear. There are many others who might be touched and helped in this way better than any other. Let us try, any way, and ask God to bless our efforts. T)o you remember that I, through you, sent Gleanings to our foreign missionary, the Rev. A. Bunker, Tonghoo, Burmah, India? Well, we did though (you and I), and he writes and sends us his warmest thanks, and tells how much he enjoys it, and he is hunting up items and facts about the three kinds of bees in that country, and pretty soon he will send us a letter for Gleanings. Think of that now. I should like you to read his interesting let- ters about his work there, but I know you are too busy to read long letters. X. Y. Z. You see, friends, I have omitted the name of the lady who wrote the above, for I wish to have every boy who swears, whose eye rests on these pages, imagine that it is some lady in his neighborhood that is writing to me in regard to it. A great many boys are constantly asking me for places ; but for all that, when I wanted a trusty boy a few days ago to carry the money to and from the bank, I had to look quite a little while before I found one, among all the list of applicants, whom I liked to entrust with such a posi- tion. Do you think I would naturally pick out one who swears, one who smokes, or, if you please, one who lounges about the streets and hitching-posts on the Sabbath, while people are at church? 356 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July IMERRRYBANKS AND HIS NEIGHBOR. THEIR FEET WERE SWIFT TO DO EVIli. ia)EFORE I tell you of the mishap of Mm friend M. with "Mary on his shoulder, ] — shall have to explain that John and the doctor's boy— didn't'I tell you Iheyhad a doctor in OnionvilleV Avell, they have one, and a very good doctor he is too. only, like a great many other doctors, he thinks'himself too Avise, or some thing, to be seen in Sun- day-school, and he also, it is said, takes med- icine quite frequently out of a bottle, when he isn't sick at all. "Well, John and the doc- tor's boy had made a bargain with a farmer H little out of town to hoe corn for him until they had paid for a hive of bees. Under the inspiration of the bee fever they worked hard and patiently, and the farmer, who was a very good old man, gave them one of his best, heavy with honey and bees, as they usually are in the month of June. As soon as their task was completed, boylike they must have their bees liome at once, and, al- though the farmer told them they were too tired to carry them that night, nothing would do but that they must be taken right along. With a little smoke th.ey were all driven into the hive, and a sheet tied under the mouth, and the corners brought over the top and tied. Under the knots a stick was placed, and the boys started home with them, full of enthusiasm. It was at the close of a warm day, and they Avere tired before they started, an'd it was nothing strange that their zeal considerably abated before they got to the village through Avhich they had to pass. '' O John ! " said the doctor's boy, " I am awful thirsty ; let us stop at the grocery and get some beer.'' John knew his mother Avould feel badly if she knew he had been drinking beer ; Init he knew, too, that Tom Avould jeer at him if he said any thing about his mother ; so he only made the objection that it cost money. " But I will stand treat, and so it won't cost you any thing ;" and before John could offer a Avord more, the bees were hastily set down, and the beer was ordered. They had been enjoined, Avhen starting, not to set the hive tlat down Avhen they stopped to rest; but this they forgot all about, and down it Avent, the mouth in the soft dust of the road, closing every air passage through the cloth, Avhich Avas already densely covered Avith pant- ing bees. It was nearly dark when they got home, and John, being unlike the doc- tor's bov, not much used to even mild stim- ulants, had a headache that made him glad to set the bees down anyAvhere. According- ly it Avas deposited on a corner of the door- step. Just at this juncture some boys came along and called to them that they Avere go- ing over to the doctor's to kill the toads that were eating up his bees. John objected, on the ground that their bees must be located and let out. " AVhy, they can't lly any to-night," said one of the boys ; '' come on, and see us de- molish the toads." "■ We will have lots of fun Avith them," said another, and off they went, laughing and yelling as only a tribe of street boys can do. Pown Avent the hive again, and off John and Tom put after them, tired as they were. Again Avas John led aAvay against his better judgment, because he had not the strength of mind to say nn when invited. After they had tortured and murdered all the toads and frogs they could find, the boys ventured near the doctor's house, Avhere he and a brother- bee-keeper AA'ere discussing the cause of the losses last Avinter. THE DOCTOR AND THE SHOEMAKER DIS- CUSSING THE BEE DISEASE. John got home quite late ; and as his con- science troubled him ill icgard to the CA'cnts of the last fcAv hours, he slipped in quietly and kept pretty still, until he became inter- ested in friend JSIerrybanks' reading. By this time he had forgotten all about the bee- hive, and never thought of it until friend M. stumbled against it in the dark, as I told you last month. At the scream and commotion. John's mother brought a light, and friend M. Avasjust picking himself up out of the dust, after having stumbled OA^er the hive. Mary Avas, of course, unhurt, for he took good care to hold her up safely ; but, oh my! what a looking sight Avas that hive I The combs Avere nearly all melted and broken doAA'n in one dauby, sticky mass, and bees as black as ink Avere dragging their daubed and sticky bodies through the dust, in hope- less misery. Friend M. looked just one sec- ond, and then gathered up the sheets, and stopped the poor innocents from getting out. " Have you got a queenless liive, with plenty of empty combs':*" asked he quickly of John's father. "Yes, sir; two of 'em." '• Bring the light and guide me to them." At this he lifted the sticky hive, and all Avent for the apiary. '' John, put an empty story on this hive." John Avas ready enough now to obey or- ders. The hive Avas on, and tlie bees AA'ere then carefully poured on the tops of thft frames and asionished bees below. All hands soon set to AAork so busily licking up the honey, that they forgot to sting ; and af- ter the crawling bees were doAA'ii in the hiA^e, the combs Avere lifted carefully and set up against the sides in such a Avay that the bees 1881 GLEiVNINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 3.57 could care for the unsealed brood, and the sealed could hatch out. In this way the whole contents were disposed of. Of course, bees kept crawling up the sides of this sec- ond story, but -John brushed them back while his father held the light at a little dis- tance. After the hive was pretty nearly empty, friend M. set it down, and asked for the other queenless colony. AVith a quick but quiet movement, this colony, being in a Simplicity hive, was raised and set over the one containing the drowned bees, and not a bee was mashed, nor could one more crawl out in the dirt without coming through the bees in the lower story of this three-story triple colony of bees. '' But AVon"t they tight V" said John. "No danger of fighting, with all this mass of honey to take care of,'' said Mr. M.; and he moved the whole back a little so as to give a larger entrance. '' The daubed bees will naturally crawl upward, and are sure to get licked oif clean, no matter which way they go. The bees from above and below will, unitedly, have every thing clean before morning, and the loose honey all put near the brood in the good combs." The old sticky hive was then set over a colony, with a good queen, and all went home.' I do not know what the rest of them dreamed when they got to sleep ; but poor, tired, sticky, guilty John dreamed he was a queen bee pursued by a great monster of a toad with horrid eyes and a great club. This club was full of sharp spikes, and as he raised it over him, John distinctly recalled the look of the poor toads as they dealt them blow after blow, without mercy, just the evening before. JOHM S DKEAM. With a scream of terror John awoke to find it was only a terrible nightmare, and, what Avas more strange, it was his mother's soothing voice that quieted his nerves and bid him tell her all about it. How came she there at such a time of night? She came to pray for her boy at his bedside, as she had so many times before, and God had answered her by so ordering it that she should be there at just the time, of all others, when John would be most likely to tell her of his first steps m sin. He told her all about the events of the evening, and promised her not only to never allow another drop of beer to pass his lii)s, but to carefully avoid the so- ciety of bad and wicked boys, even though he had to stay at home without company at ?J^-^.^^*"°^® Soing back, she opened her lit- tle Bible and read, — "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not, etc. Friend M. came over in the morning , and John just laughed to see that all the bees Avere clean and comparatively bright. The hives were taken apart, and each restored, as near as it could be, to its original place. The brood from the box hive was nicely put into frames, and as half the hive belonged to Tom, the stock was fairly divided, giving Tom the queen, while John had a capped cell in his. Tom came after his colony in tlie afternoon, bringing a lot of boys with him. When some instruction was offered him in regard to moving them, he declined listen- ing, saying he knew how to handle bees as well as anybody. He would not even accept the loan of a veil or smoker, saying his father never used any such things, and he knew liOAv. I really can not spare the time to tell you how Tom prospered Avith his bees, but I Avill give you his picture as he appeared next day. Good-bye, kind friends, until next time. TOM, THE doc- tor's SOX. TOBACCO COIiUMN. f BELIEVE that I have smoked with my mouth long enough, and as my Simplicity is gone, I ■ need a smoker. If you choose I will take one on your offer to smokers. I do not wish to pledge my- self positively to never smoke again, for I can not tell what may be brought to bear upon me— influ- ences I mean; nor will I agree to pay for five nor two; but if I return to the pipe, I will pay promptly for the one I get. You may send me a Quinby double-blast this time, good size; and if my smoker pledge is not strong enough, why, just charge it up to me. J. L. Cole. Carlton Center, Barry Co., Mich., June 14, 1881. All right, friend C; your promise is enough. May the Lord help you to " put on the whole armor.'' I think I will take some stock in that smoker busi- ness. It's a square stand-up bet, only I hold the stakes; but to off-set that 1 give odds of two to one; that is, you send me a large Bingham smoker, price J1.50, and if I use tobacco, either chewing or smoking, I pay $3.00, with interest on the f 1.50 from date of receipt of smoker. I inclose 25c for postage. Now, to make the above square I must tell you that I have been in trainiug about five months; so you see I have the advantage in the game. I am 5i years old, and have used tobacco since I was 18. I have often thought I would quit the use of the vile stuff, Ho8 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July but never could make a start in the right way; your offer in Gleanings set me to thinking that perhaps now was the time if ever; so I tried it for a week. I found myself alive, and that was about all, at the end of the week, but with a resolution to "hang" to it. It's now over tive months, and I think I am safe. H. A. March. Fidalgo, Whatcom Co., Wash. Ty., May 31, 1881. To be sure you will pull through, friend M.; you wiil pull through if you take it in the right way. It is not a bargain with i«e, ])ut with God ; for every one of you who stands out here before his fellow-men, and voluntarily makes this protnise, if he con- siders his word good, he will of course keep it. Your honor as a man, before God, is the point in question ; and surely no one would forfeit such a promise, publicly given, for a dollar or two. Look to God— not my poor self, my friends ; and may his blessing rest upon the little band of you who Lave thus come out before men, to assert your freedom from the bondage of appetite. Thanks for postage. 1 have received the smoker, and am well pleased with it. I have had a hard time of it since I burned the tobacco-pipe; but, by the grace of God, T am de- termined to conquer. Bees are doing well here; clover is in bloom, and they are bringing in the honey very fast. I extracted, on the first day of this month, from one hive 20 lbs. of honey, and they have filled 11 frames since, which beats any thing I have ever had since I have had bees. Georoe Cole. Freeport, Shelby Co., Ind., June (5, 1881. Don't falter, friend C. Kemember the text,— " He that endureth," etc. You may put me in the smoker club if you like, as I quit chewing some time ago, and will quit smoking now. S. P. Roddy. Mechanicstown, Md., .Tune 3, 1881. Here is the smoker, friend U.; and may the Lord help you too, Avith all the rest of the little throng. I see by Gleanings you are trying to induce your fellow-men to quit the habit of using tobacco. I do not smoke it to excess; but what I do use I think is no benefit to me. I see you will give a smoker free to all who will quit the use of it. Now, you may send me one of your largest cold-blast smokers, and 1 quit using the weed in any form this 4th day of June, 1881. S. C. Gates. East New York, Kings Co., N. Y., June 4, 1881. I have been an inveterate smoker for years, and have tried repeatedly to quit the habit; but I never promised any one that I would — not even myself. Now, if you will send me a large-size Bingham smoker, I give you my word that I will not touch tobacco in any shape until I send you the pay for the smoker, and I think that won't be this year, as I feel pretty poor at present. I have only 13 colonies left from 41 last fall. Joseph Cook. Jackson, Mich., June 5, 1881. You strike on a strong point, friend (;., when you say that you have tried repeatedly, without mentioning it to anybody, and failed. A promise made publicly is pretty apt to be kept, if the one who promises has any regard at all for his word. Do not neg- lect to ask God to help you. OUR OWN APIARY. J'UNE 3.— Still the orders continue to pour in for bees and queens, but we ^ have no trouble in tilling them all promptly, except where the dollar queens come in. Neighbor 11. agrees to furnish us, during the month, 800 or over ; but at pres- ent this is not going to be enough. Every one of our old customers reports having all the orders he can till, but this certainly can not last long. I am expecting every day to see such heaps of them from all directions that we won't know where to put them. I shall be at least happy in having a laying queen in every one of our 160 hives, so we can set about getting ready for winter. EAKLY SOrrSON HONEY-PLANT. Had I just gone over among them, I should have reported Simpson plants in bloom before our last journal went out, for I found bees busy working on them before white clover was out. Of course, they will be of little account, right during our clover and basswood bloom ; but from what I have seen, 1 am pretty sure we may develop a va- riety to fill the vacancy between fruit-blos- soms and locusts. By the way, we have had a most bounti- ful flow of honey from locusts again this year, and it has lasted fully ten days, filling the hives with most beauliful yellow honey, and I have really got in the fever of having a locust orchard as well as a basswood. But would it not be splendid? Just think of the bees roaring on about two acres. I think two acres would keep a hundred colonies of bees busy. Who will start the first oneV If you do not look out, I shall. Neighbor iL has revived the old queen nursery, to be placed over a strong hive, such as I described and went wild over in the first volume of Gleaninus. He uses only a broad board, like a Simplicity cover, forinstance, and then bores it full of auger- holes; these holes are covered with wire cloth on the under side, and tlie board is then placed in a chaff hive, under the cush- ion. He says it is working nicely. The se- cret of it is, the chaff hive for protection, which I did not have in my earlier experi- ments. On the 25111 of May, he sold a queen from a hive, and at once let in a newly hatched queen from this nursery. .June 1st, he found her laying, and took her out and sold her. What do you think about the profit a hive or nucleus would give during the season, if worked in that way? with the great call there is every spring for bees and queens, I am really suri)rised to see so few making asuccess of it. JJoysand girls, what ails you? It is the pleasantest and easiest way of making money I ever heard of, only it takes brains and energy, and getting up early in the morning. 13//i.— Beautiful weather, and every thing is doing finely. The orders for bees and queens aie beyond any thing we have ever heard of. We have purchased and divided 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 359 until our colonies now number about 200 ; but we have sold off queens and bees until at one time the boys reported we had only about three laying queens to supply eggs for the whole apiary. Neighbor II. reports his apiary in much the same condition ; and, al- though a hundred or more young queens will be laying in less than a week, the orders are so urgent we can hardly give them time to fill a single comb. Queens we get from the South are often introduced and then taken out and shipped before they have laid a dozen eggs. I mention this to show you how hard we have tried to help you. Bee- hives, sections, and every thing else in the bee line we have had no trouble in keeping on hand, for the stack of bass wood in our lumber yard, nicely seasoned, has been equal to all emergencies. I presume I should have foreseen some thing what the call for bees would be ; and we are now making plans to be abreast of orders another season. One bad feature of deals in shipping bees is, that they arc perishable ])roperty, and must be taken from the office as soon as received. Well, if our customer is several miles from the express or post office, he is obliged to make a trip, or send, almost daily, until the goods come. It is true, he might have a no- tice there would be a delay ; but he must be on hand to get these notices, and then he must make more trips, about the time the bees are expected to be on hand. I tell you, my friends, there is no way in the world to do business like having them all ready to go off the very day the order comes ; and the man who will have bees and queens to send ■off: in this way, will get the trade, even if he •charges double the price that those do who have to write apologies about the weather, being sick, or absent from home, and the like. Are you listening to this, you who ad- vertise bees and queens for sale? Even at $2.00 per lb. for bees, the orders come pouring in ; and after a man has had a package, and put them on his empty combs, and seen them go to work, he and his neighbors are sure to want another lot right off, and here we are. unable to send right back promptly. I am ashamed of my- self, and, with God's help, I will do better next year. Why do not more of you take it up? I thought, when I said $2.00 per lb., somebody else would undersell me, and I should have a chance to get ready for win- ter ; but here you are letting all this great trade fall into my hands when you who have time on your hands, and the requisite skill to do it, could make excellent wages at it, at just half the money. Here is a great field open to all those wanting some thing to do. Wake up, boys, and " make hay while the sun shines." HANDT BOXES FOR TOOLS ABOUT THE APIARY. A great many tools and implements are needed, especially in putting up queens and bees, and very often a shower comes up, or it comes on night, when you hardly have time to carry them to the house. AVell, if you will look at the plan of our apiary, you will see, where the paths intersect, quite a little gravel space. On this space, we keep empty Simplicity hives for convenience. A bottom-board is nicely leveled up, and on these we can pile hives up any height. Well , 3 hives set on this bottom-board, and then a cover, will raise it just about the, height of your vest buttons, and you will find it a very handy table on which to set your smoker or any tools, and being a conspicuous spot, you can always tell wliere to look. Now, to make it into a tool-box, you have only to set another hive over it, and put on the cover when it comes night, and all your imple- ments are secure, handy, and dry in case it rains during the night, or, in fact at any other time. This stand and tool-box costs you nothing, for every bee-keeper wants at least a half-dozen empty Simplicity hives on hand constantly for emergencies. Below is a picture of a couple of them as they appear in our apiary. SIMPLICITY-niVE TOOL-BOX, FOR KEEPING HANDY AND DRY, S3I0KER, BASKET OF ROTTEN WOOD, MATCH-BOX, (iUEEN-CAGES, ETC., ETC. IMPERFECT ADDRESSES. A friend sent us $10.00 for four tested queens, which were promptly sent, but they all lay in his postofflcc, and died, because he wrote his name so badly we called it "Borus " instead of Barnes. As we had his first name correct, and also the initial, it does seem as if his postmaster might have guessed the truth, when our friend had been calling day af- ter day for his queens. Oftentimes a little impor- tunity at express and post oflices is a good thing. Ask your postmaster if there are no bees there for any one, and he will often pull out some thing that will prove to be just what you are waiting for. But the real trouble, my friends, is with you who will persist in hastily scrawling your names. This friend wrote us three times, and we got his three signatures together, but none of us would ever have made " Barnes " of it. It takes time to always write plainly, I know; but any printer* will print your whole name and address a thousand times on a small gummed label for the very trifling expense of Sl.OO, and then you need not write it at all, unless you choose. In this case, I stood half of the ten dollars; but, my friends, I give you fair warning, I can do it but a little longer. ' If they won't do it, we will, and pay postagie. 360 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. July GlEAWmCS m BEE CULTURE. -A.. I. :root, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, MEDINA, O. TERMS: $1.00 PER ¥EAR, POST-PAID. FOR CLUBBING RATES, SEE FIRST PAGE UF READING MATTER. ]VEX3X3X3>a-.A., iTTJTLM^Sr 1, 1881. For even Christ pleased not himself.— Rom. 15:3. The evidence this season in favor of starters com- pletely flUiug the sections, is now very strong-. The next meeting of the Cortland Union Bee- Keepers' Association, will be held at Cortland, N. Y., Tuesday, Aug. 6, 1881. C. M. Bean, Sec. The supply of wax sent in since our cover was printed, obliges us to reduce prices to 31c cash, or 23c trade. Please read these prices instead of those on the cover. The best advertisement you or any one else can have. Is to send the goods just as you advertise them, or a little better, and the very minute the order reaches you. Neighbor H. and myself will visit D. M. Ferry's seed-gardens, in response to the invitation of friend Hunt (see page 289, June No.), on Saturdaj% the 16th of July, no preventing providence. The Revised New Testaments are just at hand, a whole thousand of them. Price 10c; if wanted by mail, 5c more for postage. For wholesale prices, see counter store. Give us an order, and see how quickly we can send you one. The American Bee-Journal has completed its first six months as a weekly, and has proved a success, as it could not well help being, with the able way in which it is gotten up— clean nice print, good paper, and brim full of "bee-talk " that could not all very well find place in a monthly. We have to-day, June 28th, 265 queen-rear iug col- onies, and are adding to the number by buying new swarms of blacks, hybrids, and Italians, at 50, 60, and 75c, per lb. respectively. If you think I am making too much money in selling them at $2.00 per lb., just take the trade out of my hands, please. In fact, I wish you would, for I want to go right to work now getting ready for winter, that I may fill orders more promptly next spring. BEES TWO DOLLARS PER POUND. It is very bad to change prices, I know ; and everj' time I have to do it I resolve I will not do it again if I can help it — I mean, a raise in prices. I do not know that anybody ever found fault when I put them down. Well, as you will see by our Julj* price list, bees by the pound will be $2.00, or just double last year's prices, until further notice. Every thing else will be at ola prices or lower. When bees get to be a drug in the market again, I will try to do better. shipping BEES BY THE POUND. Some of the friends have had very discouraging success in sending bees by the pound, but I think they are all doing better now. With abundance of Ventilation, candy, and plenty of watei', they go safely to Texas and California. We now put a water bottle in every section. It needs wire cloth, on ev- ery one of the six sides of the package, and the cage for a pound of bees, should be full as large as those we use. We h ave received from C. H. Lake, Baltimore, Md„ a very fine specimen of workmanship in the shape of a wax-extractor. It will no doubt do its work Avell; but since our invention for rendering wax by steam, the job is so quickly done with any quantity, we hardly have occasion to even try any of the new inventions. Thirty queens were received at 7 o'clock in the evening. Ntnghbor H., John, Ernest, and myself, undertook to introduce them before dark. It was done by caging only three, and not one of the thirty was lost. The 27 were let right out on the top of the frames without a single one being attacked. Of course, every colony had been several days queen- less. Moral : About 27 times out of 30, during a yield of clover honey, you can let queens right out in any hive that has queen-cells well along. Many of them were laying next morning. labels for honey, etc. Since there has been so much trouble about de- lays on labels, we have finally arranged to print them ourselves, and expect to be able to mail all orders within 48 hours after the day they are received. The work is in the hands of Mr. Gray's son George, one of the microscope boys. He will print you any kind of a gummed label, one color, for $1.00 per 1,000, providing it does not exceed in size 1x2 inches, nor contain over 50 words. Try him, and see how he "pans out" tor promptness. If you "swamp" him with orders, a dozen boys and girls are ready to give him a lift. If wanted by mail, put in 5c per M. extra. the rubber foundation plates. The rubber plates for fdn. work beautifully in our hands, and Mr. Gray, with one hand to assist, makes and trims L. sheets at the rate of one a minute, on an average. These sheets are from 6 to 7 square ft. to the pound, and work in the hives beautifully. One strange thing about the rubber is, that you do not want cold water to Immerse the plates in, but water tolerably warm. When every thing is right, the sheets will almost fall from the rubber dies of themselves. We have sold perhaps a dozen sets of plates; but I am sorry to say, as we go to press, only three of these purchasers have reported, and none of these favorably. In starting a new pair of plates, a little soap bark dissolved in the water in the tank seems to make the wax lift easier. sending queens without marking the cages. It would seem strange that any one should send us queens without saying a word as to whether they are blacks, hybrids, dollar, or tested queens ; but we have received two lots to-day, in just that way. Do you suppose we are so wise that we can tell all about it by simply looking at them? I have been sorely tempted to say I would give you credit for all such at 15c each, and sell them to the first customer for 25 ; and if they are worth more, it would be his good fortune; but a small voice within says, "No, you won't, for you have promised to ' suffer long, and be kind.' " Please to be more thoughtful, dear friends, and do not thus block the wheels of the busy 1881 GLEAKINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 361 whirl here in our ofiQce and out in the apiary. We have got to introduce these, and risk the chances of identifying them when your answer comes. While at Neighbor H.'s I saw a comb so lilled with brood that there was scarcely room for a drop of honey or a bit of pollen. Every cell was capped, and the beautifully regular brown embossing, clear up to the wood of the frame on all sides, was such a sight that I begged the comb and brought it home. It contains about 6,800 bees, and when they are hatched out will be worth, at retail, about $4.00. It was the work of a Holy-Land queen— one of those so long, slim, and dark, that she looks, as H. says, like a slate pencil. He thinks the sheet of fdn. had some thing to do with it. It was made on our thick- walled mill that we call Dunham, to distinguish it from the work of the other mill, with light walls. I never saw such a comb before, ajid I am inclined to think the Holy-Land bees do excel, in number of eggs laid, any thing we have had; but doubts are felt about their wintering as well as others. HERBERT A. BIRCH. Ix the May and June No's of Gleanings, friend Burch advertises— That we can write success upon our ( apiarian i banner is indi- cated by the fact that even in this most disastrous winter, every colony of our lai-ge apiary is in fine condition. Almost as soon as the above came out, a protest was made against it by his neighbors. I wrote him for an explanation; but, after some evasive replies, the following came to hand: — Friexd Novice:— I have been so busy I could not possibly write before, and even now I must be very brief. Last Septem- ber we had about 27-5 colonies of bees; these were reduced, by sale and uniting, to about 125 (can't give e.x.act figures). The first week in April, 1881, these were all Hyintr, and in good con- dition. Did not see them again until last of .\pril (apiary live miles out. iiacked in chaft'i, when we found that about three- fourths had starved; liives were tilled with hces; had sealed bi-ood, and not an ounce of honey. We have nut misstated a ■ single thing in ouradv's. They simply aimiil to show that our bees weie hardy . We suppose that almost auv livintr thing would die if kept without food long enough. iWe know bees will now.) We can ohow a good many lettei-s that state that bees procured of us have lived this last winter, while all others have died. Now about orders ; We are doing our utmost to till them. Despite the earnest remonstrances of friends, I am working 18 to 20 hours every clay, and can't well do more. If we had the bees we liave bought and paid for, we could fill evei-j- order to- day. We intend, so far as lies in our power, to make every thing satisfactory with eveiy customer. Son-y that you should think us ttt camlidates for •'Humbugs and Swindles." If we wanted to swindle the jjeople. we would have taken the thou- sands of dollars we have refused to take, and not have re- turned the hundreds of dollars we have. Even Jamts Mohan wished us to receive more ordei"s than we did. Now, m\ Irieutl, do with us just as you think right. Whatever you wish to put in Glea.stxgs will be all right, if you will give us space for a reply in tlie same issue. Should like very much to have written more, but can not now. H. A. Birch. South Haven, Mich., June 3, IRSl. Of course, a great many orders were received by him for bees possessing such extraordinary quali- ties; and as his prices were also lower than others, as a general thing, quite a considerable sum of money was sent him, as I gather from complaints. Now, to fill orders with bees purchased after such an advertisement, of course would not be honest ; but the worst of it is, he seems not to have done even this; and when he has been asked to return the money, he refuses— or, at least, fails to do this. I supposed he had been unfortunate, and have been trying to help him to pull through; but I am sorry that, for the present at least, I am compelled to sa.v I can no more be responsible for Mr. Burch as I am for the rest of my advertisers. One of his customers, who had sent him over $300 for bees, finally made him a visit. The conductor of the train, at this friend's request, made examination of Mr. Burch's apiary, and the card below is his report: De.\r Sir :— RefeiTing to the colonies of bees at Kibbles, thei'e are only 9 left that show any life. Mr. B. is off through the countrj' buying what he can. and perhaps will fill your order. That he has not got them of his own, I am assured, it. B. P. Kalamazoo, Mich., May 4, 1881. Friend Burch doubtless can help the matter some by explanations; but the best explanation he can make is to return all the money sent him, at once, and to make a full, frank, public confession of his sin against God and his fellow-men, whatever it is. If he will do this, we will all help him, in every way in our power, to get on his feet again. Friend B.,in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom you pro- fess to love and serve, I call upon you to confess your fault, make restitution as far as lies in your power, and stop blaming or speaking unkindly of those who have been so much your friends as to send you their money. CITY MARKETS. There is an entire absence of tiansactions of comb honey this montli. there being no icinsuni|itive demand; dealers are awaiting the new crop. There ha^ been a little speculative de- mand tui- extracted on account of the anticipated advance in prices, based upon the great losses in bees. Extracted, white clover, sold He. We look for bright opening of the markets on the receipt of new 1-lb. sections. Beeswax inactive; prices nominally 20 to 25c. Cleveland, O., June 21, 1881. -\. C. Kendel. Honey and wax remain about the same as last quoted. The market is fully supplied, and there is a slight downward ten- dency in prices" of honey . Beeswax remains firm . Alfred H. Newmas. Chicago, III., June 21, 1881. No change in the market of honey . Demand slow, and prices nominal . Beeswax is quoted at 18g22c on arrival. AVith an abundance of white clover, and apparently favorable we.ither, my bees did not collect hai-dly anj- honey last week . No houev coming in now. Ch.is. F. Mvth. Cincinnati, () , June 21. 1881. ■r:EILiDE3I>I3C03\ri3Si For Private Lines. Ours excel all oth- ers for lines within their compass. Pat- ented 1878 and 1881. Latest, Jjcst. Dura- ble and reliable. ^^Illustrated Circu- lars and Testimonials free. 7 HOLCOMBE & CO., Mallet Creek, O. Op' BLACK QUEENS for sale at 25 eta. each, Af3 postage paid. 7 JAMES A. GREEN, Dayton, 111. ITALIAN AND ALBINO QUEENS ! Untested queens, bred from Imported and Home- bred mothers, 90 cts.; per doz., $9.00, this month. Albino queens, untested, $1.00 each. 7 J. M. C. T.\YLOR, Lewistown, Fred'k Co., Md. Before Purchasing any Italian or Cyprian bees, send for our 30th annu- al price list. Full colonies. Nuclei and Queens, at greatly reduced prices. Also headquarters for Api- arian supplies in New England. WM. W. CAliy & SON (formerly Wm. W. Cary), 3tfinq Colerain, Franklin Co., Mass. At Kansas City, Mo., I breed pure Italian bees for sale. I warrant my "Dollar" queens to be mated by pure yellow drones, and guarantee safe arrival and perfect satisfaction. Tested Queens, $3 00 " Dollar •'^ '• 1 00 ItvUl have no Cyprian queens for sale after July l.'>. Bees, per lb., same prices as Dollar queens. Please address all letters plainly to 6tfd E. M. HAYHUKST. P. O. Box 113L THE British Bee Journal. The British Bee Journal is now mailed to our ad- dress in packages, each month. In order to dispose of them, we offer them at present at $1.00 per year, postage paid, beginning Jan. 1881. Will guarantee safe arrival of every Ni>. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. 362 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. July !)m^ %&© The best-Informed bee-keepers in the U. 8. sav that our DOUBLE-DEAFT aUINB? SMOKEE is decidedly the BEST now made. Hethering-ton discards all others, and orders two dozen lor his own use. Doolittle says it is not equaled. So say all who see and usr it. Price, by mail, $1.50 and f 1.75. oxjpj. book: PNSn ra EEMiEEFM continues to grow in popularity, and is the most practical work pub- lished. Price, by mail, f 1.50. We sell every thing used in ad- vanced Bee Culture. Send for Illus- trated Circular to ij. C. ROOT & BRO., Ttfd Mohawk, N. Y. llO STANDS OF BEES As my health has failed, and I have decided to re- move to Col. this fall, 1 offer my bees at a bargain. Almost all my frames are wired, and will stand ship- ping. I will sell by the colony, by the pound, by the nucleus, or any way to suit purchaser. Write what .you want, and I will give you low prices and fine stocks. I have a large number of $1.00 queens on hand; can furnish a number of Presses before I re- move to Col. Write for our late postal circular. D. S. GIVEN. 7d Hoopeston, Vermillion Co., 111. !ONnod3HiAa$]]g July and August I will sell bees by the pound, de- livered at express office; viz., lib., $1.00; or with untested queen, $3.00; 3 lbs., and queen, $3.00; ;j lbs. and queen, $1.00; 5 lbs. and queen, $5.00. Holy- Land and Italian queens, bred from the best honey- gatherers. Cells mostly raised in natural way. L. E. ST. JOHN, 7-8d Greene, Chenango Co., N. Y. I SAY, Doolittle don't raise clicap queens, but he will send a tested Italian queen from his choicest stock, raised from cells produced by natural swarming, for $3.00 each. Two stocks gave, in 1877, 010 lbs. of box honey; one giving 309; the other 301; and our average for the last !• years has been 8Gi^4 lbs. per stock. If you wish queens from such stock, send in .Aour orders to G. M. DOOLITTLE, Borodino, Onon. Co., N. Y. W. Z. HUTCHINSON, Rogei'sville, Geiiei^ee €o., Mlcliigan, Makes a specialty of rearing line Italian queens. All queens bred from imported queens, and from the purest and best home-bred queens; and the cells built in full colonies. No black bees in the vicinity. Single queen, $1.00; six queens for $5.00; twelve or more, 75 cts. each. Tested queens, $200 each. Safe arrival by mail guaranteed. Send money by draft, registered letter, or by money order drawn on Flint, Mich. (itfd Sunny Side, Napa, Cal., June 10, 1881. T. F. Binoham, Ahronia, Mich.:— Dear Sir:— Please send me by mail two Large, six Extra, and four Standard Bingham smokers. Your four-years-old smoker is still in use, and does good service; the only trouble being, it is too small. I require the Large size. I have a Large and Small Quinby; Large one condemned; the other I got along with by repairing often. As far as I have tried them, I prefer yours above all, and shall keep them in stock. Yours truly, Jas. D. Enas. The Oei&inal Direct Draft ! Patented Jan. 9, 1878; Mav, 1879; Re-issued July 9, 1878. If you buy a Bingham Smoker, or a Bingham & Hetherlngton Honey-Knife, you are sure of the best and cheapest. The largest bee- keepers use them exclusive- l.y. Twenty thousand in use; not one ever returned, or letter of complaint receiv- ed. Our original patent Smokers and Honey-Knives were the only ones on exhi- bition at the last National Bee -Keepers' Convention. Bingham Smokers, all but the Small, have Are and cin- der proof bellows. The large and extra Standard Smo- kers have extra wide shields to prevent burnt fingers. These are the only real im- provements made in bee- smokers since the Direct- Draft invention. Bingham is the inventor and only legal maker of them. Bingham & Hetherlngton Honey-Knife, 3 in., - $1 00 Large Bingham Smoker, 2'/2 in., - - - 1 50 Extra Standard Bingham Smoker, 3 inches, - 1 35 Plain Standard Bingham Smoker, 3 •* - 100 Little Wonder Bingham Smoker, 1?^, " - - 75 If to be sent by mail, or singly by express, add 35 cents each, to prepay pnstae-e or express charges. Send card for testimoni:ils. To sell again, apply for dozen or half-dozen ratv?s. Address BINGHAM & HETHERINGTON, 5tfd Abronia, Allegan Co., Mich. ITALIAN QUEENS, NUCLEUS COLONIES. I can furnish Bees and queens cheap. Send for special rates. Comb Foundation and every thing pertaining to the Apiary. A. D. BENHAM. (itfd Olivet, Eaton Co., Mich. BEES BY THE POUND! I will, during July, sell bees for $1.00 per lb.; and if 5 lbs. are ordered in one coop, will put a queen with them gratis. My bees and queens are blacks, hybridized by using Italian drones. Queens, single; or with 1 lb. of bees, $1.00 each. 7d H. V.;TRAIN, Mauston, Juneau Co., Wis. Bees by the Pound! During July, August, and September, I will sell boxes containing 5 lbs. of bees, and an untested Holy-Land. Cyprian, or Italian queen at $5.00. Or- ders tilled in rotation. P. Elbert Nostrand. 7 550 Bushwick Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. MONTHLY FAMILY VISITOR. Full of excellent reading. Price 18 cts. a year. Sunday- schools are purchasing it for free distribu- tion to families. Send 15 cts. in postage-stamps, and get a package of 15 papers on trial; or more papers at same rale. Address 7 B. F. SANFORD, Cincinnati, Ohio. ONE-PIECE SECTIONS A SPECIALTY. Pound and Prize size, $4.50 per 1000. Sample sec- tion free. BYRON WALKER, 7d Capac, St. Clair Co., Mich. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 3G7 Contents of this Numbsr. INDEX OP DEPARTMENTS. Black List — Bee Botany o91 Bee Kntomolopy — Blasted Hopes 382 Cartoon — Editoi'ials 413 Heads of Urain .VM Honey Column 411 Htnnbugs and Swindles :Mil 1 will sell a few full colonics of bees, in 10-frame L. hives (Root's style), cuch to contain a young Juvenile Department 377 1 ,„ _ ,. „ , .^ , ^i ^ KindWoids irom Customers.iM | queen reared from daughters ol my best and gentlest Ladies' Department 382 Lunch-R • om — Notes and Quenes 401 Reports Encouraging — Smilory — The Gi-owlei-y....: 40.'i Tobacco Column HY.i Italian queen of 1880, at fO.OO per colony. A. G. WILLOWS, 8 Carlingford, Ontario, Can. INDEX OF HEADS OF GRAIN, NOTES AND QUERIES, AND OTHER SHORT ARTICLES. Another improvement on the Peet (lueen-caKe 37:i Artificial anu Natural swaiin- ing Queens, etc 372 Apis Dorsata 389 After- Swarms 39fi Albinos 413 Bannei' Apiary 371 Bees Stinging their own Members X7fi Blue Bees .■i9» Hers to On .11(1 Q\ieens for Sale ...403 lliitlea's Jlishap 383 B.'escit India .380 I'.iitton 's I'.eeKeeping 388 Bee ( 'ultuie in Texas 388 liees uuing two miles to Frepaie Hive 395 I'.ees in ( )pen -Air 39.^ Had Honey 395 Heesof Italy 395 Hlaiks in Chatf Hives .398 Clu.trHivus 396,399 Candv for Wintering 401 (Vllai-s Ahead 401 Cyprians and Holy-Lands.. 402 closed-top Frames 394 Cellars not always Ahead. . ..397 D. A. Jones 401 Dollar Queens 401 Drone Brood in Upper Story 403 Disturbing Bees 385 Death from Sting 390 Dollar Queens in Poor Season 395 Difference in Queens 396 Dry Brick in Winter 39Si Feeding in Jul.y 378 Florida as a Bee State 381 Forest-Leaves 401 Future of Italians 401 Fdn., new Tool to Fasten. . .402 First Italians west of Miss- issippi 402 (iloves 401 (Jrape Sugar in the South.. 402 (Jrape Sugar in Illinois 385 ( (rape Sugar •. 412 (letting Bees under DitK- culties 396 How to Rear good Queens . .375 Hatching Brood without Bees 399 How an A B C Scholar manages 373 Honey-Dew from the Clouds374 H. A. Burch 409 Hiving a Swarm on Sec- tions 399 Hungarian Bees 400 Hiving of their own accoid 4(il Hayhnrst's Te:i-Party 384 Hciisemint in Texas 393 Hunev from Willow Roots.. 394 Holy-Land Bees ,374 Introducing to a Hive hav- inga Queen 400 Ilex l):ili..oii 391 Introducing 398 Ml- .Mi-rrylp.ndjs' Neighbor 410 Newly Cathered (Iranula- trd Houev 399 ( )nc Moi'uing's Work 374 Our (iwu Aiiiary 379 Out of Blasted hopes .397 Propolis, uses for 378 Pound of Bees in July 402 Poiuul of Bees in May 402 Peters on Upward V'enti- lation 386 Plea for Blacks 398 Ramble No. 6 375 Raising Bees in Gieenhouse 380 Report from Colora90c; after, 8Jc. Send for circular. CHARLES D. DUVALL, 4-9d Spencerville, Mont. Co., Md. t t\f\ SWARMS OF BEES FOR SAI.E, XLFvr at $6.(0. May be selected from over 200 swarms. This price includes 30-frame hive, s worker combs and contents, 3 chaff division-boards, one con- taining feeder, bees and queen. Bees are high-grade hybrids. I have about 70 young (jueens (not yet tested) from Doolittle's best stock. My frames are American, with open top-bar. Correspondence so- licited. F. B. CHAPMAN, 8 Scipioville, Cayuga Co., N.Y. mmmt um im mii m so mil i MAKER & GHOSH, 34 N. MONROE ST., TOLEDO, OHIO. Hand-Forged Razor Steel Knife for 50 cents. Maher & Grosh, 34 N.Monroe St., Toledo, O., will mail Knife like cut, post-paid, for 50c. Extra heavy 3-blade for rough usage, 75e. Our Best 3-blade, oil temper and tested, $1. Pruner, oil temper, $1. Pruning Shears, $1. All goods exchanged free if soft or flawy. o(i8 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Aug. Names of responsible parties will be inserted in any of the following departments, at a uniform price of 20 cents each insertion, or $3,00 per year. $1.00 Queens. Names inserted in this department the firi>t time vnth- out charge. After, 30c each insertion, or $3,00 per year. Those whose names appear below agree to furnish Italian queens for $1,00 each, under the following conditions: No guarantee is to be assumed of purity, or anything of the kind, only that the queen be reared from a choice, pure mother, and had commenced to laj' when they were shipped. They also agree to re- turn the money at any time when customers become impatient of siich delay as may be unavoidable. Bear in mind that he who sends the best queens, put up most neatly and most securely, will probably receive the most orders. Special rates for warranted and tested queens, fumisned on application to any of the parties. Names with *, use an imported queen mother. If the queen arrives dead, notify us and we wiU send you another. Probably none will be sent for $1.00 before July 1st, or after Nov. If want- ed sooner, or later, see rates in price list. *E. W. Hale, Newark, Wirt Co., W. Va. 2-1 *A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. *H. H. Brown, Light Street, Columbia Co., Pa. 7tf *E. M. Hayhurst, Kansas City, Mo. 1-13 *Paul L. Viallon. Bavou Goula, La. Tttd ♦D. A. McCord, Oxford, Butler Co., O. 1-12 *S. F. Newman, Norwalk, Huron Co., O. 7tfd *Chas. G. Dickinson, Sou' Oxford, Chen. Co. N. V. 1-10 *Wm. Ballantine. Sago, Musk. Co.. O. Vtfd *W. H. Nesbit. Alpharetta, Milton Co.. Ga. 7tfd *J. O. Facey, New Hamburg. Ont., Can. 4-0 *H. Nicholas, Etters, York Co., Penn. 4-8 ♦John Conser, Glenn, Johnson Co., Kans. 4-9 *Fischer & Stehle. Marietta. Wash. Co., O. 4-9 ■■*Jas. P. Sterritt, Sheakleyville, Mercer Co., Pa. 5-10 *01iver Foster, Mt. Vernon, Linn Co., Iowa. atfd *V. W. Keencv, Shirland. Win. Co., 111. 6-9 *C. B. Curtis, Selma. Dallas Co., Ala. 6-11 *T. W. Dougherty. Mt. Vernon, Posey Co., Ind.V-r^ *L. E. Welch, Linden, Gen. Co., Mich. fitfrt S. P. lloddy, Mechanistown, Fred. Co., Md. 7-8 *J. W. Keeran, Bloomington, McLean Co., III. 7-9 L. W. Vankirk, Box 178, Washington, Wash. Co. Pa. 7tfd. *Otto Kleinow, opp. Ft. Wayne, Detmit. Mich. 8 r. H. Deane, Sr., Mortonsville, Woodford Co., Ky. 8tfd Hive Manufacturers. Who agree to make such hives, and at the prices named, as those described on our circular. A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. P. L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, Iberville Par., La. Itfd S. F. Newman, Norwalk, Huron Co., O. Itfd J. F. Hart, Union Point, Greene Co., Ga. 4-3 Foundation Manufacturers. Who agree to make such foundation, and at the prices given, as described in our circular. A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. Jas. A. Nelson, Wyandott, Wyandott Co., Kans. 4-9 Bees by the Pound. Those whose names appear below agree to furnish bees by the lb., and at the prices given in our circu- lar. I. L. Scofleld. Chenango Bridge, Broome Co., N. Y. S. C. Perry, Portland, Ionia Co., Mich. J. P. Moore, Morgan, Pendleton Co., Ky. W. R, Whitman, New Market. Madison Co., Ala. Chas. Kingsley, GreeneviUe. Greene Co., Tenn. C. D. Wright, Baxter Springs, Cherokee Co., Kans. H. B. Harrington, Medina, Medina Co., O. "W. St. Martz, Moonshine, Clark Co.. Ills. G. W. Gates, Bartlett, Shelby Co., Tenn. W. S. Canthen, Pleasant Hill, Lancaster Co., S. C. J. G. Taylor, Austin, Travis Co., Texas. T. P. Andrews, Farina, Fa/. Co., 111. Allan D. Laughlin, Courtland, Law. Co., Ala. E. J. Atchley, Lancaster, Dallas Co., Texas. D. McKenzie, Carrullton P. O., N. (>., La. H. L. GrifHth, Sumner, Law. Co., 111. J. H. Martin, Hartford, Wash. Co., N, Y. W. A. Pirtle, Cabot, Lonoke Co., Ark. E. T. Flanagan, Belleville, St. Clair Co., 111. J. K. Mayo, Stafford. Fort Bend Co., Texas. J. F. Hart. Union Point, Greene Co., Ga. B. Chase. Earlville, Madison Co , N. Y. S. P. Roddy, Mechanicstown, Fred. Co., Md. W. J. Ellison, Statesburg, Sumter Co., S. C. R. A. Paschal, Geneva, Talbot Co., Ga. Hall & Johnson, Kirby's Creek, Jackson Co., Ala. A. Osbun, Spring Bluflf, Adams Co., Wis. H. D. Heath, Sherman, Grayson Co.. Texas. N.B.McKee,careof D. & D. Inst., Indianapolis, Ind. J. B. R. Sherrick, Mt. Zion, Macon Co., 111. Otto Kleinow. opp. Fort Wayne, Detroit, Mich. J. C. & D. H. Tweedy, Smithfleld, Jetf. Co., O. HEADQUARTERS IN THE SOUTH For the Manufacture and Sale of BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES! Italian Queens and Bees, all bred from mothers of my own importation. Dollar queens, $1.C0. Tested queens, $3.50; 4-trame Nucleus, $5.00. Safe arrival and satisfaction guaranteed. Send for my illustra- ted catalogue. PAUIi li. VIAL1.0N, 6tfd Bayou Goula, Iberville Par., La. BEE.«^ 1.^0« SATL.E i^JtmAF ! Also Supplies. Send for terms to 8 Enos D. Smith, Moira, Franklin Co., N. Y. Bees by the Pound. During the month of August I can ship bees promptly at the following rates: Blacks, 80c; Hy- brids, 9Jc; Italians, $1.00. Safe arrival guaranteed. J. A. GREEN, 8d Dayton, LaSalle Co., 111. iQNnodMAasiBa July and August I will sell bees by the pound, de- livered at express oiHcc; viz., 1 lb., $1.00; or with untested queen, $3.00; 2 lbs., and queen, $3.00; •■i lbs. and queen, $4.00; 5 lbs. and queen, $'..0U. Holy- Land and Italian queens, bred from the best honey- gatherers. Cells mostly raised in natural way. L. E. ST. JOHN, 7-8d Greene, Chenango Co., N. Y. W.Z. HUTCHINSON, Rogersville, Genesee Co., IVIicliigan, Makes a specialty of rearing fine Italian queens. All queens bred from imported queens, and from the purest and best home-bred queens; and the cells built in full colonics. No black bees in the vicinity. Single queen, $1.00; six queens for $5.00; twelve or more, 75 cts. each. Tested queens, $3 00 each. Safe arrival by mail guaranteed. Send money by draft, registered letter, or by monej' order drawn on Flint. Mich. 6tfd ^^He has a stock of queens on hand, and can fill orders priimptl I). Bees by the Pound ! Having received an order for all the bees I have to spare in the fall, 1 shall be imableto fill anv more or- ders at prices advertised last month. The above speaks well for mj' bees and (jueens. QUEENS ! I shall continue to sell untested Cyprian, Holy- Land, and Italian Queens at $1.00 each. Tested, double price. P. ELBERT NOSTRAND, Sd 5."j0 Bushwlck Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. 1881 GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTURE. 369 Untested queens, fl.OO; Tested, f3.00; Selected, $3.00; Pound of Bees, Italian, $1.00; 2 Langstrotti- frame nuclei, $3.00; 3 Langstroth-franie nuclei, $3.00. For prices of Novice Extractors, Veils, Smo- kers, Hives, &c.. &c., address WM. B. COGGESHALL. Supt. 8 Hill Side Apiary, Summit, Union Co., N. J. MAKE BEES PAT By gettinjf the best Italian stock tested for " biz." Good prolific queens 75 cts. each; $7.80 per dozen; Tested, $1.50. Use molded fdn. It paj/fi bio; 40 cts. for common; 50 cts. for thin. Improved fdn. mold, "L." size. Plaster, $3.75; Metallic (ready soon) $7.50. Roofs rubber, $«.0O. Outfit for same, $5.00. See free circular. OLIVER FOSTER, 7tfd Mt. Vernon, Linn Co., Iowa. Italian (tested) Queens from Root's very best. Imported or home-bred Queens, $2.00; Italian (un- tested) Queens, Laying,' $1.00; Bees, $1.00 per lb.; 2 (L.) frame Nucleus (no queen) $1.50; 3 (L.) frame Nucleus (no queen), $3.00; 1 colony of Italian Bees (no queen) in 10 (L.) frame hives, $7.00. Add price of queen to price of bees, colony, and nucleus. Dis- count on larger orders. OTTO KLEINOW, 6tfd Opposite Fort Wayne, Detroit, Mich. SEND for my circular and price list of Italian Colonies, Queens, and Apiarian Supplies. i 5tfd H. H. BROWN, Light Street, Columbia Co., Pa. Thanks, friend R., for that smoker. It is just " boss." We have had 26 natural swarms this month from 12 hives, averaging 5 lbs. each. W. W. Young. Fort Dcdge, Iowa, June 29, 1881. The bees you sent came all r)8;ht, and they are working like "little Turks," and from all present appearances, they will do well. Jonathan Goble. Marion, White Co., Ind., June 29, 1881. You will find postage stamps, am't 05 cts., for which you may please send me 1 more lb. fdn. The other lb. which you sent me [ like very well indeed. 1 could not get along without it. J. H. CUTSHAWL. Grecneville, Greene Co., Tenn.. June 23, 1881. The queen-cages you sent came to hand prroHpIi/. If others filled orders as you do, there wouM be less grumbling. Those cages are a marvel of cheapness, with good quality combined. Certainly you give value for the monev. G. H. B. Hoopek. Toronto, Canada, .July 13, 1881. C. OLSrS COMB FOUNDATION MACHINE. SEND FOR SAMPLE AND CIRCULAR. 5tfd C. OliRI, Fond du Lac, Wis. J. M. BROOKS & BROS'. AMEHICAN ITALIANS. PURITY OF STOCK A SPECIALTY. 4-9 CIRCULARS FREE. COLUMBUS. - BARTH. CO., - INDIANA. Inclosed you will find 11 stamps to pay postage on the smoker you sent me. It came all right, loaded ready for the match. The boys had more fun with it than to have gone to a circus; and the bees, when they saucily come around, behave in a respectful way on being administered a little whiff of smoke in their faces. Wm. B. Jones. Manchester, Del. Co., Iowa, July, 1881. Extractor arrived in good order this p. m. Works splendid. Expect to make it hum to-morrow. Some hives are crammed full of bees and honey. I have more honey now than I got all last summer. Charges on extractor to Chicago, 80c; from Chicago. 50c. Cheap enough. J. B. McCormick. Ncoga, Ills., June 13, 1881. We received the goods ordered from you in due time, and in the very best condition. They were packed nicely. I put up and painted the hives, and with the assistance of my wife we transferred 12 colonies, which work, I think, was done very well, not having had any experience in that line. The bees are doing well now. J. H. Roderick. Dodd's City, Fannin Co., Tex., April 23, 1831. Full Colonies Bees by the Pound, I am prepared to fill orders for bees by the pound, nuclei (2 and 3 frame), full colonies of pure Italians. Also Cyprian Queens (Dadant's importation), and Italian Queens at A. I. Root's prices. Given Fdn. a Specialty. Try it once, and see if you do not pronounce it the best you ever used. E. T. FLANAGAN, Belleville, Box 819, 6-8d Rose Hill Apiary, St. Clair Co., 111. 1881 ITALIAN QUEENS! 1881 Te!«ted Queens $1 50 AVarraiited Queens.. 1 00 Cyprian Queens, untested 1 00 As most all the Dollar queens I sold last year were pure, I will warrant them this year. J. T. Wilson, Mortonsville, 8-9d Woodford Co., Ky. KIND WOBJ)S FROM OUR CUSTOMERS. I find Gleanings an excellent advertising medi- um. M. L. Dorm AN. SinclairvUIe, N. Y. , July 21, 1881. I received extractor just in time, and it works complete. I think we will have a first-class season for honey. S. Rich, Jr. Hobart, N. Y., June 7, 1881. I beg to acknowledge, with many thanks, the re- ceipt of your excellent book on bee-culture; it was UiinlDi CHn in i ^ most agreeable surprise to me, as I understood it I nllClcl) rUlli, ftUi was but a mere paper-bound pamphlet, containing the most necessary elements of bee-farming, in place of the handsome and really interesting vol- ume you sent me. LoDis M. Hayes. Toronto, Can., July 11, 1881. Vou sent me Christian's Secret a second time, and said, "'No charge;" but I will pmi it. Corinth, Miss., June 22, 1881. N. Y. Steele. [Well, I declare, friend S., it would be a "pretty tough job," if anybody should try to get up a quar- rel between you and me. Do you not think so? It makes one feel as if it was not so very rixkn to " suff- er long and lie kind, "after all.] Imagine my pleasure and surprise the other day on going into the postolHcc, to find Gleanings there to my address. '• Well, now," says 1, "that is some of Mary's work" (my wife, you know), a birthday present, and I tell vou I appreciate it. especially that part called Our Homes. Three-fourths of the bees in this vicinity are dead. I saved six out of ten, packed in chaff on summer stands. They are now doing nicely. White clover is just commencing to bloom.' D. McLaffertv. Great Valley, Catt. Co., N. Y., May 30, 1881. Bees and smokers came all right. The queen filled 4 Langstroth frames in six days. John Gilmore. Corunna, Mich., June 29, 1881. The nucleus sent me came to hand yesterday at 4 P.M. in good condition. That same evening I put them in the hive I had prepared for them. To say that they are satisfactory, is not enough; they were more than satisfactory. Will you be so kind as to send another just like it, for inclosed? I was truly surprised to get the nucleus in such nice condition ; and had I known they could be had so satisfactorilj' at an earlier date, I should have ordered 2 or 3 times the number. L. O. Shultz. Brazil, Ind., July 1, 1881. 370 GLEANINGS IN I3EE CULTURE. Aug. I thought I dill not need bee things enonsrh this year to pay for sending away for them, so T bargain- ed for some nearer home, and my husband, accord- ing to agreement, went eight miles after them to- day, and came home disgusted, not having found any hi\'ps, nor the maker at home, and he said, " Now you will have to send to Korvt and have alL the things sent by express." Until this year I have alwavs sent to you with neighbor Guild for articles, and have been delighted with them, because they wen; so nice. Mrs. C. a. Greei.ev. Chester, Windsor Co., Vt., June 22, 1881. After another hard day's labor I am spending a little time reading Gleanings, and studying my Sunday-school lesson. They both open up a little world of pleasure to me. It seems that I never had so much to do — busy from -i A.M. until 9 P.M., Sun- days included. I have been app tinted teacher in two Sabbath-schools. I walk nearlv 12 miles every Sabbath, and en.ioy it very much. We have organ- ized a Sabbath-sehbol about three miles distant, in a school house. We are having a very interesting school; have over fifty scholars— some who have not been to Sabbath-school for twenty years. F. .T. Wahdell. Uhrichsville, Tusc. Co., O., June 3, 1881. OUR HOUSEHOLD ('ONVEXIENCE.S IN IT.\LV. The cry in the hou.^e is. " We want more of them." More of them mean more of the same kind of needles you sent me in January. Please send me twenty papers, and three glass-cntter-s. I send you a post-olfice order for Uii cents: if it does not cover expense, [ will remit balance when advised. There is a question that has arisen since I received the 5- cent nippers; that is, what are they good for? They are too soft to cut with, and too hard to draw with. Are they like Pindar's razors, made only to sell? M. S. WlCKERSH.\M. Perrara, Italy, J une 3, 1881. [t am very glad to know you like the needles, friend W., and heg to assure you that we try to have all our goods .last like them; viz., to use, rather than to sell. There seems to be much trouble with the friends all around in deciding what the 5-cent nippsrs are for; they look so much as if they would cut, almost everybody tries them on some thing hard, and snap go the jaws, for five cents is not enough to pay for making a pair of cutting-plier«. They are to "nip" hold of things you could not reach and hold with the fingers alone, always re- membering they are a five-cent tool. Thanks for re- porting from so far away, friend W.] Inclosed please find $1.75, for which please send me a smoker, the best in the market — a larse one, and one that [ will not have to light every half-hour. I am standing in the door waiting for it, standing first on one leg and then on the other. One year ago 1 got Benny Judson, of Salt Lake City, to send to you for th^ ABC book. 1 confess I like the book, and am taking GLEAMNfis. There is one thing I learned there in the ABC book worth more to me than many times the price of the book; that is, I read on page 275 how vou learned chaff packing of J. H. Townley. I had experience previous to this in bee-keeping, but would have given it up if I had not got some such idea from some source. I thank you again for your works on bees; and those metal-corners and metal rabbets ! how nicely they work ! Wm. C. Bills. South Jordan, Utah, June 4, 1881. [Many thanks for kind words, friend B. ; but real- ly, if I were you I would stand squarely on both feet and go out and work with the bees, or do some thing else useful until the smoker comes. I know how it is mysolf; for when I want a thing /inni"; if ; Imt I have always found it most profitable to get right to work and do some thing meanwhile.] THE FARIS PLATES, ETC. I received your wrapper on Gleanings, notifying me that my subscription was run out, and that if I thought it a good investment, to renew. Well, I think it is a good investment, and on looking over the past year I think there is not any thing in read- ing matter, that has paid me so well as Gle.^nings. In the first place, it was worth all the price to find out how to make those plaster plates of friend Paris*. I made a pair, and have made all the foundation I shall need this season, besides selling quite a lot. Then there were Doolittle's articles, well worth the subscription, especially those two on page 320, July No., 188J, about the care of empty combs, and the other, on page 232, May, 1881, on sido and top stor- ing, is a splendid article, which I know from this season's experience; and I could name a lot of other good articles from different writers, which are fine. Then there is the pleasure of having not only fi smile, but a good hearty laugh every month at Mer- rybanks, "old Zac," and such like. Then there is the Home reading, which is worth double the price of Gleanings; and mav God bless you in trying to do good in this way. Well, I think Gleanings is a good investment, and inclosed you will find the money for another year's subscription, and also one year's subscription for a friend. My bees are doing very well so far this season. I had three colonies to start with — two very weak, and one very strong. One has swarmed, and the other two areabout to. We have had a steady yield of honey from white clo- ver for the last two weeks; but it has been too cold nights to be a heavy yield, but we can't complain so far. John Myers. Stratford, Out., Can., June 27, 1881. KIND WORDS TO OUR CUSTOMERS. Of late there seem to be a good many complaints that goods are not in the packages, even when they were put in all right, and overlooked by the person who unpacks them. Now, about opening goods: Do not trust to anyboly else; but, bill in hand, open and tak'e out the goods yourself. Eo not unpack them among a lot of other stuff, or where any thing might get out of sight and be lost. Also be sure you have the full number of packages from the R. R. or express comp.iny that your bill calls for. The following illustrates the point: — I wrote vou a few days ago, stating the bottoms and ^ ends of the broad section frames were want- ing. I now find that my man misplaced them, and forgot all about it. It seems they were put in a small box by themselves, and he set them in an out- of-the-way pi ice. , I regret very much the mistake, and will do whatever is riglit in the matter. If you have shipped the parts, please send me your bill, and I will remit; and if you have been to any trouble put that in. W.W. Reynolds. Penn, Cass Co., Mich., Jane 16, 18S1. Our friend apologizes and offers to recompense us in a manly way, and we can not think of taking any thing for trouble; but it took quite a search among the clerks before we could write him that the goofls were all sent him orrectly. Of course, we sent them on again, which makes him trouble and ex- pense. Another friend wrote us his spring balance was missing, for he had looked the goods all over, but next mail he said he found it safely tied in his extractor. So many cases of this kind are turning, up, I have thought best "to tell you to look very carefully, before asking us to replace what is miss- ing, for I assure you our clerks are more careful here than you, the average of humanity, wlio have not had the drill and discipline they have. OUB, $175.00 STEAM-ENGINE. One of our customers asks a number of questions which may interest many of our readers in regard to the small engines we sell. As Mr. Washburn runs his machine shop with one of them, we have asked him to answer the questions. How much water to till boiler when empty !— Can start on five pails to fill. Has it a (;l«ss water- gausre?— Yes. Has it three Kaug-e-foclcs? -Only two. Has it a steani-whistle!— Xoije. Is its cylinder eonvenient to get at lor piiokingrf— Yes: cylm- der is easily prut at. How thick is the plate iir boiler!— Do not know: it is east-iron, tested tu :iO0 lbs. How many pipes in boilea'?— N'onc- How many poinuls ol' steam to run scroll saw?— Not many, perhaps 20 lbs. Is it .simple, and easy to operate?— Yes. In short, is it an engrfne to be depended on for scroll saw and wood lathef— Yes-: I can run fi'.< feet iron planer. 3 iron lathes, uprijirht ilrill, and a-rindstone. all at om-e. I carry stcani fi-ora 10 to 100 lbs. I'se SO to 00 Ills, coal, and Oil to 70 gallons of water per day; it has automatic cut-off, and is a koo<1 little machine. Medina. O . .lidy 1. 1881. .\. W.vshdik.n-. GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUI\E. Devoted to Bees and Honey, and Home Interests. Vol. IX. AUG. 1, 1881 No. 8. A. Z. ROOT, ruhlishcr and Froprictor, \ Published Moiillily. Medina, O. r TERMS: Si. 00 Per Axxum, in Advance: I 2 Copies for 81.90: 'A for 82.75; 5 for 84.00: 10 I or more, 75 cts. each. Single Number. 10 cts. ■{ Additions to clubs may be made at club I rates. Above are all to De sent to one post- \ Established in 1873. [^K^S'tLnSl.ttl^^ar"-^"*'"^^*^'"^-^^'''"^ NOTES FROITI THE BANNER APIARY. No. 21. ^ULY 1.— I have never scon the basswood-trees QrjJ so loaded with buds as (hey are now. Jid;] 6.— Basswood is in blossom, and the trees are just one mass of s'ellow bloom. When I pass thai large basswood in going- to the "spring-" after a pail of water, I notice that the air is fairly laden with sweetness. I presume an orange grove would smell no sweeter. It is very easy to see that the bees arc galheiiug honey very rapidly, because they go into their hives with that " swish " and " wiggle" that always shows that ihey are "scooping" in the honey. AVhat a humming the bees do makcl Sev- eral times today I have gone to the door to see if they were not swarming. They arc so eager to gather their harvest, that they are loth to stop, even after dark; and at the first dawn of the morning those that stayed in the tree-tops all night come home with their loads. (I guess that is the way it Is.) Jnhi 16.— And the basswood harvest is almost over. I have extracted about 300 lbs. from my 18 colonies, and their upper stories are full again, ready to ex- tract when I get around to it. Yes, and four of them are three stories high. Oh, yes! and then there are the 70 nuclei, and a good many of them arc "chock" full. There are about 50 acres of buckwheat sown within two miles of here. Some of it is already beginning to blossom; so you see I shall have a good time rearing queens the remain- der of the season. To-day is the day when friend Root and other bee- keeping friends are having such a good time in De- troit. How I did wish that I could go; but I have no cleris nor boys to Ijave in charge of my queen- rearing business, and it would suffer if I left it; be- sides, I might belter take the money that it would cost me to go, and use it to help pay my debts. Never mind, friend Root; when the time comes right, I am coming to see j'ou. I dreamed, the other night, that lyou came to see me. AN HONEST BEE-KEEPER. T,ast May I sent S7.5.00 to friend Townscnd, of Hubbardston, Ionia Co., Mich., for T colonies of pure Italians. I thought the price pretty high; but when the bees came I was satisfied. They came the first week in .June, and the hives were full of bees, each hive containing 12 combs with brood in 8 combs. If friend T. does as well by every one as he did by mc, he deserves to bo patronized. THIEVES CAUGHT. A year ago last August I had two hives of bees stolen, and last spring mic of the thieves was brought to justice. He was fined .SIO.OO and costs; all of which amounted to about $60.00. At the time the bees were stolen he could have bought 600 lbs. of honey for S^'jO.OO. Rather expensive honey, consid- ering that, as the thief remarked, they " didn't get more than a teacupful of honey." They were hives containing queen-rearing nuclei. BEE-KBEPERS, WRITE FOR YOUK PAPER. An old gentleman living near here, one who doesn't believe in " book farming," says: "The ones that know the least about farming are the ones that write the most for the agricultural papers." Now, while I do not entinlij agiee with this old gentleman, 37: GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Aug. I do think that there are many bee-keepers who might do much good by writing for the bee-papers, and yet they seldom or never write. There is a bee- keeper living a few miles from here, of whom I al- ways obtain valuable hints and suggestions each time I meet him, and yet he seldom writes for the bee-papers. Seems to me I hear some one say, " I don't have the time." Let me tell my experience. I presume some of you remember the "Scraps and Sketches" that I wrote a year or two ago for Gle.\nings; but I don't believe any of you can tell why the articles were called "Scraps and Sketches." The first winter after our little twins came to brigh'.en our pathway, they were certainly "trouble- some comforts;" many and many a night we would not get more than an hour's sleep, while during the day we could just manage to do the "housework" and the " chores." I could not leave home to work, neither could wc afford to keep a "girl," and my time was sd occupied, and I felt so " tired out," that it did seem as though I should be obliged to give up writing or Gleanings; but finally I placed a paper and pencil upon my desk, and whenever I had— yes, just oif minute, I stepped to the desk and wrote. Many and many a paragraph have I composed with a baby on each knee; and as soon as an opportunity presented itself I would step to the desk and write it down in phonography. What else could my writings be but " Scraps and Sketches"? When an article was finished, it was written out in long hand in scraps. Don't say that you haven't time, because you can find time if you only try hard enough. Don't write Uicnry, but give fa tm, and ».§(/!(? iii'unnation. W. Z. HOTCaiNSON. llogersville, Genesee Co., Mich. Friend II.. I have just this minute return- ed from almost a week's absence in your State, and the pleasant visits I have had have determined me to visit more of you. I can think of no place I would rather visit just now than your little home. TOO MUCH SMOKE. not the least disposition to be cross, that it was an act of sheer cruelty. Sometimes a very little smoke will answer all purposes, where honey is not coming enough to keep them peaceable. Another thing: Where robbers are bad, smoke is the very worst thing ; for where bees would promptly repel robbers, and keep them entirely out of the hive, if let alone, I have seen the boys smoke down the inmates so they could not prevent the robbers from pushing right down and getting their fill, almost before they could get back to defend their rightful stores. I have, too, seen smoke used at the entrance to drive robbers away. If you want your bees to defend their hive, and take care of thieves, by no means think of smoking them. I believe, however, friend D., I should like a lighted smoker near, to itse if needed. Sometimes it greatly facilitates getting the bees out of the way in opening or closing the hive, and thereby enables us to work faster. It is no strange thing to find bees you can handle at certain times without smoke, when you could not with. ARTIFICIAIi AND NATCRAIi SWARM- ING QUEENS, ETC. r tHY not caution the ABC class often about using too much smoke in handling their bees? I know you have done it heretofore, but I believe it ought to be repeated often. When we throw awaj' fear entirely, I think smoke is of little or no. use. I believe we can handle bees the year round, and do it with more satisfaction and bet- ter results by leaving smoke entirely out of the api- ary. If instead of going to a hive, jerking- the cap off, tearing off the quilt, and blowing in smoke to arouse the colony to a fighting pitch, we would be cautious, raising the cap easily (a cap that will not come off without jarring the hive has no business in the apiary), raise the quilt slowly, without jarring, avoiding all quick motions, laying the quilt to one side, and then pick up the frame, or, rather, com- mence picking it up, draw it out slowly, I tell you, sir, you will have no trouble, even with black bees running over their combs scared to death. If they fly in your face and alight on your hands, not one in twenty will sting you if you just pay no attention to them. I have discarded smoke almost entirely. A. H. Duff. Flat Ridge, Ohio, June 10, 1881. There is much truth in your remarks, friend D., and I have often thought, as I saw somsbDdy dose with smoke a colony that had eN page 277 of the June No., I notice an article on queen-rearing, by E. Gallup. I wish to briefly notice a few points in said article. In the first place, he says chat no one will deny that some queens are far ahead of others in proliflcness. Among what class of queens do we find such? My artificial queens, as a rule, generally outstrip the natural ones. As good queens as I have in my api- ary were reared from brood received from A. I. Hoot. As to size and appearance, no one can tell the difference. I would not go to much extra trouble to save natural cells. Colonies that are not disturbed, frequently have queens that are just the same as those reared artificially, and a colony that swarmsjnaturally frequently starts cells after the I swarm has left. Now, if we save all these cells, we get some that are not natural. It is very easy to get natural cells at any season of the year by putting an old queen in a small nuclei, and feed liberally, sup- ! plying cells from time to time as they are found in i colonies just before the egg is deposited in them. Such cells can easily be found in new swarms. I never succeeded in ^^'cttlng the bees of the nuclei to build many such cells; but if a dozen were inserted, an egg would be found in each shorHy after. Such queens are as good, but no better, than those reared artificially. I agree with Mr. G., that we should change our stock often, but we should be careful from whom we obtain our stock, as some breeders of queens are getting careless. A great many are rearing queens from those that " winter well," or are " good honey-gatherers," without regard to pu- rity. W. Z. Hutchinson said that if he were not rearing queens for sale, he would breed from a black queen, just because her colon j' happened to winter well I I sold a queen for 50 cents a few days ago (the mother of as good a colony as I have), just because she was not quite pure. I would be afraid to breed ftom such, as the "bad blood" might crop out in futui-e generations, as it does in breeding other stock. Any one ought to be satisfied with the Ital- ian bee; and while we breed for desirable qualities, we should not lose sight of purity. I am satisfied 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 373 that the good qualities found in the blacks and hy- brids are also found in the Italians. L. W. Van KIRK. Washiug:tOD,ra., June 10, 1881. i* m w HO^V AN A B C SCHOLAR 7IA:VAGES. SWAS just tbinkinj?, friend K., I would like to " toot roy horn," as I see many of the ABC — ■ class are doing. On the 30t"h of March, 1880, I purchased a colony, brought them home, drove 4 stakes in the ground, leaving them about 2 feet high; set up the hive, thinking I might shortli' be a bee-keeper. They never swarmed last summer; at least, I never saw them. I watched them closely— the bees hanging in clusters outside of the hive nearlj' all summer. The entrance was U of an inch by 3 inches long. To make things better, a colt got in in early winter, and over went the hive, loosening many of the combs. I left them there all winter without protection, and they came out all right. Re- ceiving from a friend one of your circulars of Janu- ary, I purchased ABC, made a couple of Simplici- ties, and a smoker, as per directions. On the £2d of April I transferred, using little smoke; got along well. Care assures success. The fun was, I could not find the fjueen, and was afraid I had a fertile worker inside. So I sent to one of your advertising patrons on the 30th, and on the 12th of May she came safely to hand. J went to take the last look for the black queen, when, right before my eyes, there she was. I did not like to kill her, so I took out two frames of sealed brood, and what bees were on, and started a nuclei. They ha-\c a nice lot of sealed brood now, which will hatch out in three or four days. In introducing I took the Italian, and drew open the door. She passed out on the comb, which I was holding in my hand, and my smoker in the oth- er. They were soon in the act of taking her to parts unknown, when I gave them a little smoke, when they let go. 1 did so a couple of times, when they let her pass as an old friend. Will Ellis. St. David's, Ont., Can., June 3, 1S81. Fl RTUER BHPROVEiTIEATS IN THE FEET CAGE. ^[pj VEN a very little improvement is quite JTO an item, in an article tised in the apia- ry as much as queen-cages are now; and although the cage below differs but lit- tle from the one we pictured recently, it has features that make it worth while to be il- lustrated again. The first of these is the groove for holding the tin slide. LATEST IMPROVED FEET CAGE. Instead of making the groove near the corner, and slanting outward, we now make them as you see, right on the corner, slant- ing in toward the center of the block. The tiji slide is simply folded over to an acute instead of obtuse angle. This improvement was made by two friends at just about the same time, for both cages came in the same mail. One cage was from our old friend Oli- ver Foster, and the otlier I have had the misfortune to mislay. The other feature is the little tin water-bottle which you see. A description of this will also be found on page 397. These little bottles are made bv rolling tagger's tin on a steel rod, say about the size of a round lead-pencil, and putting a cap on each end. The size should be just as largo as it can be and still let a bee "pass over it freely without getting fast between it and the wire cloth. Although this water-bottle is needed only for long distances, queens are much safer with it, and they seem to stand the trip looking much better. The bottle is long enough to just squeeze in across the cage. The orifice is made with the point of an awl. To be sure your bottles do not leak, just put one to your mouth, and, after suck- ing the air out, see if it Avill stick to your tongue. AVe can not have any leaky bottles when shipping queens. We can not, at pres- ent, make these bottles for less than S2.00 per liundred. I wish some one else would make them cheaper. Where are our ama- teur tinners ? The bottles are hlled with an oil-can, as I have before explained. AVINDING THE WATERBIRY AVATCH. EKE is the way I make a " windlass " for wind- ing the Waterbury watch: Take a small piece of wire, and bend it as I have marked. The end at the point catches in one of the grooves on the stem, and keeps the wire from slippiug. A. T. McIlwain, Abbeville C. H., S. C, July 6, '81. Many thanks, friend M.; as soon as I saw your idea, I went down into the counter store, and taking a blanket pin from the o-cent counter, with a pair of the round-nose plyers I soon bent it into the shape of the accompanying cut. and the girls who Avind the watches every morning were very much delighted with them. \v e have sent a sample to the factory, and perhaps they will improve on it still more. They might easily be made for a penny each. GRAPE SUGAR. I HAVE washed a piece of the crystal grape sugar, exactly as Mrs. Harrison has rojiiested me to do, in another column, and I find no residue whatever. The sugar dissolves as perfectly as a piece of rock candy. I presume I am perfectly acquainted with what she alludes to. In feeding grape sugar from the Davenport factory, in a glass jar on a grooved board, as 1 have so many times described to you, wo invariably find a green scum on the surface of the water. This scum has an offensive look, but I have always supposed it was a vegetable scum, like that from sorghum. The Buffalo A sugar shows a very little of this scum, but the crystal sugar that I com- mended so strongly has no residue, and no taste but that of pure sugar, so far as I can discover. As I can not think that Mrs. H. has ever seen any of the genuine, I ha^■e sent her a lump. 374 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. AuCf. HONEY-DEAV FROM THE CLOUDS. ANOTnER STATEMENT OK ITS FALLING FIIOM THE AIR IN A MIST. M EKIENJ) sends the following, clipped ^^^ from a newspaper. .Vs the town is not —^^^ given, we have no means of knowing whether we ha\e subscribers in that county or not; but if we have, or if anybody else whose eye meets this, can put us in commu- nication with this John Kee, we will consid- er it a great favor :— HONEV-DEW IN GEORGIA. Mr. .John Kee, of Talbot county, is responsible for the following-: " it was early Sunday morning-. My claugtiter was cngng-ed in sweeping off the front porch, when her atrention was attracted by the plaintive cries of young- chickens and the distressed clucking of a hen. The sound came from a pile of leu ves under some poplar-trees in the yard, and hur- rying to the spot, She found the little chicks all stucK up with leaves, rolling about trying to free themselves, and two of the little sufferers were stuck together. She picked these two up, and, coming to the house, called nie. On examination we found them covered with a sticky substance, which seemed 10 have come off the leaves, and. tasting, I was sur- prised to find it honej'. On looking around, I could see it glistening in the sunshine like diamonds on every itatlet, and on the porch for two or three feet were splotches of it. Several neighbors dropped in during the day whom 1 told of the honey shower, supposing it had been general, but they were in- creuuluus until shown evidences of it. Jn the even- ing of the same day I noticed a mist between me and the sun, and a closer examination disclosed the fact that we were having a repetition of the phe- nomenon, which was witnessed by a dozen people. While it did not rim off the house either morning or evening, it covered the leaves of the trees and shrubs, and was, without doubt, honey-dew, and that, loo, from a cloudless sky."— Cof. Times. The above, it will be noticed, is given by those who seem to have no interest in bees ; and, although startling, it seems to have about it an air of truthfulness. I would al- most make a visit to Georgia to' have an op- portunity of witnessing such a sight. HOlil-liAND BEES; CANDY FOR Ul'EEiN" CACJES, ETC. HAVE shipped queens all over the United States and Canada this summer, and all I have lost were two that were sent in your old bottle cages. I use granulated sugar, with honey enough added to make it stick together, for feed; how do you like it? I think you are mistaken when you say the Holy-Land bees are not as hardy as the Italians, or that you do not think they will winter as well. My experience last winter with them tells me that they stand the winter much the better. Last fall I had about 100 colonies of Italians, and about 60 Holy- Lands and 37 blacks; out of the Italians I saved about 10 very weak colonies, and out of the Holy- Lands I had some 40 odd left, about 15 in splendid condition ; the remainder weak, and not a black col- ony survived the winter. The blacks, I bought and got for nothing late in the fall. There are a few things about the Holy-Land bees I do not like. They are crosser than the Italians, and will not stick to their comb in handling like the Italians, and the queens are more timid, and not as easily found as the Italians; but then, there are other points I like about them. They will go to work earlier in surplus boxes, and with less bees in the hive, than the Italians; the queens arc very pro- lific; are proof against moth worms and robbers; they will not attack a person to sting, as long as left alone. Please do not condemn any thing without a thoi-ough trial. "Prove all things, hold fast that which is good." Tell neighbor H. he had better luck with his light- ed smoker in the buggy than A. P. Blosser, who had his entire buggy-box, with a fifty-dollar h^irness, burned by leaving his smoker with fire in it in the buggy over night. _ I. R. Good. Nappanee, Elkhart Co., Ind., July II, 1881. The queen and bees came through on the granulated sugar, wet up with honey, in splendid trim. The mixture is put into an auger-hole, adjoining the cage, witli only a small passMge through the wood into the candy. The bees crawl in and get the food, and then crawl back again. I think there is but little question now, but that sugar is safer food than honey alone ; but it is quite likely that both the sugar and honey are what we want. Eriend >S. D. McLean, of Culleoka, Tenn., has just sent us a lot of queens, one half of which were put up with candy and water, and the other half with honey. lie asked us to report which were received in better order, as he wanted to know which kind of food is the safer. Those with water and sugar were in decidedly the better order ; and as they came Saturday night, we had to keep them over Sunday. ]\Ionday morning the bees in the cages with honey only were nearly all dead, while the others seemed as fresh as when they lirst came. In wintering we have about the same result. Granulated sugar is very much better for winter stores than the various kinds of honey (especially fall honey) that are collected here and there. ONE MORNING'S WORK. fCAN not resist the temptation to report what I have just done. After breakfast, at fi:;iO o'clock, — ' I pounded some sugar corn, and fed my German carp; gathered an armful of the best smoker wood; lighted my smoker, and opened a chaff hive, and took out 10 frames of sections, 72 ready for market, the other 8 about half filled. I did not kill a bee nor get stung. I will give you my reasons why I think this was so quickly and well done. 1. The upper and lower frames come close to- gether; over the lower frames I put a piece of c<,)t- ton cloth, eaten full of holes by the bees; the holes give free access to the brood frames, which are so close that there are no ladders or bridges built. 3. The wide frames, bees, etc., are, as fast as taken out, set in an empty lower story ; 5 are put in this, then an upper story is placed on the first, and the other 5 frames put in it and covered with a cloth. The bees in the hive were then given a feeder, full of sugar and water, in place of the wide frames, and the cover put on next. Began smoking the wide frames by turning up one edge of the cloth; as soon as a frame was clear of bees it was carried to honey-room; in a few minutes all the frames were sitting oti my honej'-table. I carried in 10 bees, and had to scrape wax from only one bottom-piece. I did not spill one drop of honey. After attending other things, and writing this, it is 8:30 A. M. Pewec Valley, Ky., July 25, 1881. A. W. Kayk. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 37o RAMBLiE NO. 6. f||0 the N. W. from our apiary is located the his- torical town of Fort Ann. Bee-keeping: in — ' this town is, or was. some thing of an indus- try. Several hundred swarms were kei>t, two par- tics owning each over two hundred coiinies. The main supply of honey in this region is willow, of which an abundant supply is found along the streams. White clover, chestnut, and basswood are abundant, while the moii::taln-sides that have been recently cleared are covered with raspberries, and a specie-* of aster. Some buckwheat is sown for fall pasturage. The past winter made sad havoc among the hund- reds of colonies of this town. Mr. Keech, owning over 200 colonies, built a new bee-house for winter- ing. The hives were packed in (luite closely, and all in the center were smothered from the effects of a Scant supply of ventilation. Many more died upon being placed upon their summer stands. So this man's apiary was reduced nearly one-half by the first of May. Mr. Keech will have nothing to do with movable-comb hives and modern fi.\tures. flis hon- ey is secured in large rough bo.ves, and is sold at a price in keeping with the style of package. Mr. Adams, in another portion of the town, harl a line apiary of over 2Ufl colonies in Laiigstroth hives. He has usually had excellent success in wintering in his cellar, but last winter they were left upon their summer stands, and this spring twenty swarms arc all that are left. Mr. A. thinks h3 has bees enough now. In relating his experience with bees. Mr. A. gave me an illustration f>f what to do with burglars or night thieves after honoj-. I was re- minded of your (juestion in a past number of rJiiE.\.viNG.rr. xV.'s plan was very efrecti\e. Find- ing his bees tampered with, he armed himself with a rifle, stationed himself behind a fence, and sat down for a night vigil. About midnight two shad- owy forms were seen moving toward a bee-hive. Mr. A. took aim as best he could in the dark, and fired. No dead bodies were found upon the battle- field, l>ut some time afterward he learned that the ball took effect in the young man's coat, between his arm and body. It was such a close call that his apiary has not been molested since. Bee-hunting is some thing of a business on these mountains in the fall. Many swarms are found in all sorts of locations. Conversing with a bee-keeper in relation to these absconding swarms, he told me of bis method of pre\entii)n, and how to prevent swarms from settling together. In answer to my question as to how he prevented it, " Why," said he, "all you have to do is to hang them in the cellar." If a swarm seems inclined to abscond by coming out of their hive a second time and alighting, the limb, bees, and all, were hung in the dark cellar; if a swarm had nearly settled, and another was seen is- suing, the limb was severed, and the swarm hung in the cellar until he had time to hive them. Three or four swarms were thus hanging quietly, waiting for their turn to be hived. Swarms that had tried to abscond were left hanging in the cellar two days. His theory was, that by that time they were get- ting hungry, and would work in any kind of a re- ceptacle. "Why," said be, "you ought to see them get up and dust for honey when put in a hive." I found another bee-keeper who didn't care any thing about his bees; didn't care whether they lived or died; hived them in any thing handy, and has good success In keeping them; winters well upon their summer stands, and when they swarm they hang on the tree until he comes home to dinner. At least, that is about all he hives; if there are any that don't wait for him he is none the wiser for it. Still, he has over 60 colonies. Another friend we found had eleven colonies in the fall. They were elevated two feet from the ground, in a very exposed position. The front en- trances were 2 inches by 12. The holes in the tf>p surplus boxes were all open, and a rough flimsy cov- er with a heavy stone on the top, complfted the hive. Still, those bees wintered with the loss of but one colony. The rest were strong, with drones fly- ing on May 8th. This was another don't-care bee- keeper. And with him we will close our ramble. Hartford, N. V. .T. H. Martin. Many tlianks for your array of facts, friend M.: biit I want io protpst a little against your way of trealin<.i,' burglars. The law floes not sanction the taking of life for steal- ing honey, if I am correct; and had our friend killed his man, I hardly think he would have felt happy over it. even had the law made no interference. Let him now go to this young man and bave a good plain talk witli him. It is ignorance, or one spe- cies of ignorance, that i»rompts acts like these. If we can succeed in saving bis soul, instead of killing his l»ody, while be is in an act of sin. will it not be belterV I by im means believe in letting such ff'llows off. mind you ; but I think the regnlar course of law better than bullets. ^ i8i »,» HOAV TO REAR GCOIJ Ql EENS. ^ OXCE said, in the North-Eastern Bee-Keepers' ji|[ Ctmvcntion, that everything pertaining to prof- "* itable bee-keeping centered in the queen; for the queen is the mainspring of the colony as surely as the mainspring of the watch is the power that makes all else in the watch of use. If this is so, it i? \ery easy to see that, if the mainspring is poor, the whole that has this for a center will he poor also. Hence, the necessity of rearing good queens be- comes apparent to every one who is looking toward success in apiculture. Probably all will admit that no better queens can be obtained than those reared under the impulse which returns to the bees with each successive spring to perpetunte their soecies through natural swarming; and if all cells could be built bj' the bees while under this impulse, good queens, as a rule, would be the result. Well, whj' not rear them thus? Chiefly because of the extra trouble and care it takes to accommodate ourselves to the impulse of the bees; or, in other words, to have the bees themselves conform to our wishes. So far this season I have reared all my queens ex- cept one by natural swarming, having reared over 200, and I will tell you how I did it. The fore part of May I began giving my best stocks brood from other colonies, taking the brood each time from the same colony as they could spare it and not reduce them too much. May 2.')th queen-cells were started, when I ceased to give them more brood, not chang- ing brood any more after that. Soon we had a fine lot of cells sealed, and swarms issuing along at in- tervals as we wished to use the cells. As I had but two or three queens I wished to breed from, of course the colonics containing these queens could ;{7(; GLEIANINGS IN JJEE CULTURE. Aug not be kept swarmiiiji- all the time; so I adopted the transposition process, and soon found that I could get all swarms that were strong- enough to have cups for fiueen-eell-i started, to swarm almost when I wished to have them, and rear all their queens from my best stock. Thus those made strong swarmed first, the medium next, and those made weak bj' taking- away brood last, furnishingr me with a succession of natural cells for nearly two months, and I do not see why I can not keep it up till Sep- tember if I wish; for if pasturage falls, the lack can be supplied by feeding. At first I looked ovor the stock, and all I found having eggs in the queen-cells I marked; and when the eg-g-s had been hatched, and royal jelly was plenty in the cells, I took out their larviB and jjut in one just hatched from my best queen. To do this I shaved the piece of eomb taken from my best stock down near the base of the cells, when the small larviB just hatched could readily be seen. Ni^w, with a toothpick made of a goose quill, having- the point bent into a hooked shape while soaked and then dried, so it should not stiaighten out, I could lift these little larvte from their cradles and set them floating in the royal jelly, from which, in duo time, they emerg-ed royal princesses of the right lineage. Next I thought trying taking those eggs out of the cells an'l transferring my intended i-oyal larvic directly into them. The bare cells, de- void of all royal jellj', looked rather unpropitious, and I doubted the proprietj- of placing the tiny in- fants in such a hard cradle without even a blanket beneath them; but an examination an hour or two afterward showed them plentifully supplied with the necessary loyal jelly. If they were well cared for in this case, why not transfer them into the queen-cups before the eggs were laid? was my next thought. To think was to act, and I soon had IT lit- tle larviv snugly ensconced in 17 queen-cup cradles. An examination showed, however, that only about half of them were fed, while the others were re- moved. Next I took 24 old queen-cells from which the queens had hatched, and stuck them, by means of melted wax, on to strips, and tacked 4 of the strips into a frame. Then I transferred the lit- tle larvae into them. Some of those cells were one- fourth full of old royal jelly, left by the previous queen; and although it looked hard and uninviting, I placed the larvte on it. I expected the bees would remove the old jelly, larva; and all ; but an examina- tion showed that these old cells were the surest of the whole. Next I tried transferring eggs; and al- though I succeeded to some extent, yet as many as 4 out of 5 were removed. To be sure, this is all some trouble; but I think the queens will average enough better to pay; and as I said at the outset, good -. I am 10 years old, and I am a Sunday-school schol ar. 1 love to go to Sunday-school, and I love to at- tend religious worship. My pa keeps bees. I don't work with them much, but I like the honey. He kept 11 hives over last winter. They have been swarming and have increased to 18. ' M.\rietta Sperhv. Lincoln, Cass Co., Ind.. June 13, 1881. A'ery good, ^larietta. I thought I would write you a letter. My pa keeps bees; he had 7 swarms, but he wintered through with only one. I go to school, and s-tudy geography, arithmetic, and read in the Fourth Reader. I am only nine years old, and cati not write very well. My name is Katie McCRoitv. Jerome, Union Co., Ohio, June 9, 1881. Pretty good for you, Katie, and you did right to tell the truth right out, how many your father lost. We think you write very well indeed for nine years old. I send a dollar for Gleanings fori year, and .'> cts. for another mat chromo, because I think they are so pretty. I am going to give the other to my teach- er. Our school is out this week. Last fall I had 31 stands of bees and all died but i stands; irow they have swarmed until I have 23 stands. Our whole apiary consists of 36 stands. Pa has 4 stands. Aunt Clara 4, besides some nuclei. Most little girls say that it was their pa who gave them their bees, but I gave pa his. I will be 13 years old on the 30th of June. 1 have read the New Testament nearly through. LiLLiE A. (iANiiv. Churubusco, Whitley Co., Ind., June 30, 1881. Well, I tell you what it is, Lillie, that is pretty well for only 12 years old. So you gave your jja his beesV UU bet he is a pret- ty good pa, even if you did, and I guess he must have helped a little, a good many times. Eh? _J I am a little girl nine years old. T go to school. My pa keeps bees. He had only 30 swarms last fall, 19 in the spring. He has sold 0 and has 38 now. Most of them are in chaff hives. I help him put the starters in the sections, and foundation in the wired frames. He had a great deal of trouble to make it stick to them till Mr. \\hite told him how. He put a long handle on a five-cent piece that had a crease filed around the outer edge, and I run that o\er the little wires and press them into the wax. Ma fas- tens the top with melted wax. 1 will make a picture of the roller. My" pa's name is E. D. Gillett. He bought one of your little dictionaries for me, and I am learning to use it. Martha Gillett. Brighton, Lorain Co., Ohio, June 14, 1881. . AVell done indeed, my nine-year-old little bee-woman, both in writing the letter and making the picture: and to encourage such work and letters, we, besides sending you 378 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Aug. tlie book, credit you witli .50 cents, and you can liave it in money, or any thing you may select from our list, as you choose. Tell your ma that I do not think she needs to fasten the sheets at the top with melted wax at all. 1 think you will do tip top with the dictionary, JMartha (that is my sister's name too), for you Avrite already a great deal bet- ter than some of the big "men who send for queens, etc. I am a boy 11 years old. Papa gavo me a swarm of bees on my tenth birthday. They swarmed last week, and so I have s'ot two swarms of bees now. My school has just closed. Papa has got 125 swarms of bees. They wintered nicely; he lost only 5 last winter out of 115. Papa has a swarm that has swarmed every day for two weeks. I have two sis- ters and one brother. Cat.ly Dinks. Fulton, Oswego Co., N. Y., July T, 1881. Now, f'ally, you tell your pa I wouldn't have a hive lluit swarmed every day for two weeks, "nohow." I would break them all up into "little bits," and give each " bit" a frame of unsealed brood, and make them raise queens. Your pa must be a ])retty big bee-man, if he can winter like that every time. I have not seen any letters fram Cottage Grove, so I thought that I would be the first to write from here. I was 10 years old on the first of Feb. I hste to expose my ignorance in writing to an editor. 1 have never been to sohool but a few days in my lite, but my sister and I study at home. I study Apple- ton's Fourth Reader, Harper's Geography, Quacken- bos' Ariiiimetic, and writing, and take music lessons. I have made up my nund, that if this letter is put in the waste basket, I will try to write a better one next time. Papa an'l I put 23 swarms of bees in the cellar last November, and you may well guess that we had pretty sorry faces when weonly found 10 live swarms this spring. Now please don't put my letter under Blasted Hopes, for it sounds so had. And pa has now only si.x good swarms. Papa uses the Lang- stroth hives; he makes them himself; he made a new extractor, and extracted over 50 lbs. of honey last summer, but bethinks he won't have any surplus honey this year. Not one of our neighbors have saved a single swarm. Emma Guiinee. Cottage Grove, Dane Co., Wis., June 12, 1881. Why, Emma, when you started out with your letter I w'as afraid so much book learn- ing for a girl of 10 years old would spoil her entirely for any thing useful; but if you real- ly helped your fathei- to —to lose 12 swarms of bees, 1 guess I won't think so after all. Did you really help very much when he put them in the cellar? You know I don't want my class of girls to get a habit of bragging too much ; it would not look well before all this great company. Don't you think so? This is a splendid honey year. There Is a fine crop of red and white clover; there is a good crop of linn; it is in the prime now. Papa bought 20 three- frame nuclei of Mr. Henderson, Murfreesboro, Tenn. They are now pretty fair stands. We have extracted about 10 gallons. I have to do the ex- tracting, for papa is superintendent of 'the fair. I take out the frames and then extract it, and then put the frames back in the hives. Our fair is im- proving; they have got a half-mile track. Every* body who has seen the fairground says It is the nicest in the State. Freddie L. Cbaycraft. Salem, Wash. Co., Ind., July 6, 1831. AVell, Freddie, are you sure your pa didn't help some about the extracting, even if he is superintendent of the fair? By the way, those half-mile tracks are sometimes bad things for boys, and even men too. You see, they get to driving fast horses, and be- sides the time it uses up, the}; sometimes get to be "fast" lioys. USES FOR PHOPOIilS. Children, you know what propolis is, do you not"? Ha\e you ever tried to put it to any good use? I use it in many ways, and there is scarcely a day that 1 do not use it for some thing. I noticed yesterday, that bees were in a cap of a hi\e, and on examining found that they came in through a hole in a honey- box. I got some propolis, worked it up soft with my fingers, and spread it over the hole. If I saw off a limb from a tree, I cover the wound with it, to keep out insects and rain. If the dipper leaks, it is soon mended with it, and the wash-basin can be cured of its leaky tricks by having a thin coating rubbed on the bottom. Old pans and dippers, used for dipping slop and feeding chickens, would be much better, if their holes were mended in this way. Some roofs leak around chimneys, which can be stopped by rolling up propolis into little rolls, and fitting it in nicely in- to the crevices, so that the shingles and bricks are glued together, leaving no cracks for water to run through. Some of you hnvc parasols or umbrellas with a carved fish or dog's head on the end of the handle for ornament. If you have not one of this kind, you may have seen them. We have one, and on the 4th of July our dog's head came off; it was so dry it wanted to drink. Wo worked some propolis then, and wrapped the handle with it, and put on the dog's head again, cleaning off all propolis that oozed out, after pushing it cm. To-day we tried to pull it oft', but it was no go; it was just as if it had grown there. Who will try propolis for budding and grafting? LuciNDA Harrison. Peoria, 111., July, 1881. \7ell, I declare ! I have wanted somebody to study u]) some use for propolis ever so long; and I have used it foi' mending leaks in the bellows of smokers, for patching torn queen-cells, leaks in honey-barrels, and the like, but I had not got quite round to mend- ing tinware with it. I wonder if it would not mend crockery, if it was baked after- ward to expel tlie" most liquid portion. I know- it will stick fingers together when one is in a hurry. FEEDING IN JULY TO KEEP QUEEN- REARING GOING. now friend FLANAGAN DOES IT. N mj' last I asked if grape-sugar candy could be made in hot weather, and intimated that I was — ■ going to try it anyhow. Well, sir, I did so, and made as hard, smooth, nice candy, this hot weather, as I did in the winter. I gave it to weak colonies and to nuclei to make or start the queens to laying, and it is a perfect success. Our hot, dry weather has dried up nearly all sources of nectar, and to keep the bees rearing brood, feeding must be done. I 1881 GLEANINGS IN 15EE CULTURE. 87!) made me 100 sjTup-foeders; placed them in front of hive, and at just dusk took a bucket and oiip and gave each one about 'i pint of diluted extracted honej-. By morning- all was removed except by two nuclei, and it was all I could do to save them from being "cleaned out," and even now every mornina- the other bees flock by thousands to those two nu- clei, and I have to watch them very closely to save them. How with those that had the candyV Not one par- ticle of trouble; but the way they are rearing- brood and building- up, would do you ^ood to see. Now, friend Root, you and Neighbor " H." just try it once, and see if you don't give up feeding in the liquid form, and report results; for they will take your word for it much quicker than that of a novice like mc. Though it is some trouble to make candy for too or more colonies, yet, if you have to feed any length of time, it is far less trouble in the end, for it is no little job to put out 100 feeders every evening, and fill them' and then remove every morning. "Let them stay until feeding is over." You can do so, but it don't look well to see the feed- ers lying around to be in the way, and cracked by the hot sun. At least, it don't to me. But, enough of candy and feeding for this time. Of course, the candy is made according to A B C, but more grape sugar can lie used in hot weather. Be sure to give us a report in August Gleanings of your trip to Ferry's seed-gardens. E. T. Flanagan. Belleville, 111., July IB, 18S1. OUK OWTS APIARV. ST is the Fourth of July, and the bees are luxuriating on a s])lendid. tlow of honey — ' from the basswood just opening. I am happy, too, for God's blessing seems espec- ially resting to-day on the roaring apiary of about 300 hives. A few weeks ago, and the prospect of being able to ftll orders for bees and queens seemed utterly hopeless. What should we do? One of the worst troubles was that my health again seemed failing un- der such a load of cares, and I felt painfully that I lacked strength, wisdom, and judg- ment to care for so much business. It was only the old story over again, to go with it all to God in prayer, that he would help me where 1 was weak, as I have in every under- taking since the business began. I prayed for bees and queens, that we might till the orders promptly, and thus help the kind friends who were sending in their money so freely. The bees came, and are coming yet, at less figures than I had any hope of getting them, after our bad winter; and within the past few weeks the queens have been com- ing too. \Vhy, our friend S. D. Moore sent us one lot of -50 that reached us on the last train one evening. Think of -50 queens in one crate ! It would have almost made me sick to think of introducing so many in so short a time a few weeks ago ; but, taking courage after what I told you of last month, I with my own hands introduced 80 of tliem in a little over an hour. Many of them had a comb pretty fairly filled with eggs the next morning, and in one day almost every one of them was ready to send out to you with a pound of bees. I lost only two out of the thirty, and both those hives, although mark- ed queenless, contained queens. Had the hives been as they were marked, I should have lost none. Ernest declares that much of my wonderful success is due to letting them out in the evening after the bees have had a very successful day's work in gather- ing honey. A'ery likely this is so. I was up before sunrise this beautiful Fourth ; and as I stood alone in the apiary, so prosperous, and yet built up in so short a time, it seemed almost as if God was too kind to a poor, sin- ful, erring mortal. A few years ago, wlien I planned just what 1 see now, I had a sort of feeling that it was too visionary, and tliat so great a number of colonies could never be kept in bounds in one spot. I prayed then, that even my mistakes might be blessed. Shall I tell you how this prayer is being ans- wered V One of our smaller toys places the hive on a little bed of cinders, and with a scoop- shovel makes of gravel a nice sloping en- trance to the hive. A feAV empty combs are placed in the hiAe, an enameled sheet over these combs, and the cover put on. A slate is also hung on the hive, that every thing may be done with system. A load "of bees (the hives having been fixed according to the directions given in our county paper) comes in from the country — second and third swarms as they come out, and ordinarily of little use to anybody in July. Another "boy takes them from the wagon to the Fairbanks scales. From this they are taken to the api- ary and put into one of these hives ready prepared for them, a comb of unsealed brood being always put in the center of the empty combs. This makes them stay, no matter whether they have a qiieen or not. The empty hive is now taken back, weighed again, the owner paid, and, if I am busy, I need not direct in regard to the matter at all. If heavy, the swarm is divided. As soon as one of the "parts has started queen -cells from the larva- given them, a queen is introduced. We give them laying queens if any are on hand ; if not, a queen from the lamp nurse- ry. This iani]) nursery is proving to be a splendid thing during" this flow of honey. Most of the bees aljout the country now have some Italian blood in them, and some that we buy are very finely three-banded. In the latter case, we often send you a pound of bees and a dollar queen from one of these second swarms in less than 48 hours. This pays first cost of the whole swarm, and we have two queen-rearing nuclei left. Very simple, is it not? It is true, the boys do it all ; but I t€]\ "you it takes watching and praying. To-day I found a new swarm all on the front of the hive, and, come to look, the boys had done it all right, even to putting in the frame of brood ; but they had not opened the entrance. The bees could not get in at all. At another time, the bees were fastened in so they could not get out at all. Now, do not blame the boys : it is an exceedingly hard matter to jump from one thing to an- other and make no mistakes : and I tell you, I have never found many men in my life who would keep such an apiaiy all the time so nothing should go wrong or to Avaste. Multiply each operation up into the hun- dreds, and it is no trifling thing to carry it 880 GLEANINGS IN i3EE CULTURE. Aug. so straight. The prayer is answered, and we caii lill almost any kiiid of an order yon may send ; and besides that, I am well and stronj;'. 'I'he braiu-work has not hnrt me a i)article. J 'lease do not think I am boasting or adver- tising, for I wish and expect you to take this great industry off my hands. I have opened ihe way, and J wish' you to •■ go in and pos- sess tlie land,'' to succeed and prosper. I am to edit (tleaxixus; and to help me do this is the purpose and end of my apiary. ^Vhen you take the trade out of niy hands, and sni)plythe demand for bees, I shall have room to try raising honey, as I used to a tew years ago." Jidfi []fh.— In buying swarms of bees by the pound, we have been a little curious to learn how much a natural swarm of bees "would weigh, and the heaviest we bought last year was about 7 lbs. AN'ell, a few days ago neighbor Clark brought us a swarm of hybrids, that he said he guessed weighed about 18 lbs. 1 suggested he had put several swarms together, but he insisted that it was Just one swarm and no more ; when weighed, they actually did show ch-Ka and iln-ci- J'm(rih.'< lbs. As a sort of curiosity, I put them into a two-story Simplicity, furnished with 20 Avired frames of fdn." The next morning I was ui) and in front of the hive, about daylight. Under the inspiration of the moment, I placed the hive on the bee- hive scale, and before night of -Inly 7th they had gained s lbs. The next day, July Sth, they showed the astonishing record on the dial, of 18^r lbs. as their day's work. Of course, they built out the fdn. at the same time. As the basswood season began to ap- proach its close, just here the amount is now tapering off eaVh day ; for on the itth they gathered only s lbs., (i on the lOtti. and to-day, the 11th, lean perceive a slight dis- ])osition in the bees to rob. 25//;.— Our apiary now numbers 81U colo- nies. Since the 12th, we have had to use the mosijuito-bar tents almost constantly, or the robbers would dive down into each iiive the very miinite it was opened. In a large apia- ry like this they very soon learn to follow the operator constantly, and unless the ut- most care be used, trouble will come in the shape of robbing that is no triflng matter. Even with the tents they have got a habit of pouncing on the entrance of every hive just as soon as the tent is removed ; and un- less the stock is a i)retty fair one, and the entrance duly contracted, they would be used up pretty shortly. I believe we have had no case of robbing this season, so far, which speaks pretty well for -lohn. All or- ders for bees are tilled to date, and the last order for dollar ([ueens will be sent off to- morrow, nothing preventing. We have been l)retty badly behind on queens a part of the time, — at one time having orders on the books for 150. We have had one lot of im- ])orted (jueens from Italy this season : but our friend Charley Bianconcini did not seem to have his usual success in getting them through alive. We are daily expecting an- other' invoice. I can not yet answer the question as to wliicli race of bees is best, Cyprian, Holy-Land, or Italian. I feel pret- ty sure the iloly-Lands excel iu the rapid production of brood, and therefore in bees; but they are not, as a general thing, quite as large as the others, aiid 1 am not sure tliey gather as much honey. The Cyprians are as large as the Italians, and perhaps a little handsomer; that is, they show full yellow bands, and are what almost anybody would call nice Italians. The com})laint made, that they are cross, I do not believe belongs to all of the Cyprians. Those we had last fall were very gentle, while those from the (jueen I purchased of friend Hayhurst are as nervous and touchy as almost any hybrids you ever saw. We have ordered of friend Jones both Cyprian and Holy-Land queens this season, but he has as yet sent us none, nor have I heard of his sending any to any one. RAISING BEES IN A GREEMIOI SE. CAN AVE RAISE BEES EARLY IN THE SPRING, IRRE- SPECTIVE OF THE WEATHER? OE^'ERAJ.,of the friends will remember O^ what I said last spring on this subject, ' and many of our older readers will re- member the experiments I have made in years gone by. Well, those who have fol- lowed the matter can tell with what eager- ness i read the following letter:— Last year I was givfu a hall'-intercst in a swarm of Italian bees that swarmed, and which 1 had the g'ood fortune to keep from s'oing awa}-. I tried to hive them and was snccesslul. Tlicy were a late swarm, some time in July. Parties said they would not live. A neighbor who had 10 hives of bees told me so. However, when eool fall weather came in December, 1 thought 1 would keep them if possible; so I moved them into my warm jrreenhouse, set them upon a high shelf, built e.xpressly for them. That was on the ")th day of Dscember. 1 kept them there, and left the hive open so they could fly whenever they wanted to, and there the}' stood luitil the middle of .April. Then 1 set them out on their summer stands. I looked into the hive, which is sectional; I think they had about 10 lbs. left after wiiUering: did not get .'yi deail bv^es the entire winter. Last week they swarmed. I caught them, put them in a hive that had lieen used, and found the iiueen. I clipped her wing-s; in an hour they came out. I looked, and found the "old lady" in the grass; but before I found her the bees had all gone back into the old house hive. I put her in with them this morning; they came out again, cut the same caper, and went back again. What 1 want to know is, how to swarm bees artificially. I saw your advertisement of ABC for beginners in the bee business, and I should be glad to receive a copy of the work to enlighten me on bees. The man that said my bees would not live over winter lost 15 hives of bees himself out of 16. So much for his judgment in that case. W. J. Kii»i). Logansport, Cass Co , Ind., June 7, 1881. I immediately sent him a complete A 15 C. with the following letter:— We send you a whole book, friend K., and for pay I want you to tell me if those bees flew in the green- house, and went back into their hive again, without Hying against the glass, and dying. If 1 had time, I would gi all the way out there to find out about it. 1881 GLEANINGIS IN 13EE CULTURE. 381 It is the unsolved problem, to fly bees inside a build- iag or greenhouse. In answer to this. I in due time received the following:— Your ABC complete Ciune to hand Saturday. I was s'l surprised to find so much general informa- tion about the busy bee. This morning- I received your letter, staling- that you wouldnot ask any thing more for the payment of the A B C, if I would tell you about those bees of mine. Friend Root, I think you arc very liberal indeed. I thank you kindly, and will tell you, .as nearly as I can, what you ask for. The bees are Italians, very strong- and prolific. They were a July swarm; came late; do not know the date. Kept them on stands until Dec. 5th; built shelf up about 0 ft. from floor of greenhouse, close, in N. W. corner, sheltered by 6-in. walls from W. and N. This was all I did put them on. This shelf left the mouth of the hive completely open; if they wanted to come out they did so; if not, they could do otherwise. Through the warm days of February and early part of March, during the warm part of the day they would come out by the hundreds and fly about the house overhead. Sometimes I would go in and attach the hose to the hydrant and sprinkle plants, bees, and all, when they would hurry for their his^e. This would frighten thetn home. Other times or days, when I did not need to sprinkle the plantsto keep the atmosphere moist or humid, they would wing- their way about the greenhouse, seek the sunniest places, cluster in bunches of a dozen or more; when the sun left them in the shade they would go back to their hive. The temperature of the greenhouse would be, in the day time, about 65° ; at night, 50 to 55°. About the 2Cth of March the sun became so powerful under the glass that the tem- perature would rise toOC; at this the bees would be out by thousands. But I found this would soon spoil my plants, for they would spot them so much with their excrement. 1 had to move them into a colder greenhouse to keep them in the hive. The place I now put them in had no fire, but did not freeze at night. Here I kept them until about the first of April. Old Sol began to send down his raj'S so hot and penetrating, that even a greenhouse without fire was up to %° at times. I knew it would not do to let my bees out, for I had doors and venti- hito.s open, and they might get lost; so I made a wire frame about 4x6x12 inches, and placed it in the entrance of the hive. This they would go into and buzz for an hour or two, until the temperature was lowered. Then they would seek their hive again. Toward the last of April I put them on their sum- mer stands; have secured from them already two good swarms. The last one I hived this morning. She is a virgin queen, a beauty. I love liees, and like to work with them; never used a veil in my life to handle bees, and I get along first rate. [ do not know any thing more to tell you, except that you can write to K. K. Crooks, a bee-man across the street, and hear what he has to say about the care my bees had the past winter. W. J. KioD. Logansport, Ind., June 13, LSSl. Many thanks, friend K. The only point I wished to make was about their getting back safely into their hives at night. Did you find no dead bees on the floor in sweep- ing V Did you see any of them on any of the tiowers in the greenhouse, or Avere there no flowering plants V Did you ever try feeding them any tiling during the winter, outside of their hives V I>,astly, did you not see them spot tlie plants at all with their excrement until the air became very warm in March or April, as you say V I have sometimes thouglit the temperature would be more even in a large greenhouse ; will you tell us the dimen- sions of the house you kept these bees in, friend K. V About how high is the glass from the ground V FLORIDA AS A BEE STATE fSj^E have frequently seen reports from Florida, but none from Dade county, and 1 will give you a few items. January last there were no bees kept within 75 miles of us, and none in this county that Ave know of; occasionally a wild swarm in the woods, but very few near the coast. We bought ~ colonies of Fra»e AVlio liavo stride Bee Culture a. Failure. LOSS OF 800 BV ONE M.\N. ^iJyjOURFIFTHS Of the bee-men here usethe Mitoh- j8n^ ell hive, and fully four-fifths of their bees are — ' dead. We have heard here that Overmyer, the big bee-man of Sandusky Co., Ohio, lost over e/j/Zit /M(n(Zrf(/ — all he had. He uses the Mitchell hive. Thej' have "sung" Mitchell till the hum of the "busy bee" is heard no more (in the Mitchell hive;) gone to Blasted Hopes — some for the second time in three years. The old box hive is victorious again. C. W. Doren and Frederick Baker have each a colony that has stood the test for 25 winters. How is that for the old box-hives? .-V few yeai-s ago. Dor- en told me that the least that old colony brought him in any year was $G.t'0. Those colonies arc blacks. I saA-ed both of the queens you sent me last fall. I lost only one colony last winter; bees are do- ing splendidly, with good prospect of a big basswocd harvest. Isaac Feasel. Bettsville, Seneca Co., Ohio, .June 6, 1881. The above may be only a report ; and if so, we liope friend Overmyer will correct it. 1 should hardly think the Mitchell hive would be better or worse than the box hive ; it is not the hive we object to, but ^Mitchell's way of defrauding his fellow-men, year after year. See report in Humbugs and Swindles. You need not send me the Gle.\nings this year, for my beesare starving; for the drought hps killed every thing. G. H. Seavev. Hallowell, Maine. I had bad luck with my bees last winter. I had 24 swarms last fall, and have one very weak one now, I. C. PETER.S. Greenleaf, Meeker Co., Minn., June 7, 1881. ISSl GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. VIAIiliON'S CANDY. HOW IT WOBKS UP TO DATE. ■inipljOyou know that, after i-eading- my letter in Jlijj) Gleanings, that it looks as if I was asking ' you to pay for the candy, which was certainly not my intention. I suppose you remember that, in the sprins- of 1880, when you wrote to me that the candy was a success, and asked if I had any ol>.iec- tion to gi\ing you the recipe, how I responded, and stated that 1 should be pleased if I could help the bee-keepers in some way, etc. I am well aware that you experimented on the honey candy in 18T8, but you omitted the principal ingredient— flour. Now, if you have lost several valuable queens this season with this candy, the reason must be that the candy was cooked too much, or it may be due to the Peet cage, as I must say that I tind it too shallow, and on account of the tin it is too cold in March, April, and part of May. Well, friend Koot, I wish I were near you, as I would go and make the candy for you, and guarantee every queen you would send out, and you may rest assured that the $100 would be- not called lor. There is no greater pleasure for me than to be among my bees and in my orchard. By the way, I have been enjoying ripe peaches since the 2.5th of May, and I wish you were closer to us, friend Boot, as I would have the pleasure of sharing the peaches with you, and also several varieties of plums. Jime U(?(.— The above was written just after read- ing Gleanings and laid aside for the next day, and I think I did right in not sending at once, as I have since had two reports of dead queens. Yes, 5 report- ed dead to date; 2 were received very weak, and died next morning or during the night; in one, all the bees were alive but the queen; in another every thing was dead, and but 4 days in route; and in another every thing was dead, and 14 days in route. This is a little over 1 per cent, as so far nearly 400 queens have been mailed. Now, this is from all those I have heard from; but I have mailed many queens, not included above, since a week, not yet heard from. I did not write the above for publication, but you may speak of my loss of 5 queens, as those having received the dead queens may think it strange that I leave every one under the impression that I lost no queens. P. L. Viallon. Bayou Goula, La., June 6, 1881. Many thanks, friend \ .. tor your valuable items, as well as for the otter of the peaches. I believe we all know you are one who is working for the good of the people, and we shall call the candy by your name, even if you will not accept any thing more. If you will excuse me for reverting to it once more, 1 would say that I did use liour, and aban- doned it because I got an idea that it, like pollen, rather disposed the bees, when con- tined, to dysentery. The queens you have sent us came to hand in such excellent trim, that I have remailed a great number, with- out even introducing them, and I believe all have gone on right. A lot of tive are now near me', from which the address got torn off. and they came back to us. but all lively and in excellent trim. Your candy is cer- tainly a wonderful improvement for queens; but for pounds of bees, we must have the water-bottles also. With a bottle in every section, we have had most excellent success; but when I tried using only one bottle in a cage, losses commenced at once. Can we not ascertain why you lost the few queens j-ou have mentioned lately? Your cage is an excellent one, only that it does not admit of being used on thV comb, like tlie I'eet c?.ge. ^ i>i ^ FKIEND Bl TTL.ER-S mSHAP, .\ND IIOAV HE DID fiET MARISIED AFTER AI^Ij. SEQI'EL TO THE LITTLE STORV ON P. :U2, LAST NO. jP>^ INCE I wrote you in regard to that " nucleus," I l^i; was stung by some bees, and, thinking per- '-^ haps you might be amused by reading some of the newspaper accounts, 1 will send you one taken from the Chicago Times, June 1.'), which paper is somewhat mistaken, as you will see by this note: WHY HK l)U«N 1 C.KT MARRIED. Uloomixgtox. 111., June U.— Tlioma.s Butler, of this city, was to lia\e been uiaivieil this evening-, but tliis afternoon acei - dentally overturned a hive of bees, and was nearly stunjf lx> tleath. ' He is in a dangerous eoudition. Isettleda swarmin the top of a tree in my yard, and had the limb cut off, and was coming down very carefully with the bees, when a limb gave way with me and the bees, and I'tried to see which could land on earth the quicker. I think from the number of bees that were mashed, that they fanded first. I wish you could have been near so you could have seen the performance, and you could have had car- toons for some time. My sister took nine stings out of my right ear, and I was stung in the face as badly. This was the 14th, the day I was married. At 13 o'clock I had both eyes closed, and at 6 p.m. I had them both open, and was married at 8. The number of stings I received was no more painful than one sting would be, and one sting does me no harm. The little "nucleus" is started, and is one of the happiest little colonies on earth. Thomas Butler. Bloomington, 111., June lit, 1881. — ^ igi ^ UNDER THE BOX-ELDERS. ^T was one of the beautiful mornings of the last Jt|[ days of April, when, as we were passing the — ' residence of our cheery friend Duster, we saw that he had at last set out his bees, and he himself standing among the hives. We were quite anxious to know how his bees had wintered, so we opened the gate, and joined him at once. Friend Duster was evidently in a deep reverie, and a pleasant one too, for a smile was on his lips, and his whole face fairly beamed %vith happiness and satisfaction. Our somewhat noisy morning greeting was the first he seemed to know of our presence. Pointing down the valley where the Inlet, a small sparkling stream of water dodges in and out, its crooked way traced by the large willows overhanging its banks,— "See," said he; "was there ever a picture more beautiful than that? I can hardly realize" (and he went on in a sort of musing way; " the change of two weeks when this scene was white — covered with snow. The finger of the great Unseen" (and here he revereiitially raised his hat) " has touched the earth, and the grass springs forth; the trees, and they bud and blossom. To me, this morning, so sudden has it all come, it is a transfiguration, and I bow before its power and beauty. The very air is almost oppressive with fragrance; 'tis the breath of 3S4 GLEANINGS IN I3EE CULTURE. Atfo, spring; new life: spring is here!" And we clasped hands in congratulations. "Well, you want to know how my bees have wintered? I got them out the ICth of April; had no tly for KiO odd days; have lost one hive by starvation; the others, as you see, are all in good condition, and many of them quite strong. I gave them rj'e meal for two days, and then they commenced to bring in pollen — the soft- maple first. It lasted about three days. Next the bi)x-elders were roaring with them for four or live days, and then the willows took their turn. I tell you," said Mr. Duster, "everything is just 'boom- ing,' and the very trees are bound to take a hand in; and if we bee-keepers only take time by the forelock — keep pace with this rush of things, we shall reap our reward. Spring has been a little tardy, and, to meet Summer at the appointed time and place, dress- ed in all her beautiful garments, and bringing her usual and matchless gifts with her, she is hurrying and will hurry on to the tryst ; will be on time, and he who heeds the unmistakable signs — gets his hive- boxes and cans ready— will reap a satisfactory har- vest. "I see you are in a hurry," said Mr. Duster; "but before you go I wish to express my sympathy through you to friend Novice jn his loss, not in bees only, but it will unsettle him so in regard to the way of wintering them. He's got lots of pluck and perseverance; tell him to put in a chunk of faith- enough to stiffen the batch (and I confess it wants to be made pretty stiff after the experience of last winter), and all will be well yet. One thing more, and I'm done. Tell him to lay aside ne.xt fall his enamel-cloth covers, and put on straw mats directly over the bees (and sides too it he likes), then cover with chaff or fine dry leaves, and, my word for it, he will see next spring brighter combs generally than he ever saw before. And, please, don't forget it." K. H. Melt.en. Anibny-on-Inlet, 111., June 18, 1881. SECTIONS ON IN AVINTER, AGAIN. ARE WE AT FAULT TN THE M.4.TTER OF VENTILATION? fHERE seems to be quite an inquiry as to the propriety of leaving sections or boxes on the ' hives all winter. I have never had any e.xpe- rienco in my own apiary, but have seen it tried in others year after year with apparently good results. An uncle of mine, Mr. J. S. Phillips, an old bee-keep- er of 30 years' experience, has practiced it for some time; and as he lives just "across the corner" from us, we have had an opportunity to note how the thing works. Until within a few years he has been a bee-keeper of the old school, and kept his bees in box hives, getting his surplus in boxes holding 10 or 13 lbs., placed over holes in top of the hive. At the close of the honey season, the boxes were taken and emptied, and returned again to their place on top of the hive, and there left all winter, being held in place by a large stone or heavy piece of iron. This has been his practice for a considerable period, and I have observed that (with but one or two excep- tions) he has iiever lost a colony that had plenty of honey to carry them through. Later, he became a convert to the new system of bee-keeping, using movable-frame hives, and obtained his surplus hon- ey in four small boxes placed over slats in the hon- ey-board. In the fall thej' were emptied and re^ turned to their places, and the bees were left alone. to live or die as they chose. As before, all win- tered well (that were not short of stores) for several years; but i;i the fall of 1879 he came to the conclu- sion, that if it paid others to protect their bees it would him; and so, suiting the act to the thought, he moved them together and covered them with corn-stalks. As you will remember, the winter was an unusually mild one; the bees became very rest- less, and what did not die outright came out very weak in the spring of 1880; and as the season was a very poor one they did not cast any swarms, but were generally strong, and had plenty of stores last fall. This time he thought he would try chaff. Well, the upshot of it all was, that he found himself minus bees when Shawondasse (the south wind) paid us his accustomed visit. Now, I do not pretend to say that the empty boxes saved them, or the pack- ing killed them ; but we would say it had some thing to do with it. I have given you the facts just as they are; but, as I said before, I never tried it in my own apiary. It did not seem reasonable, so 1 dared not try it: but, Providence permitting, I shall try the plan with a part of my bees this next winter, and will report results. F. L. Wkight. Plainliold, Liv. Co., Mich., June 28, 1881. IIAYHURST'S TEA-PARTV. ALSO SOME THING ABOUT CYPRIAN BEES. ^I^D. GLEANINGS:-Availiug myself of friend 1^1 Hayhurst's invitation, I recently found my- self at his hospitable mansion. After paying proper respects to his lady and late winter " queen" who still keeps on piping, I repaired to his apiary. I almost believe he has got "Root on the brain," for he tries almost everything recommended in Glean- ings. I might except sawdust for bottom-boards, but scarcely any thing else. At one time he had a grapevine on the west side of each hive, but he found it easier to raise grapes in some other locali- ty, and up came the vines. He thought he would increase the natural size of his bees by using found- ation with only twenty cells to the inch, and secured a puff in Gleanings for purchasing, at one time, 100 lbs. of foundation. The bees hatched in the cells were indeed somewhat increased in size, but they all happened to be drones, and he speedily had nearly 100 lbs. of beeswax to sell. He adopted the chaff hive exactly as recommended in Gleanings, and certain- ly has a fine lot of them well filled with bees and honey. As he lost no bees to speak of last winter, he throws up his hat for the chaff hive, although every one of them cost him nearly four dollars. But what do you think I f()und him doing? Actu- ally killing drones, and from his imported Cyprian queen too— from the identical queen that he paid Jones .«I6.00 for last fall ! " What are you doing that for?" said I. "The rascals sting so," said he. "I shall deslroy every Cyprian drone in my apiary to-morrow." CYPRIAN bees. Very beautiful are Hayhurst's Cyprian bees. The queens are immensely prolific, and the bees great honey-gatherers. Remove the queen from the hive, and the bees start a great number of queen-cells. We counted upward of 70 in a single hive. Then the queens are very warlike, and will tight each other to the death in less than two minutes after hatching. This necessitates a separate cage for each cell, and then the nucleus from which a laying queen has just 18S1 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. S85 been shipped, in about four cases out of five, will kill a young virgin queen as soon as introduced, and probably the same day a fertile worker will usurp the place of a genuine queen, and render subsequent efforts to supply said nucleus with a queen useless. But when a queen is safely introduced she flies from the hive about the fifth day, and repeats the excur- sion nearly every day for a week or more before she returns fertilized, and about two-thirds or three- fourths of them get lost during this ceremony. Then the Cyprians arc undoubtedly hardy— perfect- ly impervious to smoke, bell-ringing, and all such foolishness. In order to get them to gorge them- selves sufficiently to obtain a pound for shipment, it is actually necessary to kick over a hive; and then Hayhiu'St says they will find a smaller hole in a pair of pants than any insect he ever saw. Several times they have not only driven him into the honey-house, but out of that and through the yard Into his cellar. Subjugation is ne.xt to impossible, and coaxing not much better. He rais'ed a frame, well covereil with bees, very carefully; got them in proper position above his trap, thinking to secure half a pound at least; gave them the important shake, and, presto ! every bee went into the air, " zip!" "I'll sell that imported Cyprian queen for half price, and throw in all her progenj', if anybody can catch them," said he. He wanted me to take some of the queen-cells home and rear them for experiment : but about this time his confounded Cyprians had found my horse, more than 200 yards distant, and were paying unappreciated respects to him. I concluded not to wait for cells, and the unusual activity of my horse about this time soon removed me from the vicinity of Hayhurst and his Cyprians. S. W. 8.4LISBURY. Kansas City, Mo., June 27, 1881. -^ ••• ^ MRS. liUCINDA HARRISON ON GRAPE SUGAR. ^IRIEND BOOT: -I extend unto you my right jlH J^~ in token of approval of your present po- — ' sition on that vexed glucose question. Your former one was always a sore trial to nie, for I was fearful that the tnonci) that was in it, so warped your better judgment that you could not see It in its true light. When ynu invoked the blessing of Heaven upon the Buffalo Sugar Co., it was a dose too great for me to swallow; and the longer I chewed, the bigger it got. Hamlin, who is the principal member of the Buffa- lo Co., has large works here (Peoria, 111.), and has re- cently purchased an extensive tract of land in the vicinity of I)es Moines, Iowa, to erect glucose works there. He has acres upon acres of lime-kilns to manufacture that compound for his manufactories. He knows no God and no Sabbath. His employees are not freemen, but slaves, compelled to work ev- ery day in the year, with the eye of a watchman up- on them lest they cease from their toil, and watch- men over watchmen, with small wages; and when he walks through his vast works, an armed guard protects him. The smoke from those vast chimneys never ceases, nor does the deadly waste that pours into our magnificent river, to be the certain death of the finny tribe. The fumes that are wafted over our city, from the boiling vats of corn starch, con- taining deadly chemicals, can be compared to noth- ing else than to pens where a million pigs are kept and fed on distillery .slops. We who have braved the privations of frontier life to obtain a home have no redress — for there are millions in it. Car-load upon car-load of lime, nitric and sulphuric acid, are daily used in the manufacture of glucose. There have been syrups sold in this city that have eaten a hole in a table-cloth I This company have bought chemi.^t!s as well as nitric and sulphuric acid. But the people are awakening. They are inquir- ing why they feel so strangely after eating sugar and syrup, and what makes the little one's lips bo black, as if it had been licking the ink-bottle after its meal of bread and syrup — clear as honey. Brother Root, j'ou are a busy man, I know; but take time, and if you can't get time on a week day, do it on Sunday. Tie up your handkerchief full of your best Buffalo sugar; sit down bj' a pail of water, and wash it; and when you are through, tell us what you have left, and whether the water is sweet or not, — and what kind of stuff is left in your hand- kerchief. Be candid, and tell us all about it, if it does hurt worse than any bee-sting you ever had; and whether you would like to give it to Blue Eyes or the baby to eat. I can not call down the blessing of Heaven upon the Buffalo Co. ; but may Almighty God bless good father Langstroth, and continue unto him the use of his mental powers ! May he long stand upon the watch-towers of this great industry, that he has giv- en his lifetime to promote, and run up the signals of alarm in full view of his hec children, warning them of the vagaries of such impulsive persons as A. I. Root and— Mrs. L. H.\hkison. Peoria, 111., July, 1881. Many thanks, my good friend, for the facts you have given us. I sliould have suggested that you were going as much one way as I did tlie other ; but as you close by putting you and my poor self both in the same cate- gory, I guess I won't say much. The things you speak of are of course awful ; but are you sure all sugar refineries do not present some thing of the same state of affairs, both in the way of chemicals and a disregard for the immortal souls of the employees V Are you not going a little on the same strain j^oit did when you denounced comb fotnidation and all who made and recommended it, a few months ago ? Begging your pardon, my kind good friend, while we are in the way of confessing our mistakes, would it not be well for you to recall some of those hard ex- pressions you used there, to the effect that it was all done for the sake of the money that could be made at it? Most heartily do I join hands with you in all you say of our good friend JVIr. Langstroth. In fact, I can join hands with you in the spirit of all you write. DON'T DISTURR THE REES AFTER COIiD AVEATHER. AN IDEA IX REGARD TO THE MATTER OF LEAVING THE SECTIONS ON ALL WINTER. fHAVE just been reading your May No., and I have an idea in my head why some have good — ' success in wintering bees with sections on, and others don't, and why so many fail in wintering in any of the common ways some years, and other years winter successfully, and why one swarm win- ters well, and another, treated just the same, dies. 3S(i GLEANINGS IN J3EE CULTURE. Ar(i. The ililTerciicc is this: We overhaul our lices too late ill the season, and it comes on cold, and they don't have a chance to plaster up with propolis and make it tight, wbile another, perhaps fixed up one or two days before, had an opportunity to work a day or two and patch up. I've noticed, in opening hives the first time in spring, where the duck or enameled cloth was stuck down so firm I could hard- ly pull if off, there were no signs of dysentery, but every thing clean and bright — bees lively and strong; but where the cloth was not stuck down to the top of frames they would be all blacked up, and smell badlj'. Now, I think when they have it tight, as nature teaches them to do, they don't consume as nmch honey to keep warm, and will go a much lon- ger time without a fly than in the other case. I lost ;> swarms out of 14 the past winter; one of them 1 neglected to make passages for through the comb, and they starved with plenty of honey on the other side of the hive. One had dysentery, one spring dwindling. The rest are doing finely. I extracted 50 lbs. of apple-blossom honey last week, which was very nice. They just commenced on red raspberry, of which we have -t acres of the Brandywine. Now, Mr. Editor, please call for proof of my idea, and see if those who wintered successfully with sections on were not those who did not touch them after the honey season was over; while those who lost them fixed them up late, and broke the propolis all up, which they failed to repair, and consequently lived in a draft of cold air as long as their bee nature could stand it, and then gave rip the ghost. W.D. Hinds. Townsend, Middlesex Co., Mass., June 16, 1881. jVIy ex])enence has been very much like yours, friend II., and I can not remember having a liive well waxed up with propolis, and filled with honey clear down to the corners of the combs, but that wintered well. Since you speak of it, I recall that our bees had such good care last winter that we opened and examined each hive at every mild spell during the winter. ^Vt the lirst exam- ination, about Christmas we were congratu- lating ourselves that they were keeping splendidly; but from that time on they seemed to go down. AVho can tell us more about making them wax up every thing sol- id, and then letting them be until Mav? THE BEES OF INDIA. BY ONE OK OUR MISSIONARY BROTHERS. ^l^jRO. ROOT:— You have spoken of wanting to fH}^ know about bees in India, so I am going to tell you what I know, which will not take long, as I am not well posted in " Beeology." I have seen three varieties of bees here. The most com- mon is the smallest variety, a specimen of which I Inclose. I do not know in what condition he will reach you, bul his size was that of the figure marked when he started on his journey. This variety hang their combs on trees and bushes in the open air. In \ith than with- out them, either empty or partly filled. On account of the respiration, the accumulatinj,'- moisture ema- nating- from bees requires an absorbent to prevent frost and ice in the upper part of the hive. I once thought that bees stowed away water for winter use, and that freeznig ruptured the cells, and wtiere moderate weather occurred the water escaped from the entrance; but now we know the cause and the remedy — this moisture should escape or be ab- sorbed. Nothing answers so well as the dead-air space in the sections and the absorbent surface of the sections themselves. In bo.v hives, surplus boxes answered the same end. Yon use sawdust, chaff, blankets, etc.; we use dry leaves, cotton seed, etc., but every thing used by me can not be compared to sections covered with the quilt, and a close cap. The bees close every aperture with propolis, and the air heated bj' the warm temperature of the bees occupies the sections while the moisture arising is absorbed by the sections, keeping the interior of the hive dry, and free fri)m frost during our fluctu- ating winters. in connection with this subject, I I'eluctantly ex- press the belief, that the great mortality of bees in our Northern States, is owing in part to the manage- ment in winter. Your boe-raisers ha\e been reared and educated in the belief of a bee-house, or a bee- cellar, as a neccssit J' to bee-keeping in winter. Now a man in this latitude "can't see it." I don't believe it is the better plan. Moderate weather does some- times supervene in your country, and bees should have free access to the air to disgorge their over- loaded fiscal organs; their instinct impels a quick return to the hive. Where they are in a torpor from cnld, the secretive functions are sluggish, and the bees will bear a long conlinement. Look at na- ture. Where bees are found in the woods, if the en- trance to the ca\ ity is above the combs and brood- nest, they have upward ventilation; if below the mass of bees, they sometimes perish from cold, while those in the former condition are strong and populous. Acting upon this principle years ago, I arranged some of my box hives on this plan, bj- giv- ing an entrance I't inches in cap of hive, and no en- trance below. This was upward ventilation. Every warm day all the bees piled out on top, and I had to give a lower entrance for the summer. This aper- ture In the upper part of the hive only admitted up- ward ^•entilation, and the bees could not drive the air through the hive with their wings, as they do in low ventilation. As cold weather approached, I closed the lower and opened the upper entrance in the hive to accustom the bees to it, befox'c winter, there being danger that they would return to the lower place, and perish frum cold. In winter this acted like a charm, those colonies were active all the pleasant weather in winter, and in spring were the strongest, and swarmed first. There was a les- son taught by nature, and based in philosophy. Now, Mr. Editor, will you experiment on one of your strong colonies? Do thus: Bore an inch auger- hole near one corner, through the cap, quilt, and sec- tions, to give a free access of air to the bees; close every aperture below in the fall, in time to teach the bees the way to upper entrance, so that no bees are lost by going to lower place, where they fly. Leave the hive on the summer stand with shelter to keep ants, rain, and snow from the entrance. All these conditions complied with, if you lose the hive send me bill for damages, and I will pay. The basis of wintering bees in your country is upward venti- lation and summer stands I verily believe. Council Bend, Ark. Geo. B. Pkters. Friend P., your idea about closing the summer entrance entirely, and having a winter entrance, is by no means new, for it is given in Mr. Langstroth's book, one of the oldest editions ; but if I am correct, Mr. L. afterward abandoned it. Friend Hill, of Mt. Healthy, O.. who has had such wonder- ful success in wintering, used to close the lower entrance, and give only an upper one,, and he may do it yet for aught I know. Hi's plan of preparing his hives for winter was given in our back volumes, with a cut of the plan of his apiary. ^Vill friend l.iang-' stroth please tell us about upper winter en- trances? To be sure, I will try a hive as you say, friend Peters. By taking the wire cloth from the ventilating holes in the chaff-hive cover, Ave have an excellent winter entrance. And a hole through the center of the enam- eled sheet, with the rest all waxed up tight, would be just about the thing, as it seems to me. If the upper story were then filled with forest leaves, it seems to me we should have just about the thing. I have wintered hives in something this way, and the hole through the honey, bored right over the cluster, would be tilled with live bees looking as happy and contented as could be. even during zero winter weather. If a chance comes for them to take a liy. no dead bees can clog their entrance, and snow would be likely to impede their egress on the outside. Why, what is to hinder having a chaff hive without any entrance at all, ex- cept up through the cover, as I have men- tioned? Only yesterday, during our great basswood yield, while '^ opening hives the bees would come up and ottt at the top in great numbers, and sally off to the (ields as if they enjoyed this short cut. \\'ho will tell what is to hinder having a top entrance all the year round? Do you fear they could not drag out dead bees, etc.? Well, perhaps they would never have any to drag out. Who knows? The Cyprian q leen, mentioned on another page, whose bees so tried the patience of the veteran bee- man, friend Hayhurgt, is now in our own apiary. She came with a pound of bees, and I believe there was not a dead bee in the package. Friend H. knows how to ship bees, if he don't get along Avith Cyprians. The bees arc a trifle excitable and fldgetty, but it is no very hard matter to handle them by following directions friend Benton has given in former num- bers. If we ha'd a colony of 8 or 10 lbs. of Hying bees, of this stripe, very likely I should have my hands full (possilily hair, too), in trying to handle them. I am glad to be able to say, that all Cyprians do not have this peculiarity, for those we had last season were as gentle as any Italians we ever had in the yard. Those that went into the apiary of neighbor H. were more like Hayhurst's. 388 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Aug. FRIEND BUIT TON'S BEE-KEEPING. AS NAKRATEU BY HIS BOY. FAPA took the boe fever last year, and ia July bought a colony <>f hylirids, which we divided, — Then pa and I each bought a hive of Mr. Tom- kins, who has mighty nice Italian bees. He also made papa a present of an Italian queen, which we put into one of our hybrid colonies. MOVING BEES IN THE SAME YARD. We had to move the two hybrid colonies to an- other part of the yard, to g'et them ready for win- ter. We moved both hives at the same time, moving them about a foot and a half to two feet every night. Was that right? or tell us, please, just how far to move at one time, and how often. We noticed when we moved the bees, that those in the last hive were lighting all the time. We first thought they were robbing; but it at last struck us that it was the bees from the first stand, trying to get into the second. We just let them alone, for we didn't know what to do. What ought we to have done? Consequently, when we got them where we wanted them, they were very weak. So we went into the winter with two weak hybrid hives and two strong Italian hives. I forgot to say, that papa and I went into partner- ship — I as one-fourth partner. We built a house all around the stands, flUing ia tightly with straw, and putting chaff bags on top. How far apart ought you put your hives for wintering? When we opened thorn this spring, both hybrids were dead. One had plenty of stores, the other had none. Papa then bought two stands of black bees in place of those that died. We immediately got queen-celh from a friend whom we knew had pure bees; took the heads off the black queens, and put the cells in there, and also started a nucleus, right Jn the midst of the honey season. That was not right, was it? We got no honey from the black bees, but got about 130 lbs. of extracted honey from the two hi^•es we got of Mr. Tomkins. The nucleus fills up nine frames now; the queen in it is the poor- est of the three we raised. The other two filled up their hi^•es with brood nicely. The brood is just hatching this last week, and they are just as pure as they can be. I will tell you a few funny things now. When we first began looking at the bees, I thought I saw some capped brood, and told papa so; he said not, for he had just looked at them and it was capped honey. I said it was, and was told not to contradict my father — he Imcw. Well, one day wo were looking at the hive together, and I said, " There! that is what I call capped brood." He looked at it, and said no. I said I'd bet it was. He said he Inicw, and there was no use to say any thing more about it. Well, I took a pin and un- capped one and showed it to him, and sure enough, it H'rts brood. He didn't say any thing, but I'll bet he felt cheap. When we made our nucleus, we just put in a couple of frames from our strongest hive, and shook the bees off a couple more from the cfthcr hives, but never thought to look for the queen. Well, the next day we went to look into it, when we saw the queen- cell torn down. We looked around, and there was the queen. Oh, we felt cheap! R. D. Bbitton. Wyoming, Ham. Co., O., July 10, 1881, Well, I declare, friend B., you have writ- ten a pretty good article. I hope you and your pa will always be •' partners,'' not only in the bee business, but in every thing else ; but I hope you will remember to speak to him and of him in a respectful way (because he is your father), even if he should be wrong and you right. — Moving bees one foot a day, or about that, is very apt to bring about just such differences as you describe; and. in fact, it is a pretty bad plan to move bees about in the same apiary, any Avay you can fix it. Put them where you want them, and there let them stay.— l' presume you both know capped brood from capped honey now, without resorting to picking it open with a pin. — You probably know, too, by experi- ence, that it is best to find the old queens be- fore you take bees from a hi\'e to make a nucleus. • ♦ > BEE CULTURE IN TEXAS. CHAl'F PACKING IN THE SOUTH, AGAIN. W' CLAIM to be the first man to introduce the mov- Jt|[ able-frame hive in this part of Texas, ye ars ago, — ' and have had the care of bees twenty-two years; yet lam only anABC scholarin thebee"biz." As formerly stated, I wintered 23 colonies; one died - starved. I had two black colonies which I did not count with the rest, unprotected during the winter, they dwindled badly, but have been built up to half- colonies, and heads are now off the queens; the Cy- prian queens have been in the hives just 2S days to- day, and things are quite different with hive full of young bees. Let us go back and say, we live 200 miles nearer the north pole than our Austin brother. We had several zero spells; snow-storms, eight or ten; ice five inches thick. I had a nice swarm the 25th of 3Iarch, and bees were doing well; but about 1st of April they began slaying their drones, and in five days not a drone was left, inside or outside, in cell or anywhere else. Capped queen-cells were torn down, queens stopped laying, not a drop of honey to be had in the fields, with every hive full to overflowing with bees; honey rapidly disappears from the hives, and I am compelled to feed a little to keep out of Blasted Hopes. About the 10th of April the willows bloomed; on the 13th, in full bloom. The joj'ous hum was again heard, and the bees fairly poured out and in; farmers are busy plowing corn and planting cotton. What is that yonder in the north? A cold " blizzard." It comes at the rate of 35 miles per hour, ice cold. I walk down to the wil- low pond iind find at least 15 lbs. or more of bees hanging to the willows, stiff with cold. These pass awaj' like my peaches, apples, and other fruit, to en- rich mother earth. For the next ten days I thought I would give it up; but $3.00 worth of sugar brings them up to prickly ash and ratan bloom. April 24th to first week in May I had to use the extractor to give the queen room. I sold 3 colonies for $37.50, and had just twenty, all told, left, including the March swarm to begin. May 1st I commenced to raise my queens, and had good luck. I now have 40 full colonies, six nuclei with queens; sold 8 queens, two tested (raised 1880), and have on hand 1000 lbs. of mint honey, and still the flow continues. I attribute my success to my winter protection, as I did not re- move the packing until the middle of April, and some hives until May. I kept my hives full of bees all the time. I have one colony which I have divid- 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. ;:589 ed six times, and it is now full. I will tell j'ou how I increase so fast. I put full stories over strong stocks, and give them fdn.; in two days this is drawn out ready for the queens to lay. I now divide upper and lower stories equally, making two hives, having t he old hi ve on the same stand. I no w go to my two- frame nucleus, and get a queen, and just let her crawl right into the qucenless hive; in a few min- utes I look through to see if the queen is all right. I have lost only one out of 20 or more, and I sa^'e by this plan, in one month, on 'M colonies, about 5 good strong colonies. If you buy your queens you had better not do this, or you might lose your dollar. If horsemint will do as well as it has this j'ear, and could only last a couple of weeks longer, we could all have honey. As I have received many letters in regard to this State for honey, I will say, portions of it can not be beat. On Chambers' Creek, in Ellis Co., Dees do well nearly every year. Plenty of basswood in Leon, Houston, Henderson, and nearly all the eastern counties. I had a pleasant visit from Dan'l Kcepler, Napoleon, O., net long since. , B. F. Carkoll. Dresden, Tex., June 10, 1881. TKIAI^S IN QUEEN-REARING. fjlRIEND NOVICE:— I am having so many strange freaks in queen-rearing, that I have conclud- "^ ed to report, and ask if others are having such fun. Mrs. L. Harrison writes me for queens, and says, "Something is taking my young queens when they fly out to mate." I have had so much of this kind of "biz," that it is worrying me. I lost 5 out of 1 in the fore part of the last week in June, and have lost such a large per cent in this way, that I dare not promise queens until I have them laying. Have lost two in succession from ditferent nuclei. This cuts a " feller's " nose off pretty fast, as he can test a queen while he is getting one mated. Where ray heaviest losses occur, the nuclei are from 13 to 20 feet apart, some facing east, some west, and some south. Two days ago I opened a hive containing a cell, and found a young queen in a ball of bees. As soon as released she flew and alighted in the hive again. There was but one young queen in that part of the yard, and thinking she had come out and made a mistake in going back, I carried her to her supposed hive and released her again. She flew, and was seen .no more. Further examinations showed that no queen was missing. Where did she come from? A colony cast a swarm. The next day, I took a laying queen and dropped her in the old hive; but the bees did not treat her just right, so I put her in a small cage and left her. Next day, I tore down the cells and tried her again; but the bees did not act right, so I put her in a Pcet cage, on a comb, and waited another day, when I found her iu the cage with quite a number of bees; but all was quiet. I loosed the cage a little and shut up the hive. The same day that I took her from the nuclevis I put a hatching cell in her place, and the young queen was accepted. The next morning, after looking at the queen in the cage. I saw the young queen and sev- eral bees, all dead at the entrance of the nucleus. Looking for the cause, I found the old lady there as quiet as if nothing had been going on. I have one colony with two queens — a mother and daughter. The old lady is not doing a very big busi- ness; perhaps 24 eggs per day. We have had too much rain for a good honey yield. Basswood is over, and but little honey from it. Bees are gaining but little now, as clover is past its heaviest bloom. S. A. Shuck. Bryant, Fulton Co., 111., July 13, 1881. There may be kiiiK-birds or bee-martins that take oft" your queens, friend S. ; but I hardly think there is any thing annss so bad as that. Once in awhile our (jueens seem to get lost badly, and again every thing will go on all right, and almost none will be lost.' Stick to it, and be assured you will get the upper hand of the difficulties event- ually. It is alwavs a little risky, moving a (lueen from one hive to another iu the same apiary. They often step out and go home. ^VINTERING WITHOUT POLLEN. FRIEND LANE'S IDEAS ON THE M.A.TTER. fDO not think, after all the reports that we have from veterans and all, that we have found the — ' road to successful wintering; but I think that we are approaching it. I have been experimenting on a small scale for the three past winters. I will say right here that I always pack my bees in chaff on summer stands (the more chaff the better.) I find that the bees usually store more pollen around the last brood in the fall (if they can get it) than at any other season, filling the cell? three-fourths full, flnishing with honey when the brood has hatched and cold weather approaches; they use this empty space to cluster on, uncapping and using the honey; by the second week in January they have this all un- capped; about this time the queen commences to lay. If the winter is mild, the bees will use aU this uncapped pollen to start brood-rearing; if very cold, they have to consume it themselves; the result is sickness and death, and the colder and damper the interior of the hive, the more fatal the sickness. The plan is, remove those pollen sheets and replace them with solid combs of honey (I prefer buckwheat and blackheart honey for this purpose.) In the spring, say as soon as bees will work on flour in the open air, give them a comb containing an abundance of pollen on each side of cluster, and note the result of this plan of wintering. Friends, please try a few colonies this winter on the above plan, and report the result. My opinion is, that this is the long-looked-for secret in wintering bees. S. H. Lane. Whitestown, Boone Co., Indiana, July 15, 1881. Our friend D. A. Jones reports, in the A. B. J. for July 13th, that his losses during the past winter were comparatively small. As nearly as I can get at it, he had between six and seven hundred colonies. APIS uor:<.4ta found at last. In the same No. of the A. B. J. mentioned above, we have a letter of almost romantic, thrilling inter- est, detailing how friend Benton has at last found and captured swarms of Apis dorsata. Were it not for its length, I should like to give it. He does not at present report favorably in regard to them as honey -gatherers. Strangely enough, the Youth'x Comiianidn for Julylith also gives an account of the methods of capturing Apis dorsata, with an en- graving of the way in which the natives hunt and capture them, mainly for the wax, throwing the honey away. This was as far back as in 1857. Both descriptions of the way the bees build on limbs, etc., agree substantially. Hno GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Aug. UNFAIRNESS. ILLUSTRATEII BY "LITTLE STORIES." fplE following is from tlie Bci-Kcepa'''s Guide, of July. Friend Jlill, as you ob- — ' serve, begins by copying a paragraph from our price list, II yon lairchase only half a pouiul of bt'es with yourqueen ami Inin them loose on one or two of you)' brood combs, when re- ef'iveSTIN<>i. I INCLOSE an article which attracted my notice this morning, and I send it for your considera- tion and comments in a subseoison seemed to (extend all over his body, swellini;- it frreatly. Last iduht he became deliricnis, and so continued until this eveniny. when he clieil. The syniii touts were said to be like those resultini^ from a rattlcsnaki-'s bite. The physicians a.s.scrt this is the lirst case of death from the sting of a bee. Mr. ^'ouiiK was a man of powerful physique. The physicans are mistaken in thinking this is the first case of death resulting from l)ee-stings. There are quite a number of them on record. In making this statement, I hope no one Avill be frightened, for Ave are to bear in mind, that, although great num- bers of people are killed almost constantly l)y the use of horses, no one, so far as I know, has ever thought of discarding them as do- mestic animals, on that account. Most cases of bee-stings result from suffocation caused by the swelling, l^erhaps mauy lives might 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 391 have been saved had the friends kept open the breathing-passage to the windpipe, by mechanical means. I would suggest the use of the handle of a silver spoon for this purpose, or, perhaps, two spoons used in the same way. The swelling usually goes down in a short time. Can our medical friends suggest any thing better to be done, where the breath threatens to be stopped? tmbuQt I?ei'taliiiiig to Bee Culture. We n/spfctfiiUv solicit tlic niil of our fiifiuls in (.•oniliirtiiig this (Icpartiiiciil. and wc.ulil ci.nsidcr it a favor lo liavi- tlii-m sfiiil us all ciriMilars that have a dprcjitivc apiicaiatii-c. The li'roatest care will be at all times maintained to prevent injustice being: done any one. fJjHERE Is a man hpre claiming to have a patent on the N. C. MitcheU adjustable bee-hive. He ""^ claims that no other person has the right to use any division-board except by buying a farm right. Is it so, or is it not so? L. E. Miller. Honey Grove, Fannin Co., Tex., May 16, 1881. Had you read Gleanings; friend M.. you would have known this is an old, old sivi)i- dk. ^litchell has l)een for years published as a liumbug. I sent N. C. Mitchell, of Indianapolis, Ind., an order and five dollars for one of his Italian queen bees, model hive, farm right, etc. It has been two months, and he has not sent me the bee yet. As he knows so much about you, I guess you iinow some thing of him. Please let me know what you think of him. I expect to patronize you soon, as N. C. Mitchell will not do. M. C. DOHMOiV. WiUiamsville, S. C , July 2, 1881. I told our readers, years ago, that money sent JNlitchell was, as far as I knew, like pour- ing water into a tunnel. It was gone, the minute it was out of your hands. 1 am sor- ry to say he is in the ''tunnel business" still, judging by the reports we have given almost monthly, of those who have sent him money. Two years ago I happened to get hold of some of N. C Mitchell's writings. I thought he was .just the man I wanted. He claimed to be a heavy dealer in Italian bees; so myself and a neighbor concluded to send for the Italian bees, because wo wanted them badly. So we sent an order of .f u'H.OO, and never re- ceived a single bee, nor do we c\er e.vpect to. This is the way I have been rol^bed by N. C. Mitchell, of Indianapolis, Indiana. Peteh Shokm.vkkk. (fichrantou, Crawford Co , Pa . June 10, 1><81. Mitchell's customers curse him loud and strong. One of the (jueens I order is for a man his agent "sold." Casper Kettering. Apollo, Pa., June 22, 1881. STARTERS FULl. SIXE OF THE HONEV BOXES. ETC. *i^Ji?Y bees commenced swarming on the 1st of jl'M'IJ this month. The honey tiow has been good; ' some hives have stored as much as 50 lbs. since the middle of April, chiefly from honey-dew, red clover, and hoarhound. The latter I consider a splendid honey-plant. It commences to bloom about the middle of May, and with favorable weather will continue until frost. If I were making bee-keeping a specialty (which I may do some day), I would plant a piece of ground with it; however, I would not advise farmers to get it on their place, as the burrs get in the wool of sheep. It will grow on almost any ground; but it is hard to eradicate from the soil, as it completely takes possession of it. My experience is that it don't pay to use starters much less than full size for boxes. Last year I did not get one section out of 3D0 full enough for sale; starters were about ivj inches wide. This year, hav- ing a lot of TO combs, I thought that I would try an- other plan. Last year I had the top story filled with sections. 1 put 7 combs and two frames of sections below, and four combs and four sections above. You see, I was intent on having the honey oneway or the other. One swarm put most of the honey in sec- tions; the other in the frames. I hived one colony in a chaff hive, and on the 1st day of June gave them four combs below and four frames of sections, one of which contained some comb; also another con- tained a starter almost full size. Now, thebees filled the one containing the comb on one side; and on the other side they passed right by the one containing narrow starters, to the outside one containing start- ers full size. On examining them a few days after- ward, I found the other two frames entirely neg- lected, so I got more frames of sections, took out the narrow starters, and put in nearly full-sized ones, lacking but 'i inch of touching the bottom. I raised the two filled sections, placed them in the middle of the hive, the other on each side, and put three more empty combs below. At this date they are working on about 40 sections. All of this fdn. is of your make, one year old. H. T. Hagen. DeSoto, Jefferson Co., Mo., June 12, 1881. t m WMY PLANTS TO BE NAMED. ILE.X DAHOON. SEND, by to-day's mail, a small package of flowers, twigs, and leaves, of a tree that grows her(^ on the limestone glades. It grows about 20 or 30 feet high, and blooms about the tlrst of July, generally, or about the time white clover is out of bloom. It must be a splendid honey-bush, for the bees work on it from daylight till dark. They call it gimlet-bandle wood here. Please give the right name. You will see that the flowers arc not in full bloom yet. It lasts, generally, about two weeks or a little longer. Aug. Ghikfith. St. Mary, St. Gen. Co., Mo., June 10, 1881. The leaf of this tree is much like the ap- ple; but the blossom-lnids ar^ little round balls not much larger than pinheads, and they are clustered so closely right where tlie leaves started out, that 1 was tempted to think them eggs of insects. Prof. Ideal's reply below, however, settles the matter. This is Ilex DaliDon, Walt., a species of holly. The books give no common name. W. J. Be.\l. Agricultural College, Lansing, Mich. 392 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Arc WHY DID THEV DIE? ItY .I.VMES HEDDON. "CDiuf, let us reason together." flHIS case of last winter's depredations is one of such vast importance and interest lo us, that it will never come off the docket till the fate of next winter cniwdx it off. The reports of last season's successes and failures bear me out, at least to a g'reat extent, in my preconceived notions as to why our bees die during- winter. For some few years back I have felt .sure that the principal trouble was in the food, and so I wrote up- on the sub.ieet. Now I wish to appeal directly to the reason of each reader, and ask him this question: Is it not fair to suppose that this disas- trous result, whose phenomena are so universally alike, is caused by one and the same thing? What proportion of colonies in apiaries generally, do you suppose, would die during winter if there was no such a disease or effect as what we know by the name of bee dysentery? Now, the worthy object of each scientific searcher is to find the fdimr of this malady. I have declared that my experience and observation forced me to believe that the cause is in the food, in the form of an over-amount of animal or vegetable matter. I thought that perhaps it might be animal (bacterious), and threw out the hy- pothesis, to see what might come out of a philosoph- ical if not a mechanical research into the theoi'^. I always said I did not lamw that any such micrococus existed; I never said I really and fully believed it; but that, in our inttaite ignorance, why not guess at a cause, and then base our experiments upon that guess? I could sec no other way to get hold of the case. We were forced to commence at the outside, and work in to a center. I considered that bacteri- ous guess as the only one that would cover all the cases that had come within my knowledge, and con- sequently a good point to commence work at. Last winter, all of nine-tenths of the colonies of this whole region failed to survive the period of confine- ment. Of my own 196 colonies, 1 was presented with 122 subjects for post-mortem examination. I im- proved the opportunity to the best of my aliility, and have only just closed the work; and for the first time since I have kept bees I am iimc salisfinl (tx to tlif catiKC iif hcc ihjxeHhrn. What I suspected as the possible cause (as referred to on page 272 of June Gleanings), I now fully believe to be pollen. My former suspicions, that the trouble was wrapped up in the food, were correct; but that it is in the honej' I now do not believe. I place it in the adjoining cell, in the form of bee-bread. Upon this rock I shall stand, until forced by further proof to step down and off. I believe that all the results that have been made known, either by observation, experi- ence, or report, can be accounted for upon the pol- len theory. The kind of bee-bread, the amount, the quality of the honey, and consequent greater or less preference for it over bee-bread; the hardiness of either during our protracted cold spells, when the bees can move about but little to choose which they will feed upon, and, in fact, all conditions that cause the bees to consume bread instead of honey, will ac- count for the \ astly different results that we expe- rience, observe, and read about in different seasons and localities. I am of the opinion, that any process that will cause the bees to feed upon any honey that they may have in the hive, to the total avoidance of the bee-bread, will be the "open sesame" to success in wintering. I deem all the talk about "dampness," ' fall honej'," "ventilation," "holes throu^'h the combs," etc., as having only a slight bearing upon the cause at best, and a tendency to lead our minds from the rra^. cause. I can think ( f no greater sin than intentionally leading astray those of less expe- rience; so when we tliiiik that some one is being mis- led, however honestly so, it becomes a duty to put in our mite in what we hdicir the right direction, as viewed from our standpoint, whether the future should bear us out or not; and so the discussion goes on. These discussions arc not only of profit, but pleasure, because it is his argument, and not the man, that we combat. Our old friend and benefactor, Langstroth, has given his views upon our recent disasters, and I am compelled to say that my experience does not cor- roborate his conclusions. In regard to "spreading the combs," I supposed that the distance we placed our frames apart was taken from nature. I never discovered that combs in box hives were further apart than those in the Standard L. hive, except some drone pieces sometimes found in the extreme corners. But however that may be, I am unwilling to recognize box hives or hollows in trees to be our standard of successful wintering. This same dysen- tery cleans out trees and box hives wholesale, when- ever it visits us in its severity. Mr. Ferry had one left alive out of 85; Mr. Jenkins 1 out of tiS; all in box hives. I doubt not but holes in the combs would serve the purpose of giving the bees a better choice in food, and pro\e an adjunct to success; but as long as these holes of nil sorts (tio-lined) have long been advocated, owinv'- to the impracticability of the process, they are hardly ever used. I accomplish what 1 believe to be the same result,' and more completely, too, in the following manner. I put two little bows, thus: ' — - over the top of the hive, and the quilt and packing over them, and this 2-inch space gives the cluster a tine chance to work down between any of iheir 8 ranges of combs and honey, in the shallow 8-frame L. hives. We know that colonies fed with sugar are more apt to siu-vive. My idea is, that its superior sweetness, and addition to the amount of honey compared to the amount of bee-bread, induces the bees to partake of it only to the avoidance of the bread, as a rule. We know of cases, however, where stocks have died with the malady, fed all their liquid stores of sugar syrup. I believe that if, in addition to this, all bread had been removed, success would have been realized. Now, I do not wish to be understood as ignoring most of the modern appliances for the safer winter- ing of bees. Packing in boxes is good. Cellaring is good (some winters one is safer, and in others the other plan;) absorbents are also an aid; but that young bees, over-grown colonies, high board fences, the way the hive faces, and a dozen other such con- trivances, arc causes, or even potent adjuncts, to success, experience does not bear us out in be- lieving- I have just read the article of Mr. Grimm, "one who does winter bees." His first admonition, to supply each full colony with at least 2 five-pound combs of thick sealed honey ("if they need it"), would likely prove a great advantage to all well bee- breaded colonies. These combs would be filled with honey to the exclusion of bread. I suppose he world consider that they needed it, provided they 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 393 were light of honey, while I would sec the greatest need, if the colonies were heavy with bread. I be- lieve, however, that if colnnies are well supplied with honey, and the packin;,' so arranged that the stores are easy of access (thus allowing a choice be- tween honey and bread), and the whole protected against extreme cold, to take the chances, is, in the long run, the greatest economy. If they lack in honey, sugar syrup, properly prepared, or a mixture of syrup and honey from a voluminous feeder, is my preference for supplying the same. 1 tind It neither protitable nor pleasurable to open hives, or do aught that will excite bees to robbing, at any time when it can possibly be avoided. The opening of hives to insert combs will: the use of a good feed- er will not. The superseding of old queens by younger ones, I consider of no importance at this time of year. The less breeding the less bread is manipulated, and the less dysentery is the result. The cheapest and best way that a bee-keeper ever produced queens for his own use is in full colonies, very little varied from the plan of the old farmer, who lets the bees do it all themselves. I favor the late removal to the repository. In re- gard to the proper temperature, I have found that, in the same cellar, with all the conditions the same, ns far as irr ran detect, that in one winter my bees would remain most quiet at 42°, while in another at 34°. A change of 2 to 4° either way from these points in either of the respective winters would cause the bees to " scold." Wlni, I can not tell; but I lirraly believe the best temperature in each case was the one in which the bees kept most quiet. The description of Mr. G.'s cellar is interesting, and it strikes me as a good cellar. The way to keep the temperature down in a warm spell, is to put but 40 or .50 colonies in this cellar. Yes, I know that that makes more expensive hous- ing, but that leaves the facts regarding the temper- ature the same. I heartily agree with Mr. G. in re- gard to carrying out our bees to fly at once, and not in the night, etc., as advocated by some writers. I would add two points left out by him, and they are these: Place your colonies in their respective places in the cellar or house xo quictln tliry will nut know uf any removal. Instead of upward ventilation through open holes, place at least a light packing over the bees, the same as outdoors, only uncovered. Eo not forget that bees can not pass the combs and spaces for a free choice in stores, in a temperature of 42°, unless the space over the frames above referred to is given. I am glad that Mr. G. has read with confl- dence the disastrous reports of those who were pre- pared equally well with himself, which I infer from his remarks twice, " except the bees are sick with the dj'sentery." 1 very well know that all these pre- cautions, yes, even more and better perfected, will prove utterly futile in some localities during some winters. That Mr. G., and his father before him, have an exceptional locality for freedom from dys- entery, and for candied honey, has been my opinion for years. I have no doubt but that such a winter as last one would in its severity drive bees to dysen- tery, while those well housed would have it but lit- tle or none. This disease rages to such an extent in some places during certain periods, that all jirecau- tions and fa^■orable conditions that the master can command, prove of no benefit. Again, I have known cases where bees have been misused in every conceivable way, and die they would not. No dys- entery, success ; dysentery, no success. What is the cause of the disease, and how can we best and most cheaply remove that cause? James IIeddon. Dowagiac, Mich., July 11, 1881. While I am strongly of the opinion tliat bees will winter better without pollen, and without raising any brood, 1 am hardly as yet prepared to take the very strong ground of friend II. , that pollen causes all the trouble. I have seen bees winter most beautifully where they had new light combs, with scarce- ly a trace of pollen. An old box-hive bee- man once told me it Avas pollen and pollen alone that made bees spot their hives in spring. The matter will be, most likely, thoroughly tested ue.xt winter and spring. HORSEItlllNT IN TEXAS, ETC. E have just passed through a bountiful har- vest of honey from horscmint, our great honey-plant. This plant begins to bloom the last week of April, and in order to obtain the full benelit of this choice crop, every colony must be strong, and in fine working trim by the 1st day of May slmrii. Bees work on this bloom about live weeks, and they do a rushing business. It is a de- licious honey, of light amber color, and of a pleasant aromatic flavor. The plant grows in great profu- sion in this county, and never fails. Our bees do but little during the months of July and August, it be- ing generally too dry and hot. We had but few swarms this spring. We expect to reap a rich re- ward from our bees ne.xt season. We have nothing to fear in wintering. Keep each colony strong >vith plenty of stores, and they will come through all right without any protection whatever. It is of paramount importance to have a theoretical know- ledge of bee-keeping, and this can be obtained only by a thorough perusal of the several excellent books on apiculture, now well known to the fraternity. But this is not altogether sufficient to make one practicaUtj expert. The advantages of each locality must be well noted, and as we are all of the ABC class here as regards scientific apiculture, it is im- portant to us as beginners that we should have a rec- ord of the apiary in which we should record the monthly work in the apiary, as well as to note the honey-plants of each month. I have adopted this method, and next season I will have this valuable aid for reference. I find this to be essential in or- der to avail ourselves of all the advantages in ob- taining the entire honey crop. For our locality, empty hives, frames of wireil fdn. (which are always best in this climate), must be in readiness by the 1st of Mai'Ch ; the swarming or dividing m ust be done with by the 15th of April; supers of wired fdn. for ex- tracted, or sections with starters of fdn., or nice comb for comb honsj-, must be put on by the 1st of May. 1 purpose running my apiary for extracted honey, because I think it will pay better in this lo- cality. We expect a light crop of honey in the fall, if not too rainy. When dry, the live-oak balls are said to yield quite a quantity of fine hSney. We have the morning-glory {convolcidns miiior), which is a good fall bloom. I shall discard the black race next year. The Italians have proven vastly superior, for many reasons I will not now mention. I shall pro- cure for trial the Cyprian and Syrian races also, this being about the same latitude of their native home. My opinion is, that they will prove an invaluable acquisition. J. E. Lav, M. D, HaUetsville, Texas, July 9, 1881, ;^!)4 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Aug. From Different Fields. HONEY fROM WILLOW ROOTS. MO bees here, and very few in the State. A few swarms near Canon City, on the Arliiinsas River, are said to have done tolerably well. One man, A. Pickerell, who, at my siig-gestion, sub- scribed for Gleanings, and who lived at Beulah, in Pueblo Co., had about 40 swarms of Italians in the fall of 1870; but they all died with dysentery before spring-. He thought it was caused by some unhealth- f ul juice they g-ot in the fall from the roots of wil- lows growiuj^ on the banks of the 8t. Charles Creek. He lived on the bank of one branch of that little stream. W. M. Spalding. Gunnison, Co)., June 8, 1881. AVell, I declare, friend S., that is a queer idea of honey from roots. How did they get at the roots, and where did the juice come from? I wish your friend would en- lighten us a little. CLOSED-TOP FRAMES. I am keeping bees in a hive made in such a way that the frames of It are made forest touching each other so that the bees are considerably jarred in taking them out. Will you please inform me whe- ther it is the fault of the frames in this respect that makes my bees so uglj', they l)eing handled in other respects all right? Upon taking out a frame from this hive they Hy all o\er me. The bees are partly Holy-Laud (or Cyprian), I don't know which, and Italian, with an Italian queen. I have a Ncllis hive with Italian bees, >vith which I have no trou- ble in opening. C. A. Wood. Tarrytown, N. Y., June liO, 1881. It is my opuiion, friend AV'.. that the clos- ed-top frames will not work very well with Holy-Land bees. AVilh tlie constant han- dling we are obliged to give our combs in queen-rearing, we want llie frames to touch nothing, as nearly as it can be secured. AVhere hives are worked only for comb hon- ey, closed-top frames have some advantages. It may be well to remark, that the metal corners seem to be coming more and more into favor each year. By far the greater part of all the frames we now sell ai'e of this kind. With the lloly-Jjand l)ers, when no honey is coming, it is of the greatest im- portance that they be handled without jars or knocks. ROBBING WHEN FIRST SET OUT. 1 had 1 poor and 13 good colonies this spring. Pretty soon it was 10 li\e ones only and then down to .t; and what made them dwindle so is hard to tell, unless it was robbing. 1 set them out one warm day about noon, and such another mess — a regular free tight, and then to robbing, and they would rob in spite of me. I contracted the entrances, and shut some of them up for four days, and then they would rob. CAN A BEE EXTRACT THE STING IF LEFT ALONE ? We know how many bees will get their sting out if left alone when they sting. I have had one, and that is all, and I think that I have tried it fifty times, but did not keep count, but wish 1 had so as to be sure. C. H. Angell. Clarksville, Tenn., June 25, 1881. If I am correct, friend A., there is some tiling wrong when bees rob at such a rate in the early spring. If I mistake not, friend (xrimm, with his hundreds of colonies, has no such troubles, and the only reason 1 can give is, that each one is so strong and full of bees it can not well be robbed. 1 he Italian or foreign bees seldom allow any sucli work. I hardly think I should prove martyr enough to let them sting me tifty times, friend A., even in the pursuit of science. WHAT A POUND OF BEES WILL DO. I iiurchased of you 1 lb. of bees and (jueen, which came to hand the 15th of last October. They have increased to 4— first swarm. May 17th, about half a bushel of bees; at any rate, they filled a ten-frame hive in 6 days, and commenced storing in the box- es. I have 2 hives of blacks, very strong in bees —have not swarmed. I had 3 colonics last fall, in- cluding your dollar queen, which proves to be p\irc Italian. I wintered on summer stands in chaff hives without loss. Noah Deaton. Carthage, Moore Co., N. C, June 22, 1881. My friends, you can get a little glimpse fron'i the above of what the trade in pounds of bees is destined to amount to. superiority of sugar over natukal stores FOR winter supplies. As we have passed through the worst winter and spring for bees that have hirP-ned for years, the question arises as to the cau.>c. Three yards last fall came under my observation, and as I assisted in putting them in the cellar, 1 will give a brief re- port as to their condition as they went in, and dates. One lot of 160 was taken in Nov. Hilh and 17th. This lot was not fed, and had natural stores to pass through an ordinary winter. Thc.\' were removed from the cellar April iUh, about lUd, which dwindled down to 40 by the !Uh of May. Lot No. 2 was put in cellar Nov. 22d, was dug out of the snow, and was filled with frost; taken out April 22d, and out of 170, lost 10, and the rest were in good condition. They were fed up late on best granulated sugar, >vhieh, when put in, was not sealed. Lot No. ;i was put into the cellar D;'c. 7, and taken out about April 20th. This was a small lot of 20 in large hives, and ver.^- heavy with honey; in fact, so heavy that it was necessary for two to carry them. Losses, one, and the rest in first-class condition. All these lots were put into very dry cellars, which have been proven by successful wintering hereto- fore. I think if we had taken all of the honey away last fall, and fed sugar, best granulated, we would not have had the losses we now have. I hope some of our successful bee-keepers will agitate this ques- tion of proper food for successful wintermg, along with the rest of theories advanced. Chas. G. Feukis. Mohawk, N. Y., July 3, 1881. HOW AN ABC SCHOLAR SUCCEEDS. I have kept bees for the last 13 years in box hives. Last winter I lost 12 out of 15, and now I have 4 colo- nies, all in movable-frame hives, manufactured by John Smith, of Morpeth, to whom I am indebted for 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 395 adopting the new plan (to me at least) of handling- bees. I transferred them myself, and was surprised to tind that it was so easily done, and now I handle them every day. I have ma8 hives that came through the winter and cold spring. Bees won't notice broken bits of comb in the yard now that arc full of honey. I have 2 acres of buckwheat just be- ginning to fail from drought; have one acre sowed, not up; have had no rain for 3 weeks; it is very dry and hot. Some frames of brood melted down last week, mercury at 103^ in shade at 12. J. T. Ay.\rs. Bycan Island, Texas, June 14, 1881. To be sure, you want your knife sharp, friend A., like any other tool. We try to have them made sharp enough when sent out ; but it is a very hard matter to get them just as they should be, and a little touch of an oil-stone Avill almost always improve them, and sometimes possibly the grind- stone too. When your nncapping-knife will cut paper by just drawing it across a strip, it is in nice order for uncapping. I should never think of fussing with hot water. BEES OF ITALY; BY X RESIDENT OP THAT COUNTRY. I have looked into the question of the two kinds of bees existing in this country; but whilst satisfied myself of the fact, I do not know how to proceed to satisfy others. I shall follow up the matter, and will inform you toward winter of my conclusion, and the gi'ounds upon which I may base them. Bee- keepers here are, with few exceptions, ignorant and poor, having no idea of keeping bees but putting them in a hollow log when they have swarmed, and killing them in the fall with sulphur to take the honey. They have neither time, money, nor incli- nation to go further. Moreover, the agriculturist here has far more to do than in the U.S.; the crops, consisting of grass, wheat, hemp, and Indian corn, follow each other in such quick succession that no time can be given to bees. But you do not want a lectuxe upon Italian agriculture, Morris S. Wickersham. Ferrara, Italy, June 3, 1881. ISIany thanks, friend W.; but if you would 396 GLlEANIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. Aug. just say right out whether you tind any black bees or not, it would be a great favor to many of us here. ^Ve will take your word for it, and if you find no blacks, of course there will be no hybrids. SUBSTITUTE FOR SANDPAPER ON THE SMOKER ISELLOWS. Did you ever try rubbing the tin case of a smoliei- with the coarse side of a rasp, and nialiing a rough spot on which to strike matches'? If not, try it, and I think you will find it better than sandpaper. Tt does not have to be renewed. A. T. McIlwain. Abbeville, S. C, June 14, 1881. Many thanks, friend M.; but if you sand- paper the tin, it will soon rust, will it not? This may not be a very great ol)jection, for a smoker tube pretty soon gets black and rusty any way. We will try it on one of our old ones. CHAFF HIVES VERSUS CELLARS. I would like to ask you to explain some things. But I will first give you a history of the ease. My bees, r> hives, came out this spring good and strong. Two of them were in chaff hives which I bought of you, and two in American hives which arc packed in chaff, and one in Simplicity hive with chaff cush- ions; sides and an upper story filled with chaff. So I say, hurrah for chaff packing, for almost everybody around here has lost heavily. My father had about 30 hives in his cellar, but this spring they are very weak and backward, and it is the same with the others around here who put them in their cellars, while those who left them on summer stands lost the most of them. I had one swarm on the 30th of May, and one on the Ist of June, and the other three soon after, but now I am coming to what I don't un- derstand. AFTEU-SMARMS, AND THEIR QUEENS. When the second swarms came, I put some of them into hives that had just swarmed, and cut out the queen-cells. Some of them 1 looked into just as they were about to send out second swarms, and took out all the queens and cells but one. Some of the colls would have a yoiuig queen who was peeping to get out, and I would let her out and take out all the rest. But this morning 1 thought some of them act- ed as though they were queenless, and I can not find a queen, nor eggs in any of them, and some of them are building queen-cells (or have built them, and have them half full of royal jelly.) Now, what has become of the young queens, and what is the cause of their disappearance? Two of them I saw several days after I put them in (or let them loose from the queen-cell), and one commenced to lay, or at least, eggs were there. But now I don't believe there is a young queen in my yard. My bees are all Italians and hybrids. It has been so cold and wet in this section, that I think the white-clover crop of honey will be light. We almost always have a good yield of buckwheat honey. Wm. F. Sherwood. Liberty, Sullivan Co., N. Y., June 33, 1881. Your plan of putting after-swarms in with some colony that has swarmed, friend S., I am afraid was not quite ''orthodox," espec- ially after you had destroyed all queen-cells. You see, your after-swarms contained virgin queens, of such an age that it is a very hard thing indeed to introduce them anywhere. I should think about half of them would be killed, under the circumstances. You may be in too much of a hurry for them to lay ; it takes about a week, before you find eggs in the combs given to any after-swarm. Finding eggs in the combs right after the swarm was put in, would not be conclusive that the queen was laying, for you must bear in mind, eggs will be found in the hive until the laying queen has been absent fully three days. Give them some unsealed brood, and if they start queen-cells, then you know they are queenless and can give them queens. GETTING IJEES UNDER DIFFICULTIES. I had lost all my bees, 20 stands. A neighbor of mine found one in a limb 65 feet high. He gave it to me, if 1 would or could get it down; I did so, climbing the tree ml|sfi^f! I thiak I did well, as I am (inhj ,")6 years of age. I let the limb down safely, and transferred them into a hive. After it filled up, I divided them, filling both hives full of empty combs, and I now have two hives, and quite a lot of nice empty combs. I think I can find some more in the woods. I saw your advice, "Dnif'f j/o in deht for them." I am poor. My hives are nice, cost me over $100.00. So of course I want bees in them as soon as I can get them. J. Barohers. Brookville, Mont. Co., O., July 4, 1881. Pretty well, friend B., but I think after you have worked at bee-hunting awhile, you will conclude it is easier to raise bees than to climb trees for them. DIFFERENCE IN QUEENS. And now for a little talk to the class, if you please. I have seen much in the papers about the difference in the laying qualities of queens; and I have been studying the subject by a few experiments, and have come to the conclusion that some good queens are badly slandered, not "with malice aforethought" perhaps, but really misrepresented, notwithstand- ing. I have come to the conclusion that a good vig- orous swarm of bees will make almost any queen a good layer. For inst.^nce, I had one swarm in spring that didn't fly much, and on examination I found they had a fair number of bees, but very little brood. I examined them from time to time for 4 weeks after taking out of cellar, and never found more than ^i of a card of brood at a time. At the end of the 4 weeks, I changed places with it and a vigorous swarm, in the middle of the day, which gave her a fair swarm of vigorous bees; and in four days she had six cards well filled with eggs; and in an amazingly short time the space was full of bees, and it required the upper story to hold them and their honej'. When I changed stands with the strong colony she had but a mere handful of bees. I afterward tried several others with similar re- sults. I hope the friends will investigate this sub- ject and report; and lot us not call a queen poor, be- fore she has a fair chance. H. V. Train. Mauston, Juneau Co., Wis., June 20, 18S1. Thanks, friend T. I have held much the same opinion as yourself, for a long time, and when I have heard queens complained of, I have often felt as if I would like to put them in a good colony, and "•fetch them up," but still T feared to say any thing that might tend to encourage the keeping or dis- semination of poor stock. During the past season we have scraped up every thing in the shape of a queen, just to accommodate those who wanted some thing to keep tlieir 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 397 combs from spoiling, and some small puny queens that did not look as if they could run a small nucleus, have proved equal to the best, in the amount of brood they would produce. Once in a great while, we find a queen that lays only a dozen or two eggs in a day, but these we can hardly call laying queens at all, for they never go right at it and fill a comb, and such should be killed at once, as we would a drone-layer. OUT OF BLASTED HOPES. My bees came through the winter without the loss of a swarm; 23 in cellar, and two on summer stands, packed in chaff. I like cellar best, all conditions favorable. Mj- bees are all in splendid condition, and have filled their hives with fruit-bloom, and those on which I had placed boxes have partlj^ tilled them, which is some thing- uncommon here so early in the season. My best swarm last season gave me 240 lbs. extracted — n&arly all white-clover. Please count me out of Blasted Hopes, where you had me two years ago. I have had splendid success with bees ever since that time. C. Butman. Plymouth, Penobscot Co., Me., June 8, 1881. SVRUP FOR FEEDING BEES. Will you be so kind as to give in your next num- ber a recipe for making sugar syrup for feeding bees, that will not grain in the comb after being fed, and not hurt the bees? Some recommend one tea- spoonful of cream of tartar to the gallon of syrup. Joseph Garst. Springfield, Ohio, July 8, 1881. My plan, friend G.. would be sugar and water, and nothing more. jVIany years ago we used cream of tartar and vinegar; l)ut where the syrup was fed early enough so the bees had time to seal it up in the combs, we found it to answer just as well without any chemicals. If you use granulated or even coffee sugar, the bees will use it all up with- out any trouble, even if it should grain in the combs. Since reading friend Grimm's article in the July number, I have been won- dering how he feeds to do it so rapidly, and how he prepares the syrup ; what feed he uses, etc. Friend Grimm, will you be so kind as to tell the boys a little more al)Out feeding, especially feeding sugar in place of honey V CELLARS NOT ALWAYS AHEAD. Host over half of what I had last winter. I win- tered some in the cellar, and some out on summer stands; all died that were in the cellar, but one. I use American and box hives mostly. I got through the spring and winter with 18 swarms, all black bees. They commenced working the ITth of April; commenced swarming the 12th of June; have had "> young swarms, and have divided one, and have got over 100 lbs. of honey in surplus boxes up to this date. I like to hear from all of the A B C scholars, and the older ones too. George W. Sorter. Wells, Tnscola Co., Mich., June 10, 1881. teacher and pupil, and wintering in a room. You said, on page 3.3, of last Jan. Gleanings, that you were afraid I had defeated any chance of "cele- brating the Fourth of July, 1881," with the colony of Italians I was then wintering in a room above groimd. That colony stayed in that room until about April 15th, and it is now very strong, having a great many bees, 8 frames of brood and honey (a large proportion of it brood), and two queen-cells started. "How is that for high?" It is better than some did who were not "green hands." Samuel A. Miller. Bloomfleld, Essex Co., N. J., June 9, 1881. Pretty good for '• high,'' I should say, friend M., especially as your teacher didn't winter his own bees at all. " scarcely.'' Now* I wish you to tell me if you wintered that colony all these months in a room above ground, with a window in it, as such rooms usually have V If so, why did not the bees fly out on this window when you had days warm enough for them to fly V If you fas- tened them in the hive, did they not get very uneasy these warm spells V WATER-BOTTLES FOR QUEEN CAGES. Please send me 100 tin water-bottles for queen mailing-cages, such as used last year, by return mail if possible, or as soon as possible. I have aban- doned the candied honey for the present, as the i^rn) hot weather, I fear, will be too much for it imless put up as I described formerly. Oliver Foster. Mt. Vernon, Linn Co., Iowa, July T, 1881. "We too, friend F., have discovered that queens can not well be sent safely long dis- tances during this very hot weatlier, and I must confess that it was with sadness I be- gan to think again of adopting the water- bottles in queen-cages. At this juncture came some Feet cages from friend J. P. Moore. Morgan. Ky., containing a slender bottle made of light tin. much like the bot- tles in our cages for bees. Ills queens were always in beautiful condition ; a tiny drop of water was always observable in the small orifice, not unlike a drop of dew, and the candy was always white and free from stick- iness. I sat down and pondered on it. The cause of the leaking of the bottles, and the daubed condition of our l^ees, began to '•leak ''into my understanding. At first I had the candy in one part of the cage and the Avater in the other, and, I hardly know how. I got into a way of having the candy come right up acrainst the side of the tin bottle. The result was, that the water ran by ca])illary attraction along the side of the tin tube until it reached the sugar, and then all the water ran out, some thing as it runs out of a wash-basin when the towel is left hanging in it. We are now going to put a little tube across, as friend Moore does. These tubes Avill cost about 2 cts. each, the best I can do; but I thi!ik with them our bees will he safe the hottest weather, for 10 days or two weeks. Elsewhere we give an engraving of the latest edition of the im- ]n-oved Feet cage, with the water-bottle in it. Frice 7 c. each, or SO c. per doz. If wanted bv mail, 3 c. each extra. ONE O0' do swarm, and as long as I raise comb honey I think I shall buy no more yellow queens. I have bought V queens of the best queen breeders in the V. S., and there was but one of the 7 I would raise (jueens from; and her bees were so dark they would hardly pass muster. D. O. Sweet. llockport, Cuy. Co., Ohio, June 27, If 81. DRY BRICK AS AN ABSORBENT IN WINTER. Bees are doing splendidl.v here this season. I had 100 stands last fall, wintered on their summer stands, single-walled hives, and all the protection they had was gunny sacks placed on top of the frames, and tucked down nicely, and then a layer of new dry brick on top. I ha\e wintered bees this way for the last five years with good success. My loss last win- ter was nine stands, all from starvation. Geo. W. Kennedy. Carrollton, Carroll Co., Mo., June 28, 1881. Although dry brick will absorb a large (juantity of water, I can hardly feel, friend K., that it exercised any especial influence in your succeisfnl wintering. Would not a loiig spell" of wet, damp, rainy Aveather, so charge the brick Avitli moisture that it could not readily take any from the bees? ]\Iay be you are right, and I am wrong, however, friend K. INTRODUCING QUEENS. Queen arrived all right yesterday, and lintroduced her into a hive last night. I prefer introducing queens by placing them and their escort in a cylin- drical cage of gauze wire, one end permanently closed, the other closed with honey-comb, full of honey. I place this between the combs, and, if the queen is acceptable, I generally find that she has been let out the next morning. I introduced this queen in that way, and when I looked into the hive this morning I found her out, and making herself very much at home. T. Williams. Milwaukee, AVis., June 22, 1881. But, friend W., are you sure the success of your plan, and a dozen other plans for that matter, was not due to the fact that queens will be received all right, in the majority of instances, when let right out without any caging, in any queenless hive, while honey is coming in? The case mentioned in this number, Avhere I let loose oO in an hour, was certainly not accidental their not being killed . I have actually lost fewer queens this sum- mer, and last, where I have let them right out, than where I have caged them. Of course, if they are attacked, I would cage them, and it is likely that you will once in a while have one stung before you can rescue her, but such cases do not occur very often. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 8!)!» THE BLUE BEE;— SOME THING AHEAD OF APIS DOR- SAT AC') There is a friend of mino who came from Indiana, and he says there is a man, one of his neighbors, who got a swarm of bees from New York, and an- other from Kentucky, both wild bees, and crossed them and produced a him hrr. He says they are larger and hardier than any bee he ever saw; better than the Italians, he thinks; they will work in rainy and fogsy weather just like a bumble-bee; if the dew wets them, they shaku it off and stamp their feet, and go to work as hard as ever. He says the man does not know how to ship queens, and that he sells them for f +.C0 or $5.00 apiece, and the buyers run all risks. I want a queen, but am afraid to trust him, as I live in the far West. Couldn't you go and see him, or write to him and get some (jueens? They would be a great help to you, as I think there will be a great demand for them; and couldn't you afford to send me a queen for iyformin^' ,\ou? If not, I will buy one of you. The man's address is Robert Lucus, Orland, Steuben Co., Indiana. Also, that they arc quicker than the Holy-Land bees or the Italians. \VlLLAI{D R. LVMD. Monterey, Monterey Co , Cal. To b? sure, I 'will, friend L.. and I will '• stani]) my feef too when this great bee does all you say. T could not well go to see him. but I will send him this journal : and then if he has got any left we can just send him some queen-cages, and he can ])ut them in that, ■• sure.'" I was just wondering what was the matter with our Italians this year, because they did not start out during bass- wood bloom before sunrise as they used to do. I think it must be they were waiting for that great '• blue bee "' to come and do it. HATCHING BROOK WITHOUT KEKS. My Idea is, that sealed brood will hatch in chaff hives without any bees in it, as I know by experi- ence of last summer, when I cut out some drone comb and laid it in my tool-box, and every one came out just as if they were in a hive of bees; so I think workers will come out also. I believe the queen will lay sooner in a comb when it is placed between two combs of br.iod. W. K. Deisher. Kutztown, Berks Co., Pa., June 13, 1881. To be sure, capped brood will hatch with- out bees, friend J)., providing the tempera- ture is kept high enough, say between so and ]()0. We have done this for years past in the lamp nursery. During the hottest sum- mer weather, the bees follow the queen and feed the larv;e until it is sealed; and if the hive is destitute of bees, yon will see only a ring of nnrse bees aronnd the outer edges of circles of sealed brood. Placing an empty comb between combs of brood is an excel- lent plan, if it is not crowded too far. Re- member what Merrybanks said of such wcn'k a few numbers back. SILVERHULL BUCKWHEAT. Try silverhull buckwheat for breakfast fjr the bees during white-clovei- bloom. I think it pays as well as it does in the fall. One thing more about it; it is splendid for the bees to calm down on after basswood. S. H. Lane. Whitestown, Boone Co., lad., July 15, 18S1. And I have got " one thing more " to add yet, friend L. Silverhull buckwheat holds np to $2.00 per bushel in price every year, and we can't get enotigh of it even at that. \Vhat do bee-keepers do with all they raiseV I have this season sent to A. C. Nellis for all he had. and was tinally compelled to send clear to (iregory, of I\Iass.; and after paying SI. Toper bushel for all he had, 1 had to go without any to sow myself. I sold it to cus- tomers for less than it cost me, after paying for bags and freight, rather than disappoint them. Wake up, boys, and raise not only honey for your bees, but seed for bee-keep- ers. CHAFF HIVES. Last fall I did not get my chaff hi\cs in time to transfer from Simplicity until December. 1 then transferred ]-' swarms, knowing that such action was opposed to all t>ieories, and thinking my chanc- es very slim for saxing even a fraction of these 1~ swarms; but I also knew b.y experience there was not the slightest chance to save any in the Simplici- ty \«ith the weather at zero so early in the spring. The result of this rash transfer was 10 good strong swarms Ihis spring. The two that died were very light when transferred. 1 also wintered 4 success- fuUy in Simplicity hives in a damp cold cellar. Wakcman, O., June 11, 1S81. M. I. Todd. .NEM'LY GATHERED GRANULATED HONEY. Our honey this season is gi-anulated when it comes out of the gum, and all our neighbors' is the same way, and I should like to know the reason, as there must be a reason for it. The honey is sweet and pleasant, but nearly all sugar. I have not fed my bees any. W. C. Hill. Jefferson, Tex., July 8, 1881. We have had several such reports in back volumes, friend II. Your bees have gather- ed grape sugar from nature "s laboratory, that is all. It is just as good as liciuid honey, only that there is the same danger from hardening in the cells that there is from ar- tificial grape sugar. GOOD REPORT FROM COLOR \DO. Bees just "beat the Dutch" bringing in h'? /)(vx, and a .iolly fellow. I spent a pleas- ant day with him and his g'ood wife two yeara ago, when he was right in the midst of that good season when he had everything filled with honey; even collected all the women's wash-boilers to store his honey. He had enough honey to drown the whole village. How is that for Canada? Ben.]. Duitt. Waterloo, Ont.. Canada, June 6, 1881. I have givcTi up the use of tin separators. I don't consider them profitable. Henrv Daxiels. riaintichl, Sullivan Co., N. fl., June, 18S1. Bev.s have built up very rapidly since thrseasjn opened, some reporting 5 swarms from 1 naturally. Wm. H. CiRavks. Dur.can, Stark Co., Ill , Julys, IS:*!. CANDY FOU WINTEIU.VG. My l>ees wintered all right, and one colony on can- dy alone. E. T. Hodge. North Edgccomb, Mc. June 5, 18.S!. FOliEST-LEAVES. I wintered 40 colonies out of 40 in Quinby hives, packed with forest-leav'cs on summer stands. John F. Logsdon. Barton, Allegany Co., Md., June 2T, 1881. My Cyprian bees wintered best of all. You have to be very careTul in handling them, as they would sting you to death; but with care thes' are all right. H. S. Shull. Wellsvillo, Columbiana Co., O., June 11, 1881. Bees doing finely, making lots of honey. I lost none last winterer spring. Swarming began June 10. I wintered on summer stands, chatf hives, 2.5 stands. Alex Fiddes. Centralia, Marion Co., 111., Juno 18, 1881. Will queens' wing- grow out again when clipped? C. W. C'LAVTO.V. Laurel Junction, Ritchie Co., W. Va., July 2, 1881. [They don't at our house, friend C. Once clipped, and they are clipped for ever.] A SMALL SrORY WITH A OHE-VT MUKAL TO IT. I commenced last winter with 13 stafids; came out this spring with 11; the 4 that were lost were some that I divided and transferred. They did not fill up full like the others. David Sperry. Lincoln, Cass Co., Ind., June 6, 1881. I'RETTY WELli FOR .VN A HCSlHOLAK July it, 1SV9, 1 got my swarm on a tree in the woods. AV'hen winter set in they had about six inches square of comb; I fed them on sugar and they came out quite strong in the spring. Samuel Benson. Hockley, Ont., Canada, June 23, 1881. THE CKLLAK AHEAD. I have only 41 hives of bees left out of !"1; 21, left out of cellar, all died; the 41 are from the TO put in- to cellar. My hopes are not quite blasted. De.nnis Gardner. Carson City, Mich., May 24, 1881. A SWAK.M GOING INTO A HIVE OF THEIR OWN AC- CORD. Thanks to an all-wise Providence, the cold weather took all my bees. This morning I took a walk into my bee-yard, and found that a swarm of bees had ta- ken possession of an empty hive. S. Angle.mire. Dupage, 111., Julys, 1881. The bees I received from the South are doing fine- ly; six combs full of brood since May 19th. Geo. W. Howsell. Bainbridge, Putnam Co., Ind., June 16, 1881. [The above was a hybrid queen with 1 lb. of bees, from G. W. Gates, Bartlett, Tenn.] We have just passed through the greatest swarm- ing campaign I ever knew, and it has been very an- noying when you wish honey and not increase. Honey crop good ; have taken off 2000 section boxes well filled, and of fine quality , have as much more to take off this week. J.S.Giles. Apalachin, Tioga Co., N. Y., July IS, 1881. Most of my bees, or the larger half of them,— IT swarms, died during' the past winter, but the re- mainder have more than doubled, and have filled every available cell with honey. The trouble now is, the breaking down of combs from overloading with honey, and the extreme heat, over 100'' Fahrenheit in the shade. I.E.Stevenson. Canal Winchester, Franklin Co., O., July 12,1881. DOLL.A.R (iUEEXS. A dollar queen I had of you two years ago last June is just as near perfect as can be. We took out of her swarm last poor season 85 lbs. extracted hon- ey: this year, 2.5 lbs., and a three-story hive full now. Her bees winter best of any here, and best every way. Gcy Clark. Bellows Falls, Windham Co., Vt., July II, 1881. GLOVES. Please send mc a pair of gloves. I suppose I shall ha\e to be put down on the coward's list; but no use talking, bee-stings are not pleasant to have every few minutes through the day. HONE v. From thirty hives 1 have taken, to date, 1216 lbs. of honey. Chas. H. Kincade. Sterling, Chicot Co , Ark., June 23, 1881. THE FUTURE OF THE IT.VLIANS. I have about 225 colonies, blacks and hybri-ery glad indeed to get such a letter in regard to friend Burch, and I con- fess I am a little proud of having clerks that Avill take the responsibilities of business off my shoulders, as the above indicates. Xotv.ithstanding the heavy trade we have on queens, I do not know that the clerk ever made such a mistake before, and I trust she never will again. I am responsible, though, and always expect to be. for all my clerks- doings in my employ. TOBACCO COIiUMN. A CALIFORNIAN FINDS VIEWS ON THE SUBJECT. fHAVE used both tobacco and whisky, and hardly know which was the worse habit. I did — ' not have much trouble to stop drinking whis- ky, as the habit was hardly estaldished. I began to smoke at about IT, and used tobacco about 13 years. At llrst I thought it ver;/ manly, then I was not com- fortable without an after-dinner smoke. By and by I began to be dyspeptic, and thought tobacco hurt me, so I quit and have stayed " quit," though it took at least two years to outgrow the craving for my after-dinner smoke. Since then I have induced a few to quit, but 'tis slow, up-hill work. Hope your smoker plan will succeed better. Men say they have the right to smoke; yes, perhaps so, on their own premises; again prrliapx jiof.in a moral sense, if they have a wife, and a coming family to inherit the sins and appetites of their parents. I contend that no one has a right to puff tobacco smoke in my face on the street, or in any public place, as a post-office, where people are compelled to go. In the winter of 1879 I stopped some months in a town in Ohio. The post-office waiting and delivery room was about 7x9 feet, with a low ceiling. Repeatedly I have seen this room so full of tobacco smoke, that one could hardly see or breathe. Yet here were delicate young girls soif for mail, and had the alternative of this smoke or the cold snow or rain outside, and yet we boast of our Christian civilization. Twenty years ago there was a little pamphlet containing :> essays on the evils of tobacco-using; it was the best thing of its size and kind I have ever read. One es- say was by a minister, another by R. T. Trail, M.D , and was sold by Dr. Trail. No. 1.5 Leiglit St., N. Y. Dr. L. M. Holbrok of the above place may have it, or some thing as good, from which you can get argu- ments against tobacco. Fowler & Wells also used to publish some good things against tobacco. Los Angeles, Cal., July 1, 1881. J. H. Bemis. 401 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Aug. I am goiuj<- to try the yniokcr's pledge; if I fail, you get your money. W. J. Enuly. Edgerton, Johnson Co., Kan., June 27, 1881. Since you make such an exceedingly grand offer of a smoker to all those who quit the use of tobacco, I for one haA-e stopped the tilthy habit, and avail my- self of the opportunity. Send the large Quinby. North Lima, O., June U, 1881. J. Buzakd. Accept thanks for smoker. It is just the thing to tame the bees. If ever the pledge is broken, I will send you $2.0:. in cash. Bees are doing finely. W. H. COLI.l.NS. Ayersville, Ga. The smoker I received in good order 2 weeks ago to-day. I am very much pleased with it. Mine was not only a promise to stop smoking, but it was a ficlfi- will to stop. S. C. Gates. East New York, N. Y., June 25, 1881. I am happy. I received the Smoker's smoker in due time, and find it .just the thing. I can now drive ihe bees around like sheep in a pasture. I am hold- ing the fort so far. When I fail you will receive $1.2.5. W. J. Endlv. Edgerton, Kan, July 4, 1881. Send me one of your largest Simplicity cold-blast smokers, if you wish to fullill your promise which I see in Gleanings. I ha\'e not smoked a cigar nor pipe in two months, and, with the aid of ray Maker, never will. M. A. Joiner. Sun Hill, Ga., June 27, 1S81. Put ine down as one who has tried to stop, and has demonstrated that, l>y the help of a higher power, I have been enabled to let it alone for some time. Have chewed for 26 years. If 1 fail I will pay double price for the pledge. Geo. G. Heruiman. Cambridgeboro, Crawford Co., Pa., June 13, 1881. T see so many in Gleanings are throwing away the pipe and tobacco, so please send me a smoker, and I give you and God my word that I will never use it again; and if so, my wife says she will settle the cost with you. J). F. C. Hamblv. Quincy, Plumas Co., Cal., May 28, 1881. Now, friend Root, I see by Gleanings that you still give away smokers to those who give up tobac- co. 1 have been a smoker, but I am determined to quit, for I know it is an iu.jury to my health; so, if you send me one, I will pledgi- mysell' that I will never use the weed again; and if 1 do 1 will pay you double for it. H. I.eweuao. Wheeling, W. Va., June 17, 1881. I see you are giving smokers to tobacco-ehewers, lor quitting. Now, 1 was one of the worst ehewers in the State; it would have killed ine if I had not gi\ en it up in February, ISti-'i. I gave it up, and have not tasted it since, and never will. I don't want any man to give me a smoker to quit, either. Geo M. Brvner. Cisua's Run, Perry Co., Pa., July 0, 1881. Will you please send me a Bingham smoker,a3 I have quit using tobacco. I have used it six years, and have become a perfect slave to it. If 1 ever use it again, I will pay you for the smoker. J.\,MEs Forbes. Macedonia, Summit Co., O., June 33, 1881. You add one more to the little band, friend F. ]May God help you I 1 see that the tobacco column is increasing. I have made up my mind to give you one more name for that column. I have used tobacco for fifteen years, but will quit for a smoker. I will send you ten cents to pay postage on it. I think that every one who gets a smoker this w.iy dught to be liberal enough to pay postage. M. F. Mosi'er. Palmyra, Harrison Co., Ind., June 7, I8S1. Thanks, Friend M. 1 am 47 years old; commenced using tobacco more than 20 years ago— became a slave to both chewing and smoking, in the army. I lost my health, and the physicians toM me tobacco was in.iuring me. I quit using it more than a year ago, and with the Lord's help I will never touch it again. I would not report until I was satisfied that it would be a success. Go on in the good work. S. Buchanan. Irving, Kan., June 2t», 1881. An old tobacco smoker wants a l)ee-smoker (your invention.) Having used the "weed" for a great many years, I haw fully decided it to be a bad hab- it, and have not used any for some time, being fully convinced 1 have mastered the business, and now send in my recommendation for a smoker. Accord- ing to Gleanings, you send them "on the cheap." Now, I think it is a little too " steep " for a Western man to ask you to pay him for dissolving partner- ship with a bad habit. In my next order I will send you the money, as I do not want to make an order at present. Wm. S.mitil Mill Creek, Utah, May lit, 1881. I commc-uced the use of tobacco when quite a bo.v, and continued it until six years ago last January, at which time I became thoroughly con\inced of all the demerits attached to its use. and I resolved that 1 would control "this liltle matter" myself. 1 went down on m.v knees bctore God, and asked his assistance. It was easy, and now I stand high above temptation, and I can find nothing that even savors of a reason for its use. I really believe it is sinful in a degree. Now, is there a defieiency in the minds of those who persist in its use'? or is it for the want of sober retlectioii on the subject'/ or do men natu- rally want to bf unlike a higher order of beings'i* Hiring men to quit is commendable", brother Root; but the least tlegree of commendation belongs to the party hired. Am I too severe? Pardon! J. H. Roderick. D.idd's City, Fannin Co., Texas, Apr. 23, 1881. I have a smoker,but it is a poor thing, as it is hard to get it to work. 1 have resorted to the pipe to smoke my bees; have not much of the habit yet. Now, if you will send me a (,)uinby, 1 will discard the old pipe. T). S. Ri'RnANK. Rcinbeck, Grundy Co., la., July ('., 1881. We send the smoker, friend 1'.; but, to tell the truth, I feel more troubled about your case than any one that has yet come up. A few years ago it was said by some, that the way to get a situation in our estab- lishment was to ^get drunk and be put into .iail. \o\v, if an'ybody has coiunicnced smok- ing, that they might write me and get a smoker for stopping, I am in danger of doing more harm tlian good. I believe (lOd has guided us in this department so far, and I feel sure he will guide us safely throu.gh tlie danger that opens up here. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 40o |wi' tmm- How amiable ir c thy tabernacles, 0 Lord of hosts! My soul lonaeth, yea, even lainteth lor the co\irts of the Lord: ray heart and my tlesh crieth out for the living God.— Psalm 84: 1, »'. M T 6 o'clock, Friday evening of the loUi ^h of July, I was at work in the office ; ' but at 7 I was on my way to see Fer- ry's seed-gardens. 1 told the hands at the noon service where 1 was going, and why. It was a beautiful tranquil evening as we crossed the lake, but after enjoying it a half-hour I began to be ashamed of myself for having nothing to do. No one seemed to talk. If I went to bed without saying a word for the Master to anybody, I should miss a joyous consciousness of Ivi^ presence, that I dislike to fall asleep without. - Near me sat a man who had l)een silent) like my- self. With a prayer for the blessing that had been given me so many times before, I opened conversation. lie was a manufactu- rer, like myself, and employed many hands. lie, too, lamented the presence of tobacco, whisky, and profanity. Although a for- eigner by birth, he was free from all these vices. lie was a member of no chtircli ; but before we closed, he promised me, though perhaps indirectly, to "seek the kingdom,'' for he said he hati been for some time tend- ing that way. God blessed the effort in an- other way too, for they make a kind of goods I had long been wanting to get direct from the manufacturers. The tirst bee-man I found was Otto Klei- now, of Detroit. He is a young ({erman, but I tell you he is a good bee-keeper. His yard is entirely surrounded by a high board fence, and the ground is covered with saw- dust. The hives are all chaff, neatly made and nicely painted. On the fronts of many, are beautiful pictures. His native taste for gardening shows itself in the beaitti fully ar- ranged and trimmed shrubbery. ( )n a pret- ty little peach-tree we found a swarm of gentle yellow Italians. In fact, his bees are all gentle and yellow. 1 found the queen as they hung on the tree, and we put them in a hive. Honey seems coming yet in plenty. Otto is extremely nice and particular in ev- ery thing (he is over 30, and unmarried ; but I "scolded" him about it.) Although his father keeps a beer-garden. Otto neither drinks, swears, nor uses tobacco. Very kind and respectable people are his parents, and I hope, as I have been told, no intemperance is allowed on the premises. Mr. Hunt is a fair type of one of America's independent young farmers of the present day. lie is not what men call rich in this world's goods, but he is rich in brain and mxiscle, and a lover of square honest work on his own ground. His pleasant little home is all the work of his own hands, and the young man who could look on it and not be inspired to "go and do likewise" isn't wor- thy of living under the American Hag. His apiary is on a lawn, and is in the shape of a hollow square, the bees all going out toward the center. Like friend Kleinow's they are very prettily painted. The effect from the street, of some of these painted with orna- mental paneling, is exceedingly pretty. Friend II. makes his own hives, paints them, and does every thing. One of the first things that attracted my attention as I jumped out of the buggy was a prettily painted Adams' horse-power made from a drawing and description given in Glean- ings in former volumes. It works splen- didly, but friend II. says you must use a chain instead of rope. It costs but little more, and can remain right out in the weather. The wheel sliould be not less than 15 feet in diameter. Ferry's seed-store is an immense l>uilding. The appliances for accuracy, and for facili- tating work, more than once reminded me of our little building at home. On the way to the seed-garden I asked friend Hunt about liis reasons for not going to church and Sabbath-school. It was the old story of the "inconsistencies of Chris- tians." One instance given was of that of the members of a church in his neighbor- hood, wlio turned off" a nice young minister because he went out shooting with the boys of his congregation. Another was of a min- ister who raised and kept so many chickens that they damaged friend Hunt's fruits and garden to a most aggravating extent. When our friend expostulated with him in a ("'hris- tianlike way, he asked him if he could not get a little dog and train him to drive them out. This minister turned out badly, as I should suppose he would. The people were bad, and tlie ministers were bad, and friend II. didn't want any thing to do with them ; that is, he did not want to go to their meet- ings. These cases occurred some time ago, however. Friend Hunt likes the minister they have now, and I think he likes the peo- ple; and I guess, too, he is going to church. Of course, thisholding aloof because others are not doing right is not the thing; but is there not a lesson for ministers and profess- ing Christians to learn V .lust take a look at friend Hunt's nice little garden, where he has labored hours while nearly all the rest of the village were asleep, and see the berries and fruit he has watched and loved as only an enthusiast can love such things. It would seem that any minister should rec- ognize tlie very great need of getting the youth of our land interested in such rural indtistries ; but to annoy one such, and to discourage him by the depredations of chick- ens—how will this do for a motto for minis- ters and other people ?— "If chickens make my brother to offend, I will keep no chickens while the world standeth." In talking over industrial matters, friend II. made the remark, that he once used to spend a great deal of his time lounging in the grocery. I guess tliat was before he got married, for his wife says he now works so many hours on his grounds she has to plead with him to stop. He has raised 147 bushels of strawberries from a single acre of ground. Ferry's seed-garden is immense. Fields almost as white as snow with the blossoms of seed onions stretch far into the distance. As our visit was made in tlie afternoon, but few bees were on them. 'I he work is most- 40G GLE AIRINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Aug. ly done by women. The soil is beautiful, and Ferry has paid for some of it, I Avas told, as hi^h as $.5U0.00 per acre. The apia- ry, kept on tlie grounds of Mr. Cottrell, an- other yoimp: fruit-grower, is prospering most hnely. As both are busy men, it was built up priufipally by artilicial swarming. The hives are all of friend Hunt's make, and pre- .sent a line appearance ; almost every stock, new and old, were at work in the boxes. As we took a look at friend ("ottrelFs berry- garden, both gentlemen spoke enthusiastic- ally of the way the bees worked on the im- proved red raspberries, when they were in bloom. The sight of the well-kept rows of bushes was a treatto me, and the wonderful- ly large luscious fruit was aiiotlier treat. Friend C. prefers the C'uthbert, and the ber- ries we picked from little vines just started were enough to set me in a raspberry fever, if itdidn'ttherest of them. ^Vhoamongour friends has the real ('uthl)ert raspb'erry- ])lants for saleV Friend Cook, of the Agricultural College, had written, urging me to be present at the evening prayer-meeting of the college boys, and I was therefore prevented from going'to meeting with friend Hunt on Sunday. Well may not only ^Michigan, but the whole T'nit- ed States, be proud Of the college and the college grounds. Sabbatli morning we at- tended service in the city of Lansing, and the words of the young minister who preached from the text,"- ])lessed are the pure iu lieart," ring in my ears still. Their opening hymu was one of my favorites, and as it welled forth and rose under the tones of the grand old organ, the words of the text at the liead of my talk to-day came into my mind. vVlmost a stranger in astrange citv, I thought I could feel a little what David did when he uttered it. I was especially pleased to hear the pastor speak of tlieir pra>er-meeting, teachers' meeting, Sabbath-school, and their work during the week, in a way that indica- ted his wliole heart and soul was in it. I fell to wondering if he was not stirred to un- usual powers, somewhat, by seeing the face of such a man as friend Cook as one of his audience. The bee-keepers of our land are certainly of more than average intelligence, and I know full well the help it gives a pas- tor or S. S. superintendent to know that he has the presence and sympathy of the best men of the community. My friends, if you were all present during the church services of your tow'n and neighborhood, your minis- ters would not only preach better, but I am Tiot sure biit that they would lead better lives. I can scarcely tell you how much I approve of the spirit of the Agricultural College, es- pecially that part of it that teaches the boys to beautify and adorn their own homes on the farm, with little labor and expense. This department is under the charge of Prof. Beal, and his floAver garden was to me " a thing of beauty " I shall not soon forget, and ; I presume the idea will bloom in many [ homes in our land, and prove a "a joy for I ever" to more than one liome and its in- : mates. His collection of clovers, from all ' over the world. Avas also to me a rare feast. The apiary is pretty, but it seems to me it is a little cramped and ciowded. Our own has , pleased us so much since we have abundant room for it, that I am pretty strongly in fa- vor of having the hives scattered. The hon- ey-plants in bloom are alone worth quite a little to any bee-keeper. .V held of raspbei'- ries. raised by the students, still stands out in my mind"s'eye, and I mean it shall stand tlieve until I have one on our own grounds that ])leases me as well. I may be a triHe hard to please in such matters, but I was many times "just suited"' in passing over the college grounds. .Vt about y o'clock ^londay nioniiug I was to start home. But several things, since my visit to friend Cook, had been suggested. One was that perhaps I am laboring and l>leading with the world at large so mucli ' that I am neglecting tliose whom I am relat- ed to by tlesh'and blood ties : that it may be I am better acquainted with the men in jail who have committed crimes, than Avith my own children, some of them. In my father's family were seven children. The playmate of my childhoo.d was a sister just a little younger than myself. She now has seven childi'en of her own. ami some of Ihein I liave never seen. When I told friend C. that she lived in Michigan, and I was going back without even seeing her little family, he declared I should let business go for at least one day. and go and see them. An- other thing: Our daugliter Maud, who is now a great child, taller than her mother, was at this very time on a visit to this sister. As she had never been from home liefore, when she started I playliiUy told her to re- member that, .when liouble or sori'ow came to her in her absence, to b(, sure to recollect I said it would do her good. I thought she might be homesick, and I wondered if the sight of her papa away off there, so imex- pectedly, might not do her good. The sta- tion agent said I could just make Manistee that night. Away I went, further from in- stead of toward home. About 1 o'clock I was told by the conductor they had just tak- en off the noon train at Beed ('ity, and that, instead of going right through, I would have to lay over until toward s; o'clock at night, seven or eight hours, amid utter strangers, when every moment was so valuable. Should I get cross, and tliink hard things of the railroad otticers. or should I say that God had so ordered it for some good and Avise purpose? I soon chose the latter, and asked liim to point out the way whereby I might be of use. even away off among strangers in the northern part of ^fichigan. The minute the train stojjped. I sprung off, and began scanning the grocery stores. Soon my eye caught Avhat I wanted. " Friend". Avill you be so kind as to tell me who furnishes you this tine honey ? '' '•It is i)roduced by a man over east, by the name of Len Ileed." " HoAvfar is it?"' '• OhI perjiaps three or four miles." '• Can you point me the Avay V" He remonstrated about my going on foot : but I had got tired of riding, and besides, livery teams cost money. I crossed the bridge by the mill, and was soon over the hills and into the great pine Avoods. ]My feet slipped into the sand, and the sand slijtped into my 1S81 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 4U7 low shoes, as I went up .and down the hills ; but for all that, I was happj\ I was about the Master's business, i did not know Avhere. or what was to 1)6 done; but he did. so why did it matter V I picked wild rasp- berries, listened to the cowbells, and thought of the sister I could not see until to-morrow, and away back in years gone by, when we used to have ;• cow that wore a bell too. How the sound of those bells awoke old memories I The houses were all passed, and 1 was following a crooked road out in and through the woods. Was it possible I should find a real progressive bee-man, away off in these wilds? \\'heu I did find houses, it hardly looked as if their owners could be bee-men. Is it possible I shall, in this wilderness, find a man with an apiary of from fifty to a hundred colonies, as tlie man at the grocery store said? I certainly must be pretty near there now. Over another hill, and, as sure as you live, I came on a buckwheat field. The plants stood all around among the stumps, but I think I never saw a thriftier growth, or a brighter green to the leaves. I wonder if buckwheat don't do better on a sandy soil. It was already beginning to blossom a little. Over the hill again. Sure- ly this must be the man, for there was a gar- den, an orchard, and many evidences of just about such homes as bee-men generally have. '' Does yiv. Ueed, the bee-man, live'hereV" '• Yes : he is out among the bees ; will you not step inV '•No: I think I will go out among the bees and see him." Did you ever! Here in the wilderness was an ai)iary. sure enough. On a beautiful grassy lawn, sloping to the south and east, 60 or bo hives, all jiaiuted red. To prevent the sun making them too hot, each hive had a light co^'er, or sun-shiide. made, if I am correct, of split shingles. The gable ends were open, so as to gi\e a free circulation of air; but the roof boards projected so as to make a very effectual screen from the sun. His hives are of the Mitchell pattern. He has a division- board at each end, and the combs in the center. As all the hives we opened had an empty space at each end, it was very easy work lifting out the frames. Basswood seemed just in its prime here, and the bees were going across the valley to a basswood forest beyond, in a way that, to me at least, was entrancing. We opened some of the hives, and found snowy-white combs everywhere. "I declare," said friend Reed, '• although this is a new swarm that I lun e extracted from twice, they seem to be entirely full again, and ought to be extracted this very day again.'' •'Let us do it,"" s;iid I ; '• I would like above all things to help you extract.'' He got his comb-bucket, which was made of wood instead of tin, and. turning back the mat, he lifted out three combs, sealed al- most from top to bottom ; and as the next was a brood comb, he let the mat down, and, moving the division-board at the opposite end, he took two capped combs from that side. Thus you see the brood combs were not moved at all, nor were thev even uncov- ered. The bees kept right on at work, for they were not interrupted or hindered at all, the entrance being in the middle of the side of the hive, instead of at the end, as in our old Standard liive. We took the five combs into the extracting-rcou), which, by the way, is a room built in the side of one of these sand hills, and is a very nice, cool, and com- fortable place to work in during a hot day. Sure enough, there was the veritable Novice honey-extractor, but it was not our make, and had no honey-gate. I took the Bing- ham honey-kuife, and went to uncapping. It was the first time I ever used a Bingham knife, and it certainlv is a very fine thing for the purpose. Friend II. set a two-gallon stone crock, with a piece of strainer cloth tied over the top, under the tiuspout of the extractor, l^efore all the combs had been whirled, friend li. spoke,— " Wtiy. I declare, if that crock isn't full from just these five combs 1 '' '• It is hardly possible, is it ':* '' said I. But it was. After looking for a little while at the thick crystal honev running on the rtoor, our friend bethought him of an ex- pedient as a substitute for honey-gates, and he tipped the extractor back with a jerk, and propped up the front edge. As we did our uncapping on the top of a barrel, the honey soon threatened to run from that on the floor also. To save it. I very thoughtfully scraped it up and put it into my mouth. •• \Miy, friend Reed, this honey isn't bass- wood, nor does it quite seem to be clover either. ^VhatisitV" •' Why," said he, •' I will tell you. You see. after they clear off the pine woods, the wild red raspberries spring up until there are hundreds of acres of them, and this year our bees have just brought in any amount of this red-raspberry honey. Why. I have had honey this whole spring and summer just as it is coming now, and I don't rememljer a time when I could not extract without ha\'ing a bit of robbing."' '■Then this is really rasi)berry honey!"' And to make sure, I dipped and tasted the honey from several of the stone crocks that were full, like the one under the extractor- spout. "How much do you get for honey like this down at the grocery store where "l saw it V" " Fifteen cents for extracted honey, and 16 for comb." The honey is very white and clear, and the flavor is nearest to that of clover, with a slight flavor that one can easily imagine is like the raspberry fruit. Friend Reed win- ters his bees on their summer stands, with large boxes placed over them, and packed with chaff in the usual way. He says he has tried wintering them in that dry sandy cellar, but it don't work well. He thinks that it may be too dry. And this reminds me that they have a stream of water rumiing through the cellar they winter their bees in at the college apiary. The women folks then announced sup]jer as being ready. I always like to go to sup- per when I am visiting bee-keepers, and this . afternoon the call had an especially pleasant sound. Perhaps it was because of the miles over the sandy hills I had come, and maybe 4(t8 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUllE. Aug. because the table looked very inviting where it was placed almost in the open air. The table was set on a platform of boards covered with branches of trees, and as we partook of the food I wondered several times to see such a structure in such a backwoods place. No blessing was asked before partaking, but I have found this is no unusual thing, even among professors of religion. I soon found, however, that my friend and his wife used to be members of a church, both of them ; l)ut since they had moved into their new home here in the woods, they had not united with, nor, if I am correct," attended, very much any church. The reason was, that there was none of their own people near. *■' But is there no other church near here V" " Yes, sir : there is one within about two miles." " How long have you lived here V *' " Thirteen years." "And you have brought up this family of boys andgirls without attending God's house on the Sabbath, just because there are none of the sect you prefer near you V " As they bowed assent, it just then occurred to me that God had stopped that train, and sent me off here in the woods, perhaps just on purpose to speak a word for his Avork and his " tabernacles." Oh how I did wish that my powers of persuasion were greater ! I did the best I could, and assured tliem that 1 would at once unite myself with any church that happened to be nearest and handiest, where they would let me make myself use- ful, if the one I preferred were out of the (luestion ; and as I felt the time for me to go had come, I could plainly feel God's approv- ing voice for having tried to fulfill the com- mission he had given me for that afternoon. I was pleased to hear my friend tell his wife that no man in the world, not even the Pres- ident, would have been a more Avelcome vis- itor. As I neared the door, somebody whis- pered, " There comes the minister ! " As I met him at the door I said, "My friend, I take the liberty of introducing my- self to any one who is a minister of the gos- pel 1 love." " 1 know you, Mr. Root, already," said he, with a ]ileasant smile. " And how do you know me V '' " By th'? Home Papers." I told him what I had been saying to these friends, and that I hoped God had sent him thus opportunely to second my efforts in the cause. As I rode down to the station J learned from my friend that thebootli under which we took supper was built by his boys for a dance on the Fourih of Jidy. May God's blessing rest on that pretty little home and apiary, and may he lead those boys and girls to accept the call, — Come, souls that are long-iiig' for pleasure. Our Savior has pleasures lo give; Come tincl iu his love the rare treasure That makes every true pleasure live. I reached Manistee the next morning, and a warm welcome I received, I assure you. Maud was homesick, sure enough, and very glad indeed was she to see the face of her papa so unexpectedly. I asked her if she would like to go home with me, and she re- plied in the negative ; but while she did so a tear started and ran down one cheek, and before it could be wiped away, another had started down the other. Reader, were you ever homesick V I very much wanted to stay a whole day ; but 1 feared some of you might, in my absence, say I was not living up to my preaching, if your orders were neg- lected, and so I started home again on the afternoon boat. It was not much of a visit I had with my sister, but still I had ^ood reason to feel that God sent me nevertheless. 1 asked Maud, in starting, what I could do to make itpleasanterforher, or what I could tell them at home. She tried to answer in an even voice ; but in spite of all she could do her answer was, — " Tell ma— I want to see her— and the chil- dren—(«(;A(Z bad." I waved my hat to her until the steamer took us out of sight ; but her sad and sor- rowful face followed me long after. This was the trouble that had come, almost the (irst she had ever known ; but I felt sure God had sent it, and that it would, as I had told her, do her good eventually. She will love her home now as she never loved it be- fore. At Pentwater I stopi)ed over night with a relative, and asked if Maud had been home- sick when she was there. "why, no; not thatl know of; and still, since you mention it, I guess slie was." " What did she do SundayV" " Why. she said she wanted to go to all the churches and Sunday-schools and prayer- meetings she could, 'as she thought that would please her papa ni* st if he knew what she was doing."' God bless thee, my daughter Maud, for thinking so much of what your poor old papa would wish to have you do, even though he has hardly stopped his busy cares long enough to get acquainted willi Jiis own daughter, at an age when slie is just changing from a child to a woman I May God forgive me if 1 have forgotten the home I should daily thank God for, as well as yourself. On the boat I was extremely pained by the awful swearing of tlie pilot. As he came near me once I ventured a slight remon- strance. Either he did not hear me, or it made him angry, for he seemed to swear worse. It finally became so bad tliat I de- cided 1 would make the best protest I was capable of, whatever the consequences might be. To prevent being .sea sick, I was standing in the forward part of the little boat. As there was quite a breeze ahead of us, the waves were higher than I luul ever seen before; and as the boat rose and fell, sliding down the great waves lilic a boy's sled in coasting down hill on llie snow, and then suddenly climbing up anolher wave right before it, the motion would have made me sick, surely, were it not for the great draughts of the cool lake bieeze that I drew in at every breath. 1 held myself upright, by the cai)stan, and I very soon began not only to feel proudof my victory over sickness, but a feeling of exhilaration "took its place, and I soon began to enjoy ithugely. In fact, as the waves weie on the rise, I soon began to wish we might have a bigger one than ever before, even if it did seem as if we were 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 409 sinking one minute, and going to the clouds the next. It seemed like my old horse-back riding, only tenfold more exhilarating. As I enjoyed it, my heart rose to God in thank- fulness. In this mood, you can imagine somewhat my feelings wlien these loud, bit- ter curses came constantly to my ear. 1 tried to think it was no business "of mine, and that it would l)e out of place, and strange and eccentric, for me to interrupt a man who was running a boat. The conviction came on me clear and sharp, that I must do it. I thought of .Jonah, when God told him to go and preach to the Ninevites. If I evaded the duty,l knew, by past experience, all this joy and happiness would be gone. It was going already, while I dallied with temp- tation. 1 made up my mind to do it. but the dread was such that I trembled already. I do not wish lo have people think I am crazy, or a fanatic ; and above all do I fear weak- ning my intiuence bydoing any thing unwise or hasty. I told (iod I would do his bidding, or, if you choose, I made up my mind to do my best to stop the swearing. As I prepared to take up my work, I prayed mentally, " O Lord, my .Savior, thou who has helped thy servant so many times in times past, under similar trials, help me, I piay thee. now. Thou who hast so many times before, in answer to prayer, paved the way, and gone before me. I beseech thee go with and before me now. Thou knowest how I shrink from harming thy cause by any course that shall seem strange and eccentric : and now, I pray tliee, open a way by which 1 may do thy will, in a way pleasing in thy sight.'" I have gone thus fully into details, my friends, to show you how eagily God answers prayer. .Just notice : I had for a moment forgotten to regard the waves, but stood ab- sently, as it were, taking in the delicious air with mouth pretty well open, when a wave, larger than any before, struck the boat and went clear over it, giving me not only cool air, but a whole mouthful of cool lake water too. It went into my mouth, lilled my pock- ets, and gave me such a drenching, that the pilot and captain both burst into a loud laugh. " Stranger, why do you sta,nd there in the wet V Wliv don't you go down into the cab- in ? '' " I fear I shall get sea sick unless I stand in the wind,"' I said, as I smiled through my wetness. •' Why, bless you. you can have the air without so much water ; come up here and stand with us." The man to whom I was going to talk ex- tended his hand, and there God had placed me, by the pilofs own invitation, at his very shoulder. It seemed as if God had replied to my prayer, '■ To be sure, I will help you, my child. Did you doubt that I would make the way plain and reasonable for you V There you are, right by his side.'' But it was not so easy then. He had just spoken so kindly to me. it seemed harder still to "commence on him," as I might term it. I Avas not long undecided, howevei'. He began to boast that he was never sea sick in his life, and wound up by cursing God, and defying him, because of his strength of con- stitution, and brawny muscle. iTie minute had come. " My friend, if you will excuse the liberty, I want to protest against such talk. The day will surely come when God will lav you low and helpless." I can not remember what more I said to him, but it seemed well chosen, for he gave no unkind answer back; and although we talked pleasantly on different matters, he used nothing like an oath agaui that after- noon. .Vs the vessel rounded to the wharf, the captain came up. '' I tell you, sir, 1 am glad you gave that man that talking to ; he is one of the best men I ever had. but that is his great fault. AVhy, I have talked and talked—'' (Here I gave him a surprised look, for I thought he was a little that way himself;) "oh, yes! I use some few words, but not like him ; and, sir. it isn't right ; we'd better all stop. I am airful glad you talked right up to him. Why, he never swore a word after that, all the aft- ernoon, and that is some thing I never knew to happen before."' Now, was it not wonderful V Instead of getting a rebuff, I had got thanks from the captain, and a promise— voluntary too — to do better himself. Please do not think I have told this boastingly, mv friends, but that you might learn a lesson of trust in God, and that we may all safely put in a plea against this great national sin, and without much danger of awakening any unkind feelings either. I love thy tabernacles, O Lord, and I do love to hear thy holy name spoken with reverence and respect by the children of men. ALBINO BEES, ETC. Whex the friends have anj- thing- they wovild like me to see and report on, 1 shall be most happy to re- ceive it, and will report to the best of my ability; but the fact of my having received a nice present, I hope will in no way influence me in reporting for the benefit of the public. Friend Valentine has very kindly Pent me a nice nuclei of his so-called Al- liino bees. With his letter advising us of their ship- ment, conies his circular, from which we extract the following:— KKStKIITKiN or 7 brood-combs, and I would not attempt to winter a colony that would not cover pretty well at least six combs. Fix the combs as you wish them to remain over the winter ; see that tlie queen is laying, then cover them with a mat, having a two-inch hole cut through it right over where the center of the brood-nest comes. This hole can be quickly cut with a two-inch punch, such as tinners use. In fact, you can cut quite a number at once. Put on the mat, and set your Simplicity feeder right beside this hole. This should be arranged about the middle of September. Now feed them until they get every thing waxed up solid. Feed them so that the swarm can not possibly get over to any side of the hive where tiiere are no seal- ed stores, for the brood-nest is in the center, and sealed stores are all around them a solid wall of food, and pure, wholesome food too. If you leave the hole in the mat open all winter, you will have about the same condi- tions of those who leave sections on all win- ter. If you think there should be some thing in the upjier story to keei^ them warm- er, lill it with forest-leaves. If you don't like that way, put in your usual chaff cush- ions. If you have got the bees in plenty, so as to crowd out of the hive, nniess it is pretty cool, and an abundance of pure sugar stores, they will probably winter well almost any- where. Git up, Dobbin ! I have stayed too long already." "• Just a minute more," said John's father. '•About how much sugar will it take to fill them all up in this way V "" '^ If they have no stores to speak of August first, but "good comljs, it will take from 20 to •lo lbs., perhaps. (4it upl" "Please, just one thing more : Can't we get along without buying feeders V " '• Why, come to think of it, I do not know but that > ou can. Just spread the sugar all around the auger-hole, and then drop on as much water slowly as you can without hav- ing it run down into the hive too much. AVIien the bees have licked it dry, wet it again. I once fed a colony thus for winter, and they came through nicely. Git up. Dob- bin!" geiMn ^cUnijn. CITY MARKETS. Very little comb honey is yet ia the market, and prices are not settled. It rnng-es about ISfT/ Mo for light in sinj^le comb boxes. Old honey, large boxes, and dark, from 1~ to ije. Extracted is more plenti- fnl, and brings 7("Vtc readily. Beeswax— l«(2'iUc for light, and 15@lTc for dark. Alfred H. New.man. Chicago, 111., July 22, 1881. We quote honey in neat packages as follows: Best white 1-11). sections, 'ZOffu'^Zc; do. 2-lb sections, ISfii'iOc: best dark 1-lb sections, 13(§Jl5c; do. 2-lb. sections, 12 (g;13c; fair clover, 2-lb. sections, 14(r/ 16c. Large sec- tions 2c per lb. less than above prices. Best white extraSted, 10c; do. dark extracted, T@>8c. We have received but few crates of new honey as yet. Above prices will be our quotations for new goods. Beeswax we quote at 23@i21c. H. K. & F. B. Thurber & Co. New York, July 23, 1881. New honey is just beginning to arrive, and is sell- ing at I8@20c for 1 lb. sections; lT@.Wc for 2-lb. un- glasscd, and 12(§,12;oc for well-ripened e.xtracted in tin cans of 3(3 to BO lbs. There is a fair prospect for these prices to continue, as fruit is scarce; but of course all prices are subject to supply and demand, and not to the opinions of individuals; therefore they may change somewhat, as they are not fully settled. A. C. Kexdel. Clevtland, O., July 20.1881. New extracted honey comes in lively. Our com- mission houses are well supplied, and prices de- pressed consequently, as the demand for honey has not yet sprung up. Extracted honey brings ~(nSc on arrival; comb honey, 12@15c. Beeswax 18@21c. Chas. F. Muth. Cincinnati, O., July 22, 1881. I have a barrel of good honey. Where can I seH it? Muth don't wish to buy now. Who buys honey in Indianapolis or Chicago? D. A. McCord. Oxford, Butler Co., (>., July 14, 1881. I have 6 bbls. of white-clover and linn honey, ex- tracted. Any one wishing to buy, I will send sample and prices. J. B. Mdrray. Ada, Ohio, July 16, 1881. 412 GLEANINGS IX BEE CULTURE. Aug. CLEAKINGS ffl BEE CULTURE. -A-. I- I^OOT, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, MEDINA, O. TERMS: $1.00 PER, YEAR, POST-PAID. FOR CLUBBING RATES, SEE FIRST PAGE OF BEADING MATTER. iwxx;33x:n-..a., .A^-tJcsr. n, issx Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall sec God.— Matt. 5:8. Basswood closed here about the 10th. Wk have to-day, July 29th, 4391 subscribers; a sain of 307 since last month. In my absence the cover to Gleanings was print- ed with the price of wax unchanged. Please read 21 and 33c instead of 23 and 35. The North-Eastern Bee Association of Maine will meet at Grange Hall, Dexter, August 11, 1881. The National Bee-Keepers' Convention will meet at Lexington, Ky., Oct. 5, 6, 7, 1881. I WOULD call especial attention to our two-quart covered pails for honey. They were bought last fall, before the advance on such goods, and at $7.00 per hundred are a bargain. They have riveted ears, raised cover, and hold exactly 6 lbs. of honey. The new Clark smoker is so much more ellicient, so much cheaper, simpler, and handier, that I think it must eventually take the place, to a great extent, of those of a higher price. We shall soon discontin- ue making the Simplicities unless customers insist on having them. Do not send us any more blacks or hybrid ijueens. We can at present use dollar queens at $60.00 per hundred, but do not know how long we shall be able to do so. We shall probably introduce the gf eater part of them into our own apiary, and if too many of them prove hybi'ids, we shall not be likely to want more of the same party. The preference for the thick-walled idn., running from 5 to 6 feet to the pound, is this year greater than ever. As it is much less trouble to roll this kind than that with the thin light walls, we will, un- til further notice, furnish it at 35c per lb. We have a large lot of it piled up ready to fill orders, and have over three tons of nice wax ready to "fall back on." This kind of fdn. costs more per square foot, of course, but it does not sag, and the bees work it out much more readily than they do that with the thin light walls. The worst besetting sin that afflicts mankind, as it looks to me to-day, is, that they do not fulfill their promises. I am guilty with the rest of you, and the consciousness of it so galls me at times that I think I shall give up business and go out in the woods to live, where I shall not have to make any promises to anybody. I do not mean holding only to the let- ter of the promise, but to the verii spirit of it. May God in his infinite love and mercy help us not only to be better in the future, but to make full and am- ple amends for our sins in the past I It will be observed that our friend Forncrook ad- vertises having a patent that covers broadly "any section made of one piece of wood, of whatever de- scription." I presume, of course, the Patent Office have granted him such a patent; but as sections made of one piece of wood are a very old idea, I fear he has wasted his money. Cook's Manual, even the first small edition, described such sections, and il- lustrates the plan of making them. The rubber plates still fail to elicit satisfactory words of approval from purchasers, although we can not see where the trouble is, in using them here. It is true, there is a difficulty as yet in using them for making fdn. on wired frames. The trouble is to avoid having surplus wax around the outside of the frame, without going to the other ex- treme and not having the sheet fill the frame com- pletely. You see, we gauge the size of the sheet by the quantity of melted wax that is poured on the plate. Practice will doubtless remedy all this in time. As usual at this season, there is much trouble in regard to delays in sending queens and bees. Per- haps charity is needed on both sides. Delays often cost purchasers money, I know ; but all who order queens should remember that those who have them for sale do not guarantee to send them at any spec- ified time. I do not know how they can well do so. Every dealer, however, should be prepared to return the money instwitli/ when called for; if he does not do this, he should be promptly advertised as a warn- ing. Once more, my friends: There is no advertise- ment in the world like sending queens and bees the very day you receive the order. EXPRESS companies AS PUBCHASING AGENCIES. As the return charges on the money is an expen- sive feature in the C. O. D. business, we have made an arrangement with all the principal express com- panies whereby our friends may simply hand the money over to any express agent, desiring him to purchase from us whatever is wanted. By this means no money is sent at all, and therefore the ex- pense of this is all saved. We get our pay here, just as if you handed it to us personally. This is for small purchases only, say a dollar or two; larger amounts better be expressed directly to us in the usual way. A SMOKEK FOR STOPPING THE USE OF TOBACCO. Some of the younger ones are asking for the high- est-priced smokers, where they have used tobacco but a very little while. Others ask for only the smallest size, and offer to pay the postage besides. I think, my friends, we had better have it this way: Every habitual user of tobacco who will give me his written promise to use no more tobacco until he shall have paid for the smoker, can have one of our 50c ones, postpaid, or any other one, he paying the difference in price. This will make it fair all around. The new smoker is giving excellent satis- faction, and we prefer them in our apiary to any smoker made, at any price. HERBERT A. BURCH. Since our notice of last month, w*e have heard of but two cases where the bees have been sent, and one of them is mentioned in the Growlery. Friend B. was very much displeased at ray notice, and I asked him to give me a list of all orders he had filled, 1881 GLEA^IKGS IN BEE CULTURE. 41c or money returned. None has been sent at this date. The following came to hand in m3' absence, and was replied to at once on my return, to the ef- fect that we should of course be glad to publish any thing from him. LDiigcuntiinied overwork has so far impaired Mr. I'.Tirrh's o.Vfsitrht, tluit he is unable to write to any one. Will you allow us space in voiir Auj^st No. lor a reply to your strietures i>n our business^ H. A. BlHin .V Co. South Haven, Mich.. July 1."). ISSl. To-day we get the following: Your answer to our inquirv of .lulv l.ith ha.s just reached us. We re^fret that vou did not replv at onee.as it is too late now to prepare an .irtiele for the Au.nist No. Mr. B. is still unable to do uiu.h writinir. HA. Bl'Rcii & Co. South Haven, Mieh. .July 27. IS.Sl. It don't look to rne as though we wanted a:i " arti- cle," friend B. Your friends want their bees or their money, and I do not see how ill health or any thing else should prevent your wife or friends, or the man who manages the apiary, from complying with such simple acts of courtesy and justice. I have been told Mr. B. has about 300 colonies, and, in fact, he says so himself. The foUowitig is a list of those who have sent hint orders, and who have not, as far as I am informed, received either bees or money, and they now get no answers from him: — Jan. 21, 1881, R. Bovlan, Ni Wot, Mich., 142.41. May 4, J. M. Goodrich, S. Frankfort, Mich., $20.00. "W. D. Wright, Knowersville, N. Y., $10.00. June, 1880, A. H. Brown, Tustin City, Cal.. $:5..50. Apr. 4, '81, Z. D. Paddock. Albany, J 11., $18.10. P. L. Williams. Sharon. Pa., $37.50. R.Johnson. Tiffin, la., .S40.00. May 9, '81, R. H. Gagan, White Valley, Va.. $10. .50. June, '81, Willet Dickerson. Ladoea, Ind.. $14.00. Mav, '81, HenrvKnapp, Oxford, Mich., $5.U0. D. R. Shaver. Stratford, Can., $14.u0. Mch.. '81, B. T. Baldwin, Oskaloosa, Ia..59'/ilb. wa.x. May 18, '81, H. S. Miller, Huntingdon, Pa., $18.00. Same date, son of above, $3. .50. H. Dickerson, West Lima, Wis., $2.00. L. M. Shumaker, Danville, Va., $2.00. Bvron Walker, Capac, Mich., $117.00. May 1.5, '81, T. C. Davis, Pittsburg. Pa., $7.00. June, '81, W. Dickerson, Ladoga, Ind., $14.00. I agree to be responsible for my advertisers, and if Mr. Burch, or any other one, fails to send the goods, or return the money. I will pay back the amount as soon as it is determined that it can not be collected of such advertiser. It does not seem to me that I should be responsible for damages result- ing from delays in filling orders. I choose to do this, because I think it will teach me to be careful from whom I receive advertisements; ind our bee folks should certainly have some protection against losing their hard earnings in this way. With God's help, I expect to be able to bear such burdens as I may meet. Two individuals have written me, protesting against my injustice to Mr. Burch. One of them gave me some names from South Haven. If these gentlemen will come forward and guarantee that friend B. will make good the above amounts, they will prove friends in need and friends indeed. Recent Additions to the COUNTER STORE. FIVE-CENT COUNTER. Postage. ] fPr.of 10, ot 100 2 , Blanket Pins, per paper of M doz | 40 | 3 50 .\lso good for shawl pins. They are like a eonimon brass pin, hut 3 inches lonu. and lai'gre in proportion. 3 I Cake-cutters, fancy, 6 different pat'ns* | 30 | 2 .50 2 I Combs, Dressing, aood, clear horn I 45 | 4 00 10 I Clothes-Lines; 30 ft. long | 40 I 3 75 8 I Cups, 1 quart, exact {tor only five centu) | 48 | 4 50 3 I Fans, very pretty, to fold up, well-made | 45 i 4 25 I Jelly or Honey Tumblers, Vi lb. glass cover I 48 I 4 50 4 I Pans or basins, extra deep, 1J4 pints a very useful size* | 28 | 2 .50 7 I Pie-plates, Tin; just right for pump- kin pies, two sizes, 9 and 10 inch* | 33 | 3 00 3 I Specracle-Cases; Leather; excellent.. | 33 | 3 00 4 I Tabl'^ts, Suitable for writing and coun- ter-slips; on excellent writing paper 1 40 I 3 50 2 ; Thimbles, best German silver j 47 4 50 7 1 Tin Pot-Covers,with ringMi and 11 in. I 45 I 4 50 1 1 Tweezers and Ear-spoons | 40 | 3 50 •Three for a dime O TEN-CENT COUNTER. 3 I Carpenters" Compasses 4-in., steel 1 95 1 9 00 I Dressing for the shoes, 4-nz. bottles.. I 85 | 8 00 An excellent thiny- to make your shoes look ' ' new' ' when you want them to look i>resentalile foi- Sunday-school, and have but little time. I Lamp hand, no burner or chimney. . . | 85 | 7 fo j Match-safe, beautiful pattern, handy. | 75 | 7 00 Above is >;lass, after th.i "picket feuce" pattern so much now in vofaie. 4 I Hose, Ladies', both white and colored; excellent goods | 85 | 8 00 10 I Inkstands in bronze and glass; hand- some and u.sef ul | 85 | 8 OO 8 I Pokers to stir the tire, tinned iron, wood handle, nice | 75 | 7 00 10 I Wash Basins, 10 in., re-tinned | 85 | 8 00 5 I Testament, new revision i 95 | 9 00 Clear plain print, papei- rovei-. FIFTEEN-CENT COUNTER. 12 I Coffee-pots, 2-quart | 1 10 | 10 00 24 I Dish Pans, 8 qt. with handles | 1 80 i 17 00 This is the pan used for our .iOe Wax p;xtractor. It also fonns an excellent pan for mixing hreail, with the addition of a nice, stronp, well tittinfr, slopinj; idver, which costs 10c more. 12 1 Oil Cans, 2 qt., real nice; well made i 1 25 1 12 00 12 I Pans, Milk 8 quart, a good large pan and re -On lied | 1 25 I 12 00 28 I Wooden Bowls, 14 in. in diameter... I 1 25 1 13 00 GLASSWARE. I Butter Dish. Albion pattern, no foot | 1 30 1 12 50 .\ very nice piece of work foi- the piice. Twenty-Five Cent Counter. 15 I Coffee Pots. « qt., " Whopper" 1 2 10 | 20 00 25 I Pails, Tin 6 Quart, with cover. Plain | 3 00 1 18 00 3 I Spoons, Table. German Silver, Hall & Elton's well-known make | 1 75 i 15 00 I Stew pan, 1 I Juvenile De|)artnient i:« I KindAVords from Customersiai I.adies' Department 42fi I Lunch-R ' om — ! Notes and Queries 15.'. Kcports Encoiu-aging — SmileiT iX> The Gronlery 441 I Toliaeco Cohiiiin 4.'iii INDEX OF HEADS OF ORAIN, NOTES AND QUERIES, AND OTHER SHOUT ARTICLES. Honey -Dew 4.'iO. 454 How to jret Honev — and Mimev 442 It.Tlianson lied Clovei' 435 huiimiilitr .Vddrp.ses; again 464 Lunirstroth Kr.inie 433 Lar: A Review uf Havhmst's Tea Party.." 4-i4 -V Report from C'anaila Vii .V New tool foi- Bee- Keepers 425 .Vdding Extra Combs 43C, Awkward Squad 4.511 -V K C Scholar in Trouble . .451 Apiaiy of 225 Colonics in Bo-K Hives 45:! I Ml luf .\inos I. Root 4fil Bees, Savage 454 Bee-Keeper's Misliai)s 451 Bees, How to Winter 4.50 Bees Ta.xable 449 Bees on Onions 44X Bees in Nebraska 443 Bees Stinging Hoi-se: Marking I'aekage.s •. 429 Lost ill Mails 441 Molbe Heatli Plant t4T Neighbor H . on Feeding Bees 424 Nova Scotia 438 Novelty in Chatf Hives 451 Notes from Bamier Apiaiy. .423 I lur Medina Co. Bee-keei)e"rs46fi n, Too nmch 447 liee-iaves in Texas 4.'i(i I Promptness and Uesiionsi- Brooks' E.vperienee 440 ! bilitv 449 Bureh & Co 444 | Peet Cage 4.52 Basswood Honey and Snow- Questions from a l>ee-keeperl3(i drifts 446 Queen-Rearing 445 Basswood, Daily yield from 454 Queen and 'i Jb. of P.ees 448 Combs mied with Clover Queen that Stings Workers 44X Honey 429 ! Queens that won't Lav 465 Candy for Queen-Cages 434 Report of a Boginmr 446 California 435,149,454 Report of L. 11. Kinvon 419 Case's Bee-keeping 4.38 Sending Monev bv nuiil. Chaff Hives 149. 450, 451 I w ithout Kegisteri Cypriins for- Increase. . . 452 South .\i i-llai-s or < lutdoor Packing Conventions 460 Dark-baiiikd ltaliai\s IM DoolittU 's Explanation 439 ine Color of. .447 Drones with Col'ireil Eyes . .448 Lxpericnce of a Novice 427 Kxt''> | 12 00 Twenty-Five Cent Counter. 50 I Washboard " O K" Double | 1 'o^ | 15 00 This is a nice, light, good washboard, and with each one goes a very pretty and useful little receipt book. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Oltio. Italian queens (untested) 80c: full colonics, ready for winter (untested queens), $(5.00. Can ship immc- diateLv, H. BARBER, Adrian, Len. Co., Mich. 9d pr^^-N FINE COLONIES of Italian Bees, with g ^V_V tested queens, at $7.00 each. Tested queens, $2.00 each. A few colonies of good hybrids with queens at $0.00. Address O. H. Townsexd, 9tfd Hubbardston, Ionia Co., Mich, ITALIAN QUEENS! Tested (|ueens, $2.00. T have a fine lot of untested queens on hand, which I will send, by return mail, tor To cts. each. All my queens .nre reared from imported and home-bred queens. Send in your or- ders to GEORGE W. BAKER, M Lcwisvillf, Henry Co., Ind. ^LACK BEES, ~ SO cTSi. i*e:"?i. i»oxj3xriD i From this date I will sell the abo\e bees at the above low price. These bees are obtained of parties who wintered their beea successfully. They are a hardy strain. Black queen with the pound, $1.00: or untested Italian queen, $1..50. Three-frame nu- cleus with untested queen. Two for $5.00. Address J. H. MARTIN, Hartford, 9d Wash.Co., N. Y. THE BEST KNIFE MADE For Farmers and Mechanics. Jllr.dcs extra Ihirk, oil tempered, every lie tt sled by file. Exchanged free if Kft or flawy. Price postpaid, T5c, or l-l'lade, £Cc. Medium 2-blade, LCc, 1-blade, 2.""ic. Illustrated list lice. Butcher Knife, ' (^t. I! in., ;tc: Sticliing Knife, •iOc; Skinning Knife, 7:5c, postpaid. Please send for our free list. Address MAKER & GROSH, :)4 N. Monroe St.. Toledo, Ohio. 420 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. SKrT, Names of responsible parties ^111 be inserted In any of the following departments, at a uniform price of 20 cents each insertion, or $3,00 per j'ear. $1.00 Queens. Names inserted in this department the first time with- out charge. After, 20c each iJisertion, or $2,00 per year. Those whose names appear below agree to furnish Italian queens for S1,00 each, under the following conditions: No guarantee is to be assumed of purity, or anythingof the kind, only that the queen be reared from a choice, pure mother, and had commenced to lay when they were shipped. They also agree to re- turn the money at any time when customers become impatient of such delay as may bo unavoidable. Bear in mind that he who sends the best queens, put up most neatly and most securely, will probably receive the most orders. Special rates for warranted and tested queens, furnisncd on application to any of the parties. Names with *, use an imported queen mother. If the queen arrives dead, notify us and we will send you another. Probably none will be sent for Sl.OO before July 1st, or after Nov. If want- ed sooner, or later, see rates in price list. *E. W. Hale, Newark, Wirt Co., W. Va. 2-1 *A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. *H. H. Brown, Light Street, Columbia Co.. Pa. 7tf *E. M. Hayhurst, Kansas City, Mo. 1-12 *Paul L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, La. 7ttd *D. A. McCord, Oxford, Butler Co., O. M2 *S. F. Newman, Norwalk, Huron Co., O. Ttfd *Chas. G. Dickinson, Sou' Oxford, Chen. Co. N. V . i-lO *Wm. Ballantine. Sago, Musk. Co.. O. Ttfd *W. H. Nesbit. Alpharetta, Milton Co., Ga. Ttfd *J. O. Facey, New Hamburg, Ont., Can. 4-9 *H. Nicholas, Etters, York Co., Penn. i-W *John Conser, Glenn, Johnson Co., Kans. 4-9 * Fischer & Stehle, Marietta, Wash. Co., O. 4-9 Mas. P. Sterritt, Sheakleyville, Mercer Co., Pa. 510 "V^. W. Keency, Shirland, Win. Co., 111. 6-9 *C. B. Curtis, Selma, Dallas Co., Ala. 6-11 *T. W. Dougherty, Mt. Vernon. Posey Co., Ind.T-13 *J. W. Keeran, Bloomington, McLean Co., 111. T-9 L. W. Vankirk, Box iTH, Washington, Wash. Co. Pa. Ttfd ('. H. D3ane, Sr., Morlonsville, Woodford Co., Ky. 8ttd Hive Manufacturers. Who agree to make such hives, and at the prices named, as those described on our circular. A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. P. L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, Iberville Par., La. Itfd S. F. Newman, Norwalk, Huron Co., O. Itfd J. F. Hart, Union Point, Greene Co., Ga. 4-3 Foundation Manufacturers. Who agree to make such foundation, and at the prices given, as described in our circular. A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. Jas. A. Nelson, Wyandott, Wyandott Co., Kans. 4-9 Bees by the Pound. Those whose names appear below agree to furnish bees by the lb., and at the prices given in our circu- lar. T. L. Scofield, Chenango Bridge, Broome Co., N. Y. S. C. Perry, Portland, Ionia Co., Mich. J. P. Moore, Morgan, Pendleton Co., Ky. W. R. Whitman, New Market, Madison Co., Ala. Chas. Kingsley, Greenevilie, Greene Co., Tenn. C. D. Wright, Baxter Springs, Cherokee Co., Kans. H. B. Harrington, Medina, Medina Co., O. W. St. Martz, Moonshine, Clark Co., Ills. G. W. Gates, Bartlett, Shelby Co., Tenn. W. S. Canthen, Pleasant Hill, Lancaster Co., S. C. J. G. Taylor, Austin, Tra\is Co., Texas. T. P. Andrews, Farina, Fa/. Co., 111. Allan D. Laughlin, Courtland, Law. Co., Ala. E. J. Atchlcy, Lancaster, Dallas Co., Texas. D. McKenzie, Carrollton P. O., N. ()., La. H. L. Griffith, Sumner, Law. Co., 111. J. H. Martin, Hartford, Wash. Co., N. Y. W. A. Pirtle, Cabot, Lonoke Co., Ark. E. T. Flanagan, Belleville, St. Clair Co., 111. J. K. Mayo, Stafford. Fort Bend Co., Texas. J. F. Hurt, I'nion Point, Greene Co., Ga. B. Chase, Earlville, Madison Co , N. Y. S. P. Roddv, Mechanicstown, Fred. Co., Md. W. J. Ellisim, Statesburg, Sumter Co., s. C. R. A. Paschal, Geneva, Talbot Co., Ga. A. Osbun, Spring Bluff, Adams Co., Wis. H. D. Heath, Sherman, Grayson Co., Texas. N. B. MoKee,careof D. &D. Inst., Indianapcilis, Ind. J. 1!. R. Sherrick, Mt. Zion, Macon Co., 111. Otto Kleinow, opp. Fort Wavne, Detroit, Mich. J. C. & D. H. Tweedy, Smithfleld, Jeff. Co., O. HEADQUARTERS IN THE SOUTH For the Manufacture and Sale of BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES! Italian (Queens and Bees, all bred from mothers of my own importation. Dollar queens, $1.10. Tested queens, 13.50; 4-trame Nucleus, J^i.OO. Safe arrival and satisfaction guaranteed. Scad for my illustra- ted catalogue. PAl L li. VIAL-tON, 6tfd Bayou Goula, Iberville Par., La. Untested queens, $1.00; Tested, $3.00; Selected, $3 00; Pound of Bees, Italian, $100; 3Langstroth- frame nuclei, $3 00; I! Langstroth-frame nuclei, $3.00. For prices of Novice E.vtractors, Veils, Smo- kers, Hives, &c.. &c., address WM. B. COGGESHALL, Supt. 9 Hill Side Apiary, Summit, Union Co., N. J. HEADQUARTERS FOR & Imported and home-bred; nuclei and full colo- nies. For quality and purity, my stock of bees can not be excelled in the United States. I make a specialty of manufacturing the Dunham foundation. Try it. If you wish to purchase Bees or Supplies, send for my new circular. Address Itfd DR. J. P. H. BROWN, Augusta, Ga. CTOLM'S COMB rOUMTION MACHINE. SEND FOU SAMPLE AND CIRCULAR. 5tfd C. Oli.^I, Fond du Lac, Wis. j: m7^rooks & bro^ AMERICAN ITALIANS. PURITY OF STOCK A SPECIALTY. 4-9 CIRCULARS FREE. COLUMBUS, - B.\RTH. CO., - INDIANA. 18S1 ITALIAN (QUEENS! 1881 Tested Queens $1 50 ^Varranted Queens.. 1 00 Cyprian Queens, untested 1 00 As most all the Dollar queens I sold last year were pure, I will warrant them this year. » J. T. Wilson, Mortonsville, 8-9 Woodford Co., Ky. At Kansas City, Mo., I breed piu-e Ttalian bees for sale. I warrant my "Dollar" queens to be mated by pure yellow drones, and guarantee safe arrival and perfect satisfaction. Tested Queens, - - - - - - $2 00 "Dollar" " 1 00 Please address all letters plaial.v to 6tfd E. M. HAYHURST, P. O. Box 1131. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 421 Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! 100 WARRANTED ITALIAN QUEENSl fl M p ■- XI < ^ c> -a CIS 0 ^ bo ^ BINGHAM BEE SMOKER. The first practical bellows bee smoker. The first and original patent smoker. 'I'be first never-failing bee controller. 'I'he tlrst direct draft bellows smoker. The first to burn stove-wood and not go out. 'I'he first durable bellows bee smoker. The first to create a demand for smokers. The first to meet the wants of bee-keepers. The first cinder-proof bellows smoker. The first twenty thousand now in use. The first complaint yet to be received. The first smoker yet to be returned. .3 ^ W ^ The first thing for bee-keepers to do, to save impo- sition and money, and be happy and safe, is to semi a card for testimonials, or half-dozen rates, to BINGHAM & HETHERINGTON, ACRONIA, MICH. Blueberry Plants! This fall I will furnish blueberry plants at $1.00 ppr dozen, by mail, or S3.U0 per 100 by express. They are a good fruit, and ea«ily grown on high ground, if mulched. DELOS STAPLES, !i AVest Sebewa, Ionia Co., Mich. BEES FOR SALE ! To reduce my stock, I will sell 100 colonies Italian and hybrid bees in 8 and 10 frame regulai- L. hives, well filled with bees, brood, and clover honey; 8- frame new hive for S7.00 ; l(!-franip, $8.00, with Ital- ian queens raised from iiupiirted mothers. Hybrids, $1.00 less. Put up in good shipping order P.O. li. Can send any time. Send cash with order. !"d D. G. WEBSTER, Blaine, Boone Co., 111. HITES! HITES! I am now prepared to manufacture bee-hives, wholesale and retail at the \ery lowest prices. Send one dollar, to get one of D. A. Oones' celebrated hives. Catalogue furnished on application. »ce Co., ITIicliire I got aoother one. D. S. Hall. South C.ibot, Wash. Co., Vt., July 2S, 1881. THE TEN-CENT SPECTACLES. The 2 spectacles are received in good order. This part of the country will shortly become good cus- tomers for your spectacles as soon as they become known. W.m. Wittfeld. Georgiana, Brevard Co., Fla., May 34, 1881. I ha%-e always been pleased with what I have bought from you. May Tth I took 168 lbs. of new honey: I'f w.ts /lac. Was sorry to see your name in Blasted Hopes. I hope you won't be there long. J. W. Thaylok. Mt. Joy, Delta Co., Texas, May 31, 1881. I received my three queens all right, also the other goods. Every thing in good order. You will receive my very kind thanks for your kindness. I think I never s^vv any thing put up so nicely. Edw.a^rd Tunnicliff. Kewance, Henry Co., III., Julv U, 1881. W.VTERBrUY WATCH. The watch came to hand all right. I am well pleased with it. I think it is the best watch I ever saw for the money, and so think all my friends. E. B. Skinner. Fultonham, Muskingum Co., O., July 28, 18H1. THE 50c. SMOKER. That new smoker is just an old engine. I don't see what any one wants to give Sl.,50 when he can get such a one as that for 5cc. and postage. V. W. Keeney. Shirland, III., July 20, 18S1. FIXING BOOKS TO MAIL SAFELY. I received the ABC to-day. It came through the mails In flrst-class condition. I think some of the booksellers might take a lesson from the way you tlx those wooden strips around the edge to keep the cover from getting damaged. H. It. Duke. Emsdale, Out., Can., Aug. 5, 1881. the cards on PROFANITY. Accept thanks for those cards. I hope that through them I may lead some one to leave off this most depraved habit, as well as to impress on the minds of some of the little ones, that Jesus should always direct our words as well as actions. Several little girls who are in the habit of coming to my place of work have learned the one, and are to re- peat it to me this afternoon. Geo. F. Williams. New Philadelphia, Tusc. Co., O., Aug. 1, IHSI. I like my ABC book very much; at least I sup- pose you will think so when I say that and (J lean- ings have so occupied my evenings that I haven't l)een to the store an evening for a month or more; so you see it must possess very decided charms. I have got one swarm of bees now; the hive is chock full of bees and honey, so it is all I can do to lift it. We got them for $5.50 in a box hive. They have about filled a cap with honey. They are blacks, but are very gentle. I have been stung only once by Here is two dollars, for which you will please send me a '" crate ot tive " of those extra smokers. I have used one of your first make of them, and can recom- mend them c >nscientiously. A. A. Parsons. Plaintteld, Hendricks Co., End.. July 39, 1881. Yom- clerk is a jewel to send my order by freight, to thus save me expense. D. F. Hawley. Alburgh Springs, Grand Isle Co., Yt., July 2:$, 1881. [Why, friend H., it is ijnu who are the "jewel." Wo have had more unkind words for disobeying orders, as we did in your case, than for almost any thing else. For instance, a man will order a thou- sand sections by express. We find, by looking it up, that the express charges alone would be about as much as the sections are worth. Now, the man may ; be well aware of this, and prefers to pay it rather 1 than risk the delays on freight; or. what is most ] probable, he may have carelessly said by express, ■ not thinking how heavy a thousand sections really arc. Shall we obey (H- disobey orders? If we should wait until we could write him, the delay might cost him more than the value of the sections. We have found that we got the most thanks by taking it for granted that our customer has been careless; but sometimes we get a letter informing us that it is fair to presume a man who pays his money knows what he wants, and how he wants it. When we risk sending them as ordered, they often refuse to take them, and then we have a heavy express charge to foot ourselves. So you see why kind words like yours do us a great deal of good, friend H.] ! KIND WORD^ Tit OVIi CUSTOMERS. My friends, there is one thing most sadly needed in business, it is esp3cially needed by the boys and 1 girls and men and women who have not been much in the habit of doing business, or who are just learn- 1 ing to do it. Our b jok-keeper says the best way she can define it is to say that you need to learn to be .s7/n)f (tnd c]c:ir. Many of our large business houses are short, as we all know to our sorrovv, but they are often any thing but clear. Our bee friends go so much the other way that they often write a long pleasant letter, but do not make the principal point clear then. The trouble is worse than you have any 1 idea of. To illustrate : A man says, " Send me a thousand sections, 5x8. Don't delay a moment." 1 This is short and clear, but it don't tell which of the two dimensions is to have the openings in. to let in i the bees. It won't do to guess, and so we write, I " My friend, you failed to tell us which were the tops j and bottoms, and which the sides of your sections; I please tell at once." Now, would you suppose any- body could fail to answer such a question':" But they do, and quite often. Again, a man asked about some i grooving-saws for making sections. We told him we could get him a set of new ones for 90 much, or that we would sell him a set that we had been using, I at a much less price. He replied that we should send him, at one', so many saws of such dimensions; but nowhere in his letter was there anj' clew as to I whether he wished older new. We sent the new, and he was very much displeased, and charged us with not holding to what we had agreed to do. An- other orders a thousand frames at once. After hunt- ing up all the facts we could to determine whether he wanted all- wood or metal-corner frames, we send the former. He replies that he plainly ordered the latter, and thit the former are subject to our order, as he can not use them. Nothing but sending back to him his own letter will convince him of his mis- take. D.1 you saj' that such mistakes will happen, and we shall all have to bear withat least some such'? Then by all means, friends, let us bear this in mind when we are tempted to speak or write harshly. We often get goods we think we did not order, but we do not write abusively, or at least not until we have found out what we did order. I'll tell you what helps : after you make an order, read it over carefully to see if you have told all that must he told. ITAI IAN A XD A LBINO QUEENS, Untested, bred from my choicest mothers. Italian queens, 75 cts. each ; per half-doz., $U.50. Albino queens, $1.00; per half-doz., f.5.00. J. M. C. TAYLOR, 9d Lewiston, Fred'k Co., Md. FOR SALE. Address. Od ,13 Colonies of pure Italian Bees in improved Langstroth hives, A. M. YORK, 428, 15th St., Detroit, Mich. GLEANINGS BEE CULTUI\E. Devoted to Bees and Honey, and Home Interests. Vol. IX. SEPT. 1, 1881. No. 9. A. Z. ROOT, ] Publisher and Proprietor, \ Medina, O. j Published Monthly. 1 rates. Aoove a EstaUished in 1873. [Z^^i..^^:^L r TERMS: $1.00 PER ANNUM, IN ADVANCE; I 2 Copies for $1.90; 3 for $2.75: 5 for $4.00; 10 I or more. 75 cts. each. Single Number. lO.ots. -1 Additions to clubs may be made at club rates. Above are all to be sent to one i>ost- to different postofficcs, not each. NOTES FROITI THE BANNER APIARY. NO. WATER IN QUEEN -CAGES. ^fpULY 30,— Huw fcas^ibk- some things look on pa- oTjl per, anrt how useless they prove in practice ! For instance, I told yon some time ago I In- tenflcd to put up soft candy, something about like thick mfilnsses, in the bottom of my queen-cages, and then cover it with hnrder candj'. I have not yet made it a success. I filled some cages in this manner, and they looked all right until I began throwing them across the shop to see how they would stand rough treatment, when the soft candy just "busted" out in every one of them. I filled some more in the same manner, only I made the coating of hard candy considerable thicker. I did not "throw" these cages, but put some queens in them, and had them all ready to ship, when some thing detained me an hour or two, and, by that time, the soft candy was running from the cages. 'Twas lucky that they were not in the mail-bags, wasn't it? Well, before I could send the queens, I had to go and flu cages in the old-fashioned waj% making the candy as soft as possible. I could not bear to think of using those tin bottles that you furnished last season, friend Koot, because so many bees reached ihcir destination daubed and dead. I was glad to see your explanation of the matter, in the last Gleanings, as the subject had puzzled me somewhat. Well, the ordinary candy, made very soft, sccracd to answer every purpose until the hot dry weather came, when postals began to arrive that read about as follows: - •• Those (lueens that vou :-ent the 15th came to hand the l»th. and 1 am soriv to sav that, in two of the cages, both the queen and bees were dead. Thev looked to me as though they had died of thirst. How do vou expect bees to live without water siu-h weather as this; Please send me two more tiueeiis :is soon as possible, as I have two ([Ueenless colonies.'' I could see no escape from my troubles unless I went back to the plan that I adopted the first sea' son that I shipped queens, -that of putting into the cagt a dram vial of water, and stopping its mouth with a piece of spouge. I thrust a bit into the hole through which the queen is put into the cage, and bored a hole to the depth of half an inch, inside the cage, in the direction of one corner of the cage. A bottle of water was set into this hole, and a wire nail driven down in front of its mouth. The candy was now poured in around the bottle until just its "nose" stuck out. To make sure that the bottle would not be broken in the mails, I began throw iug a cage across the shop. I threw it with all my might, and continued throwing it until I split the cage in two, but the bottle remained uninjured, i^ou see, it is so imbedded into the candy that it can not be broken. Come to think of it, friend Root, just to show you how it is all arranged, I will send you a cage containing an untested Italian queen. Aucj. 3.— How dry and dusty it is ! not a drop of honey do the bees seem to get; if this weather con- tinues much longer, I shall certainly have to feed. Gleanings came last evening, and I don't know how many times Mrs. H. said, "Come, Will, don't you know that it's after ten o'clock? " I declare, it sometimes seems as though Gleanings is as inter- esting as those old-tjme love-letters used to be. And 424 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Sei'T. so other breeders have gone to using water in their bees I had. They are very prolific, and will breed up early in the spring; they are not inclined to rob, and will not let other bees rob them. They are great honey-gatherers; work well on red clover, and at this present tinte are filling their combs with red- clover honey and pollen; and, lastly, they are the best-natured bees I ever worked with. They will never attack any one when their hive has not been disturbed, mind their own business, and will not buzz around your head when you are working with another hive. I h&\e hitched my horse under a shade tree within VZ feet of a colonj- of full-blood Cyprians, and I never knew a bee to touch her; but if you kick over their hive, as friend Hayhurst did, they would be apt to pay you for it. The Cyprians have come to this country, and they have come to stay, and " don't yau forget it." NEionnou H. Medina, O., Aug. 2:J, 1881. — -^•••^ NEIGHBOR H. 07i FEEDING BEES. THE "TIN-PAN" FEEUER. M, S September is the month when bees should be Jl^\ fed, if they- need it, for winter, I will give my ' way, even if it is old, for winter feeding. I dissolve 3 or 4 lbs. of granulated sugar in 2 lbs. of water, and let it come to a boil ; if there is any scum, take it off. Feed in the top of the hive, in a common milk-pan, covered with a piece of chec^se cloth; leave it loose enough so it will reach the bottom of the pan when the bees take the syrup all out. Fix it so the bees can not get under the cloth, and you will not drown a bee. If j-ou boil j-our syrup, and make it thick enough, the bees will seal it up the same night they are fed; but if left thin, and dis- solved in cold water, they will not seal it until the water dries out in the hive. I have, within the past few days, had them empty a pan in 5 hours. Tin pans cost only a dime, if you do not happen to have as many in the house as are needed, and you can hardly get a good feeder for any less. Neiohbok H. Medina, ()., Aug. 2'2, 18S1. A REPORT FROIVI f.lNAIIA. , ALSO SOME HOPEfUL WORIJS KUOM -V YOUNG FRIEND OF OURS. MjDlTOK (iLEANINGS:-You have har lie so reckless as to tlxiust tlic same liand liaek amonj,' tlie hees im- mediately. I Should give the same advice, with the exception of omitting the sucking. It takes time, and docs no good that I can see. It is a little amusing, nowadays, to have custom- ers ask how soon we can send, a queen. Whj', my friends, we have had queens by the hundred waiting for customers, for the past.six weeks. In fact, the clerks are standing ready to grasp each letter almost the minute it is out of the envelope, pleased at the chance of sending you by next train almost any arti- cle mentioned in our price list. Any one who is be- hind on orders in August or September ought to be ashamed of himself. The following from the Iiidknia Fainter is a little suggestive, and, strikes at just about the real state of the matter: That the best honey iu the most marketable shape will alwavs bring the best price, has never been more fully exemplified than in a case which was brought to our notice a few days since. W-hile down street, within a stone's throw of the Fanmr office, at a fancy grocer's, two lots of honey were brought in. As for the honey, it was all very white and nice, but one lot was in a "skip" which held something over 20 lbs., and must be cut out and sold in chunks. The other 25 lbs. in 1':; lb. sections, all encased in a nice shipping-case. The latter brought 23 cents per pound, while the former lot brought only 12! i cents, and the grocer could hardly be in- ducc'l to take it at that price. Our ingenious friend Scovell of Columbus, Kan., was the one alluded to in our last number, who invented the new way of grooving the Peet cages for the tins, at the same time friend Foster did. It is, in reality, the same thing as the cage I paid him S35.O0 for a few years ago. Friend S. also sends us :i plan for wiring frames, without the necessity of making any holes for the wire. Take :i thin board, say Vi or "■» thick, and saw grooves in it, as fai- apart as you want the wires.- These grooves are to go just half through the board. Now rip off strips from this board, and you have places for the wires in each strip. The strips are of such length that one may be tacked under the top-bar, and over the bottom-bar of the frame. It is ingenious, but I think rather more work for us tb.p,n o\ir usual way. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 427 THE EXPERIENCE OF A NOVICE IN BEE CU1.TITRE. CHAPTER I., IN wniCII HE TELLS HOW HE FIRST CAME TO KEEP BEES, ETC. ^Ijpl^EAR FRIEND NOVICE:— I have often thought f\jyj of writing you a letter, telling- you of my suc- cess as a bee-keeper, and how I CDmracnced. I should have done so before, but thought to give the field to those more learned and experienced in the business. I was born and brought up upon a small farm in the town of Berne, Albany Co., N. Y. My parents were poor, and, living some way from a schoolhouse, I got but a very little education. When I was twelve j^ears old I left the paternal rcrof and went out into the worlii to do for myself. I worked out by the month for a few years, and so my wages was not very high. I merely earned enough to supply myself with the necessaries of life. When I was ~1 I got married, and worked a small place of about 60 acres of land for one-third, the owner find- ing tools. This business I carried on for three years, and at the end 1 was no better off than at the com- mencement; but in reality 1 was money out of pocket. At the end of three years I engaged to work a large farm in Schoharie Co. (where I now re- side), belonging to a cousin; and after working hard, myself and wife, at the end of the year we were really money out of pocket. I concluded that there was n(j show for a poor man in the farming line, so concluded to try some thing else. In the spring of 1877, the same year that I com- menced to work the last place above mentioned, I saw an advertisement in some paper (I have forgot- ten the name of the paper now, but I think it was in the American Aoyicfd'uriiit;) the advertisement read like the following:— I>ear Friend;— If you are interested in Bees or Honey, we will with pleabiiie send you a sample copy of (Jleaninus ix Bek Cl'LTiRE. Siniplv solid your name, plainly written on a postal card, to A. I. KOOT, Medina, Ohio. Now, I had been interested in the little honey-bees all my life. I used to watch them hour after hour as they came, loaded down with wax and honey, as I termed it then, for my brother-in-law, who used to keep a few bees in box hives, informed me that it was wax that they carried on their logs, and of course I thought the same; how should I know bet- ter then? but I know better now. Well, as I have said before, I was interested, and so sent my name to you, and in a few days received a copy of Glean- ings. But I was much surprised when I got it; of course, my first thoughts were, after reading about frame hives and artificial combs, and machines to extract the honey out of the combs without injury to them, and about artificial swarming and queen- rearing, and all of this and that, that it was a hum- bug, and so I laid it aside; but every time I came into the house my mind was drawn to that "hum- bugging book," as I termed it, and the more I read it the more uneasy I got; and at last I concluded to purchase a colony of bees if I could. So in a few days I had some business to attend to in the further part of the town, and in coming home I noticed an old man carrying bees out of his celljir. As he had a good many swarms, I thought perhaps he might sell me one or two colonies; and so in a few days I had occasion to pass that way again. The old man was out among his bees. I drove my horses up near the fence, and, after fastening them, I opened a con- versation with him in regard to his bees. After passing a few remarks in regard to them, I asked him if he would sell me a couple of swarms. He said that he would. I asked him his price, and he replied that he had some that he would sell for $4.00 a swarm, and some that he would not sell at all. I asked him to show me some of his four-dollar swarms. As the price through the country for black bees in box hives was five dollars a swarm, I thought perhaps here was a chance to get some bees at a lower price. The old gentleman turned up his hives, one after another, and I discovered at once that they were the culls of his yard; for so I learned afterward, that, in carrying them out of his cellar, when he came to one that was moldy, or a young swarm that had not the combs built down even to the bottom, or was light in bees, he had carried them all to this row. I told the old gentleman that the bees did not suit me, and that I would rather pay a larger price and get better bees. His reply was, that if those bees were not good enough for me, I might go without. So he finally left me, and went about his work. After he had left me, I took the privilege of examining some of his other colonies. I found them to be full of bees, and good bright combs, and looked as if they might be first-class stocks, although I knew nothing about bees. I looked at about all the rest of his colonies, and aft- er making a careful examination I marked my name on two hives, then went where he was, and told him what I had done, and that I would give him eleven dollars for these two stands of bees, providing he would trust me for that amount until I could sell some farm produce. He said he thought that I did not want any bees, for thej' might sting me; sol left him and went my way. In the course of a week or so the old gentleman sent word to me, that if I wanted those bees I might have them, and that I must come and get them that very day, or I should not have them at all; and at the same time I must give him security for the amount. As I wanted the bees very much, I of course went and complied with the old man's re- quest. After getting them put up and into the wag- on, he gave me some instructions in regard to their management. But, friend Novice, those instruc- tions were never put in practice; for if they had, I never would have been the happy fellow I now am, for I found better instructions from a different source. It was from that little pamphlet that came from you — the one that I thought must be a hum- bug. May God bless you, friend Root, for sending it to mo ! Well, what was the result of my purchase, and what did I do with the bees? Did I make bee-keep- ing a failure, and should I be put into Blasted Hopes? I will leave it for you to .iudge. I got my bees safely home, and placed where they could be seen by my wife while she was about her work, lor she had to do the watching of them while I was away in the field at work. The 38th day of May, one of the colonies cast a large swarm, and in a few da j's the other followed suit, and the old man of whom I bought them did not have a swarm until the 6th of June; and in the fall I had 9 fine colonies in good condition for winter, and eleven dollars' worth of honey. So you see that my bees had not only paid for themselves, but I had for my work 0 good colo- nies of bees. The old gentleman now began to be a frequent visitor at my house. He told the story of my success to every one he met. He began to ask me questions concerning bees, when, in fact, 1 428 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Sept. should have been asking ?ii»i; for he had kept bees all his life. Well, as winter came near, I began to think how I was going to winter my little pets so as to have them all alive in spring, for I oy of ;j we have named Novice, and I send you his picture. In the fall of 1H80 I had 00 full colonics and a few nuclei. With the e.\eeption of the nuclei, I wintered all safely, and think that I would have wintered lliem had I not been prevented, by sickness in mj- family, from get- ting them in shape lor winter. As it was, I had to leave them out until cold weather, and then pack them up and move them about four miles, when the weather was so cold that I could put up only '2 colo- nies, and my fingers would be so cold and numb that I would have to go and warm them. As it is, I have yet to lose the first lull colony of bees. I wintered one nucleus on its summer stand with only three frames of bees, without the loss of 50 bees. This I can prove. They were closed tight in Iheir hive; for 150 days, not a bee saw daylight. I can not tell you just how many colonies I have at present, for I am 300 miles from home in the State of Vermont, runiug an apiary and queen- yard for A. E. Manum, the man who makes the white-poplar sections. I have been here since the 13th of May. My wife has charge of my apiary at home, and, besides, takes care of four children; so you see she has some thing to do — a family to look after, and about lOO colonies of bees. The last letter that she wrote she informed me that she had often got swarms out of the highest apple-trees by piling bee-hive caps on top of each other, and then setting the ladder on top of those. You see, I am trying to make bee-keeping pay in two ways, for I am anxious to buy and pay for a small home. As to wintering bees, I have no fear. 1 givo them water every day in winter, and am not afraid to take any one into my cellar at any time, and lift out the frame and show you the bees. I am not afraid of disturbing them in the least, for I can give you ex- amples of fetching colonies from the back part of my cellar out into the light, and showing the bees to visitors in mid-winter; and further, let me tell you that I can show you lots of young hatching bees in my hives all through the winter. My bees have water in winter as regularly as my family have their meals. My bees came out so strong this last spring that theycame very near cleaning out my neighbors' bees that were in good condition; and, in fact, did clean out a good many stocks of bees in the neigh- borhood. I wintered my bees in 1879 and 1880 in a ground depository that I built on purpose, with one end of the building exposed to the weather; and when one was inside, and the door shut, every hive could be counted; in fact, I could see to read coarse print; and from 50 colonies, not a four-quart meas- ure full of bees were on the floor. la the spring they came out strong, and in fine order. I see a great deiil of writing in regard to wintering bees, and the greater part of it docs not amount to the paper it is written on. Some say that bees must not breed in winter, as it will cause them to consume more food, and it will result in dysentery. The past winter, about the first of January I took out 8 col- . onics from different parts of the cellar. Every one of the 8 had two and three frames or sealed brood and young bees hatching. In March, about the first, I examined other stocks; tbe.\- were breeding largely. Now this is no guess work, for I carried them out of the cellar, and took out the frames. I am not afraid to examine my bees, for I am one of the most inquisitive fellows you ev«r saw. Perhaps other bee-keepers have ditferont bees from those I have. I am aware that bees want to be handled with judg- ment and care, and I am also aware that a great deal of bosh and trash is written in regard to them by men who know but little about them, but who think they know it all; for I have proof that some of our most scientific and practical bee-men who have the most to say (at least they claim to be scien- tific and practical) have the pooi'est luck in winter- ing, and are constantly losing their bees, and have no better luck than those who do not claim to be so scientific. Is it not so? One thing I believe; that is, the destruction of hundreds of colonies in winter is because the owners did not know how to use the extractor, or else they knew how to use it too much, and did not know enough to stop. Let me give an illustration: A bee- keeper of my acquaintance extracted the honey from the center frames of his hives. As it was late in the season, thej' did not have a chaucc to fill up. There were two frames of honey at each side of the hives; in the center the combs were empty, but the owner supposed that the bees were all right; but every one that was In this condition perished, while those that were not extracted from came out all alive. This is only one of many similar cases. I think I have been quite successful so far with bees, but I have done some hard work, and have lain awake a good many nights planning and studying- how to manage them, and the best way to do. Last year I sent and got the ABC book, and got some good information from it. I am now a regular sub- scriber to Gleanings, and am very much interested in it. I love to read the Home Pnpcrs, and only find fault because you do not print them longer. Tell W. Z. Hutchinson that he is not the only bee-keeper who has a pair of twins to take care of; but I do not think ours are so much trouble as his, for my wife has taken care of them this summer, and a hundred colonics of bees to boot. I hope to be with my fami- ly soon, and takf some of the cares off my wife. I expect to remain here in Vermont until the last of September. My Tjees are doing well at home, so my wife writes me, and I am glad to hear it. Is there any other bee-keeper who takes Gle.a.nis(;s who has loft his wife ^it)i tV'O little twins, and a hundred col- 1881 GLEA2^INGS I]S' JiEE CULTUKE. 429 onies of bees to take care of for five months as 1 have? If there is, I should be pleased to hear from him. The bees here in Vermont have done very well considering the weather. Basswood Avas not a very big crop; it lasted but a few days. The honey sea- son closed hero about July :.'0. The most that any one colony gathered was 2T5 lbs. of white honey; the next best was 200. This was in the yard that I had charge of. These colonies were not allowed to swarm. If the basswood had been tirst class, as it is some years, I would have secured 400 lbs. of white honey from the best colonies, in 2-lb. sections. I use all top-storing; no side-storing- for me. I had this hive tiered up one foot higher than my head, and I am 5 feet 8 inches with my shoes on. If any one can give a larger yield from any one colony from the first of Jime until the 20th of July, in sections, I would be glad to hear from him. If any one should wish to have my method in giving water to bees in winter, and how I have managed to get 2T5 lbs. of white honey in sections, I will give it in Gle.\nings if the editor will give room. In conclusion, I would say to those who intend to make bee-keeping their business, to commence on a small scale, and with the determination to make it a success. Work hard, both with hands and brains. and do not rely on forty different plans of manage- ment, nor swallow every thing you read and hear, but use your own good judgment, if you have any, and good common sense; and if you are not possess- ed with a good amount of these, you had better keep out of the business. I have seen many a dark day in battling with the world. I have always tried to make some point, but never succeeded in any thing until I began the bee business; and if I had not happened to come across your advertisement, and that copy of Gleanings, perhaps I should have been struggling with the world as I was in days gone by. I always liked to be around bees, and often, when a boy, used to catch bumble-bees and put them into k hollowed -out pumpkin for a hive, but I never got a chance to have bees, nor do I think I should have them now if I had not learned of you in the way above mentioned. Frank Boombroweh. Gallupville, Schoharie Co., N. Y., August, issi. May the Lord bless you for your kind let- ter, so full of kind words, and energy and zeal for our favorite industry ! May I sug- gest here (as a caution), that it was ])robably not because apiculture is a better business than farming, but because your whole soul Avas in it from the first? I know just how you took that little pamphlet up and laid it down again and again, for I have done the same thing myself. To succeed in any thing, there must be this thorough love for it. Your idea of water in the cellar, only in- dorses the idea of friend Simpson (see page 8, Jan.' No., 1880.) Again, your ability to handle bees in the wiiater without injury (and r have no doubt but that it can be done), furnishes another link in the plan of raising Ijees under glass, to till orders for bees by the pound, in April and May. I have al- ready succeeded in raising bees in at atmos- phere protected by glass from the winds and frosts ; and if we can keep the bees in good health until they can be put permanently outside, the problem is solved. But, friend , B., how do you know j'ou won't lose all your bees in a heap next spring, as so many oth- ers have done, greatly to their astonishmentV ITIAKKIIVG THE ^VEIGHT OF P.4.CKAGES BEFORE CR.\TIIN<; HONEY FOR MARKET. A VERY IMPORTANT SUGGESTION. 'v:;jj5T5y^ILL you permit us to make a suggestion that vI/tI will greatly facilitate the honey trade? It ^ is, to impress upon the fraternity the great importance of marking the weight of the empty packages, and particularly the shipping -crates, plainly upon the crates before tilling. It is an easy matter to And what a full crate weighs, but then we have to guess at the tare, and the trade can not be satisfactorilj- settled until the crate is returned, thus greatly annoying dealers in not being able to make returns for the honey until the tare is decided upon. Besides this, there is almost always more or less loose honey sticking to the crate when returned empty, which adds to the original weight, and is a loss to the producer. May we suggest, that you and other manufacturers of crates weigh them when finished, and stamp the weight with a rubber stamp or stencil-plate upon the center of the top-bar, over the glass, that it may show readily when stacked up with glass side exposed to view. The crates would not vary much in weight ; 3 or 4 dilTerent numbers would suffice for each size. We wQuld not go into fractions of ounces, but mark them the next highest quarter, that they may be sure' to be correct. Per- haps you would even say make it half instead of quarters. Any way to suit the brethren ; but don't forget to mark the tare. A. C. Kendel. Cleveland, ()., Aug. li, 1881. Why, friend K., you have struck upon a giand thought. I liave got cross and scold- ed several times, just because the boys al- ways would forget to weigh and mark the box before the honey was put in. It never dawned on my understanding before, that we could stamp everv case before it could be used by anybody. We will set about It at once, and every time 1 look on a case I will remember to give you a mental vote of thanks for saving us all a lot of annoyance. COMBS FILLED WITH CLOVER HOIVEA', INSTE.\I> OF COMBS FlLIiED WITH POLLEN. fN regard to wintering, I will speak from experi- ence and observation. I have kept bees 14 '^^^ years, and have never seen bees die with dysen- tery, or, in fact, any other way universally, except i after seasons of abundance of fruit and scarcity of honey in the fall. Now, then, we know that the combs are full of brood to the exclusion of honey and pollen, almost till fall; and if honey is scarce, more pollen will he stored. Have you never noticed ' the. color of the fa?ces? I have often seen them j drop it as clear as water; but when they had dysen- ! tery, it was always yellow. And did you ever know i bees with dysentery when it was any other color j than yellow? But I have seen it white when they had no dysentery, and were fed with flour. What 1 does this argue? Now, from observation I have no- ! ticed that where bees were light in numbers in sum- ! mer, that 1 hey would fill their hives with abundance 430 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Sept. of earl3--clovcr honey, even to the exclusion of half the brood; when fall came they would fill up the rest with honey very easily, without mTich pollen, even in a poor fall; and I have had the good fortune to see that these colonies were the ones that win- tered best in nine cases in ten, even when exposed out of doors. Now, neighbor Fish has a bee-house. At this time of year he feeds back his extracted honey to get the bees to finish capping-, as there is very little to gather here from July 30 to Aug. 15, on an average. Of course, this is supplying them with early honey to the condition of the light swarm spo- ken of, more or less, and he always winters success- fully, while neighbor Newman, of Norwalk, does not do this as much, and has in his localily a poorer fall, generally, than we have, and his bees came very near ha\iug the dysentery last winter. Here is the plan: Put 2 combs in with the sections, and as soon as capped, put in 2 more, taking out the first 2, and putting them away till you have enough clear clover honey for winter, and then as the pas- turage becomes scarce, put one of these combs be- low, raising up a brood comb till the bees have nat- urally ceased brood-rearing; but do not crowd them to do so, and they can not get pollen into their win- ter's supplies. I am of the opinion, that the warmth of the repository giving the bees the preference of food is where the secret is with them, mainly. G. H. Mackey. Milan, Eric Co., Ohio, Aug. 4, 1881. QUESTIONS FROltl A ITOINO BEE- KEEPER. ONU WHO "WANTS TO KNOW, YOU KNOW." S I am a young reader of your joiu-nal, there are several questions I should like to ask, if they are proper. How many pounds of bees should there be in a hive that is about two years old, or a young swarm just hived? I mean, the average number of bees in each box or hive, without honey-comb or box, or what tare is allowed per box. Can't well be answered definitely. Any- where from 3 to 10 lbs. The combs, honey, and pollen, may weigh anywhere from 1 lb. up. How many days after a queen is hatched out be- fore she is impregnated, and does the one act of fer- tilization with the drone do, if the queen should live five years, or is she a "Mormon"? If not, what is the use of keeping so many drones, if one answers for that purpose? The queen is fertilized only once, and the large number of drones often kept in the hive are only nature's method of securing that once. I'hey also make it more certain that any queen shall meet a drone from some other hive than her own. Queens are fertil- ized at from 6 to 10 days old, and begin to lay in two days more. Do the bees sleep or rest on the buslies at night, or do they crowd into the hives these hot nights? A single bee may occasionally stay out on the bushes over night, when the nights are very warm ; but as a rule, every Ijee is at home before it is perfectly dark. Can they see in their dark hive, or do they prefer light? How far do they go after food, or do they prefer having it at home? Bees may see to some extent in the dark, but it is my impression that comb-building, nursing, and the rest of their work, is done principally by the sense of touch, with their antenna'. " (Queens lay their eggs by this means, as you will notice they always put their heads clear down into the cell before depositing an egg. Who ever heard of a queen tipping her head to one side, to squint down to the bottom of a cell, to see if it con- tained an egg ? I think that bees very like- ly see the bees from a distance. — They often fiy two miles or more ; seem to work more profitably one mile or less. If 50 hives were put into a room in the fall, with plenty of windows for light, and a stove to keep up the heat to about 40 or 50°, will they breed all win- ter? or how would you ventilate a cellar fastened up to keep out cold and frost, with 100 hives in it, sup- posing each hi\e had, say, :i0,000 bees all in good order put away in the fall, kept there for 4 months, and how many bees would be in the same box when taken out, if they did not breed in that time? I think it is said, the life of a worker is three months ; should the same care be taken of bees that there is of cows and chickens? By answering these questions jou will confer a favor on a subscriber. Wm. Ingkam. Telford, Bucks Co., Pa., Aug. (i, 1881. Your last question, friend I., has taken away my breath completely. Bees will fly on a window every time, as soon as the room is warm enough for them to fly. The life of a working bee, during the icorking season, is not as much as 40 days ; but during the win- ter they may live a great deal longer than that. At some seasons the bees require fully as much care as cows and chickens ; but there are several months during the fall, winter, and spring, when they are better off without care, if "they have been properly cared for before starting into these cold months. For ventilation of cellars, see Geo. Grimm's articles on the subject. A hive of young bees may be kept four months almost without loss, if they raise no brood ; Ijut we do not often reach that perfection in winter- ing- ^ ■ — » ♦ — • IMPORTANCE OF GETTING THE BEES Alil. FIXED FOB ^VINTER BEFOBE FBOSTY AVEATHER. AL8I) SOMETHING ABOUT GETTING OUT OF BLASTED HOPES INTO THE SMILERY. HAVE just received the Aug. No. of Gleanings, and was so struck with the truth of a statement made by W. D. Hinds, of Townsend, Mass., on page 385, that I could not resist the temptation to confirm the statement, and also contribute what lit- tle information I may have from this section of Iowa. Bees weic almost uui\ersally handled too late last fall. People had no idea winter would commence for a reality, in its severest form, the middle of Oc- tober. It was unlooked for, —-an unusual occur- rence, as our falls are, with very few exceptions, simplj' beautiful, mild, pleasant weather, until Christmas; have considerable wind, and but little snow. People here are unaccustomed to sleighing, consequently they have no sleds; but during the winter, every man, woman, or child, who could afford 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 431 a horse, and a dry-goods box, had a sled, and it was certainly comical in the extreme to see so many different ideas. But this is not bees. Last fall I went into winter-quarters with 78 stocks— Italians, but not pure. I use the Champion hive, frames lOxltJ, and Id frames in hive. I gave them all on an average 50 lbs. of good new honey, basswood and goldenrod, covered tops of frames with two thicknesses of common cotton or domestic. I drove two rows of stakes three feet apart, then spread straw between, about six inches ileep, then covered that with boards, nice, even, and level; then set in my hives in a row, with their fronts al- ternate, placing the hives about 3 inches apart, then protected my entrances in order to keep out chaff, and give bees an opportunity to fly when they chose to. My next move was to place a board to the front and to the back of bees, leaning against inside of post. Now I commence to pack chaff ail around, leave off my covers, add more 6-inch boards until they are four high, then top off with coarse hay. Thus you see they have one foot of chaff' in front and behind, with :} inches -between. You would almost venture to say they were free from the sudden changes of even an unusually cold winter; but such is not the case: my entire stock all died but nine. But now comes my confession. Just before I packed awaj', I transferred 19 in cold weather, so cold that mittens were comfortable. I gave them their winter supplies in somewhat cool weather, and, last of all, had to pack them away in just such weather. Kept waiting for our nice warm days to come, such as wo usually have; but, ;ilas! they never came, and I was forced to put them away .iust then, or leave them out, which I thought would be sure death. Hundreds of my combs were handled, jar- ring and breaking their cosy little homes for winter, but no opportunity came to repair the 0 days without flight. The winter was very cold; sometimes 30° i)Plow zero. My brothers take Gleanings, and by the way they read it I should judge they thought some thing of it at least. By the way, I must tell you my experiment with the big bee — not Mr. Benton's bambera, but the bumble-bee. I made a small hive for practice, size fi by 4 inches, and (i inches high. One day I found a bee's-nest, and after putting on veil and gloves I transferred them into my hive, and removed them to a new stand. Afterward I found two more nests and gave them the honey and brood. What do you think of that, Mr. Hoot? I attend school, which my sister teaches. There are a number of bee-men in our vicinity. I live but a few miles from the noted tec-keeper L. C. Boot. I send you 13 cents for which please send me a pocket letter-balance. Georgik W. Jones. Frankfort, N. Y., August 8, 1881. I suppose, Georgie, that those bees packed in chaff wintered all right, although you do not say so. I, too, once had a pet hive with bumble-bees in it. but all the protit I got from them was to see visitors run whenever I opened that hive. I really wish you would pay friend Root a visit, and tell us some thing about what you saw there. If you will make such a visit, and write us a lettei- about it. r will pay you one dollar for it. I am a little boy 11 years old. My pai)a keeps bees, and has begun this year to take Gleanings. He has kept bees for several years, but he has not been at home much till this summer, and coulil not take care of them. He is now at home much of the time, and so can look after his bees now. He used to keep 20 or more stocks. He has only 7 now. They are in Langstroth and American hives. He likes the Lang- stroth better; he says he shall use the Simplicity next year. I am not afraid of bees now, but used to be. When bees light on me now I stand still, and they fly away and don't sting me. My papa showed me a queen-cell to-day in a swarm that was hived I am a little girl 11 years old. I saw so many let- ters in Gleanings, which my father takes, that I thought that I would try it. This is the first time 1 ever wrote. My pa has 12 colonies of bees. I like to help when they swarm. I am not a Viit afraid of them. I have not got one sting this summer. 1 have 5 brothers and ;J sisters. Lizzie Johnston. Danforth, Iroquois Co., HI., July 12, 1881. Perhaps the reason why you are not afraid, friend Lizzie, is because you have not been stung ; are you sure you will be as brave when you do get stun^'V AVhy, there are al- most enough of you to have a Sunday-school there at home, without anybody else. May God bless you, and all those brothers and sisters! " In my last letter I made a mistake. I said I was 11 years old. Pa says I am only 10. Pa bought the watch for me because I had epilepsy. He told me I must not run and get excited, and that I should take my medicine regularly so I can get cured. I don't have any spells if I do, but sometimes I forget my- self, and run too much in playing and don't take my medicine, and then I get a little spell. Pa had 9 swarms last fall, and he wintered (i of them. Now they have increased to IT, and he says we will soon get lots of honey; yet he says if I am well he will give me one swarm. I like to go to Sun- day-school every Sunday, and I don't forget to take my watch along either. Charles Peters. Kogersville, Tusc. Co., O., July is, 1881. May God grant, friend Charlie, that you may become perfectly cured of that dread- ful malady. Last summer a little girl was taken with a spell of it, right in Sunday- school. Tell your pa to look out for next winter with those 17 swarms. THE Li.lNGSTROTH FRAIUC:. |o]UIEND BOOT : —On page C6J, August No. of Jiril "' 1880 of Gleanings, in an article headed "Which ^^ Frame is the Best?" and signed Chas. Dadant & Son, I find these words : " You know, as well as we do, that the Langstroth frame is not fit for outdoor wintering." Now, is the above remark true? It is, of course, intended as an effort to disparage the Sim- plicity hive, and may have some weight with those who know nothing of the practical working of the so-called "Langstroth Standard Frame." So far as I know, everybody admits that the L. frame is the most convenient form and shape for easy operation ; and if the only objection found to it is its wintering qualities — out of doors — and it can be shown that that objection is incorrect, then why do we not have 434 gj.e^vj^ings in bee culture. Sept. in the L. frame the bost p;>ssil>le form that can bo devised or used? Let me give a bit of my own personal experience. In the year LSTl, I put a new swarm of bees into a Standard L. hive, with the simple triangular guides on which to start the comb. In the fall of that year this hive was prepai-ed for winter, by cutting winter passages through the combs, putting on a hone.\- board with six I'l-inch holes through it over the frames, with wire cloth over these holes, and 4 or 5 thicknesses of old carpet over that, then putting on the cap and contracting the entrance blocks to about 1 inch. From that time until the fall of 1880, nothing was done to this hive, except to take off the wire cloth and put on surplus boxes, and in the fall of 1880 the surplus boxes even were not taken off, nor entrance contracted. This last spring I opened this hive for the first time in 10 years, and found the comb dry and in good shape — this same hive having given out a swarm every year, and j-ielded from '10 to 30 lbs. of surplus honey per year. Now, it strikes me that a hive made of 7s -inch lumber, that will go through the seasons that the above hive has, and come out in goo- cool; slight frost in some places; 14th, weather some better; Ifith, light show- ers, accompanied with some thunder on the moun- tains; May 19th, excellent honey weather; 20th, hot and windy; too much so for honey; 28th, excellent honey day; 29th, too windy again; June 25th, finished up for the season ; had 3000 lbs. extracted honey ; could scarcely succeed in getting young queens fer- tilized. My final increase amounted to about 50 per cent. AVhen they failed the second ti nie, I com- menced breaking up and doubling. The coast breeze would come up every day about 10 o'clock a. m., and blow until 3 and 4 p. m., a perfect gale. Young queens would tly out and never return, and the workers were swept away by the thousands. I at- tribute the swarming mania to the stock from my imported queens, as m.v bees and Mr. Dudley's, who had the use of my imported queens, were the only ones that swarmed to amount to any thing in the whole country, so far as I heard. Many apiaries did not have a single swarm. I never saw a more profuse bloom anywhere in my life. Some apiaries have done better in surplus than I have done, and some have neither swarms nor surplus. A great deal has depended upon locality. Some apiaries were located where the range was protected from the coast winds. My plan to get surplus is this: I never put on a super until every one of the 10 combs is full of brood, and my fdn. combs are full indeed. They would average 6000 bees to the comb, and many of them 6800, and as straight and true as a board. I do not always wait for the queen to flU every comb in that manner, but 1 want to know that I have a good prolific queen, and then exchange or draw combs from other stocks, and till up, and then on goes the super. Now, a stock prepared in that manner will store honey if there is any to be had; and if I had 200 stocks of bees, and could get only 100 in the right condition for supers, I think I get more honey than I would to put supers 011 the whole 200 hap hazard. Of course, those that I draw brood from I build up to good strong stocks for wintering. I left the bees in good condition, and I may say splendid condition, but have not heard from them lately. The season has been a very deceptiA c one. There was abundance of rain, and abundance of bloom and bees; bee-keepers bought lumber, made hives, and made or purchased cans, and then waited for swarms and honey that did not come, and there is a blue set of bee-keepers in Southern California to-day. I have come out with more than a whole skin. When my bees were swarming I was accused of feeding to stimulate; but I did not feed a single oil stock in the apiary, for all had an abundance, and the most of them had more than was necessary, and I took honey from them to feed my new swarms. 1 had about 1000 frames filled with new comb, mostly from fdn. Here in Los Angeles Co., bees have not done as well as they did in N'entura Co.; some have moved their bees down into the valley to prevent starvation; still, those that kept them in the moun- tains have tilled up well from California sumach. Elisha Galu p. Santa Ana, Los .\ngcles Co , Cal., July 19, l,s«l. ITALIANS WORKING ON RED CLOVER. f' WAS reading in your May No., 1881, about red- clover bees. I would like to inquire what va- — ' riety of bees these are. I supposed the Italians woidddo that, but I have them, and I have never yet seen a honey-bee of any kind on red clover. I went out to-day into a field close by that was in full ' bloom, second crop: it was swarming with bumble- bees, but "nary " a honey-bee. I have 9 swarms of bees, mostly Italians, and only one among the lot that has stored any surplus comb honey. 1 came 1 home disgusted with my bees. The only thing they are doing at present is gathering a little pollen from corn-tassels. Put me in Blasted Hopes, for T guess that is where I belong. There was lots of white clover here this season, but the bees could do noth- ing but swarm during its staj'. If you have got a strain ol bees that you can guarantee to work on red clover, I would like to try them. I have one ' swarm of hybrids in chaff hive that I will put the red-clover queen irilofor a trial if \ou can supply me. L. '!. Heed. Kent, O., July 31, 1881. ; What v.e termed our '• red-clover queen '" ; was the queen of a single colony out of i over 300, that gathered more stores than any of the rest when the seed crop of red clover was m bloom, and we supposed the honey ■ came from red clover because the working liees all had a small load of the dark-green pollen that comes from red clover, and sel- dom from any other plant. The queen died last winter, but we have several of her grand- ' daughters in our apiary. Sometimes red clover yields iKmey in the" fall, and sometimes it does not; so you must not blame your bees if you do not always iind them on it. In our locality we can "almost always hnd Italians at work on clover-fields in August, I and I have shown them to a great many Avho I Avere skeptical. If you have only a few I hives, and there are large lields of clover, the i bees would be so scattered tliat >ou might not see them ; but go to your hives and see if you do not find laden bees coming in with the dark pollen on their legs, as I have men- . tioned. .Vbout one season in four, our bees gather honey enough from red clover to build some combs. At such times common I bees will do little but rob and bother, while I the Italians are diligently at work. I can 4;{(i GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUIIE. Sept. not give you a strain of bees tliat I will war- rant to work on red clover in the fall, friend 11., nor do I think anybody else can furnish you bees that will do it "invariably. Last fall I saw a field in Summit Co. where the Italians roared on it in August as they do on white clover in -Tune. ADDING KXTRA COITIBS IN BUILDIING IP STOCKS. ^y INCE I have been a readpr of Gleanings I have ^k been looking for some thing- from some of the ' veterans in regard to the manner of adding combs for surplus, but I have found nothing more explicit in all my reading of bee literature than "give more room as it is needed." Doolittle did an excellent service for the ABC cLiss when he told us in such a clear and explicit style his method of building up colonies in the spring (see April No.) If ho would tell us in the same explicit manner how he adds surplus combs he would still further merit our thanks. In the hope of calling out some thing on this sub- ject, I will give the method which I have followed the present season. If it is faulty, will you or some other veteran please tell me wherein it Is so, and ex- plain in detail a better way? I build up my colonies according to Doolittle's plan till I have the lower story full of frames which are crowded with brood and honey. Then, if the bees are gathering honey freely, I take out three or four frames which contain honej' and sealed brood and pJace them in an upper story, putting a couple of frames of fdn. in the middle of the lower story with a division-board at the side. I put a division- board in the upper story so that it may come direct- ly over the one in the lower story, and fill up the vacant space with empty combs. As the queen needs more room below, I add frames of fdn. ; and as more storing room is needed above, I add empty combs. BEES E.\TING HOLES IN DUCK. Can you tell me how to prevent the bees from eat- ing holes in the duck of chaff division-boards? Would painting the cloth, or coating it with tallow, work well? J.\mes McNiell. Hudson, N. Y., Aug. 1, 1881. I confess, friend ISL, that I should never have thought of giving directions for so sim- ple a matter as giving the bees more room as they need it, when one is so fortunate as to have the empty combs right at hand. I think I should wait until the bees and queen have occupied fully every comb with eggs and stores, and then I would give them one comb right in the center of the brood-nest. If I intended to use the extractor, I would wait until they are pretty closely crowded below, and then give them access to the whole upper story, if I had empty combs to till it. If not, I think I would niove a cou- ple of combs up from below, putting sheets of fdn. in their stead, and then fill the rest of the upper story with fdn. If I am correct, Doolittle does not use an upper story with his shape "of frames.— I do not think vou will find any thing that will keep the bees from gnawing the sheets placed over them. Duck- ing, pretty well saturated with linseed oil, has been recommended, and very likely the oil might have the effect to make them let the fabric alone. The wooden mats have the durability Avanted. but they are not as nice as cloth to handle, and are more apt to kill bees unless one is very careful. •^•^•< BEE-TAVES IN TEXAS. ^srs| KOM a recent number of the The Fnuf/i'.s Ciim- J'f* panimi I copy the foU.iwing: ' "Four of us, my ranch partner Alfred Dins- more, and myself, with a young fierman house-car- penter named Wert Anspach, and a c.ilored boy called Grant, had set out that day for a load of honey. " A load of honey will sound oddly, perhaps, to readers East, but that is the way we get it here. Wild honey, rich stores of it, is laid up by the native bees. The settlers often have resort to a bee-tree when their stock of sugar and molasses runs low. The honey is. drained from the comb, and put away in jars; and the wax makes excellent candles. "Twelve or thirteen miles north of our locatioii, in the canon of Lipan Creek (headquarters of Wich- ita River), there is a bees'-nest, which has supplied us and the families of three other Stockmen for the last four years. " This enormous bee-hive is in the cliff on the north side of the canon, fronting south. The en- trance to it is up some forty feet above the creek- bed, where there is a horizontal crack eight or ten inches wide, running along the face of the precipice for four or five hundred feet. This crack opens back into recesses in the shattered crags behind; and here the bees, colony on colony, have their nests, and have laid up honey for many years. By going around and operating from the top of the cliff, we have at odd times dislodged considerable portions of the rock with blasts of gunpowder and crowbars — suthcient to secure many hogsheads of comb. Still deeper down, in great holes and pits, there seem to be vast deposits of old, thick, black candied honey, which has been drained from the combs above, year after year. Lower down the face of the cliff, espe- cially on very hot days, the honey weeps and oozes out at little cracks and seams of the fissured sand- stone — so much so that the creek-bank is there com- pletely honey-soaked, and the water for a mile or two below will at times be perceptibly sweetened. Much of this escaping honey the bees themselves carry up the cliff. " On a pleasant June day, in the canon and high above It, the air will be darkened by the incoming and outgoing bees, millions on millions of them, along the whole length of the crevice. The ordinary drowsy hum of a hive is here intensified to a deep, solemn roar, distinctly audible a mile below. "To go honey-gathering here on a summer day might be a perilous business. We have always made our raids on the nest during cold weather, generally on some chill? daj' toward Christmas, when the btes are lying torpid, and a winter silence has fallen up- on this whole vast apiary." The writer then goes on Lo tell how a " norther" came down on them, before they had quite reached the bee-cave, and they were obliged to seek the shel- ter of a friendly cliff, where they built a fire which drove some bears from their den among the rocks. They were fortunate enough to kill the bears, which were very fat; and the writer remarks, that "their llesh had a noticeablj- sweet taste, which we attribu- ted to their getting so much honey hereabouts." 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 437 I have written to the publishcra of the Companion , asking them for the writer's address; and if I can learn any further particulars! willscndthemto j-ou. W. Z. Hutchinson. Rogersville, Genesee Co., Mich. The above reads very mucli with an air of truth ; but so large a part of what we Unci in papers of the above class is rather on the adventure line, I Avould be a little cautious about accepting it; and if anj' of our Texas correspondents can tell us whether such a place really exists there or anywhere on the face of the earth, we will be ever so mucli obliged. AVc have more than one among oiir number, I oi»ine, who would go down and develop such a tract at once. So far as I can see, there is nothing impossible in the statement, unless it be hearing the bees a mile away; and even this is quite likely, if the line of liight were right from the cave over the hearer's head. A LETTER FROM SOUIH AITIERICA. ALSO nOOD NEWS FROM THE STINGI-ESS ItEES; I'UI! THER PEVELOPMENTS. ^N hopes that j-oii may have receixed my list lot- Jt||_ tor, inclosing- a correspondence in German with Prof. Dr. Burmeister, I must toll you to-day that I got letters from Paraguay, and they offered me on sale several hives with stingless bees. What they call a hive is, I suppose, a piece of box, or trunk. My friend in Paraguay has been in Brazil, and writes me ia regard to the stingless bees as fol- lows:— "The bees I could get for you are the following: 1. Pirocco or (ciroccn), a black bee as big as our com- mon bees; gives plenty of honey (on Brazilian Ku- ril pit.) "2. Tapcvixi, or Tapitcoa (Brazilian, Kurupu chico), half as big as No. 1, but gives same quantities of honey. "3. Tah'i, a very small but rather long yellow bee. Those hives Are well peopled. I have seen hives of these bees, which gave 3 bottles of honey. This honey is the best of all, clear like crystal. " I found three hives, whose owner has, for 3 or 4 years, made his profit from them. He asks S3.00 for each, Init I believe that, by taking all three, I might get them a little cheaper." That is what my friend writes me, and I am sure he will do his best to procure them well at Asunc- cion, where they might be shipped to here. Let me know, Mr. Boot, if you think it worth the trouble, the expenses, and the risk, to send these bees to the United States. The best thing would be, I think, to buy them, and transfer them here in Buenos Ayres in good (movable) small hives, and study them about a year before sending to New York. Can I do some thing for you in this business? I shall do it with the greatest pleasure; only let me know. Yes, I am \ery willing- to do it, as I feel, by your way of acting and writing, that you are an hon- est and at the same time an active and smait busi- ness man. I read your Gleanings with the great- est interest, and would like it ten times more if they did not contain those confounded Home Papers, and now lately the Tobacco Column. By what right and reason, please tell me, are you going to make peo- ple believe tobacco-smoking is a sin? The same sin would be coffee and tea drinking. Our clergymen and schoolmasters at home in Germany smoke near- ly all like pipe-stoves, and you find really splendid men among them, able to spend their last drop of blood to help their neighbor; and a good fine Ha- vana cigar is indeed a blessed gift of God. Try it only; and for a poor workman, what a delight it is to him to smoke his pipe after his heavy journey's work I I think it rather heartless to make these people believe thej^ are doing wrong in smoking. If I should live among people who vowed not to smoke, not to dance, and not to drink, I should pre- fer to die. My advice is, to enjoy this life as much as we can in an honest and proper way. A man who does not know how to govero himself and to be mas- ter of his passions is to me less than an animal. On the next page yju will find ray orders, and I ask you to send me the things as soon as possible. The cold-blast smoker is very good. The Bingham smoker (I got one from Mr. Gravenhorst, Germany), burns the f uellbetter, but brings ashes and dirt on the combs. With the best and driest fuel I took, I could never make the cold-blast smoker burn it to the lust. It burns in the front part, but not behind. I had to open the machine and turn the fuel around. Could not a small "rust" be put under the fireplace? Of all I ask for, send me only the best quality. Don't you know a good recipe to make honey-wine and good vinegar? Our bees here are real devils in summer time, and if I could get a bee somewhat less wild I should be glad. I don't fear stings, but in the month of December or .Tanuary it is impossi- ble to work without gloves. Do you think it possible an Italian queen would reach Buenos Ayres alive? If you do, send me one at my expense, but give her sufiicient bees and sugar and water. Look out for a soft and good- natured one. I leave it to you to choose me a good and simple hive. In thanking you previously for all your trouble, I give you my best respects. Yours truly, J. Noeltino. Buenos Ayres, S. A., May 18, 1881. Friend X., I am very much obliged for what you have done, and I will gladly pay all the expense of giving those bees a test where you are. I think that will be far the better way. From what you say of the bees you have already, I presume you know all about stings. The point is, a&^ you are well aware, to get a good honey-bee that can't sting. Of course, we do not know whether it be possible ; but we are anxious to know how nearly we may come to it. Advise me at any tinde in regard to the expense, and I will remit at once. I appreciate your kindness in speaking out your criticisms in regard to those Home Pa- pers. May I suggest, that yon look at these things a little differently from what we do, as customs with you are so widely different? I have been told by a friend who has been in South America, that drunkenness with you is almost unknown. With us it is different. We have a large,— yes, I am sorry to say a rerij large per cent of our people.— who have not the self-will or care for themselves to keep them from going to excesses. You say you would rather die than forego the pleasures of certain things you mention. Do 43S GJ.EANINGS IN BEE CUJ.TURt:. Sept. yon not see that an intemperate man might easily say, I»y carrying yonr ligure only a lit- tle t'luthei-, that he would prefer a drnnk- ard's grave to being deprived of his daily drinks that are sending him there V As a servant of the I^ord Jesus Christ, I feel myself commissioned to try to save all man- kind from the consequences of their sins. Now, when I give a man a smoker forgiving up tobacco, it is expressly understood that he can dissolve the contract at any time by simply handing over to me the price of the smoker. Do you think a man is under very much bondage, or that I am very cruel, when the price of his freedom and honorable dis- charge is only a dollar or less V Tobacco s(tothes a man's spirits and trials, it is true ; and I have sometimes thought it might soothe him into idleness when, his honest debts were remaining impaid. If tobacco has this effect, would he not be better and hap])ier in the end without it V I would most assuredly advise the giving-up of tea and coffee, or any thing else, wlien we dis- cover it becomes a task to get along without it. I w^ould teach our hoys to be free in every sense of the word, from every appetite or habit, and bow in obedience to God and none else. 1 am sure, friend N., you approve of the frnits of my work, if you do not of the ways in which 1 arrive at it, for you have said as much in the fore part of your letter. I am really sorry tt) appear disobliging to so kind a friend as you have been, friend N. ; but from what I have heard of honey- wine and metheglin, I have thought it best not to have recipes given for making them, just because some of our bee-men might drink too much. Some of the smartest tal- ent we have had in our ranks has gone down into obscurity on account of intemperance, and nothing else. I think I can send a queen to you, but it will have to be very carefully done up, and it may not be possible to get it through by mail. I will make the trial, however, and if she reaches you alive, there will be no charge. Y'our letter was 41 days in coming to us. A LETTER FROM NOVA SCOTIA. ALSO SOME THING ABOUT HUCKLEBERRIES. easily when berries are ripe. What do you think? I woiiltl have to move them on a wagon. How do yon get your sections of honey without having the cappings gnawed otf by bees tilling them- selves? A. L. Etherinqton. Milton, Queens Co., N. S., July 21, 1881. I would by all means move some bees over to that berry tract, friend E. I think our l»ee-men many times miss it by trying to raise ])lants for bees, when by carrying the bees a few miles they might iind the honey- farm already in full blast, prepared by the bountiful hand of dame Nature.— Take off each section as soon as sealed, and you will not have the bees in that greedy state that causes them to uncap their sealed stores when disturbed. If you wait until the hon- ey-yield has passed, and have blacks or hy- brids, I do not know how you will obviate this difficulty, unless you open the hive very quickly and then scramble for the hlled sec- tions before the bees can get the cells open. Full-blood Italians are much less prone to this kind of mischief. FRIEND CASE AND HIS BEE-KEEPING. HOW HE DOES IT. SF I were an old bee-keeper, and could get off a pretty interesting and instructive letter from a ' Nova Scotia apiary, I would have written; but this is only my foiu-th year. I wintered 64 colonics— 42 in bee-house, 22 on summer stands, packed with sawdust 3 inches on all sides; entrance through the outside case to permit them to tly when weather permitted. Those wintered on summer stands win- tered well. The 42 in bec-honse came out without losing one. There were several needed feeding (5 or (i), and one queenless, and considerable signs of dys- entery, while the 21 on summer stands had no signs of dysentery. Out of 64, 1 didn't lose a hi\e in win- tering. Up to datel ha\ e lOOhivcs. The season was a fortnight later than last year. The sample huckleberry honey W.P. Wcmyss sent you (page 334) set me thinking whether it would pay to move bees 16 miles where there are miles of bar- ren covered with blueberry blossoms so abundantly that an ordinary picker can pick 10 quarts an hour S' SEE in l:ist Gleaninc^ j'ou have the RASPBERRY FEVER.* ' As a honej-plant it is hard to beat. I have a row about ten rods long; when they were in blow the bees just swarmed on them from sunrise to sun- set, and now we have picked about 200 quarts of the largest, finest berries I ever saw; and as they are what is called an ever-bearing varietj", the new gr.iwth is just beginning to ripen its fruit. Per- haps I ought to say that my row is nearly three feet thick, and as dense as a hedge, for they withstand the deep snows best when grown in this way. You inquire about theCuthbert raspberry. It is kHown by this name, and also as the "Queen of the Market," and " Conover," too. It is, a very fine berry -firm, and good for shipping. Well, the honey season is past, and a very poor one it has been in Lewis County. I had more honey in 18T8 from 45 colonies than I have since had from 100. TENT FOR WORKING WITH BEES. Last season I saw your description of the frame covered with mosquito netting that you use to work at your bees with after the honey season is past. 1 w?.nted one, but I thought the one you described would not be largo enough to use when taking off honey, as I use a box to put the sections in, a basket with unused ones, and waiited room for unfinished sections, etc. ; then, too, if I wanted to extract a few frames, or take a frame of brood, it would let the robbers in to raise the frame of netting, as I would have to when I went for the frame of foundation to replace it with. Well, I made one 5'/2 feet in height, 4 feet wide, and 6 feet long. I find this not too large, and in one end I have a door 3 feet wide, cov- ered with netting, and easily fastened shut, outside or in. I find it works well with this. lean take off honey all day long, and bid defiance to all the rob- bers in Christendom. HOW I EXTRACT, FEED, ETC. About the first of August, as I am taking off the white honey, I look the brood chamber over, and if I 1881 gleajJ«i:ngs in bee culture. 439 find over 8 or 10 lbs. of honey, I extract it down to about that. This I do, both to give room for the queen and for dark crop of honey later. If this is done, I think the first frost will find the bees in much better condition for winter; as, if left undone, many queens will not lay to aniomit to any thing af- ter this, and it is the young bees we want for winter, and plenty of them too. As soon as we have a gen- eral frost over the country for i or .5 miles around, I take ofif the boxes, and when I do this I look over the brood-nest once more, and this is the last time for the season. Now, I put CE IN MINTEKING. SINGLE-WALLED HIVES. Jq|KlEND ROOT:-! will give you my report of P'' last winter's losses before 1 am too late. Fall — ' is again upon us, and we should now begin to prepare our bees for the coming winter. Last fall found me with 53 colonies, made during the summer by dividing, which I overdid, considering the poor season that followed ; besides having a good demand for all the queens I can rear, I spread them a little on that account. They were rather strong in bees, but the majority of them needed feeding. Think- ing perhaps they might fill up from fall bloom, I waited ; but it failed. I then commenced to feed sugar syrup about the last of September. Had the weather continued as warm as we usually ha\e it, all would have been well; but you know what hap- pened. Winter set in earlier than usual, and of course the bees did not have time to seal up their stores. We had our iirst snow Oct. 17th, and on the 19th another, 2 inches deep. It kept gradually get- ting colder, with deep snows, when, on the 19th of Nov., the temperatiu-e fell to 10° below zero, and on the 22d, to 12° below. Dec. 3d, the weather being warm and pleasant, the bees had a good fly. It com- menced to turn cold on the 6th, when I put 47 colo- nies in the cellar. Of the 6 left out, 5 were in hives packed — one with fine charcoal, two with sawdust, one with chaff, and one with turning shavings. One colony I prepared as an experiment to winter out on a summer stand in a singlc-walled hive, and onlj- wish now that my whole 53 colonics had been " ex- perimental " ones. Sunday, Jan. 30th, the tempera- ture being at 50° in the shade, I set the bees out of the cellar. They had a good fly; found 6 colonies dead. Feb. 1st the temperature fell to 6° below freezing when I put them in the cellar again, and on the 22d, the day being warm, we set them o\it for a fly, and found 6 more colonies dead. Returned them to cellar the 23d. The 28th 1 let them fly again, and returned them on the 28th. March 10th being warm (52° in the shade), I set them out, and noticed young bees flying from a few of the strongest colonies. As the rest of the month was rather pleasant, 1 left them out. They commenced to breed nicely, when along came that April snap, and away went 6 colo- nies more, taking one of those in the sawdust- packed hives, and reducing almost all the others to a mere handful. Had I put them all back into the cel- lar at that time, it would have been well; but the weather had been so pleasant, I thought it would soon change for warm; but was disappcjinted. I had a ijcunhir case of spring dwindling on my hands. The 4 remaining packed colonies were in moderate condition only, having lost fearfully in bees, like the rest. They built up so slowly after settled weather came, that I finally set the bees out into single-walled hives, and let the sun strike them, which seemed to help them, as they would fly with the rest. The packing being so thick, the sun did not warm them. The experimental colony was a division like the rest, and reared their queen from a cell given them. After testing her I did not open the hive until ready to fl.v them for winter, when, to my surprise, they had their combs full of scaled honey from top to bottom, except the 4 central combs, which had a little brood next the bottom- bars. If there ever was a case of " bees crowding the (lueen," this was one, as the colony was rather weaker than I liked to risk on the summer stand. However, I lifted their colony with 5 of their combs, placing them in the center of a sinolc-uaUrd 15-frame hive, having a large portico to shed rain and snow; faced the hive south, and put in two tight-fitting rubber-bound division-boards, leaving them up '» in. from the bottom. I then hung the extra combs in the ends close to the divisions, so the bees could take out the honey if needed. On top of the frames I spread a iinr clean woolen cloth, and a 4-inch thick chaff cushion on that; contracted the entrance to about one inch, and they were ready, let come what would; but after I felt the cold that did come, I felt a little uneasy alinut them, but concluded to let them alone. I did not open that colony until spring. The result was, that they had lost less bees, and were in better conj, I think I have learned irJiy it did so, and will give the causes of success, the reverse of which I believe was the cause of failure and loss. First, this colony had only what combs they eculd cover, nf nice sealed honey. Next, the divisions were plain, simple boards, which did not ahsurh and retain dampness, as chaff cushions or divisions are apt to do. Next, the cloth or quilt covering the bees was new and clean, allowing the chaff cushion on top to draw dampness from them, which enameled cloth, and propolized quilts would not allow (1 examined my dead colonies, 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 441 and found them as wet as if a bucket of water had been poured on them; the quilts being covered with propolis, no moisture could pass otf at the top, but seemed to condense and drop down on the bees). Next, the hive facing south, and being single-walled, the bees received the full benefli of the sun, and would often be seen flying at noon, when those in packed hives were still. Next, the dead-air spaces at the ends of the hive, 1 believe, are as warm as if packed, and a great deal dryer. This cc l)ny never showed any signs of dysentery that I could notice, either in the hive or out, while aV. the rest had it badl3'. The present season has been any thing but favora- ble. Bees had the full benefit of fruit-bloom, which helped them greatly. The white clover, what little we ha\e left (after severe droughts each summer), yielded well; but our usual drought cut it short again; and ui less it rains soon I fear our fall har- vest will amount to nothing, and very likely the bees will have to be fed for winter. Jos. M. Brooke. Columbus, Ind., Aug. 9, 1881. I am inclined to think, if you had fixed all j'our bees as you did that one, friend B., they would not have wintered as it did. |/j^ '%mMmi' This department is to be kept for the benefit of those who are dlssatisfled ; and when anythins is amiss. 1 hope you will • • talk right out. " As a rule, we will omit names and addresses, to avoid being too personal. MOSEY LOST IN THE MAILS. XSENT you some money for some articles that you have advertised In your price list of imple- — ' ments in bee culture. It has been nearly a month since I sent it. 1 would like to hear from you, whether you have received itor not, or whether there was any mistake about it. If there was, please send what articles it will pay for, and oblige— H. L. Phlegar. Pembrook. Giles Co., Va., June 26, 1881. You Avill notice, from the above, that our friend gives plain directions what to do in case there uy/.s some mistake in the order, but none in case the order was never reccired, which would seem to imply, a very little, that he is pretty sure we got it. We wrote him we were very sorry to say his letter had never reached us, and asked particulars as to how he sent it, etc. Here is his reply:— I inclosed the money in an envelop, just as I have been sending to other firms, and received goods promptly. H. L. Phlegar. Pembrook, Glle? Co., Va., June 22, 1881. Friend P.. your reply is certainly unkind, and it seems to me, just a little uncivil. Sup- pose vou have sent to other firms, and re- ceived your goods promptly, does it follow, necessarily, that we have received your monev and won't send the goods? I admit that bur mail facilities are excellent, and that perhaps not one letter in a thousand is lost; vet, where a hou.':e gets 100 or more letters a day, as we do, there would be one lost every week or ten days. There has got to be a first time with everybody ; and be- cause you never have had a letter lost or stolen, have you a right to say you do not think this one was lost? To put the matter where you can see it squarely on both sides, I wish you to answer this on "your honor, as a man : If you were in my place, would you send out goods you were selling at a very close })roht, without ever having received a copper for them of anybody V 1 know how it vexes one to have his money lost ; but, my friends, after reading what I have put in our price lists about sending money, do you not take the risk upoit yourselves, when you voluntarily decide to send without reg- istering or postal order? T gave this much space, because this seems to be one of the most trying things in business to adjust. I would willingly and gladly bear half of such losses, but I am in danger of doing harm, even in this, as you see in our price list. You have been sending you journal, Gleanixgs IN Bee Culture, to Chester Kobbins. To-day he was here and refused to take one out of the office. He says they are not worth the paper that they are wrote on. Do not send any more, as we don't want it around the office. He is very much displeased with you for sending them. H. Savers, P. M. Sherwood, Branch Co., Mich., June tj, 1881. Well, now, I declare, friend S..it is too bad that anybody has been annoyed by sending them some thing they did not want. ]\Ir. Bobbins certainly subscribed and paid for Gleanings in January, unless we have made a great mistake somewhere. Had he written us himself, we would have stopped it most cheerfully, and returned the balance of the money that was due him too. " Not worth the paper they are • wrote 'on!"' Why, that's a regular -'stunner'' on our humble efforts. Now, friends. I just tell you what ; you who have scolded because we stopped Gleanings wdien the time expired, please consider that we don't know but you think just like friend Kobbins ; and it would be the height of ill manners to keep sending it in that case. "No: worth the paper— I" whew! I guess, friend B., we shall have to wake up and make it better, if that's so. The girls in our office have the autdgmph fever at present, in its most "striking" form; btit, unlike most phases of the disease, they have vetoed "quo- tations " all together, and strictly insist on original- ity. Some of the productions are very good in- deed, and I have taken the liberty of borrowing a couple, without their knowledge. The first is Lu's, which, though hastly written, is pretty 'cute, and contains names familiar to many of you: — Ah. well: some "jolly "" hours we've known Amid the hum of business and of bees, For bets and b\i^ii\ess here are one, Thi>' himev iMinies by slow degrees. Tho' we've nn drones to drive away. We have a " Kood queen, Bess, ' ' And many a roAal prank we play: lint some — we won't confess. Even Ellen M.. and 'Wally, too. And Carrie the demure. Join in the fun, while ' ' Boss ' ' looks on ( I>oes he wish that we were fewer.' i Then .Vddie and Ida. Stella and 1. Geo. Washington, Man', and Cherry. And Ten, who's growing towaixl the sky,— How can we be aught but meri-y ! The next one is Carrie's. May vou ti-ace in the book of life, my frieirl. Deeds noble and good ajul trae; Be every page to the vei-y end Spotle'ss, and fair to view; And when the mighty volume is closed. And vou stand bv the great white throne. May you hear the voice of the King of kings, Saying, "Faithful sciTantl— well done!" ' A\-2 GJ.EANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Sett, ^V ATE 16 ANI> SUC5AU, FOR SHIPPING OEGS. THE ()I,I) liOTTLE gUEEN-CAGE, AFTEK ALL. ST would seem that my old idea of a bottle of water, and pure sugar, for l)ees dur- — ' iug the intense heat of summer, or for long shipments, is to be the old stand-by, after all. I noticed that the Cyprian and iloly-Laud (jueens sent us by friend Jones last year came with sugar and water, and an abundance, too, of both. In the Ccnadidn F((r]iin\ot August o, friend Jones tells how lie i)repares bees for shipment from these foreign ports: — It is a very difficult matter to import them to this country. Those colonies I bought in Palestine I had sent down to the coast, and had them forwai-ded by steamer to Cyprus. There they were transferred I'rom the cylinders into movable-frame hives. I then made a bo.\ about 4.\r>.x6 inches, out of pine lumber. I put a screen on the bottom and one in in the top, each about three inches square, to let the air pass tiirough. In one end of the li>ox I fixed a bottle filled with water, and having- a cork through which a cutting was made for a wiclc. Through this cutting 1 drew a cotton wick, and by capillarj' attraction this wick is kept wet with the water, and the bees drink and then c-.it some granu- lated sugar, which I fastened upon the other end of the box b.v pouring it in hot and allowing it to coo). Between the bottle and the sugar I had a comb with a little syrup in it. There was a queen, and from ItjO to :300 bees in this box. I had a crate made to hold 27 of these bo.xes. and they were separated from each other by about an inch and a half, S!> that a cur- rent of air always passed around every bo.v. I have Some bees that were kept six weeks in that way, and during the whole time they were tlown only once ; that was when I arrived in London. Some o'f the bees appeared to need this, and others did not. The water was very bad, and I have given instruc- tions that in future consignments the water should be boiled before being put into the bottle ; this will purify it. The A'iallon candy answered admirably until the great heat' and drought of July, and then we found 11 queens out of 21 dead, in a single shipment from Viallon himself. They Avere about 5 days on the way ; but when the air is so very dry. and the weather so very hot, water seems an absolute neces- sity. "Besides, with the water-bottle, if any error or delay happens, the bees are ordin- arily safe for at least two weeks. This is, of course, where the water and sugar are separate, so there can be no daubing and stickiness, and no fermentation of the water and sugar. ^^ «e« w HO^V TO GET HONEY— AND MONEY. KV A TEXAN FRIEND. MOW to prevent an increase of stocks, and at the same time keep the bees working vigoi'- ^^^^ ously during the swarming season, and cause them to store honey instead of spending their time and energy during a honey yield in attempts at reproduction, is a problem that interests bee-keep- ers who find more profit in raising honey than from the sale of bees and queens. Ever.v bee-keeper has noticed that a swarm of bees placed in a new hive, and given a new location, will do more work in a given time than will the same number of bees in al- most any other condition. It is also known that, during the swarming season, the flowers yield honey in great profusion. Now, how to preserve the col- ony intact, and get the benefit of the business en- ergy peculiar to a new swarm out of the whole thing by causing them to store honey instead of raising queens and bees, is the question. I hai'dly think any plan will (tJuaijs succeed; but I will give y^u the most successful one I have ever tried. Try to prevent swarming by giving the bees all the room they will profitably use; but, if they are not satisfied, and swarm out anyhow, capture the swarm in a box or empty hive; place them in a cool shaded place in the dark, with bi)X slightly raised to give them air. The shade of a tree or house will do, and a stick undci- the edge of the hive will give them air, while a thick blanket or bed-quilt spread over the box, and allowed to come in close contact with the ground all around, will produce the darkness needed to keep them quiet. Place an empty hive where you wish to locate your new colony— any place away from the old stand will do— and, after sunset, when the bees are all in, bring the hive that cast the swarm, and the box containing the swarm, alongside your new hive; shake the bees from one or two combs near the entrance to the new hi\ e, and, after removing the queen-cells, place the combs in also. Now sh.ike your swarm down with the oth- er bees, and let all go in together. AVhile the swarm is going into the new hive, take the other combs from the old one, shake ott the bees with the others, remove the queen-cells, and place them (the frames) in also. Add another story, if necessary, with your surplus arrangements, and lean a board in front of the entrance for a day or two. If you have done the work properly, and removed nil the queen-cells, you have furnished all the con- ditions the instinct of a new swarm requires, and preserved the united strength of the parent colony and the swarm intact, and the reunited colony will work as vigorously as a swarm hived separately from the parent stock. " To sum it all up," the bees have started queen-cells under the swarming im- pulse; thev have swarmed out from the old hive with the queen, and forsaken their old location. You have given them a new home,a new location, and plenty of room, and their reproductive instinct is satisfied— at least until they have filled the space you have given them; and if they are judiciously managed, by removing the stores before they arc too much crowded, they will, nine times in ten, re- main satisfied throughout the season. I do not expect you, and others who are more in- terested in the sale of queens and bees than in the production of honey, to feel any interest in what I have written; but we who can get more cash out of honey than from the sale of bees, or who, from va- rious causes, find our supply of hives running short when it is impossible to obtain more in proper time, will ever feel an interest in any plan that may save our bees and direct their energj' at this particular time to the production of that which will bring us the most solid comfort— cash. While writing this, I have tried to keep one of the babies quiet by holding him on my knee, and another by talking to it and petting it in various ways, while the "madam" and the other seven young "Texans" are out for a stroll. If my ideas have been poorly and disconnectedly expressed, I plead the circumstances an excuse. J. J. Taylok. Hichland Springs, Tex., July 20, 1881. Xow, you do me nijustice, friend T., for I am interested in comb honey ; in fact, I have done just what you mention, and know it will work- 1 am really afraid I am inter- 1881 GLEANINGS IN i3EE CULTUKE. 443 ested almost as much in the nine young '' Texaus " you mention incidentally, as I am in the honey. Give them my love, and make your best bow to the •' madam," for me, and give her my respects. I should dearly love to just go and make you all a visit. BEES STINGING A TEAM OF HORSES, AND SOME OTHER MATTERS. FROM OUR WISCOKSIN "A U ( CHILD." srag^EE.S arc doing- well now, woiking hard on see- J^S ond crop of red clover. I examined some, — and found the tubes nearly full of honey. I wintered 24 colonies on summer stands; lost one in glass hive. My bees have been swarming- every day since May ix. 1 have trebled my number, but I use lull sheets of fdu. I have been obliged to enlarge my hives (Langstroth) to 10 frames, and space combs IVi in. from center to center. Basswood did not yield a drop, although it bloomed freely. The sea- son is not as good here as last year so far. I ha\e returned swarms to keep them in boxes, or else should have had no surplus. As it is, I have TOO lbs. white comb, and .500 or 600 lbs. extr-icted, with line prospects ahead for fall yield. I have 3 Cyprian queens. They are very prolific, and go into boxes readily. Now, friend Root, I for one protest against your paying for money sent H. A. Burch & Co., as they advertise quite as much in A. B. J. as in Gleanings. Several here sent him money one, two, and three years ago, and heard nothing from it except prom- ises, from time to time. These all took the A. B. J., not Gleanings. BEES ON A RAMPAGE. I read in A B C of bees on a rampage. Well, we had just such a case here yesterday. My father-in- law, living 3 miles away, has 13 swarms of bees, and as the team passed them with a load of oats (where they had been drhiug the whole season without any molestation), they became enraged, and sallied out rii inmific upon the horses and driver. So sudden was the attack, and in such great numbers, .-lU bristling with venom, that, instead of an immediate runaway, the team just stood fl.xed, pawed, and fairly screamed aloud like wild beasts. Three men were on hand, and did all in their power to get them away, but no g;>. Th(,' swarm increased until their heads, necks, and chops, were covered, the men all the time rubbing them off, killing them by thous- ands. One horse fell exhausted; its life is despaired of ; the other is slightly better, while the men fared little better, one of them fainting before the horses were cared for. The women folks, too, have their eyes shut. A calf was nearly killed. I hastened to the scene, and found the horses rolling ia agony on the barn floor. We gave brandy, and applied am- monia, and covered them with mud; but they still refuse to eat, and their eyes remain shut. Their ears hang down like junk bottles. The folks are suffering intensely. I picked 103 stings out of one horse's ear. What could have caused the attack? There was at the time a fine honej' How from 5 acres of buckwheat, not 203 yards distant. It was at 8- ,v.M., when they were busiest gathering. The bees are from my stock, and reared from gentle Italians. The 13 swarms are the increase of 3 wintered — one strong, 2 weak, in spring ; the third swarm fill an 8 frame L. hive, and 3 cases of sections at a time, and have given 30 lbs. surplus, while llrst swarms have given 100 lbs. He refused $10.00 for the queen of the best hive (reared last season;; she tilled 30 L. frames with brood befori^ swarming; her hive swarmed 4 times, and all were large swarms. If the horses die, I will let you know. The men are unable to stand up yet, being stung- mostly in the head and face. Do you want any queens or bees? I can send you some choice Cyprians, mated Italian drones. I can send you 40 bushels of bees at SOc per lb. if you wish. E. A. MORGAN. Arcadia, Wis., Aug. 5, 1881. Friend ^I., I can hardly explain the ram- page you describe, but by supposing that the bees had some way got to robbing, unless the queen you mention had met one of your Cyprian drones, and it was the taint of a' for- eign blood, somewhat akin to the Egyptian strain. How near was the team to this hive? It may be a good lesson to us. to be a little careful how we drive horses too near hives of bees. I presume the horses were in a pro- fuse perspiration.— I have answered about Burch ill another column.— Have plenty of bees now. BEES IN NEBRASKA. HAVE been watching Gleanings for some time past for reports of bee-keepers in Southern Ne- braska. Up to this time I have seen only those of friend Miles, of Pawnee City, and Mrs. Martin, of Tecumseh. Even these reports w(;re not full enough to give us any idea of the condition bees were in, In their respective neighborhoods. I am an ABC student, and as a matter of fact, I should like to hear of tener from friends, just how the precious bees pulled through the long cold win- ter. In this section, the winter of 1830 will never be forgotten by any class ; no difference what the avoca- tion was, it fell on all alike. At the same time, I am of the opinion that our brothers in bee culture suf- fered most; and among- them here I will give the names of Jerome Wiltsc, of Rulo, Neb., and George Schock, of Falls City. Mr. W. lost all his apiar>', which numbered about SOOtirst-class colonies, except some 7 or 8, which pulled through in very Ijad con- dition. Mr. S. came out a shade better, with per- haps one-half. Through the country generally, there were a great many bees; but so far as I have made inquiry, nine-tenths died during the winter, and, as a matter of course, the people are consider- ably discouraged, and will hardly embark again very soon in bee culture. .Just here, friend R., let me ask you, if the secret or success of raising bees, especially in the North-west, doesn't depend mainly on the way they are wintered. It seems to mc that the heaviest losses last winter were among those who have been keeping bees for a great many years; and still, from some cause or other, the " amateur " met with as good results as those Avho have expend- ed thousands of dollars in ways and means by which they could give to the world the true principles on which we could rest with entire confidence, that, after the labor of summer was over, and the harvest gathered in, our purses replenished, and our hearts thankful to a kind heavenly Father for his goodness in the past we could feel that, when we had careful- ly packed our bees for winter, with an abundance of stores, they would come out in good condition in the spring. It has been extremely hot here for the last five 444 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. .Sept. weeks, Imrning every thing up, and one would naturally suppose bees are doing no good. From the 15th of May to the 13th of July they did remarkably well for this section, raising brood in abundance, and storing considerable honey in the broodncst. But to-day their storehouse is as barren as the des- ert; have no pjllen either. The only h'pes T have arc in feeding them until it commences to rain. If it don't rain very soon they can not gather any stores for winter; and hence, feeding is the only salvation. AV. C. Havely. Falls City, Nebr., July ^'5, 1881. H. A. BURCH & CO KHIKNI) HEDDON S REVIEW OF THE M.VTTEJl. fRIEND ROOT: -As one who has no ill will against any one, and a lively interest in uni- — ■ versal justice, 1 wish to remonstrate against the practice of vicarious financial atonement, as proposed by you in case Mr. Burch should fail to satisfy those who have sent him money for bee- keepers' supplies. Because Mr. B. advertised with you, is that any reason why you should become re- sponsible for his good luck, good .iudgment, good management, good health, or good intentions, any or all of which, the whereof might cause Mr. B. to fail? You have given a list of some of those who complain of loss. Before you can consistently pay these men, you must first have positive proof re- garding the transaction. ]f a man ordered bees last April, and Mr. B. ships them this fall, there is certainly a loss, which might amount to as much, or more, than all the money sent. How much are you going to pay in such cases? How d) you determine that the purchaser ever patronized or even looked into your Gleanings? How do j'ouknow but that he saw Mr. B.'s ad. in some other paper? Are you not a little reckless in proposing such a performance? If you continue to make such proposals, had j'ounot better carcfuUn consult a reporter who liiinca the standing of each one who proposes to advertise, be- fore you accept the advertisement? Would it not be still better, when an ad. is proffered, to get (un- known to the dealer) a report of bis stability, and insert It with the ad., and then let us take our chances? We then know as much about the matter as you do, or can. I hardly think that many of these complainants would desire your interests sac- rificed to theirs, in a matter in whose financial in- terests you play so minor a part. I am sure I would not ha"\'e the stain on my memory of taking a cent from you. Your agreeing to become responsible, makes no difference as to the justice in the matter. In my opinion, martyrdom never paid a dividend, on the investment to any of the parties concerned. Never! In regard to this failure of Mr. Burch, numerous parties have written to me to find out what I kuow about the firm, stating that they saw my " recom- mend" in his circular, and knowing I Jived in an ad- joining county. Will you give me space to say to such inquirers, that in the fall of 1880 I visited Mr. B.'s apiary, and found not only system and order, but as fine-looking and active bees as I ever saw anywhere. These cclonies had been carefully fed during that season, under the skillful management of Mr. King, of South Haven, as directed by Mr. Burch. I never visited an apiary which was more universally "(/ircr-bfOifkfZ." I made these remarks to Mr. B., and during the winter he asked me if I was willing to state this truth to the public through his circular? Notwithstanding he was selling full colonies at loss price than I could afford to (thus making my recommend of his bees work against my own interest), I could not crawl into so small a place as to refuse my signature to a fuc-t, and gave it. I recommended the bees only. In regard to the financial standing of Mr. B., I know nothing. I make it a point to trust men with great caution till I do. What business of trust I have over had with Mr. B., has always been fully and promptly discharged. I ne\er heard of his fail- ure to fill orders received till within the last sixty days. I know no more of the jcisok why he fails to ship, than any other man. I do not even know who "Co." is. From my aequiintance with Mr. B , 1 am inclined to think he intends to ship his orders to the best of his ability. I think his mistake has been in overestimating his ability to supply, or underesti- mating the demand at the prices he ([uotcd bees— probably both. Such stock as Mr. B. advertised was worth mc re, and cost more, than the price he put upon them. Eager to avail themselves of a good bargain, orders and money came in,/ar in rjccexs of Mr. B.'s ability to supply, after the winter had reduced his fine large apiary to fifteen surviving colonies, which, 1 am credibly informed, was the case. I want to say here, that those who have had no experience have but a faint idea of the amount ot cash, cost, and labor, in- volved in a season's dealing in supplies. AVithout great rati ion, as well as gccd judgment, one is very apt to far overestimate his ability to fill all these odd-sized and coniplicafed orders with prompt- ness. To do so requires ni) MiKill capital. The man who expects to use his remittance money to carry stock with, will run a short race in the business, and wind up covered with blame. ]f tact is required to successfully produce honey, the cssrnrc of it is demanded to successfully "supply producers, and give satisfaction to the reasonable," to say noth- ing of the growls of that cbiss who are totally bereft of that grandest of all God's gifts. I think there are few men among our ranks who will willfully bc- traj' the confidence of him who sends his money confidingly to a stranger. AVhen one that pl.ices all the power in you, can you but do cnrij thiuu within the bounds of reason and justice to satisfy him? In my judgment, more failures and consequent losses aiise from too much hope and too little caution, than from all other sources. Hope may be called mental ease; cautinn, mental energy. We all sincerely hope that the next 30 days will put a brighter look upon the face of this first failure in the ranks of reputable dealers in our goods. How- ever luiable any of us may have been to do so in the past, let us all strive to do exact justice to each other in the future. James Hh-Udon. Dowagiac, Mich., Aug. 5, 18S1. Many thanks, friend II., for so kindly tak- ing iny part. 1 do not propose, as I have already said, making good the losses of my advertisers l)y delays in shipping, etc., but! do propose to payback tlie money any one may lose l)y sending it to some one who makes no returns for the money sent. In doing this, I only try to do as t wonltl be done by. If I go into the store of some one I know and rely upon, and some person in that store takes my money and returns me 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUliE. 445 110 equivalent, I should expect the proprie- tor to make good the amount lost, lie must learn not to Keep such on his premises. It is true, I do not know who saw the adver- tisement in Gleanings; but 1 believe they will tell me pretty nearly the truth when I get ready to ask them. You would, friend lleddon, wouldn't you? 1 do know all who advertise Avith me, pretty Avell, and if I lose in this case, I shall iiave to conclude it will be better to keep a little tighter rein on some of you than I have done. I think friend IJurch is going to fix it all up him- self, excepting perhaps the damage to his customers, resulting from the delay. lie can regain confidence another seasoii, if he chooses, by advertising that the cash need not be sent until the bees are received. QirjBEN-REARING. QUEENS GETTING, LOST ON THEIR WEDDING TRIP; CAUSE AND REMEDY. ^1, OME of the friends speak of heiivy losses from ^%> yoving queens failing to return to their re- ^""^ spcctive hives after their wedding- tour, and are solicitous to ascertain the cause and remedy. Much can be done by the apiarian to save these losses. I am not of the opinion that many queens are carried away by birds; some may be, but the greater nuEtbcr of queens lost is occasioned by en- tering the wrong hive on their return. The number of losses may be diminished very much by doing away with the systematic arrangement of the queen- rearing colonies. Even if the hives arc 13 or 15 feet apart in rows, and there is much similarity of ap- pearance of the hives, often queens, as well as bees, will make a mistake and enter the hive at either side in front or in rear of the hive in which they be- long. If this is the arrangement of your apiary, and on account of appearance, or for want of room, you must continue to have it so, you will And it a great aid to your queens in returning to their own hive, if you will take the precaution to cut some grv^en bushes or weeds, and place them over and about the hives in such a way as to give a diveryity of appear- ances to those hives having queens nearly old enough to fly out. This is a great aid to them in marking their place. Mere color of hives will not do. It is not a good plan to be among the hives, opening and changing the appearance of them where queens of proper age might bo on the wing, especially from 13 to 3 o'clock r.M. After the usual hours have passed for queens to liy, and you are aware that you have had some queens that have flown from their hives, it is well to look into these hives, and if the queen is not there (usually the bees, on disturbing them, will manifest the absence of the queen by that peculiar doleful sound made by fanning their wings; some colonies manifest their loss with greater intensity of emotion than others), it is well to make an effort to lind her, and when j-ou do find her, especially when you are behind with " orders for queens," you will feel better than you would had you gotten a small fortune. But you say, "Where shall I look for her? if she has got into some other hive it won't pay to open the 'whole business' to find one queen, and then, may be, she is not in any hive, so I'll let her 'go to the dickens.' " But generally there is a pretty sure indication of the whereabouts of the lost queen if she is in the wrong pew. When a strange queen enters a colony already supplied with a piece of furniture of this kind, the bees will ball the strange queen to give themselves time to look into matters; and either the bees, in their eagerness to kill the queen, -^ting each other, or else the queen, in trying to free herself, stings the bees, I am not yet sure which; at all events, shortly after a queen is balled, if the colonies so retaining her has a queen of their own, the indication of a strange queen is in the fact of a number of bees just stung and carried out. Now, when this is seen, it is at all times (if no robbing or fighting has been going on), better to open the hi\ e; and if the queen has not been balled too long she will be found all right, and she must then be caged a few hours among her own bees be- fore liberating her, being sure to have food access- ible to the queen, as bees will not always feed an unfertile caged queen. As a general thing, queens that are lost from their own hive will be found in the hive at either side, or the hive immediately in front or rear of the hive in which she belongs, and these may be looked into - examining all the combs and sides of hive for the ball of bees, before the "sign," dead beos, are thrown out of the hive. I have saved a great many queens by this timely at- tention. But nearly all of this trouble and loss of queens may be saved by scattering the queen-rear- ing colonies about through your orchard, among bushes and weeds, and facing their entrances in dif- ferent directions. It takes more time to "go the rounds," but it will pay in dollars and cents. This has been a pretty fair season with us. I had only 16 stands to begin with, and they were so weak they did not start brooding until sometime in April, and there was not one young bee hatched until the 8th of May; yet I have increased them from 16 weak things to TO, all in prime order for winter. Of course, I had all my combs saved " to go and come on," and, as friend Hutchinson says, these empty combs are a great " institution." The queens of these old colonics were so forced and overworked by giving them so much comb to fill with eggs, they were nearly all completely ex- hausted by the close of the honey harvest, which ended with us the 12th of July. I have now a young- laying queen in each of my hives, artificially reared, but that don't scare me a bit, as thev will average as prolific as any other 70 naturally reared queens in this country. Where is the use of so much talk about natural and artificial queens, when it is so small a matter to transfer larva- just hatched, from any stock into cells containing royal jelly, and have them receive as much, or more, royal food than they get by the natural process? J. A. Buchanan. Huutsville, Logan Co., O., Aug., 1881. Many thanks for your excellent hints, friend 13., right where I am sure they will help. Our hives are pretty near, but as the entrances face all points of the compass, we have very little trouble from young queens getting into the wrong hives. A queen, while being introduced, often takes wing, and I have several times found the boys sorely troubled, when 1 would be able to find the queen almost every time, by just the plan you have given, and the boys were just about as glad to find her as you have ex- pressed it^ A queen that gets lost by fiying away, under almost any circumstances, can usually be found by one who understands them. They almost, if not quite, invariably come back to where they started off, and a glance at the hives in the vicinity will often tell where they have gone in, or attempted to enter. It is wonderful, how one's wits may be sharpened for such work, if he set right resolutely to it. 446 GLEiVKIKGS IN BEE CULTUUE. Skpt, From Different Fields. REPORT FROM A 16-yEAB-Ol.D BEE-KEEPEK. F,A has 69 colonies of bees, including- a few nu- clei. The most of them are strong. AVe have — ■ fed nearly a barrel of grape sugar. It is a great help to the apiary. This has been a good sea- son for bees. AVe have several colonies of four- banded bees; the fourth band is easily seen as they crawl over the combs. My brother David introduc- ed an old laying queen from a strong swarm to a swarm of young bees. She stopped laying a week or more, and then she laid a few drone eggs; then she stopped laying for a ^veck or so. To try an experi- ment, he transferred her to a nucleus hi^•c, when she immediately began to lay as Avell as ever, and is still at it. The Spider plant is a perfect beauty. The bees swarm on them in the evening. The Simp- sons will not bloom much this year. There are five or six hundred plants of both kinds. The bees work on the catnip as much as on any other plant. Our grapes have never been injured by the bees. AVe expect a good honey-tlow this fall. I am 16 years of age. The bees are mostly in my care, and I have a good many other chores. AVe are adopting the L. hive. My brother made out the spring report. James A\'. Kirk. Columbus, Cherokee Co., Kan., July, 1?81. BASSWOOU HONEV AND SNOWDRIFTS. The Italians 1 got of you aredoing" just splendid." I have 52 colonies: 7 of them Italians, and one Cy- prian; the rest blacks. I never saw such a tlood of basswood honey as we are having this year. The branches of the trees are actually bending down un- der the weight of the— I was going to say honey, but will say blossoms. I wintered lit colonies last winter, and they all came out strong. 1 winter in a snowdrift. 1 think it is one of the best bee-hTjjes I oull had. Of course, the bees were sui rounded by 4 inches of buckwheat chaff. AV. B. Cochrane and James Craft are the two great bee-masters of this locality, although James, at one time last spring, would have made a good picture for your Blasted Hopes. But he is on his "pegs " again, "chock full" of " beeology;" in fact, what Jim don't know about bees isn't worth knowing. Your ABC book is just " bully." It saved me three times the cost of it this very afternoon in finding a drone-laying queen. AVm. C.vims. Itockland. Sullivan Co., N. Y., July 26, 1881. Glad to hear it. friend C. ; and Ave are also glad to make the acquaintance of your bee- friends, Messrs. Cochrane and Craft. '• IIoav d'ye do, gentlemen V glad to see you both in a hopeful frame of miiid, and on your ' pegs' again." GOOD FOR A BEGINNER. Since I received specimen copy of your paper, 1 bought one hive of bees, strongly marked Italians, for $7..50. In early June I divided them. Last week I got two hiVi.ir swarms, same day, one cf/y large, the other larger. I did not see the lirst coming out; they had settled when I saw them first. An old bee-keep- er, who helped me with bi)th, Capt. Hill, says he never saw two as large swarms come from one, and never knew two from one the same day, and insists that the first is a "stray." But the only evidence is, that the bees of one swarm are cross, while the < (thers are not. I can scarcely go near the stand now, while before I could handle them with impunity. Besides the three new swarms, I have taken off 11 lbs. of honey, and another box almost ready to re- move, so that I do not want to see my name in Blasted Hopes. A. Kilpatrick. Valencia, Butler Co., Pa. It is scarcely probable that one colony should send off tAvo strong swarms the same day. 1 think Capt. Hill is right, and that the one you mention came to yi)u to help build up"^ your apiary. Accept it as a gift from God, friend K., and care for it accor- dingly. GRAPE SUGAIt. 1 wish to add my testimony to the soundness of your instructions respecting the use of grape sugar for building up, etc. (Oct. No., 1879, p. ;i84.) I am now realizing, from such building up, having my bees strong, and bringing in honey so fast that I am puzzled how to stow it away. The sugar, honestly used, is a great help. I should have been sorry last fall if you had said, "Don't use it;" so when you promise to discard such advice, out of deference to special friends, remember your ABC class. George Adams. Haledon, Passaic, Co., N. J., July 15, 1881. SWAR.MS SEPARATING. I had Ij swarms of bees this spring; lost 8 last win- ter. I ha\ e i;3 now. July 5th I had a swarm come out, and it alighted on a willow, and there was an- other swarm just two feet from the one that alight- ed on the limb between clislors; now, can you tell me the reason why they alighted so near'? I hived them; one stayed, and the other swarmed again, and I hived it, and it stayed. They are doing well. One would have thought they were one swarm. A. S. MVERS. West AVocdstoek, Windham Co., Ct., July 12, 1881. I think they Avere all one swarm, friend M. They often sep'-uate in that Avay ; but the queenless one will not stay long, unless hived on a comb of brood. I should hive them separately, and then if each part had a queen, both Avould be saved. If one i)art Avas (pieenless, it could be united Avitli the other after it had started queen-cells. TAKING OFF SECTIONS. I find (//r;ff difliculty with the sections o:i Uip of frames. My hive holds 24 on top and 6 on each side; they get Avaxc'l to the top-bar; and when we open our hi\es often, the secti(jns break when wc try to lift them off. How would several wires stretched tight across the bottom of the section-case to keep them from direct contact with top-bars do? How do you manage to get the sections off that are fin- iiihal, without breaking a great many? for mine are waxed to the tin separators and top-bars, and it is almost an impossibility to take out }iavt of them and insert empty ones in their place. AVe have the best honey season here I ever knew. AVm. M. Young. Nevada, AVyandot Co., O., July 16, 1881. Your first ditticulty, my friend, seems to be that you have permitted the bees access to the bottoms of the sections, Avhich should never be. The sections should stand on a piece of Avood supported about i inch a))ove 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 447 the tops of the brood-combs. If you will examine our arrangements for surplus, you will find this provision always made, either in the wide frames or crate to set over the brood-nest. If you lind the combs attached to tin separators. 1 think your section boxes are too large. These troubles usually come where beginners adopt some arrangement of their own. Our standard goods have been made with a view of remedying all these de- fects. ^ TWO QUEENS IN ONE CEI.Tj, ETC. I began the season with three colonies; increased to seven. I have been hatching queens in lamp nur- sery for my own use, and have met with two rather unvisual occurrences (to me at least.) First, after having one hive quecnless about three days, I found they had started qiiecn-cells on new comb that con- tained no brood or ejrgs, but had made no effort to raise a queen from young larva'. They accepted the new queen on second trial. Second, in opening one of the queen-ct lis that failed to hatch, 1 found it contained two queens, nearly j-eady to hatch, hav- ing their heads in opposite directions. Chari.es Lee. Stonersvillo. Berks Co., Pa., July 15, 1881. Bees often start queen-cells in the way you mention, but 1 think you would find they had eventually carried larvie over to those cells, for tliey often do this.— If I am correct, you have given us the tirst positive proof of two queens from a single queen-cell. MOLLIE HEATH HONEV-PLANT. My one plant of the MoUie Heath seed I raised has been in bloom some two months. I think it will do well with me. I love to visit it early In the morning, and see my pets come and fall into the flowers and fill themselves, and then sail for home, often leaving enough for a second load. Geo. S. LEorsoNE. Lake City, Col. Co., Fla., June 4, 18S1. We have never succeeded in getting a blossom from this plant, although we had a beautiful plant growing in the garden last season. From the description above, it would seem that it bears honey like the Spider plant. Have others succeeded in get- ting blossoms? A OOOD KEPORT FROM VERMONT. 1 Started in bee culture List summer with one swarm; increased to th.ee, and got 33 lbs. surplus. Bought one in the fall, wintered the four in cellar in Nellis Simplicity bee-hives, with plenty of top ventilation bj' opening the flap to quilt, but not tak- ing the quilts off, but T had thecaps off entirely. On- ly one was troubled with dysentery, and that a very little. In the spring I bought two in Kidder hives; transferred them in May with good success; in- creased the 6 to 12. I ran only 1 to extracted honey, and that a young swarm that tried to abscond; it has given 95 lbs. nice clover honey, as bass wood is just in bloom. I have extracted 50 lbs. from frames that I was obliged to empty; have taken out about 50 lbs. of box honey and some 200 lbs. almost ready to come off. (Remember, I doubled my swarms.) I think the L. frame supei-ior to all I have tried yet. I gave my young swarms a frame of brood as given in ABC, but in spite of that I had two swarms try to abscond, and would have gone as sure as fate if I had not been on hand, and the queen's wings been clipped; in fact, one went almost to the woods, and came back only because they were forced to; they had been in the hive some 48 hours; the other, only a little while; the hives were painted in April, so don't lay it to that. So, now, please alter A B C a little, and say that you have heard of their trying to abscond. Bees wintered very well right around here ; but off 10 or 20 miles 1 hear of .50 out of e^'ery 100 per- ishing, and some lose all. I hop? you will have bet- ter luck next winter wintering, as I think some of the ABC class have beaten you. F. M. Wright. Enosburgh, Vt., July 27, 1881. . I think I have changed it in the A B C on the point you mention ; but in our own api- ary it is so rare an occurrence to have bees leave unsealed brood, that we set it down as about as sure a thing as any rule with bees. Your point, that the bees wintered safely around a small point, and did not outside of this tract, would seem to indicate that it is not always all the fault of the way they were prepared for winter. COLOR OF DRONES. I wish to ask you in i-egard to the color of drones. I thought 1 could find my answer in back Nos. of Gleanings, but ha\e been searching and failed, I have bought queens from a haif-dozenor more of the most prominent importers and breeders in theU. S., including one selected tested queen from you, but have failed to raise drones the color I think they ought to be, or as yellow as my neighbor bee-keeper O. Field. They all raise nice three-banded workers, but the drones, a great part of them, you could hard- ly tell from the black drones. Now, how is that? Why can't I raise some nice yellow drones? Can you fur- nish a queen that will raise them? I have hybrid drones that show more yellow than from the pure stocks. Does a hybrid queen raise pure drones or not? I see some think they do and some think they don't. I think I have a superior strain of bees; have a number of queens whose colonies stored 200 lbs. of section honey last season, and some went over that ; and as our hives are small, only about 12 inches square on the inside, and 11 inches deep, I conclude I have a prettj' good strain of bees; don't you? O. E. COON. Le Moore, Tulare Co., Cal., July 3, 1831. I do indeed, friend C. ; and I think, if I were you. I should let the drones alone, or, at least, I would not mind what cAor they are. I believe it was pretty well agreed, long ago, that little, if any, dependence is to be placed on the color of drones. Those from Italian queens usually show some sort of a ragged yellow band : but very often, if placed side by side with common drones, there is not enough ditference to be notice- able. Occasionally a queen will produce drones having a great deal of yellow on them; but I believe these are valuable only as a cu- riosity, and nothing more. The drones of Italy are, of course, just the same, very di- verse in their markings. TOO MUCH POLLEN. What would you do with combs filled with pollen? I have a lot of such, and as I know they will not do to winter upon, I am at a loss. Can I get shut of the pollen by any possible process but destroying the combs? My bees gather little but pollen, and they have cramped the queens badly by it; in fact, some hives are full of pollen, so to speak. I had thought of sending for some of your one-piece sec- 448 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Sept. tions as samples, and to have filled for our fairs; but I suppose j'ou could not send many by mail, and express is unhandy for us. I would like to see some; none were ever used in this countv. H. A. Davis. Moretz Mills, N. C , July 2, 1881. I am not sure that I can answer the ques- tion for you, friend B. ; but I would tal^e care of the pollen, if it were my case, by get- ting bees enough to work it all "up into brood. We rarely, if ever, have a surplus of pollen here ; but for all that, our bees do not seem to winter better than other localities. If you keep them rearing brood right along through dull and dry seasons, by sugar feeding, would they not use it up in raising young iDees ? — Sections can he sent by mail ; but as it costs about one cent eacli for postage it is rather expensive, unless for only a few for some particular purpose. close it again until they will. When you find them bringing in loads of pollen, you may be pretty well assured that every thing is all right. The two combs you give them should have but very little unsealed brood, or it will likely be lost. WASHING HIVES BEFORE PlTTTINfJ IN A SWARM. In reply to bees leaving- after swarming, most likely you washed yoiu' hives before putting them into it. I have seen hives washed, and never knew them to stay in them. If Mr. N. L. Wood washes his hives, I do not think the bees will stay in them. One of my neighbors washed a hive, and called me to help him, and the bees refused to go into it; and I asked him if he washed it, and he said he did. It is a good idea to sprinkle them with water to make them go into the hives at such times. Claremont, Ont., Can. E. Birrell. Friend B., it seems tome this whole busi- ness of washing is rather behind the times. I can remember when my motlier used to send for some hickory leaves, with which to wash out the hive, so the bees would stay ; but I do not know that I have heard of any- body doing the like since, unless it was to wash out the hive with honey and water, which would be just the thing to start rob- bing, if any were so disposed at the time. We hive hundreds of new sAvarms, divide them into several parts, set them ip the sun, and do any thing we want to with them, but we always have that frame of luisealed brood we have said so much about, with every colony, no matter whether it is a handful or a half-bushel ; and I have never had one so prepared go off, that I now recollect. WHAT TO DO WITH A QUEEN AND J4 Lli. OF BEES. I have received the queen and ?.i lb. of bees. I have had a great deal of trouble with robbers, hav- ing taken a frame of brood from one of my other hives with sealed honey at the top, and the hive I took it from carried the honey all back to their own hive. The queen is a fine one, and my neighbors say so too. C. W. Callear. Pittston, Pa., July 31, 1881. If you should get a queen with only i lb. of bees at a time when the bees are getting so little honey they are disposed to rob, you will have to be a little careful. First pro- cure about two combs of brood, having young bees just gnawing out of their cells. Let the bees and queen loose on these. If robbers are buzzing about, I would close the hive a few hoitrs. Now open it so only one bee can come out at a time. If the bees cluster about the entrance and defend it from robbers, all right ; but if they do not, drones with colored eyes. I send you by to-day's mail a curiosity in the shape of a drone with yellow eyes, from a mismated Ital- ian queen. J. M. Hyne. StowartsviUe, Posey Co., Ind., July 33, 1881. I have l)efore mentioned having a colony of bees whose drones always all of them had eyes of a cherry-red color. The one friend II. sends us as above has eyes of a beeswax yellow ; in fact, it is hard to think his eyes are not lumps of bright yellow wax. Others have reported drones with white or pink eyes. From all these facts we would infer that nature seems to have a special propen- sity to sport on the eyes of drones. Do you not remember that friend Hasty said corn is inclined to sport in the construction of the tassel, but not in the ear? There seems to be a strange feature here, giving a glimpse, as it were, behind the curtain, of the won- derful processes by which God has builded np these wonderful creations. JMany thanks, friend H., for the curiosity. As tlie odd- looking insect seemed lively, we introduced him to a hive in the apiary. A yUEEN that STINOS WORKERS. Queen to hand all right; bees all dead; think she must have killed them, as there was but little of the candy used. When I opened the cage she ran her sting out and frisked aboiit as if she meant business. I introduced her the same evening as directed. T. (J. H. JONES. Nicolaus, Cal., July 38, 1881. We have occasionally found a queen that would pounce upon and sting workers, and I have sometimes thought if we could de- velop a race of queens tierce enough to make her way into any hive of bees, it might be quite a relief in introducing. I remember one friend who took the broad platform that a queen that could not take care of her- self when let out among any bees, was not worth having. HEES ON ONIONS. Talk about bees working, you ought to see them on the onion flowers which I have out for seed. They work from daylight until dark. I do not find any flavor of onions in the honey as yet; they also work on carrots, parsley, and radish. It has been so di-y that they have not worked on white clover of any account, but I have taken off a fine lot of white honey. J. H. Mvers. Saratoga Springs, N. Y., July 26, 1881. Thanks, friend M.; it would seem, from the above, that even onions do not yield honey alike in all localities. When at Fer- ry's seed gardens, we found the bees quite cross, just at the close of basswood, although acres upon acres of onions were in bloom. This was much owing to their being hybrids. I presume, however. With an apiai-y all of pure Italians, you will usually get honey, and not stings, even if basswood has just failed. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 449 ABE BEES TAXABLE rROPEISTY, ETC. Will you please to settle an argument between me and a lawyer? I wish to know if lioes can be taxed in this or any other of the rnited States; and also if they are attachable for debts of any kind. Please to tell us, if you know, and oblige us both. I have 18 colonies of bees, all black, this spring; but I have Italianized them all now. I have in- creased from 7, and taken 110 lbs, of extracted clover honey. While the young queens were ^ettmg to laying I sent to a firm for $3.00 worth of fdn., and he sent me 3 lbs and 2 cz. of Uat-brittomcd comb, 10 ft. to the pound, and very uneven at that, and the bees draw it unevenly. I think ho must have made some mistake in filling my order. A. W. MEBRiLt,. Parkman, Mo., July IS, IS^l. I do not know law very much, liiend M.; but I have always paid taxes on my bees, and always expect to, no matter what the law is. 1 am sine that bees are, nowadays at least, taxable property, in the true spirit of the law, and as a citizen of the United States 1 want to do my part toward keeping np the institutions of our country.— By all means, write to the firm you allude to and give them a chance of correcting the mistake. If they do not do it, nor give any satisfactoiy explanation, have them •' shown np" for the good of others. MY EXPEKIENCE. I have kept bees for four years. I went into the winter of 1880 almost discouraged with bees, hiving little or no success, not even paying my expenses. My bees were all packed in chaff, and so I thought were in very good condition to winter through. When April oame, about half had starved, and the rest dwindled away until I reduced them to three weak swarms. Then you see 1 was about ready to go into Blasted Hopes. It happened that father bought enough more bees to make my number 8. I then determined to make the 8 swarms pay, if I did not get any increase. I now have about 800 lbs. of honey, mostly extracted, which I am selling for Vili cts. per lb., and 15 swarms in the Roop hive. Some swarms I tier up three stories high. I expect my report will be small by the side of some, but it is through the blessing of the Lord I have got what I have. L. B. Ken yon. Lyons, Ionia Co., Mich., Aug. 2, 1881. PROMPTNESS AND RESPONSIBILITY ARE ESSENTIAL TO A BEE-KEEPEH. You no doubt begin to think that you will not get the money for the beautiful queen you sent me; but It is all right; and here let mo suggest an idea that is quite a consolation to me as regards losses to a bee-culturist: If a man is so low and mean as to try to cheat one out of a queen or other appliances necessarj' to successful results, he is not fit to own and handle bees, and will not prosper in the busi- ness. A successful bee-keeper must be a reliable man te start with. I was very successful in intro- ducing her, but she seemed to be quite exhausted on her arrival, and it took her more than a week to recruit, and now she is nearly double the size when first I saw her, and she has young bees now at work, and they are perfect beauties, and very industrious. 1 find bee culture in Nebraska quite dififei-ent from that of York State or Wisconsin. The Italians are far superior to the black bees here. This is a good honey country, but bees must be strong and vigor- ous to stand the wind and sudden storms. I have never lost a swarm in fifteen years, and have win- tered as many as 73 swarms at once. T. L. WiirTBECK. VVahoo, Saunders Co., Neb., July 18, 1881. CALIFOUNIA. The honey season will be a total failure in this sec- tion of 1 he State this year. 1 have not extracted a pound of honey this season, nor do I expect to; neither have I heard of an}' one who has. One of my neighbors has some bees near Santa Monica; he was looking through them, a few days ago, and many of them had "not a drop " of honey in the hives. There are plenty of flowers, sage, wild buckwheat, sumac, and lovevine; but-no honey. Bees on the scales rt/)U')i to 65 lbs. " It's a foul wind that blows no one any good." I shall need no hives for another year. This is my second year, and both have been failures. Rather hard for a novice, is it not? Cause of fail- ure of honey this year, weather too cold and cloudy. W. W. Bliss. Los Angeles, Cal., July 7, 1881. UPS .\ND DOWNS, BUT NOT BLASTED HOPES, AFTER ALL. I commenced bee-keeping in 1878, with two stands; increased to 5 first summer; gave 1 away, leaving 4; increased to 9 in 1879; 1 died wintering, leaving 8 in 1880; increased to 10, and now have only 3 weak swarms left. From the start they have paid ex- penses, and paid for !f20.00 worth of carpenter tools, be^^ides paying for hives. I have 15 extra boxes, and 100 combs, so I have not lost any thing by them so far, I have wintered in cellar every year, and I think my losses have been from my own neglect. Samuel Lister. Newton, Jasper Co., Iowa, June 1, 1881. STRAW OR CHAFF PACKING IN CELLAR, ETC. Nov. 9th, 1880, I put 35 swarms into my cellar, with a bridge over all the frames, a common sheet of duck over bridge, and top of hive packed full of straw. April 13th, 1881, I set out 34 swarms, one dy- ing queenless. After I set them out, one got robbed, and 1 hey were queenles?; but I did not know it, then I put three in one hive, to try to build it up, and it is the smallest one I have now. To-day I have 57 swarms and one nucleus, all heavy except 3 or 4, and have taken up to-day very nearlj' 600 lbs. of honey in lU andl lb. sections; and If I had an ex- tractor I could take -500 more from two outside frames in each hive, and let them fill up with buck- wheat, fireweed, and goldenrod. R. P. LOVETOY. Grtig, Lewis Co., N. Y., July :24, 1881. CHAFF HIVES, ETC. Bees are in splendid condition. I am surprised at the great loss of bees, especially in chaff hives. Af- ter passing through two severe winters, and never losing but one colonj^ in the whole time, I am a flim believer that there is no better or safer way to win- ter bees than on Summer stands in chaff hives. I have always started in winter with plenty of bees, good stores, and tucked up with division-boards. I may bo wrong; but if everybody would start in win- ter in as good shape, and chaff packing, they would never have occasion fcr a space in Blasted Hopes. D. White. New London, Ohio, May 7, 18ol. 450 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Sept. CHAFF HIVES, BLACK BEES, ETC. I Started last fall with 54 stocks— 51 in Langstroth chaff hives, and 3 in box hives; lost 4 in chaff, and 1 in liox hive, and doubled up one, which left 48, mostly in good condition. Increased to 83 bynatural and artificial swarming; have taken 8'>U lbs. from one swarm, of nice clover honey in .sections, and black bees at that. Three-fourths of the bees died in these parts last winter. My bees are doing better than ever before. I wintered in chaff hives, with a piece of carpet over the frames, and 6 inches of loose chaff on top of that, which 1 think is about right. I make and use the V'andervort foundation. It beats any I ever saw. I have put heavy swarms on full sheets, and have not had any break-down. I use full-size sheets in sections; 10 square feet to the pound. c. J. Hakjht. Rush, Susq. Co., Pa., July 11, 1881. UPS AND DOWNS. Bees have done remarkably well here this season. Here where, for two years past, they have scarcel.v made a living,— in fact, nearly all have perished, in consequence, principally, of the poor seasons,— this year they gi ve an average of 60 to 70 lbs. of choice honey, all sealed. Italians have been about the only ones to survive the two past seasons. Three years ago in my neighborhood we numbered nearly 300 colonies. Spring found us with only 30, and all weak ; 10 scarcely able to build up. Americus, Mo., July 8, 1881. L. A. ANDEBi=0\. Why, friend A., tliat reads something like what the man said about his clock. Some- body suggested it was out of repair. ''Oh, no!" he replied; "it is only because but few people understand it. Yon see, when it strikes 12 the hands point to half-past two ; and I know then it's just half-past seven." SOUTH AMERICA. Please send me two sample copies of your maga- zine, with price lists for improved appliances, etc. I desire, through a friend in South America, to use our best endeavors to introduce this industry on a large scale there, and of course must be well inform- ed of the requisites for such work. The field, I think, is a good one, and requires only energy and push to open up to a considerable extent. The cli- mate is nearly similar to that of California, and I sec no reason to think the project at all a doubtful one. Any information you can supply me with I shall be obliged for; and in the event of any business result- ing, I shall be pleased to buy of you the necessary articles. J. H. Snyder, Vicc-Cu)isul Arocnti))e ncimhUc. ■ 128 Pearl St., N. Y., July 33, 1881. We gladly send the samples, friend S., and we shall be most happy to assist in any way in our power in opening up bee culture in the southern half of our continent. You will observe, from another column, that we already have one customer and correspond- ent in your country. HOW TO winter bees. As wintering of bees must be a subject of much interest to you, I will send in my report for the past winter. At the beginning of winter I had 98 swarms in about 8 different kinds of hives. Three swarms starved, 2 lost their queens, and 3 getting weak in the spring, on account of having old queens (as I thought), were put in with others, lessening them 8 from 98. I could not ask for better success in wintering in any winter. I have been experi- menting on wintering bees for the last five years, and I now think I know the right, way to prepare them. I have a hive that cost less than $1.00 that I think would be just the thing for the timid portion of your A H C class. I could insin-e them to winter bees that are in reasonably good condition for 25 cts. a swarm (no patent, no hives to sell.) And if you will visit me I think it possible that you might see or hear something that would be of benefit to yon in wintering bees. Swarming commenced early in June; over 100 swarms issued. I have been selling new swarms that weighed 6 to 8 lbs. for $3.00. They have stored a good quantity of bo.\ honey. F. C. White. Euclid, Cuyahosa Co., Ohio, Jnly 16, 1881. Well, isn't that a little cool, friend W., to tell us you have got the great secret, and then keep us all w^aiting until I can pay you a visit y Can't you give us at least a brief outline of what is to be done V I will try to come and see you, however, before a great while. HONEY-DEW. We have not had a very large flow of honey this season, though the season seems favorable, and was early in the spring. We had lots of honey-dew for several weeks, but I did not see a single bee gather- ing it, or paying any attention to it. Please tell us if such cases are common, where bees remain poor while honey-dew drops from the leaves in rich abundance. S. L. Greer. Friendsville, Blount Co., Tenn., July 26, 1881. I never heard of such a case before, friend G. Was the honey-dew good? it must have been of very bad quality indeed if the bees would not eat it. EXPERIENCE OF ONE OF THE "AWKWARD SQUAD." The queen I got of you was well received and in- troduced, and a week after was laying all right, but in two weeks more was gone, and a lot of queen-cells capped. What became of her? 1 had a large box hive in the spring so full of crooked comb and honey that I did not like to transfer it, so I took off the top and put on a Simplicity hive. They soon tilled it with brood and honey, sent off' a swarm of at least half a bushel of bees, and still seem to be full of both bees and brood. What shall I do with them? I see in Gleanings how friend Miller uses honey to prevent foundation from stick ing to the lever of his fastener. I put a piece of paper on top of the foun- dation. This can be pulled off without trouble after it is fastened, and makes no daubing of honey. To fasten foimdation in the L. frame, lay the sheet of it on the comb-guide; take a hot iron (a stove-lid lifter will do), and draw it along the upper edge so it will touch both the wood and the edge of the fdn., and it is done. One of the ABC Class. Bedford, Westchester Co., N. Y., July 25, 1881. It is hard to guess what became of your queen. Any queen is liable to be found luiss- ing at any time. I presume they die occa- sionally of other ailments than old age, in common with the rest of mortals.— Take oti your Simplicity hive, and set it on the stand of the old one now, and I think you will have all the bees and nearly all the brood, so you can jnstAvork up the old crooked combs into 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 451 wax.— Your plan of using a piece of paper, friend, is novel ; but it seems to me it would take too much time, the way our girls work. The hot-iron plan is a very old ope. but is still used by some. HOW TO MAKE A WAX-EXTRACTOR FOB TEN CEiNTS. Take your wife's dish-pan, and cut a piece of wire cloth a little larger than the top; bend it down a couple of inches inside, and bend the corners down outside to keep it in place ; put a little water in the pan, and cover the wir(} eUith with old combs; set in the oven with a moderate tire, and let it bake about 15 minutes, and the wax will all be on top, the water and dirt on top the wire cloth. Repeat as long- as the comb htlds out. Cheap and good; try it. X. Y. Z. Madisonvillc, Ham. Co., O., July 27, 1881. Why, friend Z., yours is exactly our 30- cent wax-extractor, only you take wire cloth instead of the sieve, and steal your wife's disli-pan instead of Iniying one. I should not be surprised if the latter part of it cost you more than 10c of itself, unless y ft. fi-onrtlie tree, wliere they liad drawn the tall frass to^'etlur and were working very industriously. They ev- identlv meant to niaUe a home m their strange quarters, for they had stored alic.ut 1.") Ihs. ol excellent honey, the combs of whi.-h weje .utarhed to the weeds and grass. Jlr. Shott has lett them in their chosen home: he says he will not he responsible for any debts contra<-ted by said bees, as they liave left his I'are, and entered life upon their own respon- .sibility. Tell the A B C class, in order to get rid of the pol- len in the fall, feed the bees after they are done stor- ing till they use it up, then they will have a nice lot of young bees, and no pollen to cause dysentery. .\ nice watering-place for bees, this hot August weather, is to place a keg, with one head out, in some suitable place, tilled with water, and cotton cloths folded, with one end in the water, and the other hanging out. We have ours close by the well, and when we are drinking, throw what re- mains in the keg. The cloths keep soaked, and the bees have the nicest place for getting water I ever saw. Ila Mishener. Low Banks, Ont, Can., Aug. i;i, 1881. Started to winter six swarms: lost three; increased this summer to eleven; got UOO lbs. extracted honey, and expect to get more this season. Inclosed you will find one dollar. Send along Gleanings. J. Gou^.n. Woodstock, Ontario, Can., July 22, 1881. Why, friend G., if you were in Blasted Hopes, it does not seem to me you stayed there long. I should think you belonged in Smilery now. ten thousand pounds of honey, etc. I inclose you draft for $14.00, for which please send me 200 of those two-quart tin pails, to which you call attention in August Gleanings. If they are all gone, please indorse the draft to my order, and return it. Ship by freight to me at Levanna. N. Y. I have taken about 10,000 lbs. of honey, instead of 7000, as I wiote you a few days ago, and could have taken a few hundred more, but it began to be col- ored by buckwheat. I think this is a pretty good yield for 78 swarms in the spring (many of them weak), to say nothing of the 130 new swarms. 1 am one of Burch's victims. I sent to him in May for one best tested queen, $3..50; in a nucleus. *3..50; and a B. & H. honey-knife, f 1.2.5. Total $7.2.5. In ease he does not return the money, I will not receive it from you, as I do not think you ought to pay it. My loss would have l>een much greater, but I live within about 25 miles of Mr. Doolittle, and so when I got ready to use some brood for queen-rearing I 452 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Sept. went to him and bought some. I also maile anothei- trip later. In this way I succeeded in raising about 70 very nice queens. F. B. Chapman. Scipioville, Cay. Co., N. Y., Aug. 4, 1881. Our friends will notice, from the way in which the above order is given, that friend V. feels a little sore, lie does not relisli tlie idea of sending for pails, and then having to wait nntil they can lie made, or ordered from New York. There is a good moral there, and I don"t blame him a bit ; I like to get orders in just that way. When one has 10,000 lbs. of honey on his hands, he doesn't want any bothers or delays if it can be avoided. I am very much oblif;ed indeed, friend C., for your kind words and kind offer, but I trust jSIr. Burch is going to fix up all his matters so nobody will lose. I heartily com- mend the neighborly way in which you and friend Doolittle help each other. CYPRIANS FOR INCREASE. The North-Eastern Bee Association ol' Maiae met at Grange Hall, Dexter, Aug. 11, 1881. Three coun- ties were represented, and i'rom all localities it ap- peared that bees had done unusually well. Presi- dent Additon reported one swarm of Cyprians that had increased, by natural swarming, to tweh e. Mr. Crocker, of St. Albans, had a swarm of Cyprians that sent out ten swarms. Nearly all of the bees here are blacks and hybrids. The hybrids are spo- ken highly of as honey-gatherers. The next meet- ing will be held at (irange Hall, Nov. 10, 1881. The topics for discussion will be, "The different Kaces of Bees," Wm. Hoyt ; " How to Manage Bees for Box Honey," L. French; "Are Natural Queens better than Artificial?" S. R. Bodge. Ripley, Me., Aug. 13, 1881. Wm. Hovt, Sec. PEET CAGE. The two queens came Friday the 5th; were put in- to hives Saturday, and Monday I went to let them go, and one had eaten through; the other had crawled under the side of the cage, so they were both at lib- erty, and seemed perfectly at home. The tin points don't hold the cage firmly; it would be better to have two on each side, then they would hold both corners up to the comb alike. The slide should work more easily, and in shipping, put in a small tack to keep from falling out. Every thing is drying up. Mercury up to 107^ in shade. W>[. Browne v. Garden Grove, Iowa, Aug. 9, 1881. Our queens very often get out themselves, but as they are seldom killed, we think it don't matter much. There is hardly room on the cage for four tins, and as we now make them long enough so the points can be bent, or clinched over, the cage seldom gets loose. Draw the slide out as far as you can before putting it on the comb, and you can then get it out easily. "We try to make them all work easily, but sometimes the shrinkage of the wood, or a little candy on the tin, will make them start hard. 1 think queens have* been introduced this past season with less loss than ever a season before. Thanks to friends Feet and Nellis. large swarms. I can't resist the temptation to add a few lines to ray already too long letter. Since writing it I have been reading in the Aug. No. of Gleanings, which I received yesterday, where you say that the largest natural swarm that you bought last year weighed 7 lbs., and that you had this year bought one that weighed ll^i lbs. I had one the Uth of June that weighed 7'i lbs., and I thought, as I laid down my book and started for the harvest field, "If my big bo.x hive had only swarmed, perhaps I should have had a still larger one." I had had time to bind only 3 doz. bundles of grain when I heard my farm-bell ring. I saiil, "That surely means visitors, for my bees got through swarming a month ago." I hur- ried to the house to see what was the matter. Thr bitj box hicc had ftwaimed! 1 have just succeeded in crowding them into a good large frame hive. The bees alone just balance 11 lbs. on my Fairbanks scales, so I am only 12 ounces behind your neighbor Clark. I am j»)(».i/ well satisfied. I have often been advised to double my late swarms. Bj' "doubling," I mean putting two or three togethei-; but T don't believe this one needs doubling. My neighbor Arnold had a big swarm, also, to-day. He thinks it was as lar^e, or larger, than mine, but could not or did not stop to weigh it. The bees clus- tered in four places, and lie thinks they had 4 queens. He had only one hive reatly when his grain was fit to draw in, so he put them all together, shut the hive up tight, or nearly so, and put them in his cellar, when he thought he would keep them safe till they killed ofiE their surplus queens. Early this evening he opened the hive and found dead bees i inches deep on the bottom-board. He thinks there may be enough alive still to make a good colony. Do you think that if they had more than one queen they would have killed all but one, and afterward been all right if he had given them more air':" J. W. Haiikxess. Keeseville, Essex Co., N. V., Aug. 5, 1881. Yes, sir ; but I am quite sure they had but one queen. ventilation in winter. As the veterans, young and old, are pointing in the rear to the lamp of experience which may serve as a guide in the future, I beg to put in my infinit- esimal. Years ago, when 1 had bees in box hives, I inverted them in their cellar winter-quarters, piling one abo^•e another. They wintered well with a loss of about two per cent. When we moved into Lang- stroth hives we loft open the holes in old honey- boards, and placed strips of shingles half-inch wide between hives so as not to close these holes in hon- ey-board. The winter loss was about two per cent. Last winter my bees were put in cellar without this precaution ! We had 90 stands in each of the two cellars. Dysentery commenced in the best stands early in winter, and after raking out dead bees in wet, offensive masses, for several weeks, I took oflf honey-boards, shoving them forward about - inches, and then replied the hi%'es. Tin's Sdou ended the di/neii- terii. Bee-bread may have excited the disease, but ventilation ended it with me. Jesse Oben. La Porte City; Black Hawk Co., Iowa, Aug. 5, 1881. spider plants .VNU nUM.MING-BlRDS. I like the Spider plant very much, with those big drops oi; honey, but I don't get to see them very oft- en, except when I cover them up. I got about 300 to grow from the one package of seed I got from j'ou. But I don't like the humming-bird you sent with them; they come by the thousands, just at sun- set, and take the last drop of honey, and then come to my bee-feeders like a little swarm of bees, and 1881 GLEA2{INGS IN BEE CULTURE. 453 nlight on them and sip np all of the sugar. I will have to quit feeding- at the entrance, and feed inside of the hi%-e. I would send you a couple of the in- sects if I did not think you sent them. I wish, while you were making me a present, that you had sent me a nice Italian queen. I would have liked it much better. You may think this is a big- tale to tell: but, sir, I never saw the like in all my life, nor anybody else in my neighborhood. Can you tell me how to make sugar out of cane? George Thorn. Willmoths, Barbour Co., W. Va., Aug. 15, 1881. I have seen the huminiii8;-birds too, friend T., but not in such numbers as you men- tion. In the night time we also have great moths that greedily suck up the precious nectar. Where these honey-plants are raised on a large scale, these bird and insect ene- mies might get to be quite a drawback. Probably the humming-birds were attracted from quite a distance, and that is why you found so many of them. Can you not trap them, and sell them as curiosities, and make a speculation out' of them? In our book list, you will tind a book that tells all about making sugar from Early Amber and other canes. EXTRACTED HONEY SOURING. I have two barrels of honey that were gathered dur- ing a rainy spell, that, as soon as disturbed, com- mence to ferment. 1 am afraid to ship them, as I fear they will burst. What would you advise me to do with them? Is there nothing that I can put into them to stop fermentation, that will not injure the honey? W. S. Hart. New Smyrna, Volusia Co., Fla , Aug. 16, 1881. If the honey has not got so as to taste bad, which I think likely it has not, you can ripen it by putting it in open vessels co\'ered with cheese cloth. It is very likely that the fer- mentation is only in the thin honey that has risen to the top. ^>ry often it will be found all right, after dipping off the surface. The honey that tastes a little bad, or slightly sour, can be improved, and the fermenta- tion stopped, by slightly scalding ; but it is seldom of as fine a color or flavor after scald- ing. I would by no meaits put anything in- to it. It is because of just stichwork as you have now on hand, that I have in the ^V 13 C cautioned so much about extracting the honey before it was nearly all capped over. HUNGARIAN BEES, ETC. Y ou ask where I got the Hungarian bees. I im- ported them 3 years ago. I do not think much of them as a race, but their good qualities consist in the crossing. As a race they will swarm themselves to death. I have no such trouble when they are crossed with other races. I am now testing the Holy-Land queens for laying. I have some that are very prolfic, very handsome, and as large as any Italians I ever saw. Generally, queens of this race are small and not verj' handsome. I have selected, for breeding queens, some very fine Hungarian queens, and'I expect to raise some very bright ones, thus breeding up a race of bees that will go ahead of all others. H. Alley. Wenham, Mass., Aug. 19, 1881. $d^^ and ^iiwkh G. W. MARSHALL, DAVENPORT, lOAVA. I DREW on (1. W. Marshall for the pay for his ad- vertisement, and he repudiated it, and we drop his card; and if any one has lost money by reason of Itis (t^av.a.ge bees. Please inform me what I can do with the most sav- age bees that ever lived. My hand is so swollen from their effects that I can scarcely write. Please do give information. Mrs. Wm. Pate. Atwood, Antrim Co., Mich. [If it is a sudden freak of theirs to be savage, it is probably because the honey yield has suddenly stopped. In that case, feed them liberally and reg- ularly, and I think they will turn out decent and civil bees again. If they are always cross, kill the queen or sell her to somebody who don't mind cross bees, telling him, of course, exactly why you sell her. You can by this means secure bees just as gentle as you choose, in every hive in your apiary; Do you keep a good smoker, and never let your bees have the upper hand':* It is a very bad plan to let your bees get the habit of stinging. It is like let- ting a high-mettled horse get loose and run away a few times.] rerlaiiiing: to JBec Culture. \Vc respectfully solicit the aid of our friends in conducting this department, and would consider it a favor to have them send us all circulars that have a deceptive appearance. The trieatest care will be at all times maintained to jn event injustice hein« done any one. S REGISTERED N. C. Mitchell an order of $16.00 for five nucleus swarms in February, 1880, and was to have the bees by the 10th of May. He went to Smithfield, and said that he couldn't make shipping arrangements to me to suit, and that he would send me two queens for each nucleus ordered, and if I lost any in introducing, that he would make them good. Now, in the first place I ordered five nu- clei with trtitcd queens. He mailed 15 queens; one came through dead; 4 I lost in introducing, which leaves 10. All proved hybrids. Fourteen, at 50 cts. each, would make $7.00; that would leave $9.00 in my favor, or th.at I have not got any thing for. Now, I 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 4.>5 want you to give him a show in youi- Humbug col- umn. H. Dickson. West Lima, Richland Co., Wis., July IS, 1881. Why. friend I)., if you got fifteen liybrid queens tor tlie SlH.oo, I should say you had done "amazing" well compared with what others have had. I really can not under- stand why ^Mitchell should single you from all the rest and send you any thing. .Vny way, I am very glad indeed to" know that he has some especial friends to whom he some- times sends even hybrid ([ueens for their money. If yours were the only complaint. I should by no means think of putting him in Ilumlnigs and Swindles at all. ^k "imtm This depai'tnient ^^as sugprested by one of the clerks, as an op- position to the Urowlery. I think I shall ventnre to give names in full here. f||HREE swarms on a limb all at once, and more coming-. Boos are doing- finely now; I have !•' strong (breech-loaders;) don't get time to eat my dinner in erood shapp. The cry is, more sec- tions; foundation and chafl' hives almost all gone, and bees just piling in the clover honey. It makes me almost feel ashamed to take off 21 nice sections all capped, and so nic?, from one hive; but I will try to endure it. D. G. Webster. Blaine, Bjonc Co., III., July, 1881. This is Pijrncoithe mum pilosiun, & species of basil, or mountain mint, of which there are over a dozen east of the Mississippi Kiver, and all good bee- plants. Several others have been sent me at differ- ent times by bee-men. Prof. W. J. Be.vl,. Lansing, Mich., July, 1881. I mail you some honey-plants. Please give the name of each, and oblige. The honey-harvest is over with us, and I am ready to ship bees at 7.5 cts. per lb. The little fellows have done me good service this season -120 sections from one hive ; the others averaged 80 each. Chas. Kinosley. Greeneville, Tenn., July 7, 1S81. Answer by Prof. Beal: No. 1 Is Axclriiia!^ tuh'^nisa, a beautiful species, with Howers varying from dark orange to light lem- on color. It is well worth cultivating for ornament. No. 2 is Plantaijii lanccolata, ribbed grass, a common weed introduced into l-:iwn3 with grass seed from the east. w. J. Beai,. Agricultural College, Lansing, Mich. I went into Avinter-quarters with 20 swarms only; lost one, dysentery; flying colors, heads up, tails sharp, honey flowing. Likely to get 4000 lbs., spe- ciflc gravitv HO degrees by hydrometer, rain water being 100. Thus it is tO percent heavier than water. Queen business brisk. A new shop, engine, and 2 acres of Early Amber cane, " heads up." New Hamburg, Ont., Can., July 25, 1881. H. Smith. ■^5' OR HONEY PUNTS TO BE NAMED. FjLEASE name the inclosed plant. It would not be of any special importance if it were not ' for the fact, that it yields honey during July, when there is almost nothing else. It furnishes honey all day, wet or drj-. It grow.s from 12 to 18 inches high, and is found mostly on the unbroken praiiies. C. B. Thwixg. Hamilton. Mo., July U, 1881. Answer by Prof. Beal:— The plant is Pijcnantliemuin Lini'olUuii. It is a sort of will basil. They belong to the mint family. Michigan Agricultural College. W. J. Beal. Inclosed is the specimen spoken of in my letter of yesterday, and which I forgot to put into said letter. M. J. Harris. Calhoun, Richland Co., IlL, July 23, 1881. The plant looks to us very much like pen- nyroyal, and it also tastes very much like it, only it has a little more of a sort of camphor flavor. Friend J3eal, however, doesn't call it pennyroyal at all, as you see above : — HERCULES' CLUIi. Find inclosed blossom and leaves of a honey-pro- ducing shrub Avhich I saw for the first time yester- day. The gentleman at whose place I found it, Mr. Chris. ]{uggles, Ashland Co., O., knew no name for it ; says it remains some time in bloom, and is " alive with bees all day long." It puts out one stem of blossoms the first j'car, and increases each year un- til it reaches 20 or ;J0 feet in height, when it dies and others take its place from the root; does not sprout badly from root, but is reproduced in that way very easilj-. The.se blossoms bear berries, which he says resemble "spignet;" also resemble comfrey ber- ries. It smells very sweetly, and when I saw it (about noon) was covered with bees, which he said were kept a mile from the place. Do you know the name, and is it of value as a honey-producerV Please answer through Gleanings. These blossoms are all grown upon this year's growth of stalk, which looks like the stsilk of cotiunon elder. H. W. MliNNS. New London, Ohio, Aug. 1, 1881. I thought the plant seemed familiar, but could not locate it, until friend I^eal named it as below. This is Hercules' Club, Angelica-tree (Amlia npi- noga), a shrub found from Ohio to Florida, also in cultivation. Phof. W. J. Beal. We have a few of the trees growing in our town, and every year they call forth ex- clamations, when in bloom, from the great swarm of bees constantly hovering over them. I will at once take steps to have some of the trees on our grounds. Or Enemies'of Bees Among JInsect Tribes. SEND you to-day by mail an insect that destroys bees. They catch the bee and insert their bill in his body. I caught this one with a bee, and "waxed" it. What is it? E.M.Wallace. Wheatland, Ind., Aug. 2, 1881. It is the celebrated Asilus Missouriensis, mentioned in A B C and Cook's Manual. 4.5H GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Sept. TOBACCO COI^UIWN. jp HAVE not made use of the weed since I ob- served your offer. Now, if you will send me the smolier 1 will be very much obliged; though, s^moker or no smoker, with God's help I never expect to use the weed again. I am an orphan boy, having no home of my own. I live \vith my cousin. I have saved a few dollars, and am trying- to start bee-keeping. Last year I bought mc one stand of blacks; did not know there was any other sort of bees until I chanced to s'i't a copy of Glean- ings this spring. I bought a nucleus of J. P. H. Brown, Augusta, Ga. They have built up to a strong colony. I want to buy more as soon as I can get the money. W. H. T. Collins. A.\er3%'illc, Ga., June 5, 1881. You are on the right track, friend C, in declaring you will stop. Hold on, and you will certainly, with (iod's help, come out all right any waij. I am an old smoker; will try to quit. Send smoker, and I will either pay for it or quit smoking. Kelloggsville, O.. July 15, 1881. J. Shave. You will perhaps recognize me as one of the free- smoker club. I would say, that I am still sound on it, and bound to win. E. A. E.mmons. Tampico, Whitesides Co., III., July 4, 1881. Tf you arc going to give all of your subscribers that smoke tobacco a smoker provided they will quit smoking, you may put me down for one. Neosho, Mo., July 5, 18S1. K. P. Liles. T isee your smoker offer in Gleanings. I think I must take the advantage of it, so I agree to quit the use of tobacco from this date, if the Lord will be my helper, and use it no more. So send to me a good smoker. W. C. Witt. Gordon, Wilkinson Co., Ga., July 15, 1881. 1 have been reading the Tobacco Column in Gle.\n- INGS with interest ever since it was originated. Now you may put mc there. I have used tobacco for 25 years and now I have quit for 25 days, and I think I can tight it through; so you may send me a smoker if it pleases you to do so one like you show on page 322, July Gleanings. I have asmall Bingham, but it is very inconvenient to light, and too email. I am in the same boat with friend Cook, on page 358, July No. J. II. Eby. North Robinson, Crawford Co., ()., July 28, 1881. The smoker is received, and is O. K. Vou say, in Gleanings, that you think my case a rather bad one. I gave mj' pipe and tobacco to my wife, and told her to burn them in the stove; also, $1.50 to send you the first time I was caught smoking. D. S. Burbank. Reinbeck, Iowa, August 6, 1881. I beg pardon, friend B. I know you will keep your promise. But it seemed a little as if you meant you would keep on with the pipe unless I sent you a smoker, and I should feel, perhaps, that I was making a mistake if you did that. I see you are having quite an expensive thing of your tobacco and whisky and swearing matters. I hope you will accomplish good by it. But another idea: lam in my evth year; have never smoked a cigar or a pipe in my life ; have not taken .n dram of liquor of any kind for more than 50 j-ears ; never swore in my life, only when two or three years old, and that in " Dutch." Now, sir, would I not be en- titled to a smoker, say a Clark breach-loader,— ".iest?" I intended twitting you about sleeping in church, but will let it pass for the i)resent. PniLLIP Eahhart. Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa, July 30, 1881. Please send me one of your cold-blast Simplicity smokers. I propose never to use any more tobacco, but I don't propose to take a smoker for that. Am doing nicely (I think) with my bees so far. Dr. George A. Deming. Amboy, Lee Co., 111., Aug. 1, 1881. May the Lord bless you in the determina- tion,'friend I). When the doctors of our land shall, as a class, discontinue tobacco, we may with propriety expect their patients to do the same. I have one of your Simplicity smokers, used three years, and it is good yet. You can put me on your list of reformed tobacco-users. I have used it for 26 years, but have ible, enouf>;li to lead one to eternal life, and I have sometimes been led to think that an especial blessing- rested on those who were compelled to stnHy it slowly and laborionsly. It is the '•'unrighteous'' lives of the preachers that bother you, is it y ^V^ell, as I do not know those near you, I can not say but that yon arc right ; but, my friend, Avhatever may be flicir faidts, I am sure there is a grievous one of uncharitable- ness in your own heart. The ministers of our town are among the most earnest and hard-working class I know of, and it is a kind of work ifon prol)al)ly could not be hired to do either. ' Teaching school is a wearing kind of labor, because of the responsibilities of looking after so many; but a faithful minister has the whole community on his shoulders. The dear Iriend who preaches to us every Sabbath, I am happy to say is an intimate friend of mine; and rknow,as per- haps but few do, of some of the cares and trials he has to endure. It took iiim years to ht him for the place he holds, and I fear many of us forget how safely and wisely he advises us through the most peri)lexing and diHicult phases of human life. Go and get acquainted with your ministers, friend C., and see if you do not tell me you were mis- taken. And so you feel sorry to see the strife between the churches, do you V Well, here is my hand on that, and you and I will let the world see that we two, at least, are above this kind of weakness. Divide the proceeds of that hive I'round among them, and then let the world know you are inter- ested in the prosperity and purity of every Churchill your vicinity. If God has given you a clearer perception of right and wrong than he has your neighbors, you can give them a pure upright life for an example. If yoiu' conscience tells you it is wrong to play cro.luet, by no means do it; but be careful how you lay down lines for the conduct of other people. If you would have that con- science become a real guide and friend in life, by all means become a praying man, and in the solitude of your closet ask God to let the voice of conscience guide you in all doubtful or difiicull matters. Listen to our next friend : — I did not expect to write you again so soon, but reading Our Homes in June Gi.eamnc.s has brought up thoughts that I luust try to express, as I under- stand you; that is, what and who is honest. I try to live by the rule, " Judge j'e for yourselves if these things be so;" but as the years roll on I feel less and less competent to judge as to what is strictly right or wrong, and the only way I know is to more care- fully heed " the ^•oice of God within me;" and if the Bible doctrine of "ministering angels" be true, then on the principle that " like attracts like," the better our thoughts and actions, the better will be the angels that minister to us; lor John says, "Not a» the spirits are of God," and adds this: "Prove the .spirits, and see if they be of God." One Bible student has written, "Through intideii- ty, is to come an intelligent belief in the Bible," and I believe he was right; at least, in my case; not that I profess to understand the Bible, only this: once 1 had a "blind belief," then no belief; now I am con- tinually finding (to me) new truths. I read the Bi- ble just as you listen to ministers, and judge for mj-- self ; and what I can not use or undcstand or ajjply, I just leave without comment until I am able to use it. I frcl that there is a wise ov-er-ruling power, and that there may be ministering angel?, agents of this power, who strive to help and guide us. J. U. Bt.MlS. Los Angeles, Cal., July 1, 188L The following is from a friend who lias written me letters about some points in doctrine, as nearly as I can understand : — You object to the Bible truths I tried to impress upon your memory, in a manner pooh-poohing them as if they were of no importance; besides, you pre- fer the teachings that emanated from the 7-hilled city to the teachings of the Bible. The apostle de- clares that Jesus Christ was the minister of the cir- cumcision, to confirm the promises of God to the fathers. Where in the Bible does it teach the exis- tence and translation of immortal souls to trans- ckyana at death? Oh that Root would root deep in- to that book, and find the hidden treasure, for he has not yet foimd it : You (liu'st not publish this in Gle.anings. New Hamburg, Ont., Can. H. Smith. Friend S., I do not know but that I am about like the boy who, when he came home dripping wet, accounted for it to his mother by saying that the boys dared him to jump into the creek, and he wasn't going to be (laved by anybody. As your letter is not very long, it does not take up much room ; but I hope you will forgive me if I say I don't even now get a glimmering of what it means, ttnless you allude to some thing I have heard about the sleep of the dead. Are you sui'e you are not in error in trying to point out to me my duty? Suppose I should take your letter along with me and read it to the boys in jail; do you think it would have the same effect in restraining them from crime that it would if I opened the JJible and read — He hath shewed thee, () man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to li)vemercj% and to walkhumbly with thy God? — MiCAH. 6 : 8. Friend S., there are quite a number of you who complain of the way I teach here in the Home Papers, and beg space to give their own peculiar views ; but do you think the Home Papers would have the hold on the hearts of the people they now have if I al- h)wed them to be filled up with views on doctrine? See the following from away off in China : — 4(50 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Sept, I want to thank you for sending me a copy of your excellent GLE\MKf;s. Four numbers ha^■e reached me, and have been read with increasinj^ interest. There are no domesticated bee:? in North China. There is a dark kind of strained honey, so there must be bees of some kind. I have not been able to find any honey-comb. They say that it 1=1 always lace in this world in doing good to others? A Christian especially, should live for the good of his fellow-men. I'aidon the liberty 1 take, my friend ; but if your life were one of real nearness to God, I can not but think that your husband would feel differently. You won him once, and I feel pretty sure that yon can win him again, not only to yourself, but, what is a thousand times more important, to the Lamb of Cod who taketh away the sin of the world. If you do your duty, your husband ought to be con- verted. I shouldnot bn writing these Home Papers now, and exhortiig men to cease to do evil, were it not for a woman's love and patience, when it would seem that patience had long, long ceased to be a virtue. Do you wonder 1 am hopeful -and thankful? Suppose your farm is not jiaid for. and that you are obliged to economize. For a few weeks past I have been thinking (you do not know how longingly i of a little log house back in the woods ; and I do not believe 1 would mind being in debt for it too, if I could only have freedom from care, and re- lief from so many responsibilities. I. too, am tiled. I want t(j make garden and keep bees, as the rest of you do, with my time all my own ; but God says to me plainly,— Not now, my ■■hil of the world know not of. It occurs to me .lUst now, that we might with consistencv even slimit for joy at the bare thought of it. Shall I t^ll you what it is? .V little verse that I have been singing for a few weeks past, at odd times, tells it. 1 am tliiiic. Ol.i.Kl. I 111 Anil it tolil thv li'>vi- ti I'.ut 1 long- tn rise in lli. Anil liucliiserilr.uvii i vrliiiiiil til. mv: anus of rail '• And it told thy love to me." Poor, un- worthy, rebellious"///' . There is no mistak- ing it. We have both heard that voice, even if we do not hear it so plainly now. That love is not gone, unless we have driven it j away by '' unrighteousness." I want to pay | all iny just debts, even to the uttermost j farthing (in fact. I would rather pay some things it seems to me I do not justly owe. than to make ajiy mistake about it), and then all the i-est may gt). ( iive me that love, and all the world's "possessions are as nothing to me. Still, if God wants me to hold them and wield them for the good of you all, all right. If 1 do not get enough kind words along the way t(^ make me happy anyhow. I Avill just remember that love that was spok- en '• to me " away back on the night when I lirst told my Savior, on bended knee, that I wanted him to lead and I would follow. AMOS If. ROOT. ^ N the July luiinber nl' tiLKANiNGs appeared au W article characteristic of the abo\ e persouage, c-ai but not very compliiiK'ntary to ourselves. It was characteristic of Mr. Koot for iiiauy rea- sous, among the number being the falsehooils it con- tained, and the evident desire to injure a competitor in business. Mr. Koot copied an extract from one of our advertisements, and S9>s that it appeared in the May and June numbers of his Gi.kamngs: yet the pages of this same Glkanimjs disproves the asser- tion. Tlie advertisement referred to by Mr. K. was written in the mouth of March last, and was changed Ijyus as soon as practicable after we had ascertained the loss of far, so Kood. But how about the othors in the list, to which von iTfev. wlio never sent us a dollar forbees, or, in 'art. forany thiUK else; We suppose of eourse vo)i a<'te(l under Jtr. Root's instiiietious. and it seeins that he was anxio\i Un make the list as lar^e as possible. We ean anive at no other eonelusion. sini'e .Mr. lioot has not seen lit to eorreet the inisstatenuMits eoneei'u- iufJTUs in .July i;i.EVNiNos. even alter his attention was ilireeted to the same." We do not blame you at all feu- youi jiart in this matter, anil only reuret that Mr. ISoot should have adopted the plan he has outlined in tin- last two nuuibei-s of (;i.r..*XiXGs; for one who makes the professions of Mr. A . 1. Root, to willfully and nuilieiously attempt to blast the reputation of a brother, and seek to destroy his business, is |iast our understandinK. We shall, durintftlie present week, preliare and forward Mr. Root an artiele for ))ublleation in Septendier (iLE.\NlNu<. Yours very reipertfiilly, H. A. Kviaii & i.'n. The only reply received to the above was, that space had been reserved for an article from us in Sept. Gleanings. Now, Mr. Hoot, you have repeat- edly stated that you were doing all you coul 1 to as- sist us; but does not what you have done look like a queer sort of assistancfV If inquiries of parties here, whether the sum of $.100 could he collected of us, professing that you wished the information for our best good, insisting that you were doing and liad (/OHc your best to aid us; if advising our customers to sue and collect the amounts sent u^, if possible; if publicly misrepresenting us and our business c.in be called assistance, then indeed you are a " friend that sticketh closer than a brother." Then, and in that case, your efforts are deserving of unbounded praise, and should ever be held in grateful remem- brance. In fact, such an instance of unselfish devo- tion, so rarely met in the varied walics of life, is worthy the attention of a Shakespeare, a Byron, or a Milton, and should be immortalized in enchanting story and classic verse, tmd the name of the bene- factor inscribed high on the scroll of fame. Both in July Gle.\nings and in j'our letters to us, you insist that it was but little, if any, short of a crime for us to continue doing business after we had lost a portion of our bees. In other words, because we had met with flnaneial misfortune, we should re- tire from business, leaving the field to yourself and our creditors to take care of themselves. Perhaps we should have done so. Perhaps we were wrong, in the belief that our family had a .iust demand upon us: an obligation that required the best efforts of both body and mind to discharge. Since you have called in question the quality of our strain of Italians, perhaps we may be pardoned for a brief allusion thereto. For many years past, we have earnestly labored to perfect the best traits of the Italian race, and to weed out their objection- able features; in short, to produce the best bees ob- tainable. We have been assured, by scores of our brother bee-keepers who have purchased queens from our stock, that r,ur elforts in this direction have not been devoiil of success. That we have had an abundant stock of bees that dUl survive the rig- ors of last winter's cold-the most disastrous on rec- ord—is well known here; and although we have shipped largely during the past two months, our yard to-day contains more than '~oo colonies, which for practical, desirable qualities, we are willing to compare with any apiary in this or any other coun- try. In regard to filling orders, we have done all that it was possible for us to do, working constantly 18 to :iO hours per day, until, from sheer exhaii-tion, we were forced to desist. That we did our best to pro- cure suitable assistance is evidenced by the fact, that we offered as high its $50 per month and board, for help; which, at even that high figure, could not be obtained. Early in the season we wrote you, stating that we wei-e short of help, and asking you if you could not inform us of some one whom we could employ to work in our apiary; and although we have been informed that Mr. Koot had more ap- plicants than he could furnish employment, he did not ffive us the desired information. About the 10th of June we succeeded in ol>taining one hand who would work with bees. Could we have had two more equally as good, we should not have been behind our orders to-day. Having done all in our power to do to fill our orders, and as it was evident to us that Mr. Koot was determined to annoy and hinder us, and secure our trade if possible, we sent out the follow- ing, printed on a postal card, to the larger part of our customers whose orders were unfilled:- SoiTii Haven, ilteii,, Au«. l.'i, 1881. Notwithst.andiuH' that we have labored earnestly and constant - Iv the present season to till all cmr orders, our books show many that ai'e yet imtilled, youis being anioUK' the nnmlier. In view of what Mr. A. I. KoiJt, of Medina, (I., has seen lit to say about us and our bu .incss in the .hUv and .\u^'ust numbers of his liLEANINiis, we reipu'st vmi to make out n strtti'mcut of your ac- ecmnt with us, and nuul him at once for payment, which he will do as per aKreemeat. We will settle with him for the same In case he reluscs to do this, pleise rejiort it to us at once, our reasons for takinfi' Mr. Koi>t at his woi d will he given to you all iK'fore many months. Youis truly, H A . BfKcu & (.'o. In view of all the facts in this cise as narrated above, we leave it for those who peruse this article to .iudge whether it was .iust or otherwise for us to take Mr. Koot at bis word. Now a few words to you. Mr. U )of, and we are done. Can jou honestly and truthfully say that you have not desired to injure us; ihatyou would not re- joice to see us driven from the apiarian -supply trade? If you wished us well, why did you publish an absolute" fnlsehood regarding us in your Glean- ings of N"v.. IfeTti? That you did so, we positively alhrm; and also that it has nevtr yet been corrected. If you desired to be just and iinpiuMial, why did you puijlish si.v untruthful statements in your Glean- ings for July, l«81,-stiitements which you could not verify? If. in your every ac'ioii, you are imbued with "the spirit (if charity and love, why did you pub- lish statements concerning us in the list issue of Gleanings, which you can not substantiate? Per- haps you can also tell us why you failed to publish the letter of a brother bee-keeper, after you had agreed to do s i. when you found it was favorable to ourselves. On the other hand, does not your Glean- ings plainly show that your action was conceived in malic^e, and consummated in hatred; that, while j'ou boastingly fiaunt the motto, " Peace on earth, good will toward men," you have so shaped your course, hoping to destroy us without incurring the displea- sure of those who possess a spirit of justice and fair plav ? We are aware that, with a bee j lurnal to back you, the advantage is all upon your side; and when, by an unsparing use of the whip, you have accomplished the long-desired result, we trust you may be in a fit- ting frame of mind to sweetly discourse on the sub- ject of charity; that charity that is kind, that behav- eth itself not unseemly, ih it =s not puffed up, and seeketh not her own. Your efforts to injure us may prove a benefit to others; for, as ti sequel to this unfortunate state of affairs which you have forced upon us, we venture the prediction, that the bee-keepers of the United States will purchase their supplies during the com- ing season cheaper than ever before. llEltUEIlT A. BUItCH. South Haven, Mich., Aug. 19, 1881. I really must beg pardon of our readers for thus occupying the reading pages of our journal in ihis manner. Mr. Ikirch asked ifor space in the journal, and I told him it would be gladly given, if it were' not- too long, and that t would reply, or jiublish it without comment, as he should decide. I can only make the simple statement, that I have felt no prejudice or jealousy in the least toward Mr. Ihirch. I do not "want the trade in bees, as I have told our friends all along, and I have put my prices high, that they might buy of our advertisers rather than us. I liave also given free advertisements to all who would sell bees by tlie pound. Errors and mistakes will probably be found in all the work 1 have ever done, and Mr. 15. has gone over the whole, and heajied up all he could probably find by a good deal of study. I iiresume tiur friends know, without my telling them, that not one of these was in- tentional. JJrierty : The ^fay No. of (Clean- ings contains exactly the words I tjuoted ; but I now notice, for the lirst time, tliat the wording of tlie advertisement was changed in the June No. If I am correct, I only re- fused to give the names of the neighbors. I may be stupid, but it never occurred to me once that the letter of July 4th was intended for an article in (tLEANinos. Neither difi \ 1881 GLEANIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. 403 unrleistand the letter he refers to was iu- teiided for print. I am sure they were in no waj" marked as such. Our friends all know my practice of publishing almost any thing against myself. Of course, I can not say how many bees were shipped in the month of July ; but as I had asked all who had complained, that I might, if possible, make abetter report for Burch, and all had re- plied they had received nothing, I so stated It. I do not think I have made any mistake, for I watched every letter carefully, in my anxiety to see that you iccre filling your orders, friend Jkirch. It never occurred to me to write to your express agent, and I confess I do not think 1 should have taken the trouble if it had. I made inquiries at your bank, as I do of all my advertisers who do very much business. When so many let- ters of complaint about you began to come in, I asked one of the girls to lay them out, that we might mak-e a sort of summing-up of them, before the journal went out. Of course, these parties wished the letters pub- lished, denouncing you as a humbug and swindler. I thought I was very lenient in making only the brief notice I did. Tlease remember, friends, I do not open my letters or answer them ; it is impossible, with our business. I asked the clerk who had the heap of letters, to give me names and amounts of those who had sent for bees and goods, and received nothing. It now ap- Itears that the first man on the list was one who had received his goods, or a portion of them, but complained to us that the goods were not at all what he ordered. This letter Avas badly mixed up, and the clerk was somewhat excusable for not noticing that it did not belong in' the list. One other was a claim for damages on goods he had received. Some of the writers sent us receipts for the money, and some did not. In the remainder of the letter nuoted, the lady explains it all. and assimies all blame. It is true, we did have correspondence in regard to the first name in the list, but with the sea of names before us daily, we have little chance to re- member names at all. I am sure 1 have never refused to correct any thing that ever appeared in Gleanings, and this is the first I remember of any complaint of the matter referred to. 1 shall be very glad indeed to see supplies sold cheai)er, and I am sure I have not the sliglitest wish to monopolize any thing. Dear friends, I am sorry to have l)een obliged to waste so much space on a matter of so trisial a nature, when the reallv sad fact stands before us. that about 100 bee- keepers, altogether, have sent money to Mr. Burch in sums of from one up to one hun- dred dollars and over,— money amounting, in the aggregate, to over one ihousand seven hundred dolhirfi* The money has been sent by young and old women and children, and gray-haired men. ^lany times the money was borrowed, with no other way to get it back except by the honey crop of "this season. The greater part of it was from those who had lost their bees in the spring, and were *This is up to Aug. 2Tth, ami mnre complaints aro coming every mail. well nigh broken up in spirit as well as pocket. It is true, there ma)/ be some who claim they sent him money who did not; but as by far the greater part of them re- ceived the postal card given, stating that I would pay his debts, there can not be anv very great mistake in the amount. These same postals were sent to parties who never took Gleaninos, and hardly know of its existence. Several asked if I was tlie com- pany in the firm. Of course, no one expects I am to pay (in case Mr. H. does not) all the debts he owes in the world, just because he had a card in Gleanings. Several who saw his advertisement in Gleanings have written it would be a great favor if I would pay back the money in case he had secured me, but that if it was to come out of my pocket, they would never touch a copper of it. May the Lord bless these friends ! Oth- ers have written very bitterly because I would not at once hand over the money be- fore it had been proven whether it could be collected or not. I have advised that it should be collected by law, exactly as T ad- vised that the young man who robbed our mails a year or two ago should be sent to the State prison. , I do not know but that he, too, thought I lacked charity because I would not save him from his fearful doom. You know, the most of you, that I am free to use money when I think it will do good. Lest you think I have ample means. I will tell you that I am paying interest on over $7,000.00 now, while my property does not invoice at much more than four times that sum. There is abundant need of my using economy. When I advertised to be respons- ible for my advertisers, I simply intended to make good any loss that should result from a bad man getting in by mistake, or that, when our customers saw bees advertised very low, as they do now, they would not need to send strings of postals, asking if they could depend on the advertiser. Mr. Burch was a responsible man when his ad- vertisement was inserted. He did not ad- vertise bees in Gleanings at a very low sum. All these low offers were made "in his circular, which he sent out in great quanti- ties. The money was sent him in response to offers in this circular. It is a tangled-up matter in any case, and I should assuredly be in error if I commenced paying these bills before it is ascertained that it can not be re- covered by law from ^Mr. Burch. ^\.fter this is determined, I will abide by the decision of any intelligent committee that may be chos- en. My niind often reverts to friend Cook, in these times. He helped us when in trouble about sending queens by mail, and I have a sort of feeling he might help us now. For my part, I would gladly abide by bis decision in the matter, if he will tell the friends what they have a right to demand of me, and what I ought to do. Again: This state of affairs, if it be drop- ped without any action, will be a bad prece- dent. The idea of receiving money and pay- ing it out, when you have not the wherewith to fill the order, and no means of getting it back to return it. is a fearful one. There is quite a good deal of it in our midst. It threatens a danger to the whole interchange 464 GLEANmGS IN BEE CULTURE. Sept. of supplies that has made us acquainted with so many friends, and helped us all so much. I am heavily cejisured because I did not send out the note of warninp; socmer, and yet Burch accuses nie of wisliin^ to break up his Inisiness l)ecause I did wiien I did. My friends, wh:it rule do you wish me to go l)y? How prompt do you wisii me to be when one does iu>t fullill his iiromisesV IJy the way. liere is (me more card from Mr. Burch:— S(iriii Haven, Mich.. Awfi. 20. 1881, Oni- publislii'il oui-ds iiuMii .jvist wh.-it llie.v say. Wi> had tliciii 111 vifw wln-ii xvc winti' yim. lo sci' if vcm wniild iii>t set in I'ifilil liiloie tin- publir. and lint ruiii|jel us to tnkf tile step. \Ve stand really to sliip l>ees to tliose wlio waul tliein; tliose who insist on money, we lia\e directed to vou. .sini'O we liave rettiined all we eo\ild'. ' H. A. HiKciI A- Co. During the present month of August, I have had notice of just four shipments he has made ; to two persons, four colonies of bees each ; to another, some queens, or a a queen, and some foundation to another. The following, from the paper published in his own town, the South Haven Sentinel, of Aug. 20, shows what his own townsmen think of the present aspect of the matter:— Too much stress should not he put on the state- ment of H. A. Bnreh, thtit he is working eighteen hours per day to tiU orders, or tiny other excuse ho makes. In our next issue we will give a case where he has had money since June, 18"!i, two yca/v; and two iHDHths, for which the remitter has not received his goods, Mr. Burch making this "eighteen hours a (\a.y" pleii in. Tub/ of hi^tyrdf. We presume the Ber Jotirnal and the Gleanings hope his partner, (?) the "Co." part of the firm, will return with wealth to make good the claims of apiarists in different por- tions of the country. \'our excuses are too thin, master Herbert; your oul.\' excuse to be made is tltoroiKjli restitution of the monen, or an acknowledg- ment that you really arc what so many people con- sider you. Just after the above was set up, the fol- lowing came to hand, which has somewhat the appearance of putting a better light on the matter:— I see by August Gleanings, in speaking of H. A. Burch, you say there are two parties who have written to you in his favor. It may be that I am In- cluded In that list. I will say that I spent two days with Mr. Burch about the first of July last, and bought bees and collected mone.\' of him that had been sent, in all to the amount of $36:3.00. I have no reason to complain of the way in which he dealt with me. If Burch is financially in a tight place, as he says he is, and has returned all the money he can at present, would it not be better to give him a lit- tle chance to get out of the difficulty, than to come out every month with him in the Humbug and Swindle column? When I was at South Haven I saw liim send back money several times on orders for fdn., because he did not have time to put it up for shipping, when he had the goods just as it came from the mill, then on hand. It is asking a good deal of a man to hold him up in such a public place and then expect him to do more than he could do un- der more favorable circumstances. G. W. Stanley. Wyoming, N. Y., August 34, 1881. Triend S., if you Avill look you will see that Mr. Burch has never been put in the Humbug and Swindle department. It Avould be quite inconvenient for our friends to all go after their goods, as you did yours. Mr. Byron Walker went twice after his, bor- rowing money to make the trips: but he says he could get nothing. Mr. Burch is re- ported worth from $1000 to $1500. Between January and July, $1700 lias been sent him in cash, for which he has made no returns. Customers have waited patiently, and will wait, almost any reasonable length of time, if Mr. Burcli will secure them. Xo report has reached us of liis having returned money to anybody. GUEAWINGS m BEE CULTUBE. EDITOR AND FUBLISHEB, MEDINA, O. TERMS: irl.CO PER VEAR, POST-PAID. FOR CLUBBING RATES^, SEE FIRST PAGE OF READING MATTER. ]V[X3XDX3Nru^, iS3E::F>'X'. 1, X88X. Evildoers shtill be cut off; but those that wait up- on the T.ord, they shall inherit the earth. Ps. '.VH-.'X Fkiem) Faris sends us a specimen of fdn. with excellent high walls, made by dipping, with copper plates instead of plaster. He says his only trouble now is to get his plates to match so the sheets will be thin enough. It has been our custom to make some discount on orders received in Sep., for goods to be used another year; but owing to the great advances on lumber, it is all we can do to hold to catalogue prices. The probiibility is, that prices will have to go up by an- other spring, so it will be a good investment to order now, if j-ou think you wilj need the goods. Still no favorable reports from the rubber plates- The complaint seems to be that the wax sticks to them. We try every pair before sending them out, but after thoroughly soaking them in soft water, the wax sheets come otf as easily as we could ask; in fact, after the plates have been used awhile, they al- most drop olT. Has no one who purcliasedthem suc- ceeded as well? It is always a i)leasure to me to find people who excel in an >■ accomplishment; and every time I see any of the handwriting of our friend M. B. Moore, of Morgan, Ky., it gives me a feeling of pleasure. If you want to see some of it, .iust send him an order. He puts up queens for mailing almost as neatly as he writes a postal card. Very, likely he will soon have so much business he will get to scrawling like the rest of us. _ INCOMPLETE ADDRESSES, AGAI.V. I CAN not be responsible for goods that go wrong- where the writer of the order dees not give plainly the town, county, and State. If you can not have your address printed on your stationery, you will have to take the consequences of forgetting to put it on. Two letters are now before me from friends whom I fear feel hard toward me because I allow them to suffer the loss of a couple of dollars for so trifling a matter as the omission of their county. I know that I would be doing wrong to bear the con- sequences of your carelessness in these little thin.gs any more, as I have been doing. We have plenty of postal guides, but they often fail in -what ijoii alouf can give. 18,S1 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUBE. 465 Labels within 2i hours after the order is received seems to be a welcome noveltj-, and many are the kind words we have received from our customers in regard to them. Such a trade has sprung up sud- denly in them, that we have once or twice been de- layed a little on label paper. Our friend "M." has charge of the department now, and you may feel, when you send an order, that jou are helping one who is fighting his way towaid heaven. His wife works at a case by his tide, on Our Homes, Part Second, which will doubtless be out in a month or two. In the dillicult and perplexing matters that come up in regfird to what is right or wrong, I can only promise you to lie governed by the dictates of what my conscience tells me to do; and if my course seems to you inconsislcnt, I do not very well see how I can help it. If it were only the needs of a single individual that I was obliged to consider, it would often be a very simple thing to decide on, compared to what it is iiow. Intimating that I am not a Christian, unless I act as you tbink I should, will not help jour cause; and I pray to God that it may not make me stubborn. I do not mean to say by the above that I do not want friendly counsel, for I need it now perhaps more than lever did before. It has happened several times this season that same one would order bees, and, after receiving them all dead, they would conclude they did not wany any, and order the money returned. So far as I know, the money has always been returned; but, my friends, after one has done the best he could, and had such a loss, is he not entitled to the privilege of trying again? Turn it around both ways, and see how j/iH would like it. If the order is delayed until the honey season is passed, this makes another thing of it ; bvit suppose one orders bees or queens, and the shipment goes promptly, but they come through dead, is he not entitled to the privilege of replacing them? How would you like to send off a colony of your best bees, prepared with great pains and troublvj, and receive no sort of equivalent to cover your loss? It is ^"e^J' seldom indeed that two successive shipments fail, so the shipper, after send- ing the feecond lot, receives half price for his goods, and the prices on bees and queens are necessarily so high that half price is not a dead loss. the mails, or have any possible chance of handling them, except educated, cultured, and intelligent clerks, who are as much above suspicion as ymt put- .si'/z/y can hr, friend F. Every reader of Gle.\nings knows how 1 have borne these burdens for you all, until the chief of the P. O. D. protested against my doing so any more, as you will see by our price list. The following is said to have been passed as a law, by the State of Michigan. No person shall mi.xany glucose or grape sugar in- tended for human food, or any oleomargarine, suine, beef fat, lard, or any other foreign substance, with any butter or cheese intended for human food, or shall mix or niinale any glucose or grape sugar or oleomargarine with any article of food, without dis- tinctly marking, stiimping, or labeling the article, or package containing the same, with the true and appropriate name of such article, and the percent- age in which glucose or grape sugar, oleomargarine or suine, enters into its composition; nor shall any person sell, or offer for sale, or order, or permit to be sold, or offered for sale, any such article of food, in- to the composition of which glucose or grape sugar or oleomargarine or suine has entered, without at the same time informing the buyer of the fact, and the proportions in which such glucose or grape su- gar, oleomargaine or suine, has entered into its com- position. Any person convicted of violatingany provision of any of the foregoing sections of this act shall, for the first offf use, be fined not less than ten dollars nor more than fifty dollars. For the second offense they shall be fined not less than twenty-tive dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, fir confined in the county .iail not less than one month nor more than six months, or both, at the discretion of the court ; and for the third ami all subsequent offenses the.v shall be fined not less than two hundred and not more than one thousand dollai-s, and imprisonment in the State prison not less than one year nor more than five years. Good for Michigan ; and may her citizens see that the above is enforced to the very letter, no matter whom it hits. SENDING MONEY BY MAIL WITHOUT REUISTERING. My friends, it seems to me as if I was having an unusual number of burdens to bear this fall, and one of the hardest of them to bear patiently, is let- ters like the following:— Lansingvili.K, N. Y , Aug. 10. 1881. I have sent you the nay for tlio.-^f plyers twice, and do not think it light lor me to fiay again I think the letters both reached tlieir destination, or I would have received them baek through tlie Dead-Letter tlftiee. D. W. Fletchkii. Friend F., ,vou surely know that mails are some- times burned up, to say nothing of robberies. Every once in a while we get a letter from the department like the following, which came almost at the same time of your complaint: — POSTOFFl(-'E UKI'ARTMEN'T, / t)FFICE OF TniRD ASSISTANT I'oSTM.l.STEU (iENEKAI,, Division of Dkah Letters. I The enclosed letter was I'ouiul with the contents of a mail ~ pouch stolen and litlecl at Milford Centre, Ohio. April 2:i, ISSl. Now, friend r.,have you any right to say yoa thinh the money reached Medina, just because it don't come back from the Dead-Letter Office? I had just about as soon you would say you think I have stolen it, as to say you think my clerks did. None handle QUEENS THAT WON'T LAY. I HAVE many times told you, that once in a while a queen would refuse to lay after a trip through the mails. I wish the friends would remember this when inclined to be uncharitable with each other. See the following:— Your Holy-Land (lueen did not lay before the ilth day. Her trii> here was not over a 2-ilays' one, and I don't believe she was a fertile one when she left your apiai-y, which, if tiue. is not fair work. S. W. .Morrison. Oxford, Chester Co., Pa.. Aug. G, 1881. T replied, remonstrating against such assertions, which brought the following:— I did not say or Ihinlc von intentionally tent me a non-ferlile Holy Land queen, but I do think such an accident might happen occasionally, or some whom yon employ might do such a thing knowingly." as vou will admit. AVe are getting more hone.v from re19e. Glassed sections would sell a few cents less per lb. Extracted honey is in light de- mand at 12c., but must be in 311 to 50 lb. tin cans. Large pkgs. as bbla. are not in demand. C(:fsira.r.-20.r/<22c. Aug. 23, 1881. A. C. Kendef.. OUR MEDINA COUNTY BEE-KEEPERS. Neighbor Dean has secured only about three or four hundred pounds from about 60 colonies, as nearly as I can get at it. Neighbor Blakeslee about the same, or perhaps a little better. Neighbor Itice raised bees for me, instead of selling honey, and I believe we have paid him about $500. He had, as you may recollect, about 100 colonies in the spring, and will probably winter about as many more. Neighbor Clark has sold me about $200 worth of bees and queens, that I think he secured from about a dozen colonies. Neighbor Thompson has sold us new swarms, mostly blacks and hybrids, by the pound, to the amount of over $100, and I think he had only about 30 colonies in the spring, and has about the same number now. Neighbor Shane, whom I told you wintered about I'/O, with a loss not much exceeding 10 per cent, has the enormous crop of 50C0 lbs., about 2CC0 lbs. of which is comb honey, the remainder extracted. As he is offered a good price already, he has made a good season's work of it. It seems a little strange that one man should get such an immense crop of honey when his neighbors all around him call the season a poor one. Neigh- bor H. has sold queens only, to the amount of about $800. Although he had a less number to commence with than Mr. Shane, he will probably realize about as much clean cash, but possibly with a little more labor. It is not very bad business, Irienils, where attended to with industry and zeal. We have per- haps paid out about a thousand dollars for bees, and may be as much more for queens. When the season is over, I will tell you how much I have received for bees and queens. New York.— Keplying to your postal of the 20th inst., permit us to quote new crop comb honey as follows: Best white ciover or basswood. in 1-lb. sec- tions, about 25c; do crated, 20(?>21c; the same in 2 lb. sections, T8@20c. ; Fair, I or 2 lb. sections, 16@17c.; Buckwheat, 1 or 2 lb. sections, 13(?> 14c. Large boxes, 2c. per lb. less than above prices. We also make a discount on all bills of 10 crates, Ic. per lb. from above prices. Best white extracted, in 15')-lb. kegs, 10@llc.; Buckwhci.t, 8@9c. Bcrxuar is selling at 23 and 24'/4c. Aug. 22, 1881. H. K. & F. B. Thurber & CO. Cincinnati.— Demand for extracted honey is very good. Offerings fair. We pay on arrival from 7® 10c. Comb honey brings on arrival ]4@16c., but I have bought a lot of 2000 lbs. strictly choice, in frames 51^x6 at 17c. This honey is raised by friend King Cramer, without separators, and is very likely not excelled by any other lot of comb honey in America. Aug. 22, 18-1. Chas. F. Muth. Detroit.— Not enough honey has yet changed bands to establish prices. Those who have it are noping for good prices in view of a short crop caused by severity of last winter. Dealers are buying onlv when they see a cheap lot. One man has bouarht 2 tons of good clover honey in 1-lb. sections for 15 cts. It is now retailing at 20 cts. A tirst-class article in small lots would bring ab-Mit 16 cts. Beeswax is worth from 2r@25c. Aug. 23, 1881. A. B. Weed. I have about 20,10 lbs. choice extracted hones', from red cliver and basswood, and 9(Mt lbs. very choice in I'i-lb. sections, to be sold to the highest bidder. O. H. Townsend. Hul)bardston, Mich. ienUnUeni. CONVENTION DIRECTORY. Wanted — Comb and Extracted honey; give lowest prices. .1. A. Buchanan. Holliday's Cove, W. Va., Aug. 11, 1881. I want to buy a barrel of good well-ripened white- clover honev. For such honey I will pay 10 cts. per lb., delivered at ray station (which is New Holland, Pa.) I. G. Martin. Reidenbach's Store, Lan. Co., Pa., Aug. 21, 1881. Wanted, on commission, at once, almost any quan- tity nice extracted honey. Can guarantee money in 60 days after arrival. Good reference given. Will insure OOc. or $1.00 per gallon. E. .1. Atcblev. 1345 Elm St., Dallas, Tex., Aug. 12, 1881. 1881 Sept. 16, TIME AND PLACE OV MEETING. Nebraska State Bee-Keepers' Af sociation, at Omaha, Friday night. Oct. 4.— Eastern Michigan Bee-Keeper.s' Association, at Detroit, in \' . M. C. A. Hall. Oct. 5.— South-Eastern Michigan Bee-Keepers' As- sociation, at Ann Arbor, Mich. Oct. 5, 6, 7.— National Convention of the N. A. Bee- Keepers' S<'ciety, at Lexington, Ky. I have about 100 gallons extracted honey for sale; probably 1200 lbs. of box. The extracted is white i clover and basswood mixed. The box is clover. I basswood, and buckwheat. J. P. Hoi.f.owav. Monctova, O., Aug. 20, 1881. ; I have 300O lbs. of extracted honey, clover and i basswood, mostly clover, for which I will take 10! ^c. ! per lb. in barrels holding from 325 to .50:i lbs., or 11 I cts. per lb. in kegs holding from 112 to 129 lbs.; bar- I rels and kegs waxed, and thrown in. 1 shellsburg, Iowa, Aug. r2, 1881. Uobt. Quixn. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 471 Contents of this Numbsr. INDEX OF DEPARTMENTS. Black List — Bee Botany 510 Bee Entomology — Blasted Hopes — Cartoon — Editorials 51<> , Heads of Grain -IHS Smileiy Honey Column 474 | The Gi'owlery Hiunbugs and Swindles 50.') Juvenile Department 4S4 KiiiilWorils from Customers4?2 L;u1li-s' liepartment 483 Luiu-h-K'oiii — Notes and queries 505 Reports Kncouraging 486 tobacco Column 505 INDEX OF HEADS OF GRAIN, NOTES AND QUERIES, AND OTHER SHORT ARTICLES. ABC Scholar in Louisiana 403 ABC Scholar in Canada — Txi-; Ant -Lions 4',IS Bees, Capabilities of 481 Bee Culture down South 488 Butter- Weed 50r. Buckwheat 506 Banner Apiary 475 Bee-feeder, Another 477 Bee Poison as Medicine 477 Burch Matters 516 Bees to be Killed 517 Bee-men of Canada 516 California 490 Cyprians 496 Carrying Bees three Miles.. 499 Candy tor Cages .501) Comb Cupboard, A Cheap.. 50;f Churchill's Letter 504 Doolittle's Items 48a Deceptive Looks of Queens. 506 Grape Sugar for Winter 481 Grimm's Letter 476 Hunt's Horse-Power 487 Harkness' Letter 488 Hunt's Plans 489 Honey-Boards, Chaff Cush- ions, etc 490 Hives, Patent 498 Honev from Corn 499 Hurrah for York State! 477 Inserting ( ells when Queen is removed 501 Int. by Frames of Hatching Brood 501 Jones's Bee Islands 494 L. Frame .Wi Locust Honey 503, 504 Labels 517 Machine to Pierce Top and Bottom Bars 479 Mistakes of Postmasters. . ..Ml >laijle Sugar for Winter .'lOS Muideil Foundation .504 Merrybanks 507 Non-hatching Eggs 506 Our Own Apiary 478 Pollen, is it at Fault? 4Ua Pollen, to Remove from the Combs .5o:i Premiums 517 Questions by Young Hand. .495 Queens, Three in a Hive 498 Queens Fighting in Air 500 Queens. Young. Inducing to take Bridal Trip 500 Queen-Cells and Queenless- ness 505 R.amble No. 7 491 Returning Queens sent by Mail ; .. 50-3 Raspberries for Bees 480 Red Clover 517 Sections on all Winter. .479, 503 Success not always in Num- ber 487 Sending Queens a Distance. 495 Si)anish Needles 498 Stings and Rlieumatism 500,504 Separators or Not 518 State Fair 517 Tbermometers 499 Thev Swarmed and they Swarmed 500 Unsealed Brood for New Swarms 499 Utah 499 Ups and Downs in Wis 501 Ventilation, Upward 497 Vankirk's Record 505 Wintering 491 Experience Tells. If you desire such supplies as wc have used the present season in securing the laru:est yield of honey on record, send for our illustrated circular. We fur- nish the very best Smoker made for $1..50 by mail. Our new book, containing iTd pages and 100 illustra- tions, gives our system of management, and is known to be the most practical work published. Price by mail, $1.50. We furnish everything used in advanced bee-keeping. L. C. ROOT & BRO., Mohawk, N. Y. A DellDorth 3-Horse Engine. Price SlOO, 10 per cent off for 30 days. For particu- lars address JtEV. J. S. Woodbdkn. Livermore, Westmoreland Co., Pa. ATKansas City, Mo., I breed pure Italian bees for sale. I warrant my "Dollar" queens to be mated by pure yellow drones, and guarantee safe arrival and perfect satisfflction. Tested Queens, $3 GO "Dollar" " 1 00 Please address all letters plainly to 6tfd E. M. HAYHURST, P. 0. Box 1131. C. OLM'S COMB FOUNDATION MACfflNE. SEND FOR SAMPLE AND CIRCULAR. 5tfd C. OliM, Fond du Lac, Wis. HOLY -LAND & CYPRIAN QUEENS! Raised in separate apiaries 5 miles apart. Untest- ed Queens of either race this month, S;i..50. H. B. HARRINGTON, Medina, O. ^en^euUemi CONVENTION mRJCCTORY. TIME -iND PLACE OF MEETING. 1881 Oct. 4. —Eastern Michigan Bee-Keepers' Association, at Detroit, in Y . M. C. A. Hall. Oct. 5.— South-Eastern Michigan Bee-Keepers' As- sociation, at Ann Arbor, Mich. Oct. 5, 6, 7.— National Convention of the N. A. Bee- Keepers' Society, at Lexington, Ky. Full particulars in regard to the deductions made on the different railroad lines, cost of board in the city, cost of going to Mammoth Cave, etc., are given in a recent number of the Prairie Farmer, of date Sept. 14th, if I am not mistaken, but the paper has been mislaid. Coml) - Foimdatioii Machines. from one dollar to five. Comb fdn. from 3:^ to 40 cts per pound. JOHN FAKIS. Chilhowie, Smyth Co., Va. ITALIAN BEES^FOR SALE! Sixty colonies, in 8 and 10-frame hives, Langstroth frame. Write for prices. I will sell cheap, for I in- tend to close out. THOS. W. DOUGHERTY, Mount Vernon, Posey Co., Ind. rrr X""^ fine colonies of Italian Bees, with e_>L,_J tested queens, at $7.00 each. Tested queens, $3.00 each. A few colonies of good hybrids with queens at $6.00. Address O. H. Townsend, 9tfd Hubbardston, Ionia Co., Mich. I CAN furnish Bees by the colony and pound. Send for special rates. H. NEWHAUS, !)-10d Burlington, Racine Co., Wis. 50 STOCKS OF ITALIAN OR HYBRID Bees for sale, either by the hive or pound, in any quantity to suit purchasers. Address, for particu- lirs, li-lOd J. J. KISER, E. Des Moines, Iowa. THE BEST KNIFE MADE ForFarmers and Mechanics. Blades extrat hirk, oil tempered, every one tested bvlile. Exchanged free if toft or flawy. Price postpaid, 75c, or 1- blade, 5(c. Medium 2-blade, tc, l-l)lade, 25c. Illustrated list irte. Bulcher Knife, lot. 0 in.. tCc; Sticking Knife, fiOc; Skinning Knife, 7.5c, postpaid. Please send for our free list. Address MAHER & GROSH, 34 N. Monroe St., Toledo, Ohio. 472 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Oct. Names of responsible parties will be Inserted in any of the following departments, at a uniform price of 20 cents each insertion, or $3,00 per year. $1.00 Queens. Names inserted in this department the first time with- out charge. After, 20c each insertion^ or $2,00 per year. Those whose names appear below agree to furnish Italian queens for $1,00 each, under the following: conditions: No guarantee is to be assumed of purity, or anything of the kind, only that the queen be reared from a choice, pure mother, and had commenced to lay when they were shipped. They also agree to re- turn the money at any time when customers become impatient of such delay as may be unavoidable. Bear in mind that he who sends the best queens, put up most neatly and most securely, will probably receive the most orders. Special rates for warranted and tested queens, furnisned on application to any of the parties. Names with *, use an imported queen mother. If the queen arrives dead, notify us and we will send you another. Probably none will be sent for $1.00 before July 1st, or after Nov. If want- ed sooner, or later, see rates in price list. *E. W. Hale, Newark, Wirt Co., W. Va. 2-1 *A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. *H. H. Brown, Light Street, Columbia Co., Pa. 7tf *E. M. Hayhurst, Kansas City, Mo. 1-12 *Paul L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, La. 7ttd *D. A. McCord, Oxford, Butler Co., O. 1-12 *S. F. Newman, Norwalk, Huron Co., O. 7tfd *Chas. G. Dickinson, Sou* Oxford, Chen. Co. N. V . 1-10 *Wm. Ballantine. Sago, Musk. Co.. O. Vtfd *W. H. Nesbit, Alpharetta, Milton Co., Ga. Ttfd *H. Nicholas, Btters, York Co., Penn. 4-10 Mas. P. Sterritt, Sheaklevville, Mercer Co., Pa. 5-10 *C. B. Curtis, Selma, Dallas Co., Ala. C-11 *T. W. Dougherty, Mt. Vernon, Posey Co., Ind. 7-12 C. H. Deane, Sr., Mortonsville, "Woodford Co., Ky. 8tfd Hive Manufacturers. Who agree to make such hives, and at the prices named, as those described on our circular. A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. P. L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, Iberville Par., La. Itfd S. F. Newman, Norwalk, Huron Co., O. Itfd J. F. Hart, Union Point, Greene Co., Ga. 4-3 Foundation Manufacturers. Who agree to make such foundation, and at the prices given, as described in our circular. A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. Bees by the Pound. Those whose names appear below agree to furnish bees by the lb., and at the prices given in our circu- lar. I. L. Scofield. Chenango Bridge, Broome Co., N. Y. S. C. Perry, Portland, Ionia Co., Mich. J. P. Moore, Morgan, Pendleton Co., Ky. W. R. Whitman, New Market, Madison Co., Ala. Chas. Kingsley, GreeneviUe, Greene Co., Tenn. C. D. Wright, Baxter Springs, Cherokee Co., Kans. H. B. Harrington, Medina, Medina Co., O. . W. St. Martz, Moonshine, Clark Co., Ills. G. W. Gates, Bartlett, Shelby Co., Tenn. W. S. Canthen, Pleasant Hill, Lancaster Co., S. C. J. G. Taylor, Austin, Travis Co., Texas. T. P. Andrews, Farina, Fay. Co., 111. Allan D. Laughlin, Courtland; Law. Co., Ala. E. J. Atchley, Lancaster, Dallas Co., Texas. D. McKcnzie, CarroHton P. O., N. O., La. H. L. Griffith, Sumner, Law. Co., 111. J. H. Martin, Hartford, Wash. Co., N, Y. W. A. Pirtle, Cabot, Lonoke Co., Ark. E. T. Flanagan, Belle\-ille, St. Clair Co., 111. J. K. Mayo, Stafford, Fort Bend Co., Texas. J. F. Hart. Union Point, Greene Co., Ga. B. Chase, Earlville, Madison Co., N. Y. S. P. Roddy, Mechanicstown, Fred. Co., Md. W. J. Ellison, Statesburg, Sumter Co., S. C. R. A. Paschal, Geneva, Talbot Co., Ga. A. Osbun, Spring Bluff, Adams Co., Wis. H. D. Heath, Sherman, Grayson Co.. Texas. N.B. McKee,careof D. &D. Inst., Fndiannpolis, Ind. J. B. R. Sherrick, Mt. Zion, Maeon Co., 111. Otto Kleinow, opp. Fort AVavne, Detroit, Mich. J. C. & D. H. Tweedy, Smithfleld, Jeff. Co., O. KIP WORDS FROM OUR CUSTOMERS. The Waterbury watch is a wonder for the money. A. R. ROUTON. Magdalena, Merriwether Co., Ga.,yept. 11, 1881. The smokf r came all right. It came in good time, and it beats all the smokers. H. F. Pitman. Williams, Lawrence Co., Ind., Sept. ('>, 1881. I received the T5c plane, and was completely satis- tied with it. It cuts like a razor, and is very durable. Eminence, Henry Co., Ky. Lewis T. Dk.\ne. It has paid me to advertise in Gleanings, and I have tried to give satisfaction, as I said I would, and I think I have done it. H. Nicholas. Etters, York Co., Pa., Sept. 5, 1881. Both numbers of Gleanings are at hand, clean and nice. They read so natural! Send it along the coming year. Allen Coaxes. Centreville, Crawford Co., Pa., July 13, 1881. The Waterbury watch purchased of you sometime since has now been running about two months, and gives entire satisfaction as a timepiece. Alb^red Is.-vacs. Tarkington Prairie, Tex., Sept. 2, 1881. The watch was a little slow. After setting the regulator about the sixteenth part of an inch for- ward it kept as good time as any timepiece I ever saw, ()/ (uiij pricr or quality. Alfred Isaacs. Tarkington Prairie, Liberty Co., Tex., Aug. 13, '81. I know where to send when wanting things in a hurry. It took only 3'i days to send from Michigan to Ohio and back and get a queen, and have her ac- cepted. W. D. HiGDON. .Jackson, Mich., Sept. 13, 1881. I send you my Waterbury watch, which has kept time nicely for a year past. I injured it by the worst kind of carelessness, or it would be running now. W. D. Loveland. Lawrence, Mich., July 20 1881. I received your queen on the 21st of July, and I followed your directions out. I put the queen into my gum, and the tenth day I went to see how she was doing, and I raised one of my racks and it was full of sealed brood. J. P. Bell ah. Rouge, Texas, Aug. 10, 1881. I received the 3 dozen pencils, at 10c a dozen, and they are .iust splendid for the monej'. I would have to pay 5c for one at our country store. I shall send to you for all of the little things hereafter. Here is the 8e to pay postage on them. Wm. H. Pue. New Berlin, Tex., Sept. 3, 1881. The knife sent me came to hand all right. I am more than pleased with it. I have foiind it the best of metal. I was surprised to find it only 35 cts. I have compared it with knives of the same grade here, and could not buy them for less than 75 cts. Atlanta, Ga., Sept. 4, 1881. A. S. Smith. My little Emilie received her toy piano all right, and is very much pleased with it, and sends thanks for the nice book you sent. Walter (my son) also re- ceived his saw and plane, and is deliM'hted with them. E. C. Moseley. Oyster Creek Station, Brazoria Co., Tex., Sept., '81. The extractor came to hand all O. K. It is a beau- ty, and I think the price is low; and the knife, why ! I .iust think it Is too nice to soil up with honey and wax; but I guess I'll have to use it. Much obliged for your promptness in filling all my little orders. You" have my best wishes for future success. W. H. Ferguson. Bloomdale, Ohio, Sept. 11, 1881. 1881 GLEA^IKGS m BEE CULTUBE. 473 THE TEN-CENT SPECTACLES. I of praise. They say it is all rig-ht. The honey Pea- The specs you mailed me May 2d, came safely to | son has been extra g-ood in this section, with but hand. lam much pleased with them. It is a real ] ff>7^^?.*lM° ?5i^?5-„A!!L' y';u.it_ looked lonesome pleasure to do business with such a man. ' '^ "" * Martin J. Brown. Hemphill, Sabine Co., Texas, May 10, 1881. I was much surprised, on g-oing'to the postoffice, to find the ABC. I am delighted with it, and am un- der great obligations to j on. Since receiving- it I have neglected David Copperlield and every thing- else. 1 think 1 have the bee fever badly. James Roberts. Cobourg, Ont., Can., Sept. 32, 1881. Please discontinue my advertisement in (October Gleanings. Not because it is not a good advertis- ing medium, but because it is too good. I want to keep a few queens for my own use, you know. I have had to sell too close se\eral times, trying to fill orders promptly. Success to g-ood old Gleanings. J. P. Moore. Morgan, Pendleton Co., Kv., Sept. 8, 1881. You have credited me with eightj* cents on loss of bees; now, you just cancel the credit, and then it will be all right. The bees were dead, came as stated, but I even then got more bees than I expected, as you sent me more for the money than I looked for. S. C. Lybargek. Ganges, O., August 2.5, 1881. LMay God bless you for your kindness, friend L. ; T am sure it does me much good to gst such a message.] The tested queen ordered from you in June was received and placed in a queenless swarm on the 31st of June. To-day I have a superior colony of Italians. Six frames of the golden-striped workers. They are quiet, and I can handle them with so much satisfaction. I have 4 other colonies, all strong blacks, and cross as bees usually are, and I must give them Italian queens too. H. A. Eastman. Ashtabula, O., Sept. U, 1881. an improvement in watch-pockets. The last watch came, and is doing finely; the in- structions are an improvement. Let mo suggest that every one have- a button-hole or a slit put into the bottom of the watch-pocket to let out the dvist. I. B. RUMFORD. Bakersfleld, Cal., Aug. 18, 1881. LAn excellent suggestion, friend R. ; but it would never do to put money into such a pocket, or it would lose out even faster than it does now. For that matter, nothing should ever ba carried in the same pocket with the watch, any way. DOLLAR queens ALL PURE. The fine queens j'ou sent me came all right, and I introduced them all without any trouble; two of them were very nice yellow ones; the other three are very dark; their brood is just hatching now, and I think thev are all pure. E. A. Emmons. Tampico, 111., Aug. 34, 1881. [We find, by referring to our books, that the above were all purchased of our friend E. T. Flanagan. I am very glad to give this report, for friend F. has had some bad luck, and this may encourage him a little.] Bees have done so poorly for the past three years I feel too poor to afford a journal. 1 know you have kindly offered to share my loss in the mails, but if you should try to share everybody's losses, you would soon be lost financially yourself. I wintered on summer stands the past winter, 90 colonies out of 0,5. Now have 150 in good condition for winter. M. T. IlOWE. Grain Valley, Mo., Sept 13, 1881. [Many thanks for your kind words about the losses, friend R. ; but I do not think that my friends will let me bear all the losses, even if I wanted to. It don't seem to me a man is so rtri/ pnnr, with 1.50 good col- onies. Aren't you borrowing trouble a little?] I have worked the bees for honey this season, and not lor increase, and, must say there's money in it. Thanks to knowledge gained from ABC and Glean- ings. I would not be without them. They should be in the hands of every intelligent man and woman who loves bees. I have lent the book to several men who own bees, and they give itthc biggest kind without them this season. Acres of white clover, and fields of buckwheat honey wasting, and no bees to gather it. \V. C. UuiTni. Jordan, Out., Can., Sept. 4, 1881. BEES AND BEE-STINGS FOR " SICK FOLKS," AGAIN. I have had a hard time in the bee business this summer, but it seems as if it is formy good, afterall. I have had poor health for si.v years past, and thought that I would go into the bee business for a living; but since 1 have had all the honey that 1 could eat, and all the stings that I could stand, my health has improved wonderfully; so much so that I have done the most work in the shortest time this summer that 1 ever did in my life; and I can say to you, that you will please accept my greatest thanks for the kind advice you gave me last winter. I now have 22 colonies. I hived 4 swarms this afterHOon in one hive, which made one pretty good colony. I have had 7 buckwheat swarms. Bees arc suffering now for want of attention, but I can't leave the shop, as I have so much work to do. They are fill- ing the porticos in front of the hives with nice while comb, but I have no time to take the surplus honey now. I have taken .59 Simplicity section boxes from my chaff hive, and there are 73 in it now ready to come off as soon as 1 get the crate, which I am going to set right down on top of the brood frames. I think in two years more I shall give up every thing else and attend to my bees If I have good luck with them. I have not lost a swarm this season. Tim Calver. I'nion Mills, Ohio, Sept. 4, 1881. The Imported queen came the next dayaftfcr being shipped. She was in fine shape, and 1 introduced her the next day, only requiring from mijriiing un- til night to preform the job. 1 will send you a photo., and I presume I will get a scolding when I tell you that I am a bachelor, almost 30 years old: but I trust that you will have a little mercy on us old "baches," for you know that the women are almost all afraid of bees. We are trying to find one that isn't. If I find one I will send you her picture too. so you can see how we compare. Jesse (J. Thompson. Pierpont, Ashtabula Co., O., Aug. 17, 1881. [Friend T.,I am very much obliged for the picture; but allow me to observe that the other sex are not all afraid of bees. Still, If such were the case I should hardly feel like advising them all to learn to handle bees just because they might stand a bet- ter chance of getting married. Both boys and girls should get acquainted, not only with bees, but with cattle and horses as well, that they may be useful in any emergency; and then when they become useful members of society, there is always some one of the opposite sex who will need their help. I have sometimes been tempted to say, that the reason some people can never find any thing to do, is be- cause they were good for nothing; but it can't be that that rule would account for your not being a married man, can it, friend T.? Is it because the other sex are afraid of bees, or that you are afraid of the other sex?] THOU SHALL NOT T.\KE THE NAME OF THE LORD IN VAIN ; FOR THE LORD WILL NOT HOLD HIM GU^TLESS THAT TAKETH HIS NAME IN VAIN.— EXO- DUS 20:4. Every single time I have sent to you for things you have sent them promptly, and often some little thing as a present; then how very unkind of me, in sending the order, to write the weather was " hotter than ." Friend Root. I am one of the worst men to swear in the United States, having never heard but one man as bad to swear. It was 106° in the shade when I wrote, and what I wrote was nothing to what I thought; so here are many thanks for your kind reproof, and a promise not to write to any person such language again. No change until last night,— a good rain. Robert Reynolds. Utica, Lasalle, Co., 111., Sept. 8, 1881. [You see, I wrote a rcmonstance to friend R. for his profanity in a letter; but as you will observe, it did not make him angry either. Now, friend (or friends if you choose), profane swearing is an awful thing; It is a sin against God that can not be over- looked unless repented of; and, if I am right, it is one that seldom goes unpunished in this world. I am very glad you have promised to put no more such 4t4 GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTUllE. Oct. words on paper; and, in fact, friend R., I thanlc God for that. But can you not take one step more, and say that no one shall ever again licar you utter such words? Somehow I seem to feel that you will take this step, and the next one after that will be to re- solve, with God's help, you will not even tolerate such thoughts. Thovights arg the source from which actions spring; and if you keep it all in, after a lit- tle while the tliougJits will not keep coming in. Are you not thankful for that little rain you speak of? Folks who complain wben things don't come, cer- tainly ouKht to give thanks when they do come. When going to Columbus a few days ago, a man was swearing most bitterly because the train was behind and failed to connect as he wished it to. I thought he was complaining prematurely, and pretty soon a friend spoke and told him his train had not gone, after all, for there it was right before his eyes, wait- ing for him to get aboard. I watched him to see the change come over him, and to see if his face would not soften down into at least a smile of thanks. Do you think it did? I am sorry and sad to say that he received the good news with only another string of curses against God and the railroad men. Now, boys, seriously, what do you think of such an atti- tude of heart? What «aVi God do with such awful ingratitude? Where does such a man really deserve to go?] EECENT ADDITIONS, CHANGES, AND IM- PROVEMENTS, IN OUR COUNTER STORE. A NEW circular of our Counter Store goods only, is ready to mail on application. Our Coimter Store was again taken over to our fair grounds, and nearly $300.00 worth of goods were sold from it in the two days. We have succeeded in getting Mason's 1-qt. fruit cans OH our 10c Counter. We can ship them from the factory for $13.50 per gross. Pint jars, $13.00 To go with our Waterbury watches, we have a little nickel alarm clock, called the Fairy Queen. The Fairy Queen is not only a little beauty, but it is a gem of a timepiece. Price $3.00, or $3.35 if sent by mail. Like the watches, the little clocks are care- fully regulated by us before they are sent out. AN IMPROVEMENT IN OUR COE'S PATTERN ■WRENCHES. Our Coe's pattern wrenches are now all made of Wrouoht Instead of malleable iron, as heretofore, and are a moat beautiful strong wrench. Three sizes, 35, 50, and 75c. We have just succeeded in making a beautiful confectionery of maple sugar. Somebody has said that the craving for candy among children is right and proper, for it is nature's demand for the sugar they need. Well, if it is all pure maple sugar, and nothing else, we are sure it is wholesome. It is per- fectly dry to the touch, yet dissolves easily in the mouth, like cream candy. Price 30c per lb. We have it in little gauze bags on the five-cent counter. Besides the Waterbury watches in nickel-plated cases, we now have them in cases made of celluloid. They are put up in three colors — pure black and pure white, and in a mottled celluloid, called mala- chite, from its resemblance to that stone. The pric- es in the celluloid eases are jvist one-half more than the ordinary nickel cases. We are now selling our seventh gross of Waterbury watches. Considerable improvements have l)een made in them of late, and the factorynow have a system of repairing all watch- es at a uniform price of 50 cents each, no matter if you should drop your watch and step on it. THE FIVE AND TEN CENT HONEY-PAILS. I AM sorry to say, that those pretty little covered tin pails we have been selling so many of have ad- vanced in price, so that we will hereafter have to charge $4.35 ana $8.00 per hundred for the 1!4 pint and 3-quart respectively. Even at the present prices it seems a wonder how they can be made for any such money. Within a year we have purchased 35 gross — or something like 5000 of them. Do j'ou wonder that manufacturers give us low prices? In selling your honey, almost anybody will give 5 and 10c for the pretty little pails; and at these prices you make a safe little profit. Where bee-men have a stock on hand, they can generally retail a good many to the neighbors, in the course of n year. We can send you samples by mail, if you wish to see them: bur where ordered in lots, they must go by freight. Where you are so far off that freights eat up the margin, j'ou will have to add freight to the prices. Underthishead will be inserted, free of charge, the names of all those having honey to sell, as well as those wanting to buy. Please mention how much, what kind, and prices, as far as pos- sible. As a general thing, I would not advise you to send your honey away to be sold on commission. If near home, wnere you can looK after it, it is often a very good way. By all means, aevelop your home market. For 25 cents we can furnish little boards to hang up in your dooryara, with the words, ' ' Honey tor Sale, " neatly painted. If wanted by mail, 10 cents extra for postage. Boards saying "Bees and Queens for Sale," same P'ice. CITY MARKETS. Chicago.— 77(mci/.— The honey market is brisk, and the prices stead.y. I have just bought 30,000 lbs. extracted at the prices quoted. Light comb, in 1 and 3 lb. boxes, 18@:Wc; in larger boxes, 3c less. Ex- tracted, 8(5i'c. Beeswax, ]8@31c. Alfred H. Newman. a73 West Madison St., Chicago, Sept. 22, 1881. Cleveland.— Ho)(('j/.— We quote a slight improve" raent in comb honey. One-pound sections are ready sale at 31c for white, and 3 lbs. 19@30c. Extracted continues dull at 10@.I3c. Bt'csuvi.r.— 30@,33. A. C. Ke.sdel. Cleveland, Ohio, Sept. 30, 1881. Detroit.— JTodciy.— The honey market is not very firm, owing to the difference of opinion between buyers and sellers. The former are reluctant to pa.v more than they have done in other years, and the latter believe that prices will be high before spring, and wish to get the benefit. A good article ia salable shape brings readily from lT(?iil8 cents Bcrsica.r.— 30@35 cents. Detroit, Sept. 31, 1881. A. B. Weed. Cincinnati.— Jfoiiei/.— There is a good demand for extracted honey, which brings readily 7@10c on ar- rival. Arrivals of and demand for comb honey is rather indifferent. It brings 14(5il7c on arrival. Bec.xu'a,r.— 30@33 cents. Chas. F. Muth. Cincinnati, Sept. 33, 1881. New York.— Hcwifj/.— In reply to your postal of the 30 inst., permit us to quote hone.v as follows : — Best white, in 1 and 3-lb. sections, 18(?J,30; fair white, in 1 and 3 lb. sections, 15@.17; mixed and dark, in 1 and 3-lb. sections, 13® 14. Large boxes. 3c per lb. less than above prices. Best white, or linden extracted, lOf^ll; dark extracted, 7(y 8. Bcfsit'a.r.— 33@35c. from prime to vellow. H. K. & F. B. Thurber & Co. New York, Sept. 33, 1881. ItiO lbs. of honey, in 1-lb section boxes, for sale by J. Luther Bcwers, Beri-yville, Va. We want one or two barrels of choice white-clover honey. State price delivered here. B. Salisbury & Co. Battle Creek, Mich., Sept., 1881. I have for sale two barrels of linn honey, 400 lbs. each. Will take 9c per lb. delivered on board cars here. Honey is extra good. J. B. Murray, Ada, Ohio. I would like to buv one barrel of good extracted honey, at the rate of ten cents a pound; and, if suit- ed, will take several barrels more. Any person hav- ing such, please address Charles Leynis. Morgauville, Monmouth Co., N. J. I have about 6000 lbs. of extracted honey, put up in kegs holding from .^O to 130 or 130 lbs. Will sell the white at 10c, and the dark at 8c per lb., delivered on board cars at Durand, kegs thrown in. C. H. Stordock. Durand, 111., Sept. 30, 1881. GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUI\E. Devoted to Bees and Honey, and Home interests. Vol. IX. OCT. 1, 1881. No. 10. A. I. ROOT, Publisher and Proprietor, \ IVIediiia, O. Published Monthly. f TERMS: Si. 00 Per Annum, in Advance; i 2 Copies for 31.90; 3 for $2.75; .5 for $4.00; 10 I or more, 7.5 ets. each. Single Number, 10 cts. -j Additions to clubs may be made at club rates. Above are all to be sent to one post- Established in 1873A'l7^,7ii.n^^L'e^^'''''''^°''''^'''' NOT NOTES FROM THE BANNER APIARY. No. 2^. A CHEAP OBSERVATORY HIVE. fDO not know whether jou would call it an ob- servatory hive or a house apiary on a small ' scale; but this is how it came about. One hot day last August, two nice queens hatched out in the lamp nursery, and there were no nuclei upon which Ihe pin in the registeiing card pointed to "missing;" neither were there any more empty hives in which to start nuclei, and, as I disliked to kill the queens, I stood for a moment wondering what I khmihl do with them, when my eyes alighted upon a light shipping- box in which friend Nellis had sent me a full colony containing an imported queen. Whj- not fix up that box for a hive? thought I; yes, and fasten it up in one corner of the shop, and have a house apiary, was the next thought. In just half an hour the bees were flying from two holes in the sides of the shop. These two holes wore the entrances to the two nu- clei that occupied the shipping-box. A piece six inches square was cut out from one side of the box; this piece was then hung for a door by means of leather hinges, and it was kept closed by means of a little latch made from a pin. The inside of the open- ing was covered with a piece of glass, and, by watch- ing here a few minutes, I saw that one of the young queens had been accepted, and was walking about quite at her ease. I presume that some of you can imagine the pleasure that I have experienced in "fishing " nice yellow queens out of this impromptu hive. How I do love to fix up nuclei in some such out-of-the-way place, in hives that cost almost next to nothing, and then once in about ten days find them occupied by nice laying queens. EXPERIMENTS IN WINTERING. I am now making some experiments with a view to help solve the wintering problem. Of course, the few experiments that I can make will not amount to a great deal; but if one hundred bee-keepers would make the same experiments for several years in succession, they would certainly prove sometlting. The statistical table so carefully pre- pared by friend Newman, for which he certainly de- serves a vote of thanks, shows that the care we give our bees in preparing them for winter is not entire- ly wasted— we have at least made some progress; but until the percentage of losses in wintering is considerably less than it has been for the past few years, our beloved occupation will not take a place in the front rank of agricultural pursuits. I hope to live to see honey plenty and cheap (because of no loss in wintering bees;) to see it used upon every table, just as much as butter now is, and if I lose a colony during the winter, I wish to be able to give the reason with at least as much certainty as a ve- terinary surgeon can tell what caused the death of a horse or cow. I admire friend Heddon's course; he does not know what is the trouble, and candidly says so; but he is going to "cut and try" until he finds out what it is. I say, let others do likewise; let us all put our shoulders to the wheel, and never stop until this one great difficulty is surmounted. Until we can winter our bees with uniform success, winter after winter, wo are unworthy the name of bee-keepers. We can control the number of bees that there arc to be in a colony, and, by our being 476 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Oct. able to do this, our bees need not perish for want of numbers; we cau control the kind and amount of food that they shall have during the winter; and if sugar is better than honey for winter stores, we can give it to them; but it bees are wintered out of doors we can not control the tempcratuir : while if they are in cellars or special repositories, we can control the temperature. The uniform success that George Grimm and L. C. Koot and others have had in wintering large numbers of colonies in cellars, helps to confirm me in the belief that indoor winter- ing, proprrly mnnagcd, is the best for our northern climate. But I fear that I am wandering, speculating and theorizing a little too much; the experiments that I am making are to leave some of my colonies out of doors, protecting most oi them with chaff cushions, to put some of them in the cellar, and to put some of them in clamps on a dry sandy knoll. Somf of them are furnished entirely with white sugar, others in part, and some arc given early-gathered honey, and others not. Part of those in the cellars will be given a fly, if the weather permits, and the re- mainder will not be fi-.ken from the cellars until they can gather honey. I have not the space to en- ter into all of the particulars now, but next spring I will tell you how they all wintered. W. z. Hutchinson. Hogcrsvillc, Genesee Co., Mich., Sept., 1881. FRIEND UKIilIM'S METHOD OF FEED- ING FOK ^VINTEK. ANJ) ALSO mS METHOD OV VENTILATING IN CEL- LAR S. ^f^ UIEND KOOT:- B'«1 4 sr' Gleanings did -Your gentle reminder in Aug. . did not escape my notice, but I did ^^ not have time to write anything for Septem- ber number. Though somewhat late in the season, a few words on the subject of feeding may not be amiss. I shall not get around to feeding any before October myself, and if I tell you how I do it I sup- pose it will be sufficient. For my part, I desire rath- er to hear practice than theory; and, to some ex- tent, others can be judged by one's self. As soon as I can get time I will go to each of my outside apiaries (Ave) and examine every colony, and weigh them. Those that have sufficient honey, a good queen, are strong in bees, etc., I do not dis- turb till the time comes to haul them home or to the cellars in which I winter them. All those that ai-e not in proper shape, I haul to my home apiary so as to have them handy for treatment. After uniting all that is necessary, I supply them partly with combs of honey, and feed sulHcient sugar syrup to give them a good supply for the winter. If I had extracted honey on hand I would feed that ; but as I did npt raise any this year, I will feed syrup made of the best white coffee sugar. I feed this by means of a tin can, about the size of a jvetach can, through ahole in the houey-board. The can has a piece of perforated tin about V'z inches square on the bot- tom, arid a rim of tin around the edge, -J^ of an inch wide. It is filled on the same side through a small can-screw cap, and turned over by a quick move- ment. I suppose it is on the principle of your pep- per-box feeder. The honey that bees gathered this fall is good, and I shall therefore feed only those that have not enough for the winter. I am getting so many inquiries about how I venti- late in the cellar, that it is getting troublesome to answer them for a 3-cent stamp. Allow me, there- fore, to state in Gleanings exactly what I do. I use the 8-frame Langstroth portico hive, with honey- board, exclusively. When I put them in the cellar I set them in rows, six high, the rear one an inch higher than the front; and this is the ventilation: The entrance, 34 inch high, and as wide as the hive, is left open and kept clear of dead bees during the winter, and the honey-board is slid forward so as to give an opening of 14 inch in the rear. That is all, and it is enough. It permits the circulation of air through the hive. Vapors arising from the bees arc either carried off, or condensed and run out of the frontof the hive— the latter very rarely, however. Nearly all my hives are painted on the inside, so the moisture will not soak into the wood. Once in a while a hive is found where a few outside combs are molded some, but the cases are few. Almost all have as bright, dry combs in the spring as in the fall; and bear in mind, too, that I leave cM the combs in the hives through the winter, and do not take the trouble to crowd the bees together by means of a division-board : the cold has always done that most effectually. If I removed the spare combs, I do not think that I would have a single moldy comb in the apiary. In reference to winter passages through the combs, I would say that I never made them and never needed them. The bees pass under the honey- board and over the frames from comb to comb. The above method of ventilation serves the purpose of absorbents in the shape of chaff and the like, ad- mirably; and mutilation of the combs is unneces- sary. Of this I am certain, that there must cither be ventilation similar to this, or absorbents of moisture must be used in its stead, as nearly always, when through carelessness the cover had liecn slipped back in lifting another hive on top, the colony was either dead in the spring, or had moldy combs. Next winter I shall have a large tank of water, hold- ing about 5 barrels, in one of my cellars; and I think it will materially help to purify the air, and secure an even temperature. During warm weather lean cool the water with ice. Geo. Gkimm. Jefferson, Wis., Sept., 1881. I expect HOW, friend Grimm, some of the boys will want to know how you make the syrup; Avhether it is boiled, or only stirred up cold, my favorite way. We are very glad you have told us so plainly about the venti- lation in the cellar. You see, friends, he has it every bit as open as we have talked about, when sections were left over the frames for outdoor wintering, and, very likely, a little more so. Just think of it ! A i-inch slot the width of the hive, at both entrance and highest point. I should think the Simplicity hives would be real handy to put into the cellar, for we could let the bees wax down the enameled sheets as tightly as they pleased ; and as they were put in the cel- lars, just roll back the tin on the back end of the enameled sheet, to make this space. These sheets are usually kept above the frames enough for a good bee passage, by nttle pillars of wax. \V^hen the bees are put out in the spring, the end of the sheet can quickly be turned back in place again, and they are snug and tig-ht for brood-rearing. 1881 glea^'i:ngs in bee culture. 477 Neighbor Deaa wintered his last winter, part in cellar, part in his old sawdust-packed bee-house, and one out of doors in chaff packing. The one out of doors was about the best, but he said it was such an awful job to Hx them up that way. h.; greatly pre- ferred to set them in the cellar, and the cel- lar, did much better than the bee-house last winter. John and I think it le':s trouble to put them in chaff hives, and then we have the chaff hives ready for the cool weather next spring. Xeighfjor II. also says, '"Chaff hives by all means,-' although he has a dry cellar right close to his apiary. STILL ANOTHER BEE-FEEDER. *|^Y to-day's mail I send you a model of a boe- JjQBft feeder. The full size of feeders I use is six inches square, made of inch lumber. I put as many circles '>i inch wide as I can get in, with a center Vi inches in diameter. DE WORTH BEE-FEEDER. Now, friend Root, please accept this idea from me as a token of respect, knowing that you have and will labor hard to promote bee culture, and also that you will give it cheerfully to the bee-keeping fraternity. Wm. De Worth. Bordentown, N. J., May 15, 188]. The novel feature of this feeder is, that it is all made Avhile the block is in a lathe ; and with a proper gang of chisels, the grooves can all be cut almost in an instant. A cover is put on, as shown in the cut, and when the feeder is pushed up against the entrance, none but the bees of the hive can get into it. It is filled tiirough the hole in the cover, which should be then covered with a piece of glass, or something of the kind, to keep out meddlesome noses. No bees can drown in this, and there is no opening of hives to replenish it. ^ igi «^ HURRAH FOR VORK STATE ONCE ITIORE! OVER 180 l.BS. TO THE COLONY, FROM AN APIARY OF 108 STOCKS IN THE SPRING. f|HE spring found me with 108 colonies, or hives, that had bees in ; you all know how weak bees ' were this spring. Well, about 50 were all right. I used that 150 lbs. of fdn. I got of you, with good success. It worked nicelj' with two wires across a Langstroth frame, or lengthwise, and imbedded in the fdn. with button-hO(jk. Now for what I have dune all alone: I increased to 308 in good condition, and have taken 15,100 lbs. of extracted honey and 4500 lbs. box honey. One colony, with its increase, gave me ^0 lbs. of box honey. The increase was 4 artiflcal swarms, with plenty of honey. How is that for|lti years' experience iP I sold my white box honey for 16c, and the dark for 12c. Will you please answer one question? WILL MOTH-WORMS LIVE ON PURE WAX? Will a moth-worm live and come to maturity on new comb that has had no brood in, if they have had no bee bread or pollen or dead bees to eat? W. L. COGGSHALL. West Groton, Tomp. Co., N. Y., Sept. 19, 1881. Why, friend C, your great achievement for this year has so nearly taken my breath away I can hardly come down to such sim- ple things as moth-worms and beeswax ; but on the spur of the moment I should say that moth- worms could not live on clean empty combs alone, for we never find them on sheets of fdn., before they have been put into a hive. Now, we want you to give us a full account of your summer's work, and tell us all about how you did this. 1 presume you had a great tlow of honey ; but even if you did, it is not every one who has the •• gumption " to take careof such a lot when it does "rain porridge.'' Did your neigh- l)ors do as well V what kind of boxes do you use, side or top storing V how did you ex- tract ? how many hands did you have to help V Why, sakes alive I I have almost a mind to take my automatic pencil, and a blank book, and go down to see you. Are folks " friendly like " down in your parts? and do they keep any dogs that will bite V THE POISON OF THE BEE AS A REKE' DIAL. AGENT. MORE FAVORABLE TESTI.MONIALS. WANT to tell you about bees as a medicine. June 9th, Mr. George Wilson came to me for 20 bees; said he wanted them for a medicine Dr. Allen, of White River Junction, had advised him to try. He was very sick with dropsy; had not walked any for four years: his limbs were swollen so badly that they cracked open and discharg-cd terribly, and his clothes would not reach around him by a foot. After taking medicine one week he could button them with ease. He had no faith in it at first, but "drowning men grasp at straws." I furnished him two lots of bees, 20 each, during the summer; last Thursday morning, Aug. 25, he called on rae for more bees to prepare a bottle of medicine to take home with him ; his home is in New York, where he is in business. He says he is completely cured; can walk all over the village of Bellows Falls ; would not have been alive now, if it had not been for hccs. Medi- cine, how prepared ; Put 5 drops of alcohol in a bot- tle, then put in 20 bees; let them stand 20 or 30 min- utes, or until they sting each other to death; then add 4 oz. alcohol. Dose, 5 drops every hour. Mr. Wilson wants every one to know of his wonderful cure. GcY Clark. Bellows Falls, Vt., Aug. 31, 1881. It has often seemed to me as if such an active agent as the bee-sting might by some means be utilized in medicine. It is sure, and goes right to the spot, as we all know, and I have wondered if it might not rival powerful liniments for neuralgia, tooth- ache, and the like. It would doubtless ex- tinguish any toothache, if it only worked against it ; but if it should happen to add to 478 GLEANINGS IN I3EE CULTUEE. Oct. the pain, wouldn't there be a "row in the camp"? Well, it seems the poor fellow- sufferer above found it just the thing ; but T have, in spite of myself, been wondering if lie would not have got well any way, or if it did not so work on his imagination, that he stirred around more and thus got wliere na- ture could work to better advantage. You see, I have great faith in getting people to wake up and stir aroiuid, even if they m-c sick some ; and the sight of the doctor, visi- tors, or even a light shock of electricity, of- ten does wonders in that way. Never mind; let us get at the truth, liee-sting medicine could be put up cheap where they are going to brimstone their bees this fall, like the friend mentioned in our editorials. OUR OWN APIARY AND HONEY FARM. IT is now the 2Sth of September, and the severe drought has stopped the How of — ' honey from almost every plant, not even excepting the Simpson. The Spider plant still blossoms, yet but few of the Jjlossoms produce honey. During the past few days, however, we have had long soak- ing rains ; and if frost keeps off, we shall have some honey yet, perhaps. NEIGHBOR II. "S EXPERIMENT. Do you remember what Neighbor II. said last month about feeding with a tin pan V By the way, I guess I will tell you of an experi- ment of his. It was, I think, about the 15th of May that he brought a pound of bees and queen, to be shipped to a customer. It had been jolted in the buggy, or something, and as the day was very siiltry, it was evident, from the dampness of the bees, and from the way in which they tumbled helplessly from one end of the cage to the other, they would not live many minutes, unless speedily tak- en care of. 1 offered to look after them, but he said he was going to take them for an ex- periment, to see what a pound of bees would do, with a good queen, started the middle of May. Accordingly they were let out on a few empty combs, and one of Neighbor II. 's long, black, IIoly-Land queens introduced to them. They soon re- vived, and the queen went right to laying. As soon as honey failed, they were treated to pans full of the sugar syrup he told you about. They are now live fair colonies, and there is little doubt but that he will winter them successfully. When you come to see us, ask to see Neighbor II. 's department. Besides the five hives, he has the Albino col- ony that I spoke of a short time ago. The Albinos are, to tell the truth, rather pretty bees. If our bees should winter well this season, I have been thinking of offering some gentle bees in small hives for sale, for the " Juvenile Department." Of course, they would want some pretty bees that are •nice to handle and nice to look at. I have thought the Albinos might be just the thing. If they should happen to produce great crops of honey, too, it would be quite a joke in favor of our friends Valentine and f ike. HOAV AVE ARE DOING OUR FEEDING THIS FALL. Neighbor H. has all chaff hives, and it is a very easy matter to set a common tin pan on the frames, in the upper story. In our queen-rearing, however, we have about 200 Simplicity hives. Many of these have only three or four combs, so that if we had a pan that would set in beside them, it would save the expense and bother of an extra upper story, while we are feeding to keep the queens at work. Selling bees and queens as we do, you know it is quite important to keep the queens laying every minute possi- ble. Well, we tried using SimpUcity feed- ers, but it was too much work to fill them up so often. A tin pan will hold more sugar than a dozen Simplicities; but a tin pan won't go into the hive at one side of the frames, especially if we have a division- board in, beside the four combs. On the five-cent counter we have, as you may have noticed, a two-quart bread-pan. THE BREAD-PAN FEEDER. These pans are 6 in. wide, 10^ long, and 2i deep. They have flaring sides, so that they nest into each other, and a hundred or more of them occupy but little room. They cost, as you see, but 45c for 10, or $4.00 for 100— the same price as the Simplicity feeders, and yet, as they nest, occupy much less space for shipping or stowing away. Each pan will hold 3 lbs. of granulated sugar and 1 lb. of water. A Simplicity feeder will scarcely hold 8 oz. of sugar. Now, the bees would drown in these pans, as you know, were it not for the piece of cheese cloth ; and we have been a little surprised to lind that spreading the cloth in the pan, with the sugar on top of it, answers every purpose, in warm weather. The cloth should be suf- ficiently large so it will not get pulled over into the pan, and the pan should have one edge nearly touch the combs, or division- board. If you do not have a division-board, be careful the bees do not build a comb on the mat above, after they have been fed a few days. We just set tlie pans with their cloths over them in the hives, and then with a 5-cent dust-pan fill each one heaping full of granulated sugar. Another hand, with a can of pure water (like the one shown be- side the chaff hive, under " Feeders," in our price list), pours in water slowly, as much as he can, without running the tins over. Of course, the bees will have the liquid portion out in perhaps a couple of hours ; but the moist sugar they will work on and dig in for several days, and may be a week. Be sure that the bees find it, and it may be well to sprinkle a little over them, until they get a taste. One very pleasant feature of this way of feeding is that you have no trouble -with robbers, for they can do nothing with the dry, sand-like sugar, neither can they with the pure water. You can, if you choose, roll your barrel of sugar right out in the apiary, and leave it uncovered until you get through, providing no rain or dew gets into it. With chaff hives, just set the pan right on the frames and turn back the mat slightly. f 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 479 LEAVING SECTIONS ON AIAa AVINTER. BY THE ONE WHO FIRST SUGOESTED IT. M S I sit at the head of the cl"«iwho leave sec- J^\ tioii 9 on all winter, and by reason of having- ' first started the investigation, I feel a lively interest in all that has been said the past five or six months on the subject. Having- carefully noted the developments and sifted the evidences, I would now gi\e you my conclusions, which are based also upon my own experiences of top ventilation. In the first place, a rather serious error has crept in, which might be the means of serious losses an- other long- cold winter: it is this: you recommend a ventilating opening right over the cluster. This, in my opinion, would be very dangerous, unless it prtssed into a nearly tight receptacle above, which would prevent a direct draft ttirough, such as well- sealed honey-boxes or broad frame? made snug and tight with propolis at the top-bars; any crack or hole too large for the bees to close should be cov- ered with strips to prevent draft. If the bees are disturbed too late in the season to prevent their closing up again, I would strongly urge covering the broad frames snugly with enameled cloth, heavy manilla paper, or any thing else air tight. If colonies are not strong and well provisioned, we would not put on section?, because they can not be got at for examination so readily; but put a few narrow cross-sticks, long enough to reach across the 10 frames, placed near enough together to insure free passages; coverthese with enameled cloth to prevent them gnawing, then a straw mat the full size of second story, and chaff cushion on top. The covering over enameled cloth will prevent the condensation of moisture; but if there should be a condensation, it (the condensed water; will be eag- erly sought for by the little fellows as soon as they begin to stir in warmer temperature. Neither clean water nor fresh air will hurt them if not in excess; but excess of either would be injurious. The ex- periences of the past winter have shown that bees can easily bear a eonfluement of .5 or (i months if kept perfectly inactive; but as soon as incited to brood-rearing, the trouble begins. My opinion is, that, when not breeding, bees will consume only honey— no pollen to any extent; then their excre- ment will be dry and very slight; but when, by feed- ing brood, they are compelled to eat and manipulate pollen as well, they need to void the greater residue; and if prevented in this by conflnement,.they be- come diseased. Now, to prevent unseasonable brood-rearing would be the great end to be sought ; for, first, it excites to flying out at too low a temperature; sec- ond, it exhausts stores tremendously; third, it shortens the lives of workers niateriall}'; fourth, it is undoubtedly injurious to the (lueen to greater or less extent; and last, it is no benefit to anybody. Feed nocturnally during September and October to get the hive full of young bees; at the same time shortening the lives of the Julj^ and August brood for the benefit of the winter supplies; then there will be goodly numbers left in March and April. Keep cool by gentle top ventilation, but not forget- ting free access to all the combs by passages above the top-bars; avoid a direct draft through the cen- ter ; see well to it that they have plenty and to spare of sealed stores; and if you can, shade entrances from the sun. If any colony persists in flying when snow is on the ground, give a little more top ventilation; this will stop them readily. The broad frame with sec- tions on all winter just suits us for strong colonies: it gives the necessary space abo\-e the frames, and it keeps the hive too cool to rear brood; it gives a dead-air chamber above, without a draft; the bees will not enter the section department except in a body; and if they should, it would be the warmest part of the hive, from which they could again emerge at every point. When willows or maples begin to swell their buds, take off the section^; supply sealed frames of hon- ey, or trays of candy, where needed; cover down tightly, and trust in (iod for the "increase." Cleveland, O., Sept. 1 1, ISSl. A. C. Kendel. Thanks, friend K. While I agree witli yon in nearly all, 1 am not qnite satisfied that a small opening right over the cluster will do harm. A few days ago I met a bee- man in an adjoining county, while waiting for a train. lie had, if I recollect, last fall, 87 colonies. All died but one. I called to see this one, It was an old box hive, with holes open in the top, covered with a box set over it loosely. More than that, it was split from top to bottom, so it would seem the wind might almost blow through it. Such cases have been mentioned too often to be accident. (See report on page 497). One thing I fear somewhat, is that bees some- times, after a cold spell, instead of getting out at the entrance get into the upper story, around the ventilators, and there perish. In the old box hives, if the entrance was stopped up they could go out of the hole on top, and come back in the same way. In our back numbers it has been already sug- gested that the entrance is better if on top of the hive for winter. Has this point been sufficiently looked into V The following came to hand after the fore- going was put in type : — When I wrote you two days ago, I touched lightly upon bees eating honey in preferencs: to pollen ex- cept when rearing brood. To-day I read with pleas- ure Mr. James Heddon's article in the A. B. J. of Sept. 7th, where he takes very much the same ground. Now, while it gives me pleasure to know that these thoughts came out almost simultaneous- ly, and are the outgrowth of experienc3 and obser- vation, it would appear as if this thought had been suggested by Mr. Heddon, which is not the case. I trust that such suggestions will result in further in- vestigations of the thoughtful ones, and prove of mutual benefit to us all. A. C. Kendel. HOW TO MAKE A MACHINE FOR PIERC- ING TOP AND BOTTOM BARS FOR AVIRED FRAMES. FKOCUKE as many harness awls (those having a diamond-shaped cross-section) as you have — ■ wires in your frame, and grind off the acute angles so as to form a chisel or cutting point per- haps 1-33 in. wide. Grind about /s in. up from the point, and let the slant be nearly uniform. Now draw the temper from the shanks so that a file will cut them, and with a square-cornered file cut a notch in an obtuse angle of each shank at or a little above the largest part, cutting it nearly half off, and mak- 480 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Oct. ing the notch wide enough to admit the uniform di- ameter of an 8d. nail. Take a hard-wood block 2x^i in., and 2M in. longer than the distance between the outside wires ia your frame, and, after making it to correspond with the wires in your frame (center of frame at center of block), cut a groove at each mark just right to re- ceive half of the shank of an awl, letting the point project square from the edge of the block about Hi in. The obtuse angle of the shank is let into the wood. Now take a block the same size as the other, but 3 in. shorter, and groove it so that, when the blocks are placed center to center and face to face, and securely bolted or screwed to- gether, the awls will be held quite firmly in place. Before finally putting them together, how- ever, drive a piece of nail into each of the grooves in the longer block, I'^tting them project just enough to fit the notches in the shanks, already spoken of. Now fix the blocks firmly together with the awls in place, and we have the " head-block." Now take two pieces of board, T in. wide and 6 in. long, and cut a groove iU in- wide and ?^ in. deep, and M in. from the edge) along the shorter edge of each. These standards are to be firmly nailed (with grooves to the front and facing each other) to the bottom-board, which should project 2 or 3 inches in front of them. This bottom-board is 2 or 2V2 ft. long, and wide enough so that, when the standards arc nailed on, the ends of the head-block will just slip into the grooA'CS. Before nailing the standards on, cut a notch in the lower front corner of each, I'i in. high, and reaching back across the groove, and bore a iio-in. hole 5 in. from the bottom, and 51 2 in. from the front side. The frames are to be slipped over the bottom -board, the top-bars coming into the notches in the standards. Set a I'/j-in. screw into the back side of each notch; slip on a frame, and ad- just the screws so that the awls shall be over the center of the top-bar. Take a 2-inch gtrip, slightly thicker than your top-bars, and fasten it to the bot- tom-board just back of the frame when on, and fas- ten a strip (lU in. thick) over this, and projecting over the top-bar. The awls work through this strip, which serves to prevent the frames from rising when the head-block is raised. There must be a clear space of 'a in. between strips and standards. Take a board about 16 in. long and I'/i in. narrower than the distance between the standards, and nail a 9i-in. strip on each edge of it, letting them project Z% in. beyond the end of the board. Nail a narrow strip about % in. thick across one side of this board, 6 in. from the ends of the projecting strips, for a fulcrum, and, placing it on the bottom-board so that the points project ?i in. under the head-block, nail a thin strip across the bottom-board on each side of the fulcrum, to keep it in place. Finally, take a board about 3 feet long, and wide enough to fill the space between the standards; bore a %-m. hole, 2 or 3 in. deep, in each edge, 10 in. from the back end; nail a small rounded strip across the under side 5 inches in front of the holes, and work down the front end for a handle. This lever is coupled to the stand- ards by slipping pieces of ;'« iron rod, or bolts with the nuts off, through the holes in the standards and into the holes in the lever. Now for business: Screw the bottom-board to a work-bench so that the front end projects from the edge. Slip on a frame with the left hand, and de- press the lever smartly with the right, thus sending the awls right through the top-bar, and raising the back end of the lower lever. The levers being wide and stiff, raise and lower the ends of the head-block alike. Knots in top and bottom bars should be avoided. The machine should be adjusted by blocks or screw-heads so that the frames slip on just right, and the awls descend just far enough. If preferred, the holes maybe punched before the frames are put together. My machine cost only 35 cents, and about two hours' work one morning; and before noon it saved me two or three days' work over the old way. At first I did not notch the awls, depending on the grip of the blocks to hold them; but the first time the head-block was raised, two or three awls stuck fast in the top-bar. 1 then notched them, as I have di- rected, and have punched about 1.500 frames without any trouble. F. B. Chapman. Scipioville, N. Y., Sept. U. 1881. Your ability to devise ways and means for nialiing tools cheaply is considerable, friend C; but I fear most of our friends Avill find it a pretty good day's work to make such a machine, even if the materials do not cost more than you say. We first pierced our bars with a similar machine, to be worked by foot power, but we broke so many awls we afterward made a gang of drills to do the work. We did not draw the temper, as you suggest, and I think likely this would make quite a difference. With the gang of drills we can pierce several bars at once, and hard or knotty places make no difference. ^^ igi ^ RASPBERRIES FOR BEES. f MAILED you this morning a few clusters of blossoms from a seedling raspberry that we — ■ have. For bee-keepers it far surpasses the Cuthbert, as it gives two crops each year. If very dry, the last crop is not very large, but is of excel- lent flavor, and, no matter how dry, the bushes are loaded twice each year with clusters of blossoms that will keep the bees busy. We are now in the most protracted drought we ever experienced, yet our bees are working away on them as merrily as though it were June. You will see by clusters sent you how bushes are loaded, and I did not pick out the largest by any means, but took them just as they came. The berry will not average quite as large as the Cuthbert; drops from the bunch easier, and is so soft as to be unfit for a market berry, but for home use can not be surpassed, with us at least; and as you get two crops per year, I think it will pay better, especially for those who want them for pasturage for bees, than any other berry we know of. We have not the time nor inclination to intro- duce the berry and make money out of it, so I will make this offer: If you or any of your subscribers want any of the plants to try, I will send you some at but little above what it will cost for postage, moss, and oiled paper. Postage on a good strong plant will not vary much from 15 jC. Now, do you think it will be too much to ask 2c each by mail, postpaid, or 100 by express for $1.00? If you do, I will try to fur- nish for a little less. F. L. Wright. Plainfield, Mich. The samples sent seem very full of blos- soms, and fruit in different stages ; and it would almost seem as if it were June to look at them. I have often heard of ever- bearing raspberries, but had the impression 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 481 that they were never much of a success practically. I know there are wild raspber- ries in Michigan that hear crops in the fall, for I have seen them ; but I do not feel so sure the same plants would b^ar two crops further south. IIow is it, >e small-fruit men V 1 should think your price Avas cer- tainly low enough, friend ^V. grape; sugar for avinter food. FRIEKD M'^COnD'S EXPERIENCE. f PROMISED last fall to ffive you the result iu the spring of my experimonts la feediDg grape and — ' eane sugar mixed, for winter. I intended to report in the spring, but perhaps it is better that I have delayed it until now, as it has allowed me time to cool down a little. Now is the time to think about feeding for winter, and finding the losses so so heavy everywhere and under almost all circvim- stances, I scarcely knew what to say, but I suppose nearly all bee-keepers, like myself, except beginners, have their own way in all their manipulations, and think it the best. I have my own way, which ap- pears to suit my limited ideas; my own kinds of feeders for fall and spring, which I prefer to any others, and they cost me nothing. My own queen- shipping cages, which I am content to use exclus- ively; my own method of hiving without cutting limbs off, and my own wnj- of wintering, with the very best results. I use none but the L. hive, Root chaff hive, and the Langstroth and McCord Twin chaff hive, and standard size L. frames, and never lost a colony until last winter, and then I lost 35, out of t)0, and it was the first time I everfedgrnpe sugar in the fall. I fed the following mixture to every hive I lost, except two, and one of them, the strong- est colony I had, starved, and the other one I at- tempted to winter with the second story on; but after consuming all in it they starved and froze in attempting to reach the stores below, which were abundant; but the weather being extremely cold, and so much space upward, the heat rose to the top as fast as generated, and they all died, clustered to- gether almost within reach of plenty. But, to the feed: I took 4 lbs. white coffee sugar and 1 quart water, 4 lbs. of grape sugar, and one pint water, mixed and heated both separatelj', to a syrup, then mixed in the proportion of two quarts grape to one quart cane syrup, and fed in my pans as usual. 1 believe it would do very well, if the bees could fly every week or two at furthest; but such winters wo do not often have, and therefore I am satisfied that any mixture containing grape sugar in anj' proportion is very unsafe for winter feeding. There is so much starch body in the grape sugar that must be discharged often as fcX?ces, while a much larger proportion of cane sugar will evapo- rate through the body of the bee, as insensible per- spiration, which enables the bee to retain its fn?ces through a long hard winter, without having what some call dysentery. Last winter put grape sugar to a very severe test; it hardened in the cells, and I lost every colony that I fed it to, and most of them left their hives and combs in a fearfully filthy con- dition; but by scraping and washing, I restored them to a pretty good condition. I believe, had I not feed any grape sugar, some of the weakest col- onies would have gone under (but not so many), for some were mt strong enough in the fall to survive such a winter as lust. 1 saved one queen and small remnant of her colony, that were literally plastered and daubed all over and stuck fast, by dumping or scraping them into a pan of warm water, and stirring them with a stick until washed clean, then drying them on a board by the stove, and returning them to a warm clean hive and fresh clean combs. Oxford, O. Sept , 1881. D. A. McCORD. ^ » ^ CAPABILrriES OF BEES. ip[gSsEFORE entering upon this subject, I wish to f^4j ^^y t^^*- what a colony of bees are capable of doing under favorable conditions is no cri- terion of what we may expect many colonies to av- erage. It is not a large yield of surplus honey from one or two or three colonies that constitutes a sea- son's success, but a good arcrafjc yield from the whole apiary. From 1871 to 1875 inclusive, we had good seasons for surplus-honey gathering. Bass- wood yielded bountifully evcrji (/ear, and while our average yield was large, I will detail a few excep- tional cases, exemplifying the wonderful "capabili- ties of bees " under conditions, all of which we hard- ly understand. During the basswood flow in July, 1873, 1 hived an ordinary prime swarm on to 10 Langstroth combs. Five or six days after being hived, I extracted the l)rood-chamber clean, and took out about .50 lbs. of honey. At precisely the same time the next day, I emptied it clean again and got 30 lbs. of a fair quali- ty of unripe honey. When Mr. Hosmer, of Minnesota, reported 53 lbs. in one day, I had reason to believe it; but when one of our gushing bee-keepers came right out after- ward with 60 lbs., I th ought it looked slightly "fishy." I have extracted 13 lbs. per day fiom buckwheat alone. I had one colony of black bees in 1873 that gave me 410 lbs. surplus honey, 48 of which was comb, all the rest extracted, of good quality. Dur- ing 1871 I had one colony of bees give me 100 lbs. of surphH comb, and come outside and build comb and fill it with honey under the bottom-board,wblch stood high from the ground. In the spring of 1873 or '74 I bought 3 colonies of a neighbor, in 9-frame L. hives, for $30.00, and I sold the surplus that they gathered within a space of two weeks (during basswood bloom) for $130.(0. It Is just to say that the honey was all extracted, and bot- tled and sold at fancy prices -some of it averaging as high as 33c per lb. All the colonies referred to were black, and none were aided by others. But, a few big hills don't make a world, nor do these unaccountable yields of a few exceptional colonies make a fortune for their owner. They make food for thought and study. Other stocks, standing by their side, gave little or no surplus. Still others, full of bees, and in every way equal to the first-named, as far as the master could deter- mine, gave only one-fourth or one-half the surplus. Those differences, during the same flow, can be ac- counted for only by constitutional differences in the make-up of the individuals of the colony. Whether we can see these differences or not, we can plainly see and realize the results; and all we have to do is to en- courage it, by breeding from those stocks that pos- sess it. I may say that I hnow that such a course proves satisfactory. Remember, these results were all given us by a raceof bees entirely neglected by the hand of science. That the black bee possesses many valuable points of superiority over any other race, 482 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Oct, it is folly to deny. If any one hive possessed all the merits, all would have adopted it long ago; if either the black or yellow race of bees had been in rrrry icfl)/ superior to the other, there never won ld_ have been long- and earnest contro^•ersies regarding which is the bettor one to adopt. When two things each possess a complicated mi.vture of the good and bad, then it is that extended experience is needed to wisely say which, all things considered, is the better of the two. But there is scarcel,\- a vegetable or animal now under the control of man, that he has been satisfied to use in the form or possession of qualities as he adopted it. " Better and better " has been the cry, and better and better have we made it. Let the history of nil the improvements of the past be repeated in the future by the progressive bee- keepers of America till ".4/)i".s.lnH'ri(anrt" shall be eagerly sought for by all the bee-keeping world as the hcst. James Heddon. Dowagiac, Mich., Sej^t. 15, issi. A FEW ITEMLS. QUEENS WHOSi: DAUGHTERS ALL PllODUCE THRIiE- B \NDED BEES. ^v^N page 424 of September Cleanings, W. z. ™Jv) Hutchinson asks Doolittle a question about those queens whose brood will produce queens that will produce all three-banded workers, whether said queens mate with black or Italian drones. As a reply, I would refer friend H. to page 133 of vol. 3 of (iLE.\NiNfis, where I write of a queen 1 had of A. I. Root: "1 have raised CO queens the past season, and each one is a duplicate of its mother, and not one of them produces a black bee, with thousands of black and hybrid drones around." Again, on page 50, vol. 3, Gleanings, I wrote: "The first Italian queen I ever saw was introduced some time in July, and did not raise a drone that season; neither was there an Italian drone within 13 miles of her; yet none of her daughters ever produced a black bee. There were hundreds of queens raised from her during 3 years, yet none of them ever produced a black bee." Also, if I am correct, Mr. Langstroth and E. Gallup both had (jueens known to have mated lilaek drones, which never produced any thing but three-banded bees. Now, friend H., these are facts; but how it is, I do not know. I claim the Italian bee is only a "thoroughbred," and not a fixed race of bees. It is said that a cross of the black bee with the Egyptian, will, in three generations, produce a bee which no man can tell from the best Italian. If this is so, it is probably the starting point of our Italians; but why such breeding can so thoroughly tix the bands, that a queen mating with a common drone will not show such mating in her woi-king progeny, is more than I can tell, but know such to be a fact. A friend receiving a queen from mo which chanced to have a few 4-banded workers sent with her, claimed, after reading friend H."s article, that if all the bees produced by said (lueen were not 4-banded, she must have mated a hybrid or a black drone, and really talked damagcx if she did not do it. Now, this argument will not hold good; for some of those queens reared from the first Italian (jueen I ever saw, produced 4-banded bees, and certainly these (jueens must have mated black drones. The matter of /jr(/)(7.s is not so great as the honcji-producinti qualities of bees; and if our breeders would pay more attention to this, the worltl would be better for it. liUOGD HV CHRISTMAS. On puge 428, September Gleanings, J see our lengthy friend tells us that, on the tirst of .January, he took 8 colonies from different parts of the cellar, and that every one of the 8 had "two and three frames of sealed brood, and young bees hatching." I turn back to page 14 of vol. 5, of Gleanings, and there I tind that A. I. Hoot did not believe that bees com- menced to rear broo Mellen, of Amboy {an the Inlet), are noticeable ' on account of the manner they portray the inherent modesty of the man. If friend Mellen should tell the readers of Gleanings just what he has done with bees in the last twenty years, un- doubtedly nine out of every ten would class him with the author of " Blessed Bees." Keeping, as he does, only a few colonies, 25 or 30, he entirely throws some of us would-be large producers into the shade. With my 100 colonies this year, and 150 last, I would dislike to show receipts with him, for I am confident he could show more dollars Ironi 23 or 23 colonies than I with uiy 100 or 150. Perhaps, friend Root, you could persuade him to give us a partial review of THE ADAMS HORSE-POWEK APPLIED TO BEE-HIVE MAKING. ed and naiied very securely. On the end of the guys that support the rim, put about a foot of chain, so as to raise or lower to suit. Make the wheel not less than 15 ft. in diameter; and even this size is hard on a horse where you have much to do. The post for center is a piece of 4 x 4 scantling, with stubs from an old a.xle in each end. The lower one works in an old box of a wheel. It is not much of a .iob to make one; but should any of my bee-keeping friends at- tempt it and get puzzled, let them drop me a postal and I will help them all I can. If this is not a sufH- cient description of it, let me know, antl I will try again. M. H. Hunt. Bell Branch, Mich., Aug. 27, 1881. With the above we give the original cut which first turned friend Hunt's attention that way. You will observe that the especial feature of it is, that the horse travels inside the wheel, while the belt, or chain rather, goes in a groove in its circumference. To get the horse out, the rim is lifted a little, un- hooked, and he steps out just like letting down a pair of bars. But little power is wasted in friction, because the horse pulls right on the chain, as it were, that runs your buzz-saw. If the wheel is kept painted. his career with bees for a number of years back. Living only a few mibs from him, I have studied the man some, and his manner of handlmg his bees more; and I have come to the conclusion, that his success can be told in one sentence — keeping his bees strong, and doing every thing that needs to be done, at the right time. And now, friend Root, one word about queens, and I will let up. I, with perhaps a thousand others of your readers, have been in the habit of buying quite a number of queens every year from quite a number of different breeders, and have come to the conclusion there is as much difference in different strains of Italians as there is between Italians and blacks. I have one queen now that, if I bad her where I could raise queens from her, and keep thera pure, I think any bee-keeper would be satisfied with them, combining as they do so many good qualities with so few bad ones. While I have this good queen and some of her progeny, I have other queens from other breeders that I do not consider any better than blacks; in- deed, not as good as some strains of blacks. I have a proposition to make, and then I am done: That all the prominent queen-breeders that lay claim to having superior strains of Italians, each 488 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Oct. send one queen to A. I. Root, that he shall put each one in a good colony; that next summer he shall re- poi't through Gleanings how they wintered, how they " springed," and which he considers the best queen, all things considered; and to pay to the win- ning queen-owner the price of all the queens sent him, provided no sender shall send an imported queen, or shall charge more than S3.00 for his queen. Now, Mr. Root, I have not proposed any thing I am not willing to enter into myself, although I do not make a claim to being a prominent queen-breeder. Lee Center, 111., Aug. V2, 1881. J. L. Gray. I hope our good f liend Mellen will excuse us toe talking so much behind his back, and If he will give us the report his neighbor hints at, we won't do so any more. — I am very much obliged, friend Gray, but I should go crazy, sure, if you put any such task as that on my shoulders. I would want a year or two on some isolated island to do it, and then I should not expect to get at more than a glimmering of the truth. I am much in- clined, too, to think you would get good and bad queens from everyone's stock, and that likely one man's, on tlie average, would just about equal another's. AVe are all chang- ing about so much all the time, I do not see where any great difference can be. Freshly imported stock seems to be an advantage ; but with the poor facilities we have, any of us, for isolation, I confess I have but little faith in extra strains of bees. Our old red- clover queen promised pretty well, but still I could never be quite sure her bees did not steal their stores. LETTER FROM FRIEND IIARKNESS. HOW HE AND HIS WIFE KEEP BEES IN PARTNER- SHIP, ETC. ^T would be a pity to have your waste-paper bas- Ji|[ ket remain empty the year round because all " — ' the letters you receive are "good enough to print." So I am going to write you a long letter, knowing that the more 1 write the more it will be worth when you sell it by the pound. The ferocious-looking insect pictured at the top of this page is supposed to be a queen-bee. I don't know what kind of a one it is, for I never saw any thing that looked like it. Perhaps it is the Apis dor- sata (that "stamps" his feet and shakes off the dew), or else the " big blue bee " that one of your corres- pondents inquired about. The line of writing under the picture was suggested by reading, in the July Gleanings, the " Department for those who forget to sign their names." I am very absent-minded, and for fear that I should get into that Department, or, rather, that some of my letters would, I thought best to print my name on my paper with the copygram. I suppose you would say "cheirograph;" but I like the name copygram better, as it is so much easier to spell. Of course, your word is the purest Greek, mine being a sort of liybrid, half Greek, half Eng- lish; but as I am used to handling hybrids, I like it all the better for that. I believe I have never told you much about our bees. I say our bees, because they belong to my wife and me in partnership. T hamlle the bees and pocket the money; She lielps all she can, and we both eat t'iie honej". We began in May, 1879, with a single colony, which was a present from her father. It swarmed twice, and the three gave us about 75 lbs. box honey. We wintered them all and got from them last season six natural swarms and 325 lbs. of box and section hon- ey. We wintered seven without losing any, and have this season had eleven natural swarms. I do not yet know how much honey we shall get this season, but probably not a large amount. As you know, I have just begun to learn my A B C's. I never saw an extractor till I made one about two weeks ago, my only guide being the pictures in your price list and Gleanings. But if we have not tak- en out much honey yet, we have had some natural swarms that I think are worth reporting. Our seven old colonies have each swarmed once, and four of them the second time. I weighed those seven tirst swarms very carefully and this is what they weighed:— WEIGHT OF swarms. 1 Ilea vie loui', - -31 •' • 4,-- ...7S-1 hV. five, - - asy. •' ' .■>,.. ...7:mo 4w; SIX, - -n •' ' «... ...fi.5-0 i seven, - - 4.-. •■ • '.• ...6 3-7 My feeder ad. in Gleanings has begun to yield fruit, and I have already received and filled orders from people in five different States. The first order came from J. W. Shaffer, of Corydon, Wayne Co., la. I feel quite well acquainted with that gentleman, for his son Charley has told us, in the July Glean- ings, page 325, all about his father's bees and his own. It is sometimes hard to decipher the names of people who order feeders. I wish I had a printed copy of your subscription list, to find those names in. It would be a great help to those who wish to send circulars to live bee-keepers, as it would give the addresses of over 4000 of them. But I don't know that you could sell enough to pay you for printing them. Some time I will tell how we win- ter bees here in northern New York without losing any; but I have written enough for this time. J. W. Harkness. Keeseville, Essex Co., N. Y., Aug. 15, IfSl. EXPERIENCES IN BEE CUIiTUREDOWN SOUTH. BY OXE WHO SPEAKS RIGHT OUT. ^]jOME five years ago I commenced bee culture. I ^i knew nothing whatever of bees and their hab- ^--^ its, except their stinging pi-opensities. A friend (?) gave me a colony in a small soap-box; these were black bees. Like most beginners I felt that I wanted one hundred colonies at least, immediately, if not sooner. Soon after giving me the colony of blacks the same person proposed selling me a large colony of what he termed Italian bees. I bought them; they too were in a soap-box, but the colony was very strong. I have since learned that this colony was the worst class of hybrids, and cross is no term to apply to their temper. I have since found that this man sells hybrids for pure Italians, and sells the pure Italian for albino bees. The lat- ter he tells people are a distinct class of bees, much finer and better than any other race. I have since found that the albino is merely a " sport " from the Italian, and, though fair to look on, their qualities 1881 GLEAl^INGS IN BEE CULTURE. 489 as honey-gatherers are far below those of the blacks of darker strains of Italian bees. They appear to lack toughness too — something on the hot-house- plant order. In the beginning I was srcatly nonplused to know when, how, etc., the bees would swarm, but could not find any infallible signs in the books that would apply to the box hives. Finally I transferred my bees to the simplified Langstroth hive, put them on stands, and expected just a little "bigger" yield than I had read of friend Doolittle getting from those " crack " colonies of his. Alas for human ex- pectations! I did not realize eight pounds of surplus honey to the hive. The next year I felt that I had not managed properly the first season, so I bought some flue queens; they were dollar queens too, and I fortunately got them introduced. Lo and behold! that season I got about 30 lbs. to my strongest stocks. Well, I applied myself the next season, reading the bee papers, studying the successful management of some, and the reverses of other bee-keepers. Iwould pore over the back numbers, reading often till ten o'clock at night. My wife would tell mo, " Well, well, you have gotten the bee fever bad." The next season — that was last year — I took from my best colony 137 lbs. of honey in one-pound boxes, and which sold for over twen'y doUartt. That year I was trying to rear queens largely also, and, including nucleus hives and other larger, I realized over six dollars from each. I considered that a big improve- ment, especially as the old bee-keepers in the neigh- borhood told me that it was a tolerably poor season for honey, they thought. I felt that the additional extra yield was brought about by close study and proper management; by doing the right thing at the right time. Close appli- cation and common sense, with a determination to succeed, finally accomplish wonders in bee-culture. A gentleman recently said to me, "Oh! there's no use for the bee papers to tell mc those 'big yarns' about big yields and the millions of dollars in bee- keeping. I believe they are lying ! Of course, it's to their interest to puff the business." This gentleman was from an adjoining State, and had tried five- liincls of bcc-hivcs and failed signally with all. Itoldhimof my success; he did not tell me I was lying (I stand 6 feet in my stockings, and weigh 185 pounds — ah!) This year, getting an advantageous offer, I sold all my bees but a weak nucleus. I built this up to a strong colony. Yesterday I weighed surplus in up- per story, and found 86 lbs. of honey. This colony has all of 40 lbs. in the lower story also. Of course, there's nothing strange about this, sup- posing it had been a fine honey season; but it has been the poorest experienced in this locality for many years. I used fdn., of course. I know some extra strong colonies that started in strong with ten frames of comb; they haven't 5 lbs. of surplus to- day, and haven't swarmed either. Why is it that some have better "luck" in getting surplus honey from their bees? I think diligence and close appli- cation is the secret — if secret there be. I am still wanting to do better — get larger yields. Tell friend Doolittle to look out; I shall keep trying every year to learn some thing new in the business until I can "get as much," if not just "a little more," than he has, of surplus honey from one colony. That will be a happy day for me. R. C. TAYLOR. Wilmington, N. C, August 22, 1881. WHAT FRIEND HUNT IS OOINO TO DO, AND ^VIIAT HE HAS DONE. fHAVE been thinking some lately of sowing a lot of seeds of different honey-plants, and would ■ like your advice as to kinds, amounts, etc., best to sow. We have here profuse quantities of white clover and wild red raspberries; but basswood is not very plenty; buckwheat is quite largely grown here too, but there are intervals in the blossoming of the above, especially in dry times, when the bees can do but little, and it is just such intervals that I would like to fill it up by planting various honey- plants. WHAT HONEY-PLANTS TO SOW. There is a railroad less than half a mile from my house, and as the land along the track is rich and mellow, I have conceived the idea of scattering seeds of honey-producing plants along the track, as I think they might as well be growing there as the useless weeds usually found in such places. What, in your judgment, would be best to sow in such lo- calities? Of course, it would have to be something vigorous enough to grow without cultivation. TWO QUEENS INSTEAD OF ONE. I made a nucleus colony last June by putting a few frames of brood and bees into a new hive, giv- ing them at the same time a sealed queen-cell; a week later I found the cell torn down, and a num- ber started from their own brood; but their i)rood being from a hybrid queen, I cut them all out and gave them another frame of brood from a pure queen, containing a sealed queen-cell; a few days later, on looking them over, I found this last cell open, but could not decide whether it was torn down or the queen hatched; so I took another sealed cell, of which I had plenty, and laid on top of the frames. Three days later, I examined them, setting one frame in an empty hive, so as to have more room to handle the rest. I found eggs in several of the combs, and looked until I found the queen, a nice large one, when I prepared to close up the hive, and as I was about to replace the frame from the empty hive, I accidentally discovered another nice large queen on that, and, not wishing to lose "her majes- ty," I set it back in the empty hive, adding a few frames of sealed brood from other hives, and now they are two good strong colonies, with queens hatched together in the same hive. Isn't this a rather unusual occurrence, or is it common? SILVERHULL BUCKWHEAT SEED. I see by a late number of Gleanings that you ran short of silverhull buckwheat, and had to send clear to Mr. Gregory, and pay $1.75 per bushel, and, I sup- pose, freight also. Now, brother Root, was it vem wicked for me to smile just a little all to myself when I remembered writing to you last spring, and trying to sell you some, and you offered me only $1.00 per bushel, delivered at j'our place? If you get in another such a fix, just drop me a line, and perhaps I can help you a little. I had 6 swarms last fall, and lost 4 in wintering ; have increased to 8, and bought one, so I now have 9 all in good condition ; I lost one or two of them just from pure carelessness, in letting the en- trances get stopped with ice, and so smothering them. E. Hunt. Sheridan, Montcalm Co., Mich., Aug 29, 1881. At present, friend H., I know of no honey- plant that will succeed without cultivation, and the best among the cultivated plants is 49U GLEANINGS IN BEE CtJLTURE. Oct. the Simpson. Can't you get the raikoatl company to let yon set out the plants and cultivate them ? The early variety I have several times spoken of can easily be made to fill the gap between fruit-blossoms and clover. — We often have the experience with queens you mention, and I would much rath- er havetwo queens in a hive than none, and so we put in a queen-cell, in all doubtful cases.— Thanks for your hint on the buck- wheat. The trouble is. that, with our many lines of business, I can not remember who has made me good offers ; and in the case you gave, when I made you the offer I prob- ably had all the seed it seemed I should be able to sell. When a *' run '' came for it, and we were out, your offer was forgotten. We now have a book containing the name of everything we deal in, and of whom we buy. AVhen some one makes us an offer, we go to this book. The book is large, and we "have had trouble already to so arrange it alpha- betically that we can turn to the desired ar- ticle instantly. I don't think it was wicked at all for you to smile : why did you not " smile '" right back, on a postal card? MONEV-BOARDS vs. €H[.%.FIi" CUSHIONS, ETC. fHAVE not lost a single swarm in the winter for four years. First, as soon as the hees are done ' gathering- good honey from basswood, I weigh or examine all swarms; and if any of them do not ebntaia honey enough, I feed them good honey un- til they do. Next, before cold weather sets in I raise up the slats which cover the holes in the honey- board, and with a narrow knife-blade remove the little bits of comb on top of the frames, being sure to remove it from between the frames when there is any, thus giving a little passage between all the combs where one did not pi-e\'iously exist. Now, when they are set in the cellar I remove the slats from the two front holes in the honey-board; place the super over them, and then let them alone until spring; still, about the middle of winter I raise up one end of the super about an inch, and let it re- main so for the purpose of giving them more air. I put nothing in the super, because I believe the air will carry off the moisture from the bees much bet- ter than anything else; neither (and this is what I consider an important point in wintering) do I loos- en the honey-board after it gets so late that the bees can not glue it on again. I would not do it for much less than the price of the swarm. I believe that re- moving the honey-board, or substitute thereof, al- lows too great an escape of the heat from the bees; because they want a little upward ventilation, it does not follow that they want the roof of their house torn off. And now a word about honey-boards. If I am not badly mistaken, wood is the greatest non-conductor of heat of anj' thing that we can place over our bees. I would not exchange a good pine honey- board for all the chaff that ever grew in the West. I believe that a swarm of bees can be exposed to too much cold in a cellar by removing the honey- board, and so allowing the heat from the bees to be constantly escaping. I use the Langstroth hive. Nelson Hubbard. South Strafford, Vt., July, 1881. (Juite a number of our neighbors winter bees in the old-style L. hive, with honey- boa^-d, right out on their summer stands ; and as several small apiaries came through with scarcely more than their usual loss, in this way. it "can not be so very reckless, aft- er all. They uncover a few of the holes in the honey-board, right over the cluster, and that is alf. I feel pretty sure that it is a bad thing to break the honey-board loose, late in the fall, and I am inclined to think this is one thing that caused so many to die where queens were introduced late in the fall. Sta- tistics liave shown very decided advantages in chaff hives : but I think they might per- haps do just as well, if the cushion in the upper story were omitted, and a board with a few holes in put in its place. This is to be done, of course, before cold weather sets in. The number of openings, very likely, should be governed by the strength of the colony. CAliIFORNIA. IS IT r.EALLV so MUCH AHEAD OF US, AFTER ALT,? /P]; LEANIXGS for this month came to hand, and tiSf ^ ^^ike great pleasure in reading the letters of ^"^ the different correspondents, and have sonie good laughs in comparing the different modes of wintering, for they are all new to the amateur bee- keepers on this coast. I think there would be but few going iiUo the bee business here had they to build cellars to put their bees in, or go to the trouble of packing in chaff, saw- dust, old cirpct, etc., to save their bees; that is too much like work; and to go into winter-quarters with fifty or sixty stands of bees, and come out in the spring with only one-half, is rather discourag- ing. Here we place our hive on the stand, and it re- mains there without any protection, summer and winter. But we have our setbacks in this country as well as j'ou in the East, and perhaps lose as many bees on account of drougth as you do from freezing. The last few years have been very tmcertain; we can count only on every other year for a honey crop. In 1879 I had 1;.'5 stands; the spring opened finely. In February the willow was in bloom, and the bees breeding i:p strong. In March there was a world of bloom, and the bees gathering honey in April. I ex- tracted from the colonies, and had my bees in good shape, and there was a good prospect of a large hon- ey crop. The first of May we had a few days of hot north-east winds, which blasted all the bloom; the bees killed off the drones, and went into winter- quarters with but little honey. The consequence was, in the spring of 1880 I had only 30 stands alive out of 133, and most of my neighbors were in the same boat. I know you will say, "Why did you not feed?" But we did not all the same, but think we will the next time. You would have laughed to see your old friend Wilkin traveling around with his wagon loaded with bee-hives, hunting for a good lo- cation, and he, was not the only one that had to " boosker." I started in the spring of 1890 with 30 weak stands; the year proved to be a splendid one. In the fall I had 80 strong stands, and had extracted over nine tons of honey. That is a pretty good yield from thirty stands, so you see what can be done with bees in a good year in this country. But this year is almost as bad as 1879. There was plenty of bloom, but no honey. There are a great many who have not taken 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 491 a pound of honey from their bees, but almost all the old stands have plenty to winter on, and the bees are still getting- enough outside to live on, so we will not be as bad olf as in 1879. There was no increase to amount to any thing this year. My apiary is situat- ed high up in the mountains, and in a good season have an abundance of bbiom of hundreds of varie- ties. I forgot to tell you that my bees arc black. I will try some Italians next spring, and see Avbat the dif- ference is, if any. "Wilkins is about 1- miles from my place. No honey this year. He is buying to ship to England. Ci. W. Lechler. Newhall, Los Angeles Co., Cal., Aug. 'M, 1881. RAITIBLiE NO. 7. /fs^UH ramble this time takes us to the town of IIMw) Granville, and to the apiary of Charley Blos- ^-^^ som. Mr. B. has about 80 swarms, and runs them for comb honey. His bees are in the Lang- stroth hive, and are allowed to swarm naturally, and two or more swarms are put together in the new hive, or they are put in until the hive is over- flowing with bees. The sections are put on and are tilled in an incredibly short time. Thus a large yield of honey is obtained from the new swarms. Our friend Charley winters his bees upon their summer stands with Acry good success. Instead of packing with chatf, he uses a hive made of I'i lumber. The soil upon which they stand is a gravelly loam: but little moisture is retained on the surface, and the warming- influence of the sun is felt more here than upon other soils. We think it may have some influence during the winter. Another prominent bee-keeper of this town is Stephen Staples. As he has just commenced his study of the habits of the honey-bee, and has had good success in raising a line lot of honey, and losing a number of swarms during the past winter, he prefers to be classed with the A B C's at present. We howe-ver predict his suc- cess in the future, for he is a most successful far- mer, and one of the most renowned fox-hunters In all of this section. In another portion*of Granville we find Stephen Carpenter, a man over 70, whose weight is over 300. Mr. C. has a line cellar, and makes it a point to put his bees in the heart of it, thus giving them plenty of ventilation all around. The heart of his cellar did not save his bees, through last winter, as his loss was fuUj' one-half. Both of the above Stephens be- long to the society of Friends, and we all know what good thrifty people they all are. There are several others starting apiaries in this town; but all they want is just to get honey enough for their own use, when we know they are itching for a hundred swarms and piles of honey. Another peculiai'ity with some is, that " my daughter or my v^on does the fuHsina with the bees." In the adjoining town of Whitehall are also several bee-keepers, and it is a good locality for the storing of honey. Kaspberries, white clover, and basswood are abundant, while upon the marshes around the head of Lake Champlain are quantities of button- bushes. We will visit but one apiary in this town, and hope your juvenile class will find some thing in it to en- courage them. Willie McLachlin is a boy about 11 years of age. He had two swarms in the spring, and purchased a few moi-e, which, with his new swarms, gave him nine. From these he sold ttfty dollars' worth of honey up to the first of August. His honey is put up in pound sections; a neat label is attached to each one, and his demand at 20 cts. per lb. is greater than his supply. One swarm gave him 75 Ids. Of course, Willie's father and mother en- courage him in all this, and the consequence is, that instead of being a noisy street-boy he is a quiet bus- iness lad. We wish here to call your attention to that bee- sting mentioned in Ramble No. .5, June No. I have recently seen Mr. Andrews, and can give further de- tails. The honey was taken from the hive in the fall, and put away for winter use. It was in a large box, and as the honey was gradually used out there was some drip in the bottom. It was in May, fully seven months since the honey had been taken from the hive, that his daughter dipped up a spoonful of honey from the bottom of the box, and in the act of swallowing, the sling alone (there was no bee in the honey) caught in her throat, and the poison took ef- fect unmistakably, as she was always affected with a prickling sensation over the whole body. The doc- tor, after removing the sting, examined it under a glass, and could see the poison-sac, and the sting had a fresh appearance. It was certainly preserved in the honey for months. J. H. Maktix. Hartford, N. Y., Aug. 19, 1881. May the Lord bless Willie McLachlin, and may his example move more to do likewise ! The salvation of our country depends on such as he. The streets and crowds of boys around our depots are the places where Sa- tan is continually training our youth for the purpose of replenishing our prisons and re- form schools. May the Lord bless thee, AVillie, and help you to stay right where you are, despite the temptations tiiat shall per- haps se:s's bee islands. REPORT OF A VISIT TO THEM. ^gn^ KIEND KOOT:- Your request, that I would fur- jifJ"' ni.sh some account of my recent visit to the — ' above islands, was duly received, and my will was good to comply with it sooner, but I am one of those luifortunatc mortals who always have more work to do than time to do it in. However, I will now try to give you and your readers an idea of an enterprise, in which all bee-keepers can not but feel a deep interest. The islands lie in the Georgian Uaj% and are part of an immense archipelago. Ti»lk of the Lake of the Thousand Islands ! here are from 3000 to 5000, of all shapes and sizes. They have never been accurately counted, are unsurveyed, and still in the hands of the government. Jones has located there, with the right of purchase when they come into the market. The island which is the center of operations, is called Palestine Island. It is distant from Beeton, Mr. J.'s home, 100 miles, 40 of which are traveled by rail, and the remainder by steamboat. There is daily com- munication between Palestine Island and Beeton, the steamer plying between Colliugwcod and Parry Sound passing very near to a jutting point of Pales- tine Island. From this island, bees and all needed supplies are distributed to the two other islands, named respectively Cyprus Island and Italy Island. These islands are from 6 to 8 miles apart. There are no bees in all that region, except what Jones takes there. A stock of bees could not live in that region on natural supplies. The bees taken there to carry on the breeding business gather very little, and must be fed continually all through the summer season. It is a bleak, stormy region, but often very pleasant in the time of year when the heat is oppressive fur- ther south. Of course, it is lonesome, there being no settlement nearer than Parry Sound, in one direc- tion, 16 miles off, and Collingwood, in the opposite direction, 60 miles off. The bees are taken to these islands in the spring, and returned to Beeton in the fall. This year was characterized by such a cold and backward spring, that operations could not be com- menced until the middle of June. Of course, the object aimed at by this isolation is to keep the three great races of bees entirely sepa- rate, so as to secure the absolutely pure fertiliza- tion of queens. Palestine Island is devoted to Holy- Land bees, and as these are preferred by Mr. Jones, as well as in brisk demand by other bee-keepers, the chief attention is given to them. More correctly, I should say, a larger number of Holy-Land queens arc reared than of the other races, the same care and attention being given to all. The young queens arc reared mostly in full colonies at Beeton, shipped to the islands for mating, returned to Be((- ton after they have begun to lay, and are thence despatched to all points as ordered. It is a rather tedious and costly process, but it secures the ob- ject aimed :it, with unerring certainty. Cyprus Island is devoted to the Cyprians, and Italy Island to the Italians. On each island there are a number of nucleus hives, accompanied by a number of full col- onies containing the best drones produced at the Beeton apiaries. Besides the breeding of pure queens, a variety of crosses is being tried, of which not much can yet be said with positiveness, for crossing and breeding for points are slow processes. I will not go into the minutije of daily work on these islands. Experienced bee-keepers can easily picture that to themselves; but I will say, that the opera- tions are carried on systematically, and, so far as I could see, with great precision. The general family likeness which subsists be- tween the three races of bees now prominentlj' be- fore the apicultural public, necessitates a breeding establishment such as this, until such time, at least, as by repeated experiment, and thorough testing, we have settled down on the bee of the future. So long as we had only blacks and Italians, it was easy to distinguish them ; but now we shall have to go In for pedigree, the same as horse, catte, and other live stock breeders. After spending three days at the islands, and nearly as much time at the Beeton apiaries, I can not infallibly identify each individual specimen of the races, and when a general mix comes, as it will in all apiaries where the three spe- cies of drones are flying, it will be pretty bewilder- ing. This establishment may be said to be the one emporium of pure queens for the world. There is nothing like it in Europe, Asia, Africa, or America. Its Importance is already recognized by all advanced bee-keepers, and as apiculture spreads, which it is sure to do, the value of this enterprise will become more widely appreciated. The following are, as nearly as I can state them, the distinguishing characteristics of the Holy-Land and Cyprian races: The Holy-Land queens have very distinct black bands between the yellow, and the last band near the segment is half-moon shaped. These queens are Aery bright and handsome. The Holy- Land workers have a gold shield between the wings, not quite so large as that on the Cyprians. The hair is longer on the thorax, and more gray. The hair on the segments of the abdomen is a distinct gray, even to the tip, giving them a lighter appearance than the Cyprians. The Holy-Land bees are very docile— as much so as the quietest Italians. They seem less in- clined to build drone comb than any other bees, and even in a populous colony will build worker comb clear down to the bottom of a deep rack. They also build an enormous quantity of queen-cells. I count- ed 56 in a single hive myself, and Mr. Jones states that they often start far more than that. He tells of having got 63 living queens in one batch, only 3 of which were in any way imperfect. The queens are wonderfully proliflc. I saw immensely strong- stocks, every available space peppered with eggs, yet they are said not to be so liable to the swarming fever as other races. After a short inspection of stocks, I could identify the Cyprians by their dis- position and movements. They have a certain touch- me-not air. The Scotch motto, i\^f )/io mc impuir Ja- t'O'si/, is theirs. They are very like the Italians, but 1881 GLE^VNINGS IN BEE CULTUIIE. 4! to a close observation of ihem shows that they are lighter under the abdomen, have a jrold shield be- tween the wiugs, the third black segment being of crescent shape, and the tip of the abdomen jet black. But their sensitiveness and quick temper are what will strike the observer most forcibly; at all events, these impressed my mind the most, and they would have impressed my body too, but that I took the precaution of wearinji- a veil. But Jones eagerly awaits the advent of the .4pi.s (li)rmta. He is fairly ilaft on that insect. 1 hope the Cyprians will be abolished before he gets it. An Ai)is ihirsata sting and a Cyprian temper would in- deed be " too utterly utter." Still, we do want a bee with length enough of tongue to rifle the clover- heads of their large store of sweetness. If Mr. J. can procure or develop a bee that will gather the red-clover harvest of honey, he will crown his apia- rian achievements with a feat that will send his name down to posterity with a halo of glory around it that will make him the wonder of coming genera- tions, and the apicultural hero of all time. This is what he is working for. Meantime, he reports progress thus: "I recommend the Holy-Land bees, and think they will outstrip all others thus far ob- tained." Still, I think we shall hang to the Italians for some time yet. They are among bees what Wil- son's Albany is among strawberries. The Holy-Land bees are new comers, and a new broom sweeps clean. I am inclined to believe these three races have had a common oiigin, their comparatively slight dis- tinctions being attributable to local and climatic in- fluences. Even if Apis dorsata does not come along, we ought to be able, with the four races now in hand, to produce a bee better than any of them. WlLtilAM F. Cl.^rke. Listowell, Canada, Sept. 3, 18S1. Many tlianks. friend Clarke. It may be that all of our readers are not faiuiliar "with the fact, that the writer of the above was at one time editor of the American Bee Journal. I mention this, because his wide experience adds weight to his observations and opin- ions in regard to the enterprise of friend Jones. I presimie, from the talks I have had with friend J., that the food he uses is gran- ulated sugar ; but I would also like to know if he linds it necessary to furnish a substi- tute for pollen, or does he find enough of that V If not, our friends who complain so much of an excess of pollen might save up combs full for him. By all means, friend J., go on ; and when yoii lack means, tell us how we can help yoit. The IIoly-Land bees certainly have some strong points of differ- ence that ]jromise well. We often send them out to till orders, and T have never yet heard them called any thing else than nice Italians. The bees would please almost anybody in ap- pearance, and we have never yet had a com- plaint of their being cross, like some of the Cyprians, What time of the year do they gather.' Xt any time of the year when food is plen- ty and the weather not severely cold. How do they gather and deposit their honey? They lick it out of the blossoms ; and when they get a load they deposit it in the cell by throwing it out "through the same brush-like tongue through which they take it from the blossoms. How do they seal their honey-cups? With the same little scales of wax men- tioned, by warming it in their mouths, or under their chins, until it is almost in a melted state. Do bees get lazy? I am inclined to think they sometimes do. What causes bees to get lazy? As nearly as I can tell, because they have nothing to stir up their ambition. Just take away some of their honey with the extractor, Avhen their hives are full to repletion, and they will generally get over being lazy. Do bees ever have any disease? Bees have very few diseases, compared with the rest of the animal kingdom. What remedy is the best? AVell, that is a big question, friend M.; but I am inclined to think I would treat them as I would the human family for most diseases. G ive them plenty of the best food, plenty of good air, proper protection from the weather, and after that, a severe letting alone, that nature may do the curing. How far will bees go after honey? I think they do not often go more than two or three miles ; perhaps not over a mile and a half profitably ; but Doolittle puts it, if I am correct, nearly twice as far. I think it very likely they would go much further, if they could start out of hives in a valley, load up on the hills or mountains, and then sail down home with their loads. What do bees do with the water that they draw from the earth and carry in the gum? After publishing this, I hope your readers will an- swer these questions. H. H. McDaniel. Marquez, Leon Co., Texas, Aug. 19, 1881. In very hot weather, I am inclined to think they carry it in to make the hive cool, much as we sprinkle the floor. When rearing brood largely, and confined to the hives with only thick hcuey, they use a great deal to prepare the food of the infant bees. Now if the "readers"' don't agree, let them give their views. SOME QUESTIONS" BY A YOUNG HAND. SENDING QUEENS LONG DISTANCES DURING THH DRY WEATHER OF AUGUST. S I am a young hand in raising bees, I would like to ask a few questions in regard to rais- ing them. How do bees gather the hone3--comb? Where do they get it? By pulling it in little scales from between the rings that form their bodies. flHE queens were received safely, and In fine con- dition, last Monday, Aug. 22d. One solitary — ■ attending bee in one of the cages was dead, but all the rest were as lively and bright-looking fel- lows as one need wish to see. Your method of ship- ping this time, merits my approval. I like the double cage, giving ample space for bees, and, best of all, the two bottles of water. Many thanks, my dear friend, for the pains you have taken to fill my order. You remember we have been trying for over 496 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Oct. a year, and at last, out of six queens sent at different times, we have received two in good condition. When I received the queen at the postofflce, at least a dozen men saw a sight they had never seen before— a queen bee— an Italinn at thnt! " Look a here, mister," said a by-stander, " you couldn't run after me fast enough down the steepest hill in all this country to give me a whole swarm of them blamed stingin' things you've goi over there in your yard; but don't you forget me when you get a gum full of them yaller fellers to sell, for I want 'em." You can no doubt infer that he had had some ac- quaintance with my belligerent blacks, and that he had read or dreamed something about the docility of the Italians. His remark led a listener to expose all of his knowledge of bee culture by asking how long it would take " that queen and them bees in there" to make a swarm. I made the crooked places straight to his mind as well as I could, and after let" ting all examine my bees to their satisfaction, I in- vited them to visit my apiary at their convenience, and retired to my home. Millaud Berky. Duck Creek, Dallas Co., Tex.. Aug. '.^5, 1881. Many thanks for your kind -words, friend S., for I sadly needed them when your letter came to hand. We have not, even with the double cages and double bottles, succeeded in all cases. See the letter below : — The bees arrived on the 25th, dead and dried up. If you can send bees on a two-weeks' journey, so that they will be alive when they arrive, do so; if not, why not say so? R. Beeton. Santa Barbara, Cal., Aug. 25, 1881. The above was a package of live queens, all in double bottle cages too. £ wonder if our friend who wrote it thinks our queens cost nothing, and that we make a practice of sending them that way all the time. We have got to try it again ; but with this herce drought we are having now, I really feel fearful it Avill be only to lose again, al- though we have many times this season sent them to California in nice order. THE (TPRIANS. "more about" friend HAYBI'RST'S "TEA-P\RTY." ?g^.^ELL, friend Root, I suppose I must stand up Wm and " speak my little piece" in regard to the Cyprian bees. While " Hayhurst's Tea-Par- ty " is quite extravagant, and was sent to you with- out my knowledge or consent, it will give the reader a pretty good idea of my opinion of the one bad point of the Cyps; viz., their vicious temper. The only experience I have had with them was with the imported queen which I sent you, and her progeny. I purchased this queen of friend D. A. Jones last summer, and have no doubt that she was one of his best, as he received $15.00 for her at about the time he had reduced the price of imported queens to from $7.00 to $12.00. 1 raised 10 queens from her last fall, 8 of which were wintered in my yard, the other two were sold. These queens were mated with Italian drones. I could see no difference between them and the pure Italians as to winter- ing qualities. We treated all our bees alike for win- ter, and they came out in the spring all in very near- ly the same condition. Very early in the spring, the imported Cyprian colony, as well as the other eight, " yielded to treat- ment " more readily than the Italians; but by the time the honey harvest and swarming season began, the Italians were fully up with them, both in numbers and stores. Friend Harrington is correct In saying that "they are great honey-gatherers." So are our gentle Italians. He says, "They work on red clo- ver." So do our enterprising Italians, who dig away at it when nothing better is at hand, and even lay up a surplus when black bees are consuming their stores. But they are not "the best-natured bees" I ever worked with. I used to be so egotistical as to think that I could handle, without trouble, ariij bees that gathered honey: my egotism is all gone now. Whj-, Mr. Editor, I would rather "go through" sev- eral hybrid colonies than one pure Cyprian; not that the hybrids are less inclined to sting when first disturbed, but a few puffs of smoke will send them head first into their honey, and, once gorged with this, they are no trouble. Cyprian bees, at home, never gorge themselves; they are always on the alert, can not be frightened, and the slightest jar sends Ihou-ands of them into the air, all ready to plant their stings in the first moving object thej' may see— the only remedy being to close the hive and leave the field to them for awhile. Now, when a fellow is running, without help, 3C0 colonies in the dollar-queen and pound-nucleus busi- ness (as I did during the busy season this year), hav- ing orders pouring in with every mail, customers, as well as bees, in a hurry, or during extracting time, when every minute lost means pounds of honey gone, it is not very pleasant to lose even ten minutes of the precious daylight for such a purpose. I can work all daylong without the use of smoke, with my pure Italians, the thermormtcr at 110° in the shade, and during the worst drought we have ever known, and have no robbing, no bees hurt, and scarcely a sting; while the worst slinging I ever had was from our imported Cyprians, duiing the height of the honey harvest, their hive crammed with loose honej% and I did nut kirk it over eitliir. We do not handle bees in our yard in that way, and I {irotest against the imputation. Another great objection to having such stingers about is the effect upon those who are so kind as to visit us. The last time friend Salisbury was at our house, while I was recounting to him my troubles, the tears rolled down his jolly face, not so much in sympathy with me in my misfortune, but because a Cyp had paid her " respects " to his nose. He didn't stay with us so long as we would have liked; and as his frisky white Pegasus trotted down the dusty road, I thought, "Alas! we shall have no more pleas- ant calls from friend S. until the last Cyp has disap- peared." Please call on us, friends; they are all gone now; and if the imported queen we had is a type of the race, they will stay away. E. M. Hayhukst. Kansas City, Mo., Sept. 9, 1881. Why, friend II., the Cyprian colony has not behaved so very badly in our apiary. They made only one visitor (who, by the way, is quite a bee man too), hunt shelter amid the lima-bean plantation. John, who was handling the frames, stood very still, right over the hive, and he did not get stung at all. We rather like to have one such col- ony, just to take the conceit out of some vis- itors that one meets once in a great while. 1881 GLEA2^I>s'GS IN 13EE CULTUEE. 41t7 UP^VARD VEISTIIiATION. ALSO SOMETHING ABOUT LEAVING THE UOXES OX ALL WINTER. SN the Julj' Gleanings you say: "There is, with- out question, a siguiflcance in these reports of " — ' favorable wintering, with an opening, or open- ings, of not too large a size, right over the cluster." In the August number you a«k: "Who ean tell us more about making them (bees) wax up every thing solid, and letting them be until May?" These are the two extremes of the question of successful winter- ing, and It would seem that the amount of testimo- ny, adverse or favorable, to the two systems, would determine their relative merits. To ascertain the truth, I have visited many of the most successful bee-keepers in this part of the country, and have questioned others regarding their success in winter- lug bees, etc. These are the facts as reported to me:— Mr. Patete had 35 in the fall, U in the spring; he used l)0x hives; part had openings through the top- board, and boxes set over them; in these the bees mostly survived; a few in hives of large size not \entilatcd, lived. Mrs. Kissel had 1~ in bo.v hives that had holes through the top-board, over which boxes set, not fastened down closely; thej' ail lived. Mr. Hofman, with similar hives, and treated in the same way, out of iO saved 18. His hives stood in the shade, and the bees were not Induced to fly only in the warmest days. Others with box hives not ven- tilated lost all, or saved a part, according to the de- gree of protection afforded by the l:)cation and size of the hive. Mr. Simpson, of Kulo, uses a frame hive 13 in. square and is in. in height, 9 large frames be- low, and small ones on top. He bored holes through the cover, leaving the small frames in the hives, and set boxes on, not fastened down. Outx)f 39, 30 lived. Another man, with similar hives similarly treated, met with similar results. Of my own, out of 163, 3 lived through; but of these, more hereafter. Some 30 more were kept in the precinct, with results va- rying according to location and size of hive. To the west of here, Mr. George Schoch, out of 83, saved 2. They were In the Quinby hive, properly cared for, as understood by the teachings of the bee .iournals, and as practiced heretofore with success; but without upward ventilation, and, to some ex- tent, shaded; a serious fault, I believe, either in Min- ter or summer. Mr. Wyant, in Langstroth hives, sulHciently ventilated to admit bees at almost any joint in the hive, wintered 17, all he had in the fall. A part of the time they were drifted under the snow. I also hear of another stock that wintered in a Langstroth hive with nothing on the frames. Mr. Bacon lives on the Missouri bottoms. He had 4" stocks in the fall; 33 lived through, and among them was one in a hive that was split from top to bottom, and spread apart fully 3 inches wide. Thej- had wintered in this hive, and with his others had been removed in April into his smokehouse, and left for several weeks; placed one above another until the waters of the Missouri subsided, when they returned to their summer stands without serious loss of bees. They were blacks. All along the course of the Missouri River, for hundreds of miles, similar means had to be resorted to, and in no case am I able to learn of serious loss resulting from their re- moval. Mr. Bacon's hives were box hives, contain- ing about 2300 cubic inches. He bored holes through I the top of the hives, and set boxes over them to be filled with honey; after removing the honey, the boxes were placed on the hives without fastening on, and the holes were left open. He had known for many years that bees wintered better with upward ventilation, and had always practiced it. Mr. Helfenbein had 13 stocks in box hives In the fall. All died but one. There was a I'^-inch hole through the top of this hive that remained open all winter; the others had no ventilation. Mr. Smith saved 13 out of 30 by wintering in the cellar. My own bees were in an exposed place, but cloths were spread OA-er the frames, and thick cushions laid on. The warmth, generated by the bees, was retained in the hives, and also the moisture. The former, it ap- pears, unnecessarily; the latter, very disastrously. If, as in the case of Mr. Bacon's split hive (which had also top ventilation;, sufficient warmth can be maintained through the excessively cold weather of a winter like the last, in which the temperature sank several times to oG-, what necessity is therefor cushions? In examining hives in March I found the bees all dead in 65 ten-frame American hives that fitted closelj', and were covered with the greatest care, when at the same time in the old large hives of poor manufacture and liadly fitting joints, the bees were alive; ami in these, along the side of the apiaries from which the prevailing winds blew, the bees were in better I'ondition than elsewhere— a circumstance indicative of an infectious disease. In large hives, the stench originating from the dis- ease is less concentrated, and, therefore, less viru- lent; and the combs at some part of the hive are generally clean, on to which the healthy bees, if any remain, will gcnerallj' remove. Out of upw.ird of 1100, six-sevenths vierishetl. •• 32:i in trame liivt- s. 5i lived; about one-sixth. 700 and over in box hives, 106 lived: about one-seventh. 56 fianie hives, ventilated through cover, 47 lived; about six-sevenths. '• 1.J5 in box hives, ventilated through cover, 67 lived: about one -half. •20 wintered in cellar, 12 lived; about three-Hfths. I regret that I am not able to give the dimensions of the various kiuds of hives, and the aretty near the Viallon candy; and as it is made Avithout heat, it is a xery simple and easy thing to do. Oliver Foster suggested the candied honey, after being drained, but the addition of the sugar, I think doubtless an improve- ment. To make it stay fast in the cage, it will probably need pressing into auger-holes, open at one side, similar to those in our latest Peet cage. 1!EE-STINGS AND RHEUMATISM. My age is 49; handled bees 8 years; had no rheu- matism before engaging in the business. My opin- ion is, that bee-stings make my rheumatism worse; indeed, I have thought it was the cause of it, and came near giving it up at one time on that account. I get several hundred stings during the season. I 1881 GLEA^rnGS IN BEE CULTUKE. .501 find Italians sting just as badly as the blacks, and the hybrids sting worse than either. The Italians are the most hardy, and the best honey-gatherers, and, taking all together, worth as much again as the blacks. Bees in Scriven Co., Ga., will make from 6j to 75 lbs. of honey and their winter stores; that is, if well attended to. J. W. Johnston, M. D. Scarborough, Ga., Sept. 7, 1881. Now, friend J., the above is rather a back- set on our plans for curing diseases by bee- stings. I wonder if such is not about the case with all kinds of medicines. What cures one man will kill another. Let us have the facts, no matter whose pet theories they spoil. MIST.'VKfiS OF POSTMASTERS. The smoker, catalogue, and receipt came all right; but I sent 50 cents for a bee veil. You gave a re- ceipt for a veil, but if you sent one it did not come. John McGregor. New Eagle Mills, Grant Co., Ky., Sept. 5, 1881. Now, friends, it would seem from the above that we must certainly be at fault, for it is almost an unheard-of thing for such an article as a bee veil to fail to reach its des- tination, if properly sent ; and so even I set- tled down to the conclusion that the clerks must be at fault, and would have no doubt told them so had not my eye caught sight of a postscript at the bottom of the letter, in another handwriting. Here it is:— p. S.— The bee veil has been overlooked. You need not send it. It was a mistake in myself that they did not get it. P. M. I presume postmasters are fallible, like other folks; and in view of it, shall we not be slow in deciding positively who is at fault y inserting queen-cells as soon as the queen is REMOVED. The proportion of cells torn down when inserted among mj' bees iimnrdiatdy, is eleven out of every dozen. M. Frank Taber. Salem, O., Sept. 1, 1881. This matter, like introducing virgin queens just hatched, seems to be dependent upon the yield of honey, and perhaps some other causes. At time's, scarcely a cell will be torn down, even when put in as soon as the queen is taken out ; at other times, they seem to be destroyed as above. It seems to me we should be governed somewhat by the number of cells M^e have on hand; if a great plenty that must be taken from the hives, put them in at once; and if torn down, try again ; but if you can manage so as to have your hives queenless a couple of days be- fore inserting the cells, by all means do so. The lamp nursery helps us very much in such cases, for we can leave the hive until the queen is really hatched, and by this time they will always accept the young queen. We have introduced young queens by the hundred this season, with excellent success, if we except the few weeks past, while we have had such a drought. UPS AND DOWNS IN WISCONSIN. As other ABC scholars report from time to time, and as I have not seen any report from Northern Wisconsin,! will modestly say, that In this town there were 50 swarms left on their summer stands last fall; only two came through all right; 23 were in a cellar, and had good ventilation; 13 wintered. I had 5 on summer stands, packed in sawdust; they came out with one swarm last spring, and I bought one more light one. Now I have from those two swarms 7 very heavy ones in good condition for winter. The most astonishing fact is, we have taken 500 lb3. of honey from them this season, mostly extract- ed, nearly all light colored. Now, friend Root, my bees are all Italians, and from that queen I bought of you ; they are the best race of bees for work in this vicinity, as others gathered only 100 lbs. per swarm. We appreciate Gleanings very much, and especially Our Homes; also Humbugs and Swindles. I should like to see you, and thank you for your prompt and fair dealings. Q. M. Torrey. Shiacton, Wis., Sept. 10, 1881. Many thanks for your kind words, friend T.; but I hardly deserve them all. I am glad to hear the queens we send out produce good working stocks, but I really do not be- lieve them any better "strain "than other people's bees, aside from the advantage that would probably accrue from importing as many queens as we do. Five hundred pounds from two colonies and their increase is rather '' astonishing." INTRODUCING BY FRAMES OF HATCHING BROOD. I was unwilling to risk introducing my queen as the cage required, so I put her into a nucleus and gave three frames of capped brood and honey; shut up entrance, and awaited developments. This morning about fifty bees had hatched, and among them, in striking contrast, gleamed the " yellow queen" and her escorts. I am delighted with my success so far, and shall let them fly to-morrow, and begin building up from strong stocks, and feed to start the queen laying. I am a " novice" in the business, and have taken full charge of 13 stocks hero; increased to28 and got quite a lot of surplus comb in 1-lb. sections. Isn't that pretty good for one beginning his " t-y-ties "? A NOVEL PROCESS FOR MAKING MATS, OR WATER- PROOF CLOTH FOR ANY PURPOSE. We are using, for coverings for frames, a cloth prepared by the following recipe, taken from the Scientific American. No insect will molest it, and it is a sufficiently water-proof covering for outside protection: Dissolve 8 oz. soap in a gallon of boiling soft wa- ter; thoroughly saturate the cloth; wring out, and soak the cloth over night in a solution of 10 oz. alum in one gal. of water; wring out; rinse in Clearwa- ter, and dry. We find this works well so far. A. D. Willis. S. St. Louis, Mo., Sept. 8, 1881. Your plan of introducing is usually safe, friend W., but it is expensive, because it is slow, and usually considerable trouble. Al- so, a good deal of brood is lost, usually, un- less you can get combs containing no un- sealed brood. A little care is required, also, to see that the queen does not leave the little cluster before enough bees are hatched out. The process you give of making cloth fire and water proof 'is the result of a queer chemical change ; and since you call attention to it, I have no doubt but that it would help to pre- vent the bees gnawing any kind of cloth. I think you are doing very well indeed, for the first season. 502 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Oct. HOW TO MAKE A GLASS FRUIT-CAN INTO A lEEUER. I send you a tin to put on a one or two quart fruit- can, with metal rim. Put it on with stick up ; this gives the bees a chance to get the feed when placed over the frames. Screw on the rim and try it. You can see when the feed is out. You can, if you like, put a M-inch board across the frames, 4 inches wide, cleated %, to raise it from the frames, and bore two holes for each can; you can then put four cans on one board, and keep the rest of the frames closed up. You could also make the pieces without the stick by using larger tin, and turning it up '■'» all around, like a cup. You see, after using the cans you can fill them with honey and sell them. Last fall I tried to winter 59 hives ; lost 28 ; that left 31; bought 10 for $40.00; 6 good, 4 poor; outof theSI, I had 10 good, 10 middling, 11 poor. From 41 1 increas- ed to 72 hives and 9 nuclei— 81 in all. From them I got box honey, 600 lbs., and extracted 1700 lbs., mak- ing 2300 lbs. from 41, and increased 81. I want to winter 80 hives this coming winter, and I will try to fix them so they will come out like the burning bush on the mount before Moses. The Lord bless you, brother Koot! J. W. Utter. Amity, Orleans Co., N. Y., Aug. 19, 1881. Many thanks for your kind words as Avell as for the feeder, friend U. This feeder is intended for the kind of glass fruit-cans that have a metal ring to hold the cover on. The piece sent is just a circular piece of tin with holes punched in it, and a piece of wood I square tacked across it with wire nails. This bit of wood prevents the collar from being screwed clear down, and so leaves a passage for the bees under it. The point made, that these cans can be afterward washed and sold with honey in them, is quite important, for the can is in no way injured, and the coa er is not used at all. THE L. FRAME. In Gleanings for this month, page 4:33, Mr. J. E. Pond, Jr., says that as far as he knows everybody ad- mits that the L. frame is the most convenient for operating. Please say to him that I for one consider it the most outlanilish, inconvenient, and unhandy frame I ever undertook to use, and I would not use them and the hives connected with if I could be fur- nished them free, and a dollar each for my extra trouble. I want a frame that I can set on a board without killing bees on the under side of it; one I can take from the hive with one hand; one I can carry three of, when covered with bees, in one hand, and not hurt a bee; and I can take from the brood- nest without removing the sections above. When he can do that with his frame, I will admit they are ap- proaching mine in convenience of handling. E. B. SOUTHWICK. Mendon, Mich., Sept. 3. 1881. "Why, friend S., one would almost think, from your vehemence, that some one was sticking a pin into you somewhere, or that you had got a i^atent-right bee-hive of your own, of some kind. Which is itV AN A B C SCHOLAR IN C.A.NADA. With much pleasure I lay hold on my pen to in- form you of our honey season in this part of Canada. Our season is now nearing the benediction period, but has been very good thus far. We started in the spring with one colony of common black bees. This one colony was tremendously cut up by the frost and steady winter, and a lack of sulBcicnt honey. We bought them as a first swarm, but found out afterward that they were a second. Last j'ear not being a good honey year, we fed them. Well, we started with one colony, or, rather, a nucleus, for they covered only dH frames in the hive. But through your valuable A B C we have run them up to 3 good, strong, healthy, active swarms; i. r., if we know any thing about large swarms. The first one came out late on Sundaj-, July 27, and the second one two weeks later on a Sunday morning. The last hive we supplied with 9 Langstroth frames, filled with Jones's Dunham fdn., and they now have as much honey as the other two. We have robbed them of about 6o lbs of fine surplus comb honey. Strict at- tention would have given us more, but we are farm- ers, and afraid of bees, so we contented ourselves with 60 lbs. Father, however, intends to make bee- keeping his business, if he lives to get old and child- ish. The season has been a good one in these parts. A short distance from here good strong colonies turned out 90 to 120 lbs. surplus extracted honey. Accept my thanks for A B C. It has been a world of good to me thus far. I will make better use of it next year. Good comb honey has been retailing here at from 20to35cts. ; extracted, 18 to 22; out of the groceries, at 30 cts. I could have sold 2000 lbs. at that figure. Wesley Baer. Bonmiller, Huron Co., Out., Can., Aug. 30, 1S81. REPLACING QUEENS SENT BY MAIL. I do not like to think people dishonest, but there is a person here who got a queen and put her in the hive, and was away for a while, and came back, and I believe she was dead. He sent for another. 1 do not know whether he got it or not, but I would not like to get them in that way. Ont., Can., Sept. 5, 1831. For obvious reasons, the Avriter of the above wishes his name withheld. I })resume it is a fact, tliat Ave who send out queens are sometimes asked to send another, when it is not right that we should do so. Sometimes the receiver reports that the queen came to hand alive, but feeble, and that although she lived a day or two, she was finally brougnt out of the hive dead. It may be a hard mat- ter to decide whether the queen died from the effects of her trip, or was killed in intro- ducing. In the former case, it was the ship- per's duty to make good : in tlie latter, the loss of the receiver. How shall we always decide such mattersV I will tell you my way: Recognizing that I am selfish, and will be very likely to see the whole transaction from a selfish standpoint, I try to take the other extreme ; and if I err, err on the side of do- ing a little more than my part, rather than the other. Accordingly^ I choose to stand the loss of all queens received by me, that are sufficiently alive to crawl about, but when a customer receives one from us in ap- parently feeble condition, I wish Jiim to put her into a hive as quickly as possible, and do the best he can for her; and then if she dies, as it seems to him, on account of feebleness, I will send him another. I well know how natural it is to have thoughts force them- selves into our mind after you have lost a queen, that she did not seeni very lively any way; l)ut I would far rather be wronged a little issl GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 503 than to run any risk of wronging anybody else. Money or property that comes from wronging another can never make one happy. "WINTERING ■\VITH SErTIONS ON. There is considerable said about wintering- with empty sections on. Empty boxes have been put on box hives here lor j^ears, and counted the best way to winter bees by many. I know of one box hive out in the orchard without any other protection, and sometimes durinut have not taken a pound since. Yesterdas' and to-day they have been bringing in some buckwheat honey, the first this season, and it seems quite a re- lief to lay the feeder aside, after having it in con- stant use for two months. Gleanings is a very welcome visitor, and is re- ceived each month with all the pleasure of an old friend. If, however, you are going to be responsible for all losses incurred through some scamp who manages to get an advertisement in Ule.vnings, and give ever.v fellow a smoker who says he has quit the use of tobacco (please send largest sized Bing- ham—eh?), and, I might add, take back all goods that we awkward chaps can't make go, I am afraid you can't keep it up to the present standard. By the way, how many of these smoker men, I wonder, have sent in their cash? C. G. Knowles. Portland, Meigs Co., O., Sept. T, 18S1. You give me more credit than I deserve, friend K. In my efforts to overcome the natural selhshness of my nature, I may have been injudicious, and possibly care- less ; but to guard against such mistakes, God has sent good kind friends like yourself to give me warning. The Tobacco Column has started quite a wave of reformation in the riglit way, and now a great many are breaking off 'without asking for any smoker, as you will see by the letters. Would you break such a public promise, friend K., if you had once given it V polled; how to qet it out of combs when in excess. In September Gle.\nings,H. A. Davis asks how to get pollen out of combs. I have done it by soaking the combs for a day in water, and then washing out with a force pump with a sprinkling nozzle. If he has not a pump, any tinsmith can make a tube 11 in. long, l'/2 diameter, with a strainer soldered in one end. Use a stick with a leather tacked around it for a plunger. I have one of them, and it works well, but not so fast as the pump. Stand the combs on their edges to soak them, or they may break out of the frames. The water to use with the pump needs warming a little, as cold water makes the combs brittle. The water must not be thrown in the cells with too much force, or it will knock the bottom out of the cells in new combs. After wash- ing, put the combs in extractor, and throw the water out, and they will soon dry. Please request Frank Boombrower to tell how he prepares his liees for winter, and hnw he gives them water. E. I). Howixr.. New Hampton, N. V., Sept. i:., 1881. Those who are troubled with an excess of pollen will doubtless prolitby jour ingenious plan, even though it is considerable work. A <'eE.4.P COMK CUPBOARD AND FUMIGATING KOOM. The time has againarrivcd when all surplus honey- combs should be taken away from the bees and stored away for another season. As many like my- self have not a nice tight room exclusively for combs wherein to hang thein, let me tell how I do manage. I procure a large dry-goods bo.v which has tight joints, and one side open; place it on end In the sliop, woodhouse, or even out of doors, if well cov- ered. On the inside I then nail cleats to each side, a little below the top; then make frames of lath, ripped in two, or something similar; each end of which rests on the cleats thus: In this frame I hang my honey-combs, and then slide it into the box on the cleats. Just below these combs I nail othercleats, on which I put frames the same, and so on down to the bottom of the box, each pair of cleats holding several frames of combs. Then having the box calked and waxed tight, I hang the door (formerly cover) on hinges with wire hooks to hold it shut. To the edges of the box where the door comes against it I tack a strip of cloth, so that when it is shut the box is almost air-tight. Thus not a very large box will hold several hundred combs. To fumigate them, remove a few combs from the front bottom tier; take an iron kettle, put in 3 or li inches of coal ashes; then about a pint of live coals; place the kettle where the comVts are removed; drop on to the coals about J4 lb. of sulphur to 40 cubic ft. of space; shut the door quickly, and in one hour every worm in those combs will trouble no more. Combs treated thus about June 1st and August 1st each year may be kept any length of time, I think. They should be aired for a day or so before being given to the bees. S. C. Perry. Portland, Mich., Sept. 1.5, 1881. Very good, friend F. We have just had quite a time with some of our combs, which we have taken from the bees in August and September, preparatory to doubling up. We placed them in the vacated house apiary, which shuts tolerably tight, but we have had to brimstone them three times, and I am afraid a sharp looking would find now and then a live worm yet. Your plan is right, and is sure to do the business, and better, perhaps, than a larger room. MAPLE SUGAR FOR WINTER STORES. Will it be safe to feed maple syrup or sugar that tastes and is somewhat " buddy," or perhaps a little sour, to bees? Having a quantity on hand, and bees requiring food, I wish advice before making the venture. Frank Chase. Springville, Erie Co., N. Y., Sept. 14, 1881. Maple sugar, if of e.xcellent quality, might do for wintering bees, but as it always con- 504 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Oct. tains more or less caramel, or burnt sugar, to say nothing of various gummy vegetable matters, I would not risk using it. Some of the worst cases of dysentery last winter were among hives fed" largely with maple sugar. As its price is nearly, if not quite, equal to that of coffee A, there would be no great advantage in it. Better use the gran- ulated. A correspondent asks what we think of the following, clipped from a newspaper : — CURE FOR RHEVMATISM. A German bee journal has an article recomraendingbee-stings as a cure for rheumatism. The wiiter's wife was afflicted with severe rheumatic pains in the arm. The husband held bees to her arm, allowing them to comiiletely empty the poison sacs into the muscles. The succeeding nitilit the lady, for the first time in six months, enjoyed a g'""! slitp- Tlie arm was swollen pretty badly the next day, but this riipidly decreased. No rheu- matic pains have since been felt l>y the lady. Other cases of similar cures are mentioned by this writer. As the average honey-bee is always ready to perform his part of the experi- ment, those inclined to tiy this remedy may do so with " neat- ness and despatch . ' ' Our friend will see by back numbers and volumes, that the remedy l;ias not proven equally successful in all cases ; still, enough favorable evidence has been furnished to at- tract considerable attention to the matter. A WORD FOR THE LOCUST-TREES, ETC. The bees have done pretty well this season. We came through the winter with 11; increased to 1.5; had only 3 natural swarms; one of them went to the woods. One stand of black."?, worked on Doolittle's plan, gave me one Simplicity hive, frames L. size, 8 frames to the hive, and IS frames of comb honey; all the rest did well, but this one made the most honc.y. This is a great locust country. Blue thistle and white clover also abound; but the weather was so unfavorable that they worked but little on white clover. They just roared on blue thistle for about 10 or 11 weeks, but they worked harder on the locust this year than I ever saw them work on it before. If you were here you would not have to plant a locust grove for your bees, for there are from 3000 to 10,000 trees within a mile of us, and last spring they were the most beautiful sight I ever saw. Little bushes not more than 5 feet high were just loaded with bloom; but it is generally said here that if the locust blooms heavily the bees will not swarm much. What can be the cause, unless the bees block the queen at this time? All of our bees are now in L. or Simplicity hives. The Holy-Land queen we got of you is very prolific, and although the bees are a little smaller than the Italians, I am inclined to think they will be good honey-gatherers. The Ital- ians, although they gave me only 60 or 80 lbs. of honey, they gave me two tine swarms that I would not like to take $15.00 for. Your Home Papers are a source of pure delight here indeed. I really believe 1 could get along now without Gleanings if it were not for them. Samuel D. Rutherford. Kearneysville, W. Va., Sept. 10, 1881. FRIEND CHURCHILL'S HAPS AND MISHAPS, AND HIS QUEEN THAT "CACKLED," AND HOW IT ALL ENDED WELL AFTER ALL. I must tell you what luck I have had with bees. Last spring I bought what I thought to be a good stock, but only one quart of bees and a lot of honey; as I did not know it would do to look inside a hive, I bought at chance. Well, it had no queen nor drones nor eggs, so I bought an L. frame of Mason, at Mc. Falls, and the bees on it, and bought a dollar queen from Massachusetts, which proved not to be mated, as it was quite early, and weather cold; but she soon got to laying in the two combs, on each side, next the division -boards; but one month passed, and the brood that was capped when I bought it did not hatch; then about that time I found my queen dead. But they soon had cells, 7 in number, started. Several bee-men said the brood was dead, so I went to J. B. Mason and got another frame and bees, and Italian queen, but they would not fall in love with her; so I put the frame with cells in another hive, and caged the queen with the new frame, and in two days let her loose, and she cackled and went to lay- ing in a short time. You see, I knew nothing of bees a few weeks previous, but I did not throw the old frame away; and don't you think they all hatched all right? and now I have one hive of 8 frames, and the other has six frames nearly full of brood and honey in L. frames, of yellow and clever bees. By the way, I borrowed some of your GLEANiNGS,which I read after others were all asleep, which gave me an insight. The care of bees is a great pleasure to me, and I mean to make it quite a business. I shall take a large swarm of Italians from the woods to- morrow, and hive them in L. frames, and fasten comb with strips of wood inside. Bees have swarmed well here this summer, I think. I forgot to say, that the frame that they said was dead hatched a fine yellow queen, and her bees are very fine and gentle. I have a good smoker, and look my bees over very often, and with care, and work slowly, so I know just how they are getting along. There are many old box hives about here, full of old black comb and moths. One man has one 15 years old, and has not taken a bit of honey nor bees from it, and the hive will divide itself, as it is nearly all moss, and leans hard the wrong way. Now, what is the use of such a course as that? I think I could have made a number of good ones, and had them Italianized, if I am only a new hand. You may put this in Gleanings if j'ou like, and I wish to know what kind of a bee-man you think I may be in time. E. P. Churchill. West Minot, And. Co., Me., Sept. 13, 1881. I think you promise very well for a bee- man, friend C'.; but, begging your pardon, I want to protest against you, or any one else, saying n queen was sent you that was not f eitilized. As queens often refuse to lay for a week or more after a journey, no one has any means of knowing ; and it is a hard im- putation against the honesty of the breeder. Will you not please bear it in mind, my friends? MOLDED FOUNDATION. The sample of "thin molded fdn. for comb honey" you mention on page 426 came from us, and was made upon our new plaster fdn. mold, the casts of which were taken from patterns of very perfect and thin fdn. received from C. Dadant & Sons. I be- lieve I sent you my price list, containing samples of both thick and thin fdn. I have used the Dadant style for both, but like the D. S. Given equally well for brood combs. My new metallic molds will work as rapidly and perfectly, I think, as the plaster. They are moistened by means of a pad made for the purpose. I hope to furnish them within two months. Oliver Foster. Mt. Vernon, Linn Co., Iowa, Sept. 19, 1881. 1881 GLEAi^^INGS IN BEE CULTURE. 605 QUEEH-CELLS NOT ALWAYS AN INDICATION OF QUEENLESSNESa. I have been wanting' to write to you before this, but was afraid j-ou would place mo Id the Qrowlery, ns I had nothln^f pleasant to write. I am one of your ABC scholars, and a poor one at that. I re- ceived 2 queens from Mr. Hayhurst, which I intro- duced all right. About fifteen days after, I found her In there all right, and the combs well filled with eggs. 'When I looked again the other day to see if her beej had hatched out, I found that they had started queen-ceils and one already sealed up, which made me believe that they had killed her. The other one Is all right. Now, what do you think made the bees kill their queen, after being In there about 18 days? F. It. Leifeste. Mason, Mason Co., Tex., Sept. 9, 1881. Friend L., your queen may be there still, all ri^ht ; for you will see, by back numbers, that it is not a very rare thing for bees to raise another queen while they have a good laying one, and colonies that will keep doing this are especially valuable. Whenever you Hnd cells started, with plenty of eggs in the hive, you may be pretty sure the old queen IS somewhere around. Jiees do sometimes, however, especially in the fall of the year, when little honey is coming in, kill a queen and rear one of their own, even after she has been laying a week or two. The only rem- edy I know is to feed them a little every day until all hands are in a prosperous condi- tion, and feeling pleasant and friendly. TOBACCO COLUMN. a HAVE used tobacco for years, and have con- cluded at last to accept your olTcr and quit; bo, send me such a smoker as you would use, and I pledge myself that, if I use tobacco again, to so In- form you, and at the same time pay you for the smoker sent me, and four others tobo given to some others who can be Induced to quit the filthy hnblt of using tobacco. It Isn't the smoker that I caro about — no, sirl I expect to see the time in the next 4 or 6 weeks when I would give a dozen smokers if I had not pledged myself. I expect nature to make a strong demand for the weed; but I mean to con- quer, and this promise to you, I think, will help mo, together with my pride in the power of my wlU. 8o, send along the smoker, and I will let that do my future smoking for me. J. E. Pond, Jh. North Attleboro, Bristol Co., Mass., Aug. 2, 1881. I*ertaliili>B to J3cc Culture. We respectfully solicit the aid of oar friends in conducting: this department, and would consider it a faror to have them »end ua all circulars that hare a deceptive appearance. The greatest care will be at all times maintained to pi-event Injustice Being done any one. I have been a slave to tobacco for over 30 years; have been a reader of Ole-VNixos 3 years. Some time in January I quit chewing, but have not quit smoking yet, but Intend to soon, with the help of Ood. I do not want you to send me a smoker to quit, but I thought it might encourage you to know that you were doing some good, even when you don't send Emokers. The Home Papers have helped me a great deal In my Christian life. They strengthen my faith In prayer to Almighty Ood. I know that God will answer our prayers if we pray arioht. Re- member me In prayer to God, and ask him to help me quit tobacco entirely; also every thing that is displeasing to him. Go on with the good work; and may God bless yoa abundantly. Is the prayer of your brother In Christ. David Pratt. And it does encourage me, friend P., more than you know, perhaps. I have, as I have often told you, felt that God was guiding this department, and your kind letter shows how he 13 guiding it. Jlold on to his strong arm ; look forward and up, and never look back, nor even tkinl- back. ^ RECEIVED some booksofa ctrtain N.C. Mitch- H ell, of Indianapolis. I suppose he would try me as he did many others. My father sent him $15.00 for a honey-extractor, etc., but received only a few old boards, worth 50 cents, as my brother has told me. I will send you a few of the Iwoks to let you know what Sir. Mitchell has to sny alx)ut you, and I hope you will answer the man in Gleanincs, from A to Z. In regard what Mr. M. says of queens, I have to say as much In/ai-orofyours. The tested queen re- ceived 4 or 5 years ago, and a dollar queen later, were real beauties in every respect; and the prog- eny of the dollar queen are red-clover bees In the l)e«t sense; very gentle, large, and Industrious. I am certain I would not give that dollar queen for a 115.00 queen of M., If tiis bees are no better than his writing. Our bees are doing well. P. Stephen Stesoeii. St. Melnrads, Spencer Co., Ind., May 19, 1881. Many thanks, friend t?., for your warm championship of my poor self. 1 do not be- lieve there is any need of any answer to ^vhat Mitchell says. His own actions are answers enough. It seems to me your fa- ther did unusually well in getting even old boards for his §15.00. AH of Jlitchell's cir- culars are sent to me as soon as out, by dif- ferent friends, and so are almost all other suspicious circulars in the bee business. $chs and Qum^s. nONET BEPOBT rOR 1881. €[^OMMENCED In spring with 20 colonics; In- tj creased to C3; extracted 163J lbs. comb honey; In sections, 100 lbs.; total, 1733 lbs. Used no separators with starters of pieces of comb. Have bought all my fdn. of H. A- Burch, of South Haven, for3year8, which proved satisfactory. Home, Mich., Sept. l.i, issl. J. CnxPicks. I have taken over U» lbs. of honey from my bees this summer, and biul only 4 swarms In the spring. New Woodstock, N.T., Sept. 16, •«!. O.aMoMa. We sold the rest of our honey last week, at 12 eta. — 9om e 4000 lbs. We got 105 1 bs. to t he hi ve. Strulhroy, Can., Atig. 15, '81. J. lltrrHERroRD. a good nECono. Please discontinue my name in the 11.00 queen line, as I have sold all I have to spare this fall. 1 have filled all orders up to date, and I wish to step out of the ranks till another season. If anybody has not received the worth of bis money from me, I am ready to make amends. L. W. Vaskirk. Washington. Pa., Sept 12, 18?1. .50G GLEAKIKGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Oct. nUTTER-WKED. Inclosed please find a package of seeds which we call butter-weed. It grows in abundnnce on our al- luvial meadows, blooming in the fall, and is the greatest honey producer thiir we have. Hknrv IUssf.'ct. Salem, N. J., Sept. n, 1881. I received a quocii in place of the missing one nil Friday last. T have her in the hive now: she was a beauty. I ha[. Hers was a funeral cortege, as her escort was dead. Her ladyship was the only survivor. At once I placed her in a queenless colony. Next morning, Saturday, found her out and balled. Kecaged her and fastened cage firmly to comb with transferring wires. Sunday yet in the cage; Monday morning ^jf'her bees in the cage, but no queen. I soon found r whose majestic step showed ^er royal lineage, ■*' showing a great fondness for their new mother ■ i persistent eSort to be near her. JAS. A. >y)liTE. orgiana, Brevard Co,, Fla., Sept. 5, 1881. IMPHOVEMENT IN APPEARANCE OF QUEENS AFTIR INTRODUCING. The queen came all right, but the bees with her were dead; have got her introduced all right, and she io a beauty. She is one-third larger this morn- ing than she was yesterday morning when she came. Pitt^ton, Pa., Aug. 13, 1881. J. 11. Mo,si«R. [[ have given the above to induce some of the friends not to be loo hasty in condemning queens when tirst rccei\cd, especially after a hard trip.l PROMPTNESS. I don't know that I want to be put into the Growl- cry, but I can't have any patience with those who advertise, and then are so very slow about filling their orders. 1 have ordered of five different par- ties who advertise in Gleanings, and in only two cases have they been decently prompt in filling their orders. I don't inlnd their keeping iny order one week; but where the time lengt hens Intof our weeks, there is certainly something wrong. Either they should not advertise, or they should keep a stock so fcey could fill their orders. Geo. A. Deming, - Amboy, 111., Auti: Hi, 1881. One of the queens was pure, the other hybrid. I bought five queens this season — rJ from you, as above, "i each from two other men. Four out of five hybrids. How docs it come? Are queen-rearers careless, or are black bees in the ascendency? Bees seem to be gathering honey fast, notwithstanding the drought. I think they get it from smartweed, iis there seems to be no other source. S. C. LyilARGER. (JangfS, Ohio, August ™'j, ISHl. II am sorry to hear so many dollar queens prove hybrids. Those wo haAC bought and tested in our own apiary seem to turn out more hybrids this year than ever. It is somewhat owing, perhaps, to the way In which every thing in the shape of ii bee-hive, that wintered thrnu>jh, has been saved and made the most (if.l K(iGS THAT NEVER HATCH. I send you a fine Italian queen; she began to lay on the 10th day, .Tuly 1st, 1881, in full colony, and has been layiug ever since, but iii)f an rua 'i(Sf/f', and not he that pounds unruly scholars, is greater than he that tak- eth a city. Why, oh why ! did I, during all that winter, forget my Bible and the kind teachings of my good mother V I can not lemember of going to church one single time that winter ; and I think it very likely that sermons were then distasteful to me. It seems to me that, had some good and earnest Christian taken me in hand just then, and talked to me kindly and firmly, it must have stirred within nie a better spirit. If there were any such, I do not remember them. Dear read- er, is there one in you,- neighborhood ? If not, are you ready to — Go, with the name of Jesus, to the dyin?. And speak that name in all its living power? Why should thy fainting heart grow chill and weary? Canst thou not watch with me one little hour? And are you ready to call them back with patient love (rather than horsewhips), as in the following V Not now; for I have- wanderers in the distance. And thou must call them in with patient love. From that day to this I have never learned whether the law the judge laid down was a fact, or only a little pleasantry for the time being ; but while I sincerely hope we have laws just so stringent, I pray God that his law may be so instilled into the minds and hearts of our teachers that it may shine out over a sinful world, and render it unnecessary that even one of the ijupils should ever need re- minding of this law of our land. The law did good; but oh, could I have been led to walk from that time to this, feeling the eye of Almighty God was over and above and around me, nay, rejoicing that such was the case, how much more might I have been worth to myself, my nation, and my God, in restraining crime ! Now, with what I have just told you in mind, and the lesson I have brought out, please go back and read those two letters again, I gave in the beginning of this paper, and see if you do not get some new ideas. What shall we do with crime, what shall we do with criminals, and, above all. how shall we stop iniquity in its first germs V It is quite likely that, if friend Baird had gone out to those turkey thieves, and read a chapter to them then and there, it would have done no good; but was there not a time away back when friend B. might have man- aged to read the Bible to them under fitting circumstances ? Are there no towns or small settlements near him where Sunday- schools may, or might have been organized V and is brother Baird, or you, my friend, in the habit of standing up in these schools, and reading the Bible to the boys and girls who will always be found ready to listen to this kind of instruction V Is it not in your line y ]Methinks it is in the line of every one who detests crime and wickedness, and hungers and thirsts after righteousness. It has been said, that, just as sure as we get another president who is as good a man as Garfield, just so sure will he be shot down. Who will do it V Show us the enemy, and a hundred thousand strong, if need be, will be in arms in an instant. Point out the man, or banded army of men. My friends, it is no man. In this case it was no banded army of men. It was simply Satan, or the inborn siu of the untrained and unsubdued human heart. .Just rally around Paul with our open- ing text on your banners, and you will have the enemy right before your face. On the coins of our land we read, Ta God ice trust ; yet I fear that in every little town in our land you will hear God's name taken in vain bv the boys of our streets. Is that loy- al V AVould it "be safe to curse our President in the same way ? and would it be worse to curse him than'to curse the God of our fa- thers y Is there not an enemy among us, at our very doors ? Is not cursing the God in whom our nation trusts, openly and on our very streets, one step toward shooting down the man whom our nation delights to honor? Rouse up, ye brave, ye strong of muscle and strong of heart, and come to the fight ; but let the blows be dealt within. Cease not the warfare, until we can pray, with David, — Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.— Psalm 51:7. A kind Christian talk with a 5'oung man or woman, now, may stop a fight in school a month hence, or the assassination of a pres- ident a few years hence, and possibly a great civil war a century hence. It will not do to wait until the fight has begun, or until just the eve of a crisis. Noiv is the appointed time: and, my friend, if your name is not already enrolled among those Avho " are on the Lord's side," for the suppression of the crime and wickedness in our land, I invite you, in his name, to come and enlist under his banner and commence the fight ; yea, this very day and hour. So light T, as not beating the air; but I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means that after I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected. 516 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Oct. THE BIJRCH MATTERS. QlINCE our last, a few more reports have ^) come ill f»f money sent for bees, and the followinc; have reported having re- ceived queens. I admire the way you propose to stand by the cus- tomers of your advertisers, if it is "unbusinesslike." However, I should not allow you to stand an3' thing I had sent Burch. But he has sent me my queens, and ended my account with him. What he agreed to send June :iOth, 1 received Sept. 10th. C. M. Bean. McGranville, N. Y., Sept. 12, 1S81. Mr. Burch mailed me 2 queens. J got them the 27th In good shape; only one dead bee. Please ac- cept thanks for kind words. H. Dickson. West Lima, Richland Co., Wis., Aug. 29, 1881. Some time ago I wrote to you concerning sojue money sent to H. A. Burch for Italian queens. The queens were received this morning. G. H. Pond. Bloomington, Hen. Co., Minn., Sept. 18, 1881. I received the queen all O. K. Mr. Burch has sent me two queens, which makes him and me all square. Wm. Paumenter. Bean Blossom, Ind., Sept. 16, 1881. I received a queen from H. A. Burch & Co. Cumminsville, Can., Sept. 22, 1881. A. Fbasek. I have not heard of any bees being sent out during the past month, of any money being returned, nor of any security l)eing given. Neither have I heard of any assign- ment being made. It would certainly be out of place for me to commence paying an ad- ^'ertiser\s bills before it has been shown he either could not or would not pay them him- self. No one, so far as I know, seems to think I am in any way responsible for those who were not subscribers to Gleanings. THE BEE-MEN OF CANADA. FRIEND in Canada sends the follow- ing, clipped from the Toronto Globe of .Sept. 10th : HONEY AND APIARY SUPPLIES. The advance made by this department during the last three years is prodigious. Up till the time of the establishment of the Industrial Exhibition the apiar- ists of Canada were represented in the Provincial and other large shows by the display of a few pounds of honey and wax, and may be one or two hives and a few supplies, the whole being usually accommo- dated on one shelf in the Dairy Building or else- where. Now the bee-men have a house of their own completely filled with articles which make it one of the most interesting sights on the ground. Several of the exhibitors have working colonies of bees on the ground, and by to-morrow a large tent, 30x44 feet, will be erected in which to display the various operations of transferring, packing for winter, doub- ling, and dividing swarms. Dr. Nugent, Strathroy, a gentleman who went in- to bee-farming last spring, shows about 3000 pack- ages of honey put up in attractive forms in glass, tin, and other cases. The clover, bass wood, and buck- wheat honey are put up separate. Dr. Nugent has now some 400 colonies, all left well supplied, not- withstanding that 15,100 pounds of comb and ex- tracted honey have been taken away from them. W. L. Wells, Phillipstown, makes a large show of extracted and comb honey, put up in a convenient form for sale; also beeswax, and a very simple and cheap wax-extractor, together with comb, comb foundation, apiary supplies, and a frame of bees, showing the queen, and the methods in which the insects work. M. Rainer, Cedar Grove, shows extracted honey and comb honey of singularly good quality. This ex- hibitor gets his comb honey built so evenly by his use of the slit zinc partition sheet, shown for the first time here last year. The slits in the sheets are of oblong shape, a little over nine-sixteenths of an inch long, and a little less than three-sixteenths high. This admits the worker tn'cs, Init neither the queen nor the drones can pass. Consequently, wherever this perforated divider is placed the queen is confined to the frames on one side of it. The frames to which the queen has access will con- tain brood, but the frames which she can not reach will contain honey only, which can be extracted without interfering with the brood. It is found in practice that, when the frames in the brood-chamber are filled partly with honey and partly with brood, the bees can be induced to carry the honcj' back- ward to the honey-chamber. This is done by the simple act of uncapping the cells and returning them. This being done, the bees carry the honey away, and put it where the bee-keeper wants it. Be- hind the division-board can also be placed the frames for the making of the comb honey, and it is found that, bj' the use of the perforated sheet for backing, the combs get the regular appearance to be seen in Mr. Rainer's exhibit. D. A.Jones, Beeton, makes a display of nearly 30,- 000 pounds of honey, principally in packages of dif- ferent weights; about half a ton of wax; sets of packing cases designed to carry small packages without waste of space; packages of graduated size arranged so that they can be returned empty in nests of six; comb foundation imported from the States, and also comb foundation made in Canada, the su- periority of the latter being plain at a glance; a cen- trifugal extractor, with a little improvement, so that it can be made to fit frames of any size; and all kinds of apiarian supplies. Mr. Jones has also si.x frames of bees containing pure-bred Holy-Land, Cyprian, and Italian bees; also crosses from the i)ne breed to the other. The cross between Cyprian and Italian is a very fine, strong bee. One nucleus contains an improved Italian bee, the outcome of constant selection and attention. There are also six colonies of bees complete, which will be handled and subjected to all the operations of the apiary for the instruction of observers. Boys, let's all go to Canada. CLEANmCS m BEE COUTURE. J^. I. I^OOT, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, MEDINA, O. TERMS: $1.00 PER YEAR, POST-PAID. FOR CLUBBING RATES, SEE FIRST PAGE OF READING MATTER. 3vgnE:xDX3Nr.iA., ogt. i, xbsi. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 51:7. -Ps. S. C. & J. p. Watts, Lumber City, Pa., send us a 6- page descriptive circular of chatf and Simplicity hives, with price list. Friend Oldroyd has succeeded in getting his inks in shape so they can be sent by mail, as a pow- der. See his advertisement, and send to him for a circular. We consider it a privilege to mail a sample copy of Gleanings to anybody in the world; so if you have a friend anywhere you would like to have re- ceive a copy, just write his name on a postal card and send it to us, and we will thank you for so doing. Four numbers of a weekly bee journal, under the title of The New England Bcc Journal and Home Ga- zettc have reached us. The paper is quite spicy, and has some good articles in it. Price T.'ic per year. Henry A. Poole, editor and proprietor. Mechanics Falls, Me. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 51? HONEY FROM RED CLOVER. Neighbor Dean has just been in, and now gives liis honey crop at 1000 lbs., instead of three or four hundred, as I gave it last month. About 350 of it is comb honey, and the rest is extracted. He said his bees filled sections right along in August, from the red-clover blossoms. Bees gather honey from red clover In Medina County, if they don't in other places. All who are intending to attend the National Convention, at Lexington Ky., Oct. 5, 6, and 7, will need to set about it as soon as this is in their hands. 1 see by the A. B. J. that Mrs. Lucinda Harrison proposes an impromptu meeting to be held in the Mammoth Cave, after the discussions are over. I should be very glad indeed to attend, but I have been absent so much this fall that it seems next to impossible, and we are now just in the midst of preparing our 300 colonies for winter. May God bless the kind friends who have written they would take nothing from mfi for the money they sent Burch. I do not want to ask release from any promise I have made; but such expressions seem to say that my attempts to reform existing e\'ils have been approved by both God and my fel- low-men. Truly can I say with David, "For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in thrir hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." Once in a while, when things do not please, some- body throws it up to me about the pretensions I make. My friends, if I have made pretensions I did not mean to; for in truth I am selfish, cross, and at times, I fear, crooked and hard to get along with. If there bo anj' merit in being grievously sorry for these faults and failings, when I look back and see them, I do not know but that I have that merit- Sometimes it seems to me that I must give up in de- spaii-, were it not for the comforting promise, " The blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin." bees to be killed. Is there anybody near friend P. who can take the poor bees and save them from death? Read:— I have .')0 stands of bees that I expect to kill. Tliey are in Diehl patent hives. If vou want them you ean have the comb and honey at Iftc per lb.', and pay me 83.00 for my hives. I will give vou the bees. Write at once. ((. N. Pil.iRES. Keiiipton, Ind., Sept. 24, 1881. Friend P., if you would leave out those patent hives, and give us just the bees and combs, we would be better pleased ; but even then the express charges would be a serious obstacle with us. Can not some of our readers near there save them? Bees will be " cash money " next spring. It were no more than just, to let our friends in Canada know they are indebted to Mr. Geo. O. Good- hue, Danville, Quebec, Canada, that we are enabled to use all Canada money and postage-stamps, at par. He has simply, for the sake of serving his country men, been doing quite u little banking business with us for over a year past, making no charge for his services. I presume he will scold at my making this mention, but I do not wish to receive credit for what belongs to another. If Queen Victoria's subjects are all like our bee friends in Canada, I could, with a whole heart, say with them, " God save the Queen!'' THE MICHIGAN SCFFEREBS. I PRESUME most of you have, before this time, done something for these friends. In our town, we have sent several large boxes of clothing, etc., and also some money. A few of our bae-folksare among the sufferers, and one letter is at hand, telling of a little boy who burned. May God help the parents in this great afHietion, and may he show us how best to manifest our sympathy. It seems these fierce flres are not alone confined to Michigan. See the follow- ing:— A terrible prairie fire swept away my apiary- Sept. 6tlt. Chaff hives burned lively. The apparent resources are cut off. but the unseen are still ainiiulanHiod is ■-de to trust in. --Althouyrh the figr-treeshall not blossom, neither -^hall f r\iit be on the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord."' Baxter Sprinfcs. Kan., Sept. S."!, 1881. C. D. Wright. I hope, friend W., it was not a great many chaff hives that were burned, and that you have not lost all your bees. Truly, the unseen resources of the great Giver are never cut off. PREMIUMS FOR EARLY SUBSCRIPTIONS. | Everybody who sends $1.00 for Gleanings for i the year 1883, during this present month, may have • any article on the 15-cent counter as a premium for so doing, providing he comply with the following conditions: You are to state the dollar was sent in accordance with this notice, tell what article you want, and the amount of postage. Those who have remitted before this reaches them, for 1882, can have the premium by calling our attention to it, and sending the postage. The l.'> cents can be used for articles on any other counter, if you choose; but if wanted by mail, be sure to send the postage. In November, the premium will be from the 10-cent counter, and In December, from the 5-cent counter. Friends, when you order honey-labels, please write out exactly what you want, or send us a sam- ple label of what you had fixed in your mind. We will send you package of samples free of charge to select from. If you do not take the trouble to do this, but say simply, "Send me some honey-labels," you will have to take whatever the printers see fit to give you. One friend, in complaining, says he should think we might have known he didn't want labels for extracted honey, and I presume we should, had we recollected all his correspondence. At the very low prices we furnisli them, the best I can do is to hand your letters to the printers; and if you do not tell them just what you want, I do not know how 1 can take them back. We are your servants, and are, also, really anxious to please; but I do not see how we can, unless you give full and plain or- ders. Cut out the size you wish, then write out with a pen every word and figure you want on it, and I assure you we can please, in quality of work as well as promptness. THE OHIO STATE FAIR. As our Ohio people saw tit to appoint me one of the judges on honey and apiarian supplies at the State Fair, I thought best to attend. 1 am happy to say that the exhibits were very fair, and I enjoyed very much the duties assigned me, more especially as my co-worker was the Rev. Mr. Ballantine, who gives us the excellent letter in Our Homes for this month. The third one on the committee being ab- sent, we picked up a bee -man to assist. The pleas- ant part of the whole of it was, that all parties, so far as we knew, were perfectly salisfled and pleased with the awards. I met and made many new friends at our capital, and came away feeling happy, be- cause I had known and seen more of Ohio and our 518 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Oct. Ohio people in two or three days, than ever before in my life. Almost the only sad thing I saw at the fair was the long row of beer-barrels, with Ohio boys standing behind them, ready to serve anybody who had the requisite nickel. Is it possible this state of affairs is to remain thus in our beautiful State of Ohio? To make the said barrels more at- tractive on a hot day, huge blocks of ice surmounted them. Plenty of iced drinking water was found on all parts of the fair grounds, and every thing con- ducive to the comfort of the 75,000 whom I am told were in attendance. I do not know what the cus- tom may be throughout our land, but I thank God that no beer is sold openly on the grounds of the Medina County Fair. WHAT A POUND OF BEES WILL DO IN A SEASON. When in Michigan, I made a note of what friend Hunt had done with two packages of black bees, each containing a pound, and a black queen. I lost the memoranda, but if I recollect aright, each built up a good colony, and gave a swarm; and when I was there the whole four were storing honey in sur- plus boxes. Perhaps he gave each a couple of frames of brood, but I am not certain. 1 think he purchased them in May. It seems a little strange that a pound of bees and queen should amount to more than a whole swarm ordinarily does, but many reports seem to indicate that they have done so dur- ing the past season. I can think of no other explan- ation, than that the owner took more care and pains with them, just because a pound of bees in a wire cage was a sort of new thing, and a curiosity, as it were. You know it has been said that Italians pro- duced the great results they have, just because they were a new thing, and received extra care and atten- tion. Friend Hunt's success with the "black lbs.," would seem to encourage this idea. I presume many of you remember the great things that used to be done with a single strawberry plant of some wonder- ful new kind. Moral:— Just take the bees and plants you have already, and make believe they are some new, won- derful kind; and if your faith (and energy) are sulB- cient, you will find tltey really are. SQUARE MEN. My friends, I am not only willing, but glad, to serve you in any way in my power, even to advanc- ing money for you in a contingency, providing I know you are square and true, to the extent, if you should die, or meet with any other misfortune, your wife, mother, grandmother, or any or all of your re- lations, would have respect enough for your bright name to see that every thing was straightened up, "square" and true, right on the spot. There are such men among you, and, I repeat, it is a pleasure to me to advance money to them, on a few days, of course, or recommend them to others, or to give taem assistance in any way. Well, other folks are wanting to know who these square men are, and sometimes the square men ask me if I will please say to somebody that I know them, and know they are square. Well, now, I have been thinking what a nice thing it would be to have a list of the straight ones, and also a list of the crooked ones. Let it in- clude, say, every one among our bee-men who ad- vertises any thing for sale at all. It is not to tell how much a man is worth, alone, but what his hab- its are; for we have those in the ABC class, and in their teens, who are more prompt and true than some who are worth their thousands. TAKING BEES THAT ARE TO BE BRIMSTONED, TO FEED UP FOR^ WINTER. Many are asking if they can take bees that are of- fered as a gift, or at a low price, and build them up now by feeding. Yes, sir, you can do it every time, but you must be about it at once. If this journal reaches you after dark, and you have colonies that are weak in bees, out of stores, and out of brood, give them a feed of something before you go to bed, and then have them taking feed continually, for the next month. It is of the utmost importance that you improve every hour of warm weather. You all know by experience what it is to try to feed during such weather as we had last April. While it is warm with warm nights, feed will do wonders; but you want to have it all over, before it gets to freez- ing. Feed until the combs are full and bulging, and little bits of wax are stuck on top of the frames, and all over the hive. After you get the queen to laying well, do not take out the frames any more until next May. But let them build it all up solid just as they have a mind to. Feed granulated sugar, if you can; if not, coffee A. Cheap yellow sugarwill sometimes answer, but it is very much more apt to cause dys- entery. It will perhaps take 25 lbs. of sugar to feed up a colony thus, having no stores, but it is cheaper to give them the whole 25 lbs. and have them come through strong, than to stop at 15 and lose bees and sugar too. You want to feed until you get them " hiioming." SEPARATORS, OR NO SEPARATORS. OuK neighbor Shane has had the most of his comb honey made in the combined shipping and honey crate (shown in our price list), without separators. The crate is taken right from the hive, and carried to market, without anj' repacking. The saving of labor by so doing is of course immense; and as his honey is straight enough to bring 24c per lb., whole- sale, it certainly can not be very bad. I believe all hands admit, too, that we get quite a little more honey, when the bees can till the whole case with solid honey, just as they naturally do, without any separators of any kind in the way. The great draw- back is, that you must leave the case on the hive un- til CA-ery section is scaled; or at least it is a great deal more trouble to select the first-capped sections, and get them into a case, without having one sec- tion mash into its neighbor. It seems much a ques- tion of the time the bee-keeper has to devote to the matter. Another thing: you must use separators, if you expect to glass each section. If I am correct, sections glassed are in some disrepute just now, be- cause the public object to paying for glass at the same price of honey. We have sold a great quanti. ty of these cases, to be used without separators, this season, and I would be glad to have reports from them. We have bought tons of tin for sepa- rators. Shall bee-keepers keep on buying them? I once said I did not want any more section honey built without separators; but it was before we got up the case mentioned above. How is it, friends? Let us hear your different experiences. I believe friend Heddon has discarded separators. We have to-day, Sept. 2Sth, 4419 subscribers. Our list seems to "stick" this year, when we get above the foyrth thousand. 1881 GLEANmGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 523 Contents of this Number. INDEX OF DEPARTMENTS. niack List — Bee B-Jtaiiy 53fi Kee Entomology 537 Blasted Hopes 557 Cartoon — Editorials 56fi Heads of Gra,in old Honey Column 570 Humbug-s and Swindles — Juveni'i' Department 5:i7 Kind\\' •• Is from Customers'is:) Ladies' "I'partment 559 Limch-R'om — Notes and Queries 558 Reports Encouraging 557 Smileiy 537 The Growlery 530 Tobacco Column 565 INDEX OF HBADS OF GRAIN, NOTES AND QUERIES, AND OTHER SHOUT ARTICLES. Alley's Italians 549 I Honey, Thin, why it does Ants in Florida 553 Not Sour in Hive 551 Another ABC Scholar 555 1 Honev from Smartweed 5tO Atmos. Feedei-s, a diflicultv with n.'ii; Banner Apiary S'iri Bees, Pound of in June .55,s Bees, Holy -Land .558 Bees Balling their Queen 554 Bees, Taxing 519 Bees and Grapes 528, .■)47 Bees on a Rampage .531 Bee-Caves of Texas. 544 Big Red Clover for Honey.. 540 Boxes, Side-storing .5.58 Buckwheat and Stings ,549 Caging Virgin Queens 54fi Candy for Bees 538 Cages, Large v. Small.'. 54<< C Sugar v. A 550 Compar. Value of Sugar and Honey for Feed .547 Colorado, One Swarm in .548 Cro.ss Bees from Imp. Q"n...5.52 Cyprians Hard to Handle .552 Cyprians Ahead .5.59 Credit Side of Humanity. . . ..508 Comb-Holder. A New .529 Comb Crate 2 Tiers High. . . ..5.55 Dadant on Foundation 541 Dean ' s Report .549 De Worth '^s Pert'. Machine.. 5.59 Division-Boards .541 Disheartening .547 Doolittle's Report .520 Fi'agments from a Scholar. .532 From 9 to 20, and H ton of Honev 5.52 Flour Feeding in Fall 553 Fdn. Without Wires 553 Gallup and his Ranehe 539 Good for an A B C Scholar. .651 Good For a Sm.all Venture. ..551 H. A. Burch&Co .508 Hayhurst's Letter .527 Honey in New Brunswick. . ..559 Honey-dew Not Gathered ... .559 Honey f*- Shipping Bees... 5.50 Honey from Cotton •5.5S Honey, Ext. v. Strained 550 Shall We Winter? 542 Household giicens 546 Hurrah lor Texas! 558 Inforuiation Wanted 5,51 L. Frame, The 536 Ladybirds on Spider Pl't.. ..5.50 JIai-king Wt. on Cans 5.59 Men-vbanks .560 filler's Report 5.34 Neighbor H. 's Letter .527 No Brood nor Eggs in Oct.... 535 Patent Hives 528 Plea for Gloves and Veil .5.54 Pollen 558 Postmasters. Stirring Up. . .5.59 Pollen in Winter 529 Queen Flying 27 Milles .5.50 Queens. 2 in a Hive .554 Queen, An Uneasy 555 Queens Killing Workers 556 Queer Ways Bees have of Consuming .Stores 550 Questions from a Scholar. . .543 Rapp . or Winter Rajje 553 Room Wanted in Smilery. . .548 Square Men 531 Saw-set, A New .545 Still Hopeful 548 Scrapei', A Handy 549 Stings and Rheumatism 554 Sections, 1-lb, v. 2-lb 5.50 Scotland 5.58 Sending Gl. without Orders 508 Smokers. Troubles with 50C.567 Trans . in October 5.55 Ventilation, I'pward, . . .548, 551 Waterbui-^' Watches 569 Water for'Bees 549 Waste-Basket. Our .5.55 Wakefield ' s Queries 545 What a good Col. is Worth. 557 What two Hives did 550 White's Report 533 Wintering and Ventilation.. 5.35 Wireweed 550 Yellow Bees from a Black Queen -554 I This Case Weighs ib.. I Contents Weigh ib. — oz© Total, ^&s oz ■X*£tJ'otic© ! This honey will candy, or become white and hard, as soon as it becomes cool, or cold weather begins, and this candying is, in fact, the best proof of its purity. To restore it to the liquid form, set it in a warm oven, or on the reseiTOir of the stove, removing the stopper so it will not ooze out. When it is all melted, remove and cork again. It sealed up while quite hot, with a cork dipped in melted wax, it will usually not candy again. Some liquify jt by placing the bottles in hot water. To prevent breaking the glass, let the bottles rest on a thin strip of wood. Either of the above labels, printed on gummed pa- per, will be furnished at 10c per 100, or $1.03 per 1000. If sent by mail, 2c per 100 extra. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. CDCC I A sample copy of the NEW ENOLAND BEE rif bC I JOUENAL. H. Poole, Mechanic Falls, Me. Bee-Keepers' Student Wanted. Bee-keeper must bo experienced, and thoroughly reliable. No person using tobacco or cigars need apply. Address S. NUGENT, "Linden Apiary," lid Strathroy, Ontario, Canada. FOTt SALE. A Barnes Foot-Power circular and scroll-sawing machine, all in complete running order. Price, i3t). 11 H. L. Richmond, St. Johns, Olivet Co., Mich. WONDERFUL AMERICAN EYE OINTMENT. R. A. LABAR, Allentown, Lehigh Co., Pa. Sample by mail, 10 cents. lid Names of responsible parties will be inserted in any of the following departments, at a uniform price of 20 cents each insertion, or $3,00 per year. $1.00 Queens. Names ingei'ted in this department the first time with- out charge. After, 30c each insertion, or $3,00 per year. Those whose names appear below agree to furnish Italian queens for $1,00 each, under the following conditions: No guarantee Is to be assumed of purity, or anj'tlilngof the kind, onlythat the queen be reared from a choice, pure mother, and had commenced to lay when they were shipped. They also agree to re- turn the money at any time when customers become impatient of siich delay as may be unavoidable. Bear in mind that he who sends the best queens, put up most neatly andmost securely, will probably receive the most orders. Special rates for warranted and tested queens, furnished on application to any of the parties. Names with *, use an imported queen mother. If the queen arrives dead, notify us and we will send you another. Probably none will bo sent for $1.00 before July 1st, or after Nov. If want- ed sooner, or later, see rates in price list. *E. W. Hale, Newark, Wirt Co., W. Va. 2-1 *A. I. Boot, Medina, Ohio. *H. H. Brown, Light Street, Columbia Co., Pa. 7tf *E. M. Hayhurst. Kansas City, Mo. 1-12 *Paul L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, La. 7ttd *D. A. McCord, Oxford, Butler Co., O. 1-13 *S. F. Newman, Norwalk, Huron Co., O. 7tfd *\Vm. Ballantine. Sago, Musk. Co., O. "i tfd *C. B. Curtis, Selma, Dallas Co., Ala. 6-11 *T. W. Dougherty, Mt. Vernon, Posev Co., Iad.T-12 C. H. Deane, Sr., Mortonsville, Woodford Co., Ky. 8tfd Hive Manufacturers. Who agree to make such hives, and at the prices named, as those described on our circular. A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. P. L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, Iberville Par., La. Itfd S. F. Newman, Norwalk, Huron Co., O. Itfd J. F. Hart, Union Point, Greene Co., Ga. 4-3 KIND WORDS FROM OUR CUSTOMERS. QUEENS TO CAIiIFORNI.\. The four queens came to hand In nice order. Ventura, Cal., Aug. '26, '81. R. Wilkin. I am well pleased with my Clark's cold-blast smok- er; would not give it for four of the kind I formerly had, although costing considerable less. Fat Kennell. South Gates, Monroe Co., N. Y., Sept. 22, 1S81. The dozen glass-cutters are " boss." I cut all my glass with one, and it cut the last one as well as the first. I don't think I need a diamond now. The labels are nice, D. G. Webster. Blaine, 111., Sept. 20, 1881. I have just finished the 10 hives and find every piece all right. The Ui lb. scales are just the thing, could not do without them, all that have seen them are surprised at the low price. Freight on the hive and scales, $3.37, which I think reasonable. Claude S.mith, Norwich, Chenango Co., IT. Y., Oct. 19, 1881. 52-1 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Nov. Roney-pails crnne all risht. I am well pleased with them. Thanks for promptness. A. A. Parsons. Avon, Ind., Sept. 34, ISSl. I have received the ABC book of you, whi«h I sent for. I am surprised at the beautiful way they are bound, and don't see how you can doit so cheap- ly. Please accept ray thanks. J. E. Todd. Unadilla, N. Y., Sept. U, 1881. Inclosed tind $10.00, for which please send 3 more of those Waterbury watches. The one I ordered the 20th came to hand "the 2od. I can't see how they can be sfild for that money, if they are all as prood as the one I got. J. C. HossLEU. Moultrie, Cjlumbiaua Co., O., Sept. ~*T, 1881. You are very kind to offer to pay damage on smoker, but the expense of repairs was small; be- sides, 1 think your customers can afford to stand damages once in awhile, as you sell your goods so low. Clarendon But.man. Plymouth, Penobscot Co., Me., Sept. 3, 1881. The watch is a wonderful piece of mechanical skill. The whole of its internal arrangement turns with the; minute-hand, and if it continues to work as it now dofs, it will be one of the most remarka- ble productions of this remarkable age. Wellsville, Mo., Oct. 10, 1881. .1. T. Stemmons. KNIVES BETTER TII.\N CIRCUSES. I ani a 14-year-old boy, and I want a knife. I bought one from you last winter, and I lost it. and I want another. My pa gave me ol)e to go to the cir- cus to-day, so I changed my mind, and send you the 50c for a knife. H. E. Bowen. Custer, DeKalb Co., Ind., Sept. 7, 18isl. The queen I ordered from you about the 10th of this month I received in less than three days from the time I sent for it, which was much sooner than I expected it. I introduced her according to direc- tions, and she was received in good shape, and is do- ing linely. The hive is well tilled with brood to-day, Ang. 2i)t'h. J. Q. A. Walker. Union City, Erie Co., Pa., Aug. 29, 1881. The bill of goods was received O. K. a few days ago, for which please accept thanks. The lace scis- sors, little plane, and, in fact, every article is all that one could wish, and much better than any thing we can get of the kind for the same money in this "Sunny South land." Bees arc workimj gloriously. Allan D. Laughlin. Courtland, Ala., May 24, 1881. We like the scales, "The Favorite," ever so much. The selected tested queen received of you last May 1 put with two frames of hatching brood; filled up the hive with empty comb as needed. They swarmed twice, besides giving some surplus honej'. 1 also took out several frames of eggs for queen-raising. Looking for her a week ago I found her not, but a young queen instead. From 20 hives I will take TOO lbs. extracted, and 100 lbs. comb honey. Mrs. CnAS. Faville. South Wales, N. Y., Sept. 19, 1881. The carpenter's pencil came to hand last night; and all the other goods ordered, including matching- planes and grate for smoker, have been received. All are very satisfactory, and in good order, except lamp-shade, which was crushed and broken in the mail. But never mind. I sent for it more from curi- osity than necessity, and hardly expected to get it safely through. Here they charge $3.00 for the same kind of matching-planes which cost me only $1.65, even when registered. Wm. Muth-Rasmussen. Independence, Inyo Co., Cal., May 21, 1881. THE HUNTER SIFTER; ONE OBJECTION FOUND TO IT AT LAST. I received the crank sieve, but I am sorry to say it is not what I want. 1 wanted a sieve to sift medi- cine. This will not answer, and I should not like it to sifttiour. The object in sifting flour is to get out the worms; but this thing will grind the worms, and the biscuits would be equal to Liebig's extract of meat. I have tried to sell the thing, but it is no go. I will return it. V. Leonard. Springfield, Bradford Co., Pa., Sept. 5, 1881. PAPETERIES. Where on earth did you scare up that atrocity which you have christened " Papeteries"? (See Cat- alogue, p. 32.) Had you not better sharply mark the little chap, say with the policeman's star, lest his own mother should not know him? Jokingly, Koshkonong, Wis., Oct. 17, 1881. D. P. Lane. [/didn't christen it at all, friend L.; it is the name the paper and envelope manufacturers give to a little box of stationery. I do not know whether the pretty pictures on the lid of the box have any thing to do with the queer name or not ; but some jvay they seem to please, especially the small ones for the juveniles.] You see. friend Root, my showing your double-end- er files has sold some more for you, and handles to boot. The other goods came in very nice order. One of the smokers I sold the next day after I re- ceived it, to a brother bee-keppcr. I have sold an- other one to-day, and my old Simplicity .The scales and feeders arc for myself. I had apair of the Little Detective scales, and I sold them; 1 want a pair that I can weigh hives on, and in fact every thing, even to " the wife," if I wish. R. P. Lovejoy. Greig, Lewis Co., N. Y., Sept. 26, 1881. LThanks, friend L. There will be no trouble at all in weighing the "wives" as well as bees, on our large scales, if they don't weigh over 244 lbs., and it seems to me any woman might be satisfied with that limit.] I don't know what is the matter, but the goods we have got of you have given satisfaction in every re- spect. We have filled every order for queens, and have given satisfaction so far as we have any knowl- edge. If there are any of our customers that are not satisfied, we will try to satisfy them if they will let us hear from them. Mr. Johnson and I have in- creased our bees to 65 stands from 35, some of them very weak. T. S. Hall. Kirby's Creek, Ala., Oct. 6, 1881. . [It may be urged by some, that the above looks a little like free advertising; so it is, friends, and I shall be most happy to do the same sort of free ad- vertising for every one of you. I can with a clear conscience do almost a,ny thing for those who give satisfaction to theic patrons: but you do not know how it pains me to hear advertisers say unkind things of those who have been so kind as to send them their money and their custom. How is it, friends? As the season closes, can you say, with a clear conscience, that every one with whom you have had deal, is satisfied, so far as you know?] KIND WORDS FROM A COAL-MINER'S BOY. What in the world did you send me your Glean- ings for 3 months for? That 25c was for postage on the smoker you were fool enough to give me for not using tobacco, and I shall not use it, if 1 know it, any more. Now, I intend you to have your pay as soon I get the money, because you have enough to pay out for nothing. I think that some try to take the advantage of you. Friend Root, I feel as If you were a very near friend of mine, and can't help it. I would like to write you a long letter (I have so much to say), but I can't, because my learning is poor. I never went to school since I was 8 years old. I am a coal-miner's boy who never drank whisky, and now I have a little'farm, and a good locality for bees, out of my hard earnings. I never took an oath in my life; never was before judge or jury in any manner, and will try not to be. 1 would like to have some of your profanity cards to give the boys in our shop. I am working in C. M. Crandall's toy shop, as engineer, until I finish paying my debts, and then I will try bee-keeping and queen-rearing. When I was 12 years old my father got killed two feet from my side, in the mine. I was a door boy at the time; father was the mine boss. My eldest brother was near at the time. It was In 1863. Brother went to the war, and left mother and me and four little ones, so that is the reason I never could go to school, and I have often sat down and cried when I bav(! seen other boys going to school, and I had to go in mines to dig coal. Whf'U I was 17 1 was a miner, and at that age I have handled 19 tons of coal in one day, with the pick and shovel. What would a boy think to-dny to see a boy going in the mine with his lamp and book? Ah, Mr. Root, I learned to read in the mine. This is from one who loves to do risrht. Robert J. Thomas. Montrose, Pa , Sept. 0, 1S81. GLEANINGS BEE CULTUI\E Devoted to Bees and Honey, and Home Interests. Vol. IX. NOV. 1, 1881. No. 11. A. I. ROOT, I I Publisher and Proprietor, \ Published Monthly. Medina, O. \ EstaUishecl in 1873 r TERMS: Si. 00 Per Anxvm, in Advance; I 2 Copies for Si, 90; 3 for 82.75; 5 for 84.00; 10 I or more, 75 cts. each. Single Number. 10 cts, -j Additions to clubs may be made at club I i-ates. Above are all to be sent to OSE post- I OFFICE. Clubs to different postoflices, not ' [ LESS than 90 cts, each. NOTES FROITI THE BANNER APIAKY. No. 2-1:. APIS AMERICANA. fHE following- letter was received from friend P. L. Viallon, and, tbinklnjr it "too good to ■ keep " all to myself, I take this method of re- plying:— f"niExn HUTCHIXKOX:— .\s .vou are a queen-breeder, like my- self, and knowing that you are of that class that will tell the tiaith in s])ite of all. I thousrht T would ask your opinion of tke Apis Americana, or. rather, the American improved Italian bees. 1 would say yoiir experience, but I am not aware of your exper- imentinj; in this line. I u.se the word opinion, as yoii have been sendinc: queens to many, and j'ou certainly must have received reports from the maiority. so as to be able to compare your (lueens with the imjnoved queens reared imder the swarming impulse, etc. Xow. for my part, I have experimented upon this subject for several years, and I have come to the conclusion that it is an easy matter to degenerate bees, and that there is no improvement to be made on the daughters of selected im- ported mothers. Since 1876 I have been importinsr queens from Itab'. I have never imported more than two .years from the same district, and although I h.ave paid extra to have queens selected, I must say that at least one-half of the imported queens arc not wortji breeding from, hence the outcry against imported queens. But when one selects the best queens from the better half, to breed from, then from these queens he can rear queens that are as pood, if not better, than the great Ajjis Americana. Now, I do not .sa.y this because I am prejudiced, but give it as the conclusion that I have arri%'ed at. after actual and laborious experiments. You know very well that it is cheaper and less trouble to breed from homebred mothers; but as I have foimd my bees to be a little less energetic after two or three generations. I have determined to bleed only from im- jiorted mothers of my own importation, as then 1 can select what I want. I do not rear queens by anj- improved process or principle, but have the cells built in moderately strong colonies, and hatch them in nuclei. Sometimes, when there is a press of business, and for want of stronger colonies. 1 have had some cells built in very weak colonies, and, though the cells are few, I have had just as fair and as good queens; which lias often made me thinic that many of the theoiies advanced are — well, only theories. Now another case: In examining a colony last spring, I found it to have a queen as small as a worker, probably a little longer, but smaller in diameter. I expected to replace her in a few days, but, not having an.v queens to spare, I left her, as she was laying well, until the latter part of .June, when, in going to re- l>lacc her, 1 fuvrnd that she had been superseded, and that her daughter was as fair and large a queen as any I have had, and she has turned out just as prolific as any queen can be. Now the question is. Is it safe to breed from this queen! I think not, though she is what any one would call a selected queen. But then, I believe a little in D.anvin. Now about those rearing queens and claiming that they are mated with selected drones. I know that we can have colonies with selected queens rear a great many drones, and the proba- bilities are that manv of the queens will mate with these choice drones; but how can a man prevent his other colonies from rearing drones! and if he has a neighbor apiarist, how can he control the production of drones in his apiary! If everj' colony HI the vard has been deprived of every particle of drone comb, it is astonishing to see the number of drones that will be reared. Unless a man has only a few colonies, and is isolated for several miles from other bees, and then gives a thorough examination when required, hosv can this selection of drones be accomiilished! Well, friend H, 1 hope you will excuse me for having written so much about these things, but they were on m.v mind, and I felt like speaking about them to some one, but do not feel like giving them to the bee journals, as I have neither time nor in- clination to enter into a public discvission. Tnisting that you are satisfied with this season's result, 1 am. Bayou Goula, La., Sept. 15, 1881. Yours Tnily. PAfi, L. Viallon. Well, friend V., and all the rest of the friends, I have owned only three imported queens,— one from Dadant and two from Nellis. These were all good queens, and my apiary has been almost entirely stocked with their daughters. I have had no ex- perience with queens removed many generations from imported stock. Some apiarists assert, that the so-called Albino bees are the result of continued breeding from light-colored home-bred stock. Who has the bees that are the furthest removed from im- ported stock, and yet are superior, or even equal, to the average imported stock? Many customers have written, praising my queens, but none have made any comparisons between them and queens reared under the swarming impulse. I have, this season, had quite a number of queens reared under the swarming impulse, and although the cells were larger and nicer-looking than many of those ob- tained by removing a queen from a colony, I have failed to detect any difference in the queens. Two 526 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Nov. or three customers have complained, saying that a queen was not prolific, or that she did not produce the right kind of bees, and other queens have been sent. I presume that the queens roared in Italy are very much like the queens reared here; that is, some are good, and others bad or indifferent; and it would seem reasonable that, by selecting the best queens to breed from, and then selecting again from their daughters, and then choosing again from their daughters, and continuing this selection, that a su- perior strain of bees might be developed; but right here steps in that drone part of the problem, about which friend Viallon so graphically writes. Last spring 1 had half a dozen black and hybrid colonies on the yard. I kept them free from drones until I reared Italian queens to put in their p'.aces, and I can imagine what a task it would be to keep a large number of colonies free from drones. I have read of giving each colony a comb of drone brood, from choice stock, putting it at one side of the hive, away from the brood-nest, and then removing it after the drones had hatched. It was asserted that this would satisfy the desire for drones, and that, if no drone comb was afterward allowed in the hive, no more drones would be reared. I have never tried this plan, but have alwas's kept my own and my neigh- bors' hives supplied with purely mated queens; in most instances, daughters of imported mothers. If fertilization in confinement could be made practica- ble, I should have more faith in Apis Americana. We now have several different races, or varieties, of bees in this country, each one of which seems to possess some desirable characteristics. Now, if all these valuable traits could be combined, the result would probably bo A. Am. It seems to me that friend Jones, with his isolated islands, is doing as much, perhaps, as any one in developing A. Am. I would not say a word to discourage any one who is trying to Improve the Italians or any other variety of bees; on the contrary, I would do all in my power to encourage them; yet it is my opinion,thSit, for the present at least, we had better continue import- ing. If I am correctly informed, Italy, Cyprus, and Pal- estine do not afford so grand honey resources as are found in our own beloved land, and the bees of those distant climes are obliged to labor very per- sistently in order to obtain a subsistence, only the " fittest " surviving. When they cross the Atlantic they bring with them that disposition to labor, even for a small reward; audit is only after living for a time in this land of plenty that they discover how easy it is to live and yet be a trifle lazy. Of course, this is an old and oft-repeated theory, which may or may not be true; but it is well known that the re- moval of fruits, vegetables, plants, grains, animals, etc., to some distant and more favorable locality is usually followed by excellent results for the first few gcncraUims; and why should not this rule hold good in regard to bees? I do not wish to bo understood, however, as having no faith in A. Am., because we Americans are such a restless, progressive, go-ahead people {made up from different races, as will proba- bly be the case with A. Am.), a people that are satis- fled with only the best, that the time when A. Am. will be placed in a higher r.ank than all other bees, and be in a great demand the world over, may not be so far distant as some of us imagine. W. Z. Hutchinson, Bogersville, Genesee Co., Mich. DOOLiITTIiE'S REPORT FOR 1881. ^5^-5^INTER seemed loth to give place to spring, w™* so it was April 20th before our bees could -^ -' fly to any amount, at which time I found the long, severe, cold winter had made sad havoc with my pets, and that I had only 30 colonies left out of my 112, which were in good condition Dec. 1st, 1880. Those oO were obtained by uniting, till I thought they were strong enough to be of use tome; and had I united to 2.5, probably better results could have been obtained. May 1st, elm and soft maple invited the bees to their opening buds to obtain pollen, while on the 12th, golden willow gave them their first taste of new honey. There seems to be some- thing in this first honey that sets the bees "booming' ' as to brood-rearing, as nothing else does during the whole year; and often a surplus of 10 lbs. of honey is obtained from the few trees we have along a small stream near us. On May 21st, apple - blossoms opened, and our bees were given a fine treat for sev- eral days, securing a nice store of apple honey to keep them until white clover bloomed. Owing to the extreme heat during May, white clover com- menced to bloom June 1st, about fifteen days earlier than usual. On the night of June 6th we had ahard frost, followed by cold, cloudy, rainy weather, which lasted till the 29th, keeping our bees from the fields, so white and enticing to them, much to the annoy- ance of their owner, if not to themselves. At this time the bloom was nearly past; liut as good weather now favored us, some little was gleaned by the in- dustrious bees. July 8th, basswood opened, and we expected to see a rush made for the honey that al- ways seems to set the bees crazy, as it were. But our hopes were again disappointed, for the honey- flow from this source was very meager indeed ; in fact, it was the poorest basswood season I ever knew, and at its close our hopes were blasted, as scarcely a box of surplus honey had been taken. However, our bees were in the best possible condi- tion to secure all there was, so we had no ground to blame ourselves for not doing well our part. Along during the latter part of basswood, we had noticed that the large kind of red clover was blossoming, so that the fields were getting red, which was a treat to our eyes, as a worm in the head had kept the red clover from blossoming for the past few years. As the fields grew redder, our spirits rose, and hope revived; for in 18T2 our bees gave us as high as CO lbs. of box honey from some hives from red clover alone. Soon the bees began to " go " for the clover, and, to our astonishment, the few acres of teasel within the range of our bees' flight was yielding honey wonderfully. The bees now "rolled" in honey at a rapid rate for aboui 10 days, and then "slowed up," so that August 1st found the season for 1881 over with us, as the 100 or more acres of buckwheat within the range of our bees' flight yielded no surplus. Four years have now passed since we have had a pound of surplus honey from buckwheat. As the result of our season's work, we have taken in comb honey, 331V lbs., and 718 of ex- tracted, giving a total of 4035 from our 30 colonies, which gives an average of 134V4 lbs. to the colony, and brings our average for the past 9 years up to 92 lbs. per colony. We have increased the 30 col- onies to 80, which are in good condition for winter. We have also reared and sent out 83 tested queens, which of course lessened our honey report to a cer- tain extent. When spring opened we had but one 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 527 good strong colony, and concluded to work that for extracted honey. We will give the readers the re- sult from this one, so they can see the source from which our honey came, and the yield:— Willow, b'.i lbs.; apple, I'J?*; white clover, 58}4; tiasswood, 97; teasel and red clover, 233 lbs. Total, 413 lbs. We also worked a small apiary of 15 stoclcs a mile or so from home, and obtained from them 874 lbs. of box honey and 14C0 of extracted, giving 3274 lbs. in all, or 151'/2 lbs. average to the colony. One thing we noticed with pleasure, which was, that our colonies gave nearly an equal yield per hive. This is what I have been breeding for for the past few years, hoping to obtain like results from all, and not have one stock in the yard give a large yield, and another nothing. When we, as apiarists of America, can bring our bees up to such a stand- ard of excellence that all C(il(jnics.will produce an equal amount of honey, and said amount bo as large as that produced by our very best colony of a few years ago, we shall have no further need of im- porting stock, for Apig Amciicana will be the best bee in the world. - G. M. Doolittle. Borodino, N. Y., Oct. 17, 1881. GETTING A LAYING QUEEN FROM EACH NUCLEUS ONCE IN 10 DAYS, AND IN- CREASING 1 L.K. OF BEES TO 5 COLONIES IN ONE SEASON. CAN ALL OF THE ABC CLASS DO IT EVEKY TIME ? ^fMHE friends will please imagine that we are sit- JSjj ting on the blue grass, under the elm-tree, near our apiary. As the young bees are gaily sporting in the warm October sunshine, and the workers are busily carrying in the pollen and a lit- tle honey from smartweed and goldenrod, we will, as pleasantly, examine October Gleanings. As our time is short, we will notice only two items. First, here is friend Hutchinson, who has some- thing to say about certain very cheap nucleus hives, in which he finds a laying queen once in about ten days. Now look here, friend H. ; if that is the way you do, I have got to scratch around and see what is the matter, for I can not begin to do it in our yard. How do you manage it? Don't your bees ever kill any virgin queens, or tear down the queen-cells "ready to hatch" that you sometimes give them? Do your queens never get lost in mating? and do they always begin to lay before the tenth day, so as to have time to leave a few eggs to keep up the strength of the colony? I used to think that I could successfully intro- duce newly hatched queens to small nucleus hives, almost every time, and at the same time that I re- moved their laying queen; but I did not do it this past summer, and I had to (or thought 1 did) adopt the rule of leaving them queenless three or four days before offering a stranger; and even then I would occasionally lose a queen. Neighbor H. makes an experiment which is emi- nently successful. He takes a pound of bees in May, gives them a few empty combs, and, by and by, some pans of sugar syrup. By the last of Septem- ber they have increased to 5 fair colonies in good or- der for winter. Some of the enthusiastic ABC class who, by the way, need to be curbed in a little, want to know if those bees increased to so great an extent with the help only of the few combs first given, and the pans of syrup fed indiscriminately, or were they guided and helped all through the long dry hot summer by the active brain and skillful hand of a thorough bee- master who fed them just right, gave them com- plete combs when needed, also queens from another apiary? In other words, may these inexperienced friends expect to do half or even one-fourth as well? Please stand up. Neighbor H., and tell us all about it. You see, you and I hope to sell these ABC friends a great many pounds of bees next summer, and we do not want them to lose money; neither do we want our bees to suffer by the mistakes of our customers. Hence I think it would be a good plan for you to tell them just what to do with their bees. Do it now, that they may have plentj' of time to study the matter tho^oughlJ^ E. M. Hayhukst. Kansas City, Mo., Oct., 1S81. May I not speak a little first, friend Ilay- hurst? Perhaps 1 sliould explain to our readers, that I put the liead and sub-head on this article, and I also wrote about what Neighbor H. Iiad done with a single pound of bees. Well, I would say, for friend Hutchinson, that I thinlc he did not intend to say he could get a queen in ten days on the average, but that it happened he did once or twice with those little liives. 1 know pretty well that both he and 2s"eighbor H. have their share of bad luck. Now about Neighbor II. 's pound of bees. He said he was going to increase them to five colonies, and I bantered him so much about it that it stirred him up to an unusual degree of de- termination. They are not wintered yet, and if you had not Avritten your piece, I am afraid they never would have been, all of them. If you want to know Avhether it does Neighbor II. good to stir him up now and then or not, just ask his wife. Now he may answer the rest. neighbor h.'s STony about " that pound op bees." As friend Hayhurst requests me to stand up and tell all about that pound of bees, I will arise. On the 15th of May I put up a pound of bees to ship. The weather was very warm; white-clover honey was coming in very fast; they got daubed with hon- ey, and when I got to the factory they weie all in the bottom of the cage nearly suffocated. I put them in a chaff hive on empty combs in Mr. Root's apiary. They were Italian bees, but I put a tested Holy-Land queen with them, more for the purpose of showing the bees to visitors than any thing else. I also gave them two frames of new honey, mostly unsealed. I covered them with the winter chaff cushion, and then left them severely alone for about a month, when I divided them first.* And here is where the trick commences. There were 7 frames of brood. I took all the hatching and sealed brood and the queen for the new swarm, leaving the eggs and larva? to rear queen-cells from. When T rear queen-cells 1 always like to feed the colony. I have fed $11.00 worth of sugar and $3.00 worth of honey. I have raised from that queen over 100 queen-cells and two laying queens, and have given the five two laying queens from the other apiary. Medina, O., Oct. 26, 1881. Neighbor H. *JIr. Root asked me how many swarms I coulil make, and 1 said five; he laughed, but I have the five. 028 GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTURE. Nov PATENT-RIGHT BEE-HIVES. KIND WORDS FROM GOOD FRIENDS. f CAN'T get along without Gleanings, for I like it very much, and I like the editor too; but it ' hurts to read such sentences as, " Have noth- ing to do with anj' man who goes around selling rights for patent bee-hives, or any thing else" (p. 408), for I can say that I'll never engage in a busi- ness that I can't ask the Lord to help me in. I have not taken a cent from a man this'season but that has declared himself perfectly willing to pay, and some of my warmest friends are those 1 have done work for. Honest, now! don't you believe this is a kind of hobby of yours? It surely can't be so sinful to get an article patented, or our government would not allow it. Isn't this more a matter of opinion, and shouldn't we cultivate a charity for each other's differences? AVhy, I believe there comes pretiy near being two sides to the temperance question, and yet I earnestly advocate the right, and never drank a drop. But you couldn't scare me off of your subscription list any how, for GLfeANixGS contains too much good reading, and if I ever come any- where near Medina, I'm coming the rest of the way and call on you. Yes, I almost believe 1 would, even if I knew you would turn up your nose, and say to yourself, "Yes, here is one of those patent-hive men." G. K. Hubbard. LaGrange, Ind., Oct. 16, 1S81. Now, Mr. Koot, on page 498, October Gleanings, you cut the " Kidder " family. Do you know them ■pcrsoniilhi/ did they ever harm yoH, or has your im- agination, and letters of hasty writing from others, made out the whole family of "bad repute "? If a relation of yours should •' miss it " in some of his dealings, how would it "strike" you should it be said, " The whole Root family are in bad repute"? I believe the Maker of man has room in the field of charity for what is (joiid in the " Kidder famih'." I don't believe in total depravity, you see; and in the same article you say, " Have nothing to do with any man who travels about selling rights for patent bee- hives, '^\v eating and puncturing grapes, I take this op- ' portunity to send you by mail one of the bees or birds that do puncture the grapes, making a hole as small as can be made with a fine needle, and larger. I have had about 10 years' experience with bees and grapes; have never seen a bee puncture a grape yet. I know by watching what mischief (to my sorrow) this little bird is among the grapes. If you know the name of the bird, please let me know. C. F. Hopkins. BrowDhelm, Lorain Co., O., Oct. 11, 1881. Not being posted in ornithology, we sent the bird to i-'rof . Cook. Here is his reply : Dear Sir:— Ihc bird from Mr. C. F. Hopkins, of Brownhelm, Ohio, and received through you, is the ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula). It is sometimes called the ruby-crowned Wren. It is found from the Gulf, in winter, to Alaska, in sum- mer; and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It ap- pears here in April and September, and the same is true, without doubt, in Northern Ohio. It nests and breeds north of us. This little bird is greenish olive in color, with a bright crimson spot on its crown. It has a sharp bill, which enables it to reach into crev- ices under bark, etc., for the insects which form the larger part of its food. The length from tip of bill to tip of tail is 41 ; inches. Mr. Hopkins's observation is new. This little beauty, whose song is as beautiful as that of the canary, has heretofore borne an untarnished chai-- acter. True, Wilson says that it sometimes eats the stamens of apple-blossoms, but this could hardly be called harm. But that it should form this new hat>- it of piercing grapes, and sipping the juice, is surely much against its character. Its bill is admirably fitted for just this work, from its nccdle-like shape; and granting that it should once experiment in the line of tapping grapes, we could hardly wonder that it should continue in that line, nor blame it for so doing, especially as it has more than earned the grape juice by ravaging among the insects. 1881 GLEANIi^GS IN BEE CULTURE. 529 This observation is of no little interest as an item in science. Every new fact like this is very valua- ble. A. J. Cook. Ag. Col., Lansing, Mich., Oct. IT, 1881. A NEW CO.II B-HOL.de: R. WN taking out the fir.st comb from a hive Jll full. I presume almost every one has looked about wishfully for some place to hang or stand it. witliout hurting the bees that ought to be found covering every part of it. If stood on end with considerable care, you may not hurt bees ; but if it tum- bles down, or gets blown over by the wind, you may not only have bees killed, but the queen too. as has happened several times to my knowledge. You will observe that we have a device, made of folded tins, shown in our price list, to hang on the edge of the hive, for this purpose. Well, a few days ago a visitor, Mr. H. W. Minns, of Xew London. Ohio, brought into the office a de- vice for the same purpose, shown below. It is made of strap iron, such as is used for ironing the upper edges of wagon-box- es, and, when well made,looks very neat. When it is to be shipped, or laid away on a shelf, the cross- irons can be turned on the rivets so that it is in a very com- pact form, and it oc- cupies less space than MACHINE FOR HOLD- ^yhen opeu. as in the ING THE FIRST C03I15. put. The CXpeuSC iS just the same as our tin ones ; but as the iron is heavier, it will cost more to send them by mail. ^ m » POLLEN; ITS PRESENCE IN W^INTER. FRIEND PETERS' OPINION OF IT. IfT^DITOR GLEANINGS:— In your August num. f^^\ ber is an article headed " Come, Ictus Reason Together," from Mr. Heddon, seeming! j' in- tended to invite discussion, or, rather, to draw out the opinions of bee-keepers on the subject of the influence of bee-bread, or pollen, as a factor in the production of bee dysentery. It is not the purpose of this paper to criticise the settled convictions of one so practical in all his views on apiculture as friend Heddon has hitherto shown himself; but as he invites us to " reason together," I suppose his ob- ject is to call forth the opinions of other bee-keepers on that especial subject. For myself, I can not for a moment entertain the belief that pollen, perse, ever did produce bee dysentery. For all insect cre- ation, nature has been lavish in yielding natural food for their support and development. Fields and forest abound in a profusion of pollen-bearing flowers whose secreting vessels pour out the fra- grant pabulum of bee-life. The physiology of bee organism, from the earliest history to the present time, clearly indicates the peculiar fitness of such food; and there is not, never was, and perhaps never will be, any substitute that is so perfectly adapted to that end. So well established is the fact, that the food sought bj' instinct in nature's labora- tory by all animal nature Is essentially the very ele- mentary principles of those creatures, that some physiologists have supposed that at some antece- dent period the food, or ingesta, had a great influ- ence in molding the characteristics of both insect and animal races. How, then, I ask, can bee dysen- tery be ascribed to the food so well suited to the growth and development of the young insect, and in part the food during the natural life of the older bees? Such a fact, if such it could possibly be, would subvert nature's laws of aliment and assimi- lation. I am ready to admit, there are many cir- cumstances connected with bee-cellars and bee- houses in the State of Michigan, which we of this latitude can not fully appreciate; but if friend Heddon's views are correct, the Avhole multitude of nursing bees in existence must learn anew how to select some food better adapted to the digestive or- gans of bees besides the time-honored bee-bread — the aliment of all former generations of bees. I do not believe bee-bread is as noxious as he supposes, from the fact that there is a greater variety of pol- lens gathered from the flora of the Mississippi River bottom than from any other place in America. The great earthquakes of 1811 produced an upheaval of all the region about New Madrid, Mo., and a cor- responding sinking in Tennessee, on the east side, creating Red Foot Lake, and a corresponding de- pression on that side along the St. Francis River, e.v- tending over a large area of land; this last, the sunk lands, goes dry after the subsidence of the spring floods, when myriads of vines, weeds, shrubs, etc., spring up and fill the air with aroma many miles around, and affording the greatest locality In the world for bee-raising, on account of the great quantity and variety of pollen. Hunters take large amounts of wild honey for market, and yet the number of wild colonies is still on the increase. This strange convulsion, resulting in the produc- tion of sunken lands, and upheaval of the New Madrid countrj-, has developed the flnest country for bee-keeping known to this region of the State, and no one ever saw bee dysentery among either wild or domesticated bees in that section. In this bottom country, where the alluvial soil is most fer- tile, and flowers exuberate and are rich In honej" and pollen, and where bee-rearing is so successful without any disease whatever, I am forced to discard the views of friend Heddon. All the world will agree that animal life is most thrifty, and the indi- vidual more perfectly developed, where natural food is most abundant. In all this vast variety of heterogeneous flowers, whoso pollen is all thrown to- gether in the arcana of the bee-hive, why has the bee dysentery never visited us? If bee-bread ever did produce the disease, this extensive mixing of many kinds of pollen should certainly develop it. I I have known bees In February without one drop of honey, but with a liberal supply of pollen, pull through for three weeks until the maple blossoms came to their relief. No dysentery then. For fifty years have I seen abundant stores of pollen In my colonies, on M'hich the young bee was fed, and the old bee partly supported through wintw, and up to this good day never have I seen a case of bee dys- entery. From these considerations, I am Induced to believe our friend is mistaken In his conclusions as to the causes of the disease, and do not hesitate to advance the opinion, that the real cause may be 530 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Nov. found in the long winters and forced confinement of bees, thereby preventing' a frequent discharge of the fteoal contents of the intestines, which, being retained, must ferment, produce intlammation, dys- entery, exhaustion, and death of the bees. "Come, let us reason together." Geo. B. Peters. Council Bend, Ark., Sept. 25, 1881. sojuething to put under the cushions. THE PROBLEM SOLVED APPAKEMTLY. SWENT into the saw-room the other day, and Mr. Gray was at work at some queer-looking thing with eight legs, that looked as if it might be guilty of killing sheep, or sucking eggs, if it got loose after dark. '• What in the world is that, Mr. Gray V" " Why, it is something that Shane brought over. He wants us to make 189 like it — one for each of his hives. It was sent him by some great bee-man down near Cincinnati, who never loses his bees wintering." '' Was it Muth V" "•No, that was not the name." "inn?" "Yes, Hill; that is the man. He wrote Shane a letter and sent him this machine, which I think is to be put under the cushion, to make a chamber for the bees to cluster in, so they can readily pass over the frames from one to the otlier." Here is a picture of the thing, my friends. hill's device FOR COVElMNGTHE FRA^IES IN W^INTER. I saw Mr. Shane when became after them, and he has promised me the letter from Mr. Hill, but it has not come yet. The sticks are sawed on a circle, from half-inch bass- wood. They are sawed on a curve that would make a circle of perhaps .5 inches in diameter. The stuff is held at an angle when sawed, so the outer surface is some- thing like the surface of a sphere. The two iusitie sticks are 9 inches in length; the two outside ones, only S. The back-bone, as it were, is a strip of very light hoop-iron, like that used to hoop pails, it is about a foot long, which holds the ribs about 4 inches apart. Y ou set this on the frames, then lay over it a piece of bagging, or burlap, and till the upper story with chaff. It occurred to me, when I first saw it, that under this would be a splendid place to put sticks or bricks of candy, when candy has to be fed. Mr. Shane said he used four cobs, similarly placed last winter on all his stocks, but that he had never thought to mention it when I had interviewed him in regard to his great success in wintering. We sliall use it over all of our colonies, and I have much faith that it will give the space above the bees, about which so much has been said in the reports of wintering with the sections left on. A quilt or cushion does not seem to answer as well as loose chaff, because it in- terposes too many thicknesses of cloth. Per- haps very porous cloth, like burlap, might be unobjectionable ; and cushions are so much cleaner and handier than loose chaff. if you can not well make these things, we can furnish them for 5 cts. each, or $4.00 per hundred in the flat. If wanted by mail, the postage will be about 4 cts. each. ' |/j^ *%rcidkr^r This departmont is to be kept for the benefit of those who are flissatistied ; and when anything is aniisa, I hope yo\i will " talk right out." As .1 nile. we will omit names and addresses, to avoid being too personal. llp^RIEND ROOT: -I JiqI but quit on ace took Gleanings a long time, account of glucose and dollar queens. I am glad you have dropped the gl i- ccse. When you drop dollar queens, which I think you will, I shiiU likely send for Gleanings. I am a poor writer, but your well-wisher. May God bless you. D. G. Parker. St. Joseph, Mo., Oct. 18, I88L I haven't had a suitable letter for the Growlery for some time, and I am not sure the above is one ; in fact, the concluding in- junction seems to indicate that friend F. is a good friend of mine, in spite of differences. I presume most of our readers will smile at the allusion to dollar queens now. Friend P., you are not fully up to the times, I fear. Our highest-priced qu(^ens are reared exactly as the dollar queesis are ; in fact, all are reared together. When tested, the best are three dollars, and the poorest are 50 cents, 'i'he dollar queens are simply those sold be- fore they are tested at all. Most bee-keep- ers have their own peculiar notions in re- gard to queens, and, as a general thing, each prefers to test them himself. It saves time, to buy a lot of dollar queens and pick out one from among them that suits you. The great queen trade that now fills our mails a great part of the year is mostly in dollar queens ; and if you will look over the re- ports in our back numbers, you will see that their colonies are giving the great yields of honey. The men who have sold hybrids and culls for dollar queens have killed their trade, and are now mostly out of the busi- ness. in regard to "glucose," as you are still pleased to term it, here is an editorial from the last American Bee Journal : — To prohibit the use of glucose by law would be about as proper as to compel hotel-keepers to use first-class meat in hash, or cheap boarding-house keepers to debilitate the butter. If persons wish to buy and eat glucose, they have a right to do so: we would throw no obstacle in the way of buying it. But we do object to their buying and eating it for pure honey or syrup, or any thing except what it re- ally is. If buyers inquire for glucose, let them have it; if for hone.v, sell them honey. Now% if that is not exactly where I have always stood in the matter, it must be I do not see things straight. It looks to me just as if friend Newman had come over to my position ; but very likely it seems to him I have gone over to his side. Never mind, so long as we are agreed. 18S1 GLEANINGS IN i3EE CULTUliE. 5:^.1 BEES ON A KAMPAGE, AGAIN. WHAT THEY DID, AND HOW IT TURNED OUT. !E are taking your paper r'^iin, and it is like an old friend, as we us^d to ha^e it when we kept bees in Iowa, 7 years ago. Reading the piece about a man dying from a sting, compels me to write to you about a little trouble we have had. A five-year-old chap belonging to a neighbor of ours who has a big ranche, and has all kinds of men. Chinamen among the number, at work for him, is always ready to " help." These workmen are not very choice in their use of language. One day this little flve-year-nld was with a Chinaman, helping to hive a swarm of bees, and, running under the limb where the swarm was, the bees fell on him ; and as he threw up his hands to brush them off, they of course stung him. His mother hearing his cries, ran to him and got him to the house and brushed off the bees, and pulled out 13 stings from his neck. Not knowing what else to do, she poured out a teacup- ful of strong whisky, which they kept for medicine, and made him drink nearly all of it. He was getting stupid from the poison of the bees, but after drink- ing the whisky, and having a rag wet in the liquor wrapped around his throsit, he revived, and was seemingly out of pain. His mother, now that the need for action was over, gave way to tears, and through her sobs asked, "How do you feel now, Odin?" "Oh, bully! give me some more whisky," was the answer, which effectually stopped the tears of his mother, as she had to laugh. They kept the cloth wet with the whisky, and the next day the child was all right. I do not like bees myself, for the stings make my flesh swell so badly, and I can not eat honey, so I should not care if there were no bees in the world, as far as I am concerned; but my husband likes them, and my boys like mamma's honey-cake, so I am in- terested in the little nuisances for their sakes. "We have about 85 swarms. We have kept bees for 19 years, but never had them act mean until once last year. It was a pretty warm da3', and about one o'clock, when my husband heard an unusual noise at the pig-pen, where we had about 150 hogs, big and little. The bee-hives were about two rods from the pen. When he got to the pen he saw that one sow, with pigs, in a pen by herself, was running about very much excited; so he went to her and found that the bees were stinging her and her pigs. He then kicked off a board and shoved her out of the pen. She ran around the large pen, the bees after her, and in two minutes the bees had come out in swarms and commenced stinging the other pigs. Thej' got so frantic that they just raged around. Mr. Hilton opened the gate and tried his best to drive them out of the pen into some green barley growing near, but did not succeed till he had come to the house and got my help, and it was all we could both do. The bees were just thick in the air and on the hogs. After we had got the hogs out we went to picking up the poor little ones that were literally covered with bees and stings, especially back of the ears and between the hind legs. We put them in the chicken-house and threw wet sacks over them, then went to see to other things. Out by the barley we had four horses tied, and I saw that they were getting excited, and my husband had to go quite over a large hill before they left them. Then the cows we had staked out had to be moved. Feeling tired, I came to the house, and there were mj' two turkey gobblers, half crazy from bee-stings. I had to catch them, pull out the stings, and put a wet sack over their heads. The dogs were whining and trying to hide from the bees, so 1 threw water over them, and then went to see about the little pigs. I found about 20 in misery; 3 or 1 had spasms, so Mr. H. killed them; then we went to pulling out stings, but they were so badly stung, and had had to suffer so long, that 12 died during the week. My turkeys were almost blind a week. I had to make bee-hats for us all, for the bees would ho%-er around the door of our house, and woe unto those who stepped out without a hat, for one whole week; and at the end of that time one pitched on me at the well as I was drawing water, and stung my face. I only had on my sun-bonnet. We do not know what caused them to act so, unless it being hot they felt cross; and as they were eating out of the sow's trough, she fought them and made them mad. Mks. J. Hie^ton. Los Alamos, Cal., Aug. 10, 1881. jSIy friend, you certainly did have a sad time witli the "bees, but it seems to me you have mentioned one thing far more danger- ous than all the bees in the world. Sooner or later, that boy will have an ungovernable ajipetite for whisky, and the one act may send him to a drunkard's grave. I feel quite sure that no bad consequences would have resulted from the thirteen stings had nothing been done more than to pull them out. I also feel quite sure, from the experi- ence I have had, that the outward applica- tion of whisky had nothing to do with the recovery. Nor, indeed, am I sure that even wet cloths are of any advantage. I have tried keeping a painful sting wet with water, but I can not see that it atfects it at all either way. The scene with the pigs was strikingly like the experience of our Mr. Merrybanks' neighbor, when he was first in- troduced to our notice. SQUAliE MEN. SOME SUGGESTIONS IN THE MATTER FKO.M THE BRETHREN. 5?^^0UR editorial headed " Square Men," is a capi- j.^ tal idea. 1 had been thinking for some time — ' past about suggesting something of the kind, and I am glad you have taken the steps. Start that list at once, friend Root, and let every one pay you for the space taken in your journal- say so much a year, as it is for your queen column, and also so much for j-our trouble and expense for procuring the standing of each. Then besides, let every one give bond or security of some kind. Now, would it not be fair for every one who has to com- plain of a dealer, to give his name? Let every one come aight out with the facts, and give the names, as then it may bring more promptness, etc. Bayou Goula, La., Oct. 6, '81. P. L. Viallon. SQUARE MEN. I see you propose publishing a list of the square dealers, also one for those who arc crooked; and, say, let it include every one among our bee-men who advertise any thing for sale at all. Your object is to give protection to your readers and purchas- ers, which is very good. But, how about your ad- vertisers? They are the fciv among the mamj; they 532 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Nov pay for the privilege of advertising, and surely you owe them the same protection from crooked custo- mers. Gleanings for Oct., page 503, gives a case of crookedness. I have been doing business, advertis- ing and dealing with entire strangers for about eight years, and I am pleased to be able to say that, in all that time, I have found only twi> customers that 1 know or believe to have practiced fraud (a pretty good showing, is it not?) Jos. M. Brooks. Columbus, Ind., Oct., 1881. Many thanks for your kind words and sug- gestions, my friends. I knew, before I started the idea, that you two at least would be in favor of it, for in all the business you have both done, I have never, that I remem- ber of, heard a single word of complaint of either of you. Square men will most em- ])hatirally vote for such a list; but those who know their past records have not been square with their customers, will fight terri- bly against it. I presume you little imagine what a shower of invectives will come down on the bald head of your old friend, should I attempt to carry out even a part of the pro- gramme you propose. I spoke of adverti- sers only, because the list would be so very large, did it embrace purchasers as well. Shall we not rather jjublish the names of the '•dead beats," and say nothing about the good ones V Suppose you, friend Brooks, write to the two who defrauded you, that, unless they settle up, you will have them published." If they have any defense to make, propose arbitration, and' publish only those who decline arbitration, or who won't answer at all any way. There is another class, who are so very slow in fulfilling a promise, that it seems it would be a great kindness to the masses to tell them kindly they must be published as " slow coaches," unless they brighten up and do better. In answer to hiend A'iallon. I would say that I want nothing for my trouble in the matter. The fact that I am helping the supporters of Gleanings will be pay enough. Neither have I any objections to speaking right out, after the delinquent has been fairly notified, and neglects to do any thing in the matter. What are the wishes of our readers? FKAGMENTS FROm AN ABC SCHOLAR. ALSO CONTAINING SOME QUITE IMPORTANT HINTS rOK THE VETERANS. fWANT to second the remarks of Mr. Hutchin- son on page 319, July No. of Gleanings in ref- — ■ erence to building up an apiary in a hurry, and reaping no benefits from it the first year or two. Although I am but an A B C student in apiculture, I started out with the intention of making the bees pay all expenses, and I have done it. Last year my two swarms gave me two more, and 130 lbs. of sur- plus honey. Now I have 13 colonies and 510 lbs. of surplus, worth $70.00. HAVE THINGS READY. This thought came into my mind while reading Geo. W, Burridge's article on page 327. Now, in- stead of running after a hive when a swarm comes out, 1 have my hives all set on their stands in advance, nicely leveled up, and frames handy, so that, if a swarm issues on the Sabbath, as fully one- half of mine do, I can take care of them in short order. I use the Roop hive with double walls, so they do not heat up much inside, and the bees go right to work. SAWDUST FOR PACKING HIVES. I see a good deal in the papers about using chaff, leaves, etc. Now, I use dry firm sawdust, from the re-saw in a planing-mill, and I am of the opinion that it is the best yet. It absorbs the moisture, and keeps a very steadj- temperature. HOW LATE TO BREED IN THE FALL. Friend Grimm, on page 323, tells us how late queens should be permitted to lay in the fall, if they are to be moved into the cellar. Now, will some one who dors H'infe)' bees outdoors tell us about fall breeding? My bees bred till November last year, and com- menced again in February. All came through the winter too. TRIALS IN QUEEN-REARING. I think this matter is not confined to Illinois. I have 2 colonies that are making the third effort to Ret a laying queen. After the first failure, I placed pieces of new bright tin near their entrances to quiet them, but a second failure was the result. SWARMING BEES BV TELEPHONE. You may laugh at the mere mention of such an idea; but, listen to one who doc:< do it. I purchased a dollar telephone of Perry Mason & Co., Boston, last winter, also 300 feet of copper wire, and put it up according to printed directions — the wire ex- tending from my house to my father's. Now im- agine my surprise to hear, when the bees began their summer's work, an occasional sound as loud and similar to that made by snapping your finger- nail against a goblet. Now, this wire passes over one end of my row of hives, and whenever a swarm issues from a hive within a couple of rods of this wire, the tap, tap, tapping, that we, at both houses, hear 50 or 100 times per minute, soon brings some one to the scene of action. I was aroused once when half asleep, just in time to see which hive they came from. Now, I am so thoroughly convinced of the eflBciency of the accoustic telephone as an aid in swarming bees, that I shall put one up next year to run parallel with the row of hives, so as not to be more than 20 or 25 feet from any of the hives. To make it convenient for my wife, I will put one diaphragm in the kitchen, and the other in the sit- ting-room. The wire needs to be drawn " taut," and not to make anj' short angles. QUESTIONS. Would it be safe to wax a syrup or vinegar barrel to ship e.xtracted honey in? In waxing barrels, could you not use less than 30 or 30 lbs. of wax, by putting hot water in with it, to keep it warm? Is it possible for even a dollar queen to be jet black, and her worhrrs too? I would like to know. I thought best to put the above question on this slip, as some might think, if it were in print, that I had bought such a one from j^ou. Now, I call the dollar queen I bought of you last fall a black queen; but I may be mistaken. I know one thing: she pays the best of any queen I have. You may, if you choose, answer this in Gleanings in such a way that no one will think you have been suspected of making any such error. F. A. Palmer. McBrides, Mich., Aug. 11, 1881. I too, friend P., most emphatically indorse 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. o33 the idea of having things ready in our apia- ries. If we get behind, and no hives are in readiness for the next demand, somebody is sure to bring some bees after dark, or some- thing of that kind.— We )';;ve repeatedly made bees rear brood every montli in the year, by flour feeding, and with no bad re- sults that we could discover, until last win- ter.— Your plan of using the telephone is indeed a bright thought, and just as soon as you mentioned it I wondered I had been so short-sighted as to have never thought of it before. Our neighbor F. R. Shaw, of Chat- ham, is engaged in making telephones, and when I visited him a couple of years ago, he had several tele]ihones coming into the room. While we were listening to the neighbors a mile away, in different directions, I heard a sound as if something struck the wire, and suggested a bird had flown against it. " It was not a bird, but onlv a bee," said he. " Why ! " exclaimed I, " is it possible the weight of a bee could make a sound like that V ^' " Just that, exactly,'" said he ; but even after this, and during the talks we have had about a telephone to tell when the bees were swarming, it never before occurred to me that a single wire would do it. I have writ- ten Perry Mason & Co. for a sample of their dollar telephones, and we will see what can be done to furnish bee-men with a telephone that will be a tell-tale on the bees when they attempt to iflay truant. Many thanks, friend P., for the bright siiggestion. By the way, does it not seem a little sad to think of so many young bees bumping their ])recious little heads against that wire when they are starting out for a jubilee V — Any kind of a barrel will answer for honey, so far as I know, if it is perfectly covered with wax. The wood, however, will not hold the wax, unless it is perfectly dry, and warm enough for the wax to soak into it, partially, as it were, and so using water would, of course, be out of the question. If the honey comes in contact with wax and nothing else, it can not well be injured ; Ijut any such barrels as you mention must be vrnj carefully coated. I think, on the whole, I would rather risk the honey in tin ; it is quite apt to taste of any sort of wooden package. — A dollar queen that is black herself, and produces black workers, would be a rather suspicious per- sonage— something like a -'white black- bird." We often have ([uite dark (or even black) dollar queens ; but if they do not produce yellow^ bees, make a fuss about it, by all means, and by no means hesitate be- cause the queen came from ».s, if such was the case. FRIEND WHITE'S REPORT OF HIS LOSSES LAST AVINTER. ONLY 13 SAVED OUT OF 1.30. AST fall I had 130 stands of bees all in good con- dition as to honey and bees; in fact, I never went into winter-quarters with better condi- tions for a success the coming' spring. I have kept bees over 25 years, and never lost any during' winter or spring, except by sheer neglect; but I must con- fess that the past winter has taken all the conceit out of me, as I thought I had the winter process down to a fine point in this section. My bees are hybrids and blacks; have used nothing but the Langstroth hive since 1850, except when a friend sends me a new kind of hive to try its merits. But of all that 1 have used, the Langstroth is superior to any. I would not like to say positively what was the cause of the mortality among my bees, " for I might be wrong." But my opinion is, that last fall I had in my section a great many fall flowers, and as they did not seem to produce much honey, the bees, eager to store something, filled the hives with pollen. They had no place to store it, except in proximity to the brood-nest, as the hives were well stocked with honey. The cold spell lasting so long, they could not leave the cluster to procure honey at any distance from them, and that which was near them, being consumed early in the winter, they devoured the pollen, and, not being able to discharge their fasces, dysentery was the result, and grew worse as the cold lasted, death being the result. The last fly my bees had in 1880 was Dec. IGth, and not again until Feb. 28th, 1881. At times during the winter the weather would moderate some, and the bees would crawl to the entrance and die. Very few hives seemed to die in clusters, but were scat- tered all through it and in the honey-boxes, which they left in a fearful condition. SIZE OF EXTRANCES FOR WINTER. I had the entrances to the hives all contracted to 3 in. by ^ in., by simply taking a piece of ?2-inch lumber, 2 in. wide and 14' 3 long, cutting a notch in the edge 3 in. long and V2 in. deep, and then screw- ing it over the regular entrance. This I take away during the summer or honey season, replacing it again during the winter. Now for the results:— Thirty were in double-cased hives, with dead-air space all around; only one survived of 20 that had the honey-boxes on with honey-board. The one that survived had the dysentery very badly, but made me 80 lbs. surplus honey this season in boxes. The other 10 of the double-cased hives had no boxes on, but a double thickness of old sacknig tacked over on the top edge of the l)rood-chamber, the honey- boards being left off; 4 of these survived, but had dysenterj'. One stand in a double-cased hive with the honej'-board screwed down tight, with no top ventilation whatever, entrance 3 in. by 'i in., came through all right, and cast a swarm this season, and had no dysentery. One "National" bee-hive, with boxes left on, died with dysentu-y. Two box hives, no upward ventilation, died with dysentery. Four swarms in bee palace, boxes on top and one side, all died with dysentery. Two in the large Langstroth Observatory hive, with boxes on, both died with dys- entery. Eight in hives made of "a in. lumber, with super on top, same size of brood-chamber, 9 frames above and 10 below, with honey-board on, holes left open, 5 of these came through, and none had the dysentery, and the 3 that died seemed to have gotten their cluster divided, and neither half able to stand the cold alone. Eighty-two in hives 78 in. thick, with top or cap on, to protect the honey-boxes; one- half of these had the boxes on, and the other half had the holes in the honey-boards fastened up, with no upward ventilation; saved only 3 of this lot, and they had the boxes left on, and had no dysentery. 5M GLEAiJINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Xov. I saved only 13 from the 130 I had, and 3 swarms since, making 16 to commence the winter with. All are blacks, and I don't believe I have one trace of Italian blood left. I shall ^o iato the winter the same as last; but rest assured that I will not have any pollen near the brood-nest. I shall go upon the principle, that if it's too cold to go after it in the side of the hive, they have no business with it. H. W. White. Broad Kun Station, Fauquier Co., Va., Sept. 23. Many thanks, friend W. You strike on one point that troubles me a great deal. It is the bees going up into the honey- boxes, up under the cap, or off to some re- mote part of the hive to die. Last winter, if a single cranny was left around the cushion, they were sure to leave the combs and crawl up around the wire cloth over the holes in the gable ends of the chaff hives, and be found there dead. Well, I have stopped this in seasons heretofore by sprinkling loose chaff around the corners. I did the same last winter, but they then died down in the combs. Well, when our friends speak of leaving the sections on all winter, I fall to wondering why the bees do not go up into them and die, as mine have done. You see, in friend W.'s case they did. I have winter- ed in the cellar, and in our sawdust-packed house, without any thing over the hive at i all, and they wintered lirst rate. They did j not get out and fly around the room, either. The next winter, however, they got out on the floor so badly I covered the tops of the hives with wire cloth. This kept the floor' clean, and I believe they did tolerably well, j Why do they stay on the combs at one time, j and at another get off into the upper part of the hive, out on the floor, etc. ? Is it that healthy bet's stay in a compact cluster any way, and sick ones don't any way ? I hope it is only pollen and nothing else that makes them sick ; but I very much doubt that com- plete success is any thing that can be so easily reached. — In regard to the size of en- trances : I do not think I shall again take Eains to contract the entrances to the chaff ives. Those left full width last winter did as well, any way, and, I am inclined to think, a little better. I am pretty well satis- fied our bees were blanketed a little too closely for such a winter. This may sound strange to some, but our reports are point- ing strongly that way. I would give a good wide entrance for winter. I think friend W. would have done better had he left all his entrances the same as in summer. He surely could not have done very much worse. The above report would point quite strong- ly in favor of upward ventilation, were it not for that one colony that came through all sound with the honey -board screwed down, and no holes in it at all. I confess this unsettles me. Friend W., were there no holes or crevices in that hive at all V Are you sure the honey-board was waxed down tight all around? Was there not an open crack in the hive somewhere? and did the hive stand right out with the rest ? I pre- sume of course there was no chaff cushions, cloths, or any thing of the kind over the honey-board at all V HOW TO INCREASE 12 COLONIES TO 81, AND GET 1200 liBS. OF HONEY IN A SEASON. PEE STATEMENT IN REPORTS ENCOURAGING. si^S^OU ask if I managed those 12 stocks so as to iii- W crease them from 12 to 81 myself, or if Mr. Wilson did it. Mr. AAMlson is an iutelligent old Scotch farmer, but don't know half as much about bees as I do, and had no hand in the manage- ment of the apiary, barring the fact that he fur- nished me many a good meal, for which he had no adequate recompense. I have done the entire work of both apiaries myself ; during swarming time go- ing over to the Wilson apiary each day after it was too late for swarms to come out at home, and keep- ing the Wilson apiary in shape so there was no dan- ger of swarming there. My colonies were very weak in the spring, but I had abundance of empty combs, and the season was exceptionally good. The increase was entirely by artificial swarming, and the plan was mainly as fol- lows: From the hive containing my best queen, say June 1, 1 took away most of the brood, and gave, in place, empty combs. In thi-ee days I could take away one or more combs filled with eggs, ready for qucen-reariug. June 1st or 2d I unqueened one of my strongest stocks; June 4, I took away all its brood, leaving all the bees, and gave to it the frame or frames of eges already mentioned, noting care- fully on the top-bar of the frame the time of giving the empty comb to the best queen, and the time of taking away. From this stock I obtained mj' queen- cells. June 13th I unqueened another of my sti'ong- est stocks, and June Itrth, in each comb containing brood, I inserted a queen-cell, and fastened in the bees at night. June 15th I took this hive over to the Wilson apiary, and for each frame of brood I started a new colony by simply placing in an empty hive the frame of brood with its queen-cell between two empty combs, and then. closing up with a division- board. Of course, each frame of brood had Its bees adhering to it, and these, being three miles from their old home, would stay wherever put. In the Wilson apiary I had 3 full colonies to start with, and from these I could draw, from time to time, frames of eggs without crippling them. So in a week after forming my little colony of one frame, a frame of eggs was added, or brood if it was to spare any- whei-e, for I made it a rule, in general, to take noth- ing but eggs from any colony, unless it was neces- sary to keep it from danger of swarming. In a few days, more combs could be added, and soon the new colony could in its turn f urnisn aid to later-made colonies. Having two apiaries is an advantage in making new colonies, and if I had only one apiary I am not sure but I should take one or more colonies 2 or 3 miles away, leave them 2 or 3 weeks, then bring them home, and divide up for new colonies. In that way you get about the right proportion of old and young bees in each nucleus. I had no idea of taking any honey from the Wilson apiary; but by starting my last colonies in the lat- ter part of June, I thought I could easily, by feed- ing, get them ready for winter. But as the season was so good there was no need of feeding, and as one after another of the hives became too full, I took from them frames of brood or honey, and gave to the weaker ones, until all had 9 or 10 Langstroth frames full; then, as the harvest continued, from ISSl GLEAJ^OGS IN BEE CULTURE. 535 sheer necessity I kept one outside frame in each ex- tracted, not disturbing the other frames, la this way I increased the 1~ colonies to 81, and obtained over 1200 lbs. of honey. The amount of honey stated may not be exactly correct, but I think it will bo over rather than under the estimate. I can tell better after it is all weighed. Of the extracted, part was actually weighed; the re- mainder in stone crocks was estimated at 10 lbs. to the gallon. The comb hC, 1881. We bought bees of neighbor Rice in July, until he would sell no more, saying he want- ed a few stocks left for "seed." Well, he saved, to build up with, only about 2-5 ; and of these, I believe only 20 had queens in the fore part of July. Yesterday I was surprised to hear him say he had eighty-one good ones. '' Why,liave you done all this by feeding?" '' Haven't fed a bit." '' You do not mean to say your bees have been gathering honey all this dry fall?" " Tliat is just what I mean to say." " AVliy, where did they get it?" "Well, as nearly as I can make out, they got it from smartweed, or blacklieart, as we call the large kind. It has come up in im- mense quantities along the outlet to the lake, about 1* miles from us, and the bees have been working on it strong through the whole of the fall." 1881 GLEANIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. 541 I might mention here, that Mrs. Rice has been sending us so many nice queens this fall, that I inquired a little and found she had, besides this 81 of his, been using about 30 nuclei, and she has alone sent us altout one hundred dollars- worth of queens. What do you think of that. ladiesV -Again : Last Sunday morning, as I was going down to the factory Bible-class, I heard a humming. Wlien I saw what it was, I went after John, and, placing him right before a clump of blaekheart that grows close to the depot, I bade him look. '• John, that is xiolygnnimi 'persiciria that those bees are working on, and " don't you forget it.' " The above is the Latin name of blaekheart, or big smartweed. You can always identify it, for it has seeds like miniature buckwheat or beechnuts, for it is a member of the same family. ^Vho knows but that these little buckwheat seeds are not of some value, so that it would pay us to raise the plant, aside from the honeyV Smartweed griddle-cakes! just think of it! To come to ])erfection, the plant seems to need a great deal of water, and grows finely in swampy places along streams. I have heard that it is a great pest in corn-fields in the AVest. This clump by the depot, that the bees were making such a roaring on, was, however, growing right in some hard gravel that had been drawn from a gravel bank, to cover up the Medina clay. Each plant branches out, so that a single root will make a large bed of blossoms. I feel just now like starting a large bed of polygonum down by the pond, near the Simp- son held. May be I shall never get to it, though. Perhaps you will, my friend. If you do, I want to see it when I get around your way.— Friend W., we want to be thank- ful for even a late crop, and make the most of it. AVHAT DADANT TELiL^i EUROPEANS ABOUT COMB FOUNDATION. TRANSLATED FROM THE BULLETIN D'APICULTURE, BY W. P. ROOT. fjHE first sheets of fdn. were made with a press, in Germany; but the impressions, not being ' deep enoug-h, it often happened that the bees, instead of continuing the worker cells (which at best were but outlined), built drone-cells; defeating one of the chief advantages of this invention. One day I learned that a New Yorker was selling sheets of fdn. I bought a pound for trial, for a dol- lar. The bees were no more astonished at the arti- cle than I; which, being made of parafflne, was very beautiful, though the bees hastened to throw it out. Some time after, Mr. A. I. Root, editor of Glean- ings, announced that he had made a machine, made with rolls, and otfered for sale fdn., and afterward the machines. I tried the new fdn., and I was so well satisfied that I proposed to my son, who is my partner, to buy a machine to make up about 300 lbs. of wax which we had at that time. He consented, and we then started out In the fabrication of frames of artificial foundation. No one then, not even the maker, knew exactly how to manage the machine. At times the sheets would come from the rolls with extreme ease; an hour after, they would all stick, and it was an ever- lasting job to clean out the dents in the rollers. But experience came at last, and, by adding remark to remark, we have succeeded in manufacturing smooth fdn. without trouble. Soon a new machine appeared. Mrs. Dunham, a Wisconsin lady, produced rolls with deeper cells. Our business having extended, it was necessary to have this machine in order to have an assortment. Two other kinds are made, but I have seen the work, which leaves much to be desired. Then the press was reinvented, which, I think, is much inferior toroUs, and costs nearly as much. At last, the wax-mold was invented. The plaster molds, which are dipped in a bath of wax, to till them, mil with the wax, and are not durable. We now come again to speak of the rolls at the bottom of the shallow cells. One can now obtain sheets of extreme thinness, which are used for hon- ey in sections; but this article has limited sale, es- pecially in France. There are, then, really, but two makers in the United States who deserve serious mention; they are: A. I. Root, whose prices are,— Mac'hiiifs for sheets 12 inches hmy. .m'l iiiinimetiTs $100 Mrs. Dunham : — Maeliiiies for sheets 13 iiiehes long. »i:t millinieter.- Mrs. Dunham's machines make less finished fdn. than those of Mr. Root; but it suffices— at least, it is accepted by the bees. Root's machines are better finished, also more firm; those of Mrs. Dunham have been preferred on account of the thickness of the fdn., which prevents its sagging under the weight of the bees, or of the brood, or honey. But Mr. Root also makes them with deep cells when ordered. With the Root machine (such as he makes without contrary orders), one can make from 6 to 7 feet to the pound. The Dunham machine can make only ■iJi feet to the pound. As I have said, I have had a Dunham machine sent to R. Denis, of Vendhuile, a member of our society. Perhaps it would be well here to give directions to fasten the sheets in the frames; but I am afraid of abusing the kindness of the members of the Soc. de la Somme. Ch. Dadant. DIVISION-BOARDS, IMPORTANCE OF. HEN I first began bee-keeping, I felt the need of an expansible and contraotible hive, so that I might, without having two or three sizes, keep my colonies properly proportioned to the room they occupied; and for a long time I was greatly troubled for a way in which to overcome this difliculty. At last I stud- ied out the remedy. It was division-boards. These boards, properly constrvicted and judiciously used, are important accessories to successful bee culture, and no apiary can be said to be well furnished that does not keep a stock of them constantly on hand. By their use, many stocks can be successfully win- tered that otherwise would perish, and weak ones build up to strong ones that otherwise would have to be united with others in order to save them. This subject I deem of great importance to A B C schol- ars; and in order that they may know just what to use, and how to use them, " I arise to explain." They must be made of some material that will re- tain the warmth generated by the bees, and I know 542 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Nov. of nothiug better for that purpose than your chaff ili vision-boards. They should also fit the hive close- ly on all sides, and as nearly air-tight as it is possi- ble to make them. To use them, crowd the bees on just as many combs (I suppose that every one uses foundation in making new swarms) as they can well cover, and no more, putting the frames into the cen- ter of the hive and pushing the boards up close to them on both sides; then as the colony increases, push over a board and put in a new frame until the hive is completely filled. By this means a surplus of honey may be obtained from a new swarm that oth- erwise would have hardly gathered enough honey to winter on. In preparing for wiater, it is the easiest thing in the world to remove three or four frames from weak stocks, put in division-boards, and pack the empty room in the hive with some warmth-retain- ing material. How many colonies have perished in a severely cold winter, simply for want of the above precaution? I do not know; but I do know that I have successfully wintered colonies that could cover five frames only of standard L. size by using them, when far stronger colonies died, as I deem, on ac- count of their being unable to generate the requis- ite amount of heat In a hive greatly dispropor- tioned to their size; so I say, use division-boards. Foxboro, Mass., Sept. 28, 1881. J. E. Pond, Jr. I believe jjou are right, friend P. ; but still I must confess my faith in division-boards has been a little "shaken by the reports we have had this season, in regard to the ad- vantages of much ventilation, and an open chamber over the bees. If a space above the bees is good, are we so sure, after all, that a large hive with a part of it unoccupied is not, during extreme cold like last winter, also an advantage ? Our friend Jerome Wiltse almost says as much; and friend Grimm says, if I am not mistaken, that he would as soon have a comb as a division- board. I throw out these hints that we may look into our reasoning and see that there are no loose joints in it. HOW SHALIi WE WINTER? JliHIS wintering problem is getting to be a very interesting one again, as the "risky" season approaches. Winter, like summer, with us is a season of hopes and disappointments, and this gambling is where the excitement of the business comes in. We hear persons saying that " we are go- ing to have another cold winter;" others say, "a very open one;" and we say, " we don't know;" but we make our estimates based upon an average one with an average loss of stocks. Based upon this av- erage, a colony of bees is worth three-fourths as much now as next spring. We calculate the caro of them till that time, interest on the money, and also that of those that die, their hives and combs are worth one-third the fall value. You know, Mr. Edi- tor, that we advertised some bees for sale. Well, sir, not one order have we received, and but two In- quiries for the whole month, and we see the papers full of " Bees for Sale." Right here allow me to give a piece of advice to those having bees they are anxious to dispose of. ilokl them till Kprhuj, even if you leave them entirely smeared for. I say this be- cause it seems that those who neglect their bees succeed in wintering as well as any; and nextspriug, if every colony now alive should then be alive, bees will be a cash article at a good round price. A friend of mine once asked a rich man how he made his wealth. His simple reply was, " I came here with a little money and I bought stock and grain when it was low, and sold it when it was high." How foolishly simple that sounds, and yet the large majority do just the reverse. They float with the popular current, instead of striking out by them- selves and swimming up stream. Here, too, we find a larj^e reward awaiting a little energy and origin- ality. On page 493 of this Oct. No. of Gleanings, Mr. Ballantine undertakes to disprove our pollen theory. If it is incorrect, we can think of no better time nor man to prove it so; but in my judgment he has overestimated the force of his argument. He seems to conclude, that because pollen is made from the fecundating dust of beautiful flowers, and has the honor of being a very old store of the hive, that it is fallacious for us to claim that this time-honored substance will produce disease, when used In an ab- normal way and at disadvantageous times. I learn that the disease we call bee dysentery is also time- honored. A cancer is a marvel of order and beauty, when seen through the microscope. Who does not know that, throughout all the vegetable and animal creation, that instinct can not be depended upon for the perpetuation of life? How Is it, when you slight- ly water a cabbage-plantin the morning of a hot day? It instinctively turns up its little roots toward the moisture it scents, and succeeds in getting little or none of it; but its death soon results form its more exposed position. How with the colicky, over-fed babe? Its instinct is to eat to relieve the pain pro- duced by overeating. Instinct is at the bottom of the hill of progress: reason, at the top. Instinct ia a crutch for reason when it gets lame. Instinct is blind: reason, a clairvoyant. Instinct swims: reason takes a steamboat. Instinct runs: reason creates and rides on a locomotive. Instinct stands with clasped hands, and fears disaster: reason prevents it. Instinct moves before its betters when reason approaches. Instinct is better than nothing: reason is better than cither. Instinct is life or death, as chance may dictate: reason is life and success. In- stinct has got its growth, gone to seed, and has long been decaying: reason is in the bud, and soon will blossom. Instinct is barbarism: reason, civilization. Reason produced frames: Instinct fled for cross- sticks. Reason said, " Sling that honey, and save that indigestible comb for the bees: instinct said, "That honey is not what I am used to, and therefore it is not good." Instinct says to bees, "Go into a hollow tree, and attach your combs to rotten wood that will give way when you fill them with honey:" reason says to them, "Here, draw this sheet of se- curely wired foundation to a beautiful, straight, and profitable comb." The intelligent and success- ful apiarist says, " My bees must be guided by my reason:" the ignorant and superstitious onesaj'S, "I will follow your blind instincts." When reason says, "Forward, march!" instinct stands and howls like a little dog barking at a full moon. Let us hope that we shall hear no more pleas for instinct. What refutes the whole argument made by Mr. B. is, that what he presents to us as causes of this ef- fect, viz., cold and confinement (the peculiarities of last winter), were general all over the country ,while the supposed effect was not as uniform as was his supposed cause. Something more localin its effects 1881 glea:nixgs in bee culture. .543 must have been the primary cause, while cold and confinement are the great ag„'ravations of this cause. Finally Mr. B. admits that cold caused the bees to eat pollen, which caused the disease, and calls the pollen a secondary cause- and so, after all, all the difference there is between ui is as to which plays first and which plays second fiddle. "Let us sec." Pollen-eating- will produce dysentery, and kill the stocks almost clean throug-h the southern por- tion of Indiana, where no excessive cold of long du- ration, or excessive confinement, existed. The ab- sence of pollen, in any position in the hive where the bees would be inclined to use it during confine- ment, allowed whole apiaries in Northern Michigan to winter successfully, where cold and confinement were existing in all their glory. Now, you can choose for yourself which shall be called the primarj' cause. I have made my choice. Time will decide, and I am willing to abide by the decision. I have just read the article on "Upward Ventila- tion " on p. -107, by Jerome Wiltse. It seems to me that this article is worth the price of Gleanings for one year, to every subscriber. That makes a total value of St419. At least, let us sincerely thank Mr. W. for his candid style, his energy in collecting the facts and figures, and his benevolence in giving them to us that we may profit thereby. I have experi- mented every winter of the thirteen that I have kept bees, and I have used different houses with thick-filled walls above ground, house apiarj-, cellar, buried (both above and below the surface), packed on summer stands with different styles of boxes, and used many variations with each and all of these methods, and have demonstrated and written thatf my bees neglected, often came out best of all. I have heard every plan for wintering bees praised and condemned by turns, and now the favorite chaff packing and cushions are being condemned, even when the bees are to be left out. My idea is, that any thing that will prevent the consumption of pol- len by the hatched bees, will prevent the dysentery, which will prevent over nine-tenths of all losses out- side of careless starvation. It seems more than likely that this great amount of ventilation reported in the successful cases by Mr. W. prevented the bees from breeding, and consequent handling of pollen. AVe must not forget, however, that there may bo in- stances where honey is scarce and pollen plenty in the hive; that during cold spells, when the bees can not change position, they will go to eating pollen as a last alternative. I think the success of the large hives consists in the fact, that the size retarded winter brood-rearing. I once lost all but 3 colonies out of 48; 46 of them had dysentery. One that had it squeezed through in a weak condition; of the two that did not have it, one was a box hive that was all split open in two places clear up the sides; also on top. It was win- tered on the summer stand, three feet from the ground, and with no care. The other one was a frame hive, brought from a distant locality, where it summered alone, and placed on a square box in our cellar, with three other hives that all rotted down, so to speak, with dysentery in its blackest form, as did all the rest of the apiary in that cellar. This colony did not lose a dozen bees; and this and many other circumstances convinced me that the disease is not infectious. Now, we all owe Mr. Wiltse, and all others who have given us their time and losses in experiment, a report of the very most comprehensive experiments we are capable of making the coming winter. Near- ly all of us have notions now fixed, and let us dis- prove them the coming winter, if we can. There is no grander exclamation than to sa.v, " I was mista- ken, and hasten to own It, and assist the wheel of progress in its revolutions, ratherthan tohinder It." "Open confession is good for the soul." We need have no fears of treating a number of colonies in a manner formerly considered murderous; they may prove to be the strongest of all when spring comes. Our tests should l)e made on as large a scale as pos- sible. We should also take advantage of and report our observations among our neighbor bee-keepers, as Mr. W. did. Then let us observe, decide, and re- port, without the least bias or care what we may have said and believed before. Let us be honest with our last and best thought. " This, to thine own self be true, and it follows (as the day does the night), thou canst be false to no man." I shall take a large dose of my own advice, and make as extend- ed experiments as mj- '„'10 colonies will admit of. Thca when the proper time comes, we will, by an interchange of experiences, show old Luck that we have taken another fort, and that it is only a ques- tion of time when he will be forced to an uncondi- tional and complete surrender. James Heddon. Djwagiae, Mich., Oct. 1, 1881. SOME QUESTIONS FROM AN A B C SCHOLAR. p^^lHE selected imported queen I ordered from PJI you Aug. 27 came to hand Sept. 1, and at noon you — ' to-day she had about one card full of eggs. I was away from home when she came, but my wife introduced her according to directions on the Peet cage, and she is all right. It has been very dry here for some time past, but there has been no time during the spring, summer, or fall months of the two years past, that brood- rearing has ceased in my yard. So you see we are rather favorably situated. BFSOOD-nEAItlNG WHILE STOIIIXG IS GOING ON AT50VE. Ho'v do you manage to keep up brood-rearing, and still get the bees to work in the crates? After try- ing tbis summer to get my bees to fill the crates, 1 have found the brood-chamber almost destitute of eggs, larva?, and brood, and the chamber full of honey instead. Do you advise extracting from the brood-chamber? and if so, how late in the fall? or how Iohr before time for honey to cease coming in should we stop? EMPTY COMB FOR BROOD-REARING IN THE FALL. Ought there to be empty comb for brood-rearing after honey ceases to flow? If so, how much? REARING BOTH DRONES AND QUEENS FROM ONE MOTHER. As I now have an imported queen, how shall I in- sure the purest stock the coming year-by usingher to raise both drones and queens, or would it be bet- ter to use my next best for raising drones? (I have a pretty good one.) How often do you advise chang- ing the stock of queens to prevent in-and-in breed- ing? A man told me to-day he had found 7 swarms in the woods around here this fall -all Italians. McBrides, Mich., Sept. 5, 1881. F. A. Palmer. I would not extract from the brood-cham- ber, as a general thing. If your surplus re- ceptacles are easy of access, as with the hives 544 GLEANINGS IN BEE CUETUEE. Nov. we advise, you will ordinarily have no trouble iu getting the bees to move their honey out of the brood-chamber into these receptacles.— I have never found it necessary to put in empty combs in this locality, in the fall, but I presume in some places they get so much late honey it is an advantage. — I would by all means rear my drones from an- other queen than the imported ; and if you do this you will not need to make any fur- ther change in stock. If you lind good, well- marked Italians in the woods, there is cer- tainly no need of buying any thing more in the shape of fresli strains of blood, unless it is an imported queen once in two or three years. the: BEE-CAVfS OF TEXAS. THEY PUOMISE TO BE NOT ALL PICTURES AFTER ALL. ^2f* HAVE read with pleasure the many new ideas that have been brought out in Gleanings; am pleased at the clipping friend Hutchinson sent you about the bee-caves in Texas, and your idea that it should be developed. I think I can give you a chance to "strike it big," nearer home; and if it has not been disturbed lately, I think it equal to the Texas vein. My informant (an old rustic bee- keeper) told me that his father struck a bee's nest in the mountains of Pennsylvania, similar to the one in Texas, it being also in a ledge of rocks, and by a stream of water. Well, the neighbors got together and blasted off the rocks, and took out one or two kerosene barrels of honey, and then they would come to a partition in the rocks (another Infringe- ment on Mitchell's adjustable division-board). This they would blast out, and got perhaps an ox-cart full of honey; at any rate, they all got what they wanted, and there was enough left that ran into the creek to turn it into metheglin for five miles. You evidently see it is nearer a bonanza than Hutchin- son's " scheme," for he has got to look his man up, while 1 have mine. He says these are the facts, if his memory serves him right! He is an old man, and ought to be truthful. Now, while friend H. is perfecting his oi'ganization, if you will help this old friend and myself (financially) I have no doubt that, while you gain the name of a philanthropist, we will make some money. I got through the winter with 10 colonies- 5 good ones and 5 veiy weak. They have increased to 33 colonies, and gave 700 lbs. of basswood honey. My wife has kept an account of every thing sold from the apiaiy, such as bees, queens, honey, wax., etc., and I have 30 good swarms left. Her figures show a credit of $112.00. I think I have something a little remarkable in hybrids. My di-ones were pure Ital- ians, while friend Wilson, two miles south, and friend White, one mile north, had black drones. My early queens were mated purely, but later in the season, five-sixths are hybrids, while friend Wil- son's are every one pure Italians,and quite a portion of friend White's; isn't that a plain case of an ef- fort of nature to prevent in-and-in breeding? M. A.Gill. Viola, Richland Co., Wis., Sept. 5, 1881. My attention was called to an article in my last number of Gleanings, headed " Bee-caves in Tex- as." As you desire to know something more in regard to the same, I thought I would write these few lines, that you may see that there may be some truth in that "big yarn" that friend Hutch- inson writes about. 1 am not acquainted with that particular locality spoken of in the Youth's Cumpaniini, but I have scouted considerably in the same range of mount- ains, and have often been lold of large bee-caves in such and such parts of the mountains; but my bus- iness was of such a nature that I could not take a " hunt," but I know that it is so, for I have particu- lar friends who have been to many bee-caves; in fact, friend Hoot, some of these old W^estcrn Texas settlers could tell j'ou truthful bee yarns that would lay that of the Youth's Companion very much in the shade; in fact, so well is it known, that I am contin- ually being advised to start my bee business in the mountains, where I could get all the bees and honey I want, free. There are considerable drawbacks to starting a business there, that will be overcome in the course of time when the country is more settled up. By the bye, let me tell you another thing in re- gard to bees in Texas. It used to be a very common thing to find bees building in the tall grasses and bushes, and I presume is so yet it the thinly settled parts of the State. At some future time I would like to send you a few bee-cave j'arns if you think they would be of any interest to your readers. Thos. Balcomb. Luling, Caldwell Co., Tex., Sept. 26, 1881. Many thanks, friend B., and I would be glad to have the " yarns " sent along, if you will only be particular and let us all know just how much of it is " yarn," and how much " real cloth." Here is something from another friend on the same subject : — I see in my last number of your Gleanings a bee- cave story that you seem to doubt. I can say to you that such things as bee-caves are in existence. Two hundred miles west of this place, bee-caves are very common, and a large number of bees inhabit the caves. The " liear" part of the story I do not be- lieve, nor the water being sweet for miles below the cave. Hearing the bees a mile from the cave is not unreasonable. You must remember, the air is much purer in Western Texas than where you live, and noise can be heard at a greater distance. My bees are doing very well, except one hive, which some one robbed a few nights past. The damage was a:bout two gallons of honey. I don't know whether they got the queen or not, but think they have. .T. W. Traylob. Mt. Joy, Delta Co., Texas., Sept. 25, 1881. QUEENS THAT WILL STING — ALSO A WORD ABOUT BEE-CAVES. I have been keeping bees over 15 years, and have had many queens in my hand, but you may guess I sent one whirling the other day. I had her in my hand waiting for the return of my son with a queen- cage. She crawled up on my wrist, and plunged her dagger in. I slung her loose in a hurry. Did it hurt? You "bet a reckon" it hurt as bad as a sting from a worker; but the sting did not remain in the flesh, and as an experiment I took a hybrid Holy- Land queen (virgin) and tormented her until she would sting my fingers. Bees are not doing as well as they did last fall; mine, however, are busy on red elm, cuckle-burr, and fall cotton-blooms. I have received several let- 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 545 ters asking about Texas as a bee State. I will say, some portions are very good, bees often making 300 lbs. of comb honey per colony. Eastern Texas is the best; Western and South -Western are good. I guess that description of the i-ives you publish- ed, see p. 436, Sept. No., 1S81, of Gle.A-NINGS, was somewhat magnified. Come out and I will show you the caves in Bosque County. B. F. Carroll. Dresden, Navarro Co., Texas, Sept., 1881. A NEW SA^V-SET. ALSO SOME VALUABLE HINTS ABOUT SETTING SAWS. PRESUME there are almost as many dilTerent opinions in regard to the way of setting saws as there are machines in tlie market for doing it. The one shown below has received the preference by the great saw-men, Henry Disston it Sons, of Philadelphia. We have sold them for the past year, but as some of onr customers want a little instruction in their use, we give the cut and explanation, from Disston's circular : — STAR SAW-SET FOR H.iXD, BACK, BAND, WEB, WOOD AND S.MALL CIRCULAR SAWS, NOT THICKER THAN 18 GAUGE. I • STAR SAW-SET. Prominent among the advantages claimed for this set is, that it can be operated wholly by the foot by means of a treadle, thus leaving the hands free to guide the saw. A is the plunger, which is operated by a treadle attached to E, under the machine; B, the hammer, or striking part; C, the anvil; D, the movable gauge; F, the screw to regulate the amount of set. The striking part, and the anvil, or portion which receives the blow, are star-shaped, and similar in construction. The points are all of different sizes, and are numbered from 1 to C, and are designed to set different-sized teeth. It will strike a blow as sharp and effective as though done by a hammer, and is the most useful and complete saw-set that has ever been offered to the trade. If the saw is //o?(?, several blows should be given in setting it. Raise the back of the saw from the guide-screw F when the first blow is given, and gradually lower it with each blow until the pro- cess is complete. Thus many a good saw may be saved from utter ruin. A trial will suffice. Be sure to clean the saw teeth before setting. Messrs. Disston & Sons also give ns the fol- lowing additional directions:— DIRECTIONS FOR USING THE STAR SAW-SET. First bore a hole through the bench, for the lower end of plunger to pass through; then fasten the set to the bench, as shown in the cut. The piece fast- ened by the screw F over the lower set is only to be used when setting narrow saws, to prevent them from tilting. The points of star-shaped pieces are nuniliered from one to si.v, and are designed to set different sizes of teeth. With this set a blow may be struck as sharp and effective as if done by a ham- mer; if the saw is hard, several blows should be giv- en in setting it. In setting, raise the back of the saw from the screw F, when the ttrst blow is given, and gradually lower it with each blow, until the set- ting is complete. The set can be used with or with- out treadle, as a light tap on the top of plunger is sufficient to set the teeth of saws eighteen gauge in thickness. By using the treadle, you have both hands free to guide the saw. The treadle is not fur- nished by us, but can be attached by any one, pass- ing a rope or wire through the eye in the lower end of plunger, and fastening to a strip of board reach- ing within three inches of the floor, the other end lying loose on the floor. As in the other case, give the treadle a sharp tap with the foot. Never set by pressure. Henisy Disston & Sons. Philadelphia, Pa., Sept. 37, 1881. Where many circular saws are to be set, we have found it conveaiient to fix a pin in the bench, just in front of the set, for the saw to turn on. Put it over this pin, and turn it so as to set every other tooth. Now take it off the pin, turn it over, and set the teeth omitted before. If the pin has a bolt through it, with a thumb-niit on top, you can, with washers, set the saw at any height you wish, and thus insure an exact equality in the set of each tooth. To have it adjust- able for saws of different sizes, the pin should be set in a sliding block, let into the bench. The slide is to have a thumb-nut, to fasten it at any precise spot. Well, after you have set your pin at the right distance, and put on washers enough to raise the saw to the proper height, you can set a circular saw so quickly it will almost astonish you. ^Ve can furnish above set for Toe; by mail 30c more. 546 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Nov From Different Fields. CAGIXG VIRGIN QUEENS. ^r'fS?^ ID you ever try keeping virgin queens caged JP|[Jj)J until they were 4 or 5 days old, and then suc- cced in introducing them? If so, in what way, and with what success? I have tried something over two dozen, and lost only one. Two of them were laying in three days after introducing. They were put in the hive in the old cell. W. S. C AUTHEN. Pleasant Hill, S. C, July 28, 1881. We have introduced virgin queens when a day or two old, but it was a long job. We lost a much larger per cent than you men- tion, and some ol: them did not lay until they were ten days old. It was a very diffi- cult thing to get the bees to accept them, and, altogether, we decided it did not pay. Introducing in queen-cells has often been suggested and tried, but I am inclined to think it makes little difference how the queen comes into the hive, if her scent, age, etc., are acceptable to the bees. A STRING OF QUERIES IN REGARD TO PKEPAKING BEES FOR WINTER, ETC. I like Gleanings very much, and have been much benefited by its contents from time to time. I like this comparison of ideas. I wish you to reply to the following:— Much is said about making passages through combs for winter, to aid the comfort and prosperity of the bees; also to let them have time, undisturbed, suf- ficient to allow the pets to icar iip thoroughly be- fore cold weather closes in. Now, is this passageway and waxing necessary in cellar wintering, where no frost enters the hive? I can not see that it is. The winter passages in the combs are not as necessary for wintering in cellars, I pre- sume, but it is without doubt an advantage to the queen. Again: If the iva.cnuj is necessary, why leave an open space over brood-frames for upward ventila- tion, as some argue necessary to best good of bees? The waxing up is simply allowing bees to do as they usually do, and is all right with- out any particular precaution, unless with artificial or small late swarms that have not had pasturage sufficient to allow them to get into winter trim properly. I think this waxing up important, even if the bees do have a vacant space above the frames, for it makes quite a protection against cold drafts of air right through the cluster. Do you consider any covering over brood-frames better in this latitude (i. e., duck or enamel cloth), than the honej^-board ? I am not sure that any covering is better than honey-boards for winter; but the en- ameled sheets are vastly more convenient for summer use, especially where hives are to be opened often, as in queen-rearing. I winter in my cellar, and wish to be able to add a little warmth occasionally. Will a kerosene-oil stove be suitable? "We never have used the stove, and I am not certain about any odor arising. I do not think I would risk a kerosene-oil stove, on account of danger of its injuring the purity and sweetness of the air. In ventilating a cellar by pipes, one long, reaching to the bottom, and the other a short pipe, is it not as well to place both on the same side of the cellar? I would have the pipes at opposite sides, to have the ventilation more equal through- out the whole room. Will bees winter as quietly in a cellar with a small amount of vegetables as without? I do not think a few vegetables would make any sensible difference. Can a nucleus, size of '/4 a medium colony, readily winter in cellar, if a sulHcient amount of haney is stored? A nucleus will winter almost as well as a full colony, if every thing is well in proper proportion, well waxed up, etc. Are the bees sensible of the approach of any one while in the cellar, unless the hive is touched? I do not think the bees are disturbed un- less the hive is touched, but the drafts of air, caused by moving about in their depos- itory, might arouse them from their winter's nap. I think it is L. C. Root who advises having the hives supported entirely from the ground, and but a few on a bench or platform, that in moving one hive you need not disturb many others. I have queried whether they were so sensitive or not, as to be moved by the disturbance in the at- mosphere, caused by a person's walking; also if tbey were accustomed to hear any noise made. My impressions are, they do not hear quickly, if at all, but are extremely sensitive to touch and smell. Are they not also dull in sight, especially so unless the object is directly in front? These are what I am desirous of knowing. If not too much trouble, please reply in Nov. No. W. Wakefield. St. Paul, Minn., Sept. 5, 1881. I think you are right, in the main, in re- gard to their sense of touch, smell, and sight. . HOUSEHOLD QUEENS, AND BEE-HIVE QUEENS, ETC. I have felt (after having Gleanings for almost thiee years) on reading the last two numbers of your paper, a sort of inspiration to write a letter for the ABC column, or else it is a craving desire to see my name in print, as I am now 41 years old, and never even wrote a paragraph for a paper, and I am an old bachcliir at that. My name is Butler, and while read- ing the August No. I could not but mentally wish that my name was Thomas, or had his mishap, if it would only bring me a wife as it did him, provided "she" was a lover of the bees, and there was a prospect of her loving me just a little. Noav, friend Root, 1 am obliged to confess my letter begins to look as though I were trying to do (what I have of- ten thought some of my ABC brothers were doing) a little cheap advertising. However this may be, if, among your lady readers, any of them should read this And now, teacher, please answer a new scholar a few questions. J have a queen two years old, a choice one that has for two years i-aised nothing but distinctly marked three-banded worker bees, but whose bees now look like poor hj-brids. I have raised almost all my queens from her for the past 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 547 two seasons, and all but two (and they very doubtful), have produced plainly marked hybrids. Does it not seem, if she were pure, with a few black bees a mile distant at least, a part should bring me purely marked workers? Are Cyprian and Palestine bees equal to Italians in keeping out moths? T. K. Bctleh. Alma City, Waseca Co., Minn., Sept. 5, 1881. Why, friend B.. tliere is no sort of need of fallinj^ out of a tree and getting stung as friend Thomas did. nor advertising in your bee journal. ,eitlier, in order that yon may find some nice genteel little woman who would be glad to help you keep bees and — house too I There are plenty of exactly the right kind, right in your own neighborhood, without any sort of a doubt. Either you are too faint-hearred. or else you are too particular. In either case, you must get right over it. If the woman you should get doesn't prove to be exactly perfection, it is your business, with your "broad shoulders. to stand between her and the world, and by kindness and love correct the deficiencies exactly as she will correct yours. It is a bad idea to get into your head, that there are better people a thousand miles aAvay. than there are right in your neighborhood. AVe have been assisting the friends large- ly in getting household conveniences, it is true, friend J3.; but you did not suppose we meant to include "in the list household queens, did youV If they doh"t know about bees, it will be all the niore interesting to you to have the pleasure of teaching them. Fix up. and start out this very night ; and when you are happier in a home of your own than you ev- er dreamed of being' before, write and tell us about it. I have never met just such a case as you mention with the bees, and do not know how to explain it, unless the queen was one of Doolittle's kind; a hybrid that produced three-banded workers. I believe the C'yps and Holy-Lands are fully up to any Italians, to keep out the moth. HEES AND GRAPES, AGAIN. What is the price of the cheapest wire cloth you have that will confine bees to the hive? Do you think, with the thermometer at 75 or 80 , bees could be moved in a spring wagon 5 or 0 miles without melting or breaking down the combs in brood- chamber? Each colony contains 3 or 4 sheets of fdn. (not wired), but they were in the center, and have not much honey in them now; other combs old and tough. Tt seems a great undertaking to move 100 swarms, but I can not have them injure the grapes this year as they did last. I should be glad of any suggestion that occurs to you. I think there are more than 100 acres r>f grapes within their range. Brocton, N. Y., Sept. 3, 1881. M. Simons. Why, my friend, is it really a fact, that your "bees have been meddling with the grapes, to the extent that you are thinking of moving 100 colonies? If so. it is a pretty fair evidence that bees do realh-, at least sometimes, prove a pest to grape-growers. There will be no trouble at all in moving them, providing those new combs made from fdn. are fastened at the bottoms and | sides. If not, and such is often the case, Avhere they are fastened to the comb-guide and no more, they will often get to swing- ing when the hive is moved, and break off. If moved during very hot weather, they must have abundant ventilation, as I have explained in the ABC; but I trust ere this you have had a flow of honey, or something providential has rendered it unnecessary for you to undertake such a task. RATHER UISHEARTEXING. One of my neighbors sent to the city of New York for an imported cjuecu — has received three; the first came dead; the second produced hybrid work- ers and black queens; the third can't hold on to the combs— an old worn-out queen, I think. I have had about the same kind of success in ordering queens. Harvey P. Farrington. Mandobi, Buffalo Co., Wis., Aug. 15, 1881. Gently, friend F. The imported -queen Inisiness is full of disappointments, both to the buyer and seller. After the long trip they have to make, it is not very unusual for them to come tlirough dead. From your statement, I infer you received another promptly, and I am a little afraid j'^ou pro- nounced her hybrid when she was a pure queen, judging solely from your own state- ment. The daughters of many of our im- ported queens would be pronounced black, by one not acquainted with them ; but they will produce nice yellow bees, in spite of their color. Are not the workers you pro- nounce hybrids gentle to handle and very industrious? See if you do not lind them to stand the test laid down in our A B C. The last one being feeble, was also occasioned, probably, from her long trip. It is a hard thing to" be obliged to bear the loss of an im- ])orted queen ; and to be censured when one is doing the best he can. makes it still hard- er. Shall we not all try to cultivate a spirit of patience and forbearance in these matters? COMPARATIVE VALUE OF SUGAR AND HONEY FOR FEEDING. You have wintered bees on sugar, and now I should like to know how many pounds of coffee A sugar, made into a sj-rup, a good strong colony of bees ought to have, say the 1st of October, provided they had W) honey for winter stores. What is the comparative value of sugar and honey as a food for bees? W. Z. Hutchinson. Rogersville, Mich., Sept. 9, 1881. The term " good strong colony '" is rather an indefinite one, friend II. The colony of ours that gathered 13i lbs. in a day weighed llf lbs., but we would call 5 lbs. of bees a good strong colony. In our experiments in shipping bees we "thought a pound of bees would consume a pound of sugar in about 1-5 days, if I am correct. Well, bees in a state of rest, as in their hives in winter, should not consume over half tliat amount — say a l)Ound of stores a month for each pound of bees. This would give -SO lbs. for each .5-lb. colony, () months. T do not think, in prac- tice, it will equal more than half that, even for stocks wintered outdoors. Where they are so well protected that they assume their semi-dormant condition, the amount is still less. I should think, from the experience I 548 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Nov have had, that a pound of granulated sugar made into syrup would be worth as much as li lbs. of the best honey, to feed. In regard to the quantity, we should remember that too much is always safer than not enough. ROOM WANTED IN THE SMILERY. If you have any iclea of putting mc in Blasted Hopes, alter my writing as I did in September No., that " very likely my bees would have 1o be fed in winter," I will now say, "Don't." AVe have had sev- eral nice showers of rain since that date, and it is surprising to see how vegetation of all kinds is grow- ing and blooming. Should frost hold off ten days or two weeks yet, I may want space in the Smilery. I feel satisflcd now that all will be in good condition, and go into winter with plenty of honey. It is sur- prising to see the amount of brood they have on hand. They will not die this winter, if young bees have any thing to do with successful wintering. UPWAKD VENTILATION. After reading Jerome Wiltse's article on upward ventilation, I wish to say that. I once transferred a colony of bees for a neighbor, that wintered in an old Buckeye hive, the door of which was left half open all winter. I think it was the winter of 1877-'8. However, the weather was very cold all through, yet that colony wintered well, and was covered with bees the next spring when I transferred them. What kind of ventilation would you call that? That they were thus exposed all nintcr, I know to be a fact, as they had camb built from the fronts of the frames to the door, which could not be shut. In conversation the other day with a bee-keeper from an adjoining town, he stated that, in preparing his bees last fall, he accidentally left one colony with only the enameled cloth over the frames, and this spring it was as good a colony as he had. Wonder if we hadn't better " about-face" and take the other extreme awhile. It seems that, after all the fun we " smartics " poke at the " old fogies," they are there about the time wc arrive. Joseph M. Brooks. Columbus, Ind., Oct. 8, 1881. Friend Jl, I don't believe I would apply for a place in the tSmilery if I were you, be- fore next spring, say the hrst of May for in- stance.— I am not surprised that the colony wintered with an opening in the side of the hive, nor that the one with only the enam- eled sheet did also ; and I think if there had been a small hole in the sheet right over the cluster, it would still have done well. A real powerful colony will winter without any thing over them, not even section boxes ; but if they are not real strong, they will die off every severe freeze, until all are gone. I have tried it, some of you may remember. At such times, even a slight covering seems to be very important. Now, if a snuill open- ing is left in this slight covering, this open- ing will be so full of bees, even during se- vere weather, that no very great amount of air can get through it, and it begins to look to me as if such an opening, or openings, are about what they need. STILL HOPEFUL. I ordered a queen of you a few days since, which came to hand all right and promptly. She is now laying, and, to all appearances, will make a success- ful house-keeper— domestic in her habits, industri- ous, economical, and, above all, good disposition. I have run down several times since I have kept bees, to one and two, and once all went; but ray hopes have never been entirely blasted. Last fall I had 23 colonies; this spring I had only two; but I never felt more determined in my life than I have this season. From those two swarms, I have had T, and expect, before Oct. 1st, to have two more, all in good condition for wintering; and if I lose all next winter, I will buy a swarm and commence again. Nothing like pluck and a happy disposition in bee- keeping. I know now it was all my fault that I lost so many last winter. They were a^l strong, but I neglected them initil cold weather came on so sud- denly I could not make up for my procrastination; but that was only one of many losses I have learned and appropriated to myself. W. H. Sedgwick. Granville, O., Aug. 20, 1881. what one swarm did in COLORADO. 1 bought one colony of pure Italians this spring, with clipped queen (got them in April}, and May 25th they swarmed first, and June 2d they swarmed again, both being fine strong swarms. June 4th they swarmed again, that, of course, being a light swarm. I have taken 50 lbs. of line honey from the first, and will get about 25 more. The second will have aliout IG lbs. in sf ctions, and the third have the 10 frames full, but will make none in sections. I have taken 14 lbs. from the old hive, and they have the 10 frames full for winter. The honey is made principally from Rocky-Mountain bee-plant and wild sunflower. The bee-plant is very plenty, growing everywhere wild, and will average four feet in height, with some specimens si.x feet high, and blooms from May till September. S. H. Kelley. Berthoud, Larimer Co., C I., Oct., 18S1. SMALL QUEES-CAQES, VERSUS LARGE. The queen came all right, lively as a cricket; shipped on the 8th, and arrived here on the 11th. Two Peet cages put together is a pretty good idea for shipping long distances, but not as good as the cages used by you last year. A shipping-cage should be small, so that the (lueen would be tossed but a short distance from one side to the other. The con- cussion then is not gri?at enough to injure the queen when the mail-bngs are being tossed about. Well, friend Koot, what do you think of my improvement on the Langsti'oth brood-frames, also for the ex- tractor? It may be old, but new to me. Simply use o end-bars instead of two; the center one holds the combs firmly, and they will not break in extracting, neither will fdn. sag so badly, and is not in the way of the queen at all. J. S. Tadlock. Kingsbury, Texas, Sept. IT, 1881. I have for some time been thinking of your point in regard to queen-cages, friend T., for it is a fact, that large cages do not, many times, seem to do as well as the small ones, and I am inclined to think it is for the reason you state. — Your middle pie^e in the frame is a very old idea, and the only ob- jection is. I believe, that it makes a blank space right in the heart of the brood-nest. IMPORTANCE OF UPWARD VENTILATION, AGAIN. I will now hand in my report for this season. Had 3 colonies of blacks left in the spring; increased to 10 by natural and artificial swarming; h:ive taken so far about 125 lbs. nice comb honey. I had 1 colony of blacks that was shipped to me 25 miles by freight last winter, when it was bitter cold. They were in a 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. o4!) tall box hive; iu the spring- I transferred them to the L. hive, and took 20 lbs. of honej'. They swarmed in about two weeks. In 6 days I divided them into o more, giving to each a ripe queen-cell. This I did on Monday. The next Friday they cmst a second swarm, notwithstanding the dividing. I returned this swarm and gave them a comb containing eggs, and they swarmed no more. Now, I tried last win- ter to winter 12 colonies in L. hives, and 2 in box hives; one was the above colony; the other I bought at a sale for one dollar, and carried them home on my shoulder more than a mile last November. They were weak in numbers, and also in stores; but both box hives had an empty space above the brood-chamber for a surplus box. Both box hives came through the severe winter all right; but 11 of the 12 in L. hives went " where the woodbine twin- eth;" 10 of those had 7 inches of chaff on top, and 9 had one foot of straw packed all around, except in front; box hives had no protection. This has been a noble season with us. I believe that tons of honey went to waste in the fore part of the season for want of bees to gather it. But the drought cut short the l)uckwheat and golden rod. North Robinson, O., Oct. 3, 1881. J. H. Ebv. I believe Doolittle is right when he says thai some li < r poor, high or low, to occupy a small space in \"iir publication, to state squarely what 1 knoii\ letiing the re-spuiisibility fall where it may. My ordrr.s placed with Messrs. Burch & Co., in 1S80, were proiiipily filled. Ta Ma.y last [ took occasion to plico an order with thetii again, and the time stipulated whe-n the goods were to bo forwarded. The time arrived, and my order was not filled; in answer to my Inquir.v, thev in- formed me every thing was being done possible to fill their orders, and thev felt positive my order would be reached by a ci-rtain date, nacning it. Fail- ing to get mv goods on the day appointed, and pre- judiced by the reports contained in your pages, I visited South Haven, ostensitily for the purpose of commencing suit against Messrs. Burch & Co , for full amount of xnv order, with ititere-;t and dam- ages. My first business was tf> visit a few of the old- est and best citizens in the place, to whom I sfatHd the circumstances, who in turn informed me of the true character of Mr. H. A. Burch, whom they had known from boyhood, and said there must he some- thing unnatural, and entirely different from the course pursued by him heretofore; triving as reason therefor, that H. A. Bvirch had ever enjoyed the en- viable reputation of being an upright, honest, clear- headed, prompt, and persevering \-oung man, and it could not be possible he had so f.tllen. from such a reputation, a-! to be unworthy of the estimation in which he was held, and advised me to visit him and consult all the circumstances attending the case be- fore I proceeded against him. Upon visiting him, it required but a short time to take in thf entire situ- ation. First. I counted 24:i colonies ..f l)ees in his apiary; Mr. Burch in the work, with a competent man with hint (who. tiy the way, had jn^t arrived), shipping off Ijpco, extracting hone-v. hiving swarms, etc. I found Mr. B. was eniplo\ ed from sunrise un- til about 11 P.M., and 00 31 I Soldering iron (or copper) 1 lb | 3 00 j 26 00 33 I Steamers, like 3.5c one, but larger.. . | 3 00 | 25 00 PIPTY-CENT COUNTER. 3 1 Cutting-Plycrs; 3'/, inch | 4 00 | 35 CO Polished steel; a beautiful tool. 32 I Dish or rinsing pan, re-tinned | 4 50 | 40 00 IT inches across, 19 quarts. ( See 35c counter.) I Trunks, very good, 11x12x24 1 4 .50 1 40 GO The above will do nicely to pack goods in when you make an order. Tliey are splendid trunks for the money. Seventy-Five Cent Counter. 42 I Dish or rinsing pan, re-tinned j 7 00 | 65 00 19 inches .across; 21 qts. (See .'!5c counter. * I Trunks, very good, 13x15x28 | 7 00 | 65 00 See 50 cent counter. ONE- DOLL AK COUNTEB,. I Trunks, very good, 15x16x32 | 9 00 | S5 00 See .50 cent counter. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. gcmij^ %elmT^n. Under this head win be inserted, free ot charge, tne names or all those having honey to sell, as well as those wanting to buy. Please mention how much, what kind, and prices, as far as pos- sible. As a general thing, I would not advise you to send your honey away to be sold on commission. If near home, where you can look after it. it is often a very good way. By all means, develop your home m.arket. For 25 cents we "can furnish little boards to hang up in your dooryara. with the words, ' ' Honey for Sale, " neatly painted. If wanted by mail, 10 cents extra for postage. Boards saying ' ' Bees and Queens for Sale, ' ' same p'-iee. CITY MARKETS. New York.— HoHfy. — Permit us to quote comb honey as follows: Best white in 1 lb. sections, 30® 32c; fair, 17@19c; best white in 3 lb. sections. 18@20c; fair, lo@,17c; best dark, in I lb. sections, 13@1.5c; best dark in 3 lb. sections, ll@14i'. fiarge boxes, 3c per lb. less than above. BesCNvhitj extracted, 10@lic; best dark, 7®8c. Becsu'a.r.— Market is qtiiot; prime yellow is selling at 22@24c; dark wax, 30@21c. H. K. & F. B. Thurber & Co. New York, Oct. 22, 1881. St. Louis.— Ffodc.t;.— In fair demand and steady. Comb 18@20c; pure strained and extracted at 9® 12'/4c— outside figures fur lots in choice small pkgs. Sale 13 brls and 9 hf-brls straiaed at 9c. St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 25, 1881. B. C. Greer & Co. Chicago.— J?o)ic.i/.— The condition of the honey and wax market remains about the same as last quo- tation. The demand is good, and the supply is equal to it. Alfred H. Newman. 972 West Madison St., Chicago, Oct. 21, 1881. Cleveland.— Hojiey. —Choice white section honey continues in good request ields honey abundantly. Price oJ cie. per lUO; seed 2.5 cts. per ounce. POPLAR.— This certainly yielded more honey the past season than any thintr else in this vicinity. Valuiible for timber; unsurpassed as a shade tree; nic. straiyht young trees at $1.00 per 100. PEKSI.MMOX.— Bloiims sometimes for nearly a month, yielding an aluinflanee of bimey, and the fruit is just splendid (for those who like it). Price of young trees, $.'(.li|j per lOL); seed, 10 cts. per f>z. SUMAC —Bliioins in the summer, when there is but littl'^ else ; wouW be considered very ornanjeiit- al where it does nut grow wild; grows from 4 to 6 ft. hisfh. Young trefx. J3. per 100; seed. 3> eis. periz. CHERRV, i3LACK T XliTA Rl AM.-Gooil for hon- ey and fruit : vry hnrdy. Price $2.00 per 100. GOOSEBERRY. -Be(s work on it livelv; splendid fruit. HriCH $2.ii0 per 100 hv mail, postpiiid. APPLE-TWIGS for grafting; altuost any variety; 25 Cts. per bunch by mad. i)'istp:i)(l. The above trees deltver<-d on board cars hero at pri.'es named; seeds sent bv mnil postpaid. Address CHAS. K1i\GSLi:v, 12d Greeueville, Greene Co., Tenn. Tlic Oldi'st Bee Paper in America— Established in l%a. &MERIGAN BEE JOURNAL, Published 'WEEK.I..X, at S3.00 a year. The first and third numbers of each month. $1.00 a year. The flrst number of each month, 50 cents a year. THOMAS G. XEAVIWAX, Editor and Proprietor, »74: West Madison Street, Chicaifo, III. FLAT -BOTTOM COITIB FOUIV- dation.— High side-walls, 4 to 14 squsro feet to the lb. rireular and samples free. J. VAN DEUSEN & SONS, 12tf fdn Sole Manufacturers, Sprout Brook, Mont. Co., N. Y. HEADQUARTERS FOR Imported and home-bred; rucici and full colo- nies. For quality nnd purity, mv stock of bees can not be excelled in the United States. I make a specialty of manufacturing the Dunham foundation. Trr it. If yoti wish to purchase Bees or Supplies, send for my new circulHr. Address Itfd DR. J. P. H. BROWN, Augusta, Ga. HIVES! HITES! I am now prepared to mantifacturo bee-hives, whol.-sale and retail at the very lowest prices. Send one dollar, to get one of D. A. Jones' celebrated hives. Catalogue furnished on application. 9tld JOHN M. KINZIE, Doon, Ont., Can. THE British Bee Journal. The British Bee Journal is now mailed to our ad- dress in packages, each month. In order to dispose of thera, we offer them at present at 75c per year, postage paid, beginning Jan. 1881, if ordered so they can be mailed in December, 1881, on account of post' age. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. .576 GLEANINGS m BEE CULTURE. Dec. FREE ! io^i^1tr^VoU%S.f:!'ht:fl 'Jl KIP WORDS FROM OUR CUSTOMERS. When I first pent for your book I thousrht 1 would try it a short time, not thinking I would like it as well as Id). H.W.Cook. Atherton, Can., Nov. 7, 1881. The " Favorite " scales bought of vou recently are very nice and reliable, and give entire satisfaction. Every housewife should have one in her kitchen. J. A. BOOKWALTKR. Wabash, Ind., Nov. 7, 1881. Splondifl npw Oatnlotrne of Trfies. Plnnts, Poods, now Ciapc'S and Small Fruits, free. Spooimon rony of ihe best Fruit ajid ^Towor Pu"'or p^iblisliori. free. Extra inducoments to Club Aeon* •= nnrl tlmso (ip^ivjns to sol] our Pliints. Our 64-iiml.'o Aniall Fruit Ins'rtictor (i;piv crlition) tolls 111 i<7 (•> pI-m- ^r,-. m- jiml m^n-kot : V'st- Ijuid. 2oc. Address. PUEDY, of Palmyra, N.Y. The Clark smoker came all right. I have tried It, and consider it a vast improvement over the one I have been using. Please accept many thanks for promptness, and kindness in making the change. D. C. Potter. Fairhaven, Bristol Co., Mass., Nov. G, 1881. ABC book and Gleaninos are at hand, and In- deed they were welcome. I think each ABC scholar ought to have both c 'pies, for they are very brief, and instructive to both veteran and amateur apiar- ist. Thanking you for your promptness, I remain yours,— A. F. WaiTE. Smithville Sta., Wayne Co,, O., Nov. 1~% 1881, NOTICE ! ! Inclosed find 53 cts., for which please send me a<« AS the March, 1879, number of Gleanings is now j pav"i^o' tage'o^n S ' '^''goroni7or''^v™daugh?er^ name' !?nH*''.r.ri' ^"'^ "° ^"rthe same. Put your Ett^e^n 4frs old?lna tLl^schoolJrrls^^here^she [s S us , nost^ n/insVruVVn'^^^^ the wrapper, and s-ing to school want some. Plea.se send some of diop us ..1 postal of ulstruct ons ; them with pearl handles. Mrs. S. A. Conway. A. 1. KOOT, Medina, Ohio. Helena. Karnes Co., Texa.s. I EY LABEL Price of these labels with the spaces left blank, 2.5c per hundred, or $2.2o per thousand; pie, for 50c per 100, or $1.25 per 1000 more. The label may be either red, green, blue, or 1881 GLEANINGS DT BEE CULTURE. 577 The 15-oent dictionary came tn hand all riffht, and I declare it is quite a prize for the money. I showed it to my teacher, and asked him what he thought it ought to be worth. He replied that he thought such a book would cost 40 or 50 cents. Isat?ei.l,.v Wier. South River, Anne Arundel Co., Md., Nov. 18, 1881. I write to acknowledge the receipt of your bee book, with which I nm highly pleased. I gave the letter containing the order to the clerk to mail on Monday morning, eight o'clock, and Wednesday evening before my little l>oy went to bed, I was showing him the picture of Novice and little Blue Eyes. I think that an instance of promptness rare- ly equaled. W. H. Wright. Edmore, Mich., Oct. 21, 1881. I have one of the Waterbury watches, and think it keeps good time. It keeps within a minute or two, and sometimes within a half-minute a week. The honey season has been extra poor around here; rain, rain, all the time. I increased from three to seven, and have been feeding them up for winter. I shall try a snow-bank this year. Chas. O. Mkloon. Portsmouth, N. H., Oct. 26, 1881. The Clark smoker works very satisfactorily: in- deed, more so than the Bingham I had been using all along, and for which i had to pay one dollar. I should think as soon as bee-keepers of this country (and Europe too) will have become apprised of the facr, that for 50 cents they can buy the most ser- vicable smoker, they will not use any other. Louis Knoru, M. D. Savannah, Ga., Aug. 8, 1881. The queen came last evening in splendid condi- tion — only one bee dead in the cage. I have .iust introduced her this forenoon, and hope she will be graciously received. I like to see such promptness in business matters; it is satisfactory to deal with men of your stamp. T. Bole.s. Ridgeway, Ont., Can., Nov. 3, 1881, I have the ABC book, which has been a errcat help to me. I paid you $1 25 for it, and if I couM not get another I would not take live times that amount for it. I have learned more about handling bees since I have had it than I ever knew ubn\it bees be- fore in my life. .Tames K. Guegoky. Crooked Lake, Wyoming Co., Pa., Oct. 28, 1881. That "testfd queen and 1 lb. of bees" sent mo last April did well. I let them go on 3 L. frames containing comb and some honey; added other frames as needed, and soon had to put on the upper story. Her 'highness" was crowded ont below, and .iust walked into the upper parlor and filled it nearly full. I took solid comfort with them. The bees are hu'ge, vellow. beautiful, and kind. Columbus, O.,' Oct. 28, 1881. R. G. Warxek. The Waterbury watch and the ABC were re- ceived the 28th. They were very nicelv packed, and came safely. Husband was quite disappointed in the watch — it being much better than he expected. I think we shall order one or two dozen in the course of a few weeks. The A B C is worth $10, at l^ast to me, as I have just bought a larse colony of Italians, and knew nothing whatever of bees or bee-keeping. IMOGE.VE Donnelly. Omer, Bay Co., Mich., Nov. 1, 1881. FOR TWO-POUND CANS if wanted by mail, add oc per 100. Address and source of lioney printed in like this sam- black. Two colors at once, one-half more. Address A. I. EUOT, Medina, Ohio. 57S GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. A KIND LETTER. Wo must havp Gleanings for another year. Also pond siiinple copies a8 fnce an unVielicver, .\ea, an intldel of the vili'st type; but 1 miw believe. Prwy for me that I may "be humble Your kind words have done me nuieh a-ond. God spied you, my de:ir friend! 1 once us<'d tobacco; quit its use .Ian. 26, 1.S80, and liave never touched it since. 1 use no alcoholic drinks, and, my dear sir, I do not pre- scribe them in my practice. You are rijrht in fiyht- ing thes(? pernicious p^dsons; and for one I will be your co-worker. We must pray, and read God's word if we de^^ire to overcome sin and temptation. 'Tis the only way. My b' es are doing- finely now. Honey crop jrood; only few bees kept here, hfiwever. I have much to thank you for more than you can ever know. Bee- keeping' has made me a nuieh better man. I do not know why. Y'our brother in Christ, J. E L\Y, M. D. Hallcttsville, Lavaca Co., Tex., Oct. 27, 1881. liECENT ADDITIONS. CHANGES, AND IM- PROVEMENTS, IN OUR COUNTER STORE. Our paper collars were by mistake put on the .5- cent eouDtor last month. If vou will note the prices per tens and hundreds, it will be plain that it was out of place. "Charley," our painter and varnishor, has just g'ot up something- new for honey-cases. On the sheet of Kla-s forming' one t-ide of the case he has put iu bronze lettering, similir to that on our honey- v-»xtractors, " Honey for ShIo " As the bronze letters are on the back side of the gl iss, they are always bright and clean. The extra expense for lettering one of the glasses to a honey-case is 25 cents. Tf you you can not make a folder as per descrip- tion on page C13 we will furnish you one for 50c. If wanted by mail, 5 c extra. These folders will with- out trouble fold rabbets for Simplicity hives. or any- thing else, not over UM inches. "John " wishes us also to say, that if any of you need any help in mak- ing tin cups or honey-palls, he will be glad to explain, if you will address him in our care. The new Waterbury watch has created quite a sensation wherever it has gone, and I tell you we have sent out a " heap" of thom since our last. The expression "My neighbor wants one just like it," has got to be a pretty common phrase. Well, we have a good supplv still on hand, and, what is more, we can now send thom free of postage for the $i.50. If by express or freifrht, with other goods, 15 cents may" be deducted from each watch. We are just about adding children's sleds to our counter goods. The 5-cent sled is rather to be used indoors. The 10-cout one will do very well for small children to ride on. The 15-cent one is the same tastily painted. Any of these can be sent by mail in thetlrtt, and the postage will be equal to the value of the sled. For 25 cents we can furnish a sled that will hold any reasonable (in pounds) boy; is pretty fairly ironed, and tastily painted. As ir is put to- gether with screws, it can be sent in the flat without much extra expense, when ordering gooda. We will try to give you engravings of them next month. BUSINESS FOR THE WINTER. Isn't the following suggestive? Will you please send me 300 one-pint honcy-p.ails by R. R. freiKlit, via Cincinnati, unless you know of a shorter route. If you can not .'■hip without delay, please advise me. I sent ^ — an order nearly eight weeks ago, and liave not the pails vet. E. M. Hayhubst. ' Kansas City, Mo., Nov. 23, ISSl. As we had the pails ahead, they went by first train; but, my friends, if does not pay to send long dis- tances for such goods. The 300 cost only ?12 75, and Ihoy ought to be obtainable near every bee-keeper's home. Boys, are you going to let Mr. Merrybanks' neighbor "John," have all the fun making tin pails? In selling tho counter goods so closel.v as we do, m inv of them, we have f )und it necessary to add one C'-ni each, besides the postwge, for packing; so if you find the stamps are not equal in value to the amount chiirgert in the list, do not think we have overcharged. The strong paper and twine we have found it necessary to use to stand mailing are more expensive than you may perhaps be aware of. PostuRe. ] [Pr. of 10, of 100 THREE-CENT COUNTER. I liowls, yellow ware, 1 pt. ; useful | 2> | 2 25 2 I Handkercbiefs, for children, pictured, | 28 ] 2 .50 2 I Key Kings, superiorqualitj', with balls | 28 | 2 50 I Mugs, for children, glass I 28 12 75 t I Mugs, tor children, ebina j 28 | 2 75 i I Pans, Corn cake, circular, 3x2 in | 25 | 2 00 FIVE-CENT COUNTER. 2 I Albums, Autoeraph | 38 | 3 50 Paper covers, illuminated, nice for school children. 7 I Dish Pnns, toy, 2'/2X« in | 43 1+00 Cute tor chiliheu and " handy to have in the house." 0 I Flo\ii' Dredsres, japanned, very nice.. | 43 | 4 00 5 1 Kaleidoscope, a pretty optical toy | 43 i 4 00 4 I Papeteries. 13 white envelopes and 12 sheets of paper in a pretty box | 48 | 4 75 2 I Pen and pencil, Combination | 40 | 3 75 7 I Pans, paity, per Vi doz | 45 I 4 00 Over 20 diuerent sizes and patterns. Splendid for Maple fu^ar cakes, etc. 2 I Spoons, table, tinned iron I 38 | 3 50 10 I Stove Cover Lifter, "always cool" ... 1 4'i | 3 90 5 I S!ove<'^over Lifter, wood handle | 33 | 3 00 6 I Wash boards, toy I 45 | 4 00 A fair match for the dish pans, and useful — to delight some child's heart. TEN-CENT COUNTER. 2 1 I 'ompasscs, magnetic ! 'J5 | 9 00 With rinj;' to liang on watch chain. 2 I Handerchiels, linen, ladies size | 90 | 8 50 Nice, with plain .and "mourning " borders. 3 I Lamp burners, Venus | 85 | 8 00 Two sizes, for straight chimney. No 0, or I. I have decided the^e to be the best Inuuci- made. No. 2 burners one-half more. 2 I Match Boxes, rubber | 85 | 8 00 opening at eitlier end, very handy. 3 I Our Homes, Part H 1 80 1 7 00 12 1 Pans, patty, per doz | 85 | 8 00 Si.K different p.atterns. Nice for maple sugar cakes, etc. 10 I Pm ns, bread, oval, 8xlOx2'/2 I 84 | 7 80 I S.ad Irons, toy | 85 I 8 00 2 I Slates, book 1 80 I 7 50 Nice to carry in your pocket foi' memoranda. 2 i Sun glass or burning glass I 75 1 6 CO 3 I Twine, pink, cotton, jewelers 1 75 | 7 00 I'ut up in 2 oz. balls, just the tiling for nice packages. j Whips, riding i 80 1 7 .50 FIFTEEN-CENT COUNTER. 2 1 Hdkfs, ladies, linen, hem stitched.. I 1 40 | 13 00 20 1 Pans, Dripping, tin 1 1 25 | 11 00 With wired edge, 2.\llxl(>34, 15 1 Pans, patty, per doz | 1 25 i 11 00 T\\ elve different sizes, for sugar cakes, etc. Twenty-Five Cent Counter. 5 I Carpenter's Dividers, with wing | 2 25 | 20 00 i Pans, Patty, per doz , large size, 3 patterns, 4, 4^2, and 5 inches I 2 00 1 18 00 ! Tongs, Coal | 2 00 | 18 tO I Plates. Bread, especially for bee- keepers I 2 00 1 18 00 A l)eautiful plate, with bee-hive and bees, done in frosted work on the l)Ottom. Heavy Hint gla.ss. C I Shawls. Plaid, meiino{?), but warm and handy, any way j 3 00 1 18 00 Thirty-Five Cent Counter. 4 ; Spy glass or toy telescope, one draw | 3 00 | 25 00 riPTY-CENT COUNTEB. 1 Lamp, large size, tomplete with burner and chimney; beautiful., j 4 00 j 35 00 5 I Spy Glass or toy telescope, 2 draw. | 4 00 1 35 00 j Washboards, stone, very nice 14 50 j 42 50 Seventy-Five Cent Counter. Ifi I Tel(»phones, Bliss, 200 ft. of wire. , . . | 7 25 j 70 00 E>pccially to tell when bees are swarming, see Nov, Ulk.\n- LNOS, 1881. FOR $1.50. Bell Jack Screw for raising buildinffS. Size 8xlJ4; will lift 10 tons. A most handy tool on the farm. A full list of counter goods mailed on application, and we can send goods for the holidays to any friend you may have ANY- wiiEKK, promptly on receipt of order. A. 1. KOVT, Medina, OIilo. 1 Published Moiillily. fTEKMS: Si. 00 PER ANNUM, IN AgVANCK 'Scopes for Si. 00; 3 for S2.T5- 5 for S4.0fl; 1 or more, 75 cts. each. S'"?'" Nuinber 10 cts ' Additions to clubK may be made at clu rates. Above are all to be sent to onbJ-om- A. X. ROOT, Publisher and Proprietor,\ . ^ r.^ c> \^^^^^t^^^PoZ^^ inedina, o. ) EstahUsJied m i^^^^^^i^Essthan%cts^e^ by leaving the bees queculess a day or two before offering them a stranger. NOTES FROM THE BANNER APIABY. No. 25. HOW OFTEN I GET LAYING QUEENS FROM MY NUCLEI. f»0, friend Hayhurst, I don't get a laying queen from each nucleus or.ce in ten days. Several — ** times T have taken bying queens from nuclei from which laying queens had been taken only ciV/M days previous; but even in the height of the honey season T do not get, upon an average, more than one queen from each nucleus once in two weeks, while early in the spring, or late in the fall, I do not do as well as that. Yes, some of my queens go off upon their wedding trips, and never return. INTRODUCING VIRGIN QUEENS. Friend Doolittle has not had very good success in- troducing virgin queens, while the editor of one of our bee papers seems to almost doubt that it can be accomplished. Now, xohcn honey is coming >n plrMi- fully 1 3:>re/er to give a nucleus a young queen atthe same time that the old queen is removed, rather than wait a day or two and then give it a young queen, or even a queen-cell. At such times the bees seem to pay no more attention to a young queen than they do to a newly hatched worker, and Uhave no trouble in introducing virgin queens, oven when they are two or three days old. When honey is plenty, the bees seem to be fairly " crazy " to gather if they have no time to spend quarreling with vir- gin queens. But when there is a dearth of honey they have more time to brood over t heir troubles, and then, as friend Hayhurst says, 1 am more successful QUEENS WHOSE DAUGHTERS ACL PRODUCE THREE- BANDED BEES. Now, friend Doolittle, abo^t those extra-pur« queens. I have read the references that you gave ?n regard to the matter, but not one of them men- tions a queen whose daughters did not produce one or t wobanded bees, or hybrids. The daughter of each wonderful queen pr.xlaccd no black bees, but nothing is said as to whether they produced hybrids. Like friend Root, I have seen queens wh<,80 daughters produced no black bees, but T have yet to see the queen whose daughters produced "« ^^^'^^ /J ^^^ Sanded bees, if -hey had mated with a W^'f drone Now come right out fair and square, tnend D., and tell us if you have aqueen whose daughters produce no one or two banded bees, even if they have mated with black drones; and, also, how you can tell which kind of drones they have mated with. When you rear queens from this extraor^linary queen do you send them out as tested queens, without first iesting them? And if you do not, it would look as IhouKh you did not have perfect faith ia the capa- bilities of your queen. If you really have such a wonderful queen, and are wilting to sell her. I think I can find a man who will pay $100.00 for her; because he could send out her daughters as tested queens, just as soon as they commenced laying. I don't know, friend D.,but you will think me very inquisitive; but in your report for the present year you say that you commenced the season with 30 colonics; increased them to 80, and reared and sent out 83 tested queens; while in the Aug. Glean- 580 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. INGS you say that you reared over 200 queens; now, what did you do with the CT extra queens? were they culls, and had their heads pinched off, or no, it can't be possible that Doolittle has been guilty of selling dollar queens! How la it, friend D.? EDUCATION AND ABILITY. Ni)W see here, friend York ;* what business had you to go and guess that I meant j/ou, and then go on and talk like that abnut my education and ability? I think that if you were a little mouse, and lived in my shop, and neighbor W.'s big cat didn't catch you, and you could peep out of some hole and watch me when I am preparing those "notes," and see huw many times the dictionary, grammar, and rhetoric, arc pulled down from the shelf, and how much hard thinking I have to do, you well, 1 presume that you would wonder why my articles are not better than they are. HEADY FOR WINTER. I have just tiuishcd putting ten colonies into cbimps; eleven more were prepared, more than a month ago, for wintering out of doors, and seven more are ready for the cellar, whenever the cold weather comes. This is the first time that I have commenced the winter with moie than twelve colo- nies. W. Z. Hutchinson. llcigersville, Genesee Co., Mich. A BOOIU IN EiNGIiAND. EIG^T COLONIES FROM ONE IN ONE SEASON, AND EVER SO MUCH HONEY. ffpRIEXD ABBOT in his happy way tells f* of the following '-streak of luclc" in the November number of the British Bee-Journal : — English bee-keepers, as a rule, have groat cause for rejoicing; but in Scotland and Ireland the re- sults have not been cheering, though hereand there some good takes have been i-ecorded; notably, one in Ireland of ISO lbs. from a single stock, and a query will doubtless be freely echued. If one, why not many? And although we are nut able to say what other stocks in the same apiary have done — though we shall probably have a report — we would remind our readers that there is generally a best stock in evei-y apiary, and in a large apiary the best is usually "a wonder." We have had such an experience with our own bees this year; and if every stock had served us similarly, we should declare bee- keeping to be not ' nc of, but the most protitable busmess extant. Toward the end of April, a stock of half Syrians was so strong that a second hive of combs was put under it, and this was rapidly tilled, and the population so immense that on May 14 it was divided into three, foundation being given to the swarms, and thus there were, in a fortnight, three splendid stocks. A, B, O. From A we took, during June, two full swarms, and during July, extracted 27 lbs. of honey; that stock is now strong and well found for winter. From li, the swarm, we have also had two swarms (one a cast, which we have kept, and which is also safe for winter), 0 lbs. super, and 21 lbs. of extracted honey; and B is now in good winter order. From C we had one swarm, and 38 lbs. of super honey; 12 2-lb. fceotions, for which we were awarded a prize at South Kensington, but the stock which is very strong in bees needed lU lbs. of syrup to tit it for wintering; it is choke full of bees, and has a large quantity of brood, and, all being well, will be tit for repeating the career of its pa- rent stock in the spring. Here, then, has one stock multiplied into eight, and those we have retained have yielded 44 lbs. of comb honey in sections, and 46 lbs. extracted. What the four swarms that were sold have done, we can not report; but as they all went out early they must have done well. The profit on that one stock has been simply enormous — say it was worth three guineas in April, there are now four stocks of equal value; four swarms have been •^Sco page IW, October nijmber. sold for 6i., and the honey for 5Z. 68., making a nice little sum altogether, and we have four stocks left. Many other stocks did exceedingly well, but this, the only lot we worked for comb huney, made us wish there had not been such a demand for swarms, as evidently, this year, honey-getting would have been the more profitable game. Did I not tell you a great honey yield was liable to " happen " to almost any of you? Here follows some advice for the fall mouths. See if it tits you:— Apropos to this, we may mention that a noted bee- keeper and caterer, fonmrly of Crawley, in Sussex, has discontinued hive-making for sale, and has gone in for honey only, at Kottingdean, in tlie same county, whence he has kindly lurwarded a descrip- tion of his driiught-pre\ enter, mentioned on another page. We owe an apology tor wandering into our own apiary, and penitently return to •■our mut- tons," to advise that as bees are now quiet, every thing possible should be done to prevent future disagreeables. Hive-roofs should be thoroughly in- vestigated and made rain-proof, and vermiu care- fully exterminated (it is astonishing how many thou- sands of insects may be prevented oy destroying their nests now), a routing-out of crevices with a small bunch of birch-broom will be of great service. Old combs should be boiled up (or melted down) to prevent harbor for wax-moth, and the possible spread of disease; old skeps should be burned for tne same reason; old frame-hives that are too good to burn should be thoroughly cleansed; old ideas should be sifted, and old debts paid, particularly those outstanding for the Bee Joariml; and tht^ to a goodly number we can say there will be something off your minds as well as off ours. LECHLER'S 600 I^BS. TO TUE: HIVE!. ALSO SOME KIND WORDS FROM FRIEND WILKIN IN REGARD TO EXTRAVAGANT REPORTS. ^DfUjDITOR OF GLEANINGS:-In yours of Oct. 20. Iqji you ask me to answer to the particulars of — the inclosed card which you sent me, which reads as follows:— w. I will give "~^* what our best hive did, and also the average. At V2 o'clock. May 30, we placed our best hive ou the scales; thty gathered,— June 7 23 lbs. That Eve 7 lbs 31 15 •' Juna 1 24 " Total.... lliCIbs 1«. Total.... 173 lbs Total.... 217 lbs. rand total 510 lbs. Lost 114 •• Net 403 lbs. You see, in 2t days they made 546 lbs., and every night they lost 6 lbs.; and how it was we could not imagine. They were always weighed before any bees got out in the morning, and after they all came home at night; so you see, at the time the drought set in, June 3.'d, we had taken them off the scales, and they made more honey in the fall; so now I will just give the e.\act amount of honey we have taken from them. Wc have just the number of times we took honey, and how much each time, without any date. The 1st time, ,5 lbs.; 2d, It; 3d, 4; 4th. 3C; 5th, 111; 6th, 140; 7th, comb honey, 107; 8th, comb, 70; 9tb, comb, 39. Total, .520 lbs. You see, we took 304 lbs. extracted honey and 216 lbs. of comb. This state- ment is badly made out, but correct. If anybody doubts it, we can bring forth four witnesses who will testify to the above. This colony wanted to swarm the latter part of March. As we didn't want any more bees at that time, we ran them for honey. All through the months of May and June, the above hive was a 4-story Simplicity, holding 40 L. frames and a good circle of brood in every frame. The queen is a full-blooded Italian that [ raised myself from a dollar queen bought of Mr. Root two years ago, and I now have nearly all iiy hives stocked wiihher daughters. In conclusiijn, my 44 colonies averaged me 1!)6 lbs. of honey each, amounting to $■'624 lbs.; about one-third comb Loney, and Isold at an average price of lij^c per lb. This brought me 1228.92. Thisisihe season's work for myself, wife, and two brothers. I fear from some cause my bees have foul brood. I hope not, but they look suspi- cious. E. J. Atculey. D.illtAS, Tex.,Nov. 7, 1881. FriencLs, there is something more in the above startling rei)oit, than the simple fact th;it friend A. had a greiittlow of honey, nnd wisely made the best of it. If you will look tlirough our back numbers, you will see that l)Ooming reports have unexpectedly turned ui» first in one State and then anoth- er, until iVie beginner who is lookinj; for tiie bts. locality in which to make astiirLis sore- ly puzzled, and perhaps somewhat per- ]>le.xed, to account for these stateraiMits that startle us almost, as ihey slioot up into view almostwiih the sutldennessof aiocket. Is it not true, that none of us half ui:der- stand or comprehend wliat is in store for us, when we once tnidf^rstand our business in- telligently ? — Friend A., the loss every night is caused by the, evaporation of the water contained in tlie thin new honey. I believe it is always the case, but it m;iy not be to so great an extent as you mention. In looking the re|)ort over, 1 have been in- clined to think the ro lbs. reported on one (lay might be a mistake. DitI you not skip onie day, or does it not include at least a part of two days V The whole secret of the great yi^ld is in the queen of such astonishing fertility as to keep brood in 40 comlis, all at one time. Those who have been so thoughtless, not to say unkind, as to con- demn the dollar queens as a class, would do well to consider this and other reports of a similar character. I would say to the friends who read tiiis, that I have known friend A., and have dealt with him for many years, and I am sure he has made liis statement hon- estly.— I trust you are mistaken about the foul brood, friend A. There has been quite a little of borrowing trouble where parties imagined they had it, where it was only dead brood from some ordinary cause, such as leaving it exposed, etc. ^ ■<>■ mm CELLAR V.«. OUTnoOK AVINTERING AM) AK^TIL,ATION. fW.\NT to put in my plea in l.'ivor of cellar win- tering. I have now for eight years wintered ^ my bees succossfully in the cellar. My cellar is only 12 feet square, directly under our living-room, which contains a stove, of course. Ttie C'^ll-ir is not frost-proof, as our potatoes fre(iuently freeze. This 12-foot cellar frequently contains 30 to 40 colonics of bees, besid'^s p >taU)es, apples, l;ud, meat, and sf veral dozens of cans of fruit, and still l?aves room for en- trance and exit. Last winter I plaeed t>ecs in cilir about the middle of November, where Ihey were k-ft undisturbed until February 22d, when 1 set all out for a fly. A few 1 found uneasy with symptoms of dysentery, and comb? somewhat mrlily. The cause was pliinly to be seen: the entrance was not large enougii for proper vcntilition. I use Sim- plicity hives, witb loose bottom-hoard; a si >t cut in liot torn-board, triana:ular, ?« of an inch deep. I then placed a blick % of an inch thick under each corner, slightly raised each cover, and loosened the enamel coth. A few days after, all were dry and in good con'lition. Hereafter T shall thoroughly ven- til ito f^ach hive. 1 had a neighb;">r a few miles from me that kept from 21 to 3fl C(d)nifSof bees in box hives, and always wintered them on their summer stands; he aliveys kept an inch bl^'ck under each corner, and left the cap (a box 12 inches square by 6 inches d^cp) on, with the entr.mce of an inch auger-hole in the cap open; and he generally win- tered sucei-s-'fully. F have, at times, put bees in the cellar that were very weak, but wiuld c ime out strong in the spring. Ha\e never had anv trouble from -pring dwindling Wh !• I know that we can. winter our b3e3 at times out of doors, 1 think the bees, as widl as ourselves, would be more comfort- able if warmly housed. It has been frequently demon-'trated that cittle, horses, sh<>ep, and cth r stock, can be wintered in a woodvd lot, or around a straw s'ack; still, I can slo.p much Ictti r wbfn I know my stock is li a good warm barn; jnul I im- ayine the f-tock appn-ciates the acconim )dation? aho. Ill cellar wiiueiing. I ncvc^r remnv • any frames, or contract the brood-nest. Mr. George 58-1 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. Grimm's method is mine exactly, and I thoroughly agree with Mr. Jerome Wiltse on ventilation. I simply write to corroborate thtm. Elmwood, 111., Nov., 1S81. M. H. Snyder Have you not simply compared cellar win- tering with outdoor wintei ing without pro- tection, friend S.? I too sleep better when I know my bees are comfortable ; but with our varying climate, it seems to me they are most so in well-fixed chaff hives, in their summer houses, undisUirbed. A CHEERINO REPOKT FRO:« OUR OLD FMIKINU J. S. WOOUBURN. ALSO SOMETUING -IBOUT LATE-REARED QUEENS. ^ggS) V the middle of April It^ist I had in my yard here Ji^^ 13 colonies of Italian bees, only 5 of which were entitled to the claim of being fair, aver- age colonies. The remaining 7 would not, I believe, have been purchased by any of your readers as third-rate nuclei. All of the number, moreover, were nearly through with their winter stores. Feed- ing, nursing, and a building-up of the weaker from the stronger, was the only programme of manage- ment that seemed to promise any thing short of the practical extinguishment of my "Home" apiary (these 12 were the sole survivors of the 30 fine stocks which this apiary counted in the fall of 1880), and up- on this programme I entered with but slight expecta- tion of the bnuntiful return which a kind Providence had in store for me. Thirty lbs. of sugar were made Into a thin syrup, and fed to the 13 colonies, princi- pally to the stronger ones, and as their brood began to hatch, assistance was brought from the stronger to the weaker, and this was kept up till I had in each of my hives a state of things that enabled its bees to conserve to the full the laying capacity of their queen. About the first of June, 10 colonics were se- lected and arranged for the extractor; the other two were divided and devoted to the raising of queens. And now here is my report for the season: — From the 10 run on the extractor I received 1119 lbs. of the finest honey I ever handled, and 22 swarms. From the two c^snsigned to the rearing of queens, I sold $34.00 worth of queens; took 46 sections of comb honey, and now have from them 8 good stands of btes. To put these and a few of the others in ap- proved condition for winter, I have fed this fall just 200 lbs. of sugar; but as the cost of this, as also of the 30 lbs. fed in the spring, and 3 Cyprian queens purchased during the summer, is more than "off- eeted" by the proceeds of queens sold, I have still the happiness to report my yield for the season as fully up to the amount of hooey taken, and increase of stocks secured; that is, 1165 lbs. honey, and 38 Bwarms, or 9654 lbs. honey, and 333}3' per cent in- crease per colony, spring count. My honey was all sold at an average of about 12J4 cents per lb. within 60 days of its being taken from the hive, and without the least conscious effort. I did not even have to hang my sign upon the gate; the honey was so good it just sold itself. My bees are, I think, in exceptionally good condition for winter. I close with this single statement, together with the moral to which it unmistakably points. My queens In the spring were, with two or three exceptions, reared lale in the season of 1880, and were therefore such as Mr. Doolittle and a few others would con- demn as comparatively worthless. But the lesson to which this fact points, especially in the light of this season's wi.rk, it seems to me, is that it matters not when or how our queens are reared, pj'ouidcd they are raised from approved stock, and at a time when the internal economy of the hive is such as to supply the essential requisites of the sivai-ming peri- od: namely, flying drones, brood in all stages, and a full proportion of workers of all ages, and under the agreeable stimulus of busy labor. And who, I may add, knows better how to attain and to maintain this indispensable condition of things than the intelligent and wide-awake bee-keeper who is endeavoring to turn an h(mest penny in connection with the press- ing demands of the "dollar queen" trade? Given the pasturage of the Doolittle ranch, and the prac- tical skill and well-timed diligence of the Doolittle brain and hand, and there is not, I firmly believe, an Italian apiary in the broad land that would not com- pete closely with the Doolittle apiary in its yearly returns. J. S. Woodbcbn. Livermore, Pa., Nov. 8, 1881. !■* ■»■ — APIS AIUGRICANA. THE COMING BEE. understanding of how to produce a strain of bees, all points considered, superior to any race or strain we now know of, is so simple that I am induced to outline it to your readers, after reading the ideas of friends Hutchinson, Viallon, and others, upon the subject. The above-named gentle- men seem to be somewhat mixed up as regards the best ways and means, and whether any such result can be obtained or not. I may be mistaken in my judgment, and a little more light might rob me of my clearness in the matter, and dazzle to blind; but I feel thus confident, that I will give you my course. I will first make a few statements upon which I feel sure all will agree, and then draw my deductions from the facts I shall state, and leave you to Judge of their logic. 1. Markings are no positive indication of any spe- cial degree of any trait in the character of the bee. We have all seen colonies standing side by side that were equal, in every way discernible, to the master; and yet that result which we so highly prize came from one in a two-fold degree, compared with the other. 3. Traits of character are as hereditary with the races of bees as with other races. The above fact we have demonstrated over and over again, in our manipulations of the two races now common to the apiarists of this country. Italians closely guard the hive; Germans speedily build comb; Cyprians sharp- ly sting. 3. We are now In possession of good qualities enough to meet the demands of the highest aim of our most progressive breeders, and the only work left is to consolidate these qualities Into one strain of bees, and, to the exclusion of various other pro- pensities possessed by the various races and strains now ours. Then we can exclaim, "Eureka I" Apis Americana I " How we shall accomplish this object, Is what I am going to try to point out. If you have in jour yard a queen which Is abnormally unpro- liflc. you destroy her, with almost perfect assurance that the one the colony "will rear from a cell from 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 585 that large prolific queen over in the corner, will be a prolific one. Such is the common unclcrstnnriing and practice, is it not? My experience has tauyht me that the trait of prolificness is not as surely transmittiblo as those of good nature and honey- gathering and comb-building propensities. In my judgment the three above-named traits of character are the ones which we should especially seek. In my breeding I never breed from a colony that does not possess them in an eminent degree, nor from one that seriously lacks in the following minor points of excellence: viz , prolificness and watchful- ness. I have made these points named above my special objects to breed from, and the reverse of them the proponsiiics to be destroyed through- out my apiary. Friend V. tells friend II., on first page of Nov. No., that ho has found the second and third generation from imported liees to lack the en- ergy of their foreign sires. I can account for that only by some peculiarity of his locality. Five to eight years ago I bought daughters of imported queens quite largely of different breeders who re- ported their apiaries wfll str-cked with imported queens and drones from the same, and of men whom I have no reason to doubt, and I also raised workers, drones, and queens, from imported queens in my own yard, and I will tell you to-day that the best, most profitable, and pleasant bees that I have ever owned are bees that were produced by crossing the best strains of the German bees with (he best of the imported dark leather-colored Italians, at the same time picking from stocks that possessed the above- named qualities in the highest degree. After this time I can plainly see the fruits of my labor. My methods have not been strict, but gen- eral and persistent. Both before and since the use of full sheets of comb foundation in the breeding department, I made It a practice to separate my pU- worker and drone combs, and keep the drone combs constantly occupied by such stock as I desired to perpetuate in my apiiiry, and to rear my queens from the pick of the choicest. Don't understand me that I rear all my new queens. I do not. I allow and encourage all my "stajidard" colonies (as we call them) to go on in the natural way; but for those below the " standard," I do the queening as above. I never rear queens out of the swarming season. I never have cells built in any but full strong col- onies, and many directly under the swarming im- pulse. 1 am aware that some few contend that my queens arc no better for that; but I am not among them, and I take pleasure in noting that none con- sider them worse. If it is true that some forced queens appear to be No. 1, and really are; that does not prove that the forced from the forced of the forced will not lack the energy of their ancestors. I have but little faith in the improvements to be made by any breeder trying to follow the above rules, and at the same time anxiously watching the developments of stripes. I have almost totally ig- nored color, and yet, strange to say, I enter few apiaries that are really yellower than my own. "Cross hybrids" are no more a couplet in our apia- ry. Such things are not necessary. It seems to me that the whole subject is summed up in the word "ditTereniiation." In every species of animal or vegetable life, wherever found, we see that nature is ever "sporting," thus producing great differfnccs, and this is an earnest invitation to the thoughtful and progressive culturist to improve the strains and species that are under his control. If you wish cei'- tain qualities of character, breed toward them. If color, in stripes or otherwise, breed for that. James Heddon. Dowagiae, Cass Co., Mich., Oct. 7, 1881. FROM 12 TO 81 IN 0\K SEASON, CONSID- ERKD AGAIN. ALSO SOMETHISG ABOUT nOSEY-PLANTS. M'O, you are not correct on p. 5-%, if I am correct in understanding you. No frame of brood, ' " nor of anything hut empty comb, was used in building up the 13 colonies to 81. The S9 (you probably mean 69) frames of brood that you speak of as taken from the home apiary were part and parcel of the 12 colonics, a full colony being taken from the home apiary, with a queen-cell in each frame of brood, and distributed in the Wilson apiary. The queen-cells were started by other colonies; but as an otfset to this, the 12 colonies had only 8 queens among them, so I think it is not far from fair to say that, by the aid of empty combs, 12 colonies were In- creased to 81. Most of the 12 were of my strongest colonies, but all my stocks were weak, and one of the original IShadgot nofurther,up to June 11, than to have a patch of brood in two combs. It may be interesting to give you the exact record of one of the earliest-formed colonies, which, of course, will have a more favorable record than those formed later. May 24, I started it with one frame of brood and the adhering bees, giving it a queen-cell, putting an empty comb on each side of the brood. May 28, 1 saw the young queen. June 3, gave one frame esg's. June 11, clipped the queen and took away one frame eggs. June IT, took one frame eggs, leaving only one frame brood. June 2.5 there was brood in three frames. July], took one brood, leaving three brood. July 11, had four brood. July 20, brood in C combs. Aug. 16, brood in 7; extracted one comb of honey. Aug. 22, extracted one honey. Aug. 31, extracted one honey. Sept. 6, extracted one honey. Oct. 21, the stock weighed 75 lbs., without cap or cover, in L. hive, with fixed bottom-board, 9 combs, and =^-inch division-board. So I suppose it has at least 35 lbs. of honey. I gave to the work the closest and best care I was capable of, and they had no combs to build; but above all, the season was such as I never knew be- fore, giving an uninterrupted flow of honey from spring till some time in September. And this leads me to think that those of us who wish to make a business of raising honey will, sooner or later, be driven to give some attention to the matter of ARTIFICI.4L, P.iSTURAGE. If an occasional season gives unusual results, can we not to some extent control the seasons by judi- cious planting? Now, I don't mean to go crazy on this subject, but I am not keeping bees for fun, but for the money there is in it; and believing that I could get good returns from the outlay, I am willing to invest some dollars in planting figwort. Spider plant, melilot, etc., if I can know just how to go about it. From all accounts, I think I should rather have an acre of figwort than of any other one plant. I have just set out a dozen plants of it that I found growing wild, an old friend first calling my attention to it as a weed on which the bees were constantly at work. 1 planted a package of seed in the spring of 18i0, and not a seed grew; but this year one plant 586 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. came from the same seed that had lain in the ground a J ear. This year I planted a larger quantity of seed, but not a plant has cnmc. I think next spring- I shall try setting the plants. Now, Novice, ynu have had perhaps more experience than anj- one in trying to raise this plant, and have told us a good deal about it from time to time; I believe you would hardly do a better service to the fraternity than to tell us just how you wouM now go about getting an acre of figwort to growing. At what price will you furnish us plants next spring? how far shall they be set apart? what soil is tiest? how prepared? how cul- tivated? You say the self-sown seeds have come up by the million on your plantation. If I should sow the seeds this fall, would they not come up next spring the same as j'our self-sown seed? What is the seed worth per pound? I got a peck of melilot, and am sowing it aling the road-sides, and I wonder if it would not pay me to sow some in drills to be cultivated. I notice that catnip prows spontaneously along fence and hedge-rows, and in partially shaded places: and 1 have been pulling off the seed-heads and scat- tering them where none were already growing, in shady places. I planted Spider-plarit seed in open ground in the spring of 1880. It came up well, and S( If-sown seeds from those plants came up this year; but some seed that I saved from the same plants, and sowed this spring-, did not come up. What shall I do to get an acre of Bpider plants growing? and what will the seed cost per pound? Can any one tell us whether the golden-honey pl^nt spoken of so highly by Dr. Tinker is as valuable in other localities? Were the figwort seeds that came up in the potato patch (p. fiBT), this year's or last yf ar's seed? Marengo, 111., Nov. 8, 1881. C. C. Milt.ek. I agree with yon, frienrl M.. that I would rather hH\e an' acre ot (igwort than of any othi r plant yet lirought lorwanl. Althoufjh we have had perhaps two acie.s in bloom this season, it is pretty hard to tell the ijuantity of honey it ])rodnced, where between three and fonr hundred eoloiiies wern at work on it; but the fact that it was, durintj about three months, suclt a i)erfect roar of bees as to aslonii-h everybody, bee-men or not, tells pretty strongly in its Yavor. If I could have a single acre, say on some isolated spot, and then plant only about ten colonies of bees near it. I think we would huve comb honey from it in sections for a good long spell. Who ^vill make this experiment V Another thing : This tigwort seems to be wonder- fully plastic in "the hands of one who will love nature enough to study its pecularities. I liave before mentioned an early variety that blooms even before white clover; and its great hardiness, and habit of pu'iiiing up its sti'ong green shoots, even before the snow has ^oue at times, seems to promise that it may be made to yield the very first honey of the season, as ^vell as the last. We have already had bees at work on it in May and November, and every intervening month. Another thing : lu picking my way through the field one day (our patch down on the sandy creek bottom was a little roaring swamp, for the plants were higher than a field of tall corn), I found one stalk, or root, rather, bearing flowers of at least twice tlie ordinary size, and 1 at the time proposed to tie a blue ribbon around the stalk so as to save seed from it. It seemed to have honey in proportion to the size of the flower, and the bees seemed to like the large blossoms, as it was so much easier to get into them. In my mind there isn't a question but that this plant of the woods may be so cultivated as to enlarge its blossoms, just as much as our garden flowers have been enlarged over the wild plants. It should, how^ever, be borne in mind that it is large globules of honey, rather than lara:e showy blossoms, we are after. Y ellow bands are very pretty, but honey-gatherers are prettier, to the bee- man who is in debt in the fall. I really do not know whether I can Hnd that plant now or not. When it stops raining I w^ill see. Possibly the seed-pods are enough hirger for identification. There seems to be something funny about the failures in geltingr the seeds to grow. It may not be so funny after all, to those who have fussed and failed. If you get some woods dirt and sand, perhaps half and half, and sow the seeds in a box, and keep the temperature right, with the air moist, I think you can raise them by the million, without fail. As a sash put over them keeps a moist air over them, I think it may be well, even indoors. They must not have too much sun. A soil that will bake over the top will not do at all. and there is where I think so many fail. Our creek-bottom sand seems to suit them exactly. This matter of improving the plant by selection, requires a great deal of time and care ; aad with all my business it is almost out of the question for me to attenipt it. Will not some of our boys and girls attempt it ? The sale of seed from improved i)lants will pay you well for the labor. I would set the plants exactly as corn is planted, and then give thpm corn treatment, and nothing more. Our plants almost invariably blossom the first season, with any sort of "ordinary corn care. Those that were self-sown in the potato patch, from seed tliat I think ripened this season, are in blossom now, this 18th day of Novem- ber. With such ground as that, I would simply itrepaie and mark out the ground ex- actly as for corn, and sow the seed, say one or two dozen seeds in a hill. Cultivate, hoe, and weed ; and if some hills fail entirely, cany i)lants from those having many. This would save, in a great measure, the grievous task of setting out an acre of plants; and I tell you it is a grievotis task, as I well know. The most I should fear wotdd be the hot stm on the young plants ; but if the seed was sown in April or May. I think it could be managed. Von might have some plants in a hotbed, to "fall back on," as the woman said of her sewing-machine, if she failed in making her boarding-house "pay." The plants that I sold at 25 cents per hundred, last spring did not pay me very well, nor our customers either. I am sure somebody in the plant business could make it pay, and send thein without trouble. I can not pos- sibly " spread " myself over so many things, and" have them all do well. I often, of late, think of the poor old hen that tried to sit on 69 eggs (if that was the number). If I rec- collect rightly, there were some of them that 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 587 did not hatch. I am inclined to think that God inleudcd I sliould point out the way to these new avenues of work that open up so thickly, instead oc trying to do eveiy thing that comes up, in> selt. As s"on as the roots stnrt iu the spring, down on that sandy ground, I will sell ihem for a penny each ; and if by mail, about as mucli more for postage. Seed sown in the fall will come up in the spring, and, in fact, all through the summer. It does not seem to make much difference how old it is. JSJelilot makes a much tiner growth, when cullivatfd. I would p'aut an acre of Spider plants exactly as 1 would corn ; and, so far as I know, the seed will grow almost as sure- ly as corn. It wants just about the same temperature and soil Uiat corn does. Put in 8 or 10 seeds, and transplant where they fail. By raising the plants in a hotbed, you could get blossoms a month earlier; but I hardly think it would pay for the extra labor. W illi the amount of both plants laised, I had sup- posed the seeds might this season be offered very low ; but I do not see any offers less than those in our iiriee list. Have I not covered all points, friend Miller V A HOPEFllL. ABC SCMULAB. 5?0W, mj- bee-keeping friends, I will give you a yl little of my experience. I have never writ- ' ten a word yet, though this is my third year In the bee business. Others have done the writing, and by their advice and directions I have protittd much. I feel now that I ought to give in my ex- perience. It may be of interest and profit to begin- ners at least. I commenced iu 1879 with 4 box hives; transferred early in the season; three I ran for comb haney ; got 50 lbs. to the hive. The other I in- creased to three; sold one, and went into winter- quarters with five, and came out with five. The next season I ran three for honey, and two for increase; got 200 lbs. surplus comb honey; increased to 12, all of which 1 wintered wiihou*- loss. 1 have now £0 colonies of Italians, and will get about Oi) lbs. fmui each of 0 colonies run for honey. I have sold some bees and queens each year, and have made the bus- iness pay from the beginning. I use the L. frame and chaff-packed hives. Some have Hoot chaff hives, which I like, and some have chaff only around l(3wer story. I have never lost a stock of bees from any cause, except one that went to the woods. I read up pretty well before I tried to handle a bee, and this is what enabled me to succeed as I have. I commenced, expecting to employ all my time in the business, and now have no time forany thing else. I am pleaded, and paid better than I possibly could be in any other businef s. It is a light and pleasant occupation, and I regard it as safe as any other bus- iness. It is true, we hear of great losses some seasons, but I am not alarmed. Last season was the hardest for many years, but I came thro\igh safely with each of my 12 stocks in good condition. 1 had them on 4 and 5 frames; 20 lbs. honey; chaff division- boards each side, winter passages in all the combs; chaff cushion on top. If I can have my bees in this shape, I don't fear loss. I hope to increase toSO coloniesnext season, which is all the bees [ want. I can't properly care for more; 30 of these I shall run for honey; the rest for queen-rearing. West Virginia may not be as good for bees as some other States, but I think it a fair average. I can make an average of 60 lbs. of comb honey per stock, which satisttes me. G. w. Williamson. Willow Island, W. Va., Aug. 3, 1881. ITEMS ON EARLY POLLEN A^D UO>EY, SKUNK CABBAGE {SYiMPLOCARFUS FCETIDOS). I, S quite a little has been said during the last jp^» year ab;)ut early pollen and honey, perhaps a ~^ few words more would not be amiss, for this early pollen and honey is what lays the foundation to our success during the season. The first plant producing poUeu with us is skunk cabbage. Tho t)uds are all formed the season previous, in a small sheath about the size of a hen's Qgg, and upon tho first approach of spring this pushes through the uround, and a small opening is made, by the sheath parting on one side so the bee can crawl in. Inside of this hollow shell is a tiny ball about the size of a marble, with little spikes covered with pollen stand- ing ouc from it in all directions. Tho bees r.ll around in this shell and run over the ball, collecting pollen in their baskets without taking wing (the same as they manipulate propolis from an old bee« hive which stands in the sun), till they get a load, when out they era vvl, often having more pollen ou their backs than in their pollen-baskets, and away they go for home. I see friend McWilii (page 137, Gleanings) claims that skunk cabbage produces honey; and friend Root saj's, "It has been several times mentioned as a honey-plant." I think there must be a mistake somewhere, for after several ex- aminations I never have been enabled to find a bee ■ leavLug this plant) having any honey in her sack, Quinby. in his "Mysteries of Bee-Keeping" (page 78), says, speaking of skunk cabbage with other pol- len-prod ueiug flowers, "These afford only pollen." It grows on moist soils, and after blossoming, puts out large cabbage-like leaves, which if broken smell very much like the animal from which it derives its name. PUSSY willow (salix). Of this we have several kinds, which put out their blossoms quite irregularly. Some are a month earli- er than others, and some of the buds on the same bush are ten days later than others. The kinds which seem to attract the bees most are the black willow, upon which the kilraonark is budded, and those which produce a long cime-like flower similar to the black willow. From these two kinds the bees obtain large quantities of p lien, but, as far as I can ascertain, no honey. They are so eager for It, that they sometimes cut the blossom to pieces and pack the anther in their pollen-baskets, as well as the pollen. The flowers are of a rich orange colir, and consist of a center, out of whieh spring hundreds of little thread-like filaments, upon which the pollen is supported. It is very interesting to see the bees work on these flowers, as you can see their motions so plainly, as the tree or bush does not grow to be of much height. It naturally grows on 1 iw swampy ground; Ijut with a little culture to start, will grow readily on dry ground. They grow readily from cuttings put iu the ground in early spring, as does all of the williw tribe. Tho abcve are often set down as "honey-plants;" but according to Qoinby, and my own observation, they produce no honey. 588 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. GOLDEN WILLOW (SALIX VITELLINA). This and the white willow give U8 our first honey; but, contrary to the above, produces no pollen. "When this is in blossom, and the weather is warm, the bees rush out of their hives at early dawn, and work on it all day long as eag-erly as they do on bass- wood. The flowers are similar to those which grow on the birch, being of long tag-like shape, as large aa a slate pencil, and from one to two inches in length. These tags secreie honey so profusely that it can many times be seen glistening in the morning sun, and the trees resound with the busy hum of bees from morning till night. From the few trees along a small creek near here, our bees frequently make a gain of 10 lbs. of honey. The honey is quite similar to apple honey, and of a nice aromatic flavor. The golden willow yields the most honey of any wil- low with which I am acquainted. Oa page 599, Vol. 8 of Gleamsgs, F. S. Paddock asks, " Which kind of will-)w8 are best as a bee plant, and how close should they bo set for a fencer " The white willow is the kind used for fencing, and this kind also yields hon- ey largely, but not quite so much as the golden wil- low. The cuttings are set 6 inches apart for a fence; and where kept trimmed, I know of no fence which presents a more beautiful appearance than does this. This is the most rapid growing kind of all the willow tribe, single shoots growmg from 3 to 6 feet in a year. By trimming twice a j^ear it is kept in good subjection. Thus in short I have given what light I can as regards very early pollen and honey, as well as willow for fencing. G. M. DOOLITTLE. Borodino, N. Y., Nov. 11, 1881. The above facts are certainly of much value; aud although contrary to my im- pressions in some respects, I presume friend D. is right. The common fence willow is in great profusion in our vicinity, but I have never seen many bees on it. I have never seen any willow that produces honey in such quantities as to be seen by the eye, as friend D. mentions, and I think that we can all of us have at least a few cuttings of this gold- en willow to test it, in our own localities. Will friend D. jjlease state how low he can furnish us such cuttings ; for by that means we may be sure we have the kind that pro- duces the honey in such quantities V The willow-tree sent us last spring by fiiend Gulp, of Ililliard, 0., drew a larger number of bees than any other plant I think I ever met ; but if friend D. is correct, this must have been for pollen only, and not honey. It strikes me just now, I should very much like a skunk cabbage on our grounds. As they giow in the woods near, I presume it will not prove a very expensive luxury. io^f)-.— From friend Doolittle's forthcom- ing price list, which is now issuing from our press, we answer our own question relative to price of willow cuttings:— VTLLOW CVTTIXGS. As onr bee friends frequently inquire about willows for bee?, we have concluded to send outtingrs of the foUowin}? varieties at 20 cts. per dozen by mail, postpaid. Cuttinfc^ 8 inches long, aud from J^; to % inches in diameter. Pussy willow, pi vcs us early pollen for the bees, and is eagerly sought after by them. Gold- en willow yields honey in aljundance: and if the weather is good, it helps the bees wonderfully. Wliite willow also yields honey, and is the kuid used for fencing. If kei)t trimmed it makes a handsome fence The cuttings grow readily in moist soil, and will thrive in nearly any soil, if cultivated for the lii'st year or two. Pi-iee per dozen, by tqail, SO cts.; per 100, by ex- press, 50 cts, ; per lOOU, 81,00. TfTINTEKING, AND PREPARING FOR WINTER. BY OXF. WHO DOES WINTER HIS BEES. EN the many excellent plans for wintering, given during the past few months, most of the writ- ers, I believe, recommend that the bees be sup- plied with good honey. Does not this indicate that the quality of the honey is the most common cause of success or failure, supposing, of course, that the bees have plenty of it, and are in a normal condition otherwise; that is, have a good queen, and a suf- ficient force of healthy workers? I think it does, and have no doubt that the neglected hives of care- less bee-keepeers, that survived the rigors of last winter, were those that had anopportunity of breed- ing up well late in the season, and had an accessible supply of good honey. HONEY-DEW, B.AD FOR WINTEniNG. I understand good honey to be that which is gathered from flowers (not honey-dew\ and is well ripened and sealed. My experience with honey-dew has convinced me that it is entirely unUt for winter- ing; from what I know of the bees that died in this localitj", I am certain that black-waluut honey-dew and starvation killed the most of them. I can not agree to what friend Heddon says on page 543, Nov. Gleanings, that " it seems that those who neglect their bees succeed in wintering as well as any." In all my acquaintance with the bee-keep- ers of this neighborhood, there is no greater old granny than myself about "fixing" his bees for winter, and none succeed in getting them through the winter better than myself; this is no doubt due to the fact, that the bees are supplied with an abundance of the best honey or syrup, within easy reach of the cluster.. 1 have not lost, during the past eight winters, one single colony, excepting in 18T8-'79; then, owing to sickness in my family, I did not have time to take all the honey-dew out of some of my hives, and they were wintered partly on it and partly on syrup. These colonies were so seriously affected with dys- entery as to make it necessary in the spring to re- duce their number about one-half, by uniting; but no one died out entirely, and I sold all the surplus queens. Our bees are snugly tucked away for winter, and have been so for over six weeks. There is no such thing at our house as the gambling excitement men- tioned by friend Heddon, for I know to a certainty that next April they will be bright and healthy, ready for business; and to-night, as the wintry storm rattles against our windows, I think of them with as ufuch satisfdction as I do of our faithful horse and Jersej' cow in their comfortable quarters. All but two colonies are in chaff hives. They are confined by close division-boards to from five to eight combs, and these are well filled with clover and linden honey and sugar syrup. All have winter pas- sages. The entrances are contracted to Jixli-J in. Pieces of old carpet or burlap cover the frames, while warm soft chaff cushions pressed down over all, confine the heat and absorb what moisture may escape from the bees. There I I had almost forgotten this upward-venti- lation bus 1 less. Ever since I read, years ago, what our kind friend Mr. Langstroth tells us about it In his excellent book, my bees have had something of the kind. That which is supplied by the cb.iff cush- ions seems now to give the best results, 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 589 Our cushions are about four inches thick, and last winter, when the thermometer ranged from 10° to 20" for weeks at a time, they would have frost on the upper surface, while next to the bees they were drj- and warm, and the bees and <• nnbs dry. I have not found it neccessary lu have any open space above the frames. " If you want to know how that feeU to the bees, just hang your bed-clothes on the bed-posis some cold night." Asking pardon for saying so much on this almost threadbare subject, may I suggest, friend Boot, that if we would all faithfully follow your timely advice, and attend to our bees in September, just as you di- rect, making them breed up well by thorough feed- ing, and at the same time supply them with ample stores of good honey or syrup, that no dead bees would be reported, even if wintered in single-walled hives and on summer stands? E. M. Hayhurst. Kansas City, Mo., Nov. 15. 1881. To those who are unacquainted with friend IL, 1 would say, by way of adding weight to his advice and instruction, that he is, and always has been from tlie hrst, one of the successful ones. Not only does he succeed in raising and wintering bees, but he suc- ceeds in raising fine queens, and getting them safely to their destination. More than all this, he succeeds, year after year, in doing business with a large number' of people in such a way that none of them ever have any fault to find ; at least, so far as my knowledge extends. iu%mil^ §^liarbij(inh Every girl or boj-, under 12 years of aee, who writes a letter for this department will receive one of Uavid Cook's excellent 5-cent Sunday-school books. Many of these books contain the same matter that jou find in Sunday-school books costing from $1 00 to $1 50. S LIKED my book real well. I have read it thmugh, and have laid it away, to read when I — ' get larger. 1 do not go to Snuday-school, for it is too far away, but 1 go to district school. I study the Fourth Ktader, geography, grammar, spelling, and writing. Pa has kept bees for 13 years; he has never lost many until last winter. This is theiirst year pa has taken Gleamngs, and he likes it very well. Pa has got 2« swarms of bets now; he had 33 swarms last fall, and lost them all but 9. I have 4 brothers, but no sisters. My little brother, 4 jears old, likes bees; when they come into the house he takes them on bis fingers and carries them out- doors. His name is Amos. Pa bought 4 queens this year; he bought 3 of them from you, and 1 from Mr. W. Z. Hutchinson. The one be got from Mr. Hutchinson was a $1.00 queen; ehe was all white, and sbn has her hive full of nice light bees now. The $3 00 one you sent us is nice too. There are not mauy of her bees out yet. If you will open the hive you will see some of them. I do not think much of bee-Slings as a cure for rheumatism. Jennie E. Stoner. Merrimac, Sauk Co., Wis., Oct. 15, 1881. A very good letter, friend Jennie. And so your brother's name is just like mine. Isn't it funny that it happened so V AJay be you haven't had the rheumatism yet. Little girls don't often have it. 1 am glad to hear your queens turned out so well. My pa finished packing his bees to-day. Thoy crowded on six and eight frames, with division- boards on each side of the brood-nest, one-fourth inch from the bottom ; upper story filled with dry forest-leaves. I assist my father a great deal with his bees. I am a schoolarirl. Isabella Wier. South River, Anno Arundel Co., Md., Nov. 4, 1881. I am a little girl ton years old. My papa keeps bees. He has about 50 hives, and about 1500 lbs. of box honey. Papa takes Gleanings, and I like to read it. I have got one sister and one brother. My brother is three years old, and my sister is eight years old. Nellie Wortd. Reading Centre, Schuyler Co., N. Y., Nov. 5, 1881. Thank you, Nellie. That is a very good little letter. This is the first letter I have ever written, though I am eight years old. I have two sisters and one brother. My pa has kept bees for 15 years, and the most that he owned at a time was 40 colonies. Last fall he had 3, but lost 1 last winter. My pa takes Gleanings, and I like to read it. I think the pic- tures of Mr. Mcrrybanks and his neighbor are very funny. Eva Dehr. Indian Falls, Genesee Co., N. Y., Oct. 25, 1881. I am a little girl 10 years old. I have three sisters and two brothers. Mj- elder brother keeps bees. He had 40 swarms last summer, and lost 15 last win- ter. He gave my sister two swarms. His bees made 1400 lbs. of honey this summer. He got lao per lb. for the comb honey; 17 for that in sections, and a shilling for the extracted. My sister has the picture of Blue Eyes. My brother takes Glean- ings, and I like to read the Juvenile Department. He bought twelve glasses to put honey in, and gave me ten cen»s for washing them. I read in the Fourth Reader, and study geography, grammar, spelling, practical and mental arithmetic. Emm.4 VTaoner. Calamus, Clinton Co., la., Oot. 2S, 1881. Very good, friend Emma, but wasn't that a pretiy big price ; almost a cent apiece for washing the glasses? MRS. HARRISON TALKS TO THE CHILDREN ABOUT CHRISTMAS. I know what the juveniles are thinking abotit, and shouting out through your happy throats. "Christ- mas is coming! Santa CLius will soon be here 1" The boys are wishing for sleds and skates; the girls, for dulls, books, and pictures. But there is one thing that boys and girls want just alike. Isn't it funny? It's money. Many of you are wishing, " Oh if 1 could only earn some money !" Yes, that is the way to enjoy It; earn it. I see some of you own hives of bees, but none of you have erer told us how much money you have made from them. I'm afraid that papa does the work, sells the honey, and, I'm almost afraid to say it, puts the money into his own pocket. If you are real bee-keepers, you will do the work for the bees, and sell the honey your- selves. You want to give presents, don't you? If father or mother gives you the money to buy with, it is they, and not you, who give it, is it not? You should keep a book account of your apiary, and tell us all about it, so we will find out whether bee-keep- ers are like farmers — " sonny's pig, but daddie'a pork." If you have money to spend, ooosjder well befor© 590 GLExVNTNGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. you do 60. You give presents to your friends to maljc them h>ippy, doyou not? And the only way in whioh any of us can be made happy is in our nwn way. If you give a boy a doll, be might throw it at you in disgust; but if a knife or box of tools were given him he could hardiy find words to express his delig-ht if ho were a boy of inventive turn; that is, one wbi) likes to make thing-s. Some of yciu ouid enrn Christmas money by work- ing- for Mr. Iti>nt g-etting subscribers fi)r Gleanings. Slime persons who do not care tor bees themselves inijfht bo induced to scud it as a Christmas present io a friend who does. A book would m;ike them glad only once, while GrjE.\NiNGS would twelve times iiJ a year, f mm Christmas to Christmas. You might take The You^Ii's C:>mpa)iiun along too, and pet subscribers for both, or some other good paper. Who among the Ju\enile8 will msike Mr. Koot the largest Chrisimas present of ^hig club—ot subscrib- ers to G LEANINGS for .1882? SOMETHING ABOCT PENMANSHIP. I am pleased to see so many children writing for the Juvenile Dc'partment. I think you must write plalrdy, or the editor wf>iild not print your letters as he does. Very otten when I I'eecive a letter from an eiiitor, lawyer, or minister, it takes the whole family to read it; hut when a child writes to me, I can read it all !il->ne by myself. Practice writing your own name and address, and make each leiter si> plain that grandpa can read it without specs. Some- times I get a postal from someone who wants honey, and the name is written so poorly that I can not tell who wants it. The evenings are getting long now, and so you should practice writing, and per- haps Mr. Root will tell in Gleanings who does the best. Mk§. L. Harrison. Peoria, 111., Nov., 1881. Many thanks, Mrs. II., not only for the kind words in regard to the circulation of Gleanings, but also about tlie matter of handwriting. I do believe it would be a good idea for a great many of the fathers to set the children writing the letters. Perhaps they might manage as I do here in the office. I take the letter 1 wish answered, and scrawl my answer on the back or margin just as hastily and awkwardly as I please. Of course, nobody could read it who wasn't schooled (" schooled " is the word, and I tell you it is a school), to read my crooked marks and abbreviations. Well, some of the girls in the office have so learned my characters that they read them right off, when you could scarcely read one word. Another "ad- vantage they have: they can read the letter first, and from their knowledge and experi- ence in the business know pretty nearly what the answer wonld be, and so can easily write out the nice clean letters we send you. Mrs. II., do you ever have any trouble in reading the letters our girls send you? Those who have tried it can tell what an immense saving, to a busy man, the above plan is. I have nothing to do with names and addresses, and I ofren scrawl answers witiiout knowing who wrote the letter at all. I miglit add. for the enconragement of our little uhl writers, tlmt our office is now en- tireU/ in charge of yiris and women (one of them is now sweeping the floor, and they can sweep fleers and clean lamps almost (V) as well as boys can), and I share to a con- siderable extent the pride thev feel in let- ting the world know that wonaen can do business. There are seven of them in this room now, and in a month or two we shall need several more probably. Now about subscriptions. If you will re- member to send the stamps for postage, I will make the following oifers for subscrib- ers : For the first name you send me with $1.00, any thing on the 3-cent counter. For the second, any thing on the 5-cent counter. For the third, any thing on the 10-cent counter. For the fourth, any thing on the 15-cent counter; and for the fifth, any 25- cent article. After you have sent five names, we will credit you with 25 cents on each name, to be taken in any thing in our price list, at the retail or single-article price. Please remember, this offer is given only to increase the circulation of Gleanings, and to pay you for the time and trouble it takes to show it and explain its merits to your bee- keepip.g friends. Be sure to tell what arti- cle you want, children, and send the 'postage. Big folks, or anybody else, may get subscrib- ers on the same terms, if they wish to. Sample copii;S and prije lists will be fur- nished free. GOOD NC:^VS FROra H. A. BURCU. fl'IlE following is from the South Haven _ i, Messenger, of Oct. 28 : — IJees.— Since our last i-ssue, Messrs. H. A. Burch & Co. shipped twenty-two colonies of Italian bees, consigned to parties in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Canada. Since the first of last June this firm have shipped bees to U7 ditferent person-*, and out of this number they have not had a single complaint regarding the quality of the stock, which speaks well of their efforts to furnish bee- keepers with a superior strain of Italian b=es. Will the "old and reliable " Bee Jimrual ask Oleanings to give this item his " prayerful consideration " ? Most gladly, friends of the Messenger, and with a '• thank God " for it too. Kindly allow me space in Gleanings to acknow- ledge the filling of my order for bees by H. A. Burch & Co., of South Haven, Mich. The order was placed in his hands about the 26th of May, and bees re- ceived in good order by me Oct. 18th, and beautiful Italians they are too. I might also say, that my or- der might have been filled earlier; but when not filled as promptly as I anticipated, I countermanded the order and asked him to refund the money. This also failing, I again, on the 11th of Oct., asked him to fill my original order, which ho did, and that promptly too. Would it not be well for friend Rose, of Grand Haven, to keep •***♦♦*• down the temperature? " T. Boles. Ridgeway, Ont., Can., Nov. 2, 1881. Mr. Burch sent me some bees Oct. 31; ho sent 9 frames. I suppose they are short L. frames, which I will have to transfer. There was but little honey in two or three frames. I think there was about two quarts of bees. What do you think they are worth ? John E. Riqgs. Newbern, Mai-ion Co., la,, Nov. 7, 1881, 1881 GLEANINGS IN J3EE CULTUKE. 591 STORING AND KEIilPING CO.llB IIONE^. f]HE following from the Colorado Farmer was credited to the Rural New Yorker, ' and nothing more ; but unless I mis- take very much, it was writlcu by our friend Poolittle. Perhaps you have heard the sub- stance of it before, but it is matter that will bear repetition, without doing anybody any harm : — CARE OP COMB HOXEY. ATuch has been written in rearard to the best meth- ods of securing large yields of honey, the hives best adapted to secure such a yield, etc., while but little has been said in regard to caring for such honey aft- er it has been obtained. It is said that Mr. Diirand, the strawberry propagator of New Jersey, obtains more money from his few rows of strawberries care- fully tended, and put upon the market in fine condi- tion, than is obtained from as many acres grown and sent to market by shiftless parties. We find the same thing occurring in regard to much produce which is sent to market, and honey is no exception to the rule. To place .our honey upon the market in the best possible shape, therefore, should be the aim of every bee-keeper in the land. If honey is left on the. hives but a few days after being sealed over, its snowy whiteness will be changed to a yellowish white, by the bees running over it, thus spoiling it for a really fancy article. Hence he that wishes to get the first price for his honey will remove it from the hives as soon as sealed, and not leave it on till the end of the season, to save the trouble of going over the apiarv more than onc^, as is the custom c)f some. I go over my yard once a week, removing all scaled boxes, and placing empty ones in ih<^ir places, and consider this none too often. After taking the honey from the hives there are two m>re things to bo looked after, or we may have but a second rate article, no matter how whit.? and nice it may he when first tak- en off. If stored in a damp and cool room, honey will take on dampness: and if left there long- enough, it will become unsalable. How often wo see honey becoming transparent and stanoing in drons on the surface of the combs, ready to leak on being handled the least bit, which not only hurts the looks of it very much but makf-s it liable to sour un- less consumed very soon. While in New York In 1877, I saw in a damp cellar several hundred weight that had become so damp as to burst the cells and run over the crates, tloor. etc. It smelt very bad, and was unsightlv to behold. To avoid a mi-thap like this, honey should be stored in a very warm, dry room as so'>n as taken from the hives, and left there for a moot 1 1 or more before it is crated preparatory to sending it to market. For this purpose I use a room seven by t-en feet in the southwest corner of mv shop, having the outside painted a dark color, so that the sun will make the room as warm a« possible. The mercury in this room will sfiind from 90 to 10(i° most of the time, thus ripening the honey si that in a month's time it can be handled and turned over as much as I please, and not a drop will leak out, even from the un- capped cells at the edsres of the box. If kept thus warm, as nearly all practical apiarists of the present time claim it should be kept, the sec- ,ond trouble is quite likely soon to appear, which comes in the shape of the larvae of the wax moth. Worms in the boxes an inch long and nearly as large as a pipe stem are not very tempting to a customer who is in search of a nice box of honey for his fami- ly, or perchance for a select party. These have bo»n seen by the writer while looking over honey at different markets. To prevent such a state of af- fairs, the honey when taken from the hive should be placed on scantliners which should be raised a foot or more from the tloor to permit tho placing of burning sulphur underneath the pile, if the moth worm should tte troublesome. Evamino the honey every few days, and if you see many boxes with lit- tle white plHces resembling flour on the combs, you may know that the little worms have commenced to work and will eventually eat the sealing off. unless either they are killed by burning sulphur or their work is arrested by cold weather. To sulphur, get a pan of coals and set them in a kettle, or fi.x thorn in some way to prevent danger from fire, and when they are burning pour on them three-quarters of a pound of sulphur for every 200 cubic feet contained in the room. Sulphur the last thing before crating, and you may be sure your honey will not depreciate while staying in the market. Just how the I'ggs of the moth get in the boxes is not known. Some sup- pose the bees carry them there on their feet from walking over places where the miller hns deposited them, while others think the miller gets access to the interior of the hive at certain times. When thoroughly ripened and sulphured as above, the honoy should be stored in crates made of nice white wood, holding about ^5 lbs. each, with the gr( S5 weight and the weight of the crate pl-iinly marked on e.ich as well as the net weight. When honey is thus put up it will always bring the highest price in the market. If there is any difference in the honey it should be graded. T make three grades, putting none but that which is nice and white in No. 1. For No. 3. that which is mixed with buckwheiit honey is \ised, as well as that built on old combs from which it is always darker thati that from new. Buckwheat, goldenrod, and other fall hone.y goes as No. ;}. as well as all corahs which have once been oc- cupied with brood. When all box honey in the Unit- ed States is placed upon the market in the above- described coniition, we shall have made a long stride toward a settled market value for our prod- uct, as there now is for most other productions. RAmBIilB NO. 8. TO THE FOREST. "^^^^^^ are admonished again by the recent visits of WM Jack Frost, that winter is once more rapidly ^ -' descending upon us. The comfortable fire reminds us that the woodman will soon put his ax in order and march to the forest, and with a few sturdy strokes lay low the monarchs that have swayed their branches in the free air of heaven for a century or more. At this season of the year, when the forest-leaves are tinted with those rich and variegated hues, and before the destroyer commences his work, we love to lamblo up the mountain-side and note the changes of the year. Tho apiarist whose mind is upon tons of honey or scores of queens, will find mrch food for reflection beneath the trees. We find hero the primitive home of the honey-bee, and the paradise for the bee-hunter. It seems now as though it ought to he a short step from the hollow log to tho modern bee-hive; but, tho movable frame was born only through many trials and experiments by man J- wise men. We have learned that it is more economical to cut our tree into boards, and that the soft woods yield to our tools and make a better hive than the hard woods. We find that pine makes the best body to the hive; that locust gives us a better wood for the frame, for it finishes as smooth as glass, and holds a nail tenaciouslj'. Basswood and poplar give us the snow-white sections for our surplus comb honey. When those sections are being filled with the choicest gifts to the apiarist in the mouth of July, the eye is often turned toward the forest, and to those lofty tree-tops that rise like mounds above the general level of the forest. As the seasons roll round, you will miss, each year, a few of those mounds; the ax, the saw-mill, and the plane have converted your linden-tree and your bee- pasturage into articles for the use of man. Is it any wonder, then, that the apiarist should bestir himself, and plant fer the future by his many visits to the for- est? He has learned to improve upon nature, and plant his trees at such a distance apart as to give full development to the tree. In studying this de- velopment, another beauty is observed: The habits of growth of different trees. The linden has the 592 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. form of a spheroid; the apple and cherry that of a sphere; the pear is the shape of a cone, and the lo- cust approaches the cylinder in form. Out of these forms it is easy to figure an acreaj?e of tree foliage. It is safe to double the surface measurement for blossoms on the interior branches. According to this estimate we have apple-trees over 60 years of age, ten of which are equal to an acre, while a splen- did specimen of the linden, which, alas! has suc- cumbed to the ax, gave fully a fourth of an acre of foliage. Aside from honey production, the forest gives us many lessons for our improvement, and for the adornment of our homes. How eagerly are the lichens gathered up, and the running pine! Even the seeds of the linden are utilized to make beads; and when stained, they equal In appearance the strings of foreign nuts we saw at the Centennial. We love the forest with all its solitude and its trea- sures. We love the grand old trees that have been adding circle after circle to their circumference for a century or more; and as we return from our ram- ble we drop a sigh of regret for the noble trees that will fall before the ax before another year shall roll around. J. H. Martin. flartford, Washington Co., N. Y. HOW TO TAKE OFF SECTIONS. ALSO SOMETHINO ABOUT HOW NOT TO DO IT. fjiHIS is my first season with the Simplicity hive, and I am well pleaded with them. My neigh- — ' bors are interested, at least those who keep bees, and say they are bound to have some of those hives. I wish you would tell me how you take off sec- tions. 1 put my first swarm, and a good one, into a Simplicity. They soon filled the hive, and I put on a case of sections, and they filled them all with the nicest honey I have seen for a long time. I waited for a cool morning, and tried to take them off, but the bees came pouring out in a perfect stream, and I put on the cover, and left them until evening; then I came at them with smoker and chisels, and pried the case loose, and got it off on the grass, but there was a small swarm in the case and on the bot- tom of It, and after much sweeping and driving, I set the case on an empty hive and gave them a little brimstone. That made things quiet so that I could take the sections out of the case. C. A. Case. Old Chatham, Columbia Co., N. Y., Oct. 17, 1881. Why, friend C, who ever told you to choose a cold morning to take off sections? It was just your very worst time, for the bees were all at home, and in no mood to be disturbed at all. Have we not told you in the A B C, and everywhere else almost, to handle bees in the middle of the day, when as many were out in the fields as possible? At such a time, you could have lifted out all tilled sections, and replaced them with emp- ty ones, almost as fast as you could pick them up and set them down. If you are an ABC scholar, you should have taken out the sections and'handled them often, so you would know just about the time the first one would be ready to take off. By waiting un- til evening, you had the bees all at home again, and they were likely just unloading and arranging the honey they had gathered during the day. If you wanted them clear out of the case, why did you put it on the grass at all? Had you raised up the case of sections, and placed an empty second story under it, right over the hive below, you could have driven every bee down on the brood-frames in a very little time with your smoker. The empty Itive between them is needed, because without it they will boil up in one spot while you are driving them down in another. You had the empty hive right there, it seems ; but instead of do- ing as I have suggested, you killed the poor little fellows Avith brimstone, as a rec- ompense for their kind labor to their un- thankful master. Please excuse me for the way in Avhich I put it, but I can never bear to hear of bees being killed. I have almost felt like crying for them since read- ing your letter. HIVES, QUEENS, ETC. fHAVB noticed two things about handling bees in spring and fall and in cold weather. When bees are clustered together in cool weather, and you lift a frame out of a common hive, the bees that fall on to the bottom-board curl up, and very often never uncurl. In the chaff hives they don't do so. PHOTECTED BOTTOM-BOARDS. Well, I made some boxes, and stuffed them with leaves forbottom-boardsforother hives, and I found out that the bees did not curl up on them either, and we don't find the combs so moldy down on the bot- tom back corner, nor do the bees fly out so much if the hives are on stuffed bottom-boards in winter as they do if on common bottom-boards. When the stand is made by nailing boards on 6-inch scantling set up edgewise, and stuffed with leaves, I tell you they are just " bully." Now I'll tell you why I don't like the Simplicity. It's too small to make a chaff hive of for winter. I have seen and used some Simplicities that just suit me; they arc square inside. The front and back are packed with 3 inches of any thing to fill up; the bot- tom has 2 inches of packing; a light cap of half-inch stuff, 13 in. front, 11 in. back, covers the whole. A good thick chaff division-board on each side, and a 2-inch cushion on top, won't put them in good freez- ing condition. Well, 17 out of 18 stocks in them did not freeze last winter, and two-thirds all around them did freeze. The frames come just even with the top of the hive. Now for a plain square-top case on top of the hive, and two divisions below, and wo have the advantge of the chaff hive and the square cases to tier up to keep wide frames, brood frames, or boxes, during the winter. Another thing: This chaff packing under the bottom-board helps to get the brood to the bottom of the frames early in the spring, and makes the same number of bees cover a greater surface of comb, furnishing more brood in the same time. Make the wide division-boards one side burlap; use the burlap side to the bees in win- ter, and the board side in summer. artificial and natural queens. Well, now, don't you recollect that in 1878 and '79 you wrote about having the queen lay right in the cups, and then we could have natural queens start- ed from the eggs, and see if they were not better? You asked who would try it. I sent you word that I would if you would, and I have for the past three reasons. When I sent you word, I believe I stated it 1881 GLE^iNlNGS IN BEE CULTURE. 593 was the hardest to stop them from laj-ing in them, and so I find it. I find that there Is not the least trouble in getting the queen to lay in the cups if you keep your stock moderately strong, and have the queen clipped; and you can quiic often find a nice young queen haiching out or ruhulng around on the comb if you don't keep a very close watch ; and I am obliged to say. that the queens so raised have both mated and laid quicker than those raised from brood, other things being equal. This is not from a cell occasionally, but 20 nuclei have been kept run- ning half and half since Ihe spring of '79, and queens have been put into full stocks side by side from these nuclei to try the difference, and there is but a Email per cent of superiority in favor of the natural queens, and that is mostly size and gentleness. If I had not promised to report on the experiments I should never have penned the results, because I am convinced that It is very unsafe for any but experts or those who have had considerable experience with bees, to attempt to get cells in this way, on account of the dangers of swarming out, superseding, or kill- ing off the queen when least expected. But in spite of the objections, cells can be practically obtained with either larvfe or capped over, and the old queen present all the time, and cells can be obtained from the middle of May till September. ABC class, don't run any risks with good queens, or you may lose them. Experimentalist. Oct. 23, 1R81. May I sugs;est, friend E., that with your Simplicity hive made larser, and packed, it would be a Simplicity hive no longer, for you could not put them one over the other, "nor use them in any way you do the Simplicities. The Simplicity is a summer hive, and I do not believe it will pay to try to ma ke a good winter hive of it. "Your stutfed bottom- boards are no doubt a fine thing, but T think I should prefer having a complete chaff hive while I was about it— If I am correct, the greater part of the testimony is to the effect that queens reared under the'natural-swarm- ing impulse are, as a rule, little if any better than those properly reared in other ways. The difficulty because of the tendency "to natural swarming is quite an obstacle in the way of getting all our queen-cells in that way, as you say. ■■ g « — THE PHIIiO SOPHY OF VENTIL.1TION. DYSENTERY CURED IN MID -WINTER. f BOUGHT a couple of hives that had dysentery so badly they were over half dead. In January ' I transferred them to the frame hive (they were ia old box hives). I put warm brick in the hive, and got it prettj- warm; heated the side cush- ions as hot as they would bear, and put the bees back (they had been la it three days). Tn the hive I put warm brick over them, and put some cobs in the upper story, and closed the hive so a bee cou' not get out. I went to the hive next day, and the cobs looked as if the hogs had been among them. I did this to those two hives once a week for three weeks; once when it was very cold. These two hives made me a surplus of over 100 lbs. per hive, and are strong yet. So much for a largo upper story, the cube of which is (garret Included) t(H2 inches. Last, but not least, the hive should be set In a shed /acing tbe south, as per Qumby. Tlisre Jis a great benefit derived from the solar rays in the long winter months. My idea about a tight hive is something like this: I took two boxes, one open and the other tight. I put old damp cobs into each box. I went to them ten days after. In the tight box the cobs were all covered with frost, while the cobs in the open box were all dry. In about a week it turned quite warm. In the open box the temperature was 60° F. ; in the tight one it was 30° F., and the cobs still covered with frost. Now, if a bee-hive is too close, and there is not enough air passes through to keep the combs dry, they will be covered with frost, or a cold damp sweat, which is worse on the bees. The draft should not be direct, as some want it; it should be as tight as a jug over the brood-nest. I have experimented considerably with bees and hives, and this is some of my practical experience. I would like to tell you a little more about my hives, but I have not room, and must be as brief as pos- sible. Geo. W. Stites. Spring Sta., Ind., Oct., 1831. I think, in your experiment with a box of cobs, you have hit the point exactly, friend S., and we owe you a vote of thanks for the experiment. If the space over the bees is so ventilated that the packing remains dry and free from frost. I hardly think there will be danger from dysentery, and certainly not with plenty of "stores of good pure whole- some food. UPS AND BO^VNS OF AN A BC SCHOLtR; AND HOW HE BEAT THE "OLD BEE -MAN " FINALLY, fi AM an A B C scholar. This is my second year. Last year I bought 11 swarms in all kinds of hives. I transferred and fixed them up as well as I could, and ran them up to 29 colonies. I did not get much surplus honey. Jlay 1st, 1S81, found rae in possession of 16 swarms that had survived the win^ ter — 10 good ones, 6 poor. All had queens but one. May 10th, a big storm of rain, hail, and wind, tipped over two swarms and killed the queens, and almost all of the bees, perhaps three-quarters of a pound in both hives. I looked through all of the rest and found 3 more queens gone, leaving me 11 with queens, 6 without. June 5th I had queens for all my hives. I had raised them myself. June 10, white clover in blossom. Now for the result of the year's work: I extracted 1109 lbs.; had 237 lbs. section honey; got 12;ic for ex» tracted, and 15 for section honey, so you can see whether my bees have paid, I might have had more extracted honey, if T had had time to attend to the bees. I had only 150 lbs. of linden honey; that is, out of brood combs, and that was to give the queens a chance to lay. I wanted to be full of good honey for winter. I forgot to tell you that one of my friends, an old bee-man, told me that he was going to choose a colony, but he wanted me to, and he was going to beat me. So I showed him my hive. Now or that one hive: I extracted 49 lbs.; had 635^ lbs. of section honey; divided and made 5 good colonies from it; have got three frames of honey, which I took out and put down for winter use, weighing ISJi lbs. The whole amounts to over $10. How Is that for hla-h, and for an A B C scholar? I did not reckon In what I got from the young ewarms. I got 33 lbs. from one; from two swarms, 44 lbs. extracted ; and some from another, I don't know bow much, 594 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. but not a great deal. The last swarm, T sold. My bees are mostly the bi^ brown bee; some hybrid, some Italians. You must excu«e mistakes, for my little blue-eyed grirl bothers me. D. Shangle. Judd's Corners, Shiawassee Co., Mich. Thank God you have a little '• Blue Eyes" to bother you, friend S. ; and thank him, too, that your elforts with the l)ees have eventually turned out so well. If you will excuse the liberty, I am afraid you are in- clined to be a little careless sometimes ; but with what you have accomplished, you now knov/ what bees can do, and I think, too, that you see there is little probability that your "otherwork is more importantthan your work with the bees. ^Vill it not be just as well to say next year, that you had no time to attend to the other work^ instead of say- ing that you did not have time to attend to the bees V MRS. HTCINDA IIAKRISON ON BCE' STINGS AS A REltlEDIAIi AGENT. ALSO SOMETHING ABOUT OTHER THINGS FOR " RHEU- MATICS," ETC. MIR. EDTTOR:-We have been watching with in- terest the discussions that have been in ' Gleanings in reference to the sting of the bee as a panacea for rheumatism. We know what rheumatism is. The Turks call it " wind in the bones;" but our relations have been so intimate that we have eaten salt together, and when wo yrished to dissolve the intimacy, it was like the fabled shirt, that, when once it was put on, could not be removed. And we have seen the spectacle of a doctor visiting rheumatic patients, who was a sufferer with it him- self, to the extent that he could not draw the rib- bons over his own horse. " Physician, cure thyself " first, would have been more in keeping with good common sense. During two seasons, in February and March, we had rheumatism to the extent that we were not able to dress our feet ; we were accus- tomed to say to the little girl who did it for us, "You will not have to do it very long, for as soon as the weather is warm, and we work with the bees, and get stung, we can put them on;" and it was so. Our rheumatism was not cured, but relieved; whether It was owing to being stung, or working and per- spiring freely in the v/arm sunshine, we are not able to say. If we are not mistaken, physicians say that rheu- matism is owing to the presence of urea in the blood, and as the poison of the bee acts upon the kidneys, we are of the opinion, formed from obser- vation upon our own person, that it will relieve acute rheumatism somewhat. But the rheumatism that we will now describe is not, in our opinion, go- ing to be cured by the sting3 of bees, any thing gent- ly rubbed on the surface, or that passes down the throat. The ancients called this disease rheuma. tism, from rheum, to flow, as the mucous glands se- creted an excess of fluids of an altered character. These fluids, in process of time, form a hardened substance on the bones and among the muscles, which, for lack of any other name, we will describe as bones. The flesh harden?, and you could just as easily pinch up cold pork with your fingers, as this rheumatic flesh; It is cold, and the bones and mar- row also. Sometimes the cords and sinews are all knotted up, like tarred rope, and the afflicted per- son can not straighten his limbs or arms. In our travels this summer we providentially met a person who had learned to crush these bones, or " critters," as he called them, and work the hardened flesh until it was soft and natural, and straighten out the knot- ted cords. The treatment was as follows: The body was first thoroughly washed with warm soft water, and a mixture, composed of castile soap, saltpeter, and hartshorn. Then the doctor rubbed in oil on a small portion of the body, and worked and rubbed until the oil was absorbed. When he found one of these " bon(!S " he used great pressure and crushed them. When he was working one of these hard sub- stances, it felt as if a jagged bone was cutting through the raw flesh. The treatment was torture, and very excruciating, but we stood it for seven hours a day. The result of this treatment was soft- ened flesh, limber joints, and increased circulation, which gives warmth and good feeling. No person but one of a strong will would endure to have knot- ted cords worked for hours until they are straight- ened. My rheumatic readers, do not stop moving as long as your limbs or arms obey your will; for, as a general thing, when a rheumatic stops he stays stopped as long as he lives, and another's legs has to do his walking and bidding. A few years since we had dropsy, and could not wear our accustomed clothing. We took no medicine, as it and us had a fall out many years since, and we have never kissed and made up, and are not likely to. It was winter, and as spring came on we moved our bees into clean hives, and let the bees sting us whenever inclined. It was very hard work for us to get around, and car- ry so much water, but we kept on working in the sunshine, and as it was so hard to do. It caused us to perspire freely; and before hot weather our dropsy had entirely disappeared, and has never troubled us since. Bee-keeping is just the thing that rheumatics, and those dropsically inclined, need to hustle them around lively. Mrs. L. Harrison. Peoria, Illinois. I am very glad indeed to get an article like the above, from one whose opinion will have the weight that any thing does coming from our good friend Mrs. Lucinda Harrison. I feel sure the time is coming Avhen physic and drugs for human ailments will, a great por- tion of it, be laid aside, just as our doctors have now laid aside the practice of blood- letting, of a century ago. The evidence in favor of bee-stings, for some forms of rheu- matism at least, is now almost beyond con- troversy, and we are almost if not quite as sure in regard to dropsy, as will be seen from this number and our last. I am strong- ly inclined, however, to lay great stress on the advantage of working in the situ and open air, so as to perspire freely. I would sug- gest to Mrs. L., that, instead of waiting for spring, she have a greenhouse where she can have the sun for a good many hours in the day, even if she can not have the bees. I should not be at all surprised if she might have the bees too, every day the sun shines in winter, ere many winters more pass. The demand for early queens is getting to be too great to allow of the idea slumbering very much longer, of flying and raising bees under glass. It is not only the rheumatic ones who want to "keep moving," but it Is advice I think the most of us need. Mrs. L., I pray that when the kind Father sees fit to 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 595 call you from this life you may be permitted to die without being troubled by very much medicine. FRIEND MCNEILL'S KEPORT. BEES AND BEE SUPPLIES AT FAIRS, AKD HOW TO FIX THEM. I herewith hand in my report fnr 1881. Number of hives in thespring,9— all — ' weak; four so very weak that I believe I could have held all the bees in each of theni iii one hand. The others would average perhaps a quart. The honey season opened early. Indeed, I found my bees doing a rushing business befoi-e there was any bloom whatever. One of my box-hive neighbors lost about 20 during the winter, and another 10; and I found that this early flow of honey was due to this fact, and to the negligence of the afore-mentioned neighbors. First pollen was gathered Apiil 20, and from this time till after buckwheat bloom there was a contin- uous growth in my little apiary. It was my pur- pose to build up my only two hives of blacks into strong colonies as early as practicable, and then break them up into nuclei; getting my increase from these and my honey from the other seven, which I intended should not swarm at all. But my purpose did not seem to be in accord with their ideas of how their family affairs should be conducted; for while still having plenty of room for brood and hon- ey, I found them starting queen-cells early in June. They soon began to swarm, and they continued to swarm regardless of my efforts in their behalf, till, by natural and artificial increase, I bad 25 colonies. With such an increase I looked for little honey, and visions of sugar buying to build them up, and give them sufficient stores for winter, floated un- pleasantly through my brain. But the honey season held on bravely, and my colnnies, big and little, grew and throve. Early in August I emptied my surplus combs, and found, greatly to my surprise, that my crop of early honey amounted to 650 lbs. mostly extracted. The empty combs were replaced just in the beginning of buckwheat bloom, and they were filled again with this aromatic sweet. A 42- gallon barrel has failed to hold my buckwheat crop. I reckon my honey crop for the season at 1125 lbs., or an average of 125 lbs. to each of the original nine in the spring. Beginning a year ago last spring, with three col- onies of blacks, the fall found me with eight and $60.00 on the debtor side of my bee account, and not a cent on the other. This season has added about $100 more to the debtor side; but when my honey is all sold I expect to have mj' bee account balanced. As there is little known of advanced bee culture in this section, I thought I would be doing the com- munity a service which they would appreciate, by making an apiarian display at our count j* fair. My exhibit consisted of a two-story Simplicity hive com- plete; a frame of fdn., one just drawn out into cells, and one full of honey; a brood frame of sections with fdn. starters, and one with sections filled with honey, and a frame with queen-cells and hatching brood. Then, of course, I had my extractor and honey knife; also a Peet introducing cage, a smoker, samples of extracted honey, and a frame of Italians with queen in the two-frame nucleus hive, which I got from you last year. I cut out the sides of this hive, and fitted in two 8x16 panes of glass. This gave a complete view of both sides of the comb, and as 1 purposely left but few bees on the comb, it was not a difiicult matter to get a view of the queen. And just here let me remark to any of our bee-keep- ing friends who purpose making a display of this of this sort, don't neglect to have a queen in the bill. She will prove a star, sure. Ithink 1 have been well repaid for the time and trouble which my exhibit cost me, in the expressions of pleasure and satisfaction which it called forth from the many to whom I explained the wonder of the bee-hive, and the methods of advanced bee cul- ture. Jamks McNeill. Hudson, N. Y., Nov. 1, ISSl. FRIEND TIMMEItJtJA.N'S IDEAS ON SEV- ERAL FOINTS. EHAVE been keeping bees 21 years in New York and Iowa; have used Quinby's old-style box hives; have been invited by patent-right men to invest in movable frames, but I "got bit" on a patent right years ago in New York State, and 1 would never hear of nor look at one again. I have 61 stands of bees. Last winter and spring I lost 31 out of TO. In box honey my bees average from nothing up to 50 lbs. It seems Strange to see others in Gleanings have such large yields. In fu- ture I will adopt the Simplicity, but 1 don't like the idea of transferring. HOW far will bees go for honey? I once disputed with Hammond, a bee-keeper in Fayette, as to whether his bees were flying past my house, four miles out of town. He came up, and he owned up. We investigated, and found they went three miles further, working on a large field of buckwheat. I live on a prairie, two miles from tim- ber on the north-west; east, timber is five miles off. Now, in basswood time my bees circlQ about until they are 50 feet high, and more go east than any other way. where do absconding swarms go? In swarming time, timber bees come out of tim- ber, fly across the prairie, and cluster in artificial groves. White clover is plenty on the prairie. In basswood time my runaways go to the timber every time. WILL BEES gather HONEY FROM CORN? Yes, and lots of it too, sometimes. They gather it from the tassels at the same time they gather that dark-green pollen. I always know what my bees are working on. It is not every year they get a large amount, say about as often as one year in four oi' five. I have had them average from 5 to 10 lbs. per swarm of the nicest honej'. It comes after bass- wood. WILL BEE-MOTH LIVE ON CLEAR WAX? Yes, and come to maturity in a box of honey; eat- ing the cappings (but not so as to daub or get in the honey), spinning their web all over the honey, the same as in a hive. No miller ever got in said box, as it was pasted up tight and placed in a dark and tight closet. Last year I helped a brother-in-law extract honey. He had six swarms in movable frames; one was a double swarm. It gave 20 lbs. at five different times; first, clover honey; next, basswood, corn, goldenrod, buckwheat. We could tell what it was at each ex- tracting as easily as we could tell basswood honey from buckwheat. 596 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUHE. Dec. Bees have been dying for three years now; our greatest loss was in the last of April. Warm weather set the bees brooding. A few cold days they could not fly to get water to reduce the honey properly for the brood; brood died in comb; bees would swarm out as in swarming time, leaving, sometimes, thirty and forty lbs. of honey. I hived eight one day, but saved only one. They dwindled to nothing, placed in liives that died out in winter. FKED TlMMERMAN. Fayette, Fayette Co., la., Oct. 31, 1881. I presume bees on the prairie will fly much further than usual, but still I think there must be some mistake about their flying as far as seven miles : 3i miles is as far as we liave been able to And Italians working from their hives, when the first ones were brouglit to our couuty.— I presume that on the prai- rie, swarms wotild of course go for the tim- ber.—1 think, friend T., the moth you speak of used some honey witli the cappings ; but if you look closely. I think you will find now and then a little pollen that started them on the comb honey.— I guess April is the worst month with most of us. CAN WV. GET PUKE IJRONES FROM AN ITALIAN QUKECV MATED AVITII A BLACK drone; AN OLD QUESTION BKOUQHT UP AGAIN. s,;K*]RIEND ROOT: -The question of purity of the jsri ^ Italian bee, and the test to determine the — ' same, has been the cause of frequent discus- sion; but the matter of keeping up that purity is, I think, not yet fully understood; at least, too much dependence has been placed upon the " Dzierzon Theory," and our queens have been allowed to meet indiscriminately, with the drone progeny of pure queens mated with black drones, the idea having heretofore been conveyed that such mating does not affect the purity of the drone. Now, why should it not? It is an established fact, that a single cross among mammals for ever after precludes the possi- bility of the mother producing her like in absolute purity. In our domestic fowls even, it is now ad- mitted by our best breeders, that a single mismating of one breed spoils the mother, and that she can never again be depended upon for pure stock; and so it goes through the whole field of animate nature, so far as comparative anatomy yet shows, and so, I say, why should it not bo so with the honey-bee? It is unquestionably true, that a virgin queen may produce drone progenj', and that the office of fer- tilization is solely to enable such queen to produce workers; but can we say positively, that, even if such is the case, and that the drone egg is not fer- tilized by any contact with the contents of the sper- matheca, that the mother is not, by this connection, so far changed in her being, by reason of absorp- tion, or some other result of the cohabitation, that her drone progeny are not to some (no matter how slight) extent affected by the cross? It may be that the effect is slight; still, if it continues it will neces- sarily increase until at last we find impurity where we have every reason, as wc now understand the matter, to expect absolute purity. As a matter of caution, therefore, I would advise that, in order to keep the Italian bee in absolute purity, we should not allow any admixture with drone progeny of a hybridized queen. This r^.atter is, I think, one of considerable importance, and I trust that it may call out discussion, and cause experiments, until the truth is certainlj' (if possible) established. I may be wholly wrong in the idea I present; but if I am, I am certainly borne out in it by experimental results in the higher races; and if it can be shown by any proof that I am not now right, I shall be most happy to admit my error, and take a back seat. J. E. Pond, Jr. Foxboro, Norfolk Co., Mass., Oct. 27, 1881. Friend P. has given me one fact in the above that is new; viz., that a common fowl, once impregnated, will never entirely recover from it, for pure breeding purposes. I am not so much astonished at this, for we know that, as a single impregnation affects the offspring for several weeks, we are rather obliged to conclude that the impreg- nating fluid remains in some receptacle, from which it is drawn daily, or as often as an egg is laid. Every egg the fowl lavs re- ceives some of this fluid ; but with the queen bee, the anatomy is so different that eggs may be laid without receiving any of this fluid at all. So much for theory. "Well, we are buying black bees from the farmers of Medina county every season, and second and third swarms having unfertilized black queens are brought us in great numbers. These are fertilized by the Italian drones of our apiary, and produce variously marked hybrid workers, but the drones are common black, with no trace of Italian blood. This is a test any of you can make. Get a young black queen, or queens, and put them where you are pretty sure they will meet Italian drones. Now, if you find it is the workers only, and never the drones, that are changed by the crossing, have you not proven the Dzierzon theory pretty well ? WIiNTERING BEES. fIRST, they should be so wintered, if possible, as to prevent spring dwindling. Now, it is plain, I think, that the only sure way of doing this is to promote breeding late in the fall and as early as February in the winter. This has been suggested by friend Langstroth. But young bees can not be raised without pollen; there- fore, bees can not be wintered so as certainly to pre- vent spiing dwindling without having plenty of pol- len. This explains, in part, I think, why bees have been wintered safely on grape sugar, the starch it contains serving the purpose of pollen. But for this purpose I prefer flour candy to any other bee- feed whatever. Now, friend Langstroth contends that the starch in grape sugar killed your bees last winter; but if so, pollen and flour will certainly kill them; and it is of no use trj'ing to prevent spring dwindling by raising young bees in the win- ter, as Mr. Langstroth suggests. In other words, his idea, that the starch in grape sugar is not good feed for winter, contradicts his idea, that the best way to winter bees is to promote winter breeding. Moreover, if it is true that "starch and sugar are, chemically speaking, almost identical" (rs you said in Gleanings, November, ItlS), it is not easy to see how sugar is equal to the best honey, and the "al- most identical" starch is dangerous. Second. The bees should be put on C combs; the 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE, 597 outside ones halt an inch from the sides of the hive, and the other 4, l^i inches apart; strips 3 inches apart on the top of the frames for passages for the bees; over these should be placed a quilt, or other cover which will keep in the heat from the bees, and let out all dampness. This is best secured,— Thirdly, by ample ventilation. Let the entrance be as large in winter as in sum- mer, without any chaff cushion over the bees in the second story. Fourth. Shade the entrance of the hive from the rays of the sun, so that the inside of the hive shall be as dark as possible. In a word, the conditions of successful wintering are, I think, complete dryness, total darkness, or as near it as possible, and ample ventilation, with room between the combs for a good swarm to cluster; for live bees are warmer than chaff. Thus arranged, they can, I think, breed easily and safely in the winter, and be strong in the spring; but only with the blessing of God. Joseph Smith. Hickory Hill, Pa., Oct. 29, 1681. It seems to me, friend S., that you and some others are falling into an error, in thinking grape sugar contains starch. A recent newspaper item, in giving tests for the adulteration of sugar, said that, if dis- solved in a little water in a glass, the pres- ence of grape sugar would be seen by cloud- iness of the starch contained in the grape sugar. This is utter nonsense. Pure grape sugar contains no starch whatever, and dis- solves in water as perfectly as cane sugar. True, it is made from corn starch; but it does not necessarily contain starch, any more than whisky contains corn. — I can not quite agree that it is so very necessary for bees to rear brood very late in the fall, nor very early in the spring. We have had stocks without brood from Nov. 1st until April 1st, and they did very well. 1^ I ^ GETTING BEES OUT OF A TUEE, ETC. lY red-clover nucleus (three frame) I got of JIWFll you last year came through the winter out- — ^*' doors In one of the Root chaff hives, but in a weak condition; they did not have any honey after the first of January. I fed them granulated-sugar candy. This season they have filled 6 frames with honey; filled the hive with bees, and about 20 lbs. box honey. I found a bee-tree the 28th of July when I was coming homo from Sherburne. A friend gave me the line of a swarm of bees that went off; and, it being in the direction of our house, or nearly so, I took the line and found the tree about 60 rods from our house. The bees went about a mile. They wentin the tree about 8 feet from the ground. The 30th of July, toward night, I bored a hole above and below the bees; fastefjcd a box over the hole where the bees entered the tree, and tried to smoke them out, but it was no go; not a bee would go in the box. Then I sawed into the tree, just below the bees, and then again 18 or 20 inches above; split the chunk out, then another above about 3 feet in length, and had a good chance to get the hones'. I think I got about 50 lbs. I took the brood comb, in- serted it in your metal-cornered frames with all of the honey-comb that I could make stay, and put them into a chaff hive that night. The next morn- ing, as soon as light, I went to the tree and found about two-thirds of the bees in a bunch on the ground; the rest in the upper part of the hollow of the tree. I placed the box over those on the ground; smoked them up in the box; took them home and put them in the hive; carried the box back, and tried to hive the rest, but " no go." I had to saw the tree down, and left them until evening, when I found them in the box hive there with the others. They proved to be queenless, so I sent to G. M. Doo- litile and got one of his choice queens; received her last Thursday night at 9 o'clock; placed the cage on the frames Friday morning, and left them until night. I let the queen out, and up she went. My little girl Lutie said, '"Pa, she is gone." I told her she would come back, and she did. I caught her and put her on the frames. The bees (a few) met her; they passed their salutations, and then went down. 1 looked for her Saturday evening, and she was all right. That was my first experience in intro- ducing queens. I shall have to feed the honey I got out of the tree, back to the swarm, as bees have got through making honey this season, for there is no honey in the buckwheat, as it is so dry. There is no red clover; cause, grasshoppers and dry spell. Wm. Tkacv. Sherburne, Chenango Co., N. Y., Aug. 22, 18SI. P. S.-C. F. Smith, of Smyrna, has taken 103 lbs. of section honey from one of the Root chaff hives this season. We call that pretty good. W. T. ^ A BOOIVI I'KO.TI AVISCONSIN. OVER 500 LBS. FROM A SINGLE COLONY, AND ONLY A NUCLEUS AT THAT. f RECEIVED the glass which I ordered from you, two days ago, after six weeks from the time I — ' ordered it. Still, I am satisfied. I saved on the two boxes of glass exactly three dollars. Bees have done very well here. I had 25 colonies in the spring for honey. I put 8 for extracting, and 7 for box honey. I received 1893 lbs. light extracted honey, and 1214 lbs. dark extracted; 202V lbs. light comb honey, and 893 lbs. dark comb honej'— a total of 6027 lbs. My average was 211 lbs. per colony. A neighboring bee-keeper averaged, from 24 colonies in the spring, 234 lbs., all extracted but 400 lbs. I have now 92 colonies in good condition for winter. One colony with its increase (one swarm) brought me 506 lbs. box honey, and 10 solid Langstroth frames of honey, besides plenty of winter stores. The old hive brought me 308 lbs., and the swarm 198 lbs., and the 10 frames of honey. I had one colony which was very weak— not more than a2-frame nucleus; it was astonishing how that colony picked up. I added fi-ame after frame, till the hive was full; then I put it on the scales; put on an upper story, and after a while another story. This colony brought me, as shown by the scales, 565 lbs. of honey. Many days during clover bloom it brought 12, 13, and 14 lbs., and on July 6th, 18'/2, and the next day, ITVi lbs. During fall bloom, the most they brought in one day was 9 lbs. Buckwheat did not yield well this year. H. Neuhaus. Burlington, Wis., Oct. 17, 1881. What do you think of that, boys V I have not a doubt but that friend N. has been through discouragements and troubles, like many of the rest of you who have lately been thinking of giving up bee-keeping because it "don't pay.'i Have all your neighbors had large yields this year, friend N.V 6d8 GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTURE. Dec. kp,ai%iff^mt' BEE -MEN AS A CLASS. S it is nearing the time to renew our subscrip- ^iVv tion to Gleanings, which seems indispen- sable, I want again to give mj' husband a pleasant surprise. Your paper comes the very day, always, on which it is looked for, and read and re- read with pleasure and profit. I have often wanted to ask you privately if you do not think if the re- ports given now and then of such wonderful yields are rather extravagant. I must say, they stagger us unless the bees get it by robbing, which may be carried on more extensive!}' than any one imagines. They are sly little fellows, and have very little con- science. Mr. Mattison packed his hives for winter some time ago, taking good care to give plenty of ventilation on top— something he had before neglect- ed. Now he has the chaff between the walls of the hives instead of large bags of it on top of the bees. The weather in this entire region has been very hot and dry, which, together with an extremely cold winter and late spring, has made it quite a bad year for honey. It was heart-aching work to read of such losses of bees as was so generally sustained last winter; but I have become quite an admirer of '■^bcc-mcn," as they seem to be such a good-natured set of fellows, taking the ups and downs of life so coolly; even in Blasted Hopes they still work on, hav- ing, as one remarked, " some hopes that were not blasted." Success to the great indust'-y, of giving such a choice luxury to the world. Emelxne Mattison. Ocean View, Oape May Co., N. J., Oct., 1881. Now, my very good friend, that is a rare compliment you pay our sex ; or if you mean, by the term " bee-men," " bee-wom- en " too, it is a line compliment to tlie fra- ternity, i believe you are right, and that our people are not only hopeful, but ''right smait " almost every w'ay. — I am sorry your faith is not a little stronger in regard to these large yields. Please bear in mind that it is not all due to the owner of the bees, but it seems as if a kind Providence delighted in showering dovm great big rewards, once in a while, to those who have beeti patient, and have suffered disappointment long. There- fore, my good friend, be hopeful ; and when a great tlood of houey shall be sent you, just be in readiness to receive it.— If I am cor- rect, robbers among bees, as well as among men, are never great workers. DOES BUCKWHEAT MAKE BEES VENOMOUS? The article, " Bees on a Rampage," in September number of Gleanings, reminded me of something I have read. The writer had visited a man who kept bees, and fovind the b^es so cross it was net safe to go near them. The gentleman told him to come the next day, and he would show him his bees. The next day he found the bees perfectly gentle and harmless. The gentleman's explanation was, that his bees had been at work in the buckwheat, and were full of "pizcn." From that article I inferred that buck- wheat has a tendency to make bees peculiarly ven- omous. I suppose old bee-keepers can tell whether it is so. medicinal value of BEES. Concerning bees as a medicine: A friend of mine some j'ears ago suffered some time from gravel, and doctors' medicine did her no good. Some one rec- ommended bee tea. The number of bees was to be seven. They were obtained, and her intense suffer- ing was relieved almost the instant she swallowed the tea. Mrs. A. Knowlton. Saunemin, Livingston Co., 111., Oct., 1881. I can hardly think that buckwheat has any tendency to make bees venomous ; but as the bees usually work at it only in the morn- ing or fore part of the day, they are quite apt to get to robbing in the afternoon, especially if the weather is quite warm and dry. The visitor very likely came at a time when the bees had been robbing, and of course it was not a very convenient time then to show them. By the next morning, however, they would be all over it, and their owner could then show them without trouble.— Upon in- quiry of one of our best physicians, I lind that the poison from the sting of the bee is one of Iheir most potent remedies for a cer- tain class of diseases. GOING TO conventions. As we entered the hall at Lexington, Ky., where the convention was in session, we looked to see who was present that we knew. Failing to see A. I. Root, we thought it takes time and money to attend conventions; and while we are here working to pro- mote interest in bee culture, he is at home making money. We beat the bushes, while he catches the game. Mrs. L. Harrison. Peoria, 111., Oct.. 1881. Now, Mrs. II., I protest. IIow do you know I am not at home shaking bushes, just on purpose to make birds tly all over the land to conventions ? I am pretty certain, any way, that some of the fine birds, brought in- to the conventions by our bright boys and girls, were first started out by some of our friends who stay at home and keep to work a great deal. I tell you there's a " power of bushes " round our ranche that need shak- ing very often. ITIAKRIAGES OF eiEG F01.KS. BEDELL- ALLBN.-On Wednesday, Oct. 26, 188J, by the Rev. T. R. Faurit Le Roy, at tho. bride's res- idence, J. D. Bedell and Miss Sophie E. Allen, both of the parish of St. Mary, La. No Cards. Friend Root:— By this mail I send you a small piece of my wedding cake ; and as I have received so much assistance from you, and succeeded so well in bee- keeping, I should like you to publish my marriage notice in your journal. J. D. Bedell. Franklin, La., Oct. 2", 18S!. I do not know but that the above is a bad precedent, dear friends; but as it was ac- companied by a box of wedding cake, my wife and I will try to stand our part. I do not mean that getting married is a bad prec- edent, but only the putting it in a bee jour- nal ; and even then, if it should induce some of our single blessed friends (they know who ' I mean, without my looking their way) to get themselves wives, and " bee," somebody, 1 do not know what hurt it would do. Well, who among our contributors will be married next? Priend Bedell, the Bible says,— By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.— John 13:33. Now may it be known among all men, that you and your new wife are Christians in the true sense of the word, because you have love one for another. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. .599 ^' From Different Fields. GOOD AND POOR QUEENS ; A PLEASED ABC SCHOLAR. Jf THOUGHT to myself j-ou would like to hear from " her majesty "the Italian queen I sent to — ' j'ou for. I can say of a truth, she is "business," and more too. The 15th of last month was the time I introduced her, and since that time she has made me a good strong colony; before, there was not enough to make a corporal's guard. Well, I gave them a half-inch entrance, and they now fill the full entrance. I never thought there could be such a difference in the hum of a lazy queen and one that is full of business. It seems as though she said, "Now you 'git. ' " Well, they have been "gitting " ever since I introduced her. Why, there is as much difference in the hum as there is in a dull and sharp cutting-knife. Now, then, I return thanks for good- ness, mercy, and truth. May you live long to be a blessing to our country, is the prayer of your well- wisher, — H. B. POMEROY. Fayette, Fulton Co., O., Oct. 15, 1881, DO BEES PAY ? Last fall I p ut into winter-quarters 18 stocks of black (or rather brown) bees, part in chaff hives, part in Simplicity, inclosed in clamp, and packed round with chaff, and two in box hives set in a large box filled around with chaff. Lost one Simplicity. I think the loss of this one was caused by too late tampering in the fall. Started in the spring with IT in good condition, except two of the Simplicities, which were rather weak. Fed some rye meal in the spring as soon as the bees would work on it. Doubled my number of stocks by natural swarming, and secured 1750 lbs. of comb honey, mostly clover, all in 1-lb boxes. I worked my hives for side and top storing; used fdn. for starters in brood frames, and surplus boxes about 1 in. wide; sold some of my honey near home for 21 cts. per lb., and sent the rest to New York, and received 20 cts. per lb. for nearly all the clover, and Ic cts. per lb. for buck- wheat. I have sold all the bees I have to spare, at my own price. I commenced house-keeping 4 years ago, and bee-keeping one year later, with one box hive, which my father gave my wife. I sold about $60.00 worth of honey previous to this year. I have your ABC, and take Gleanings and Bee-Keeper's Magazine, all of which 1 read, and thank God for my success. W. A. Gregg. Callicoon Depot, Sullivan Co., N. Y., Oct. 15, 1881. a new way OF sending queens in COLD WEATHER. Our friend 1). A. Jones sent us a telegram for 10 one-dollar queens. Having just re- ceived 15 from \V. W. Gary, of Coleraine, Mass., put up in a novel manner, we sent them right along on their second long trip. Here is the report: — Queens arrived in first-class order, every one live- ly. Please accept thanks for promptness. D. A. Jones, Beeton, Ont., Can., Oct. 29, 1881. Per H. C. Well, we have since received from friend Jones an order for 10 more. The Gary plan is as follows: The queens were put separate- ly into the old-fashioned cylindrical wire- cloth cages, without a particle of food. These cages were put into a little nucleus hive, or shipping-box, between combs of sealed honey. The box was then filled full of live bees. We are going to try the second ten, put up in the same way. ALL IS WELL THAT ENDS WELL. I see bad reports from all parts of the world, on the honey crop this year, and you would not expect a good report from one who was in Blasted Hopes last fall. You advised me not to buy those 15 colo- nies last fall, but I did, and wintered all successfully; got 20 gallons extracted, and 100 lbs. comb honey, and have 25 colonies in good condition for winter. BUCKWHEAT. We had the longest dry spell here since 1853 or '4 — only one rain between May 1st and Sept. 24th; but we had a big buckwheat patch in the marsh where it was only about one foot to water, and our bees worked very well all the time. ■ Lee Warner. Allison, Lawrence Co., 111., Oct. 19, 188L I am glad you did not take my advice, friend W., but still I did not feel I should be doing right to advise a beginner to make such a purchase, more particularly while I knew so little about him. It has been said that supply dealers are always urging every one to go into bee culture, even where they know the chances are greatly that it will prove a failure. On this account I have been pretty cautious in advising such in- vestments.— Did you get much grain from your marsh buckwheat ? Our farmers about here say we must not have a rich piece of ground, or buckwheat will all grow to straw and fall down. I should be very glad indeed for nil able article on the cultivation of buck- wheat, both for grain and honey. LIME valley APIARY ; SECOND ANNUAL REPORT. The spring of 1881 left us only 14 colonies out of 21, put into the cellar in the fall of 1880. One of thoso was sold to a neighbor; two proved to be queenless. A part of them were run for comb honey in section boxes, and the remainder for extracted honey in upper stories. Increased to 18 during the season — only one natural swarm — and obtained only 120 lbs. box honey and ZiVA lbs. extracted. The season has been very poor in this part of Iowa. White clover amounted to nothing, on account of too much rain during the season of bloom. Bass- wood was scarcely better. Hardly any surplus was stored till the latter part of August. The fall yield would have been good but for too much rain again. We had no frost to kill flowers until Oct. 12th, but rain, rain, rain, as in the days of Noah. It was not only impossible for man or beast to travel, but the "bee-lines" were down, and the nectar entirely too aqueous. To sum up, the bees got just enough honey to increase rapidly, and not enough to store surplus. Those who worked only for increase had good success. The demand for honey in this part of the country will greatly exceed the supply. I find the section box weighing 1 or IM lbs. to be best for comb, and a tin can holding about 3 lbs. very good for extracted. I think honey-pails would be just the thing if they could be got here without costing too much. Every package, whether comb or extracted, should have a label giving the name of the producer. It will ad- 600 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. vertise his business, if properly conducted. I in- close a label used by me for tin cans, stuck on by a preparation taken from Dr. Chase's Receipt Book. I find it pays to advertise in that way, and to culti- vate the home market. There is not half the honey used in country towns that could be sold if properly put on the market. The grocery stores should be supplied at all times with that which is known to be pure; and if the producer is known in the commu- nity, there will hardly evsr be any question about that. Eugene Secor. Forest City, Iowa, Oct. 31, 1881. We reproduce the receipt for making la- bels stick to tin: — Labelixg ox Tin.— The difficulty in making labels stick to tin arises from the extreme smoothnc'ss of the surface. To over- come this inconvenience, louirhen the surface with sandpaper before putting on the label. This is a quick pi-ocess on the tops of tin boxes; but for labeling upon the sides of boxes or cans, the quickest way Is to have the label made long enough to go more than around, the extra part being blank, or without printing, to allow the other end to lap over it, and all is right, even with common paste. 2. Wetting the tin with common whitewash, and wiping it off after it is drj-, roughens the tin about equal to sandpapering, as the lime corrodes the surface somewhat. GIVING NEIGHBORS A START, ETC. I wish you would tell us whether you consider it wise or otherwise tor a bee-keeper to give his neigh- bors, who are also bee-keepers, any information or assistance about the management of their bees. If, for example, he sells them smokers, foundation, or bee-books, do you think that by so doing he is likely to injure his future prospects for marketing his own honey? J. W. Harkness. Kecseville, Essex Co., N. Y., Oct. 15, 1881. By all means, friend II., give your neigh- bors all the assistance in your power, in the way of information, advice, etc., both in bees and all else you may be both engaged in. Of course, where your time is limited and valuable, you are not expected to throw away time more than money ; but so far as injuring your own chance of a good market by helping others is concerned, I think such is rarely, if ever, the case in the long run. The man who is always willing to help those around him is the one whom God prospers. To be sure, we have seen men who spent time visiting round at the neighbors, when their presence was sorely needed at home; but I am sure one should always be willing to give freely all the information he can, that will be of advantage to those around him, consistent with a proper attention at all times to his own affairs. Do not the friends agree with meV SUCCESSFUL WINTERING, ETC. I was much interested in W. L. Coggeshall's report of a crop of honey of over 180 lbs. per hive. I think every bee-keeper would be obliged to you if you would get his management of bees in detail, and publish the same. My report for last year is as fol- lows: Last fall I had 140 colonies — ISt in Simplici- ties, and 6 in chaff hives; about 13 were made by uniting nucleus hives used for queen-raising, and were rather weak, I wintered the chaff hives on summer stands, and 13-1 colonies in cellar. My cel- lar is rather damp, but has ventilation by C-in. stove- pipe entering chimney, and one small window filled with a bundle of straw, and left open. My hives had no top ventilation, but were covered with enameled cloth and I'/i-inch chaff cushion, and cover as usu- al; but were raised on one end by placing "s-inch blocks under two corners of each hive. In spring I found one hive dead in cellar, and one colony dead in chaff hives. The 5 living colonies in chaff hives were every one as strong as the strongest in cellar. Of the 133 living colonies from cellar, I gave 63 to a neighbor on shares; 4 colonies I divided in nucleus hives for queen-raising, and T I united with other weak or queenless colonies, leaving me 65 fair colo- nies for honey-gathering. I increased these 65 colo- nies to 130 (besides about 30 nucleus hives for queen raising), and shipped, or have ready for shipment, 7082 full one-pound sections (about 7000 lbs. of comb honey), besides what we used in bouse or sold in lo- cal market, and about 1200 lbs. of extracted honey (probably more). My extracted honey is taken from frames in the upper story (I give only 6 wide frames with sections, and one brood frame to each upper story), and the sections only partly filled. My bees are not black bees, hybridized by using Italian drones, but pure Italian, or as pure as they can be kept in an apiary surrounded on all sides by black bees only, and furnishing the only Italian drones within 15 or :.'0 miles, to hybridize those black bees. Chas. H. Grote. Mansion, Juneau Co.. Wis., Oct. 10, 1881. POLLEN AND DYSENTERY. I have read with much interest the various arti- cles in Gleanings in regard to wintering bees, and after an experience of fifteen years with its ups and downs, I am compelled to take sides with Mr. Hed- don. Some years ago I put up a quantity of liquid honey in glass jars for my own use; and, wishing to have it extra nice, I drained out nice box honey (not a particle of visUtle pollen in it), heated it in a water bath, when a thick scum arose to the surface, smell- ing and tasting strongly of pollen. I thought then, and believe now, that all honey contains some pol- len ; but owing to some unaccountable freak of na- ture, the amount is variable in different years; and when in excess the bees have the dysentery. It is no use to remove the solid pollen and then leave the bees to eat honey strongly tinctured with it. I believe it possible to tell beforehand whether bees will have the dysentery, by examining samples of their honej'. This honey could have the pollen re- moved by scalding, and then be returned, or sugar could be given in its place as thought best. Who has ever tried the experiment of keeping bees the entire winter on sugar syrup, with all the pollen removed from the hive? I do not now recol- lect of ever reading of such a case. I have had bet- ter luck in wintering than the average, havingnever lost more than half of my swarms, and I always win- ter in a cellar containing a stove and thermometer, with facilities for ventilation. I leave the upper stories out of doors, and pile the hives 3 or 4 deep, each of course on a bottom-board, close the front entrance, and leave an opening in the honey-board about ?8xll inches, and keep the temperature from 35 to 45°. F. N. Blackman. Tomah, Wis., Nov. 3, 1881. You are right, friend B., in saying that all honey does contain more or less pollen, as you will see by looking back at Yol. 3, p. 121. You will also see, in the record of my first experiments with sugar feeding, that I win- tered successfully colonies entirely on sugar, and made quite a stir about their not spot- ting the snow at all iu the spring. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 601 WINTERING TWO COLONIES IN ONE CHAFF HIVE, ETC. As the honey season is now over, and bees pre- pared for winter, I suppose I may hand in my re- port. I went into winter last year with 12 swarms; 9 in chaff hives, 4 of which were in the upper stories, 3 in Simplicities, and one in an L. hive not pro- tected. Those in the chaff hives wintered well, both in the upper and lower stories. But as moving them twice is attended with considerable trouble and the loss of some bees, I shall try to have a chaff hive for each swarm hereafter. Those in Simplicity hives came through, but lost more bees. The one without protection died, leaving me 11 to commence the season. I have increased to 24, and taken 900 lbs. of honey, mostly extracted, which sells readily at home for IGfaC, which is better than to ship it, I think. I sell direct to consumers. I'he surplus was nearly all gathered during September, after the rains came. They got but little more than enough to keep up brood-rearing during the fore part of the season, but there was not a day till honey ceased this fall that robbers troubled at all. On the whole, it has been a very good year. C. B. Thwing. Hamilton, Mo., Oct. 11, 1881. CAGED QUEENS DROPPING EGGS. I have noticed, in several instances, when queens were caged in hives, that, after removing all the cells 4 or 5 days old, they would start other cells, and have eggs in them, and would repeat their efforts as often as thwarted, for weeks, and, in one instance, for nearly a month, and not an egg could be found in any cell in all that time. Now, where do you think they got the eggs? I believe the queen drops them, and the bees get them through the bottom of the wire cage. If that is the case, it would be well to always have a piece of paper or pasteboard in the bottom of the cage, to catch the eggs. As I dis- covered no signs of laying workers, I can see no other way that they could have obtained the eggs. Oxford, O., Oct., 1881. D. A. McCord. Had you tested these cells to see if they would surely raise a queen, friend M., your experiment would have been more conclu- sive. I have often found eggs in queen- cells, without being able to decide where they came from, and sometimes they would produce a good queen too ; but I do not now recollect whether they had a caged queen over the frames or not. Can anybody else give us light on this matter? GRAPE SUGAR CANDY NOT SO DEADLY, AFTER ALL. Last fall I had a 6x3-frame nuclei that were queenless about Sept. 30th, and I united them with three that had queens, taking out all the frames that had either honey or brood in them, and gave each hive two frames filled with brood, except what honey was in them, and 3 or 4 frames of empty comb, putting a chaff division-board on each side; then I made two batches of candy according to your directions for 5-cent candy on page 385, Oct. No., 1879; put it in two trays, and laid them on top of frames, expecting to see it all put into the combs in a few days (they were well covered with old carpet). When I went to look at them I found considerable brood in the empty combs, but none of the candy stored away. They had used just what they wanted for present use, so 1 tucked the carpet down tight and left them, and I believe theylost fewer bees through the winter than any other hives in my yard, and had some of the candy left April 1st. C. T. Smith. O'Fallon, St. Clair Co., 111., Oct. 34, 1881. AN A B C SCHOLAR IN TROUBLE. This is my first year in managing bees in sash hives. I have used box hives for 30 years. My bees all appeared in good condition 3 weeks ago, but the last 3 weeks have been, part of the time, quite cool, and it rained 9 days out of 10. I overhauled part of the bees to-day, and found several without brood or eggs, and none with very much brood. Now, I want to learn from you whether bees are in the habit of letting brood entirely run out under such circumstances, or have the queens gone by the dozen all at once? I tried to hunt out the queens (if there were any), but the weather is quite cool, and most of the bees are at home, and clus- tered so closely and so densely that I could get no satisfaction. You will do me a great favor if you will give me your opinion on the condition of my bees, by first mail; and if they are queenless, could queens be shipped and introduced safely after this time of year? W. H. Stewart. Orion, Kichland Co., Wis., Oct, 5, 1881. No, sir, friend S., your queens have not gone by the dozen at all. Just let them be, and don't bother them. There are certainly queens there, or you would not tind so many bees; but they have now stopped laying, just as honest queens should this time of the year, and they are so small and slender, and quick withal, that it is little wonder you could not find them. They are all right, and better off without any brood until toward spring. I am not sure but they would be better off without any until April. We can ship you queens almost any month in the year, but I am pretty sure you do not need any. honey from the oak. At this season of the year the bees gather honey largely from the oak-apples, or nut-galls, growing on the live-oak. Before our late rains, the honey had exuded from and candied on the surface of these balls, so that two or three grains, by weight, could be gathered from a single ball. It stood in round drops as of dew or perspiration, arranged in a circle around the ball, about a third of the distance from point to stem. The ball itself very much resembles a small peach. I. L. Van Zandt. Dido, Tex., Oct. 30, 1881. Many thanks, friend Y., for the valuable facts furnished. Now the question is, Can we grow this oak, with a tolerable degree of certainty of having it bear this honey i* This is the second case, if I am correct, where we have heard of a plant that produces candied honey. AVill some of the friends please send us by mail a small twig of this oak, having, if possible, one of these oak-balls on it, and we will have an engraving made ? Honey from the oak is reported from a great many different localities, and we wish to see just what kind of oak it is. If I am right, it is only where certain insects pimcture the twigs that these oak-apples are found, so the , honey is not a normal product of the tree. Now the question is, If we can get the oak. will we have the insect as a matter of course V and have we already the kind of oak that bears the honey V 602 GLEANIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. POISONED BEES. I am troubled about some disease that is killinjj my little pets, my Italian bees. The worker bees In all my full-blood Italians are dying by the hundreds. The ground is strewn with them night and day. They crawl out of the hive, and seem to lose the use of their legs; squirm around, fall on their back, and seem to die in great pain. They seem to be full of honey, with plenty of sealed honey in their hives. It does not seem to affect any but the Italian workers. The young bees and hybrids are not affected at all. What is the matter with them, and what can I do for them? John P. Ingram. Bonham, Fannin Co., Tex., Oct. 20, 1881. The symptoms are somewhat like poison, friend I. Are you sure they liave not been in mischief somewhere, and got poisoned V It looks a little like the Krock and Klasen trouble. It may be they have gathered poi- sonous stores from some source. See what is said in A B C of poisonous honey. In any case, I should remove their stores and feed them on syrup of pure granulated sugar; and if the bad symptoms then cease, Vou will be sure it was from the stores they gath- ered. The reason why it affects the Italians and no others, is probably because they, in their extra industry, have found something the others have not. BEES ON SHARES, ETC. I have not taken Gleanings the past year, as I have been away this season, and let a friend have my bees to work on shares for half the honey and half the increase. I got for my share 598 lbs. comb honey, 149 lbs. extracted, and ll'/i swarms as in- crease. I had 38 swarms that I let him have In the spring — all I saved out of 85 swarms last winter. I was at home 3 weeks the last of June, and pur- chased one swarm of a man In the country. It was put into an empty hive the 20th of June. I took 3 cards of brood from it with bees enough to cover, and gave them some frames filled with combs in their place, also filling the hive. I put the brood in with frames filled \fith empty combs. They raised a queen, and built themselves up to a good swarm. I have enough to winter on. From the main hive I have taken 125 lbs. comb honey in lJ4-lb. sections. Is not that an extra good yield for a queen? I shall work my own bees the next year, the Lord permit- ting. I have 43 swarms now, all in good shape for winter-quarters. I shall winter most of them in my cellar, and pack the rest. My loss last winter was in those that were packed out of doors. T. D. Ward. Lawton, Vanburen Co., Mich., Oct. 28, 1881. HOW THEY DO IN CALIFORNIA. In the beginning of February, bees were bringing pollen in quite freely; the previous fall stores be- ing almost intact, we proceeded to bruise the cap- pings of one comb in each hive with the flat of hon- ey-knife. This we continued to do at intervals, ac- cording to the condition of each colony, and pretty soon had rousing swarms, their number being 73. Early in March we obtained a fine number of arti- ficially raised queens, and at once provided each with a two-frame nucleus, intending, in the event of any swarms issuing, to give the parent hive a laj-ing queen with two or three combs of brood and bees, to make room for which we intended to remove a like number in favor of the swarm which had issued. thus giving a fair start to all around, placing the new swarm on the stand previously occupied by the nucleus, so that the bees in the field might not be lost. So far as we can judge from the few swarms obtained (13 in number), we found it to work all right — scarcely a bee being lost in the operation. April 2d our first swarm came out; on May 7th, onr last. Finding swarming going on slowly by reason of cool cloudy weather during the first half of April, we proceeded to build up our nuclei, and so prepare for any honey which might come with brighter weather. May 17th we began to extract, continuing to do so at intervals till near the end of July, when we shut down for the season, hiving obtained about 8500 lbs. Our yield of honey might have been greater but for the fact that we had super comb for about a dozen only, with 30 lbs. thick fdn., necessitating a heavy building of comb with the first flow of honey. Our increase for the season is 63, there being, at this writing, 133 well-stored hives in our apiary. D. Stocks. Springville, Ventura Co., Cal., OJt. 7, 1831. TEXAS; ITS HONEY RESOURCES, BEE-CAVES, ETC., AND— TOBACCO. I do not live athnusandmiles from your " Te.xan " correspondent, who is the enviable (?) owner of those nine young Texans in which you seem so much in- terested (Sept. Gleanings, pages 443 and 443), and I am very sure it would do you good to carry out your desire; at least, you would seethe loveliest bee country (natural) you ever saw. I do not won- der at his wanting to secure a large yield of honey, when he can get from 15c to 25c per lb. for it. Where I live, only about 100 miles wnst of Richland Springs, is a very different natural honey-producing country, being high, rolling, and bare, so far as timber is con- cerned; very dry. and no farming done except by ir- rigation. I have lost one stand of bees already, and the oth- ers are destitute of stores. I have not taken a pound of honey this season, and am in a query whether it will pay to feed my bees or not. I do not now believe they will ever be any profit on this creek, except at the head, where there is more tim- ber and brush, nearly all of which bears honey at some time of the year. The live-oak tree has an abundance of honey on it now— little balls on the tree, with great drops of honey on them. Bees get very rich off them when they can reach them. I do not know whether I am a "Blisted Hoper" or not. You shall decide. I see an article copied from The Youtli'x Com- panion, on " Bee-Caves in Texas." I think the pic- ture a little overdrawn, and In my next I will tell you, not of that cave, for I never heard of it before, but what I know and have seen of "Bee-caves in Texas." I will say here, that although I have been an ex- cessive and successful tobacco-user for 8 years, up to the 33d of September, 1S81, when I was converted, so far as the weed is concerned I am now a dean man. R. W. Landrum. Dave Creek, Texas, Oct. 15, 1881. May the kind Father bless and strengthen you, my friend, in the work indicated in your closing paragraph. If all men, when con- verted, were converted clean, very likely the world would take more stock in the re- ligion of the Lord Jesus Christ.— We are 1881 glea:ni:ngs in bee culture. 603 glad of what you say about honey from the oak, because there seems to be something of a mystery surrounding the phenomenon. THE WAX question; some of the ABC CLASS NOT SATISFIED. Iq October Gleanings, 1881, pngc 495, 1 see "some questions" bj' a j'oung' hand. Now, in my ignor- ance I want to ask you if your answers to the first and second questions are not inc )rrect. I Icnow you agree exactly with all the best authorities in the world, but I want to ask a question, also. If your answers are correct, why is it that, in my section of North Carolina, they can not make it after July 1st? It can not be for the reason given by many, that only !,oung hees produce it, for in my section, 7 years out of 10 they raise young bees every month of the j-ear. We seldom have swarms here in July, but I have had, sometimes, very large ones, and they never make more than 2 to 4 pieces as large as a man's hand. Why is this so? I know they make a little all times of the year, but not enough to store up a sup- port for the colony. And why is it that they never cap over those cells of comb filled with honey in Oc- tober, the comb being made the spring before? In April, May, and June, a large swarm will fill a story of the Simplicity hive in from 9 to 15 days, and it will take the same swarm the remainder of the year to fill one frame of said hive. My own opinion is, that they gather it from around the buds and stems of young leaves of trees. We always see them very busy around them, gathering a peculiar gum that exudes from them, particularly the peach, black gum, sweet gum, and white oak. After the leaves get fully grown and hard, there is but very little of said gum. We seldom see the bees at work on them, and they make little or no comb. 1 think it is pro- polis that he gathers from his body, as he gets pro- polis at all times of the year, and comb he certainly does not. Romeo. Triangle. Lincoln Co., N. C, Oct., 1881. I am glad to know you are looking into the matter, friend R., but I fear you are very far out of the vray. The fact that we can at any time, when the weather is warm, produce comb to any extent by sugar feeding, covers pretty much the v/hole ground. The reason why your bees do not build comb rapidly in October must be on account of the coolness of the weather. We have comb honey made at any season of the year when honey enough is coming, and so they must build the comb in which to store it. A great many of our friends get founda- tion built out by feeding in the fall, when no honey is being gathered. If you watch the bees, you can see them take off the wax scales and build the comb, yourself; and then you will be fully satisfied it is not pro- polis. LAYING WORKERS IN THE SAME HIVE WITH A LAY- ING QUEEN. While examining a nucleus in July last, I found a laying worker in the act of laying, and watched her deposit several eggs in worker cells. I then caged her and proceeded to examine the other combs, and found a fine large queen attending to her own du- ties. I released the worker on the same comb, and caused them to meet several times, and they took no more notice of each other than if they had both been workers. I called Mr. Langstrotb'a attentioD to the fact, and he said it was something new to him, that a queen and a worker would live together in harmony in the same hive. The queen had been laying for some time. I call them laying workers, because they have never been fertilized, and there- fore they are not fertile, but simply laying workers, as their progeny are all drones. What do you say? Oxford, O., Oct. 18, 1881. D. A. McCORD. Friend M., you remind me that Neighbor n. has been telling several times this season, that the Holy-Laud queens will tolerate a fertile worker, for he has once or twice found eggs in the cells after a young queen had been hatched. As a proof, the eggs hatched the usual diminutive drones. Now, in view of this, have you not got a Holy- Land queen in that hive, or at least Holy- Land blood V If so, no wonder both you and our sharp old friend Langstroth were puzzled. By the way, friend x\L, i will tell you how it seems to me you may do a great service to our people. When Mr. L. is able to talk bees, but not to write, suppose you have some of these talks with him on differ- ent subjects, and afterward write them out. I will pay him, and you too, for the service. It wilfbe next best thing to having articles from his own pen ; and with your practical experience with bees, you may both help each other greatly. Friend L. is a great talker, and ic has often seemed to me that many of his talks are too good to be lost. — Since you mention it, it does seem as if the term laying ivorkers were the proper one. Shall we not at once set about an attempt at a reform, in this matter of names ? some QUESTIONS BY A "YOUNG HAND" ANSWERED BY ANOTHER " YOUNG HAND." Now, I protest, friend R., against the idea that bees ever get lazy. How do they gather the honey- comb? By suction. Where do they get it? From any thing that has honey in it. What time of year do they gather? At anytime they can gather honey. How do they gather and deposit their honey? By sucking it up out of the blossoms into their honey- sack, and when they get a load they deposit it in the cell by placing a particle of honey at the bottom of the cell, and brushing or licking it in all over the bottom of the cell, and the next load he licks the sides of the cell so that the air is all excluded. How do they seal their honey-caps? With wax, and their tongues and mandibles. Do bees get lazy? No. What causes bees to get lazy? Nothing. Do bees ever have any disease? Yes. What remedy is the best? Clean house, pure honey, and plenty of bees in each hive. How far will bees go after honey? I-think they go seven miles. What do bees do with water? It is used as driuk, and to thin thick honey. You and Mr. Quinby and Ruber write as if you thought wax grew. Mr. Quinby says it is very much like asking where the cow gets her milk, or the ox his tallow. I have seen them making it by day and by night. Charles R. Ballou. Halfmoon Bay, San Mateo Co., Cal., Oct. 20, 1881. " EXTRA pure" queens. In the spring of 1880 I bought a tested Italian queen from W. P. Henderson, Murfreesboro, Tenn., and introduced her successfully into a strong colo- ny of bees. In two weeks this colony swarmed nat- urally, and with the extra queen-cells I succeeded 604 GLEAiflNGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. In raising a queen for each colony of my little apia- ry of 12 colonies. All of said queens were beauties, and although there were no drones in the neighbor- hood, as far as I know, except hybrids and blacks, every one seemed to be purely fertilized. In fact, I could tell no difference between theirs and the work- er progeny of the old queen. This spring I conclud- ed, as my queens were all so pure and good, to let each colony that swarmed raise its own queen. 1 had but six swarms, and all the new queens looked nice, and I thought, as there were so many fine drones flying, -they would all be purely mated; but imagine my surprise when the workers of all of them except one turned out to be hybridal The above facts incline mc to believe in the theory of the "extra pure" queens spoken of by friends Hutchinson and Doolittle. W. L. French. Martinsburg, Mo., Oct. 15, 1881. BEE-STlNGS AND RHEUMATISM, AGAIN. As there has been considerable said in Gleanings in regard to bee-stings for rheumatism, I thought I would tell you of a case I met a short time since. About a month since, a neighbor, living about 6 miles in the country, called on me to go out and ex- amine a colony of blacks that he thought the moth were troubling. While there the lady told me that bee-stings had cured her of rheumatism. She said that she had for a long time been so troubled with it in her thigh and hip that it was difficult for her to walk across the house. Last summer she and her sister undertook to transfer a swarm of bees from an old gum, and not being acquainted with that kind of business, nev^er having seen the operation per- formed, they got terribly stung before they got through. She was so badly stung that it made her quite sick; but since that time she has not been bothered with rheumatism. By the way, they lost their swarm of bees; also the one that I went to ex- amine was entirely eaten out by the moth. J. K. Snyder. Tiffin, Johnson Co., Iowa, Nov. T, 1881. INTRODUCING ; A PLAN BY WHICH YOU NEED NOT HUNT FOR THE OLD QUEEN. The imported queen you sent me in July arrived in splendid condition; only one of the bees accom- panying her was dead. I introduced her safely into a swarm of blacks, and now have a tine swarm of Italians. My way of introducing was to take two swarms of bees, nearly ready to swarm. Opened No. 1; took five frames, heaviest with brood; brushed all the bees from them; put frames of brood into an empty hive, with queen caged on one of the combs; removed swarm No. 3 a rod or so from its old stand, when the bees were flying briskly; piit the cage containing queen and brood in the place from whence I removed No. 2; thereafter I followed directions as on the cage. The way I have described, saves hunting for a queen. I have 29 black swarms, one Italian. The honey season has been very poor. Jas. W. Hooper. Wolfboro, New Hampshire, Nov. 8, ISSl. A good REPORT FROM THE RUBBER PLATES FINALLY'- Our bee season is now over, and I will arise and report. Last spring, J. E. Walcher and I joined our forces, and when we get our bees together we have 117 in pretty good condition. He wintered in cellar, and got all through, and I wintered on summer stands with surplus tops on, and some with just a thin cloth over them. I lost nearly 25 per cent; but what survived did well — I think fully as well as W.'b did, although he did not use so much honej'. We in- creased this summer to 160 colonies, and have ex- tracted nearly 5000 lbs. of honey, mostly from white clover. Owing to the drought we got but very little fall honey; still, they are 4n good wintering condi- tion. The $15.00 rubber plates we got of you worked like a charm after we got the hang of it. The sheets were too thick for most persons; but we did not complain, as we had plenty of wax, and the bees would extend it to nearly two-thirds of the full length of cells. I suppose you will have the same kind, or something better, in the spring. I am rauch in favor of having the foundation fresh when you want to use it. We have had several very poor honey seasons here; but we find failures in almost every line of business, and we hope to have a change here for the better next season. I have not given up my theory I of going to the honey when it will not come to me. Hillsboro, 111., Nov. 8, 1881. I. H. Shimes. We have already improved the rubber- plate machines, friend 8., and can now make sheets full size, 5 square feet to the pound, without trouble. We will furnish complete outfits, with printed instructions, for $I5.0U ; if they don't please they can be returned, purchaser payinj? expenses both ways. friend good's REPORT FOR 1881. Spring opened late and found my bees in a de- plorable condition— my nearly two hundred col- onies being reduced down to 15 or 18 fair colonies, and 38 or 40 nuclei. After buying a few colonies I started in the spring with 20 colonies and 40 nuclei. As I made queen-rearing a specialty, I did not get as much honey as might have been obtained if honey alone had been the object. I raised and sold 437 queens, nearly all dollar ones, and have sold 28 lbs. of bees; 6 nuclei, 2 and 3 frame; 5 full colonies; have taken comb honey, 1150 lbs.; extracted, 12t lbs.; part of the honey sold at 18c.; have now 147 colonies of bees in good condition for winter. When my honey is all sold I shall have just about $700.00 for what I have sold out of my apiary. How many of you have done better with the same amount of bees? I wish to thank the many kind friends who have sent mo their orders for queens. If there is one among you who is not satisfied, let mc know, and I will try to satisfy you. 1 tell you, it does me good to receive such kind letters as many of you bee-keep- ers write. I. K. GOOD. Nappanee, lud., Nov. 9, 1881. our OF print (?) Some three or four weeks ago I ordered a paper- bound ABC from our news-dealer. He sent to the American News Company, New Tork city, but they say that the book is out of print, and it can not be obtained. Is that so? If so, why do you advertise it? £. Vincent. Bethel, Falraeld Co., Conn.. Nov. 8, 1881. I fear the American News Co. are allowing some lazy clerk to injure their business by such statements. The A 13 C is not out of print, nor can it well be so long as tbe whole book, every word and letter of it, is standing in type. Neither can it Avell be out of date, 18S1 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 605 for the types that form it are being constant- ly changed, to note every real improvement in bee culture niade in this or any other land. Any order can be promptly filled by return mail, express, or freight, to the American Xews or any other individual or company ; and if orders ever crowd, our big cylinder press is ready to run on them all night as well as all dav. Though I may not be so well informed as many of your subscribers, I hope you will allow me to say a few words; yet I feel a delicacy In so doing, for in your columns it seems that Mitchell (X. C.) is only an- other name for " Humbugs and Swindles." THKEE-BANDED HYBRIDS. One of your contributors speaks of queens whose royal progeny produced all three-banded workers, and yet were /iii u'h to have mated with black drones. How was it known? 1 am led by custom to judge of bees by their bands, but I think the form of a work- er bee is worth equally as much as her color, and gives an almost infallible index both of the quality of her Italian blood and of her honey-gathering abilities. LEAVING SECTIOXS OX ALL WINTER IN THE SOUTH. The question of leaving sections oa all winter is of considerable moment in the South — they must of necessity be left somewhere. The time is so long be- tween the period at which they should be removed from the hive and the coming of winter that it is al- most impossible to protect them from the moth. I would add, for the benefit of your New York corres- pondent, that the moth will live on new comb, and even come to maturity in the bottom of the hive without being on the comb at all. BEES WITH SHRIVELED WIXGS— CAUSE. Some time since, one of your correspondents re- ceived a colony of bees and complained that the young hatched shortly afterward had immature wings, which you attributed to improper ventilation. It was im}]ropcr ventilation, but not such as a colony would generally receive in transportation; it was too much ventilation. When the larva of an insect enters the chrysalid state, the slightest reduction of temperature at the critical moment of its trans- formation is almost sure to prevent the perfec- tion of the insect, or cause the death of the chrysalis. Chas. R. Mitchell. ITawkinsville, Ga , Oct. 27, 1881. l-'riend M.,most of us know the difference between Chas. li. and'' X. C.-' Mitchell, so be not troubled. — The great objection I should have to leaving sections on all winter is, that the boxes would be any thing but nice when filled with honey again. — Doubtless you are right about the cause of wingless bees ; since you mention it, I recall cases wliere brood left some time out of the hive pro- duced wingless bees. Thanks for sugges- tion. BEES IN MASSACHUSETTS. The past season we think has been a very poor one for honey about here. The middle of August I could not show a pound of sealed honey in any or all of my brood-chambers, and had it not been for goldenrod and wild asters this fall, my bees must have all perished before New Years. I think they have stores enough now to pull through passably. There are but few bees kept in this region. Whether It is because the honey-secreting flora does not com- pare well with other parts of the country or not, I am unable to say. However, of late there is begin- ning to be more interest shown in progressive bee- keeping, and our county fair has this year, for the first time, offered a premium for the best exhibit of bees, hives, and implements. Whether this was in part due to the "exhibits" and " statements" pub- lished in the "Transactions" of Mr. Alley and my- self last year, I have no means of knowing. BEWARE OF AXTS IN SHIPPING QUEENS. Do ants kill bees and queens in transit through the mails? One of my neighbors, Mr. Charles W. Dow, sent 15 miles for a queen. When it arrived in due time by mail, it was overrun with emmets, and queen and bees were all dead. Honey on a sponge was the food provided in the cage. He next sent ICO miles in another direction, with the same result. He then sent for one by express, and it came all right. He thinks the emmets attacked the bees in the Lynn postotSce. BEES IN A CniMNEY; GOOD VENTILATION. A swarm of bees took possession of one of my neighbor's chimneys a year ago last summer. I visited them the following November. The chimney contained two' Hues, each about 8 inches square, without any arch or covering whatever. The bees occupied but one of the flues — the one which led into the spare chamber, and their combs extended to within six inches of the top, when they came in and out. I covered this flue with a board, stood upon four bricks, and advised their 'owner to let them remain till spring, when they would probably be all dead, and the chimney could then be cleared. But they lived, in spite of too much upward ventila- tion, andsaov, which must many times have cov- ered their combs, and, melting, supplied them with plenty of water in winter for bi-eeding. And now, like Banquo's ghost, they refuse to be laid, and afford another argument In favor of deep combs, thick side-walls, and upward ventilation. Now, Mr. Editor, you won't hurt my feelings any if you don't publish this "hash." I shall take Gleanings just the same, and think it the best bee paper I have seen yet. Phil. R. Russell, Jr. Lynn, Essex Co., Mass., Nov. 9, 188L We have had some quite serious troubles with ants in the mail, in some of the ex- treme Southern States, but none have been reported before from the North, as far as I know. There is a very simple and easy way of cutting off ants, and it is to inclose the whole cage in wire strainer cloth, so fine that no sort of an ant can get through it. Last summer our boys lost three imported I queens by leaving them caged a few hours before iittroducing, in an empty hive sitting I right on the ground. Please keep tbis in mind, all of you, that caged queens will be killed by ants in a very short time, if they get at the cages.— I hardly tliink, friend R., that it was the deep combs alone that saved the bees in the chimney. It is true, such a covering of combs above them would do much to keep otf the cold, and as they had their combs built in all solid, and nicely waxed up, with a sure ventilation right through, I am not surprised that they win- tered, it would be a little difficult to manip- ulate bees in a hive only 8 inches square, un- ! less we worked them as your neighbor Alley does the Ray State hive. — Many thanks for your expression of good will, friend R.,even though we should reject your articles. 606 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Dec. BUILDING UP A BUSINESS AND A BEPUTATION. I am one of your ABC class of 1880. I com- menced with 4 box hives, and I have now 34 full col- onies and 13 three-frame nuclei. I have a queen from a pure Italian mother, in all full colonies, and about ?i are purely mated. I have raised about 50 nice queens this season. I am Italianizing all of my neighbors' bees. I have them nearly all done now, so next season there will not be a black queen with- in over two miles of me. Now, if I were to buy one of your best selected imported queens, and rear some good queens from her next season, will j^ou buy some of me? I would like to keep about 26 or 30 nuclei going next season. My colonies are very strong. I wish I could sell 20 lbs. of bees by the pound. A. H. Squier. Nicholville, St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., Aug. 8, '81. I dare not promise to take queens next season, so long ahead, but I have this year purchased nearly all that Avere offered for sale by reliable paities. You Avill have to build up a reputation, as all the rest do, friend S.; and the way in which it is done, you can see by the reports in almost any number of Gleanings. Strive hard to please all your customers, and they will not be slow in letting others know that they are pleased. You may, any of you, at almost any time send me a few queens as samples of what you can furnish, and I will allow you the regular price for them I am paying at the time. If, after they are introduced, I find too many of them turning out hybrids, I shall not be slow in telling you of it. You will probably find a demand in your own neighborhood for all the queens, bees, and honey, you can raise for some time. Of one thing rest assured : we shall pretty quickly find out just what kind of a person you are, and there is just now an immense call for straight, square, faithful men. I see by last Gleanings that you hold yourself responsible for those who advertise with you. I want to state a case to you, and have your opinion on it. Last September I saw an advertisement of H. Al- ley, Wenham, Mass., in Gleanings, Cyprian queens for $1.50. I gave a neighbor $1.50 to send for one; he sent; received a dead queen; returned it, and could get no satisfaction till last month. Alley said he would "book" him for one queen. Now, we in- tended to raise queens from her had we received her in time, but we received her only yesterday, the 9th, nearly a year after sending the money. We have lost the use of her this season, which is quite an item. I wrote Mr. Alley that I would be satisfied if he would send me two Italian queens, and have re- ceived no reply. My experience and his flattering ad. in last Gleanings do not harmonize. I find a most marvelous contrast between bis actions and the treatment I received from W. W. Cary, of Cole- rain. The latter I find will do more than you ex- pect of him: the former will "hardly" act hon- est. I do hope bee-men will gain a good reputation for honesty. Do you think I expect too much when I think Alley ought to send another queen to make up a little loss? C. Neads. Lindsay, Oat., Can., Aug. 10, 1881. If I am correct, friend N., you got a queen right back. She came dead, unfortunately, but this is nothing very unusual. Of course, Alley should not have kept you waiting a year ; but still, the case is far different from a deliberate and prepared fraud. You have both been unfortunate ; but can you really claim any thing more than the loss of the use of the moneyV I know, expecting a queen all the time is an annoyance ; but by the expenditure of another $1.50 you could have had one promptly from some one else, could you notV Friend N., I wish to be a friend to both you and Mr. Alley, and I wish, too, you two to be friends. It may be said the above is pretty hard on our friend Alley; but last month I allowed a very strong letter in his praise to go in print. See page 540, Nov. iSJo. Friend Alley has a good many warm friends, as well as a good many who complain much of his want of promptness. lie has lately written us to send in all complaints, and he would fix all satisfactorily, and I think he is doing so. FIREWERD. The firewced comes up itself here wherever there has been an old chopping in the forest where flre has got in and burnt the brush and tree-tops up; hence the name, fireweed. It comes up in the latter part of Maj' or first of June ; has a leaf resembling a species of lettuce I have seen that came from St. John's, Canada; the leaf is 4 or 5 inches in length, and perhaps one inch wide. The stalk grows very rapidly, and blossoms in about 4 weeks after it comes up. The stalk is all the way from 3 to 6 feet in height, and branches out about midway of the stalk into several branches, each branch having more branches on it, and at the end of each branch is a blossom resembling a long bud, the bud-like blossom being from li lo U of an inch in length, and remains in blossom until the latter part of September; and while some buds are in blossom, the seeds will be fly- ing from others through the air like so many bees, only white, resembling somewhat the cotton that grows in the Southern States, only not so large. I must say that it is as good a honey-plant as I ever saw. The bees are working very thick on the blos- soms during the three months they are in bloom. The honey is nice and pleasant to the taste, as al- most any other kind. I have never seen any of the plants growing en sandy soil, although it may grow there for all I know. Had I known before that any one of my brother bee-keepers would wish for some of the seeds, I should have gathered some. How- ever, any one wishing the seeds, to give flreweed a trial, can get some from me any time after the 15th July, 1883, for ten cents per ounce. This will sow ?i of an acre. G. Phillifs. Romeo, Marthon Co., Wis., Oct. 29, 1881. MY BEE AND HONEY REPORT FOR 1881. After uniting a few weak colonies I had 136. Sold 61 flrst-class colonies and 3 nuclei ; had 73 colonies to begin the season with; worked 37 colonies for ex- tracted honey; have taken an average of 311 lbs. per colony. Put boxes on 30 young colonies; have an average of 40 lbs. each of comb honey. Run the rest of them for increase; have this fall 147 col- onies. Our bees had 18 acres of alsike clover, new seeding, and 4 acres of second crop to work on. They gathered most of the hodey from the alsike clover. Basswood did not yield much honey this year here. C. M. Woolver. Hallsville, Mont. Co., N. Y., Nov. 6, 1881. 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 607 ARE rOREIGNERS MORE INTEMPERATE THAN AMERI- CANS? In Aug-. Gleanings, page 405. you say, " Although a foreigner by birth, he was free from all these vices." Do you wish to be understood as saying that profanity and intemperance are the rule, not the exception, among foreigners, or was that a "slip of the pen"? My father was a Scotchman, and so was my mother (they are both dead now), and I was born in Scotland, which makes me a foreigner, does it not? Now, sir, don't you think that, out of a given number of my countrj-men, I can find more who neither chew tobacco, drink rum, nor swear, than you can out of the same number of Americans? I can find more who attend church, and Sunday is better observed by the Scotch than any other nation on the earth unless It is the (out of respect to your feeling) American. DELAYS IN the QUEEN BUSINESS. And while I am about it, I would say that a man who takes my money for a queen, and keeps me running to the postolHce two or three times a week after it, is little short of a highway robber. I sent my money to a dealer who advertises in one of the bee papers, and for 4 weeks regularly he wrote me that he would ship the queen on a given day; but instead of the queen I would get a postal card read- ing something like this: " Sorry to say that I could not get queens to fill your order tc-day, but will have one for yRu next week." The queen cost me a dollar, and I spent at least three half-days of val- uable time getting it, which was worth a plump $3.00 more, saying nothing of the colony being queenless for so long a lime. Xow, all this could have been avoided by writing in his advertisement, that no queens would be ready to send out before the 1st of July. To be sure, he would not have got my dollar, but he would be nearer heaven than he is now. Do you suppose I would order another queen of that man? "Not much." The man who fills my order " on the spot," no matter what it is, is the man for me every time. "Wm. Cairns. Rockland, Sull. Co., N. T., Aug. 8, 1881. I did not mean to make any insinuations against our friends of foreign birth, friend C, and I presume I sliould not have used the expression 1 did. Very likely, you are right. Will you forgive me V— In regard to delays on queens : It is a great and most trying evil. I have published a good deal on the matter, but unless it is cure(i we must keep the matter stirred up. I do not know but that we shall have to let the names of the slow ones come out in print, for we liave quite a number of queen-rearers who have always been so prompt, after they have x>iii out an adcertisement, that no one has ever complained of them. out, the old bees came out of the hive and went to parts unknown. Hq examined one of the queen- cells, and found a queen in it that would have come out in a few days. What greatly puzzles my friend is, that the old bees would leave the colony without a queen. He says he is sure the colony was queenless. Cau you explain the freak? E. Crompton. Rosemont, Out., Can., June 3, 1881. Although bees do perhaps, sometimes, come out and go off without a queen, it is a very unusual thing. In the case you men- tion, I should be inclined to think some stray queen got in there, and went out with the bees; but in that case some of the cells would be very likely to have been torn down. Jf the bees starved, and went off and united with some other colony to avoid starvation, the case would not be a very un- usual one ; but, if I am correct, you are sure such -was not the case, friend C? FRAMES OF CANDY FOR WINTER FEEDING. In feeding sugar candy in frames, you say, be careful that they do not build comb in the frames after the candy is taken out; now, whstt is the harm if they do? A. A. Amig. Buck Creek, Richland Co., Wis., Aug. 3, 1881. Friend A., it takes about 20 lbs of sugar to make l lb. of comb, if done in that way ; whereas, by the use of fdn., we get much nicer combs at a cost not exceeding, say, 4 lbs. of sugar. Besides, the bees seldom build a nice full coinb in the place of the candy, but only a piece that must be broken out and melted up into wax, which brings only about the price of 2 pounds of sugar. Again, the bees seldom take all the candy from a frame, especially in cool or cold weather. It is left at the corners and lower edges. With the candy bricks, or round or oval cakes of candy placed right over the cluster, wc get it used up, every particle of it. Frames of candy is a quick way, and does very well for warm weather, if you look out for this one feature of comb-building. Give the bees frames of fdn., where you want more combs, then put your candy in 1- Ib. bricks, right over the cluster, and they will build out the fdn. beautifully, and with but little loss of material. BEES absconding WITHOUT A QUEEN. A friend of mine is very much puzzled over a caper that some bees which he recently divided have cut up. He divided a colony containing twelve frames of brood and honey, and strong in bees. He took six frames, together with the queen, and young bees, and put them into a new hive, leaving the old hive on the old stand, without q leen. There was plenty of young brood, fven eggs just laid, left in the old hive, and the old bees which remained there commenced to build up some queen-cells, and sealed them over, but before any of them were hatched GOOD REPORT FROM ONE HIVE IN THE SPRING, ETC. From one colony in the spring I have increased, artificially, to nine, and are now in good shape for winter. Also I have taken 127 lbs. of honey from that colony and its increase; 70 lbs. of comb honey from parent stock ; the rest extracted from increase, and did this durmg white-clover and basswood bloom. We have no fall honey, on account of dry weather. I use the American open-top frame'with no wire at- tachments or any thing of the kind; so, please do not say too many hard things against the American frame, for I think I have done well. What think ye? Do I deserve a head-mark in my class, the State of Indiana? I believe we are all spvelling for the head, anyhow. A. Cox. White Lick, Boone Co., Ind., Nov. 8, 1881. I have never intended to convey the idea, friend C, that as good results could not be obtained from the American as any other frame ; very likely, nearly as much honey would have been stored in a nail-keg or a COS GLE2LNINGS IN BEE CULTUIIE. Dec. hollow log ; but with the latter it might have caused you a great amount of labor that would have been saved by a simple-frame hive. DIFFICULTT OF FEEDING EVEN CANDY, IN WINTER, ETC. I went into winter-quarters last fall with 2t col- onics, all of them nicely packed in the Root chaff hives of my own make, most of them in fair condi- tion, as I supposed; but the long severe winter was too much for them. By the middle of Feb., most of them were short of stores, and the best T could do I could not get them to take feed readily. I tried both candy and syrup made from A sug-ar. I saved 8 colonies, 6 of them strong and 2 weak and queen- less ; so in reality I had only 6 in spring, as it took about all they were worth to keep them up by sup- plying brood from the others until they could raise queens. I think I would have got them all through except 2 or 3, if they had not been short of stores, as but 2 or 3 showed any signs of disease. From the above, I have this summer increased to 40 colonies by artificial swarming. I raised all my own queens except.!, which were bought of Mr. Oliver Foster; but I have sold more than that number. My 40 col- onies are all nicely packed in chaff, and all strong in bees and honey, except two which I am feeding. Besides the above increase I got 300 lbs. of extracted honey. This is my first report; but as I consider myself one of the ABC class, I hope it will not be the last. J. K. Snyder. Tiffin, Johnson Co., Iowa, Nov. ", 1881. I have taken 1100 lbs. extracted, and 225 of comb honey. A. G. Willows. Carlingford, Ont., Can., Nov. 8. 1881. FRIEND TOWNSEND'S REPORT. Commenced last May with 62 colonies of Italians; extracted 2415 lbs. white honey, and took in sections, 1200 lbs. ; also some extracted fall honey of which we kept no record. Most of our honey was gathered from first crop of red clover. Of the 63 colonies in May there were 7 colonies which did not help gather our surplus, as W. Z. Hutchinson sent for them to help him rear queens (I should like to know how much they helped him). Our sales of bees and queens amount to S44T.00; last sale of the season, Sept. 7. I have 86 good colonies now on hand. Now, Mr. K., or any other bee-keeper, when you pass through this part of our State again you must not slight us, but give us a call at least, for now you will not have to walk 10 or 12 miles, as it is not more than I'/i miles from our apiary to any of the depots in town. Wishing all husij bee-keepers good success, we will close our first scraps from Kalamazoo. O. H. Townsend. Kalamazoo, Mich., Nov. 10, 1881. CROSS BEES, BUT GOOD HONEY-GATHERERS. My bees have been very cross this year. A person could hardly be within two rods of the hives for five minutes without being stung. The second swarm, on the 26th of May, Ciime off while I was away from home, and they were so cross that the folks dared not attempt to hive them. Father went near them i at first, but they attacked him with such fury that he had to beat a hasty retreat with about a dozen stings about his head and neck. They hung in an apple-tree about two hours and then left for parts unkivown. My queens were nearly all from a se- lected tested queen purchased from you in 1880. She was replaced this summer, and the progeny of the young queen are almost pure Mick. I com- menced the season with 15 colonies. I have now 50. CHAFF CUSHIONS AND VENTILATION. And so the chaff hives do not give enough ventila- tion! wish I had known it last year, and I might have saved all my bees. Late in the season I con- cluded that the cushions (6 in. thick) gave too much ventilation; took them out; filled upper story full of fine chaff. Kesult: of 43 colonics (one of them a 2-f rame nucleus, and several 3 and 4 frame), two lost their queens; one starved; one, a strong colony, died of dysentery; caused, I think, by excitement and unnatural heat, caused by chaff getting among combs. The rest came through in fine order. M. Frank Taber. Salem, Columbiana Co., O., Nov. 11, 1881. I can't quite agree with you. friend T., that your loose chaff made trouble. The best wintering I ever had was where the bees ate through their covering, and the chaff came down all among them, so they were nosing around in it like a lot of mice. I can hardly think loose chaff ever smothers bees; but I should be more afraid of the cloth that holds the chaff in the form of a cushion. BIGHT OR WRONG? (SEE NOV. NO., P. 567.) On page 567 of Nov. Gleanings I notice the loss of a queen bj' fire in a postoffice, which also burned. I inferred that the customer wished j'ou to stand the loss. I think he might as well ask you to bear the loss of an absconding swarm of bees simply be- cause he bought the hives of you. Now, if the post- master saw the cage of bees tr.lien from the mail the night previous to the fire, he should stand the loss, as it appears that your part of the contract was filled; viz., to "deliver at the nearest post or ex- press office." Whether she was dead or alive, it would have been all the same in that case. I take it that perhaps it was afl.OO or f 1.50 queen (for I don't think any other kind of a customer would growl), and if it was, and he still insists on having his money refunded, just send his name to me, and I will pay it to him. And now, friend R., I don't know but that you are " tempting " sr>me, in your proposals to " make things good." I think the fair way is for each to be willing to bear his part, and the one to stand it who is to blame. Perhaps you may feel delicate about sending his name; if so, let him send it, and I'll send him his money. J. J. McWhohteb. South Lyon, Mich., Nov. 8, 1881. Many thanks, friend M.. for your very kind words ; but if you will excuse me, I fear you are such a very warm friend and champion of my poor self, that your judg- ment is a little biased. I decided at once as you have, and it seemed then to me prepos- terous that any one should take any other view. But as the matter did not lie easy on my conscience, I put the question to the boys and girls at our noon service. Mr. Gray and Neighbor II., sifter a little thought, both to my surprise, decided rather against me. They put it this way: The spirit of my aflvertisement is to the effect, that I will faithfully deliver the queens where they are easily accessible to my customer, as he de- livers my money where it will be easily ac- cessible to me. The loss occurred so "near 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 609 the dividing line, between delivering and ac- cepting property, it was pretty hard to say just where my responsibility ceased and his commenced. Thei-efore a fair way would be to share the loss equally, which "was done, and he, in a very gentlemanly way, ex- pressed himself satistied. In thinking it over since, it looks as if I ought to do a lit- tle more than half, for I expected to deliver his queen at a point where he could go and get it. I did not do this. By the way, I do not know that any act I ever did has called forth such bitter and unkind words as the one of proposing to be responsible for my advertisers. You too. my good friend, are censuring a little, and yet you have, right in your letter, yourself asked to be permitted to pay somebody else's bills. The Sunday- School Times was my precedent for my posi- tion toward my subscribers in protecting them from spurious advertisers. Here is their offer:— The Sunday School Times iiitviids to admit only advertise- ments thit arn trustworthy. Should, however, an advertise- ment of a party not in Kooii standinsr be inadvertently inserted, the publisher will lelund to subscribers any money that they lose thereby. Will you send me to the asylum as a luna- tic, if I still adhere to my purpose of pro- tecting my subscribers f JUDGES AT OUR FAIRS, ETC. The foui'lh annual fair of the Southern California Horticultural Society closed on the 10th of Sept. It proved a success all the way throug'h; the bee-keep- ers of Southern California made a fine display of honey (both camb and extracted), bees, bee-hives, and implements of the apiary. I entered but four articles, and received a premium on each. First premium on honey vinegar and hybrid bites; second premium on Italian bees and comb fdn. There was considerable sport made about the judges whom the society appointed; one was a grocerymau; the other two, I was unable to learn their occupation. They all might have been good judges of honey, but when they came to the rest they knew nothing about it. When they came to the comb fdn. they wanted to know what it was made of, what it was used for, and how it was used. When told, they said tiicy could see no difference in the make of it, so they decided in favor of the white. Inclosed you will find sample of both kinds; white, flrst premium; yellow, second premium. The yellow is my own make, made on the 9-inch C. 01m mill. Hold them up between you and the light, and notice the diflfer- euce in the bottom of the cells. Which do you think Is the better one? Soeak right out. Los Angeles, Cal., Oct. 30, '81. W. W. Bliss. You are right, friend B.; the machine on which the sample of white fdn. was made was very badly adjusted, and the material is quite unsuited for the purpose, compared with the yellow. I know the judges are oft- en sadly at fault ; but, poor fellows, they doubtless did the best they could, where they had been placed. Men should have oc- cupied these positions, capable of judging ; but if the proper men stayed at home during the preliminary meetings, what better could the officers of the fair do V Suppose, friend Bliss, you pitch right in and help them to do better next season. I am sure they will gladly welcome you at the time they choose the officers, etc. MISSIONARY BEES. The inclosed letter explains Itself. You will see by it my bees have been doing some mission work, and I hope It will do j-ou as much good to read the letter as it did mc. Surely it is more blessed to give than to receive. C. A. Hatch. Ithaca, Kichland Co., Wis., Nov. 8, 1881. Mr. C. a. Hatch : — Our society has sent mo the barrel of honey that you kindly sent to our treasurer, Mr. Coc, and I am happy to convey to you in behalf of the poor children cared for in this house, their grateful thanks for your sweet gift. We give the poor children of the Industrial School, generally, syrup with their bread at noon, and when they got the honey on their simple lunch the,v declared it was the best syrup they had ever tasted. One or two, more knowing than the rest, let the others into the secret, and the.v were greatly surprised nt getting such a treat, as it "wasn't Cliristmas." The news- boys and bootblacks, who are also fed and lodged here, have been greatly delighted with the hone.v, and I am sure, if you sliould come to New York and let yourself be known as the gentleman who sent the honey they would load .you with the latest news, and ''shine" you up in the highest style of the art. Georob Calder, Sup't of the Children's Aid Society. New York, Oct. 25. 1881. $€l^s and §ii^ri^^. T is again this season very dry here ; bees are suffering. I have worked with bees for several seasons, but the seasons are so very bad that I can do but little with them. T have, of course, In- creased some, but they are making no surplus hon- ey at all here, and have not for several years. This seems to bo a poor bee country. I like very much to handle bees. H. Wehrman. Truxton, Lincoln Co., Mo. MY TEST OF PURITY. When you take out a ccmb of young bees, if they run and tumble off the combs they are uot puro Italians, and I do not want any black blood in my bees. The 2-story 8-frame L, hive is my choice. Purdy, Mo., Oct. 8, 1881. M. Terry. Father bought me two colonies of bees this spring, and he aud I found four bee-trees this fall, so you see we want to gain all the information that we pos- siblj' can. We have not cut the trees yet. Henry L. Rouse. Ionia, Chickasaw Co., la., Oct. 31, 1881. The 244-lb. scales wore just "boss " for that mon- ey. Here they would cost about eight or nine dol- lars. I have sold honey this summer to the amount of $73.47, and have used and will use 200 lbs. more this winter, making in all about 800 lbs. honey from 12 swarms. Increased to 32; lost 5; one was robbed out. We have had a 6-inch fall of snow. Albert OsBUif. Spring Bluff, Adams Co., Wis., Nov. 7, 188L HOW DOES HE KNOW? Unless Mr. T. R. Butler (page 546) has his queen marked, " as they do hogs down South," how can he know that the queen producing black bees is not a daughter of the old queen, impurely fertilized — the old one being dead, or retired on a pension? J. L. Van Zandt, M. D. Eido, Texas, Nov. 8, 1881. tVer.v true, friend V. ; how are we ever to know there has not been some changeln the queens unless we have some better way of marking queens than any yet devised?] 610 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. I began with one hive, and am now one of the largest bee-keepers in the north of Scotland, if not the largest. G. W. Riddel. Leslie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Oct. 13, 1881. I did splendidly at the great Toronto fair, beating for " largest and best display " of honey our great D. A. Jones, of Becton. Edmond Nugei.t, M. D. Strathroy, Ont., Can., Oct. 1, 1881. Happily, late this fall the bees gave me a lift in the way of a nice lot of surplus honey that helped me out of a close financial place; so I am not cramped, if I did not get to sell any bees. J. J. KiSER. Des Moines. Polk Co., Iowa, Oct. 21, 1881. Please answer this In next Gleanings: Are the Holy-Land queens yellow or dark? 1 bought one of I. B. Good. She is quite dark — more so than Italian queens. J. W. Marshall. Constantine. St. Jo Co., Mich., Aug. 13, 1881. [Dark, as a general thing, friend M.] MULTUM IN PARVO. Wet soft weather; 19 queens in the spring; 4" now; most of them heavy with stores and bees; about 800 lbs. white honey, extracted; three or four hundred to extract; about eleven or twelve hundred of boz honey; some over 2000 in all. Extracted, 8 and 12c.; comb, 15 to 18c. per lb. V. W. Keeney. Shirland, Win. Co., 111., Oct. 24, 1881. I have 107 stands of bees on shares. Our bees gave us 7000 lbs. of surplus honey so far this reason, while others have done comparatively nothing. Friend Wilkin was up to see us the other day, and he said he never saw bees thriving nicer. They are still breeding very heavily. I am now Italianizing. O. B. Quesner. Newhall, Los Angeles Co., Cal., July 23, 1881. A three -COLONY APIARY. • In reference to bees, my wife is pleased with her success. We have extracted about 160 lbs. from 3 colonies, and made a colony by dividing. We got an Italian queen, a good layer, and one colony is now mostly all Italianized. The four are in 2-story Sim- plicity hives. 2 of which you furnished. I would not have any others now. B. H. Lemon. Thorold, Ont., Can., Aug. 6, 1881. H.4PPY ANYHOW. Bees are doing no good with the most constant care. I have gone back from 85 to 73 swarms, and made no honey; it is constant work to keep out the worms. There is but little feed, but it may be all for the best. We are getting a good training this year, even if we do have to work for no money. We are happy and thankful, for the spiritual food is worth all others. I. B. Ru.mford. Bakersfield, Kern Co., Cal., Aug. 4, 1881. I had a call for "oil of honey." What is it, and how obtained? This was not an extra season for bees here. I report as follows: 20 stocks in the spring, and 26 now; have taken 1200 lbs. of honey, 150 of it comb. Sold all I had to spare, by Aug. 20. Two other bee-keepers near here took about 1000 lbs. each. I have been out some time. W. C. HCTCniNSON. Acton, Marion Co., Ind., Nov. 1, 1881. [Who will tell us what "oil of honey" is?l In last Gleanings we notice that you contemplate having a " square " and "crooked" list. It is our desire to be placed in the list of " square " men, but our greatest desire is to merit a place in that list. We think that our past contracts are all square; should we be mistaken, we arc ready to make them so at once. Fischer & Stehle. Marietta, Wash. Co., O., Oct. 14, 1881. [That is exactly the was' we like to hear our ad- vertisers talk, friends F. & S.] nONEY FROM CORN. In answer to your question, if bees gather honey from common field corn, I will say, they will. Corn on good rich crroioid. weilhoed, so the corn will thrive well, will yield some honey. I have got more corn honey {his year than I ever got from corn before. My bees gave me over 200 lbs. each of extracted hon- ey the past summer, and doubled the stock of bees. Wm. McEvoy. Woodburn, Wentworth Co., Ont., Can., Oct. 19, 1881. now THE HONEY-BEES HELP. I herewith inclose check on New York for $25 00. I received this money as premium on hives and honey at our State fair in Macon last week. We have made almost an entire failure in crops this year; corn and oat crop an entire failure, and cot- ton yielding about one bale to five acres, so you see how hard it has been to raise money. The honey crop is good, and has helped wonderfully in meeting our daily wants. F. N. Wilder. Forsyth, Monroe Co., Ga., Oct. 24, 1881. BLACK BEES BETTER THAN ITALIANS TO WINTER. I have three apiaries, wi' h ■ b^ut 40 stands in each. The bees of the home apiai y arc Italians; the two others are blacks. I can not winter the Italians as well as the blacks. A year ago I lost 7^ Italians to one black swarm ; last winter I lostlO toone. Ihave a large dry cellar, and have always wintered blacks successfully. I keep them in 5 months, or from thj 1st Dec. till April or 1st of May. I have brought all home to winter. John Andrews. Patten's Mills, Wash. Co., N. Y., Oct. 29, 1881. Sll ^LL AVE USE SEPARATORS ? I see you request the friends to give their experi- ence with separators, fused them one season, but could not get the bees to do much in them. I find one section in a great number that I can't pack in the case, but I can eat that. I don't think I would be bothered with separators. Our comb honey sells out here better without glass. I put my sections in the upper story, mostly four in a large frame. Robert Quinn. Shellsburg. Benton Co., la., Oct. 14, 1881. I confess I feel a little slighted. Ne.^t time you visit Prof. Cook just let me know, and be sure to buy your ticket only to Fowlervill'^, and I will meet you there, and after showing you my farm, etc., will take you up to the college in a buggy. May be we haven't such fast horses as " Patsey," but they will " get around sure." F. L. Wright. Plainticld, Michigan, Aug. 11, 1881. [I am very sorry indeed, friend W., I was so near an old friend and customer and didn't know it. When I get up that way again, 1 will assuredly come and look at that farm, bees, etc., and take a ride over to the college. I dearly love rides through the country.] 1S81 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 611 HONEY FROM CORN, AGAIN. I must tell you that I often get a lot of nice white well-flavored honey from corn — common Indian. I think I c:in't be mistaken. I have grone into the fields and m:ide observation, also at times when bees were getting houey from no other known source. W. H. Steele. Kossuth, Alcorn Co.. Ml?s , Nov., 1881. ITIR. lUERRYBANKS AND HIS NklGH- BOie. UONEV FRO.M PF.AS, OAK, ETC. I have 23 hives; they have not done much this year; thej- arc githering honey from peas now. I saw in your last number that bees had gathered honey from will'iw roots. I found a bee-tree that had been gathering it from white oak where it had been biuised. The honey tasted like sap. J. H. Mattock. Horn Lake, Desoto Co., Miss., Aug. T, 1881. FUOil ONE to three, AND $16.00 WORTH OF HONEY IN ONE SEASON. I commenced the spring of 1881 with one swarm of bees, and now; have three strong swarms; have sold $16 worth of section houey. As I am a beginner, I feel much encouraged, and think girl^ can take care of bees as well as boys or men. Father takes Gleanings. We find it interesting and useful. iD.v M. Church. Benton Harbor, Mich., Nov. 11, 1881. n§€uvaginQ, I am in good spirits. I havet ken about 1000 lbs honey; about ?i extracted, the rest In sections. I have nearly Italianized from the tested queen you sent me. She produces many full 1-banded bees, and out of :?0 young queens, none have failed to produce 3-banded bees, and I know that some of them must have met black or hybrid drones. I go into winter-quarters with 26 colonies, all very well supplied with honey. J. D. Fooshe. Coronaca, S. C, Nov. 3, 1881. hill's device FOR WINTER. I see your problem solved on page .=>30, and can as- sure you that it will not euro norprevent dysentery. It is as good as the hcut winter passage, because not solid like a block, but leaves a nice circulating space. I have used it three or four years. See Glean- ings, page 116, 1881, .3d paragraph under cut of my hive. I think I wrote about it to some bee journal about two years ago. My way of using, the curved pieces can't flatten down when dampened. Dowagiac, Mich., Nov. It, 1881. Jame.s Heddon. ^ AM getting a nice start in the bee business. I jiji tried it 20 years with the black bees and box — ' gum, and at the end of that time I would have valued my stock at §.x00. With the help of Glean- ings and other works on bee culture, I have built up a considerable apiary. I use the Simplicitj' hive and the Lawn hive. I have an imported queen, and use the extractor. Mv' ousinets is paying me for all my trouble and investment, and I have bees and honey plenty, and something nice at that, and sell- ing queens besides. I Had bee culture under pres- ent management both a pleasant and profitable business. E. E. Smith. Settle, Iredell Co., N. C, Oct. 11, 1881. Fear not, little flock; fop it is the Fnther's good pleasure to give you the kingdnm.— I-uke li :32. jf,i|[fj,HE new watering-troupch was patronized A aniazingly. Jolm had rigged up a sort of work-bench down ia that playhouse, that you remember he styled liis Temper- ance Hotel, and he enjoyed so much seeing the horses drink, as they came a little shyly at iir.st up to the new trough, he actually dreamed of seeing horses drinking at niglit after he had got to bed. The water, bubbling as it j!^ did right out of the sandy ^ rock, was always fresh, soft aufl cool, and no horse ever refused to drink there, even if he had been wa- tered but a half-hour be- John's dreajl fore out of some muddy, stagnant pool. The tinner's shears had not yet been carried home, and -John had become quite expert with them, fashioning things out of the tin he got out of some oyster cans that had been so recently emptied they were comi)aratively clean and briglit. In fact, he made the tin cup I promised to tell yon about last month, and he became so fond of the business, the passers-by joked him by saying he had bet- ter put his sign. " Tempkr ance Tin^hop," rather than •' Hotel.'' Shall I tell you how he made nice-looking cups out of oyster- cans';' Well, he just cut them open near the seams, so as to get a piece of tin 3 by 12i inches. One oyster-can made just two such pieces. After 'the tin was nicely flattened by a little wooden mallet, he marked it out accurately with his father's square, and then cut it exactly on the line with his snips. After this he snipped off every one of the four corners until his tin looked about like this:— B Next he folded an ed'..,e on each of the long sides, where you see the dotted lines. He did this by laying it on the square with the edge projecting just enough, and then turned it down with his mallet. He did not pound this seam down hard, for he wished it to look as much as possible as if a wire were turned under the fold. One edge was turned over one way, and the other the other. AV^ell, after this was done he folded it around his mother's potato-masher by means of his mal- let, so it looked much like a cup without handle or bottom. The ends Avere slightly curved with the mallet before rolling it up, so they lay on each other nicely, ready to solder. The clipping, as yen see, made no seams or folds where the lap came Neigh- bor Menybanks good-naturedly loaned him his soldering-iron, with the understanding that John was to pay for all the solder he used, and keep the iron in good order. You know I said one seam was turned out and 61f GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. the other iu. AVell, Avith his father's com- passes a true cirfle was marked out on an- otlier piece of tin, and when made just the right size, and cut out, it just pushed into the cup. It would go into the top very well, and when pushed down to the bottom it came solidly against the seam that was turned in to hold it. It came do.vn into place so securely it almost seemed as if it would stay without solder. However, as John's cups were to be useful as well as or- namental, it was soldered securely. Mary and Freddie were loud in their praises of the cup. because it actually did not leak a drop all the while they were eating supi)er, yet it was left on the work-bench. brimu)ing full. Freddie said they bought a tin cup of a peddler, and it would not do that. After supper, a handle was made of a piece of tin that was left. The handle, when cut, looked just likelhis: — After he got a cup made so he knew it held exactly a pint, he made a careful pat- tern and punched a hole through it so it could be hung up on a nail. He also wrote on every })attern the name of it. as you see in the pictures, so no mistake would be made. The edg^s of the handle were folded, much like the body of the cup ; and, to get the right shape to it, he folded it over his mother's rolliiig-pin, so as to be bent exactly like a cup they had iu the house. After he bad got one to suit him with the aid of the patterns, it did not take very long to make another; and, at the suggestion of Mary, this second one was hung on a nail just over his bench, with a little board under it, marked as you see below : — Just as they got it nicely fixed, T.' ncle Billy drove past; and, seeing the children look- ing up at the cup Avith such interest and animation, he glanced up too. ■• Only live cents ? Why, I guess a new tin cup is just what I want; '' and he took a nickel out of his pocket and handed it over. " John made it, all his self," ventured Mary, for the success of her plea for the little trough had made her somewhat bold. '•Is that so V Why, where did he get his tools for a tin-shop ? " John, a little shyly, told him they Avere there on the bench. While Uncle Billy was looking them over and asking questions, the doctor drove up with his ooy Tom. (Jf course, all had to look at the cup. The doc- tor gave an order for half a dozen, explain- ing that he preferred it to any he could buy, because John had done all of the soldering from the outside. .Solder contains a consid- erable portion of lead, and as lead is to a certain extent poisonous, it is very desirable that all kitchen utensils, especially fruit- cans, should be soldered only on the outside. Mary clapped her hands at the prospect of so much monev ; but Johi^ looked a little downcast, because he did not know how he was to get so many bright clean oyster-cans, lie timidly mentioned something of this, when Tom interposed. •' Why, father, he can buy new sheets of bright tin. I can get some for him when I go to the city to-morrow." " Yes," said uiicle Billy, •• I happen to be acquainted with the tin-smith there, and I will send a line to him, asking him to let you have it as near box prices as possible." John was troubled still, for the nickel he had just received for the cup was all the money he had in the world. But a brave boy as he was, tliough, he spoke right out; and at the same time he thanked them he told them the trouble. •• Why , look here," said the doctor ; '" here is the money for the six, in advance." •■ And here is the money for six more that Jw'ant," said uncle Billy. '•It is a pity if we can not give the • Temperance Hotel ' a lift when it is just starting out;" and he gave the doctor a look that was understood, as he laughed good-naturedly. Tom took the money, e spring after some water with a basket. To the chagrin of all the group, it leaked; and John had to wipe it dry and go over the soldering again. This was quite a shock to his pride as a workman ; and as Freddie was a little in- clined to quote his father as a superior work- man all the time, John made some pretty big resolves, that hereafter his pails and cups should never bs brought back because they leaked. Mary wanted to carry it over to the neighbors to show, but tirst stopped to ask what the price would be. *' Five cents,"' said John. " Why. the cups are worth only live cents, and this is ever so much more work." ^ Can't help it,"- said John. " Ten cents would be too much, and we can"t bother our customers with odd coppers in making change. If they are cheap at live cents we shall have the more to make, that is all." John sat down to the task of making a better one, and one that would not leak. Mary was soon back, all out of breath. '■'■ Mr. ^lerrybanks says ho wants a dozen just like it to put honey in, and here is the 00 cents." John was already a man of business, and no mistake : and witli the pleasure and joy that he felt in being able to earn money fair- ly and honestly, tliere came a little worry about his ability to take care of all the trade that seemed piling in. At this juncture, our jolly old friend came up with the pail in question. •'John, you have opened up a streak of business and no mistake ; but, my boy, you must not stick to it too closely. You are tired now, are you not ? " Come to think of it, John thought he did feel a little tired. •• Well, it is best to take things with mod- eration in this world. Where is your father?" '■ He, with the horse, is at work for Uncle Billy to-day." •' \Ve\l, that is good, isn't itV Well, you see these pails of yours hold just about 11 lbs. of honey easily, and at present prices should retail for an even 25 cents. Now, as it is quite a bother for me to run to weigh out honey, suppose you keep a few of these pails full here, and put out a sign, and I will give you 10 per cent commission. Here is a pailful to commence on." In a twinkling the pail of honey was hung in a conspicuous place, and under it was a board that read like this : — "Now," said neigh- bor M., '' you want some better mode of folding your tin for cups and pails. Haven't you got some little boards here? Freddie, will you run over and get that piece of gal- vanized iron on the work-bench V " The sheet iron was brought, and from it were cut four strips, 4xl-lA inches. At inter- vals near one edge, holes were drilled large enough to receive common wood screws. In one of these pieces, the holes were all filed oblong, with a round file, as in the cut be- low:— Next, two hard-wood boards, 4x15?, were provided. They were laid side by side, and then hung together with a hinge nailed into the end of each board. The hinges were made of the galvan- ized iron, by riveting one strip to the end of another, thus : The small holes show you where it was nailed in the ends of the boards. Now three of the above strips were laid on one of the boards, and screwed fast. The piece with the oblong holes was the center one, and thus by loos- ening the screws at any time, the width of the fold could be adjusted. The third piece was put on the other board. It Avas soon done, and looked like this: — HINGE FOR FOLDER. FOLDING-MACHINE. John found, to his great delight, that he could fold his seams with this by just put- 614 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. ting the erlge of the tin under the galvanized iron, so quickly that it seemed almost like mag c. '• Now," said friend M., " Come over in my orchard and get some ripe apples, and play around a while as boys usually do, and theii you can make pails, and five-cent coffee- pots too. if you like." It is Saturday night again. The family are, as before, sitting on one of the logs that go across the bridge. On the front of the '' Temperance Hotel" are hung pint cups, half-pint cups, quart cups, pint pails full of honey, and not full. John's father has got some money that he has earned himself; so has John's mother; so has Mary, that she got from selling cups at a commission of '•ten percent." John's father has just re- peated the text at the head of our chapter, and asked his wife if it can really be such as he whom Jesus meant when those words "were spoken. John's mother reminded liim that, as it was Saturday night, he had better take down his things and put them away. " Please let them be up a little longer, mother; lam sure somebody will be along and want something more." In a few minutes more he came out of the '-Hotel" with a bound, exhibiting his |^ ^'^^^^^fc new tive-cent coffee- ^> l^^=ss==^ pot. Shall t give you a picture of ity Do 5'ou wonder, dear reader, that all that little household are five-cent coffee-pot. happy, and that their faith in God and the future is bright, this Saturday night? TOB.ICCO COliUIfllV. FRIEND sends us the following for this department : — Prof. Bascnm writes, with regard to thecultivatiou of the tohacci) plant : — "Take the land, the sunshine, the rain which God g-ives yoii, and set them all at work to grow tobacco. Throw this, as j'our product, into the world's market; buy with it l)read, clothing and shflter, books for yourselves, instruction for your children, considera- tion in the community, and, perchance, the Gospel of Grace; piy ever and everywhere, for the g-ood you get, tobacco, only tobacco — tub icco, that nour- ishe« no man, clothes no man, instructs no man, purities no man, b'esses no man; tobacco, that be- gets inordinate and loathsome appetite and disease and degradation, that impoverishes and debases thousand?, and adds incalculably to the burden of evil the world bears. But call not this e.\-change honest trade, or this gnawing at ihe rent of socini Well-being getting an honest livelihood. Think of God's justice, the honesty he requires, and cover not your sin with a lie. Turn not his earth and air, given to minister to the sustenance and joy of man, into a narcotic, deadening life and poisoning its cur- rent, and then trHlHc witd this for your own good. "Some years since, the annual production of to- bacco throushout the worll was estimated at four billions of pounds. Allowing the cost of the uninan- ufacturfd material to be ten cents a pounil. the yearly expen«e of this pnisonfius growth araotints to four hundred millions of dollars. Put into market- able shape, the annual cost reaches one thousand millions of dollars. This sum, according to carelul computation, would construct two railroads around the earth at twenty thousand a mile. It would build a hundred thousand churchps, each costing ten thousand dollars, or half a million of school- houses, eai'h costing two thons:tnd, or it would em- ploy a million of preachers, and a million teachers, at a salary of five huj^'tred doUiurs. " What more effective, pathetic appeal to the hf>ad and heart can be mad"- than by these figures"? T*o millions of tons of tobacco annually consumed by smokers and snuffers atid chewers, while from every pnrt of the habitable miotic are hands stretched out imploringly for the Bread of Life, which must bo dt-nied for lack of means to send it! " In Great IJritaiii alone there are not far from three hundred thousand tobacc vshops. England tias obtained a larger revenue from this source than from all the gold-mines of Australia. In Germany, Hollind, Great Britain, and the United States, offi- cial ligures show that it costs more than bread." Inclosed please find $1 00 for Gle\ninos. I would be entirely lost without it. The other dollar is for my broken promise. 'Tis true, 1 smoked only one littlj cigarette, but it was a litile too much. L. L. E. I am both sorry and glad to get the above. I have been for some time rather worried, for fear all those who have given this public promise were not strictly truthful, and now I know that at least two of you aie. I am very sorry, friend E., you have yielded to temi)tation, and I fear your so doing will weaken some other weak brother ; but I re- joice that you come right out and confess your wrong, and hand over the dollar. May the Lord bless you in this 1 But I am sure he would bless you still more in leaving oif all such bad habits at once and for ever, even though you have failed once. You have done all you agreed to do, and nobody has any right to find fault. By reading your tobacco column I came> to the conclusion that there arc black sheep among your flock. If a man promises to quit smoking and chew- ing for the sake of a bee smoker, there is certainly sotnething wrong. lam smokiug, and my conscience tells me, "You do no sin." Why does the great Creator let it grow if it is a sin to make use of it? Can you tell me of any other use for it but to smoke and chew? Why, then, condemn God's plants? Can't you c.ill it such? If not, who el^e lets it grow? Ytiu may say whisky is the drunkard's grave; that is certainly true. I am strongly against the use of strong drinks. But whisky is a necessitj-; we must have it in medicine. But tobacco can not bo used in medicine; and if I tell the truth, I smoke tobacco for my nealth. I am not ashamed to have it appear before your readers. People must bo very pious in Canada, the way a Canada Pharisee advertises re- garding tobacco. Pkkston J. Kline. Coopersburg, Lehigh Co., Pa., Nov. 7, 1881. Gently, friend K. If I mistake not, the letter you have given us above is a rather telling one against the use of the weed, to the average reader. I hardly believe you would wish your own boys to grow up to- bacco-users, when it could as well as not be avoided. I can call to mind two cases in which tobacco is used as a medicine. Your own case is one, and my wife uses it in the form of an ointment, as a counter-irritant to cure the croup. If I am right, i>oison ivy is not used as a medicine, or otherwise ; yet I never knew any one to insist it should be used to chew because God made it, and it must be good for something. Our Canadian friend meant to say, in his advertisetnent, "tobacco and liquors," instead of " tobacco and cigars;" and I thank God they have just so much "piety "in Canada. Do you know, friend K., that no students can be re- ceived at our Government school at West Point i£ tiiey use tobacco V 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUUE. 615 It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good. —I. Samuel 3:18. MEADER, have \ on a father living V I ,, had when I wrote you hist.ancl in fact — ^ I have always liad" a father from the first moments of niy recollection until np to within three days past. I have tried to tench Yon here to learn to think it is God"s hand tlirough all the events of life, and es- pecially through the tn/ing events. I am be- ginning to see his hand "through this great sorrow; and although it may seem strange to some, I am beginning to' find a new and strange happiness right in the midst of this trial. We are a family of nine — father and mother, and seven children, and no death had ever entered this family circle un- til father was called, on the .5th of this No- vember, as I have inst told yon. He wlio came into Medina County more than 50 years ago, and chopped down the trees to bnild the log house for us all, has been called away first. He died but a few yards from that very same old log house,' the one in which I was born, and I thank God that I was permitted to be with him in his last mo- ments, and to minister to his comfort as he drew his last breath. He had been on his bed of sickness about five weeks. Tn that time I have learned some lessons. If I am right, God has. during that time, given me some messages that he wishes me to carry to you. That is why I asked, in the outset of this talk to-day. if you had a father living. His sick bed has taught me how much my father cared for me and loved me. It has also taught me how much I loved him, al- though I did not until now know it. We are not all alike, and we are far from being alike in our ways of demonstrating our love or our sorrow. I was surprised to find, when my father was sick, that he especially leaned on me and looked up to me : I was the only one of his boys near him. The two others are far away in the West. When I first undertook the task of caring for him through the lonely night. I felt so utterly helpless and incompetent for the post, that it seemed as though some one else would do far better than I ; but soon came the thought, that right where I wa'', was where God wanted me, and I I'neic that he would be with and guide me. if I put my trust in him, and went cheerfully to work. It was toward midnight, and I shook off tlie drowsiness that began stealing over me. and knelt in silent prayer near the bedside of my feverish patient. 'J'he doctor had en- joined upon me as little talking as possible, and therefore my work was to be a silent work. I had noticed that father seemed to be much fatigued when he rose up in bed to take his medicines, and I therefore set about trying to make this task as brief and easy as possible. A chair was silently placed at the right spot, and on it was a cup of fresh water, his quinine, milk punch, etc. "When I was satisfied that I had every thing right at my hand that I might need', I seated my- self quietly on the bed, and told him it was time for medicine again. Instead of letting him get up, I raised him gently ; and while he leaned on me, supported him with my left hand, while I quickly gave him, with my right, all he was to take, and he was back on his pillow again with much less fatigue than where he was obliged to wait for delays. After that. I watched him in his sleeji until I discovered in what position or positions he rested most easily. "When he seemed rest- less in one position. I found I could get him to change, almost without waking him. Not only was fresh water from the pnmp kept in readiness for the time when he might ask. in his feeble voice, for it, but I managed the temperature of the room so that several windows could be opened a little without the room being too cold, until I had ventilated out almost every trace of the smell that is so apt to accompany fevers of that type. I found, by making a study of it all, that I kept away drowsiness, so far that the night passed rather pleasantly than otherwise. My reward came in the "morning, when he toid mother (of course, he clung to mother as his best and safest friend on earth) that Amos had taken " such excellent care "' of him during the night. A few nights later, when my watch was off, Mrs. Gray and myself rose at o o'clock on a frosty morning, and rode down to the old farm to see how he was getting along. I told him wliat time it was, and he in his feeble voice spoke of the trouble it made us to get up in the night and come so far. '• Father, do you remember, aAvay back years ago, when" ?/rt!? used to get up in the night in the old log house, to care for usf'' '• I remember well when mother used to get up and carry j/ou about." I had been very sicklv when quite young. '• Well, father, we are glad of the oppor- tunity of showing that we remember the loving care vou both gave us in our helpless childhood. 'Did jou regard it as a hardship then V" '' No.-' I remember now the pleasant and reassured look that came into his face as he answered me. In spite of our care he grew weaker ; and although he became very tired of the medi- cine ordered by the dector, to be taken through the weary hours of botli day and night, betook it all patiently. In his younger days he had been much suliject to a sort of quinsy in his throat, and he had often ex- pressed a fear ^ mother he might die of strangulation. He did not fear deatli, and they both talked it over as familiarly, al- most, as of the visit he took to his old Con- necticut home, but little more tlian a year ago. Well, it was toward his last that I was watching with liim one night. At midnight he should have taken his medicine ; but he was sleeping so quietly I let him lie a half- hour longer. "Father! it is time for medicine again." "Yes." " Will you not get up and take it now?" " Yes, when T get rested a little.."' It oc- curred to me then that he was failing. " Will you not rise up and take it now?" Father', in his life, was always very prompt ; and even in his sickness, seeming 616 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. to remember lie was delayinor, a little to my surprise he turned over and rose up with the readiness of a child, almost before I was ready to support him. I raised the cup to his lips, but wondered his head dropped for- ward as it did. I asked him if he would not take it, and he roused up enough to swallow a jiart of it. AVhen asked to take the rest. I discovered he had fainted. I laid him back on his pillow and called loudly lor mother. Before she came I saw he was gasping with the strangulation we had feared. I shall never forget the imploring look for help, nor shall I ever forget to be careful in giving merlicine to a very weak patient. She turned him on his side, rubbed his throat, and the liquid passed down, but my heart was beating so it shook my very body to think 1 had, by my want of skill, come so near hastening his approaching end. He assured me, with a bright, pleas- ant look, that no harm was done, and dropped off again into his accustomed slumber. There seemed to be a providence in this experience, after all. Two days afterward, when I hastened to his bedside, I found he was lying on his back and gasping for breath, something as he did that night. He was dying, but the doctor and fviends thought it" Avas his easiest position. I could not think so. and earnestly entreated that he might be turned on his side. I have inher- ited from him a tendency to throat troubles, and it seemed to me I knew better than any one how he could breathe his last easiest.. The friends, out of kindness, had been giv- ing him a stimulus when he was unable to swallow it, and it was producing the same symptoms that so impressed themselves on my mind the night before. Fortunately he had strength to vomit it up, and then he felt much revived. I am thus particular in these little details, because I feel very anxious we should all learn to care for the sick and dying in such a way as to alleviate pain and suffering all we possibly can. Al- though he revived enough to speak, his breath soon became again obstructed, and at my earnest solicitation we turned him on his side, even at the risk of hastening his death by so doin^. To my great relief, the obstruction to his breathing then settled down to one side, so that he drew each breath with such ease that he sank away peacefully, and apparently almost without pain. I will mention here, that for many years I have been in the habit of calling to see my parents, on my way* home from our Ablieyville mission Sunday-school, every Sabbath afternoon. Well, after the labors of the school I am invariably in a happy mood, and had often sung new hymns we had learned, to my mother. I do not know that father often said much about them, but mother always liked to have me sing. One day, during father's early sickness, he ex- pressed a wish to see me. and have me sing some of those hymns. There may be others in the world besides my father and mother who like to hear me sing. I cannot remem- ber now ever having heard of any, but I as- sure you it gave me a thrill of pleasure to know I could in this way make his sick bed pleasanter. Well, on this night when his breath was growing shorter and shorter, and we could not catch any further sign of recognition, I felt imprepsed to sing a little hymn that I found once or twice before seemed to give comfort to those near to death. It is this :— I know not tlie hour when m.y Lord will come, To take me away to his own dear home; But I know that his presence will lighten the prioom, And that will be glor j- for me, CiiO.— And that will he priory for me. Oh, that will be Klcry to'" me. But I know tliat his presence will lighten tl-.e gloom, And that will be glory for me. I know not the song that the angels sing, I know not the sound of the harps' glad ring; Hut I know there'll be mention of .lesus our king, And that will be musie for me. t'HO— And that will be mu.sie for me, Oh, that will be musie for me. But I know there'll be mention of Jesus our king, A)id that will be musie for me. I know not tlic fnrni of my mansion fair, 1 know not the name that 1 then shall bear; But 1 know tliat my S;iyior will welcome me there, And that will he hu;vyen for me. Clio.— And that will he heaven for me, t)h, that will be heaven for me; I'.ut I know that my Savior will welcome mc there. And that will be heaven forme. I may be mistaken, but it seemed to me, by the movement of the mouth and eyelids, that he heard. A few years ago death was but a fearful dread to me. I avoided funerals and sick- ness all I could consistently. How changed is it all now ! I held my father's hand while he approached the border line of the other world, with no dreary forebodings ; for I knew that a Father in heaven was watching lovingly over all that little circle gathered around that bed of death. Had we not the assurance that we Avere of more value to him than many sparrows V That great love above bound us all together, and there Avas no need that we should " be troubled, or afraid."' In one sense. I was happy, because I knew he liked to have me near liim, and I felt that 1 had been able to make his last moments a little easier. His breath grew shorter and linally stopped. After an mter- v-il, came another. Still longer, and another still. After a third interval, came a slight movement and a knitting-up of the muscles aiound the nostrils — the death pang, as the soul was torn from the body, as it "seemed, and then all suffering and sorrow were over. In an instant the movement expressive of pain Avas gone, and his face had the expres- sion of a child sleeping in peace. Father Avas gone! The heart that had beaten only in kindness for rne since 1 first opened my eyes on this broad earth was ' stilled for ever. _No skill of man, not even all the power of the universe together, could bring back one more beat of ihe pulse we had felt so often. Father is dead 1 Alone in the Avorld should Ave be indeed, Avere it not for God's great love at such a time. How soon memory began going back ! Almost the first I can remember of him Avas the toy wagons and sleds he used to make brother and I ; then I remember how he used to cany me. and take pains to shoAV and explain every thing to me in my child- hood days. Step by step memory carries me back to "the time Avhen, as I grew older, he took so much pains to afford me an oppor- tunity of getting au education ; I never saw it before ; but there, side by side Avith his dead body, memory began to bring it out 18S1 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 617 with wonderful distinctness. When I was eighteen I wanted just a little more money to buy an outfit of electrical apparatus, that I might go out lecturing. Money was not very plenty then with him, and I debated quite a while as to whether he would think it best to give nie the am.ount. Although it took about all he had, he took it out of his pocket and handed it me almost as soon as I explained what it was wanted for. llecently he had been growing old and feeble. 1 have sometimes wondered of late 10 see him ''uptown" so often. The farm is 2* miles from us. Well, Sunday afternoon I was feeling a great longing to see him, although he had not been dead quite 24 hours. Eliza, who keeps the " counter store," had dropped in to see us. When I spoke of the longing I felt, and re- gretted I had not improved the time more in going down to the farm to see them oftener, she remaiked that he used, almost always, to ask, as he came into the store, — " Do you know where Amos is at work to- day V" When told, he would add,— "Do you know whether he is very busy or not?" I knew he often came up where I write, and after a word or two went back again. Sometimes I would go down with him, and we would w'alk over the grounds looking at the honey-plants, etc. Sometimes I showed him our new^ machinery, ihe new goods in the counter store, but I did not think he cared so much for these little attentions ; neither did I think it would ever come up before me as it does now. What would 1 give — oh what would I give ! if I had those days to live over again V Is it possible I shall awake and liud that he is down on the farm still, where his eyes may be gladdened by the sight of his grown-up boy ? Dear reader, it is no dream. The time is passed, and he is now in his grave ; but listen, and I will tell you of the message God has given mo to take to you. Your father, perhaps, is still living. Mine can not be recalled ; but yours may still be cheered and. made liappy. Go to him now, even though it be night, and after dark; carry to him this chapter in Our Homes, and ask him if it be not a message sent from God. God, in his love and mercy, has given me this experience, that I may speak a w^ord for these friends of ours in their second childhood. You little know how they lean on you, and you little know how they feel even a little thoughtlessness on your part. Do you know there is only one among the ten commandments that has a promise with it V — Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in tho land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.— Ex. 30:l:i. My wife lost her father only a few^ years ago. Said she to me one day, — "Amos, while your parents live, do not neglect them. Let your Abbeyville school go ; let your work in the infirmary go, if somethiiig must be neglected; but do not neglect your parents in their old age. If you do, you will sometime repent it most keenly." 1 took her advice, and you can hardly think how I thank God now for that advice. I have been with them almost every Sunday afternoon, for an hour or two, for years back ; and yet how I do wish I had "gone down oftener on week days, and been out - around the farm more with father about his work. About the last work he did was to dig his potatoes, and he got very tired doing it. Why did I not leave my work here and. go and help him just a little while V 'i'he recollection of having done even that would be worth more to me now Uvau all that the wealth of this world could pile u)). It was not help he needed, for a boy could have been hired for a very small sum, but it was companionship and sympathy. Through sorrow and aflliction has God pointed out this lesson. Now, the lesson does not end here. Fa- ther is dead, but mother still lives ; my wife lives; my children, my shopmates. You, my friends, still live, and it is in my powei- to give you some of that companionship and sympathy of which God has been showing me. I started up street yesterday. A little ahead of me was a child with two pretty big bundles. I can hasten up and carry one, and if she dies before I do, I shall be made hap- py by thinking of the little act. To my sur- prise, I found it was my own little girl. Blue Eyes. I took both of her bundles, and. I be- lieve, her little soft hand also in mine. May God be praised for the lesson lie is now teaching me, and one which I probably need- ed so much ! You know that friend Cook, at the college, talked to me of the danger busy men are in. of neglecting their own family circles. Nothing would make me feel this as does the afHictiou of which I have just told you. Do you understand the text, — Whom he loveth he chastenoth, and scourgeth every son whom he rcceivcth? Would it do any hurt, dear friends, if all through life we should think, " Suppose that friend should die before I can ever speak to him again"? One after another of you is going, "^'^ery often I ponder on the hand- writing of some of j'ou after God has cilled you away. Suppose we form a habit of ask- ing ourselves, "Is this just what I would say or write that man, if I thought it likely he would die before I ever have the oppor- tunity of saying more V " Could you look on his face in his coffin, and feel no regret that it had not been left unsaid V Well, this feel- ing has brought a new joy and a new happi- ness. In it I have felt more of God's love, and a purer love to all my friends and rela- tives, y es, I know it is a "belter and a purer love to all humanity. If I hold on to it, it will help me greatly to live in peace with all men. N'eiirer, my God. to thee, nearer to thee: E'en thouf^h it be a cross that raisetli mo. As we were about parting for the night, a neighbor, a most kind old man who had known my father and mother since the time when they first sought their home in the woods of Medina Comity, took her hand at parting and spoke the words of my opening text to-day— "It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good." I at once began wondering where in the Bible I had seen it, and soon remembered it was the words of 618 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Dec. the good old Eli, when Samuel told him of the Lord's reproof. Few I have found in this woild who could say this at once, and through all troubles and trials as they come up. My mot her seems able to do so in a very marked degree, for she is bright, cheerful, and hopeful, even now. Many of the friends say she can not hold out thus long, for it Avould be more than human to do so. I agree with them that it would be more than hn- 7nan, but still I think she will hold out, for she has something more than human to sus- tain her. Not that she has any privilege above the lot of mortals, for Ave all may have it if we will ; nay, we may all have it as a free gift if we will only accept it. Is it not so? It did not seem quite natural for poor father to always have that same bright faith she has. Several days before his death, at a time when we thought he was dying, and while mother was talking to him about going home, he gave her a smile and a look so full of hope and peace that it seemed almost to belong to another world. This look will al- ways be treasured by her; but afterward, when he rallied and seemed better, pain and sickness were with him again, and the bright hopes seemed somewhat to have gone. At this time his pastor visited him, and in his talk asked if the Savior seemed near to him. His reply was, " Sometimes." When near to death, the world, earthly things, and even his poor old body, were almost lost and for- gotten, to such an extent that he hardly felt any pain. When he was better in body, the other world receded, and earthly trials came back. In all that I can recall of my father, I can think of no time when he held back the trutli,even in the slightest degree, out of courtesy, or to avoid hurting anybody's feel- ings, llis greatt st fault M'as, perhaps, in letting the tiuth come out, no matter where it hit; and as he, like all the rest of us, sometimes formed uncharitable or hasty conclusions, this trait of his caused him to give pain, and perhaps make enemies, which a little more charity and mercy might have saved. Knowing this, T was rather glad to hear him speak, through his pain, the sim- ple " sometimes." Few, very few, there be who can always feel the Savior equally near, and who can, through sickness and death, rise above the pains and toils of this mortal body ; and in view of this I turn again to father's favorite chapter, the .03d Psalm, and read, — For ho knoweth our frame; he rcmemboreth that we are dust. In these past Home Papers I have told you of one of the boys whom I called " Fred," and about his conversion and work in the mission Sabbath-schools afterward. As his was a spirit fond of adventure, and almost eager for danger, as it were, he held this same trait to a considerable extent aft- er his conversion. For a time he set ty))e for Gleanings, as you will remember. In his old life lie had been on the railroads, and he seemed to have a longing for that kind of life still. On this account he had been, for tlie past year or two, in their employ, lie had been promoted several times, and quite recently had been quite happy in having en- tire charge of a train of coal cars. He was getting pretty good pay, and as he almost invariably got his train in a little ahead of any of the rest, he would probably soon have been promoted still more. Well, but a very few days have passed since Fred lost his life, while running his train through in the night. An accident happened that threatened to endanger the lives of others, and in trying to save them, especially some new hands lately given into his charge, he was cut to pieces by the cars. You know how one's mind runs back over past events when one you hold dear is suddenly taken away. 1 want to tell you one of these. Fred and 1 had two mission schools started that seemed to promise much good. It was in tlie fall of the year, and we were discussing giving up one, 'because the days were get- ting so short. Fred said it seerbed as if they must not be stopped, either of them. Then let us pray God to raise up some one to keep them going, said I. After a little silence, as we were riding home, said he, — " JNIr. Root, do you think it possible that I might take charge of the Litchfield school?" " I do think it possible, Fred, with God's help, and I have been praying you might so see it." It might have been a day or two afterward that I saw Fred had something on his mind. When it came out it was this: — " Mr Root, I think I could manage all at the school, except the opening prayer. Now, I want you to speak right out plainly. Would it be wrong for one who is not a member of any church, to open a Sunday- school with prayer V " " I do not think it would be wrong, Fred, if you feel in your heart God would approve of your so doing."' As I had argued with him some on the im|)ortanceof uniting with Christian people, and he had seemed to prefer to stand alone, I do not know but that he seemed a little surprised at me. I asked our pastor what he thought of my advice, and he warmly seconded me. Some thought otherwise, of course ; but when I started for prayer-meet- ing Saturday afternoon, to my surprise Fred said he would go with me. 1 was more sur- prised when he said he was going to ask for admission into tlie church. Do you not see how iiod took care of it all? Sunday morn- ing he was praying by himself alone in the factory. He told me he had been asking God to send some one to help him through with his first Sabbath. When he returned I knew by the light in his face that God had been with him ; and he said that when he got to the four corners, near the school- house, he looked up all four of the roads, to see who it was God was going to send to help him ihrough with his school that Sabbath- day. While he was looking, a man on horse- back came in sight, and it proved to be the minister from the center of Litchfield. He explained that it was impressed on his mind particularly, that morning, that he ought, to go and see if his assistance was needed in the mission school he heard was started near his parish. The school built up and pros- pered. Tlie minister mentioned came often, and another good faithful laborer came quite 1881 glea:nings in bee culture. 610 a distance to help, from an opposite direc- tion. I went out to visit the school after a few weeks, and on expressinj? surprise to all turning out with such enthusiasm, this last friend said it was because everybody was touched to see one who had so few early ad- vantages, trying so hiird to bring souls to God. Said he, "Mr. Root, if you come out liere I should not stir a step from home : but I can not see this boy work so hard and go unrewarded." JJo you see, friends y God chooseth tho Avonk things of this earth to con- found the mig-bty.— I. Con. 1:™7. At Christmas time they had a Sabbath- school concert, aud Fred was presented with one of the tinest JJibles in Medina county. In due time a ])rayer-meeting was started in connection with the school, and pretty soon preaching every other Sunday, and then a glorious revival that changed the whole at- mosphere of public sentiment in that neigh- borhood. Several years have passed, but I am told the Sabbath-school is in progress still ; and though Fred is dead and gone, his work and his memory still live. And thoy that bo wise shnll shine as the lu-ightness of the HrmHmeut; and they that turn mnny to ri^'ht- eousues?. as the stars for ever and ever.— Daniel 12:3. I wish also to add an encouraging- word for the Home Papers. They reach many who would seldom see or read any thing tending to the higher or bet- ter life; and when we speak to any one calling their attention to this matter, we know not how long that word m;iy be treasured, and perhaps bring fruit. I was once situated in New England, with everything surrounding me that was pleasant; a line lot and srardea, good cottage house, grapery, etc., which I toolc care of in my leisure hours from the store, and of which I was proud. I was once showing ray garden to an old friend; he looked it all over with pleasure, and as he turned to leave he said, " There is one thing lacking." 1 very well knew what that " one thing " was, and oh how those words haunted meforyearsi lie never knew they liore fruit; but after 10 years and more, when I received the " peace that pa^soth all understanding," how fresh they seemed! So it may be with many of your words. May God give them weight, and send them to those who are ready to receive them. NOKMAN Clakk. Sterling, Whi tesi Jes Co., 111., Aug. !), 1881. Many thanks for your kind and cheering words, friend Clark, and may God guide us all through the year to come as he has through those that are past. GiEAiamcs m bee culture. EDITOR AND FUBLISHUR, MEDINA, O. TERMS: ^l.CO PER YEAR, POSToPAID. FOR CLUBBmO RATES, SEK FIRST PAGE OF READING MATTER. 3VE:X3]I>Z3\r.^^, 3D3E3C3. 1, X801. They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which can not be removed, but abideth for ever.— rsAL.Ml~'5:l. Octtins: Ready for 1082 ! You will never build yourselves up by tearing oth- ers down. A VKRY interesting repoi-t of the season's work came Id from George Grimm just as our last forms were made up. It will appear in the Jan. number. We have now 203 colonies in chaff hi\es, aud 10 of the number are divided by di\'isiou-boards, and con- tain two small colonies. As we are still selling queens to some extent, we shall double up still more. On the 22d of Nov. we received from Charley Bian- concini 25 imported queens, and tound 19 of them In fine order. Some of the lot were In nicer trim than we usually get queens in June or July. Don't you think that is pretty well for " Charlie "? Those who have money deposited with us for bees and queens next season, are not only entitled to the first that are sent out, but also to any decline In prices should there be such. If there be an ad- vance, they are entitled to the ruling rates when the order was made. Tbe man who is always complaining of the world and the treatment he receives, you may set down as a rule, a bad man at heart; but he who has thanks and kind words for everybody, probably feels him- self a sinner with the rest. Even Guiteau complains of his not being used fairly. The first page of the American Bcc-Jounial for Nov. 17 contains much valuable information, col- lected and arranged with considerable care; but had friend Newman explained to his readers in the outset that grape sugar and glucose are two dis- tinctly different articles of commerce. It would have made a much better showing for jour humble ser- vant. We have, during the past season, sold pretty near- ly, if not quite, 1000 lbs. of bees, for which we re- ceived at least $2000. We have also sold 2630 queens, for which we have received probably about S4000, counting imported queens aud all. About 2300 queens were purchased, at a cost of perhaps 82000. As many as, say 300, were lost in shipping, so we have raised some 600 or 700. We close the year with -1189 subscribers, for which I can truly say," Thank you," for it is a much larger number than I anticipated, after the disastrous loss- es of last winter. I do not know how many I shall have next year; but I do know that God is good, and that he will give me all the success and prosperity I deserve. Again I thank him and you too, through whom he has manifested his love to me. 620 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Dec. OUE basswood lumber is now all so well seasoned, that there is rather more danger of the sections breaking, than when it was not so dry; but if you will moisten the bends a little, according- to the printed directions, you need not break one in a hun- dred. Mr. Gray will fold almost any of them drij, but it takes practice to do it. We shall still hold to our offer of a watch for only live subscribers at one dollar each, but we omitted to say, last month, they must all be from one post- office. If you haven't the time, or don't want to be bothered running around after subscribers, just sub- | scribe yourself for live years. Two, at least, have | already got a watch in this waj-, and now they will j have no bother about renewing the first of every ! year for at least " quite a spell." As several of our friends who had occasion to re- turn goods tons by mail have inclosed their letter to us with the goods, we wish to inform all that this is positively foibiddcn by the postal laws. Who- ever conceals a letter in such a package, or ia any kind of printed matter (unless he pays Idler yiontayc on the whole), renders himself liable to a penalty of j $10.00. See Ruling 40t, Jan., 1881, P(Ask(fGuWc. It is ; permissible to write upon such packages the name of the sender, for purposes of identification, but nothing further. We now allow a thrcc-ccnt premium (" heavy," isn't it?) to any one who sends a dollar for Gle.vnikgs, with the postage on the premium, which is to be selected from our three-cent counter. We do it mainly to show you how good an article can be made for the triUing sum of three cents. Weil, if you send the dollar before Jan. 1st, you may have, with the above, any article from the five-cent counter, providing you also remit for postage. Those having a credit with us can renew, and designate the arti- cles wanted, by postal card. None of these offers are for Gleanings clubbed with other papers, or where any other premium is wanted. are met in all kinds of business,which we are obliged to each one bear, it may be right to follow the seeds- men's custom, of being responsible for the cost of the seed, and no more. If I continue to sell seeds I do not know will grow, I hope you will stop trading with me; that's all. FKIEND HILL'S DEVICE. Neighbou Shane was taking his dinner in the lunch-room, and I improved ihe opportunity to "in- terview " him. "Neighbor S., how did friend Hill ccme to send you that sample of his device?" " Why, I wrote and asked him for one, of course." "Asked him for one'? Why, how in the world did you know he hnd such a thing?" "Why, I read about it in Gleanings." And then he went on with his oysters and pic at a rate that re- minded me if I wanted him to tell ans' very long stories, I thould have to " wait a bit." "Why, who in Gleanings ever mentioned friend Hill's device before I did?" "Mr. Langstroth,tobe sure; don't j'ou remember?" Then it came into my mind as clear as could be, and I didn't bother him with another word, but just walked right up stairs and got the book of Glean- ings, and turning to page 320, July No., read,— I will send you. in dur si-Hson, an unpatented device used by Mr. Hill for secniin^r a waim nejit above tlio clustered bees, which answers the end better than any one I have yet seen. Is there a man in all onr nortliern country who can claim equal success with Mr. Hill in-winterintj bees; A friend away up in Maine wishes us to put it to vote about having nothing in Gleanings besides bees. Most of you will remember that it was put to vote a few years ago; well, the overwhelming call to have the Home Papers kept up hasn't subsided yet, for in almost every mail comes "Go on with the Home Papei'S, Brother Hoot, and here is a dollar to j help you along;" while the AOtes against them are so few I could almost caunt all that come in a year on my fingers. I am sorry I can not please even these few; but, my friends, is not a backing of over 4000 strong a pretty good reason for going ahead? If I were going to teach a boy the carpenter and joiner trade, I very likely should commence by tell- ing him honesty is the best policy; but would any- body complain that this had nothing to do with the matter of sawing off boards? The principal part of the rape seed we have sent out this season, for some unknown reason fails to germinate. As soon as complaints began to come in we gave it a test, and found one lot that would not grow at all. Fortunately, the amount we sold was but little; but it has taught us a lesson. If those who bought will notify us, we will willingly send more, or refund the money. It almost seems as if I ought also to pay for time, trouble, loss, and disappointment; but as losses will come, and delaj'S No preventing providence, I shall be at liattle Creek on the earlj' morning train (about 3 o'clock, I am told), on the morning of the 7th. The following is from the A. B. J. :— MICHIGAN BEE-KEEl'.:;;- ASSOCI.\TION. The 1.3th annual meeting of the Michitran State Bee-Keepers' Association will be held in the t'ity Hall at Battle Creek, on Thursday and B'riday, the Sth and 'Jth of December. The time and place nialics it I'onvinicnt for those who wish to attend the annual mi'ctinjr of tlic State Hortii-ultuial Socii'ty, which con- venes at South lla\( II. Ihe lline pievious davs of the same week. The Michit;an Cenlral, fhi(M^;o ,V Cranii Tiunk, Detroit, (hand Haven & Milwaukee, and the ilrand liapids & Indiana Railroads will sell tickets to nienihers at excursion rates. To secure reduced fare, all mu -t have cerlilicates, which can bo furnished bv the J'l-esident, .\ .1. Cook. Lansiuf;:. Mich. Arrange- ments are )Liade with hotels for fare at fioni 80cts., to $1 per day. The meetint; jiromiscs to be the larirest and best ever held. All bee-keepers are cordially invited to be present. Bee-keepers are requested to IjrinK samples of honey, apiiaratus, and ai"ti- cles of interest to the apiaiists The following programme has been airanged ; THrKSPAV FORENOON". •■ Italians bees," S. K. Marsh. " The new bees. " D. A. .Jones. "Shall we contiuue to import queens;" Discussion opened b.v A. B. Weed. .VKTEKXOOX. •' Bees and prrapcs." )l. I). Cutting. " Mistakes of bee-keepers. Dr. E B. Southwick " Honey as food," Dr. .1. H. KelloKg. "Thcliiturc honey market, " T. U. Newman. EVENING. " Ciumbs from the table of the National Convention, " Trcs- ident's address. ■• Adulteraticui," Dr. .1. H. KellogK. " -Vpiarian implements," Hon. A. B. Cheney. FRIDAY FORENOON. " Kearing and selling queens." W. Z. Hutchinson. " Foundation, ' ' James Heddoii. Address, A. I. Hoot. AFTERNOON. "Foul Brood," C. F. Muth. " Extracted honey. " Chas. Dadant. ' Hints." T. F. Bingham. Election of otlicers and reports. KVKNINil "Wintering," O. O. Foppleton, D. .\.. Tones, C. F. Muth, and others. Miscellaneous questions. T. F. Bingham, Sec. .V. .). CooK, Dres. The Nebraska State Bee-Keepers' Association will hold its annual meeting in Ashland, Neb., on the 12ih and i;3th of Jan., 1883. A cordial invitation Is ex- tended to all interested in Bee Culture. Geo. M. Ha wley, Sec. T. S. Vokeokn, Prcs. INDEX TO VOL. IX. Apiary— A good location for a., lo."); a Scottish a., ilius., 179; Moore's two-tiive a., 'SM; Ptielps' a., 337; a visit to Neighbor H 's a., 2,53; Hill's a., 292; a. of 225 cols, in box hives, 453; a 3-eolouj" a., Oil); Bees — B. leaving hive in cold weather, 10, 27; b. and grapes, 7,8, «S,92, 152,528,547; poisoning b.,8; two colonies in a chatr hive, 17; siiugless, IS, 48, 167, 188, 19J, 437; fifteen from one swarm, 27; blowing b. out of hives, 27; bl. and Itals.,28; shipping b. from the South, 2:*; raarkmg hyb. b.,31; brood late in fall, 31; lazy b., 31, 6U3; bl. b. in Italy, 34; covering b. with wire cloth for winter, 35; number of b. f(V one locality, 36; b. not accepting q., 37; doubling up b. in spring, 41; letting b, starve. 41; quarter- blood Itals., 41; in-and-in breeding, 49; what to do for b. with dys., etc., 49, 89; b. killed by lightning, ,')9; poisoning b., (iO, 70; Doolittle's av. profit on b., 70; Cyprians in their native home, lienton, 71; successful b. culture, 72; moving to new place, 74; b. for profit, by Mrs. Cotton, 75; cross b., 83; acci- dental swarm in April, 87; b. under snow, 88; b. from Tahite, 89; brimstoning, 89; Hyatt's objec- tion to Itals., 89; mania for swarming out, 132; selling b., 13i; talking to b., 138; do b. complaint 140; do b. freeze? 141; Langstroih on the Cyp. b., | 165; trigona. 167, 237; apis dor., 168, 219; 324, 389; , shall we give up b.'/ 170; Itals. ahead, 173; Gallup vs. hybrids, 173; how Doolittle doubles in spring and fall, 174; b. in Texas, 178; to get rid of fertile 1 workers, 1><5; moving b. in winter, 187; reviving I frozen b., 19U; Holy-Land b. for wint., 19i; b. absc. i without a queen, 191, 6U7; b. dying for stores in ! wint., 191; plenty of stores for b., 221; Langstroth | on blacks and Ituls., 232, 333; the coming b., 3.8; crossness of dark Itals., 333; some cols, consume more than others, 334; women and b. in Neb., 334; packing b. in Texas, 338, 371; individuality in b., j 338; b. doing well outside of hive in cold weather, I 33*^; what kuled the b.? 353; improvement in b., ' 367; where b. go when robbed, 368; selling b. by the pound, FlauHgan, 369; too many b., 373; new industry in selling b., illus., 374; moving b. \ from cellar in daytime, 285; Itals. in Australia, 286; \ b. swarming without a queen, 290; b. sw. in Mich. May 12th, 292; in III. before May 10th, 293; b. pull- ing each other, 293; burying b., 296; Cyprians in i winter, 308; Langstroth on the probable cause of i loss iHSt winter, 319; b. at fairs, 323; Doolittle on I killing b., ;!31; robbed b. going with robbers, 335, i 348, 402; abnormal b., 335; b. stinging their own ' members, 341, 376; b. from Texas, 343; to manage , runaways, 344; covering b. with hay, 345; b. that won't work in upper story, 316; Itals. on sorghum ^ mills, 346; b. on trees in Texas, 3i7; blacks and Itals. in winter, 347; black Itals, 348; abs. with q. \ in Minn., 348; raising b. in the house, 348; newsw. i abs., 349; b. coming to an apiary, 349; black b. for | winter, 350; less than 1 lb. July 4th, 352; $2 per lb., 360, 390; ship, by pound, 360; too much smoke for b., 373; Holy-Land b., 374; raising b. in green- house, 380; Cyprians in Mo., 384,496; disturbing in wint., 385; b. of India, 386; why did they die? 393; can b. extract sting? 394; b. going 3 miles to pre- pare hive, 395; b. in open air, 395; b. of Italy, 395; getting b. under ditJieulties, 396; a plea for blacks, 398; blue b., 399; hatching brood without b., 399; hiving b. on sections only, 399; Hungarian b., 4U0, 453; b. starting queen-cells when they have a q , 400; b. entering hive of own accord, 401; future of Itals., 401; Cyps. and Holy-Land, 402; b. to Oregon, 402; first Itals. west of Miss Kiver, 403; Albinos, 409; dark-banded itals., 434; eating holes in duck, 436; b. cives in Texas, 436, 544, 603; water and sugar for shipping b., 443; b. stinging horses, 44::!; b. in Neb , 443; b. separating, 446; b. on onions, 448; are b. taxable? 449, 5l9; watering-place for b., 451; Cyps. for increase, 453; large swarms, 4.")2: savage b., 454; capabilities of b., 481; success with b. not alway in number of cols., 487; McDaniel's queries about b., 495; ant-lion a friend of b., 498; unsealed br. for new swarms, 499; carrying b. 3 miles, 499; inserting cells when q. is removed, 501; b. to be killed, 517, 518; apis Amer., 525; b. on a rampage, 531; swarming by telephone, 532; decid- ing h. quecnless, 535; b. in caves in Cal., 539; b. enraged by buckwheat, 549, .598; cross b. from imp. q., 552; getting b. from tree, 5.52, 597; yellow b. irom black q., 554; b. killing and balling their queen, 554; queer ways of consuming stores, .556; how far do b. go? ,595; b, as medicine, 598; do b. pay? 599; poisoned b., 602; laying worker b. In same hive with laying q., 603; 3-banded hybrids, 6U5; b. with shriveled wings, 605; b. in Mass., 605; in a chimney, 605; missionary b.. 609; how b, help, 610. Bees, Diseases of— Dys. in Dec 34; candy for dys., 126; borax for dys., 390. Bee Fecd- Candy, Pearce's make, 27; silver-drip syrup, 30; sweet corn, 90; sugar syrup vs. honey, 116; maple sugar, 134, 255, 503; melon juice, 293. Cages — Which is the best c? 28 Peet, 33.59,86, 99,113, 453; wire cl. for c, 35; Viallon's candy for c, 144; Car- penter's imp. on P.eet c, illus., 167; Alley's views, illus., 269; marking c, 360; latest imp. in Peet c, illus., 373; water-bottles for c, 397; water in c, 433; bottle queen-c, 443; small c, .548. Candy— Viallon's c, 375, 383, 500; saved by sugar c, 333, 350; c. for cages, 333, 434; to make without heat, .538; c. of gran, sugar, 567; dif. of feeding c. in winter. 608. Cl»a«- Oak leaves a substitute for c, 190; c. packing, 192, 371,395,316,350,351, 388, 396, 454; c. in Ga., 186; c. cushions and vent., 608. Coiub — Paper c, 85; what to do with c. from which b. have died, 99; why c. get black, 180, 181; c. between up- per and lower stories, 188; care of surplus c, 'SoS, 368; value of old c. for wax, 341; Mcllwain's holder for c, illus., 378; drone e. on tlat-bot. worker fdn., 396; how Miller cares for empty c, 333; with 6800 bees, 361; thick c, for ext., 398; c. tilled with honey instead of pollen, 439; adding c. in building up, 436; Perry's c. cupboard, 503; Minn's c. holder, illus., .539. Deiiartments— Black List, 50. Bee Botany, 11, 93, 333, 373, 391, 455, 510, ,536. Bee Kntomology, 32, 385, 537. Blasted Hopes, 40, 65, 149, 300, 324, 300, 352, 383, 557. Cartoon, 46, 47, 300, 225. Editorials, 48, 97, 09, 152, ,203, 254, 307, 360, 413, 464, 516, 566. Growlery, 16, 169, 403, 441, 486, 530. Humbugs and Swindles, 81, 131, 391, 4,54, ,505. Honey Column, 48, 99, 153, 204, 256, 309, 361, 411, 466, 474, 570, Heads of Grain, 27, 82, 134, 186, 338, 390, 343, 394, 446, 498, 546, ,599. Kind Words, 5, 57, 110, 163, 314, 560, 317, 309, 431, 473, 523. Ladies' Department, 40, 90, 181, 234, 300,351, 383, 436, 483, 559, ,598. Notes and Queries, 41, 90, 143, 193, 243, 296, 349, 401. 453, 505, 558, 609. Reiiorjs Eiict)uraging, 38, 90, 143, 193, 234, .397, 557. Snidery, 169, 373, 351, 455, ,537. Juvenile Department, 78, 143, 180, 2.15, 282, 335, 377, 432, 484, ,537. Lunch Koom, 100, 133. Tobacco. 144, 194, 252, 304, 357, 403, 456, 505, 535, 614. 622 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. Drones- Importance ol' grood d., Tti; rearing d. from woi-kor eggs, 77; what to do with live d., :.';il; d. brood in upper stor3', -10:5; color of d., 447: d. with colored eyes, 448; rearing d. and q. from one mother, 54a, pure d. from Ital. q. mated with black d., 'I'.MJ. Early-Amber Sugar Cane— Clar. with clay, 35; CogswelTs report. :'(i; Awrey's report, 41; Clement's report, 59: in Ni^\.i Scotia, 187; how to start, :.'39. Enemies of Bees— Hylocapa, 33; honey-beetle, 3;.'; mosquito hawk, 3;i, 385; mantis relig., 33; millers, to kill, 37, swallows, S3; pine tyrosbeak, 13.i; implement to destroy moih, 187; toads, 187; asi. miss., 4.55; blue-jays, .507; mason bees, 537; mall. bom.. 537; lady-birds, 550; ants, 553, ()05. Extractors and Extracting — E., 4-frame, 140; another aid for ext., illus., 333; Dadanl's pamphlet on ext., 343; an ex. for loc, 451. Feeders- Washboard f., 87; Hain's, illus., 133; Large's f., 345; the tin-pan, 434; De Worth's, 477; bread-pan f., illus., 478; dlf. with atmos. f., .55(i. Feeding Oecs— F. new swarms, 37; f. comb h., 40; tilling combs with honey for f., 43; f. back ext. honey, 130; early f. to get much honey, 175: Hour f. inside of h., 334; f. in open air, 3!J6, 343; f. candy in spring, 345; f. in July, 378; sugar vs. nat. stores, 394; syrup for b., 397; fruit-can f., 503; comp. value ot sugar and honey, 547; C coffee vs. A., 550; f. flour in fall, 55;^. Foreign Countries— Scotland, 13, .558; Benton from Ceylon, 168; South America, 450. Foul Brood- Foul b., 19, 64; DooHttle's big article. 118; laws of Mich, relative to, 131, 143; in Utah, 396; Harbison's views, 337. Foundation- Sagging of all kinds of f., 17; Bonham's process with f., 36; prepared paper for base of f., 36; to prevent f. sticking, 76; dipped f., 77; Faris f. mach., 86, 370; Foster's mach. lur f., 112, 190; wax vs. wires to prevent sagging, 139, dipping f., 143; f. from rub- ber, 166, 355, 368, 360, 397, 604; Fariier's mach. to fasten f., 381; to fasten f. in frame, 395; soap root for f. rollers, 334; how Jarrett fastens f., 347; in- ventor of f , 351; Hanford's new tool to fasten f., 403; molded f., 504; Dadant on f., trans., 541; f. without wires, 553. Frames — How to wire f., illus., 334; closed top, 391. Grape Sugar- Advantage of g. s , 39, 446; for wint., 377, 181; purity of, 373; sale <.f, 385; in the South. 403; not always deadly, 433, 601. Hives and Fixingrs ~ Seps. of pcrf. metal, 10; I'/i story. 84; best position for ent., 86; mammoth h., 78, 350; bolt )m-bars of thin hoop iron, 85; a queen-rearing h., illus., Ill; Heddon's, illus., 116; painting h., 134; L. frame fp's h, 193; Htddon on box h, 319; bottom-boards of stone, 331; chaff h. vs. Simp, in S. C, 338; Bliss im- plement for wiring frames, 368,- tenement h, 3J4; h. on benches. 396; box h. vs. Simp., 397; chaff h. for wint., 335, 346, 449, 450; starters, full size of honey-boxes. 391; Todd's views on chaff' h, 399; fide-opening h, 400; views on the L. frame, 433, .503, 536; Brooks' single-wallr^d h, 440; washing h, 448; novel chaff' h, 451; cheap ohs. h, 475; honey-boards and chaff, 490; patent h, 498, 538; seps. or not, 518; sawdust to pack h, 533; imp. of div. boards, 541; protected bottom-boards, 593; shall we use seps.'r" 610. Honey- Medicated h, 86; heather-h. in Scotland, 91; bitter h, 91; h. on posts and bushes, Ladd, 133; h. gran, in comb, 136; nrtificial comb, h, 139; to tell source of, 140; h. for sore eves, 1+4; labels for h, 166, 360; making labels stick to tin, 187, 60U; first b. for 1881, 194; tin cans for retailing h, 337; Doolittle on side and top storing, 333; ext. old h, 340; new h, 390; h. from red clover, 391; bleaching h, ,394: h. required for 1 lb. of bees, 343; newly gathered gran, h, 399; lOOU tons of h, 436; marking weight of h, 439,5.59; how to get h, 443; 10,000 lbs. of h., 451; ext. h. sour- ing, 4:>j; h. in Aug., 4.53; h. from corn, 499; thin h. souring, 551; ext. vs. str. h. .556; h. to ship bees by pound, 559; h. in New Brunswick. 5.59: storing anil keeping h, 591; bad h, 39,5. Honey-deiv - Honey-d, origin of, '.12: in the cast, 119; in Oregon. 131,34(1; in South Carolina, :543; in Arkansas, 350; from the clouds. 374; in Tennessee, 450; black h.d, 454; bad, .5.59. Honey-Plants - i Corn, 11, 80, .595, 610, 611; cotton, 11, 5.58; mallows. 13; i mignonnette, 13; Simpson, 13, 63, 344, 355; willow, ; 14,38,91,333, 373, .587; experiments with h.p, Hollen- I bach, 33; tireweed, 36; t)lue thistle, 37, 190; Lane i on red clover, 38; peach-blossoms, 41; cottonwood, ! 41, 85, 86; Spider, 63; Hasty's clovers, 78; alsike ! clover, 36; red clover, 83,344, 391,517; black wil- low, 83; Fontaine's exp. with, 87; alfalfa, 91; Cal. white sage, 93; silver buckw, 93, 399, 489; flaxweed, 93; omons, 117, 176, 396; bo.x-eider, 130, 186, 394; skunk cabbage, 137, 333; portulaca, 139; rape, 140, 141; black-heart, 140; buckwheat in N. Y., 141; wild cucumber, 143; Chinese tea-plant, 144, 338; basket willows, 170; to start seeds, 186; green corn. 189; sugar-cane, 35.5; from Denmark, 373; aspen- tree, 374; sending seedlings by mail, 377; huckle- berry, 334, 438; locust, 343, 503, 504; ilex dahoon, 391; horscmint in Texas, 393; willow roots, 394, 611; rape, 403; basswood, 446; Mollie Heath, 447; Hercules club, 455; pycnanthemum linifol., 455; picnan. pil., 4,55; ascle. tube, 455; plan. Ian., 455; raspberries, 480; Sp. needles, 498; R. M. bee plant, 500; buckwheat, 506, 599; veron. Vir., 510; mentze- lia, 536; loasacesc, .536; blue vervain, 539; big red clover. 540; smartweed, or polyg. persi., 540; wire- weed, 550; rapp, or winter rape, 553; h.p. in Oct. and Nov., 567; oak, 601, 611; lireweed, 606; peas, 611; butter-weed, 606. Introducing^— Int. Itals. among blacks, etc. :>;; Bugg's sug. on i, 38; how Stanley i, 74; I'armelee's mode, 87; Gal- lop's plan, 233; i. a queen to a hive having one, 400; i. by frames of hatching brood, 501; Hooper's new plan, 604. Merrjbaulis— 46, 60, 150, 301, 344, .305, 350, 410, 507, 560, 579. Notes from Banner Apiary— 7, 59, 111, 163, 315, 367, 319,371, 433, 47.5, 535, 687. Pollen— P. in Nov, 30; p and dys, 166, 189, 600; influence of pondys, 3.53; p for brood-rearing. 344; p cause of d*^ath,350; p from timothy. 381; wint. without p, 389; too much, 447, ,503; Ballantine on p. 493; p, Peters' opinion, 5.39; p too close to bees, 558. Propolis- Uses of p, 378. Queens— Q. ejejted in winter, 38; parody on black q, 37; q. reared at dif. seasons, 69; should dollar q. produce bees nine-tenths black'? 83; accepting vir. q, 83; art. and nat. q,83, .593; q. dead before ent., 89; how Cons^r raises q, 134; rearing q. out of season, 163; Cyp. and Holy-Land q, 166; to tell age. 177, 340, .S44; how q. sting each other, 177; fert. fall-reared q in spring, 179; our red-clover q, 189; int. vir. q, 193; drone-layina' q, 341; Alley's mode i tint., 341; clip- ping, 366; Gallup on rearing'), 377; wortliless q, 391; Ital. q. turning black, 391; (j. with laying daughter, 343; marking q, 344; twoq. wint. in one hive, 344; non-layers, 348. 46); art. and nat. swarm- ing q. 373; how Doolittle rears good q, 37.5, 439; trials inreannar q,389; dollar q.in poor season, 395; dif. in q, 3H6; Williams' mode of int.. 398; q. extra- pure, 434, 603; Itals. on red clover, 435; Buchanan on roaring q. 445: two in a c^ll. 447; a q. that stings workers. 448, ,556; (] who.se daughters pro- duce 3-banded workers. 483; sending q far in Aug, 495; three q. in a h've, 498: q. fisfhiing in air. 600; inducing q. to take bridal trip, .500: q-cells vs. queenlessness, ,505; imp»-ovement in appearance, 506; q. that lay non-hatching eggs. 606; laving q. from each nucleus once in 10 days. 537; q. that will sting', 544; caglng'^vir. q, 546; q. Hying 37 miles, 550; 1881 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUBE. 623 two q. in a hive, 554; an uneasy q,555; eood and poor q, 599; new way to send in winter, 599; caged q. dropping eggs, (301. Quceu-Cells - Haj hurst's mode of getting q c, 33. Kainbles— 35, T5, 125, 233, 327, 375, 491, 591. Rf^ports, Various— K. from Medina CO, 9; Easterday's, 11; r on honey- pl'ts, 13; Given's. 16; Jones's, 17; Hurf, Florida, 27; Kathbwn. Mich, 29; Pommerfs r for 1880, 32; Hunt, Mich, 33. 289; Cook, Ct. 32; Garst, Ohio, 33; iiobin- soD,b2; Miller, N. .1., 33; 1 lo. in .lune, Suules. 34; Morniugstar'8 tirst summer, 34; Hummel, c!5; bad r from sugur, 35; Stevens, Ind. 38; hopes not bi,40; Abraham, Wis, 40; White's first 10 years, 64; Mel- len's r on boxes, seps, etc, 66, 119, 171, 383,539; Stanley's storj', 73, Ho; Honghtaling's r, 82; Phil- lips, Ohio, 84; Steele's exp, 85; Gardner, .5650 lbs from 52 cols, 90; Hasty's r for 1880, 115; Garrett's r from La, 119; Miles, Neb, 121; Jsickson's blasted hopes, 123; Bridge'sexp in Cal,124; Freebrtrn, 17,- 000 lbs from 250 cols., 125; Berg, Ind, 130, 400; A B C child, llj7; Sweet's r tor 1880, 138; 36 from 1 in 8 mos, 144; McCrory's blasted r, illus, 149; Neighbor H, 169; Penn's Star apiary, 175; Hagen's story, 177; White's bees in Fla., 184; Weiss, Pa, ISO; Miilone's exp, 190; Coon, Cal, 191, Huyhurst's r, 192; Ballan- tine's r, 192; Our Own Apiary, 210, 29.S, 358, 379, 478; Grimm's r, 217; Townlev's r, 221; Rodney's re- pulse, illus, 225; Lobdell, N. Y., 226; Wllder's r irom Ga, 230; C. C. Miller's r, 231, .534, .557; Calver, Pa, 237; Mrs. Axtell, 241, 340; Langstrolh, 344; Shook, 2.52; Floyd, Mo, 253; Heddon's r, 272; T.J. Cook's talk, 279; hints in regard to making r. 280; Nelson, Kan, 295; Lane's r, 297; Old Curley's r, 300; Wilkins sisters, 300; Burridge, Utah, 327; Smith's r from Pelee Island, 329; Buchanan's exp, 335; Moore's r on art. swarming, 339; Mrs. L. Har- riscm, 339; from Northern N. J..340; L. C. Roofs r, 351; Mrs. Squire's r, 351; Burch's r, 361; Ellis's r, 373; Kaye's r 374; Dimick's r from Fla,381; Brilton's r, 388; Rhodes, Col, 399; Calvert's r from Can, 424; Boombrower's r, 427: Gallup's r from Cal, 435; Case's management of bees, 438; good r from Vt, 447; Bliss on Cal, 449; r from bee-k. of Medina CO, 466: Koff, Col, 483; Harkness, N. Y., 488; Taylor, N.C., 489; Lechler, CiU. 490; Clarke's visit to Jones's bee is- lands, 494; Torrey, Wis, .501; Churchill, Me, .504; Dooliltle's r for 1881, .526; "White's r, 533; Kebey, Col, 548; Sobey, Cal, 5.52; hurrah for Texas! .5.58; Shangle's r, 593; McNeil's, 595; Neuhaus' big r, 597; l.ime Valley ap, .599; Stock's, Cal, 602; good r from rubber plates, 604; Good's r for 1881, 604; Squier, N. Y., 606; Woolver, N. Y., 606; Cox, Ind, 607; O. H. Townsend's r, 608; Williamson's r, .5»7; Atchley's r from Texas, .583; Woodburn's r, .584; Snyder's r, .584. Robbing— To stop r, 83, 143; how Gastinger stops. 123; lookout for r,29.i; r when first set out, 394. Sa\v»( and Otl»er Macliinery— Honey-knives, 8; Faris' fdn. mach, 29; making bar- rels, 30; hardening plaster plates, 33; galv. iron for honey-tools, 34; Adams' h p, 37; planers, 38; scales to reg. daily yield, 39; DeWorth's mandrel, Illus, 42, .5.59; perf. seps, 70, 425; Given's mach. to wire brood frames, illus, 79; windmills, 85; home- made hp, 91; magnets, 91; mach. for 1-piece sec- tions, illus, 9H; new planers, illus, 113; new nail- box, illus, 122, 194; battery swindles, 1.52; type- writers, 186; telephones, 188; a new starter mach, illus, 218; Bliss's sun evap, illus, 220; Given fdu. press, 370; Osborne's mach. for punching frs, illus, 271; winder for Wat. watch, 274, 373; devioe for swarming-box, illus, 276; Gauff's swarrning-box, illus, 330; Kiugsley's foot-power saw, 341; Simp, tool-box, illus, 3.59; Chapman's machine to pierce bars, 479; Hunt's power, illus^ 487; Star saw-set, illus, 545; a handy scraper, 549. Sections- Miller's views, illus, 281; s on all winter, 287, 294, 295, 343,3.50,384, 479, .503; fancy s for winter, 426; tak- ing off s, 446; taking s fro'm bees, 483,492; 1-lb vs. 8-1 b. s, 556. Smokers— The best, 84, 143, 185; Clarke's cold-blast, illug, 323. Spider Plant- To raise S, 62; raised under glass, 114; S p and hum- ming-birds, 452. Sting's— Poison from s, 12; s and rheum, 24, 30,193,500,504; ,554, .594, 604; s in eyelid, 349; death from s, .390; s for sick folks, 473, 477. Swarming— Kleinow's trouble, 15; art. s, 138; one swarm for the Lord, 139. Transferring— Trans, in July, 454; trans, in Oct, 5.55. Ventilation- Relation of V to wint, 285; V in wint, 346,452, 535j upward v, 386, 497, .54S, 5.51; ptiilosophy of v, 593. Wax— Ext. w by steam, 308; moth worms living on pure w, 477, .595; Romeo's queries, 603. IVintering— Chaff for w, 19, 135, 136; Mellen's ideas on w, 24; Hoop's plan, illus, 67; w in a cistern, 75; Thomas' method, 77; wwiih chaff and cellar, 83; Heddon's views. 111!; Grimm's cellar w, 128, 329, 476; views of N. E. B. K. A., 129; cob bran vs. chaff, 135; cotton seed for packing, 143; how to start again after losing all, 164; leaving sections on in winter (see section); Morgan discards cellars, 172; w without protection, 189; outdoor and cellar w, 189; success- ful cellar w. 226, 401; w two cols, in one hive, 239, 601; water for bees in w, 341; cellars ahead, 341, 2!i6; Morrison's mode in Pa, 271; toughness and endurance for w, 279; Sccor's letter on w, 288; chaff vs. other modes, 289, 449; Boardman's suc- cess, 291; forest-leaves for w, 346, 401; Setford's plan, 351; loss of 800 by one man, 382; cellars not always ahead, 397; w without loss, 398; dry brick in w, 398; Christie's views on w, 430; statistics of losses for 1880-'81, 439; F. C. White's mode for w, 4.50; exp. in w, 475; J. W. White's views, 491; Hill's device to cover frames in w, illus, •'>30; Heddon on w, 642; Wakefield's queries,. .546; Smith on w, .590; Grote's ideas, 600; frames of candy for w, ,607; Hayhurst's letter on w, .588; Hill's device, "611: Snyder's views on w, 583. Index to Correspondents. A B C, 5; Abr.aham C, 40; Adams G, 440 r ATM, 266; Alden C J, .549; Alzaida, 3.52; Alcott D, 137; Alley H,24l,269. 4.53, 400; Alger H B, 4.53; Allred H, 296; Amery Eva, 336, 484; Amig A A, 607; Anuis A A, '004; Anderson O J, 377: Anderson L A, 450; Andrews J. 610; Anderson J, 144; Anglemire S, 29,401; Angell 0 H, 394; Armstrong B M, 283; Arwinc E, 5; Astry W, 214; Atchlev E J, 57, 296, 343. 558; Awrev Mrs. H A, 18. 199; Awr'ey F E, 41; Axtell L C, 311; Axtell Sarah J W, 241; Avars J T, 395. Bagshaw R A. 5.58; Baer W, 187, 502; Basset H, .506; Ballentine W, 86, 19i, 493, 512; Ballou C R, 141, 144, 214,603; Baldridge M, 28; Ball J, 252: Banghain Mrs R, 40; Baldwin L H, 296; Baird J. 97: Balch C A, 283; Bailev R H, 139; Bailev A, 194; Bailey G B, 396; Bail- ey S E, 3.50; Bailey J W, 350: Baker J." 352, 395; Bar- gers J, 396; Bannon Julia, 484, ,538; Balcomb T, 544; Baxter J S, .557; Bean C M, 516; Beeton R, 496; Beach L,214; Berwick E, 266; Beal W J, 11, 12, 92, 273, :391, 455,510,536; Beckwith L, 143; Beech J T, 294; Ben- ham A D, 88; Bedell J 13,296,598; Benton F, 72, 168, 219; Bemis L E, 454; Berg E, 136, 243, 398, 401; Bemis J H, HS^, 403, 459; Bethe Mrs F, 214; Bethel H C, 350; Bell F J, 350, 390, 498; Bellemey E, 377: Benson S, 4id ; Bentley & Voung, 4;«; Beliah J P, 472; Berry M, 496; Bishop H T, 243; Bills W C, 370: Bissell L E, 65; Birney W H. 422; Birrell E, 448; Bixby A, 6,5, 349; Blauton O W, 453: Blackman K N, 600; Bliss W W, 88, 221, 252, 297, 334, 351, 449, 556, 009; Boardman H R, 8.S, 278, 291, 296, 3.50; Bonham A F. 20; Bowers J L, 27, 343; Bookwalter J A, 421; Both B, 243; Boombrower F, 429; Bostwick C L, 346; Bourget P A, 4.51; Bowcn HE. 524: Border J. 5.55; Boles T, .'91; Bradford A A, 240.317; Brown M J, 473; Browne R A, 318; Brayton D, 350; Brands J D, 340; Bright Bros, 3.50; Breeee H H C, 86; Briiton R D. 388; Bridges C, 124; Brown J S, 403; Bryan AW, 314; Brooks J M, 441, 532,. 548; Brooks JK, .538; Brush A, 552; Brown J H 559; Brooks CL, 81; Brooks R F, 304; Browney W, 45i; Brumbaugh A J. 296; Brunner C H, 395; Bryner J M. 404; Burrage J H,297; Butman C,o97..524; Burrage G W,328; Buzaid J, 404: Burbank D S, 404. 456; Busy Hee. 382; Butcher T P, 4.54; Bulison C E, 456; Buitch W C, 473; Butler TR, 547; Buchanan S, 404; Buchanan J A, 337. 415; BurmeistcrH, 286; Buger W, 89; BuggJL, 38; Bu- 624 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. zick D B, 143; Burtch W C, 162; Eurch H A. 186, 361, 413, 463, 464; Butler S S, 140, 2.^0; Butler T, 343, 383; Byrne J P, 583. Cadwoll E, 84; Case C A, 5rt2; Capser C, 90; Carpen- ter H F, 167, 403; Carroll B F, 13, 33, 143, 179, 238, 389, 545, S51; Carter J W, 91 ; Callen M M, 400; Carr W, 167, 338; Carlile J S, 431: Cannon L C, 188; Calvert A E, 425; Cary WW, 143; Cainis W, 446, 607; Case N F, 81, 187, 296, 4:i9; Case N, 395; Castello G. 150; Callear C W, 448; Caldwell J V, 194: Calvcr T, 237,473; Canoles MoUie E, 236; Cauthen W S, 338, 546; Canoles C E, 344; Church Ida M, 611; Cheney A W, 90, 318; Chap- man T, 314; Christie E F, ;550, 431; Chapman F B, 45J. 454, 480; Cheney FM. 454; Chase F, 503; Churchill E P. 504; Chapman J, 505; Clark X. 123, 132, 318, 578; Clark A L. 397; Clarke W F. 18. 495; Clark G, 395. 401, 477. 552; Clayton C W, 401: Clarke R E, 537; Clement WP. 60; ClineJ, 341; Cox A, 607; Cook H F, 484; Cook J, 358; Collins W H. 404, 456; Cochran Mrs .1 S, 347; ColeG, 358; Collier J A, 194; Cole J L. 357; Cnb- lentz L H, 149; Cohb L S, 214; Cobb Mrs P P.31; Cogs- well B. 36; Converse J C. 27; Conser J, 134: Cook T J, 279; Conk A J, 22, 23, 123, 529, 537, .567: Cook J, 345; Cook E H. 33; Cooper J D, 5, 37. 342; Coon O E. 191, 447; Corbin S H, 296; Condon M G. 304; Cottrell N E, 352; Coble J. 451 ; Cotton Mrs. 47. 62. 75; Cooper L N, 459; CoatesA, 472; Cogshall W L. 477; Ciillv T, 90; Craycraft F L, 79, 142. 284, ;?78: Crnndall C M, 193; Crompton E, 607: Crowfoot J. 291; Gulp H, 14. Gulp C P, 162: Ciirley Old. 300: Cutchawl .J H, 304, 309; Cut- ting H D, 243; Cy renins F H, 340, 344. IJ>idant C H. 355, 541; Darrah Ada B. 485: Bart J E, 91; Daniels H, 401; Davison A S, 85; Davis H A, 131, 448; Davidson T L. 139, 191; Davies .7, 436; Danloy S A,5a5; Datton FP. 549; Deishcr W K, 89, Ull. ;{99; Denton A G, 201; Delia Torre F, 85; Deaton N. 394; DennesCZ, 58; Deming- Maria, 189; D'-ming (i A, 456, .506; Deardorff A. 193; Devennort 11. 37. 93: Dean N B H. 353; D-^an J E. 194, 549; Dean G W. 343; De Worth W. 43, 435. 477: Dennist.m S L, 343; Derr Eva, 589; Dines C. 378; Dimick F S, .381 ; Dickson H. 4.55. ,516: Disston H & Sons. .545; Dickinson E J: 5.55; Dodd J. 34; Dodd Cr, 163: Douglass E R. 323; Dorman H, .537; Dorman M L. 369; Dorman M C, 391; Donnflly Imogpue. .577: Doolittl'^ G M. 20, 63. 68. 69, 119, 137,174, 183, 194. 217, 333, 268 ;«1. 376, 439. 482. 527, 5-'8; Drano L T. 473; Dunn A M, 28; Dubois M D, 2'<: Duvall T & C, 29; DuttonFP, 214; Duff A FT. 66, 372, 500; Duitt B. 401; Dunbar N, 187; Duncan Sarah E, 382; Duke H R, 422. Karhart P, 4.')6; Earnshaw J, 486: Easterday E S, 11, 242; Eastman H A, 473; Eby .1 H, 456, .519; Eckley Emma, 377; Eddy Bros, 317; Edgmand Eliz. 282, 377; Edwards T, 345; Eilenberger A F, 337. 4.54; FAv I, 266; Ellis W, 373; Emmons E A, 65,456, 47;-!; Endly AV J, 404: Engle J M, 57; Epperson J M, 57; Etherington A L. 438: Experimentalist, .593. Fan L, 317; Faville Mrs C. .524; Fav M iM, 297, Far- ringtnn H P, .547: Favor & Dudley, 557; Ferner A H, 110; Ferris CG. 394; Feasel 1.382; Ferguson W H,472; Fitzgerald 1 G. 2.55; Fiddes A. 401 ; Fischer & Stehle, 610; Fletcher D W, 193. 465; Flanders H F. 318; Flan- agan E T. 110, 131, 190. 270. 342. 379. 5.52: Flnurnov & Foster, i:^6; Fl«wpr W E, 38; Flourv J F, 339; Flovd A. 253; Fleming J W, 343; Folts W. 92; Forbes J. 404; Fontain W S, 87: Fooshe J D. 611 : Footer T, 38; Foote W, 266: Foster O. 113. 333. 397. 594: Fox .1 G. .57, 90; Fox H H. 88; Fradenbur? A A, 14, 115. 189. .5,59; France J M, 41; Francis S, 193: Freeborn S T. 126; Eraser A, 516; FronceCH, 296; French W L, 604; Fullwood C, 287. Oarst .1. 33: Gates G W, 217, 402; G.ardner D. .58. 90. 401: Gauff D K. 3.30; Gale L D, 91 ; Gates S C, 358, 404; Garret M A, 119, 493; Gandv Lillie A, 377: Gastingfr F C, 124; .551; Gaston F E. .5,54; Gallup E. r,-^, 232. 277, 43.5,539; Gardner K. .558; Giilbraith T, 568; Gill MA, 544; Giliett Martha. 377; Giles JS,40i; Gdliland J C, 2I4;Gilmore .1. 369; Given D S. 16, 80: Glazier G E, 225; Good I R, 87, 101. 374. 694; Goble J, 369; Gould J, 451; Grainger E, 58; Griffith A, .391; Graham F. 38; Greer S L, 450. 559; Green P D s, 5: Green E ZT, 41; Gregg .7 .Jr. 81; Gregory H K, 136; Grimm C. 5,59; Grimm G, 129,318,339,349.476; Graves W H, 140, 401; Greeley Mrs C A, 370; Grant M W. 395: Gray J L, 4«S; Grub'b .1 W, 5 6; Greenleaf .7 C. ,5.54; Gregg AV A, .599; Grote C H, 600: Gregory J K, 577; Guild' H M, 84; Gurnee Emma, 378. Hatch C A, 609; HallTS, .534; Hall D S, 137. 422; Hagen H T, 391; Hambley D r. F. .5. 404; Harwond W. 144; Hartwell Mary E, 5;" Hart W S, 28, 238, 453, .537, 580; Haskin G S. 9; Hastv E E, 20, 78. 115; Ha\h\irst E M, 33, 192, 343. 351, 496,589; Hartwell A P, ,57; Har- rison A B, .57; Harrison Lizzie, 181; Harrison Lucin- dd, 80, 143, 181, 234, 237, 270, 337, 339, 350, 378, 385, 403. 486,590,594, 598; Hackman, H S, 143; Harrison Isa- bella, 266; Harrington H B, 169, 253,308; Hardin B M. 283; Hassett 1?, ;}17; Harris J H, 353; Haves L M, 369; Hamilton S T ;599; Hanford E D. 403; Hawley D F, 423; Havelv A\'C, 444; Haight C J. 450; Harkness .7 W, 4.53, 488. 600; Harrison E M, 453; Harris M J, 455; HauckeC, 498; Halbert H A. 499; Heddon J, 13, 73, 117. 178, 220, 273, .393, 444, 482. 543, .585, 611; Herriman G G. 404; Hempleman. A AV, 453; Henderson J H P, 65; Henderson AV P. 139, 318; Higdon, W D, 346, 472; Hinds AV D, 38(!; Hildcman E S, 93: Hintz A J, 402; Hitchcock .7 C. 141; Hilton Mrs J, 531; Hinshaw EJ, 23.5, .506; Hill AV C, 399; Hilton AV T, 374; Hill S, 346; ' Hinsdale J W. 346; H L B.37: H F B, ,565; Hohbs M ; L. 346: Hofstatter L. 30; Hooper J W. 604; Hollen- ; brtchG L, 33. 578; Holmes R E, 135; Hopkins C F, 1538; Hoover A J, 150; HosslerJC, 534; Houghtaling i D. 83. 89; Howell E D. 338. 503, 507; Hovt W, 453; Hoge J L, 347; Hoswell G AV, 401; Hooper G H B, 369; Hor- I ley E. 431; Hodge E T. 401; Holike F, 578. Hub- I bard N. 490: Hubbard G K, 538. .569; Hudson M L, 239; Hughes J S, 10; Hutchinson AV Z (see Notes from I Banner Apiary), and 436, 547; Hunt M H, 33, 389, 487; Hutchinson AV C. 610; Hutchison J D. 91.343, .500, ,506; Hummel A. 35; Hunt B, 489; Humphrey Alice, 300; Hyatt G, 89; Hyne J M, 448. lUinski A X, 4.53; Ingram J P, 603; Ingram W, 430; Isaacs A, 473; Ismel N J, 41; Israel C E, 335. Jackson L B, 133, 185; Jackson G F, ,5.55; Jackson E. 180: Jarrett J E. 335, :347; J D, 391; Jansen T H, 4.53; Jeffrey H C. 377; Jenkius Ad.i. 163; Jewell J E, ;?04; Johnson D H.30; Johnson J AV. 193, 398; Jordan I Mrs A E. 5, 30; Joiner M A, 404; J-5; Moselv E J, 485; Moyer H M, .553. 569; Munsoh Mary A, 90; Mur- ray J W. 557; Muth C F, 143. 4.53; Muth-Rasnmssen W, 34, 431, 534; Murff D L. 189; Murkar R W. 284; MversA S, 14;!, 446; Mvers J H, 448; Myers J, 366, 370. Neil WC, 317. 347; Neads C. 606; Nelson Mabel L, 142,325; Nelson J A, 200, 29.5, 4.54; Neuhaus H, .597; Newell D,40, 294; Newton W C, 41; Newton J A, 234; Newton H F. 341. 290; Newton Lydia A. 281; Neads C, 402; Neighbor H, 424. 527: Newman Melinda, 53S; Newmans M.,519; Newton J T. 559; Nice J F. 400; Nicholas H, 472; Noble J. 65; Northrop G E; 88; Noelting J. 193, 286. 437; Norton W G, 348; Nugent E, 610. O'Bannon G H..57; Olsen J E, 236; Onderdonk G, 3;7; Oren J K. 12. 402. 453, 549; Ormsby V H & L D, 266; Oshun A,,5, ,550, 609; Osborne.! A, 271; Osborne Addie E,485: Ottaway M & W. 189. Painter U S, 398; Parker D G. .5.30; Paddock Z D, 138; Payne B F. 394; Parmerlee W, 37. 87, 140, 499, .5.57; Pars )n8 Mrs E M. 38; Parsons A A, 432, 524; Ptirshnll J, 45; Parmenter W, 516; Palmer F A, 193, .533,543; Pate Mrs W, 4.54; Peck Florence G, 485; Pearce [ D, 37, 451; Perry SC, 144, 194. 503; PerrvG. 5"; PeirceJ H, 278; Penn G W, 143, 175; Peters 1 C. 383; Pettit S. 91, 4.53; Pettit S T, 190; Perkins W C, 381: Peters G B, 387,530; Peters C, 433: Peahr.dy Mrs A L, 483: Phil- lips G, 606; Phlegar HL, 441; Phares GN. 517: Phillips JC. 84. 91; Phelps W G.3:i7: Pike DA, 90, 233; Pitman HF, 472; Pickup E. .503: Platts W. 333; Potter C B. .555: Pomcroy H B .599; Pommert J C, 32; Poppleton no, 292: Pond G H, 3.5, 516; Pond J E. .Jr. 400, 434. .50.5, 533, ,542. .596; Prentice N E, 194; Pond W H, 4:W; Pratt A, 151; Pratt D, .505; Pruden N A, 188,24:3; Purdy T, 193; Pue W H, 473. Quesner O B, 610; Qiiinn R, 314, 334. 403, 610. Kathbun R, 39, 30ii; Raitr W, 179; Rnter A, 140; Rapp J B, 194. 3.50; Randall L H. 317; Ray Lillian, 336; Rainbow J P M, 454; Reynolds W W, 370. Reeves E, 91; Reynolds Bros, 149; Reynolds R, 473; Replogl'- G B, 304, 350; Heed L G, 435: Rhodes R H,343. 399; Rich- ardson M, 81; Rich S, Jr. 369; Riddel G W, 61(1; Higgs JE. 590; Roff. Mrs F S. 483; Ross J W,.554; R'>bertson W S, 41 ; Robinson E A, 151; Robinson^ R. 33. 397: Koh- inson C.T. .57; Robbins R B. 31 : Roop H.6-<; Rose D E, 569; Rosekclly G. 8. 9; Roderick J H. .58.85,369, 404. Rodney R W, 335; Roberts W F, 39:); Robuck J R, 317; Root L C, 3.51: Roddv S P, 3r.8; Ronton A R. 472; Roberts J, 473; Howe M T, 473; Rom^o. 603; Rouse H L. 609; Riiger W, 294; Rutherford S D. 5n4; Rnmford, I B. 5. 46, 198. 397. 473. .5.58, 610; Rue C H. 143; Ruther- ford J. .505; Runnion J F. .5.50; Russell J, 86; Russell P R, Jr, 193, 605; Russell Cora M, 284; Russell W G, 350. Sayles H P. 451; Sawdey A M. .569; Salisbury S W, 38>; Saltford W G, 403; Sawdey Cora J. 235; SaVers H. 441; Salisbury FA. 3.'il; Sandford E, 91; Saunders N A, 214; Salisbury B, 298; Scranton H, 280; Schermer- horn Jennie, 142; Sehwarts D, 214; Schneider A. 93; Schaeffer O W. 325: Selahammah. .57; Set ford E F, 351; Scheidel W H, .537; Secor E, 131; 239; 389. 600; Seavey G H. 383; Seaton F 0,383; Sedgwick W H,.548; Shook D. 253; Sherman Eliza M, 2.56; Shedd W H, 190; Shepard N N, 193; Shane W H. 9; Sherman E. 194; Shaw F R, 10, 2.55; Shaw G D, 169, .554; Shaw H B, 273; Shaw G L. 385 Sheeves G H. 41; Shumaker L M. 4.5, 214; Shucks A,86, 393, ,389: Sberfey S W, 133; ShuU D C, 170; Sherrick I B R, 334; Shul'tz L O, 369; Shull H S, 401 ; Shaye J, 4.50; Shephard T F..5;36; Shoemaker P. 391; Sherwood W S. 396; Sherrty W E. 454; Sharp FP. .5.59: ShangleD. ,594; Shimes Th. 604; Skinner E B. 433; Simons M, 547; Sibley J W,386; Sia-ffins A. 2.35; Sills J, 510; Slauffh Clara. 40; Smith A S, 294. 472, 50ii; Smith E E, 6. 611; Smith H M. 144, 162; Smith Mrs W, 5; SmithDC, 225;Smi'hLS, 135: 234; Smith T, 3.30; Smith H. 141, 4,55. 4,59; Smith A W, 413; Smith W, 404; Smith Claude, .533; Smith C H, ,565; Smith J. .596; Smith CT, 601; Snow L, 91; Snow S P,144: Sneed I R, 334; Snyder B F. 366; Snyder J H. 4.50; Snyder J K, 558. 604. 608; Snyder M H. 584; Soules L S, 34; Sorter GW, 397; South wick E B, 503, 536; Sobey E G, 553; SpauldingWM, ,394; Spencer O O, ,565; Spcrry Mari- etta, 377; Sperry D, 401; Spencer Anna, 180. 336; Spencer V O, 553; Sqin're A H, 397, 606; Squire Mrs T M, 3.53, 5,59; Steele W H. 611; Stanley G W. 464; Stan- Icy T C, 75, 115; Stehle R, i'.U, 5:i8; Staples 1, 35; Storz G A. .500; Stevens M C, 38; Stengcrl'S, .505; Stltes G W, 97, 188, 393, 49,s, .59:i: Stiles W L, 163, 371: Steele D F, 85; Stowell Mrs M C. 297: Street S A. 41; Stearns Eugenie. 335; Stringe DC, 91. .5riO: Steele N F, 369; Stover E. 135; Stevenson I E. 401; St. Martz W. 189; Stemmons J T. .5:.>4: Sieddom J PC. 300; Steele D F, 5.57; Stehle R. 339; Stewart W H, 601; Stanger L B, 390; Stocks D, (;02; Stoner Jennie E, ,5S9; Summe G, 37; Swarihout J P, 296; Swan M C, 57, 214, 266: Sweet D O, 338, 398. TarrE. 36;TaberMF. .501, 608; Tadlock JS, 548; Taylor J G, 255; Taylor J J. 442; Taylor R C. 84. 318, 323, 489; Teagiie D B, 200; Teats R M, 4.56; Terris Mary A, 189; Tennant J R, .506; Terry W B, 137; Terry M, 609; Thomson Mrs R, 343; Thorn G. 4.53; Thornburff J H.:.'00, 318; Thomson M L, 304; Thomas E A. 77, 126. 366; Thoinns R J, ,534; Thomson J U, 473; Thompson G W, 559; ThwingC B. 4,55, 601; Tigges A, 353; Ti(>knorF A, 297; Timmerman F, 596; Townsend 0 H, 333; T.idd M i, 399. tJOS; Townsend J E, 135; TownleyJ H, 331; TobinC,3r)(l; Torrev DM. 501; Todd JE, .534; Traylor J W. 91, 241. 433.544; Trussel W R, 144, 194; Treat G M, 314, 304; Tracy W, 597; Train H V. 330. 396, 4.54; True W, 403; Turner W h; 5; Turner J B, 65; TurnhiimTR, 41; Tuttle Julia R. 335: Tun- niclifTe E, 433; Tweedy D H, 433; Tygard J R, 318. TJnderhill D C, 394; Underbill B S, 431; Urich V D, 83; Utify Loretta, 433; Utter J W, 503. VanD.irn J W, 11; Vankirk L, 39; Van Zandt 1 L, (iOl, 609; VanAuken W. 143; Valentine S, 344, 409; Vankirk L W, 350. 373, 4.53, .505; Viallon P L, 276, 383 535.5:31; Vincents, 604. Waddell G H, 5, 40; Walcott Jennie, 3.34; Warner L, 37. 41, .599; Warner R G, 366. 577: Wardell F J, 90, :?70: 403; Warstler H L, 392; Waleher J E, 394; Watt J P. 396. 549; Waterhou^^e C, 317: Waketield W, 348, .546; Washburn A, :i70; Wallace T G, 403; Ward H.403; Watf^rson C C. 433; Wakeman N. 181; Wallace E M, 455; Walker J 1} A. .534; Ward T D, 603; Wagner Em- ma, 5S9; Webster WT, .5,58; Wet.ster D G, 4.55, 523; AVebster Jennie,3S4; AVf myss W P,:!35; AVecd A n.:31, 143; Werner J D. 485; Welch C, 143; W^irRM, 300; Weis'5 H L, l.'^O; Werner Glara E, 538; Wehrman H, 609; White Anna A, -.'.^4: Wbite J H, 185; White J D, 193; White F C, 37, 450; White J W. 65, 493,540; White D W. 403; White D. 449; Whit beck T L, 449; Wbite H W, 45:3. 5:34; Whitman W R, 8;3. 3.5,5, 292; WhitsittH, 149; White J A. 506; Wheat H L, 550; Williams T, 398; Williams WT, :31S: Williams M L. 288; Williams Emm;i, 283; Wilkins Lucv A, 300; Wilder P N, 22, 2:31, 317, .5.58, 610; Wilder Ellen C. 180; AVjlkin R, 8, 343, ;349. ,3.50. 533, 580; Wilmarth A W, 349; Willi* G A, 117; Wiltse J. 497. 540; Wilson W W, 127. 163. 243; Williamson G W, 5.87; Windisch F G, 393; Willitts O W, 460; Winslow A A. 300: Witt W C, 4,56; Wininger W. 346; WitHeld W. 433; Wickersbam M S. 370, 395; Williams M E, .5,58; Williams G F, 433; Williams C F, 4.53; Willis A D, .501; Williamson A 0, 5.51; Willows A G, 608; Wier Isabella, 589; Wolf G W, 343: Wolfer M H, 10; Wood N L. 345; Wood C A, 394; Wood J S, .373; WoolverCM. 606; Wondside E L, 43; Wood burn J S, 584; Wort h L D, 1.31 ; Worth NeUie, .589; Wriffht C D, 342, 517; Wright F M, 447; Wright G A, 83, 304; Wright F L. 170, 3S4. 4S0. (JIO: Wriffht W G, 3,50; Wright W H, 577; W F R, :J05; W R AV, 303, W W L, 96. X Y Z, 199, 347. 355.451, 460. Vcrk M D, 499; Yoder (i J. 391; Y-'oder C J. 138; Yoder S P, ]:i3, 1:34: Young S, 6.5,214; Young G W, 431; Young W W, 369; Young W A, 433; Young W M, 440, .538. List of Illustiatioiis. Bliss Sun Evaporator. 330. 2?A; Cartoon, 149. 200, 335; Cage. Carpenter's. 168; Cage. Alley's, 369; Cage, Peet's improved, ;37'v: Comb-cupboard, Perry's. 603; Comb-holder, Mcllwain's, 378; Comb-holder, Minn's, .539; Cutter-head, 98; Clark's starter machijie. 218; Dadant's Can for tmcapplng, 32i; Feeder, Bread- Pan, 478; Feeder, De Worth's, 477; Feeder, Glass- tumbler, 122; Given's Frame-wiring machine, 79, 80; Heddon's hive. 116; Hill's Device to cover Frames, ri-iO; Machine to perforate Separators, 425; Machine for Sections, 98; Nail-box, Clark's, 122: Osborne'8 Frame-puncher, 271: Phelps' Apiary, 237: Planers, Gem and Pony. 114; Queen-rearing Hive, 111; Roop'8 Hive, 67, 68; Scale's, Chatillon's, 39, 308; Scottish 626 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Dec. Apiary, 179; Simplicity Tool-box, 359; Sections. Mil- ler's plan for folding, 282; Shipping-capps and Fun- nel. 27S; Smoker, Our 5'i-cent, 322; Star Saw-set, 515: Swarming-box. The "Cheese-box." 3'VH S warming- pole, Mcllwaln's, 276; Watch-winder, 274, 373: Water- bury Watch, 569. Index to Advertisers. Allen LD, 520: Allen N H, 205, 360, 312; Alley H, 257, 265. 317. 4U, 410. BHrnc? W F& J, 2d p. of each cover: Bnrber H, 107,160.315.419: Baer E, 204: Baker G W, 4U, 419; Basspft T) S, 419: Beebee E B, 3: Renhnm A D. 4. .56, 108. 160. 213, 310. 362, 367: Binnconcini & Co, 56.108. 1.58, 210. 202. 314: Bishop H T. 263. 315: Bingham &Hether- Ingtnn. 3. 104. 156, 257. 309.362. 414. 421: Bingham C R, 258,310,364: Blvstone C H, 421: Brown H H. 212, 264, 317. 369, 468. .520: Brooks J M & Bros, 20.5, 2.57, 265, 317, 869,420: Brisrht Bros, 108, 160: Brown .T P H, 52, 104. 108: 160, 213. 265, 317, 416, 420. .520. .572, 575:, Bued S D. 109,204: Burch H A & Co, 102, 1.54, 206, 2.58, 309,310, 364: Buchanan J A, 257. €anti«»ld C W, ,52, 104. 108. 1.56, 160. 208. 2.57, 260, 264, 312, 315, 416. 468. .520, .572, 628; Carv W W & Son. 108. 160. 213, 265, 361: Caldwell .T V, 205, 260. 312: Canoles C E. 211: Chapman P B. 367: Cheney A W, 1.59, 213: Clement W P, 5: C'^ggeshull W B. .310, 31.5, .369,420: Crofifat WN, 205: Crnig \V G, 55: Crowfoot I S, 102, 154: Culp H, 3: '^ulley S P, 315. Darlant C, 109, 2.58,310. 364.416. 468: Davidson .7 .T. 212: Deane C H, 620: Dnollttle G M. 205. 213. :J65. 362, 628: Dormnn M L. 4, 55. 107, 1.58, 210, 262, 314, 366, 418, .520, 572, 628: nnuylassO, 108: Dougherty T W, 471: Duvall C D, 20t. 212, 264. 317, 367.431. Kd wards 1,50,575: £1 wood W F, 109, 205: Estey E, 1.59. Faris J, 57, 109,1.59, 213, 471: Fahnestoek A. 1.59: Fischer & Stehle, 204, 211: 316: Flanagan E T. 310. 317, 369: Forncrook J & Co. .52, 102, inS, 16'', 2.57, 414: Foster O, .57,205,211. 213, 309, 316. 369: Fradpnhurg A A. 214. Gastman E A, 159, 263: GillespieMrs l)r..575: Given D S,r)2. 56,109.159,211, 263.362: Goort I K, 109. 161, 212; Graves C A, .575: Green J A, 361, 308: Griffith HL, 315. Harrington HB. 318: 413. 421, 471.. 532: Hasen H F, 367: Harkness .1 W, 414: Hall & .lohnson. 107,1.59, 2.57. 310.421: Hayhurst E M, 109, 160: 213, 265, 361, 4i:3, 420, 471: Harrison EM, 161. 2i2, 264. 316: He[, 433. f CM^»( ^clunin. Under this head -nili be inserted, free of charge, the names of all those having honey to sell, as wijU as those wanting to buy. Please mention how much, what kind, and prices, as I'ar as pos- sible. As a general thing. I would not advise you to send your honey away to be sold on commission. It near home, wnei'e you can look afterit. itis often ,a rei-y good way. By all means, develop your home market. For 2o cents we "can furnish little boards to hang up in your doorvard. with the words. ' ■ Honey for Sale, " neatly painted. If wanted by mail. 10 cents extra for postage. Boards saying ' ' Bees and Queens lor Sale, ' ' £ame p.-ice. CITY MARKETS. Cleveland.— Ho?icj/.— Choice white 1-lb. sections have advanced anotber step. We have been enabled to sell all consignments this month for 21 cts. per lb.; 2-11). section*. 20 cts.; extracted, in 30 to 4" lb. cans, 12 cts.: in 'j barrels, 11 cts. Bees ira.r, 30(3;S2c. These are the prices we sell tor on commission; we do not buy. A. C. Kendel. Cleveland, Ohio, Nov. 31, 18Si. New York.— If«)Ki/.— We quote honey as follows: Best white comb, put up in neat packages, ISgivOc; fair, 1.5(5 17c; dark and buckwheat, 13@14c. We have no large boxes, therefore we don't quote them. Best white extracted hon<-y. 10(5;llc; dark and buck- wheat, 7(580. jBfcsica.r.— Prime yellow, •St@2-ic. H. K. & F. B. Thurber & Co. New York, Nor. 25, 1881. Chicago, Nov. 23. Hiincii.—For extracted honey there is a lively de- mand; but otferings. at prices quoted, are abund- ant. For honcv in the comb, in single-pound sec- tions, the demand is good, many preferring the 1-lb. sections to those larger. Honey in boxes, holding 4 to 12 lbs., is of very slow sale, and at a discount from the regular rate, of 2 to 5c. per Ih. 1 quote prices as follows: AVhite. in comb, 1 and 2 lbs.. IS to 22 c; ex- tracted, white, 9 c: dark, 8, if in small bbls. or kegs. Larse bbls. are at a discount, as they can not be as easily sold or handled. A. H. Nkw.man. Cincinnati. Nov. 23. Jfo?ic.i/.— The demand for extracted honey is very good, and the supplv is fair. It brings readily 8 to 11 c. on arrival. Demand for comb honey is medi- um, to keep pace with the supply. A choice article brings 18 c. in our market on arrival. It retails from 20 to 25 c. per lb. Tirc^iva.r is quoted from 20 to 23 c. C. F. MuTn. Detkoit, Nov. 24. i/o)icf/.— The supply and demand for comb honey are about equal. It iV bringing from is to 20 o. TT'ar, 20 to 25. A. 15. '\^ eed. F^r\ STANDS of Italian Bees for e.xohange for 0\J some in Canada or near. Address 13-ld A. W. SORY, Devall's Bluff, Ark. ^ T^y- .".'^ 3^.^»^