poor season for honey here anyhow, but I am satis- Allendale. Ill., Dec. 5, 1881. I guess you were in the wrong pew, friend C., and I suppose you will now keep in the right one. ROCK CANDY AS A REMEDY FOR DYSENTERY, AGAIN. I am a subscriber to GLEANINGS, and sce no communication from this part of Wisconsin. The oldstyle bee-keepers lost all they had last winter. The season was rather poor, so they neglected their bees until cold weather came, then they went to work to pack and house them for winter, rousing them when they ought to leave them alone. I had 18 swarms. I saved 6. Last spring, when I saw them dying, I commenced to feed rock candy, and those that were not too far gone partook and lived. The summer of 1880 was wet, and the honey was too watery, and it soured, causing dysentery. I have 16 swarms now, all in good condition - all Italians, but they are getting rather dark colored. I will get some queens in the spring. I use the Langstroth hive, and don't want any other. I have tried a good many, and all proved good for nothing. I had bees 16 years; but last winter was the worst on bees I ever knew. PROTECTION FROM THE WINDS. I think the northeast winds very injurious to bees; and west winds also. I protect mine with a high-board fence on the west and north, and pack them in chaff boxes. This part of Wisconsin is a good place to keep bees- plenty of forest, and basswood plenty; white clover grows abundantly, wild and tame; a good deal of dairying is done here, and we have large pastures covered with white clover almost all summer. Some buckwheat is raised. RAPE HONEY FOR WINTERING. Not much rape is raised some years. Four years ago there was some a mile from me, and I hope it will not be raised nearer than 20 miles of me again. I had 8 swarms smell strong of rape in the fall; in the spring they smelled like rotten turnips, and the 8 swarms died. JESSE H. ROBERTS. Munn, Manitowoc Co., Wis., Dec. 3, 1881. per on the quilt that covered the frames, and on this was placed loose chaff well pressed down. The entrances, during the coldest weather, were contracted to about one inch by % of an inch. Now for the result: Do you say they all died? No; the first of April, 1881, found them all in pretty good condition, with the loss of but one queen. So much has been said of late in favor of upward ventilation, I have been induced to prepare my bees for winter with a view to testing the two theories; viz., "upward ven lation," and "no upward ventilation." I now have on their summer stands 33 colonies and 6 nuclei. Ten good strong stocks I have left empty, and partly filled boxes on. In all other respects they are well prepared for winter. The rest of my colonies have but little, if any, upward ventilation. I will report their condition next spring. There are but few bees in this neighborhood, outside of my own apiary. Four years ago there were 76 colonies (all blacks) within a mile and a half of me. Now there are but 8 colonies within that distance of me. These 8 are all that have survived the cold and the famine; and they must be mine, or be Italianized, next spring, for I do not want a black drone to take wing within the flight of my virgin queens next year. Last summer I thought I was going to get into Blasted Hopes sure. We had such a drought and such a famine as were never known here before. But finally showers came, and with the showers came flowers; and with the flowers came honey; and I got nearly a thousand pounds when I expected none. M. J. HARRIS. Calhoun, Ill., Dec. 11, 1881. as honey was in the blossoms in the spring, I turned the bees all on to foundation in clean hives, took the comb away and melted it into wax. I boiled the honey, and fed it back to them. I did not wait for the starving process recommended, but set them peared. I put 46 good swarms into winter quarters in cellar Nov. 21. They are nice and dry. I made over 1400 lbs. of honey last season, and started with only 68warms; bought 12 second swarms, cheap; built up to good swarms, so I feel thankful, as my loss might be worse. However, it was a good lesson. GEORGE DUNCAN. This matter of protection from the pre-right to work with success, as none of the disease apvailing winds is a very important one indeed, even if you have the best chaff hives for every colony; for not only do cold winds detract very much from the efficiency of chaff hives; but days when the bees can fly, if the hive is sheltered from the winds, they will regain the alighting-boards when they would not otherwise. They will also often go out and get water for brood-rearing, keeping under the shelter of this fence, or windbreak, when they would otherwise be compelled to stay inside. You will notice, in the picture of our apiary, that we have a close row of evergreens, completely surrounding our apiaries. I have never before heard of the objection to rape you mention. UPWARD VENTILATION NOT ALWAYS A NECESSITY. I went into the winter of 1880 with 26 colonies and two nuclei, all on their summer stands. All were well packed with chaff early, and before cold weather set in. Each colony, by the use of divisionboards, was confined on as few combs as was practicable, and the space outside the division-boards (I use two in each hive) was filled with oat chaff. Upward ventilation was carefully guarded against by spreading smoothly several thicknesses of newspa Embro, Ont., Can., Dec. 6, 1881. The matter of curing foul brood was very fully discussed at the convention, and friend Jones declared salicylic acid a perfect failure with the real virulent foul brood, every time. With the plan you give, however, in connection with the starving process, he says foul brood is little more to be dreaded than the moth-miller we used to hear so much about a few years ago. The starving process, he says, may take as long as 70 hours, when the drummed out bees have filled themselves with new honey. They should be placed in a box covered with wire cloth, and allowed to remain until a few bees begin to fall to the bottom, with the usual signs of starvation. They may then be put on frames of fdn., and be fed the honey, after scalding. The combs containing sealed brood may all be placed in one queenless colony until all the brood hatches; then treat this as the others, and we have really lost nothing but the old combs. The hives and frames must be thoroughly boiled in a large kettle, before being used again. Intense freezing does not kill the germs of foul brood; but thorough boiling always does. BEES IN COLORADO - -135 LBS. TO THE COLONY AND ONE-HALF INCREASE. Some people in Colorado are asking if it will pay to keep bees in Colorado; and as a partial answer I will give my experience for this year. I had, in the spring of 1881, 26 colonies in chaff hives; increased to 39, or one-half, and took 3510 lbs. of honey, being an average per colony, spring count, of 135 lbs., nearly all extracted; 250 lbs. 1-lb. section. I curtailed increase all that was possible during the year. Wife and the children took care of the bees during the honey season. I provided hives, frames, sections, and all bee furnitture to hand-showing also a large field of usefulness and profit as well for our wives and daughters, especially those with lung trouble, as with Mrs. Rhodes, who has received great benefit inhaling the fumes or scent of the hives during the honey season. I use and recommend the chaff hives for this country. Mine are now so strong that it was only last week we could get them below to cover with chaff for the winter. Bees are flying to-day, and carrying in water. We have had snow and cold weather, but it lasted only a few days. Our altitude is between 5000 and 6000 feet, 10 miles from the foot of the "Old Rockies," and 5 miles from Denver, the "Queen City of the Plains." In a part of that country marked on the old maps as the "Great American Desert," we find that bees flourish as in the land of Palestine, which has been described as a land of milk and honey. By the way, I almost forgot to say, that wife wants a Holy-Land queen some time early next season. Now I will close, by saying that we enjoy much your monthly sermon in GLEANINGS, and pray that they may be greatly blessed of God to all who read them. Arvada, Jeff. Co., Col., Dec. 3, 1881. R. H. RпOdes. POLLEN AND WINTERING, AGAIN. As Mr. Heddon says, the wintering problem is getting to be interesting; but how will the innocent bees fare in the hands of the A B C class when our wise ones differ so widely in their advice? One says, upward ventilation; another, crowd the bees on the smallest possible number of combs, and give them ample time to close up all openings; others advise us to give plenty of room, without any protection whatever. What are we, the A B C class, to do with all of this confusion? I think that Mr. Heddon is on the right track. I am confident that pollen is at the bottom of all our troubles in wintering (don't understand me to say, that if we remove all pollen that the bees will winter without further attention), and I think that it is useless for us to leave our bees exposed to the winter blasts for experiment sake; because, if it is an open winter, so that bees can fly once a month, they will winter with or without an abundance of pollen. As we can not tell when we are going to have a hard winter, had we not better prepare for a cold winter every time? I will tell the friends how we can test the pollen theory. At the close of brood-rearing, remove all the combs that contain pollen, and give them combs of honey, if you have them; if not, give them empty combs, and one of neighbor H.'s milk-pans of extracted honey, and they will soon have it in place of the pollen that you removed. By the way, friend Rice will winter his bees this winter as usual. That blackheart field has done for his bees the work that the rest of us should attend to-removed the pollen out of the brood-nest, and filled the place with late brood and blackheart honey the best feed for bees (my opinion) in the world. S. H. LANE. Whitestown, Boone Co., Ind., Dec. 13, 1881. LARGE YIELDS OF HONEY. After reading the report of H. Newhaus, I don't wonder that man in Germany wondered if it rained honey in America. If I had such a wonderful yield as Mr. N., I shouldn't tell of it, for fear you might think I was telling a "whopper." JUNO. La Porte, Iowa, Dec. 7, 1881. Gently, friend Juno. If you will look carefully over the present number, you will note a lot more of astounding yields; and if you read carefully, I think you will find the stamp of truthfulness on all of the statements. We have blasted hopes, tolerable success, very good, and, once in a while, the astonishing. You will also find, by our back volumes, that many who give these large reports now, have, in former seasons, given candid reader will say that the reports we I think any some of the most discouraging. have given have the general stamp of fairness and truthfulness. God does send us the honey at times almost in showers, and very often quite unexpectedly too, and here is the value of these astounding reports, that they may incite us to be in readiness when our turn comes. I am well pleased with my success. My bees are all in chaff, except 2 in two-story hives with cushions on. GEORGE COLE. Freeport, Shelby Co., Ind., Dec. 12, 1881. made the bees that gathered all that honey, Why, friend C., do you mean to say you out of nothing but an extractor, postagestamps, lumber and nails, one queen, sugar, and GLEANINGS? Why I so ínfer, is, you do not debit the apiary with bees at all, but you do credit it with two old stands and eight young ones. Did you not omit to charge the two old stands you started with? In any case, you have done tiptop, and we hope more of our beginners will be able to send in an equally good report. "DOCTORS" WHO DISAGREE, ETC. I like to read GLEANINGS. I have read it now nearly a year, and I read of many ways to keep bees. One says this is the best way; the other, that; and they have all lost about alike. One says they had dysentery, and honey is the cause of it; the other says pollen; another, confinement, etc. Now, they have not proven yet, to my satisfaction, that they have dysentery at all. I know the bees spatter their hives around sometimes, but don't they do that naturally? The reason that I believe so is because, when I was a little boy my father bought a stand of bees, and those bees lived in that hive 30 years or more. I know they spattered their hive all around. Why did they not die out, if that is dysentery? That was a three-story box hive, or a drawer hive; each drawer had its own entrance; the brood-nest was in the middle drawer. They had a passage from the lower to the upper story. A neighbor of mine has had eight for many years, and they act the same way. Why don't they die? His hives have entrances 3 inches deep, and the breadth of the hive open all winter, and they come through strong. He put a few swarms in Langstroth hives, and they died for him; they were not so airy as the box hives. Does not that show that they smother rather than freeze? Another neighbor had five - 4 in a frame hive, and one in box hive; the four frame died; box came through; it had an empty surplus box on top; it sat on a plank two feet from the ground; had large entrance; the wind could blow through the entire hive, and he got two good swarms from it this summer. GEO. FAUSNIGHT. Middle Branch, Stark Co., O., Nov., 1881. Thanks, friend F.; but I do not think you are quite correct in saying they winter all about alike. We have a few men who, we might almost say, never lose in wintering. Our friend George Grimm, for instance, and friend Hill, of Mount Healthy. By looking over our back numbers you will find many more. Dysentery does not always kill bees. If not too severe, they get over it. Again: A few years ago we had losses where there were no traces of dysentery; they just died," and that was about all vou could say about it. Two of our successful neighbors, Shane and Blakeslee, used to laugh at the rest of us about our losses; but they have both had seasons of spring dwindling that have taken at least some of the "conceit " out of them. They winter pretty fairly now; but they don't often brag a great deal about their ability to do so. A BUSINESS OPENING FOR OUR SOUTHERN FRIENDS, SUGGESTED. If this is an open winter I shall take my 3 stands through. My experience has been, that there is no trouble in wintering bees, if the winter is moderate. I think I have found out, that if a man wants to make money by the aale of bees he must go south; then he will have a market north for three years out of five, when the bees in the North are winterkilled. The same with fruits. When peaches are ripe in this climate, the North has been supplied from the South, as we learned two years ago, hundreds of bushels rotting on the ground, and no demand. There, now, what do you think of this essay? G. W. HOUSELL. Bainbridge, Putnam Co., Ind., Nov. 20, 1881. friend H.; but I can not quite agree to the statement, that we here in the North lose our bees in wintering, three times out of five. I admit there is a pretty good demand for bees as often as that, and that there are usually a good many bad losses; but, my friend, we are going to do better. Never mind; bring on the bees from the South; there will always be a good market for them. RUBBER FOUNDATION PLATES. I was anxious to be able to say I could make good work, which I can not exactly say yet; but the season was almost past before I got them, so that we have not had much experience yet. I can at times make perfect sheets, but not uniformly. I have no trouble in getting them off, but the sheets have white blisters in them here and there, mostly in the center, as if it were air-bubbles. I saw some in the sheet sent me. Can it be remedied any way, as they look so badly? LESLIE TAIT. Foveran, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Sept. 27, 1881. It is true, that fdn. made on the rubber plates has not the finish and nice appearance of that made with the rolls, because they compress the wax so as to put a gloss and accurate outline to it; but, my friend, this finish in the hard wax is just what the bees do not like, and you will find they will work out your fdn. with that soft look and jagged outline very much easier than that made on rolls. In fact, the latter is worked clear down like natural comb, because it is virtually wax in the state it is in natural comb, without any of the hardening or compressing. The white blisters you mention do no harm at all for actual work. Shall we sacrifice utility for looks simply? SEEDING ALONG OUR RAILWAYS WITH HONEYPLANTS, ETC. During the past fall there has been thrown up the roadway of a new railroad that passes within a few hundred feet from my apiary. Now, I have availed myself of the opportunity of getting quite a lot of fine bee pasture by sowing the entire roadbed (some hundred feet wide) for a distance of some two miles, in white Dutch clover, sweet clover (melilot), golden honey plant, motherwort, and catnip. As a great part of the roadbed was of loose, fresh earth, the seeds (all mixed together) when sown were covered by the first rain that fell, and much of it is up already. Now, as the land in question would soon have been covered with tall coarse weeds, was it not better to give the seeds of well-known honey-plants the first and best chance to occupy the ground? Of course, it costs something; cuite an item, in fact, to get seeds and time to sow them; but I feel convinced that within reach of the majority of the wide-awake bee-keepers of the U. S., there is enough waste or idle land to give their bees ample stores to gather, if these lands in question were only sown in honeyproducing plants, that would seed themselves from year to year, or become perennial. We bee-keepers, as a class, have not enough faith in the outcome of our business, and consequently our works are few compared with what they ought to be. Let some one in each township decide to do a little, and stick to it, even through repeated failures, and the result will be almost magical in its effects on improved bee culture and the production of honey. Belleville, Ills., Oct, 12, 1881. E. T. FLANAGAN, FROM ONE TO EIGHT IN ONE SEASON. I have written to you several times, and never have told you anything about my bees. Last spring I started in with one hive, mixed with Italians, and I now have eight hives; the old hive swarmed, four times, and three of the new hives swarmed, and are all doing well. I can't work with them myself, but my wife tends to them; that may be the reason they do so well. What do you think? R. T. NORRIS. Bakersfield, Kern Co., Cal., Nov., 1881. Of course it was, friend N.; and your letter has just given me an idea. If we can't get letters enough from the ladies to keep their department going, we will get their husbands to report in regard to their doings, just as you have done. I suppose, of course, none of the husbands will report any of their bad conduct. WHERE TO HAVE THE HONEY-HOUSE, ETC. I started a year ago last spring with one hive of bees; increased to 4, and I wintered them packed with chaff in dry-goods boxes. The four came through in pretty fair condition. I bought 2 swarms this spring, then started with the six; then my report for this summer. I extracted 505 lbs. of basswood, clover, and dandelion honey, and increased to 19 by natural swarming. I use the Adair frames in twostory hives. I sold my honey for 15 cents per lb.; Comb honey sells for 20 and 22c. I packed 15 hives in boxes, and put 4 in the cellar for winter, all in good condition. I have your A B C, and Cook's Manual, and I take GLEANINGS. Would you please answer this question? How far has a house for extracting to be from the hives, or is there any certain distance? WM. A. MURKAR. Aberdour, Bruce Co., Ont., Can., Dec. 7, 1881. thick paper. I know that some other substance would seem to be better for cold weather, but it is very difficult to get any thing that will answer the purpose for the Peet plan of introducing, as the tin slide does. AN A B C SCHOLAR'S TROUBLES. I received of you, through friend N. T. Phelps, about the first of June, one pound of bees and a tested queen. About the 8th of July I divided them, and shortly afterward I discovered my queen (which was a good one at first) laying nothing but drones. I got another queen of you, and removed the old one; in the meantime the bees in the other hive had been trying in vain to raise a queen from drone larworked five or six days to introduce, and finally lost. væ. I then got another queen of you, which I I then got a queen-cell from which they raised a fine-looking queen. In due time she was impregnated, and proved to be purely mated, and very prolific. Before any bees hatched, my two stocks had become very weak, as you may suppose. I got two frames of brood, and about a pound of black bees, which I united with them. As the drought had destroyed about all bloom, I commenced feeding, and the way the queens filled the frames with brood was wonderful. I fed about 30 lbs. of A sugar to the two stocks, and, fearing they had not enough to winter on, I gave the two about 10 lbs. of candy when I put them up for winter. I crowded them on four frames in one hive and five in the other, packing them on their summer stands, and I am in hopes I shall not find myself in Blasted Hopes in the spring. In putting my bees up for winter I had a good opportunity of observing the difference between blacks and Italians in amiability. In one hive, the blacks I had united with my Italians were quite plenty, and It is simply a matter of convenience to their disposition any thing but pleasant; in fact, I the operator, friend M. In our original hexhad to get friend Phelps to help me in preparing agonal apiary, we put the house in the center, as you will see by the ABC; but this them for winter. We thought we would be good was objected to, because the apiarist could subjects for a cartoon - he at one side of the hive not see what was going on, on the other side plying the smoker with all his might, and I at the of the building. Experience has demon-other side getting them in shape for winter. With strated this to be a very important point, especially in swarming-time, and we now have the honey-house at one side, as you will see in the apiary near our factory. In such a case, it is well to have a car or wheelbarrow arranged to carry the combs back and forth. Having the extractor on a car, with a tent over it, is a very good way where the apiary is run for extracted honey alone. You will observe that all these arrangements are very fully discussed in the A B C. The queen received at noon to-day. I opened the cage in the postoffice. They appeared so quiet I was afraid they were dead; and so they were to all appearance. I emptied the contents into my hand, and warmed them by blowing my breath on them, and presently I had the satisfaction of seeing them move. The queen was the first to show signs of life. I took them home in the house; they soon were lively. I certainly would not use the tin slide in winter, as it is too cold. Thanks for promptness. I never received queens in so short time before. JOHN SMITH. the other stock I had no difficulty whatever, the H. H. PEASE. You did just right in feeding them up as you did, friend P., and if you persevere right along on that track, you will come out ahead, and I wish you would just see if my predictions do not come true. You have persevered amid difficulties, instead of letting them "all slide," as many might have done, and you are of the right stripe to make a bee man. HONEY FROM THE OAK. I see on page 601, December GLEANINGS, in answer to a Texas correspondent, you say that honey is not a normal product of the oak-tree, but is produced only by insects, etc. Now I will tell you what I do know about honey from the white-oak tree. In the spring (I can't just recall the exact time), when the little acorns are just shaping, they furnish honey, and sometimes a considerable amount. The spring of 1880 was the first I had notice of it (not Morpeth, Ontario, Can., Dec. 9, 1881. paying much attention to the matter before). I We are now covering the tin slide with was in the timber, and heard a very large humming BEE-KEEPERS' CONVENTIONS. I have been reading the journals very closely, and I notice that there is a great interest being taken in the bee-keepers' conventions throughout the United States. I notice that Michigan has six associations; and if Michigan can have six, it looks as if Indiana could afford to have one; and I think that it would get the bee-keepers acquainted with each other, and enable them to discuss the best method of handling and wintering our little pets, and getting them as strong as possible by the time the honey crop comes. I would like to hear from the rest of the bee-keepers of Indiana and other States, for I think we can have a convention that will be interesting and beneficial to all who attend. Mr. Root, I would like to hear from you on this subject, and would like to know if you will help us all you can in trying to get up this convention. Bee-keepers of Indiana, let us all try to see if we can get this association started, and have a meeting this next spring. Let us hear from all who are interested in the welfare of bees, through GLEANINGS or any other journal. GEORGE W. BAKER. Lewisville, Ind., Dec. 8, 1881. I will gladly do all I can, friend B., consistent with the best interests of our large circle of readers, for I am well convinced you from the bottom of my boots for your prompt way of doing business, not only in shipping without delay, but in always acknowledging receipt of orders. Your style of packing is excellent; not one of the whole 300 pails was injured in transit. If we Kansas City folks get a good crop of honey next year, and do not have our tin-shop started, "John" will have a big stock of pails to make for us. E. M. HAYHURST. P. S.-We (wife, babies, and self) are wonderfully pleased with the little pails. E. M. H. Kansas City, Mo., Dec. 15, 1881. Bee Botany, OR HONEY PLANTS TO BE NAMED. This is Petalostemon macrostachyus. I have had two other species sent in as bee-plants. It is nearly related to the clovers, and several of them are called W. J. BEAL. prairie clovers. Agricultural College, Lansing, Mich., Nov., 1881. Ladies' Department. son, but as the scrap of paper I found it on told no more, I do not know how shall be able to give credit any further. See if it does not sound like her. I that conventions, like the one I have recent-HE following is credited to Mrs. Harrily attended, will be productive of much good. Please bear in mind, that we wish to have these pages filled with matter of general interest to all its readers, as much as possible, and that it would hardly be fair to take much space for any thing of interest to any one special locality. We mean to announce all conventions; but please bear in mind, that for reasons above given, we can not give very much space to each. FROM BLASTED HOPES TO SMILERY. I am not a new subscriber to your magazine; my time ran out last spring, and Ithought my bees were going too. I put 16 swarms into the cellar after a twoweek's zero freeze, and came out in the spring with 9, and felt quite discouraged; but God in his goodness has increased them to 21, and gave us (I should say us instead of me, for my wife is a worker in the apiary with me) 585 lbs. of honey, mostly in 1-lb. sections, and have sold most of it at 17 and 20 cts. per lb. We have missed GLEANINGS very much. Waupaca, Wis., Dec., 1881. J. B. GREEN. FRIEND HAYHURST'S "TIN-PAIL STORY." The consignment of pint pails that you refer to on page 578, Dec. GLEANINGS, was duly received, and they outsell any package I have ever used. The freight bill was $1.81, making the total cost to me $14.56 just $6.44 less than the lowest figures that I can get, in our city of nearly 100,000 inhabitants, for the same article; I begin to think that some of us fellows out here had better start a tin-shop. I thank Bee-keeping, although a laborious employment, demands no great outlay of strength at one time. It embraces the performance of many little items, which require skill and gentleness more than muscle. The hand of woman from nature, habit, and education, has acquired an ease of motion which is agreeable to the sensibilities of bees, and her breath is seldom offensive to their olfactories by reason of tobacco or beer. Women have demonstrated that the making of hives and surplus boxes is no objection, as they have purchased them in the flat, nailed, and painted them. The hiving of swarms is neither more difficult nor dangerous than the washing of windows or milking. The right time to extract honey, or to put on, or take off surplus boxes, requires no more tact or skill to determine than the proper fermentation of bread, or the right temperature of the oven required for baking. She is in her allotted sphere while raising queens and nursing weak colonies, or caring for the honey when off the hive. The most powerful argument in view of the suitableness of bee-keeping for women is this: that it is something she can do at home, and not interfere with her domestic duties. Many women of small means have young children depending upon their exertions for support, and remunerative work to be performed at home brings very little in the market of to-day; for instance, the making of overalls at |