GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1."). 



stricken. In a speech delivered by a noted 

 French apicuiturist we find the following: " If, 

 regarding the food substances, our age has a 

 well-characteri/ed taste, it is certainly the one 

 for alcohol and alcoholic beverages. They have 

 been used and abused to such an extent that the 

 general health is already affected by it; and 

 from the chair of the hygienists as well as from 

 the laboratories of the analysists, competent 

 authorities announce a slow but continual de- 

 generation of our race." Now, any logically in- 

 clined mind should, from such a premise, it 

 seems to me, draw the inference that we had 

 better abstain totally from the use of alcoholic 

 beverages. Not so our orator. He distinguish- 

 es between the driiil<s which have hitherto 

 been consumed and "'the vinous beverages, as 

 well as the delicately flavored and healthful 

 alcohol that can be produced from honey,'* and 

 then he goes on to tell how these are made! 



How the French and Swiss apiculturists cure 

 foul brood by means of formic acid or eucalyp- 

 tus tincture, etc., I have already described— see 

 page 788, 1894. I still remark, that, that in or- 

 der to prevent foul brood, many of them place 

 naphthaline under and about the frames. 



Mr. A. I. Root, in his ABC. has some kind 

 words for the ants, and says that, so far as Ids 

 experience goes, they were never any consider- 

 able bother to his colonies. A certain Swiss 

 bee-keeper met with quite a dift'eient experi- 

 ence. One day he noticed an extraordinary ex- 

 citement about the entrance of a hive. When 

 looking after the thing he observed that quite 

 a number of ants were attacking the bees about 

 the entrance, biting their legs, wings, and bod- 

 ies. The bees, being unable to get rid of their 

 enemies, either Hew off, carrying them along, or 

 dropped down to the ground from the alighting- 

 board, to die there. Boiliug vvater, applied to 

 the ants and to tlieir nest, restored peace. 



There is an instance reported of a mule which 

 fell victim to bees. It was tied to a tree, near 

 an apiary. Unluckily for it, the stand under a 

 hive broke down at this veiy time, and the hive 

 was upset. The bees threw themselves upon 

 the mule, and treated it in such a manner that 

 it was dead before it could be led to the stable. 

 Every thing, however, lias two sides, and the 

 report concludes with the words, "The master 

 consoles himself, because it had become quite 

 vicious." 



The laws of a certain bee-keepers' associa- 

 tion contained the following article: "Meet- 

 ings shall not take place on Sundays." For 

 some reason or other this section was repealed, 

 and only one man found faultwith it, and with- 

 drew. How different the customs of different 

 peoples are! 



In conclusion, let Mr. Gubler, a prominent 

 bee-keeper of the canton of Neuchatel, relate 

 what came to pass at one of his apiaries: 



" Last year a lover of sweets tried to help 

 himself from one of our hives. But he came off 



badly for that. Probably being a novice in the 

 art of robbing a colony, he directed his efforts 

 toward the very worst of our Cyprians, and se- 

 lected a frame from the center of the hive at 

 that I Finding, no doubt, more stings than 

 honey, he was obliged to abandon his prey and 

 run away in a hurry. We found the frame ly- 

 ing at the side of the hive, witn a cupful of 

 frozen bees. Fortunately the queen had re- 

 mained with the colony, which has not suffered 

 much by this nocturnal attack." 

 St. Petersburg, Fla. 



^ I f 



THE EUCALYPTI, OR GUM TREES. 



PKOF. COOK DIHECTOR OF FARMERS' INSTITUTES 

 FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



By Prof. A. J. Cook. 



Dear Editor of Oleanings : — You remember 

 the blue-gums and less common red-gums of 

 Southern California, which are, next to the 

 beautiful peppers, the most conspicuous and 

 vigorous shade-trees of this region. The 

 species of eucalypti are desirable here, for they 

 become large trees in a very brief period (four 

 or five years), and go down to water, so that 

 they are independent of irrigation. There are 

 about one hundred species, many of which are 

 exceedingly beautiful, and so this tree is of no 

 mean importance to the people of this sunset 

 land. Like the acacia, there are many kinds, 

 as rich in their beauty as in their variety, and 

 some, at least, are very valuable as honey- 

 trees. 



Last week, w hile conducting a farmers' in- 

 stitute at the wonderfully beautiful city of 

 Redlands, I was entertained by Mr. A. K. 

 Smiley, who, with his brother, owns " Smiley 

 Heights." This place is a marvelously beauti- 

 ful illustration of what can be accomplished by 

 the art of the skilled landscape-gardener. 

 About eighty species of eucalypti help to form 

 these wondrously varied pictures that charm 

 every one who visits " Smiley Heights." 



I have been surprised, the past two months, 

 to find how much honey my bees have gather- 

 ed every bright warm day in October, Novem- 

 ber, and December, and they are many. The 

 bees have been busy, and have not a little 

 honey. Upon examination I find the chief 

 source of the nectar is a winter-blooming 

 eucalyptus, which Prof. McClotchie, one of 

 our best California botanists, tells me is 

 Eucalyptus lon<jlfolla. The bark of this 

 tree is smooth, and so it is a much pleasanter 

 tree for roadside planting than is the com- 

 mon blue-gum, or -Eitcdtj/ptu-s globulus. The 

 constant peeling of the bark of the latter, 

 which is the most common eucalyptus yet 

 planted in California, makes it untidy, and, in 

 so far, undesirable for roadside planting. The 

 Eucalyptus longifulia has long leaves, which 

 doubtless gives it its name. Indeed, the leaves 



