GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mak. 15. 



nuclei standing in the sun, and not shaded, will 

 have their combs raelt down when there are 

 but few old bees— not enough to ventilate the 

 hive, especially if the entrance is small. We 

 had some very'hot days when it would seem all 

 the bees that could be spared from feeding the 

 brood and ventilating the hive were hanging 

 out on the front, and under the hives. 

 Roseville. 111. Mrs. L. C. Axtell. 



[It is quite possible that you are correct. 

 The colonies affected were not very strong. 

 We will investigate more closely next summer, 

 should the peculiar malady reappear.] 



THOSE IMPROVED HOFFMAN FRAMES PRE- 

 FERRED TO ALL OTHERS. 



I have used some of the improved Hoffman 

 frames (those that have the beveled edge on 

 one side of end bar, and touch in no other 

 place) during the past season. At present I 

 prefer them to all others, and shall put in no 

 others till I see some reason for a change. They 

 are no more troubled with burr- combs than my 

 common thick-top frames. 



Clark A. Montague. 



Archie. Grand Traverse Co., Mich., Feb. 33. 



HONEY ON A STICK, IN INDIA. 



In conversation with Rev. D. H. Drake, who 

 has been nine years a missionary in India, Ma- 

 dras being his headquarters, I learned some in- 

 teresting facts in regard to some honey he found 

 there. The natives brought it in for sale in 

 considerable quantities. It was of a delicate 

 straw color, and of fine flavor, but it was stored 

 on the twigs of trees or bushes about Ig" of an 

 inch in diameter, and the honey which encir- 

 cled the twig was about 2 inches in diameter, 

 and from six to eight inches in length, each 

 stick being apparently a perfect or finished 

 comb. Mr. Drake did not learn any thing in 

 regard to the bees which produced this honey, 

 but it was stored in such a peculiar manner it 

 must have been produced by a different kind 

 of bees from any of ours. This honey was sold 

 in that shape only in the vicinity of its produc- 

 tion. It was at Udagerri Hill, Nellore District, 

 India. It is in Madras Presidency, about 1.50 

 miles N. W. of Madras, at an elevation of 3700 

 feet, and the honey was eaten in May and 

 June. Mr. IJrake thinks that there is no doubt 

 that further information in regard to those bees 

 can be obtained l^y writing to a missionary who 

 is located there, and would be glad to interest 

 himself in the matter if requested to do so. 

 His name is W. R. Manley. and address as 

 above. J- L. Hubuard. 



Battle Creek, Mich., Mar. 3. 



[Honey on a stick is a new thing to us. It 

 seems strange that we have never heard of it 

 before. Is there not some mistake? Will some 

 of our missionary friends in the vicinity please 

 enlighten us? We should like particularly to 

 hear from Mr. Manley. J 



OUK GOVERNMENT DISTILLERIES. 



When any man or company wants to build 

 a distillery, the government furnishes a plan; 

 and when the distillery is ready to start, a gov- 

 ernment official unlocks the door; and when it 

 closes for tlie day. he locks it up; and these 

 locks on the doors and furnaces, and other parts 

 of the distillery, bear tlie letters "U. S.:"^ and 

 without such governmental supervision no dis- 

 tillery can run in the United States; and on 

 every gallon of distilled spirits the government's 

 share is at least four times the cost. Then the 

 government builds warehouses at the expense 

 of the tax-payers, to store the product of these 



distilleries in, to be kept to enhance their cash 

 value. VoLNEY White. 



Findlay's Lake, N. Y., Dec. 33. 



[In our issue for Nov. 1. 1893, page 811. in 

 speaking of government distilleries. I asked the 

 readers of Gle.\nings to set me right if any of 

 the statements 1 had copied in regard to such 

 distilleries were incorrect. A mass of corres- 

 pondence came promptly, saying there was no 

 exaggeration in the matter. Only one letter, 

 however, was received, so far as I remember, 

 saying that it was stated unfairly. This one 

 letter contained the statement, "It is just as 

 fair and just as truthful to say that the govern- 

 ment runs your market-garden." Now, may 

 God help me to avoid getting into any argu- 

 ment or controversy; but there is this differ- 

 ence: The government has never yet even vol- 

 unteered to furnish any plans for the building of 

 our factory or greenhouses. Perhaps if it had, 

 we should not have made so many stupid blun- 

 ders as we have made in years gone by. Nei- 

 ther has any government official ever looked us 

 over, to say nothing about a lock on the doors. 

 We have had liberty the most unlimited, to fix 

 things after our own fancy. A tax-collector 

 has, it is true, looked us over once a year; but 

 he was so very accommodating and easy that 

 I sometimes joked him about it; but he evident- 

 ly had a good opinion of our honesty and integ- 

 rity. Now, the statement in the letter from 

 friend White troubles my mental and spiritual 

 digestion. I was just thinking that it seemed 

 as if I had eaten some green plums, and swal- 

 lowed them, stones and all. I will tell you 

 what makes me feel uneasy. When I looked 

 over that very neat and pretty distillery — that 

 is, if a distillery can be pretty— in Mogadore, 

 Summit Co.. O., only thirty miles from where I 

 sit writing, I was astonished at the beauty of 

 its buildings and its apparatus. I used to be 

 something of a chemist, you know, and I think 

 I can appreciate a handsome chemical labora- 

 tory. The beauty of the buildings, and the 

 general tidiness of the whole affair, made me 

 think at once of the work of some great corpo- 

 ration, not only with plenty of money, but 

 with large experience. The apparatus seemed 

 to have been devised and put up by some com- 

 pany that was acquainted with all modern im- 

 provements and progress in the artof distilling: 

 and it was in a little humble backwoods town 

 too. I am much more at home with nice chem- 

 ical and mechanical apparatus than I am in 

 the realm of politics. I confess that this whole 

 matter of government management and gov- 

 ernment tax is out of my line: and. if you will 

 excuse me. I will say, too, that government dis- 

 tilleries are out of J7?icte jSamweZ's line of busi- 

 ness. I am small, and unlearned in the mat- 

 ter of politics and government; but I am a citi- 

 zen of the United States, and as such I protest. 

 If my influence counts for any thing at all in 

 this great nation of people, I should like to put 

 my name down to a vehem,ent protest against 

 this whole thing. I should just like to see how 

 long a string of names could be got up, to a de- 

 mand that it be stopped. Once more: If friend 

 White and myself have made a mistake, and 

 got the thing wrong: if it is 7i of; true that the 

 United States is showing our people how to 

 build nice distilleries, warehouses, etc., and 

 taking a share of the profits that amounts to 

 four tim,es the first cost of the liquor, then do, 

 for Heaven's sake, tell us what is true. I do 

 know that the beautiful distillery is over there 

 in that little town in an adjoining county. 

 How did it come there? As a tax-payer, I vehe- 

 mently protest against having one copper of the 

 money I pay in taxes being applied to the build- 

 ing up of such industries. 



