596 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1. 



all he can. What we need is a good healthy 

 bull to boost the price up. I think the bull 

 could be found in thorough organization. I 

 find that California bee-keepei's do not enter- 



WHAT CAMFOKNIA BEE-KEEPERS NEED. 



tain ideas of exorbitant prices for their prod- 

 uct. Their ideas range between 5 and (5 cents, 

 with a strong leaning, of course, toward the 

 latter, and about 10 cents for comb honey. A 

 uniform price of 5}4 cents this season would 

 have been satisfactory, I think, though some 

 are still holding for the (). That a better order 

 of things will come out of the pre.^cnt chaos is 

 the hope of the Rambler. 



A KHODE ISLANDER'S SUCCESSFUL WAY OF 

 WINTERING. 



HE ARGUES FOR SEALED COVERS. 



The following described method of wintering 

 bees has. in twelve successive years, proved to 

 be the ideal way for this climate. Situated 

 close to the salt water, where the weather is 

 veiy changeable, varying from ten to fifteen de- 

 grees below zero to fifty or sixty above it within 

 a day or two. and severe cold frequently fol- 

 lowed by warm dense fogs, with the moisture 

 condensing on every thing, have proved to be a 

 combination hard to overcome. The fall honey- 

 flow, also, has to be taken into account, as its 

 earliness or lateness and quality all affect the 

 preparations. 



As soon as the supers are removed, the combs 

 are reduced to seven or eight, and the stores are 

 equalized. About Sept. 15th, varying according 

 to the season, a final inspection is made, and 

 the enameled mats are put on for good, not to 

 be disturbed again until the following spring. 

 The bees soon have every thing glued up air- 

 tight, and also have built up under the mats 

 such winter passageways as they want. These 

 latter are easily and quickly removed in the 

 spring, and yield quite a lot of wax. Within a 

 couple of weeks the sawdust packing is put in, 

 using it about three inches thick on sides, ends, 

 and top. Under the hives, leaves are generally 

 pushed, but not always. The hives are single- 

 wall, with outer case for winter, and some 

 are "Falcon" chaff. All have eight-inch en- 

 trances, which are left wide open all winter. 



The non-disturbance of the mats until late 

 spring I find very important. The condition of 

 a colony can be easily told by a glance under 



the combs, and a look at the entrance; and a 

 little listening will frequently do. Of course, 

 the ages of all queens are known. If a colony 

 is running down, little can be done for it until 

 well in the spring, and then it is most profitable 

 to unite it with one of its stronger neighbors — 

 never with anotlier weak one. 



All ways of preparation, with frames varying 

 from 43.2 inches to 30 inches deep, have been 

 thoroughly tried, and the foregoing succeeds 

 every time. Arthur C. Miller. 



Providence, R. I., July 12. 



BEES OF INDIA. 



AN INTERESTING LETTER; MORE ABOUT THAT 

 HONEY ON A STICK. 



A. I. Root: — Some three months ago you 

 printed an account of a new race of bees in 

 India, which made their honey around a stick 

 or twig. I was so much interested in the mat- 

 ter that I wrote to the address given, the Rev. 

 W. R. Manley, who has replied in the interest- 

 ing letter which I inclose for you to make such 

 use of as you think proper. 



Julius Tomlinson. 



Allegan. Mich., July 13. 



[Mr. Mauley's letter is as follows:] 



Mr. Julius r(H;iJi/iS(i)(:- -Yours of April 18, and the 

 newspaper containing some remarks of tlie Rev. 

 D. H. Drake, in reg'ard to our Indian honey-bees, 

 came by hist week's mail. I am sorry that the in- 

 formation I can give you in reply to your questions 

 will have little scientific value, as I am not an 

 entomologist, and have never made any special 

 study of tlie bees of this country. Besides, I am 

 dependent, in part, for the statements 1 shall make, 

 upon information derived from natives wlio liave 

 little idea of scientific distinctions, or of strict ac- 

 curacy in stating what they know; but what I shall 

 give you outside of my own observation is, to the 

 best of my knowledge, reliable. 



There are said to be four distinct varieties of 

 honey-bee in this country, and all of tliem ditterent 

 from the honey-bee of America. My old friend Mr. 

 Drake is wrong, however, in referring ihem e.vclu- 

 sively to UdayMgiri. They exist certainly in other 

 places in tlie Madras Presidency, and doubtless all 

 over India. I'dayagiri honej' has indeed a local 

 I'eputatioii, like Michigan potatoes or Minnesota 

 wheat, but this isdue to purely local circumstances, 

 and not to any |itcnli:irity of v^ariety. 



We used to have a great deal of lioney brouglit to 

 us at Ongole. eighty miles from here, Imt nearly all 

 of it had such a rank taste as to make it unfit for 

 table use. T have also eaten honey produced in the 

 Shevaroy Hills, at an elevation of .5000 feet; but 

 though it was considered very fine by those who 

 lived there, it was far from being as good as the 

 Udayagiri honey. This, also, varies greatly in 

 quality. We bought some not long: since which had 

 a distinctly bitter flavor, from being made, so the 

 native that brought it said, from the flowers of the 

 margosa, a tree the leaf and bark of which have an 

 intensely bitter taste; while on the day your letter 

 arrived we bought some more that was very nice. 

 None of the honey that we get here, however, has 

 quite the taste of the tame honey at liome. There 

 is always more or less of a peculiar flavor that de- 

 tracts a good deal from the quality. 



Tlie kind of hone.v described by Mr. Drake is made 

 by a bee not more "than half the size of the Ameri- 

 can bee. It is usually placed, as he says, around a 

 smsill twig, a single comb in a place, six to eight 

 inches long by two or three in thickness; but that 

 we used to have offered us in Ongola was often 

 attached to a prickly-pear leaf, and we got our 

 mouths filled with cactus thorns before we learned 

 to let such as that alone. I am sorry that I can give 

 you no information in regard to the bee Itself, far- 

 ther than its small size and the fact that its honey 

 is always placed in the open air. Honev of this 

 kind is usually brought in the comb, and is apt to 

 have a good deal of "bee-bread " in it, witli some 

 young bees. The number of bees in a single colony 



