12 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1. 



frost. 3. It flourishes in a drouth. The hotter 

 and dryer the weather, the more abundant the 

 bloom and yield of nectar. One can actually 

 spp the tiny drops of nectar glistening in the 

 moruing sunliglit, at the base of the petals. 

 4. Its immense yield is its winning feature. It 

 grows on low damp marshy places best, but 

 thrives almost anywhere it gets a siart. Once 

 it gets started it is indeed hard to eradicate. 

 We did not get much of a flow from it this year 

 on account of such a rainv season this summer 

 and fall, corn growing J.5 to 16 feet high all over 

 the river bottoms. The vine has clusters of 

 flowers about every ti inches, of about 10 to 

 20 blossoms, the blossoms being of a light-blue 

 color, and very beautiful and fragrant, the 

 aroma filling the atmosphere for miles around. 

 It has seed-pods about an inch in diameter, and 

 about 3 inches long, resembling a pickle. Each 

 seed is furnished with a silk-like tassel; and 

 when the pods burst, the winds carry the seed 

 in all directions. I have leased a 70-acre farm 

 right in the heart of this big honey-producing 

 belt. In this vicinity, every fall, bee-trees are 

 cut by the dozens, and honey gathered by the 

 tubful. Mr. J. J. Cosby, a prominent bee-keep- 

 er, stated that, when he examined my locality 

 in the midst of the honey season, were a thou- 

 sand colonics of bees placed near this locality 

 it would not be overstocked, and he is a prac- 

 tical bee-keeper whose opinion is held very high- 

 ly by all who happen to know him. So much 

 faith has he in the honey flora of this locality 

 thai he has purchased a beautiful piece of 

 ground within half a mile of me. All the above 

 facts are vouched for by such prominent bee- 

 keepers as J. J. Cosby, M. Hessmer, B. Wither- 

 spoon, and Mr. Wheeler. 

 Evansville, Ind., Nov. 23. 



[I have, as stated, before me a fine sample of 

 the dry- weather-vine honey. While it i» beau- 

 tiful in body and color, its flavor being very 

 fine indeed, I do not think it quite up to some 

 alfalfas we have here. Perhaps in time I 

 should like the other better. 



As to that bee-keepers' union, I am sure our 

 readers will unite with me in wishing it all 

 manner of success. We need a good many 

 more such unions, especially in California. Mr. 

 W. is the author of that song. Queen Jeanette. 

 There, you know who she is now. — Ed.] 



EUROPEAN AND OTHER MATTERS. 



THE BEES OP THE CAUCASUS, ETC. 



By Charles Norman. 



In the European bee-papers now and then 

 mention is made of the bees of the Caucasus; 

 but I never could get hold of a description of 

 th^m. Mr. Edward Bertrand satisfies my curi- 

 osity at last, for he describes them in the No- 

 vember number of his Revue Internationale. 

 There are two races of them, a gray one and 

 a yellow one. The gray ones occupy the whdle 



northern and mountainous part of the Caucasus, 

 and extend some south of Tiflis; while the yel- 

 low ones inhabit the province of Erivan and 

 Russian Armenia. 



In the region of Elizabeth pol the two races are 

 mixed. Their color varies in intensity accord- 

 ing to the different regions. The southern va- 

 riety is of a brighter (the French expression is 

 "plus franc") and clearer yellow than the 

 Italians are, while the gray bees are rather 

 clearer than our common bees, and approach 

 in aspect to the Clirniolans a little. Both of 

 the varieties are exceedingly gentle, and can 

 be managed without the use of any smoke. 

 Mr. Bertrand received one of the gray queens 

 from "Mr. M. N. Schawroff, directeur de la 

 Station S^ricole et Apicole" at Tillis. I give 

 you the gentleman's address in French, so that 

 if you or some of your readers would like to 

 communicate with him. a letter with the 

 French address will certainly reach him. 



CKOSSING APIS DOKSATA WITH COMMON BEES. 



Dr. Miller reports in one of his Stray Straws, 

 Nov. 15, that Mr. Vogel, a German bee-keeper, 

 "scouts the idea of crossing Apis dorsata with 

 the common bee; and in a footnote you remark, 

 "Who said l hey could be?" Well, if you lay 

 stress on the word " could," you are fully right; 

 for there is no bee-keeper who says that they can 

 be; but there are some— and none of the minor 

 ones— who most assuredly say that they may 

 be. For instance, your friend Gravenhorst, 

 who devotes nearly three columns of the No- 

 vember number of his Illustricrte Bienenzeit- 

 ung to the subject. He says that Mr. Dathe, 

 at Eystrup, Germany, and Mr. Frank Benton, 

 at Washington, are the only real bee-masters 

 that have observed and studied the said bee; 

 and both of them, he continues, are of opinion 

 that crossing it with Apis melUflca is possible. 

 In GLEANINGS of Dec. ], E. R. R. remarks: 

 " Frank Benton says it is impossible.'" Ex- 

 plain, please. When Mr. Benton returned from 



[I can not at this moment refer to the place; but I 

 think Mr. Benton said somewhere that the idea was 

 absuid. Will Mr. Benton please enlig-liteu us? Mr. 

 Gravenhorst is a bee-keepur wliose opinions I value, 

 therefore I should like to be set right.— Ed.] 



the Ea?t Indies he sent Mr. Gravenhorst about 

 a dozen samples of Apis dorsata, some of them 

 being workers, some drones. The only diS'er- 

 ence from our bees consisted in size and color; 

 they were bees and nothing else; had not the 

 least resemblance to the wasp and the like. 

 The workers are as large as a well-grown after- 

 swarm virgin queen of ours; and as to color, 

 the only obvious difference between them and a 

 genuine Egyptian or a beautiful Italian bee is 

 that their wings show an azure tint or hue. The 

 drones, not only in shape but in size, are like 

 our largest drones. Apis dorsata produces wax 

 in the same way our bees do, and their honey 

 is equally good. That little difference in color 

 is no proof against the possibility of crossing; 

 for can not the black and yellow bees be cross- 



