742 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15. 



winds, the matter is explained. With such a 

 climate, a copious rainfall, and rich soil, it is to 

 be expected that vegetation grows rankly, and 

 so it does over the greater part of the island. 



Among the many varieties of tropical flowers 

 are many that yield honey freely. Chief of 

 these is logwood, from which the dye is extract- 

 ed, is a moderate-sized tree with small com- 

 pound leaves and yellowish-white blossoms that 

 open during the months of March, April, May, 

 and into June. The honey is white, thick, and 

 of a fine delicate flavor, and is first-class. The 

 " sound of the going among the tree-tops " when 

 logwood blooms is one that makes glad the bee- 

 keeper. Lignum-vita?, ebony, mahogany, and 

 all the palm family, are noted honey-yielders, 

 besides a host of vines, shrubs, and plants of 

 humbler growth from which bees gather pollen 

 and some honey. It is impossible for bees to 

 starve unless queenless and weak. There are 

 not very many advanced bee-keepers in the isl- 

 and, and only one queen- breeder. Bees are 

 kept^ iul boxes, gums of ilogs,°'and sections of 

 bamboos.; 



In another letter I will give a further account 

 offbee-keeping in Jamaica, wiih some side- 

 lights on life in this tropic land. 



Ewarton,; Jamaica, Sept. 33. 



[On page 60.3, 1895, I spoke of my visit to the 

 nursery of Mr. H. G. Burnet. Well, I thought 

 he was very nicely situated, and had an exceed- 

 ingly pretty place at Avon Park; but you no- 

 tice what he says in the letter above about 

 Jamaica. I confess his description makes me 

 feel very much like taking a trip to that island; 

 but, oh dear me! it costs a lot of money to go so 

 far, for I made some inquiry when I was in 

 Florida ; and just now it seems a Christian du- 

 ty to be careful about wasting money that is 

 needed in so many directions.— A. I. R.] 



UNFINISHED SECTIONS. 



HOW TO FEED THE HONEY OUT OF THEM. 



By Earl C. Walker. 



For two seasons I have practiced a plan of 

 emptying unfinished sections which has been 

 very satisfactory, and may prove of interest to 

 comb-honey producers. After the honey sea- 

 son has closed I collect all the unfinished sec- 

 tions and place them in empty supers. Then 

 during August and September, when no honey 

 is coming in, I tier them up in the apiary, leav- 

 ing an entrance just large enough for a single 

 bee to pass in. The bees soon find them and 

 carry on the "quiet method of robbing" which 

 has been recommer. sled in Gleanings. Thus 

 the partly filled sections are cleaned up, and at 

 the same time the bees are kept busy and out 

 ot mischief during the dry summer months. 



Another plan of emptying unfinished sections 

 is accomplished thus: At dusk, place the sec- 

 tions in front of any colony which may need 

 feeding, and by morning they will be emptied. 



The super should be stood on end against the 

 alighting-board, so that the bees can readily 

 pass back and forth from the hive to the sec- 

 tions. The sections having been emptied, I 

 store them away in a room free from mice and 

 dust, and in the spring Taylor's method of us- 

 ing drawn combs to secure comb honey is prac- 

 ticed. 



FEEDING AND FEEDERS. 



Walter S. Pouder, in his little booK entitled 

 "Busy Bees and How to Manage Them," gives 

 the best method I have ever heard of. It is as 

 follows: At night tilt the hive back and prop 

 it up with a board; then pour the syrup on the 

 bottom-board, and the next morning the hive 

 can be let down again, as the syrup will have 

 been stored in the comb. Don't be afraid of 

 drowning the bees by pouring the syrup in at 

 the entrance, as they'll use the combs as ladders. 

 To use this method the hives must have been 

 in.use|long enough to be well propolizfd, other- 

 wise there is some danger of the syrup leaking 

 out. L In the fall, when it^is time to feed, I go 

 through the apiary at dusk and prop up all the 

 hives that require feed. n I then go around with 

 an;old cofl'ee-pot of syrup and pour about a gal- 

 lon in each entrance. This I repeat two or 

 three evenings according to the amount of feed- 

 ing to be done. Feeding; used to be the most 

 disageeable and provoking' work about the 

 apiary; but by this method I find it easy. I 

 have'tried feeders regulated by thumb-screws. 

 Mason jars with perforated lids, bread-pans 

 filled with straw,'or covered with cheese-cloth, 

 etc.,'but they are all too-fussy to suit me. The 

 former have a fashion of leaking and letting 

 the;>yrup run out of the' entrance, while the 

 rest are dauby ,°l and; drown the bees. GThe 

 Boardman entrance" feeder has none of these 

 faults, and is the onlv feeder I use when a feed- 

 er is required;^ but Pouder's --method given 

 above is ahead of all. as it costs nothing, saves 

 time, is more cleanly, and does not allow the 

 heat of the cluster to escape as do feeders which 

 are placed above the cluster.^ 



BEE -PARALYSIS. 



Arelthere two^kindscof bee-paralysis ?L I no- 

 ticelbee-keepers do not agree in describing the 

 symptoms. c In Gleanings for July 15," page 

 536, under the head of "Seasonable Questions," 

 a correspondent in his question describes the 

 disease as follows :u "The bees seem to heswol- 

 len up, and have a shaking motion. "c "On 

 opening'; the hive I find many of these bloated 

 shaking bees near the ends of the frames." etc. 

 Doolittle says, "I think there is no doubt that 

 the questioner's bees have what is called bee- 

 paralysis." Now, I have seen several cases of 

 bee- paralysis, and in every case the affected 

 bees were very much emaciated. Quoting from 

 theABCofBee Culture, "The symptoms are 

 a sort of quivering and twitching motion, and 

 finally the bee is so emacio ted it looks like a 



