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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15. 



Now that the idea has been broached, I give 

 this information thinking others may wish to 

 adopt the plan, and that my experience may be 

 of benefit to the bee-keeping fraternity. The 

 apiary where I used splints most extensively is 

 now owned by Mr. E. T. Dlvver, of Beulah, 

 Bolivar Co., Miss., who will, no doubt, be will- 

 ing to give any information desired regarding 

 the durability of the splints in frames of nearly 

 200 colonies, that have been used for extracting 

 ten years. I have combs in service in my apia- 

 ry in Massachusetts that were filled with comb 

 foundation upon this plan, and they are in good 

 condition after fifteen years of service. 



Howardsville, Oct. 26. 



[The use of saw-kerfs in the top and bottom 

 bars to receive the splints is an improvement 

 on the Dr. Miller plan; and, by the way. you 

 have ruthlessly taken from the doctor all the 

 credit for the originality of the wood splints in 

 place of wire. But J doubt if you can insert 

 sheets of foundation in brood frames and wood- 

 splint them faster than we can wire and fasten 

 the foundation on the wires. When this latter 

 is done by electricity the work is done about as 

 rapidly as the foundation can be dropped on 

 the wires. 



I can scarcely believe that combs stayed by 

 splints will be as perfect as those held by wires. 

 JSorae years ago we used what we called folded 

 tin bars to support the top- bars of the brood- 

 frames when we wired by the old perpendicular 

 plan. There was always a sort of "'dead fur- 

 row " in the built out comb rightover that bar. 

 It is true, that it was a trifle larger than the 

 splints. But in justice to the doctor I must say 

 that there are no "dead furrows" in the sample 

 wood-splinted comb sent us by Dr. Miller. — Ed.] 



KEPORTS OF THE HONEY CROP AND PRICE DET- 

 RIMENTAL TO THE INTERESTS OF 

 BKE-KEEPERS. 



Mr. Editor:— I do not know that I am right, 

 but it appears to me as if having reports from 

 all parts or the country, of the size of the honey 

 crop, and selling price, works harm to the pro- 

 ducer. Supply and demand in any given local- 

 ity ought to cut some figure in the price. L6ok 

 at Dr. Miller. He has had off years enough to 

 satisfy any reasonable person, and this year 

 reports ten thousand pounds. Suppose his 

 report had been: " Marengo, 111. Short crop. 

 Dr. Miller, 1000 pounds." Another producer, 

 In a favored locality, reading this would con- 

 clude that Marengo would be a good place to 

 ship honey to, and send forthwith a carload. 

 The price that Dr. M. could get for his small 

 crop would be infinitessimal. 



I reported the honey crop at Peoria, 111., as 

 "indifferent." After this there was quite a 

 fall flow of honey up and down the Illinois 

 River, gathered from wild flowers growing on 



lands subject to overflow. Before the frost 

 had destroyed the bloom, and the honey was 

 removed from the hives, our commission houses 

 were filled with honey from farther north. I 

 do not claim this market; but as long as I keep 

 bees I shall sell the product at Peoria, 111. 



It looks like folly to me to ship honey to 

 Chicago, and then have it shipped back to 

 dealers in the same locality where it was pro- 

 duced. Our efforts should be to bring the pro- 

 ducer and consumer as near together as possi- 

 ble. The consumer pays 20 cents per pound for 

 his honey, and the producer gets 10. 



WILLOW-HERB— EPILOBIUM ANGUSTIFOLIUM. 



The botany tells us that this is one of the 

 plants that spring up abundantly everywhere 

 northward, where forests have been newly 

 cleared and the ground burned over. It has a 

 long succession of small pink-purple flowers, 

 growing in corymbs or panicles, terminating 

 the branches. My first acquaintance with this 

 plant was while traveling from St. Johnsbury, 

 Vt., to Lake Memphramagog. Most of the 

 country was uncultivattd. and covered with a 

 small growth of trees. Whenever we came to 

 a" place where the woods had been recently 

 burned over it was growing as thickly as clover 

 in a meadow. The seeds grow in a pod; and 

 when they open they give to the winds great 

 numbers of downy tufted seeds. 



The natives called it fireweed. I brought 

 home some seed and let it loose in the wind of 

 Illinois, but I've never seen a plant from my 

 efforts. It is a great source of honey in Maine. 



When fixing up the bees for winter, and had 

 pried off the slotted honey-boards, I found the 

 space above the frames filled with rich dark 

 honey. I pried off the honey-board, laid it at 

 the entrance, and with a wide chisel removed 

 the honey from the top of the frames on to it, 

 and the bees carried it back into their hives. 

 All the hives are very heavy with stores. 

 Bees are still carrying water, Oct. 26. 



Peoria, 111., Oct. 26. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



[It may be you are right; but the editor of 

 the Dee keeiJers' Review refers to that collec- 

 tion of siaiisiics giving the honey markets of 

 the country as " the most valuable and prac- 

 tical reading that has appeared in the journals 

 for some time." From our private letters we 

 have received a good many words of commen- 

 dation for the same thing.— Ed.] 



PROF. COOK sustained; HONEY NOT POISONOUS. 



At present I stand on the same ground as 

 Prof. Cook. I have taken five bee-journals for 

 years, and I have never seen a i-eport contain- 

 ing conclusive evidence of the existence of 

 poisonous honey, ripened and sealed by the 

 bees. That poison sometimes finds its way into 

 honey is not very surprising, when one sees 

 that in nearly all cases (perhaps all) the honey 

 reported as being poisonous comes from box 

 hives (current September Gleanings, page 



