100 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



I think if they were more widely known, the 

 home markets would be greatly improved, as the 

 packag-e adds nothing to the price of the honey per 

 pound. This is the point with me, as with J. A. 

 Green in his answer, where he says, " The less we 

 have to pay for a package, the more honey we can 

 sell put up in that package." 



Then, a case holding :H) pails or an even 50 pounds 

 is a neat thing to set in a retailer's store, with the 

 little tape ready to hook over a customer's finger. 



THE KEESE BEE-ESCAPE, AND HOW IT SAVES LABOR 

 IN RIDDING BEES FROM EXTRACTING-COMB. 



T met I'rof. Cook at our Farmers' Institute, and 

 surprised him very much by suggesting the use of 

 the Reese bee-escape in taking off cases of extract- 

 ing-combs as well as sections. Now, I can hardly 

 believe that T am the only one who has made this 

 use of the escape, as honey is honey, and why not 

 one kind of a super as well as another. 



I put them on in the afternoon; and the next 

 morning, before breakfast, I can have two or three 

 days' work done (with the aid of a wheelbarrow) in 

 carrjiug iti cases ready to extract. This is where 

 ( he poel ry of bee-keeping comes in, as there are no 

 frames to handle, no bees to brush off, no robbers, 

 no stings, no loss of temper, etc., that are the usual 

 accompaniments of the old way, especially in the 

 fall. Sometimes on a warm summer night they 

 would not be quite all down; but by taking out one 

 of the side combs, then spreading the rest and 

 leaving them one day longer, is quite sure for them 

 all. 



We all owe Mr. Reese a debt of gratitude for the 

 invention, for I don't think there is a better or 

 easier way of getting honey free from bees, or one 

 with as few faults. I know this has been described 

 a number of times in Gleanings, but the reader 

 can hardly realize what a good thing it is until it is 

 tried, and made to work as well as it has with me. 



H. P. Langdon. 



East Constable, N. Y., Dec. 5, 1889. 



Very good, friend L. We have had the 

 paper pails, such as you show us, for two or 

 three years ; but our' customers do not take 

 kindly to them. \'ery likely, however, it 

 was our fault in not starting them right. 

 ]}y some awkwardness, the tape handle to 

 lift it by has been omitted in the engraving. 

 I would buggest that your honey be first al- 

 lowed to candy ; then melt it, and pour it 

 into the pails. Honey once candied is more 

 likely to candy again, and, if 1 am correct, 

 it becomes harder next time. Ours did not 

 get real hard, and the pails became daubed. 

 —Your remarks in regard to Reese's bee- 

 escape for extracting are certainly a very 

 great item ; but your description is not 

 ([uite clear. If you fasten the bees out of 

 the upper story containing filled combs for 

 half a day, or a day and a half, there must 

 be quite a loss, especially where colonies are 

 bringing in four or five pounds, or even 

 more, per day. Where you speak of two or 

 three days' work, I presume you mean two 

 or three days' work in brushing of bees and 

 handling combs in order to do this. You 

 have no handling of the frames except to 

 uncap and place them in the extractor.— 

 Gettiug rid of robbers and stings is certain- 

 ly a wonderful achievement. Why, the in- 

 vention is a wonderful stride in the business 

 of extracting. If the process has been de- 



scribed in Gleanings, for some reason I 

 did not get hold of it before. 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS, 



ANOTHER GOOD TESTIMONIAL FOR STINGS AS A 



CURE FOR RHEUMATISM ; BUMBLE-BEE 



STINGS PREFERRED. 



I have seen the bee-sting cure for rheumatism 

 discussed in Gleanings to a considerable extent, 

 pro and con; and having had an experience of my 

 own, I thought I would tell it. In 1887 and '88 I was 

 severely afflicted with sciatic' rheumatism, and of 

 course I had a great many cures recommended, 

 and I read of many. Among them was the bee- 

 sting cure. I was living in Texas at the time. I 

 went to the famous hot springs in Arkansas, and 

 spent a month there, and received some benefit. I 

 then came to my old home in Ohio; my rheuma- 

 tism still troubling me severely— so much so that I 

 resorted to opium for relief; but remembering the 

 bee-sting cure, I tried that with good results, as I 

 am and have ever since been free of sciatica. 1 at- 

 tributed it to bee-stings; but I want to say I did not 

 confine myself to the honey-bee alone. 1 used the 

 honey-bee, the wasp, yellow-jacket, hornet, and 

 bumble-bee; and I must say, when they can be had 

 I should prefer the latter, especially the smaller 

 ones, as they will insert their medicated needle a 

 dozen times or more quicker than you can say Jack 

 Robinson. You can easily take them between your 

 thumb and finger, and they will work their medi- 

 cated instrument as fast as you can move your 

 hand, and leave a redhot streak behind, and you 

 will reali/.e as good if not better i-esults from the 

 bumble-bee; and then we use that which is of but 

 little benefit to us— at least not as much as the 

 honey-bee. The only advantage of the honey-bee 

 is. they can be had at any time of the year, and are 

 always primed to do their work. I tried some the 

 other night, when I felt rheumatic pain in my knee. 

 My wife went out and got some that failed to get 

 into the hive. She brought them in, and we warm- 

 ed them a little and put them in a position to do 

 their work; and I must say they did it with the rel- 

 ish of a real live bee. I will say, the result was the 

 same from any of the insects named. 



Maxville, O , Jan. 6. D. Henricks. 



And so, friend II., it is really true that 

 bee-stiugs do give relief; and not only the 

 stings of honey-bees, but of wasps, yellow- 

 jackets, and hornets. May the Lord be 

 praised for this testimony that is coming so 

 thick and fast in regard to bee-stings as a 

 remedial agent ! So bumble-bees sting re- 

 peatedly, without losing their sting, do 

 theyV if I had ever heard of it before, I 

 had forgotten it. But it seems to me that 

 their stock of " medicine" would run out 

 sooner or later if they kept on in that style. 

 No wonder you likened it to a " redhot 

 streak." By the way, old friend, haven't 

 you an unusual amount of grit, to sit still 

 "and take bumble-bee stings after that fash- 

 ion? l^ou should have had half a dozen 

 schoolboys standing around to enjoy the 

 fun. Who can say that honey - bees and 

 bumble-bees were not intended by the great 



