528 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



A GOOD FLOAV. 



I must have a great many moi"e sections if the 

 flow of honey continues as for the last three weeks. 

 Swarming- weather, hot and wet. J. Bagley. 



Serena, 111., June 28. 



COLONIES IN THE OPEN AIR. 



A few years ago a neighbor of mine, an old bee- 

 hunter, found one on a poplar, on the outside, un- 

 der a short bend, that I think had about 50 or 60 

 lbs. of honey. C. R. Ruth. 



Elimsport, Pa. 



CHAFF HIVES. 



Is there any thing ahead of the chatf hive, de- 

 scribed in A B C of 1879? Geo. F. Knapp. 



Springport, Mich., June II, 1890. 



[That is a question we can not answer. Our chaff 

 hive has given splendid results in wintering. It is 

 not as portable as the smaller hives, nor as handy 

 to use. A. I Root uses the chatf hive, and prefers 

 it to anything else for a general-purpose hive; al- 

 though at the same time he would always have 

 Dovetailed hives, or Simplicity, to use In connec- 

 tion with the chatf' hives.] 



A fatal STING. 



One of my neighbors, Samuel Mc.ldams, was 

 stung on the neck by a bee last week and died in 30 

 minutes. Frank Butler. 



CarroUton, 111., June 30, 1890. 



[This is a sad record, friend B.; but please let us 

 remember that, If somebody should call for in- 

 star^ces where people have been killed by horses or 

 cattle, there would be a hundred or more euch cases 

 where we find one who has been killed by bee- 

 stings ] 



the SEASON IN ILLINOIS. 



The Reason here is very poor so far for white 

 honey. The fields are white with clover, and the 

 basswood is in bloom, yet the bees are idly lying 

 out with the foundation ia cases scarcely touched 

 in many cases. I do not now think we shall have 

 one-fourth of a crop of white honey. Similar re- 

 ports come from all directions. C. H. Dibbern. 



Milan, 111., July 1, 1890. 



IMPROVING POOR HONEY. 



I have honey that I have kept in an open-mouth- 

 ed vessel for two years, and it is still foamy.~^ What 

 can I do with it? Geo. Gould. 



Villa Ridge, III., July V. 



[You do not tell us whether the honey is good 

 quality. Probably not. Sometimes, in such cases, 

 running off the liquid portion and then melting the 

 candied part will give you very nice honey— that is, 

 from the candied part,] 



tT 



FTiO'^r DIFFERENT FTELDG, 

 sections not sold by weight, but by the 



PIECE. 



If you will permit, I should like to correct the 

 impression you seem to have, that honey is invaria- 

 bly sold by weight. According to your reply to 

 friend E. C. Newell, one would suppose you cercain- 

 ly had overlooked the truth in this matter. Mr. 

 Newell is correct in his statement, page 464, that 

 grocerymen invariably refuse to buy or sell any 

 other way than by the piece, especially after their 

 first years' selling of section honey. Neither, as 

 Mr. Newell says, will they allow you any thing for 

 extra weight. This thing I have thoroughly tested 

 In our local market. My groceryman suggested to 



me to have my sections made at least h inch nar- 

 rower, as I was losing from 3 to 3 ounces on each 

 section this part of the season, and he couldn't help 

 it. Mr. Newell says he strongly objects to your 

 statements in this matter, and your reply will still 

 surprise— yes, grieve him, to think you are so out 

 of it, and at the same time ignore, apparently, all 

 that he has invariably found to be the case. Please 

 let Mr. Newell have the satisfaction of knowing 

 there is at least oije who indorses his statement; 

 and, if I am not greatly mistaken, others by the 

 score are ready to do the same. 



I want my sections hereafter 4>4x4J4xlj 3, In p'ace 

 of lis, then there will be no possibility of so much 

 overfilling. I should like to hear the views of oth- 

 ers on this matter. I am aware that, in the fall, 

 when our crates begin to have light weight, grocers 

 would rather take in by weighing. But my under- 

 standing is, no reduction the season through. 



Pine Grove, O., June 24, 1890. S. Daniels. 



That is rigbt, friend D.; give us the facts, 

 no matter whom it hits. If sections of hon- 

 ey are sold in many places for so much 

 apiece, we certainly ought to know it. 



A HONEY-WELL ; A MAN BORES INTO A BLUFF, 



and SECURES THE SWEET ARTICLE BY THE 



BARREL. 



The heading as above, together with the 

 following, appears in the Cleveland Leader 

 for June 27: 



Louisville, Ky., June 27.— A successful boring 

 for honey has been made in Ni)rih Tennessee. For 

 many years swarms of bees have been noticed by 

 boatmen at Fox Blutf', on the Cumberland River 

 near Franklin, Ky. Tne blutf is 170 leet high, and 

 the river's channel ruf's directly under it. The 

 bees have been observed about a big fissure near 

 the center of the blutf, and the opening could not 

 be reached from above or below without great 

 danger of being stung to death. As the bees had 

 never been robbed it was believed a large amount 

 of honey was stored in the cliff. Secretly a well-borer 

 named Staks visited the blutf', and was at once im- 

 pressed with the idea that he could i-each the won- 

 derful honey - storehouse with his drill. After 

 some coaxing he persuaded a number of farmers 

 to undergo the expense, and a three inch hole was 

 bored from the top of the blutf. At a depth of 85 

 feet the drill struck the honey. Barrels and tubs 

 by the score were filled and carried off to neigh- 

 boring farms, and the syndicate has sent to Louis- 

 ville for more receptacles. 



It seems a shame to give space to any 

 such silly statement as the above, and we 

 would not do it were it not that, whenever 

 some newspaper reporter manufactures 

 such a yarn, it comes to us right and left. 

 Oil and gas may come out of a hole drilled 

 in a rock, but not honey. 



PUTTING YE.4.8T INTO HONEY TO KILL OFF NEIGH- 

 BORS' BEES. 



Last spring I had 10 colonies (hybrids), and they 

 increased to 40 by fall, besides giving me considera- 

 ble honey. I wintered them indoors; placed them 

 In tiers against the end of a building, and packed 

 them in straw. Most of them lived till spring, but 

 have dwindled away since, except five colonies, and 

 they are not in the best condition. I wintered 

 them the same way the two previous winters, with- 

 out any loss. A neighbor had some trouble with 

 robbers. He closed his hives and left a hive of 

 honey, without bees, open, pouring yeast into the 

 honey (so It is claimed). My bees, of course, went 

 there. Is it possible that that has been the cause 

 of the dif aster? Will it be safe to give the same 



