1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



•479 



benefit in aiding the bees to complete their winter 

 stores. We cannot think it an injury to the bees, as 

 stated by friend L. W. Reed, in his article that was 

 clipped from the Lewistown (Mc.) Journal, and pub- 

 lished by Brother Root, in the Nov. Gleanings; 

 neither do we regard the rains of August and Sep- 

 tember as special blessings in washing- away the 

 honey dew. 



These rains prove to be a decided injury instead 

 of a benefit as will be fully established by referring 

 to September and October, 1868. These were unusu- 

 ally wet months. That year, I had twelve colonies of 

 black bees. Next spring, all had perished, but the 

 greater part of them died before winter set in, of 

 what was then styled the dysentery or cholera. 

 Hence the washing away of the honey dew was no 

 blessing to these colonies, and the disease could not 

 be attributed to the collecting of honey dew, but 

 must be ascribed to some other cause. 



My friend and neighbor, P. G. Stuart, from an 

 apiary of fifty colonies, lost forty-five the same year 

 I lost mine; and Judge P. B. Swing fared even worse 

 than P. G. Stuart, losing forty-seven out of fifty-one 

 colonies. 



When the fall months have been dry, the bees 

 have generally wintered best, being more free from 

 disease, other than famine; hence we regard honey 

 dews as beneficial to the bees. 



In regard to where the honey dew is found, I stated, 

 in the beginning of this article, that it is found on 

 the papaw, sugar, cherry, and oak. Mr. P. G. Stuart 

 has been one of the old time bee-keepers since 1844, 

 and possessed the largest apiary known in the 

 county. He is a regular progressive, and keeps up 

 with the present day in the improvements, having 

 most of his colonies in movable frame hives. He is 

 a close observer, a man of strict integrity, and whose 

 opinion is entitled to due credence. He has found 

 honey dew on the papaw, sugar, and sparingly on 

 the cherry, but never on the beech, yet does not de- 

 ny its existence there. 



HONEY DEW FROM THE OAK. 



On the 22nd of September, 1879, I was walking 

 through a wood's pasture, in which stood a few iso- 

 lated trees. All of a sudden I heard the hum of 

 honey bees. I took it for an absconding swarm, but 

 soon found that I was mistaken, for the buzz was 

 stationary. The noise attracted me to an oak tree, 

 with a very bushy top, where I imagined 1 had found 

 a swarm of bees; but, on close inspection, I saw 

 they were working on the leaves, in as great num- 

 bers as I ever saw them on the linden when in full 

 bloom. The thought of honey dew flashed through 

 my brain, and in my unbounded enthusiasm I felt 

 like shouting "Eureka! Eureka! ! I have found it" 

 —the dew. So I plucked some of the lower leaves, 

 and soon found one with a drop or two of dew on the 

 upper surface, which I eagerly tasted and found to 

 be sweet as nectar. I then plucked more leaves, all 

 richly laden with the delicious sweet. Then I went 

 to the other side of the tree, and found it more 

 abundant than before. I plucked a leaf to take 

 home with me. This one was so full of honey dew 

 that I had to carry it in a horizontal position to keep 

 it from running off the leaf. It had several drops 

 on it. There were no acorns on the tree that I could 

 see. My old friend Stuart was shown the leaf, and 

 pronounced it the most copious lot of it, on one leaf, 

 he had ever seen. He has the leaf in his possession. 

 The time was ten o'clock, A. M., when I first visited 



the tree. In a few days, I went there again, about 

 three, P. M., and, to my surprise, found my little 

 pets still spending their time among the branches of 

 the oak. As to the dew's being produced by in- 

 sects,— it is too Homeopathic a dose to merit much 

 attention. J. B. Cline. 



Perin's Mills, Clermont Co., O., Nov. 10, '79. 



Your account, friend C, makes me think 

 of the honey on my spider plants ; hut mine 

 was only on the hlossom, and not on the 

 leaves. There was plenty of dew on the 

 leaves, hut it was just water, and not sweet 

 at all. I presume you are aware of what has 

 heen reported in hack numhers in regard to 

 honey from the oak buds in the fall, and that 

 your oak tree was entirely a different case. 

 What kind of an oak was it V Who can give 

 us more light V Is it really a fact, that trees 

 sometimes bear honey from their leaves, as 

 well as blossoms ? 



«0~ «&» -CM 



EXTRACTING TJNSEAL.ED MONEY IN 

 THE FALL.. 



REPOKT THAT LOOKS AS IF IT WAS A WISE THING 

 TO DO. 



S the advice given by you on page 451, in this 

 month's Gleanings, regarding extracting un- 

 sealed stores, is not what 1 should like to fol- 

 low, I would like to ask you, if you think the un- 

 capped honey that is in brood combs at this season, 

 and especially after so long a spell of beautiful dry 

 weather, is ripe, or fit to leave in hives for winter 

 use. We (my wife and I) have been busy extracting 

 from our 130 colonies for two days; are only about 

 half through at this time. We take out every frame 

 and extract it, if it even has five cells of uncapped 

 honey. I find some of this uncapped honey very 

 thin indeed, and after trying many frames of the 

 capped honey, I found it good and thick. My advice 

 would be, throw out every drop of unsealed honey be- 

 fore putting bees in winter quarters. I am satisfied 

 after last winter's experience that it pays to do this, 

 extracting thoroughly. Those that had no uncapped 

 honey had no dysentery, and those that did have 

 uncapped honey, did have dysentery; but I hope to 

 get through this coming winter without dysentery, 

 if good, ripe honey for food, and a dry, well venti- 

 lated, frost proof cellar will do it. Surely, it does 

 seem as if bee culture is going to be profitable. We 

 ought, at least, to save our bees this winter, for, I 

 assure you, they have not been very profitable to us 

 the past season. We had 62 colonies in the spring, 

 and now have 100 fair and 30 light colonies, and have 

 had 3.000 lb. of honey, about 1.400 lb. comb, and 1.6001b. 

 extracted. In 1878, we had more than this amount 

 of honey from 30 colonies. This year we got seven 

 eights of our honey from basswood, but no surplus 

 from white clover. Harry Blackburn. 



Webberville, Ingham Co., Mich., Nov. 15, 1879. 



Many thanks, friend B. Much has been 

 said about extracting the unsealed honey 

 from the brood combs, but this is almost the 

 first report I remember to have had, showing 

 that it is a preventive of the dysentery. Are 

 you sure that, in a few days after extracting, 

 more unsealed honey would not be found V 

 Do they not uncap it, and then bring water 

 to dilute it, before they can use it to good 

 advantage? If it prevents dysentery, and 

 helps them to winter, extract it, by all means. 

 Our hives contain so little unsealed honey, 



