1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



I explained to friend S. Although he for- 

 feited all right to any present by waiting un- 

 til January before sending in his subscrip- 

 tion, I thought best to give him the corners 

 he asked for, and so sent him four, paying 

 postage ourselves, and explaining why we 

 could not consistently give him a plane. 

 Here is his reply: 



I received Gleanings, and sample of metal cor- 

 ners, with thanks for the same, but the plane did 

 not come. I should have sent my subscription 

 sooner, but I could not spare the money. Now, I 

 do not think that you ought to be too small. I have 

 tried to deal fairly with you, and if you can't afford 

 to send the premium, you can send back the dollar. 

 Retain enough to pay you for Jan. No. H. S. 



Brooklyn, Wis., Jan. 10, 1880. 



Of course, we had nothing else, to do, but 

 to send back the money. Now please, 

 friends, do not censure our friend S. too se- 

 verely. There is an element of truth in 

 what'he says. I offered you the presents, 

 that you might hurry up with your subscrip- 

 tions, and not oblige us to take down our 

 types of your addresses after we had arrang- 

 ed and corrected them with so much labor. 

 A great many of you would have been 

 stringing along into Jan., Feb., and March, 

 had we not, by the presents, induced you to 

 be prompt and on hand, before New "Year's 

 day. The line had to be drawn somewhere, 

 and so we put it at the first day of the year. 

 Quite a number complained, because the 

 clerks refused the presents when they were 

 just a few days late. Suppose I let it go, if 

 it was only a few days; when should I com- 

 mence to draw the dividing line? Perhaps I 

 offered too much of a present. 



THE EARLY A1IRER SUGAR CANE. 



CANE SYRUP FOR BEES. 



*jp DON'T know as I can give any useful informa- 

 51 tion on this subject, but I will try. I was much 

 — ' pleased with the article written by Ira Bennett, 

 in the last No. of Gleanings, although it seems he 

 has had but one year's experience. The new sugar 

 cane, called the Early Amber, is not a new cane. 

 It has been raised in the state of Minnesota very ex- 

 tensively, and, by refining the syrup, it makes first 

 class sugar. The cane has been raised in this part 

 of the country for several years. 



I will give you my experience in feeding cane syr- 

 up to bees. I placed a feeder full of syrup at the 

 entrance of a hive; the bees came out in an instnnt, 

 and stuck their bills into the syrup as if it were hon- 

 ey; pretty soon they backed out, wiped their bills. 

 and seemed to say, "I guess T don't want any more." 

 The only way in which I could get the bees to eat it 

 was to leave the syrup thin, and feed it to them 

 while warm. 



I have never tried to feed the cane juice, but I 

 hnve KOticed for several years, that, at our mill 

 where we manufacture cane syrup, bees would gath- 

 er in great numbers to suck the juice left in the 

 pomace. The.v would gather around there as soon 

 as we commenced work in the fall, but it seemed as 

 if they got tired of the stuff at the latter part of the 

 season, and but few bees would visit the mill. I 

 don't think that syrup or juice is good for feeding 

 bees, at least not of 1 he c< 1111111)11 varieties of cane 

 (I never tried the early amber for feeding); but, if 

 we can make the syrup into sugar, and then feed it 

 to the bees, it would be a great deal cheaper than 

 coffee A; that is, if it is as good as that. 



We got some cane seed last spring, of a man in 

 Southington, who said hi3 syrup nearly all went to 

 sugar. We intended to make sugar of ours, but it 

 has not grained the least bit yet. This was also ear- 

 ly amber cane 



Cane is raised extensively in this section, mainly 

 for syrup. We had two mills running last fall. The 

 pressing and boiling are done by steam. We have 

 made as high as :?,400 gal. of syrup at one mill, in 

 one season. That season we charged 25c. per gal. 

 for making. Last fall, good syrup sold for $1. per 

 gal. I think our way of making syrup is far superior 

 to any other I ever heard of 



You must have good land out in Medina Co., if you 

 can raise 300 gal. of syrup per acre. In Trumbull 

 Co., we can't raise much more than 150 gal. per acre. 

 I think Medina Co. would be a good place to erect a 

 mill for the manufacture of syrup. What do you 

 think, brother Root? I am satisfied we would have 

 plenty of work the second season. H. A. Simon. 



Lordstown, Trumbull Co., Ohio, Jam, 1880. 



Under no circumstances would I advise 

 feeding the cane juice to the bees. I would 

 rather have it marie into nice sugar, say as 

 good and white as coffee A, and then feed it. 

 Our neighbor Bennett desires me to say that 

 he has no more seed to spare, but I have 

 made arrangements to supply all who may 

 want the Early- Amber seed, at 5c. per pack- 

 et, or 40c. per tb., by mail; by express, 22c. 

 per lb. I should like to be able to send a 

 small sample of the sugar with each packet 

 of seed. Can any of the friends furnish nice, 

 white sugar, made from the Early Amber 

 caneV Mr. Bennett has purchased a mill. 

 We can furnish a book, said to be the stand- 

 ard work on making sugar from the new 

 sugar cane, for $1. 



CLARIFYING cane syrup with clay. 



A friend who lives in Illinois tells us his process of 

 clarifying the juices of sugar cane. He grows ihe 

 ordinary kinds, and perhaps your friend Bennett 

 would be pleased to see it. Simply add to the ex- 

 pressed juice, as it comes from the mill, common 

 yellow clay, an ordinary wooden pailful for a 40 bbl. 

 vat or tank; thoroughly dissolve and mix, thf>n let 

 it stand until the clay settles, taking with it all im- 

 purities. Then draw off with a siphon or faucet, 

 being careful to get none of the sediment, and the 

 syrup will be perfectly clear, when evaporated, and 

 almost colorless; and my friend claims that the 

 flavor is finer than any honey they can buy. 



Attica, Ind., Jan. 10, 1880. Mrs. S. C. Earl. 



BEES AND SUGAR-CANE MILLS; ANOTHER SIDE TO 

 THE QUESTION. 



My bees (98 colonies) are very quiet thus far in 

 their winter quarters (cellar), but they were very 

 much reduced in numbers by a sorghum mill within 

 Vi mile of me. I tried to keep them at home by put- 

 ting them in the cellar, and keeping them cool with 

 ice, but had to take them out again, the weather 

 was so very warm. I put screens on the door and 

 windows of the mill, but the proprietor said it was 

 so hot he could not stand it, so they stood wide open. 

 It would have been but a partial remedy at best, 

 since as many are killed at the rollers and on the 

 bagasse, or crushed stalks, as in the mill. When 

 that man that raised 3 gal. of syrup from one rod 

 (all guessed at, I take it) comes to raise it by the 

 acre, he will not be so enthusiastic, or you either for 

 that matter. I speak from experience in this locali- 

 ty, which is well adapted to its culture, and we have 

 the early amber variety too. I prophesy that sor- 

 ghum or sugar making and bee-keepinar always will 

 be antagonistic. J. L. W t olfenden. 



Adnms, Wis., Jan. 16, 1880. 



Now, friend W., I am not discouraged, but 

 I am very glad of your cautions. I would 

 have the whole mill, rollers, refuse stalks, 

 and all, covered with a building, and plenty 

 of air admitted through large openings cov- 

 ered with wire cloth having a large mesh, 

 that would just exclude bees. If this should 

 be too expensive. I would manage in some 

 way, to have the bees and the mill at least 

 two miles (more if need be) from each other. 

 Don't bring any mill near the bees, or any 

 bees near the mill. Isn't the world wide 

 enough? If not, let's "go west." 



