18S0 



GLEAXINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



79 



$oh§ and (luer'm. 



THE SIMPSON HONEY PLANT; IT HAS MEDICINAL 

 QUALITIES. 



^frJUIEND UOOT, you have a great dial to say 

 •r] about the Simpson honey plant ; 1 will say 1113 

 4=u speech about it also. It is a sure and quick 

 cure for the eholcra-morhus. .Just make a strong' 

 tea cit the leaves or root, ami drink freely. 

 Pimento, lnd.. Jan. 10, I860. J. S. BROWN. 



GOOD FOR CANADA AGAIN, 



My experience is something like this: I have se- 

 cured from single hives, that 1 kept from swarming', 

 :!(!(ll)'. of extracted honey in a single season, and 10. 

 OOOth. from 100 hives in a single season. I have not 

 tested the Italians by experience, at least only par- 

 tially. What I did in Italian trade was mostly hy- 

 brids. James Mobtett, Jr.* 



RiecvUle, Ont, Ca.. Dec. Hi, 1879. 



FUEL FOB SMOKERS, ETC. 



I use cobs, chopped up, along; with dry, rotten 

 wood, and like it better than wood alone. I keep 

 them both in a drawer in my stool, which I carry 

 with me to the hives that 1 am opening. My bees 

 have lost much in numbers already. The weather 

 was s.) warm yesterday and the day before, that the 

 bees were II \ i. i-:, and I opened a hive each day and 

 put in division boards. J. S. Willard. 



Hopkins, Nodaway Co., Mo., Jan. 2, 1880. 



HOW TO SOW THE AMBEB SUGAR CANE. 



[The following' is in reply to an inquiry of ours, in 

 regard to planting* the new sugar cane.] 



Sow the amber cane in drills 4ft. apart, 4fl>. to the 

 acre, and thin out to 8 or 1U inches. 



A. C. Kendel, of the Cleveland Seed Store. 



Jan. :;, 1880. 



The one pound boxes which you sent me some- 

 time ago came through all right, and I was very 

 well pleased with them. I put them in the hives, 

 and it was no time at all until the bees had them full 

 of honey. 1 take pleasure in recommending your 

 boxes to every one that conies to see me. 



William M. Thimble. 



Washington, 111., Jan. 2, 1880. 



DOES IT PAT TO RAISE QUEENS.' 



Bees have done very poor work here this year, on 

 account of the drouth. 1 had to feed about 2 barrels 

 of white sugar in preparing for winter, but my 115 

 hives are in splendid condition at present. 1 sold 

 queens enough to pay lor feeding my bees, and have 

 a tine lot for spring market. J. E. Walcher. 



Millersville, HI , Dec. 26, 1879. 



HONEY DEW FROM THE OAK AGAIN. 



Last fall, I saw the bees at work on an oak tree, 

 just as J. B. ('line describes in Dee. NO. page 479. It 

 was a red oak tree. The bees were all over the tree, 

 on the leaves. T. J. Young. 



Austin, Lonoke Co., Ark., Dec. 7, 1879. 



I am one of your A B C class. 



COARSEB WIRE CLOTH FOB EXTBACIORS. 



Would not wire cloth with only 2 or 3 meshes to 



the inch be belter than liner, for use in extractors'/ 

 II not, why? 



[With coarser wire cloth, the tendency of I he 

 comb to sink into the meshes is greater, and the 

 bees are thus occasioned much labor in repairing 

 the cells.] 



" IS THE SPIDER PLANT OK SIMPSON PLANT A BAD 

 WEED.'''' 



[Neither of the plants mentioned can become a 

 bad weed. SO far as I can see, lor they both require a 

 gOOd deal of coaxing to get them started. They will 

 compare fairly with the tomato ami turnip in hardi- 

 ness. Should you ever call these bad weeds?] 



CAN THE SEVEN-TOP TURNIP BE MADE TO BLOOM 

 TnE SAME SEASON? 



If the seven-top-turnip seeds be planted in a hot- 

 house, by the first of .March, will they bloom this 

 year, and do well? 



[I do not know whether seven-top turnip can be 



made to blossom the first season or not. In last 

 Oct., I bad some beautiful stalks of blossoms covered 

 with. bees, but, as I had sown both rape and seven- 

 top turnip on the same ground, during the season, 1 

 could not tell which it was. Perhaps 1 am awkward, 

 but I really cannot tell rape from seven-top turnip, 

 either In seed, foliage, or blossoms. I only know 

 this; the rape blossoms at once, as soon as if comes 

 up, and the turnip seldom, if ever, blossoms until 

 the next season. I am inclined to think it was the 

 rape that was in bloom In Oct. 1'lease try the ex- 

 periment you mention, friend II., and report; then 

 we will know.] 



PACKING CHAFF CUSHIONS. 



Do 3011 pack the chaff very hard in the cushions? 

 and how thick do you make them'.'' 



[We do not pack the chaff in the cushions, but 

 leave it rather loose. They should nearly till the 

 upper story of the hive, and this would make them 

 about 10 in. thick] 



I bought my first two swarms of bees \l years ago 

 last 4th of July, anu have bought some since. 1 now 

 have 50 fair swarms in very nice order. 



FRIEND HARRINGTON'S HOUSE APIARY. 



They are ill my bee-house, which I made myself, 

 and it tost me, all complete, about $200. I can let 

 my bees fly any time when it is warm enough. Last 

 Christmas, mercury went down to :.'- below zero 

 outside, and only 4° below the freezing point in the 

 bee-house, a difference of 50 degrees. I can examine 

 my bees as easily in the winter, as in the summer. 

 My bees all had a good fly a few d ivs ago. 



York Centre, la., Jan. '.), '80. M. W. Harrington. 



GOOD FOR THE HYBRIDS. 



1 had one swarm which made 120ft. of honey last 

 season. It was a young swarm of hybrids, with 2 

 bands. 1 put it in the hive the 22d of June. 



INTRODUCING AT SWARMING TIME. 



When bees are swarming, if I get the old queen, 

 can I put an Italian in its place with safety? 



North Lake, Wis., Dee. 20, '70. L. S.SOULES. 



[Generally, friend S. When bees are swarming is 

 an excellent time to introduce queens, and we can 

 almost always let them loose safely, without any 

 caging at all.] 



WHERE DID THE DEES GO? 



A large colony left a box hive the last of October; 

 when opened, it was full of comb in perfect order, 

 and full of honey. I cannot give or see any reason 

 for it. * . 



Nelles Corners, Can., Jan. 21, 1S80. 



[Nor can I, friend , as you state it: but, if I 



could look over the hive, I think I could lit id a reason.] 



(II * FF PACKING EVEN FOR MILD WI.V1 ERS. 



One colony gone; not pari; d. Eight chaff packed 

 are in excellent condition. Queens are laying. 

 Weather, wet and warm for 2 weeks. 



Neoga, 111 , Jan. 12, 1880. J. B. McCOBMICK. 



THE CARTOONS. ETC. 



I received Jan. No. of GLEANINGS, but --where is 

 the cartoon? Give us all the pictures you can, but 

 don't stop the cartoons. Always have them in tin; 

 same part of the book, so I can find ii the lirst thing; 



say just after '' Blasted Hopes," so we would soon 

 feel better after reading the worst side of bee-keep- 

 ing. Now don't put me in the " Growlery." 



Wyahdott, Kan., Jan. 15, '80. JAS. A. NELSON. 



[Why. you see, friend X., I consider the wishes of 

 my readers as a kind of barometric gauge to indicate 

 to me what departments l shall develop, and what 

 restrain, in it wholesome way ol course. Well, some- 

 body wrote a while ago, thai he thought the space 

 occupied with the cartoons would better be occupii d 

 otherwise, and s < I dropped it one uv nth to see if 

 anybody complained. You hav , and 8 > we will 

 start them on again. Bear in mind, 1 am watching 

 nervously almost every letter thai comes, to see 

 what departments are in favor and which are not. 

 If a dep irtment grow- and develops, it is your doing; 

 if it dies out, it is your doing, too, in a measure.] 



CAN AN IMPORTED QUEEN'S DAUGHTER PBODUCE 

 ANY I1EES ALE BLACK? 



I still cannot sec how a pure Italian queen can 

 raise bees entirely black, if she did meet a black 

 drone; I don't mean a whole colony entirely black, 



