lis 



GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



GRArE SUGAR THAT WILL, KILL IJEES. 



Some little time ago came a lump of sugar 

 and the following : 



I send you by mail to-day a sample Of the grape 

 sugar made at Sagctown, 111. 1 tried making candy 

 of it by your recipe in Oct. number of Gleanings, 

 hut failed to get it to harden, and shall have to try 

 it again. W. H. McQitiston. 



Monmouth, Warren Co., III., Dec. 19, 1879. 



The sugar was of a dirty yellow color, and 

 the taste was not only bitter, but had an of- 

 fensive flavor of chemicals. I wrote our 

 friend not to use it by any means, and sent 

 him a sample of our own. Here is his reply: 



I received your postal in regard to sample of sugar 

 sent, and thank you for the advice, " not to feed it;" 

 for, having tried it on two stocks, they both died, 

 and I know no other reason for their dying. 



W. H. MCQCISTON. 



Lt seems as if the Buffalo factory improved 

 <>n every ton of sugar they send us. It is 

 now so white and of such a pure sweet that 

 it is not had confectionery just as it is bro- 

 ken out of the barrels. Both in appearance 

 and taste, it is slowly hut surely coming 

 nearer and nearer to very white, pure, can- 

 died honey. If the flavor of basswood or 

 clover honey were added to it, and its candy- 

 ing property corrected a little, it would be 

 almost, if not quite, honey made from Indi- 

 an corn. Let the manufacturers go on im- 

 proving in its manufacture, and put it right 

 into the market under its true name, and 

 nobody has anything to fear from it. 



A HOME-MATJE WAX-EXTRACTOR. 



Mr. A. Meder once told me his experience in ren- 

 dering wax, which I think would benefit many a one 

 who is not able to procure a wax-extractor. He 

 took a small Hour sieve, with tin rim, and put there- 

 in his broken comb, and set it over a washpan a lit- 

 tle larger than the sieve. He put some water in the 

 washpan, and set the whole in the oven of a cook- 

 ing stove. He assured me that the pure wax was 

 down in that water quicker than it would have been 

 with an extractor, and with less heat; and there is 

 room for improving- it greatly. A. Schneider. 



Louisville, Ky., Dec. 22, 1879. 



Many thanks, friend S. The idea is quite 



ingenious, and, since you speak of it, 1 am 

 sure it can not fail to be valuable, inasmuch 

 as one does not have to touch the wax at all. 

 I do not know why a wooden sieve would 

 not answer, although they are not so tidy. 

 Wood sieves will be found iu our 10 c. coun- 

 ter, and tin-rimmed sieves in our 25 c. coun- 

 ter. Tin pans for each, at the same prices. 

 Just think of it ! a wax-extractor, small 

 size (3 qt.), complete, for only 20 c; larger 

 ones, capacity •! gallons, only •'>(» c. A very 

 large sieve will not be needed, for you caii 

 open the oven door and put in pieces of 

 comb, just as you do with the ordinary wax- 

 extractor; but, O my friends, heware you 

 do not drop wax into the oven, and forget 

 and let the whole arrangement boil over. 

 Perhaps the occasional addition of cold wa- 

 ter to the pan might be well. Tell your 

 friend M. it looks as if we owed him a big 

 debt of gratitude ; and, boys, let us remem- 

 ber him. 



ANOMALIES IN SCIENCE. 



Friend Hunt :— Are there any known exceptions to 

 a general law in nature? Can a perfect animal be 

 produced without the assistance of the male ele- 

 ment? If drones hatched from the eggs of a virgin 

 fpieen are capable of fertilizing a queen, the aflirui- 

 ative of the above questions would seem to be prov- 

 ed. Can a correct conclusion be arrived at in regard 

 to these anomalies? Who shall decide? The last 

 , paragraph under the head of Drones, in A BC, seems 

 I to point in the direction of your decision. Let us 

 hear from science. J. CHAPMAN. 



Home, Newaygo Co., Mich., Jan. 14, 1880. 



^Ve meet with exceptions, or at least ap- 

 parent exceptions, at almost every turn; and 

 the fact that a queen hee will lay eggs which 

 produce drones, without having met the 

 male, is one of these exceptions. If we look 

 into the matter still further, however, we 

 rind that other insects, besides queen bees 

 show this same singular feature, and then 

 this seems in accordance with a law before 

 unknown, instead of an exception. JNIy con- 

 jecture that a queen might even produce 

 worker bees without fertilization is, if I am 

 correct, still in accordance with law, as 

 found in some other insects. It is still un- 

 decided as to whether drones from unfertile 

 queens are useful or not. 



"visit" from an a b c scholar. 

 Dear Novice: -Owing to the inclemency of the 

 weather, I have a spare half-hour to devote to 

 "thinking." Must I tell you that I detest thinking 

 to myself? and so I'll drop you a line, provided you 

 have no objections. Our bees are in "tip-top" or- 

 der, look clean and bright, and are bringing in pol- 

 len from maple and red-bud every minute when it is 

 not showering down rain. Our rain showers to-day 

 are exactly like the " April showers " we read about, 

 but so seldom see, until late in the month of May. 



MOVING BEES OFTEN. 



I am just through moving my bees again. Poor 

 things! 1 move them so often that it is a wonder 

 they are not, in disposition, like the" western man's" 

 poultry. He moved so often that whenever a cov- 

 ered wagon paused near the house, the chickens 

 (thinking another move on the tapis) would instant- 

 ly drop upon their backs and elevate their feet, in 

 order to be tied readily. You may have heard of 

 this circumstance before, but you were not acquaint- 

 ed with the man in question, and I believe I am. I 

 moved the bees 100 yards, and did as directed by 

 several eminent bee keepers, in the last National 

 Convention, — just moved the hives, and placed a 

 board slanting, in front of each hive's entrar.ee. 

 Not a bee returned to the old stand. I was truly 

 pleased to And it such an easy matter, and so safe, 

 with such a small quantity of exertion. Did I tell 

 you that I am morbidly opposed to unnecessary bod- 

 ily exertion? No? Well, truly, I am. 



Several letters recentls - received induce me to be- 

 lieve that South-western North Carolina, the Blue 

 Ridge Mountain district, is to be the future Eldorado 

 of bee keepers. "Tis said that box-hive men make 

 enormous yields of honey in that region. 



HOR ROWED THUNDER ! 



I was looking over my last year's numbers of A, 1>. 

 J., and, on glancing over an article headed "Uniting 

 Bees," on page 407, written by C. F. D., the language 

 seemed familiar to me, and, after thinking over it 

 a few minutes. I believed it yours. I picked up my 



