236 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



GLEANINGS tN BEE CULTURE* 



.A__ I_ ROOT, 

 EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, 



MEDINA, OHIO. 



TERMS: $1.00 PER YEAR, POST-PAID. 



FOR CLUBBING RATES, SEE FIRST PAGE 

 OF READING MATTER. 



JVEEPHXT A, jyiA-Y 1, 188Q. 



For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and 

 whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 



- Matt., xvi. 25. 



» ♦ » 



nONEY PAILS. 



FiiiEND Dadant has sent ns a nest of honey pails 

 that are quite ingenious in several points, and I 

 think are destined to be the coming package for ex- 

 tracted honey. A nest of 5 pails, holding from 1M, 

 lbs. to 25 lbs. each, and costing from 4 to 32c. each, is 



sent for 80c. 



• — »—• 



Please, my friends, do not ever again, any of you, 

 take the trouble to get an affidavit, or certificate, to 

 convince me that your statements are true. When 

 I doubt your word I will tell you so frankly. When 

 I ask for further particulars, it is not because I do 

 not believe you, but that I may see where the mis- 

 takes have crept in. It hurts me, to have you get 

 an idea that I am doubting you. 



A great many mistakes have occurred from 

 changing initials. A man writes, and afterward 

 his son, wife, partner, or somebody else writes, in 

 regard to the same matter, signing their name or 

 initials. If you refer to a former letter, please say 

 so, and tell us the full name of the one who sent it. 

 We think our clerks will prove smart and bright and 

 well drilled, if you will only give them half a chance. 

 We make it a science and one of the line arts here, 

 to pick out the meaning and straighten out the 

 blunders of "careless humanity." 



M. C. Kerns, of Pomeroy, Meigs Co., Ohio, also 

 writes that he can furnish small round work-baskets 

 for ladies, which can be sold for five and ten cents. 

 He sent a sample of the 10 c. basket, 7 in. across the 

 top, and it was so neat that all the clerks wanted it 

 to put on their desks for postals and letters. These 

 baskets are made by three ladies— a mother and two 

 daughters, to whom it would be a kindness also, to 

 forward our orders. See prices in Counter depart- 

 ment. 



• — ♦ » 



Fhiend Doolittle sends us some of his golden-clus- 

 ter raspberry plants by mail, remarking, "They not 

 only yield honey bountifully, but are beautiful to 

 look at when nearly ripe." Now, friend D., at our 

 house, we think they look better when quite ripe, 

 and I hardly think a "look" would satisfy. The 

 roots came in fine condition, and are already plant- 

 ed in the garden down by the pond, right by the side 

 of some "sweet-homes" received of friend Palmer. 



Some most beautiful specimens of sea mosses 

 were received a few days as:o, from a friend in Cali- 

 fornia, who said his mother sent them. I took them 

 down to show to "Sue" and the children, and they 

 took "forcible possession" of them at once, and by 

 some means 1 have lost my friend's name, and am 

 now unable even to say who it is to whom we tender 

 our thanks. Tell that kind mother, my friend, we 

 feel thankful and grateful, even if we are careless. 



The Simpson honey plant, of which so much has 

 been said of late, was not first discovered by friend 

 Simpson, it appears, for we find the following notice 

 of it, on page 225, Gleanings, 1876: "A plant known 

 as 'Carpenter's Square' was known by several to be 

 a very good honey plant." This was at a convention, 

 at Lebanon, O. For all this, I still think friend 

 Simpson should have the credit for first persistently 

 bringing it before the public, and also for first 

 demonstrating what it would do under cultivation. 



BLUE THISTLE. 



Ouh friend Clark Simpson, Flushing, Mich., writes 

 a lengthy article on the blue thistle, saying it is an 

 excellent honey plant, and that it produces an ex- 

 cellent quality of honey the whole season, but that 

 when it on^e gets on a farm there is no remedy but 

 one, and that is to sell the farm and move away, 

 He has never seen any in Michigan, but h's experi- 

 ence with it was in the town of Hoosick, Rensselaer 

 Co., N. Y. For the present, we shall withdraw it 

 from our price lists, and hope no one will order 

 plants or seeds. 



Friend Henderson intimates, in the Bee-Keepers' 

 Exchange, that "W. O's." ink may be nothing but 

 aniline dissolved in rain water. From what expe- 

 rience we have had with aniline dissolved in water, 

 I can hardly think this is so, yet, granting it were, 

 how many of us can put it up in those large bottles 

 which "W. O." uses, and sell them for $1.00 per 

 gross, or about2?4C. each? Since the recent advances 

 on glass, the bottles and corks cost about 2c, to say 

 nothing of the labels. If you can buy the materials 

 and make the ink for %o, per bottle you will have to 

 work pretty low. If yeu want a pint, quart, or gal- 

 lon, it may be your best way to make it. 



It is to be borne in mind that only colored inks can 

 be made from aniline. Such a thing as Mack aniline 

 is, as yet, not to be had. The great hulk of the ink 

 that friend O. sells is black. Since the notice of his 

 ink in Gleanings, we have purchased of him for 

 our trade alone, over 2,000 bottles. 



INK FOR THE CHEIROGRAI>H. 



Although aniline and water will make a cheap ink 

 that will do very well for many purposes, it certain- 

 ly will not make a successful ink for the cheiro- 

 graph, as many have proven. The first trouble is 

 that almost none of the aniline to he had at the drug 

 stores is pure enough. We were obliged to send to 

 New York City, for ours, and, if I am correct, it has 

 to be made expressly for the purpose. Although the 

 common aniline of the drug stores retails for $1.00 

 per oz., by buying in quantities, we can sell you the 

 best at 75c, and pay postage besides; or for con- 

 venience, we have it put up in 10c. packages to be 

 sent by mail. Make the ink according to direction 

 on page 168 of last month's journal. This ink, by 

 being diluted with water, will answer well for any 

 purpose, but you will see that it is considerable 

 more than aniline and rain water. After you have 

 made some a few times, unless you want a consider- 

 able quantity, you will doubtless feel like saying, 

 "Every man to his own business." You must not 

 inhale the dust from the aniline; it is a rank poison. 

 You can scour the stains from your fiDgers with al- 

 cohol and pumice-stone. 



