410 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



Upon examination, I found their feet loaded with 

 the pollen of the milkweed, such as you describe in 

 A B C, part third. I also found a number in the 

 hive on the bottom board, unable to get farther. I 

 have seen them on the alighting board, and seen 

 bees not affected trying to get the pollen off from 

 the others' feet; and, finally, the feet of both would 

 become so entangled that, in their efforts to free 

 themselves, they would fly away, and I suppose 

 drop in the grass and die. 



POLLEN FROM THE MILKWEED. 



I have seen bees stuck so fast to the bloom of this 

 weed that it seemed almost impossible for them to 

 get freed by the use of all their strength of legs and 

 wings, and I have found dead bees sticking to the 

 bloom. This swarm I have, just mentioned finally 

 became so reduced in numbers, before they had 

 time to produce young brood, that the moth just 

 about took possession of their comb, and, of course, 

 destroyed the young bees, and the comb. I trans- 

 ferred those bees yesterday and found about one 

 quart left, — the remnant of a large swarm of young 

 bees hived on the 26th day of June last. I think I 

 am right in giving the milkweed credit for this 

 wholesale destruction. 



I have noticed another variety of milkweed, which 

 is sometimes known by the name of pleurisy root, 

 and has a bloom almost exactly like the one just 

 mentioned. It has the same kind of pollen which 

 affects the bees in the same way as the large variety 

 described by you. I am satisfied that those weeds 

 produce considerable honey, but I have been des- 

 troying them, and shall continue to do so. I believe 

 there are a great many bees that gather honey from 

 those weeds and never get to their hives. 



Wm. Loofbonron. 



Fayette, La Fayette Co., Wis., Aug. 4, 1880. 



I have recently observed the bees buzzing about 

 the Ja.ck Oaks (Q. imhricaria), in such a manner as 

 to convince me that they were there on business. 

 Careful observation showed that they get honey 

 from little galls that grow on the small branches. 

 I noticed one that the bees were visiting very fre- 

 quently. By the aid of a ladder I secured it. It was 

 about the size of a small pea. The side farthest 

 from the branch was somewhat concave, and in this 

 cavity could be seen several small patches of honey, 

 which had doubtless oozed out in a very short space 

 of time, for it was visited by bees about one min- 

 ute before I secured it. The gall contained, near 

 the center, what appeared to be the larvae of some 

 insect. T. P. Andrews. 



Farina, 111., Aug. 9, 1880. 



In our back volumes, this queer phenome- 

 na of honey from the oak has been several 

 times mentioned, and it appears that it is 

 not a normal product of the oak tree, but is 

 always caused by an insect, as in the case of 

 most of the honey dews. We sent the acorn 

 mentioned in the first letter to Prof. Beal, 

 but he was unable to say from it alone to 

 what particular oak it belonged. 



It is quite likely that the milkweed pollen 

 is more of an enemy to the bee than I have 

 given it credit for, judging from the report 

 above, but I trust it is seldom that a colony 

 is so badly injured by it as the one men- 

 tioned. 



* 'H » 



MY HIVE BALANCE. 



P DIDN'T just have any abundance of cash to 

 spare, and I did just want to have a hive on 

 scales. Without it the apiarist is partially 

 blindfolded— don't know what is going on. With 

 honey coming in at the rate of seven oi eight ounc- 

 es a day, and almost as many ounces dissipated at 

 night, there is no hurry about putting on the sec- 

 tions; but, when the sweet starts to the tune of 

 seven, ten, or 15 pounds a day the bee-man would 

 better "hustle his boots," to see that his dish is 

 right side up before it is done raining porridge. Bees 

 are capable of making a great show of business 



when little honey is actually coming in, and also of 

 getting in a good deal of honey in a very quiet way. 

 The prompt and accurate information which a bal- 

 ance gives is almost one of the necessities. Never- 

 theless, I didn't feel like giving eight dollars for one 

 of those brassy-faced, wire-spring concerns,— had' nt 

 the faith in a wire coil holding its own year by year, 

 with a 75 lb. hive hanging constantly on it.' Ah! 

 worse and worse, I just now see they won't weigh 

 but 60 lbs. at best. The outcome of all is that I have 

 a balance that will weigh any weight a bee hive 

 dares to be, and that can be made to weigh half 

 ounces; and the cost was but a trifle beyond the la- 

 bor of making. The expense of time, though con- 

 siderable, was not extravagant. As Novice is the 

 special "guide, philosopher, and friend" of such of 

 the class as are light of pocket, I guess he will thank 

 me to tell the boys all about it. 



THE BASE. 



Fig. 1 represents the base of the scale. It is four 

 feet long, sixteen inches wide, and five inches high 

 exclusive of attachments, and made of ordinary % 

 lumber. This is to rest on the ground (that is to say, 

 on a nice bed of sawdust), and the strips a a, are to 

 keep it from settling over on one side. The strips, 

 b 7j, are to keep the upper portion, which carries 

 the hive, from being slid off by some luckless blun- 

 der. The large screws, c c c c, catch the oscillating 

 part of the scale as it swings from side to side. 

 They should be screwed down so as to allow but a 

 slight oscillation (half an inch or so), and may be 

 changed from time to time if the bars spring. A bar 

 of wood, d, one inch by %, runs across the middle of 

 the base to support the axles or trunnions. This 

 part is also strengthened by a partition-like board 

 underneath, which is not visible, to make all firm. 

 The trunnions, e e, are simply bits of half inch iron 

 rod about six inches long. They are settled into the 

 bar, d, a little way, and held in place by a strap of 

 tin passing over the inner end. Only the other 

 three inches is needed as a bearing. Smaller sized 

 rod will probably do just as well. The bars above, 

 where they rest on the Irunnions, are hollowed out 

 about 3-16 of an inch. This may be done by burning 

 with a somewhat laryer rod. The cavity is then 

 faced by beating in smoothly a strip of tin, the ends 

 of which are then tacked fast. The bearing is 

 shown at a, in Fig. 2. 



THE DOUBLE BEAM. 



The carrier or double beam, shown in Fig. 2, is 20 

 inches longer than the base, but of the same width. 

 It is made by fastening together, at the ends and 

 middle, two pieces of 3x3 scantling 5 feet 8 inches 

 long. A stiff er beam could be made of 2x6 or 2x8 

 joist, but the points of motion would be so far out of 

 line that it would not balance so nicely, or weigh 



