542 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 



HONEY-DEW. 



Wo have had quite a shower of honey-dew in Aug- 

 ust. Our bees carried considerable quantities of it 

 into the hives, commencing- to work in the morning- 

 before it was fully daylight, and continuing all day 

 busily. Brood-rearing went on rapidly, and they 

 seemed to be almost on the point of taking the 

 swarming fever, when the supply was cut short by a 

 cold rain. The substance is a sweetish liquid, with 

 a slightly pungent taste, and, after about two hours' 

 evaporation in the sun, is very sticky, and of about 

 the consistency of well-ripened honey. Bees, as 

 well as hornets, yellow-jackets, and other insects, 

 seem very fond of it. Now, all this was produced by 

 a small plant-louse on the small branches of our 

 common yellow willow. The insect looks like the 

 cabbage-louse, and a louse frequently found on the 

 tips of young grapevines, except that it is of a dark 

 purple color. It was discharged from the abdomen 

 of the insect in tiny drops about the size of a pin- 

 head; and, by placing the insect between yourself 

 and the sun, you could see it falling in a fine spray. 

 Early in the morning it would be so abundant on the 

 leaves that it would fall to the ground in large drops. 



No surplus honey here. Bees are in excellent 

 condition for wintering. M. L. Stollard. 



Tarlton, Pickaway Co., O., Oct. 4, 18S0. 



NOT ONLY A DROP, BUT A STREAM OF HONEY FROM A 

 SINGLE FLOWER. 



I have never seen the Cdbcea scandens recommend- 

 ed as a honey-plant. I have one plant, a very orna- 

 mental climber, with a large, bell-shaped flower, 

 which, at full bloom, has a small stream of honey 

 running from the cavity in the center, which seems 

 to be nearly filled to the lower and outer edge, 

 where it stands in a small pond, or, rather, a large 

 drop, where it looks as if it would drop off. I have 

 never watched to see if it did drop off, but I have 

 seen 3 or 4 bees take loads from a flower, and still 

 leave a good supply. Mine has not been in blossom 

 long enough to judge fully how valuable it may be 

 for a honey-plant. (I send a description, clipped 

 from a price list, which you may publish if you 

 think best.) L. < !. Lincoln. 



Greenville, Montcalm Co., Mich., Sept. 20, 1880. 



Here is the description : 



Cob.ea.— A fine, rapid -growing climber, with 

 handsome foliage, and large, bell-shaped Uowers, 

 green at first, but rapidly changing to a beautiful, 

 deep violet blue. Seeds should be started in a hot- 

 bed, in rather dry soil, as they are apt to rot in open 

 ground. A well-established plant will run fifty feet 

 in a season, covering a large veranda with handsome 

 foliage and beautiful flowers. Tender perennial. 



Since the ahove was sent ns, I have been 

 so fortunate as to get a nice large vine of 

 the ('oho a, scandens, and it is now in our 

 greenhouse, but will probably not blossom 

 until another season. This is how it came : 

 After talking with the inmates of our jail 

 the Sunday after the letter was received, I 

 told the men that if there was any commis- 

 sion I could execute for them to please men- 

 tion it, and I would be most glad to serve 

 them. One of them, who is a market gar- 

 dener, asked if I would be so kind as to take 

 up a choice vine he had, and put it in my 

 greenhouse, that it might not be killed by 

 the frost. I promised, and when he after- 

 ward mentioned that it was Cobcea scandens, 

 I was almost a little startled. Do you think, 

 dear readers, it is possible God sent it. 



LIME-VALLEY APIARY. FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 



I put into the cellar, in the fall of 1870, 18 hives of 

 bees, apparently in good condition, except one. I 

 sold 2, gave one to a namesake, and lost 2 in winter- 

 ing,— and therefore began the season of 1880 with 13 

 stands. One proved to be queenless, and had to be 

 provided with brood to raise a queen. I hav.e in- 

 creased to 22, entirely by natural swarming, and 

 have taken 332J4 lbs. surplus in Lewis & Parks' 1J4 

 lb. one-piece sections, and 2iU lbs. extracted, from 

 upper story. Largest quantity from one hive, box 

 and extracted, 89J4 lbs. ; smallest quantity, nothing. 

 I have taken nothing but surplus— not having med- 

 dled with the brood department at all, and worked 

 for box honey, except on a few hives. All hives are 

 now well filled for winter. I winter in cellar,— and 

 have generally had good success. Honey sells in 

 this market at 15c for extracted, and 25c for nice 

 box. Demand is only local. Not enough honey is 

 produced here, however, to supply the market at all 

 seasons. Isn't that the case generally? I seldom see 

 honey for snk' in any town, except in fall and winter. 

 Do we sufficiently supply our home trade at all sea- 

 sons? 



I use a hive 1014x16^, and 11 in. deep, with frames 

 running crosswise. 1 sometimes wish I had adopted 

 the Langstroth, for the sake of uniformity; but I 

 have about come to the conclusion, that it doesn't 

 make much difference what kind of a hive a person 

 uses if lie knows lime to handle it. 



I began bee-keeping more for the pleasure of it 

 than for profit. My experience has indeed been 

 pleasant, and the more I study bees and handle 

 them, the better I like it. There is more genuine 

 eujoyment in handling the bees than in selling the 

 honey. 



My neighbor bee-keepers have not done as well as 

 I have. They complain that the bees refused to 

 work in boxes. I find it much more easy to get ex- 

 tracted honey from an upper story, than nice box 

 honej-. Eugene Secor. 



Forest City, Iowa, Oct. 4, 1880. 



SEPARATORS OF STRETCHED WIRES. 



I read what you and some one else had to say 

 about wire -cloth separators. Being at the time 

 ready to put in some wide frames, and needing sep- 

 arators, I concluded to try an experiment. As a 

 temporary expedient, I drove tacks on one edge of 

 the end bars, just % in. apart, then strung some fine 

 wire, as fine, or finer, than the horse-hair used by la- 

 dies for waxwork, back and forth, horizontally onli/, 

 until one side was so covered. The section boxes in 

 place, and frames in hive, so far seem to be as good 

 as any separator, and much cooler than tin. The dif- 

 ficulty is, to get them tight enough and not break. 

 Geo. H. Waddell, M.D. 



Coronaco, Abbeville Co., S. C, July 20, 1880. 



The idea of wires, friend W., is hardly 

 new, and I think the principal objection is 

 their frailty. If stuck with propolis, they 

 would be pretty sure to be broken in remov- 

 ing the ho.iey. A few wires, braided across 

 to strengthen and stiffen them, would make 

 a sort of open wire cloth of large mesh and 

 very fine wires, and it is this we have been 

 talking about making. 



THE GIANT HYSSOP, OR NEW SIMPSON PLANT, ETC. 



Prof. Beal's notice of the plant I sent you, as found 

 on p. 479, Oct. No. G. B. ft, surprises me. I supposed 



