1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



547 



don't know where from. They retailed it in the gro- 

 cery at 10c per lb. in chunks. Mr. Swain has some 

 nice-looking- honey from the east, in glass sections, 

 at 35c per lb., including- wood and glass, but there 

 was little sale for it. 



I am not anxious to sell my honey this year— not 

 at such low prices. We can eat it; it is cheaper, 

 healthier, and better than strong store butter, which 

 sells from IS to 20c per lb., and sometimes scarce at 

 that. Good ripe honey will keep twenty years, and 

 has, like the Irishman's whisky, "nary a bone in it." 



I have the same number of colonies I had last 

 spring— 22; every one of the lower stories is full of 

 nice capped honey. Not one out of the whole num- 

 ber needs feeding. This is the first time since 1860 

 that I have not had to feed any at all. 



Colonies lhat are not well supplied yet with honey 

 will srffer this winter; it will be at least 7 months 

 from now bet ore they gather natural stores again; 

 and, if the winter should be very cold, and spring- 

 late, it may be longer. Geo. L. Hollenbach. 



Noblesville, Hamilton Co., Ind., Sept. 25, 1880. 



The above illustrates very forcibly the un- 

 settled state of the market for honey. All 

 the way from 10c to 35, and for comb honey 

 too! What is the remedyV I think more 

 thrown on the market would tend to equal- 

 ize things; and if some one would advertise 

 to buy and sell honey, and take all that was 

 brought in, at some price, and then grade it 

 and put it in nice shape himself, this would 

 fix things. A farmer, a few days ago, said 

 he had some honey, but I told him I did not 

 make a practice of buying it, and that he 

 had better take it to the groceries. He said 

 he preferred to sell it to me, and would take 

 15c for it in I -lb. sections. I took it at once, 

 and I shall have no trouble at all in getting 

 I8c from the grocers, as soon as they sell out 

 their present stock. They seem to fail to 

 comprehend that honey does not spoil like 

 butter and eggs, unless sold out immediate- 

 ly. I think, judging from the past, one 

 would be safe in paying lsc for all such hon- 

 ey that is brought in ; and if he retailed it 

 at 20c the year round, the public would have 

 to pay, on an average, just about what they 

 do now. only it would not have so many ups 

 and downs. 



'•intemperance" among bees, and the remedy. 

 Our bees have been working- briskly the la«t three 

 days on buckwheat and aster; and if it continues 

 pleasant another week, I thiik it will put them in 

 good condition for wintering, though they had a 

 hard time of it last month. They have been taking- 

 peach brandy until nearly all the bees that inhabit- 

 ed the hives a month ago have died drunkards. 

 But I am glad the peach crop is over, and my hives 

 are populated (not so densely), but with more heal- 

 thy bees. When the peaches commenced ripening, 

 my hives were crowded with bees and plenty of 

 brood. I was looking- through them tu-day, and I 

 find nothing but very young- bees in the hives— about 

 one-third of the amount of bees that were there a 

 month ago. My bees were worse on the fruit this 

 year than I ever kne.w, but they seemed to carry 

 but little into the hives, and now I lind the old bees 

 nearly all died off already, and but little brandy in 

 the hives. I hope we shall nave but little trouble 

 during winter. I am very fond of the peach fruit, 

 and have a great many trees; but my experience 



the last few years has satisfied me that peach-juice 

 is detrimental to bees; when the fruit becomes soft, 

 the bees will collect on it and fill themselves with 

 the brandy until they become drunk, and often re- 

 main on it during night. We had several heavy 

 showers of rain during the peach crop, which helped 

 a great many of the little topers out of the way. 



I let the hogs have access to the orchard and the 

 yards; and where they did not get I had the peaches 

 picked up every morning, as many as possible, and 

 fed— thus preventing, to some extent, the bees from 

 gathering on them. S. Valentine. 



Double Pipe Creek, Carroll Co., Md., Sept. IT, 1880. 



I agree with you, friend V., that fruit 

 seems to be destructive to the bees whpnever 

 they work on it, in the way you mention ; 

 but surely you can do better with the peach- 

 es than to let them rot, or even feed them to 

 the hogs. If you can not sell them in the 

 green state, gather them up, partly rotten 

 ones with the rest, and have them dried. 

 Dried peaches always bring a price that will 

 certainly pay well for the time needed to 

 care for them. 



RAGS IMPREGNATED WITH SALTPETER FOR LIGHTING 

 SMOKERS. 



Mr. Detweiler, at the Michigan State Fair, showed 

 us one of his own inventions, which seems to be so 

 valuable that all bee-keepers should know it. It is a 

 kind of tinder for lighting the fuel in smokers, made 

 of rags soaked in saltpeter water, and afterward 

 dried. When rags are treated in this way they will 

 light instantly upon being- touched by a flame. They 

 do not blaze, but smolder, and will continue to give 

 smoke as long as a vestige of them remains. A piece 

 of rag lighted, and put into the bottom of a smoker, 

 will light the wood better than live coals, and is far 

 more convenient. It is especially good for simplicity 

 smokers, as a small piece can be pushed into the 

 side-opening. 



It seems to me that this idea of Mr. Detweiler's is 

 equal, in its way, to that of his tin rakes to keep 

 sheets of fdn. from sagging. H<g prepared in this 

 way is easily carried in the pocket, and may be used 

 without a smoker, which makes it convenient for 

 use when away from home. A. B. Weed. 



Detroit, Mich., Sept. 21, 1880. 



Many thanks, friend W., but the idea is 

 not new. It has been given one or more 

 times, in our back volumes. The writer 

 there advised gptting an old worn-out book, 

 of convenient size to put in the pocket ; this 

 is to be saturated in the solution, and then 

 opened so as to have the leaves dry. To 

 light a smoker, tear out a leaf; or, if the 

 work to be done requires only a short time, 

 opening a single hive, for instance, a leaf out 

 of the book, placed in the smoker alone, 

 would give all the smoke needed. 



The following would have appeared some 

 time ago, but got covered up out of sight in 

 that "great pile of letters" of which I have 

 so often told you. 



PARKER'S FOUNDATION FASTENER. 



In answer to the question in Gleanings, p. 279, 

 June No., concerning the fdn. fastener, I will say 

 that I invented and commenced using- it about two 

 years ago. I did not get an electrot> pe until some- 

 thing over a year ago; it was either Jan. or Feb., 

 1879, at least. You will find it by referring to the A. 



