1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



389 



From Different Fields. 



HONEY AS A MEDICINE. 



CONSIDERABLE has been said of late about 

 1/ bee-stings as a remedy for certain ailments. 

 Even if the testimony of the witnesses had 

 been favorable, and it should have been proven that 

 bee-stints would cure rheumatism, I fear that most 

 people would prefer the disease to the remedy. Now, 

 I propose to advocate the virtues of a medicine 

 which is pleasantei to take than to expose one's self 

 to the venom of 50,000 bees for the sake of absorbing 

 the juices of their "business end." Two years ago 

 this fall, after taking a severe cold, I found myself 

 troubled with a bronchial affection, which clung to 

 me with more or less severity for a year or more. 

 During the last six months I have eaten honey very 

 freely, and during the summer and fall when ex- 

 tracting, I ate honey all the time I was at work, be- 

 sides at meal time. I found that no medicine was so 

 grateful to the palate, in allaying the tickling sen- 

 sation which causes the slight coughing. I am near- 

 ly cured, and I attribute it to the honey. I have 

 taken no other medicine for a year, because physi- 

 cians did me no good. Honey used to give me a 

 severe colic; but of late I can eat it at all times 

 with perfect impunity. Although troubled some- 

 what with dyspepsia, yet I can eat honey any time 

 in the day without any bad effects. 



I should like to hear from others on the subject of 

 "Honey as a Medicine." If it is true that it is good 

 in bronchial or lung diseases, it will be a very pleas- 

 ant remedy to recommend to our friends. No wry 

 faces when they take our dose. Eugene Secor. 



Lime-Valley Apiary, Forest City, la., Oct. 18, 1880. 



SOME OF THE TROUBLES OF IMPORTING. 



In the last few days I received an invoice of ten 

 queens from Bianconcini, Bologna, Italy— not a live 

 bee in the lot! What shall I do about it? I have 

 spent about $20.00 already, and still have no import- 

 ed queen. The tested one I got from you last March, 

 after doing me good service, tramped off with all my 

 bees— I mean from her hive. One of the dollar 

 queens is all right, giving three-banded bees; one is 

 lost; the other, I think, is hybrid. It. K. Walker. 

 Darien, Ga., Oct. 14, 1880. 



I can hardlv tell -what is right in such a 

 matter, friend W., hut I know what I would 

 do if the case w r ere mine. I would pay you 

 your money back, and pay all expenses ; and 

 if F could not stand it to do business in that 

 way, I would stop doing business. Of 

 course, this is with the understanding that 

 you did faithfully all your part in the trans- 

 action. 



ITALIAN BEES AND CHAFF HIVES. 



I think this is the poorest honey season we ever 

 had. The most of our bee-keepers say their bees 

 did not swarm, and got but very little honey. They 

 arc mostly blacks, and in box hives. I got some to 

 try the Simplicity and chaff hive, and fdn. and sec- 

 tions. They think they arc so nice they want me to 

 transfer their bees into my hives next spring. Well, 

 I have told you about my neighbors' bees and now I 

 will tell you about my bees. I have 57 swarms; 27 

 in chaff hives. 1 made a chaff hive last spring, a 



year asro, and transferred an Italian swarm into it, 

 and it gave the first swarm. I put it into a chaff 

 hive this season, and I got from the parent stock 07 

 lbs. section honey; from the swarm, 81' i lbs. section 

 honey. I got 50 from another. They were t*ie best 

 I had. One black swarm gave 27 lbs. surplus. They 

 all have their lower stories filled for winter. 

 Ashland, ()., Oct. 18, 1880. T. J. Elliott. 



WHEN TO I'UT IN A FRAME OF CANDY. 



Suppose you have several swarms of bees with, 

 say, two-thirds honey enough to winter, and wish to 

 give them a frame of candy; where will you hang it 

 —in the center, or at one side of the hive? Then, 

 again, if there are five or six cards of comb partly 

 filled with honey, wouldn't it be better to place the 

 candy on top of the frames? I think bees have gen- 

 erally done quite well in this vicinity during the 

 past season. L. E. Bemis. 



Athol, Mass., Oct. is, 1880. 



The bees will take it much quicker if put 

 right in the center of the combs; but if you 

 do not watch them they will build ;i comb in 

 place of the candy as soon as out. A tray of 

 candy on top of the frames is better, only it 

 is more in the way when we are raising 

 queens. 



HONEY-PLANTS, ETC. 



Your new cover for Gleanings is nice; the de- 

 sign is splendid. Bees in this locality have for three 

 years hardly made a living. The Spider plant did 

 not secrete any honey here. The bees did not no- 

 tice it, but worked late and early on the hemp, which 

 is a good honey-plant. Simpson's did well: but the 

 best thing we have here through the dry weather of 

 July and August, of the wild weeds, is a large vari- 

 ety of verbena. We have three kinds here, but "the 

 large purple is the bee-plant. We think if there is 

 any one plant worth cultivating for honey alone, it 

 is catnip. The honey is excellent, just minty enough 

 to make it of good flavor. You spoke of hoarhound 

 honey. For those who like the taste of hoarhound, 

 it is nice honey, and has a double medicinal quality. 

 I had so much this year I did not know what to do 

 with it, and so pulled the plants up. There were 

 enough around the yards and lanes to cover a fourth 

 of an acre. I can furnish lots of it next year, if it 

 yields honey as it did this year, for the ground is 

 covered with young plants from the seed. 



Pearl millet is the best plant for pollen we have 

 found. I have seen bees so eager for it as to hang 

 to it all night, and work on it by moonlight. I do 

 not think it affords much honey, but the pollen is 

 soft iind very yellow. 



I have a wax-extractor that cost me 75 cents to get 

 made. It works like a charm. 1 would tell you 

 about it, but am afraid you would not have time to 

 read it, seeing this is so long. Wm. Emerick. 



Sumner, Lawrence Co., 111., Oct. 10, 1880. 



I have two apiaries one of 75 and one of 40. This 

 spring I got 1800 lbs. of box honey from the 10, and 

 increased to 70. I ran the 75 for extracted honey; 

 they gave me 0000 lbs., and increased to 100. I have 

 plenty of buckwheat, but it did not yield first-rate. 

 I see a low of your correspondents wonder why the 

 bees don't work on such and such flowers. The rca 

 son is, I think, it is too cold; to secrete honey, give 

 US warm nights. Then look out for a heavy basswood 

 yield; days this year; last year 5 days. In 1878 it 

 ! lasted 10 days. The weather was still and warm, 



