376 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



feces." What is that brown and black powder 

 which collects beneath the frames when bees win- 

 ter well? Following- Quinby, I have strongly main- 

 tained that it is " dry feces." Mr. Hcddou quotes 

 Prof. Cook as positively denying- this. Well, then, 

 what is it? If not " dry feces " it must be rejected 

 pollen and other waste matter dropped by the bees 

 when they are feeding. If it is "dry feces," we 

 have proof that bees can safely eat pollen during 

 winter confinement. If it is rejected stuff spit out 

 by the bees while feeding, it shows that, in ii right 

 condition, they will not eat pollen to their injurj' 

 during winter confinement. Either view is fatal to 

 the pollen theory, and we are forced to the conclu- 

 sion that, after all, safe wintering is a matter of 

 temperature. If that is right, bees can either eat 

 pollen with impunity, and pass it safely, or they 

 will not eat it at all, so that we need give ourselves 

 no trouble to keep pollen out of the hive in winter. 

 Fix them so that they can hibernate, quiesce, 

 " keep asy," as Paddy would say, or whatever you 

 like to call it, and pollen in the hive will do no harm. 

 I may add, that I have sent Mr. Heddon a sample cf 

 " dry feces," received from Mr. Cornell, also anoth- 

 er taken out of one of my own hives, requesting 

 that he will get Prof. Cook to analyze them with 

 the same care that ho has done the wet feces, and I 

 am waiting anxiously for the report. If it does not 

 knock the pollen theory into a cocked hat, " call me 

 a Dutchman." Wm. F. Ci.arke. 



Speedside, o Out., May 7, 1885. 



Friend Clarke, I tliank you for your 

 kind criticism, and I tor one feel guilty ; 

 but what iiqi conscience accuses me of is 

 this: In letting a good deal have place in 

 Gleanings that not only has little or no 

 reference to bees, but matter that occupies 

 space that is of no particular benefit to any 

 one. May God give me grace to do better, 

 and to set a better example ; and to com- 

 mence at once I will cut this siiort right 

 here. 



HOW TO MAKE A HONEY-TANK. 



A TAKK ALL OF WOOD TO HOLD OVKU 1000 LllS., 

 AND NOT TO COST OVER S7.00. 



0N page 310 I see that Mr. Ross, of Te.vas, wants 

 to know how to make :i honey-tank. I have 

 used one made of wood for two years, and am 

 well pleased with it. It is about 6 ft. long, 2 ft. 

 wide, and 18 in. deep, with a V-shaped bottom, 

 and holds 1000 or 1200 lbs. of honej\ It is made of 

 1-inch and l^.i-inch pine lumber. The end-boards 

 are grooved into the bottom and sides so that the lat- 

 ter extend beyond the former about 3 in. The other 

 joints (i. e., where the boards are spliced) are 

 grooved and tongued together, and all the joints are 

 cemented together with white lead and canvas. It 

 is put together with screws— not nails. It is painted 

 on the outside, and coated on the inside with par- 

 aflBne, which is, I think, much cheaper than tin, 

 and just as good, so far as I see. Six small iron 

 rods go across the tank, to prevent it from spread- 

 ing when filled with honey. I place the extractor 

 and uncapping-box on the tank, have a hole about 

 a foot square in the cover, in which is placed 

 a piece of cheese-cloth for a strainer. The honey 

 from the extractor and uncapping - box Hows 

 through this strainer into the tank, and is drawn off 

 at the bottom by means of a honey-gate placed in 



one end, whenever a customer calls for it. The 

 tank is mounted on legs, so that the honey-gate is 

 about 18 in. from the floor of the honey-house. Of 

 course, I have a stool to stand on while extracting. 

 My tank is not stationary. I had a carpenter make 

 it to order. It cost me something over $7.00. 

 Bangor, o Iowa, May (5, 1885. M. A. Jackson. 



Thanks, friend J. No doubt the above ar- 

 rangement will answer very Avell. There is 

 one reason, however, why 1 should not like 

 a wooden tank coated with parattine, as well 

 as one lined with tin. Aw\ utensil in which 

 honey is placid is apt to get a sort of strong 

 odor in time, and nothing removes this so 

 effectually as boiling water. Tin can be 

 cleansed with boiling water without trouble ; 

 but boiling water would dissolve your paraf- 

 line, and make mischief. If you have had it 

 in use some time, however, and have not no- 

 ticed any slight taint given to the honey, 

 after it has stood in it for some time, per- 

 haps my fears may be groundless. 



A BEE OR A BUG-WHICH IS IT? 



PROF. COOK TELLS US SOMETHING ABOUT AN IN- 

 SECT THAT OFTEN FREQUENTS OUR BEE-HIVES. 



SEND you by this mail a specimen of a bug or 

 bee, and I should say both; but I never heard 

 |l of a bug-bee. I got hold of one of your ABC 

 books, and bought 11 swarms last fall. I have 

 ■5 swarms now. Do. you think I read my A B C's 

 well? The insects I send I found one in one of the 

 hives, and the others on the backs of worker-bees. 

 They are very active, and jump on the bee's back, 

 and fasten their sharp pincers in the bee's neck, 

 and the bee can not Hy with him, but runs every 

 way to get him off; but he sticks in spite of all. I 

 did not wait to see how soon he would kill the bee, 

 but took them off. I never heard or saw any thing 

 like it before. It may be because I never kept bees 

 before. They have no sting, but the slickest pair 

 of pinoer jaws I ever saw. With the bug-bees, I 

 inclose a few dead young bees. The old bees drag 

 them out and they appear to have the St. Anthony's 

 dance, and are deformed. Do you think it is by be- 

 ing chilled, or is it some insect at woi-k at them? 

 The bug-bees eat sweet like a bee. What are the 

 specimens, and cause of the deformed young bees, 

 and what gives them the St. Anthony's dance? 

 Wakeman, Ohio, Apr. 20, 188.5. K. Derby, .Tr. 



In submitting the above letter to Prof. 

 Cook I suggested tliat perhaps these little 

 bees were "the same tliat bore in the pithy 

 stalks of the thistle and mullein. 



PROF, cook's answer. 



The little black slim bees are species of ^«dre?jrt. 

 They have a tremendous sugar-tooth, like almost all 

 bees, and, like some higher animals, prefer to steal 

 their living rather than to procure it by honest toil. 

 From their small size, quick motions, and hard 

 crust, which latter serves them as a natural shield, 

 they arc able to brave the anger of the hive-bees. 

 To see these little fierce bees pounce upon our large 

 honey-bees, reminds us at once of our sparrows and 

 blackbirds as they worry our large hawks. These 

 little bees, like our honey-bees, are hardly robbers 

 from choice; for as soon as the flowers come they 

 mend their ways and gather their own stores. 



You are not correct in supposing that these bees 

 nest in hollow stalks, though very near relatives do. 



