l88-^ 



oLilAKlKGS In 13EE ClTLtUliE. 



.52? 



tions about tlie tin slide of the Peet cage are 

 good, and I will just now give orders to the 

 girls to use no cages unless the slides are 

 loose. The shrinking and swelling of the 

 lumber has something to do with making 

 tliem tight.— 1 am glad that you agree with 

 me, that the plan given in tile A B V book, 

 for making artiticial swarms, is a good one. 

 It is so extremely simple, too, that I have 

 often wondered why a good many prefer 

 .plans requiring so much time and liiachine- 

 ry about them, to this one. We are glad, 

 too. to know that you succeeded with straw- 

 berries so nicely. 



^ I ^ 



AFTER SW^ ARMS. 



ALSO A FAVORABF.E liKPORT OF THE FOUNTAIN 

 Pi; MP. 



N regfird to prevention of after-swarms, T would 

 say that 1 tried the Heddon plau, as given on 

 page 411, about '^H times last year, and the same 

 number of times the present year. It is a sim- 

 ple, piactical method, and, if properly executed, 

 will have as few exceptions as any other rule in 

 apiculture. You are surely right in saying there is 

 no absolute rule that will apply to all cases, with 

 bees. To illustrate: In at)out :{() cases of "modern 

 transferring," one colony would persist in killing 

 the bees of the last drive, in spite of smoke, drum- 

 ming, or mixing of bees. I consi<ler it the best 

 method of transferring ever published. 



With the fountain pump we art; not obliged to let 

 swarms cluster where they please. Mine are always 

 mnih to cluster in a convenient i)lacc, although the 

 yard is full of very inconvenient ones. With black 

 bees the following jjlan works nicely: Fasten any 

 kind of a light box to a long pole, the opening at 

 right angles to the handle, and provide it with two 

 short legs, so that it can be set down without 

 crushing bees. When a swarm issues, go to the 

 nearest hive (an extracting super is best), take out 

 a frame with adhering bees, and shake them into 

 the box. They at once begin roaring, and when 

 held just outside the center of the Hying swarm, 

 it will bring the cluster to them. The swarm is se- 

 cured in less time than it takes to tell how to do it, 

 and there is little danger of swarms uniting. If oth- 

 ers issue, put the swarm in the shade and cover 

 with a sheet of burlap. 1 have had swarms come so 

 thick and fast that about one-fourth of each swarm 

 was left to join the next. In this way a neighboring 

 bee-keeper manages to toll the swarms right into 

 the prepared hive. 



HEUDON HIVF.S. 



Please ask the friends to suspend judgment on 

 the Heddon hives and fixtures until they have tried 

 at least ten of them for a year or more, for they 

 can't learn to appreciate their advantages, and use 

 them properly in less time. The hive-covers are 

 not meant to slide on, as described by Hro. H. Take 

 the cover in both hands, bringing it down to place 

 with a quick back-and-forth rotary movement, and 

 it is adjusted instanter, without killing a bee. The 

 propolis doesn't bother; they don't warp or blow 

 off, and, if covered on one side with bits of comb or 

 bees, turn them over and clean up at leisure. They 

 need only to be used to be appreciated. 



I have experimented with foundation as largely 

 as possible the past and present season, and agree 

 With Doolittle and Hutchinson, that much of the 



fdn. used in the brood chamber when producing 

 comb honey, and during a heavy honey flow, is 

 woise than wasted. Limit the brood-chamber to 

 the need of the queen, and force the bees into the 

 boxes at the start, and there can be no question as 

 to the profitable use of the foundation. 



I am using the " Heddon contracting method" 

 (see A. B. J., page 437, 188.5), altogether this season. 

 It is a long progressive stride in the right direction, 

 and will surely come into general use. Doolittle 

 practices about the same method, I believe. I take 

 great comfort in handling these honejiess brood- 

 chambers. Five solid reversible sheets of brood, 

 no crowded bulging combs or braces, and most of 

 the bees come-off with the boxes, and are out of the 

 way when reversing or handling the combs. Now 

 that reversible frames have demonstrated the de- 

 sirability of reversing, practical honey-producers 

 demand a reversible hive. Such hives must surely 

 be invented before long; and so soon as one appears 

 in the market, of practical construction, and one 

 that does not do away with the laterally moving 

 frame, I intend to adopt it. Take notice: My opin- 

 ions are also subject to reversal as we progress. 



DWIGHT FURNESS. 



Furnessvlllc, Ind., July 18, 188.".. 



POISON HONEY. 

 Some additional Facts and Suggestions. 



CAUTION AGAINST TAKING HONEV FROM THE 

 HIVES, liF.FORK IT I.S RIPE, ETC. 



Tnj>IT()K GLK.ANINGS: -When Prof. A. J. Cook 

 L* makes a statement, and is supported in it by 

 Y^ C Mr. A. I. Hoot, it seems almost presumption 

 *" for anyone to ftbject; but it is possible for 

 any one to be wrong. Prof. Cook says, in the 

 last sentence on " Poisoned Honey," p. 44."i, that the 

 " nectar which plants secrete does not partake of 

 the qualities of the tissues." You think he has 

 "struck the root of the matter." If this is the cor- 

 rect view of the matter, wh3' do flowers have their 

 own peculiar smell or flavor? If there is no connec- 

 tion between the juices of a plant and its nectar se- 

 cretion, where does the peculiar aroma of each 

 come from"? We know that unless a tree or plant is 

 rich in sap or juice, there will be but little or no 

 honey. We know that honey secretion is directly 

 dependent on a succulent, juicy condition of the 

 flower, and that this condition necessitates an abun- 

 dant How of saj) from which it can be secreted. 

 Why, then. Is not the honey from each class of hon- 

 ey-producing plants flavored by its own peculiar es- 

 sence';' I claim that it Is. Why does not white-clo- 

 ver honey taste like that from the willow? Because 

 of the pungency of the willow being lacking in the 

 clover. I have been told liere that willow honey is 

 good as a preventive of fevers; that to use willow 

 honey through the summer woulil be as good as a 

 fever medicine. There is evidently a connection 

 between its sap and its honey secretion, as is evi- 

 denced by a similarity in taste. If the honey didn't 

 get its flavor directly from the juke in the flower, 

 where could it get it from? What makes onion hon- 

 ey smell so rank when freshly gathered, and, when 

 capped, be so much milder, yet possessing the flavor 

 of onion nevertheless? Why can an experienced 

 bee-keeper take sample after sample of honey, and, 

 by tasting, say, " This is willow, this is white clover, 

 this is smartweed, this ia basswood, this is golden- 



