GLEANINGS IN J3EE CULTURE. 



Sept: 



I have very nice white-clover honey, and it is seil- 

 iiig last lit 15 cts. per lb. Last year I sold at 20 cts.; 

 but this year a bee - man shipped to this part 

 at reduced rates in the beginning of this season. I 

 sold for 18 cts. per lb. till T had to sell lower; ex- 

 tracted, 12',^ cts. per lb. 



I love to read Gleanings and all it contains. 

 May God, the giver of all good, guide and direct us 

 all to that which is right and good, and ever on the 

 side of righteousness: A. H. Baitm. 



Ashland, Ohio. 



Friend B., it liardly seems possible that 

 the bees carry in enough salt water so that 

 it crystalizes on the combs, as yon mention. 

 Was not some brine by some accident spilled 

 on these combsV— 1 think the queen volun- 

 tarily leaves the old hive in swarming time, 

 for I have seen them come out several times 

 among the workers, but oftentimes only 

 toward the last. _^______ 



MORE ABOUT HONEV POISONING— A NEGATIVE 

 VIEW OF THE MATTER. 



1 have just read the " Honey-Poisoning Case " on 

 page 521 of Gleanings; and in response to your 

 question, " Can any of our medical friends suggest 

 what the poison probably was, from the nature of 

 the symptoms given?" I take the liberty to say 

 this: Gelsemiura, or yellow jessamine, bears, gen- 

 erally in profusion, a bright-yellow Hower, funnel 

 form, an inch to an inch and a half in length, and 

 very fragrant. The flowers appear in March and 

 April. I am a student of homeopathy, and know 

 something of the effects of the drug here under 

 consideration. We give gelseinium quite frequent- 

 ly for intermittent fever, sudden and severe mus- 

 cular effects from taking cold, etc.; and though we 

 often give the strongest tincture, in one and two 

 drop doses, at intervals of from 15 minutes to an 

 hour or more, we never fear any poisonous eflect. 

 The most prominent symptoms of an overdose is a 

 peculiar effect on the optic nerve, producing doub- 

 le vision; but aside from a sli^t disturbance of the 

 circulation, I have never noticed any ill effect of 

 what homeopathic physicians call an overdose. 1 

 can not believe that gelsemium in the honey caused 

 the poisoning, because the symptoms do not indi- 

 cate it; and because not enough could have been 

 taken in that way to cause death. Tliis, you see, is 

 a negative answer to your question. Perhaps some 

 one else can give the positive. The two together 

 will cover the whole case. J. D. Gehring. 



Park College, Mo., Aug. 15, 1885. 



A REPORT OF THE STANLEY AUTOMATIC HONEY- 

 EXTRACTOR. 



I have had extremely good success this season 

 with my bees. It is the first season I ever extracted, 

 and T always thought that I never wduM extract any 

 honey, for I have seen others work their machine, 

 and there was so much daubing around, lifting the 

 combs out to turn them, that it sickened me of the 

 extracting business. But when I saw the Stanley 

 Automatic honey-extractor, then 1 made up my 

 mind it was the machine for business, so I bought 

 a three-frame machine, and found it to be just what 

 it was represented, and I would not take any other 

 machine as a gift, if 1 had to pay f 50.00 for one of 

 the Stanley machines. I have extracted wired 

 combs, and those that were not wired, and have 

 not broken a single comb. My combs are 12 inches 

 square, and would be more liable to break than the 



Langstroth. If I were to buy another machine I 

 would get a four-frame instead of a tbree-frame, as 

 I could get along so much faster. It would take no 

 more turning to get the honey out of four frames 

 at once than three, and but a slight difference in 

 the price of machines. My advice to all would be 

 to buy a four-frame machine. I have always run 

 my bees for comb honey; but if I can get 8c per lb. 

 for extracted at home, I shall not use any more sec- 

 tions. F. F. Crocker. 

 East Uandolph, N. Y., Aug. 12, 1885. 



your foot-notes to correspondence. 



I like them. Your young readers would soon be 

 led into devious and mysterious caverns, and prob- 

 ably be lost in the great "Mammoth Cave" of our 

 chosen and beloved science, without our trusted 

 knight of the lantern, whose years of experience 

 and honest walk and pleasant ways have guided us 

 so happily and safely on. Whenever you give up 

 the lantern to one of the new explorers, even 

 though he has gone a little way safely, we shall all 

 feel uneasy, and wish to procure a guide that it'i7/ 

 lend. I know of no publication more completely 

 edited than is Gleanings. And, too, its smooth pa- 

 per, convenient size, clear print, appropriate head- 

 ings, full addresses of correspondents, and a dozen 

 other admirable features, make it a marvel of ex- 

 cellence. It is to be hoped our friends will subside 

 in their suggestions. .1. L. Caldwell. 



Mart, Texas. 



A WISCONSIN report. 



This has been a poor honey year so far; a late and 

 cold spring; white clover yielded very little. Bass- 

 wood, of which there is a great abundance, did not 

 bloom as full as usual, and the very warm weather 

 and plentiful rains ripened it too soon. It lasted 

 only five or six days. Several men in this county 

 who have large apiaries tell me they have taken no 

 surplus, and do not expect any. Oiw of these par- 

 ties took 15,000 lbs. last season. I am doing better, 

 as I have not so many bees (ten colonies, spring 

 count). One of my first swarms has given me 70 lbs. 

 of very fine comb honey in 1 lb. sections. I may get 

 500 lbs. all together. There is a number of honey- 

 plants here that the bees do not work on. The 

 Simpson honey-plant grows profusely in the wood- 

 pasture adjoining my apiary, but I have not seen a 

 honey-bee on it, and I have been watching closely. 

 The yellow-jackets work on it from morning until 

 night. Do you think thej' drive the bees away, or 

 what is the trouble? There is plenty of the common 

 thistle, also, and the bumble-bees and other insects 

 work on it; but the honey-bees do not notice it. 

 They are working now on early buckwheat and the 

 asters. I will send a full report later. 



Harry Latorop. 



Browntown, Green Co., Wis., Aug. 12, 1885. 



Friend L., the reason why the bees do not 

 work on the Simpson and "other plants you 

 mention, is because they are getting plenty 

 of honey, more to their fancy, elsewhere. 

 Some time ago we had a cornmunication 

 from a friend who had a patch of figwort, but 

 not a bee could be fount!, although it was la- 

 den with blossoms, and their little cups were 

 full of nectar. One morning, however, he 

 was astonished to see the whole piece in a 

 perfect roar, and literally alive with bees. 

 The other pastures had failed, and they had 

 just discovered the rtgwort. 



