670 



CiLEANlNGS IN BEE CULTUUE. 



Oct. 



I never had a thought that bees possess so much 

 of the spirit of man that they would destroy their 

 stores, or, what is the next thing to it, make it dan- 

 gerous or destructive by their stinging the honey. 



Elsie, Mich. N. L. Higbie, M. D. 



Thank you, Dr. II., lor the points you 

 bring out. I have for years been well aware 

 of this fact : That it is not safe to eat lieart- 

 ily of any article of food when it first comes 

 in season ; but after having eaten of it for 

 several days, increasing the quantity gradu- 

 ally, I Ihid 1 can eat a full meal of almost 

 any thing, Avithout any disagreeable results. 

 Nature seems to prefer taking small doses 

 to begin with until she learns how to man- 

 age or handle a new article of diet. When 

 she gets accustomed to it, then she disposes 

 of a full meal, or even an overdose, without 

 any " trouble in the camp.*' It seems to me 

 hardly probable, however, that the deaths to 

 which our attention has been called were 

 produced in this way ; still, it may be so. 1 

 know that it is quite customary, when a bee- 

 tree is cut, for those present to eat honey in 

 excess— sometimes a full pound or more ; 

 and if those who do so have not tasted of 

 any honey before for a year, I sliouldn't be 

 at all surprised if they were taken sick— yes, 

 severely sick. It is, I believe, well kjiown 

 that people accustom themselves to poison, 

 so as to take doses with impunity that would 

 kill one, not so accustomed, outright. It is 

 in this way that we become hardened, or 

 inured to the effect of bee-stings. In cutting 

 bee - trees, more or less bees are mashed. 

 Sometimes great numbers of t hem are crush- 

 ed all through the honey. It would not be 

 at all surprising, if the poison set free from 

 the poison-bags of these cruslied bees would 

 produce serious eifects where said honey is 

 eaten in large quantities. 



A COLONY THAT KILLS ALL THEIR 

 QUEENS. 



X WANT you to tell me what ails my weak swarm. 

 1^? I found the queen on the ground one evening, 

 j|[ and put her in the wrong liive, and lost her. 



■*■ There was no young brood, and I gave them 

 brood from another. They raised two queens, 

 but I found them both killed this morning, and still 

 no queen or young brood. What had I better do 

 with them? Can you tell me why the white clover 

 and buckwheat have no honey iu this year? I have 

 just come from the buckwheat patch. It is in full 

 bloom, and no bees in the patch. The mtiin lionet' 

 flow was from the basswood. U. II. WiirrciiKU. 

 Patton, Ind., Aug. :i.5, 1885. 



Friend ^V., I can not say why the (polony 

 you mention kills all their queens: but in 

 answer to your question what to do with 

 them, you must get a laying queen in the 

 hive by some means. As they have been 

 queenless already for some little time, about 

 the only way to save them woidd be to give 

 them a fertile queen at once. Tliey proba- 

 bly have some sort of a queen, or something 

 that they consider to be a queen, and she 

 must be hunted out and removed before you 

 can do any thing.— I can not tell why there 

 is no honey in tlie clover or buckwheat this 



season ; but I can tell you that it is some- 

 thing that happens once in a while— oftener 

 with buckwheat than with clover. The 

 honey secretion may commence, however, 

 at any time ; and if you keep watch I tliink 

 you will^see your bees on the buckwheat 

 sooner or later. 



A GLIMPSE AT THE HOME OF ONE 

 OF OUR MICHIGAN FRIENDS. 



HIS SHOP AND APIAllV, WHEHE HE WORKS. 



SEND you by this mail a photograph of my 

 chair - hive apiary of 8.^ colonies. The little 

 white dots in the yard are white clover. Then 

 comes our strawberry-bed and other garden 

 truck. It being the height of the swarming 

 season, my partner (see Mar. 15 Gleanings) is out 

 with the Shepard hiving-bo.\, and I with my basket, 

 with a piece of comb securely fastened in the bot- 

 tom, and a handle attached to the outside of bottom, 

 which I much prefer to the bo.\. Mrs. H. stands on 

 the walk leading to the honey-house, with smoker 

 in hand, all loaded, in case it is needed. The shop 

 and lumber are in the background. The grapevines 

 and other foliage show more densely in the picture 

 than they really are. The hives are in rows both 

 wai s, and alternate red, white, and blue each way 

 in the I'ows. Our house stands just to the right, 

 where the walks diverge. 



With this short e.vplanation you will comprehend 

 the situation. Geo. E. Hilton. 



Fremont, Mich., Aug. IT, I6c5. 



(;iad to see you, friend II., and to take a 

 look at your bee-hives and other improve- 

 ments round about. Your letter is alto- 

 gether too short. I presume tluit house with 

 a flag lloating on it is tiie honey -house, but 

 you don't say so. The queei-lookiivg ar- 

 rangement in yourhand, resembling a peach- 

 basket fastened to a pole, is, I presume, 

 for the purpose of taking down swarms. No 

 doubt this will answer an excellent purpose, 

 but they are so easily mashed up is one rea- 

 son we have not adopted them more. We 

 suppose your •' partner'" is that little eight- 

 year-old chap from whom we had a letter on 

 i)agc 207, (lLEANiN(is t\)r Marcli lo. The 

 building right back of the honey - house, 

 striped with white battens, is probably the 

 shop where '• Uncle (ieorge iV: Co."" hang out 

 their shingle ; and that is where the 10<t 

 chaff hives were made for that man who 

 lives in Ohio and sent away olf to Michigan. 



Awiiy back beyond the buildings we get 

 glimpses of the pine-trees, and we presume 

 the secret of your being able to make good 

 work cheaper than we do is v>fti"tly on ac- 

 count of tliose same pine-trees. You are 

 right close to the pine regions of Michigan. 



Our engraver did not make the white clo- 

 ver very natural, but perhaps he did the best 

 he could at it. We should have been glad 

 to get a glimpse of the strawberries, but 

 they would be pretty hard to show in a pic- 

 ture. 



Well, good by, Tncle George & Co.; and 

 we hope you may have lots of business and 

 much jnosperity ; and, more than all, that 

 your little partner, and his uncle too, may 

 both be led in wisdom's ways. 



