1885 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



811 



his article, although his information has probably 

 g-ot a little twisted. I believe honey is sometimes, 

 to a certain degree, poisoned by the poison of the 

 bee-sting-. This is not caused by the bees stinging 

 the honey-comb, cei-tainly not by the stings left 

 behind; for, as Prof . Cook says, even if the bees 

 did sting the comb, tlie stings would not be left 

 behind. 



It is quite possible, thiit honey may become poi- 

 soned through tlie crushing of bees. I think, 

 though, that this may more often come about from 

 the poison wiped off from the protruded stings of 

 angry bees. Who, on opening a hive on a cool 

 morning, has not noticed the rows of upturned 

 stings, each with its drop of poison on the tip? 

 What becomes of this poisonV It is very unlikely 

 that it is reabsoi-bcd by the poison sac. I am fa- 

 miliar with the taste of this poison. I have often 

 tasted it upon my hand, left there by a bee that 

 had not stung me. I have also detected it on the 

 surface of sealed honey by touching it with my 

 tongue shortly after such a display of stings as I 

 have mentioned. Now, I think here is at least one 

 reason why some people can never eat honej'; why 

 others are unpleasantly affected by any thing more 

 than the smallest portion, and why a large quantity 

 sometimes produces such severe results. 



Let me give some facts in support of this. Peo- 

 ple have frequently told me that comb honey " did 

 not agree with them," while they could eat ex- 

 tracted honey with impunity. It is easy to see that 

 the poison, being on the surface, would be cut off 

 with the cappings, and ordinarily would not get 

 into extracted honey. Other persons can not cat j 

 even extracted honey until it has llrst been boiled, 

 after which they can eat it freely. In this case, the 

 poison, being volatile, is boiled out of the honey. 

 Again, it seems that honey which has been kept 

 away from the hive for some time may be eaten 

 more safely than the same honey, even when well 

 ripened, when just taken from the hive. Here the 

 poison has evaporated, through the lapse of time. 



I do not mean to say that all honey contains this 

 poison. Probably that taken by the skillful apia- 

 rist during the honey-flow, when bees arc good-na- 

 tured, does not contain a trace of it. But a great 

 deal of honey is taken at such times, and under 

 such circumstances, that it might easily contain 

 appreciable quantities. Have you not heard some 

 old bee-keeper tell how, without smoker, but with 

 bee-hat and buckskin gloves, with trousers in 

 boots, and sleeves tied down, he sallied forth to 

 " rob his bees"? how the bees covered those gloves 

 with stings until you could hardly put a pinhead on 

 a spot without a sting, and how the air was fairly 

 reeking with the venom of the infuriated insects? 

 Is it not possible, that in such a ease a considera- 

 ble amount of venom is deposited on the comb? 

 Suppose a bee-tree is taken under such circum- 

 stances, and the venom of crushed bees added to 

 this amount. 



Right here there is a diiference between "wild 

 bees" and "tame bees," although, of course, the 

 bees in the forest are no more wild bees than are 

 those in the bo.x hives out in the orchard, which the 

 owner never goes near, except at "swarming 

 time " or " robbing time." Gentle bees, accustomed 

 to handling and human companionship, and proper- 

 ly handled, do not get into such frenzies as I have 

 described, while "wild bees " do sometimes, when 

 gone at rough-shod at improper times. 



I have never heard of a single case of sickness 

 arising from honey sold by me; but my customers 

 have frequently told me how often they used to be 

 made sick by honey taken in the old-fashioned 

 way. J. A. Green. 



Dayton, 111.. Nov. 18, 1885. 



Friend G., we are very much obliged in- 

 deed for your report in regard to the solar 

 wax-extractor, and it begins now to be plain 

 to me that we shall have to add another im- 

 plement to our list of supplies ; and that we 

 may be able to offer the best possible solar 

 wax-extractor, I would ask you to make one 

 just as you would have it, w'ithout regard to 

 the time and pains it may take you, and then 

 to forward it to us by freight or express, as 

 you deem proper, \vitli a bill for all your 

 trouble and bother. I want to ask if you 

 have tried the machine with two sheets of 

 glass and one sheet of glass. If you have, 

 and if two sheets are an advantage, why not 

 make the machine with an air-space on all 

 sides, so as to confine the heat V The east, 

 west, and south sides should liave an outer 

 covering of a sheet of glass, while the north 

 side and the bottom may be protected by an 

 extra thickness of sound lumber, so as to 

 make a dead-air space between the two. We 

 shall probably have to make the machines of 

 at least two prices — one having cheap look- 

 ing-glass plates for retlectors, and the other 

 having reflectors of tin. The tin retlectors 

 cost so little they can be replaced for a small 

 amount. Just now, however, a cheap grade 

 of looking-glasses may be had for a very 

 small sum." There will l)e one objection to 

 shipping a machine taking glasses as large as 

 20 X 2t,. because of the risk of lueakage on 

 slieets of glass so large. Any oilier impor- 

 tant facts in regard to manufacturing these 

 niachiiKS for sah' we siiall be very glad of, 

 and will willingly iiay for. 1 did feel a little 

 astonished at the rejiorts of wax melted by 

 the sun alone ; but by the use of mirrors we 

 may get almost any desired temperature. In 

 our philosophies there is record of a machine 

 made with several hundred small mirrors 

 placed so as to throw their reflection on a 

 single si)ot, that would melt and burn the 

 most refractory substances.— In regard to 

 poisonous honey, 1 think you are right. The 

 matter was some time ago suggested, that 

 the venom from bee-stings might make the 

 honey deleterious to people very sensitive to 

 bee-poison. I think Mr. Langstroth called 

 attention to it. 



HAULING BEES. 



Wn.\T TO DO WHEN A HORSE IS STUNG. 



N increasing my business beyond that point at 



which I could keep all my bees in the home 



apiary, one of the greatest difficulties in the 



way was the matter of hauling. To sit on a 



load of bees, in momentary fear lest the bees 



should And their way out, and make a raid on your 



teain, is any thing but soothing to the nerves. In 



more than one instance I had to jump from my 



scat, and, with all possible dispatch, unhitch the 



horse or horses, and take them some distance from 



the wagon till I could make every thing secure. 



By the way, it has been a matter of importance, 



several times, for me to know what to do with a 



