1885 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



82T 



I should be very much troubled if we had to look 

 after and prepare bees for winter. The only prep- | 

 aration they get is lots of stores, and they can re- j 

 main on their summer stand safely. The day be- 1 

 fore I took sick I placed a nursery with, I think, 13 < 

 queen-cells, just ready to hatch, in a queenless col- 

 ony, and I have not seen any of them since. I 

 knew the queens could not get out, and if some- 

 thing was not done I should lose the colony; and 

 when I am sick there is not any one around I can 

 get to go near the hives, to work among them. So 

 one day three nuclei swarmed out, and all clustered 

 together. I got the hired man to put a veil and 

 gloves on, then he got them in a box, ail making a 

 considerable colony. He shook them right in fi-ont 

 of the same queenless colony, where he said he saw 

 two of the queens go in sale, and all the bees, there- 

 by making a good strong colony of the one that was 

 lor nearly two moPiths without a queen. 



YELLOW JESS.\MINE. 



I have watched carefully all the pros and cons 

 about the honey-poisoning, and have to think, with 

 many writers on the subject, that the poison is not 

 from the honey, or, at least, that from the yellow 

 jessamine, as our woods for miles around abound 

 in it, and it is delightful to walk through them 

 when the llowers are out. 1 have used and sold lots 

 of early honey, with no evil results. I know of 

 some cases where any honey will give pain to the 

 parties partaking of it. 1 have a case in our own 

 family, with Mrs. E. She never takes honey that 

 has not candied or granulated, but that she suffers 

 with violent pain after. When it has granulated 

 she warms it and dissolves it, then it is perfectly 

 hai-mless to her. I believe that the yellow jessa- 

 mine is very poisonous, and I have seen bees many 

 times in a sort of semi-conscious state, hanging on 

 to the flowers. Not only honey-bees, but carpenter 

 and bumble bees. We have a vine in our flower- 

 garden, trained to a rack, and it is about five feet in 

 diameter, almost a perfect ball; and when it is in 

 bloom it is the talk of all around, a perfect cover- 

 ing of bright orange, with here and there a sprig of 

 green leaves projecting, a perfect nosegay, sending 

 its fragrance for rods around. W. J. Ellison. 



Stateburg, Sumter Co., S. C, Oct. 9, 188,5. 



Friend E., your testimony corroborates 

 what Prof. Cook said ; and I feel pretty cer- 

 tain tluit an old 1 tee-keeper, accuslonied to 

 the use of honey, would have eaten the hon- 

 ey that produced tlie deaths, in moderate 

 quantities, with impunity. 



a repoltt from an a b c scholar, and how he 

 succeeded; a kind word for gleanings. 

 I commenced this season with five swarms, one 

 queenless one. This did nothing but build up dur- 

 ing summer. The remaining four gave me si.v new 

 swarms and 300 lbs. of beautiful e.xtractcd honey. 

 1 use the Simplicity hive. 1 had nine swarms in 

 double hives. I took extra bodies away, and put 

 them in condition for winter. October 15th I had 

 150 lbs. of honey in brood-combs, after leaving them 

 plenty for winter. U. L. James gave me four colo- 

 nies after taking the honey from them, which I 

 stocked up with my extra combs, so now I have 15 

 good colonies. 



a good yield FIU)M UASSWOOD .4ND HOItSEMINT. 



We have had no " bug juice" here this year. 

 White clover is not much to boast of. Basswood 

 gave me a lai-ge yield for about 8 days. The season 



was short on account of wet weather. The rest was 

 mint as spoken of in A B C, page 152. It commenc- 

 ed blooming about the first of August, and lasted 

 about six weeks. Our sand prairie, along the W^is- 

 consin River, was completely covered with it. Bees 

 worked on it early and late. The honey was very 

 light colored, and of fine flavor. My wife likes it 

 much better than- basswood honey. 



I had two acres of buckwheat within thii-ty rods 

 of the apiary, and saw bees working on it but one 

 6ay, and find no trace of buckwheat honey in the 

 combs. Goldenrod and autumn bloom amounted to 

 but little, on account of cold and rainy weather. My 

 bees are mostly blacks, with a few hybrids mixed in. 

 I handled my bees during a honey yield Avithout a 

 veil, simply using smoke. I like hives well filled 

 with bees, and such I have wintered without troub- 

 le in a bee-pit, where the thermometer stood at 35°. 

 I have no luck with small swarms. 



1 have five acres of alsike, sown last spring. It 

 looks well up to date. I have been in the bee busi- 

 ness three years, but never had over 13 swarms un- 

 til now. 



gleanings a welcome visitor. 



A word for Gleanings before I close. It is a 

 welcome visitor in our home. I hardly think I could 

 do without it. We cnjoj- your farm, garden, and 

 poultry sketches as much as the rest, and your 

 home department ought to reach many more. 



Wyoming, Wis., Oct. 20, 18>:'5. J. M. Peck. 



Friend P., I presume you refer to tlie 

 liorsemint; and it is interesting to know 

 tliat it yields honey from Texas to Wiscon- 

 sin.— I presume the reason why the bees 

 would not notice the buckwheat, was on ac- 

 count of the horsemint honey, which was 

 more to their notion. It is a frequent thing 

 for Italian bees to refuse to work on buck- 

 wheat while they can obtain white honey 

 from red clover ; "but at the same time, the 

 blacks will be storing dark buckwheat in 

 considerable quantities. 



$800 a year "at the very lowest ESTI.MATE.' 



We have just received a communication 

 from a .Mr. W. Baird, of Pittsburgh, Pa., 

 making a broad and positive statement like 

 this, in regard to carp culture : 



It requires no capital, and brings in a large reve- 

 nue, and there is a market everywhere for the fish. 

 There is no doubt but that more money can be 

 made raising fish, than by raising sheep, cattle, or 

 hogs. One-eighth of an acre devoted to German 

 carp will make a profit of ^800, at the very lowest 

 estimate. W. Baird. 



Pittsburgh, Pa. 



The same article, word for word, as near- 

 ly as I can remcmltcr. has Itecn indjlished in 

 some of our agricujtiual papers; but it 

 seems to me that such assertions are very 

 unwise, to say tlie least. I should not want 

 to asstire anybody tliat he could make S800, 

 at the lowest estimate, on bee culture or any 

 other industry, for tliere are risks to run in 

 launching out into almost any industrial 

 pursuit, and every one must take liis own 

 chances. Wliile I am about it, I waitt to 

 speak of another thing. Of late it is getting 

 to be quite common for a writer to send 

 some communication, word for word, or al- 

 most word for word, to different papers. 

 This is surely unwise, and he lays himself 



