1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



135 



until he has first tested it by trying a five- 

 cent package ; and even after it has been so 

 tested, and the seed was wanted, I am not 

 sure that it could be had of the Government. 

 Perhaps I am a little uncharitable here; but 

 I can not help feeling indignant at this 

 whole proceeding — not only in honey-plants, 

 but seeds for almost all other purposes. 

 There have been a good many complaints 

 just like yours, friend L., that they could 

 not get the seed of the Chapman honey- 

 plant, even after the Government had paid 

 $2800 for it ; and it is not only this kind of 

 seed, but seeds in general are managed a 

 good deal in the same fashion. Our agricul- 

 tural papers have for years shown it up, and 

 protested that our money should not be 

 wasted in such senseless proceedings, but 

 still it goes on. This is the first time I have 

 publicly spoken about the matter, and per- 

 haps I shall never have occasion to speak of 

 it again. — In regard to your last question, I 

 do not believe that anybody has yet discov- 

 ered any way of telling a fertile worker 

 from the rest of the bees, other than the 

 way in which the bees behave toward her. 

 You have yourself described how we can 

 know how fertile workers are present. The 

 presence of two or more scattering eggs in 

 the cells, the rearing of drone brood over 

 worker-cells, etc., are some of the tests. 

 For a full description of fertile workers, you 

 had better see the ABC book. 



HONEY VINEGAR NOT INFERIOR TO CIDER VINE- 

 GAR FOR PICKLING PURPOSES. 



I have just read Emily West's letter, and I think 

 I can say something- in favor of honey vinegar for 

 pickles. I don't know much about making pickles 

 —only just a little bit, so my letter will not be very 

 long. Last fall I made sweet pickles of green to- 

 matoes, and made piccalilli also, making both the 

 usual way, but using honey vinegar. They were 

 put in the cellar in open stone jars, and are as good 

 now as when first made. I have made tomato 

 pickles with cider vinegar, and had them spoil in a 

 few weeks; but these have given me no trouble 

 whatever. I have not been successful with cucum- 

 ber pickles until this winter. I always put them 

 into cold vinegar after freshening, fixing only a 

 quart at a time, as I knew they would get a white 

 scum on them, and soon spoil. This fall I freshened 

 nearly two gallons, and scalded them in the vinegar 

 with a little sugar, enough whole cloves to give a 

 spicy taste, and a small lump of alum. They are 

 even better than when first pickled, I think, and 

 the vinegar is as clear and strong as ever. The su- 

 gar gives the vinegar something to work on, and so 

 keeps up its strength. The cloves keep the white 

 scum from forming, and the alum hardens the 

 pickles, making them brittle. Alice Fellows. 



Broadhead, Wis., Jan. 21, 1889. 



HONEY VINEGAR; 10 BARRELS OF IT. 



I am very; much interested in bee culture (as I 

 should be) since I have lately linked my fortune 

 with those of an apiarian. Last year Mr. Ludden 

 made a barrel of honey vinegar, by way of trial; 

 and all who tried it came for more, consequently 

 this year we have ten barrels on hand. Now, in re- 

 ply to Emily E. West's article: When I came here 

 I found that a jar of cucumber pickles on which 

 Mr. L- had been experimenting were faring the 



same as yours had. Boiling does not destroy the 

 virtue of the vinegar, and perhaps so doing before 

 putting on the pickles would overcome the difficul- 

 ty. How old was the vinegar you used ? 

 Shelby, Iowa, Jan. 21, 1889. Lula Ludden. 



The vinegar we used was white-wine vin- 

 egar ; but I have been told since that it was 

 not strong enough to make pickles to keep 

 through the summer. 



SAVEET CLOVER. 



I received a copy of Gleanings, Jan. 1st, shortly 

 after I had written my last, and noted foot-notes on 

 my article. I am afraid you are a little too (excuse 

 me) enthusiastic about honey-farms of sweet clo- 

 ver. The point here is simply this: that, whatever 

 dry soil will grow sweet clover, will grow alfalfa, or 

 lucerne, and it pays better than clover, even taking 

 the nectar into consideration. Jno. C. Swaner. 



Salt Lake City, Utah, Jan. 21, 1889. 



Many thanks, friend S., for your caution ; 

 but my idea was, that the sweet clover 

 would cover the ground if the seed were 

 simply scattered over it, without any such 

 preparations as are needed for alfalfa ; and 

 I think this must be somewhat the case, 

 for sweet clover makes its way through the 

 country at large, while, if I am correct, al- 

 falfa never does. The seed of sweet clover 

 is so cheap that one might throw it broad- 

 cast on our unoccupied land and not be 

 much out of pocket, even if it did not 

 amount to much. 



bees from imported, versus those from 

 homebred stock. 



Do you consider that imported queens produce 

 better workers than one that has been raised here 

 from several strains, provided they have been kept 

 pure? or, in other words, as long as they show 

 three bands are they just as good honey-gatherers 

 as lately imported ones? J. T. Rush. 



Hesler, Ky. 



To the question which you propound, no 

 uniformity of answers may be expected 

 from different ones. We think that stock 

 direct from imported queens, as a general 

 rule, is a little more hardy and vigorous 

 than that produced from queens inbred so 

 many times in our own country. The great 

 tendency with breeders is to run for color, 

 i. e., " nice yellow bees," "four-banded 

 bees," etc. What we want is not color, not 

 bands, so much as bees for business — bees 

 that will produce big crops of honey. Our 

 experience has been rather in favor of the 

 leather-colored Italians as houey-gatherers, 

 and these we generally get from imported 

 mothers. Stock bred from queens reared in 

 this country for several generations is pret- 

 ty sure to be lighter colored ; and this ten- 

 dency to run to color, as we have already 

 intimated, we are afraid has been at a sac- 

 rifice of the real bread-and-butter bees. 



A QUESTION OF SETTING CIRCULAR RIP-SAWS. 



I am about to use one of your 20-inch rip-saws. 

 The business is new to me, although I am well 

 used to hand-saws. 1 have an intelligent neighbor 

 who has run sawmills near your home. He says 

 that he sets rip-saws by swageing or hammering. 

 Now, I admit we can get a very even set that way; 

 but it strikes me that the hammering ruptures the 



