306 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 



their bees. 1 used to drive them for her father 

 when they wanted the honey, as they kept them in 

 what in England are called straw skeps. I think 

 the above facts ought to be known, as reports of 

 death from bee-stings are apt to discourage would- 

 be bee-keepers. It has also the effect of frighten- 

 ing one's neighbors inon-bee-keepers). I know that, 

 just when the above sad event happened, people 

 fought shy of my apiary for some time. 



W. B. Webster. 

 Binfleld, Merks, Eng., Feb.. 1S89. 



Friend W., we are exceedingly obliged to 

 you. The above incident brings out vividly 

 two important points ; the first is, how such 

 things increase as they travel from mouth 

 to mouth ; and the saddest part is, that the 

 newspapers are so ready to give credence, 

 or perhaps care so little whether a story be 

 true or false, providing it is sensational. 

 The second point is, that, through the agen- 

 cy of Gleanings, with the circulation it 

 now has, we may find somebody in almost 

 every neighborhood to give us a correct 

 statement in regard to such reports. I think, 

 friend W., you are a little too strong in say- 

 ing that no one was ever killed by the sting 

 of a single bee. We have had quite a few 

 reports indicating that this may at times 

 happen. In your own country, if I am cor- 

 rect, a man died, not long ago, from suffo- 

 cation caused by the swelling produced by 

 the sting of a single bee. 



WINTERED WELL ; THE TEXAS STATE BEE-KEEP- 

 ERS' ASSOCIATION. 



Bees have wintered well in this section. No loss 

 as yet. For the last two weeks we have had some 

 pretty spring-like days, and the bees were out in 

 full force, gathering pollen from the elms. The 

 horsemint failed last year, but the bees gathered an 

 unusual amount of honey from the cotton bloom. 

 As little as is said about it, the cotton is one of our 

 best honey-plants. The Texas State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will meet at Greenville, Hunt Co., Tex- 

 as, at the apiary of W. R. Graham, May 1st, 1889. 

 Bro. Root will meet a hearty reception if he will 

 come. J. N. Hunter. 



Celeste, Texas, Feb. 28, 1889. 



A SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE WAY TO BIND BEE- 

 JOURNALS AND OTHER PERIODICALS. 



I have a way of binding my bee-journals that 

 may lie new to some of the readers of Gleanings. 

 It was suggested to me by Mr. J. Y. Detwiler, of 

 Florida, when he was at the International Conven- 

 tion at Columbus last fall. Get common safety- 

 pins that are about an inch and a half long in the 

 clear, and run one of the pins through near each 

 end of the journal, and as far from the back as the 

 pin, when shut, will allow. The pins can be 

 bought for five cents per card, that has a dozen on. 

 I use an Emerson binder till the year is complete, 

 and then take the journals from the binder and put 

 in the safety-pins so as to have the binder to use 

 for the current year. 



A REMEDY, BUT NOT ONE FROM A BOTTLE. 



Another piece of information, though not relat- 

 ing to bee-keeping, may be of interest to young 

 bee-keepers, many of whom may be tormented in 

 " body (face) and mind " by pimples on the face, as 

 most young men are at times, when otherwise in 

 good health. After shaving, take a cotton or linen 

 oloth and dip it in water as hot as can possibly 



be borne, and apply to the face, and hold it there 

 while it feels real warm, repeating three or four 

 times each time of shaving. Young ladies who are 

 similarly afflicted can try the remedy without 

 shaving, if they like, say two or three times a 

 week. Friend Root, this is a good medicine, and it 

 doesn't have to be taken from a bottle either, so 

 you needn't say any thing against it. 

 Auburndale, O., Feb. 28, 1889. A. B. Mason. 



Friend M., please give our friend Detwi- 

 ler a vote of thanks. He is one of these odd 

 geniuses, and it is just like him to have 

 thought of a safety-pin to take the place of 

 a binder. I feel proud of your compliment, 

 doctor ; that is, to the effect that I am a lit- 

 tle suspicious of any thing that comes out of 

 a bottle. 



A PECULIAR CASE OF COMB-BUILDING ; STEALING 

 HONEY FROM HIVES. 



After extracting from both sides of a thick frame 

 of honey it was still very heavy, and I found a mid- 

 dle row of cells. I suppose it must have been built 

 all on one side, and then, in moving it, have been 

 given space on the hollow side. 



"\ 



y 



I am a good deal away from home, and some one 

 robs my bees. After cutting out the honey they 

 scatter the frames anywhere, so that I have only 

 three stands left, and expect to nnd those served 

 the same way. I had lots of good dogs, but they 

 are soon poisoned. I wish I knew how to catch 

 the villian. 



I wonder whether any of your lady correspond- 

 ents have used a knitting-machine. Do they do 

 good work? 



I had a catalogue from W. Hill & Co., 100 West 

 Madison St., Chicago, in which they quoted 20 cents 

 per dozen for Willimantic thread. I sent $2.40 for 

 12 dozen, and received a parcel on which I paid $1.40 

 express charges, and it contained a miscellaneous 

 lot of thread, but not one spool of Willimantic, and 

 all so rotten that it is useless. I have written twice, 

 and they do not reply. Geo. E. Hales. 



Lytle, Tex., Feb. 6, 1889. 



Very thick combs often have a middle 

 section, as in the diagram, friend II. — As 

 knitting-machines are rather out of our 

 line, I would advise those who kuow about 

 them to answer direct. We give the name of 

 the firm you mention, that others may not 

 lose money in the way you have done. 



CROSS hybrids. 

 I have enjoyed your humorous sketches from 

 time to time, and especially the Dutchman's Mule. 

 If your artist could have seen me last spring trans- 

 ferring hybrid bees by drumming them from their 

 old box-hive home, he c^uld have had a sketch 

 equally humorous. I knew they were very cross, 

 so I fixed my smoker, as I thought, put on a veil 

 and gloves, tied my coat-sleeves tight around my 

 wrists, and, inverting the hive, placed the new one 



