] 889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



355 



ABC 



spikes 



book. Knots are not in my way when I use 

 and staples. 



Next summer or fall I am going: to climb what is 

 called the " Big- Bee-tree " that stands on t'ju bank 

 of the St. Francis River, down in the sunk lands. 

 This tree has 15 swarms in it. It is a cypress, 14 

 feet in diameter at the foot. The bees work in at 

 the body in a stream as large as a man's limb. I 

 shall burn brimstone in the tree, and so kill the 

 bees, as they are very bad. I have bees at home, 

 and do not care to save any of these. 



Green Derrinoton. 



Poplar Bluff, Butler Co., Mo. 



Well, friend D., you have gone and done 

 it, and no mistake. If anybody thought you 

 were spinning a big yarn when you talked 

 about taking bees from a tree 88 feet from 

 the ground, they would give in when they 

 came to look at your picture, for the picture, 

 without question, is a genuine photograph 

 of an awful big tree, with a man perched 

 away up amid its limbs. With a harness 

 such as you describe, and myself securely 

 hooked fast, and held there by stout chains, 

 I do not know but I might consent to climb 

 such a tree ; for one could not very well fall, 

 even if he tried to, as you describe it. It 

 seems to me, however, it would take a good 

 deal of work and quite a little time to get 

 up that distance. Ernest suggests that the 

 load of spikes you are obliged to carry along 

 might pull down pretty heavily, especially 

 on the start. Did the 50 pounds of honey 

 pay for the time and money invested? Nev- 

 er mind, even if it didn't. You " got there " 

 and captured the bees, any way. 



ORANGE-BLOSSOMS. 



DO THEY PRODUCE HONEY.'' 



DERRINGTON'S DEVICE FOR CLIMB 

 ISEE-TREES. 



« A VINO followed, with deep interest, the ac- 

 count of your interesting trip to California, 

 in which a great many things bring to my 

 mind what I see here every day, I should 

 like to say something about our orange-blos- 

 soms in Florida. 



It is no surprise to me that, in California, orange- 

 blossoms give no honey, the land being so dry that 

 it has to be irrigated, and what little sweet there 

 might be on the flowers is carried off by the dry at- 

 mosphere. In our State, and especially where 

 orange-sroves are situated, there is a continuous 

 drainage of water, at a depth of two to five feet, 

 under the very roots, from lake to lake, all the lakes 

 being on different levels, and from these to rivers. 

 The lakes are very numerous all over. From my 

 house, on the veranda I can count and see four 

 lakes, one of them two miles long. Our orange- 

 trees being thus irrigated by the most wonderful 

 system of natural drainage, are fully supplied with 

 the water needed, and keep their blossoms so moist 

 with sweet nectar that there is actually a small 

 drop of honey in every bloom, which is eagerly 

 sought by the bees. The atmosphere, owing to our 

 proximity to seas and lakes, is always moist, and 

 thus prevents a too rapid evaporation of the sweets 

 on our blossoms. The yield seems to be continuous 

 from morn till eve, since Feb. 15th. I have seen 

 orange-trees, while blossoming, so covered with 

 bees that one might easily have thought there were 

 not one, but half a dozen swarms on one single tree. 

 Our bees swarm during the yield of orange-honey, 

 or, if increase is not desired, they can be worked 



