.538 



GLEANTNGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



ment, to the same half-depth, with the 

 thumb-screw. 



In addition to what Ernest has said, I 

 may remark that I have rather objected to 

 giving the Dovetailed hive so much promi- 

 nence ; and I think yet that a good many 

 will go back to the Simplicity who are try- 

 ing the Dovetailed, although I concede the 

 advantages of the latter. I hope, however, 

 that it will always be used as an eight-frame 

 hive, and the Simplicity always as a ten- 

 frame. In regard to copying, in one sense 

 the Dovetailed hive infringes on a dozen 

 other hives. In another sense, it does not 

 infringe on any, for the features of these 

 dozen other hives are pretty nearly if not 

 quite all old ideas. With the experimenters 

 we have among the bee-fraternity, it has 

 got to be a very hard matter, in fact, for 

 any one to say truthfully exactly what is 

 his invention and what is not. Scarcely a 

 thing conies up but what has been experi- 

 mented on before ; most of the time the 

 same thing has been spoken of and illus- 

 trated in some way by the various bee-jour- 

 nals. The Dovetailed hive can scarcely be 

 called an invention in any sense, for it is 

 only a combination of features already 

 well known, and that have been a long time 

 in practical use. Perhaps its greatest merit 

 is that it is cheap, strong, and compact. It 

 is easy to crate for shipment, and easy to put 

 together when at its destination. 



BITTER HONEY. 



IS THE HITTER-WEED A BENEFIT TO BEE-KEEPERS 

 IN THE REGIONS WHERE IT GROWS? 



'E are interested in this section about bitter 

 honey. Pretty much all over this belt of 

 the South, I think, we have a weed that has 

 taken possession of all uninclosed and 

 uncultivated land, growing as thick as 

 oats or wheat, and lasting from May till frost. This 

 weed, when eaten by cows, gives milk so bitter a 

 taste that it can not be used. Some years honey is 

 made from this weed, which, though of good con- 

 sistency, and of light color, is as bitter as a syrup 

 tinctured with quinine. There is no question as to 

 bees working on it. They often get a large winter 

 supply from it, and " swarm " from this fall pros- 

 perity. Two years ago I had general swarming in 

 the fall, and the whole apiary went into winter 

 quarters solid, late swarms and all, with fully 50 lbs. 

 to the hive, the most of it from this weed It ap- 

 pears above ground about May 1st to 15th, and 

 blooms about August 1st. It thrives during 

 droughts, and blooms continuously till frost. Some 

 years the bees do not work on it much, and I have 

 thought they used it only when nothing better was 

 at hand. Friend Jenkins, of Wetumpka, thinks it a 

 blessing, as it furnishes winter stores, and, coming 

 late, does not interfere with other honey. T differ 

 with him in this, as we sometimes have good yields 

 from goldenrod. Prof. Cook thinks no bitter honey 

 comes from flowers but that from bark lice. We, 

 hereabouts, feel sure that this weed produces bitter 

 honey; but as it was comb honey I handled two 

 years ago, having then no extractor, I think it may 

 be possible the pollen on the bees' feet, tramping 

 over the comb, embittered it, and possibly the hon- 



ey itself was sweet. Not being familiar with bot- 

 any, I can give no description. I can send a speci- 

 men, however, when it blooms. The flower is 

 yellow. 



Bees are killing drones. Our season has been 

 short, on account of drought. No rain in May. 



Pontotoc, Miss., May :.'8, 1889. C. P. Coffin. 



Quite a number of samples of bitter hon- 

 ey have been sent us— mostly extracted, but 

 we have never had any opportunity of de- 

 termining with very much certainty just 

 where it came from. I have never before 

 thought that the pollen might give the sur- 

 plus that is capped a bitter taste. If such 

 is the case, however, I think that even ex- 

 tracted honey might have a trace of it. I 

 should hardly consider the bitter-weed a 

 benefit, especially as it is always liable to 

 injure the price of the honey. 



JAMAICA LETTER. 



THE GLOW-WORMS AND FIREFLIES OF THE TROP- 

 ICS. 



fRIEND ROOT:- Your letter, saying your books 

 showed $8.^5 to my credit, was received, and 

 is in striking contrast with the methods of 

 some men with whom I have had to do re- 

 cently. I should think some persons who are 

 accustomed to decry Christianity could see its gen- 

 uineness from a financial standpoint, if from no 

 other. Many thanks for Gleanings. It has been a 

 real source of pleasure to us as well as a storehouse 

 of useful knowledge. Some departments are more 

 interesting than others, yet we read all, even the 

 advertisements. Professor Cook's department is 

 especially interesting to us; and if he were here he 

 would find much to interest him. While I am writ- 

 ing this a green lizard, Amevia dorsalis, about four 

 and a half inches long, is playing about. They are 

 numerous in all parts of the island, and can be seen 

 darting from your path, running on the fence, 

 basking in the sunshine on the trunks of trees, 

 peering from beneath leaves and out of crevices. 

 Indoors they are seen running on the walls, darting 

 across the floor, catching flies on your chair or desk, 

 and playing their antics in the jalousies. When 

 playing they crouch like a tiger, creep on their 

 belly, and raise and lower themselves gradually 

 three or four times, and protrude from the under 

 side of the throat a fan-shaped disk of a crimson or 

 orange color. When frightened or angered they 

 turn a dark buff color. I have noticed the same liz- 

 ard shed his skin about seven days later— an effect 

 of the anger or nervous shock, I presume. Like 

 the serpent, they suffer from their reputation. 

 This is especially true from ladies who visit the 

 island: and the unreasonableness of prejudice was 

 forcibly illustrated hy ourneighbor, an English lady, 

 recently. On the approach of one of these harm- 

 less, graceful little creatures, she would ex- 

 claim, "Oh, the nasty little thing 1 it has such a long 

 tail !" By and by, one which had the misfortune to 

 lose its caudal appendage came up as if to claim 

 her approbation, when she shrieked, " Oh, the nasty 

 Utile thing! it has such a short tail I" Another one, 

 whose tail had been cut off, but had grown to half 

 its original length, was frightened until it turned 

 brown by the exclamation, "Oh, the nasty little 

 thing! it has such a queer taill" 



