77S 



GLEANINGS IN BE?: CULT (HE. 



Oct. 



or run on bare ground at all; hence they are called 

 by some. " grass-snakes," and that is how I got the 

 first one. It was tryiDg to cross a dusty road. 1 

 hit it with a small stick, and, sure enough, it was in 

 two pieces, and I discovered I had found a joint- 

 snake; then T proceeded to examine his snakesbip, 

 and proceeded to hit him and break him as square 

 off as you could cut with a sharp knife until there 

 was only three or four inches of the head left; then 

 I discovered that that three or four inches ot the 

 head was all the body there was; the rest was tail; 

 this short body could move a little, but make no 

 headway. No blood came from breaking. I guess 

 this will do for a snake. E. McIntyre. 



Memphis, Mo., Sept. 12, 1889. 



Well, I declare ! who shall say after this 

 that there is any thing queer on the whole 

 face of the earth, that some reader of 

 Gleanings can not tell us something 

 about? 1 can readily conceive that almost 

 the whole body of the snake should be a 

 horny substance like the rattles of a rattle- 

 snake ; but of course this horny substance 

 that breaks in two without bleeding can 

 have no muscles or motion about it. This 

 being so, I do not see how the snake can 

 crawl, unless the crawling apparatus is close 

 to the head and pulls the horny b^>dy after 

 it. Now, friend M., how do you know that 

 the head part did not go back and hitch on 

 to the other pieces, after you went away? 

 Wby does not somebody have one of these 

 snakes in a museum, and break off a piece 

 now and then for the entertainment of vis- 

 itors? Prof. Cook, we need you sadly right 

 here ; and can you not, by offering a suffi- 

 cient reward, get a grass-snake lor your 

 museum? If you can not get a live one, by 

 all means get a dead one ; and if you can 

 not get a whole one, get some of the t- con- 

 necting links," or even an inch or two 

 would be quite an acquisition. 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS, 



GAURA COCCINEA. 



I have received from N. M. Hallister, Fayette- 

 ville, Ark., a plant in bloom, of which he writes: 

 " Bees are gathering bountifully of both honey and 

 pollen from these flowers. The plant grows six 

 feet high; has a smooth stem-stalk, and a whitish 

 pink bloom. I have a field of buckwheat within 

 three-fourths of a mile, yet the bulk of my bees go 

 two miles, right past the buckwheat, for this plant, 

 which grows on the river and low lands. Please 

 name it through Gleanings." 



This is Oaura Coccinea, a beautiful flower closely 

 related to our northern fireweed or tall willow herb. 

 I supposed it was a species of epilobium till Dr. 

 Beal gave me the correct name. Thus we have an- 

 other valued honey-plant from the "evening prim- 

 rose " family. A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich., Sept. 3, 1889. 



DOES THE CASTOR-OIL BEAN YIELD HONEY? 



Can any one who lives in a section of country 

 where castor-oil beans are grown for the market, 

 tell if the bees gather much honey from it? They 

 work on the bloom litre all day long, from the first 



of June until frost kills, and that was last year aft- 

 er Christmas. They get pollen only late in the fall. 

 The beans are not planted enough here to know 

 whether it would pay; but I think they certainly 

 would. G. W. Bistmne. 



Mt. Pleasant, Texas, Sept. 5, 1889. 



I believe the castor-oil bean does yield 

 honey, but we have never had any reports 

 in regard to the amount, so far as I can rec- 

 ollect. If any of our readers can tell us 

 how much honey they get where the beans 

 are raised largely for oil, we should be glad 

 to bear from them. 



COMBS BREAKING DOWN IN EXTRACTING. 



I am in trouble concerning my extracting-combs. 

 1 have the heavy brood foundation, and wired 

 frames as directed, and I have beautiful combs all 

 straight and all sealed, made above a queen exclud- 

 ing honey-board. They are the Simplicity frames, 

 but my combs all break down in the extractor. I 

 have the Novice extractor and honey-knife; and 

 when I uncap them the cells are easily broken from 

 the foundation, and it all breaks out of frames and 

 wires, and settles into the wires of the extractor. 

 I have worked hard to have my combs up to t-cience 

 this year. Ihe houe^ seems heavy, and cells tender. 

 Are mine too new? Do I have to work two or three 

 j ears for old tough combs, or is it because I dou't 

 know how to uncap? Please fully explain my 

 trouble, or refer my letter to some who will. I get 

 the honey from only one side, and then all breaks 

 down. How I should love to visit Mr. France's api- 

 ary ! You were there, so please explain my trouble. 

 I am getting beautiful comb honey. My working 

 colonies have averaged 150 lbs. a colony, and they 

 are just finishing the second crop of alfalfa; and 

 next month we shall have the third crop of it. 



Delta, Col., Aug. 9, 1889. MRS. A. A. Hodgdon. 



I am quite at a loss to understand why 

 your combs broke down. I have never 

 heard of such a thing with wired combs, 

 and we often extract them when they are 

 not half built out, or only half fill the 

 frames. Do you not turn the extractor fast- 

 er than is necessary to throw out the hon- 

 ey? If you turn too fast in emptying the 

 first side, the combs will sometimes settle 

 down into the wire cloth, especially if the 

 weather be very hot. At such times we 

 have extracted part of one side, then the 

 whole of the other, and lastly throwing it 

 all out of the first side. Perhaps your honey 

 is extra thick. 



THE WEIGHT OF THE DOVETAILED HIVE; HOW TO 

 TELL HOW MUCH TO FEED TO EACH COLONV. 



Please give me the weight of a Dovetailed hive, 

 wiih frames, top and bottom boards; also weight of 

 Simplicity No. 6, as above. I wish to determine the 

 amount of honey in hives, for winter use. Will 

 you kindly tell me how? J. B. Enos. 



Connellsville, Pa., Sept. 9, 18S9. 



Our No. 1 Dovetailed hive, as per our 

 price list, weighs about BO lbs.; the No. 2 

 Dovetailed, about 40; and the No. Sim- 

 plicity, 50 lbs. An average Langstroth 

 comb, lilled, contains about 5 lbs. of capped 

 honey. Estimate from this the proportion- 

 ate amount in each comb. Their sum sub- 

 tracted from 20 to 30 lbs. of honey (the 

 amount usually allowed per colony on sum- 

 mer stands), will give the amount required 



