1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



78» 



low all round it. It is ol'aflne red color, leaves 

 delicate and very sensitive. It will close at the 

 least touch, especially in a warm dry day. I also 

 send an allied species of mimosa flowers, loose, and 

 sheaf-of-wheat shaped, quite sweet-scented (less so 

 than the pudica), less pollen: seed smaller; pods 

 long - , smooth ; very slightly sensitive; blooming a 

 few weeks later; plants more numerovis. Both be- 

 g-in to bloom in May, and are now covered with the 

 terminal seed-pods. I found a few fresh blossoms 

 this morning. I shall try to send you a root of the 

 pudica. I think it will live and reach you. Num- 

 bers three, one, and three, two, are what are here 

 called white and yellow primroses. My attention 

 was attracted to them by their abundance and beau- 

 tiful bloom, and especially by always [in June (and 

 before and after)] seeing the bees getting (perhaps 

 honey) surely pollen from them. I saw and heard 

 the bees more and often er on this yellow flower, 

 never once on the horsemint. Perhaps I was not 

 early enough in the morning for them. No. 4 is a 

 sprig of a rather tall (say 3 or 3 feet) perennial 

 shrub, mimosa. It blooms very abundant, cover- 

 ing the stem and the very end with its light-red 

 globular sweet-scented blossoms. Its fruit is a 

 small flat pea-pod. It blooms in April and May. I 

 happened to find this sprig this week. 



I first noticed, April and May, 1879, that the 

 mountains were covered with this mimosa, and 

 gave a sweet scent, far and wide. 



No. 5 contains a few blossoms of a plant that the 

 bees climb and roll over, and wallow through its 

 pollen. I do not know its name, and have no bo- 

 tanical dictionary here. These flowers, though, 

 one and two, are acid, much like the wild strawber- 

 ry mot the edible fruit, but a weed whose name I 

 can not now recall) in their numbers and rank in 

 plant life, and are perhaps too small and unimpor- 

 tant to be of much use to the bees. But I write and 

 send you the mimosa pudica, or sensitive plant, 

 and just add the rest. Edwin Leigh. 



Center Point, Tex., Aug. 3, 1889. 



I should suppose that, when the bees 

 touched the flower, if it is like the sensitive 

 plants we have around here in our green- 

 houses, it would double up and lie down, 

 unless, forsooth, it learns to distinguish 

 between the human touch and the bump of 

 a busy bee. Thanks for the plants and 

 seeds. We will try to test them. 



THE CLOVER BLOAT AND THE WOODEN BIT A 

 SURE CURE. 



I assure you that the round-stick cure for hoven 

 will save the cow every time. It is so simple that 

 people can scarcely believe it; and yet a piece of 

 broom-handle for a bit, and two wool-twine strings 

 to hold it in the" mouth, will drive any man with a 

 nose out of the yard where the cow is. You would 

 not hold the stick long, I assure you. There is no 

 need of putting a knife into a cow's side. Open the 

 mouth, and the.pent-up gas will escape. 



Perrysburg, Ohio, Sept. 3, 1889. G. A. Adams. 



any other remedy; so I took a good corncob, put 

 one in each cow's mouth, crosswise. Then I got a 

 stick, as described in your article. By rubbing the 

 sides of the animal with a rough round stick it did 

 not take very long, when they were on their legs 

 again, and got over their trouble. P. J. M. Otto. 

 Sandusky, O , Aug. 26, 1889. 



0a^ QUEgJFI0]M-B0& 



With Replies from our best Authorities on Bees. 



HOW TO CURE CLOVER-BLOAT WITH A CORNCOB. 



The remedy for clover-bloat was published some 

 years ago, I think in New York Tribune. Happen- 

 ing some time after that in Berlin I stayed with a 

 farmer who came one afternoon in great excite- 

 ment to me to know if I knew any thingabout bloat, 

 he t)aving3 cows lying beside the fence, on their 

 gide3. Trocar.no one knew anything about, nor 



AH queries sent in for this department should be briefly 

 stated, and free from any possible ambiguity. The question 

 or questions should he written upon a separate slip of paper, 

 and marked, " For Our Question-Box." 



Question 1+5.— Hots your experience with commis- 

 sion men been satisfactory? If not, state in brief some 

 transactions, not meniionmg names— transactions that 

 will serve as a warninu to some of the novices. 



1 have patronized home markets only. 



A. J. Cook. 

 It has not. " The other fellow " may give the ex- 

 perience. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Yes, where such men have a good rating with 

 Bradstreet or Dun. G. M. Doolittle. 



My experience with commission men in selling 

 honey has been entirely satisfactory to me. 



Geo. Grimm. 



Yes, reasonably so; but my honey dealings with 

 commission men have never been very extensive. 



O. O. Poppleton. 



I have been swindled by only one; but since, I 

 am careful to inquire of the responsibility of the 

 parties before shipping, and have had no trouble 

 since. P. L. Viallon. 



Yes, and no. Perhaps " yes " would be as appro- 

 priate an answer as I can make, taking all in all, 

 without going into details. As a rule, commission 

 men are human beings. I find there is a difference 

 in men. A. E. Manum. 



Yes, but they have never handled any honey for 

 me, except to buy it and pay for it like other peo- 

 ple. They have sold produce of the farm, and large 

 quantities of preserved eggs, to better advantage 

 for me than I could. Deal with honest ones only, or 

 sell for cash. Dr. A. B. Mason. 



I have been well used by commission men. This, 

 however, does not change my preference for sell- 

 ing outright for cash. I know there are some very 

 honorable men in the commission business, and I 

 judge there are others just the opposite, as in other 

 kinds of business. P. H. Elwood. 



My experience with commission men in Belling 

 my honey has been very limited. I have always 

 thought best to do my own selling. I do not wish 

 to sit in judgment upon commission men as a class. 

 I take it they are like the average of mankind, 

 good, bad, and indifferent. If I were to sell my 

 honey on commission I would try to send it to a 

 good man. H. K. Boardman. 



While my experience has been satisfactory, 1 

 wish to find fault in one particular. The best quali- 

 ty of X X x honey will not sell at the highest quo- 

 tations. It seems that commission men have a 

 bait quotation to induce bee-keepers to ship their. 

 honey to them, and then sell one or two cents low-. 



