iSHi 



GLI^ANINGS il^ 13EE CULTURE. 



26 



We are pleased to tell our readers that we 

 have made an engagement with Mr. P. Ben- 

 son for a seiies of articles on l^ee culture. 

 Mr. Benson has, for many years, been rest- 

 ing from his arduous labors : but some of 

 our older readers may have heard of him as 

 a teacher of music. Since he has deter- 

 mined to direct his powerful intellect in the 

 direction of bee culture, we may expect 

 something bewildering and astonishing be- 

 fore he gets through. 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS. 



HONEY, BITTER, FROM CHESTNUT-BIyOOM. 



T HAN'E read in Gleanings several times about 

 ,||f bitter honey. I will tell your readers the trouble 

 ]li I had with bitter honey, and from where it was 

 ■*• g-atherfed, in the summer of 188.5. I found that 

 my bees were storing some vei-y dark honey, 

 and I found, on tasting it. that it had a very bitter 

 taste; so the next day I sallied out to find out what 

 they were working on. I followed the direction 

 they flew, and found them working hard on chest- 

 nut-blossoms. I broke off a bunch, and found they 

 soielled like the new honey, and tasted like that 

 which the bees had stored in the hive. Then I 

 knew it was chestnut honey T was getting in the 

 sections. Tt is vei-y dark. I got that year over 68 

 lbs. in the sections, i thought may be by age it 

 would come all right, but it never was eata1)le— al- 

 waj's a rank smell and bitter taste. I accordingly 

 uncapped nearly all of it and placed the sections 

 on top of the frames, and let the bees carry it below 

 for winter stores, as they wei-e short in the fall of 

 1885. They wintered all right. The cause of their 

 storing so much chestnut honey was because the 

 winter of 1884 killed all the white clover, and the 

 bees had nothing but chestnut honey to gather. 

 This year I could not see a bee working on the 

 chestnut-bloom, so I got no bitter honey— not even a 

 smell. I am of the opinion that this is the matter 

 with Mr. W. H. Dickinson's honey. i>age 947— all 

 chestnut honey. Josiah Eastburn. 



Fallsington, Bucks Co., Pa., Dec. », 1886. 



HONEV, bitter, from CHESTNUT-BI.OSSOM.S. 



In answer to Mr. Dickinson's in(iuiry in last issue 

 about bitter honey, I will say it is probably caused 

 by chestnut-blossoms. Chestnuts are vei-y uneven 

 honey-)iroducers, and sometimes, for years in 

 succession, give no yield; but when they do, the 

 yield is invariably bitter— at least here in New 

 Kngland. Mr. Dickinson has probably these trees 

 in his neighborhood. Remedy, keep extracted 

 close, and save the chestnut honey to feed, or to 

 sell to A. I. Root for medicinal purposes at an ad- 

 vanced price. J. C. Greenleaf. 



Greenleaf, Mass., Dec. 6, 1886. 



WORKING BY I-AMP AND LANTERN LIGHT. 



When Ernest works bees by moonlight or lamp- 

 light, I wonder if he uses the smoker as by day- 

 light, andjdont the.bees fly in the Vhimney of the 

 lamp, and crawl over him ? 1 tried it once, but 

 want to know hnw, better, befoi-e I do it again. 



Maria L.Deming. 



Watertown. Washington Co., O.. Nov. 24, 1886. 



A smoker is a help when working by lan- 



tern light, but T managed to get along with- 

 out it ; that is. I made the lantern answer 

 somewliat the same purpose. When the hive 

 is opened, set tlie lantern right on top of the 

 frames. If any bees liy up they will strike 

 against the glol)t'. but receive no injury, nor 

 will tlit'y as a rule get on to your peisl)!!, as 

 the light is a strong counter-attraction. I 

 do not like a lamp so well— bees are too apt 

 to get down the chimney, and burn to death. 

 Besides, the lamp is affected by any light 

 wind. 'Ernest. 



While at the Michigan State Convention 

 1 mentioned how Ernest worked by the 

 light of a lantern, and a good many of the 

 friends thought it astonishing. When I got 

 home and questioned Ernest about it, he ex- 

 plained as above, that the Tempest lantern 

 was placed right on top of the frames, and 

 kept there. Its construction is such that a 

 bee can not possibly harm himself by it. 

 The bees handled were all Italians, and very 

 gentle. When the lantern w^as taken away 

 it was done so quietly that none of the bees 

 followed it. When I worked by the light of 

 a lamp, several years ago, I placed the lamp 

 a rod or so distant, on one of the posts form- 

 ing a grapevine trellis. I have had consid- 

 erable experience in trying to work with 

 bees after it Avas so late in the evening that 

 neither the bees nor myself could see, and 

 under such circumstances I have had them 

 get on my clothing, and buzz all over me, so 

 that it was (|uite a task to hunt up the little 

 rascals. With the light of a lamp, however, 

 or the Tempest lantern, the matter is very 

 simple and easy when you once "get the 

 hang of it.'' 



HOW DOKS MH. HEDDON DRIVE BHES INTO HIS 

 HIVINO-BO.X WHEN TR ANSh-ERIUNG V 



I have tried transferring from our box hi\e, but 

 can hardly tell how much of a success it will be; 

 but 1 have fully decided to have all Simplicity hives 

 for another year. Don't you think it sets bees to 

 robliing or flghting, to piU broken combs into hives ? 

 I wish you would telll me how Mr. Heddon con- 

 trives to drive the old queen and a ma.iority of the 

 bees into his hiving-box from the old box hi\-e. 1 

 can't see how it can be done without takiug the old 

 hive all to pieces (I refer to his letter, ]>age 369, A B 

 C book). If you can tell me, I shall be greatly 

 obliged. Mrs. W. K. Nickt^y. 



Mitchell Creek, Tioga Co., Pa. 



My friend, it certainly does set bees to 

 robbing, and very often" to fighting, to put 

 broken combs into the hives, unless you put 

 them in just at nightfall, and put in' only so 

 much as they will cl^an up entirely, and go 

 into their combs over night. I presume 

 friend Heddon drives the bees out by the 

 drumming process. If you put an empty box 

 over any bee-hive, close all the openings, 

 then drum on the hives with sticks occasion- 

 ally, for 15 or 20 minutes, the greater part of 

 the l)ees Avill ascend into the upper box. We 

 have not recommended drunniiingin the A B 

 C book, because we have always found it 

 much slower than the plan I gave. See our 

 brief references to the matter on the oppo- 

 site page of the A B C book from the one 

 you quote. 



