1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



145 



to, g-ivingr a joint eo - operative action of both 

 business ends of the bee. And if friend Savage 

 can extract any more fun out of nij- speculations, 

 it is ail right; only I think he should back up his 

 supposition with something based on observa- 

 tion and reflection in regard to the habits of the 

 bee. Wm. F. Cf-akkk. 



(iiielph, Ont., Can., .Ian. 7, 18ST. 



EliLISON'S VISIT TO THE S. C. STATE 

 FAIR. 



THE POISON OF BKK-STINGS, ETC. 



T HAVE taken \our advice, "Write only when 

 §K you have something to write about." Well, I 

 ^l have been to our State Fair; and, more than 

 •^ that, I have been an exhibitor. At tir.'^t it look- 

 ed like a big undertaking to ine. I have been a 

 " honey-man ■' and queen-breeder for ten years, 

 and this is the first that 1 have been able to get 

 away from home at this season of the year, my 

 health iiot permitting. 1 can assure you it was 

 pleasant to meet so many birds of the same feather 

 as flocked together there. Many whom I had well 

 known from their writings and theories, 1 had 

 a very nice time exchanging opinions with, as 

 to the different modus operandi of getting the 

 most honej', the best bees. etc. Of course, we have 

 not as yet such an extensive premium list as you 

 have in the North. There were only five premiums 

 given by the agricultural .society. I got three; viz., 

 for best comi) honey, best extracted honej', and 

 best Italian queen. The latter lvalue most, as I 

 boast of raising the best kind of Italian queens. I 

 had your Simplicilj hive there also, but the pre- 

 mium on hives was given to friend Fooshe, of this 

 State, who exhibited one of the same kind. I had, 

 besides, smokers, veils, wax, and a Novice honey- 

 extractor. 1 tried the plan of cutting up sections 

 and selling pieces at five cents each, but found it 

 did not pay well. We have but few bee-keepers in 

 our State who use the movable-frame hive, and a 

 great deal of injury is done to the honey-trade by 

 box-hives and their owners. 



THE EFFECT A BEE-STING HAS ON SOME SYSTEMS. 



A few weeks ago my wife was stung on the foot. 

 Tn a few moments she was covered from head to 

 feet with a scarlet rash, very much like scarlet 

 fever. She complained of violent pain in the chest, 

 and a dreadful feeling" of suffocation. We placed 

 her feet in hot water, and gave her a large dose of 

 bromide of potash; and after an Interval of an 

 hour we repeated the dose. She was very ill for 

 two days from the effects of the poison. One of my 

 boys is affected in the same way when he is stung. 

 It would be a great boon if some of our bee-keeping 

 fraternity who belong to the medical profession 

 would study a remedy for cases of this kind, and 

 give it to us. Some say the jioison is formic acid. 

 We will say, then, if an acid, use an alkali as an an- 

 tidote; but liovv many have used soda, ammonia, 

 etc., for stings to no purpose I 



I should very much fear the consequences if 

 either my wife or little boy were stung by more 

 than one^bee at the same time. 



KKVEUSIULE FRAMES AND HIVES. 



1 have been compelled to think, that, if you can 

 adopt them in the North, your bees do not use so 

 much propolis asours do. Even with the Simplicity 

 hive, right side up, I find great trouble to lift the 



upper story off, on account of its being gummed 

 down so fast. 



I am sorry to hear of the bad state your l)ees are 

 in on account of foul brood. I don't know whether 

 you have tried saving fertile queens in cages with 

 a dozen or mors of their own bees placed in the 

 center of a large colony, or not. I make the cages 

 by partitioning off a wide frame, and placing a bit 

 of honey in the comb in each for food. You can 

 then hang it right in the hive, and in summer it is 

 good for two or three weeks. T don't know what 

 you can do with it in your cold winters. 



W. J. El.MSON. 



Stateburg, Sumter Co., S. C. 

 I atn not so sure that the friends in the 

 North will like reversing? any better than 

 yon tio. It i.s a matter that is not yet decid- 

 ed.— We have tried caging surplus queens 

 in the hives during cold weather, in the way 

 you describe ; but from the severity of the 

 weather here, the (jueens so caged "died in 

 a week or ten davs at the most. 



BLACKS VERSUS ITALIANS, AGAIN. 



Ml{. FRANCE COMP.VKES THE LARGE REPORTS 

 OF E. .1. BAXTER, AND OF P. H. FELLOWS. 



fN page 53, 188;, Mr. E. J. Baxter, of Nauvoo, 

 111., claims to have an apiary of Italians that 

 beat the record of my student (Mr. P. H. 

 Fi-llows. of Brodhead, Wis., whose report for 

 1886 I find in Gleanings, page T4i. Well, 

 Mr. Baxter, you obtained more honey, it is true; 

 but you went back to the fourth crop to find it. 

 That is all right. But do you know that the Ital- 

 ians did any better than the blacks would have 

 done in the same location, at the same time':' Ac- 

 cording to your own statements, your bees had a 

 great deal better chance than those of Mr. Fellows. 

 First, your bees were very strong, by your help, at 

 the commencement of the honey-harvest. So were 

 Mr. Fellows' bees. So far you are even. But now 

 turn to Mr. F.'s report, page 74, and you will see 

 that his honey was all extracted between May 29th 

 and July (5th— a period of 38 days, while your har- 

 vest commenced the middle of June and lasted 

 until the 20th of September— a period of tt7 days, or 

 21 days more than double the time that Mr. F. had. 

 Even then you secured only 80 lbs. more on an 

 average per colony. You did not increase j-our 

 stock. Mr. F. raised 32 new colonies. You had 63 

 surplus-boxes with frames full of empty combs— 

 about a set and a half of empty combs for each col- 

 ony. Mr. F. had none. Y'ou used full sheets of 

 foundation, while Mr. F. used only half-inch strips 

 —just enough for a guide. Lastly Mr. P'ellows had 

 the long-to-be-remenibered drought of 1886 to con- 

 tend with, while you have gone back to a more 

 fruitful season. Now, I don't see where you can 

 claim any superiority for the Italians, in compar- 

 ing ihosetwo i-ecords. I believe the blacks would 

 have done just as well under the same circum- 

 stances. It simply i>roves ray statement, that the 

 location and the man have more to do with success 

 than the race of bees. 



But it is my candid opinion, that a half breed be- 

 tween the Italians and the blacks is better than 

 either race pure. They may do a little more sting- 

 ing, but 1 can handle any of them. K. 1''kance. 

 I'latteviUe, Wis.. Jan. 24, 1887. 



