358 



(4LEA\ING8 IX 15 KK CULTURE. 



May 



ey was taken, I have found plenty of poison huck- 

 leberrj- near by. If you can explain the cause of 

 this poison, and give a preventive, it would be a 

 blessing to many persons in this and perhaps other 

 sections. W. K. Davis. 



Ultimathule, Ark., Feb. 15, 1887. 



I have never heard of a poison huckleber- 

 ry, friend D., but there has been considera- 

 ble said about poison honey in years past. 

 In a talk with l^rof. Cook, a few days ago, 

 while looking at specimens of honey in the 

 museum of the Agricultural College, he ex- 

 pressed a belief that there is more or less 

 mistake in regard to the whole matter. He 

 has a sample bottle of poison honey in the 

 museum; and, if I am correct, he has eaten 

 it without any unpleasant results at all ; 

 and I am inclined to think that any thing 

 that would kill a human being would kill 

 the bees themselves. Sometimes one or 

 more people in a family die after having eat- 

 en articles of food put up in tin cans ; but 

 we are assured from good autliority that the 

 cause of death lies somewhere else than in 

 the canned goods ; and I am rather inclined 

 to believe that these deaths may have re- 

 sulted from some other cause than from the 

 honey that was eaten. We should, howev- 

 ei-, be glad of facts on the subject. 



A NOVEL SWAHMINO-BOX. 



I send you a sample of a swarming-box that I 

 have used the last season. It works like a charm. 

 There is no shaking of swarms to get them out of 

 the box; all you have to do is to get your swarm to 

 cluster in the box, the same as with any other box, 

 then take the box down with the swarm in, and 

 stand with your left hand to the box, with the pole 

 at your right hand; walk up to the hive you wish to 

 put the swarm in, lay it down with the open end to 

 the entrance, or, rather, to the right, as you stand, 

 then loose the hook and spread the box out and 

 your swarm is ready to run in without any shak- 

 ing or trouble. This is my plan and invention, and 

 it is free to all who wish to line it. You can give 

 the plan to your readers if you wish. The box is 

 about 7 X 7 X 18 inches. (J. H. Clemmer. 



Arcanum, ()., Mar. 3!i, 1887. 



I will explain to our readers, that the box 

 is much like our own, described in our price 

 list and ABC book, only that it is hinged 

 togetlier with leather hinges, so that by un- 

 hooking one side it can be laid out Hat in 

 front of the hive. As bees sometimes act 

 contrary, when shaken from a box, and take 

 wing ami go off, this might be an improve- 

 ment : for after it is spread out on the 

 ground in front of the hive, it has lost all 

 appearance of a hive Or cavity wherein they 

 could cluster; and without any excitement 

 or disturbance they proceed to march right 

 into the hive proper, as offering the best ac- 

 commodations after the hiving-boxhas been, 

 so far as they can see, demolished. 



WHY DID THF, HONEY BECOME SOURED IN SO 

 SHORT A TIME ? 



For the last two years our honey has not kept 

 well. In the fall of 188.5 we had but little honey. 

 This was dark, with a disagreeable taste, and soon 

 acquired an acid taste in addition. The hone3'-crop 

 was large in the fall of 1886, and such delicious hon- 

 ey 1 never before tasted, so thick and clear. An old 



and experienced bee-keeper took up the honey for 

 me, and said in all his experience he had never 

 before seen such honey; but inside of three weeks 

 it had acquired the same disagreeable flavor, with 

 the same acidity. Yesterday I met the gentleman 

 who had taken up the honey for me, and he asked 

 me what I had done with all "that delicious honey." 

 I told him that it was not fit for use; and when I 

 had explained he said he had never heard of such a 

 thing in his life. He gave me your address, and 

 asked me to write to you about it. My father al- 

 ways kept bees, as did my husband's father, and I 

 never heard of such a thing before. Our bees are 

 Italians. We sow buckwheat for them after the 

 fruit-blooms and forest-tree blooms are gone.. We 

 sow some buckwheat in June, and again later, so 

 that the frost takes it while still in bloom. There 

 are different wild flowers— heart's-ease and golden- 

 rod being more plentiful than other varieties. If 

 you can tell us what the trouble is, I shall be grate- 

 ful. Letitia W. Truesdell. 

 Concordia, Cloud Co., Kan., Feb. 34, 1887. 



1 am sorry to say, my friend, that I have 

 never known a case just like yours. I have 

 seen honey, however, that seemed very 

 thick and nice after it was thrown out of 

 the extractor, and placed in a deep can, set- 

 tle so the thickest and nicest honey was at 

 the bottom, while that on top would become 

 so thin as to sour. Is it possible that this 

 is tlie trouble with yoursV If so, go down to 

 tlie bottom of your receptacle, and you will 

 find it all right. 



HONEY ^'KOM ALSIKE. 



Your estimate of the amount of honey 100 colonies 

 would gather from 10 acres of alsike is certainly low 

 enough. Now, it would be a diflicnit matter to get 

 at it with any degree of exactness; but this I do 

 know, that lor the last two or three years our aver- 

 age of extracted honej' from clover (there is very 

 little of the ordinary white here) has been about 1.50 

 lbs. We have not 100 colonies, and have some 30 or 

 iO acres of alsike within l'^ miles of our apiary. In 

 18H2 we ran 9 colonies forconib honey, and there was 

 only about 10 acres of alsike near. It was a very 

 poor season for honey, and nothing secreted hone.y 

 during the clover season but alsike. We got about 

 2.50 lbs. from the 0. Hobt. H. Shipman. 



Canniniiton, Ont., Can., Apr. 12, 1887. 



TIMELY articles; WIDE FRAMES. 



What a benefit can be derived fi-om timely arti- 

 cles! For instance. Dr. C. C. Miller's article, March 

 15, p. 306— "Time of Taking Bees Out of the Cellar." 

 My neighbors have taken their bees out since early 

 in March, and we had considerable stormy weather 

 during the last week in March. My bees are still in 

 the cave, for which I am glad. Well, friend Root, I 

 see that those who use supers have their troubles. I 

 have tried supers, half stories, and wide frames in 

 full stories; and if the golden rule is observed, to 

 keep the colonies strong, I think the hitter is as 

 good as any; and as far as propolis is concerned, if 

 there were some way of preventing the frame from 

 sagging, so the sections would not drop from the 

 to]) bar, the propolis would not be so bad. 



Cleveland, la., Apr. 4. 1887. E. U. Morgan. 



The trouble you speak of. friend M., was 

 pointed out by Dr. Miller, and we had al- 

 ready made arrangements to make the wide 

 frames tighter fitting for section^. 



