me> 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



swarms in tlip spriiij;-, indstly liisrht. I had tlieiii all 

 to transfer. 1 made them into 34, and doubled back 

 to U. I have bf)ug-ht 34. I have now 43. The 14 are 

 in hives the same size as the new Heddon hive, but 

 not closed eid frames. The frames can be taken 

 out when either side up. I like them much, i will 

 e.vplain thcin more fully some time. 



Holloway, Mich. H. L. HdxiK. 



A SUGGESTION IN liEGAIlD TO THK T,OOSE T TINS. 



Do not tliink I have not been an interested reader 

 of the Tlin discussion, for 1 have used fiO of the T- 

 tin supers inside of my S. hives. They work well in 

 chatt hives too. 1 have become a convert to Dr. C. 

 C. Miller's theory iu regard to loose T tins. How 

 well I shall like it in practice remains to be seen. 

 There is one point about it which I have not seen iu 

 print. It allows an outward spread to the sides, 

 which nailed tins do not allow. This would cause it 

 to slip otr easier. Tell the doctor to use a straight- 

 edge, two, three, or four inches wide, under his mal- 

 let, and long enough to reach across his super when 

 driving it down, instead of driving directly on the 

 super, and I think he will be better pleased. 



J. REYNOr.DS. 



Clinton, Kennebec Co., Me., Apr. 35, 1887. 



SQUARE CANS VERSUS KEGS FOR SHIPPING. 



When we ship in kegs, our kegs are thrown in 

 tree. Is that the case with the square cans, or do 

 you get any pay for them? or are any returned, 

 and at what e.\pense by the express companies? We 

 get the Ave gallon kegs delivei-ed here at :i7 cts. 

 each; 100 of your square-can cases, delivered here, 

 would cost over 80 cts. each, or over 40 cts. for what 

 we pay 37 cts. for in a keg. This difference would 

 be quite an item out of the profits. I think the 

 cans are very much the best, especially where we 

 need to warm up candied or cold honey; hut the 

 extra exiicnse is in the way. We use from 100 to 

 1.50 kegs here per year, and we could get up an 

 order for 100 cases for this season's use if you can 

 tell us of some plan to get back part of the expense. 



Oneida, 111., Apr. 11, 1887. W. I.I. Kei.i.ogg. 



We always charge for the square cans and 

 boxes to hold them, Irieiid K. I never lieard 

 of any one returning them. They are gen- 

 erally utilized for some other purpose, when 

 the honey is taken out, I believe. I have 

 never lieard of kegs so cheap as you men- 

 tiou ; but our e.xperienee has been that they 

 are always more or less leaky. 1 do not 

 know but that our foul brood came from 

 purchasing honey in kegs, and then the 

 kegs got to leaking, and the bees got to 

 working on them. 



HONEY-UEW AND PI,ANT-LOUSB NECTAR ; THU 

 SUBSTANCE AS I'OIIND IN THE E.\ST. 



Not long since I came across this bit of history, 

 which was of great interest to me, and may be, 

 perhaps, to some of the readers of Gi>eanings: 



■' Forskal says, the caravans of Mecca bring honey 

 from Arabia to Cairo, and that he has often seen 

 honey Mowing in the woods in Arabia. It would 

 seem that this flowing honey was bee honey, and 

 this fact illustrates the story of Jonathan. But 

 there la also a vegetable honey that is very plenti- 

 ful in the East. Burckhardt, speaking of the pro- 

 ductions of the Ghor, or valley of the .(ordan, says 

 one of the most interesting productions of this 

 place is the Beyrouk honey, as the Arabs call it. It 

 was described to him as a juice dropping fi'orn the 



leaves and twigs of a tree called " gharrab,' of the 

 size of an olive-tree, with leaves like those of the 

 poplar, but somewhat broader. The honey collects 

 on the leaves like dew, and is gathered from them, 

 or from the ground under the tree." 



It would seem that this vegetable honey is iden- 

 tical with our honey-dew, and the tree upon which 

 it is found seems to l)e quite like our poplar (tulip), 

 which is often infested with aphides. The secre- 

 tion there is evidently more profuse than we know 

 any thing of, if it •' drops from the leaves " and may 

 V)e "gathered from the ground." In speaking of 

 this very thing, 1 notice Cheshire says, "1 saw fall- 

 ing in the sunlight, a thick, constant shower of 

 minute drops, which were being expelled from the 

 anal apertures and nectaries of the aphides in- 

 festing the leaves." I notice Cook distinguishes 

 between the aphide nectar and the " real honey- 

 dew which the leaves distill." F. C. Blount. 



Lawndale, 111., Feb. 35, 1887. 



DANDELION. 



Will you please favor me with answers to the 

 following questions? 



1. How many acres of dandelion does it take to 

 keep one hundred colonies busy? 



3. How late in Maj' do bees usually work on dan- 

 delion in Ohio? M. Kenvon. 



Oakland, Cal., Apr. 15, 1887. 



Friend K., your question is hard to an- 

 swer; but if an acre of dandelions would 

 furuisli as much lioney as an acre of alsike, 

 I would suggest estimating ten colonics to 

 the acre. Iu tliat case you would want ten 

 acres of dandelions. As cultivated dande- 

 lions are now receiving a good deal of atten- 

 tion, especially iu the east, the time may 

 come when we shall have ten acres in (me 

 locality ; but where tliey are raised for 

 greens, for table use, 1 believe they never 

 let them come into bhunn. I think bees 

 work on dandelions about two weeks with 

 us They commence blooming heavily 

 aljout the first of May. 



experience with CYPRIANS. 



My experience w th Cyprians is so much like that 

 of Mr. Abbott, as given on p. 303, that I am surpris- 

 ed that they should be recommended as superior or 

 even equal to tfie Italians. My first experience 

 with them, when they were merely a nucleus, was 

 very satisfactory, and 1 was inclined to j)raise them 

 on account of the proliticiiess of the queen; but as 

 they increased in n\imber. so the trouble in han- 

 dling increased also, until they were nearly unman- 

 ageable. 1 put on a lot of empty combs and let them 

 completely alone until almost winter; and, being so 

 extremely ill tempered, they were not prepared as 

 usual, and nearly died. Howt vei-, they soon became 

 as i>oi)ulous as ever, and were a source of annoy- 

 ance another season, at the end of which the colony 

 was requeened, and that with more difficulty than 

 any previous manipulation. The principal reason 

 that 1 kciJt them so long was on account of the pro- 

 liflcness of the <iueen; jet they did not gather any 

 more honey than other colonies, J believe; and, not 

 being accustomed to a veil, and seldom having one; 

 without holes, 1 dreaded to have any thing to do 

 with them. My last veil had a window in which 

 broke out, and 1 have not yet sewed the hole shut. 

 Christian Weo^^es??;?, 



Marshallville. 0., Apr. 19, 1887. 



