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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15 



A certain minister in my vicinity found out that ker- 

 osene kills vegetation, and proclaimed broadly, 

 " When an obnoxious plant is in my waj', a half-pint 

 of kerosene oil puts it out of my way." 



Not long afterward, various shrubs and plants be- 

 gan to die that were offensive to various persons. 

 They followed that minister's advice. 



Another person finding that sweetened Paris-green 

 water would kill flies and other insects, exposed it for 

 that reason, and killed off 20 colonies of bees. Some 

 time afterward it leaked out that. " I made up my 

 mind those devilish bees had to be gotten rid of." The 

 bees were the things aimed for, some of their honey 

 was eaten, and the eaters were made sick. 



The law does not reach that class of people, but they 

 are everywhere. 



Spraying really does more harm, as a whole, than it 

 does good. I have worked at it, and I have studied it 

 closely for more than 20 j^ears. It does some good, but 

 that good is limited. 



I am sure Mr. Jeffrey casts no reflec- 

 tions on the clerg-y as a class; but it must 

 be admitted that some of the most unreason- 

 able and unreasoning- men in the world are 

 to be found among- them as in all other call- 

 ing's. But that is nothing- against what 

 they are supposed to preach. 



Mr. York quotes the following from the 

 New York World: 



Charles Zane, aged 11 years, died to-day from brain 

 fever, superinduced by excessive cigarette smoking. 

 He was ill ten days, and while delirious he went 

 through the motions of holding a cigarette to his 

 mouth and imagined he was blowing smoke from his 

 nose. 



And aptly adds: 



It paj'S to bring boys into the world. But it doesn't 

 pay to allow them to be killed off in that way. The 

 "killing off, " however, ought to be applied to the hu- 

 man hyenas that make and sell cigarettes and .similar 

 body-and-.soul-destroying th'ngs. IJutit pays in dollars 

 and cents, don't you know? That's the test now-a- 

 days. What does a few thousand boys amount to if 

 some one can make a few more dollars? 



It takes G. W. Y. to write a big sermon 

 in one short paragraph. 

 (Ik 

 Concerning phacelia, Mr. Luhdorft" says: 



It is not only a good honey-plant for the bees, but it 

 furnishes with its juicy green stems and leaves also a 

 very excellent green fodder, which horses, cattle, 

 goats, and hogs eat with the greatest relish. Cows and 

 goats give, when fed with phacelia, great quantities of 

 milk. The crops of seed are also rich, one acre 

 (American measure) producing in Prussia 400 to .500 

 pounds of .seed. It takes about .5 pounds of seed to 

 sow one American acre. We recommend to all bee- 

 keepers and farmers to try this plant. The plant does 

 well in almost any kind of .soil. The seed can be 

 sown similar to grain after the fields have been plowed. 



COLMENERO ESPANOL. 

 A German bee paper says one of the best 

 ways to get rid of ants is to. dig a hole 

 down into their nests and drop in a small 

 lump of gum camphor. The odor of it is 

 so insupportable to the ants that they will 

 fold up their tents and skip out. The only 

 advantage camphor has over carbon bisul- 

 phide is its greater cheapness. 



L'ABEILLE. 

 Several cases are cited in the September 

 issue showing the value of honey as a means 

 for the removal of warts. One child whose 

 hands were covered with them was cured 

 in a short time. Honey was rubbed over 

 the hands thoroughly, after which they 



were covered with gloves for a time. An- 

 other writer removed them from the face of 

 his daughter in a similar manner. Her 

 face was rubbed with honey, and well ban- 

 daged. In ten days the trouble was out of 

 sight. It is cheaper than some drugs, and 

 not at all dangerous. 



COMBS ATTACHED TO SEPARATORS. 



"Good evening, Mr. Doolittle. The eve- 

 nings are beginning to be of considerable 

 length." 



"Yes, the days are much shorter than 

 they were, Smith, and it reminds one that 

 winter will soon be here. It hardly seems 

 as if we had had any summer, it has been 

 so cold all the time. What are you busy- 

 ing yourself at these days? " 



"I have been crating the little honey I 

 have, for a few days back, and I find manj'^ 

 more combs attached to the separators than 

 usual, so I thought I would come over a 

 little while and talk with you about the 

 matter. How can we prevent the bees from 

 attaching or fastening the comb to the sep- 

 arators? " 



"Did all of 3^our colonies attach their 

 combs to the separators? " 



"No. Some of them gave as perfect 

 combs as I ever saw. But why did you ask 

 this? " 



" So I might know how to answer you; 

 and I would say, in short, put each colo- 

 ny in just the condition as were those which 

 gave those perfect combs. Perhaps this is 

 not just the answer that should be given in 

 3'our case; but I often think such an ans- 

 wer would be the best reply that could be 

 given in the majority of cases, for it would 

 set the questioner, having the trouble, to 

 studying into that which would make him 

 an intelligent bee-keeper by creating in 

 him a desire and a determination to master 

 every problem which might come before 

 him."' 



" Well, that is outspoken; but my desire 

 is strong enough so I'll forgive you if you 

 will only tell me what you can to help me." 



" I'll do the best I can by telling of some 

 of the things which contribute toward an 

 attaching of combs to the separators, which 

 things we should avoid if we would have 

 perfect combs. The greatest cause for this 

 trouble lies in not having the hives stand 

 level, for the bees always build their combs 

 perpendicular, especially in the case of 

 thin tall sections, as with such it requires 

 very little out of the perpendicular for the 

 lower end of the comb to come near enough 

 to the separator for the bees to build brace- 



