GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



August, 1919 



"I noticed a knot on a black-gum tree 

 and spoke of the striking resemblance it 

 bore to a cluster of bees. I was told that 

 an old man who formerly lived in that com- 

 munity and kept bees, kept also one of those 

 gum knots, on a pole, which he called his 

 bee-knot. When the bees would swarm out 

 the old man would set up his pole with the 

 knot among or near the swarming bees. The 

 knot at a short distance presents exactly 

 the general appearance of a cluster of bees. 

 When a few bees light on the knot it has 

 the appearance of a large cluster, and the 

 statement of my informant was that the 

 bees usually would form a cluster covering 

 the knot. The old man would then shake 

 them off into the hive or near it. He thus 

 saved swarms which might otherwise have 

 run away, and also saved himself the trouble 

 of hiving them from inaccessible places. ' ' — 

 W. B. Eomine, Giles County, Tenn. 



"A cousin of mine has some very mean 

 black bees. Last year he got a neighbor to 

 hive them for him. They just simply ate 

 him up, and, of course, he lost his job. This 

 year I got the invitation to try them. So 1 

 read up in the bee book on points that I 

 needed, and particularly on opening hives. 

 I prepared for the bees just as nearly as the 

 good book said — opened the hive, got all 

 the honey, put the super and top back, and 

 stayed by them as long as I wanted to, and 

 went back in the house with lots of nice 

 comb honey, and not a bee offered to sting. 

 The owner of the bees stood in the house 

 looking out the window. I know that, 

 from reading the bee papers I'm taking, I 

 know very little about bees; but I'm very 

 much interested, and I'm going to learn 

 lots more. ' ' — L. J. Davidson, York County, 

 S. C. 



"I still have some American foul brood. 

 Nearly all the bees here have died from it. 

 I have written the State and Federal au- 

 thorities about it repeatedly; but while they 

 are suggesting educating the beekeeper to 

 get rid of it, it is still getting worse. ' ' — J. 

 E. Turner, Darke County, O. 



' ' In Tasmania the bees this season made 

 a splendid start, but they made a bad finish. 

 I am afraid a lot will have to be fed to car- 

 ry them thru the winter. ' ' — John H. Jen- 

 kins, Hobart, Tasmania. 



"We got 416 pounds of honey from one 

 swarm when we had but the one swarm, and 

 those bees lived in the same hive without 

 renewal of any kind for 24 years, when the 

 hive rotted. ' ' — Lloyd' Z. Jones, Henry Coun- 

 ty, 111. 



' ' Popular talks and actual demonstrations 

 at our central apiaries by competent and 

 experienced beekeepers are much needed in 

 Nebraska over much of the State. There 

 has been a wonderful improvement in the 

 possibilities of scientific bee culture in Ne- 

 braska in the last ten years, largely owing 

 to the extension of sweet clover. This 



hardy legume is adapted to a great variety 

 of soils. It is a soil-builder, and will probably 

 have a recognized place in the rotation of 

 crops on the best-conducted farms of cen- 

 tral and western Nebraska and Kansas. The 

 much-execrated beeman of 30 to 50 years 

 ago, who sowed sweet clover by stealth after 

 dark at the risk of personal danger if de- 

 tected, is now considered a public bene- 

 factor in this section of the State. The 

 trans-Missouri region is now indeed a land 

 flowing with milk and honey, as both are 

 being pushed to profitable extension and 

 conservation. Popular field meets are essen- 

 tial in every county of the State till the 

 losses of bees in wintering will be as rare 

 as the loss of good dairj^ cows from starva- 

 tion. ' ' — Karl Aldrich, Nemaha County, Neb. 



" Merrils vs. Goodwin: A man's finding a 

 tree of bees in another man 's land gives 

 no right to the tree or the bees, unless they 

 went from his own hive. Error to reverse 

 a judgment of a justice in an action of tres- 

 pass, Goodwin vs. Merrils, for cutting down 

 a tree in the woods that had a swarm of 

 bees in it and taking the honey which the 

 plaintiff had previously discovered. The de- 

 pendent pleaded in bar that said bees were 

 a swarm from his hive; that he frequently 

 lined them to near said tree; and that said 

 bees were his property. The plaintiff re- 

 I)lied that he found the bees in the woods 

 and had good right to take them. To which 

 reply a demurrer was given. The judgment 

 of the justice was that the plaintiff's reply 

 wr.s sufficient, with 30 shillings damages. 

 Ju<lgment — Manifest error. By the Court: 

 A man 's finding bees in a tree standing upon 

 another man 's land gives him no right either 

 to the tree or the bees; and a swarm of bees 

 going from a hive, if they can be followed 

 and known, are not lost to the owner but 

 may be reclaimed. ' ' — From Root 's Reports, 

 Voi. I, 1764-1793, Litchfield County, August 

 Term, Superior Court, A. D., 1790. 



' ' Our librarian told me Saturday that it 

 was impossible to keep any bee books on the 

 shelves so great was the demand for bee 

 literature. ' ' — S. H. Burton, Daviess County, 

 Ind. 



' ' I have obtained a crop of honeydew of 

 the usual dark color, which granulated im- 

 mediately. Ants on removing it leave a 

 white, almost tasteless powder, which would 

 seem to show that the granular portion is 

 not all sugar. It was gathered principally 

 from oak and beech. ' ' — H. D. Tennent, Mor- 

 gan County, O. 



' ' I have met beekeepers 150 miles east 

 and also west of Phoenix. Regarding the 

 honey-producing part of Arizona, they re- 

 port only one-sixth to one-fourth of a crop. 

 My 19 apiaries are located 55 miles up and 

 down the Gila River. Half of my yards 

 have no honey to extract. Small insects suck 

 the nectar from alfalfa as fast as secreted. ' ' 

 B. A. Hadsell, Maricopa County, Ariz. 



