254 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



Japanese Buckwheat Not Good for Honey 



In your buckwheat booklet be very careful not to 

 give Japanese buckwheat too much praise, espe- 

 cially as a producer of honey, it being practically 

 worthless for nectar— here at least. We do not get 

 a good crop of honey from it one year in ten. It 

 frequently gives very large yields of grain, and just 

 about as frequently none: and I have never yet 

 seen such crops of Japanese buckwheat as 1 used to 

 see when the gray and silverhull were sown, and 

 when you could not get bees enough to gather the 

 nectar. We once had an average of 70 lbs. per col- 

 ony of section honey and winter stores In a total 

 run of 14 days; but we are extremely lucky to get 

 even winter stores from Japanese now. 



BUCKWHEAT NECTAR SECRETION. 



Buckwheat does not ordinarily secrete nectar aft- 

 er 11 A.M. Up to that hour honey is seen glistening 

 in the five open nectaries of the bloom. After that 

 time of day, unless a light afternoon shower, fol- 

 lowed by murky atmosphere, intervenes (when oc- 

 casionally nectar is again secreted and the bees go 

 to work), the bees gather but little or no honey. 



After once eating pure well-cured buckwheat 

 oomb honey, three-fourths of my private custom- 

 ers will have no other, and can not be induced to 

 eat either clover or basswood. It must be well 

 ripened, however. Buckwheat honey has a poor 

 standing in the market, probably because it looks 

 dark, while the demand is constantly increasing 

 from educated honey-eaters. I have made. In the 

 past, two shipments of buckwheat honey as far 

 west as Kansas City, Mo., and generally can not 

 nearly supply the demand. 



Frenchtown, N. J., Jan. 18. • W. W. Cash. 



Value of Buckwheat, Both as a Honey-plant and for 

 Flour 



I think that buckwheat is a good paying crop. I 

 sow a small patch every year. I had out about two 

 acres last year, and got enough so that I sold 1260 

 pounds of flour at 4 cts. a pound, and had plenty for 

 our own use. I used the bran for my cows. It Is a 

 very good feed for dairy cows. My bees, too, made 

 a good supply of winter stores, and some surplus 

 for us to eat on our cakes. I sold all of this flour at 

 retail in 25-lb. sacks to my neighbors, and I also 

 sell them some honey once in a while. 1 sow buck- 

 wheat early in the spring in order to plow It under 

 for a fertilizer. It is good for the soil, and I get 

 some honey from it. The buckwheat that I plant 

 for seed is sown the first week In July. I have tried 

 it earlier, but it does not seem to fill when the 

 weather is too warm. 



There are none of the ordinary prepared mix- 

 tures that will take the place of the real old-fashion- 

 ed buckwheat cakes for me. and 1 think there are a 

 great many others who would feel the same way if 

 they were taught what the real thing Is: but we 

 must tell them In some way l.ow good these things 

 are. In order to sell our buckwheat and honey. 



Lake Cicott, Ind. Thos. C. Johnson. 



The Papaya, or " Pawpaw," of the South, etc. 



Mr. A. I. Boot:— I am glad to see that you like 

 mangoes and guavas. and the other tropical fruits. 

 As 1 was born and lived In British Burma until 

 about ten years ago (Lam now 22), I can appreciate 

 your feelings over a good mango. I wonder If you 

 have ever eaten the papaya, or pawpaw. The fruit 

 varies In quality somewhat, but a. good one is good. 

 I will send you a few seeds of it from Burma. It 

 fruits under a year old. 



Savannah, Ga., March 20. Chas. E. A. Hale. 



[Our older readers will recall that I have several 

 times written up the tropical tree that bears lus- 

 cious "mushmelons." Those we have here, how- 

 ever, do not often fruit inside of a year, and I am 

 going to take great pains with the seed so kindly 

 sent from British Burma. These trees bear fruit 

 every month In the year, and the fruit is a cele- 

 brated remedy lor indigestion.— A. I. R.] 



Form for Holding the Frame when Wiring 



As I have never seen nor heard of any one wiring 

 frames as I do I will try to tell how I do it. 



I use a box or table just high enough for a work- 

 bench, and take a board about an Inch larger than 

 the frames I Intend to wire. I lay one side of this 



board on the bench, place something under the 

 other side, so that it will be about two or three 

 Inches higher, and then nail It solid. I then get a 

 board one Inch thick and saw It the size of the in- 

 side of the frame, and nail It on the board I have 

 already nailed down. I put a frame over It and let 

 the frame down until the holes In the frame are 

 just a little above the Inside board: then get a strip 

 just large enough to fill the space between the 

 frame and the bottom board (the one that is stand- 

 ing sidewlse on the box) . These are then nailed to 

 the bottom board. 1 fix a place for the spool of 

 wire about a foot from the bottom board, and nail 

 a small staple near the first hole in the frame, but 

 far enough away so that I can drive the tack In 

 after I have my frame wired. I am then ready to 

 begin wiring. By having the board on the inside • 

 of the frame, and cut to fit. It holds the frame solid 

 and square. 

 Waldo, Ark., Feb. 6. J. W. Hosier. 



Groove-and-wedge Top Bar All Right 



I frequently notice In the bee papers that the 

 wedge-and-groove top bar Is condemned. Now, I 

 use that kind of bar, and I think it is the best that 

 Is now before the beekeepers If made right. That 

 is where the trouble lies. Some manufacturers 

 make the wedge too small for the groove, and some 

 of the wedges about right for half their length, 

 then begin to taper oflf to a point. Out of some lots 

 we have had to throw away one-third of the wedges 

 and fasten the foundation with wax. All wedge- 

 and-groove top bars. If made right, work to perfec- 

 tion if directions are followed. The Madary top 

 bar Is no good in this locality. If the foundation is 

 not drawn out at once it will shrink and let the 

 foundation fall down. 



Metz, Cal. H. E. Thayer. 



Turkeys and Ducks Eat Bees 



On page 118, Feb. 15, Stephen Anthony makes the 

 statement that turkeys and ducks never eat bees. 

 I beg to differ here, as I had a hive of bees and 

 sonae ducks in the same yard several years ago, 

 and the bees did get eaten by the ducks — so much, 

 in fact, that I had no more bees at the end of the 

 year than I started with in the spring. Several of 

 the ducks would stand In front of the hives and eat 

 the bees. I do not know whether all of them did 

 or not. 



Monaca, Pa., Feb. 23. Charles P. Blair. 



Reversible Frame 



The Illustration shows my son's (Alex. Crisler) re- 

 versible frame. The metal strap is supposed tO' 

 have a hole near the top, and a corresponding lug 

 on the end bar to hold it in place. It can be used 



on any frame of Langstroth size. The strap would 

 be better if made of thin steel ; but heavy galvan- 

 ized iron would answer. 

 Walton, Ky. J. G. Crisler. 



The Washington Honey-producers' Association 



A cooperative organization known as the Wash- 

 ington Honey-producers' Association was perfected 

 at North Yakima, Feb. 27th, and the following offi- 

 cers were elected from its board of directors: Virgil 

 Sires, North Yakima, President : J. B. liamage. 

 North Yakima, Vice-president; Robert Long, Yak- 

 ima City, Treasurer: A. E. Burdick, Sunnyslde, 

 Secretary-Manager. It is their purpose to buy their 

 supplies and to sell their product as a unit through 

 their manager. 



Sunnyside, Wash. A. E. Burdick, Sec'y. 



