274 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



could think for an instant that aphides 

 have had anything to do with it. Wlien it 

 first appeared tlie weather was misty now 

 and then and the bees worked on it furious- 

 ly at such times. My honey in the house 

 was leaking and running out on the ground. 

 When the sun was shining, the bees were 

 busy trying to save it, but even a passing 

 cloud would send them on swift wings to 

 the honey-covered trees. It seemed that 

 even a few cloudy moments enables tiiem to 

 appropriate it. 1 had no idea before that 

 the quantity of moisture in the atmosphere 

 could be so immediately affected by such a 

 cause. 



Two years ago, the whole spring my bees 

 would scarcely wait for daybreak, they 

 were busy, busy as only bees can be, from 

 the first streak of daylight to the last gleam 

 of twilight; the nectar flowing in an un- 

 ceasing stream for weeks. Now during the 

 continuance of this honey-dew we would 

 suppose they would be doubly anxious to 

 stir early as they cannot gather it " wlien 

 the sun waxes hot." But to my surprise 

 they wait till broad daylight or later before 

 sallying forth. It may be that like some 

 bigger folks, the more they have the more 

 they want: and that wonderful flow kept 

 their little heads as well as their honey sacs 

 so full of honey that they could scarcely 

 wait for the morning. 



It is passing strange why honey-dew falls 

 only on certhin trees. Though of different 

 families, these trees must have some prop- 

 erty in common which causes this strange 

 phenomenon: most of them are of a bitter 

 or a stringent nature. Nectar proper is not 

 always secreted in a nectary, but sometimes 

 on the petals, and is it any stranger if from 

 the leaf should emanate a volatile species 

 of nectar which after making an attempt to 

 rise falls again? The perfume of flowers 

 we are told is a kind of heat jacket intended 

 to protect their tender germs. Leaves are 

 the lungs of plants, as we all know, and I 

 fancy that the breath, so as to speak, from 

 these leaves meets under certain atmos- 

 pheric conditions, elements in the atmos- 

 phere which changing its character comes 

 back to the leaves in these little showers of 

 sweetness. 



LATER INVESTIGATIONS. 



July 17, 1877.— I have just seen Dr. W. F. 

 Roberts and questioned him again about the 

 shower of honey-dew he saw fall. He says 

 it was in the evening when the sun was 

 about two hours high, that there were no 

 trees near, and he is perfectly certain there 

 was no chance for him to have been mis- 

 taken, indeed he says he saw it repeatedly 

 in his boyhood. Dr. Roberts says the gen- 

 tleman on whose cotton the honey-dew fell 

 in such quantities is Mr. Dick Rowley, liv- 

 ing near this place. 



Dr. Roberts speaks of trying a brick hive, 

 about a foot thick. Another gentleman 

 near me has a quadruple hive, which he 

 thinks just the thing; two men can lift the 

 whole contrivance. I pointed to one of my 

 mammoth stocks and asked him how he 

 thought it would answer for Italians? He 

 had to confess he did not think it would do 

 so well. 



My bees are still getting something from 

 the honey-dew. They have not killed their 

 drones but are still rearing more. One of 

 my little nephews thinks honey-dew honey 

 so mean that he can only be induced to eat 

 it by being threatened with cod liver oil; 



one or the other he must take, so he sub- 

 mits to the necessity but with much grumb- 

 ling. 



An intelligent gentleman tells me that the 

 leaves of those trees whicli were mos^t pro- 

 fusely covered with honey-dew now look 

 brown and scorched, as it were. None of 

 the trees I noticed with much of it on them, 

 are low enough for me to see well, or near 

 enough for present examination; but the 

 sweet-bay bushes (Maiinolia qliinc(t) near 

 by are covered with it "now and look badly, 

 beyond description, very much as if they 

 were mildewed. 



Of course I don't like to take a stand in 

 opposition to " all the world and the rest of 

 mankind," unless very sure I am right. If 

 you publish the article, attach this to it to 

 show that 1 am not so opinionated as that 

 might lead some to think me. 



Woodville, Miss. Anna Saunders. 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Answer to Mr. Dadant. 



Mr. Newsman: — As you have published 

 Mr. Dadant's article about me, in justice 

 you should give me a hearing. 



I would like to know why it concerns Mr. 

 Dadant as to what I sell or buy, or my price 

 for it ? My dollar queens show better 

 marks of purity than Mr. Dadant's imported 

 queens. This I am willing to let any good 

 judge decide; it they will not produce bet- 

 ter bees for honey-gathering, 1 will give 

 him ten colonies. Is he ready for the test ? 

 I procured some imported queens from the 

 editor of U' ApicoUore, Milano, Italy. 



1 have .50 letters similar to the following: 



"Columbus, Ind., Feb. 20, 1877.— Hardin 

 Haines: I have an imported queen valued 

 at $10, but I do not value her so high— say 

 about 10 cents. The workers are as dark as 

 common blacks. J. M. Brooks & Bro." 



"Columbia, Tenn.— 1 have 2 of Dadant's 

 imported queens that I have a poor opinion 

 of. Wm. J. Andrews." 



My imported queens that came from Up- 

 per Italy and Cyprus Island are very yel- 

 low. I sent D. Staples nearly all my papers 

 concerning importation, and I think he is 

 satisfied. The price was to be six queens. 



Mr. Andrews did not offer me $.50 for a 

 Cyprian queen. 1 wouldn't sell mine for $75. 



I made a mistake in writing Dadant. The 

 queen I bought for an Egyptian proved to 

 be a Cyprian. I can show my letters, draft 

 receipts, etc., but will not to him, for he 

 would like to get them from there also. I 

 have seen Mr. Dadant's bees, and I have 

 seen better hybrids. I sent him $14 for an 

 imported colony (to infuse new life etc., in 

 my apiary), and spent $15 more to go and 

 see his apiary. He claims I ordered ten 

 colonies, and now keeps my $14, but has 

 not sent me a colony, and says he will give 

 it to a charitable society and send me a 

 receipt; but even this he has not done yet. 

 I would not degrade myself for that 

 amount. Hardin Haines. 



[ Tire above gives hoth sides of this un- 

 pleasant controversy, but it can proceed no 

 further in our columns. We have omitted 

 several offensive paragraphs in the above. 

 Though we desire to be fair to all, Ave have 

 no room for such controvercies, and less 

 relish.— Ed.] 



