516 



TH® MMEmiC'Sif mmm 



The Woric of a Tornado. — Here 



is another description of the destructive 

 worli of the Tornado mentioned last week 

 ou page 500 : 



The terrible tornado that passed over 

 this section of the country on the evening 

 of July 12, brought death and destruction 

 to this city. All factories are shut down, 

 business houses are closed and draped in 

 crepe ; on the firemen's houses and other 

 places flags are placed at half mast, and a 

 great cloud of grief hangs over the whole 

 city. The loss of property receives but 

 little thought, but the terrible catastrophe 

 on Lake Pepin is the cause of the gloom. 

 The steamer " Sea Wing " capsized by the 

 gale, on Lake Pepin, about 14 miles below 

 this city, just off Maiden Rock Point. 



The steamer was carrying a large excur- 

 sion party, of which over 100 were drown- 

 ed, nearly all of them being from Red 

 Wing. Lake Pepin in the widest place is 

 3 miles, and 35 miles long, and is known to 

 be one of the most treacherous bodies of 

 water in the Northwest. 



Mr. AUen Adams, a highly-esteemed and 

 well-to-do farmer, whose friends are all 

 who know him, and who served his coun- 

 tiy long and well during the Rebellion, and 

 has been one of our most successful bee- 

 keepers for over 30 years, had the sad mis- 

 fortune to lose his three oldest children 

 in the " Sea Wing" disaster, being one son 

 and two daughters. A number of large 

 families were almost entirely lost, only one 

 or two being left to mourn the loss of the 

 rest — in fact, this is a time never to be for- 

 gotten by Red Wing people. 



Bees suffered very little, as far as I can 

 learn. 1 had but one hive blown over, as 

 they were so well sheltered. Only one tree 

 blew down in my apiary, and that fell in 

 the aisle, and did no harm. Very many of 

 the bees in this section will do very little 

 this season in the way of storing surplus, 

 but by feeding I have been able to keep my 

 colonies strong, and now most of them are 

 storing surplus from linden bloom, which 

 is very heavy, indeed. 



So far as 1 can learn nearly all the drones 

 were killed off in this section of country 

 from June 10 to June 20. 1 have had but 

 two new swarms, and but little signs of 

 any for some time to come, as the bees are 

 rearing drones very slowly, and working 

 very strong. The country is full of bloom 

 now, and 1 am in hopes it will continue. 

 Then should we get a fall crop, we may do 

 fairly well with our bees yet ; but we had 

 so much cold and wet weather during the 

 spring, that bees have not been able to 

 even make a living, anil spring dwindling 

 has simply been ten-ible. Robbing also 

 has been a very great annoyance to bee- 

 keepers here the past spring, and those 

 having the most bees are bothered the 

 worst. Quite a good many new swarms 

 are going to the woods, on account of the 

 bees swarming so little, and not watched 

 so closely. «■ N. Beniiam. 



Red Wing, Minn., July 14, 1890. 



Soiitliei-n tJalitornia.— The Rural 

 Calif (yi'ninn ot last month contained the 

 following item relative to Redlands, 

 Calif., as a country for bees : 



The report comes to us pretty straight 

 that one man near Redlands captured 

 over 100 runaway swarms of bees. Any 

 smart man ought to Jae able to start an 

 apiary in that nick of woods, and getting 

 such an early start in the season he ought 

 to make money enough to start a bank. We 

 knew that Redlands was a good place to 

 live in, but had no idea that so many bees 

 had found it out. 



That is where our neighbors, Mr. Horace 

 Sloan and family went. They were lovers 

 of honey, and the "attraction " there is no 

 doubt accounted for by the above item. 



Southern California beats the world for 

 bees and honey-production, as will be seen 

 from the following item, also gleaned from 

 the same paper as the above : 



There has been more natural swarming 

 of bees in Southern California during the 

 month of May than any season since 1876, 

 and some of the swarms were monsters, too 

 big to talk about ; well, as large as a boy, 

 so to speak I 



If you measure the boy by his own esti- 

 mation of himself, Bro. Wilson, the swarms 

 are giants, "so to speak !" 



Itiiiuhle-'Bees. — Mrs. L. Harrison, in 

 the Prairie Farmer, gives the following 

 good advice about not disturbing the nests 

 of bumble-bees because of the value to the 

 crops of these large bees : 



Farmers, do not burn up all the nests of 

 the bumble-bees, for they are worth .*20 

 to you in fertilizing red clover blossoms, 

 thereby insuring a heavy crop of seeds. In 

 Australia there are no bumble-bees of our 

 kind, and they could not raise clover seed 

 there until they imported some. That fer- 

 tilization by insects is necessary for the 

 development of seeds, is shown in that 

 showy flower, "bleeding-heart" (Dlfentm 

 spectabilis) , which produces no seed, for 

 its fertilizing moth has never been im- 

 Ijorted from North China,its native habitat. 



fine enough for any use. Sweetened water 

 from washing honey drippings is the most 

 common waste of the apiary, and to utilize 

 it is presumed to be the desirable matter in 

 connection with honey-vinegar. Still, with 

 the low price of honey, bee-keepers may 

 find a reasonable outlet for some of their 

 poor honey, such as is unfit to sell as a 

 luxury for table use. 



Xiie Pleasui-e of having the neces- 

 sary supplies at hand, ready for use, is 

 smilingly described in the following letter. 

 Now the rush is over, and we can moralize 

 over the matter, and see the " funny " side. 

 The correspondent says : 



I have been feeling good over that lot of 

 sections 1 got last fall ; and I felt Just like 

 sitting down and having a good laugh at 

 the situation, while you was in your " big 

 muddle." I tell you, it makes one feel good 

 to know that he is all ready for any emer- 

 gency, and has everything fitted up and at 

 hand. But the laugh is over on the other 

 side of the face after all. The clover has 

 only barely sustained the bees, and this is 

 now the fourth season since we have seen 

 an ounce of clover honey. What very 

 little has been stored is from figwort and 

 ball willow. The latter, by the way, is not 

 a bad honey-plant, and is a very sure crop. 

 The honey is very white, and I think pretty 

 good quality also. The time of bloom fol- 

 lows up the clover closely, while the aj)- 

 pearance of the honey is so near like it 

 that they will do to work together for comb 

 honey ; the willow is a shade lighter than 

 clover. The increase, so far, is from 57 to 

 93 colonies. Only the Carniolan bees 

 have stored any surplus comb honey, but 

 I have extracted a little from some of the 

 rest ; though not more than from 100 to 

 125 pounds. W. M. WooDw.iRD. 



Bonfleld, Ills., July 24, 1890. 



If yoii Want a treat in hot weather 

 that those who have been accustomed to it 

 think superior to ice-cream, get some 

 freshly clabbered whole milk, and fill a 

 soup-plate with it, then pour extracted 

 honey over the surface, and grate a little 

 nutmeg over it, and, if you can, add a little 

 rich sweet cream, and then— please send 

 for ns.— American Dairyman. 



Honey- Vinegar. — We are frequently 

 asked as to the proper way to make honey- 

 vinegar out of what might easily be wasted 

 in any well-conducted apiary, and even 

 from the poorer gi'ades of honey, which are 

 not usually in demand. In the following 

 paragraphs the desired information may be 

 found, which seems to have been written 

 by one who knows : 



One pound of honey and one gallon of 

 water are the proper proportions to make a 

 good vinegar. That is, 29 pounds of honey 

 will make (water enough being added to 

 fill a regular 32-gallon barrel) one barrel 

 of the best vinegar. The vessels used to 

 make it in are common alcohol barrels 

 which are found at drug-stores. Saw out 

 one of the barrelheads, and paint the out- 

 side, to prevent the iron-hoops from being 

 destroyed by the vinegar. The barrels and 

 vinegar are kept in the cellar, so covered 

 with burlap as to keep the dust out and let 

 the air in. 



One year converts this water and honey 

 into the choicest vinegar. More age will 

 make it sharper, but at one j'ear old it is 



Uoolittle on <|ueen-Rearing;. 



Queens can be reared in the upper stories 

 of hives used for extracted honey, where a 

 queen-excluding honey -board is used, which 

 are as good, if not superior, to Queens 

 reared by any other process; and that, too, 

 while the old Queen is doing duty below, 

 just the same as though Queens were not 

 being reared above. This is a fact, though 

 it is not generally known. 



If you desire to know how this can be 

 (jone— how to have Queens fertilized in up 

 per stories, while the old Queen is laying 

 below — how you may safely introdiice any 

 Queen, at any time of the year when bees 

 cay fiy — all about the different races of 

 bees— all about shipping Queens, queen- 

 cages, candy for queen-cages, etc.— all 

 about forming nuclei, multiplying or unit- 

 ing bees, or weak colonies, etc. ; or, in fact 

 everything about the queen-business which 

 you may want to know, send for " Doolit- 

 tle's Scientific Queen-Rearing;" a book of 

 170 pages, which is nicely bound in cloth, 

 and as interesting as a story. Price, $1.00. 



■landlins; Kees.— This is the title of 

 a nice pamphlet containing 28 pages and a 

 cover, published by Chas. Dadant & Son. 

 It is a chapter from their book, Langstroth 

 Revised, and is an excellent thing for be- 

 ginners. Price, 8 cts. For sale at this office. 



