THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



27 



bees. This seemed to calm liev somewhat, 

 though she would not give up the quarrel. On 

 a hint I'lom mj friend we left the premises, and 

 I accompauii'd him to his home, where he re- 

 lated to me the account of the afl'air given by 

 the other party, as follows: 



It seems that the man, on leaving ray hee- 

 house with a rush, knocked off his hat, which 

 rolled nearly under the hive. Seizing it in hot 

 has'e, he leaped and run in bewildered excite- j 



the prejudiced, and to enlighten the super- 

 stitious ? J. DUFFELER. 

 BliOWN CO., "Wis. 



fee«/j 



[For the Aniericaii Bed jQiffa.l.'i 



Various Sorts of M^tpxs. ^ 



Our friend Puckctt seems to take oTrit^€mtlas. 



^^ 



ment, thinking perhaps that half the colony of j 1>ad as the little girl said her baby did cuning 



bees were after him. He was suing seven tim 

 — once just below his lett eye, four times under 

 the hair of his head, once on the right cheek, 

 and once on the neck. This was nearly enough 

 to make him hot on such a warm summer's day. 

 It was the first time in his life that the man 

 had a conflict Avith a bee-hive. He leaped and 

 ran till he was aliout forty rods from me in the 

 Avoods. When there he felt another keen burn- 

 ing sensation in his light side, as though a 

 whole handful of hees" were slinging him at 



teeth. (See May No B. J., page 21G.) Hear 

 him ! He says ; — " Where did the late swarm 

 get the thin watery honey ? Is not an early 

 SAvarin just as liable to get such honey, if it is 

 secreted in the flowers ? Bees do not make 

 lioney, &c." (In vol. 3, No. 9, page 172, I 

 gave a short article on the subject of evaporating 

 nectar.) I wish now to give some more of my 

 nonsense, as our friend calls it. He says bees do 

 not make honey ; but I am strongly inclined to 

 " 'nk they do. We will take maple-sap as an 



once. Just think of it ! Who evir heard of I example. When the weather is suitable, the 



bees setting a mim on fire ! Yet such was the 

 veritable lact ! The man was a confirmed iu- 

 veteiate smoker, and constantly cariied friction 

 matches about him. That tame Sunday he 

 bappi ned lo have them in his ves-t pocker, and 

 among them some copper cents had found their 

 way, which he had received at a tavern where 

 he drank a glass of whiskey on his return i'rom 

 church. A\hile he was lunning, and jumping, 

 and sti iking with his hands, these copper cents 

 ignited ihe friction matcht-s; these set fire to the 

 cotton lining .of his pocket, whence it was 

 comniuaicated to his muslin shirt, in which a 

 hole was burned as large as a man's hand. 

 Luckilv it was discovered in time, and he 



bees in a strong stock, will manufacture or ud- 

 honey from thnt, and of the purest kind, though 

 the sap is so thin and watery that, in boiling it 

 down, it takes about sixteen quarts to make one 

 pound of grained sugar, or twelve quarts to m;ike 

 it of the co:;sistcncy of honey such as bees make 

 of it in tlie spring. So you perceive that a bee 

 has to cather twelve drops of sap to make one 

 diop of honey. Yet all th.-y gather through 

 the day is consumed in leaiing brood, or made 

 into honey through the night ; and thin waleiy 

 neclar is made into honey, by the bees, in the 

 same manner and by the same process. I am 

 aware that some say"that if you feed sugar sy- 

 rup, the bees will deposit it in the cells just as 



succeeded in putting it out. Thus he reached j you feed it to tliem. That is so in the fall, or 

 liom". exhausted, bewildered, and almost crazy. [ when the weather is cold. But take that same 

 The first impression of himself and wife was j syrup snd reduce it very thin and watery, and 



that the bees had been set on him by supernat 

 ural powds; for both man and wife are very 

 ignoranV and exceedingly superstitious, having 

 lull faith in witch-craft and sorcery. In their 

 eyes it was nothing but a hellish, devilish, oc- 

 cult affair, of which the husband had become 

 the sport aud the victim. 



This occur, ence is suggestive. The man's 

 ignorance led him into trouble. Had he known 

 and believed that the human breath is offensive 

 and irritating lo bees, he would havebeen care- 

 ful to avoid breathing upon them and thus 



the bees Avill make it into honey, if fed to thetn 

 in the months of July or August. I am inclined 

 to think that, in the process of evaporation, the 

 bees must necesarily mix a portion of their 

 saliva Avith it, which prevents it from granula- 

 ting, to a certain extent. 



H<-re is anot'^er question for consideration. 

 While the black bees are stoiing their Avatery 

 honey in cool Aveather, either in summer or fall, 

 the Italians are storing a good quality, gathered 

 from the saine source and at the same time. 



This good quality of the Italians in all proba 



their anger; he could have gratified ] bility had something to do AVith saving 



his curiosity Avithout incurring their displeasuie 

 If he had common prudence and care'ulucss, 

 he would not ha\'e carried friction matches 

 loosely in Ins potket, running the risk of a hor- 

 rid death by fire, as might have been his fate if 

 he had fainted or fallen v.heii in the woods. 

 Again his ignorance and superstition might 

 have led him to seek for revenge in the destruc- 

 tion of my bees. And in such circumstances, 

 might not otliers, Avorse tempered and malici- 

 ously disposed, proceed, under fancied provoca- 

 tion, to commit arson or murder, imiiellcd to 

 criminal acts by ignorance ail d gross supeistilion? 

 Is it not hence the interest of every bee-kef-per, , ., - 



toavailhimself of every opportunity to guide the the bottom, with comb aud honey, and the 

 inquiring, to instruct the ignorant, to inform ' honey is of good quality. The one willi the 



them 

 the past season, whereas the blacks alldied in 

 the same apiary. 



A great deal'depends upon the management 

 of bees, Avhether they leave thin Avatery honey 

 or not. We Avill take, for example, two swarms 

 at the same time, and both of the same size. 

 And, for illustration, Ave will say that, late in 

 the season, one is put in a hive tA\'elve inches 

 square, Avith eight frames; and the other is, at 

 the same time, put into a hive of the same di- 

 mensions, containing four frames. The first 

 fills the eight frames''half Avay doAvn Avith comb 

 and honey, and the hon?y A\ill be thin aud 

 watery. The other fills the four frames, from 



