74 



THE AMEEICAN BEE JOUHNAL. 



dition in Ibe spring. Granulated sugar is pre- 

 ferable to sugar candy, first, because it is 

 cheaper; and, second 'j% bceanse it is onore 

 s-AuUe. On Ibe 1st of October I placed equal 

 quanti'.ies of tbis sugar and of candy, side by 

 side, in a small open box in my cellar. On tbe 

 20tb, tbe granulated sugar was completely 

 liquified, wbereas tbe candy tbfn merely show- 

 ed signs of moistncss. A saucer of dissolved 

 granulated sugar, exposed in my sitting room, 

 began to candy only aftei tbe lapse of nine 

 weeks. 



Moreover, I apportioned fifty pounds of gran- 

 ulated sugar among twelve stocks insufficiently 

 supplied witb stores, allotting to eacb in pro- 

 portion to its seeming deficiency, and estimating 

 one pound of granulated sugar as equivalent to 

 tbree pounds of honey ; and all these passed tbe 

 winter in excellent condition. 



BOTTNER. 



[From the London Gardeners' Chronicle.] 



Honey Dew. 



I have been interested in a discussion on 

 honey dew, which has lately appeared in your 

 columns. As a beekeeper I have often paid 

 attention to this subject. My opinion is that 

 honey dew may be caused in two ways; but 

 that it is generally caused by aphides. It is 

 extracted from the under sides of the leaves, 

 and expelled from their bodies witb considera- 

 ble force, much of it naturally falling on the 

 upper sidrs of tbe leaves. I have felt the 

 shower on my face, when standing under a tree 

 which was affected by lioney dew. A flagged 

 pavement in oui city has lately been quite dark- 

 colored and clammy from tiie saccharine show- 

 er. But, as the result of my observation, I am 

 convinced that honey dew is also frequently an 

 exudation from the pores of the leaves — 

 a sweating, as it were, of .'acciiarine matter, total- 

 ly unconnected with the operations of any 

 insects. Some years since, lioney dew exuded 

 from tbe currant trees in my garden, to such an 

 extent that large drops formed on the tips of 

 the leaves. The bushes were almost entirely 

 free from aphides. What few were there, were 

 evidently there as a consequence, and not as a 

 cause. In fact, I doubt if they could have ex- 

 isted on the leaves to any great extent, as the 

 exudation was so profuse that they would have 

 been completely clogged and smothered witb it. 

 The weather was intensely hot for several weeks 

 at that time. I have on various occasions since 

 observed tbe same sort of honey dew on other 

 fruit trees. I have taken some of the dripping 

 leaves to tbe entrances of my hives ; but the 

 bees did not seem to care much about appropri- 

 ating the luscious fluid. The probability is that 

 bees do not gather so much from honey dew, as 

 is generally imagined ; but that while the con- 

 dition of the juices of plants and the state of tbe 

 weather are peculiarly favorable to its produc- 

 tion, flowers generally secrete honey more plen- 

 tifully than at other times. 



I believe there are really two distinct kinds 

 of honey dew ; one nearly always present witb 



I us, produced by the busy pumping organs of the 

 'apbiles; the other a spontaneous exudation 

 from the leaves of tbe trees. Honey dew, when 

 it prevails to any great extent, is produced by 

 considerable heat and dryness of the atmos- 

 phere. Mr. Eadcliff"e is, however, right in sup- 

 posing that cold cutting winds, preceding or 

 ; alternating wiih hot weather, are favorable to 

 j its appearance. The plants become to a certain 

 I extent unhertltby, and consequently tbe leaves 

 i are more easily affected by what is, in truth, a 

 I disease — whether tbe honey dew is caused by 

 I aphides, or whether it be a natural exudation 

 I totally independent of them. 

 I Dr. Bevan, the author of the " Honey Bee," 

 ! says : " I believe it will be found that there are 

 \ at least two kinds of honey dew ; the one a secre- 

 i tionffom the surface of the leaf, occasioned by 

 j one of tbe causes first alluded to; the other a 

 deposition from the body of the aphis.'''' The 

 italics are his own. 



Erasmus Darwin and other naturalists have 

 regaided honey dew as an exudation or secre- 

 tion from the surface of those leaves upon which 

 it is found, produced by some atmospheric 

 stroke, which has injured their health. Dr. 

 Evans and others have believed it to be a kind 

 of vegetable perspiration, which the trees emit 

 ! for their relief in sultry weather. Other writers 

 j assert that honey dew is an excrementitious 

 matter voided by tbe aphides, and that it is 

 i never seen unattended by aphides. 



From this latter assertion I must, with all 



deference to tbe opinion lately expressed by 



Mr. A. Thompson and others in tbe Gardeners^ 



Chronicle^! beg leave to dissent. Dr. Bevan's 



] view on this subject is, I believe, essentially 



i tbe correct one. 



S. Bevan Fox. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Queen Raising and Artificial Swarming. 



Mr. Editor : — I have received so many good 

 things in the Bee Journal, that it seems 

 wrong for me to keep silent any longer, and not 

 contribute my " mite." 



Improved beekeeping is yet in its infancy in 

 this section, and improvements are being made 

 so rapidly, that it is about all I can do to keep 

 up with the teachings of the Journal, to say 

 nothing of making any faster advancement, or 

 undertaking to teach your readers anything. 

 However, I have a few ideas that I wish to lay 

 before you, in order to get tbe opinions of some 

 of the more learned and experienced apiarians 

 respecting them. 



First, then, in regard to queen rearing. It 

 seems that every one who is fortunate enough 

 to learn the art to perfection, is smart enough 

 to keep it to himself, and profit all he can by 

 his knowledge. Now I have devoured every- 

 thing within my reach on this subject, as well 

 as on beekeeping in general. And, after taking 

 all the plans I could get hold of, and boiling 

 them down, I have ad pted the following, which 

 I propose to put in practice next season. In 

 the meantime, I lay it before your experienced 



