34 



GLEANINGS IN HEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1. 



ways of their bees, and how to handle them 

 successfully, ought not to expect any profit from 

 them. 



I agree with Bro. Doolittle, in Dec. IstGLKAN- 

 INGS, that foundation is good for several years. 

 I have some three years old, and do not see but 

 it is as good as new. I do not allow it to freeze, 

 for that cracks it; and then it is of no use. 



I have read all the articles in Gleanings 

 about sealed covers in wintering, and will say 

 that, to my knowledge, there are no bees win- 

 tered in any other way, in this vicinity. I put 

 my bees in the cellar and cover the sealed cov- 

 ers with old carpets, and they winter well gen- 

 erally. Super Lifter. 



Columbus, Wis., Dec. 8. 



yp^LI.OW JASMINE, THE POISONOUS HONEY- 

 PLANT. 



The writer spent last winter in Florida, where 

 the yellow jasmine blooms in great profusion 

 in February. Notwithstanding this plant is 

 said to be poisonous, the fragrance of its flower 

 is not only delightful to mankind, but also very 

 attractive to the bees, which work on it in great 

 numbers. During last spring you had an arti- 

 cle in Gleanings on the poisonous character of 

 yellow-jasmine honey, which reminded me of 

 the statement of an old gentleman living in 

 Florida, one familiar with the plant since child- 

 hood, who said, "The honey made from the 

 yellow jasmine is poisonous, and people who 

 ate of it became temporarily blind; but they 

 were soon relieved by drinking freely of sweet 

 milk. Further, there need be no mistake made 

 in the honey, as the bees do not cap poisonous 

 honey." M. Artek. 



Hoopeston, 111., Nov. 30. 



[We have never seen it stated before, that 

 the bees would not cap poisonous honey. We 

 have a good many subscribers in the locality of 

 the yellow jasmine who can give us facts bear- 

 ing on this point. How is it, friends?— Ed.] 



ESTIMATING THE PRODUCT OF COMR HONEY. 



If there are many bee-keepers like myself, I 

 am afraid the scheme of estimating the amount 

 of comb honey produced, from the -number of 

 sections sold, will not give very accurate results 

 unless a term of years is taken and an average 

 found. I always believed in having plenty of 

 sections on hand. Costly experience had shown 

 me the wisdom of this. But we have had such 

 poor honey seasons that I have not used as 

 many sections as I expected, while the farmer 

 beoi-keepers, who used to buy a great many sec- 

 tions of me, have no bees now, and no use for 

 .sections. Accordingly I have a large stock of 

 sections bought two and three years ago. Last 

 year I bought more, and I do not expect to buy 

 any next season. That's one comfort of these 

 poor seasons. I'm not spending mucli money 

 for bee-supplies nowadays. 



NARROW HOTTOM-BARS. 



In 1893 I made a number of frames for m 

 shallow double-brood chamber hives, with th 

 bottom-bars a little less than ^ square, to see i 

 this would cause the bees to fill the frame 

 more perfectly with comb, instead of leaving 

 space next to the bottom-bar, as they generall 

 do. They were a success for this; and if I use 

 a brood -chamber of only one story I should cor 

 sider the narrow bottom-bar a valuable improv( 

 ment. When these frames are tiered up, thougl 

 the bees build comb around them, and betwee 

 them and the frame below, so that they becom 

 a nuisance. J. A. Green. 



Dayton, LaSalle Co., 111., Dec. 19. 



[Your point is well taken, and we have therf 

 fore asked Dr. Miller to secure figures froi 

 manufacturers of sections, giving their averag 

 annual product made for the United State 

 covering a series of three or four years. W 

 know ourselves, and think the other manufac 

 turers will know pretty well what their annus 

 product amounts to. o>i the average.— 'Ed.] 



[i 



TABLE SYRUP DIRKf'TLY FROM LOUISIANA 

 «UGAR-CANE. 



Mr. Root: — I ship you a half-gallon jug 

 Louisiana pure cane syrup. This syrup is mac 

 by boiling the juice of sugar-cane down to 

 density of 3.T degrees, and it will keep in ar 

 climate for a year without turning sour or 

 sugar. It is unlike molasses, as there h: 

 .been no sugar taken from it. It is an excellei 

 bee-feed, and a fine table syrup, and general 

 used in the South in the place of New Orleai 

 molasses, which has about all the sugar tak( 

 from it. Please test the sample on your tab 

 and as a bee-feed, and report upon it in Glea 



INGS. 



Should you wish to purchase any I should 1 

 pleased to fill any order you may give, from u 

 syrup-house here, in half-barrels of about ; 

 gallons, or barrels of about .52 gallons, F. O. ] 

 cars Illinois Central R. R., at 40 cts. per gallc 

 — barrel included. 



1 am keeping a small stock of bees here, mo: 

 for diversion than profit— having been one 

 the extensive bee-keepers at Munnsville, Mad 

 son Co., N. Y., with a stock of usually 300 coli 

 nies, running exclusively to extracted hone 

 previous to coming south five years ago. 



The great drawback to successful bee-kee| 

 ing in New York— the wintering problem— dO' 

 not trouble us here. There is scarcely a d£ 

 but bees fly. F. D. Woolver. 



Kentwood, La., Nov. 37. 



[We can recommend the above syrup as beici 

 much superior, in our opinion, to the syru] 

 ustially found in our stores north. When I fir| 

 tasted it, it occurred to me that we used to gi| 

 molasses from the South, years ago, very muc 

 like it. Since the modern inventions, in tij » 

 way of draining the molasses from the su 



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