90 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1. 



remember, we weighed pieces of surplus foun- 

 dation before and after it was drawn out by the 

 bees We can not just now place our fingers on 

 the page and volume where these experiments 

 are recorded; but if memory servis us correct- 

 ly, the scales showed that the drawn-out comb 

 weighed but a small trifle more than the foun- 

 dation from which it was originally drawn, 

 proving, in this case, that very little wax was 

 added to the foundation. Combs two-thirds 

 drawn out weighed just as much as the founda- 

 tion. Other experiments showed that, bees put 

 more extra wax on sometimes, than others. 

 Particularly was this true when we used bleach- 

 ed foundation, as was done years ago. This is 

 easily explained on the ground that, the bleach- 

 ed wax was much harder than the yellow, and 

 the bees rather than draw it out. added to it. 

 With ordinary soft yellow wax, such as is now 

 sold, the results were as we first stated. 



These experiments can be easily repeated. 

 Weigh a strip of foundation before putting it 

 into the section; weigh it after it has been 

 drawn out into comb. Likewise weigh a sheet 

 of brood foundation before and after it has been 

 drawn out. In fact, we wish many of our read- 

 ers would try this experiment, and report. Dif- 

 ferent localities, and the character of the 

 honey-flow, whether light or heavy, will have 

 an important bearing on the question. 



Regarding those cross bees of Mr. Tatman's 

 we would l^ay that we do not understand that 

 the bees were habitually cross, but only on the 

 occasion he speaks of. We can account for 

 a sudden disposition on the part of all the bees 

 to sting everybody and every thing, only by 

 robbing. We know there are many apiaries 

 into which it is not comfortable to go without 

 a veil; in fact, we have been in a good many 

 such in our travels among bee-keepers; but 

 they never, unless robbing has been going on, 

 sting chickens, horses, posts, and other inani- 

 mate objects. If any one wants to see how bees 

 can sting all at once, let him set out a few 

 combs toward the close of or after the honey- 

 flow.— Ed.] 



^ — • — ^ 



WILD-CUCUMBER VINES 



SAID TO BE A PEST IN THE SOUTH. 



By C. P. Coffin. 



In a footnote to the article entitled " Raising 

 Bees," on page 53, you advise the use of the 

 wild cucumber as one of the most rapid-grow- 

 ing vines, and for that reason preferable for 

 training on a trellis, to raise the flight of bees. 

 If the vine you mention is th(! same that grows 

 wild in this section, and known as " wild cu- 

 cumber." it must either be bereft of its bad 

 qualities in your climate or else you are una- 

 ware of the, fact that it is one of the worst pests 

 that farmers have to contend with, and that, 

 at least In some localities, they would almost 

 as soon have the Canada thistle on their farms. 



The vine I speak of is. as you say. a very- 

 rapid grower, and would make, in a short time,^ 

 a dense screen of luxuriant foliage; and this 

 characteristic is the chief reason why it can 

 not be kept down and out of the way by culti- 

 vation of whatever crop it is fighting with for 

 "right of way." as I will explain further on. 

 It gets its name I imagine, from its great re- 

 semblance to the true cucumber, both in foliage 

 and fruit, for it has a fuzzy or prickly fruit,, 

 which looks a good deal like that of the domes- 

 tic variety. But it also has in great profusion 

 an outside covering of fine "stickers," or 

 " prickles," that come away at a touch, pene- 

 trating not only the bare flesh but also all or- 

 dinary clothing, causing an insupportable 

 stinging and itching that will last for days. 



This vine finds a congenial home in the fer- 

 tile low grounds of the Mississippi Delta. A 

 few years ago, when I was living there, a small 

 part of the plantation where I lived— some 1.50 

 acres of rich low ground, planted to corn— was 

 infested with wild cucumber; and although 

 the cultivation had been 'borough, and the 

 ground kept perfectly clean as long as the corn 

 could be plowed, the vine came up and took 

 possion in the fall, covering the ground and 

 festooning the cornstalks completely, and mak- 

 ing it a problem as to how that crop of 60 to SO' 

 bushels of corn per acre could be gathered. 

 This was the way it was solved: 



Before hands would attempt gathering the 

 crop, each man had to be furnished with a 

 jacket and a pair of over alls of thick duck, to- 

 protect the body and legs, while long gauntlets 

 and high top boots guarded the hands and 

 and ankles. Even thus armored, few escaped 

 scot free. So, you see, down this way if we used 

 our wild cucumber as a bee-break we should be 

 keeping off bee-stings with stings a hundred- 

 fold worse. 



On a trellis I used in the way mentioned, w^ 

 yearly grow the different varieties or morning- 

 glory, cypress-vine, cinamon-vine. maderia-vine, 

 with success, making something very pleasing 

 to the eye, as well as useful, while a permanent, 

 obstruction in the shape of rapid-growing trees 

 is coming O'.. 



Our only severe cold so far was early in the 

 winter— 40 to (5.5°. Weather for the past month 

 is swelling buds, and many early plants are in 

 bloom, ^'lowering quince is in full bloom, and 

 bees are on every flower. We are digging new 

 potatoes, and using for the table beautiful let- 

 tuce grown in the open ground. But the bliz- 

 zards that come in the spring will, no doubt,, 

 change tiling-^ btfore long. 

 Pontotoc. Miss., Jan. 22. 



[Wild cucumber does not s(>em to be a pest 

 here in the North, though it doubtless is with 

 you. The original vine we had at our old 

 home is still doing well, but does not seem 

 to show any of the bad traits you refer to.— Ed]: 



