668 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Aug. 



man. and ilocs not want either the stinging- or the 

 cure repeated too often, and wishes to know it 

 I)oulticcs of mashed onions applied to the arm-pits 

 in case of severe bee-poisoning' would not be as 

 sure a remedy as alcohol taken internally. 



Wm. Joseph Millek, age U. 

 Hornings Mills, Ont., Can. 



It would seem that the whisky saved the 

 cliild's life, though it is possible he might 

 have recovered without it. It is said to be 

 an antidote for rattlesnake bites ; and if the 

 poison of the snake is similar to that of the 

 sting, no doubt the whisky should be given, 

 by all means, when the life of the patient 

 is endangered. By no manner of means 

 would 1 use the liquor under other circum- 

 stances. As regards the other remedies, I 

 can not answer. Perhaps some pliysician 

 who is thoroughly temperance in his views 

 could give us light ; but please bear in mind 

 that we do not want remedies for ordinary 

 stings where no danger is apprehended. 



EUNKST. 

 FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS. 



A GOOD KEPOIIT FOR CATNIP AS A HONEY-PLANT. 



fHIS plant, Nepcta cataria, is found extensively 

 in the woods and waste places. Here, on the 

 banks of the Ohio Uiver, it has been sjiread- 

 ing- to an advantage for three or four yeai-s. 

 After the white-clover season was past, the 

 bees worked strong on catnij), and continue to do 

 so at present. Many of the untinished sections, and 

 also the si)are room in the brood-chambers, have 

 been tilled with honey made from this plant. Even 

 the nuclei send out their " honest workers " to gath- 

 er a few drops of this abundant nectar, and they 

 are building up. Thus, much of the trouble of 

 feeding weak colonies is now saved, and there is 

 less danger of their being robbed. The bees work 

 on catnip from early morning until almost dark. 

 Through the heat of the day they are found on it, 

 especially if the catnip is in the more shaded parts 

 of the pastures. When the hot days of late summer 

 come on, the plants which are protected from the 

 sun thrive better than the others. Probably if cul- 

 tivated, catnip would yield considerably more than 

 it now does. Yet, as it is, we are satisfied. As ev- 

 ery one knows, catnip is not an* injurious weed. 

 One can hardly find a yard or garden without hav- 

 ing a few plants. The honey made from catnip ap- 

 pears to be equal to that produced by white clover; 

 and from the fact that catnip remains long in bloom, 

 apiarists should at least save all the plants they 

 may find around them, and give it a trial. In June, 

 1885, we ordered an Italian (lueen from you; she has 

 proven to be of fine quality. Ernest Danglade. 

 Vevay, Ind., July 38, 1886. 



WHY don't they start QUEEN-CELLS? 



I have a queenless colony, caused by destroying- 

 all the queen-cells but one (to prevent after- 

 swarms), and that failed to hatch. I gave them a 

 frame of eggs, but they have not started any queen- 

 cells. Was it because they are waiting for the dead 

 queen-cell to hatch? They have been queenless 

 two or three weeks. Shoujc} I have dcsti'oj'cd the 



dead queen-cell when I got them the frame of eggs? 

 I know they are queenless, because they have no 

 brood nor eggs in the combs. The combs are full 

 of pollen and honey. If I give them a queen, will 

 the bees clean the pollen out so the queen can lay? 

 Nokesville, Va., July 8, 1886. W. T. Allen. 



A colony of bees will, once in a while, fail 

 to start queen-cells, when it is a little hard 

 to decide why. In such cases we think it 

 best to give tiiem a reinforcement of young 

 bees in the way of a frame of hatching brood. 

 If this frame contains unsealed larvte, they 

 will very seldom fail to start queen-cells oil 

 it, unless they have something in the hive 

 that Ihey look to as a queen. ' Workers will 

 always prepare a place in alnn)st any comb 

 fit for the queen to lay in, even if they have 

 to remove both pollen and honey. 



IS WAX EVER ADULTERATED WITH CORN MEAL? 



On page 543, Gleanings for July 1, second col- 

 umn, in reply to D. J. Spencer, on the subject of 

 brittle wax, you say some of your si)ceimens seem- 

 ed about like Indian meal. I think if you had put 

 it to a test you would have found it was largely 

 composed of Indian meal. Friend Lake had a sim- 

 ilar lot, and he proved it was Indian meal, so you 

 see there is cheating by even our vaunted bee-men. 

 Is there noway such rascals can be ferreted out and 

 brought to justice? In Lake's case he waS unable 

 to, having previously mixed the difi'erent lots to- 

 gether. Yellow Indian corn ground fine can readily 

 be mixed with wax to a considei-able extent with- 

 out detection, so far as sight goes. Of course, it 

 will render the wax brittle and destroy its ductility 

 and tenacity— two very important (lualities needed 

 in comb-building. You are in for exposing scoun- 

 drels, so suppose you ferret out corn-meal scoun- 

 drels, and expose them. C. Garwood. 



Baltimore, Md., July 6, 1886. 



The wax referred to was not adidterated 

 with corn meal, for it could be melted, every 

 bit of it, into a liquid. It would, however, 

 assume the grantdar form again as soon as it 

 commenced to cool. 



HOW TO MAKE BEES WORK IN SECTIONS. 



On p. 570, July Gleanings, Mr. J. M. Tucker asks: 

 " How shall I make my bees work in the sections?" 

 I will give mj' o-\vn views in reply to that question, 

 my views not being theoretical, but based on act- 

 ual experiments. Any attempt to "make bees 

 work in sections" will prove a failure; for while 

 they can, to a certain extent, be led, they can't be 

 driven at all. 



The advocates of reversing frames claim that, by 

 so doing, they place the brood above the gathered 

 honey, and the bees then carry it at once into sec- 

 tions. While this is true, it is far from being 

 economical, as the honey must be handled several 

 times in order to place it where it should have been 

 stored originally. It is desirable, then, to do away 

 with this extra labor, which can easily be done, 

 and thus save our bees many steps, and the loss 

 that is always occasioned by moving stores from 

 one location to another. The key to the whole 

 mystery is the spacing of frames. Let the combs 

 in the brood-chamber be just ^8 inch thick, and 

 spaced just a bee-space apart, then nothing will be 

 sealed up below but brood, if ample room for 

 stores js g veu in the gcctjous above. All tjiat ^U\ 



