1880 



(iLEAM.XCJS iX BEE CULTL'UE. 



88;^ 



t'ul competitoi- of cano sugar, except loi- the 

 small amount demanded for sweot sauce and 

 table ornament: that, hence, it never would be- 

 come a staple, always remaining- a commodity, 

 which eould easily oversupply the demand. Does 

 not Mr. ])orthman's sad account, found on page 

 857, verify both of my projiositions, so far laid 

 down in this article? 



KEVEKSIXG. 



1 notice, on page f'>S, that friend Hawk has failed 

 to accomplish what he desired, either by brood- 

 comb crowding- or reversing. As I have had much 

 e.vperience with both methods, ho reports just 

 what I should expect to result from crowding 

 brood-combs together. But if Mr. Hawk will con- 

 tinue the inverting system, especially if properly 

 combined with contraction and alternating of the 

 brood-chamber, in two horizontal sections, till he 

 strikes the right system of manipulation for his lo- 

 cation, I think I may say that I know he will suc- 

 ceed in devoting his brood-chamber to brood, and 

 his surplus ease.> to surplus honey, which we all so 

 much desire, and that, too, with the least amount 

 of time, trouble, or exposure to robbing-bees. 



GERMAN BEES. 



On page 8.')9, I see that Ralph E. Gould, who is 

 evidently a practical honey-producer, has been 

 testing the comparative merits of the German, Syr- 

 ian, Italian, and other races of bees, and reports the 

 same as I always expect to see, with the best strain 

 of (Jerman bees in the hands of a bee-master; viz., 

 that, for the most and nicest surplus comb honey, 

 no bees known to man will excel the German varie- 

 ty. I am always pleased to see these bees receive 

 the just praise that their manj- superior characteris- 

 tics warrant. James Heddox. 



Dowagiac, Mich., Nov., lS8(i. 



Friend 11.. I did not understand Mr. Mnth 

 to claim, pavticulurl}^ that honey thus ripen- 

 ed would be equal to the best ripened in the 

 hives, so your opinions may not necessarily 

 ditter, after all; but what friend Muth tolil 

 us will be of great advantage, certainly to 

 those who have uniii)ened honey on their 

 hands. But I agree with you in thinking 

 the bees ripen it l)etter, certainly, if not 

 cheaper than we can by any artiticial means. 

 Friend M. sends out very nice extracted 

 honey. Xow, right here comes in a point : 

 1)0 you permit the bees to cap all the honey 

 before extracting, or do you wait until they 

 commence caiipingV You may have giveii 

 your experience in this matter liefore. but it 

 was proV)al)ly some time ago. and we should 

 like to hear it again. And, by the way, will 

 you give us your latest experience in the 

 operation of extracting the honey with the 

 least amount of labor consistent with get- 

 ting the very best article? Where one works 

 for extracted honey, how about reversing 

 combs? and how much reversing is expedi- 

 ent? T did not expect extracted honey was 

 going to affect the price of sugar very much ; 

 but i did think, and 1 do think, that when 

 people will begin to reason this way : "'Why, 

 at the i)rice it is now offered, it is not much 

 if any more exjiensive than the syru])s and 

 sugar we use," then nice honey will come 

 pretty near being as staple as butter. — I 

 know the (German bees have been called by a 

 few individuals better than the Italians, foi- 

 comb honev; t)ut I do not know that I have 



heard anybody claim that they would give 

 even as much Avhere the extractor is used. 



A HORSE OF "WONDERFUL INTELLI- 

 GENCE. 



My lillOTnER IN CALIFORNIA ALSO GIVES US A 

 SKETCH OF BEE-HIVES IN THE GROUND. 



tllOTHER AMOS:— I have owned one of my 

 horses almost three yeai'S. and have only 

 just found out how intelligent she is. The 

 forehead is full, and I have known she was 

 almost human ever since I owned her. She 

 had been raised to herd cattle until 1 got her. The 

 other afternoon my two cows got off to their old 

 home, about four miles, and Dolly and I went after 

 them and got them started back to where the road 

 forks out each side of the farm. The cows would 

 get to the forks and run down one, and I would 

 have to run and head them otf, and then they would 

 run back the other road, and run into the timber. 

 I then got off and left Dolly standing in the road, 

 while I went into the underbrush to get them out. 

 Dolly saw me start them out, and she then gave a 

 loud neigh and started off on a gallop. 1 thought 

 she had gone home and left me: but on getting out 

 to the forks of the road I found her standing on the 

 opposite forks, with her ears back, ready to drive 

 them on to the road leading home. The cattle are 

 very gentle; and if they do not goto suit her she 

 will put back her ears and bite at them. She does 

 not bite hard, but just gets their skin between 

 her teeth, and pinches, and they soon learn to skip 

 out of her way. If they turn out of the road she 

 goes out after them, and heads them otT. Several 

 people want to buy her, but they have not money 

 enough. To say that I was astonished, would be 

 speaking mildly of her great intelligence. 



While out riding, looking for my cattle last week. 

 I found a bee-cave a short distance from the house. 

 Satui'day afternoon 1 took my hired man, and wc 

 went down into the ravine and dug the dirt away, 

 and got out about 1.50 lbs. of nice honey. They had 

 made it in a hole that the rains had tunneled out. 

 The first rain would have washeil them all out. 

 There are several others around. The ground 

 seems to be a natural place for bees. The sides 

 they had all waxed nicely, and 'twas cool down in 

 there the hottest of weather. They are nice Ital- 

 ians, and not cross. I put a hive with comb foun- 

 dation for them to go into. 



Later.— Now, the laugh comes on mv right here. 

 As 1 went down to see about the hive I left to get 

 the bees in, I found 1 had made a mistake, and the 

 original swarm was tlicre ijit, and we had taken up 

 another cave, about one rod below, thinking it was 

 the one I found. Now the question is, What shall 

 we do with the honey ? In San Diego it is not 

 worth more than S cts. per lb., and we have all we 

 want to eat; but it is of excellent flavor. If we let 

 it stay much longer the rains will wash it all awny-- 

 bees, honey, and all. M. S. UooT. 



San Diego, Cal., Oct. 26, 188r.. 



Thanks, biother Marsh. It must be the 

 Boot family take naturally to domestic ani- 

 mals, as it seems you have been getting ac- 

 quainted with yom- horses and cattle, just 

 as I have been getting acquainted with onrs 

 here in Ohio.— The information you give us 

 ill regard to the bee-caves is a valuable con- 



