1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



603 



HONEY FKOM THE SUMAC. 



I send you a sample of some sumac honey. I see 

 in Gleanings almost every kind of plant and bush 

 spoken about, but the sumac bush. It is a great 

 bush to yield honey. It blosoms by the middle of 

 June, and lasts about three weeks. There is quite 

 a lot of it in this locality, and I want to know what 

 you think of it. J. B. Pine. 



Bartramville, Lawrence Co., Ohio, Aug-. .5, I8^'4. 



This lioney lias a peculiar aromatic flavor 

 of its owujiut it is not at all unpleasant. I 

 should say it ought to rank fairly by the side 

 of clover and basswood. 



insects increase the amount that exudes, the 

 same way that inserts or small l)irds often 

 set the sap of a mai>]e-tre(' to flowing. I do 

 not think that anyixxly has ever told us what 

 the quality of the honey is. 



AVILL BLACK BEES WOKK ON HED CLOVEK? 



July 15th I went out to the clovei- field, and I heard 

 bees roaring so that I supposed there was a swarm 

 going-over; but on looking! couldn't see a sign of 

 any; but the roaring- kept on; and on looking at 

 the red clover I saw it was covered with black bees. 

 They would go into the blossoms nearly out of 

 sight. There was no white clover, for the dry 

 weather had killed it all. My bees come in now 

 with loads of buckwheat hohey, so that they tumble 

 on their backs and turn over and pant, and then go 

 in on foot. I didn't get much white-clover honey, 

 for it was so dry. Now, "old feller," look out for 

 the waste-basket. A. B. Athekton. 



Terrytown, Pa., Aug. 9, 1884. 



Do not be afraid of the waste-basket, 

 friend A., when you give us facts like the 

 above, and tell us about the bees coming 

 home so heavily laden that they tumble over 

 on their backs, and then have to turn over 

 and go in on foot^ 



A GOOD REPORT FROM THE HOI.Y-LANDS; LOTS OP 

 HONEY, BUT CROSS TO HANDLE. 



The season here has been only fair, some getting 

 a tine lot of honey, while others get scarcely any. 

 There has been hardly any increase. I have taken 

 over 3000 lbs. (mostly extracted), from 40 so far, 

 with a prospect of a good yield from buckwheat yet. 

 I have one swarm of Holy-Lands; they have gath- 

 ered more than any other (over 300 lbs.); a good 

 share of it from red clover — the finest honey I ever 

 saw. I should replace my Italians with them, only 

 they are so awful cross; it is almost impossible to 

 brush the boos off the combs when I wishtoe.vtract. 



As I have had hardly any swarms, most of my 

 queens are one and two years old. Would you ad- 

 vise replacing them with young ones, raised or pur- 

 chased now':" Those brushes I got of you for brush- 

 ing bees off combs are just the thing. 



Adrian, Mich., Aug. 10, 1884. H. Bahber. 



MONEY FKOM THE OAK; IS IT A NATURAL SECRE- 

 TION'/ 



Seeing a letter from S. B. Holden, Joplin, Mo., and 

 your comments in Gle.\nings, page fai, I went to 

 the oaks and procured acorns and small balls as 

 you see inclosed, where it appears that an Insect of 

 some kind has destroyed the acorn. You will also 

 see what the acorn has in one side, likely some in- 

 sect. The bees were working at both. The imfunil 

 secretion on acorns may be scarce. 



Clarksburg, Mo., Aug. 8, 1884. J. W. Clark. 



Thank you, friend C. I am inclined to 

 think the oak often secretes a saccharine 

 matter natiu-ally, for the quantity the bees 

 sometimes get from it is quite considerable. 

 It may be true, also, tliat the punctures of 



honey to BE NAMED. 



I seud to you to-day a specimen of honey in a 

 small vial, and wish you would give your opinion as 

 to what kind of blossom it was extracted from, as in 

 this place thei-e is a diversity of opinion, in which I 

 very much disagree, as no such flavored honey has 

 ever been on my plate before. Please get the opin- 

 ion of other bee - keepers, and forward same, 

 and very greatly oblige me. In this locality there 

 has been the greatest flow of honey I ever 

 knew. In some apiaries, not a single natural 

 swarm, while others have swarmed too much; mine 

 ; have twice doubled, and the hives almost a solid 

 mass. I have not extracted much, because I would 

 } get the stuff I sent you mixed with the better kind, 

 I and spoil the sale of the whole. O. E. Wolcott. 

 Vernon, Mich., Aug. 28, 1884. 



Friend W., there is no need of my getting 

 ! other bee-keepers to taste. Any one who 

 ] has once got tlie twang would at once pro- 

 nounce it aphis honey, just such as we have 

 been talking a])out for months past. It did 

 ! not come from any blossom at all, and your 

 greatest an.xiety ought to be to keep this 

 aphis honey from spoiling the good honey 

 from other sources, and spoiling your repu- 

 tation as a bee-keeper or honey-producer. 



I A REMEDY FOR FELONS. 



I To my brother and sister bee-keepers who may 



j suffer from the terrible scourge, felons, I would like 



to send a painless remedy, that will effect a perfect 



! cure in twenty-four hours, as I have had occasion to 



j prove within the last three days. A lady came here 



who had been suffering over two weeks with felon 



on the end of middle finger. I saturated a bit of 



grated wild turnip, the size of a bean, with spirits of 



turpentine, and applied to the affected part. It re- 



j lieved the pain at once. In twelve liours there was a 



hole to the bone, and felon destroyed. I removed 



the turnip, and dressed with a healing salve, and the 



finger is well. 



Having myself nearly lost a finger with felon, I 

 appreciate the remedy, and would like to benefit 

 others. Though not " bee talk," the above may in- 

 terest bee-keepers. 



Our bees are not doing much this summer. We 

 began with 16 colonies, increased by natural swarm- 

 ing to 27, but have taken only 340 lbs. salable comb 

 honey honey to date. The cold weather of fli-st of 

 July seemed to cut short clover honey, and bass- 

 wood "was not." Bees are now working on buck- 

 wheat and fall flowers; within the past two weeks 

 they have been swarming again, which we hope in- 

 dicates an abundant fall harvest. 



Mrs. Myua L. Parsons. 

 Linwood, Mich., Aug. 26, 1884. 



Thank you, my friend, for your remedy. 

 ' But will it not be a pretty diflicult matter 

 for a good many of us to get a wild turnii) ? 

 j Again, is it the wild turnip or the turpen- 

 1 tine that effects a cure ? 1 can liardly think 

 that both are necessary, for I can liardly con- 

 ceive how anybody should discover by acci- 

 I dent such a combination as this. If we were 

 I going to hunt up a remedy for felons for ex- 



