1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



625 



have it so that things could be moved about, and 

 not have to be bothered with the loose powder. 

 This seems, however, to be the only sure way of ac- 

 complishing- the object. 



I tried some of the blocks saturated with coal oil, 

 placing them under my wheelbarrow; but as soon 

 as the blocks got dry, the anst went right over 

 them. 



In regard to pyrcthrum, I am told it will lost its 

 strength in couse of time. Also that it will give 

 some people the headache, if placed on or near the 

 pillow. It is used considrably here to kill bedbugs, 

 scattering it between the bed clothes and round the 

 woodwork of bedsteads. 



Wm. Muth-Rasmussen. 



Independence, Cal., Aug. 30, 1884. 

 Friend M., the adveitiseinent yovi inclose 

 ns certainly contains a pretty lieavy testimo- 

 nial from Prof. Cook. Jkit the most hnport- 

 ant matter now before ns is, did Prof. Cook 

 really write what is quoted, with the under- 

 standing that it was with reference to this 

 buhach you refer to V ^Vill friend Co<)k en- 

 lighten ns a little V I have this summer 

 made quite a number of experiments with 

 various insect powders, and my impression 

 was, that pyrethrum and other similar sub- 

 stances killed the insects by the little cloud 

 of dust they give out. Sucli being tlie case, 

 it would have no effect at all when cemented 

 on to your blocks. IJut we are stumbled 

 again, for the testimonials declare it is equal- 

 yl effective when dissolved in alcohol or wa- 

 ter, and that it can then be used as a substi- 

 tute for Paris green. I confess I can not 

 quite understand this, for Paris green is a 

 virulent poisen to man as well as insects, 

 while pyrethrum, if I am correctly informed, 

 is perfectly harmless to plants and animals, 

 and is noxious only to the insect world. 

 Friend Cook, will you please tell us some- 

 thing about ants and pyrethrum y and do 

 you really consider buhach superior to py- 

 rethrum ? 



^ I ^i 



FKIEND POND'S REPORT. 



THE DEMAND FOR BEES, HONEV, ETC. 



fRIEND ROOT:— This has been a most peculiar 

 season. My colonies were all strong during 

 fruit-bloom, and gave mc a good yield of sur- 

 plus from that source. The prospects for a 

 good yield from white clover were never fin- 

 er, but, from some cause or other, hardly enough was 

 obtained to keep the brood -chamber supplied. I 

 never saw bi-ood-rearing kept up, however, to such 

 an extent in any season— owing, I suppose, to the 

 fact that there was a small daily yield of nectar 

 from the flowers, but not enough at any one time to 

 crowd the queen at all. The colony mentioned on 

 page 531, under the heading of "A Strange Whim," 

 has kept up the same kind of business the whole 

 season, and has attempted to swarm out with the 

 same results no less than six times. I have already 

 drawn on it three times for nuclei, taking four 

 frames of brood each time, now stocked up to full 

 colonies, and at last I have divided it, and got two 

 more strong colonies, and the prospects are that the 

 half containing the queen can be divided tigain in 

 the course of a week. Owing to the fact that the 

 ^ield Of honey wfts 60 siii[vi|, anrt l)ropfl-roarinK was 



carried on to such an excess, I have devoted the lat- 

 ter part of the season to raising bees, and judge that 

 I can make that branch of business fully as profita- 

 ble, and far more interesting, and with less trouble 

 to myself, than raising honey. I could have sold, 

 last spring, 20 colonies if I had had them to spare, 

 and I piesume the demand will be equally great 

 next spring. 



Notwithstanding the great demand for bees, and 

 the immense quantities of honey that are raised 

 from year to year, the amount largely increasing 

 each year, I do not sec any reason to think that 

 overstocking or overproduction is a factor that 

 need trouble us in this generation. At any rate, I 

 don't see that the price of nice honey is any lower 

 than years ago, and no other honey will bring a good 

 price under any circumstances. I can sell all the 

 honey I can produce, right in my own dooryard, and 

 at remunerative prices, and could do so if my yield 

 were ten times as great. Pure honey will always 

 sell, all that is needed being to establish its reputa- 

 tion—an easy enough matter to be done, by any 

 honest man. J. E. Pond, Jr. 



Foxboro', Norfolk Co., Mass., Aug. 5, 1884. 



EXUDATION. 

 Texas Leading the Van in 1884. 



LICE producing HONEY, ALL "BOSH." 



UST after the peach-tree went out of bloom, 



we had a liquid exude from the young leaves 



'*^' at the bud, which attracted the att<>ntion of 



the bees a little, for about 10 days. Don't 



think what they procured hurt them, or did 



any good either. 



BARLEr. 



This is a valuable crop some seasons. While it 

 was in bloom, bees were on the stalk several days, 

 lapping around the stem where the blades come 

 off. This comes in good play, just after fruit- 

 bloom. 



WALNUT. 



This is a well-known tree. But never before, to 

 my knowledge, was it ever known to produce hon- 

 ey. There is not enough of it close to our apiary to 

 learn of its qualitj'. I learn that 80 miles west of 

 us, thei-e has been a splendid flow. This nectar ex- 

 udes from the edge of the leaf. It lianas in large 

 drops from the leaf. 



SUNFLOWKR (COMMON). 



This attracts the attention of the little yellow- 

 banded fellows some. They crawl up and down the 

 stalk, and lap a little here and there. 



PIN-OAK. 



The acorn on this tree has exuded something that 

 brought the bees among its foliage. This didn't 

 last long. 



SniN-OAK. 



This is a spe«ies of what we call " basket-oak." 

 We make cotton and feed baskets of it. These bas- 

 kets are made large enough to hold 100 or 200 lbs. 

 of seed-ootton. Some pickers use them and some 

 do not. They have a large sack ^trapped across one 

 shoulder that they gather it in. It is then put in a 

 basket and transported to w]ierc it should go. 



I hav e digressed a little from the bee subject. Shin- 

 oak grows a kind of fungus on the sinnll limbs near 

 tho end; that is, from one to two inches up and 

 do\yn py filong thp lijnt). This snbstdnce exudes fl; 



