1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



6el 



and kill them, but never before heard of one 

 stinging- a drone. I am inclined to think 

 queens have been fertilized near the entrance 

 of the hive, when they had imperfect wings. 

 If I am not mistakMi, Mr. Langstroth. in a 

 communication to one of the journals !-ome 

 years ago. mentioned such a case. How- 

 ever, the caution is a good one, and it will 

 be well for all of us to be sure we are right 

 before we go into print. We liave had re- 

 ports in our back volumes, quite a number of 

 times, from those who have actually been 

 eye-witnesses of a meeting between the 

 queen and drone, and it seems to me the 

 statements are clear, and worthy of credit. 



EEGOT AND HONEY-DEW. 



THE APHIDES NOT AI,WAVS THE CAUSE. 



EAR MR. EDITOR:— This " manna grass " (see 

 Gr.EANiNGS, Giirront vol., pages .'tis, 506, and 

 003) has interested mo very much. The grass 

 which yoii sent me came in part from P. D. 

 Culver, Quincy, Michigan, and part Irom a 

 g-entleman in Ohio. The grass looked as though it 

 had been dipped in syrup, and dried, as small white 

 crystals could be seen. By touching- the tongue to 

 the grass, or putting it in the mouth, a very sweet, 

 pleasant taste was quickly perceived. 

 . As I wi'ote you the other day, I could sec no in- 

 sects nor any sign that insects had been on the 

 grass; but instead I found many ergot grains. As 

 I had never heard that ergot caused honey-dew, I 

 at once dismissed the ergot question as unimpor- 

 tant in the matter of the nectar. Dr. G rouge, our 

 Professor of Veterinary, being interested in ergot, 

 I gave the ergotized grass to him, telling him of the 

 " honey-dew." He soon came to me with a work on 

 veterinary medicine, where ergot was described. 

 It was stated in the description, that at an early 

 stage ergot secreted drops of honej-dew which are 

 very attractive to sweet-loving insects. I have 

 since examined the subject at length, and lind that 

 our European authors always speak of the sweet 

 secretion from this fungus. Thus we see that hon- 

 ey-dew maj' arise from fungi no less than from in- 

 sects. 



Ergot is a violet-black, or dark-jjurple fungus; 

 the technical name is cJaviccpti purpufen, which at- 

 tacks the pistils of grasses, hedges, and palms. 

 Rye is a favorite victim of this fungoid parasite. 

 The seed of the rye or grass, when attacked by er- 

 got, is dark, almost black, slightly curved, and se- 

 cretes a sweet, slightly yellowish liquid, which is the 

 so-called manna or honey-dew. This ergot is quite 

 abundant in some of the Western States in certain 

 years, and, I i-egret to say, has made an unwelcome 

 advent into Ohio and Michigan. 



Ergot as a medicine is very powerful. It acts on 

 the involuntary muscles, first inducing spasms, and 

 then, as Brown Scquard shows, causing^ paralysis. 

 This is often gi\( ii lo i)inm()te uterine contraction, 

 and also in niT\<Jus disiases. From its energetic 

 action it is not regarded as a very safe medicine. 



In rye it is sometimes eaten by the human kind, 

 and induces serious poisoning. The first symptom 

 is red eyes, followed by cold limbs, swollen joints, 

 and gangrene of limbs and intestines, which termi- 

 nates in death by convulsions. In Europe, such 

 poisoning has oiftcn caused ei)idemics. Many of the 

 diseased symptoms may arise from the action of the 



ergot to convulse the muscles of the vasomotor 

 system, and shut off the blood supply. 



When cattle cat ergotized grass or rye they arc 

 liable to poison, as shown by Bonjean and others, 

 with symptoms almost identical with thoi?e of man 

 when sutTering from the same poison. 



We see, then, that there is a very dark side to this 

 ergot picture, and we may well rejoice if there is a 

 sweet aspect to the subject. The ergot nectar 

 seems sweet and pleasant; if it is wholcs-eme (?) we 

 may still rejoice that every bitter has its sweet.. 



HONEY COLIC. 



Dr. Tinker, in a recent article, argues that honey 

 distresses only the dyspeptic, and that any such 

 sufferer should repair to a good ])hysician to get his 

 disordered stonuich patched up. Of course, doctors 

 rarely make mistakes, and Hi: 1. very rarely; but 

 on the subjects of dry fseces (?) and honey colic he 

 needs to study up. My father was a wonderfull.\- 

 strong man; could eat almost any thing at any time 

 with perfect impunity; but even a slight taste of 

 honey would invariably cause intense colic. 

 Though far from a dyspeptic, honey was a virulent 

 poison to him. Boiled or granulated honey he 

 could eat with perfect safety. A. J. Cooic. 



Lansing, Michigan. 



Many thaid^s, friend Cook. I noticed the 

 ergot on the heads of the niiinna grass when 

 it was sent me; and although 1 diil not know 

 what it was, I liad a sort of feeling tliat the 

 dark fungus which I called it might be in 

 some way responsible for the conversion of 

 the starcliy matter into sugar. Tlie honey 

 had such a i)leasant taste that I should luu-d- 

 ly think it would ])rove unwholesome. So 

 here, tlien, is another source from wiiich 

 honey may r-ome. It does sf em indeed as if 

 the lield from whicli the bees may occasion- 

 ally obtain stores is going to for ever widen 

 out under the eye of the careful student of 

 nature and nature's wonderful processes. 



^! ■ — 



DOOLITTLES REPORT FOR 1884. 

 A niscornAGiNu hepoht, even from fimend 



DOOr.lTTLE. 



0N page :^71, present volume of Gleanixgs, will 

 be found a report of my winter losses, which, 

 together with the filling of orders for tees 

 which I had ])rcviously contracted, reduced 

 the 80 colonies I had in the fall of l.«8:5, to :o 

 to commence the season of 1884 with. As 14 of these 

 were rather weak I decided to use them in forming 

 nuclei for queen-rearing, while the remaining ;;(i 

 were to be used for stoinng honey. However, as I 

 found that I could not fill all orders for queens with 

 nuclei made from the 14 weak colonics, I was 

 obliged to draw quite heavily on the other 30, both 

 of bees and brood, to form what nuclei 1 was 

 obliged to have. This, of course, lessened the hon- 

 ey-crop to a certain extent; yet, as what little they 

 did get came so late in the season, I imagine that 100 

 lbs. would be as much as I could count lost from this 

 source. When the g-olden willow opened, the bees 

 went to work with a will; but the returns for their 

 labor were but meager, as little more than a living 

 was obtained. Hard-mai)le failed to blossom, so no 

 honey nor pollen from that source was obtained, 

 while the dandelion gave nothing save a little pol- 

 len. As my hives were now nearly <lestitute of 

 honey, I lived in hoixs that the apiile-bloom, which 



