18S4 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS. 



CALIFORNIA EXTRACTED HONEY. 



SEND you by express this day three samples of 

 houey, marked 1, 3, and 3. No. 1 was gathered 

 in May and June from silver and button sage, 

 and is very light colored, and of fine flavor, as 

 you will find. No. 3 was gathered in July, when 

 the white sage was in bloom; and if there is such 

 honey as white sage, the sample is it; but I have 

 watched the bees pretty closely, and tind very few- 

 working on it. At the time white sage blooms there 

 is a great variety of flowers in bloom, and I think 

 the bees And flowers that secrete more honey than 

 the sage. 



We have what we call wild alfalfa that is in bloom 

 the same time as white sage, and the bees work 

 very strongly on it. The honey is white, but very 

 thick. If you let the bees seal their cards all over, 

 it is impossible to extract it without tearing the 

 cards all to pieces. 



No. 3 is gathered this month, and is our amber 

 honey, gathered from wild buckwheat and mint. 

 The season closed the 30th of this month. We have 

 had a fine flow of honey in the mountains. The 

 apiaries in the valleys did not do so well, on ac- 

 count of fogs, which blasted the bloom. 



I should like to send you a carload of honey the 

 same as the samples; and if you wish to purchase, 

 send me word what you can pay per pound for ten 

 tons, and about the pi-oportion of each kind j'ou 

 wish. If you take a carload, ten tons, terms one- 

 half cash, after deducting freight ; balance in nine- 

 ty days. The honey is put up in five-gallon cans, 3 

 cans in a case, all new cans ; have screw tops ; tare 

 on cans and cases, 15 pounds per case; cost us at 

 Newhall, 95 cts. per case; that, we have to lose. 



G. W. Lechler. 

 Newhall, Los Angeles Co., Cal., Aug. '^'Z, 1SS4. 



One of the specimens furnislied by friend 

 L. was beautiful, white, and of tine tiavor. 

 That labeled " mountain sage " Avas also 

 very nice-looking honey, and liad a percep- 

 tible sage flavor, but not equal to some we 

 have bad. We are now paying for choice 

 California sage honey 7 cts. per lb., delivered 

 here, but I do not know how long we shall 

 be able to take all that is offered at that 

 price. The cost of sliipping it to the States 

 is generally 2 cts. per lb. Perhaps some of 

 our readers who see this may help friend L. 

 dispose of his honey at a better price than 

 we offer. 



THAT HONEY-FOG. 



In regard to the article on page 604, we live in a 

 prairie country; no trees near, but fruit-trees and 

 shade; but this was on a wagon-road, clear away 

 from any trees of any kind. I am interested in this 

 honey-dew, and am certain that it came from no 

 trees nor bugs. D. W. Si'RAcki.en. 



Cowrden, 111., Sept. 4, 1884. 



Friend S., I do not know but I shall have 

 to give up, as you state it, but I sliould like 

 to see a clean plate or piece of glass i)ut out, 

 to see if any thing sweet would' collect on it. 

 Aphides niay swarm in the air after having 

 eaten of the "foliage ; but this seems rather 

 improbable. 



SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT CYPRIANS. 



I wish you to answer a few questions for me con- 

 cei-ning the Cyprian bees. 1. A^^ they as large as 

 the Italians? 3. Are they as gentle? or what seems 

 their disposition? 3. Their general appearance and 

 color. 4. Can I introduce their queen to my blacks 

 or Italians the same as we work with our own 

 queens? I have seen these Cyprian bees, but am 

 not postive that they arei pure, as all parties are 

 not just as reliable as one might wish. I ask these 

 questions direct from you, as I feel you will tell me 

 the plain facts about the case. C. H. Clahk. 



Aldi, Monroe Co., Iowa, July 36, 1884. 



The Cyprian bees are fully as large as the 

 Italians. They are not considered as gentle, 

 although Neighbor II. says he would rather 

 handle them than any bees he has ever had 

 in his yard. Their general appearance and 

 color is like fine Italians. The yellow bands 

 are very plain and distinct. The queens 

 can be introduced just as well as Italian 

 queens. 



WHAT A LITTLE CARELESSNESS WILL DO. 



I told you in one of the back numbers of Glean- 

 ings that queens might be killed by young virgin 

 queens crawling out of cells thrown carelessly 

 around the hives. Not long since I had a case of 

 that kind myself. I was cutting queen-cells out of 

 a colony crossed with Italians, Holy-Lands, and 

 blacks, and left a cell lying on one of the neighbor- 

 ing hives. It was but a few minutes till I passed 

 this hive and noticed that a queen had emerged; 

 but, seeing nothing of her, I paid no more attention 

 to it. The next morning I found one of my finest 

 queens dead outside the hive. I knew then what 

 had happened. It was all the fault of this queen- 

 cell left lying on the hive. The queen gnawed out 

 of the cell, and crawled into the hive, killing the old 

 queen. 1 opened the hive, and heard this young 

 queen squealing. I hunted her up, and killed her 

 without mercy. 



Bees are doing very poorly on basswood now. 

 Some are killing their drones; weather is too cool 

 and dry; a good rain is what we need. 



Goshen, Ind., July 13, 1884. H. J. Schrock. 



FRIEND HILL'S REPORT. 



As the drought has put a stop to the honey-yield, 

 I will give you an item of 6 colonies, spring count. 

 Season opened up very brisk on apple and locust 

 bloom; then the honey-dew, or bug juice, came on 

 deck. This set them to swarming, which they did 

 from the last of May till the 10th of June; got 3 nat- 

 ural and 3 artificial swainns. The natui-al will go 

 ahead every time. In my opinion, the coming bee 

 will be the Americanized, or home-bred Italians. 



I passed through Medina one day this summer on 

 an excursion. I wanted to stop, but had to content 

 myself with what I saw from the platform. It is 

 well named, the "Home of the Honey-Bees," and 

 girls too, as I judged from appearances at the win- 

 dows. Don't tell them. My expenses this season 

 were $35.19; income on honey, hives, etc., $79.38; 

 net profit, S54.19. • . C.L.Hill. 



Dennison, Ohio, Sei)t. 8, 1884. 



Thank you for the kind mention of our 

 establishment, friend II.; but I am sorry 

 that our boys and girls seem to persist in 

 gazing out of the windows at passengers 

 wlien the train arrives. I^o not be too se- 

 vere on them, however, for quite a number 



