18S4 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



717 



INJURIOUS INSECTS. 



We have received another edition of Prof. Cook's 

 " Injurious Insects." This late edition will be par- 

 ticularly interesting to bee-keepers, inasmuch as it 

 contains a long article on bark lice, with the same 

 illustrations as have recentlj" appeared in Glean- 

 ings. The pamphlet also discusses the merits of 

 pyrethrum and buhach, with directions for their 

 use. Birds, frogs, and toads are pretty well dis- 

 cussed in regard to their value to the farmer and 

 gardener. Friend Cook seems to take the stand 

 that they ought not to be killed until we have a 

 better case against them. I presume our bird and 

 reptile friends would feel graetful to him if they 

 knew how thoroughly he has been inquiring into 

 the charges made against them. At present writ- 

 ing we are unable to fix a price on the book. 



TAKING C.\RE OF rOUR TOOLS. 



The Ohio Farmer, a paper, by the way, that it 

 seems to me our Ohio people, any way, can not well 

 afford to be without, gives a hint in the matter of 

 losing tools. Paint all the handles to your tools a 

 bright red, and the eye catches on them much more 

 easily; besides, if any of your neighbors borrow 

 them they will be reminded bj' a glimpse of the red 

 handles that such tool has not been carried home, 

 as it should have been. Aside from that, red paint 

 as a preservative is worth many times its cost. I 

 think the idea is worth to me the price of the 

 Farmer for a year, and I am just going to collect all 

 of our tools, being careful to sort out all that the 

 boys may have borrowed from the neighbors, and 

 have our own painted as above. Neighbor H. can 

 have his painted blue, if he likes, and then when we 

 get through with our underdraining there will be 

 no need of discussing about the ownership of a cer- 

 tain spade or pick. 



A NEW HONEY-PLANT. 



Yes, and we have got one that yields drops of hon- 

 ey too. It was sent us by C. W. Kirk, of Indian Ter- 

 i-itory, and it grew to be a great tall plant— so tall, in 

 fact, that the wind blew it over. It lay with its 

 blossoms on the ground; but as nobody ever saw a 

 bee around it, we did not take pains enough with it 

 to straighten it. In the morning, however, in going 

 over to the factory very early I thought I heard 

 bees robbing. When 1 got near the spot it looked 

 in the dim light of morning as if somebody had 

 spilled a lot of honey on the ground, so thlcli were 

 the bees rolling and tumbling over each other. 

 When I stooped down and examined, behold it was 

 only this new honey-plant; and on getting up before 

 it was light enough for the bees to fly, I found each 

 little floweret containing a drop of quite sweet nec- 

 tar. The plant is a species of primrose. Its botani- 

 cal name is Gaura hiennit^. We are making prepa- 

 rations to put up seeds in five-cent packages. On 

 good soil it grows six or seven feet high. 



THE MAPLE-SUGAR MARKET AT THE PRESENT DATE. 



We ai'o entirely out of the 11 and 13 cent grades, 

 and have but a small quantity of the 10-cont. Of 

 the 9-cent, i. e., the poorest, we have several hun- 

 dred pounds. Now, the best wo can do for those 

 who want the best quality is to let them have the 

 little patt3'-pan cakes at 15 cents per pound. These 

 are the very finest maple sugar from the first run. 

 In fact, they are ncarlj' as white as cream, and, 

 when molted and made into molasses, the molasses 

 is nearly as light colored as honey, and is to mc 

 about the most beautiful sweet that God has ever 



given us. These little cakes, at this season of the 

 year, are very dry, and so hard that one friend com- 

 plains that the children had to pound them up with 

 the hammer before they could bite them. A little 

 warm water poured on them will, however, make 

 them toothsome, even for the baby, in a very little 

 time. We have perhaps 1000 lbs. of these little 

 cakes. They were made expressly to order by 

 farmers in our own neighborhood, and are abso- 

 lutely pure maple sugar, and more wholesome than 

 any candy the little ones get hold of. 



SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR 1885. 



In addition to the premiums we offered a year 

 ago, we will also send Gleanings the remainder of 

 188-1: for all names sent in between now and January 

 1. We have on hand 15 Waterbury watches, first 

 series. These, our friends will remember, were in a 

 case not made all of nickel. We will send one of 

 these watches, regulated and in good oi-dcr, for three 

 subscribers at $1.00 each. The watches are good 

 timepieces, but the cases are not very gcod looking. 

 However, if you simply want the time, and do not 

 care what the case looks like, they will answer just 

 as well. For five subscribers and $5.00 in money 

 we will send a watch of series A. This is the style 

 that has an opening through the dial, as you may 

 remember. AVe have about 50 of these. For seven 

 subscribers and $7.00 we will send a watch of series 

 B. This ditfei-s very little from the latest model, 

 which we call series C. We have about 60 watches 

 of series B in stook. All the above are carefully 

 tested, even to trying them by carrying, and will bo 

 mailed postpaid as above. If you want to buy them 

 right out, first series will be $3.00; series A $3.50, 

 and B, $3.00. If any of the above are not found in 

 good order when they reach you by mail, we will 

 replace them, pajing all postage ourselves. 



BIKTHS. 



We have for some time had an obituary depart- 

 ment in Gleanings, and have also from time to 

 time had marriages where prominent bee-men were 

 the ones to be noticed, and why shouldn't we have 

 notices of births? I do not know any thing better 

 to open the department with than a neat little card 

 from friend Benton, containing the following: 



On the opposite side of the card we notice, neatly 

 inscribed, as follows: 



" Zoe is ' Our Hymettus Queen,' having been born 

 at Athens, Greece, Dec. 3d, 1883. 



"Frank and Hattie Benton." 



In addition to what we have given above, this bo- 

 low, on the back side of the envelope, is from the 

 happy papa himself: 



"The youngster is having a holiday to-day, but to- 

 morrow—no, that's Sunday— well, next day or so 

 after that, I expect to set him extracting honey and 

 mailing queens to America. Benton." 



