726 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov 



SEPARATORS. 



As last year, three-fourths of those who expressed 

 an opinion upon this subject could dispense with 

 separators. Mr. T. G. Newman said that, judging- 

 from the appearance of much honey in the market, 

 many who did not use separators o«jy/if to use them. 

 Mr. Heddon said, that although three-fourths no%v 

 voted against separators, the time might come when 

 the vote would be reversed. If a man could raise 

 comb honey without separators, to the satisfaction 

 of himself, the dealer, and the consumer, well and 

 good ; if not, then use them. 



WINTERINO BEES. 



There was the usual talk about ventilation, pro- 

 tection, temperature, humidity, etc., until Mr. Hed- 

 don got the floor and elucidated the " pollen theory" 

 so clearly that the discussion was soon brought to a 

 close. 



MOVING BEES. 



Summed up, the discussion upon this topic would 

 read about as follows: The combs should be fasten- 

 ed so that they can not swing. In cool weather, to 

 cover the hive with wire cloth is sufficient. If the 

 bees have unsealed brood they should be occasion- 

 ally spi-inkled with water. In hot weather there 

 should tie wire cloth, both above and below the bees, 

 and it is better that there should be a 3-inch space, 

 both above and below the combs, between them and 

 the wire cloth. 



EXTRACTED VERSUS COMB HONEY. 



The majority believed that, from a given number 

 of colonies, about twice as much extracted honey 

 could be secured as could comb honey. 



"FEEDING BACK." 



Five members had tried "feeding back" extract- 

 ed honey to secure the completion, of unfinished 

 sections, or to have empty sections filled; but all 

 gave an unfavorable re])ort. One reported that the 

 bees did well at first, and then " loafed," and lived 

 out of the feeders; another, that some colonies did 

 well; others were complete failures; anothershould 

 leave the experiments in this line to others, and all 

 agreed that " feeding back" was in an experiment- 

 ing stage, with the prospects not very encouraging. 



There were other minor topics discussed, but want 

 of space forbids even their mention. 



The following oflicerswere re-elected: President, 

 Dr. C. C. Miller; Vice-President, Mrs. L. Harrison; 

 Secretary, W. Z. Hutchinson; Treasurer, T. G. New- 

 man. 



The convention adjourned to meet ui)on the 

 Wednesday and Thursday of the last week of the 

 Exposition in 188.5. W. Z. Hutchinson, Sec. 



Rogersville, Mich., Oct., 1884. 



Friend H., you have given us a model re- 

 port. If some one could sum up in this brief 

 way the substance of our conventions, there 

 would be no difficulty in publishing all of 

 them, and tlie conclusions arrived at would 

 be of very great importance indeed, especial- 

 ly points"like how many colonies sliould be 

 kept in one locality, and how far apart we 

 should locate said apiaries. Trial experi- 

 ments of this kind are quite expensive, and 

 even incomplete data are oftentimes worth 

 many dollars to a man starting out. The 

 same way in regard to planting for honey, 

 and feeding back. It is a little singular, that 

 bees can not be fed honey so as to have them 

 store it in sections, and work right along as 

 they do when they gather it in the fields. 



Perhaps if we could have them take it in the 

 open air by some plan, and carry it half a 

 mile or so, it would answer; but then, how 

 about the neighbors' l)ees? We should have 

 to have a locality with no bees within at' 

 least three miles. To do this, perhaps an 

 island would be the only safe place. 



ANOTHER PLANT THAT BEARS HON- 

 EY IN DROPS. 



COMI».\NlON TO THE SPIDER .4^ND SIMPSON 

 HONEY - PI.ANT. 



N an editorial last month I mentioned the 



plant which we figure below. The cuts 



will make it easy to identify, I think, 



without much description. I do not 



know any common name for the plant. 



any one recognizes it, we hope he will tell 



wliat it is called ; for botanical names are 



[Pd to pronounce and hard to remember. 



A NEW HONEY-PLANT— GAURA BIENNIS. 



Fig. 1 shows tlie stalk and leaves. The 

 stalk will grow six or seven feet high on 

 good soil ; and where single plants are stand- 

 ing alone they will liave to be staked to pre- 

 vent being blown over. 



Fig. 2 shows a detached portion of the 

 branches, the manner the blossoms appear, 

 seed-pods, and buds. The specimen I fur- 

 nished the engraver was taken after the 

 plant had almost ceased to bloom, so it does 

 not show the masses with which it is laden 

 early in the season. 



Fig. 3 is the crowning beauty of the plant 

 — the white and pink blossom. One of the 

 blossoms is shown with a honey-drop, but 

 the engraver has not made the drop nearly 

 large enough. It really covers the whole 

 flower, and makes the plant bend beneath its 

 load. 



Fig. 4 shows the seeds, with one cf them 

 cut open. 



The plant in many respects has a striking 

 resemblance to the spider plant, although 



