m 



GLeANMGS In liEE CULTullE. 



Kov. 



start the bees to rcLbiug th; 

 sugar or syrup alone. 



Avoukl the 



VISITORS WHO USK TOBACCO. 



Well, y.r. Root, I thought I would come and see 

 your factory; but I got no honey this summer, and 

 turned my attention to something- else, and I ha%-e 

 bf^en busy; and, come to think of it, I use tobacco, 

 and where would I spit when looking at your bees 

 and in your factory? So 1 thought I would not go 

 this summer. Hiram Weaver. 



Circleville, Ind., Oct. .5, 1F84. 



Don't stay away on account of tobacco, 

 friend W. You know I feel more neighbor- 

 ly toward tobacco - users, if any thing, than 

 toward those who are not ; and you may rest 

 assured nobody will be tmcourteous on that 

 account. When you are in the lumber- 

 room you can spit in the sawdust, and in 

 the other rooms you can open the doors or 

 spit out of the window. We have lots of 

 windows ; and as our rooms are warmed by 

 steam we almost always have one or more of 

 them open for pure air. May be you are 

 giving up tobacco ; if so, we might give you 

 a little encouragement and exliortation on 

 the subject. 



POISON OAK. 



On mention of poison oak by some of your corres- 

 pondents, you have asked what it is. In the Pacific 

 States the name is applied to the Rhus clivcrsiloha, a 

 plant of varied habit, from a low, copse-like bush to 

 a tall climbing vine, like the Virgina creeper. The 

 three-palliate and diversely shaped leaves turn red 

 in autumn, and give about the most showy leaves 

 that California can boast of in that line. Its closely 

 related species, Blnis td.ricixlrndron of the Eastern 

 States, is called poison ivy. It does not attain such 

 size. Both are poisonous species of sumac. I have 

 known some who are so unfortunate as to be affect- 

 ed by touching it, brushing against it, or even tak- 

 ing the breeze from it, the symptoms being a severe 

 itching and burning of the skin. Others can handle 

 it with impunit.v. I have seen bees work on it, but 

 not to any great extent. A. Norton. 



Gonzales, Monterey Co., Cal., Sept. 15, 1'84. 



WHERE DID THE HONEY COME FROM? 



We have had adroughthere of about four months' 

 duration, and bees have been idle for some time in 

 consequence. About a week ago we had our first 

 shower (a rather light one at that), followed by a 

 foggy, damp morning, and my bees came in so 

 heavily laden that a great many would tumble in 

 front of the hives and go in on foot. Do you think 

 it was honey-dew they were working on? and if 

 not, what was it? M. Brous. 



Gonzales, Te.xas, Oct., 1S81. 

 I should say, my friend, from the way you 

 state it, it was honey-dew. By tasting of 

 the honey as it is brought in from the hives 

 you can tell pretty surely. 



EXHIBITINO AT FAIRS. 



Our fair is over; and considering the rain we had 

 to contend with it was a success. My exhibit took 

 the following first premiums: Best specimen comb 

 honey, manner of putting up for market consider- 

 ed; best specimen extracted honey, manner of put- 

 ting up for market considered; best specimens of 

 comb foundation; best collection of apiarian im- 

 plements. I received many compliments for the 



display I made, one of them coming from one of 

 your employes, W. J. Fenton, who is here on a visit. 



It is perfectly astonishing, the amount of igno- 

 ance that prevails in regard to bee-keeping. It 

 just kept myself and wife busy telling people that 

 the extractor and uncapping-can were not washing- 

 machines nor churns, and that the foundation-ma- 

 chine was not a clothes-wringer nor a sausage-grind- 

 er, and hundreds of other things equally ludicrous. 

 But as the Western-Michigan Bee-keepers' Associa- 

 tion meets here Nov. 25, and almost every one prom- 

 ised to attend, I hope to be able, with the help of 

 others, to clear up many ol the mysteries. 



Fremont, Mich., Oct. 6, 1884. G. E. Hilton. 



ARE BEES NICER TO LOOK AT IN SPRING THAN IN 

 FALL? 



Dr. Smoot says he has two Cyprian or Holy-Land 

 tested queens that produce nice bees in the spring, 

 but late in the fall they produce a variety of bees; 

 some have two bands, some no bands at all, and 

 some that have black tails. Can you explain this? . 



Fulton, Ky., Sept. 22, 1884. W^ J. Brown. 



Friend B., I think the above is all owing 

 to the fact that bees in spring and summer 

 are usually full of honey, while after the 

 yield ceases they shorten' up so as to leave 

 scarcely any band visible at .ill. I have oft- 

 en marked this, and the ('y])rians are special- 

 ly given to lengthening themselves out in 

 proportion to the amount of honey that is 

 being gathered, and vice versa. Sometimes 

 in October they look so " stubbied '' that 

 one might almost think they had lost part of 

 their bodies. 



CYPRIAN BEES HATCHING IN LESS THAN 21 DAYS. 



We are not ready for Blasted Hopes yet ; although 

 this has not been a good season for honey, I am sat- 

 isfied when I can get an average of 45 lbs. per colo- 

 ny, spring count. Strange, isn't it? I got over 1100 

 lbs. of honey from 23 swarms, and my neighbors got 

 hardly a taste, and came to me for honey. Now, I 

 don't like to brag, but I must give facts as they are. 

 I told you last spring that the Cyprio-Italian bees 

 hatched in 18 days from the egg; but you put my 

 letter Into the waste-basket. Now, I received the 

 Cyprian queen from you the 23d day of May, and 

 put her in the hive the 2tth, and i-eleased her the 

 25th. At that time 1 gave her a new comb that had 

 not been in a hive for six months. The 27th she had 

 laid some in the comb that she was caged on that 

 had brood in the 28th. She had laid the new comb 

 full of eggs, and on the 30th I gave the new comb to 

 a queenless colony, and the 13th of June the young 

 bees were hatching, and some, I think, had been out 

 10 oi: 12 hours. Now, don't pass this by unnoticed. 

 You can calculate from the above date, that the 

 queens hatched from said comb in 12 days. If you 

 want it, you can have my aftidavit to this effect. 



Wm. Malone, 23—37. 



Oakley, Lucas Co., Iowa, Sept. 26, 1884. 

 Under very favorable circumstances, woik- 

 er-bees sometimes hatch out in i:u days ; but 

 the matter has been so frequently tested by 

 careful records that 1 can not but think you 

 are mistaken somewhere in your statements 

 or in your count, friend M., when you say 

 they may hatch in from 12 to 18 days. Many 

 points are coming to light in bee culture that 

 look almost like miracles, it is true ; but I 

 should sooner think the bees took Qut the 



