1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



105 



SEVENTEEN BUSHELS OF JAPANESE BUCKWHEAT 

 FROM ONE PECK OF SEED. 



Although grown under the most unfavorable cir- 

 cumstances, I thrashed 17 bushels of nice seed from 

 the one peck of Japanese seed I purchased from 

 you. It beat the silverhiill and the common buck- 

 wheat a good deal, lor I sowed two bushels of each, 

 and thrashed only 13 bushels of both— that is, 7 of 

 silverhull and 6 of the common. I shall sow the 

 Japanese exclusively hereafter. It is the nicest 

 buckwheat I ever saw. A. J. Shepard. 



Walker, Linn Co., Iowa. 



HONEY EVAPORATED 



1 think I have quite good ev 

 the capacity to separate or ev 

 gree, the nectar while gather! 

 their hives. 



Lanesboro, Pa., Dec. ^0, 1887. 



[The idea, that a good deal 

 of the honey is expelled whi 

 wing, is mentioned in the A 

 head of "Water for Bees." 



ON THE WING. 



idence that bees have 

 aporate, in a large de- 

 ng it and i-eturning to 



P.L. NORTON. 



of the watery portion 

 le the bee is on the 

 B C book, under the 



BEES ATTACKING BLACK AND NOT WHITE KID 

 GLOVES. 



About two years ago I was hiving a swarm and 

 had on my hands a pair of black kid gloves. While 

 hiving the swarm I was attacked most furiously, 

 so I went into the house and put on a white pair. I 

 came out, and was not attacked at all. My idea is, 

 that the gloss of black objects is what attracts their 

 attention more than any thing else. 



Franz Zschoemitzsch. 



Monticello, N. Y., Dec. 28, 1887. 



bees SHOWING PREFERENCE FOR COLOR ; THEY 

 STING A BLACK CHICKEN. 



I see on page 98:i, you want more proof that bees 

 are more apt to sting dark than light colors. One 

 of my hens wav-i passing through my apiary with a 

 large brood of chicks. All but one were light color- 

 ed. One was black. The bees attacked the black 

 chicken and stung it to death before I could res- 

 cue it. The hen and other chickens were not 

 touched. Geo. A. Wright. 



Glenwood, Pa., Dec. 20, 1887. 



CIDER-MILLS AND BEES. 



What damage will an open cider-mill do to an 

 open apiary, within one mile distance? How can 

 such damage be prevented or cured, if said mill 

 can not be made bee-proof V J. Johansen. 



Port Clinton, O. 



[Friend J., where the bees have flowers to work 

 on that secrete honey while cider-making is going 

 on, very often they will pay no attention to it 

 whatever. During a drought, or dearth of pastur- 

 age, however, you may have a great deal of troub- 

 le, and I do not know any remedy but to take your 

 bees away unless the mill can be made bee-proof 

 with wire cloth.] 



CAN BEES BE KEPT PROFITABLY WITHIN SIX OR 

 EIGHT RODS OF A RAILWAY TRACK? 



Where 80 to 100 colonies of bees are wintered on 

 summer stands, within 6 to 8 rods of railroad track, 

 would said bees be disturbed during cold winter 

 weather by the jarring of about 12 heavily laden 

 trains running over the track daily? 



Pittsford, Mich. G. H. Denman. 



[Friend D., I believe the reports that have been 

 sent in indicate that, if other things arc favorable, 

 even such i)roximity to a railroad disturbs the bees 

 but little. They get used to the noise and jar, and 

 don't seem to mind it.] 



With Replies from our best Authorities on Bees. 



All queries sent in for this department should be briefly 

 stated, and tree from any possible ambiguity. The question 

 or questions should be written upon a separate slip of paper, 

 and marlced, '• For Our Question-Box." 



Question No. 31.— Is it possible to produce extract- 

 ed honey, equal in body, color, and Havor, to a good ar- 

 ticle of comb honey? 



Yes. 



Yes. 



Why not? 



Most certainly. 



My experience says it is. 



Geo. Grimm. 



Dadant & Son. 



Paul L. Viallon. 



W. Z. Hutchinson. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



I think so— very decidedly too. 



O. O. POPPLETON. 



It is possible but not practicable in a large apiary. 



Mrs. L. Harrison. 

 It is not only possible, but a fact, that extracted 

 honey is produced fully equal in body, color, and 

 flavor, to the best of comb honey. 



Chas. F. Muth. 

 Certainly; tor extracted honey is nothing more 

 nor less than comb honey with the comb taken out. 



Dr. a. B. Mason. 

 I think it is. The honey is the same. The comb 

 as a dilutent makes the comb the more palatable. 

 We eat extracted honey too fast, and so soon tire of 

 it. A. J. Cook. 



Recipe. — Let the honey stay on the hive till the 

 close of the season, and it is comb honey. Then ex- 

 tract it, and it won't fly out of the body nor off its 

 color in the extractor. In the heavy localities, I 

 suppose this plan is not very readily worked. 



E. E. Hasty. 



Yes, sir, 'ee. That is just the kind of extracted 

 honey I use and ship to my customers. I know that 

 the usual extracted honey found on our markets is 

 quite below the standard of ordinary comb honey, 

 but this should not be so. Any of my customers who 

 have tasted my extracted honey will vouch for the 

 above statements, as will the editor of this journal. 



James Heddon. 



Yes. First-class extracted is superior in body and 

 flavor to most comb honey sold, and equal to any. 

 After it has been kept some time it deteriorates 

 somewhat in flavor. This amounts to little, if kept 

 in tin vessels. The color should be equal on the 

 start, and with proper care will remain so. 



James A. Green. 



Yes. If I leave my honey in the comb a month, 

 for instance, it is comb honey, either good or bad. 

 Ten minutes later I may have it extracted, and it 

 still has all those qualities the same as before; but 

 I believe that, as a rule, it is not as good, from the 

 fact that large quantities of it are extracted in an 

 unripe condition. R. Wilkin. 



It is hardly fair to ask me such a question, when 

 1 am almost exclusively a comb-honey raiser; but 

 if I must answer, I will .<*ay that, when I want a real 

 good meal of honey myself, I prefer extracted; 

 and at the risk of being accused of heresy, I be- 

 lieve it possible to produce extracted as good in 

 every respect as that freshly taken from the comb, 



C. C. Miller. 



