198 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



does not follow that the bees do. They were de- 

 veloped under conditions that precluded lig'ht, often 

 for weeks or months. Were light necessary to their 

 health they could not have developed into our pres- 

 ent bees at all, for darkness is their necessary lot 

 for days together. Thus while I agree with my 

 friend as to his facts, I do not accept his con- 

 clusions. A. J. Cook. 

 Agricultural College, Mich. 



Why, good friend C, I do not see that 

 your best-laid schemes have " gang a-gley " 

 very bailly, after all; for, if I understand 

 you, you did not lose even a colony, although 

 the cellar was flooded. I presume all you 

 did with the water-soaked hives was to let 

 the water off and let the bees fix it them- 

 selves. A few days ago a friend in the 

 South stated that the water got into their 

 hives and wet the combs perhaps Ihalf way 

 up. He asked if it were possible for him to 

 take the combs out and dry them. I told 

 him to let them alone and let the bees get 

 rid of the water themselves. I have seen 

 bees under such circumstances ; and where 

 the water rises slowly they creep up out of 

 the way, even going into the upper parts of 

 the hives where they are permitted to do so. 

 When the water goes down they go back, 

 lick it up, and fix things up all right. — I 

 agree with you exactly in regard to letting 

 accounts of personal work take the place of 

 " closet meditations," as you call it. There 

 maybe some publication that can afford to 

 pay writers on bees and rural industries, 

 who stay indoors all the while; but our 

 journal is surely not one of that kind. After 

 one has worked in the fields, however, and 

 met face to face with strange facts, we are 

 glad to receive suggestions in regard to the 

 probable explanation of said facts. 



MANNA OP THE PRESENT DAY. 



THE HONEY-DEW OF EASTERN TURKEY. 



R. COLE, of Bitlis, a missionary in Eastern 

 Turkey, in describing a journey from Har- 

 poot to Bitlis, says: " We traveled for four 

 days through a region where had newly 

 fallen a remarkable deposit of "heavenly 

 bread," as the natives sometimes call it— manna. 

 There were extensive forests of scrubby oaks, and 

 most of the deposit was on the leaves. Thousands 

 of the poor peasants— men, women, and children- 

 were upon the plains gathering the sweet sub- 

 stance. Some of them plunge into kettles of boil- 

 ing water the newly cut branches of the oaks. 

 This washes off the deposit, until the water becomes 

 80 sweet as to remind one of a veritable sugaring- 

 oflf in the old Granite State, as he takes sips of it. 

 Other companies of natives may be seen vigorous- 

 ly beating with sticks the branches that, from be- 

 ing spread on the ground, have so dried that the 

 glittering crystals fall readily upon the carpet 

 spread to receive them. The crystals are separat- 

 ed from the pieces of leaves by the sieve, and 

 then the manna is pressed into cakes for use. The 

 manna is in great demand among these Oriental 

 Christians. As we were traveling through a rather 

 dry region, the article came Into play for our plain 

 repasts." 

 Now, here is honey-dew with a vengeance; whole 



forests of " scrubby oaks " covered with it; and the 

 '• men, women, and children gathering it in," in- 

 stead of the bees doing it; and thoy plunge the 

 branches into boiling water and wash it off in the 

 kettle— bifffs and all, do they?— until the syrup tastes 

 like maple syrup just ready to sugar off, while 

 others beat the branches on a carpet, with sticks, 

 to separate the glittering crystals, and then sift 

 them through a sieve to get the pieces of leaves 

 out; then the crystals (probably about as largo as 

 coarse corn-meal grains) are pressed iTito cakes, and 

 eaten with relish. Now, have we any missionary 

 in Eastern Turkey? If we have, and he reads 

 GLEANINGS, won't he please tell us more about this 

 honey-dew that the natives call manna? Arc the 

 crystals white, like white corn meal, or are they of 

 the color of glue? Are there billions of little green 

 bugs crawling up and over and under those scrub- 

 by oaks? and if these little bugs are there, do the 

 natives know it? and if they do know it, do they 

 care? Mahai.a B. Chaddock. 



Vermont, 111. 



Why, Mrs. C, you do not need to go 

 away off to Turkey to find this manna, for 

 it has been described on the pages of Glean- 

 ings, as coming from Oregon. I had a box 

 of branches of an evergreen-tree at the To- 

 ronto National Convention. These branches 

 were so covered with drops of sugar, or can- 

 dy, that one would think it had been dip- 

 ped in melted sugar. You take it for grant- 

 ed that these sugar-drops are produced by 

 insects ; but I believe the conclusion in re- 

 gard to the Oregon manna was not in that 

 direction. If I remember correctly, it seem- 

 ed to be an exudation from the tree — some- 

 thing as resin exudes from resinous woods ; 

 but instead of being resin it was sugar. In 

 taste, the sugar was not unlike maple ; but 

 perhaps that which exudes from hickory- 

 trees when cut down in the spring is still 

 more like it, both in taste and appearance. 

 Perhaps some of our readers in Oregon can 

 tell us whether they have candy growing on 

 the trees up there every season, or only oc- 

 casionally. 



NE-W HONEY GLISTENING IN THE 

 CELLS. 



WINTERED SPLENDIDr.,Y, AND LITTLE STORES 

 CONSUMED. 



TN examining my bees a few days ago, I found 

 ^ plenty of brood and new honey glistening in 

 ^l the cells. The weather Is warm and springlike. 



■*■ and the bees are carrying in pollen lively. I 

 have over 60 colonies, in apparently good con- 

 dition. I weighed 'Z colonies to-day, and found 

 30 lbs of honey in the brood-chamber in each. They 

 have wintered well on summer stands, and consum- 

 ed but little stores. It has been a mild winter, and I 

 feared they would run short. I am trying to get 

 my neighbors interested in bees. Those who keep 

 bees have them in bo.x hives, and run from one to 

 40 colonies; and all to whom I have shown my im- 

 proved hives are delighted with the simplicity, ease, 

 and perfection with which they are handled. There 

 seems a general revival in bee culture hereabouts. 

 The general ignorance which prevails here on 

 this topic is suggestive of the necessity of greater 

 use of your A B C. J.C. Frisbee. 



Suffolk, Va., Feb. 31, 1888. 



