13S8 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



483 



dispatch and safety. The system provides that all 

 postottices shall be special-delivery offices, and that 

 any package ol mail matter bearing- a special-de- 

 livery stamp (costing- 10 cts., and procurable at any 

 postoffice) in addition to regular postage, shall be 

 handled in transit under special rcjiulations tend- 

 ing to greater dispatch, and upon arrival at office 

 of destination it shall be sent immtniiately by a 

 special uiesseiiger to the addressee, provided he 

 lives within the carrier's limits of a letter-carrier 

 office, or within one mile of any other office; rec- 

 ords and receipts are also provided for, something 

 like those for registered packages. 



I am very glad that you have begun making sec- 

 tions open nil around, and separators, as described 

 on page U'tJT. 1 think they will certainly become 

 popular at the price you offer them. I remember 

 receiving some inquiries in regard to the matter 

 after the appearance of my article on page 689, 

 Gleanings for 188fi. W. H. Greer. 



Paris, Tenn., Apr. 9, 18S8. 



Friend G., your susgfstion is an excellent 

 one, and we will cheerfully i)ut on the spe- 

 cial-delivery stamps if our customers prefer 

 to pay the additional 10 cts. for having them 

 delivered promptly. I think it would result 

 in doing away with n good deal of the loss 

 in sending queens by mail. 



LETTING THE WOMKN HAVE THEIR OWN WAY. 



T inclosi- a copy of the constitution and by-laws 

 of a bee-keepers' association formed here last Feb 

 ruary through uiy efforts; and had you and friend 

 Terry been here you would have found no fault 

 with the non-attendance of the ladies, as you will 

 see by the list of members; and when in present- 

 ing the constitution and by-laws I proposed ad- 

 mitting ladies free they perfectly nonplused me, 

 and gave me to understand that the women of 

 Newaygo Co. areas able to pay their way as the 

 men. I said, " God bless you," and let them have 

 their way. G. E. Hilton. 



Fremont, Mich., Mar. 26, 1888. 



Friend II., we are very glad indeed to 

 hear of the energy and go-ahead to be found 

 among the women of your vicinity. Let 

 them have their way, if they insist on it, by 

 all means. At most of the conventions 

 which I have attended, we have been so 

 glad to see the women-folks present that 

 we have Ijeen quite willing to excuse them 

 from the financial burdens. 



LIZZIE cotton. 



Friend Ront;— I want to say that I indorse what 

 friend Miller says about Lizzie Cotton, on page 398, 

 and the way friend Alley, of the Apiculturist, speaks 

 about your apologetic remarks, for some of my 

 bee-friends have lieen bitten most severely by her, 

 and think her now no better than a horse-thief who 

 will steal your horse it he has a chance, and is only 

 waiting. Now, Bro. Root, own up that your chari- 

 ty for her has gone a little too far, and insert the 

 notice you used to keep In Gleanings about her, 

 and then we will think you are nearer right. 



Enosburg, Vt., May 3s, 1888. F. M. Wright. 



All right, friend W.; but we should like a 

 little plainer statement of the facts before 

 we tlecide too severely against Mrs. Cotton. 

 Have your friends written her in regard to 

 the matter, and does she refuse to make it 

 satisfactory V 



A visiting swarm meets a warm reception. 



1 purchased 1 lb. of bees and a queen from you 

 last season, and liked them well. They did as well 

 as could be expected until the 18th day of this 

 month, which was a very fine day. About one 

 o'clock, the queen, with nearly every worker in the 

 hive, came hvirrying out, flew to and fro a while, 

 then settled upon another hive. I caught the queen 

 before she entered, but the workers would enter, 

 in spite of any thing I could do; and such another 

 battle! T got my^smoker, and tried to quiet them, 

 but to no purpose. I think every yellow bee was 

 killed. I divided a strong colony, and gave them 

 my Italian queen. Now, what was the cause of their 

 leaving their hiveV They had plenty of honey, but 

 very little tirood. 1 had been watching them, and 

 did not see any sign (jf robbers; and if there was any 

 thing the matter with their hive, I could not tell 

 what it was when I examined it. T should like to 

 know what was the cause of their strange conduct, 

 for T have had heretofore two colonies do the same 

 thing, and one that refused to settle at all, and left 

 for the woods. I. E. Morris. 



Temperance, Simpson Co., Ky., March 34, 1888. 



Friend M., this is a case of absconding. It 

 is hard to say why the bees do so, in some 

 cases. It seems to be a sort of mania that 

 sometimes affects a whole apiary, but we 

 have not seen much of it nor heard much of 

 it of late years. 



CATALPA, cotton - PLANTS, TULIP, REVERSIBLE 

 FRAMES, T SUPERS, GETTING RID OF 



ANTS, ETC. 



(1) Does the Japanese hybrid catalpa, a tree I see 

 published in W. Atlee Burpee's catalogue, Philadel- 

 phia, yield honey? It is said, to be a very fast 

 grower, and one tree is said to perfume a place 

 with » delightful odor for a long time. (3) Does 

 any one know for certain that the cotton-treo 

 yields honey? (3) Is it generally agreed that theT 

 super is superior for sections to the wide frames? 

 (4) Are reversible frames superior to the common 

 metal-cornpr frames? (5) Can you tell me what will 

 destroy ants in a garden? 



Moles can be destroyed by soaking corn until it 

 gets soft. Kaise the heart and put a little strych- 

 nine under it, and mash it down again. Drop it in 

 their holes a few times, and they will soon disap- 

 pear. Hawks can be killed by mixing a little 

 strychnine in molasses, and putting on the backs of 

 little chickens' heads. The hawks eat every thing 

 about a little chicken, never stopping to pick the 

 feathers oft'. J. T. McCracken. 



Rosebud, Ala., April 18, 1888. 



(1) We don't know any thing about the 

 Japanese hybrid catalpa ; but if you mean 

 the catalpa which has been mentioned in 

 our back volumes, we would say it does 

 yield honey. The timber of the tree is said 

 "to be very durable. As to its value as a 

 honey-plant, one II. M. Morris, on page 181, 

 Gleanings for 1882, considers it as good as 

 basswood. lie says he has 1000 catalpa- 

 trees. We have heard so little from this 

 particular tree lately, we presume it does 

 not by any means do as well for others as 

 f(n- friend Morris. We have one or two of 

 the trees in our town ; and while the odor 

 from the blossoms is very fragrant, our bees 

 liave never yet gathered honey from them, 

 to any appreciable extent, that we know of. 



