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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULl?[JTiE. 



Aug. 



the little black jumping insect found on rad- 

 ishes, cabbages, turnips, and all that family, 

 especially when ihey lirst come out of the 

 ground, "was called a ilea beetle ; but if it is 

 a mistake, I want to be corrected. Tliey 

 look like a Ilea, though they are larger, and 

 their inveterate habit of jumping whenever 

 they are approached gives good reasons for 

 calling them tleas. I believe they are some- 

 times called the cabbage and turnip Ilea. 

 The insect you describe I suppose is some- 

 thing else, for I never heard of them on 

 grapevines. 



m — ^B 



THE GREAT TRACTS OF BASS'WOOD 

 TIMBER NEAR ITHACA, A¥IS. 



FRIEND FREEBORN TELLS US ABOUT THEM. 



a EAR SIR:— Replying to your request in 

 Gleanings, some time ago, I will say that 

 there are no largo bee-keepers near the land 

 under consideration, that are near enough 

 to be rivals should you locate bees there. 

 The bee-pasturage has been quite well tried in the 

 same range of timber, though by few if any real 

 experts. Since writing you before, T have had a 

 letter from a party who took 10,000 lbs. of basswood 

 last season from 80 colonies. He was located a few 

 miles north of the V.i parties; 135 lbs. was a big- 

 average for last year. 



I supposed of course that, in the purchase of 

 land, you would want to see the condition of what 

 you were buying, in all its bearings. Should you, 

 on mature deliberation, conclude to personally in- 

 spect, I will furnish a good team and myself as 

 driver, to take you to this tract, and perhaps some 

 others, that you may decide upon their respective 

 merits. I have no pecuniary interest in the sale of 

 the laud in question; but, as I wrote you before, I 

 have thought of doing something of the kind my- 

 self had I the means to spare to do so. At the 

 present rate of destruction, the basswood timber 

 and honey will both be scarce. The timber is used 

 extensively, and many consider the honey the 

 finest in the world. 



From what I read, and my own observation, I 

 think that basswoo<l yields honey moi-e constantly 

 and better hero than in any other State uuless it be 

 Michigan. Another idea of mine is, that you can 

 hardly overstock a good basswood location in a 

 good season, and, like Napoleon, you could have a 

 large force on hand at the right time. 



C. C. Miller's son, Charley, worked for me last 

 season. He Informed me that C. C. Miller's only 

 honey source was white clover. I advised him to 

 get his father to ship his bees to timber, and I think 

 it would have paid him to do so, though it proved 

 to be one of our poorest seasons for 30 years. 



I shall be glad to serve you in any way that you 

 wish or may indicate, as I feel that Gleanings hus 

 been a benefit to me tinancially and spiritually. 

 Ithaca, Wis. S. J. Freeborn. 



Friend F., T am exceedingly obliged to 

 you for your kind offer, and f should like 

 no better fun than to accept it ; but many 

 other duties stand in the way of it at pres- 

 ent. I do believe the investment would be 

 a safe one for the basswood timber alone, to 

 say nothing about the honey resources. 

 Perhaps some of our readers may see fit to 

 test the honey-flow of these orchards of 



natural basswood. One could move some 

 bees into the vicinity, without investing or 

 even locating permanently, in order to test 

 the honey-How. One hundred and twenty- 

 live pounds to the colony is a big yield any 

 year, for so large an apiary as 80 colonies. 



SHALL "WE ATTEND AGRICULTURAL 

 FAIRS? 



and shall we TAKE TIME TO M.\KE AN EXHIBIT 

 OF THE PRODUCTS OF OUR OWN INDUSTRY? 



TTp GRICULTURAL fairs set in motion the best 

 2kI^ elements of farm life, and stir up the ambi- 

 j^l^ tion of those interested, and all are interest- 

 "^^ ed in the success of the undertaking. It is 

 an advertisement for the community and 

 for persons interested; and if the display is good it 

 gives a good reputation to the exhibitor. 



" Like other productive industries, bee-keeping is 

 not e.xempt from uncertainties as to results, and 

 few things bring to the bee-keeper so many pleas- 

 ant and profitable things as does a display of bees, 

 honey, and apiarian appliances," at the annual and 

 other State, county, and district fairs and exposi- 

 tions. Wherever such an exhibit is made it is a nu- 

 cleus ai-ound which bee-keepers gather, and in a 

 quiet, pleasant, and profitable way exchange ideas 

 and discuss matters "new and old." An Incident 

 at the Tri-State Fair held here two years ago made 

 a more lasting impression on me than hours of or- 

 dinary talking or pages of reading-matter might 

 have done. An elderly farmer, some would have 

 called him an "old codger," wanted to buy some 

 bees of me. We talked over prices, etc., and 1 thought 

 a bargain was about made, when he asked me if I 

 used the extractor. When I told him I did, it would 

 have done any melancholy dyspeptic good to see the 

 expi'ession of disgust that spread over his face as 

 he said, *' I don't want any of your bees." Strange 

 as it may seem, I had to laugh in spite of all my ef- 

 forts to the contrary, and I saw that this oracle 

 knew that the extractor is responsible for the great 

 winter mortality among bees, for he afterward told 

 me so. I believe he tried to purchase bees of every 

 bee-keeper there, and with the same result. 



If there is a business that requires a man who can 

 express in his face, at one and the same time, dis- 

 gust, contempt, and anywhere from ten to ten 

 thousand other kinds of expressions, I would most 

 earnestly recommend that gentleman as the best- 

 qualified man to run that business that I ever met. 



These exhibits aid us in our eflforts to popularize 

 the use of honey as food and medicine. They will 

 also help to raise the standard of excellence, both 

 quality and attractiveness of the honey put upon 

 the market. New ideas will be disseminated, new 

 methods will be learned, and old ones discarded. 



Bees nnd honey are always great attractions at 

 fairs; and to hear the "fat" expressions and 

 quaint sayings of " smart " country people and city 

 "dudencs " is enough to add years of happy life to 

 the average age of those who enjoy such things. To 

 listen to fond papas and doting mammas as they 

 explain to their children, who are all eyes and ears 

 at such times, the mysteries of the hive, and how 

 the bees " make honey " while they are shut in the 

 hive at the fair, and how a honey-extractor works 

 either as a washing-machine, an ice-cream freezer, 

 or a churn, will cause a change in the facial expres- 



