1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



847 



it in the grate, or stick it in your pocket un- 

 til you get outdoors. The next thing would 

 be to get those paper bags tilled without 

 daubing. The usual way is for the men to 

 get out their jack-knives, dip the blade of 

 the knife into the honey, twirl it around 

 rapidly, and then put it into the mouth as 

 quickly as possible. This last always results 

 in daubing in the way I have mentioned. I 

 have thought of a little bag or ball made of 

 wax,fllled with honey, or, if you could get it, 

 bits of comb honey big enough to be depos- 

 ited right in the mouth, but, of course, with- 

 out any stickiness on the outside. We have 

 the same trouble in carrying honey on our 

 market-wagon, where we "want to let every- 

 body have a taste of something that is new 

 and nice. Muth's dime jar does pretty well; 

 but sometimes you want to ask people to 

 take a taste, without compelling them to 

 pay a dime, or even a nickel, for the privi- 

 lege. 



BEES "WITH 100 BROOD-CELLS TO THE 

 SQUARE INCH. 



AN INTERESTING LETTER FROM A BEE-KEEPER IN 

 ONE OF THE REMOTE REGIONS OF THE GLOBE. 



R. EDITOR:— I have found Gleanings 

 straying: about my place for some weeks 

 back. It says nothing about how it found 

 its way here; but on pag-e 433 I find the 

 faces of two persons whom I suspect from 

 their looks to have sent it wandering. However, I 

 have done what I could to redeem their good names 

 of such conduct by befriending Gleanings, and 

 giving it good care; for it always seems to arrive 

 well loaded with first-class food, evidently brought 

 from afar, as it savors not of this land. I fear it 

 could glean but little in this region; for while there 

 are bees in abundance, both great and small, some 

 living on limbs or bushes, others in holes or hollow 

 trees, there is but little culture. I can not say there 

 is no " bee culture," for I myself keep bees, and I 

 think I might be classed as an expert in some 

 things, for I have never lost a colony by cold win- 

 ters or otherwise, to my knowledge. I have kept 

 the one colony I now have for about nine years, 

 and it seems to be thriving. Gleanings has never 

 mentioned this kind of bees to me, and 1 should 

 like to know if it can tell me any thing about them. 

 The full-grown bee is three-sixteenths of an inch 

 long, and about as large around as a common pin- 

 head. The head and body are black; the abdomen 

 is nearly a transparent straw color, with shaded 

 stripes across the upper side. I keep them in a 

 round earthen dish, one foot in diameter, having a 

 hole at the top about five inches in diameter, over 

 which I tie a cloth, and hang the hive under my 

 house, about six feet from the ground. 



There are two small holes on opposite sides of 

 the hive, for the bees to enter. The bees make 

 wax-tube entrances to these holes, and extend them 

 until they face the prevailing winds. They have 

 also cut a small opening in the cloth at the top, for 

 ventilation I suppose, as they do not use it for an 

 entrance. The whole hive is lined with a thick coat 

 of wax, which is very tough and adhesive. The wax 

 will not crumble, and Is quite pliable. Cutting 

 about the waxed cloth cover, which can be readily 



returned and securely sealed with a few pi-essures 

 of the thumb, you behold the rich yellow comb ly- 

 ing horizontally, being braced one above another 

 bj' wax pillars. The cells are not hexagonal, but 

 round, with a depth a little more than their horizon- 

 tal diameter. 'I'hese cells stand one hundred to the 

 square inch, and are used only for breeding. The 

 larva lies with both ends downward. When recent- 

 ly opened my hive was about one-fourth full of 

 this brood-comb, above which was a large air-cham- 

 ber, entirely surrounded with large round honey- 

 cells, nearly or quite one-half inch in diameter. 

 As the wax does not crumble, and is thin and plia- 

 ble, a ladle dipped into these cells brings you the 

 honey as clean as if drawn by an extractor. By 

 putting iour nose to the opening you get a strong 

 but pure and wholesome vinegar smell. Do not 

 fear for your nose. They are not Cyprians; at 

 least, I find no difficulty in handling them. If I was 

 ever stung by them I never knew it, although 1 

 have surmised they were doing their best to sting 

 me. Now taste the honey, and you find the first 

 taste almost as sharply sour as first-class vinegar; 

 but this is followed by the taste of good honey. 

 This vinegar taste grows less, and the flavor of the 

 honey improves by standing, so that I would enter 

 it at your centennial exposition for a premium, if I 

 were not such a " f urriner." 



There is a honey-plant standing in my yard, 

 which you would be glad to see in your apiarian 

 garden, I think. The blossom-stalk stands 30 feet 

 high. It has about 600 large blossoms on Ibis one 

 stalk. I would gladly tell you of this plant, and of 

 some hexagonal-celled balls I found the other day; 

 but I must refer you to your botany for the plant. 

 See under Agave Americana; and if you would like 

 to get any for bee culture, you can probably get 

 them from Mexico easier than from here. Our lat- 

 itude is 25'/^° N., and 90^4° E. of London. The lat- 

 itude shows with what temperature I have to con- 

 tend in wintering bees. Please thank Maggie Dil- 

 lehay for her letter on cotton-growing, on page 401. 

 I am following her directions in raising plants from 

 American seed, except that I planted the seed in 

 July. M. C. Mason. 



Tura, Assam, East India, July 14, 1888. 



Thank you, friend M., for the facts you 

 give us. Before I got to your name at the 

 end of your kind letter I had a sort of feel- 

 ing that there was something exceedingly 

 familiiir about your style of writing. In 

 fact, it souuded like somebody with whom I 

 was intimately acquainted. Presently it oc- 

 curred to me that tiie writing bore a strong 

 resemblance to the talk of our good friend 

 Dr. A. B. Mastm, whom I have just parted 

 with after two or three days of exceedingly 

 pleasant visit. I suppose these little bees 

 that make honey that can be dipped up 

 without the aid of a honey-extractor would 

 hardly thrive in our climate. Still, we are 

 very glad indeed to know about them. I 

 presume it is (juite likely they do not pro- 

 duce 100 lbs. to the colony each season ; but 

 as they are stingiess bees, if we understand 

 you correctly, no doubt many of us would be 

 content with less than the" above amount 

 pel' colony. Will not that viuegar-fiavored 

 honey make grand lemonade when dissolved 

 in water, with a lump of ice to lielp it 

 along y 



