850 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 



.honey from them and give to the bees that were 

 not fed. But probably the better way would be to 

 let them die, especially if bees can be houg-ht in the 

 spring for five or six dollai-s. K. Wilkin. 



The general testiaiony in the above seems 

 to be pretty unanimous. If we have sealed 

 combs of stores, by all means use them ; if 

 not, I think I should prefer the plan given 

 by Hasty — lilling the combs with warm syr- 

 up. Bees can be kept nicely on candy alone, 

 if they are looked after occasionally, to see 

 that they are getting the candy dissolved and 

 stored in the combs to some extent. 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS, 



FRIEND DOUGAN TELLS US THAT BEE CULTURE IS 



ADAPTED TO OUR SWARTHY BRETHREN OF 



THE FORKST. 



a EAR BROTHER ROOT: -In Gleanings for 

 Sept. 15th I have this moment read Mrs. 

 Harrison's letter aliont " Bees Among the 

 Indians," which calls to mind my own ob- 

 servations while in Indian Territory. In 

 1873 I introduced the Italian bees to the country 

 now occupied by the Great and Little Osages. 

 Then there were no wild bees in that part of the 

 Territory, and I had no troulile in raising the pret- 

 tiest of Italians by the liberal use of sugar. Thirty 

 or forty miles from the valley, in which Osage 

 Agency is located, wild bees tilled the air with mu- 

 sic over every blooming bush. Here many mix- 

 l)lood Indians kept bees in sections of hollow trees. 

 In the northeast part of the Territory, on the res- 

 ervation belonging to Quapaw Agency, and where 

 the Seuecas. Wyandottes, Shawnees, Peorias, Ot- 

 tawas, Quapaws, Miamis, and Modocs are located, 

 natural honey resources are abundant, and so are 

 wild bees. A white man, a Shawnee, and myself, 

 cut seven bee-trees among those Indians in one 

 day. In this part of the Territory, Indians, half- 

 breeds, and whites who have Indian families, keep 

 common bees in nail-kegs, soap-boxes, hollow logs, 

 and movable-comb hives. I have seen two apiaries 

 of more than fifty colonies each on movable combs 

 near this agency, and in either of which most mis- 

 sionaries and Indians could take profitable lessons 

 in the use of frame hives, comb foundation, and 

 honey-extractors. W. McKay Dougan, M. D. 



Santee Indian Agency, Nebr., Sept. 39, 1888. 



1 am very glad indeed, friend D., to re- 

 ceive these encouiaging reports of the 

 adaptability of bee culture to these savage 

 tribes. I should be very glad indeed to re- 

 ceive commtmications " from any of our 

 dusky brethren who are making a start in 

 our favorite industry. Can any of the 

 friends tell us more about it V 



CALT, THINGS BY THEIR RIGHT NAMES. 



I liave now closed out mv sales, and aggregated 

 my crop honey of U col'Hiies for the season. I find 

 it stands: Sold Til.'i lbs and received $114.73. I will 

 say, I am largely indebted to the manna of heaven 

 to the bees, properly called liotiey-dew, for the large 

 turnout this season. By the wa.v, can't you, Mr. 

 Editor, teach our own fraternity to speak a little 

 more respectfully of honey-dew? It would be 

 enough for envious outsiders to underrate our pro- 

 ducts by calling it "bug-juice," in order to disgust 



the stomach of the consumer, let alone our own 

 selves. It neither sounds smart nor refined to so 

 speak, and try to raise a suspicion that there is 

 something wrong with every bit of hone.v that 

 happens to be a little dark. And whom can we 

 blame, if we persist in calling our honey bug- 

 juice? I can't see where the juice comes in, appro- 

 priate 1. v. 



If 1 take a bee-paper, I don't want to be put to 

 the trouble of hiding it away if a neighbor or cus- 

 tomer comes in, for fear he will open on some page 

 speaking of somebody's bees making bug-juice. If 

 it is a fact, or there is any thing unclean about it, 

 we should keep it to ourselves. S. Daniels. 



Pine Grove, Ohio, Oct. «, 1888. 



Friend D., it may be a consolation to you 

 to know that you" and Prof. Cook so nearly 

 agree in this "matter. See editorial in an- 

 other column. 



THE EFFECT OF THOROUGH RIPENING ON UNPLEAS- 

 ANT FLAVOR OP HONEY. 



During the months of July and August my bees 

 filled their hives with honey which is almost as 

 strong as Indian turnip. It burns the mouth and 

 stomach for hours after eating it. I am extracting 

 now, and shall have, when through, from 50 to 75 gal- 

 lons of this honey. Can you tell me through 

 Gleanings from what it was gathered, and wheth- 

 er or not it vvill lose this acrid taste ? 



Stony, Tex., Sept. 29, 1888. S. G. IIhristgl. 



Friend C. we can not tell from what 

 source the honey you sent came. This you can 

 probably determine by watching the direc- 

 tion the bees take in starting out when 

 gathering this honey. Follow up the bee 

 line indicated, and \ou will probably not 

 have to go more tliiin a mile or a mile and a 

 half to find out what they are working on. 

 If you do not know the name of the plant, 

 send it to us and we will name it for you. 

 The honey has an unpleasant flavor about it, 

 and leaves an unpleasant feeling in the 

 throat ; but we think, after it has become 

 thoroughly ripened— that is, after it has 

 remained on the hive for 8 months or so— 

 that its quality will greatly improve. Most 

 of these disagreeable flavors disappear whol- 

 ly or in part in honey that is unpleasant- 

 tasting when first gathered. 



ALFALFA AND ITS HONEY. 



The following is an extract from a letter 

 written to a member of Dr. C. C. Miller's 

 family. As it contains something in regard 

 to alfalfa, we thought best to publish that 

 part of it. 



Our neighbor, Mr. Small, sent us in, the other 

 evening, some alfalfa honey from the State Agri- 

 cultural College, of which he is one of the regents, 

 situated at Fort Collins. It is of a lovely light color, 

 something like white clover, and is delicious in taste. 

 The alfalfa yields from three to five crops during 

 the summer, of course blossoming freely every time. 

 Nothing stands our dry climate as it does, as the 

 roots go very deep— sometimes twenty feet, I have 

 read, though I am free to confess I never followed 

 one down to that depth. Thi.'* is quite a dissertation 

 on alfalfa, but 1 wish your bees could "have the 

 run " of a thirty-acre patch that T can see from my 

 window. They are cutting it for the last time, and 

 its vivid green contrasts strongly with the brown 

 cactus-covered plains around it. 



South Pueblo, Col., Oct. 13, 1888. Emma. 



