1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



883 



pounds of honey per day, and this would 

 certainly be a big yield per colony, from any 

 source. You speak of an earthquake that 

 sunk the ground in 1811. Now, I am curious 

 to know about this. Is it an actual fact, or 

 is it only a sort of tradition, or guess, that 

 it was an earthquake? 



heart's-kase, or smartwbed. 



Ithink the honey I sent you, and all I got, was from 

 what 1 call smartweed, for my bees did nothing: until 

 smartweed bloomed, and then they just fairly 

 hummed on it from morning till night. Some of 

 my neighbors call it heart's-case, but it is what I al- 

 ways heard called smartweed where I was raised, 

 which was Northeast Missouri. It grows on low 

 land ; is very bad here in cornflolds, in river bottoms, 

 and especially branch bottoms. J. O. Baknes. 



Hickman, Ky., Oct. 9, 1888. 



I will explain to our readers, that friend 

 Barnes sent us a sample of his honey ; and 

 from the looks and flavor I pronounced it 

 blue thistle, although I had not seen nor tast- 

 ed any for some years. From the above it 

 transpires— that is, if friend B. is correct — 

 that honey from hearfs-ease is not only of 

 line flavor, but about as light in color as clo- 

 ver. I still think there must be a mistake 

 somewhere, for tlie samples of heart's-ease 

 honey sent us from the West were nothing 

 like that sent us by friend B. 



JimE^ W^ QnE^iEg. 



CAKES OF CANDY FOR LATE FEEDING. 



aO you think it will do to lay candy cakes on top 

 of the frames this winter, for part winter 

 stores? Some of my bees are short. I think 

 I can get them through safe this way. 



E. E. Nichols. 

 WeBtville, Ohio, Nov. 5, 1888. 



[We have wintered colonies a good many times by 

 putting cakes of tandy over the brood-nest. If 

 there is time enough, however, we should prefer to 

 feed them syrup, so that they might have sealed 

 stores.] 



ASTERS. 



The plants sent by ]R. H. Campbell, Madison, Ga., 

 and by T. E Hanbury, Atlanta, Ga , are both asters. 

 Tliese plants are widely reputed as excellent honey- 

 plants. A.J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich. 



THE OAK-TREE NEWSPAPER YARN A HOAX. 



The story of the oak-tree near GriflKn, Ga., which 

 yielded so much honey, is all a hoax. We have no 

 such trees in Georgia, neither do we make any ma- 

 ple sugar. At any rate, I never heard of any, and 

 I have seen but few trees called sugar maple. 



Pish, Ga., June 8, 1888. J. M. Harris. 



[Friend H., no one had any doubt, I presume, but 

 that the whole matter was a hoax — that is, no 

 one who knew any thing of bees or maple sugar 

 either; but I do think it is a shame that such stories 

 should pass the rounds of the papers, especially 

 when they are presented with the appearance of 

 being a narration of actual facts. 1 



KITTENS IN A BEE-HIVE. 



I bought some bees, also some good cheap empty 

 Langstroth hives, second hand, at 70 cents. They 

 were half full of moth cocoons and njud-wasps, and 



one had two kittens in it. They belong to a man of 

 the " Blasted Hopes" type. D. Kirkby. 



Toolesburg, la., Oct. 23, 1888. 



CANNING TOMATOES — A SUGGESTION. 



My wife says, if you had told your readers, when 

 canning tomatoes in glass, to set them away in a 

 cool, dry, dark place, they would be sure to keep, 

 provided they followed your instructions otherwise. 

 1 would vote in favor of the eight-page supplement. 



Kingston, Pa., Sept. ^3, 1888. M. Gakrahan. 



CUCUMBER HONEY. 



There are 13 to 1.5 acres of cucumbers within I'/i 

 miles of me every year. The bees visit them 

 a good deal, and it keeps them good-natured 

 through August; but I never got any surplus hon- 

 ey from cucumbers except once. 1 think but lit- 

 tle then, unless the weather is very hot and dry. 



Bedford, N. Y., Oct. 2i, 1888. J. AVoolsey. 



A YIELD OF OVER .5 BUSHELS OF JAPANESE BUCK- 

 WHEAT FROM ONE POUND OF SEED. 



From the 1 ft>. of Japanese buckwheat that I got 

 from you last spring 1 raised .5 bushels and three 

 pecks of nice clean seed. We sowed it very thin, 

 using Mape's fertilizer, and it made an enormous 

 growth. M. T. Kilts. 



Drakestown, Morris Co., N. J., Oct. 6, 1888. 



HONEY SOURING IN THE HIVES ; WHAT IS THE 

 CAUSE ? 



My honey is sour in the hives. It has a vinegar 

 smell. Two of my neighbors have the same trou- 

 ble. My swarms are mammoth ones, and have 

 been well cared for. J. D. Millikan. 



Maud, N. C. 



[Friend M., I infer from what experience I have 

 had in this matter, that the honey having a vinegar 

 smell is not yet capped over. If so, you have doubt- 

 less before this time noticed that, by the time it is 

 capped, the bees have ripened it in such a way as to 

 get rid entirely of the vinegar smell. I can not tell 

 the source from which this sour honey comes.] 



TOP VERSUS BOTTOM VENTILATION FOR CELLAR 

 WINTERING. 



Is it advisable, when wintering in cellar in Sim- 

 plicity hives, to give upward ventilation? If so, 

 how would it answer to remove cover and put three 

 or four thicknesses of burlap or old carpet in its 

 place? Then place an inch board on top of burlaps, 

 and set another hive on top of inch board. 



Galena, TIL, Oct. 33, 1888. Hallett & Son. 



[Upward ventilation for cellar wintering is not 

 considered necessary by the majority of those who 

 winter indoors. By some it is even regarded as a 

 detriment, although opinions are somewhat vari- 

 ous on this subject. For cellar wintering we would 

 advise you to close the top of the hive as tight as 

 possible, and leave either a very wide entrance or 

 else lift the hive up an inch or so above the bottom- 

 board. See Doolittle's article on the subject in the 

 Nov. 1st issue.] 



PROXIMITY TO THE SALT WATER OF THE OCEAN 

 NOT DETRIMENTAL TO BEES. 



After an experience of over five years in keeping 

 bees close to salt water, I am of the opinion that 

 the article on page 8i)(l, Oct. No. of Gleanings, is 

 without foundation in fact, and the tone of the en- 

 tire article is contrary to reason or precedent. 

 During a period of drouth, bees prefer fresh water 

 to salt, and very seldom are they seen on the mar- 

 gins of saltwater unless the surface of the soil is 

 saturated with fresh water from a well or surface 

 vein. John Y. Detwiler. 



New Smyrna, Florida. 



