4:.'() 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May l.-i. 



BRESEE'S FOUK-I'IEC'E-SECTION FORMEI!. 



Friend IJool;— I inclose within a drawing of 

 an impleniont wliicli I have made, and find v^ory 

 useful in putting fimr-ijiece dovetailed sections 

 together. I made the macliin(> three or four 

 years ago. and would hardly know how to get 

 along now without it in using that l\ind of sec- 

 tion. 



[My good friend, that was only a piece of 

 pleasantry, about the cook. We should be v(>ry 

 sorry indeed to think of casting a slur on any 

 bee-keeper's wife, or, in fact, the wife of any- 

 l)ody else, for that matter. The facts you give 

 us fix the blame, probably, just where it be- 

 longs. Tiie millers are not used to having a 

 buckwheat with grains so large and their mills 

 are not at present adapted to it. Uut they 

 must move right along, and progress as the ago 

 l)rogresses. The .Japanese is surely all right. 

 Instead of getting anotlier cook. then, get an- 

 other miller.] 



bkeese's four-piece- sectiox folder. 



To use. iJick up a side-piece of a section with 

 the left hand, and an end-piece with the right 

 hand. Crowd the ends in place sutTicient to 

 hold; turn the side and put on another end- 

 piece. Drop this into the macliine with the 

 side lying on the bed-piece a, and the ends in 

 grooves h. Pick up another side-piece and 

 place it on top of these, crowding the corners to- 

 gether with the hands. Bring tiie wedge c into 

 place, and pound together. 



Sometimes the side-piece of a section is thin- 

 ner than the dovetail in the end-piece, and vice 

 versa: consequently I cut out a little where the 

 corners come, so as to make the shoulders come 

 «p snug together. vStephen Bresee. 



Sutton, P. Q.. Feb. 2. 



[Very good, friend B. If I understand cor- 

 rectly, you first strike the top of the section 

 with your mallet, and then strike the wedge- 

 shaped piece C with your mallet. Tliis has the 

 effect of driving on both the top and side of the 

 section, without bcMug obliged to turn it over.] 



THAT JAPANESE BUCKWHEAT. 



A COMPLAINT THAT THE FLOUR IS XOT (iOOD. 



Friend Ro(>t:—'i\) an editorial on page 341 

 there is a slur on some one's cook, which, beg- 

 ging your pardon, does not sound very well. 

 How is the poor man to get rid of his cook for 

 three years, especially if she should happen to be 

 his wife ? I don't see how he can, unless he has 

 money to get a divorce, and he can not iuive 

 much if he has not sold that buckwheat, you 

 know. Now, then, Mr. Editor, don't you think 

 any one but the cook can be at fault about those 

 pancakes? I tell you, it was the miller, for 

 sure. My brother raised some Japanese buck- 

 wheat last vear. and had part of it ground at 

 the Brodhead mills. The millei' saiil the kernel 

 was so large that tln^ mill would have to be set 

 wider for it. That flour was lighter-colored 

 than that from the common grain, but the mil- 

 ler said the hull was heavier than the silver 

 hull, and did not yieUl as much Ihmr to the 

 bushel. They would give only .V) cts. for it. 

 when they were paying .w for tin; silverhull. 

 Some of the same grain was taken to the Al- 

 bany (Wis.) mills, and that Hour was dark, as 

 though it were mixed with tine bi'an. The bran 

 itself was all broken, while the Brodhead bran 

 was whole. The Albany miller said he never 

 ground such buckwheat before, and never 

 wanted to again. Two families who had the 

 Albany flour complained of the cakes being so 

 bitter they could not eat theuL We used part 

 of one of "the same sacks, and thought it was 

 good, so I think it must have been bitter 

 tongues they had. Some said it was the best 

 flour th<'y ever saw. Japanese buckwheat is all 

 right; biit what is any one to do with it if the 

 miller won't grind it or buy it? Al. Hann. 



THE PLANT-LOUSE ON THE WAX-PLANT. 



HOW TO DESTROY IT. 



Prof, (yjolc—l send you a small box in the 

 same mail with this, tt contains a leaf of the 

 hoya, or wax-plant, on which there is some 

 sweet deposit: also a twig of the same plant 

 with the little insects that produce this deposit. 

 The plant has not been out of the ottice, where 

 it runs up OIK' svindow, for several years. The 

 insects were all alive when placed in the bottle, 

 but I fear they will be dead ere it reaches you. 

 It was handed to me at Boonville by Capt. 

 Tolioferro during otir State convention of bee- 

 keepers, and we were all curious and anxious to 

 know whether the deposit is honey-dew, the 

 name of tiie insect, or species, etc. Please ex- 

 amine, and report if already discussed in the 

 journals. Mrs. J. M. Null. 



Miami. Mo., Apr. 13. 



[Prof. Cook replies:] 



In response to the inquiry sent by Mrs. Null, 

 let me say that the sweet substance on the 

 leaves of the hoya. or wax-plant, is genuine 

 honey-dew. and the insects sent in the accom- 

 panying bottle are genuine plant-lice. In these 

 the "nectaries— the black tubes which project 

 from the back— are very long, as is also the 

 spyglass-like ovipositor. Tlie beak, or suck- 

 ing-tulie. is always long in plant-lice, and it is 

 through this that the lice suck the sap and life 

 from tlie plants. The sweet substance, or hon- 

 ey-dew, comes from the tubes or nectaries, and, 

 in many cases, that fi'om these plant-lice is 

 wholesome, delicious, and no injury to honey, 

 which it helps to produce. 



The remedy for this i)hint-louse evil is the 

 kerosene emulsion, which should be made as 

 follows: Dissolve, in two quai'ts of water, one 

 quart of soft soap or '4 lb. of hard soap, by 

 heating to the boiling-point, then add one pint 

 of kerosene oil. and stir violently for fiom three 

 to live minutes. This is best don<' by pumping 

 the liquid into itself tlu'ougli a small nozzle, so 

 that it shall bi' thoroughly agitat 'd. This 

 mixes the oil pcrnKtncntly. so that it ivill never 

 sepande, and can be diluted easily at pleasure 

 by simply shaking or slightly stiri'ing after 

 adding the water to dilute it. I have 'often 

 stated, that it is not necessary to use so much 

 soft soap, but that it is better, as it insures a 

 perfect emulsion even upon dilution, and the 

 soap itself is an insecticide, and valuable, aside 

 from its emulsifying powers. I have also 

 stated, that, in using soft soap, a quart of water 

 would do. I prefer, however, the two quarts, 

 as the emulsion is more sure; and the thinner 

 material permits more ready and more speedy 

 dilution, especially in cold weather. I have al- 

 ways placed soft .soap first, as most farmers 

 have it, and convenience is very important in 

 such matters. A farmer will make and use an 

 article when all the ingredients are at hand, 

 whereas he would not do so had he to go and 

 purchase them for this express purpose. The 

 agitation should l)e violent, but need not be 



