430 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15. 



calls i+.) appear until we had had extremely hot 

 weather; and if we have only two or three days 

 of such \V(^the)', then apijears tiie nameless 

 disease. These diseased bees hatch out of 

 combs so full of pollen that there is only a cell 

 of brood here and there. These combs of pollen 

 get so hot during these warm days that those 

 scattering cells of brood which are almost ready 

 to hatch are almost smothered; the young bee 

 is oiled and shiny when it comes from the cell, 

 and such bees are never seen around hives kept 

 entirely out of the sun. Now, friend Root, if 

 you have ever had the bad luck to smother a 

 colony of bees in moving them, you have seen 

 a whole colony of bees that, when dead, looked 

 as if they had the nameless disease. I have 

 seen these so-called diseased bees eineige from 

 the cell, and never could Hnd them so until 

 whole combs of pollen had been stored, and the 

 hottest weather we c^ver wished for had come. 

 Jackson, Mich.. Mar, 13. L. J. Tripp. 



AN OLD BEE-ESCAPE. 



I send you a bee-escape that I have had 29 

 years. It may, perhaps, assist in developing a 

 better one for present use. Nearly all our sup- 



A BEE-ESCAI'E 31 YEARS OLD. 



posed new discoveries are modifications of some- 

 thing previously in use. We often think we 

 have something new; but looking over the old 

 magazines we usually Hnd that some one has 

 given the plan before, and we have simply 

 adapted it to our method of manipulation. 



L. C. Whiting. 

 Saginaw, East Side, Mich., Dec. 4, 1890. 



[The bee-escape which friend W. sent us con- 

 tains the marks of age. and on are stamped, 

 ••Patented 18(50, June :*0." Friend Whiting's 

 statement above verities almost exactly, as you 

 see, what we have said very recently in the ed- 

 itorials in regard to many things being very old. 

 which we sometimes suppose to be very new 

 and original. We understand you lo say, friend 

 W., that you used this device for a bee-escape. 

 If so, it rather antedates some new inventions 

 made within the last two or three ycai's.] 



BEARS AND BPIES; HOW THE OLD HONEY-THIEF 

 AVAS KILLED. 



Friend i?oot;— Perhaps you will remember 

 my letter which was published in Gleanings 

 about our experience Vvith bees and beais. It 

 might be interesting to you to know that we 

 had the pleasure of killing what we believe to 

 be the old honey-thief. When we began work- 

 ing at the mill last summer, we found, by the 

 number of tracks, that Bruin was still on deck. 

 But we found it easicu' to find tracks than bears. 

 One day when my brother John and myscslf 

 were out prosi)ecting for timber, as we were 

 crossing a small ravine John caused my hair to 



rise by excitedly pointing at a large pine-tree 

 up the hollow, and saying it was full of bears. 

 We crept cautiously up behind a clump of 

 brush, and peeked around. We saw an old 

 she-bear and cub perched up in the tree, taking 

 in the surroundings; and, not appearing to 

 think us worthy of notice, John claimed the 

 first shot, and then business commenced, thirst 

 the old one gave an unearthly groan when a 

 bullet struck her. and I'eared over backward, 

 making the dry limbs crack as she went down. 

 The cub quickly followed her, and we eagerly 

 rushed up to see our game, and met the big one 

 coming down with a friendly grin on her coun- 

 tenance, showing two rows of gleaming white 

 teeth. Another shot in the head stunned her, 

 and a knife finished her. The cub we found 

 dead where it had fallen, and we felt brave and 

 happy; for, although I have seen a good many 

 bears, these were the first I ever helped kill. 

 Mapleton. Utah, Apr. 4. E. M. Whiting. 



A CHEAP HIVE -cover. 



Fvioid Roof,;— I see quite a number of arti- 

 cles in Gleanings in regard to cheap material 

 for hive-covers. I use the Simplicity cover 

 frame, and cover it with ^g or ^i inch box- 

 boards for a foundation, then covei' that with 

 Fay's manilla roofing - paper. This makes a 

 cheap, light, durable, water-tight cover. I have 

 coverss that have been exposed to the action of 

 the weather for three years, and are apparent- 

 ly as good as new. They j-equire painting an- 

 nually. The company furnish a paint at $1.25 

 l)er gallon. It is about the consistency of water, 

 and a gallon will paint 100 or more covers. I 

 winter on summei- stands with an outside case 

 similar to Mr. J. A. Green's arrangement, and 

 use forest-leaves for packing. I do not lose two 

 per cent in wintering. J. R. Morrison. 



Bates, 111., Apr. (5. 



A TEXAS HONEY-PLANT. 



Mr. A. J. Cook:—! herewith send you an 

 herb that I wish you to name for me. It is a 

 natural growth in our part of the country, and. 

 in my o})inion, is a good hon(>y-plant. My 

 bees work on it all day long, just as thick as 

 they do on buckwln^at; average height, as per 

 sample sent. It blooms the middle of March, 

 and continues in bloom five or six weeks. To 

 walk through th- paLch it has a sweet-smelling 

 scent. W. J. Crowley. 



Grapevine, Texas, April 10. 



[Prof. Cook replies:] 



The plant sent by Mr. Crowley, I do not Hnd 

 desci'ibed in Gray"s Manual. Dr. Beal tells me 

 that it is T'c.s/,Cftria NiittdWl. Thus we see 

 that it belongs to the mustard family, and is 

 closely related to mustard and rape. Thus we 

 need not be surprised at the good words spoken 

 for it by Mr. C. It would be interesting to know 

 whether it is a serious weed like mustard. If 

 not, it might pay to scatter the seeds in waste 

 places wherever it would grow. I should be 

 pleased to receive seeds, that I might try it 

 hei'e. A.J. Cook. 



Ag'l College, Mich.. A))r. IC). 



ANOTHER SIMPLE WAY OF TELLING ADULTER- 

 ATED WAX. 



On page 334 I notice that a correspondent 

 wishes to know how to tell adulterated wax. 

 Although the way you give is good. I now give 

 a more simple plan which was told me by a per- 

 son who was for a long time employed in a 

 large wholesale drug house in Albany. I have 

 tried it frequently, and find it coiTect, as far as 

 my experience goes; and if it is new to your 

 readers, I hope they will experiment and report. 



