1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



779 



bees before winter. It looks very discouraging 

 to see about (3000 sections all put up with full 

 sheets of foundation standing empty when we 

 expected them to be full; but such is the will of 

 Providence. Miis. W. G. Tittsworth. 



Avoca, la.. Aug. 2.5. 



REPORT FROM MRS. AXTELL. 



SOMETHING IN DEFENSK OF HONEY -DEW. 



This has been another year of failure of the 

 honey crop, except of honey-dew. We should 

 have had to feed largely this summer, except 

 for this honey-dew. The bees filled their brood- 

 combs very full, and sealed it up. so that much 

 of their winter stores will be honey-dew. It is 

 not nearly so thick and heavy and waxy as linn 

 or white-clover honey. When a comb is cut it 

 all readily runs out. For this rea.son I fear the 

 bees may not winter well upon it. not so much 

 because it is dew iioney. but because it is thin 

 and watery, even when sealed up. 



In this locality theie was honey-dew only 

 upon hickory-lrees. which for a few days near- 

 ly dripped with it. I notice that nearly every 

 writer in the journals, who speaks of the dew 

 honey, speaks disparagingly of it: but we are 

 very thankful for it. If it does not kill our 

 bees this winter, it has saved us fi'oin feeding 

 largely this summer, as our bees seemed to 

 get scarc<^ly any othei' honey. 



The hickory-trees could be seen glistening in 

 the sun a long distance with it on the leaves; 

 and all shrubs that were underneath were cov- 

 ered with the same sweet substance, and 

 swarming with bees. The very topmost leaves 

 were just as wet with it as the lower ones, and 

 no leaves were dry on vigorous young trees. 

 The smaller and younger the tree, the more 

 honey-dew. Old and large trees had not nearly 

 so much upon them. If that all came from 

 aphides, I should think the trees would have 

 had to be swarming with them, but they 

 were not. There were a good many, or several, 

 under each leaf, but more upon the top of the 

 leaf. Why do we so spleen to eat such honey? 

 Is it not just as clean as the milk of a cow or 

 goat, and much cleaner than to eat oysters ? In 

 this case we eat only the product of the insect; 

 but in the other case we eat the whole animal. 

 If we could get only honey-dew in the future. I 

 believe nearly every one would use it, and like 

 it too. At first I could scarcely bear the taste 

 of it: but now I rathei' like it. We have sold it 

 only in our home market, and people call for it 

 nearly as much as for good honey. We tell 

 them it is honey-dew. and to return it if they 

 don't want it. If they wish to buy it we can 

 see no harm in selling it; and as to its being 

 poisonous, as some have asserted, I am sure 

 they are mistaken. 



These honey-dearths will kill the suspicion of 

 manufactured honey more than all our denying 

 it. Last year we fed several barrels of dark- 

 sorghum molasses, and all the honey we got 

 was nice white honey. This year, as sugar 

 was so cheap we fed only granulated, and all 

 our honey is as black' as sorghum molasses, and 

 so is all our neighbors' honey. 



We have several hundred pounds of this dark 

 honey, nicely sealed ovei', and it looks quite well, 

 as the cappings Mi'c very white: andif not looked 

 through toward the light, it looks much like 

 fall honey, and not so dark as some white- 

 clover honey I have seen that has remained 

 upon the hives all summer. If it does not kill 

 our bees in winter, as brother Heddon thinks it 

 will not if well sealed up. surely we should be 

 thankful for it; but if it does kill them, what 

 then ■? Is not the promise, that all things shall 



work together foi- good to them that love God ? 

 Our loving God will make itforoui- good. If 

 we don't love him, and are not submissive to 

 his will, I suppose it will not be for our good; 

 for we shall feel like finding fault with God. 

 Job says. " Shall we receive good at the hand 

 of God, and shall we not receive evil ?" 

 Roseville. 111., Aug. 26. Mrs. L. C. Axteei.. 



[Perhaps it should be remarked that there 

 are some kinds of honey-dew that are quite 

 palatable, while others are almost nauseating. 

 A good deal depends, also, upon the likes and 

 dislikes of the individual. It is perfectly legiti- 

 mate to sell honey-dew when you can sell it as 

 such; and if the bees will winter on it, as I 

 think they will do in the generality of cases, 

 it is not so gi'eat a calamity after all, when 

 there is no nectar to be had from other sources. 

 But it does work havoc when the bees bring it 

 in along with clover and basswood, and mix it 

 in with the nice white .sections — sections that 

 would bring a fair price otherwise.] E. R. 



UNFINISHED SECTIONS. 



WHAT TO DO AVITH THEM. 



What is best in all cases to do with unfinish- 

 ed sections is a problem not easily solved. Dur- 

 ing the early and main part of the harvest we 

 have been in the habit of taking them out of 

 the super as soon as removed from the hive — 

 that is. the supers that are taken off to-day are 

 taken to the honey-room, and to-morrow each 

 super is emptied, the unfinished sections put 

 into a fresh super, and giv(>n back to the bees 

 as soon as possible. Taking out the unfinished 

 sections is not as much work as you might im- 

 agine. The supers are inverted, and by means 

 of a push-boaid th(^ sections are all removed at 

 once, or. rather, the sections are all held down 

 by the push-board, and the super lifted off. 

 Generally only the corner sections, at this part 

 of the season, are unfinished, and these can be 

 picked off without disturbing the T tins. After 

 the unfinished sections are all taken, the super 

 is inverted over the sections, pushed down in 

 place, and the finished sections are back in the 

 super all right. To avoid such a catastrophe 

 as the sections tumbling out while the super is 

 being inverted, it is necessary to have a board 

 under the supi'r to be inverted with it. If de- 

 sirable, the vacancies can l^e filled with finished 

 sections, a whole super of such being occasion- 

 ally emptied for that purpose. 



So far we could probably do better. But lat- 

 er in the season comes the difficulty. The sec- 

 tions are not finished as quickly; in fact, you 

 are not sure whether they will be finished or 

 emptied out. You hardly know whether to 

 give them a whole super, only half a super, or 

 whether it is best to clear every thing off when 

 the harvest begins to lag. 



If we leave any thing on, I think we have 

 generally the best success in giving only twelve 

 sections at a time. They finish them more 

 quickly if they work at all. and the honey is 

 not daikened as it is apt to be when they work 

 slowly and too much is given at a time. If 

 they don't finish them your sections are better 

 oft' than on; and by using 12 instead of 24 you 

 are likely to have only half as many unfinished 

 sections at the end oi the season. 



Of course, this will not apply to localities 

 where there is a good crop of fall honey, unless 

 it be toward the close of the fall harvest. Still, 

 it is an open question whether it is best to put 

 on 12 sections, or to clear every thing off' as 

 soon as the harvest begins to lag. and trust to 

 extracting if the brood-chamber Ijecomes too 



