1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



961 



in their locality. Spanisli needle, an amber- 

 colored honey, which forms; a large part of their 

 crop. is. in their estimation, just as good as the 

 best white honey. 



There were quite a number at the convention 

 who expressed it as their opinion that, accord- 

 ing to the first grade adopted, there would be 

 very little first-grade honey put on the market. 

 I would not grade as closely as Dr. ^Filler does. 

 Personally, I can see no reason for throwing a 

 section out as second class simply because the 

 comb is not sti'aight. I also believe that a sec- 

 tion that is only slightly travel-stained, say 

 just tinted on the lower edge, ought to be al- 

 lowed as first class. Neither would I rule one 

 out that has only three or four cells uncapped 

 in one corner of one side, if all the rest of the 

 section were perfect. Nor would I rule out a 

 section if the wood were somewhat stained with 

 propolis, providing it was carefully scraped. 



Suppose you receive an order from a man for 

 a lot of first-class honey, and you send him 

 buckwheat. Do you suppose he would be sat- 

 isfied with it? I don't. We have no fault 

 found with the way in which we gi'ade our 

 honey, but I am not sure how long we could 

 say that if we were to send dark honey as first- 

 chiss, and that is allowable providing we .send a 

 whole case of it. You may say it is to go as 

 first-class buckwheat. I am afraid we are go- 

 ing to get into hot water if we undertake to 

 have so many different kinds graded, and that 

 it will be much more ditificult to tell first-class 

 honey than it is at present when each one is 

 allowed to grade according to his own notion. 

 Still. I believe it would be an excellent thing to 

 have a standard system of grading. 



Marengo. 111.. Nov. M. Emma Wilson. 



MRS. AXTELL'S LETTER. 



CURES FOR BEE-STINGS. 



Nearly every one has his or her cure for bee- 

 stings. May it not be tliat none of them amount 

 to much, as the poison is injected into the flesh 

 so far that remedies on the outside do not reach 

 the poison ? It looks reasonable that, the soon- 

 er tlie sting can be withdrawn, the less poison 

 is thrown into the system. I have noticed the 

 little sting working away for some moments 

 after the bee had left it when thrust into my 

 clothes, still injecting poison. If my hands are 

 not full I always quickly scrape the sting off 

 with a finger-nail, but more often I rub the 

 sting off by rubbing my hand down my side 

 rather than wait to free ray hands to scrape it 

 off witli my nail, as each moment of delay 

 makes much difference in the amount of poison 

 tlirown into the system: therefore a person who 

 is quick in his movements does not get so much 

 poison as one who is more deliberate in his move- 

 ments: yet, because one moves quickly he .will 

 be -Stung more often. Once at a bee-convention 

 near Oquawka, this State, an old man. an ed- 

 itor, came in: and when an opportunity for him 

 to speak was given he told of a preventive for 

 bee-stings, as practiced by a friend of his, and 

 that was to catch a pig or hog and rub his 

 hands all over on the pig. thus leaving the 

 scent of the pig on the hands. I never had 

 faith enough in the preventive to try it, but I 

 have sometimes wondered why bees were more 

 inclined to sting one person than another, es- 

 pecially when the one stung the least was the 

 grosser in his make-up. often having a rank 

 smell to his breath. Possibly the breath was a 

 repellant, like the fumes of tobacco blown from 

 a smoker. Some of the antidotes to bee-stings 

 are soda moistened with vinegar, and applied 

 as a poultice. Mashed onion, moistened clay 



or black earth, crushed plantain-leaves, a slice 

 of fresh meat, are good. Scrape the wound 

 with a sharp knife two or three times, then rub 

 it as little as possible thereafter. The more 

 it is rubbed the more will it swell. 



As the poi-son is formic acid, it looks reasona- 

 ble to use an alkali as a remedy, if any thing is 

 used. After any or all the alwve remedies are 

 applied, the pain will cease, and so it would, 

 perhaps, just as soon if nothing is used, espe- 

 cially if tlie person keeps right on with his 

 work .so as to forget the sting. The latter rem- 

 edy is what I use: and the harder the sting 

 pains, the more rapidly I try to work; but with 

 timid peisons, especially new helpers at bee- 

 work, they are ijetter satisfied to apply some 

 remedy. 



TO KEEP GRAPES. 



Bee-keepers and their families are generally- 

 great lovers of fruit, and I notice that, as a 

 class generally, they have fruit upon their ta- 

 bles when it is to be had. I will mention how 

 we found grapes to keep well for a long time, 

 even until near Cliristmas. Pick them careful- 

 ly, so as not to bruise them or rub off the bloom 

 (that is. the thin white floury substance upon 

 the outside). If any are nuished. pick those off. 

 but do not handle them much. Lay a layer of 

 cotton batting in a shallow box. then, as picked 

 from the vines and looked over bunch by 

 bunch, lay them upon the batting so as not to 

 handle over twice. Now cover over with bat- 

 ting. Lay on top a thin Ijoard (our honey- 

 boards are what we use), and cover over with 

 batting: then lay on grapes close together, but 

 not to pile up. Now cover these with batting 

 and tuck up carefully so as to exclude the flies 

 and the air as much as possible. This will 

 cause them to keep sound and plump for a long 

 time — much more so than if hung up. or with 

 paper between them, as some recommend. 

 Some use bran, but we prefer the batting. Set 

 the box or boards away in a cool place where 

 there are no mice to work in the batting. The 

 cellar would be preferable, some say, but we 

 kept ours tipstairs where there are no mice. 

 They should not be jostled or handled much 

 after being thus prepared. They will spoil 

 soon after being taken from the "batting, as 

 they fall from the stems if jostled. 



Another way to put up grapes is to prepare a 

 syrup rich enough to sweeten them well, ac- 

 cording as one pi'efers. Pick over tlie grapes 

 and put into a jar: heat the syrup to boiling, 

 and poui- over the grapes: let cool, and heat 

 again. This time the syrup will have increased 

 enough to cover them. Pour off three times, 

 and scald before getting quite cool the last two 

 times: then seal it up in a can or jar. This 

 treatment will preserve the grapes whole. They 

 look beautiful, and taste very nice. The Niag- 

 ara, a white grape, looks well thus treated, as it 

 has a tough skin that is not easily liroken. 



Grape butter is nice made from half grape 

 and half apple. Press the grapes through a 

 colander: stew to a rich sauce, all the while 

 stitTing if on the top of the stove. When near- 

 ly done, add nearly as much sugar by weight, 

 if to be very sweet: less sugar will make good 

 sauce, or it may be cooked in the oven in a 

 crock with but little stirring. 



Roseville. 111., Nov. 10. Mrs. L. C. Axtei.l. 



TAN BEES BITE ? 



Womanlike. I should like to have the last 

 word. D)-. Miller says. "Bees have a biter." 

 and I say that tiiey have not : and I'll keep on 

 saying it until I have the last word, until I am 

 convinced that they have a " biter." Thev 

 have a picker but no biter. They will pick 

 away at the fuzz on muslin until they make a 



