18i>2 



(JI.KAN'INCS IN HKE CUI/rUKK. 



73<.t 



rilK sTlN(,l\(;-IU«i. 



Mr. ("has. Hlarkl)iiiii. Laintint. la., sends iiK' 

 M'Vt'ial spcoiiiii'ii<()t' llii' stiii^iiifi l)iis. I'lnjiinitH 

 enisn. Si'e my ■' Hoc-keepers (iiiitle," for de- 

 soriplioii and ei^lit, illustrations, showing its 

 stran','e anatomy. Tliey have Ixmmi (piite com- 

 mon lieiv this year. They hide in Mowers. (Es- 

 pecially goUlenidd: and when tlic bee comes for 

 pollen or nectar it linds it is taken in, as the 

 hng grasps it with its jawlike front legs, and 

 then spears it with its v(>ry sharp beak. This 

 last is so strong and sharp that tlie little bug 

 can liurt lis not a little: hence the name, 

 stinging-ling. I do not think they usually do 

 very much harm: but when so numerous as Mr. 

 H. iinds them— lifty on one llower— they will 

 destroy large numbers of bees. 



li(>es are now gathering rapidly from golden- 

 rod. A.J. Cook. 



Agricultural College. Mich. 



THE BEE-INDUSTRY IK UTAH. 



I have been seven years a bee-keeper, but this 

 is tlie lirst time that I have attemi)ted to write 

 to any of our bee-journals. I wish to express 

 manythanks to you. and to give yourself and 

 Trof! Cook the credit wliicli I think is due you 

 for tlie grand send-oll \\hich you heliied to give 

 the bee-industry in Utaii last winter. We have 

 kept the ball rolling, and the interest is still 

 growing. We have organized a territorial and 

 several county associations. A number of meet- 

 ings have been held, making bee-men more ac- 

 ipiainted with each other. Some good has been 

 accomplished, which may produce greater re- 

 sults in thi' future. 



THE CAUSE OF .SWAKMING. 



In (ii.EAMNGS. p. 61H. Dr. Miller asks what is 

 the cause of swarming. While there may be 

 several causes. I think the principal one is over- 

 crowding, or lack of room in the hive. I work 

 my bees on the dividing plan, and they do not 

 swarm. I have not had a swarm come out in 

 two years: in fact, when I do not neglect them 

 theydon't swarm at all. E. S. Levesy. 



Salt Lake Citv. Utah. Sept. 8, 18i»3. 



DRINKING COPIOUSLY AFTER VIOLENT EXEK( ISE. 



Friend Root: — I have just read (Jleanings 

 for Sept. 1st. Please don't drink so much cold 

 spiing watei-. Warm it a little, and then drink 

 all you want. When your liver gets to working 

 us iV should, you won't look on the dark side of 

 things so easily. A well-regulated liver leads 

 one to see every thing in its best light. An old 

 doctor used to say. that the liver is the " root of 

 all evil." I guess bilious people think so. Don't 

 you".' F. A. Blake. 



Rochdale. Mass.. Sept. r>. 



[Thank you. my good friend, for youi- timely 

 caution and suggestions. I can not discover 

 that drinking great quantities of wat(M- while 

 riding the wheel has ever donq me any harm, 

 lint perliaps I should add that I rarely drink 

 even so much as a teacu|)ful <it one time. Day 

 before yesterday Ernest and I went on our 

 wheels about nine miles to a mission Sunday- 

 school. We made the distance in a little more 

 than an hour. Before going into the school I 

 expressed a wish for some water. He objected; 

 but as I was at once called upon to speak I ask- 

 ed for a glass of water. A boy soon l)iought a 

 pretty good-sized goblet full. I drank it all by 

 drinking four times, three or four minutes elaps- 

 ing between the times of drinking, and I just 

 felt good and happy. My experience is. that 

 water taken in this way never does me any 

 harm. While riding on my wheel continuously 

 I drink great quantities by taking, say. half a 

 teacupful at a time. May be I drink perhaps a 



quart in this way: ami if the elTect of this is to 

 wash out and ch'aiise out i he liver. I am (juite 

 I'eady to accept your explanation. I do not care 

 for rcrii cold waUM" but tliat from our soft- 

 water springs has generally seenu'd about right.] 



running IP PRICE.S ON IIONKV. 



Advices yesterday are that commission u'en 

 were buying all honey available, for the pur- 

 pose of raising prices to 2.")c retail. I have very 

 little trouble in selling at this price for comb, 

 and ¥!l.7.> per gallon (\2 lbs.) for extracted, to 

 consumers: but I am producing flionnnjlili) 

 ripened, best quality at this price. This spring. 

 while transferring a box hiv(; I had occa^ion 

 to take out several pounds of unripent^d honi-y. 

 I ripened it in tin pans exposed to the sun until 

 it was thick, and sold half a gallon to a neigh- 

 bor. I did not like it. neither did mother, and 

 the neighbor complaiiu'd of its having a rank 

 flavor. It was fiom white clover. 1 afterward 

 sold him five gallons of thoroughly ripened 

 honey, and they were delighted with it. for 

 they ate it up a month ago. 



(}eo. E. Eradenbiijg. 



Kansas City, Mo.. Sept. 1(3. 



^ [W^e must confess that we have seen nothing 

 in the papers to the effect that commission men 

 were trying trying to make '"a corner" on hon- 

 ey. If true, it is good news, because honey is 

 so scarce this year that prices ought to rule 

 higher than last year.] 



REPORT FROM O. M. RLANTON. 



The cold spring, rainy summer, and over- 

 flow, cut the honey cro]) of Arkansas shoi't 40 

 per cent. On tlie Mississippi side we had no 

 overflow, the 300 miles of levees remaining in- 

 tact, and our shortage of crop will be about :.'.5 

 per cent. If I can get time I will ti y to wi'ite 

 you up the honey season and incideiiLs of the 

 overflow. 



I don't use tobacco, and I long ago quit any 

 beverage that has alcohol in it whatsoever, and 

 not to win youi' smoker. (Mtlier, but solely for 

 the good of the constitution. 



O. M. Br,ANToN. 



Greenville, Mis.s., Sept. 1. 



now TO TEST silver IN ORE. 



Tell our Missouri tin and silver miner that 

 the following blow- pipe analysis will answer 

 his purposes: Pulverize in a morter 8 oz. of ore 

 to a fine powder: place it in a glass or porcelain 

 vessel: cov<'r it with ('. I*, nitric acid: keep 

 away from its fuim^s and let it stand an hour, 

 or over a night is l)ett<u': then dilute with one 

 gallon soft water: add 2 oz. common salt. If 

 you have any silver in your ore. this water, on 

 the additi<jn of tlii' salt, will at once become 

 milky, and finally settle on the bottom as clal»- 

 bered milk. Pour off the water and wash this 

 residue until neutral. Place this curdy mass in 

 a glass vessel again; cover w^ell with C. P. 

 muriatic acid; place in the acid also a strip of 

 zinc 1x3 in., which will efferversce as it is dis- 

 solved, and a gray precipitate will be found on 

 the bottom. Collect this in a small cavity of 

 soft charcoal; add an equal amount of powder- 

 ed borax as a flux; now with your alcohol-lamp 

 and blow-pipe direct the flame on the mass for 

 a short time. and. if silver exists, it will appear 

 in little shot form, dancing about like fairies at 

 the l)ottom. If tin exists it will be in the resi- 

 due as putty powder. .1. P. Mukdock. 



Oxford. Fla. 



A POOR SEA.SON. BUT A GOOD FALL FLOW. 



This has been one of the poorest honey sea- 

 sons that I ever saw in this locality. I had 

 1100 lbs. surplus from ."lO colonies, all of which 



