662 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



vSepT. 15. 



hives. He calls them both small, and a visit 

 to his yard shows a large number of twelve and 

 sixteen frame bodies. I can not explain his 

 system here, but it seems to have some decid- 

 ed advantages. He says: "It's the honey I 

 am working for, ' ' and I .should think he gets 

 it too. 



From his place I went to vSaginaw, expect- 

 ing to visit one or two bee-keepers there, but 

 failed to see them. I therefore started home- 

 ward, feeling well repaid for my visit to the 

 willow-herbers. 



AUSTRALIAN LUCERNE HONEY, AGAIN. 



BY E. TIPPER. 



3/r. Editor:— When, on May 15, 1896, I in- 

 nocently penned those few fraternal lines to 

 you containing a few items of local bee-news, 

 I little thought I was laying mj'self open to 

 such monstrous charges as appeared in your 

 issue of May 1st of this year, from Michael 

 Scobie. Notwithstanding your quite sufficient 

 reply, I, being accused of " abuse " and " slan- 

 der," feel I must reply. 



I spoke of the lucerne, or alfalfa, because 

 there had been some discussion in your jour- 

 nal then about alfalfa honey. In the month 

 of March, 1893 (our autumn), a flood of 

 a magnitude not known for at least some 

 seventy years, swept the valley of the Hunter 

 clean. It was not till the following August 

 (our spring) lucerne could be planted ; so in 

 the summer following (1894-'95), the lucerne 

 being young, there was very little honey from 

 that source. The following season ( 1895-'96), 

 and of which I wrote to you ( my letter being 

 dated May 15th of that year), the lucerne 

 gave a 'good flow of honey, but, as I have 

 stated, it was thin. We vdll now go back. 



My place of business is in the most central 

 part of West Maitland — right in the heart of 

 this lucerne-growing district. In 1893 I added 

 to it a honey-depot. Through the flood allud- 

 ed to, no honey came for my bees. I purchas- 

 ed honey from the interior, and worked up a 

 good trade. In 1895-'9() I gathered a few hun- 

 dred pounds from my own bees ( lucerne hon- 

 ey) ; also bought locally from several of the 

 best-known local apiarists, including sections 

 from Mr. Munday. But it was, as I have 

 stated, all //?/;/. My customers complained, 

 and the trade was falling off. I tried to thick- 

 en it by leaving it in an upper room under an 

 iron roof, but vidthout avail. While in Syd- 

 ney I mentioned the matter to a bee-scien- 

 tist, who replied that lucerne is a clover, and 

 all clovers yield thin honey. Strange at our 

 local show that year, honey (said to be lu- 

 cerne) of a density much greater than my ex- 

 perience had found it, gained prizes. The 

 members of my family and I examined it. We 

 said and say nothing. As I am in no waj^ 

 connected with any supply or queen-rearing 

 business, but must keep bees or cease to be 

 editor of the Australian Bee Bulletin, I re- 

 moved my apiary some 125 miles away from 

 Maitland, to be among the flowers whose hon- 



ey I found to be in most demand among my 

 customers, leaving my sons to manage my 

 business. 



This year there has been a great lucerne flow 

 on the Hunter. Lip to the present I have not 

 tasted the honey ; but at the Musselbrook 

 show, some six weeks ago, I was shown some 

 nice-flavored dense honey which I was told 

 was lucerne honey from Maitland. The con- 

 clusion I had to arrive at was that the lucerne 

 yields thin honey the two first years after it is 

 planted. Then, as Mr. Scobie says, as the 

 plants become strong and deep-rooted, the 

 honey becomes more dense. This may be a 

 very important bit of knowledge gained, that 

 may come in ver}^ useful to niau}^ an apiarist, 

 and who may thus become indebted to Mr. 

 Scobie for attacking me and thus bringing it 

 out. I have no wish, no interest, no desire, to 

 disparage lucerne honey. My home, my chil- 

 dren, and what I have worked for for years, 

 are at West Maitland, the center of the Hun- 

 ter Valley, and I intend starting another apia- 

 r}- there in the spring. I feel sure that all who 

 read the short remarks I made will saj^ it was 

 done in the spirit of truth. 



Maitland, N. S. W., June 26. 



POISONOUS HONEY. 



BY T. C. POTTER. 



Mr. Root: — I inclose you quite a formal and 

 exhaustive treatment of the question of poi- 

 sonous honey, which I cut from the August, 

 1896, number of the American Druggist and 

 Pharmaceutical Record. You may have seen 

 it ; but as it goes into the subject so far, re- 

 ferring even to ancient classical authorities, I 

 thought you might prize it and be glad to 

 copy it in Gleanings, or at least file it 

 away among your references for discussions 

 upon this subject, which, like the ghost, nev- 

 er downs. 



Indianapolis, Ind., July 3. 



[Just as I was getting ready to start for the 

 Buffalo convention the above came to hand. 

 As I have not space to print all of the article 

 in question, nor time to condense it, I have 

 asked our stenographer, " W. P. R.," to do the 

 latter. It is an important matter, and is 

 worthy of all the space it takes. — Ed.] 



The article in question is by Mr. Lyman F. 

 Kebler, Ph. C, B. S., Philadelphia. ' It is, I 

 believe, one of the fullest and most compre- 

 hensive reviews of the subject we have. 

 While space forbids a reprint of the whole 

 article, I will mention some of its points. 



Mr. Kebler tells the familiar story of the 

 trouble Xenophon's soldiers had with un- 

 wholesome honey ; also similar quotations 

 from vStrabo, Pliny, and others, to the same 

 effect. Nearly all the references to poisonous 

 honey point to Asia Minor as being the home 

 of tlie plants producing it. He says that at 

 Abaza, near the Black Sea, 25 tons of " mad 

 honey " is gathered annuall}^ for shipment, 

 to be added to intoxicating liquors in order to 

 increase their effect. Perhaps this suggests 



