IS.t 



GLEANINGvS IN BEE CULTURE. 



663 



" Jersey li_<rhtniii_y; " to the writer, for he iiii- 

 meiliately says thai not less than eii^jlit cases 

 were reported in New Jersey hist year (ISi)")). 

 In one case the poisonin.ij was on a wholesale 

 scale, fonrleen being- affected, six of them 

 severely. None dietl. At Branchvillc, S. C, 

 twenty persons were alTected, three fatally. 



In speaking of the Princeton ])oisoninij, the 

 writer says: 



The sections of coinh honey in the writer's hands 

 were carefully exaniinoi cx'tcinally, and found to 

 possess a normal pliysical appearance. l)ne section 

 wouUl not have aroused the least suspicion in odor, 

 color, or ta.ste ; but another section was quite dark, 

 reddish brown, possessed a nauseating odor and a pun- 

 gent, burning taste in the back of the mouth and 

 throat, in a measure resembling the first .sensations of 

 aconite. .A. number of persons were invited to take a 

 little of the honey, its character being unknown to 

 them : all immediately began to cough, and question 

 thequality of the prodiict. -V third section wasentirelj- 

 eaten by the writer and another person in a day and 

 a half "with no ill effects. A small portion of one 

 side of the comb posses.sed a mo.st plea.sant flavor, 

 while the remainder faintly resembled section two 

 above. The producer was not certain that all of the 

 sections delivered to the writer were poi.sonous. 



^Ir. Kebler then describes the eflfect of this 

 honey on a cat. He savs: 



The animal could scarcely be induced to move; and 

 when motion was attempted, first the fore limbs would 

 fail, and then the back limbs would give way. First 

 one portion of the body would sway in one direction, 

 then the other portion in another, reminding one of 

 a highly intoxicated person. Had the entire dose been 

 retained, death undoubtedly would have followed. 

 As it was, the cat had regained her normal condition 

 only at the end of 24 hours. 



The physician who attended the persons 

 afflicted with similar honey, writes: 



Only two persons partook of the honey : all the rest 

 of the family and the servants ale of each of the other 

 articles served for breakfa,st, and were not in the least 

 affected. Mr. and Mrs. Chambers took but a small 

 quantity, yet each noticed a peculiar, pungent, burn- 

 ing taste in the coml) as soon as it had pas.sed their 

 lips. In 1-') or 20 niini.tes afterwad Mrs. Chambers 

 was taken with nau-'ea, abdominal ijain, and vomiting, 

 soon followed by loss of conscio isness, coldne.ss of 

 extremities, feebly acting heart, and complete collapse. 

 While ministering to lier, Mr. Chambers, who had 

 also experienced the initiatory symptoms of pain and 

 nau.sea, suddenly exclamed, '• I can not see,"' and .soon 

 sank in a .state of syncope on the floor. In each case 

 the symptoms were similar — retching, vomiting, 

 purging, acute gastric and abdominal pam, and con- 

 tinued cramps lor some hour.s, with surface coldne.ss, 

 deadly pallor, and the general .symptoms of collap.se. 



No deaths resulted. Many plants are men- 

 tioned as being noxious, but they seem to be 

 very rare, and far apart. Kaliuia latifolia is 

 mentioned as being bad. While this writer 

 says no case of poisoning from heather has 

 been reported from Scotland, where this plant 

 ( Ericacccc ) is perhaps the chief source of hon- 

 ey, he still advi.ses bee-keepers in New Jersey, 

 where this plant abounds, not to put hives 

 where bees can have access to it. 



The reading of Prof. Cook's article, just 

 preceding, makes the following quotation 

 necessary, as it seems to refute, in one par- 

 ticular, what he says: 



When the poison is an alkaloid, as gelsemine, the 

 problem is easily .solved. The bees simply collected 

 nectar from certain narcotic plants. But some one 

 argues that it is impos.sible for these little creatures to 

 collect and store a poi.son and not be killed them- 

 selves. There is scarcely a narcotic herb that does 

 not give support to some form of animal life. What 

 is nourishment and life to one is frequently poison 

 and death to another. Many of General Braddock's 

 horses perished from eating leavesof the laurel during 

 the month of June. 17.>5, a few days before his defeat, 



vet phea.sants will eat an<l thrive on the buds and 

 leaves of the kalniia latifolia in times of scarcity ; but 

 their flesh becomes .so iierniealed with the poisonous 

 principle that persons have frequently been poi.soned 

 by eating it. Such a large number of cases of poison- 

 ing from tlii^ ....uir<- al ..in- lime uecurred in I'hiladel- 

 ]ilii:i tli.it 111. in.i\..i \^,|., i,,m)» Ueil to act bv prohibit- 

 ing tin- 11-.. ul j.li, a ,.1111^ i,,i i,„„l. Again, who can 

 positively -I. lU- tli.il the iii..rlality of bees is not in- 

 creased in jjuisoiious pasturage ' 



All who desire to read the article in full can 

 doubtless get it by addressing the journal re- 

 ferred to. It is printed in New York. 



NOTES BY THE WAY. 



With the Bee-keepers at Rocky Ford and Denver, 

 Colorado. 



BY J. T. CALVERT. 



On my way back from California I stopped 

 four or live days in Colorado. I spent a very 

 pleasant day at Rocky Ford with Henry F. 

 Hagen, quite an extensive bee-keeper who has 

 for several years been supplying the bee-keep- 

 ers of that vicinity with their hives and sup- 

 plies. Mr. Hagen produces comb honey ex- 

 clusively, and uses a section 4)^ inches square, 

 7 to foot wide, on T tins, in the regular Dove- 

 tailed super, made )i inch deeper to provide 

 for shrinkage in their very dry climate. He 

 prefers this section for much the same reasons 

 that have been urged in favor of the -1x5x7 -to- 

 foot Danz. section — it makes a pound to the 

 box, with a thinner comb and larger comb 

 surface. He has had no trouble in selling all 

 the honey he could produce, and much more 

 that he lias bought in that vicinity at good 

 prices. In fact, he was behind on orders when 

 I was there, to the extent of nearly a ton. 



Honey in this region is gathered almost ex- 

 clusively from alfalfa. There was a great deal 

 of cleome, or Rocky Mountain bee-plant, in 

 bloom, and bees w^ere gathering some honey 

 froni it. This honey is darker in color, and 

 stronger in flavor. The bees seem to prefer 

 the alfalfa ; and the great areas of this clover, 

 with the beautiful blue flower, generally fur- 

 nish abundant pasturage. We visited a num- 

 ber of bee-keepers in and around Rocky Ford, 

 most of whom follow Mr. Hagen 's methods. A 

 few bees might be seen at nearly every farm- 

 house. I was assured that, within a radius of 

 five miles, there were at least 200U colonies of 

 bees. In many parts of the country we should 

 consider this overcrowding ; but most of these 

 bees seemed to be getting plenty of honey. 

 Those surrounded by alfalfa-fields were doing 

 much better than were others in towm with 

 less of this source of their best honey near at 

 hand. This strip of land, several miles wide, 

 and lying to the ea.st and west of Rocky Ford, 

 and furnushing pasturage for thousands (and 

 I might almost say ten thousand ) colonies of 

 bees, depends upon irrigation almost entirely 

 for vegetation. As the river leaves the higher 

 ground to the west it becomes the feeder of 

 several large irrigating-ditches which follow 

 the high ground, giving just enough fall to 

 carry the water. Side ditches and runs dis- 

 tribute the water all over the ground, convert- 

 ing the almost barren desert into a rich garden. 



