1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



429 



The honey is also examined as to its purity. 

 The loss of one hand was the penalty for adul- 

 teration. It seems penalties were of a severe 

 nature. I will name another such case. x\ny 

 one stealing bees or honey, and caught in the 

 act, was, without trial, delivered to the sheriff 

 to be executed in a most terrible way. His 

 intestines were first wound around the tree 

 fro:n which he took the honey, and then he 

 was hung to the tree. 



The hives in use in those times were of a 

 very substantial nature. Let us watch one of 

 the keepers preparing a hive. We see him 

 standing on a ladder about ten or twelve feet 

 above ground, cutting a cavity from three to 

 four feet long in a large basswood-tree. Bass- 

 wood or pine was preferred, and oak rejected. 

 If a hive was needed for immediate use, the 

 cavity was burned out with a straw fire; if not, 

 it was just left to dry out. It was then rubbed 

 over with wax, an entrance-hole bored in, and 

 a suitable door fitted against the cavity, and 

 fastened. For centuries after this time the 

 most popular hive in use was the hollowed-out 

 log, three feet long, and a door fitted against 

 each end. The honey from these was gener- 

 ally not harvested till the winter was over. 

 The bee-keeper would then go to work and 

 cut out all the comb he could, whether filled 

 with honey or not, just leaving what was 

 occupied with brood. After the forests had 

 been more and more cleared off in Germany, 

 and timber became scarce, straw hives came 

 into use, and many bees are kept in such up 

 to this day. The majority of the modern bee- 

 hives are made of the more porous timbers, 

 like pine, basswood, etc., are double-walled, 

 opening from one or two sides, cupboard 

 fashion, not from the top, thus making it 

 practicable to tier up colonj^ upon colony 

 without inconvenience (just the thing for bee- 

 houses). Tenement hives are much liked. 

 Of late years a few bee-keepers are commenc- 

 ing to construct their hives after the English 

 and American pattern, giving access from the 

 top, and also using pound sections. 



The subject of hives and bee-keeping in 

 Germany has been treated more fully than 

 that of other countries, because the writer has 

 been more familiar with it, but has not been 

 given as fully in the above as in the original 

 essay. 



Naples, N. Y., March 14. 



SOUTH DAKOTA AS A BEE COUNTRY. 



Not as Good as Some other States. 



BY STEPHEN J. HARMELING. 



Dear Friend Root: — Some time ago I wrote 

 a few lines for Gleanings, which brought a 

 regular shower of letters inquiring about pros- 

 pects for bee-keepers in our State. I am too 

 busy to answer these friends; and since none 

 of the letters contained even a stamp, I can 

 get out of it nicely if you will let this go into 

 Gleanings. 



I would not call Dakota a first-class bee 

 country like Wisconsin or Eastern Iowa, ex- 

 cept the region of the Missouri River. The 



bottom is just as extensive here in Dakota as 

 in Iowa, and the flora as good. Basswood is 

 found on it everywhere, and acres of coreop- 

 sis, heartsease, and cleome (Rocky Mountain 

 bee-plant). There are no apiaries above Yank- 

 ton, on this river. The " Jim " River, though 

 not so rich in bee-pasturage as the Missouri, 

 is a good average location, I should judge, as 

 far up as Jamestown, in North Dakota. 



The level prairie country is not rich in nec- 

 tar-producing flora, but there seems to be a 

 little coming on continuously until the large 

 goldenrod blooms in August and September, 

 when there is a heavy flow that makes bees 

 swarm. My bees, I think, can be depended 

 on for, say, 50 lbs. surplus on such level prai- 

 rie to the average colony. 



The home market for honey is good. There 

 is no trouble in getting 12 to 15 cents for ex- 

 tracted. The flavor of Dakota honey is supe-' 

 rior. That of wild mustard is delicious. Chi- 

 cago has sent too much " Rose Honey " and 

 "Bumble-bee Honey" into these markets. 

 Chicago is really the meanest hole of a city 

 on the face of the earth. We expect all that 

 comes from Chicago to be adulterated. It is 

 so notoiious here, that people who have ever 

 tasted real honey can notice something wrong, 

 and now they suspect every thing that comes 

 from the East, and will pay a good price for 

 the home product, which they know to be 

 pure. 



FARMING FOR BEES. 



I believe farming for bees would pay any- 

 where in Dakota. Land is cneap. For in- 

 stance, catnip will grow here; single plants 

 four feet in diameter, and as high, and bloom 

 continually till frost, and bees working on it 

 all the time. White mustard, too, could be 

 raised, and the seed is salable. We have 

 clear skies and slow-continued flows from 

 many plants that will do well here. There is 

 no better honey to winter bees on than the 

 goldenrod of these prairies. It is ready to 

 seal almost immediately after gathering. Any 

 honey-plants that are indigenous to semi-arid 

 regions will do well here, and many others be- 

 sides, as mignonette, which makes a great 

 growth, and furnishes honey all summer till 

 cut down by heavy frosts. 



WINTERING BEES. 



This is not a difficult problem here. My 

 friend Mr. D. Danielson, of Clarkston, S. D., 

 winters right along with hardly any loss, on 

 summer stands, in chaff hives. Last fall he 

 placed five lots of small nuclei in a large hive 

 with partitions, before a window upstairs in a 

 bedroom, with small entrances through the 

 window-sill, and they are breeding up nicely 

 now. 



Caves and cyclone-escapes are good. The 

 earth is dry, as a rule, and the cave keeps 

 cool and sweet. Mine stand at 42° now, and 

 has not varied 3° all winter, and it is only a 

 hole in the ground, 7x16, and 7 feet deep, 

 with 3 doors, and a smokestack 6x8 in the 

 further end. 



Now, I would caution my friends not to 

 think this the finest bee country in the world. 

 I am probably a little over-enthusiastic; but I 



