630 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15. 



of flowers, but something else when we are 

 talking about enriching the soil. — A. I. R.] 



" CogiTaTor" says, in American Bee Jour- 

 nal, that if powdered sugar is almost always 

 largely cornstarch, it has an important bearing 

 on the provisioning of queens for journey. 

 Worth thinking about. [We have used what 

 is called confectioners' and powdered sugar ; 

 but the former contains starch, without a 

 doubt, and it is liable to kill bees and queens 

 in queen-cages provisioned with candy made 

 with it. We have, during the last few years, 

 ordered powdered sugar, and specified that it 

 should contain absolutely no starch. Since we 

 have discovered that confectioners' sugar con- 

 tains starch, and have used nothing but the pow- 

 dered sugar without the starch, we have had 

 very much better success in sending queens 

 long distances. With powdered-sugar candy 

 we provision long-distance cages, sending them 

 to Italy, and then have them returned with 

 queens and bees. We have had several ship- 

 ments by mail, of a dozen each, with scarcely 

 the loss of a queen. — Ed.] 



Color of honey. Prof. Hunter's pam- 

 phlet gives photographs of six samples of 

 honey in test-tubes. Beginning with the light- 

 est, they range in shade as follows: 1, alfalfa 

 and melon bloom ; 2, white clover ; 3, alfalfa ; 

 4, basswood ; 5, sweet clover ; 6, knotweed. I 

 suppose there's no little variation in different 

 localities as to the shades of honey. Certainly 

 I have always considered alfalfa lighter than 

 white clover, but here it is darker. And is 

 basswood usually darker than white clover? 

 [The color of extracted honey from the same 

 source varies greatly in different localities, 

 and varies in the same locality in different 

 years. Alfalfa, as a rule, I think, is lighter in 

 color than white clover ; basswood is general- 

 ly a little darker, but only slightly so. Sweet 

 clover is a little darker, on account of having 

 somewhat of a greenish tinge. Knotweed or 

 smart weed ought to be classed as amber, al- 

 though I have seen some samples that were 

 very light-colored. — Ed ] 



I don't .SEE that Mr. Cutts gets a very sat- 

 isfactory answer, p. 499. Apis dorsata may 

 bring no ills to this country ; but so long as 

 there is a possibility that it may, it would be 

 the part of wisdom to stick to your original 

 opinion that none should be brought here un- 

 til it was known the}- could be domesticated in 

 their own country. Personally, I haven't the 

 slightest fear of them ; but if I lived in Ala- 

 bama I'd just a little rather not have any in 

 the woods. [Even if I lived in Alabama I 

 should not have the slightest fear of Apis 

 dorsata ever making any trouble. They 

 gather so little honey, comparatively, that 

 the amount they would appropriate would be 

 only as a drop in the bucket compared with 

 the quantity gathered by Apis mellifica — at 

 least that is my impression from all the infor- 

 mation I can gather. However, there is no 

 immediate danger of Apis dorsata being im- 

 ported into this country. Efforts are being 

 made to domesticate them in their own coun- 

 try.— Ed.] 



^I>icKiJsrG& 



$ffiOM OUR NEIGHBORS FIELDS. 

 'BrtSTC/soG-." - 



This hot July is rather dry, 

 And nectar comes quite slow ; 



Sweet clover helps to fill the gap 

 In Northern O-hi-o. 



tti 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Prof. Cook believes the food of larvse con- 

 sists of digested pollen, and that very nearly 

 the same food is fed by the nurse-bees to the 

 queen and drones. 



\h 



In his reply to Mr. Doolittle, Dr. Miller 

 refers to a habit many have of speaking of a 

 colony of bees as a "swarm." We always 

 change the word here when the error is obvi- 

 ous. To call a colon}' of bees a swarm when 

 they are working is like calling a thousand 

 men at work a mob or a regiment. 

 Hi 



In speaking of the advance in prices of 

 hives, etc., Mr. York says that is all right if 

 the price of honey corresponds. "But will 

 it?" he asks. Some years ago Mr. Heddon 

 took the ground that the price of honey could 

 not be brought up, as it is not a staple article, 

 and people do not care whether they have it 

 or not. The sale of some things, like flour, 

 sugar, tobacco, and liquors, will go on increas- 

 ing in volume, as men will have them, regard- 

 less of cost, especially — 

 \J/ 



Illinois is to have a State Food Commis- 

 sioner ; and the internal evidence goes to 

 show that the poisoners-general of that com- 

 monwealth are about to feel a sudden rise in 

 the temperature. Nothing is more intimately 

 connected with the public health and wealth 

 than the manner in which such officers do 

 their duty. If people have a right to know 

 •any thing, it is the nature of what they buy 

 to eat. Congress itself should act in the mat- 

 ter in connection with the States. 



ili 



Mr. C. P. Dadant writes a good article on 

 remedies for stings. He seems to have but 

 little faith in any of them, but thinks am- 

 monia might help if used promptly. The 

 trouble is, the poison is immediately taken up 

 by the blood ; and unless an alkaline sub- 

 stance can be brought to bear on the venom, 

 an outward application will not avail. Mr. 

 Dadant says the system becomes used to the 

 poison, so that it eventually does but little 

 harm. Grinn & Barrett seem to be the most 

 successful doctors. 



\ii 



To get rid of ants, Prof. Cook says corrosive 

 sublimate may be brushed along the floor 

 where the ants enter, or strings may be dipped 

 into it and laid along where the ants will have 

 to cross them. The ants dislike this poison 

 so much that they leave at once. Great care 

 should be exercised in using so rank a poison 



