1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



63 



took the form of a call for the bee-keepers of 

 Cuba to meet at the office of Dr. James War- 

 ner, in Havana, for the purpose of forming a 

 society of bee-keepers. At the appointed time 

 the meeting was called to order, and a consti- 

 tution adopted. The officers elected were: 

 President, Dr. James Warner; Vice-pres., Sen- 

 or Pedro Casanova; Secretary, Harry Howe; 

 Treasurer, Senor Juan Ranelo. 



The president then gave a list of persons 

 proposed for honorary membership. It was 

 unanimously adopted. The)' are : Frank Ben- 

 ton, O. O. Poppleton, E. R. Root, W. Z. 

 Hutchinson, H. E. Hill, G. W. York. 



The secretary read the proposed foul -brood 

 law, and a resolution was adopted asking for 

 its passage. 



Sec. IX. is of interest especially. It reads, 

 " The inspector of apiaries shall examine all 

 bees imported into Culia ; and any bees or 

 apiarian appliances found to be contaminated 

 with foul brood shall be immediately destroy- 

 ed, without compensation to the owner. The 

 inspector of customs shall notify the inspector 

 of apiaries of all shipments of bees received." 



This paragraph gave rise to considerable 

 discussion, but seems to cover the ground as 

 well as can be expected. 



The purpose of the association, as stated in 

 its constitution, is to advance the interests of 

 Cuban bee-keepers, and that at present means 

 fighting foul brood. Harry Howe. 



HOW TO DRY OUT SQUARE CANS ; BEER-BOT- 

 TLES FOR HONEY. 



I have a plan for drying honey-cans, that I 

 have never seen in print; and as it is very ef- 

 fective, it may be of value to some one who has 

 not thought of it. After washing the can, I 

 turn it down in such a way as to cause all of the 

 water to drain down in the corner by the mouth 

 of the can, and after sufficient time has elapsed 

 for the water to drain down in the corner, put a 

 small sponge in and press it down with the fin- 

 gers. It will absorb the water, when it can be 

 pulled out, squeezed, and used again. I have 

 sometimes used a small rag, but the sponge is 

 better. If properly done, there will not be 

 enough water left in the can to make it rust. 



In putting up honey (extracted) to be sold 

 by the grocer I find second-hand beer-bottles 

 to be the cheapest and most convenient pack- 

 age I can get, the cost being about 20 cents per 

 dozen. There is an old darkey in this town 

 who makes a business of collecting old bottles. 

 With a little wagon and an old mule he goes 

 about crying, " Old bottles and flas'es ! " He 

 gives the little children, from whom he gets 

 nearly all his bottles, a stick of candy or a tea- 

 cake for each bottle, and I take his beer-bot- 

 tles at 20 cents per dozen. J. M. CuTTS. 



Montgomery, Ala., Nov. 13. 



WET-SHEET PACK FOR A SEVERE BEE-STiNG, 

 AND HOW IT WORKS. 



I want to say a word of comfort to those who 

 suffer from severe itching, resembling hives, all 

 over after being stung by bees, especially in 

 warm weather. My daughter, aged 12, was 

 stung by a bee last summer, and in half an 



hour her body was as red as it could be, and 

 swelled up in blotches and lumps of all sizes, 

 and she was in such agony that she cried out 

 aloud. My wife got a sheet, wrung it out of 

 cold water fresh from the well, and spread it 

 upon a bed, and, after taking off all of the 

 child's clothes, she laid her upon it and cov- 

 ered the ends of the sheet over her and patted 

 them down very closely. She then covered 

 her up with a lot of quilts. In fifteen minutes 

 she was asleep, and slept over an hour. When 

 she awoke she felt quite well, and the perspi- 

 ration was flowing freely. After wiping her- 

 self carefully with a soft towel, she dressed, 

 and felt as well as ever. Edw. Smith. 



Carpenter, 111. 



GETTING BASSWOOD SEEDS TO GERMINATE. 



I have had some practice in nursery work, 

 and have been very successful in germinating 

 seeds that many have failed in. The most 

 difficult, I think, I have found, have been the 

 "canna,"or, as often called, " Indian shot- 

 plant," and well named, because the seed is 

 as hard as a shot. The treatment with which 

 I have had the most success has been by taking 

 the seed and putting a lot in a tea-cup or bowl, 

 and pouring over them scalding water. The 

 water must be exceedingly hot. Let them be 

 until the water is cool, and repeat the opera- 

 tion several times. I have found instances 

 when I would have to do it for a full day. 

 After they have been scalded several times I 

 take the seeds out in my hand, and look very 

 closely at the outer shell of the seed, and find 

 a ragged tear, or crack, in the outside covering 

 of it. Those that crack in this way I plant, 

 and in a few weeks I have them growing. 



As basswood seed is hard, and of a like na- 

 ture, I do not see but that, were it treated in 

 this manner, it ought to germinate in a month 

 or so in the house, in winter, or outsir'e in the 

 spring. F. L. REHn. 



Collingdale, Pa. 



A GOOD REPORT. 



While reading of the unfavorable reports as 

 to the honey crop from the east, west, north, 

 and south, I have no cause of complaint to re- 

 port from my little pleasure-ground of 55 

 stocks. During the season I extracted 8884 

 lbs., besides, at a rough estimate, 1500 lbs. sur- 

 plus in hives, for new swarms next spring. 

 Average net price realized, 5^ cts. per lb., 

 cans, freight, etc., deducted. While I keep 

 bees more for recreation than for profit, still I 

 usually succeed in combining the two. My 

 best season in California was 1892. From 54 

 colonies, spring count, I extracted 22,397 lbs.; 

 increase to 72. Clear profit besides increase, 

 $786. My disastrous year was when I extract- 

 ed 840 lbs., and had my apiary decrease from 

 145 good colonies to 54 poor ones. 



D. E. StraTTON, M. D. 



Chinese Camp, Cal., Dec. 6. 



[This it should be said in all fairness is much 

 better than the average bee-keeper is able to 

 do. But it shows what good management in 

 a good location can do. — Ed.] 



