252 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



April 1. 



bees as they came in and out, carrying them to their 

 young ones. I thought he must be mistaken with re- 

 gard to sparrows, but on our going to the hives and 

 seeing the damage they had done, I could hardly 

 think it credible. Being'a lonely place they had had a 

 "clear go." The place was alive with sparrows, and, 

 being a lonely spot, they had no disturbers, and prob- 

 ably never before had found food so ea.sy to get as 

 bees. However, after feeding them for a day or two, 

 in a direct line from the bedroom window, by the use 

 of my gun well charged with small shot, I soon re- 

 duced their numbers. We then took all the nests we 

 could find, and shot the sparrows whenever we could. 

 I am a lover of birds, but after such a treat as that you 

 may depend on it both tomtits and sparrows will re- 

 ceive a short shrift at my hands. They are welcome 

 to the dead bees and a few live ones too; but I object 

 to them coming in scores and taking them wholesale. 



After having had many recipes for the use 

 of honey internally, I am glad to give the fol- 

 lowing for making soap: 



Take 1 lb. of best soap; cut it up into thin slices, and 

 put it into a double saucepan, and melt. Add 2 oz. of 

 honey and 2 oz. of palm oil; stir it well, and boil ten 

 minutes. Then pour into molds. A few drops of oil 

 of cinnamon or oil of cloves may be added to perfume 

 it. A good soap can be made by omitting the oil and 

 using more honey. 



Concerning mice in the hive, Mr. Belderson 

 says: 



Ivooking over my hives in January, after several 

 days' rain, on lifting one roof I found the chaff cover 

 had been gnawed by a mouse. L,ater in the day as 

 the bees were flying I raised the corner of the quilt to 

 see if all was right. The admission of light disturbed 

 Mr. Mouse, who thereupon put his head out of the 

 entrance to the hive. I thereupon set a steel trap and 

 caught one mouse on the top of the quilts. Next day 

 I found another dead, also above the chaff cushions. 

 This one had died a violent death, as I counted six 

 stings in the head. 



\b 



BF.E-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



Mr. Hutchinson says: 



The value of bees to the fruit-grower and the horti- 

 culturist has become recognized to such an extent 

 that, at the last meeting of Wisconsin bee keepers, 

 one of the horticulturists, who owned extensive or- 

 chards, came into the room and offered a site for an 

 apiary, free, to any beekeeper who would e.stablish 

 an apiary upon it. 



The editor favors a law allowing the own- 

 ers of foul-broody colonies some compensa- 

 tion for colonies destroyed. That can not be 

 done, probably, as such colonies are of no 

 value anyhow; and if compensation is al- 

 lowed because the bees contracted the dis- 

 ease, then we all ought to have a pension 

 when we get the grip. 



REVUE INTERNATIONALE. 

 "We have just passed through a very un- 

 healthy winter. Folks ar- complaining ev- 

 erywhere of coughs, colds, grip, and influenza. 

 And this is not surprising. The temperature 

 makes incredible leaps, not only from day to 

 day, but even in the space of an hour. One 

 day it freezes, and the day after it is so warm 

 that we have thunder-storms not exceeded in 

 violence by those of July and August. Do 

 not forget that honey is an excellent reme ;y 

 for or at least a moUifier of diseases from 

 which we now suffer. Use it freely ; give it 

 often and liberally to yoiir children, and thus 

 avert many ills." — Translation. 



CALIFORNIA ECHOES! 



BY J.H.MARTIN. 



CALIFORNIA STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIA- 

 TION, HELD IN LOS ANGELES, FEB. 21, 22. 

 Robert Wilkin, our honored president, and 

 a veteran in the honey business, presided ; 

 and, though he had experienced some losses, 

 he held out a hopeful view of the future. In 

 his address he gave us some reminiscences 

 about the early bee-keeping in this State, and 

 it seemed a real pleasure to him to recall the 

 time when colonies of bees were sold for §100 

 each, and the honey for ?1 00 per lb., and also 

 bring to mind the year he went to London 

 with 70 tons of honey. 



Sec. Mclntyre was not present. Oil is now 

 the craze in California, and derricks are put 

 up and wells put down in all possible places. 

 Drillers were at work upon the secretary's 

 land, and he was watching for the oil to flow. 

 There was not a man in the convention but 

 hoped he would strike it rich. 



The comb-honey discussion brought out the 

 fact that cull honey is largely sold in Los An- 

 geles. Dealers who ship honey east ship the 

 best and dump the culls upon the local mar- 

 kets ; and when the bee-keeper comes along 

 with a No. 1 honey he finds the cheap article 

 in competition, and it breaks down the price 

 for the good horey. Remedy — produce only 

 cull honey for the home market. Further- 

 more, the farmer bee-keeper is a producer of 

 cull honey, and, still further, not one comb- 

 honey producer in ten knows how to produce 

 a fancy article. 



There was not much complaint manifested 

 about bee-paralysis. There is evidently not so 

 much as there was two years ago, and at the 

 end of two more dry years there will not be a 

 complaint. 



Ants are a troublesome nuisance in the api- 

 ary. To abate the nuisance, find the nest and 

 pour into it a spoonful of sulphuric acid ; or, 

 if the nest can not be found, rake air-slacked 

 lime over the ground. 



A noted San Francisco bee-keeper sent in a 

 paper telling how to get the early bee. His 

 plan is to feed in October in order to breed 

 young bees for wintering. That proceeding 

 may be necessary in the East, or in that windy, 

 foggy, and generally disagreeable San Fran- 

 cisco climate ; but the plan did not find favor 

 with the bee-keepers of this sunny clime. 



Foul brood was discussed. Even dry sea- 

 sons and dead apiaries will not cure the dis- 

 ease. Steps were taken to improve the foul- 

 brood law, and keep in line with the Eastern 

 States. 



A believer in improvements was present, 

 and stated that an uncapping-machine would 

 soon be forthcoming that woidd uncap six or 

 eight combs at once, and just by pressing a 

 button. The automobile was recommended so 

 strongly that it made a favorable impression. 

 One of the bee-men went right out and tried 

 to buy one. His name was Honey. 



