650 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 15. 



while making a visit recently in the great 

 Yosemite Valley. July 9th our party went to 

 the summit of Cloud Rest, one of the highest 

 peaks in the sight of the Yosemite Valley. 

 The top of this mountain is over 10,000 feet 

 above the surface of the sea, and more than a 

 mile above the floor of the valley. About a 

 mile before we reached the top of the moun- 

 tain nearly all of the pine-trees were thickly 

 studded with what looked like great mammoth 

 drops of dew. As the sun was just about on 

 the meridian at the time, we of course knew 

 that it could not be dew. In fact, I knew at 

 once the real cause of the phenomenon. Sev- 

 eral of my students were with me, and I at 

 once urged them to divine the cause and 

 nature of these glittering spheres. Chaparral 

 under the pines was glistening with the same 

 thick substance. The students soon found 

 that it was not only a sweet substance, but 

 that the sweet was delicious to the taste ; as 

 one said, "It is as nice as the best honey." 

 They found that it was only on the chaparral 

 under the pine-trees, and so at once began to 

 search in the pines to ascertain the cause or 

 origin of this sweet substance. They examin- 

 ed many low limbs as far as they could reach 

 from their horses' backs ; and while they 

 found much of the nectar, some of it even 

 crystallized, they did not at once find any 

 cause for its presence. We were, however, on 

 a sort of scientific expedition, and had learned 

 to be satisfied with one or even several obser- 

 vations. So the young men kept on making 

 examinations, and soon found some plump, 

 dark - colored plant - lice. On many of the 

 limbs, these were so crowded on the twigs 

 that they almost obscured the plant. The 

 young men then looked at other plants which 

 they had examined before, and in every case, 

 higher up, the insects were found. We see 

 from this how easy it is to make mistakes in 

 such matters. 



I think I have seen honey-dew in very copi- 

 ous quantities before ; but I never saw any 

 thing comparable to this exhibition on Cloud 

 Rest. It was very easy to collect a sufficient 

 amount to get a good taste, and so it was very 

 easy to test the quality of the honey-dew. 

 The students had discovered its excellence 

 before they had found out its origin, and this 

 latter fact did not at all abate their appetites. 

 We can hardly be sure that the same would be 

 true had they known its source at first. Do 

 we not get a lesson, Mr. Editor, right here? 

 Is not nectar like people — to be judged by its 

 quality rather than its origin ? I have had op- 

 portunity in my life, several times, to test in 

 like manner this honey -dew secreted by aphi- 

 des, or plant-lice ; and I have found in nearly 

 if not every case that the quality of the nectar 

 was excellent. The honey-dew, on the other 

 hand, from coccids, or scale insects, is as sure- 

 ly dark in color and bitter and disagreeable to 

 the taste. A little of it will darken and spoil 

 the best of honey, while I doubt if we need 

 ever fear injury by the presence of plant-louse 

 honey. 



It is interesting to note the absence of bees 

 in this region. I did not see a single bee, and 

 very few nectar-loving insects. I presume 



there is not usually enough nectar to support 

 bees in the vicinity. I wish I might have a 

 good apiary right there for a few days. It 

 certainly would prove a bonanza. The honey 

 would surely go in as A No. 1. 

 Claremont, Cal., July 30. 



^ x xxTxxxxym mtmpxoxc^^^ 



IS IT GOOD BUSINESS POLICY FOR A BEE- 

 KEEPER TO MIGRATE TO A NEW I,OCAI,- 

 ITY.? HIGH LICENSE OR PROHIBITION; 

 REFORMED SPELLING. 



A few days ago I went over to Deacon 

 Strong's to borrow a post-auger. I never had 

 much use for one, and so I had never owned 

 one ; but I knew the deacon would be glad to 

 lend me his ; indeed, he seemed greatly pleas- 

 ed with an opportunity to do me a favor. 



After we had talked a little he invited me 

 out to see his bees and his chickens that look- 

 ed as though it was just fun to live and grow, 

 and I was about to leave when Charley Atkins 

 drove up, and in a kind of breezy way asked 

 the deacon if he could spare him fifteen or 

 twenty hives of bees next fall. 



' ' What do you want more bees for ? ' ' said 

 Deacon Strong. 



" What is up? " said I, almost at the same 

 time. 



" Oh ! " said he ; and he looked down at the 

 ground, and hesitated a little. "I have got 

 sick of this climate, and I am getting ready 

 to go to Cuba next fall. I am going to take 

 down a hundred hives of bees, and four hun- 

 dred hives in the flat to set up after I get there, 

 with foundation, extractor, etc. This climate 

 is awful — cold half the year and hot half the 

 year, a good deal like the place where Milton 

 consigned his devils where they would roast 

 part of the time and then freeze a while lest 

 they should get used to being frozen or 

 roasted, and enjoy it." 



I thought I would put in a word just here, 

 and said : 



" I have been down in the tropics myself, 

 and know something about them ; and, al- 

 though it is warm all the year round, or, per- 

 haps I should say, hot, that climate is not al- 

 together perfect, and I believe I like a chance 

 to cool off once in a while ; besides, I can 

 keep warm here in winter a good deal cheaper 

 than I can keep cool down there in summer. 

 I have studied climates a good deal, and I find 

 there are drawbacks almost everywhere. If 

 you stay right here you will get, in the course 

 of a year, almost all the climates in the world. 

 At any rate, I believe we have as large an as- 

 sortment as you will find anywhere. When 

 the mercury goes up to 95° I say to myself, 

 ' This is the way it feels and seems in Cuba, 

 but not so damp ; ' and when it goes 30° below 

 zero I realize how it seems in Greenland in 

 winter. When we have a drouth, and every 

 thing turns yellow, and the leaves wither as 



