1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



763 



sary to success. Mr. Jones' start in bee-keeping con- 

 sisted of a single colony captured in the woods, in 

 1880 Owing to limited means the care and increase 

 of his stock was carried on for several years without 

 so much as a smoker, honey-knife, or extractor. The 

 season of 1884 brought him a crop of honey averaging 

 over 228 pounds to the hive from his nine stocks, to- 

 gether with an increase to 35 colonies. 



He says further : 



Had I known then as much about the production of 

 honey as I do now, I should certainly have been rich- 

 er by some thousands of pounds. Even to-day, with 

 all the low priced literature upon the subject of bees, 

 many are content to grope along in ignorance with- 

 out it. 



ib 



Mr. Fr. Greiner contributes an interesting 

 article relative to the various characteristics 

 of blacks, Carniolans, and Italians. I quote 

 one paragraph : 



I will now name two points wherein the Italians ex- 

 cel the other two races (blacks and Carniolans). First, 

 they generally store much more pollen in their combs; 

 second, they are apt to gather more propolis, both be- 

 ing undesirable properties, considered from the comb- 

 honey producer's standpoint. 



As to capping honey, Carniolans stand at 

 the head of the list, and will send out the 

 most swarms ; Italians will swarm the least. 

 "If left undisturbed," the writer says, "Ital- 

 ian bees will fill their brood-nest with honey 

 to such an extent as to prevent the rearing of 

 an excess of brood. This is probably the rea- 

 son why they do not enter the section-cases as 

 readily as the blacks and Carniolans. On this 

 account I would not hesitate to adopt general- 

 ly the Italian bee." In capping, Mr. Greiner 

 says Italians fall away behind. While circum- 

 stances and locality might at times modify the 

 results obtained by the use of these three 

 kinds of bees, there is no doubt that Mr. 

 Greiner is correct in most of his conclusions. 

 As a fitting wind-up to this matter I would 

 refer the reader to the article of S. P. Culley, 

 in this issue. He suggests getting a bee con- 

 taining the good qualities of all these strains 

 and others. 



it/ 



The following, from the Syracuse Posi- 

 Standard of Sept. 5, is interesting reading : 



An enterprising young woman who will enter Syra- 

 cuse University this fall is Miss Mary Mills, from Fair- 

 mount. She will pay her own college expenses, and 

 she is to do it by her bee-keeping. For two years 

 since she was graduated from the High School she 

 has been in the business at her father's farm, two 

 miles outside of the city, and she has made it pay. 

 At the State Fair last week she took a first prize for 

 her bees and several prizes for her honey. 



Miss Mills has found that this kind of work brings 

 her in more money than school-teaching or some other 

 things might. Her eighty colonies of bees she takes 

 entire charge of. They are in a vineyard, this site be- 

 ing chosen .so that, when they swarm, they will be 

 likely to alight on the vines, where they can be easily 

 captured. When they take to a tree she gets a ladder 

 and goes after them just the same. She is dressed so 

 that she can. The costume that she wears in her 

 work is built specially for it. It consists of bloomers 

 and a short skirt of denim. Brown is the color chosen, 

 because, as Miss Mills says, bee-keepers have observed 

 that the bees like this shade, and are much more ami- 

 cably inclined toward people who wear it when about 

 them. On her head she wears a regular farmer's 

 straw hat. It is tied around by a black silk veil tuck- 

 ed snugly into her neck all around for protection, be- 

 cause if the bees should get down her collar there 

 would be trouble. On her hands she sometimes wears 

 kid gloves, but this she says is more to keep her fin- 

 gers soft and pliable for playing the piano than be- 

 cause she is afraid of the bees. They seldom sting 

 her, anyway, and she often works among them with 

 bare hands. 



A person's safety among the bees, she .says, depends 

 much upon his or her temperament. One must be 

 perfectly calm and self-possessed. The slishtest nerv- 

 ousness they notice in a moment, and even a twitch- 

 ing of a mu.scle of the face will attract their attention 

 and excite their animosity. 



The hives must frequently be fitted out with frames 

 and boxes in which the honey is stored. All the car- 

 penter work necessary in putting these together Miss 

 Mills does herself, and she can handle a hammer eas- 

 ily. Much of her honey she sells in neat little pound 

 boxes. More of it she s Us as extracted honey, which 

 is used as a syrup. The extracting is a special depart- 

 ment of her work. The honey is taken from the hives 

 in frames, not boxes, and the.se are placed in a ma- 

 chine which throws the honey out by means of cen- 

 trifugal force. 



Sweet-clover and alfalfa-clover and basswood blos- 

 soms are relied upon to furnish the best honey. Buck- 

 wheat blossoms furnish a darker variety, which is not 

 so much in demand. She subscribes regularly to a 

 magazine devoted to bee culture. Her bees take about 

 three days a week of her time. 



\l< 



The following was meant by Dr. Miller for 

 a Straw in the previous issue ; but as it be- 

 longs more particularly in this department I 

 concluded to use it here : 



Will Stenog please rise and explain the concealed 

 joke on Bro. York that he has in asking what kind of 

 clover it was where "one ^weet clover plant" was set 

 to each hive? If he means that in this case " sweet 

 clover " becomes a compound adjective, and must be 

 written "sweet-clover," Stenog better commence near- 

 er home before throwing stones at the Chicago fellow^. 



Yes, I simply meant that ^'sweet-clover 

 plant " indicates a plant from sweet clover, 

 and that "sweet clover plant ^' means any 

 clover plant that is sweet. The two meanings 

 are exactly opposite, as all will agree. But I 

 do object to the idea that I was " throwing 

 stones " at anybody, or even saying any thing 

 unkind, much less to the writer, whose name 

 I did not even notice. But he noticed it, and 

 in apparent indignation he orders Gleanings 

 discontinued. I have explained the matter to 

 him, and hope all will be pleasant in the fu- 

 ture. Dr. Miller says, very rightly, the 

 "drive," if any, was on Mr. York, and not 

 on his correspondent. But i.sn't life too short 

 to be spent in taking umbrage at such trifles? 

 and perhaps the omission of the hyphen was 

 a trifle too. Although I have always studiously 

 avoided the hurting of any man's feelings in 

 any thing I have written, I see I must be still 

 more careful. 



wimmm: 



l^^^-^Sj^^^ 



HONEY VINEGAR. 



How to Make a First-class Article for Market. 



BY MRS. A. J. B.\RBEK. 



I have had so many inquiries about making 

 vinegar lately, that, being very busy, I can 

 not answer by letter, so I will write to Glean- 

 ings for all. To give short directions, I will 

 say : 



Use about one pint of honey to the gallon 

 of water (you will soon be able to tell by the 

 taste when it is sweet enough). Put it into a 



