1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



499 



probablj' thej^ have no name as yet; but 

 their number is legion. It may be asked, 

 if nectar-yielders are so common in the 

 tropics, why do we not secure immense 

 yields? During the greater part of the 

 year it rains so incessantly as to prevent 

 the bees from getting sufHcient for their ac- 

 tual wants, and with a warm temperature 

 their wants are great; hence feeding is 

 sometimes necessary. When the dry sea- 

 son arrives, however, the tables are turned; 

 and with the forest one vast mass of flow- 

 ers it literally rains honey. It must not be 

 supposed that, because there are no bee- 

 keepers, there are no bees. On the contra- 

 ry, stingless bees in countless numbers 

 people the forests and fertilize the seed; 

 and as they resist wet-weather conditions 

 better, they hold the field. If the torrid 

 zone ever beccmes a great honey region it 

 will be by domesticating one or more of the 

 stingless bees inhabiting the region. He 

 will be no amateur bee-man who efi"ects the 

 conquest, and his name will appear on the 

 list of immortals high above Reaumur, Ru- 

 ber, Langstroth, and Dzierzon; for if we 

 consider the extraordinary extent of the 

 tropics it will be evident that the produc- 

 tion of honey might be fabulous in amount. 

 However, this much does appear; and it is 

 a matter for the greatest jubilation that 

 many of the most celebrated tropical forest- 

 trees are really large nectar-yielders. ex- 

 celling the finest trees of the temperate zone. 



the characteristics of bisulphide of 



carbon; how to burn brimstone 



IN fumigating combs. 



On page 179 we notice you say you can 

 not detect fumes (sulphur) from bisulphide 

 of carbon. Just take a spoonful and pour 

 it in a teasaucer. Take a match and light 

 it, and hold it about an inch over the bisul- 

 phide of carbon. It will take fire something 

 like gasoline. The fumes will be of sul- 

 phur. Bisulphide of carbon is half pure 

 sulphur, the rest is carbon. I think the bi- 

 sulphide would run an auto, but of course 

 the sulphur would be detrimental to the 

 ironwork of the machine. We used bisul- 

 phide of carbon years ago for brimstoning 

 honey, in the same way sulphur is used, by 

 burning. We now prefer the brimstone. 

 Brimstone is much cheaper. The only rea- 

 son we used bisulphide was on account of 

 its being so easily lighted. We can now 

 set brimstone afire and it will burn till all 

 is consumed. If you try to set it on fire in 

 an earthen or iron vessel with simply a 



match it will go out every time, for the rea- 

 son the iron conveys the heat away so fast. 



To burn stick brimstone with only the aid 

 of a match, take a board about 7 in. square 

 and nail on a rim Js all around, so as to make 

 a sort of shallow dish. Now set it on fire 

 on the dish side. This can be done with 

 kerosene. After it has burned some time, 

 so as to char it, the fire must be put out. 

 Lay away till cold. The dish is now ready. 

 Take common stick brimstone and break it 

 into pieces about the size of walnuts. Brush 

 some of the small fine pieces to the middle. 

 Take a piece in the hand. Hold it near the 

 dish over the small fine pieces. Take a 

 match and strike a light, holding it under 

 the piece you have in your hand. The sul- 

 phur will melt and drop on to the pile of 

 small pieces of brimstone, and will be 

 alight. Build the larger pieces of brim- 

 stone around this so the heat will melt them. 

 The brimstone will all burn up. The 

 board will last for several burnings. I 

 used one an entire season, and have it yet. 

 Set the board, of course, inside of a pan or 

 kettle. Try this if you have any brimstone. 

 F. A. Salisbury. 



Syracuse, N. Y., Feb. 18. 



[The name shows that sulphur is one of 

 the elements. When I said I had not de- 

 tected the peculiar penetrating odor that is 

 so painful, I had reference to the fumes 

 that arise from it by natural evaporation 

 when no heat is applied. Yes, I believe it 

 would run an explosion motor, without any 

 doubt, and would be much more powerful 

 than gasoline. Yes, the brimstone would 

 be cheaper, and certainly safer.— Ed.] 



honey from an opium -plan t: would it 

 be poisonous? 



As a beginner I branched out last rear 

 in bee culture. I all at once realized there 

 were not enough of the wild or natural hon- 

 ey-producing plants to support more than 

 30 or 40 colonies to advantage. Having in- 

 creased the number to 100 colonies I got al- 

 most no honey. By chance I had a small 

 square of poppy-plants in my yard. I 

 found the bees would gather around the 

 blossons in very large numbers. It seems 

 to yield quite a lot of nectar, and they work 

 on it for about three hours in the early 

 morning, so I gathered enough seed to sow 

 one acre this season. It being an opium- 

 plant I was afraid to plant it until I could 

 write to some one as to whether the honey 

 gathered from these plants is poison or not. 

 I wrote to our State Entomologist, and he 

 refers me to you. J. A. Leonard. 



Albany, Ga., April 16. 



[I am not prepared to say whether the 

 honey would take on the peculiar poisonous 

 properties of the plant or not; but I know 

 this, that it is a common thing to put stands 

 of bees near large fields of seed onions. 

 When the honey is first gathered it has a 

 very strong onion flavor, and nobody would 

 buy it; but after it is fully ripened the bad 



