1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CGL'IURE. 



881 



ful antiseptic, and good to have in the house 

 in case of stinging by ivy or nettles. 

 Vb 

 It is the custom in many parts of France, 

 according to Gazette Apicole, when a farmer 

 dies, to stop all kinds of work and activity 

 on the place as much as possible, even the 

 horses being given a rest. It is believed 

 that bad luck will follow if some such re- 

 spect is not paid to the defunct. If he was 

 a bee-keeper, it is customary, in some parts, 

 to strike on the hive three times, and tell 

 the bees that such a one is dead. In the 

 valley of the Hem they use this formula: 

 "Awake, little creatures of the good God. 

 A great misfortune has just happened. 

 Your master is dead. " After the burial the 

 bees are informed of it, which are then 

 at liberty to pursue their wonted v/ork. 

 Such a superstition is mild when compared 

 with some that were rife in England in old 

 times, one writer in Butler's Feminine Mon- 

 archy, printed in 1609, telling with all seri- 

 ousness how the bees built an altar and cel- 

 ebrated the Lord's supper. 



I have thought at times that enough had 

 been said regarding the use of honey for 

 food; but as new evidence is coming in all 

 the time, especially from Europe, that honey 

 is worthy of all that has been said in its fa- 

 vor, perhaps it is best to keep the matter 

 before the world for some time yet. I should 

 like to read the honey reports about three 

 months after the benefits of honey as a food 

 could be made known to the world. The 

 price would rise, no doubt. The following 

 is from the pen of the eminent Dr. Sangra- 

 do, and first appeared, I believe, in Abeille 

 Bo u rguign onne: 



Sugar constitutes, together with meat and fat, an in- 

 dispensable food for the maintenance of the normal 

 equilibrium of health. It is necessary to eat these three 

 articles in order to be well, while waiting- for the ideal 

 dishes the chemists have so long promised us. 



Up to the present time we have only milk as a com- 

 plete food— that is, including the three substances men- 

 tioned as being necessary for a daily ration. Sugar is 

 represented to a great extent in fruits, except that kind 

 which we use to sweeten coffee. One gets but little of 

 it from vegetables. It exists extensively in meats; but 

 the quantity which one thus assimilates is quite insuf- 

 ficient. 



In winter one has at his disposal, as sugared dishes, 

 nothing but pastry, canned stuffs, and honey. Pastry 

 is vei-y indigestible, and can not serve as a regular food. 

 Then there remain canned stuffs and honey. The first 

 are but slightly valued, and justly. As for honey, it 

 seems to me its usage is rather limited, and that is a 

 great pity, for it is a food and a medicament of the first 

 rank. Many people, especially in the country, might 

 own, without any great expense or pains, a hive of bees. 



Honey includes, in large quantity, sugar in conjunc- 

 tion with other food substances in a form eminently 

 easy to digest and assimilate. It does not irritate the 

 stomach, and passes through it rapidly, for it is not di- 

 gested by that organ, but rather by the intestines, as 

 are all the sugars. Thanks to the properties in it, it is 

 easily assimilated by the intestines without overloading 

 them for any undue length of time, as is the case with 

 certain ripe fruits. Besides, it is vei-y nutritious, and 

 nearly every particle of its own weight is assimilable. 

 I say nothing as to its taste. Each one can settle that 

 for himself. 



Honey is a medicament which can be used for various 

 purposes. Dyspeptics, whose real treatment consists 

 in a strict food regimen, should use it as a dessert in 

 place of cakes, fruits, and nuts, such as almonds. 



Honey has still one more advantage, which is that it 

 acts as a mild laxative, and that is a valuable property 



for habitual constipation, which gives rise to many dis- 

 orders. 



Without doubt it is owing to this double action that 

 honey owes its reputation as a narcotic. Hence it may 

 be recommened for sleepl essness. Two spoonf vds of 

 honey in a glass of water will suffice to induce sound 

 sleep all night. 



It is probable that honey, in such cases, serves to dis- 

 place indigestible foods, which, retained in the stomach, 

 disturb our nightly rest. 



That is not all. Honey mixed with water serves as an 

 excellent gargle, having, besides, the merit of being 

 very agreeable to the taste, either swallowed by acci- 

 dent or on purpose, for honey mingled with water is de- 

 licious; and the ancient Gauls thought such a beverage 

 was the drink of the gods, and termed it hydromel. 



PREPARING FOR WINTER. 



"What! preparing your bees for winter 

 so early, Doolittle?" 



"I thought I would pack and get a few 

 ready along as I had time, Mr. Brown. 

 There is no prospect of any more surplus 

 honey this year, and, as I have all my sec- 

 tions off, it will be better to get the bees 

 ready for winter now than to wait longer 

 about the matter." 



"Why? I thought November or the first 

 of December was early enough to do this 

 work." 



' ' Well, it is better to do it then than not 

 at all; but disturbing the bees thus late in 

 the season is not conducive to good winter- 

 ing." 



"Why not?" 



" On the first cold weather in October the 

 bees form their cluster for winter, and go 

 into a partially quiescent state after having 

 surrounded the cluster with honey near at 

 hand, so it is within easy reach of them, and 

 all disturbing of the hive after that causes 

 them to break cluster and go into an unnat- 

 ural excitement that tends to throw them 

 out of their normal condition. But were 

 this not so. why should the packing of bees 

 and preparing them for winter be put off 

 till the cold, snowy, or sloppy weather of 

 early winter?" 



" I do not know that I can give any good 

 reason, come to think of it seriously, and I 

 believe you are right in getting them ready 

 as soon as the honey harvest is past and the 

 supers are off the hives — at least I will try 

 a part of mine that way as soon as I get 

 home. I see you do not pack very heavily. ' ' 



' ' No. I learned some years ago that two 

 to three inches of packing proved better 

 than more." 



' ' Why should that be? Would not six inch- 

 es of chaff or sawdust keep out more cold 

 than two or three?" 



"That would look reasonable; and if the 

 packing kept dry I presume the thicker 

 amount would answer as well. But a large 



