14 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Jan. 



raised several hundred plants from seed in the 

 sprinsT that bloomed finely in the fall. 



As this is already too long, I will report on '•,[ der 

 plants next month. A. A. Fkadenburg. 



Port Washington, Tusc. Co., O., Dec. 13, 1880. 



Are yoii not a little hasty, friend F., in ac- 

 cusing the bee journals:' 1 have tested the 

 large kinds of rnignonnette on a considera- 

 ble scale, and, if 1 am not mistaken, have 

 reported in regard to the matter in these (col- 

 umns. Mv experience has been about like 

 that you give, if I except some small patches 

 that were sown on a very deep tine soil. It 

 has never come anywhere near the Siuipson 

 plants, in our locality. 



HOITIE DECORATIOjVS. 



ipkNE of the clerks came into the office a 

 IJ) few days ago, wearing an apron, the 

 ^^■^ print of "Which was beautiful speci- 

 mens of ferns and forest leaves. In answer 

 to my question as to how it is possible for 

 calico-printers to give us patterns so beauti- 

 ful and true to nature, I was told that it 

 was only home-made calico, prepared from a 

 piece of white cloth. By request, she has 

 furnished the following description of the 

 work. I presume our friends will study up 

 a great variety of ways in which this new 

 art may be applied. Some of the blank 

 books we use in our work have beautifully 

 embellished covers of leaf w^ork done in the 

 same way. Here is the description:— 



SPATTER WORK. 



To make these beautiful spatter-work pictures, 

 which every one admires, provide yourself with a 

 "spatter-frame," a tooth-brush, a saucer, some ink, 

 either common (not Oldroyd's, as it runs too freely) 

 or India ink, and some foolscap or sized drawing- 

 paper. Have ready some prettily shaped pressed 

 leaves, such as ferns, honey-locust, delicate vines, 

 or any wild trailing plants. Spread a newspaper 

 over a bare table, to protect it from ink-spatters; 

 lay your blank paper in the center of it, and arrange 

 your pressed leaves in any form you pleas 3. Fasten 

 the leaves down with pins or needles stuck through 

 into the table. Pour a little ink into the saucer, and 

 dip tke tooth-brush into it; shaking off all the ink 

 you can into the saucer. Now hold the spatter 

 frame over the paper and rub the brush lightly 

 across it, allowing the ink to sift through and fall 

 like spray on the paper below. Move the frame 

 slowly about, stopping occasionally to allow the ink 

 to dry, or the particles will run together and make 

 large dots. If the tint is not uniform, go over the 

 lighter places still more until a smooth tint is se- 

 cured. When the tint is several shades lighter than 

 it is intended to have it when finished, take off some 

 of the top leaves, which are required to be darkest 

 in the design, and then proceed with the spattering 

 again. When it is several shades darker, remove 

 more leaves, and repeat the spattering, and so on, 

 till only those leaves remain which are to appear 

 white in the design. Fine stems and tendrils may 

 be produced by careful scratching with a sharp- 

 pointed knife. Dark stems and veins in the leaves 

 can be produced with a fine pen or brush, using 

 strong color. Also, in the same way, decided shades 

 T,nd effects are made by the use of fine dots or fine 

 parallel lines drawn regularly, and of even thick- 



ness; but this is not necessary to the production of 

 very beautiful results. A little practice will make 

 you quite an expert in picture-making, and you can 

 decorate your walls as much as you please. Beau- 

 tiful tidies ahd pillow-shams can be made by spatter- 

 ing on book muslin or common bleached muslin in- 

 stead of paper. 



The spatter frame or sieve is an oblong piece of 

 fine wire cloth 5x3 bound with tin, and with a tin 

 handle attached to one end. 



What has all this got to do with bee-cul- 

 ture? some may ask. W^ll, I do not know, 

 really, unless we ornament our cases for sec- 

 tion honey by this plan, or, possibly, some 

 one may choose to make a hive and orna- 

 ment it with maple leaves, ferns, etc. 



WIIiliOAV. 



B 



FEW years ago I cut off a limb of what I 

 ^?\\ thought was the most beautiful willow-tree I 

 ever saw. It was standing at the head of a 

 grove, and I found it had been the stalk of the kill- 

 monark willow that had been broken off. [See page 

 599, Dec. No.] I planted it near my well. The sec- 

 ond summer, the abundance, beauty, and fragrance 

 of its bloom were the admiration of all who saw it. 

 The first season, the weather was such that the bees 

 could not work on it. The next spring it was 

 thronged with bees throughout the day; and, to my 

 astonishment as well as delight, they gathered not 

 only the pollen, but they also cut to pieces and 

 packed in their little baskets the entire anther, and 

 carried it to the hive. The flower, when well de- 

 veloped, is about I'/i inches long, and 5£ of an inch 

 in diameter. I have counted over 50 well de- 

 veloped flowers on 36 inches of a single cane. The 

 flower is of a rich golden color, and consists of a 

 center, out of which spring up hundreds of thread- 

 like filaments that support the anthers, or, it may 

 be, the flowers proper. These are nearly 1-16 of an 

 inch in diameter, and from 6 to 10 anthers are 

 enough to load a bee to its utmost capacity. I 

 can't give the name of the willow. It blooms very 

 early and continues in bloom from a week to ten 

 days. 



The tree seldom sends up a sucker, and never, to 

 my knowledge, any distance from the tree. To ob- 

 tain suitable canes for nice trees, or to bud the kill- 

 monark, the tree needs to be grown in a moist place, 

 and to be cut back every spring. To insure the 

 growth of such canes, they need to be cut before 

 blooming. I keep about 50 colonies of bees, and 

 have had such a desire to have them reap the rich 

 stores, that I have done my cutting after blooming; 

 hence my increase has been slow. I have no trees 

 for sale; but to satisfy all as far as I can of the truth 

 of my statements, I will send a tree to friend Root 

 for his grounds free of charge, from a cutting a year 

 ago last spring. I will send a cane also, such as I 

 plant, and a cane showing about what I have found 

 to be the maximum flowering capacity. I can fur- 

 nish about 1000 cuttings. For terms, see advertising 

 columns. Henry Gulp. 



Hilliards, Franklin Co., Ohio. 



Lest some of the friends accuse me of par- 

 tiality in permitting references to the adver- 

 tising columns like the above, I will explain, 

 that new and meritorious articles offered at a 

 low., price, which I think will be of public 

 benelit, I often advertise entirely free. We 



