30 



GLEAXINGS IX BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 



STINGS AND RHEUMATISM. 



I saw a notice of stings and rheumatism in your 

 magazine. I have been stung less than 500 times; 

 but before being stung, I suffered from rheumatism 

 in my shoulder, and it has all gone, and I have 

 thanked the bees for it. A bee-sting poisoned me 

 frightfully, and, as a remedy, I find nothing so good 

 to keep down the swelling and allay the intlammation 

 as the brine of mackerel. Hub on quickly and free- 

 ly. Mrs. a. E. JORD.i^N. 



Redding, Ct., Nov. 25, 1880. 



LEARNING TO MAKE BARRELS FROM A BOOK, ETC. 



I see, in Nov. Gleanings, that Mr. Isaac B. Kum- 

 ford, of Bakerstield, Cal., thinks he might be able to 

 gain sutficient knowledge from books to enable him 

 to make barrels to hold his honey, if there was any 

 work published on the subject of cooperage. I 

 woi'ked at the coopering business nearly forty 

 years, and yet never heard of a book on the subject. 

 The thing is entirely impracticable, any way. 1 

 know from expc^rience that the trade can not be 

 learned from books. There have been instances 

 where men have picked up sulticient skill to make 

 what we call slack work,- -potato, apple, or salt bar- 

 rels; but to make a barrel to hold honey requires a 

 tirst-class workman, and even then, about every 

 other one Avill leak. He had better offer some good 

 cooper an interest in his apiary, and get him to lo- 

 cate with him. I am not saying this, thinking he 

 will make mo an offer, for I have quit the trade, and 

 am raising honey. I think Northern Iowa, take it 

 one j'ear with another, will compare with California 

 as a honey country. I ha^e not had what might be 

 calle<J a poor season in the last ten j-ears. 



Brush Creek, Iowa, Nov. !•, 1880. B. F. Little. 



X"o\v, friend L., I do not want you to say 

 too much against booli learning, and making 

 things witliout learning the trade; for, first 

 you know, somebody will tell us of having 

 inade barrels that will hold honey, without 

 lieing any cooper at all. 1 know it requires 

 skill to make a barrel tliat won't leak with- 

 out Avaxing, for I have had some trials with 

 leaky barrels. 



A beginner's troubles, ETC. POLLEN-GATHERING 

 IN NOVEMBER, ETC. 



I have just stepped into the ABC class at the 

 foot. There is no one below me, and of course I 

 wish to make some advance. Tctward the latter 

 part of last September I received a hive of bees 

 from A. W. Cheney, Orange, Mass., said to be Ital- 

 ians, and I presume they are. I think I can see 

 three yellow bands, and that is all 1 know about it. 

 I took the hive to pieces, according to his directions, 

 which was no small job, every thing being spiked 

 together with ix'd nails, wherever there was a place 

 to drive one in. I noticed that the combs were not 

 verj- full, and one or two had no honey at all, and I 

 thought they would likely be short of stores before 

 spring; and, as you gave directions for feeding 

 coffee A sugar syrup, 1 sent to you last month and 

 got two feeders, and have given them about 13 lbs. 

 The bees will carry in a pint in an hour. I selected 

 the warm pleasant days to feed them in. Since I 

 began, they have appeared more lively; and when 

 I go about the hive they come around me and seem 

 to say, "I would like some more of that nice syrup 

 you gave us the other day." Now, right here I am 

 brought to a stand. (3n page .535, Nov. No. of 



Gleanings, you say, in answer to a correspondent, 

 that there is danger in feeding liquid food to a weak 

 colony. I had not noticed that you had intimated 

 anywhere in your directions that you have given 

 that sugar syrup is dangerous; and I am not capa- 

 ble of judging whether you would call my colony 

 weak. I shall not feed any more until I hear or see 

 something in next number of Gleanings. To-day 

 has been mild and pleasant, and at noon, when I 

 went to dinner, of course I went out to see the bees. 

 There were a great many coming home to the hive 

 with loads of pollen; and Mrs. J. watched them 

 some time after I went away to work, and she said 

 that some had very large loads of deep orange color, 

 and some others had different shades of yellow, and 

 others had large loads that had the color of light 

 beeswax. Where could they get it? and why did 

 they want it now? I do not believe this is much of a 

 honey country, but 1 am going to see if I can get a 

 little. Daniel H. .lOHNSON. 



Danielsonville, Ct., Nov. ii. 1880. 



The pollen is all right, you are all right, 

 the feed is all right, aud the bees are all 

 right, if I mistake not. friend J. Yes, and 

 your wife is all right too. in taking the re- 

 sponsibility of watching and interesting her- 

 self in the bees when you are away. If I 

 am correct, you fed it to them a little at a 

 time, much in the way natural stores come 

 in, and this can not" very well do harm, 

 ■i'our colony is a jiretty good one, I should 

 think, from the account you give, and I 

 guess friend ( '. was about right. It is much 

 better to make a package of bees too strong 

 than have it break to pieces and become a 

 wreck on the Avay. 



SILVER-DKIP syrup for BEES, ETC. 



Please send me your price list. I don't know yet 

 that I want anj' supplies for next season, but I must 

 have something to road these longe\enings. I have 

 read the back numbers of Cleanings over and over; 

 but too much of a g(jod thing will sour on one's 

 stomach, like the 12 gallons of silver-drip syrup my 

 bees were on May-daj'. Last year I fed them on yel- 

 low coffee sugar. I had to be content last spring in 

 seeing my bees e irrying the granulated sugar out of 

 the hive. I think 'b of the sugar was lost in this 

 way. If the silver-drip syrup does not granulate nor 

 give bees the dysentery, I think it the naxt best 

 thing to honey. I thin the syrup and fill a frame, 

 and hang it lichind the division-board. This I shall 

 do in Sept. instead of Nov., as I have done this year. 

 Get a few prickly ash for your honey farm, and re- 

 port next fall. No. of stands, '27; in good condition, 

 10. If next year does not " pan out " better than the 

 last three, look out and enlarge the Blasted Hopes 

 department. Loris Hofstatteh. 



Louis\ille, Ky., Nov. 2t, Is.sQ. 



Please report, friend II.. in regard to how 

 the syrup answers ; and tell us, to(f, what it 

 costs. I have never yet found a tine white 

 syrup, like that made from granulated or 

 coffee sugar, for instance, that could be 

 l)ought as chea])ly as we can buy the sugar 

 and make it. If theyliave a pure syrup that 

 won't granulate, it may be a good thing ; but 

 how do you know this syrup is not made 

 from grape sugar V If such is the case, you 

 can make it yourself, and save money, by the 

 directions I give you in our catalogiie. 



