1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



.507 



like a worker that it is ililHcult to decide they arc 

 queens at all, except by the attention the bees give 

 them.] 



Bees have done quite \rell here this summer. I 

 look for another bad time the coming winter, as they 

 are filling their combs too much with pollen. 



E. D. Howell. 



New Hampton, Orange Co., N. Y., Aug. 16, 18S1. 



[Perhaps it would be well to remove the combs 

 eonlaining most pollen, before feeding up for win- 

 ter.] 



I would like to know what make and grade of 

 grape sugar Mr. D. H. Tweedy feeds his bees, and 

 if his bees do not carry some of it out of the hive 

 when he feeds it dry? 



[[ may be mistaken, but 1 think it was the Buffalo 

 A that he got of us. I ha\o never known bees to 

 carry (jraiic suijar out dry.] 



Will sweet clo^•er and figwort seed grow if thrown 

 in the grass on the roadside? 



[Sweet clovor will often do well, scattered by the 

 roadside; but the tigwort will not make its way to 

 any extent without cultivation and protection.] 



Caubasswood be gmwn from the seed, and how is 

 it to be planted? 



[Basswoodis very difficult to grow from the seed. 

 Better get small trees from the forests ] 



Do catbirds and blue-jays catch bees? 



E. D. Howell. 



New Hampton, N. Y., Sept. 15, 1S81. 



[Ulue-jays most assuredly catch bees, and, if I am 

 not mistaken, catbirds have lieen tried and found 

 guilty of the ?anie offense. Shoot them and exam- 

 ine their crops. If you find any bee-stings, you are 

 SHre it was worker bees and not <lrones they con- 

 sumed.] 



MR. ITIERR^BANKS AND HIS NEIGH- 

 BOie. 



Fear not, Daniel; for from the first day that thou 

 didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten 

 thyself before thy God, thy words were heard.— 



Dax. 10 : 12. 



ET was Saturday. .John's father sat out 

 by the house/siiiolving as usual. I have 

 — ' mentioned, that tliey had secured a 

 small amount of honey from their bees, be- 

 sides increasing to get bees to cover the 

 empty combs. A\ ell, John's mother had, by 

 the aid of an extractor, also secured a stone 

 crock full of most thick, beautiful, crystal, 

 basswood honey, which she had purposed 

 saving for family use. However, as her hus- 

 band was out of work, or at least thought he 

 was, there was very great need of a little 

 cash to supply the needs of the table, and 

 to get even clothing to make the children 

 decent, when they went to Sunday-school. 

 As a last resort, she had decided to sell this 

 crock of nice honey, and so John had been 

 up to the grocery with a small sample of it. 

 The grocer ottered IH cents per lb., in con- 

 sideration of its being extra nice, and be- 

 cause the dry weather had made not only 

 honey, but fiuit and all kinds of sauce, very 

 scarce. As the crock was quite heavy, 

 friend Merry banks had volunteered to take 

 it up town, if John would set it out by the 

 gate, where it would be handy to set into 

 his buggy as he came along. A white clean 

 cloth had been tied over the top to keep out 



dust ; and as John's father sat in sight, no- 

 body seemed to think but that it was safe 

 enough. It was not many minutes, howev- 

 er, before a sleek-looking cow of inquiring 

 disposition came along. She looked this 

 way and that, as she came along the road, 

 and tinally ventured cautiously to walk slow- 

 ly up and smell of the crock and its contents. 

 She seemed satisfied with her investigations, 

 apparently, for after one or two sniffs she 

 wound her tongue around a loose corner of 

 the cloth, much as she would a' nice tuft of 

 grass, and, giving it a dextrous pull, tipped 

 crock and contents down on to the round 

 hard stones below. I think I will just give 

 you a picture of that cow. Here it is:— 



THE ( OW AND THE CROCK OF IIOXEY. 



John's father saw her, from the first; but 

 his tobacco had so stupefied his senses, driv- 

 ing away diUl care. I suppose, that it did 

 not occur to him she might do any harm, 

 until the crock was down and broken. Now 

 he roused up. and came out swinging his 

 arms, shouting, 

 '■ Whay ! go 'long there, you old brute I" 

 Ilis cries brought John and- his mother, 

 and she, with tears in her eyes that she 

 could not keep back, made an effort to 

 save some of the honey with the dirt, by 

 scraping it into a piece of the broken crock. 

 Just at this crisis friend M. and his wife 

 came up in the buggy, and while John's fa- 

 ther still stood by smoking his pipe, friend 

 M. was out in an instant; and not until ev- 

 ery particle of earth or stones containing a 

 drop of honey was scooped up, did he stoj) 

 to even talk about it. A good swarm of 

 bees was raised up, and an empty Simplicity 

 hive placed under them. Then a second Sim- 

 plicity hive was placed over the colony, and 

 the pans containing the dirt and honey were 

 placed in this upper story. All of the stones 

 and lumps of earth that could be handled 

 were placed on the frames. As the bees 

 licked off the honey, the dirt crumbled and 

 fell through to the bottom hive; and finally 

 the whole contents of the pans were turned 

 over on the frames also, fresh combs being 



