540 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov, 



exactly, you sec. Why, this is almost as good a 

 ' moral' show as Bavnum's!" 



"I wonder," said Mr. Duster, continuing', " what 

 these drones die of; the bees don't sting them to 

 death, that's certain. See that drone on the corner 

 of that board 1 He looks well, all right as to out- 

 ward appearance, excepting that still, sad, melan- 

 choly way he has. I have no doubt he sheds tears as 

 he thinks of the past, and then on his present for- 

 lorn, outcast condition; he would if he were not so 

 big he's ashamed to; wonder if they don't die of a 

 broken heart. Well, I declare! if there isn't a fe- 

 male bee creeping up that drone's wing! I've got it 

 now; she is at his ear— they talk 'em to death ! And 

 now see here," said Mr. Duster, " if you ever hear of 

 any one coming to a different conclusion, just let me 

 know, and I will go for him worse than Heddon after 

 the fellows who don't believe in his 'bacteria' the- 

 ory." 



Mr. Duster resumes his honey report. 



"Let's see; where was I?" 



"Waiting?" I suggested. 



" Yes, you're right; and if that moral show had not 

 got me off the track, I'd been through long ago. 

 Well, I did not have to wait long before I had my 

 hands full of business. It was nip and tuck between 

 me and the bees, as my business was such I could 

 leave it only half a day at a time, and now I will 

 show you the results." 



Here he opened his honey-house doors, and, piled 

 ia one corner, was a solid mass of ~-lb. prize boxes of 

 the whitest honey I ever saw — a little over one ton 

 from the 24 swarms of last spring. 



"And now," resumed Mr. Duster, " let me tell you 

 a little of my experience with blue-vervain honey. 

 When this honey is put in a goblet, and held up to 

 the light, you will hardly detect its presence, it is so 

 clear. One would suppose it was thin, and perhaps 

 watery, just to look at it; but it's about the thickest 

 honey I ever saw, and its flavor is as fine as it looks, 

 which is saying a good deal. Different kinds of hon- 

 ey, or, rather, all kinds, do not incline to granulate 

 with me, as much as some years ago. I had a run of 

 this vervain honey some six or seven years since. It 

 had the same clearness and line llavor as this. Aft- 

 er extracting, it would begin to granulate in five or 

 six days, put it where I would. I put up a quantity 

 of it in Muth's 3-lb. glass jars for my own use, part 

 with stopples and part without. They all granulated 

 in the ceUar, and almost every jar burst. In the 

 spring I could pick off the glass and roll the solid 

 cake of honey across the room without breaking. A 

 Dutch friend of mine called it 'schstony.' This sea- 

 son it does not trouble that way." 



Here our interview ended. II. H. Mellen. 



Amboy-on-Inlet, 111., Sept. 37, 1881. 



THE BIG RED CL.OVEK AS A HONEY- 

 PI.ANT. 



(fJ HAVE often wondered, as I have read the dis- 

 cussions on honey-producing plants, that there 

 is no reference made to what is known in this 

 locality as the "big red clover." My experience 

 with it has not been extensive, and I can not there- 

 tore speak as positively as I would desire to. My 

 llrst knowledge of it was gained in this way: Some 

 years ago I was passing a field of clover, not half a 

 mile from my apiary, in June, and saw ^he bees 

 working on it. I was surprised to find them work- 

 ing on the first crop of red clover. I got out of my 



buggy and went into the field, and found it alive 

 with bees, generally Italians, but some of them 

 were blacks. I was delighted, as I thought the bees ' 

 would never lack for summer forage. In speaking 

 afterward to the owner of the field about it, he In- 

 formed me that it was the big clover which was in 

 that field. Since that I have not seen a field of it: 

 but one of my nearest neighbors sowed 18 acres with 

 it last spring, and I expect my bees to have another 

 trial of it next summer. On inquiring I find that 

 the advantages and disadvantages of this species as 

 compared with the common red clover, are as fol- 

 lows:— First, the bees can work o:i the first as well 

 as they can on the second crop of the common red, 

 perhaps better. Second, it grows larger, makes 

 more hay or pasture. For this reason it is called the 

 big clover. In other respects it looks like the com- 

 mon red clover. Third, it is better for soiling pur- 

 poses on any g.ound, and will do well on thin land 

 where the other clover will not catch. Fourth, it 

 blooms ten days or two weeks later, and for this 

 reason is better adapted to sow with timothy for 

 hay, as they bloom and ripen together. This pro- 

 longs the honey season also. 



Disadvantages. First, the principal one is, that it 

 bears its seed on the first crop, and will therefore 

 not produce seed and hay both the same season. 

 Second, it grows so large it is almost certain to fall 

 and become tangled. Third, it makes a coarser hay. 



From this statement, it is apparent that this kind 

 has not received the attention it<leserves, especially 

 from men who are wanting to enrich their farms, or 

 to manage them for dairy purposes and honey. In 

 another year I may be able to report more fully in 

 regard to it as a honey-producer. 



Milroy, Pa. J. W. White. 



IIONEV FROM SMART WEED. 



POLYGONUM PERSICARIA. 



T this late day we are having the only flow of 

 surplus honey of the season. Smartweed and 

 buckwheat, delayed fully six weeks by the 

 drought, are now in the best condition to produce 

 honey. How utterly at the mercy of the elements, 

 does the bee-keeper find himself I No flow of honey 

 until the supposed productive limits of the season are 

 reached; then a fair yield. No such circumstance 

 has ever been known in this part of the country. 



Jerome Wiltse. 



Falls City, Kichardson Co., Neb., Sept. ;>C, 1881. 



We bought bees of neighbor Rice in July, 

 until he would sell no more, saying he want- 

 ed a few stocks left for "seed." Well, he 

 saved, to build up with, only about 2-5 ; and 

 of these, I believe only 20 had queens in the 

 fore part of July. Yesterday I was surprised 

 to hear him say he had eighty-one good ones. 



'' Why,liave you done all this by feeding?" 



'' Haven't fed a bit." 



'' You do not mean to say your bees have 

 been gathering honey all this dry fall?" 



" Tliat is just what I mean to say." 



" AVliy, where did they get it?" 



"Well, as nearly as I can make out, they 

 got it from smartweed, or blacklieart, as we 

 call the large kind. It has come up in im- 

 mense quantities along the outlet to the lake, 

 about 1* miles from us, and the bees have 

 been working on it strong through the whole 

 of the fall." 



