1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



.567 



if you do not find the queea readily, for slie will be 

 about as small as a worker, and get about much 

 more lively than at other seasons of the year. 



The communication from Mr. Rose, on page 568, 

 was somewhat shortened. After it was printed, he 

 wrote, asking to have it inserted entire or not at all. 

 Will the friends please so stale it, when the article 

 is sent in, where they wish it used without pruning, 

 or not at all ? 



Friend Valentine asked me if I would not like 

 a nucleus of his Albinos. Thinking he meant to 

 make me a present of them, I replied in the aflirma- 

 tive. Some time afterward I discovered my mis- 

 take, and paid him for them, as a matter of course. 

 It was simply a misunderstanding, and no blame at- 

 taches to either of us, so far as I can see. 



A COXUNDRU.M ON RIGHT AND WRONG. 



A QUEEN reached a customer's postofflce one 

 night, but before morning the postofflce, queen, and 

 all, burned up. Tn our price list we agree to deliver 

 safely at nearest post or express office. The post- 

 master says he saw' the cage when it was taken 

 from the mail-bag, but can't say whether the bees 

 were in good order or not. Who should bear the 

 loss, myself or my customer? 



CATALOGUES AND PRICE LISTS FOR 188:i. 



Part Second of Our Homes is now completed, 

 and will be ready to mail in a week or ten days; and 

 to keep our friend M., the printer, busy, we have 

 decided to print catalogues and circulars for bee- 

 keepers, where wanted. For this purpose we will 

 use any of the cuts found ia our price list without 

 extra charge. Write out the matter you wish in it, 

 plainly, send along a sample of something that suits 

 you, if you can, and we will give you an estimate 

 without oharge. 



I PRESUME most of our readers remember the 

 young man whom I have called "Fred," in the Home 

 Papers; the one who came out of our jail, and aft- 

 erward became quite active in the mission Sunday- 

 school work. " Fred " has recently held quite an 

 important position on our railroad, and was being 

 rapidly promoted; but within a few days he was 

 killed by an accident, not far from our place of 

 business. One of his companions, in telling me of 

 the accident, summed it all up in these words, 

 " Fred was ready to die." 



BEE CANDY. 



If you are too late with your feeding to feed liquid 

 food, give them candy made of pure granulated sug- 

 ar. It is a very easy matter to make it bj' the di- 

 rections given in the ABC; but if you insist on hav- 

 ing us do it, we can furnish it in frames, trays, or 

 bricks, for 15c per lb. It won't pay to order it by ex- 

 press or mail; neither will it pay by freight, unless 

 you order 25 lbs. or over, or have it sent with other 

 goods. Unless your time is valuable, it will pay you 

 best to get the sugar at the groceries, and make it 

 yourself. At this date we can sell you granulated 

 sugar by the barrel, shipped from New York, for 

 101/4 cents. 



A BIG SWINDLE. 



Last spring a visitor purchased some hybrid 

 queens we had received from some of oiir many cus- 

 tomers, and now he reports that one of them was a 

 tested queen whose bees have, during the past sum- 

 mer, given him over a hundred lbs. of honey. Now, 

 who of you is it that has been selling us pure queens 



for hybrids? I do not know how you will avoid such 

 a grievous (?) disappointment, unless you buy dollar 

 queens, take your chances, and do the testing your" 

 self. (Another friend says he bought a hj'brid of us 

 that proved pure.) This same friend lives near a 

 basswood belt that was produced by basswoods 

 springing up where a hurricane blew down all the 

 other trees, about 40 years ago. He got 18 lbs. of 

 basswood from one colony in one daj'. 



Prof. Cook, in his happy way, gets off the fol- 

 lowing:— 



DON'T FORGET IT. 

 TheUth annual meeting of the Micliipran r.ee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation will be held at Battle Creek, on the Miehitran Central K. 

 H.. Pec. .Sth. 1881. D. A. Jones, C. F. Muth, o. o. Popi)Ieton, A. I. 

 Root, and T. F. Newman, have all promised to be present, if 

 ])nssible, and we have all learned that, with these men, almost 

 any thinfr is possible. Mr. Jones will tell us of the " new bees," 

 which we have received onlv as the result of his wondrous 

 enerfeT and enterprise. C. F. Muth and T. G. Newman, who have 

 done so much to develop the honey market, will give us from 

 their valuable store-house. The former ^vill tell us all about 

 foul brood — a most important sub.iect to Michigan apiarists. 

 No one in the U. S. is more competent. O. O. Poppleton, one 

 of the Doolittles of the West, will speak of chatf hives, and tell 

 us how to winter safely. A. I. Root, the apiarian " Jack of all 

 trades," will meet and be met by a host of friends. From our 

 own State we expect to hear from such men as J. Heddon, J. H. 

 Townley, and W. Z. Hutchinson. The president will also give 

 his address. Subject, ' ■ Crumbs from the Table of the National 

 Convention." Come one, come all. A. J. Cook, Pres. 



T. F. Biijoham, Sec. 



The principal fault that has developed with the 

 50-cent smoker is that, when very hot, it sometimes 

 draws sparks into the blast-tube, and burns the bel- 

 lows. It also blows sparks into the hive at times, 

 in common with all other smokers that I know of. 

 Well, this defect has been remedied by a circular 

 piece of perforated tin, pushed in just forward of 

 the screws, near the blast-tube. This completely 

 remedies both troubles, but after a while it gets 

 stopped up with soot. To clear it from this, push it 

 out and bend it until the soot cracks off, then put it 

 back. We will mail these circular pieces of perfor- 

 ated tin ao any one who has bought one of the 50- 

 cent smokers), free of charge. Just say on a postal, 

 you want one. Some one has said that vinegar will 

 take the gummy matter from a smoker-tube in- 

 stantly. To make this smoker direct draft, when 

 starting the fire just place your finger over the noz- 

 zle, and it is done instantly. 



HONEY plants IN OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER. 



A YEAR ago I did my level best to raise Simpson 

 honey-plants in the fall, even to carrying water dur- 

 a dry time, to water the seed-bed. Well, this year I 

 planted potatoes in a sandy spot, down by the pond. 

 I did not get many potatoes, but I have got a most 

 beautiful plot of Simpson plants. The seeds blew 

 over from the large patch, and the sandy ground 

 just suited it. To-day, October 2Tth, the plants are 

 about two feet high, and humming with the bees, al- 

 though we have had several pretty severe frosts. 

 The fresh, bright, thrifty green (in spite of a sharp 

 frost last night), rests me when I go down among 

 them, more than I can tell. They cover the ground 

 so thickly I shall have lots of roots to sell you In 

 the spring; and a good thrifty root that has wintered 

 over will stand a thousand miles of mail bags, al- 

 most as well as a potato. Of course, the old plants 

 are all dry now, but it is easy to manage so we can 

 have a yield of honey in October, and perhaps No- 

 vember. It is only the young plants that blossom in 

 the fall so late. Next year they will bloom in Aug- 

 ust, and give their greatest yield, and be done by 

 October. The year after, they will do nearly the 

 same; but like the strawberry, after two full crops 

 they do but little, and we must start with new 

 plants again. The Spider plant does not stand as 

 much frost as the Simpson. 



