1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE, 



33 



forth a clang. Behold, impelled by the sound 

 unknown winged creatures swarm together, 

 and the sound which the brasses produce the 

 bees pursue. Bacchus collects them as they 

 flit about, and shuts them up in a hollow 

 tree, and he has his reward in the discovery 

 of honey. 



Ovid was a contemporary of Christ; but 

 the worship of Bacchus was introduced to 

 his country more than five hundred years 

 earlier, so that we may presume the tradi- 

 tion of " tanging " is of that age at least. 

 This presumption (if not certainty) is con- 

 firmed by the fact that Aristotle draws sev- 

 eral of his facts and statements avowedly 

 from the writings and observations of others 

 who lived before his time. 



Alfred the Great was bom in 849 A. D. 

 Tanging v/as known to bee-keepers about 

 1400 years earlier. 



Banff, Scotland. D. M. Macdonald. 



A BEE AND HONEY EXHIBITION. 



I notice Mr. Morrison's communication in 

 Gleanings for Oct. 15, suggesting a show 

 of bees, honey, and supplies, and referring to 

 the horse, dog, poultry, and pigeon men as 

 being active in that way. I would suggest 

 that Boston, with its large local population 

 to draw from, is a good place for a nucleus. 

 I am personally v/ell acquainted with the de- 

 tail of the various dog, poultry, and pigeon 

 exhibits held here for a number of years, 

 and I am also interested in various shows of 

 these fanciers on both sides of the water. 

 There is a great deal of work in their prep- 

 aration. I am engaged now on the pre- 

 liminary work of the Boston Terrier Club 

 specialty show, which has become an an- 

 nual affair. The New England Kennel 

 Club holds annual dog shows here, usu- 

 ally at a profit. This club made a good- 

 sized profit last year. The poultry people 

 did not have an exhibition last year, but I 

 understand one is on the tapis for Jan. , 1906. 

 There are numerous shows of these fanciers 

 in our near-by towns and cities, one of which 

 is passed through about everj?^ 15 minutes on 

 the cars, and I think that, by judicious ad- 

 vertising, such as has been done by the fan- 

 ciers referred to, the public could be inter- 

 ested (the big population of our suburbs I 

 mean) ; and if such a show were held after 

 due publicity is made through the city and 

 local press, there would be a good show of 

 attracting the public where and when they 

 could be educated in the mysteries of eating 

 honey, for that is the main question; and it 

 is so often that I am asked, " How do you 

 eat it?" that I have frequently to demon- 

 strate. James M. Pulley. 



Boston, Oct. '23. 



[The A. I. Root Co. has already been test- 

 ing this matter in the city of New York. 

 We made an effort to get into the Madison 

 Square poultry show, but did not succeed. 

 Another and a smaller one we did get into, 

 and there gave daily demonstrations in con- 

 nection with a stereopticon and moving- pic- 

 ture outfit. The results showed that there 



was no better way to advertise honey to con- 

 sumers who need to be informed of the facts 

 after they have had their heads crammed 

 with newspaper and cyclopedia lies about 

 the honey business. Local bee-keepers, 

 where rightly situated, should make an ef- 

 fort to get into the poultry shows with their 

 bees and honey. But be sure to convince 

 the management that no "bees will get 

 loose to sting the chickens and the dogs." j 

 With regard to Boston, I would suggest 

 that you confer with Mr. F. H. Farmer, 

 who represents the Root Co. in that city. 

 Possibly he could be induced to make an ex- 

 hibit another year. We shall, of course, be 

 glad to assist.— Ed.] 



A cement hive- stand; JAPANESE CLOVER 



as a honey- plant. 



Next year, for hive-stands, I intend to 

 make frames about three feet square, and 

 dig out enough so that I can sink them just 

 about level with the earth. Then I'll take 

 one part cement to five parts of sand, mixed 

 to a mortar, and pour it into these frames 

 and scrape it off level with a straight-edge. 

 Two hives will then rest on each stand. The 

 idea of this is that, when the hives are set 

 on, no grass can come up within six or eight 

 inches of the hive; and the cement, being 

 level with the earth, a lawn-mower wheel 

 can run right over it and get every sprig of 

 grass and still not bump the hive. 



Will bees work on Japanese clover if they 

 have nothing else to work on? It is every- 

 where here and in full bloom, and I have 

 never been able to catch a bee on it. 



Overton, Tex. C. A. Still, Jr. 



[Your concrete hive-stands would be ex- 

 cellent but somewhat expensive. Four 

 bricks would be almost as good, and a great 

 deal cheaper; or, better still, four wooden 

 stakes a foot long driven into the ground. 

 These should stick up just high enough to 

 support the bottom-board square, letting it 

 tilt forward slightly. 



I do not know much about Japanese clover. 

 Will some subscriber please inform us? 

 -Ed.] 



a remarkable yield from a colony on 

 scales. 



Since locating here I have become so in- 

 terested in growing citrus fruits that my 

 groves of several kinds of orange and lemon 

 trees take most of my time; but I can not be 

 content without bees, and have an apiary of 

 240 colenies located between the orange- 

 groves and sage- covered hills. 



I have practiced keeping a record of one 

 good colony on scales for the past thirty 

 years, and this year breaks all my records 

 for duration of yield — six months constant 

 yield — April 4th to October from orange, 

 button sage, white sage, and wild buckwheat; 

 total gain, 481 lbs. , also greatest gain for one 

 week, May 11 to 17, was 12, 12, 15, 22, 24, 14, 

 16 lbs. ; total for week, 115 lbs. from a colony 

 confined the entire season with zinc exclud- 

 er to eight Langstroth brood-combs and 16 



