376 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



pure liquid honey, a tea-spoonful at a 

 time, as often as she could receive it, 

 night and day. She recovered and lived 

 ten years, and then did not die of con- 

 sumption. It is claimed that clover and 

 basswood bloom is an alleviator for pul- 

 monary difficulties, and why should not 

 the nectar be more powerful ? What 

 can be more acceptable to a little child 

 suffering from a cold or croup than pure 

 liquid honey, when it naturally loves 

 sweets ? — Mrs. L. Harbison, in Prairie 

 Farmer. 



A Valuable Milk-Weed. 



Mention is made in the "A B C of 

 Bee-Culture " of the mischievous prop- 

 erties of Asclepias cornuti in gumming 

 the feet of bees, and thereby disabling 

 them ; and the plant is, therefore, 

 rightly condemned. The remarks justly 

 apply to the variety in question ; but a 

 distinction should be made in favor of 

 Asclepias tuberosa, which is one of the 

 most valuable honey-plants of this 

 vicinity, from the first to the middle of 

 July. It is not chargeable with the 

 mentioned objection of the other va- 

 rieties, and is a rich honey-plant, fur- 

 nishing a good quality of honey. It 

 grows on sterile soil, and flourishes un- 

 der conditions that would be fatal to 

 most other honey-plants. Bee-men 

 should not ignorantly cut it down. If 

 they are not botanists, they may know it 

 from the injurious varieties of milk- 

 weed by its rich orange or scarlet-colored 

 flowers, which are really ornamental, 

 and from the fact that, when the leaves 

 or plants are cut or broken, they show 

 no milk exuding from the wound. — C. 

 H. Murray, in Gleanings. 



Lighting the Fire in Bee-Smokers. 



We have one of the improved Bing- 

 ham smokers, and I have used it almost 

 entirely this summer. One thing I like 

 about it very much is, that you can 

 burn such long pieces of wood in it. We 

 use apple wood a good deal as fuel, and 

 it is excellent. As two of our apiaries 

 are under apple-trees, it is very conven- 

 ient to fill a smoker, when necessary, by 

 simply breaking off a dead limb and 

 breaking it in pieces small enough to go 

 in a smoker. If a dense, sharp smoke 

 is needed, we get a hot fire started, cut 

 up some green apple wood, and what a 

 very dense smoke it give us ! This will 

 work in either the Bingham or Clark. 



We keep a box for holding shavings at 

 each of the out apiaries, and although 



they are covered with tin covers, we did 

 have trials the past extraordinarily wet 

 spring in keeping the shavings dry. If 

 you have never had any experience in 

 starting a smoker, with damp fuel, there 

 is no use telling you about it. You could 

 not appreciate it. A few live coals from 

 the stove, or a piece of saltpeter wood, 

 is a great help in lighting a smoker. I 

 can hardly tell which smoker I like bet- 

 ter, the Clark or the Bingham. They 

 are both good. The Bingham is the 

 more durable one, as it does not suck 

 smoke back into the bellows. I think 

 the Clark not quite so clumsy to handle, 

 and I prefer it for driving bees out of 

 several supers at a time, as it sends a 

 stronger blast. — Emma Wilson, in 

 Gleanings. 



Convention Notices. 



COLOR ADO.— The Colorado State Bee-Keep- 

 ers Association will hold their " Honey-Day " 

 in Longrmont, Colo., on Sept. 28th, 1892. 



Littleton, Colo. H. Knight, Sec. 



WISCONSIN.— The Southwestern Wisconsin 

 Bee-Keepers' Association will hold its next 

 annual meeting- as Boscobel, Grant Co., Wis., 

 on Jan. 13 and 14, 1893. All members of the 

 Association are requested to be present as the 

 following officers are to be elected; President. 

 Vice-President, Secretary. Assistant Sec, and 

 Treasurer. Blank Reports will be sent each 

 member, for the year 1892, with instructions. 

 A cordial invitation is extended to all bee- 

 keepers, and especially to those that would 

 like to join with us. Each member will be no- 

 tified at least one month before the meeting 



Boscobel, Wis. Edwin Pike, Pres. 



Bee Journal Posters, printed 

 in two colors, will be mailed free upon 

 application. They may be used to ad- 

 vantage at Fairs over Bee and Honey 

 Exhibits. We will send sample copies 

 of the Bee Journal to be used in con- 

 nection with the Posters in securing 

 subscribers. Write a week before the 

 Fair, telling us where to send them. We 

 would like to have a good agent at every 

 Fair to be held this year. Here is a 

 chance for a live man — or woman. 



Doolittle's Queen-Rearing: 



book should be in the library of every 

 bee-keeper ; and in the way we offer it 

 on page 383, there is no reason now why 

 every one may not possess a copy of it. 

 Send us one new subscriber for a year, 

 and we will mail the book to yon as a 

 present. 



