178 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Mar. 23, 1899. 



ago I received from them about 1.500 pounds of surplus 

 honey of the most delicious flavor, and almost \yater-white. 

 -The iionev g-athers at the junction of the leaves and the 

 newly-g-rowins twigs, where a small drop of " honej- " can 

 .be seen from some distance away. 



The birch and corn do not yield honey on their blossoms 

 any more than does hazelbrush, at least I never saw bees 

 work at all on the birch-bloom, but I have often seen them 

 work on corn-tassels for pollen. Some bee-keepers claim that 

 bees do not gather honey from corn-blossoms, which I 

 think is correct. 



The honey-dew on the birch-trees does not fall on the 

 leaves like a " g-entle rain," but drops on the leaves below 

 from where it exudes, if not taken up by the bees or other 

 insects. I have seen the honey g-listening at the junctions 

 of the birch twigs, only a few rods from my apiary, while 

 the bees were briskly gathering the nectar. My bees some- 

 times were in such excitement that 3-ou would think every 

 colony was swarming ; but as soon as the condition of the 

 atmosphere changed the excitement ceast. Sometimes 

 it lasts only a day or two, while four or five days is the 

 long'est I have seen it in one season. 



I am positive that this is no insect production, for I 

 have examined it very closely and persistentlj-. 



I am not so sure that the acorn honey is an exudation 

 of the overplus of saccharine substances of the tree or the 

 acorn, or whether the acorns are pierced by insects to make 

 the sap or nectar flow from them ; the Professor seems to 

 be "on the rail " himself about this, and seems to be anx- 

 ious to know if the acorn honey-dew alwaj-s comes from 

 what he supposes to be wounds of the nuts by insects. (See 

 page 459 of the American Bee Journal for 1886.) 



I have examined the acorns closely from the lower part 

 of a tree to the very top, but have not discovered any larva? 

 nor any caterpillars on them, nor any other insects ; but 

 nearly all the acorns on the same trees were wounded hori- 

 zontally right above the acorn-cup from which the " tan- 

 nin " nectar oozed. The wounds extended to the center of 

 the nuts, but I did not discover any larva?, tho I examined 

 only some of them closely. I will make a more extended 

 search the next time I get a chance. 



The acorn honey is the poorest in taste and color of 

 anything my bees gather. 



In conclusion, I find that honey-dew is not "always" 

 a secretion of insects, and that some trees and plants pro- 

 duce nectar under certain atmospheric conditions, regard- 

 less of insects, or blossoms, and that the definition in our 

 dictionaries is in line with my experience. 



Wabasha Co., Minn. C. Theii,mann. 



I have read the article on page 17, from Prof. A. J. Cook, 

 in regard to the origin of honey-dew. and as he invites the 

 readers of the American Bee Journal to make close obser- 

 vation and report our experience. I will report. 



I am 66 years of age, and have handled bees more or 

 less all my life, and now have 72 colonies. I have seen 

 honey-dew as far back as I can recollect ; I used to lick it 

 off the hickory leaves when a child, because it was sweet. I 

 have seen it on trees, shrubs, and all kinds of grass, and I 

 have found it on my oilcloth when I was a soldier. I have 

 found it on the plain's, and much of what I know has been 

 learned from observation. I have given it a great deal of 

 thought, and my observation has led me to the conclusion 

 that there are two kinds of honey-dew — one is the exuda- 

 tion of insects, and the other is caused by the conditions of 

 the atmosphere, and falls as dew from the heavens. So 

 thoroly am I convinced of this that I am astonisht that a 

 man .so well informed as Prof. Cook should not know that 

 there are two substances called "honey-dew." 



The exudation of insects is a filthy sweet, not fit for 

 man or bees, and when there is plenty of it, and no genuine 

 honey-dew, the bees will deposit a lot of this worthless 

 stuff'; but if there is a good fall of honey-dew, the bees will 

 leave this bug-juice and gather what is called a good honey- 

 flow. This genuine honey-dew is clear as crystal ; I have 

 seen it hang in great dropson the blades of grass. We used 

 to get our best clothes spoiled with it when we went thru 

 the grass to Sunday-school when we were children. I have 

 also seen it on the bunch-grass on the plains, and I have 

 seen the cattle that run at large on the prairies with their 

 horns all gummed and daubed over with honey-dew in great 

 profusion where there were no trees to climb, and no aphids 

 to be found— nothing in all the scope for them to subsist on. 

 This honev-dew makes the best of honey. A test will 

 prove that it viill candy quicker, and be whiter than the ex- 

 udation of in.sects. Atmospheric conditions may occur 

 when there is an abundance of insect exudation, and the 



two may be mixt. But at the same time the genuine honej'- 

 dew may be found where no aphids or honey-exuding in- 

 sects exist. The exudings of insects are odorous, while 

 the genuine honey-dew is not, unless perfumed from the 

 fragrance of flowers. It is the condition of the atmosphere 

 that causes nectar to secrete in flowers ; the same conditions 

 cause honey-dew to fall. 



Volumes may be written on the best kinds of hone3-- 

 plants, but all fail to secrete nectar unless the proper con- 

 ditions of the atmosphere are at hand. How often do we 

 hear complaints that there was no nectar secreted in the 

 white clover, or in the basswood bloom ; and I have even 

 read of sweet clover failing to secrete nectar. The flowers 

 of all honey-producing plants are stisceptible of secreting 

 nectar when the conditions are present. Some are more 

 susceptible than others. Thus we have our best honey-flow 

 one season from one flower, and sometimes from another 

 flower, owing to the congenial conditions for the one flower 

 or for the other. 



We must look above the trees for our blessings. Is it 

 not just as reasonable that honey-dew is a result of the con- 

 ditions of atmosphere, as it is for the elements to be full of 

 malaria or of some epidemic ? S. W. M.\XEY. 



Kittitas Co., Wash. 



I have heard and read a good deal about honey-dew 

 lately, so thinks I, I'll keep mum, those other fellows hav- 

 ing said enough concerning it. But after reading Mr. 

 Nash's article, on page 98. and tussling and gurgling it for 

 awhile, it failed to go down. He thinks Prof. Cook is wrong 

 about his statement, that honey-dew is deposited bj' insects 

 or bee-lice, as we call them here. 



Again, he saj's some facetious writer calls it " bug- 

 juice." 'Tis naught else but bug-juice, pure and simple. I 

 have had experience with it some six or seven years, and 

 have never failed to see the little fellovv that makes the juice. 

 But 1898 capt the climax. In the spring we get a few sec- 

 tions of it from extra-strong colonies, but last year I re- 

 ceived between five or six hundred sections filled with 

 honey-dew. Some people even go so far as to think, or say. 

 that this filthy stuff' comes from heaven. Had the promi* 

 land flowed with milk and this kind of honey, our fore- 

 fathers would have gone to the " Himmels " pretty quick. 



These insects, or tree-lice, are mostly found in spring 

 on the plum-trees after fruit is set, and, if not taken care of 

 very soon, will ruin both tree and fruit. They are almost 

 always on the underside of the leaves. (That is the rea.son 

 why this honey is always on the upperside of the leaves and 

 not on the underside.) I have seen them so numerous as to 

 cover both branches and leaves completely from stem to 

 stem, and if disturbed would give you a small shower-bath. 

 But last Year they were just as numerous on both the hick- 

 ory and black oak. The underside of the leaves would be 

 covered with .small lumps resembling warts, and on being 

 broken open would contain a small larva of these insects, 

 which lie dormant until warm weather of spring hatches 

 them. 



Another peculiarity about honey -dew is this : Bees will 

 not work much on anything else when they can get this 

 stuff. We had about as much sweet clover in 1898 as the 

 season before, but nary a bit of sweet clover honey did we 

 get. Bees that have not been fed in the fall, or those win- 

 tered in small hives without protection, have surely "gone 

 up," as the cold has been very severe here, bees not having 

 a flight in six weeks. 



I do not want to cross swords with Mr. Nash concerning 

 his article. Maybe trees do sometimes have a " sweating 

 spell," but I have failed to see them in such a sweat with- 

 out having good reasons to do so. 



Cook Co., 111. PETKR J. SCHARTZ. 



Rendering' Beeswax— How Loss May be Avoided. 



BY I. W. BECKWITH. 



WHEN the comb is new. and especially when it con- 

 tains honev, and the weather is hot. there is probably 

 no better method of rendering it into wax than by 

 the use of the solar extractor ; but with the conditions re- 

 verst, the solar is " no good." In my experience with old, 

 black comb I get little or no wax in this way ; it being 

 nearly all left in the residue, which, on getting cold, is as 

 solid "and hard as a lump of wax. One writer, I think it is 

 Dr. J. P. H. Brown, of Georgia, says he thinks it is no loss 

 to have this wax left in the refuse, because it makes such 

 good fuel. It seems to me that wax at 25 cents a pound is 

 rather expensive fuel ; besides, the waste will burn just as 



