288 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1 



caudle appendag-es; the Datames, which I 

 illustrate in vny bee-bof'k. and which some- 

 times are known to kill beef^; the harvest- 

 men, or daddy-long-legs, as they are some- 

 times called; and. lastly, those sent by 

 your correspondent, which are known as 

 book scorpions, as some of them are often 

 found around book-cases. Those we have 

 here are rather smaller than the one sent 

 from South Africa, and I suppose they, like 

 all of the spider gfroup. live on other in- 

 sects. The g-enus of ours and those found 

 in Michig-an and Ohio are Chelifer. From 

 their size we should hardly expect thev 

 would do much harm in the hive, althoueh 

 they might annoy the bees, which it seem-* 

 they did do, as the bees were trying- to get 

 rid of them. Ours are sometimes called 

 pseiido scorpions, which word means, of 

 course, false scorpion. Their most charac- 

 teristic feature is their immense "palpi," 

 which end in immense pincers, or, as they 

 are often called, chelicera. Thej- thus re- 

 mind us of the cra3'fish or lobster, though 

 in the latter case these great pincer-<:ipped 

 feet are really legs. I am curious to know 

 whether these are really in the bee-hives, 

 and whether they do work any considerable 

 mischief to the bees. If they do, this is 

 the second species of this scorpion group 

 that works harm to the apiarist. The da- 

 tames, or galiodies, are not uncommon in 

 California, and do really destroy bees, al- 

 though they are not numerous enousrh to be 

 of any serious consequence. A. J. Cook. 

 Claremont, Cal. 



AN ITXPUBLISHED CHAPTER IN THE LIFE 

 OF THE RAMBLER. 



Ever since I read of the death of our friend 

 Martin I have been sad; and no one in this 

 country who was ever acquainted with him 

 or his noble writing and work, can feel 

 otherwise. So I thought it would give me 

 relief to write j'ou and give you some of his 

 writings over six years ago, when I had to 

 pass through the same trials that our friend 

 did, when I had to give up the best friend 

 on earth, whose death was published in 

 Gleanings. Yes, I am sure that cloud of 

 sorrow never left him in this life; and while 

 on the mountains or on the lonelj' plains I 

 believe the tear of sorrow for his loved one 

 often stole down his cheek. He wrote me, 

 Dec. 13, 1896, saying: 



You may be sure that you have my heartfelt sym- 

 pathies, for I have been 'through the deep waters as 

 well as yourself; and when I saw the name Celesta, 

 the teardrops moistened mv eyes, for that was a por- 

 tion of my wife's name — Libbie Celesta Martin. For 

 \% years we passed a verv happy married life. One 

 child came to us that died at birth. At the clcse of 

 the 13 years my wife was taken away after onlv ten 

 days' sickness, and left me stunned with grief. I lived 

 with my aged parents, and cared for them, but in two 

 years to the month after mv wife died mv parents 

 both died. Soon after, I sold out, and ever since I 

 have been a homeless wanderer (rambler). I knnw 

 you will sadU' miss your beloved wife, and will miss 

 her more now than you did at first. I know how sad. 

 too, your homecoming wi 1 be after you have been for 

 a day away— no dear loving face and smiles, and a kiss 

 to greet you. Yet we should feel that death is only a 

 change to a better and a higher life. With that as.sur- 

 ance, could we call our loved ones back again to the 



trials of this cold world? No. we could not. Hoping 

 ■V ou the consolation that only the dear Savior can give, 

 I lemain truly yours, J. H. Martin. 



You don't know how much comfort this 

 kind letter gave me in hours of trouble; 

 and while he had his sad hours he trusted 

 in one who would carry him through life 

 with that unshaken faith in Jesus to the 

 dear one he longed so much to see. 

 While he has gone from earth's work he has 

 .sown seed that will germinate and gmw 

 from sea to sea; and while we mourn his 

 loss, may we be bettered by his noble life, 

 for the Bible tells us by the sadness of the 

 countenance the heart is made better; but 

 that which I have seen for 13 long years 

 will appear no more. Abbott Clemans. 



Benson, W. Va., Feb. 8. 



don't let your swarms get into a 

 mix-up; a valuable kink. 



Last season was the worst one ever 

 known in Ontario for many swarms rush- 

 ing out of their hives at the saine time, and 

 all clustering in one great cluster; and 

 where this takes place it uses up much of 

 the bee-keeper's time in putting things to 

 rights, and delays all his other work, 

 which needs very prompt attention, and at 

 the end of the season he will be many dol- 

 lars short in his honey crop. Last summer 

 I saw the swarms coming out of eleven of 

 my colonies at the same time. I called my 

 help, and we very promptly covered ten of 

 these with quilts and sheets, and let the 

 one that had most bees out go on and 

 alight, which it did; and before the}' had 

 half clustered, four more colonies started 

 swarming, and these we promptly stopped 

 by covering them with quilts which went 

 down to the ground, and hung- out about a 

 foot from the hives; and under these quilts 

 the bees rushed out of the hives pellmell for 

 a few minutes, and then returned back into 

 into their hives. As I keep all of my 

 queens' wings clipped, and finding the 

 swarm up the tree not returning, I knew it 

 must have a young queen with it, and at 

 once hived that swarm. I then took the 

 quilts off the 14 colonies as quick as I 

 could, so as to let in the field bees that 

 were coining home hunting for their hives. 

 I then went to work, and divided the bees 

 and made a swarm from each of these 14 

 colonies, which I prevented from swarming, 

 and secured a good yield of honey. I hit 

 on this method over 25 years ago, and have 

 practiced it ever since; and it has been 

 worth many dollars to me. 



Wm. McEvoy. 



Woodburn, Ont., Canada, Mar. 18. 



DO seedling pear-trees ever blight? 



Do seedling pear-trees ever blight? I 

 have seen two that got to be very large (30 

 feet or more high, and 40 or 50 years old), 

 and they did not blight, to m}' knowledge. 

 One of my neighbors has three seedlings 

 ten 3'ears old that have borne pears four 

 years, and not blighted yet. But you all 

 say we do not want seedlings. 



