1883 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



239 



May 6, wild-cherry; honej'. 8, black-locust; nothing. 12, red- 

 willow; honey and pollen. 16, red, white, and alsike clover; 

 honey. 23, wild-grape, honey. 27, dogwood; honey and 

 pollen. 



June 9, sumac; honey and pollen. 16, basswood; honey. 



July 15, sumac; honey and pollen. 



Aug. 8, English smartweed; honey and pollen. 

 1881.— Apr. 16, hazel; pollen, the first ot the season. 20, white- 

 willow, red-elm, maple; honey and pollen. 23, June-berry, 

 Cottonwood; honey and pollen. 



May >5, wild-cherry" and black-haw: honey and pollen. 18, 

 black-locust; nothing. 23, red, white, and alsike clover; 

 honey. 



June 13, sumac; honey and pollen. 1-5, basswood; honey. 



July 13, sumac; honey and pollen. 



Aug. 28, English smartweed; honey and pollen. 

 1882.— March 1, hazel; pollen. Maple; pollen and honey. IJ. 

 red-elm; honey and pollen. 23, white-willow; honey and 

 pollen. 



Aprils, Cottonwood, plum; honey and pollen. 7, apple, cher- 

 ry, honey and poUen. a, June-berry, red-bud; honey and 

 pollen. 



May 2, red-willow, gooseberry; honey and pollen. 4, oak; 

 honey and pollen. 6, wild-cherry; honey. 19, white, red, 

 and alsike clover; honey. 31, blackberries; honey. 



June 11, rape; spring honey and pollen. 21, bees starving. 

 23, sumac; honey and pollen. Sweet-elder, nothing. 25, 

 basswood; honey. 30, sweet-clover; honey. 



July 17, sumac; honey and pollen. 



Aug. 7, English smartweed; honey and pollen. 



Having- ascertaiaed that the necessary plants are 

 within the flight of the honey-bee, should the estab- 

 lishment of an apiary be determined upon, the hab- 

 its of the bee should be studied closely, with a view- 

 to choosing a site where it would be encouraged to 

 develop its habits to the fullest extent, and be pro- 

 tected from the cold winds. 



Falls City, Neb. 



Jerome Wiltse. 



AN A B C SCHOLAR'S LETTER. 



ALSO SOME GR.^INS OF WISDOM FOR VETERANS. 



MY bees have all wintered nicely, notwithstand- 

 ing the severity of the winter. They were 

 on summer stands, with chafl' cushions on 

 top of the frames, and solid sheets of honey at the 

 sides in place of division-boards. Although they 

 suffered badly from the dysentery during the latter 

 part of the winter, yet they do not seem to be ma- 

 terially injured by it, as thtj' are now strong and in 

 tine condition. They are carrying in large quanti- 

 ties of pollen to-day. 



HONEY THAT WON'T ORANUL.VTE. 



Last year's crop of honey, 1.500 lbs., is all sold, and 

 I could have sold much more if 1 had had it. Out of 

 1200 lbs. extracted, I had only about 15 lbs. that 

 granulated, and that was basswood honey taken in 

 July. We did not put any of our honey in barrels 

 last year, neither did 1 strain any of it. 



STRAINING HONEY. 



I consider straining honey unnecessary labor. On 

 extracting, our honey was put into large tin cans 

 (such as are generally used for lard), and kept in a 

 warm room for a few hours, when all impurities 

 would arise to the top, and were easily skimmed off. 

 The small amount of honey skimmed from the cans, 

 and that with the cappings, was used for making 

 vinegar. If I were going to barrel my honey, I 

 think I should save both time and labor by skim- 

 ming rather than straining it. 



DEVELOPING THE HONEY MARKET. 



With the exception of about 400 lbs., our honey 

 was all sold in or near our own town, mostly in bulk, 

 as the purchasers generally prefer to furnish the 

 vessel to be filled. With the little experience that I 

 have had in selling honey, 1 think the best way is to 

 self from samples, never handling the honey except 

 to deliver it. 



HANGING OUT, AND THE REMEDY. 



While reading Gleanings I see a good many com- 

 plain of their bees lying out in summer. I think 

 this is more frequently caused by their being in need 

 of room to store honey, than from a liick of ventila- 

 tion, as many seem to think. I noticed during the 

 past season that when a colony was found lying out 

 (if for a single d:iy only), on examination they were 

 invariably found in need of more room; and by the 

 frequent use of the extractor, and by removing the 

 surplus boxes as soon as filled, replacing them with 

 empty ones, our bees were kept busily at work dur- 

 ing the entire season, regardless of the heat, not- 

 withstanding a part of them were very poorly shaded. 



RAISING HONEY-PLANT.S, AND THE SATISFACTION IT 

 GIVES. 



I think wilh a very little care and attention any 

 person can greatly improve the natural resources of 

 honey in his own neigbborhood. Three years ago I 

 had to go a mile from home to find a fciv Simpson 

 pkints, which I transplanted lo my garden, and from 

 which I have saved seed and scattered by the road- 

 sides and waste places, until now you can scarcely 

 go ten rods from the house in any direction withi ut 

 finding an abundance of them. And not only the 

 Simpson pant, but catnip, motherwort, etc. And 

 now, Iriend Root, you can realize what a joy it is to 

 me; how It tills my heart with gladness, to see my 

 pets sipping the nectar from the flowers that have 

 sprung from the seed that I have sown. If any of 

 our friends want to see swarms of all the honey-lov- 

 ing insects in Christendom, just let them plant a 

 patch of Spider plants, and I think they will be sat- 

 isfied witn the result of their labor. 



Sarah E. Ddncan. 



Lineville, Iowa, April 7. 1S83. 



I am much pleased, my friend, with your 

 closing remarks. I agree witli you, that 

 even if honey-plants do not pay in dollars 

 and cents, they pay in the satisfaction one 

 receives seeing the honey secreted, and the 

 wa^ in which the bees take it. It seems to 

 me it would pay bee-keepers to have at least 

 a /eio plants of the figwortand spider plants; 

 then if they want to raise tliem by the acre, 

 they will know all about how to do it. 



MRS. AXTELL'S DISCLAIMER. 



I was vcrii sorry that I made myself so prominent 

 that you thought I was manager of this business, in 

 so much that you headed the articles, " The Results 

 of One Woman's Bee-keeping." I fear our neigh- 

 bors will smile a little. I do much of our writing, 

 and most of the " blowing;" but Mr. i^xtell is man- 

 ager of our apiaries, farm, business, and all, and I 

 am very glad we have got a head, for I am sure 1 

 could not carry it alone. As his health is not good, 

 I try to help him in every way I can, as he has other 

 duties to look after besides his own. Indeed, I do 

 not see how a man can be a prosperous bee-keeper, 

 if his wife doesn't take hold too, and do her share 

 of the work; for it seems to me the work is just as 

 well adapted to women as men. 



Sarah J. W. Axtell. 



Roseville, 111., March .5, 1883. 



MAPLE SUGAR FOR BEES. 



In the March No. of Gleanings, page 1.3.3, under 

 heading of " Maple Sugar for Feeding," I beg leave 

 to make a few corrections. I did not expect my re- 

 port to be published, and I either did not give all 

 the particulars about feeding, or the reporter failed 



