SfO 



GL:EANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Kov. 



tend to sow, and the remainder I will sell to those 

 wanting it, at $1.00 per lb. To cultivate, it should 

 be sown on rich mellow ground in fall, that the seed 

 may freeze, and I should sow in rows, and cultivate 

 in spring, to keep the weeds down and give it a good 

 start, and the ground will seed itself after that. It 

 is not an obnoxious plant, as it is easily destroyed. 



SKUNKS EATING BEES; SEE PAOE 608. 



Is it a common thing for skunks to eat bees? Yes, 

 friend Bull, it is. In two of Mr. Christie's apiaries 

 We have been greatly annoyed by them, and anoth- 

 er, I remember, not far from here. 



F. E. BULLIS. 



Smithland, Iowa, Oct. 10, 1883. 



Thank you, friend B., for the many facls 

 you have given us. I would suggest, in re- 

 gard to the solar v^^ax-extractor, that it be 

 located in some point protected from pre- 

 vailing winds, although, admitting the sun 

 freely. An enormous heat may be obtained 

 by preventing the hot air from escaping. 

 and accumulating, as it were, the rays of 

 the sun. I have often wondered why the 

 heat of the sun is not utilized to save fuel in 

 warming houses. I am sure there is a great 

 field open for discovery. By means of mir- 

 rors, or even bright sheets of tin, the rays of 

 the sun may be concentrated on a single 

 point so as to give almost any desired tem- 

 perature. I once collected all the looking- 

 glasses I could find in the house, and hxed 

 them so that they cast, their reflection on one 

 single spot, and I tell you it very soon began 

 to make things smoke. For melting wax 

 we do not need a very hot temperature. — I 

 would explain to our readers, tnat the Boss 

 wax-extractor described by friend B. is sub- 

 stantially the arrangement w'e now have in 

 use, to be worked by steam ; namely, a wire 

 basket hung on a large barrel or cask, with a 

 jet of steam playing on the under side of the 

 basket. Where one has steam, this is doubt- 

 less ahead of all other methods. — It seems 

 to be now well proven that skunks do devour 

 bees, and therefore it will behoove our 

 friends to look sharp whenever they notice 

 the characteristic scent in their apiaries of a 

 morning. 



THE CRirSTAIiLIZI<:D HOjNEV -DEW OF 

 OREGON. 



FRIEND BROOKS REPMES TO THE QUESTIONS 1 HAVE 

 PROPOUNDED ON PAGE 541. 



MOW for questions about the crystallized honey- 

 dew. 1. The number of trees exuding this 

 sweet can cot well be estimated. Our forests 

 here are evergreen, and the llr is the principal tim- 

 ber. In the vicinity where I gathered the sample 

 sent you, I should say there would bn a hundred 

 trees to the acre. It is in spots, (ir on occasional 

 limbs on the tree; and it also is in spots as to locali- 

 ty. This belt of country is situated in the foot-hills 

 of the Cascade Mountains; and how far it may ex- 

 tend along this range, I c.uld not say, but I suppose 

 for many miles. 



2. The reason I do not locate my bees in the midst 

 of this fountain of sweet, is, that the bees that are 

 there do not seem to make any more honey, nor 

 nearly as much, as Where mine are located now; be- 

 sides, I am only a little to one side of the midst now. 

 As singular as it may seem, I did not see a single bee 



gathering the sweet from those trees, though others 

 claim to have seen them at work briskly, where 

 flowers were scarce. From watching my bees, I con- 

 clude that they don't work on it when honey-dew of 

 any kind— liquid or crystallized— is abundant, for the 

 flowers are then rich too. 



3. This honey-dew, in its more liquid state. Is 

 quite common in portions of the State; that is, ev- 

 ery good honey year, or, say, 4 out of 5 years. It 

 makes its appearance in dry seasons about the mid- 

 dle of June, and lasts about two months. Rains 

 wash it all away. The first that came under my ob- 

 servation was in the summer of 1881; following 

 years, 1883 and 1883. So I think it is not unusual, I 

 saw it crystallized on the flr only, except as it drip- 

 ped to the plants beneath, and hardened there. 



A SUGGESTION IN REGARD TO USING SECTIONS THAT 

 HAVE SHRUNK. 



Friend J. N. Scranton (Sept. Juvenile, page 581), 

 why, that's just the "racket." Get the seven 

 frames all shrunk so that there Is one inch space 

 left after they are all in, and just drop in a ^-inch 

 division-board, and key up to that; that will give 

 you lots of room to take out, the first frame of hon- 

 ey, and the key to the rest. All of mine are so. 



Silverton, Oregon. E. S. Brooks. 



AN INVALID'S REPORT. 



616 LBS. OF HONEY FROM A SINGLE COLONY. 



HAVE been a subscriber to Gleanings for five 

 years, and I think I owe it to the magazine, and 

 its editor, to let them know how much benefit 

 bee culture has been to me. 



I have been an invalid for the past seven years, 

 and have had to lie down the greater part of each 

 day all this time. I have been able to read only a 

 very little, but always have every article in Glean- 

 ings read to me. 



In the spring of 18T8, my uncle gave me two col- 

 onies of black bees in box hives, and they have in- 

 creased steadily, until now my brothers and I have 

 43 colonies, all in Simplicity hives. I have taken 

 almost all the care of them until this summer, al- 

 though I have had some help in the busy seasons. 

 Last spring the apiary numbered 21 hives; and, not 

 feeling able to have the care of so many, I divided 

 them. I took charge of 6 hives, and my brother the 

 remainder. The first three seasons they were in 

 box hives; since then we have been Italianizing 

 them, and transferring into Simplicity hives. We 

 have never purchased any supplies for the apiary 

 until the bees had first earned the money to pay for 

 them. I do not know how I could have got along 

 all these years without the bees and Gleanings to 

 Interest me; they have occupied most of my time 

 and thoughts in the summer time, and also, to some 

 extent, in the winter. I have had many a dis- 

 couraged hour with the bees, and many a time have 

 been tired out working with them; but on the 

 whole they have been a great pleasure to me, and, I 

 think, a benefit to my health. I have never seen 

 any of the modern improvements in bee culture, 

 except our own. I was first led to subscribe for 

 Gleanings by the advertisement in the American 

 AnricuUurist. 



I have given my report from time to time, and 

 now will give this season's report. I began this 

 spring with six colonies, as I have said; most of 

 them were in fair condition, but two were very 



