1883 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



75^ 



satisfactory to the bees, and there Is no danger of 

 her being balled. We have al-o been experimenting 

 the last season, and we intend to continue our ex- 

 periments ou introducing queens during the honey 

 season, without chlurolorm or without caging. It 

 can, and has beeu done, as we have ourselves done 

 It very frequently, but it requires cousiderable ex- 

 perience to know just the circumstances under 

 which she will be accepted, and to be able to detect 

 any hostile act of the bees, and guard against it in 

 time. 



FEEDING BY POURING THE FEED ON THE BOTTOM- 

 BOARD OF THE HIVE. 



It is going the rounds, that I slated at the Conven- 

 tion held in Tiironio that I poured the feed into the 

 entrance. Such is not the case, and I never stated 

 so if I was duly sober. Ihat would be one of the 

 best ways of inducing robbing. 1 always feed by 

 tilting up the Irontof the hive, lifting off the cover, 

 and piiuring the teed behind the divicion-board into 

 the back end of the hive. Tois allows the bees to 

 pass back under the division-board, and take up the 

 feed. It too cold, 1 pour the teed into empty combs, 

 and place them in the body of the hive; but. 99 % of 

 my feeding is done by pouring it into i he back end 

 of the hive. D. A. Jones. 



You will observe, friends, that toward the 

 close of the above article friend Jones speaks 

 of experimenting in regard to introducing 

 queens during the honey season, without any 

 caging or inuoduciiig at all. You will bear 

 in mind how much I have said upon this 

 subject. It is my impression, that li)0 

 queens may be turned loose at the entrance of 

 lUO queenless hives, without losing more 

 than 6 per cent, on an average, if it is done 

 during the honey season, and toward the 

 close of a day that has furnished abundance 

 of forage. Where queens are plentiful, and 

 apiarists crowded for time, I believe 1 should 

 recommend this plan of introducing. But it 

 requires, as friend Jones wisely remarks, 

 " considerable experience to kuow just the 

 circumstances under which she will be ac- 

 cepted." — In regard to feeding on the bot- 

 tom - boards, 1 am glad friend Jones has 

 made the correction, because it seems to me 

 as though pouring it in at the entrance 

 would be akin to madness, after honey had 

 ceased to come in. Of course, it should be 

 understood that, to feed in this way, the bot- 

 tom-board must be absolutely water-tight. 

 They can be made so by pouring in melted 

 wax. 



COLOR HEREDITARY. 



TEXTURE OF HAIR, SKIN, ETC. 



ON page 537, of Juvenile, friend Norton gives a 

 valuable exposition on "the color line." He 

 says, '"yellow bands are not in themselves in- 

 compatible with hardiness, courage, and industry." 

 Still, he says at the conclusion, " Let us breed for 

 them, as well as for prolificness, hardiness, industry, 

 and gentleness;" and he wants to know, if a dark- 

 colored Italian is worth more than a light one why 

 a black one is not worth the most of all. Please ex- 

 cuse me, he leaves the thing rather loose. 



WHY A BLACK BEB IS NOT AS GOOD AS A YELLOW 

 ONE. 



Every thing in nature is colored. Inside and out; 

 and the color always corresponds with the character. 

 Nature always paints her coarse productions in 

 rough drab; but. more exquisite, or fine, in her best 

 clothes. So, a certain dress signifies a certain qual- 

 ity. Thus, black signifies power; green, immaturi- 

 ty; yejlow, ripeness, ricUness, etc. Hence all dark 



animals are powerful, such as the black bear, black 

 snake, morgan horses, etc. And Indians and negroes 

 are more powerful, hardy, and tougher, than the 

 white race. But dark-skinned nations are always 

 behind the light in all inventions and improvements 

 of the age. Indians are good at robbing and steal- 

 ing, and you won't find one negro in a hundred that 

 will not steal. 1 was raised with them, you see, and 

 know them. Daniel Webster was dark-haired, dark- 

 skinned, and possessed great power of intellect, yet 

 lacked purity; therefore a black bee has not as great 

 instinct or intellect (if you will have it) as the yellow 

 bee; then they have this robbir^ propensity. The 

 reason wh.y a dark Italian, or hybrids, are *' hooped 

 up" so is the combination of strength with that 

 superior instinct possessed by the light strain of 

 bees. A hybrid inherits that tendency to rob, from 

 her black ancestors; and that sharpness from the 

 Italian, gives them the knowledge how to get into a 

 hive, or how to get honey from the fields. 1 prefer 

 a dark Italian; but keep your entrances in such a 

 shape that they will never get in, and each hive 

 very pv)pulous, and you are all right. 

 Wa'jo, Tex., Nov. 13, 1883. J. W. Guyton. 



Friend G., I once heard of an old minister 

 who complimented a younger one, by telling 

 him that his sermon contained much that was 

 new and much that was true. Of course the 

 the young minister, just out of college, felt a 

 good deal flattered, and thanked his old 

 friend for the kind words; whereupon the 

 old man replied that the trouble was, the part 

 that was new was not true, and the part that 

 was true was not new. 1 fell to wondering, 

 while reading your letter, if we could not 

 consistently say the same in regard to some 

 of your bold ideas. It may be, however, that 

 all that you say that is new is also true ; but 

 very much of it is surely quite new to me. 



HONEY FBOM THE OAK. 



SOME ADDITIONAI. LIGHT ON THE MATTER. 



/^I^N page 503, current Juvenile, Mamie Keen 

 MUw) tells us her uncle's bees are storing honey 

 from " jack-oak." You say the tree is probably 

 what you know as black-oak, and suggest that the 

 honey is not of good quality. I mail you to-day a 

 specimen of what some here call "jack-oak," while 

 others call it " pin-oak." I would say concerning it, 

 that it not only yields copiously, but the honey is 

 first-class as to taste and flavor. In color it is a light 

 amber. The fiow from this source lasts longer than 

 from any other in this locality, and comes in a time 

 when most needed. This year it began about the 

 first of June, and continued incessantly up to the 

 present. The bees still give it attention early in the 

 morning, though there is a world of ironweed, bone- 

 set, heari's-ease, and Spanish-needle in bloom around 

 them. Through the month of July, and up to Aug. 

 10, they stored surplus from it. 



The honey comes from the small bud you will see 

 clustered in among this year's leaf-stems, and it is 

 no doubt the bloom for the fruit of next year. The 

 honey can be seen oozing out from near the base of 

 the buds; and when one drop is taken by the bees, 

 or brushed away, another gathers in a very few 

 minutes. At night these drops get so large they fall 

 on the leaves below, maklngstill another honey-dew, 

 whence it is taken by the bees. If I remember cor* 



