362 



THE AMERICAJS: BEE JOURNAL. 



and refers to the eucalyptus honey 

 mentioned on page 243. Honey is no 

 doubt one of the most valuable of 

 medicines, and nearly all the diseases 

 mentioned by Dr. Thomas-Caraman 

 are cured by domestic honey from the 

 American linden tree. Mr. Luther 

 Corey, of Yorkshire, X. Y., says: 

 "On Oct. 1, 1882, I was taken with 

 bilious and gastric fever, followed by 

 a relapse in the shape of inflammation 

 of the lungs and their surroundings, 

 also congestion of a portion. Until 

 within two or three weeks I was un- 

 conscious, and therefore not aware of 

 my condition, at which time I com- 

 menced eating honey, and have taken 

 it at all times of the day and night, 

 until I have eaten five 2-pound boxes 

 of honey. My cough has subsided, 

 and my lungs are healing, much be- 

 yojid the physician's expectations. 

 Honey is doing the business. I can 

 now walk about the house." 



Herr Karl Gatter, of Vienna, Aus- 

 tria,the principal of the public schools, 

 assured us that his life was saved by 

 the use of honey. He published a 

 small pamphlet on the curative powers 

 of honey, and said : " I, a sufferer 

 from hemorrhages, already given up 

 to despair, and at the verge of the 

 grave, was saved by the wonderful 

 curative powers of honey ; and now, 

 thank God, I am freed, not only from 

 weakness of my lungs, but rejoice in 

 the possession of perfect health." 



Many persons afflicted with various 

 species of consumption, thank the 

 use of linden honey, either for their 

 entire restoration to health, or for the 

 mitigation of their often painful con- 

 dition of body and mind. 



Honey can also be used with ad- 

 vantage in asthma, in constipation, 

 in sore throat ; promotes perspiration, 

 lessens phlegm, and is very healing 

 to the chest, sore from coughing. 



Honey mollifies ; causes gentle purg- 

 ing, divides and dissolves, warms, 

 nourishes, stops pains, strengthens 

 the tone of the stomach, carries away 

 all superfluous moisture, aids diges- 

 tion, thins and purities the blood, and 

 animates and strengthens the breast, 

 nerves and lungs. Honey is therefore 

 to be used when suffering with a 

 cough, hoarseness, stoppage of the lungs, 

 shortness of breath, and especially with 

 the best results, in all affections of the 

 chest. 



Honey has also great value as a 

 medicine for children, and is readily 

 partaken of by them as a choice dainty 

 dish. It is especially useful to chil- 



dren afflicted with scrofula or rickets. 

 In difficult teething, rub the gums 

 with a mixture made of honey and an 

 emulsion of quinces. For the remov- 

 ing of worms, honey has often been 

 beneficially used, and it is often used 

 in diseases of the mouth and throat. 



If the Tasmanian honey is superior 

 to the American — particularly that 

 from the linden trees— it is indeed a 

 boon to mankind. 



In California several have reported 

 to the American Bee Journal that 

 the bees have gathered excellent crops 

 of honey from the eucalyptus trees. 

 The honey has a fine flavor, though it 

 is a very strong one. 



The eucalyptus blooms in Australia 

 from December to March, according 

 to locality, but the trees do not bloom 

 much until the tenth year. We would 

 respectfully ask the apiarists of Cali- 

 fornia to report what their experience 

 has been with the eucalyptus and its 

 honey.— £d.] 



Bees a Sacrifice, to Prejndice. 



In the June number of the Southern 

 Planter, published at Richmond, Va., 

 just received, we find the editorial 

 article marked, which gives the de- 

 tails of the sacrifice of an apiary be- 

 cause of the damage done to grapes 

 by " the yellow-jackets." The editor, 

 Mr. W. C. Knight, gives the follow- 

 ing as " a reminiscence," which will 

 be excellent proof that bees are inno- 

 cent of the charges against them in 

 the matter of their supposed depreda- 

 tions upon grapes. It proves that 

 they are unable to puncture the skin 

 of grapes, and that the real culprits 

 are the yellow wasp, known as yellow- 

 jackets. The editor of the Southern 

 Planter says : 



At an early period of our farming 

 life, 35 years ago, we planted a small 

 vineyard of four varieties of grapes— 

 Catawba, Isabella, Norton and Herbe- 

 mont Madiera— and as grape culture 

 in South Side Virginia, at that time, 

 was limited to a few garden vines, 

 our effort was a pet enterprise. Our 

 method of planting may be mentioned 

 as it secured thorough drainage, and 

 thus, as we think, preventing the rot 

 which is so much complained of now. 

 Trenches were dug the full length of 

 the trellises, which were to be erected 

 to support the vines, their width be- 

 ing 2]4 feet, and depth 20 inches. 

 These trenches were run north and 

 south, to afford the rays and light of 

 the sun on both sides of the vines 

 when trained on the trellises, and 

 each trench had a slight graded fall 

 towards and into a head- ditch which 

 was to act as a secret drain, this ditch 

 being filled to the depth of 10 inches 



with small stones. In the bottom of 

 the trenches were placed a layer of 

 small stones about 3 inches thick, and 

 on these a layer of 2 inches of broken 

 bones, such as could be gathered 

 about the farm and broken into 

 small pieces with the butt of an axe 

 or heavy hammer. The trenches 

 were then filled with the richest mold 

 which could be procured from the 

 forest, care being taken that it had 

 intermixed sufficient sand to make it 

 light and clay enough to give it body. 

 The vines were then planted in the 

 trenches early in the spring, and cut 

 back to two eyes above the ground, 

 the distance between them being 20 

 feet, allowing the lateral branches to 

 be trained 10 feet on each side of the 

 main stem on four wires 2 feet apart, 

 and securely fastened to posts S feet 

 high, which were set midway be- 

 tween the vines. The wires were 

 fastened to the sides of the posts with 

 small iron staples which are easily 

 drawn when it becomes necessary to 

 renew the posts, and thus prevent any 

 disturbance of the wires or vines. 



Our vineyard commenced bearing 

 well the third year, and was in fine 

 thrift the fourth year, when it had a 

 serious set-back by the destruction of 

 the grapes, as they ripened, by bees, 

 as we supposed. There were a few 

 hives about 100 yards off, and it ap- 

 peared that every bee in them was 

 puncturing and sucking the juice of 

 the fruit. It was hastily determined 

 that the bees must be sacrificed for 

 the protection of the vineyard, and 

 accordingly loads of dry wheat straw 

 were brought and dumped near the 

 hives. After night, when the bees 

 were resting quietly, the hives were 

 gently taken from the stands, piled 

 together — the straw piled over them — 

 and the torch applied, so that in a 

 half hour all were consumed. This 

 seemed to be a cruel act, but justifi- 

 able under the principle of ex ixecessi- 

 tate rei. 



Our surprise was great when the 

 next day. a bright and clear one, not 

 a bee was to be seen, but the destruc- 

 tion went on, and it became apparent 

 that innocent lives had been sacrificed, 

 and the real depredators appeared in 

 the form of ydlow-jackets. They were 

 active and voracious, and could, and 

 did, in plain view pass from bunch to 

 bunch, and with their sharp pro- 

 boscides puncture and suck the juice 

 until surfeited, when they would fly 

 off in a sluggish manner. A few of 

 the common gray wasps would follow 

 and lap up the exuded sweets, and it 

 became clear that the innocent bees 

 had only been doing the same thing. 

 The vineyard was the victim of an 

 unsuspected enemy, and it was a seri- 

 ous question how his ravages could 

 be checked. Knowing something of 

 the habits of this insect in respect to 

 burrowing into the ground for their 

 nests, we called up an intelligent and 

 observing negro man and put him on 

 the watch. Following out the idea 

 suggested by a recent reading of 

 Cooper's Oak Openings, in which was 

 described the plan bee-hunters use for 

 finding bee-trees, this man was en- 

 abled to trace the yellow-jackets by 

 the direction of their flight to their 



