444 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



may get something from the second 

 crop of clover aud the fall flowers, but 

 the prospect is not flattering for a good 

 yield of honey this season. I notice 

 in the Bee Journal that a new 

 name for extracted honey is wanted. 

 Call it " shelled honey;" then when 

 our customers want to know what 

 kind of honey that is, we can explain. 

 Ignorance in regard to honey-produc- 

 tion prevails to such an extent 

 amongst the consumers, that it takes 

 an explanation to give them a correct 

 idea of the matter. Any thing to 

 provoke inquiry will be a help to get 

 rid of the prejudice and ignorance 

 that surrounds our business. 



Prepaying Charges on Bees, etc.— 



€. Weeks, Clifton,? Tenn., on June 

 28, 1887, writes : 



For the last three years I have been 

 disposing of my surplus stock of bees, 

 but now a new obstacle comes up. 

 Express companies refuse to take bees 

 unless the charges are prepaid. The 

 question is, how can we advertise 

 bees in hives and prepay express 

 charges, not knowing what distance 

 they will have to be sent ? I sent a 

 colony to St. Louis by boat to be ex- 

 pressed to Washington Territory. 

 The agent refused them unless the 

 freight charges ($30) was prepaid. Of 

 course I could but order the bees 

 brought back. The man who ordered 

 them wrote me that he would have 

 been willing to have paid $8 express- 

 age on them. There is less surplus 

 honey here this year than for the past 

 ten years. In fact, this is not a favor- 

 able locality for surplus honey, and I 

 expect to be forced to destroy a por- 

 tion of my bees to reduce my stock. 

 I allow but little increase of colonies. 



[" There's the rub." We see no 

 -way to avoid the trouble. The Ex- 

 press Company could not be blamed. 

 Bees are perishable property, and if 

 they had carried them through to 

 Washington Territory, the last com- 

 pany which handled them would 

 have had a loss of $20 or more, for it 

 must advance the charges of the pre- 

 ceding handlers. As it was, you are 

 the suSerer. But there are two sides 

 to this as well as nearly all of such 

 questions.— Ed.] 



Swellings from Bee-Stings.— War- 

 ren Fallen, Estherville,x) Iowa, gives 

 his experience with bee-stings as 

 follows : 



This spring I had 4 colonies of bees, 

 and I have increased them to 10, and 

 they are still increasing. But could 

 I change swelled head and bloated 

 eyes into hives, I should not have to 

 make any for ten years. Can you 

 inform me as to anything that will 



?revent the swelling from oee-stings V 

 do not mind the sting, but I swell 

 like a barrel, and cannot see for three 

 -days. I break out all over my body, 

 from the top of my head to the very 

 •bottoms of my feet. I need two 



" scratching machines," or the itching 

 would craze me. You will say, get a 

 bee-hat ; I have a good one, but if my 

 nose gets too close they will strike 

 through, and are sure to hit me. 

 They have stung me twice through 

 kid gloves, so I do not know what to 

 do. If you can advise me as to any 

 way so I and the bees can stay to- 

 gether and be friendly, I shall thank 

 you. 



[A good bee-veil would not permit 

 the bees to get at your nose. One 

 like the illustration is an excellent 

 protection. Kid gloves are not thick 

 enough. You need rubber gloves. 

 Carbonate of soda will generally an- 

 tidote the bee-poison ; hartshorn and 

 salaratus water are also used to ad- 



BEE-VEIL. 



vantage. Pull out the stings and 

 apply a strong solution of carbonate 

 of soda to the wound before it closes 

 up by swelling. To dissolve one-half 

 tea-spoonful of the soda in a little 

 water and drink it will often prevent 

 swelling. 



If this does not answer the purpose, 

 dissolve a table-spoonful of salt in a 

 half -goblet of vinegar, and make it 

 tepid. Then apply it to the wound 

 with a rag. An onion cut in two and 

 gently rubbed on the wound will 

 often prevent swelling. Crushed 

 tomato leaves are used with good re- 

 sults for the same. 



The reason why one remedy will 

 not answer for all, is because of the 

 ever-varying state of the human sys- 

 tem, both as the result of internal 

 and external causes. — Ed.] 



Sweet Clover on the Roadside.— 

 .Jno. A. Osborne, Rantoul,o* Ills., on 

 July 1, 1887, writes: 



I have been growing sweet clover 

 along the road near my farm for five 

 or six years, and I find it a great help 

 to the bees in July and August, and I 

 have never had any trouble about it 

 until now. I have been mowing a 

 swath along each side every year 

 until now, and I would have mown it 

 this year but the commissioner of 

 highways hired a man to cut it all 

 down a few days ago. Now I would 

 like to know if you think I have a 

 right to grow sweet clover along the 

 road near my own farm, so long as it 

 does not interfere with travel. It 

 seems to me that I have a right to the 



grass or whatever grows on my side 

 of the road. The party on the oppo- 

 site side of the road from my farm 

 has a strip of ground 14 feet wide on 

 what is supposed to be the right-of- 

 way, planted in corn and oats, and I 

 (nor any one else) have not complain- 

 ed of him, as the road is still wide 

 enough. Have I any chance to get 

 damage of the parties who cut the 

 clover, or will I have to give up grow- 

 ing clover on the roadside '? 



[If the "commissioner of highways" 

 hired a man to cut the weeds, etc., 

 along the highways, you could have 

 no case against the man who cut it 

 " by authority." If it was a malicious 

 act on the part of the commissioner, 

 you might have a case, but we fear 

 that might be difficult to prove. Your 

 " rights " on the highway may not in- 

 clude using it for " pasturage " or for 

 "raising garden truck" there. We 

 do not know how the law reads on 

 that subject, and prefer to leave that 

 matter to the attorneys. — Ed.] 



Bees doing Well.— Samuel Jarvis, 

 Fair Grove,o Mich., on July 2, 1887, 

 writes ; 



I have visited a half dozen apiaries, 

 and I believe that bees are doing 

 very well in this locality, and es- 

 pecially in increase. Four old colo- 

 nies in my father's apiary sent out 12 

 swarms, beginning on June 3. We 

 have some linden, but white clover is 

 the main bee-forage. Eed raspberry 

 bloom is gone. 



Worked Well on Alsike.— B. F. 

 Conely, Brighton, o> Mich., on July 1, 

 1887, says : 



I had 33 colonies, lost 3 in winter, 

 and started the season with the re- 

 mainder. My bees are doing very 

 well, considering that there was no 

 white clover honey. Fifteen colonies 

 have cast swarms, but I will not let 

 them swarm any more. I had four 

 acres of Alsike clover, and the bees 

 work well on it. I shall get about 

 one ton of honey. 



Profusion of Basswood Bloom, etc. 



— S. J. Youngman, Cato,© Mich., on 

 July 4, 1887, says : 



There was only one rain in June, 

 and the consequence is a profusion of 

 white clover bloom, but no nectar. 

 Alsike proved to be, as usual, all that 

 could be expected, growing in some 

 places, where mixed with timothy 

 and the large clovers, 2^ feet in 

 length. My colonies have gathered 

 from 25 to 30 pounds each of choice, 

 thick honey. Basswood bloom opened 

 on June 30— the earliest known to 

 bee-keepers here ; there is a great 

 profusion of the flowers, and a great 

 yield of honey is expected, as the 

 colonies are strong in numbers. It 

 rained on July 2, 3, and 4, and other 

 honey-plants will thrive. 



