THE SMERIC3KF* BBK J&^MNMJL. 



617 



recommends that the trunks of trees be 

 washed early in June and July with a 

 strong solution of soap, to which one- 

 tenth of its volume of crude carbolic 

 acid has been added, especially for two 

 or three years after setting. Still better 

 is good care— spading about the trees 

 and adding a generous mulch every 

 spring for Qve or six years after plant- 

 ing. 



•• Why do we plant so many maples? " 

 is a conundrum propounded by the pro- 

 fessor in his reply. He estimates that 

 throughout the state ten maples are 

 planted to one of any other species. 

 He refers to the elm as a beautiful tree, 

 and one, which, in this locality, is yet 

 free from serious attack. Still the elm- 

 leaf beetle in the East is moving West 

 rapidly, and the canker worm is a fatal 

 enemy of the tree. The bass wood or 

 linden is a handsome tree, a more vigor- 

 ous grower than either maple or elm, 

 and is comparatively free from insect 

 enemies. With the same care live, and 

 the professor guesses ten, lindens sur- 

 vive to one maple. It is also an admir- 

 able houey-tree, and so has much 

 economic value. 



'' If we must plant maples," concludes 

 the professor, 'give them the best of 

 care and wash them with the solution 

 mentioned each June and July for some 

 years after planting, but it is far better 

 to plant the beautiful linden, which 

 with half a chance, if stock is kept 

 away, will live, thrive and mature." 



STINGING BEES. 



Something in tlie Honey Causes 

 Bees to Sling. 



Written for the American Bee Jmmial 

 BY SOLOMON W. JEWETT. 



No pure honey can be found in 

 America in any quantity or in any con- 

 dition, that has not gone through the 

 chemical laboratory of the honeybee, 

 or some other insect that stores this 

 peculiar sweet, which has properties as 

 food and medicinal, that cannot be 

 found outside of its deposits in the 

 comb by some insect. Most people 

 have yet to learn this, and many other 

 simple things in nature not yet learned. 



There are other matters relating to 

 bees that I tind many apiarists have not 

 discovered, namely, in the working of 

 the bees among some flowers, they be- 

 come more irritable, and more liable to 

 use their simple weapons of warfare, 

 than they do when gathering sweets, 

 and the pollen, or anything which they 

 are seeking to convey to their rural 

 home. Some wild flowers, and the 

 buckwheat flower, contain more poison, 

 and is more virulent than clover, or 

 from the willow, etc. 



When working on the flower of buck- 

 wheat, sometimes they are so over- 

 charged with poison, that they are 

 quite inclined to sting man and ani- 

 mals, seemingly to relieve themselves 

 of this surfeit ; and we find it in the 

 honey sometimes, by partaking of a 

 little fresh honey (gathered and stored 

 by these arch chemists, as deposited in 

 the comb), which will give griping 

 pains ; and this poison is in less quan- 



tities in the seed. By continuing along 

 for sometime, daily partaking of buck- 

 wheat cakes, it shows the effects on 

 the cuticle or skin of the body, and 

 even the scalp may feel this dry rough- 

 ness, and an itching sensation when 

 nothing of the kind had been felt 

 before. 



We have some people who keep fowls, 

 that speak in favor of buckwheat to 

 make hens lay; but that is a mistake ; 

 they may lay in their seasons because 

 it is their nature, but if one will only 

 observe how dry and dead their feathers 

 become, and stand out as though they 

 were suffering pain, they might desist 

 from putting before these birds buck- 

 wheat as food. 



simple Remedy I'ur Bee-Stiugs. 



There is a simple remedy at hand, 

 for those afflicted with pain from eat- 

 ing too freely of this honey gathered 

 from buckwheat. It is simply to take 

 a swallow of the weak solution of soda 

 and water, and it is one among the best 

 remedies to apply wherever the bee, the 

 wasp, or the snake has inserted its 

 venom through the sting into man or 

 animal flesh. 



But there is another remedy that will 

 draw out poison from the snake bite. 

 Kill and open the body of a hen or bird, 

 and lay it on the stung place ; it will 

 extract the poison, reduce the swelling, 

 and remove the pain. At the usual 

 swarming season, should one have the 

 solution of common baking soda, or 

 saleratus, on hand, it will destroy the 

 effects of the bee-sting at once, if 

 applied. 



Rutland, Vt. 



MARKETING. 



Disposing of the Honey Crop to 

 Commission Men, etc. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY EEV. J. D. GEHRING. 



It is easier to learn the bee-business 

 so as to know how to produce nice 

 comb honey, than it is to learn how to 

 dispose of it to the best advantage. 



Last year I had no trouble to dispose 

 of all I had at 20 cents a pound. This 

 year I cannot sell a pound to the same 

 grocerymen in Kansas City. When I 

 called on them the other day, I asked, 

 " Can I sell you some nice, white clover 

 honey?" One answered : "No, sir! 

 We have more honey now than we can 

 sell. Nobody wants honey." Another, 

 •' Is it nice and white V Sections well 

 filled out and unbroken ¥" To which I 

 could promptly reply in the affirmative. 



■' IIow much do you want for it V" 

 Eighteen cents, net. 



"Don't want it!" 



And IS cents a pound is 2 cents less 

 than the quoted market price ! These 

 same men are retailing it at 25 cents. 

 Something is wrong somewhere. What 

 is it V 



We have two firms in Kansas City 

 who make comb honey a specialty. 

 They now quote 18 and 20 cents for 

 first-class comb honey. I presume they 

 sell to retailers at those prices. I do 



not know how they sell it in large lots ; 

 but I know that they have a " buying 

 price " and a " selling price," for when 

 I ask, " What is the price of the best 

 comb honey ?" they will cast upon me 

 a look peculiar to a Kansas City com- 

 mission man, and answer my question 

 " Yankee fashion," thus : " Do you 

 want to buy or sell ?" 



I have a few hundred pounds to sell 

 at 18 cents. 



" Don't want it I Piles of it on hand 

 now." 



Who is glutting (V) the Kansas City 

 market this year. 1 wonder V Some " big 

 bee-men in the East," I am told ! 



What a queer state of affairs ! The 

 bee-papers inform the anxious, tired 

 and disgusted small bee-man that there 

 is a very light honey crop in the coun- 

 try. He can say " amen " to the state- 

 ment, for he is one of them. But New 

 York bee-keepers send honey by the 

 carload (?) all the way to our own mar- 

 ket; and our commission men cannot 

 be convinced that honey is scarce. 



" If you want to consign your honey, 

 we'll take it and sell it for you. But 

 we can't guarantee any particular 

 price, as the demand is light." 



" l'"ou see ?" No. some bee-keepers 

 don't " see " that they are helping a 

 syndicate of commission sharpers to 

 control the honey market, and that 

 they are making it easy for those men 

 to treat us poor, small struggling fel- 

 lows with haughty contempt. 



I tell you, Mr. Editor, we ought not 

 to stand such an outrage ! I am only a 

 small " Dutchman," and have no great 

 amount of " stock " invested in bees 

 and honey ; but, sir, I am big with in- 

 dignation ! Even a Dutchman will tind 

 out a thing or two when he is exasper- 

 ated. Let me tell you what I mean : 



Not many years ago a man, whom I 

 know quite well, had some honey to 

 sell. He was a "poor preacher," and 

 needed money, so he sent it to a com- 

 mission man who said he could prob- 

 ably (?) get 17 cents for it. But when 

 the preacher collected for his honey, 

 he got only 15 cents minus the " com- 

 mission "—because " we couldn't get 

 17 cents." 



Well, one day, sometime after the 

 transaction with the commission man, 

 the preacher saw some honey in a 

 grocery store which he thought looked 

 exactly like his IJ^pound sections. He 

 asked the price, and found they were 

 retailing it at 25 cents a pound. He 

 asked where they got it, aud was told 



at commissiou house. It was his 



honey, no doubt. But as it was a deli- 

 cate question to ask the merchant what 

 price he paid for the honey, this 

 preacher sent a man (who didn't want 

 to buy honey) to inquire the price, and 

 was told that, as that was " particularly 

 nice honey," they had to ask 18 cents(!) 

 for it. 



That Dutchman has ever since been 

 a little careful about accepting the gift 

 of a " stencil plate," ready for use, 

 from a commission house. 



Hadn't we better form a " honey 

 trust ?" 



Farkville, Mo. 



[We trust that the last sentence is a 

 joke, Bro. Gehring. The word itself is 

 distasteful to us. We have trusted so 



