292 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 



them durinj; the season. Bees can be taught 

 almost any kink of mischief, and i when ^they 

 get going, they arc a "host." 



[Including Postage.'] 

 For Club Bates see First Page. 



isd:EiDi:]sr-A.3 isro^v. i, istt. 



And he ye kinfl otic to another, tenrler-hearteri. for- 

 giving one another, even a"? Gorl for Christ's salie hath 

 forgiven you.— EphS'Slans. 4: :ii. 



Fkievd Doolittle received for his white comb 

 hnnay, 20a.; the dark or secoinl quality, is to be, or has 

 been so'd on commission, so we cannot at present 

 say what his whole crop nett,p<i. 



Good queens can be raised during the month of 

 Oct . lint so many are Inst, it is har.lly a profitable 

 busiaess. Had we tak^n pains to save a good lot of 

 drones, vei%' likely it would have made a great differ- 

 ence. 



The beautiful ennravings that help to exp'ain' the 

 A B C, are the work of Stillman Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. 

 See their card in this No. A pretty picture, is a joy 



lor ever, hut a bad one is a sorrow for ever. Have 



they .not done nicily on the basswood ? 



We have succeeded this month also, in sending 

 every queen ordered, by roturn mail, and we remem- 

 ber of but one, of the whole lot, that was dead when 

 received. This one was mads good. "With our new 

 large cages, I think we can send them safely up to 

 Dec, and perhaps later. 



^^ »<! l» — Cb 



Marcus Dubois, of Newburg, N. Y., sends us a plan 

 tor making the roots of old hives water tight by tack- 

 ing a small tin through on the underside, just xinder 

 the jaint in the roof boards. The troughs are similar 

 to those we usa in the chafl'hive Cvivers; ilustrated in 

 last Nov. No. The idea is an excellont one, for a leaky 

 roof will sometimes kill the best colony outright, and 

 no amount of i);iint '.vill make covers tight, when they 

 .ire mnde of two or more boards. If it v.'lll accommo- 

 date, we can lurnish tin gutters i inch wide, for ^ •. 

 per running foot. This device allows the wood to 

 shrink and swell, which paint and matching do not. 



Not one of all the largj number of imported queens 

 I have handled this season, has been lost in introdu- 

 cing, and I almost wonder at It myself. I presume 

 the great secret is, that I made up my mind I could 

 not stand the exjicnse of losing a single one. A few 

 days ago I purchased G tested queens of a neighbor, 

 and lost 3 In introducing. 1 gave them to hybrids, 

 and was in too much of a hurry to look fcr them 

 shortly alter they were Introduced, to see If they were 

 all right. No\7 comes the "tug of war."' I ordered SO 

 queens froin Italv. but-, blunderingly arr ingcd to have 

 them reach here Doc. lii, instead of Nov. 1st, as I had 

 intended. Won't it be funny if some of them don't 



THE SIMPSON HONEY PLANT. 



HOW IT WORKS UNDER CULTIVATION. 



fi WISH to say something of this plant; Scrofu- 

 Inna Nodosa, tt has a great many common 

 — I names, such as Figwort, Square stalk. Heal all. 

 Rattle weed, and Carpenter's square ; the last two arc 

 the ones by which It is generally known In our sec- 

 tion. The name Rattle weed is derived Irom the 

 sound made by the ripe seed In the pod, when the 

 stalk is shaken, being something like the singing 

 sound of the rattle snake. We, in the summer ot Tfi, 

 took a stroll in the tields and wood to ?ce what blos- 

 soms the bees were working on, as thr y seemed busy. 

 We foimd them on the red clover, aiid particularly 

 busy on this plant. Its blossom is so small that a bee 

 can scarcely get its head in, but can get to the honey 

 without much effort, with its proboscis. I noticed, 

 too. the drop of honey at the bottom of blossom that 

 had not been visited liy the bees that were so efigor to 

 sip it, for we found on most of the j)Iants fi om 2 to 10 

 bees, all busy and contending for the precedence. 

 We, at the time, wrote in our meniorar.dum as fol- 

 lows: "We find that the plant. Carpenter's Ecjuare, 

 aff.)rds a great deal of honey, is much sought tor by 

 the bees, and is worthy of protection and cultivation 

 as it grows well in waste places and iiedge rows." 



], in the fall, procured a root and ))lanted it in the 

 garden, but forgot all about it until it was called to 

 mind by Gleanings. I then looked and found the 

 plant all right, and by the first of July it was begin- 

 ning to bloom, and such a stalk it did make; 8 leet 

 high, with about ten spikes, making not less than 15 

 to 16 feat o( flowers, the middle or top spike being 

 about 3 feet long. Now these were not af open at 

 once, but lasted from the first of July till the first of 

 Oct., visited by bees and other Insects from "early 

 morn till dewy eve." In fact we h.ave found bees 

 gathering honey from this plant beiore sunrise just at 

 day light, and in the evening alter sundown when so 

 nearly dark they could scarcely see to liy. 



We have been" so pleased with it that we have taken 

 the precaution to collect some of the seed, which we 

 find is very small, not as large as tobacco seed. This 

 plant is a jierennial, will come up Irom the root every 

 year and needs but little cnre except prottcii' n from 

 the cattle, as they will break It down. We shall plant, 

 a lot of roots in our lot or garden this fall, and make 

 furiher observations. If any ot the bee-keepers are 

 willing to try it we will send some seed by tneii iiay- 

 ing postage, or will exchange seed with othi rs that 

 have something new. Jos. 0. Deem. 



Knightstown, Ind., Oct. 13th, 1877. 



Pei'taiiiing t:o Bee Culture. 



[We respectfully solicit the aid of our friends in 

 conducting this dei^artment, and would consider it 

 a favor to h.ave them send us all circulars that have 

 a deceptive appear.ance. The greatest care will be at 

 all times maintained to prevent injustice being done 

 any one.] 



MiRS. LIZZIE COTTON is again at work 

 full blast, wherever she can finfl a peri- 

 ' odical that will publish her falsehoods. 

 Her latest, by some nicans, has got into the 

 WeeJdy Svn, and although a later issue sound- 

 ed the warning, many dollars will doubtless 

 be lost by the too credulous. See her record 

 in back No's and Vol's. 



One of our subscribers, we are sorry to say, 

 is blackmailing his fn ■ ds and neighbors by 

 demanding money for the 'ght to use the Am. 

 hive. We dislike to give 'e person's name 

 publicity but shall in our ne.x unless he de- 

 sists. Mr. King, j'cars ago, a ^ounced the 

 hive as public property, in the M^jazine ; fur- 

 thermore, there never was a patent on any 

 part of the Am. hive as it is now in use. The 

 patented feature was laid aside in a very short 

 time, as utterly worthless, and this is a very 

 fair sample cf bee hive patents in general. 



