1874 
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 
oo 
II O > E Y <’ O 1. 1 M H . 
//- . N K of my honey customers here, a wholesaler 
(if d) tohl me the other day that lie bought 100 cases 
Philadelphia (so called) white clover honey, but 
that he could not recommend it any more since he 
knew my honey, and that he would buy no more Phil- 
adelphia honey when Ills present stock was gone. 
On as. F. MtJ'ru, Cln. O. 
Now is it not possible for the people to be- 
come so well posted on honey, that ’twould be 
ns easy to palm off a poor article of butter , as 
honey. Butter makers well know that a poor 
article when thrown into market, finds its lev- 
el right speedily. Why is it not so with hon- 
ey? 
You are welcome to’ the jar of honey, we have 30 
more. It will kill the bees in winter, anil hurt them 
any time, so will any honey that has fermented, and 
any honey will ferment in summer unless kept very 
cool, 1 do not know from what source it was obtained. 
We are putting up honey in glass tumblers with paper 
covers, one side is covered with wax, and made fast 
at the top with the same, it works first rate. 
YVe had a curiosity to see some really poor 
honey — we don’t get any here — and the above 
was ree’d in reply to some of our queries in re- 
gard to it after receiving it. It certainly is 
poor and what surprised us was that our 
“slow oven” process did’nt make it good. In 
regard to fermentation, we think our friend is 
wrong ; we believe neither honey nor syrup 
can ferment unless it is too thin, i. e. contains 
too much water. We feel quite certain our 
Medina Co. clover honey as we now extract it, 
can not be made to ferment in any weather un- 
less water be added. 
1 have been melting candied houev and was just 
thinking how nice the double tin lilvo for Queen 
hatching would be for Ibis purpose. 
It. Wii.kix, Cadiz, O. 
Thanks for the idea ; by having a molasses 
gate attached to one corner, candied honey 
could be “jarred,” quite expeditiously and the 
even temperature, that cannot exceed boiling 
water could not possibly Injure the color nor 
flavor of the honey. 
II e a cl s' o f <2 i» ,« i n ^ 
FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS. 
PR. A. ROOT: SIR: Since June last I 
have been a constant reader of the A. JU J. and 
am so well pleased with your way of talking on 
uee-topies that 1 have long felt an inclination to write 
to you on the subject, but when I read in the N ov. No. 
«nat you had more friends than you desired I conohid- 
V!‘ l( Mvait a while. A few days before Christmas the 
L»e ( *. No. came and in a few minutes I had your explan- 
Ji . 1 * ‘ Sow tlu,t t,lc holidays are over and 1 have en- 
nreiy recovered from the effects of the gayetles there- 
j ? 1 " 'He, and il l prove tedious please charge ittomy 
nicer cot in and love lor Bee-keeping. 
1 e nn it me to indulge in a little personal history lor 
| love to tell what a great benefit this business has 
•een to me. My habits were sedentary and in the 
• pringot ’71 my life seemed only a question of time’ 
ami a yi-j-y short space of time ; but it was not so, tor I 
<*ii ».ii i a, * v h‘e of a sensible Physician who prescrib- 
• # l! medicine, generous diet, plenty of sleep, and 
mi interesting light out-of-door occupation .” I engaged 
1 ~. ei l *“ keeping with my Brother who did all the hard 
cut hi tiie Winter of ’72 lie moved away since 
nieli time I have had to “row my own boat” with 
not even a sister to suggest and assist as “Nellie” does 
liua.- ?” i> "*y Father Is an old farmer and will not 
Bee-keeping through my spectacles. I never 
, ' „ ‘ , nitln .y colonies ; lost four ninths during the win- 
vgi-v , 8 l )r *h£ 01 ’73, the remaining live ninths were 
weak, I learned a lesson there. 
Although the past season seems to have been quite 
unfavorable I have no idea of retiring from the Apiary 
but hope for better seasons ami intend making an hon- 
est effort to make this business r m n rative tl i > year ; 
and think it necessary to have an extractor. Brother 
and I used the Mellpult— of course I do not want it— 
I have seen two cylinder machines but it seems to me 
they were both unnecessarily heavy and inconvenient- 
ly large. Tell me in what particular your $6 * $10 ma- 
chines differ. I want a good durable machine but 
the leanness of my portemonnaie forbids my buying or- 
namental things, well as J like them. Do you consider 
diluted honey object! onal as spring feed ? 
An Interested Bee-keeper. 
Hendersonville, Tenn. 
Our friend is not the only one who feels she 
is much indebted to bees for a longer lease of 
life, and also for having given a new zest to the 
pleasure of living. Our cheap Extractor is 
the same as the other excepting the outside can 
which is neither as convenient nor durable. 
We know of no objection to feeding honey in 
the spring except want of economy, when su- 
gar is so much cheaper. 
Yes, I want Gleaningk of course, would not be will- 
ing to do without it. I have all the Numbers published 
in a little book now with index, and I must sav, that, 
among all the back Nos. of the four Bee Journals I 
am taking and all the books I have on the subject, 
there is not to be found so much useful matter in so 
small a compass as in Gleanings. 
1 have been keeping from 50 to 60 swarms of Bees 
here for the past four years, and have lost over half 
each winter on the average, but at this date everv 
swarm is lively and seems perfectly healthy under the 
straw mats on summer stands. I have never used the 
mats before this winter. 
I believe the merits of catnip as a honey producing 
plant have not as yet been fully appreciated, particu- 
larly if it is grown on good ground and cultivated. I 
cultivated a small patch in my garden last summer 
ami my bees were swarming on it from the 25th of 
•June to the middle of Sept, almost three months, and 
there was not a day during the whole time so stormv 
that they were not on it some portion of the day. I 
have raised plants the past season to cover nearly an 
acre, which I shall transplant and cultivate carefully. 
1 have sowed a large amount of the seed on waste 
places about for t wo years, but the bees do not take to 
it any thing like they do where it is on better ground 
and cultivated. Will try to give you some results 
next season. It is my opinion that the catnip will out 
do Linden altogether coming as it does and lasting 
through the whole season of scarcity. Guinhv savs: 
“ If there is any one article I would cultivate' exclu- 
sively for lioney it would be Catnip.” 
M. Kevins, Cheviot, O. 
Give us the results of the “Catnip planta- 
tion” by all means. Even if a failure you 
should have the hearty thanks of all Bee-keep- 
ers. We are very much inclined to agree with 
Gallup that a brisk growth brought about by 
cultivation or other causes is almost essential 
to the secretion of honey, and with the catnip 
if we are correct our only hope of making the 
project pay is the honey it produces. 
1)kak Novice:— As I have been dabbling a little 
with bees for many years, and reading the A. Ji. J. for 
two years, to see who was the biggest fool, and could 
get. up the most complicated intricate and difficult bee 
hive and moth cage, and as they are still getting new 
patents I fear I shall never see the end, so I have con- 
cluded that one practical man (If he be a Novice) is 
better to consult than a host of theorists ; so I have 
concluded to try Novice. 
B. T. Talbot, Viola, Iowa. 
We have experimented considerably, aud ffml 
Adair’s drone trap to In* worthless; his 'close littlng 
section hive an intolerable nuisance, and ffnd that his 
new idea hive will not do what is claimed for il. It 
will not prevent the building of drone comb, and is 
enough to wear the patience of Job, to handle the 
frames frequently; besides it is too revolting to hu- 
manity to be compelled to brutally murder our inno- 
cent pets : and altogether too barbarous to be tolerated 
at all in this cnilghvu •! a/v. 
Dr. K. C. Laucii, Ashland, Mo. 
