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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Feb. 1 



NOTES FROM CANADA 



By R. F. Holtermann. 



foul-brood illustrated. 

 The Department of Agriculture for Onta- 

 rio has ordered from Germany 5000 copies of 

 a lithograph of a foul-broody comb which 

 was published by the Leipziger Bienen Zeit- 

 ung some time ago. It is an excellent illus- 

 tration, and it will be a great educator as to 

 the appearance of foul brood in the comb. 



POISONOUS COMB HONEV. 



On page 21, Jan. 1, Geo. M. Lord relates 

 an experience in connection with some comb 

 honey taken from the eaves of a neighbor's 

 house, which gave cramps and nausea. I 

 have heard of honey taken from a bee-tree 

 having this effect when bees had been crush- 

 ed between the comb, causing them to sting 

 the comb and inject poison into the honey. 



THE TIME WHEN BASSVVOOD BLOSSOMS. 



G. M. Doolittle, page 1910, draws attention 

 to the great variation in the time of blossom- 

 ing of basswoods. Some always blossom 

 early, while others are always late. I have 

 frequently noticed this. I am, however, al- 

 so of the opinion that two localities 100 miles 

 apart may make a difference of ten to twelve 

 days in the time of blossoming. I have such 

 a case in mind now. 



THE MUSIC OF BEES. 



When I read on page 29, Jan. 1, the state- 

 ment of P. W. Richards, to the effect that he, 

 having a musical training, can tell by the 

 pitch of the note the bees make whether the 

 queen is there, and if so in what part of the 

 hive, I felt like placing the following notice 

 in Gleanings: 



"Wanted, an expert musician who also 

 wants to learn bee-keeping, we to exchange 

 knowledge." 



But I do believe this is possible, and I be- 

 lieve F. J. Miller, London, Ont , deserves 

 great credit for being courageous enough to 

 bring forward so new a thought. 

 ^- 



THE FOLLY OF MIXED GRADING. 



On page 555 Editor Root endorses the 

 statement made by J. E. Crane, page 560. 

 Both condemn making up a shipment where 

 No. 1 and No. are mixed, or the dark honey 

 is with light. There has been altogether 

 too much of this done. If the purchaser has 

 been foolish enough to pay for the goods in 

 advance, and the seller is irresponsible fi- 

 nancially, the purchaser is very cautious 

 about purchasing any comb honey in future. 

 If the seller has not been paid for his goods 

 in advance he will want to deduct enough 

 from the original price to cover all trouble, 

 risk, and loss; and if he is as unscrupulous 

 as the seller he will try to deduct a good deal 

 more. There are good bee-keepers who can 

 not find the highest market for their honey; 

 but too many when they have a customer do 

 not hold him, because the sample they sent 



is better than the goods produced, or the 

 goods shipped are not equal to the descrip- 

 tion by word of mouth or letter. 



J. L. BYER. 



The readers will be pleased to have seen 

 the Byer family group as shown on p. 779, 

 Dec. 15. Mr. Byer comes of bee-keeping 

 stock; the family is well and favorably known 

 through a wide section of country, and it has 

 been my pleasure to visit among them sev- 

 eral times. Our friend is not only a good 

 writer but a good speaker. When he speaks 

 he does so with energy; and he, Sibbald, 

 Miller, and several others would make ex- 

 cellent farmers'-institute speakers, which, 

 in my estimation, are much needed in On- 

 tario if the slipshod and disinterested bee- 

 keeper, who will not go to a bee-convention 

 or take a bee-paper, is to be reached. 



ROBBER-TRAPS. 



Referring again to robber traps, I can not 

 see how honest bees, that are active in their 

 instincts, and ready to avail themselves of 

 every opportunity to gather honey, can help 

 being drawn into these traps. If there is 

 any law in the life of the bee that discrimi- 

 nates between the honey which it is legiti- 

 mate for her to gather and that which is not, 

 I don't know of it. If I were buying bees I 

 would give the preference, other things be- 

 ing equal, to the colony which would be the 

 quickest to scent or find out the best source 

 of honey, no matter what that source might 

 be; and I doubt if there would be any dis- 

 tinction manifested as to quickness of dis- 

 cernment in stocks were the source blos- 

 soms or exposed honey, if the former source 

 were not available. That being the case, it 

 appears to me that, by setting out robber- 

 traps, bees are punished for their activity, 

 and other bees are drawn into the difficulty. 

 As to Editor Root's remark, "If he [Holter- 

 mann] can get a new man who will let no 

 robbing get started he is doing better than 

 we can." Just let me tell you in confidence, 

 friend Root, that, in robbing time, I take 

 good care to be outside myself always, and 

 watch with an eagle eye every thing that is 

 being done; and I find it a very difficult task 

 to impress even men of experience with the 

 absolute importance, when working in the 

 apiary in I'obbing time, of preventing the 

 bees from getting a start. 



I remember that Mr. Paul Mickwitz, of Fin- 

 land, whom the readers of Gleanings know, 

 lamented and longed for the experience of a 

 good robbing time in the season that he spent 

 with me. I said to him, "I shall take mighty 

 good care that you don't have that experi- 

 ence at my expense," and he did not. He, 

 however, had his wish gratified at another 

 apiary in the district. Of course, I do not 

 speak of special emergencies such as in a 

 queen-rearing apiary. There are some things 

 better than others; or perhaps, I had better 

 say, worse than others, yet neither may be 

 desirable. The article in the British Bee 

 Journal, \ judged, was intended for the ave- 

 rage bee-keeper. 



