1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



ao9 



Sittings 



By J. E. Crane, Middlebury, Vt. 



Dr. Miller, page 4, refers to the Dadants 

 feeding granulated honey. I will say that I 

 have fed it with very satisfactory results in 

 the spring by placing it on toj) of frames 

 under a warm cushion. 

 4^ 



I can not quite agree with Mr. Byer, page 

 780, Dec. 15, that honey is unnecessary in a 

 syrup made of two parts of sugar to one of 

 water, for I have seen quite too much that 

 was granulated in the combs when fed with- 

 out honev. 



On page 6 Mr. Wesley Foster's remarks 

 as to the value and advantages of careful 

 grading are well taken. Although there 

 may be local markets that do not require so 

 careful grading, for our larger markets the 

 more careful the grading the better. 



Page 4 Dr. Miller says, "If fielders go 

 straight to the supers it seems they might 

 take their pollen there too instead of dump- 

 ing it in the brood -chamber." Well, my 

 bees often store pollen in the supers, and I 

 believe their methods of storing fresh nectar 

 are very variable. 



Decidedly interesting is that account of 

 putting up bees to ship by the pound, with 

 illustrations, pages 50, 51, 52. I do not be- 

 lieve that half the praise has been given the 

 swarming -box it deserves. I believe it 

 should be given a much larger place in our 

 practice than it has heretofore occupied. 



If any one thinks that bee-keeping lacks 

 excitement, or is monotonous, let him look 

 at that picture on p. 74, Feb. 1, and read Mr. 

 Holtermann's description of moving bees. 

 I have always moved in cold weather when 

 conditions are more favorable. 



Mr. Boardman's method of preventing 

 granulation seems a good-sized step in ad- 

 vance along these lines. He does not say, 

 p. 770, Dec. 15, just how much sunshine is 

 required, nor the temperature, nor how soon 

 after the honey is extracted the treatment 

 must be applied. My experience has not 

 been satisfactory, and I await with a good 

 deal of interest more complete instruction. 



4)- 

 Mr. Foster has given us, p. 138, Mar. l,the 

 best reasons I have seen for using a double- 

 tier shipping-case. The fact that the small- 

 er size will not allow the thin covers to bend 

 down is a decided advantage; also that they 

 will sell for from 10 to 15 cents more per 

 case. Queer; but here in the East the mar- 

 kets have seemed to prefer single-tier cases, 



and yet I sujiposed the Colorado honey was 

 marketed in the East. • 

 -*- 

 Dr. Miller, page 755, Dec. 15, says that we 

 should have an entrance yi inch deep and 

 one inch wide for every comb covered by 

 bees for an outdoor entrance. I rather think 

 that depends upon circumstances. Such an 

 entrance would be none too much, surely, 

 with sealed covers; but with absorbent cush- 

 ions above, y%Xi inches is enough for the 

 strongest colonies. 



Absorbing material or cushions are taken 

 up, pages 786, Dec. 15, and 27, .Ian. 1. A 

 great deal I find said against the cushions 

 because they absorb the moisture. It cer- 

 tainly seems better to have it in the top 

 packing than on the combs of honey. As 

 soon as warm weather comes they dry out; 

 but one thing should be considered — it takes 

 very little opening on top to let the moisture 

 escape. Boards laid on loosely will answer 

 every purpose. 



Mr. Pouder's description, p. 18, Jan. 1, of 

 liquefying granulated honey in hot-water 

 tanks, makes one want to go a good way to 

 shake hands with him. I am sure he could 

 never have written such a description of the 

 vexations of liquefying honey without the 

 experience. I am heartily glad he has some- 

 thing better. We have no gas in this town, 

 and there would seem to be objections to a 

 gasoline-stove; and I would inquire if an 

 oven could not be heated sufficiently with a 

 coil of steam-pipe to melt granulated honey 

 in five-gallon cans. 



C. E. Millard, p. 44, .Ian. 15, complains bit- 

 terly of the ravages of the wax-moth, and I 

 was particularly interested in the editor's 

 footnote in which he says, " Since the Italian 

 bees have replaced the old-fashioned black 

 bees, most of the trouble with moth-worms 

 has disappeared." Would not this be equal- 

 ly applicable to foul brood, at least here in 

 the East? A gentleman from the southwest 

 of our State, at our annual meeting told me 

 that he had had little or no trouble with 

 this disease, as he kept Italian bees, while 

 his neighbors who kept black bees lost con- 

 siderably, and were greatly injured by it. 

 4- 



On p. 27, .Ian. 1, I mentioned the distance 

 bees fly for honey. Recently at our State 

 convention Dr. .1. M. Thomas, now president 

 of Middlebury College, told how, more than 

 twenty years ago, he kept bees on the west 

 shore of Lake Champlain, about one-fourth 

 mile from the lake, and lost many bees in 

 crossing the lake, which was, at that point, 

 some two miles wide, the bees crossing to 

 visit the rich white-clover pastures on the 

 Vermont side of the lake. He moved his 

 yard of bees some three-fourths of a mile 

 further from the lake, and his bees were not 

 tempted to cross. In other words, his bees 

 would go 2^ miles without any intervening 

 pasture, but would not go three miles. 



