448 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



July 15 



success we opened the campaign by migrat- 

 ting with the remainder of our living capi- 

 tal to the fruit-orchards of the Betune. It 

 must be ex^jlained that in Holland no profit 

 from bee-keeping is possible unless one fol- 

 lows the bloom. In early spring (that is, 

 the first days of April) the bee-keepers of 

 the high sand grounds in the Velune remove 

 their colonies to the rich clay districts to 

 gather the nectar from hundreds of acres of 

 apples, pears, cherries, and strawberries. 

 Considerable quantities of honey are stored 

 there by the bees when the weather is favor- 

 able. On account of our changeable cli- 

 mate, however, no bee-keeper should think 

 of extracting that honey. Our bitter expe- 

 rience forbids this. Indeed, after a rich 

 honey-flow of some days a sudden change 

 of the weather may bring frost, snow, and 

 hail. So we must leave the superior spring 

 honey to the brood. 



In other parts of our country, in South 

 and North Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, 

 Friesland, and Groningen, the spring flow 

 consists mainlyof the rich rape-seed field and 

 the meadow honey-plant of which Taraxa- 

 cum officinale (dandelion) is the best. In 

 April and May some of our meadows, es- 

 pecially those that served a year before for 

 hay-production, are literally covered with a 

 golden carpet of dandelion. 



When the fruit-blossom is over, a stagna- 

 tion in the flow is apparent. The best colo- 

 nies will then manifest the first symptoms 

 of swarming. For the amateurs of the 

 " multiplicating system," a busy time be- 

 gins. As a rule the first swarms are drum- 

 med off, and if conditions are favorable one 

 single straw-skep colony will produce in a 

 short time from three to four new colonies. 

 In the meantime a new honey-flow is com- 

 ing on. Some bee-keepers remove in the 

 first days of .July to the buckwheat-fields; 

 others remain in the clay districts where 

 white clover is abundant, and others hunt 

 for a good place in the vicinity of lime-trees 

 and acacias. 



When the weather is just what we want, 

 there is possibly no stronger honey-yielder 

 than buckwheat. But it must be said there 

 is iwssibly no other honey-plant that suffers 

 so much from conditions and delicacj\ In- 

 deed, buckwheat in Holland will not yield 

 surplus honey unless the weather is not too 

 ■warm, not too cold, not too dry, not too 

 ■damp. When the sun shines brightly, 

 buckwheat gives nothing but pollen. When 

 *he soil is poor it gives nothing at all. 

 When the soil is rich the farmer would be a 

 fool to sow buckwheat, because other seeds 

 -would be far more profitable. 



Now, Mr. Editor, last year some farmers 

 grew in the immediate vicinity of my sum- 

 mer stand nearly ten acres of buckwheat. 

 The soil in the environments of my home 

 consists of diluvial sand, which has been 

 cultivated, perhaps, a century. Phacelia, 

 Spanish chestnut, and lime trees yield hon- 

 ey profusely on that soil. Fruit-trees, how- 

 ever, give nearly nothing. I had the 

 choice of removing my bees to a good buck- 



wheat district, ten miles from home, or try 

 the buckwheat of my neighbors. I chose 

 the last, while my neighbor bee-keeper re- 

 moved to the buckwheat-fields near Lunter- 

 en, ten miles from here. Well, they re- 

 turned from there with a hundred straw 

 skeps full of well-capjied buckwheat honey. 

 And what about my honey croj)? 



Let me tell you I did not get a teaspoon- 

 ful from the ten acres, and this notwith- 

 standing the weather was favorable — not too 

 dry, not too damp, not too hot, not too cold. 

 What was the reason of this phenomenon? 

 I can only guess. The soil in the vicinity 

 of my home consists of sand with a very 

 low ground-water level. You may dig there 

 to a depth of sixty yards before reaching 

 water. In the vicinity of Lunteren, how- 

 ever, the water level is about three yards be- 

 low the surface. Besides this the sandy soil 

 there is mixed up with old layers of mold, or 

 humus, originating from old swamps. In 

 the soil there I suppose there must have 

 been an element not present in the high 

 sands near my residence. 



Mr. To\\Tisend, in his interesting article 

 about the honey resources in Michigan, p. 

 1104, 1908, says: "I do not include it (buck- 

 wheat) in the list as a surplus-honey pro- 

 ducer; for on the rich soil of Southern Mich- 

 igan it rarely produces any surplus; and 

 when it does I think it would be when it is 

 sown on a rather poor quality of sandy 

 soil.'" 



The quality of our high sand, however, 

 was of the desired poorness, farmers here 

 doing a lot of ' ' business ' ' with a small 

 quantity of stable manure or compost, which 

 will do for potato and rye culture; and not- 

 withstanding that desired poorness of the 

 sandy soil my buckwheat did not produce 

 any honey. What was the reason? What 

 was the missing substance? 



Mr. Editor, I humbly believe that a bee- 

 keeper must have a life as long as Methuse- 

 lah's to know something about bee-keeping 

 at the end of his days. 



Arnhem, Holland, Dec. 4. 



Starved-out Swarms. 



1 lost seven hives of bees out of eight last winter, 

 and the renaainlng hive is weak. This eighth colony 

 did an unusual thing about a month ago. It was 

 In a big Dadant telescope hive, and early one Sun- 

 day morning my wife told me it was swarming. I 

 knew it was very weak, and said " rats:" but she In- 

 sisted. I then got out of bed, and, sure enough, 

 they were. They swarmed out of the hive they 

 were In, and entered a double ten-frame Dovetailed 

 hive a few feet away in which the bees had died the 

 previous winter. They were only about a quarter 

 the size a swarni ought to be. On examining the 

 hive they left I found it destitute of honey, and only 

 a patch of brood about as large as the palm of your 

 hand. The bees deserted it entirely, I think there 

 was some honey In the double ten-frame hive they 

 went Into, and they are still living in it and appear 

 to be Increasing slowly. 



Ben Avon, Pa., June 18. H. P. Joslin. 



[This Is a clear case of a starved-out swarm. Lit- 

 tle weak colonies or nuclei will very often swarm 

 out in the early part of the season if they run out of 

 stores. They will surely starve where they are; and 

 If the scouts find a place, as they did in this case, 

 where stores are available, they do the right thing, 

 ol course — swarm out. — Ed.] 



