48 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



' Jan. 15. 



FoK FEEDING, H. R. Boardman says in Re- 

 mew, "Sugar and water in about equal parts 

 thoroughly dissolved is all that is needed. 

 Don't imagine that you can help the bees in 

 their work of ripening the feed at any time by 

 making it thicker. You'll only hinder." 

 Shouldn't wonder if he's right. [I don't won- 

 der, but feel pretty "sartin " he's right.— Ed.J 



" DRiviN(i " CUTS QUITE A FIGURE In the bee- 

 talk and bee-shows of England..! doubt whetk- 

 er some of our younger bee-keepers know the 

 meaning of the term. Queer that so many 

 skeps remain in England. The editor of the 

 British Bee Journal speaks of having taken 

 part in " many hundreds of drivings." I don't 

 believe he can be matched with another such 

 editor on this side. 



That new theory, that "uniformity of tem- 

 perature is one of the prime causes of bees being 

 put out in the spring in a weak and debilitated 

 condition," conflicts somewhat with a state- 

 ment of Doolittle in the American Bee Journal, 

 that "evenness of temperature, and keeping it 

 at about the desired point, is one of the great 

 secrets of successful wintering in cellars." 

 [But you don't say what you think about it. — 

 Ed.] 



Skylark, p. 8, goes for me for copying S. S. 

 Butler's plan of using old cans. Bless you, 

 Skylark, I don't indorse what I clip, any more 

 than Gleanings does in first publishing. Go 

 for Gleanings! Say, Skylark, I've got some- 

 thing for you. 'Taint straws or stovewood 

 either. But come around when the weather is 

 warmer. Stones are all frozen down now. [I 

 am glad they are frozen down, for I expect to 

 take the train for Marengo to-night. — Ed.] 



An egg, when first laid, stands oq, end at- 

 tached to the base of the cell. In a few min- 

 utes a nurse-bee lays it on its side. " On the 

 second day we find the bees have shifted its po- 

 sition to an angle of about 3.5 degrees; on the 

 third it is moved again to a horizontal position, 

 and on the fourth day it hatches out."— iT. W. 

 Brice, in British Bee Journal. That differs 

 from the performance I've seen given hereto- 

 fore by British authority. How is it with our 

 American bees, Bro. R. L.? 



A FRIEND calls my attention to the 7th edi- 

 torial on page '.I53, and seems to think something 

 is wrong with the word '" apiarian." I'm not 

 authority as a "linguarian." but I think "api- 

 arist" would do fully as well. fLangstroth(and 

 who used the king's English more fluently and 

 exactly than he?) invariably used the term 

 " apiarian." But the new Standard Dictionary 

 says " apiarian " is improperly used for "api- 

 arist." The same book uses "apiary" as an 

 adjective, and says Dr. Miller has charge of 

 the "apiary terms."— Ed.] 



Experiments reported in Review, by R. L. 

 Taylor, show that 145° of heat melts honey, 



and that at 165° there is some change in the 

 quality of the honey; above 165° rapid deterio- 

 ration ; the greater the heat, the more rapid the 

 deterioration. Better hold 145° as the highest 

 limit. [We have generally cautioned bee- 

 keepers not to heat their candied honey over 

 180°, because some of the finest clover honey 

 we ever had was that which had first been 

 raised to a temperature of 180 degrees and no 

 higher. If the honey is then sealed in glass it 

 will remain liquid for a long time. Ours kept 

 clear for two years. Mr. Taylor's experiment 

 was with honey in the comb or unfinished sec- 

 tions from the season of 1894. This honey was 

 raised to the various temperatures you men- 

 tion, and samples at each temperature were 

 taken for further comparison. Mr. T. says 

 that raised to 145° and no higher was the best, 

 and that the others were inferior, both in color 

 and flavor. I am not surprised, because wax 

 melts at 145; and when the temperature was 

 raised to a higher point, some of its own flavor 

 and color would be incorporated into the honey. 

 I know this would be true, because extracted 

 honey from chunk honey rendered in a solar 

 wax-extractor is always darker and poorer in 

 flavor than the same honey squeezed or extract- 

 ed from the comb. I am sorry he did not take 

 honey free from the comb. If this had been 

 heated to the various temperatures I think 180° 

 of heat would not have shown a deterioration. 

 Boiling, I know, does affect its flavor. I sin- 

 cerely hope he will try the experiment over 

 again.— Ed ] 



CCST OF STAKTING IN BEE KEEPIISG IN CALI- 

 FORNIA. 



If I differ with any of 

 your correspondents, Mr. 

 Editor, 1 give you fair no- 

 tice ihat tJiey must give 

 up, for I can't. A skylark 

 never surrenders. If he is 

 overpowered and defeated, 

 he blows himself up. I 

 su(>pose it will come to 

 this at last. 

 T. H. B., of Mercuse, Cal., a>ks Dr. Miller, in 

 American Bee Journal, whAt it would cost him 

 to Stan in bee-keeping with, say, 10 colonies, 

 requesting him to itemize the articles. Dr. M. 

 immediately sent him a bill of nearly a hundred 

 dollars. The idea of his sending clear to Illi- 

 nois, and Skylark right beside him — or nearly 

 so! T. H. B., it is just good for you. I wish 

 he had charged you two hundred dollars. Now, 

 you might have known that Dr. M. '''don''t 



