GLEAN IN GS IN BEE CULTURE 



Januaky, 1918 



suffering and privations thruout all Europe. 



He told of one beekeeper, whose name we 

 have forgotten. This man had been driven 

 out of house and home. He gathered together 

 a few bees and established a little apiary. 

 He also built a little shack of a building that 

 he called home, when — bang! a shell struck 

 his premises, tore up his little apiary, scat- 

 tered the hives right and left, and tore out 

 the whole side of his house. Said Mr. Bee- 

 keeper, ' ' Look at those bees. What a mess 

 I have got! " And then Jager significantly 

 remarked, ' ' He never said a word about the 

 damage to his house— it was only of those 

 blessed boes that he lost. That man," said 

 he, " is a real beekeeper, and we ought to 

 make him a life member of the National 

 Beekeepers ' Association. ' ' 



Professor Jager was expecting to go on 

 to Washington within two or three days to 

 submit his report. 



SINCE THE AETICLE on page 10, entitled 

 " Sugar for Feeding Next Spring, "_ was 

 written and printed, 

 Direct from we have received from 



the U. S. Food the U. S. Food Ad- 



Administration ministration a t e 1 e - 



gram in reply to one of 

 our own asking just what beekeepers could 

 expect from the Food Administration in case 

 sugar be needed for feeding. This telegram 

 reads as follows: 



Washington, D. C, Dec. 21, 1917. 

 E. R. Boot, Editor Gleanings in Bee Culture, 



Afedina, 0. : — 



Food administration has endeavored to help bee- 

 keepers secure supplies of sugar in urgent cases 

 reported. If sugar is not absolutely needed at this 

 time to keep bees alive, would prefer that purchases 

 be deferred. Sugar should be available in sufficient 

 quantities after middle of January or first of Febru- 

 ary so that beekeepers should experience no trouble 

 securing sufficient quantities to meet their needs. 

 U. S. Food Administration. 



While this direct word from the Food Ad- 

 ministration to the beekeepers is not specific 

 as to just when and how beekeepers can se- 

 cure sugar for feeding, it implies clearly that 

 their sugar needs will be met. With the ex- 

 pectation that the sugar shortage will be re- 

 lieved within a month, the Food Administra- 

 tion asks only what is reasonable in sug- 

 gesting that beekeepers at this time defer 

 their sugar purchases just so far as possible. 

 Hon 't buv sugar for feeding until absolutely 

 necessary — then the U. S. Food Administra- 

 tion will help you. 



IN OUR November issue, page 830, we 

 mentioned some of the difficulties in getting 



queens thru the mails 

 Queens for Export to foreign countries. 

 Not Fumigated and how successful 



shipments were below 

 the average of a few years ago. Among 

 other things it was suggested that perhaps 



the fumigation of mail matter to foreign 

 countries to prevent the spread of disease 

 in the human family might be the reason 

 why the percentages of losses were greater 

 than formerly. We took the matter up with 

 the Postoffice Department at Washington, 

 inquiring whether packages of queen-bees to 

 foreign countries were fumigated either be- 

 fore leaving this country or on arrival at 

 point of destination. The following letter 

 from the Department will explain: 

 Second Assistant Postmaster General, 

 Division of Foreign Mails. 



Mail-sacks are not subjected to fumigation at this 

 office previous to despatch to foreign countries, and, 

 as far as is known, no disinfection occurs at destina- 

 tion. It is believed the death of the bees may be 

 due to detention of mails abroad, probably while 

 awaiting examination by censor. J. G. Patten, 



New York, N. Y., Oct. 26, 1917. Postmaster. 



JUST AS WE go to press with the last side 

 of the last form we receive a letter from 



A. I. Root, now in 

 Air ("free as Florida. He, as our 



air ") for Run- readers will remember, 



ning Automobiles has been working on 



the possibility of mak- 

 ing the trade winds of Florida drive his auto- 

 mobile instead of using gasoline. He has 

 been having some extensive correspondence 

 with the Wind Electric Co., of Wyndmere, 

 North Dakota, that builds windmills for 

 charging storage batteries large enough to 

 drive an electric automobile. The result of 

 this correspondence is shown in the letter 

 below. 



On this 18th of December I have just received 

 a telegram to the effect that my electric windmill for 

 charging the batteries of my electric auto will be 

 shipped at once from Wyndmere, North Dakota, and 

 that the inventor will come with it to see that it 

 is properly installed. Of course I am happy. I will 

 tell jou about my garden and chickens later. 



9S= 



.«= 



=» 



J. W. TINSLEY, Ames, la., at the Iowa 

 convention, reported that he had tried paint- 

 ing hot wax on the sur- 

 Painting Founda- face of full sheets of 



tion with foundation in brood- 



Hot Wax frames, and that he 



had found the result to 

 be very satisfactory. He had tested out 

 both painted and unpainted, and found the 

 former showed no stretch of comb in draw- 

 ing out. He uses enough hot wax to make 

 the sheet weigh about 50 per cent more. 



Considerable discussion followed, some of 

 which showed that this method was rather 

 wasteful of wax, at present high prices; and 

 that the use of more horizontal wires near 

 the top of the frame would prevent all 

 stretch or sag. Beeswax is expensive; and 

 if we can prevent sagging by any scheme 

 of wiring we are that much ahead, because 

 fine wire is inexpensive. Moreover, a frame 

 well wired will hold the comb in place, no 

 matter how much rough usage it may re- 

 ceive in shipping or in the extractor. 



