May, 1918 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



281 



THE Swiss 

 Bee Journal 

 says tliat 

 scientific autJior- 

 ities reckon the 

 value of the 

 bees' labors in 

 fertilizing blos- 

 s ni s at five 

 times as much 



as their value in gathering honey. In this 

 country it 's reckoned at twice as much, isn 't 

 it? Probably it isn't an easy thing to have 

 any very definite figures in the matter, but 

 it would hardly seem that there's anything 

 extravagant in saying that the fertilization 

 of flowers is twi'ce as important as the lioncy. 

 [We have seen no estimate in this country 

 of the relative value of bees' pollination 

 work and the amount of honey they gather. 

 From the little we know of the subject, we 

 should be inclined to favor the estimate as 

 quoted from the Swiss Bee Journal. We do 

 know that the presence of bees in some or- 

 chards and in some localities makes an as- 

 tonishing gain in the amount of fruit pro- 

 duced. We have seen that right in the vicin- 

 ity of Medina. — Editor.] 



* * * 



Dr. II. W. Wiley says in March (lood 

 Housekeeping, page 44: "Another thing 

 which should be fully understood is that 

 there is no common sweetening agent except 

 sngar which is of any value whatever. 

 When we are officially advised to eat ' corn 

 syrup ' and save sugar, this fact ought to 

 be known: there is no such .thing as 'corn 

 syrup' on the market at retail. This term 

 is applied sometimes to the commercial com- 

 modity known as glucose. When I went into 

 the stores and asked for ' corn syrup ' I was 

 uniformly handed a can of 'karo.' I sought 

 in vain for the term 'corn syrup' on the 

 label. Karo is glucose which has been 

 sweetened with sugar to make it edible. 

 Bees will not eat glucose by itself. If glu- 

 cose is mixed with 50 per cent of sugar, bees 

 will eat it. If the Government Knows these 

 facts, it should publish them. ' ' 



Of course Dr. Wiley know^s about the value 

 of honey as a sweetening agent, but probab- 

 IV does not consider it a common sweetening 

 agent. Which is true, and "pity 'tis 'tis 

 true." Our bit is to make it more common. 



* * y 



' ' The European foul brood is not nearly so 

 prevalent as the American. It is always 

 found in imsealed cells and is a light-yellow 

 color, instead of the dark, dirty, brownish 

 color. While the American foul brood is 

 found at all times of the year, the European 

 is found only at the first of the season be- 

 fore the honey flow." — The Beekeepers Item 

 for March. It is perhaps a common belief 

 that in European foul brood no disease* i 

 brood is to be found in sealed '^■ells, for a 

 su))erficial examination shows nothing wrong 

 with them, but dig away the cappings and 

 you will find a goodly proportion of diseased 



brood in cells 

 that are nicely 

 sealed over. 

 Neither is it cor- 

 rect in this re- 

 gion to say that 

 European foul 

 brood is found 

 only before the 

 honey flow. Does 

 the warmer climate of Texas make a differ- 

 ence? [It is a little too strong a statement 

 to say that European foul brood does not ap- 

 pear in sealed cells. There is too much testi- 

 mony that proves to the contrary. Another 

 thing, it should be noted that European foul 

 brood in a few cases takes on the appearance 

 of American in that it ropes almost as much. 

 • — Editor.] 



You never know what Allen Latham will 

 be up to next. Now it 's honey in a form not 

 commonly found. He has sent me a pound 

 bottle put up in attractive style, a blend of 

 clover, sumac, and goldenrod. The flavor is 

 excellent, yet I 've eaten honey of equally 

 good flavor. The thing about it that I'm not 

 sure I ever met before is its texture, and in 

 that it seems to me he has struck something 

 big. He says: "I cannot bear the sandy, 

 coarse-grained candied honey that one often 

 meets. I much prefer liquid honey, or honey 

 in the comb; but I am very fond of this vel- 

 vety consistency. I get this by seeing that 

 my honey is well ripened, and Ijy giving the 

 honey two or three stirrings as it candies. 

 When it has acquired the appearance of new 

 soft soap — you know like what our mothers 

 used to make in the back yard — I pour it 

 into the receptacles, for after that it will 

 stiffen up in a very few hours. It generally 

 t:ikes from one to two weeks to candy the 

 honey if conditions are favorable. ' ' 



The even, soft texture, what he well calls 

 "velvety consistency," it seems likely 

 should remove the objection any one could 

 have to granulated honey. At the ordinary 

 temperature of the dining room it spreads 

 perhaps more leadily than butter, without 

 the nuisance of dripping as comb honey does 

 when spread. The question is whether the 

 same result can be obtained with honey in 

 general. I don 't know. He calls it ' ' honey- 

 butter. ' ' I don 't altogether like the name. 

 Across the water ' ' honey-butter ' ' is made 

 by adding an ounce of honey to each pound 

 of butter. [Mr. Latham's idea, we believe, 

 is all right as we have done something simi- 

 lar. — Editor.] 



* * ■/■ 



That very practical beekeeper, E. D. Town- 

 send, says, Domestic Beekeeper, page 83: 

 ' ' Several colonies were wintered during the 

 winter of 1916-17 with queen-excluders on. 

 Some were left on the same as during sum- 

 mer, others were turned the other side up, 

 throwing two bee-spaces togeti or. On top 

 of the excluders quilts of factory were plac- 

 ed to keep the chaff packing from trickling 

 into the hive. This year likely three or four 



