458 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



August, 1918 



IT MAY NOT be generally known, but 

 milkweed, that was formerly supposed to be 



a pest to bees, is a 

 Milkweed as a very important source 



Honey Source. of honey production 



in central and north- 

 ern Michigan. In quantity it ranks, where 

 it grows, with raspberry and clover; and in 

 quality it is nearly the equal of either. It 

 was formerly supposed to be destructive to 

 bees on account of the little pollen appen- 

 dages that stick to the bee 's legs. These 

 do little or no harm, as these appendages are 

 j)ulled off by other bees. 



DR. E. F. PHILLIPS, of the Bureau of En- 

 tomology, Washington, D. C, says that he 



formerly received ro- 

 ShaU Beekeepers quests from beekcep- 



Be Kelieved ers over the country, 



of tlie Draft. urging him to use his 



influence to the end 

 that they be relieved from the draft or 

 placed in deferred classification on the 

 ground that they were producing food, name- 

 ly, honey. He takes the position that if the 

 local draft boards have not seen fit to put 

 beekeepers in deferred classification, he cer- 

 tainly will not lift a finger to do so. He 

 feels that it would be unpatriotic for him 

 to do it, and he is absolutely right. He does 

 feel, however, that local draft boards should 

 have the same consideration for beekeepers 

 as for other food-producers — no more, no less. 



,G8= 



ON SATUEDAY NIGHT, June 22, the ther- 

 mometer was down to 45 at Medina with 

 every indication 

 Honey Flows that there would 

 at Low be a frost. On Sun- 



Temperatures, day morning the 

 mercury rose to 55 

 in the shade. The sun came out bright, 

 however, but there was a cold north wind; 

 and even up to 2 o'clock in the afternoon 

 the mercury did not go higher than 62. In 

 going out to the apiary we noticed an un- 

 usual furore among the bees and thought it 

 was robbing. We concluded it might be 

 playspells, and went back to the house, for 

 it was too cold to be comfortable outside. 

 We had turned on the steam heat the night 

 before, and the radiation was almost equal 

 to what it usually is in winter, and yet we 

 were not uncomfortably warm in the house. 

 Going out into the yard again we noticed 

 such a roar of bees that we thought it must 

 surely be robbing, as we could not conceive 

 of clover yielding nectar when the tem- 

 perature was so low. 



A careful examination showed that the 

 bees were unquestionably getting something 

 somewhere. Searching the yard we found 

 the bees were going over the buildings. 

 Could it be possible the bees were gathering 

 real nectar at such a low temperature, and 

 doing it with such excitement. The roar 



and high keynote were like those of rob- 

 bing. The bees seemed to be almost in a 

 frenzy. We finally examined a clover field 

 and found the bees dotted here and there 

 on the heads of clover, indicating a flow. 

 The mercury still dropped, but yet the roar 

 of bees continued. 



About two weeks prior to this, clover had 

 just started. The temperature was high, 

 but there was no nectar. Occasionally there 

 would be a day when for a few hours the 

 bees worked a little on clover; but they 

 worked only at intervals, and the yard had 

 to be fed to keep it from starvation. On 

 Saturday, the 22d, it was quite cold. On 

 the Friday previous, there was a heavy 

 downpour of rain with a furious blow of 

 wind. The ground was literally soaked. The 

 following day (Saturday) was cold, and no 

 activity was noticed among the bees. The 

 boys put on feeders, fearing that brood- 

 rearing would be checked. 



We can not account for this flow of nectar 

 at so low a tempe]*ature on Sunday except 

 on the ground tha,t clover had had a rest for 

 a week. It was too dry, too cold, or some- 

 thing else; but when the heavy downpour of 

 rain came on, it must have given the nee- 

 tar in the clover blossoms a boost, with the 

 result that, in spite of the cold, the steam 

 heat, and the overcoats of the owners of the 

 bees, there was a large amount of nectar. 

 On examining the clover blossoms we were 

 surprised to find so much nectar — so much, in- 

 deed, that the bees worked more like rob- 

 bers than quiet workers on clover. 



Our Mr. Thompson, lately from the West 

 Indies, reports that the heavy flow from log- 

 wood comes in January and February. At 

 that time of the year the temperature oc- 

 casionally goes quite low; yet he reports 

 that sometimes there are heavy flows, and 

 the temperature down to 60. 



In view of the evidence presented, we 

 shall have to conclude that there are excep- 

 tions to all rules. We have become so in 

 the habit of thinking that hot muggy wea- 

 ther is a necessary condition for a honey 

 flow that we have ceased to think of any 

 activity on the part of the bees when the 

 mercury is down to 50 and 60 Fahrenheit. 



MANY BEEKEEPERS have said this sea- 

 son that if they had had more bees they 

 could have secured 

 Buy Bees proportionally more 



in the Fall. honey. They could 



not buy bees last 

 spring in tlie South nor elsewhere. The 

 man who has a prospect or a possibility of 

 getting $10 or $20 worth of honey per colo- 

 ny is not disposed to sell his bees for $5 or 

 $6 before the honey flow, and the other fel- 

 low is not willing to pay more on the 

 chance. But after the season is over, and 

 especially if the season has been a failure, 

 Mr. Man will be glad to sell his bees, and 

 sell cheap. If he has no prospect of a fall 



