i38 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



September, 1918 



a Isroeder aiiyliow, wliat's the use of first 

 ] lifting lier royal progeny thru their paces? 

 Thirclly and finally, my brethren, how many' 

 of you are breeding from a queen whose 

 royal progenv are as like as two peas in a 

 pod? ' ^ ^ * 



H. D. Murry, in The Beekeepers' Item, 

 reports a remarkable loss of queens in the 

 lipring of 1918. Natural stores were so 

 scarce last fall that the bees had to depend 

 almost or entirely upon sugar syrup, and 

 conditions were such that he says, ' ' I was 

 continually feeding, all winter, every time 

 there were a few days of warm weather. 

 As soon as spring began I would notice that 

 the queens were missing from a few colo- 

 nies. They would just disappear, without 

 the bees having made any preparations to 

 supersede them .... I noticed that 

 the loss of queens was greatest where I had 

 to feed the most sugar after spring opened. 

 At one yard, five miles out in the country, 

 there was an occasional light flow from 

 various sources, and the loss at that yard 

 was comparatively light. But, at one yard 

 in town, I started into winter with 25 and 

 lost 22 of them. Of the three that survived, 

 one was an old breeder whose colony was 

 not fed any sugar syrup, but wintered on 

 honey; one quit laying for some weeks, but 

 resumed business again after sweet clover 

 began to yield; the other is still alive and 

 doing well." The only explanation that oc- 

 curs to Mr. Murry, he says, ' ' is that sugar 

 syrup does not contain the elements neces- 

 sary to sustain life indefinitely, nor those 

 necessary to growth of animal tissue. Since 

 the queen is called upon to lay something 

 like her own weight in eggs daily, those 

 eggs must be supplied with the germs of 

 life, and, as she could not get those elements 

 from the syrup, she had to draw on her own 

 resources for them, and it was more than 

 she could stand for a limited time." Have 

 the friends of sugar-feeding a better ex- 

 planation? 



* * * 



A strong colony of strong bees is a re- 

 quisite for best wintering, with abundant 

 stores of good honey. If wintered outdoors, 

 there should be protection against cold, and 

 especially against the approach of strong 

 winds. If in cellar, the temperature should 

 bo not far from 57 degrees, with chance for 

 ciitrnnce of abundant fresh air, and hive- 

 entrance wide open. Don't tinker with the 

 laood-nest late in the season. Strong colo- 

 nies mean all strong, any weaklings to be 

 doubled up not later than Sei)tember. 

 Strong bees are those not worn out by field 

 work, but reared late in the season. For 

 bees of extra 8ta)nina, always breed from 



the best. 



* * » 



That new kink, page 460 — let your combs 

 stand four of five weeks after extracting, 

 and then extract again. As intimated, that 

 doesn't always work — the air may not be 

 moist enough. Put the combs in a damp cel- 

 lar, and a few days will be better than a 



few weeks in a dry room. (It's a good 

 plan, also to put wet cappings down cellar 

 to drain.) But it should be remembered 

 that even after that second extracting the 

 combs are not really clean of honey, and it 

 may be worth while to give them then to 

 the bees to clean up, so that the small quan- 

 tity left may not form granules to injure 

 the honey put in them the next season. 



* * * 



Prof. J. H. Cook said years ago that the 

 honey from milkweed overbalanced the 

 harm done by the pollen appendages fas- 

 tened to the bees ' feet. Ye editor goes far- 

 ther, and says, page 458, August Gleanings, 

 that they ' ' do little or no harm, as these 

 appendages are pulled off by other bees. ' ' 

 Maybe; but in this locality a well-appen- 

 daged bee is driven out by the other bees, 

 and I never saw them pulling off the ap- 

 pendages. 



* * * 



H. II. Eoot, what you say at page 465, 

 and the sight of the accompanying pictures, 

 incline one to the opinion that it should be 

 made a felony for any one either to buy or 

 sell a 60-poun.l can without having it sub- 

 stantially jacketed. It's only one more of 

 those cases that show it 's often penny-wise 

 and pound-foolish for a man to use some- 

 thing of his ' ' own git-up ' ' when he can get 

 a standard article ready to his hand. 



* * * 



Belva M. Demuth, I'm your debtor. Not 

 only for the good advice given on page 462, 

 but for your approval of building air-cas- 

 tles. I've done lots of it, and am as much 

 of an air-carpenter as ever. What fun it is! 

 Even tho 99 out of every 100 come tumbling 

 to the ground, the standing of that lOOtli 

 castle pays for all the work done. The man 

 who never dreams and plans is lacking in 

 one of the elements of a true beekeeper. 



* * * 



Mr. Editor, I 'm not anxious to mix into 

 that quarrel between you and Dr. Phillips 

 about feeding sugar to bees, page 461, but 

 merely rise to remark that some day it may 

 be discovered that sugar is an incomplete 

 ration, and that bees fed on high-priced 

 honey may have extra stamina enough so 

 that the extra honey gathered by them will 

 more than make up for the higher price of 



honey over sugar. 



^ * « 



The Beekeepers' Item for Jvn" is an auto 

 number — and a good one. But the discus- 

 sion is one-sided, no one standing up for 

 poor old Dobbin, who must stanl aside for a 

 " T.in Tjizzie" thst has no fear of stings. 

 Some prefer a truck car, some a car and 

 trailer, but there is general agreement that 

 a light machine for speed should be chosen 

 ri'tlie]' than a heavy one for great weight. 



* * * 



But aren 't those California fellows just 

 going to it in the way of organization? 

 Maybe they '11 shame some of the rest of 

 us into it. 



