712 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1. 



With Replies from our best Authorities on Bses. 



Question Kil*. 1. Is tlicrc (trnj (idiynitaije in 

 JinvliKj ]i(iiu'}i stared during rlovcr hlooni for 

 storcsl' '>. Whii'li do ijini i)rifcr for ivinter — 

 earhj honcji. late Jioncii. or siKfur siji-tipf 



1. Yes. :i. Early honey. 



Illinois. N. W. Dadant & Son. 



1. I think not. in my locality. 2. Sugar syiup 

 first: and second, I have no choice. 

 Michigan. S. W. James Heddox. 



1. No. not according to my exijerience. :i. All 

 are good. I think my hees winter best on honey 

 gathered from the linden-ti'ee. 



New Yoik. C. (r. M. Dooi,itti,e. 



No. If all are good, the one that is cheapest. 

 We havf^ often wintered our hees (>ntii"ely on 

 fall hcniey, and they icintrrcd n^cU. 



Michigan. C. A. ,J. Cook. 



1. There surely is. if clovei' is the only source 

 from which honey is gathered, r.'. vSugar syrup: 

 hut my bees wintei'ed si)lendidly last winter on 

 fall honev. 



Ohio. N. W. A. B. Mason. 



1. I tliiidv thei'e may be. '.'. I believe I should 

 prefer the early honey, liecause it is more sure 

 to be well evaporated, and the bi-es have all tlu^ 

 time needed to fix it uij just as they want it- 

 Illinois. N. C. C. Miei.er. 



1. There is no advantaff(> in keejnng th(> best 

 clover honey for winter stoi-es. :i. Fall honey is 

 the scape-goat, but not the, cause of winter 

 losses. Fall honeys ai'e tirst-class winter stores, 

 and better than sugar svrup. 



Ohio. S. W. ' C. F. Mimi. 



In our location we haxc no fall Jioney that we 

 can de])end on for w inter stores, so we alw ays 

 let the bees stoi'e basswood honey for winter 

 stores. 1 have never us( d sugar syi'up for win- 

 tei- feed. 



Wisconsin. S. W. E. Fuaxce. 



1. Yes. Tlie advantage of having a better 

 quality and better ripened honey. 2. I am a 

 little prejudiced in favor of the sugar. I con- 

 sider it as good as well-ripened ear'ly iioney. and 

 perhaps no bettei-. " 



Ohio. N. W. H. R. lioAKDMAX. 



1. Very likely there is: but the plan will not 

 do for localities where the yield i)er IiInc is small. 

 2. I iiave had no experience with syrup, but 

 presume it to be better than most late honey, 

 and not so good as the best earlv stores. 



Ohio. N. W. ■ E. E. Hasty. 



1. Not hei'e. In fact, 1 thiidc I should prefer 

 our fall honey to clover, as a rule. In some 

 localiti<'S, clover honey would probably be bet- 

 ter. ~. (lOod honey, when the bees gather it, 

 whether early or late. If fe(Hling is necessaiy. 

 use sugar svi'up. 



Illinois. N. C. .1. A. (Jiiee.v. 



]. I would give the preference to honey gath- 

 ei'ed in the lieight of the season: hut there is 

 hardly enough advantage, ordinai'ily, to justify 

 the necessary trouble in secui'ing it. 2. .\ly ex- 

 pei'ience from feeding syrup from good s\igar (31 

 bbls. in oni' season) w ould nuike me favor sugar 

 to any honey, oi' as good as the liest of honey. 



California. S. R. Wii.kin. 



1. Yes. at present prices of honey in a locality 

 where there is no fall or late harvest of dark 

 honey. 2. I think sugar syi'up, one year with 

 anothei'. is |)ref('rable. Yes, (>aj'ly hoi^ey is good: 

 late honey is all right in an oi)en wiiiter where 

 bees are wintered on sumnn'i' stands. 



V(n-mont. \. ^V. A. E. Manum. 



None, except vow would be sui'e of well-ripened 

 hone\'. Honey giithercd latiT in the season, if 

 thick and capijed over, is jjrobably just as good. 

 My order of preference is as follows: 1. Good 

 thick honey, sealed over: 2. Sugar syrup; 3. 

 Late honey, sonn> unsealed: 4th and meanest, 

 ••bug-juice." 



Illinois. N. W. C. ^Nlns. Ij. Hahimsox. 



1. ^'es. :.'. I pi'efei- (/oo(/ honey, whether early 

 or late. For the two last falls I have fed some 

 coloiues varying (luantities of granulated-sugar 

 syiup. The amounts varied fi-om :.' lbs. up to .'.'(). 

 and tlnMjuantily fed was carefidly lUiirked upon 

 each lii\'e. Soon after talking them out in the 

 spring 1 have carefully examined them, only to 

 lind them to average no bettei' than those unfed. 



New Y'ork. C. P. H. Elwood. 



1. Yes. if yon can get good clover honey and 

 save it for winter stores. You have the advan- 

 tage of being sure of it. You might get as good 

 later, but are not ccn'tain of it. 2. We genei-ally 

 sav(^ basswood honey enough to winter our be(>s 

 till we see whether we get fall honey. Any 

 honey gathered from flowers when the weather 

 is w arm and dry will winter bees. Honey-dew. 

 or secretion from plant-lice, is what we most 

 dread here. 



Wisconsin. S. W. S, I. Fueeboisx. 



1. This d(^pends upon your locality. IIer(> it is 

 an advantage to have ^\'intei' stoi-es gathered 

 early. 2. I pi'efer tiie early honey. ()ui' late 

 honey-yield is very uncertain. We hav^e but 

 little buckwheat, and bees are liable to store 

 honey-dew. In "such cases it is a r;'al comfoi't 

 to have several frames of eai'ly honey to substi- 

 tute for the honey-dew. Those living in a 

 biickwheat-gi'owing country, and who are rea- 

 sonably sure of a yield from that source, can 

 de|)end ni)on it foi' wint(M'ing. It is a good 

 winter food. Sugai' feeding in this State and in 

 Vermont is a practice of the i)ast. 



New York-. E. Rambeei:. 



The general imprel^sion seems to be that 

 clover honey, as a rule, is but little if any better 

 than other honey well ripened and sealed up in 

 the combs, although one or two suggest that 

 the man who makes sure of surplus combs to 

 provide destitute colonies will be less likely to 

 let his bees starve for want of attention. These 

 extra combs, carefully set away, make the mat- 

 ter of feeding a comparatively easy one. It does 

 seem, however, too bad to use our best honey, 

 when dark honey will answer almost if not 

 quite as well. If, however, one depends on fall 

 honey, and does luit get any, he. is quite apt to 

 neglect them, and to suffer loss. Rambler sug- 

 gests that sugar feeding in York State is a 

 practice of the past. I suspect this is largely 

 due to the fact that honey — especially fall hon- 

 ey — hasforsomt' time been rathor low, and good 

 sugar rathei' high. To prepare and feed sugai' 

 syrup is more trouble, and thereis always more 

 or less loss in getting it into the combs and 

 sealed \\\). Those who have undertaken t(» 



