THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



103 



The idea is now advanced that there is a 

 connection between hard winters and good 

 honey seasons. We have certainly had light 

 winters and poor honey seasons. I can re- 

 member that when we used to have a hard 

 winter that would kill ott all the bees, the 

 next honey season would he sure to be a 

 good one. 



ExTBACTiNG HONEY without taking combs 

 from the hives, was rather jokingly discussed 

 in the exhibition room at the Albany conven- 

 tion. Since then the matter has been men- 

 tioned once or twice in Gleaninqs. The idea 

 is to have shallow sui)ers of fixed frames, 

 and either uncap the combs with some sort 

 of an uncapping machine, or else extract the 

 honey before it is sealed, evaporating it 

 artificially after it is extracted. The ex- 

 tractor will have to be arranged on the ra- 

 dial plan — that is, with the combs arranged 

 like the spokes of a wheel, instead of with the 

 faces turned out. Of course all this looks 

 very visionary — but who knows? 



Db. Millee, in "Stray Straws," quotes the 

 editor of the Review as saying, when speaking 

 of the mysteries of the hive, that, "having in 

 a large degree mastered these, there is little 

 need in practical bee keeping to handle 

 combs." The Doctor then says "If W. Z. is 

 right, we can learn the mysteries from books, 

 and keep box hives." Doctor, you are 

 wrong. We can't learn bee-keeping from 

 books any more than a man can learn to be 

 a physician from studying books. He will 

 have an apprenticeship to serve in the dis- 

 secting room, and it is the same with the bee- 

 keeper, he, too, must dissect "subjects" in 

 the bee yard before he can diagnose a "case." 



WITHDBAWN FEOM THE NOETH AMEEIOAN. 



The (Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association has 

 withdrawn its afiiliation with the North Am- 

 erican Society. This action was taken because 

 the North American has been incorporated 

 in this country. As I understand the matter, 

 the Society could not be incorporated in 

 both countries. There was a choice to be 

 made from necessity, if the Society was to 

 be incorporated, and, as a majority of the 

 members are residents of the U. S., it seems 

 appropriate that it should be incorporated 

 in this country. If any advantages are to 

 come from incorporation, and I must confess 

 my ignorance upon that score, then minor 



considerations should give way to the gen- 

 eral good. The Society will be International 

 in its character just the same as it has always 

 been. 



Of late there have been some rather sharp 

 discussions in the journals regarding this 

 matter. It is a pity that the discussions 

 could not have been allowed before incor- 

 poration was effected. The discussions 

 might not have been so caustic, and it is 

 ijoasible that it would have been voted not to 

 incorporate. 



THE SUGAE- HONEY DISCUSSION. 



I was not surprised that the views of Mr. 

 Hasty should meet with opposition — I ex- 

 pected that he would be obliged to carry his 

 end of the argument all alone— hence I am 

 surprised that a fair share of those who 

 write do so in his defense. 



Before this discussion goes any further (if 

 it does go any further) I wish to say that I 

 consider it wholly unnecessary to allow the 

 bees to bring in the syrup from the outside of 

 the hive. I will not take space now to give 

 the whys and wherefores, but I think that 

 exactly as good results may be obtained 

 from feeding inside the hive. 



The point with some seems to be " will it 

 pay?" Of course, unless the work can be 

 done at profit, it is folly to discuss the mat- 

 ter. I have " fed back " thousands of lbs. of 

 extracted honey at a profit. A syrup of 

 granulated sugar costs not more than half 

 as much as honey, then why should it not 

 be fed at a profit ? Right here, however, 

 comes in a point. It might be profitable to 

 me and not so to some one inexperienced. 

 "Feeding back" is as much of a trade as 

 that of queen rearing, and the ins and outs 

 must be learned before it can be pursued at 

 a profit. 



There is such a thing as " fighting fire 

 with tire, " and there may be such a thing as 

 fighting cheap sugar with cheap sugar as a 

 weapon. To do this it will not always be 

 necessary to change it into comb honey. 

 Simply let the management be such that the 

 end of the season will find ihe brood nests 

 with a scanty supply of honey, then feed sugar 

 for winter stores. The sugar is certainly as 

 safe as honey for winter stores, and it may 

 now be substituted for honey at a profit. 



The Review aims to be practical. It en- 

 deavors to bring out those points that may 

 be of some real benefit to beekeepers. Now 

 if this discussion is not likely to end in 



