AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



March 



any rubbish-pile will furnish the mate- 

 rial. 



To load the shed is a simple affair. 

 The car is run to the front end of the 

 shed (See Fig. 3), with extended shelf 

 lying on the roof, and when the car is 

 pushed under the shed as far as the 

 front-blocking, the shelf (with handles) 

 drops automatically to the ground. It 

 is then swung under the shed as in Fig. 

 1, and the load is ready to move. 



From the foregoing the reader may 

 infer that I favor the single-row-prin- 

 ciple shed or case for winter protec- 

 tion; not because I consider them any 

 better or safer for wintering than the 

 quadruple or single colony case, but 

 they are by far the most practical, time- 

 saving style of the lot. In the course 

 of the season miles of unnecessary 

 steps are saved by their use. Our 

 school-days' teachings, "A straight line 

 is the shortest distance between two 

 points," fits the case admirably. It is 

 always one step to the next hive, while 

 the quadruple case necessitates con- 

 tinual walking from one side to the 

 other, and that right in front of the 

 hive entrances. This has a strong ten- 

 dency to irritate bees, and no doubt 

 some of the crossbee complaints, of 

 which we hear occasionally, have their 

 origin in this malpractice. 



When using the wheelbarrow for the 

 transportation of supers and other 

 paraphernalia to and from the honey- 

 house, this straight line principle is a 

 great convenience. 



La Salle, N. Y. 



Feeds of Bees 



BY W. K, MORRISON. 



SEVERAL of your correspondents 

 have referred to substitutes for 

 pollen. Some advocate wheat or 

 rye flour, not knowing of course that 

 the albumen content is much too low 

 to be a good substitute for pollen. Pea 

 flour is far better in every way and 

 probably lentil flour is better still. I 

 think the Italians sometimes use lentil 

 flour as a pollen substitute. Bean flour 

 made from "broad beans" has also 



been used with good results. It is 

 probable that a flour made from " gar- 

 banzas" or chick peas would be better 

 than anything yet sugges'ed, as the 

 flavor is very fine. Those living along 

 the Mexican border could try this. It 

 looks as if cane sugar is gaining all 

 along the line as a substitute for honey 

 in feeding bees. Mr. Arthur C. Miller 

 highly recommends a well-known 

 brand of cane sugar which has been 

 before the American public for many 

 years. It cannot be made from beets. It 

 has often been recommended in the 

 bee journals before. 



The late Paul Mickwitz, of Finland, 

 wrote an article praising beet sugar as 

 a bee feed, and citing some experiments 

 of his own in proofs of his claims. As 

 a matter of fact he was using an invert 

 sugar made from cane sugar which has 

 been made quite extensively for some 

 years by a firm in Hamburg, Germany. 

 It is made in the form of a syrup and 

 is certainly very fine. It is ahead of 

 anything sold in this country for feed- 

 ing bees. In fact, it is a fair substitute 

 for honey, and when fed to bees baffles 

 all but the very best chemists in Ger- 

 many to detect the difference between 

 it and real honey. It contains some 

 other things besides invert sugar. It 

 has given the beekeepers of Germany 

 considerable trouble because some 

 smart beekeepers fed it to increase 

 their honey crop. 



It is made in Hamburg because that 

 city is a free port. Germany prohibits 

 the sale of cane sugar to protect the 

 beet sugar growers. It allows the 

 manufacture of invert sugar from cane 

 however under certain conditions. In 

 the manufacture of condensed milk 

 cane sugar alone can be used, so that, 

 even in countries prohibiting cane 

 sugar they have to allow an exception 

 in this case. 



Beet sugar has often been tried as a 

 substitute feed for bees with poor re- 

 sults. Some people say cane sugar and 

 beet sugar are alike. Uncle Sam has 

 something to say about that. He will 

 put you in jail if you sell beet sugar 

 and say it is cane sugar. Cane sugar 

 always sells for more money than beet 



V^>e. V. 



HAULING A HEAVY SHED WITH A HOME-MADE BARROW 



sugar; pretty good proof that it is 

 better. 



In southern California both kinds 

 are sold, but cane sugar is preferred for 

 many purposes, notably fruit preserva- 

 tion. The leading canning factories 

 all use cane sugar, and housekeepers of 

 the discriminating kind all use it, even 

 paying one-half a cent a pound extra 

 for it. For feeding bees its value is 

 even greater. The Western Sugar Re- 

 fining Company of San Francisco put 

 up a brand of cane sugar which they 

 call " Fruit Sugar," and this corres- 

 ponds very closely with the sugar Mr. 

 Arthur C. Miller writes of. 



Not all cane sugar is good for bees. 

 Brown orMuscovado sugar is not good 

 because it is burned in the process of 

 making. It is only made now because 

 it is used in some kinds of cookery and 

 becauseit produces much "black strap" 

 molasses. The "lumber jacks " in the 

 northern woods like this molasses for 

 two reasons, it is " heating " and it is 

 laxative. The laxative effect is due to 

 sulphur. 



The best sugar of all for feeding bees 

 is a yellow colored cane sugar known 

 as " vacuum pan " sugar because it is 

 cooked in a vacuum, thus preventing 

 burning. 



Very white sugar is not good because 

 it has been bleached by the action of 

 very powerful chemical reagents. 

 Traces of these are left in the sugar, 

 which the bees seem to feel. This may 

 explain the failure of some to get good 

 results in feeding. 



Beet sugar js always so treated ; 

 moreover blueing is put into it for the 

 same reason that women use it in 

 washing clothes. 



Dr. Wiley had his eagle eye on this 

 phase of the sugar business, and that is 

 one reason why he had to resign his 

 position, as the sugar trust is very 

 powerful politically. Yellow cane sugar 

 (vacuum pan) can usually be purchased 

 on the Atlantic Coast. The larger the 

 crystals the finer it is in quality. It is 

 very sweet. 



Farther inland you can protect your- 

 self by dealing with reliable firms, not 

 the ones who say beet and cane sugar 

 are alike. Montgomery Ward & Com- 

 pany sell only cane sugar. They will 

 guarantee you that they sell no beet 

 sugar, and many first-class grocery 

 firms do the same. As a matter of fact 

 all efforts to make a nice syrup from 

 beets have failed. 



Great Britain and her colonies are 

 fimiliarwith a fine cane syrup which 

 is known as " Golden Syrup." The 

 South produces excellent cane syrup 

 by a simple process. 'Porto Rico used 

 to furnish a large quantity of Mallozve, 

 which was very good. Barbados pro- 

 duces its famous " sling," and all the 

 cane sugar countries produce some- 

 thing nice in this line. These all make 

 excellent bee feed, but are usually too 

 expensive, as they contain water on 

 which freight has been paid. 



Of all the extraordinary things cred- 

 ited to the present great war in Europe 

 is the astounding discovery that Europe 

 now produces 8,000,000 tons (long tons 

 at that) of cane sugar. Yes ! cane sugar. 

 This will cause Emperor William to 

 rub his eyes in profound astonishment, 

 if not in glee. This is the sample of the 

 stuff we are to read nowadays. As a 

 matter of fact the war will have the 

 effect of increasing the production of 

 cane sugar and decreasing beet sugar 



