1885 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



517 



A representative of the Free Presx, quite by acci- 

 dent, called at the house yesterday and found no 

 one at home; and while sitting by an old well-curlj 

 refreshinfT himself with cool water from an old oak- 

 en bucket, his attention was called to the action of 

 the bees. The cottage is surrounded with luxuriant 

 roses in full bloom, but these bees did not, as bees 

 used to do. 



Gather honey all the day 

 From every opening llower. 

 Instead they were swarming around a tray wliich 

 stood near by. and were flying back and forth to 

 the hives. In this tray was half an inch of a sticky 

 mass that looked like syrup. Little sticks were 

 strewn over this substance, and on these the bees 

 were alighting; and after taking some of the syrup 

 they flew back to the hives. 

 " What do you want o' them bees?" 

 The intruder started up, and found a barefooted 

 lad standing before him. 



" What is this the bees are taking?" asked the 

 visitor. 



" What do you want to know for? Dad said we 

 wasn't to tell any one any thing about it." 



"I'll give you a quarter if you will," said the 

 reporter, now thoroughly interested. 



" Well. I donno what it is. Dad gets it from town 

 in a bar'l. Here's what he gets it in," pointing to a 

 large cask. 



On the end of the barrel was the stencil mark: 

 " 300 lbs. grape sugar from Michigan Grape-Sugar 

 Manufactory." 

 " Is that glucose that the bees are getting?" 

 "It's something that dad gets out of that bar'l, 

 that's all I know about it." 



The inquiring visitor tasted it. There was an un- 

 mistakable gimidrop flavor to it. 



"We hud hard work to get the bees used to it. 

 Dad i)ut in a lot <if syrup at flrst, but the bees take 

 it straight nf)w." 

 " }{ow long docs it take to fill a hive?" 

 "Not near so long as it docs when they have to 

 get the honey from flowers. We've taken out u lot 

 this year already." 



The boy brought out of the house a bo.x of glucose 

 honey which looked as clear and inviting as though 

 the sweets had been distilled from the purest flow- 

 ers. 

 " Do you eat it?" the boy was asked. 

 "Sometimes. It ain't so good as the other, but 

 it's just as good to sell. Say, don't you ever give me 

 away to dad, ov he'd skin me." 



Now, the principal point is to lind ont the 

 foinidation of tliis wliole story. Doubtless 

 some bee-keeper liviii<;- near the point indi- 

 cated may be abh; to iind onl iiow mnch tlic 

 reporter found to build up his story t)n ; 

 and as we stated in regard to the honey-poi- 

 soning case, I will wiiliiit^'ly pay any bee- 

 keeper, or aiiv one interested, for fxivins ns 

 the fnll facts'iii the ease. .\o doidtt tiie re- 

 jtorter found ainan witii nearly lifty luves. 

 as he mentions, and called at a time when 

 he was feed injj: his liees, perhai»s for stimn- 

 latins' brood-rearing in the s)»ring. No 

 doubt liealsosawthe sign on the front fence, 

 'MVhit(^- Clover Honey." Ihit that this 

 white-clover honey was made ont of glncose, 

 we think we can prove beyond (piestion was 

 a mistake or a fabrication. It is qnite likely 

 our bee-keeping friend did nse grape sugar 

 to feed his bees with. Hut if lie tried to get 

 the bees to store the product in the combs, 

 it certaiidy took longer, and cost more, than 

 to get tlie genuine clover lioney in the usual 

 Avay. If the boy made that statement, that 

 it did not take nearly as long as when they 

 have to get the honey" from the flowers, he 

 was mistaken. The description of the feeder 

 shows that it was nothing but an arrange- 

 ment for feeding, as before mentioned ; for 

 such a feeder in the open air, among nearly 

 fifty hives, wotdd by no means enable any 

 one of the fifty hives to store honey in the 

 boxes. TJje grape sugar would also candy 



ill the combs as fast as the bees stored it, as 

 every one knows who has used it for 

 feeding— that is, if it were not used for 

 brood-rearing; and grape sugar stored in 

 the comb would not be salable under any 

 circumstances. He says the barrel was la- 

 beled " Grape Sugar ;" yet the Detroit Free 

 Press says the man was " feeding glucose," 

 etc. Now, grap.e sugar is not glucose ; and 

 feeding grape sugar can not be the means of 

 getting glucose into the combs. I wonder 

 how many times I shall have to go over this 

 matter. Glucose fed to bees, and stored in 

 combs, would have the appearance of Jioney, 

 but the honey would taste more like a solu- 

 tion of gum than like genuine honey. I have 

 never made any experiments in feeding glu- 

 cose to bees, but I have fed grape sugar dur- 

 ing warm weather, just enough to keep up 

 brood-rearing, by the hundreds of pounds, 

 and I am perfectly at home in what I am 

 saying, when I state that it can by no means 

 produce any thing even resembling honey- 

 much less white - clover honey. Another 

 thing, the best arrangement known for feed- 

 ing will not enal)le the bees to store a fourth 

 part as much grape-sugar syrup, or even syr- 

 up of granulated cane sugar, as is needed to 

 make it profitable. This subject lias all been 

 thoroughly gone over in our bee-journals in 

 years past. The whole matter from be- 

 ginning to end is an utter imitossiiiility — 

 tiuit is, so far as the story of making market- 

 able comb honey in this way is concerned. 

 If the Detroit Fm Press tliink they can sub- 

 stantiate their statements, we challenge 

 them to furnisii the ])roof ; and when we 

 jirove conclusively tluit their reporter's 

 statement is a vih' slander on bee-keepers 

 as a class, we hope they will have the fair- 

 ness to correct what tli'ey have said. 



JOTTINGS FROM STREETSVILLE API- 

 ARY, ONTARIO. 



A mJI'OKT OK THE UONKV SEASON IN CANADA. 



fELL, the honey season of isa'i will soon be as 

 a tale that is tohl; and I very much fear 

 that the mirrator, if a raiser of that pre- 

 cious nectar, will not wear an "overly sat- 

 isfied countenance." Clover, although 

 abundant, b.as had much of the nectar washed away 

 by ever-recurring rains just about the time bees 

 began to gather from it. I doubt if there has been 

 any more than eiglit days of full gathering yet. 

 Hasswood, although loaded with blossoms, does not 

 now secrete honey as freely as/in days gone by, 

 when the forest stood in large unbroken blocks; 

 and indications seem to"point that it ismot now an 

 altogether certain source of honey. 



Swarming, that great bugbear of a lai-ge apiary, 

 has been excessive; and I fear.' where stocks are 

 leit unexamined by the go-as-you-please bee-keep- 

 er, nuiny will be left in an unfit condition to face 

 winter's storms. This class would do well to take 

 timely warning and examine hives without delay, 

 to see that they have either laying (juecns or larvas 

 from which the bees may raise them. 



I have usedseveraldifferent makes of foundation, 

 but find the bees much prefer the "Given" for 

 brooding purposes. 



