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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



J. E. Crane 



IFTING 



Middlebury, Vt. 



I agree with J. L. Byer, p. 928, 

 Dee. 1, in thinking a ten-pound 

 pail the cheapest and most conven- 

 ient feeder we have. 



That method of ridding combs of 

 bees for extracting, as given by 

 Geo. Shiber, p. 988, Dec. 15, is well worth 

 remembering, saving, as it does, all brushing, 

 and then making new colonies of the bees 

 carried into the extracting-room. 



* * * 



Mr. Doolittle tells us on page 887, Nov. 

 15, how a buyer says he doesn't care for the 

 color of sections— it is the honey he is look- 

 ing at. Just so. And if it is in sections a 

 little off color, then honey that is a shade 

 off looks better than in white sections. 



" Honey-fizz " at the Connecticut fair at 

 Hartford is another " new idea " surely. 

 Well, when this new, non-alcoholic, refresh- 

 ing, pleasing, and healthful drink takes the 

 place of the enormous amount of beer now 

 sold there will be something for us beekeep- 

 ers to do in supplying the quality and quan- 

 tity of honey required for this purpose. 



• * * 



On page 920, Nov. 15, Mr. Hardy tells 

 how his beets averaged 19 per cent sugar. 

 If we compare this with the average per 

 cent of sugar in beets one hundred years 

 ago we shall find it almost exactly three 

 times as -great. I fear few of us fully 

 appreciate the wonderful improvements that 

 plants as well as animals and even bees are 

 capable of. 



• * • 



A. E. Crandall, page 843, Nov. 1, tells of 

 the pleasure of a trip with a "bee inspector" 

 down in the Nutmeg State. I have no doubt 

 of the truth of his statements, but I want 

 to call attention to the fact that it gives the 

 inspector quite as much pleasure to take an 

 intelligent beekeeper along with him to 

 discuss the strange ways many people have 

 of keeping bees and the hives they use. 

 Some of the most enjoyable days I have 

 spent in inspecting bees have been of this 



kind. 



• • • 



Those pictures of the new apiarian labo- 

 latory for apicultural investigations under 

 the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture, found on page 856, Nov. 1, and the 

 cover page of Nov. 15, are of more than 



usual interest, and we may all rejoice that 

 we have such a home for this division of the 

 entomological section of the Department of 

 Agriculture. We may also rejoice that this 

 line of work has been so ably and vigorous- 

 ly prosecuted in the last few years, and 

 that it is likely to be of even greater value 

 to us in the future. 



» « « 



Attention is called on page 833, Nov. 1, 

 to tlie large amount of money offered at the 

 Hartford fair for prizes. This comes of 

 the Connecticut idea. A teacher once asked 

 a small boy how the Connecticut River came 

 to receive its name. The boy replied that it 

 was because it connected Vermont and New 

 Hampshire and cut through Massachusetts. 

 Now the Connecticut State Beekeepers' As- 

 sociation has been in the habit for several 

 years of connecting up with the Charter 

 Oak Fair Association, which holds its fairs 

 at Hartford, by putting up as much money 

 for prizes as the fair association will, which 

 has of late amounted to $500 per year. 

 Then the beekeepers' association selects a 

 judge for the bee and honey exhibit, and 

 the fair association pays his expenses, and 

 lie cuts up the $500 into premiums and 

 divides it among the beekeepers — Connect- 

 I-cut — don't you see? Not a bad idea for 

 other State beekeepers' associations to fol- 

 low. 



* * » 



FEEDING GRANULATED HONEY IN THE SPRING. 



In a footnote on page 941 it is stated, 

 " Candy is about the only substitute for 

 good sealed stores we can use in the dead of 

 winter." Beg pardon ; but I fail to see why 

 honey granulated solid is not just as good. 

 It is even softer, and I have no doubt more 

 easily taken or liquefied by the bees. It is 

 true that bees will sometimes reject coarse 

 granules of honey; but it is not often the 

 case, and may come from the weakness of 

 the colony; but the loss from this source has 

 ne\er been large. I have even laid combs 

 of honey granulated solid over a good colony 

 and have them remove it, and so save the 

 combs and feed the bees at the same time. 

 Indeed, I have at the present time a lot of 

 sections candied solid that I have laid away 

 for spring feeding. The ease with which 

 bees can be fed in the spring with granulat- 

 ed honey is surjirising. You can feed at 

 any time of daj', as it doesn't excite them as 

 does liquid feed. The experience of T. P. 

 Clare, page 987, Dee. 15, is of value along 

 this line. 



