308 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURK 



J. E. Crane 



EFTING 



Mil 



ory, \L 



Wesley Foster's experience in 

 selling- light-weight sections is giv- 

 en on page 9, Jan. 1, is helpful, 

 and can be used to good advantage 

 in a home market. 



E. S. Miles, page 70, Jan. 15, has serious 

 trouble with large black ants. Suppose, 

 instead of ti-ying to subdue Avith kerosene, 

 he tries making a hole six inches deep in 

 the top of one of their mounds, and pour 

 in three or four ounces of carbon bisul- 

 phide and cover closely. It evaporates 

 quickly, and its fumes are a deadly poison. 



* » * 



On page 2, Jan. 1, we are informed that 



the bee-cellars at Medina are inspected 



daily to determine the temperature of the 



air, the condition of the bees, and the 



purity of the atmosphere. Will the editor 



please tell us how he measures the pui'ity 



of the atmosphere? [So far, only by our 



noses and by noting the actions of the bees. 



—Ed.] 



*• * * 



There has been a good deal of discussion 

 in recent numbers of Gleanings as to the 

 desirability of making two colonies from 

 one early in the season, after Alexander's 

 plan for securing surplus honey. I notice 

 that those (or most of them) who favor this 

 way have a flow of honey in Augi;st, while 

 those who do not favor this method depend 

 almost wholly on clover. 



* # * 



With me, bees that were placed in cellar 

 in November have wintered well, although 

 the temperature has been most of the time 

 above 45 degrees. The winter has been fine 

 for wintering outdoors, but I anticipate 

 some loss because an unusual number of 

 colonies were quite weak last fall. We have 

 had but little severe weather, with an occa- 

 sional day when bees could fly to their 



hearts' content. 



* * * 



I think I have read somewhere that A. I. 

 Root and Dr. Miller were tidying to live to 

 be one hundred years old. Well, there are 

 possibilities. For their encouragement I 

 just want to say that a man recently died 

 in our town in his 106th year. He was a 

 ]\Iethodist clergyman who had retired after 

 preaching for sixty or seventy years, al- 

 though he continued to perform marriage 

 ceremonies until past 100. He celebrated 

 his 100th biilliday by preaching a sermon in 

 one of our local churches. 



With regard to the use of tartaric acid, 

 as I said before, I find little use for it when 

 a syrui3 made of two parts sugar and one 

 of water is used, and I have fed a good 

 deal of such syrup after the middle of 

 October. The only objection to a thicker 

 syrup is that, if it gets cold, as it is likely 

 to on colonies a little weak, the bees are 

 verj' slow about taking it down late in the 



season. 



* * * 



In an editorial, page 176, March 1, I 

 read, " There is a certain advantage in hav- 

 ing a colony during winter in a nice com- 

 pact cluster. In that condition there is less 

 activity, less consumption of stores, and no 

 brood-rearing." No brood-rearing! Isn't 

 that putting it pretty strong? Here in 

 Vermont the most of our colonies in double- 

 walled hives appear to be in that condition' 

 during the winter; but I do not remember 

 ever opening a strong colony after the 

 middle of February that did not contain 

 more or less brood. 



On page 56, Jan. 15, R. F. Holtermann 

 asks if the fence around a yard of bees to 

 which I referred some time ago is eight feet 

 high. I could not say. It was many years 

 ago that I saw it, and I tliink the fence was 

 not more than six or seven feet high. What 

 is more, I believe the hives were single- 

 thickness board hives, which might make 

 all the difference in the world. With ten 

 inches of packing, such as they are using 

 at Medina, I should not think the bees 

 would get warmed up enough to fly until it 

 was safe for them to do so. Indeed, if they 

 could tell when it is spring I think they 

 would do veiy well. 



» * * 



It almost took my breath away to read 

 the editorial, page 48, Jan. 15, about sweet 

 clover in the three counties of Kentucky. 

 Wouldn't that be great — wliite clover 

 through the month of June, and then sweet 

 clover till late autumn? That must be the 

 paradise of beekeepers. But when I read 

 further on that there are already 4000 colo- 

 nies in one county I began to feel as a lady 

 did who wanted to go into the hotel busi- 

 ness. She said she thought she would wait 

 till everybody died so she would have no 

 competition. Perhaps a given number of 

 colonies will do no better there than here. 

 But at any rate it shows us beekeepers how 

 we ought to stimulate the growth of sweet 

 clover where we are. 



