336 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



HONEY VS. SUGAR SYMUP 



Does Sugar CoMtaiim all tlie Essentials for Rearing Brood? 



BY J. E. CRANE 



Dr. Miller drops a Straw on page 218 

 that appears to hold a considerable grain 

 of value, and is well worth our considera- 

 tion. He has gleaned from back numbers 

 of German bee-journals that there is a be- 

 lief in Germany that sugar is not as good 

 for building up colonies in spring as honey, 

 as honey contains several substances that 

 are lacking in sugar that are essential in 

 repairing waste in mature bees, and the 

 rearing of brood. He mentions " invert 

 sugar, pollen, ethereal oil, tannin, malate, 

 tai'lrate, oxalate, and nitrate of potassa. 

 different phosphates, manganese, natron, 

 silica, sulphur, lime, iron," as necessary in 

 the make-up of a bee's body. So it comes 

 to pass that, where sugar is used in spring, 

 bees are slow to build up until they can get 

 honey from natural sources. In this country 

 it is generally thought that sugar is just as 

 good as honey. " Are the Germans right, 

 or are we?" be Tisks. In common with 

 others of America I have thought it made 

 little difference whether the bees had honey 

 or sugar in the spring, provided they had 

 enough of it; but my experience last season 

 set me to thinking I may be wrong. 



This was my experience: Having had two 

 poor seasons in sueees.sion I was a little 

 .short of a full stock of bees for winter, but 

 had several hundred di-y combs. Why not. 

 after the clover went by and all hopes of 

 surplus had past, divide strong colonies, 

 using up my surplus combs, giving young 

 queens and feeding thin sugar s>Tup to get 

 a good supply of brood, and in October 

 feed sugar syrup for winter? We made 

 some seventy-five new colonies from tAvice 

 as many old colonies. All seemed to work 

 out about as we expected, except that we 

 failed to get our hives filled wilh as much 

 new brood in August and September as Ave 

 had hoped, although they were fed with a 

 thin sugar syrup, Aveek after week Avith 

 great regrularity. There Avas some brood. 

 but not enough to make strong colonies for 

 winter. Was the cai;s" sugar syrup instead 

 of honey? It certainly looks that wav. 



On p'age 228 and 220 Mr. George Shiber 

 fells hoAV he prefers s'i<>:ir syrup for winter- 

 ing bees; but for building- up in spring he 

 says nothing equals " s"aled combs of natu- 

 ral stores." Some years ago it Avas told 

 somewhere that raAv sugar Avas much bettor 

 than refined sugar for stimulating bees to 

 rear brood; and aa'c find that such sugar 



contains some five or more per cent of or- 

 ganic and inorganic compounds, while 

 refined sugar is almost perfectly free of 

 them. We all know that potash, phospho- 

 rus, lime, etc., are essential in building up 

 healthy animal bodies, and it is to be pre- 

 sumed that bees are no exception to the 

 rule. I reasoned that, as there was an abun- 

 dance of pollen to be had during Augfust 

 and September, all that was needed Avas 

 to feed regularly thin sugar syrup to imi- 

 tate the nectar of the floAvers. I could very 

 cheaply build up a large stock late in the 

 season Avhen bees could do little else. I 

 did not have the advantage of buckwheat or 

 goldenrod, nor even swamps to any extent. 

 Of the seA'enty-five new colonies. I believe 

 scarcely any of them could be called strong, 

 as they Avould if a good floAV of honey had 

 been coming during the month of Augaist 

 from buckwheat. The experiment was on 

 a sufficiently large scale to be of some value. 

 It seems to me now, as I look the experi- 

 m.ent all oA'er, that neither pollen nor sjTup 

 from refined sugar contains all that is need- 

 ed for rearing brood rapidly. The pollen 

 doubtless contains these elements to some 

 extent, but not enough for the best results. 

 T Avonder if others have had experience 

 along this line. 

 Middlebury, Vt. 



A MEMORY 



A Friend's Reminiscence Retold 



BV GRACE ALLEN 



The patli to Mammy's kitchen winds 



Amid the garden tangle; 

 And in between the hollyhocks, 

 Among old-fashioned four-o' clocks 

 And beds of marigold and phlox, 



Stand hives at every angle. 



The barefoot children leap and play 

 Tjike wind-tossed morning glories ; 

 Then " Ouch! I'm stung! " and swift they get 

 Rome grass or leaves or mignonette 

 And touch the place and so forget! 

 Such faith in Mammy's stories! 



"Stung, Honey-chile?" black Mammy'd say, 

 " AVell, don' you fuss an' tend it; 



De Debbil's mebbe in de stings, 



But God Hisself is in de wings, 



An' in do grass an' blossom things — 

 A bit o' God'U mend it! " 



