394 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



J. E. Crane 



IFTING 



ury. 



" Setting bees out of the cellar," 

 by E. S. Miles, p. 222, March 15, 

 is full of good advice, and well 

 worth the careful attention of in- 

 experienced beekeepers. 



Mr. Doolittle, page 224, March 

 15, discusses record-boards in his usual com- 

 mon-sense way, and I, for one, agree with 

 him that there is nothing better than a 



smooth board. 



* * # 



Mr. L. H. T. Stone, of Cambridge, Mass., 

 wants to know what I meant by single hives 

 well packed, Jan. 15. Well, I meant just 

 one colony in a ease instead of four as Mr. 

 Holtermann packs them. 



* * * 



Dr. Miller says, page 177, March 1, " I 

 may say that my bees in the cellar are never 

 entirely quiet. There is always at least a 

 gentle murmur, something like a soft breeze 

 through pine-trees." Thank you — just what 

 I wanted to know; just as good as going 

 into your cellar myself. Mine is the same. 



* * * 



I received this week a sample of scarified 

 sweet-clover seed from C. P. Dadant. A 

 lot of it that I placed between damp paper, 

 less than two days ago, has already nearly 

 all sprouted. I believe this treatment of the 

 seed is going to prove a great help in in- 

 troducing this clover and getting farmers 

 to sow it. Of 72 tests made by the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture an average of only 36 

 per cent germinated. 



« • * 



Hawkweed, or paintbrush, as it is often 

 called, is one of the farmer's worst pests 

 here in Vermont, and it is getting to be 

 quite common. It spreads by underground 

 roots as well as by seeds. The seeds are 

 winged like the dandelions, and the wind 

 carries them everywhere. It seems to thrive 

 on all sorts of soils. I have worried for fear 

 it would ruin our bee pasture when it be- 

 comes more abundant, as it surely will. It 

 seems to be utterly worthless, and quickly 

 runs out our native grasses in pasture and 

 meadow. A farmer, however, in a nearby 

 town has discoveerd that sweet clover will 

 clean it out and produce a forage crop of 

 value. One more mark to the credit of 



sweet clover. 



* ■■ * .» 



Mr. Bycr, p. 178, calls attention to a 

 statement of Arthur C. Miller in the Decem- 

 ber number of Gleanings that " any lively 



youngster is supposed to be able to do the 

 trick " of making candy, and enquires how 

 I feel now. Pretty well, thank you. How 

 do you feel? Now, the trouble with me was 

 not in the making, for I made most beauti- 

 ful blocks of candy as hard as bricks. But 

 the trouble was they wouldn't stay made. I 

 set most of them away in a cool room until 

 I wanted to use them, when they began to 

 soften on the outside and run, and the 

 block would bend, and twist out of shape. 

 What a mess ! I suppose I used too large a 

 proportion of honey or corn syrup. Thanks 

 to Mr. Greorge H. Rea, page 150, Feb. 15, 

 one pound of honey to twenty-five of sugar 



is about right. 



« » • 



After speaking of " Upward Absorbents 

 vs. Sealed Covers," the editors of Glean- 

 ings say, page 90, " Strictly speaking we 

 did not use sealed covers, but an arrange- 

 ment that was a compromise between the 

 two extremes." '' This is the arrangement 

 that at Medina has generally given us the 

 best results." Exactly; and I believe this 

 will give best results in most places. All 

 that is needed in upward ventilation is to 

 get rid of the moisture and no more. Old 

 cloths coated with propolis, a board or two 

 pieces of boards laid on loosely, or even a 

 glass with a slight crack around the edges, 

 answers every purpose. It doesn't take a 

 great deal to let it escape. We do not think 

 alike, often, because we do not understand 



each other. 



» • • 



Langstroth wrote more than sixty years 

 ago, " I come now to mention a substitute 

 for liquid honey, the value of which has 

 been extensively and thoroughly tested in 

 Germany, which I have used to great advan- . 

 tage. It was not discovered by Dzierzon, 

 although he speaks of its excellence in the 

 most decided terms. The article to which 

 I refer is plain sugar candy, or, as it is 

 often called, barley candy. It has been 

 ascertained that about four pounds of tliis 

 will sustain a colony during the winter 

 when they have scarcely any honey in the 

 hive. If it is placed where they can get 

 access to it without being chilled they will 

 cluster upon it and gradually eat it up. It 

 not only goes further than double the quan- 

 tity of liquid honey, but is found to agree 

 with the bees perfectly ; while the liquid 

 lioney is almost sure to sour in the unsealed 

 cells, and expose them to dangerous and 

 often fatal attacks of dysentery." Is there 

 anything new under the sun? 



