834 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



liands Ihan chilled brood. We noticed he 

 had some old hives and some old combs 

 under a shed. The covers did not fit very 

 tig:htly, and robbers were smelling- around. 

 Most of the hives were old and home-made, 

 with gaping cracks. We promised to send 

 one of our best men down to help our 

 friend out, because we cannot afford to have 

 this condition of things even eight miles 

 from our nearest outyard. 



A word of caution should be entered 

 right here, either to unite colonies that are 

 not very strong, or contract their brood- 

 nests. Too much hive capacity is bad. 

 When the bees can hardly fill one story, it 

 is folly to put on one or more stories of 

 v/et combs, and leave them there after a 

 cold spell of weather comes on. There is 

 nothing serious about a little dead brood; 

 but all good healthy brood at this time of 

 the year should be allowed to hatch. Every 

 young bee is worth a dozen old bees for 

 wintering. 



Dr. Phillips' New Book, "Beekeeping" 



Of the making of books there is no end, 

 the wise man said. One would almost think 

 there was no room for a new bee-book; but 

 in Dr. Phillips' wc>rk, a preliminary notice 

 of which appeared on page 739, Sept. 15, 

 Ave have something new and unique. It 

 covers a field only partly covered by others. 

 How does it differ from other standard 

 works on bees? 



One would naturally suppose that its 

 author, a scientific man — a trained ento- 

 moloeisl, and one who is constantly asso- 

 ciated with some of the best scientists of 

 the Government — would turn out a book 

 that v/onld be so technically scientific that 

 it would be beyond the reach of the average 

 beekeeper. This is not the case. While it 

 is scientific, it is couched in such language 

 and style that the average reader can easily 

 understand it. But when we say it is sci- 

 entific, we might, without further qualifica- 

 tion, convey the impression that it is not 

 also practical. As a matter of fact, the 

 book is intensely so, because Dr. Phillips 

 has traveled all over the United States, 

 mingling with the best beemen in the coun- 

 try, and he has had, during several years 

 back, one of the best beekeepers in the 

 United States, Mr. George F. Demuth, as 

 liis first assistant. 



]\Ir. Demuth, by the way, is a man who 

 has been making good with his bees year 

 after year; and not only that, he has been 

 operating his yards at long range, and still 

 makes them pay. It is that man who lias 

 been the constant associate of Dr. Phillips, 



and who went over the proofs carefully be- 

 fore the book was made public. 



As if that were not enough, the author 

 \vent still further and placed himself in 

 touch with Dr. C. C. Miller, of Marengo, 

 111. With njanuscript in hand he read par- 

 agrapli after paragraph to this modern 

 Gamaliel. Dr. Miller, as those who know 

 him best, is a. severe critic, and anything 

 that might not be perfectly orthodox so far 

 as comb honey and swarming are concerned, 

 would be caught by Dr. Miller. In the main 

 he approved everything that the other doc- 

 tor said, offering only here and there an 

 occasional correction. 



'J'his work is distinct from any other on 

 bees in that it does not follow in the wake 

 of other writers. It deals with basic prin- 

 ciples in such a way that the reader will 

 better understand why this manipulation 

 will work and Avhy that will not. 



For example, Dr. Phillips has undertaken 

 tlie difficult task of giving the main cause 

 of swarming. At first we were inclined to 

 think he might have missed his mark; but 

 the more we have studied his reasons the 

 more we have come to the conclusion that 

 he is probably right. But of this we shall 

 have something more to say at another time. 



In the matter of comb-honey production 

 he has followed Mr. G. F. Demuth and Dr. 

 Miller very closely. On the subject of win- 

 tering he sets forth some neAv principles — 

 new, did we say? Well, not quite that 

 either. He has discussed the subject from 

 the standpoint of the causes that lead to 

 failure and the elements that lead to suc- 

 cess. He and liis assistants in the Bureau 

 of Entomology have made some new and 

 important discoveries on the subject of 

 vintering. some of which have been gi\en 

 in these columns. See page 789, 1914, and 

 again on page 49 of this year. In the light 

 of these discoveries he has set forth some 

 principles that Ave verily believe will help 

 clear up the subject of wintering, explain- 

 ing why bees die sometimes and not othex'S, 

 in a Avay that has not been done before. 



We hope, in a later issue, to give some 

 extracts from Ibis Avork; and Avhile we may 

 not agree Avith all that its author says, his 

 is a book that the man Avho keeps bees for 

 the bread and butter he can get out of them 

 cannot afford not to read. 



The price of the work is $2.00, and it 

 may be had from this office. It contains 

 nearly 600 pages, Avell illustrated Avith pen- 

 drawings that bi-ing out all the details that 

 it is possible to shoAv. It Avill be clubbed 

 Avith our oAvn work, The A B C and X Y Z 

 of Bee Culture, for $3.00, or Avith Glean- 

 ings for one year for $2.50. 



