DKORMBKR 1, 1915 



993 



If fruit-growers practice spraying while 

 trees or cover crops are in bloom they 

 slioulil know wliat will happen. No bees 

 will bo kept near tlieni, and the wild bees 

 will bo killed oil', and 1 guess it will be a 

 good things for beekeepers. Oh for sundry 

 reasons! [See article on page !'fl4 by F. R. 

 Beuhne in this issue. The onlj^ conclusion 

 we can come to is that sometimes spraying 

 with arsenate of lead while the trees are in 

 bloom kills bees and sometimes it does not. 

 The fact that it does sometimes, always 

 makes the practice dangerous. — Ed.] 



Large black ants in this region live in 

 hollow trees, decayed wood, walls of build- 

 ings (including chatf hives) ; and poison 

 which they will take home and eat is the 

 only way to reach them. 



No, sir; this is not an easy place to 

 winter bees — averages about as cold as 

 central Ohio, and the changes and extremes 

 are worse. 



In considering winter eases, just remem- 

 ber that Quinby said a first-class colony 

 will winter under almost any condition ; but 

 it is the second and third grade ones which 

 call for care. Be a " first-class " beekeeper. 

 It pays, and is a lot more fun. I've met 

 some, and ought to know. 



If you do not keep record of your apiary 

 you should, and there are just two vital 

 things worth noting — -the queen, what she 

 is. and the product of the stock. If you 

 are doing up-to-t lie-minute, economical bee- 

 keeping there will be no other things to 

 note. Isn't possible? Well, it just is. Have 

 three hours to do ten hours' work, one mind 

 to keep track of several important lines, 

 and you will be forced to economical meth- 

 ods. 



Piping antics of queens were described 

 long ago, and the attitude and action is the 

 same in the cell as out of it; that is, body 

 fiat, chin in. and muscles tense. "Piping" 

 and " quahking '' are one and of the same 



origin. Avoid it in your honey-producing 

 stocks. [Dr. C. C. Miller will please note 

 that the other Miller agrees with us; but 

 say, you other Miller, why avoid queens 

 that ])ipe and quahk? — Ed.] 



What a relief it is to have an Uncle Sam, 

 leastwise when he turns a Phillips loose on 

 a job ! They are tackling the science of bee 

 culture with the best of recording appara- 

 tus. I tried it with imperfect tools; and, 

 though I learned much, I also learned that 

 much of my work only suggested what was 

 wanted. Go it, E. F. P.; you'll bust some 

 of our pet notions, and put crimps in the 

 apicultural reputations of some of us, but 

 it will be worth while. 



Many farmers do a losing business all 

 their life. They live, but their farms grow 

 steadily poorer. They do not show up so 

 often in the mercantile reports, but they do 

 a losing business nevertheless, and only 

 because the soil cannot demand a settlement 

 do they avoid a ''failure." Beekeeping is a 

 rather remarkable branch of agriculture, 

 and has paid some fine profits; but it is 

 fast getting down to brass tacks, and the 

 men who do not run the business economi- 

 cally and far-sightedly will go under as 

 surely and in the same ratio as in the rest 

 of the business world. 



When you are planning honey exhibits 

 study color combinations. Patriotism is all 

 right; but the flag is not the best combina- 

 tion of color to put beside honey. The blue 

 against yellow (golden honey) is apt in 

 some lighting to give a very unattractive 

 green east. 



Producing is less than half of the prob- 

 lem, selling is the rest. Just study that. 



Interesting, the difference in the size of 

 stocks in warm forenoons and afternoons of 

 April and early May. The forenoons then 

 are a fine time to hunt up and clip queens. 

 This for the novice particularly. 



Providence, R. I. 



FILTERING HONEY; NO NEED FOR WORRY 



BY LUIS RAMIREZ CASABLANCA 



In the last issue of Gleanings, and 

 under the same heading it is said that the 

 workers in the Federal Carbohydrate Lab- 

 oratory in Washington have passed dark- 

 colored honey through bone char, securing 

 a product as clear as crystal, and that the 

 only drawback to a general employment of 

 this methrd of filtering is tiiat the cost of 

 bone char is about .ffiO a ton. This would 

 not be the real drawback of the method, as 

 the revivification of tlie bone char would 



solve tlie economic problem, as was long ago 

 shown in the sugar-refineries. The real 

 drawback of the process is that the bone 

 char will absorb both the color and the 

 delicate fragrance of the honey. It is well 

 known that the very strong and offensive 

 smell of the impure alcohol can be entirely 

 eliminated by means of the absorbent bone 

 char or of a good absorbent charcoal. Think 

 what would become of the delicate fra- 

 grance of the honey under such energetic 



