1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1013 



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Again the war-dogs growl and roar— 

 This time by Venezuela's shore : 

 Where will it end, the carnage dire, 

 If once be kindled war's fierce tire? 



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BULLETIN DE LA SOMME. 



Here are a few French maxims that are 

 good, even if some of them may be a little 

 trite: 



Bees alone can not fill our honey-vessels: 

 they must be assisted by rational treatment. 



To take from the hives is a pleasant bus- 

 iness; but to give to them is often more 

 profitable. 



Bees are never packed too warm for 

 winter if care has been taken to give them 

 plenty of pure air. 



A lack of water, bad food, and currents 

 of air are the principal causes of uneasiness 

 among bees during winter. 



The two pounds of honey which you take 

 in autumn from the necessary supply of 

 your bees will cause you to lose double that 

 amount in spring. 



In every open place plant a tree: near 

 every home establish an apiary. 



For a cold, boil 30 grams ( about an ounce) 

 of flax seed in half a pint of water; strain 

 it and add a little honey, the juice of two 

 lemons, and an ounce of sugar. Stir and 

 let it boil five minutes. Drink hot. 



For sore throat, make a gargle composed 

 of the following: Borate of soda, 62 troy 

 grains; same of chlorate of potash; same 

 of alum; clear honey, an ounce and a half. 

 Apply this to the affected parts by means 

 of a feather or fine pencil. 



If the throat is but moderately sore and 

 the ulceration light, an infusion of sage or 

 rose leaves, or the two mixed, will effect a 

 cure. A gargle composed of half a pint of 

 the infusion of sage leaves and rose leaves, 

 with two teaspoonfuls of vinegar and one of 

 honey, is very efficacious in case of sore 

 throat. 



Mr. Kojewnikow, an eminent European 

 authority, says the consumption of honey 

 to produce a certain amount of wax is eight 

 to one. The editor says he considers that 

 too much. Mr. K. adduces this as a reason 

 for using foundation when one uses movable 

 frames. 



\b 

 PROGRESSIVE BEE-KEEPER. 



F. L. Thompson says one of the needs of 

 bee-literature is a digest of the things of 

 value to be found in other bee-papers. He 

 says: 



Absolutely every thing that is of any value to bee- 

 keepers at large must be included, aid fairly set 

 forth, whether the compiler thinks it of any value or 

 not. He must, for the time being, see things from 

 everybody's point of view. 



A journal devoted to the matter of giving 

 a digest of all other journals might be a 

 good thing; but how can it be done in any 

 journal now existing? To see things from 

 everybody's point of view would require a 

 mind that is omnii^cient. Mr. York well 

 says in his journal, " How is a compiler to 

 know a thing is of value if he does not think 

 it of value?" Mr. Hasty and Dr. Miller are 

 the best " digesters " we have in this line, 

 and their work' seems to be well received. 

 But if one wishes to get all the bee-litera- 

 ture, why not take all the bee- journals? 



HIVES PARTLY FILLED WITH COMBS; FEED- 

 ING BEES DURING WINTER, ETC. 



"Good evening, Mr. Doolittle. I came 

 over from Canada (by letter) to have a little 

 talk with you about wintering bees where 

 the colonies do not have their colonies full 

 of comb. I saved quite a good many after 

 and late swarms this year, and a part of 

 these do not have their hives full of comb. 

 What ought I to do with these to have them 

 winter to the best advantage? " 



" Where do you think of wintering them — 

 in the cellar or out on the summer stands? " 



" In the cellar under my house. In fact, 

 I have cellared them already. The tem- 

 perature of this cellar generally keeps at 

 from 40 to 45 degrees." 



" Such a cellar should be a good place to 

 winter them, and will tend to give you bet- 

 ter success than outdoor wintering. But 

 much depends upon the shape of the empty 

 space. Are the bees in frame or box 

 hives? " 



" I have some in each. Would it make 

 any difference regarding this matter of 

 wintering as to the kind of hives used? " 



" Yes. Where the bees are in frame 

 hives, and they so built their combs that 

 half of the frames were filled with comb 

 while the other half was empty, or nearly 

 so, the proper course would be to take out 

 the empty frames and insert a division- 

 board close up to the frames left." 



" I had not thought that I could do that; 

 but it looks reasonable that they would 

 winter better thus fixed. But the most of 

 these small colonies are in box hives." 



"Where the bees are in box hives, or 

 where comb is built in all of the frames 

 about half way down, the middle frames 

 containing more and the outside less, then 

 it is better to leave them as they are, for 

 they could not be helped much by any 

 contraction of the hive which could be 

 done." 



" But could I not fill the empty space un- 

 der the combs in some way?" 



