40 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



January, 1919 



queen-excluder, filling the remainder of the 

 first and the second story with frames of 

 comb or full sheets of foundation. Eight 

 or nine days later all but one of the queen- 

 cells that may be built below the excluder 

 should be destroyed. 



As soon as the young queen below is mat- 

 ed and laying, the old queen can be removed. 

 If desired, she may be given two or three 

 frames of brood and a good nucleus started, 

 or she may be left until the combs below 

 are partly filled with brood. Eight or nine 

 days after her removal from the second 

 story , any queen-cells started above are de- 

 stroyed. It would seem to us that as the 

 colony became more powerful, there would 

 be a chance of a swarm issuing; but, with 

 the old queen above the excluder and a 

 young one below, Mr. Sheppard says there 

 is little danger. Nor is there any likelihood 

 of the colony swarming, during the rest of 

 the season, since colonies headed by such 

 young queens seldom swarm. 



He further states that he has found that 

 when the new wire queen-excluder was used 

 the bees, as a rule, would build queen-cells 

 (evidently he intended saying "would not 

 build queen-cells ' ') except when a shallow 

 super was put above the first story and a 

 second wire excluder over that, leav- 

 ing the queen and brood in the third story. 

 If an ordinary zinc queen-excluder was used 

 instead of a wire one, there was no trouble 

 in getting the bees to start queen-cells. 

 « • » 



"Weak Spots in Inspection," an article 

 in the Western Honey Bee, says Prof. Frank 

 Pellett admits four defects in inspection 

 work: (1) lack of funds; (2) payment of 

 inspectors upon a per diem basis; (3) mis- 

 takes and bad judgment of new men; (4) 

 unreasonable and ignorant beekeepers who 

 defy inspectors. To us 1 and 3 seem most 

 serious. If sufiicient funds were available 

 perhaps poor inspectors would never be sent 

 out, and yet lack of funds is no valid ex- 

 cuse for their employment. The ignorance 

 of such inspectors has completely queered 

 all inspection work in many localities. 



In speaking of the "rake off" which the 

 middlemen get on honey deals, the Novem- 

 ber Western Honey Bee claims "statistics 

 show that the beekeeper is getting but 35 

 cents out of each dollar paid by the con- 

 sumer for his honey. ' ' According to this, 

 when honey is retailing at 45 cents, the pro- 

 ducer is getting less than IG cents, and when 

 retailing at 30 cents, the producer gets 10^ 



cents. 



« » » 



' ' To make success, buy your bees and 

 supplies right, cut cost of production by 

 less fussy methods, winter in the cellar 

 where successful, and sell as much of your 

 crop to retailers and consumers as you pos- 

 sibly can. Save even fifty cents per colo- 

 ny on wintering and get fifty cents per colo- 

 ny's product above jobbers' prices and you 

 will have success if your location is at all 

 good." — F. W. Lesser, in November Horti- 

 culturist and Beekeeper. 



* * * 



' ' The great Miller & Lux landed interests 

 in Central California have at last opened 

 their lands to the advent of beekeepers, 

 which they have always refused to do here- 

 tofore. It is said that a certain beekeeper 

 has a contract to place 4,000 colonies on 

 these properties the coming year. ' ' — No- 

 vember Western Honey Bee. 



* * * 



"Beekeeping, insofar as the forage is con- 

 cerned, is practically unlimited in the valley 

 regions between the San Gorgonio Pass and 

 the Colorado Eiver, ' ' says Charles W. Mix- 

 ter in the November Western Honey Bee. 

 ' ' Mesquite, the chief forage for bees in that 

 section, is more plentiful than it was ten 



years ago." 



* * * 



The MacDonald Aluminum Honeycomb 

 Company will soon pass into the hands of a 

 large, corporation, it is stated in the No- 

 vember Western Honey Bee. In speaking of 

 the aluminum combs, the editor holds they 

 are still in the experimental stage but con- 

 siders the invention very valuable. 



Wild buckwheat or rabbit brush (botani- 

 cally, Eriogonum nudum or leafless buck- 

 wheat) yielded 100 pounds per colony this 

 year in Albert Lane 's apiary in Los Angeles 

 County, according to the November Western 

 Honey Bee. This plant usually does not 

 yield enough for surplus, but when condi- 

 tions are just right a fine white honey of 

 excellent flavor is pr'oduced. 

 * * * 



A case of selling diseased bees came to 

 the attention of the South Staffs and Dis- 

 trict Beekeepers' Association, who decided 

 to make a test case and, if possible, put an 

 end to such a practice, as stated in the Oc- 

 tober British Bee Journal. The defendant 

 was convicted and fined £3 5s. and costs. 

 This precedent will doubtless be of help to 

 other beekeepers' associations. 



' ' I have found that it has cost me about 

 five cents per pound to produce ripe extract- 

 ed honey. This is an average for 13 years 

 with an average production of 15 to 20 tons 

 a year." — F. W. Lesser, in November Can- 

 adian Horticulturist and Beekeeper. 

 * * * 



"Eelaxation in the sugar restrictions may 

 have some effect on the demand for honey, 

 but hardly enough to affect the demand for 

 honey of this year 's crop. ' ' — M. G. Dadant 

 in December American Bee Journal. 



' ' Langstroth needs no monument to his 

 memory, except the fact that he gave free- 

 ly and willingly to his brethren of what he 

 discovered and knew. ' ' — John Moore in The 

 Canadian Horticulturist. 



