86 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



February, 1919 



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STRAY STRAWS 



Dr. C. C. MiUer 



HH. BOOT, 

 , I 'm de- 

 lighted to 

 see you putting 

 in use a talent 

 for juggling 

 with figures as 

 shown on pagei 

 14, January 

 Gleanings. Those 



who have never tried anything of the kind 

 Avill hardly appreciate the labor involved in 

 that table of cost of honey packages. Please 

 juggle some more. 



This comparison of prices is especially in- 

 teresting at this time when so much thought 

 is given to the matter of conservation and 

 of waste. Suppose 375 pounds of honey are 

 to be furnished to consumers. It may be 

 furnished in 3-oz. jars. It would take 2,000 

 jars, at a cost of $121.14. It may also be 

 furnished in 5-lb. cans. It would take 75 

 cans, at a cost of $78.60. The difference 

 between $121.14 and $78.60 is $42.54. 

 Doesn 't it look a good deal like a dead 

 waste of $42.54 to have the honey put up 

 in 3-oz. jars rather than in 5-lb. cans? But 

 that is figuring everything at cost. Sup- 

 pose we figure on actual sales to consumers. 

 In this market the consumer has iDeen pay- 

 ing $1.60 for a 5-lb. can, so he would pay 

 $120 for 75 cans. A 3-oz. jar would hardly 

 be sold for less than 10 cents, so he would 

 pav $200 for 2000 jars. The difference be- 

 tween $120 and $200 is $80. Very likely 

 the consumer would think himself $80 out 

 of pocket to buy in the little jars, if he 

 could get the 5-lb. cans. 



There may be markets in which the con- 

 sumer prefers the very small package, but 

 it lies a good deal in the power of the pro- 

 ducer to influence sales in larger packages, 

 and, if he is a lover of his kind, that's ex- 

 actly the thing he will do. 

 « * * 



J. E. Crane says, page 25, "I suppose I 

 have fed more than 50,000 pounds of sugar 

 during the past 10 years without the addi- 

 tion of a pound of honey or an ounce of acid 

 to prevent granulation, and I do not see that 

 the syrup granulates any more than when 

 I used honey or acid. ' ' Grace Allen says, 

 page 29, "We have often fed sugar syrup, 

 one part water to two generous parts sugar, 

 several times 2i/4, and occasionally 2i/^, 

 with neither honey nor acid added, and 

 have never experienced the slightest granu- 

 lation. ' ' Same thing with The A. I. Boot 

 Co., and probably hundreds of others. Does- 

 n 't that warrant us in saying that acid is 

 never needed in sugar syrup and can do no 

 good? And if it isn't needed and does no 

 good, I 'm afraid it may do at least a little 

 harm. Now arises one who says, "But it 

 does granulate with me; granulates badly." 

 What are you going to do with him? You 

 might say to him: "Well, adding acid 

 doesn 't do any good anyhow. Mr. Crane 

 says there is a little granulation without 

 the acid, but no more than with it. ' ' But 



1 



it would be a 

 hard job to 

 make a candy- 

 maker believe 

 that acid does 

 not prevent 

 granulation. The 

 candy - books 

 make acid a 

 first requisite in 

 making fondant- I asked an experienced 

 maker of home candy, ' ' Can you make fon- 

 dant without acid?" "No; it'll grain 

 every time." I think we shall have to ad- 

 mit that acid lessens the danger of granu- 

 lation in those cases where it is likely to 

 occur, and to recommend the use of acid in 

 such cases. 



But who can tell us in what cases granu- 

 lation is likely to occur, and why it occurs 

 in one case and not another? As Mr. Crane 

 says, the bees have a trick of changing the 

 syrup so as to lessen granulation. I think 

 it is generally agreed that to give the bees 

 the best chance to do this the syrup should 

 be fed thin and early. Possibly it doesn't 

 matter so much about the thickness if fed 

 early enough. But if fed late it will hardly 

 do to feed thin, for if fed late enough the 

 bees cannot evaporate it, and then there 

 will be trouble. The whole thing is in some- 

 thing of a muddle. 



* * * 



J. F. Dunn is enthusiastic over double- 

 walled hives that he has been using for a 

 good many years. They are made of cypress 

 boards % inch thick, or of pine % inch 

 thick. Neponset paper is glued on the out- 

 side of the inner wall and the inside of the 

 outer wall. Between the walls is an inch of 

 packing of cork "ground up, regranulated 

 until about like flour." Thus packed, the 

 hive is no heavier than the ordinary single- 

 walled hive of seven-eighths lumber, but 

 greatly superior. "Bees seldom swarm in 

 these hives or cluster outside on a hot day. 

 They are so perfectly insulated the bees 

 have no trouble in keeping their hives at 

 any temperature they choose even in the 

 coldest weather, and are very quiet at all 

 times." He used four-colony cases for 

 years, and bees wintered well in them. 

 ' ' But, ' ' he says, ' ' four of my cork-packed 

 hives cost less than four single-walled ones 

 plus cost of a winter case; and the time 

 consumed in preparing for winter is almost 

 negligible. ' ' — Canadian Horticulturist. 



* » * 



As to that new metal comb, mentioned on 

 page 9, January Gleanings, it would not be a 

 very reckless thing to predict that not many 

 years from now it will be forgotten. This 

 is on the< general principle that the great 

 majority of the new things that have been 

 discovered and invented in the last half 

 century have been relegated to the junk 

 heap. Yet so long as one out of 10 may 

 prove to be a success, it is well to foster 

 the other nine until their failure is proved. 



