168 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Maech, 1919 



HEADS OF GRAIN i PlM^IQi rDIFFERENT FIE LDS 



water constantly in reach of the bees, or 

 words to that effect. I have made some ob- 

 servations along this line and find this con- 

 densation does more harm than good — at 

 least, I think it does. In the first place, 

 it is not clean water, to my mind, for a lot 

 of it is moisture from the bees' exhalation; 

 and it seems to me that this moisture taken 

 back into the system is anything but help- 

 ful — to say nothing, as Mrs. Allen points 

 out, of the moldy combs and of the moist 

 condition of everything inside the hive. In 

 the hives the bottom-boards of which I 

 painted with white lead paint, I found this 

 condensed water drained out at the en- 

 trance, if the hives were tipped forward 

 at a slight angle, and so very little remained 

 in the hives, and that the bees seemed to be 

 more quiet, and there were very few or no 

 moldy combs; while those which had no 

 paint had wet bottom-boards for the most 

 part and a sticky mass of wax particles 

 from cappingg, dead bees, and the usual 

 hive accumulation in a wet smelly mass on 

 the bottoms. Arthur O. Heinrich. 



Baldwin, Long Island, N. Y. 



New Jersey's Hon- 

 ey Possibilities. 



I was more than hap- 

 py to see that article 

 from a New Jersey 

 beekeeper about his skyscraper colony, I 

 never had dreamed that this fruit-and-vege- 

 table-producing State could supply the 

 needs of such a colony in even a single lo- 

 cality. Generally, the bees in my section 

 are supplied with a variety of short flows 

 lasting from May 1-5 to Oct. 15, furnished 

 mainly by the apple, pear, peach, plum, 

 quince, etc., in the early spring; later, by 

 the clover, mostly on the roadside, and dan- 

 delions and other numerous wild flowers. 

 Then, too, there are farms run principally 

 to supply the large cities near by with vege- 

 tables, of which there are many acres in 

 some places. The bees can obtain quite a 

 supply from this source, and also from cul- 

 tivated cut-flower nurseries and fruit or- 

 chards for which this State is noted. It is 

 frequently repeated that New Jersey is the 

 State of fruit and flowers. 



Taking this into consideration it seems to 

 me strange that there are not more beekeep- 

 ers here, especially those who own truck- 

 farms, orchards, and nurseries, who could 

 make beekeeping quite profitable as a side 

 line. There are also a great many suburbs 

 in which city ' ' commuters ' ' raise chickens, 

 flowers, and vegetable gardens as a recrea- 

 tion who might well become beekeepers. 



Running northwest are ranges of moun- 

 tains which are a continuation of the Blue 

 Ridge range. At the foot of these the farms 

 and orchards are generally located, which is 

 another advantage in beekeeping. 



While I do not believe the conditions here 

 are very favorable to the production of 



comb honey, it seems to be all the go. The 

 reason for this, I think, is because not 

 enough beekeepers study the subject deeply 

 enough. As I said before, a single locality 

 does not as a rule produce enormous 

 amounts; so, therefore, in order to add car- 

 loads to the national production, there must 

 be many small beekeepers. 



Geo. F. Kissam. 

 Rutherford Park, N. J. 



Will Gasoline In the January issue 



Wash Do It? of the Western Hon- 



eybee the editor says 

 he does not know that gasoline kills foul- 

 brood germs, but his experience has been 

 that in hives disinfected with gasoline the 

 disease verj' rarely occurs — much more sel- 

 dom than in hives in no way disinfected. 

 He asks whether there is any ' ' scientific 

 authority ' ' to prove that gasoline does not 

 kill foul-brood germs. 



We do not recommend no treatment of 

 hives, and yet we have known of as good 

 reports with no treatment as Mr. Berby re- 

 ports with the gasoline treatment. If gaso- 

 line could kill foul-brood germs, this treat- 

 ment would not insure the gasoline reaching 

 all the germs; for, even altho the hive were 



A Pennsylvania " skyscraper " hive, belonging to 

 E. S. Stcalker of Hallstead, Pa., which produced 

 308 lbs. of surplus in 1918 and abundant winter 

 slores. The colony had a two-year-old queen and 

 did not swarm. Rails, stones, and rope seem 

 necessary to " hold " this hive. 



