May, 1919 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



301 



way. It 1!* nuu'h casiiM- I'of a (luceii to kee}) 

 lier footing on a frame held vertically than 

 on one placed suddenly in a horizontal posi- 

 tion.— Editor.] 



* » * 



That editorial, "Necessity for Comb-hon- 

 ey Production," page 209, sets one to think- 

 ing. The editor asks, "Will there not be an 

 over-production of extracted with a corres- 

 ponding slump in prices?" In one sense 

 there may be over-production, the produc- 

 tion exceeding the demand. In the fullest 

 sense of the word, however, there is no likeli- 

 hood of any over-production of honey, either 

 comb or extracted, for many years to come; 

 for the production is now probably several 

 times below the amount that could be con- 

 sumed, and that ought to be consumed for 

 the health of the nation. If so much extract- 

 ed is produced as to cause a slump in prices, 

 will not the lower prices increase consump- 

 tion? And will not that increased consump- 

 tion eventually increase prices? So the man 

 who considers the greatest good to the great- 

 est number will likely have a leaning toward 

 extracted honey; only you cannot expect too 

 much altruism in beekeepers, and they will 

 likely do the thing most favorable for their 

 own pockets. At any rate, if I can make as 

 much one way as the other, I 'd a little 

 rather use the extractor. 



One of the questions most commonly ask- 

 ed is, ' ' When shall I begin stimulative feed- 

 ing?" The average beginner seems possessed 

 with the idea that unless something is done 

 by the beekeeper the bees will not build up 

 as they should. To any such I commend 

 the words of Mrs. Demuth, page 221: "We 

 have been thru the mill of stimulative feed- 

 ing, spreading brood, and other early spring 

 nursing, and doubt if any of this has ever 

 been profitable. We simply try to see that 

 every colony has what it needs for best de- 

 velojjment at this time and leave them 

 alone." The only exception is in those 

 jdaces where there is a dearth so long con- 

 tinued that the queen will stop laying al- 

 together unless fed. 



* * * 



It seems a little remarkable that the bees 

 should have hit upon a size for woi'ker-cells 

 so easy to figure on — five to the inch — and 

 also for drone-cells — four to the inch. It 

 would be awkward to have some irregular 

 size, as 4% cells to the inch. I'm in favor 

 of changing to the metric system, but it 

 wouldn't be so handy when talking of work- 

 er-cells to say "A worker-cell is 508-thou- 

 sandths of a centimeter in diameter, and 

 there are one and 968-thousandths cells to 

 the centimeter. ' ' 



On page 253 we are told that the larva in 

 a queen-cell may be seen floating in a white 

 thick milky substance, and "this chyle is 

 more concentrated than that fed to either 

 the drone or worker larva. ' ' Heretofore we 



have been taught that during the first three 

 days of a worker-larva it has the same food 

 as a queen-larva, and is then "weaned," 

 while the food of the queen-larva continues 

 unchanged. Indeed, on page 254 Miss Fowls 

 says that for three days the worker-larva 

 "is fed the same kind of food as the queen- 

 larva, but in smaller amounts." Now just 

 what ought we to believe about it? [Yes, 

 you are right. Dr. Miller, you see on page 

 254 I repented and decided to tell the truth 

 about it.- — Editor.] 



* » * 



On page 254 Miss Fowls tells about honey- 

 ripening, and says, "This honey-ripening 

 continues until nearly midnight; and during 

 its progress there is a most delightful 

 drowsy humming thruout the apiary." I'm 

 not sure I ever saw mention of this in print 

 before, and "most delightful" is precisely 

 the right expression. Instead of calling it 

 a humming I've been in the habit of calling 

 it a roaring, for after a heavy day's work it 

 can be heard several rods away from the 

 apiary. Some word combining humming and 

 roaring might be the proper term for it. If 

 any of you beginners have never heard it, 

 you 've been cheated out of something that 's 

 rightly coming to you. Watch for it this 



summer. 



* » » 



You say, Mr. Editor, page 212, that N. A. 

 Blake is right in putting the brood on top 

 early in the fall. Correct; and it's even more 

 important to have it there in spring and up 

 to the time of storing surplus, whether bees 

 are wintered out or cellared. As to keeping 

 away the moth, I have known combs above 

 the brood-nest to become wormy, but never 

 below. Bees may neglect combs above, but 

 are obliged to pass over combs below. 



* * * 



Isn 't that a new kink in using the Alex- 

 ander plan of putting a weak colony over a 

 strong one, that Chas. D. Blaker gives, page 

 238? "After placing the excluder on the 

 strong colony leave it uncovered for an hour 

 or more until the bees have quieted down," 

 and use no smoke. Looks good. [We be- 

 lieve G. C. Greiner sometimes uses the same 

 plan — no smoke and leaving uncovered till 

 the bees withdraw from the top. — Editor.] 



* * * 



If you try to keep pure Italians in a thick- 

 ly settled district where everybody keejis 

 black bees, it "will mean that in mating 

 you will sometimes get hybrids," page 247. 

 How would it do to change that ' ' some 

 times " to " nearly always ' ' ? 



W. E. Woodruff, page 741, wants a sa''o 

 and sure device for permitting a small 

 quantity of water to escape at a time from 

 a big tank to water bees. I can 't give that, 

 but I think I can give something better. 

 Just throw cork chips on the top of the 

 water. , 



