GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



September, 1919 



Question. — We are desirous of securing an au- 

 thentic definition of the term "pure white honey." 

 Kentucky. H. W. RiehL 



Answer. — Pure clover honey may be con- 

 sidered as typical of "pure white honey" 

 by which others may be judged. Honeys 

 only a trifle lighter or darker, so that it 

 would take an expert to detect the slight 

 difference in color, are also classed as white. 



Questions. — (1) I think honey loses quite a part 

 of the fine flavor after taking it from the comb. Is 

 that right? (2) I have wintered outdoors in dou- 

 ble-walled hives, setting eight or ten close together 

 in the fall and banking on three sides with boughs, 

 weeds, or hay. The bees get to "flying well before 

 I remove the banking. How shall I separate them 

 without moving a little every day ? 



Maine. L. H. Fletcher. 



Answers. — (1) To a slight extent we be- 

 lieve this is true. (2) The easiest way would 

 perhaps be to move them a little each day 

 as suggested in your letter, provided there 

 are only a few colonies. If there are many, 

 you could move them to a location several 

 miles away, leave them for a couple of 

 weeks, and then return to your own yard 

 and place them wherever you desire. This 

 would, of course, be considerable work. 



ANSWERS BY JOHN H. LOVELIj. 



Question. — I have noticed bees working on a 

 small gall that grows on thei twigs of the scrub oaks. 

 Thinking this might be of interest to you I am 

 here sending a twig with some of them attached. Is 

 it honeydew they get from those galls ? 



Wisconsin. P. B. Brown. 



Answer. — The oaks yield no nectar either 

 in the North or South. The oak is a typical 

 wind-pollinated flower and offers no allure- 

 ments to insects. Why then should it se- 

 crete nectar? It would be of no benefit to 

 the plant. Anyone who will examine the 

 flowers under the microscope will not sug- 

 gest such a thing. The only criterion is the 

 observation of the nectary and its secretion 

 of nectar. But there are probably no plants 

 which furnish more honeydew than the oaks. 

 This dew is excreted largely by bark-lice 

 (Coccidae) which so closely resemble galls 

 or buds that they have deceived many peo- 

 ple, even some entomologists. For further 

 details see article on Honeydew in A B C of 

 Bee Culture, last edition. 



Question. — I would like a description of jackass 

 clover, and would like to know where the seed can 

 be obtained. L. M. Cox. 



California. 



Answer. — Jackass clover is ai» 

 erect rank-scented annual, abundant in the 

 San Joaquin Valley, Calif. The leaves have 

 three leaflets, resembling the leaves of 

 clover, but the species belongs to the Caper 

 Family {Capparidaceae) . Flowers yellow in 

 clusters. It yields a mild water-white hon- 

 ey, which granulates with a fine grain in 

 three or four months. It is reported to be 

 rapidly spreading and to be a most promis- 

 ing honey plant, which may in time rival 

 sage and alfalfa. It is said to bloom only 

 every other year. Bees visit it in great 

 numbers. The name jackass clover was 

 given to this plant by H. T. Christman of 

 Coalings and is chiefly known among bee- 



keepers. The seed is not offered for sale by 

 any of our eastern seedsmen, and probably 

 it would be necessary to gather it from the 

 wild plants. No attempt seems to have ever 

 been made to cultivate this species. Perhaps 

 the Agricultural Experiment Station at 

 Berkeley, Calif., could give some informa- 

 tion on this point. 



Question. — My neighbor has an apricot tree which 

 blooms every year, and in the time of bloom the 

 tree is usually loaded with bees, but it does not 

 bear. One of my neighbors says that the bees are 

 the cause. He says they take too much "juice" 

 out of it. Is this true? Clarence H. Ziegler. 



Pennsylvania. 



Answer. — The apricot {Primus armeniaca) 

 belongs to the same genus as the peach, 

 plum, and cherry (Primus), and has essen- 

 tially the same structure. If the nectar se- 

 creted by the flowers of these trees were not 

 removed by bees, it would be of no benefit 

 to the trees nor to the fruit — it would mere- 

 ly go to waste. In removing it bees do no 

 harm, as any one can easily observe. But 

 in making their visits bees effect cross-pol- 

 lination, without which many fruit trees 

 remain nearly or wholly unproductive. The 

 apricot trees remain barren because of the 

 absence of a variety suitable to effect pol- 

 lination. This is also true of many of the 

 closely allied plums and cherries. 



ANSWER BY DR. C. O. MILLER. 



Question. — Can you tell me what is wrong with 

 my comb-honey production ? I have only a few 

 colonies, part in eight-frame Langstroth hives and 

 part in Danzenbaker hives. Under the same treat- 

 ment each year, I am able to get a surplus only 

 from the Danzenbaker colonies. They seem to win- 

 ter better, are stronger in the spring, and go readily 

 into the super with bait combs. The eight-frame 

 Langstroth hives supplied with supers and bait 

 combs and full foundation in the 4^/4 sections pro- 

 duce nothing. The hive-body will be filled with 

 honey and brood, the bait sections filled, and the 

 colony trying to swarm without drawing out the 

 foundation in the sections. The colonies which give 

 the surplus are hybrids, while those that do not are 

 golden Italians. All were requeened last year with 

 queens that were supposed to have been tested Ital- 

 ians. I prefer the Langstroth frames if I can only 

 get them to produce some surplus. 



Oregon. W. E. Smith. 



Answer. — The case is puzzling. The bait 

 section being filled and the foundation in 

 sections beside it not drawn out, indicates 

 either a poor flow or a weak colony. But in 

 either case why should they try to swarm? 

 You say the Danzenbaker colonies winter 

 better and are stronger in spring. I cannot 

 believe that can be accounted for by the 

 difference in hives. As there are only a 

 few colonies, it may have just happened 

 the better colonies were in the Danzenbaker 

 hives. You say the bees that give no surplus 

 are goldens," the others hybrids. It is not 

 impossible that you have a poor strain of 

 goldens. At any rate, if I were you I would 

 not give up the Langstroth frames without 

 further trial. At a time when a Danzen- 

 baker colony is storing, if a Langstroth colo- 

 ny with as many and as good bees is not 

 storing, then your bees are utterly different 

 from mine. 



