c 



ILJ 



October. 1919 



IT will bo a 

 great relief 

 to many bee- 

 keepers to read 

 the short edi- 

 torial on page 

 561, September 

 Gleanings, n n d 

 learn that it is 

 possible to win- 

 ter bees on a good grade of brown sugar. I 

 have had many inquiries as to the wisdom 

 of feeding it. Some years ago so much wa'=! 

 said in Gleanings in regard to the value of 

 raw sugar in building uj) colonies in the 

 spring that I did all my fall feeding with 

 it. While I do not think bees wintered 

 quite so well as when fed granulated white 

 sugar, they wintered fairly well. Bees did 

 not take it quite as readily as a syrup made 

 of white sugar, especially late in the season. 

 Care should be taken not to feed too heavi- 

 ly', for if much is left in the brood-combs in 

 the spring the bees are liable to carry it up 

 into the supers and injure the appearance 

 as well as the quality of the section honey. 

 * * » 



It has been thought doubtful if "chunk 

 honey" could be made a success here in the 

 North, as the honey poured in around the 

 combs soon granulates, making it unsightly 

 and unsalable. A friend from the north 

 part of the State called on me last week and 

 said he was putting up in chunk form near- 

 ly all of a large crop of honey. This is how 

 he does it. He gets his surplus in shallow 

 frames, cuts it out, and fits it into ten- 

 pound friction-top pails. Such a pail will 

 hold six pounds of combs. He does not 

 pour any extracted honey around the combs, 

 as he says they ship well without it. He 

 claims that the demand is very great for 

 honey put up in this way, and that he has 

 no trouble in disposing of his entire crop. 



It is interesting to note the new ways of 

 putting up comb as well as extracted honey. 

 On pages 568 and 569 Miss Dorothy Quincy 

 Wright tells in a charming way how she 

 puts her honey in small paper packages. 

 While my friend Darby puts his comb honey 

 in ten-pound tin pails, she puts her honey 

 in pasteboard boxes. This method is well 

 adapted to those who have moderate-sized 

 yards, with time and ability to do fine work. 

 « • • 



J. A. Green, page 585, gives some very 

 good reasons why an eight-frame hive may 

 be better than a larger one. Many kinds 

 of honey outside of the heat of the cluster 

 of bees during winter are liable to granu- 

 late. If the bees do not tear this honey 

 out, it becomes a nuisance; and, if they do 

 dig it out, it is likely to be largely wasted. 

 This shows the necessity of every beekeep- 

 er's thinking for himself and not taking 

 what somebody else says as the best way. 

 [Yes, it is quite apparent that big hives are 

 not for everyone. D. D. Stover of Penn, 

 Miss., who was in Gleanings office last week, 

 paid, "Po stop pushing the 13-frame hives. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



SIFTINGS 



J. E. Crane 



1 



TU 



r,59 



We don "t ihhmI 

 a n y b i g g c r 

 hives. Our ten- 

 framers are all 

 right.'' Some 

 others from the 

 South have also 

 ('x}irossed them- 

 selves similarly, 

 so that it is 

 quite evident that no one man or group of 

 men will be able to settle all beekeeping 

 problems for the whole fraternity. Altho he 

 will continue to receive helpful suggestions 

 each beekeej>er will be obliged to think for 



himself. — Editor.] 



* » * 



Speaking of large and small hives, E. R. 

 Root on page 577 tells of the experience of 

 Zimmerman and Crowder of Pasadena. He 

 says, "The twelve-framers hardly swarm at 

 all, while the ten-framers swarm — well, .just 

 as all ten-framers do, right in the same yard 

 with the same honey flow and the same 

 management.'' We have run ovir home yard 

 the present season for extracted honey and 

 could notice a wide difference in the swarm- 

 ing dispositions of colonies in hives having 

 but one eight-frame super and those having 

 two or three such supers. 



* * » 



Isn 't that description of Italian bees rob- 

 bing, given by T. W. Riggs in August Glean- 

 ings, rather imaginary? We take off a large 

 share of our section honey and set the su- 

 per down by the side of the hive for several 

 hours for the bees to run out, and we have 

 very little trouble so long as there is a good 

 supply of nectar to be had in the ficlils; 

 but when that fails, look out. 

 -if * * 



I should have liked to attend that circus 

 at Medina when that car of oozing, dripping 

 hcney arriveil. I have had experience 

 enough in such matters to give me a fellow 

 feeling for those who had the care of the 

 honey. But I have been wondering how 

 many that have shiftless ways of shipping 

 honey will ever read the account given on 

 page 562. They can't afford not to read it. 



* * » 



"Honey as a Breakfast Food," is a capi- 

 tal idea. While some are trying to increase 

 sales by new methods of putting up honey 

 for market, others are suggesting new uses 

 for it. I am told by travelers that it is al- 

 most always found on breakfast tables at 

 hotels in Switzerland. Honey has real value 

 as a food as well as an appetizer. I prefer 

 it myself to butter. It is good if . mixed 

 with peanut butter, and better still if mixed 

 with the good old-fashioned dairy butter. 

 See Our Food Page, in the September num- 

 ber of Gleanings, page 589. 

 « * * 



I had an opportunity last week at our 

 county fair to meet a good many beekeepers. 

 Nearly all reported a short crop — from one- 

 half to three-fourths that of last year. A 

 few reported as much as last year, 



