308 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Feb. 15 



Then the next lot of persons received the 

 same "treatment." As soon as I began to 

 "explain" tu one or more persons others 

 would crowd closer so that one talk served a 

 lot at a time. As soon as this dispersed, 

 another crowd congregated, and so on. 



This is given here to show how such an im- 

 portant subject can be handled at our fairs. 

 Others should do the same at their fairs. It 

 is very easy, and the sooner the general pub- 

 lic becomes familiar with granulated noney 

 the better for it and the producei s of extract- 

 ed honey. Of course, it makes a pers^^n 

 hoarse to talk all day long; but I have often 

 thought I could keep up with the fakirs who 

 made their share by talking; and while doing 

 this I used a good deal of the granulated 

 honey for my throat. It is good for that pur- 

 pose also. 



In addition to talking on the subjpct it is 

 well to have printed matter for the visitors 

 to take home with them. Many will then 

 read over again some of the things they have 

 learned, and i-emember them better. This 

 was done at both our State faiis at Dallas 

 and the International fair at San Antonio. 



I did not suppose it was any thing so very 

 unusual for bees to store honey under their 

 brood as J. E. Hand would have us think. 

 Why, I have had them build comb and store 

 honey outside their hives and below the en- 

 trance when crowded inside. 



Dr. Miller's method of supplying bees with 

 water is not only novel, but I believe the 

 most practical of any that has been hereto- 

 fore descriiDcd. Those who have never given 

 their bees water have little idea how much 

 they will take when 'it is convenient to the 

 apiary in a sheltered place. 



"How long does it take a colony to discov- 

 er the loss ol a queen? " Stray Straw, Dec. 

 1. Dadant says, "After within an hour," 

 and the editor's opinion is that it seldcm 

 takes longer. Yet I have had one or more 

 cases where a queen was taken away, and, 

 so far as I could judge, the colony did not 

 discover its loss till the brood was too old to 

 rear another, and this in the spring of the 

 year. 



I am much interested in ventilation of bee- 

 cellars. Lastwinter niyoellarwas for a con- 

 siderable time up to 60°, but with a large 

 opening into a chimney with a good drsift. 

 Most colonies came out strong. This winter 

 £o far the temperature has been up to 55° 



most of the time. Only once have I seen it 

 as low as 45°, and then for only a short time. 

 This morning, with a temperature outside at 

 4°. the thermometer in the bee-cellar stands 

 at 48°. 1 have a feeling that it is not very 

 objectionable to have the temperature rather 

 high the fore part of the winter. 



The statement of the Chicago Record-Her- 

 ald in regard to the present status of the 

 liquor-traflic is of interest. Harper''s Weekly 

 estimates that at present one-half of the ter- 

 ritory of the United States is under prohibi- 

 tory law, either through State or local-option 

 laws. Prohibition a failure in Maine! So it 

 was claimed for Vermont, so that, after near- 

 ly or quite fifty years of prohibition, our 

 State changed to local option; and although 

 most of the towns of Vermont refused to li- 

 cense this infernal traffi'*., yet for the first 

 four years under local option crime has been 

 more than twice what it was the last four 

 years under prohibition. 



I am glad Gleanings calls attention to the 

 danger to out" country from the destruction 

 of our forests. The Ame;ican people are a 

 reading people; and if all our papers, mag- 

 azines, and trade journals call attention to 

 the danger ahead it would seem as though 

 the evil might to some extent be averted. A 

 bee-keeper in a nearby town has bought a 

 large tract of forest land near his home to 

 preserve the basswood for his bees. I believe 

 the investment is a good one. By gradually 

 C'.'tting out undesirable varieties of trees, 

 and allowing the young seedling basswoods 

 to grow, in time he would have not a^one 

 good pasturage for his bees, but also a for- 

 tune in his hundred acres of basswood forest. 



Professor Cook, in his interesting enumer- 

 ation of the enemies of bees, Dec. ist, speaks 

 of that very little bee-moth with a very great 

 name, '' Epliestia interpunctella," saying it 

 will be little feared by any bee-keeper worth 

 the name. Well, it isn't so bad as it might 

 be; but where, after a bad season and heavy 

 losses, such as sometimes occur, and we try 

 to keep the combs over for two or three 

 years, and these little scamps get into them, 

 they are likely to do a good deal of harm. 

 One of the worst counts I have against them 

 is that the larvje seem capable of withstand- 

 ing almost any amount of cold without harm, 

 while the larger moth larvae are always kill- 

 ed in our bee-houses during the winter. 



I believe Mr. H. A. Sackett's idea of cov- 

 ering sections of honey with transparent pa- 

 per is a new idea of more than usual value. 

 For more than half a century the New York 

 markets have been partial to honey put up 

 in glass, while in Boston it must, to bring 

 highest prices, be in paper cartons. Now, 

 here we have a compromise — honey in pa- 

 per, but transparent, and which answers for 

 glass. It also keeps honey from dripping, 

 which alone should lecommend it. I wonder 

 if tinted paper would make honey look as 



