GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15 



E op-gun to talk it over with you for half an 

 our. 



I wish, however, you might try this: In 

 the same super put part of the sections with 

 bottom-starters less than ^ inch, and part f 

 inch. It may be it wouldn't work so well 

 with ' ' extra-thin ' ' foundation. I use ' ' thin. ' ' 



C. P. Dadant says that if bees are unusu- 

 ally long-lived it's because they are lazy. I 

 don't want to believe that if I can help it. 

 Of course, there's no denying that bees live 

 longer when idle than when working hard, 

 ana so it may be that some colonies have a 

 longer lease of life just because each worker 

 takes life easy. But that does not conflict 

 with the possibility that there may be such a 

 thing as a colony whose workers live longer 

 than the average, while at the same time 

 working just as hard as the average. And 

 in consideration of the fact that the average 

 life of a bee as a fielder is 26 days or less, the 

 addition of a single day to its gathering ca- 

 reer is an important item; for I take it for 

 granted that the added day would be on the 

 fielding end. 



Now, what could I afiford to pay for a 

 queen which would result in that added day 

 for a whole apiary? 



Suppose one has an average crop of 10,000 

 lbs. annually, at 15 cts. a pound, bringing 

 $1500. One twenty-sixth of that is $57.00. 

 A queen that would bring that annual in- 

 crease would be cheap at $50.00— yes, at $100. 



Your belief, Mr. Editor, p. 275, that thick 

 syrup ' ' may be better than a thin one which 

 the bees are required at some expense to 

 their vitality to reduce down to the bodjr of 

 ordinary honey," is all right for late feedmg; 

 for early feeding, 1 doubt. Evaporating is 

 then a regular business of the bees, and I 

 don't believe it is any such great strain on 

 them. An important point is that, along 

 with the evaporating, they make the feed 

 better. [We fed thin syrup last fall, early 

 in the season; but along in December we no- 

 ticed in some colonies an alarming diminu- 

 tion in the force of the bees. While we do 

 not say positively, yet we are a little fearful 

 that this early feeding with thin syrup wore 

 out bees that might have been useful in 

 maintaining the body heat of the cluster 

 during winter. 



And, again, is it definitely established that 

 the syrup which the bees invert is a better 

 winter food than one which they can not in- 

 vert, or, at least, to only a small extent? In 

 view of recent testimony we confess to a 

 feeling of uncertainty on both of these prop- 

 ositions. — Ed.] 



Some things said about improvement of 

 stock are likely to scare out the average bee- 

 keeper from any attempt in that direction. 

 The different characteristics to be striven for 

 are martial ed in array, and he at once throws 

 up his hands in despair. "What can I do 

 about all those things? For instance, 

 ' strength of wing for sustained flight. ' Can 

 I go around to each colony, feel of the wings, 

 and decide which is strongest?" 



Well, whatever may be the best way, there 



is one thing certain: The rawest beginner 

 can do something to make his stock better 

 than if he did nothing That something is 

 merely to breed constantly from the colony 

 that gives the biggest yield. For, after all, 

 the most scientific breeder, who has each 

 trait laid out to breed for, is aiming toward 

 such a combination of traits as shall lead to 

 the greatest yield. The beginner can aim at 

 the same thing by paying no attention to in- 

 dividual traits, only keeping track of yield 

 alone; and, although he may not do as well 

 as the scientific breeder, he'll go a long way 

 in that direction. At any rate I feel sure 

 that by just such a course I've increased my 

 income from my bees quite materially. 



Owing to excessive demands on our space 

 we shall be compelled to leave out of this 

 issue some special articles on spring man- 

 agement until our next number. 



SwARTHMORE (Mr. E. L. Pratt) has been 

 engaged to give two days' instruction in 

 queen-rearing at the Apicultural School of 

 the Bee-keepers' Association at Vienna, Aus- 

 tria, next June. 



It is said the Royal Baking Powder Com- 

 pany has acquired, within the last few weeks, 

 two great factories near Chicago which they 

 intend to use for the manufacture of glucose 

 in opposition to the Corn Products Co. It is 

 said the latter are chagrined over this move. 

 The sale is the direct outcome of the recent 

 decision of President Roosevelt, which al- 

 lowed the use of the words ' ' corn syrup ' ' 

 instead of "glucose." 



A SURPLUS OF GOOD COPT. 



We are fairly buried up with good copy, 

 and it will he some months before we can 

 reach it all. Possibly some of it we may 

 not be able to insert in our columns until 

 after it is out of date. We think it only 

 fair to make this statement so that if any of 

 our contributors desire the return of any 

 unused manuscript, so that they may use it 

 elsewhere, they may instruct us accordingly. 

 Of course, we get any amount of matter, but 

 probably less than a tenth of it is set aside 

 to be used as our space will permit. 



BEE-KEEPING IN CALIFORNIA. 



It is a pleasure to note that the publication 

 known as Sunset Magazine, published in 

 San Francisco, has an accurate and truthful 

 article on bee-keeping in California, in the 



