552 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



MayI 



weather, shade is much more comfortable to 

 work in than the sun. But the bees thrive 

 much the best out in the sun, with a shade 

 just over the hive during the hottest part of 

 the day. My advice to you and all others is 

 this: Try a part of the apiary each way, and 

 then you will knoiv which is best for you. 

 Depend upon the knowledge you gain through 

 experimenting for yourself. With this knowl- 

 edge there will come a certainty which can 

 not be had in any other way." 



the winter. During the past winter, from 

 early November till March 10 the bees had 

 no proper flight, and a good deal of dysen- 

 tery is again reported in localities where the 

 honey-flow was not good last season, and 

 where sugar-syrup stores were not supplied 

 in suflicient quantities to carry the bees 

 through the winter. I am more and more 

 convinced tha*" the only safe course to pur- 

 sue, unless the bees are sure of frequent 

 flight, is to feed sugar syrup for winter if 

 the honey season has not been good. 



COMB HONEY IN CANADA. 



There appears to be a regular stampede 

 toward the production of comb honey dur- 

 ing the coming season, probably on account 

 of the high prices asked for and obtained 

 last fall. Years ago comb honey sold in 

 Canada at a figure as low as $1.00 per dozen 

 sections, and quite commonly for $1.25 per 

 dozen, with the result that many stopped 

 producing it. I doubt the wisdom of an ex- 

 tensive move in the direction of an in- 

 creased production. The prices of comb 

 honey have not been maintained in Toronto. 

 The dealers have plenty on hand, and Mr. 

 Grainger and others have not been able to 

 sell their stock, even at a reduction of 30 per 

 cent on last fall's prices. During a visit, 

 March 10, Mr. Grainger gave the names of 

 several well-known bee-keepers who had 

 been trying to dispose of comb honey. If 

 the financial depression should continue, the 

 prices on comb honey will suffer more than 

 those of extracted ; for at high prices comb 

 honey comes more under the head of foods 

 that can be dispensed with. These condi- 

 tions have greatly curtailed the demand for 

 comb honey. This is, in brief, the situation 

 in Canada. Every one will, of course, use 

 his own judgment in the matter. 



WINTERINO CONDITIONS OF BEES. 



On p. 52 of the British Bee Journal D. M. 

 M. Banff writes: "Bees have been much 

 confined, and had few thoroughly good 

 flights. Never, perhaps, have I seen more 

 dead thrown out, and very seldom, if ever, 

 have there been so distinct and general signs 

 of the markings of dysentery. It may be 

 owing to the past inclement summer causing 

 an overplus of pollen-gathering — not only in 

 the regular store cells of this substance, but 

 also in the honey in the capped stores, and 

 the spotting is uncommonly dark and mal- 

 odorous." 



In Ontario, those who winter their bees 

 outside depend more or less upon the bees 

 getting a cleansing flight some time during 



COMB-HONEY PRODUCTION. 



My article, "Bee-keeping in Quebec," 

 should have read that the weakness in comb- 

 honey production in that province is that the 

 comb is not fastened to the sides and bottom, 

 owing to the use of starters instead of full 

 sheets. Thanks, Dr. Miller, for drawing at- 

 tention to the matter. By the way, Dr. Mil- 

 ler and Allen Latham are having a profit- 

 able and friendly discussion on the question 

 of bottom starters and other matters. 



Mr. Latham, page 290, Gleanings, states, 

 "Yet it is desirable to get the plump sec- 

 tion, for the simple reason that it will sell 

 better — sell better because the buyer thinks 

 he is getting more honey for his money." 

 That is true ; but a much more important 

 point is that a well-filled section is very 

 much less likely to break in transit Even 

 at the expense of showing my ignorance, I 

 will confess that, although I have noticed 

 many differences in varieties and strains of 

 bees as to comb-building, my attention had 

 not been drawn to a difference as to the at- 

 tachment of comb, p. 291 ; yet Mr. Latham 

 may be ouite right. It is certainly an ex- 

 ceedingly important point raised, and it 

 should be followed up in Gleanings. I do 

 not like those pesky German black bees any 

 way, and am quite convinced that every 

 good trait they possess can be found in other 

 varieties. 



BOTTOM STARTERS AND SPLIT SECTIONS. 



Because I have written and spoken mostly 

 on the production of extracted honey I am 

 often credited with knowing nothing about 

 the production of comb honey. Let me say 

 that Mr. Eugene Secor judged my comb 

 honey at the World's Fair, Chicago, and it 

 scored the highest of any there. It was not 

 taken with a bottom starter. I can, how- 

 ever, see that the method of putting the 

 foundation in the sections may have much 

 to do with the need or not of a bottom 

 starter in the section. Again, Mr. Latham 

 believes that it would be very objectionable 

 to have the edge of the foundation show on 

 the top and sides of the split section. An- 

 other one thinks the consumer will look 

 upon this with suspicion. I believe I intro- 

 duced the split-top section from England to 

 this continent. It looks unsightly, but I 

 doubt if it throws suspicion on the product. 

 The consumer cuts the section out of the 

 wood, and probably never sees the founda- 

 tion in the split ; and even if he does he ei- 



