1W8 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



625 



REQUEENING ALMOST AUTOMATICALLY. 



The following, appearing in the Bee-keepers' 

 Re-'uie-icioT April, looks so feasible that we are 

 glad to offer it to our readers: 



Mr. J. H. Collins, of Bardwell, Kentucky, writes me of a plan 

 he uses in requeening, whereby it is not even necessary to hunt 

 up the old queen. Here is the plan: — 



Prepare a super or upper story by boring two holes near its low- 

 er edge. Cover one hole with a piece of queen-excluding zinc, 

 and lit into the other a tube, several inches long, made of wire 

 cloth. A tube half an inch in diameter and six inches long is 

 large enough. Lay a queen-excluder over the brood-nest of the 

 hive that is to be requeened, set on the super prepared as just de- 

 scribed, having the openings over the entrance to the lower hive, 

 and put into the super two combs of brood. The bees from be- 

 low will come up and cover the brood, when they should be cut 

 oflf from the lower hive by putting a piece of wire cloth between 

 the upper and lower hives. The warm air and odor from the low- 

 er hive can come up into the super, but the bees in the latter 

 must use for an entrance the holes that were bored, one covered 

 with queen-excluding metal, and the other furnished with a tube 

 of wire cloth. 



The next step is to furnish this super with either a ripe queen- 

 cell or a virgin queen. When ready to mate, the queen will 

 leave the hive by the way of the wire-cloth tube, but is almost 

 certain not to tind the outer opening upon her return, and to be 

 attracted to the lower entrance by the crowd of bees passing out 

 and in. The young queen is vigorous, slim, and spry, while the 

 old queen is more feeble, slower, and clumsy from her load of 

 eggs. The result is that the young queen comes off victorious. 



HIVES VS. METHODS FOR PREVENTING SWARMING. 



Probably no other subject related to bee- 

 keeping has been so thoroughly discussed as has 

 the swarming question, and yet something new 

 is appearing all the while. By far the greatest 

 proportion of the matter relative to the subject 

 has to do with methods rather than fixtures; but 

 for some reason, there is no one method that 

 gives universal satisfaction for preventing swarm- 

 ing year after year. In view of this, Mr. As- 

 pinwall has been working persistently for a long 

 time to perfect his non-swarming hive, which, as 

 most of our readers know, has been described in 

 these columns. One extensive producer, how- 

 ever, in commenting on the Aspinwall hive in 

 the Bee-keepers' Reuiexv, page 111, contends that 

 he would not want it, even if it should prove to 

 be all that the inventor now claims for it. He 

 says: 



From past writings from several sources, it is apparent that some 

 of us know enough to put in practice very successful non-swarm- 

 ing methods, holding all of the bees together, if we wish, and I 

 have no doubt that these methods require as little labor as is re- 

 quired in the management of the Aspinwall hive. Mr. Aspin- 

 wall must spread his brood-combs, insert slatted dummies, then 

 " remove the outside comb of the strongest colonies at the end of 

 two or three weeks of white-clover yield because solid with 

 pollen."' 



A successful method can be applied to almost any hive, with 

 any supers; while to stock our yards with hundreds of non- 

 swarming hives and supers will mean the discarding of tens of 

 thousands of dollars' worth of supplies, and the purchase of other 

 supplies at a cost of at least double the cost of the old outfit. 



I am entirely willing that the non-swarming hive be further 

 improved and put before the people for trial in various localities ; 

 but I shall continue to search and study for better non-swarming 

 methods, confident that I seek a better and more logical solution 

 than do the seekers for the non-swarming hive. 



"corn syrup" OBJECTIONABLE AS A SYNONYM 



FOR "glucose" ACCORDING TO THE MAINE 



EXPERIMENT STATION. 



Perhaps some of our readers are of the opinion 

 that we are rather too hard on glucose as a food; 

 but Gleanings is by no means alone; in fact, 

 the class publications, which thoroughly under- 

 stand the problem, are at one with us in con- 

 demning the recent glucose-corn-syrup decision 

 made by Secretaries Strauss, Wilson, and Cortel- 



you, sometimes known as the " kitchen cabi- 

 net." The American Grocer,, representing the 

 grocery trade, and the Louisiana Planter, repre- 

 senting the cane-syrup trade, are strong denounc- 

 ers of the corn-syrup decision. It may be thought 

 that these organs are unduly prejudiced ; but 

 here comes the report of the Maine Experiment 

 Station. Note what it says: 



ADULTKKATEI) AND MISBK ANUKD MOLASSES. 



Practically the only adulterant found was glucose. Most of 

 the samples examined carried sulphurous acid. In practically 

 every instance the glucose was added to improve the color and 

 "body" of the molasses. In most cases the goods were correctly 

 branded, although frequently the word ''corn syrup" was used as 

 a synonym for glucose. Corn syrup is objectionable as a syn- 

 onym for glucose for many reasons, chief among which is that it 

 is not a syrup as defined in the Maine food standards, and it is 

 misleading, as the average consumer does not realize that glu- 

 cose is meant by corn syrup. w. k. m. 



SWEET CLOVER GETS ITS DUE. 



Wallace's Farmer, published in Waterloo, la., 

 is generally credited with being the very best au- 

 thority among farm journals when clovers are up 

 for discussion, so that any thing it has to say is 

 worth reading and studying over. We recently 

 had occasion to commend its position on the 

 problem of sweet clover as a fodder-plant. Again 

 we are privileged to quote another pronounce- 

 ment in its favor by the same authority. What 

 it says deserves careful consideration by all 

 American bee-keepers. If your neighbors are 

 prejudiced, reason with them, and endeavor to 

 show them that sweet clover is nearly the equal 

 of alfalfa for feeding, and yet it grows almost 

 anywhere. Most writers seem to forget that 

 sweet -clover is admirably suited to sheep-feed- 

 ing, and in the famous San Luis Valley, of Colo- 

 rado, hogs are pastured on it, and finished off on 

 peas, producing the finest pork known to this 

 country. Also the finest lamb mutton is pro- 

 duced there. Here is what Wallace's says: 



IS SWEET CLOVER A WEED OR A VALUABLE GRASS.' 



Farmers generally regard sweet clover, also known as Melilo- 

 tus alba or Bokhara clover, as a weed — not a bad one, but unr 

 sightly, though fragrant. 



In the drier sections where clover does not grow readily, this 

 grass may be regarded as valuable. It is true that cattle do not 

 eat it readily until accustomed to if, neither do most men like to- 

 matoes at first, though they may become very fond of them after- 

 ward. We happen to know two or three men who use sweet 

 clover for pasture right along, and have no complaint about their 

 cattle not eating it. One of our correspondents in Eastern Iowa, 

 writing with reference to the fields of Mr. Coverdale, who recom- 

 mended it so highly in our columns last year, says: 



" In regard to Mr. Coverdale's clover, I have been watching it 

 very closely and believe there is something in it. His cattle 

 went ofl this grass fat last fall, and sold in Chicago as high as 

 three-months corn-fed cattle." 



Sweet clover should not be considered a weed in sections 

 where red clover does not do well and alfalfa is not practicable. 

 There are sections in the South where sweet clover is probably 

 the best clover they can grow. Whether it is a weed in the corn 

 and grass States is evidently open to discussion. We do not rec- 

 ommend its growing where the farmer can grow either common 

 red clover or alfalfa, because sweet clover makes a very coarse 

 hay; and, besides, cattle have to be trained to eat it. Neverthe- 

 less, in view of the testimony of men who grow it, it must be 

 considered an open question whether in this section it is a weed 

 or a valuable grass. w. K. M. 



A GLUT OF OFF GRADES OF COMB HONEY ; PRICES 

 FOR 1908. 



At the present time the markets are flooded 

 with off grades and No. 2 comb honey, much of 

 it candied. This is an unfortunate condition 

 just now because the goods are seeking a buyer 

 at greatly reduced prices, and these reduced prices 

 have a tendency to depress the market on new 



