1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



703 



€d section and made that ungainly saw-cut through 

 it, and tiien plastered the crack up with beeswax. 



The proper covering tor a section of honey is 

 the pasteboard carton; and if this has a sheet of 

 mica (isinglass) in the front it renders it transpar- 

 ent enough to show the honey and its grade to 

 good ad\antage. 



On page 228 our German friend says, " If a 

 strong colony stands next to a weak one during 

 a rich honey-flow, and succeeds in filling its own 

 chamber to overflowing, it happens now and then 

 that the strong colony, having no further room, 

 will help to fill the hive of the weak one in the 

 most peaceful way." Bees may do that way in 

 Germany, and perhaps some of your readers may 

 be able to vouch for the same thing here, but I 

 can not. I have handled bees for 25 years, and 

 find them more prone to rob each other than to 

 help. I wish we did have a race of bees that 

 w-Quld equalize the stores of the whole apiary. It 

 would save lots of work on the apiarist's part, as 

 we would then know the condition of each colo- 

 ny as regards stores without having to look it 

 over. Bertha M. Timoney. 



Smyrna, Me. 



HOW TO LABEL HONEY PRODUCED FROM TWO OR 

 MORE SOURCES. 



Will you please give me your opinion whether 

 we should lay ourselves open to infringing the 

 pure-food laws by marking our shipping-cases 

 "Pure alfalfa comb honey " when only a portion 

 of the honey is from alfalfa, and by far the larg- 

 er part from melilotus. H. F. Hart. 



Allenville, Ala. 



[Under the law you would have to label the 

 honey " Pure alfalfa and melilotus honey." If, 

 on the other hand, the honey was largely alfalfa, 

 enough so to give distinctly the alfalfa taste, we 

 VTOuld see no objection to calling it alfalfa. It 

 is the spirit of the law, not the exact letter of it, 

 that should be observed. If a honey contained 

 white clover, sweet clover, and alfalfa, it would 

 be proper to call it a " clover" because all three 

 are clovers. So long as we do not misrepresent 

 on the labels we do not violate the national law. 

 —Ed.] 



mature bees dying in the spring. 



I have nearly 200 hives of bees, and have al- 

 ways had good luck until this spring. About 

 ten days ago one hive became diseased. The 

 bees would drag a great many out. It seems 

 they are paralyzed. Now, I have about seven 

 hives affected. What can or should 1 do to pre- 

 vent spreading.? Inside the hive seems healthy; 

 they have a good queen and brood, but, of course, 

 they will soon dwindle away. 



Dover, Ky. D. F. Weaver. 



[This case may be similar to the one described 

 by A. L. Youngman on page 1568, 1907. Al- 

 though the trouble in the two instances was not 

 noticed at the same time of the year, possibly the 

 other conditions might be enough alike to bring 

 about the same result. On page 233, this year, 

 Mr. Wm. McEvoy lays the blame on the honey, 

 and it is just possible that the honey is to blame 

 in this case. If any spraying has been done dur- 

 ing fruit-bloom in the locality it would look like 

 a clear caseof poisoning. At the last convention 



of the Northern Michigan Bee-keepers' Associa- 

 tion quite a number reported cases somewhat like 

 this, and there seemed to be no explanation for 

 it. Since the mature bees only are affected, it 

 would seem that the trouble must be similar to 

 some such disease as bee-paralysis, dysentery, or 

 poisoning. Who has had experience that will 

 throw some light on the matter.? See the follow- 

 ing from Mr. Allen: — Ed.] 



PARALYSIS OR DYSENTERY. 



In the Dec 15th issue is a letter from Mr. A. 

 L. Youngman, headed " Paralysis or Dysentery. " 

 I had the same trouble start in on three of my 

 hives here last fall. I started in to feed them, 

 Sept. 7, after I had all supers off. By the 14th 1 

 was through feeding. I closed the entrance to 

 about 6 inches by ^s, and then the bees commenc- 

 ed to die. They would crawl out on the board, 

 bloated as if they were ready to burst open. This 

 kept up for about two weeks, and half of the 

 workers from three of the strongest hives I had 

 were dead. On opening some of them there was 

 a thick brown paste, and near the body there 

 would be a little water. I had these hives cover- 

 ed over with paper and carpet. I thought my 

 bees were too warm, so I removed all carpet and 

 paper, and opened up the full entrance, making 

 it y% by the width of the ten-frame hive. Three 

 days after, there were no more bloated bees on 

 the board. 



As Mr. Youngman stated in his letter that, 

 about the time of his trouble, there was a spell 

 of two weeks of bad weather, it may have been 

 very wet and warm in the hives, and that started 

 the trouble. He did not state if he had H or % 

 entrance Geo. H. Allen. 



South Boston, Mass. 



GOOD yields with RAPID INCREASE, BY AN 

 AMATEUR. 



In 1903 we started with 11 colonies in Dove- 

 tailed hives. We increased to 27, and our sur- 

 plus was 136 lbs. per colony. In 1904 we in- 

 creased to 62, and surplus was 127 lbs. per col- 

 ony. In 1905 we started in the spring with 51 

 colonies, having lost 11 during the winter. We 

 increased to 135, and our surplus was 66-^ lbs. 

 per colony. In 1906 we increased to 252, and 

 our surplus was 62 lbs. per colony. In 1907, 

 the season just passed, we increased to 300, and 

 our surplus was 88 lbs. per colony. We raise 

 all our own queens. When I say ive I mean 

 my wife and three daughters, ranging in age 

 from 7 to 17, and myself, we doing all the 

 work. The 1907 crop brought $1742. Our ex- 

 penses were $635.00, leaving a profit of $1107.00. 

 We do not expect to do so well every year, as 

 that was a favorable season. 



Maxwell, Texas. M. E. Van Every. 



THE honey-flow IN MANATEE CO., FLORIDA. 



We have been having the heaviest honey-flow 

 from palmetto for ten years. One colony on 

 scales brought in 50 lbs. in four days, and 80 

 lbs. in ten days. I expect 20,000 to 30,000 

 lbs. I have extracted 13,000 lbs. now, and am 

 just starting on another round. E. B. Rood. 



Bradt-ntown, Fla. , May 15. 



