1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



801 



R)L1. BROOD IN CKNTRAl. CALU'ORNIA. 



J. T. Dunn, County Bee Inspector, inspected 

 apiaries on the west side, in tlie vicinity of Coa- 

 linga. Conditions among the honey-bees were 

 not found to be tiie best. Forty-one apiaries 

 were inspected, 2.^33 healthy colonies found, and 

 302 with foul brood. The inspection was one 

 of the most thorough that apiarists on the west 

 side have been subjected to. — Fresno Republican. 



THAT INJURED EYE. 



To the many inquiring friends who have ex- 

 pressed their regret and sympathy, we would 

 state that the injured eye of which the editor 

 spoke on page 683 is no worse; indeed, it is hold- 

 ing its own. We have begun to read proof again 

 to some extent, and to read manuscript as before. 

 But in the mean time we have been finding rest 

 and recreation among the bees at the south yard. 

 Possibly the reader has noticed that some of the 

 editorial buzzingsare fresh from the hive. 



•While the injured eye will never see perfectly 

 again, yet it is of great assistance to the good eye 

 in that it helps to relieve the strain on the othei 

 member. 



TIERING UP UNDER OR OVER. 



The question often arises whether to tier up 

 during the height of the honey-flow by putting 

 an empty super under the one partly filled, or 

 whether to place supers in the reverse order. This 

 year at our out-yards the first set of supers were 

 filled full or nearly full from alsike alone, and 

 the flow is now only half over. White clover is 

 just coming in, with basswood to follow. We 

 therefore place all the empties under those partly 

 filled. The effect in every case has been to 

 check swarming, and inspire new energy in the 

 bees, as these two portions of the hive must be 

 connected with honey. A little later we shall 

 place the empties on top. 



POISONOUS honey WANTED. 



Prof. H. A. Surface, Economic Zoologist of 

 the Department of Agriculture, Harrisburg, Pa., 

 so well known to our readers as a zoologist and 

 enthusiastic bee-keeper, is desirous of receiving 

 samples of honey supposed to be made from the 

 laurel in the southern part of this country, and 

 from the loco weed of Arizona, or any poisonous 

 plants supposed to yield nectar or honey that 

 poisons either human beings or the bees them- 

 selves. He is conducting an investigation, and 

 we hope our readers in possession of any poison- 

 ous honey will send through the mails a good- 

 sized package of it, which he will examine. Send 

 also a few hundred dead bees that are alleged to 

 have died from the effects of the poison. 



THE PRODUCTION OF COMB AND EXTRACTED HON- 

 EY IN THE SAME HIVE A MEANS FOR THE 

 PREVENTION OF SWARMING. 



We are satisfied that swarming can be allayed 

 and checked to a great extent, even in the pro- 

 duction of comb honey, if the brood-nest is never 

 allowed to become very much crowded. There 

 is no harm in putting the super on a few days 

 ahead of time — better by far than one day too 

 late, resulting in the bees hanging out and the 

 starting of initial swarming-cells. That is the 



beginning of the swarming fever, and after that 

 it is almost impossible to break it up; but if one 

 is forehanded enough to be a little premature in 

 putting on supers and giving large entrances 

 (whereby the bees are less inclined to lie out in 

 front), it will go a long way in checking the 

 swarming nuisance, especially if the honey-flow 

 is good. 



BERLEPSCH, DZIERZON, AND HUBER, AND THE IN- 

 VENTION OF MOVABLE FRAMES. 



Dr. Brunnich, who writes so entertainingly 

 of bees and bee-keeping in another part of this 

 journal, takes issue with me in respect to the po- 

 sition of Berlepsch in the history of bee-keeping. 

 Any reader of Gleanings who read my article 

 on bee-hives in the issue for May 1 can not help 

 coming to the conclusion that Dzierzon did not 

 invent movable combs, neither did Berlepsch in- 

 vent movable frames. Both inventions were 

 known (and used) before either of these famous 

 men was born. Huber, the Swiss, is the undis- 

 puted inventor of movable frames. He also dis- 

 covered the main facts connected with the theory 

 of parthenogenesis. Our German bee-keeping 

 friends could do nothing better than to cut loose 

 from their present system and adopt the Lang- 

 stroth frame and hive just as the French and Eng- 

 lish have done. One of those same Texans can 

 look after 500 colonies as easily as anybody in 

 Europe can look after 100 Berlepsch hives. At 

 least, that is our opinion on this side of the her- 

 ring-pond, and quite a number of other nations 

 are following us. vv. k. m. 



FREE HOMESTEADS. 



In Northern Wyoming, 75 miles east of the 

 Yellowstone National Park, 300 farms, from 40 

 to 160 acres each, have been thrown open for en- 

 try under the terms of the Reclamation Act. 

 This tract embraces about 15,000 acres, consti- 

 tuting the first unit of the great Shoshone irriga- 

 tion project. The charge for water rights has 

 been fixed at $45.00 per acre, payable in fen an- 

 nual installments; but the second installment of 

 $5.50 does not become due until the fall of 1909, 

 so that the settler can secure two crops before that 

 time. The extra dollar is for maintenance — that 

 is, to keep the dam and ditches in good repair. 

 Actually, the settler pays nothing for the land, 

 only for his share of the dam, etc., in which he 

 is a shareholder. The land and the water are in- 

 separable. At present the only way to reach 

 these lands is over the Chicago, Burlington c^' 

 Quincy Railway; but a north and south trunk line 

 is in course of construction, connecting Billings, 

 Montana, with Denver. It is estimated that a 

 settler ought to have at least $1000 to make a fair 

 start. It is almost unnecessary to add that this 

 will be a fine bee range just as soon as the settlers 

 get their alfalfa started. The climate is unex- 

 celled. Bees may be wintered out of doors, with 

 a fair amount of protection. Employment inav 

 be obtained from the Reclamation Service in dig- 

 ging canals and other work, and homesteaders 

 will have the preference. The project is being 

 extended so that there will be work for several 

 years yet in extending the present systems of ca- 

 nals. Further information may be obtained by 

 addressing the "Statistician," United States Rec- 

 lamation Service, Washington, D. C. vv. k. m. 



