1054 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1 



up the temperature of a normal colony. I feel 

 quite sure, backed up by examination, that the 

 bees are sometimes driven out of portions of the 

 hive and compelled to remain idle, owing to ex- 

 cessive heat or lack of ventilation in the hive. 

 Shade and a large entrance have, of course, an 

 effect similar to the super ventilation. How- 

 ever, I like to be able to use all in combination. 

 ♦ 



PRICES OF HONEY. 



The " Honey Committee " has again done 

 good work in recommending prices for honey. 

 There is no doubt that the work of this commit- 

 tee is the most valuable apicultural work that has 

 been done in Canada for years. Prices, after al- 

 lowing for wholesale, retail, and jobbers' profits, 

 the quantity sold, the distance from market, and 

 the cost of the package which contains the hon- 

 ey, are something like uniform. Such results 

 must, in the long run, be an advantage to buyer 

 and seller alike. May the good work spread to 

 the United States. 



PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF FOUL BROOD. 



Recently I saw James Armstrong at work — one 

 of Ontario's foul-brood inspectors. He appeared 

 to have a plentiful supply of toothpicks, and I 

 suppose that, to obviate the possibility ot carry- 

 ing infection from cell to cell, he appeared to 

 discard these very freely. Some time later I had 

 dinner at the same hotel that Mr. Armstrong was 

 patronizing, and upon leaving the office I saw 

 him help himself to a very liberal supply of 

 toothpicks — rather more, in fact, than I thought 

 necessary for a mouth with an ordinary set of 

 teeth. Upon reflection light dawned upon me, 

 and I could see wisdom displayed in combina- 

 tion with economy. 



* 



COMB FOUNDATION IN SPLIT SECTIONS. 



This year I have seen some results from put- 

 ting a long strip of foundation into four sections 

 split on three sides to receive it, the sections thus 

 having no passageways between the wax and the 

 wood unless the bees gnawed through the foun- 

 dation. There is no doubt that such a section 

 will ship well, because the comb is thoroughly 

 attached on all four sides ; but it seems to me 

 that the bees are noticeably more likely to work 

 on one side of a section independently of the oth- 

 er. This results in a considerable percentage of 

 sections with one side built out and capped while 

 the other side is left entirely untouched. 1 here 

 are, therefore, more cull sections under certain 

 conditions; yet I am pleased in general with this 

 way of putting foundation in sections. 

 # 



THE SELECTION OF LARV^ BY QUEENLESS COLO- 

 NIES. 



It is now about ten years since Dr. Miller and 

 I at the National convention in Chicago mildly 

 crossed swords on the question of the bees, when 

 queenless, selecting larvae for the purpose of rais- 

 ing another queen. I thought I had observed 

 that queens reared under such conditions some- 

 times hatched prematurely and were much infe- 

 rior. In Gleanings for July 15 Dr. Miller puts 

 the question very fairly; and the evidence he 

 brings forward to the effect that the bees do not 

 select larvs too old to develop good queens is 



very strong. Would it not be well to carry the 

 experiment at Washington a little further, and 

 give the time of hatching, and, as far as it can be 

 judged, the merits of the early-hatched queens as 

 compared with those hatched later, if there should 

 be any material difference.? Dr. Miller states 

 rightly that the question is one of importance. I 

 may be mistaken in my decision ; and with the 

 variety of work I have had to perform I may 

 have come to a wrong conclusion. 



DOES BUCKWHEAT YIELD NECTAR DURING THE 

 CLOVER SEASON ? 



On page 236 of Xhe American Bee Journal, Mr. 

 J. L. Byers says: " Speaking of buckwheat, I am 

 at a loss to know if the plant yields no honey 

 early in the season, or whether the bees will not 

 work on it when clover is in blossom. A large 

 amount of buckwheat came up among the oats 

 and other grain. One field of ten acres was lit- 

 erally white with the blossoms during the time 

 clover was in blossom; yet, although we had a 

 few mornings that one would think ideal for the 

 buckwheat to secrete nectar, scarcely a bee could 

 be found upon the blossoms." I have had some 

 experience in a buckwheat and clover section, 

 and I have had the experience of other bee-keep- 

 ers similarly situated. We have often found 

 that the bees worked on buckwheat during the 

 clover season. In my estimation an ideal buck- 

 wheat morning would be an ideal clover morn- 

 ing. It seems to me that, when clover does not 

 yield well, buckwheat may; or if clover is not 

 very abundant the bees will work on buckwheat. 

 I have also found Italian and Carniolan bees less 

 likely to work on buckwheat when they can ob- 

 tain white honey. This latter has been my ex- 

 perience again and again. 



GLEANINGS FROM 

 THE PACIFIC COAST 



By Prof. A. J. Cook. 



SOME HONEY IN CALIFORNIA. 

 While the cool delightful spring was unfavor- 

 able to honey production in most parts of our 

 State, yet in some of the inland canyons there 

 has been a good honey crop. In one section 

 near Santa Ana, the product has been measured 

 by the carload. Could we have had in May and 

 June the warmth that has come to us in July we 

 should have had a tremendous production. It 

 all depends on the weather. Warmth, no less 

 than water, is imperatively needed. 



PROPHECY FULFILLED. 



This year has been very cool in most parts of 

 our State. This has been so universal that in 

 most parts of the State there will be a very light 

 crop. In some interior valleys where warmth has 

 prevailed, there has been harvested a fine crop. 



In the Imperial country, as I learn, they have 

 harvested honey by the carload, though the re- 

 gion is very new agriculturally and also apicul- 

 turally. I feel sure that these hot fnterior irri- 



