1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1183 



ANOTHER BUBBLE BURST. 



That famous bee journal. L'Apiculteur, of 

 Paris, did not fail to notice the editorial in 

 Gleanings, giving the editor's experience with 

 Caucasians. It seems to have furnished our 

 French contemporary with a good deal of satis- 

 faction if not downright amusement. At any 

 rate it closes its article with the remark, "Well ! 

 another soap-bubble burst." 

 * 



THE PURITY OF FOUNDATION. 



The Abbe Pincot, a well-known contributor 

 to French bee-journals, has lately given way to 

 rather violent attacks on the purity of American 

 comb foundation. His comments may be justly 

 termed "fierce." Mr. Dadant champions the 

 American side of the case. To put it mildly, 

 the Abbe Pincot is " talking through his hat." 

 His idea, apparently, is to boom the Kietsche 

 press, but his way of doing it is unfortunate. 

 * 



PLURALITY OF QUEENS. 



The visit of M. Sevalle (secretary of the French 

 Bee-keepers' Association) to England has resulted 

 in a discussion as to the feasibility of retaining 

 more than one queen in a hive. M. Sevalle got 

 inoculated with the plurality germ while in i^on- 

 don at the Franco-British conference of bee-keep- 

 ers. The contagion caught on in France, and 

 no doubt the arguments will wax hot within the 

 next few months. Thus far the discussion has 

 been fair and open-minded. 



EUROPEAN BEES FOR ANNAM. 



At a meeting of the Central Society of Apicul- 

 ture in Paris some one called attention to the fact 

 that three hives of bees had been safely sent to 

 Hue, the famous port of Annam (French Indo- 

 China). They were 33 days on the journey, 

 which is rather remarkable, because the voyage 

 was on tropic seas all the way, and the bees were 

 closely confined the whole time, and yet were in 

 extra-good condition on arrival. It remains to 

 be seen, however, whether European bees can 

 compete with Apis hidica in so exclusively a 

 tropic country as Annam. I imagine bees from 

 Madagascar or Reunion would fare better. 



HONEY VINEGAR. 



The bee-keepers of the West are under lasting 

 obligations to the Arizona agricultural expeii- 

 ment stations for more information about the 

 manufacture of honey vinegar. This is con- 

 tained in their new bulletin. No. 57, dated June 

 20, at Tucson. These instructions form a sup- 

 plement to a former bulletin known as " Timely 

 Hint No. 48," which gave full instructions by 

 the station chemist. Prof. A. E. Vinson, Ph. D. 

 We believe this bulletin is still in print, and 

 may be obtained from the station. Prof. Vin- 

 son shows that bee-keepers use up too much hon- 

 ey, as a rule, when they make vinegar. It is 

 wasted in various ways. He also notes that 

 honey makes excellent cider, and it is cider first 

 and vinegar afterward. The ancient bee-keep- 

 ers were well aware of this fact, and made light 

 wines from honey. In the western country, vin- 

 egar is high-priced and inferior (it is made from 

 acetic acid), and there ought to be opportunities 



in this connection. In the West Indies vinegar 

 is high-priced and inferior, and there are proba- 

 bly other places where this is true. By donating 

 the information contained in these two bulletins 

 the Arizona station has conferred a benefit on 

 bee-keeping. Thanks. 



* 



THE LUMBER COMBINE. 



The Attorney-General of the United States 

 has decided to oppose the chartering or organ- 

 ization of a gigantic combine financed at 

 $300,000,0U0, to control the lumber trade of the 

 South. The idea of this combine arose out of 

 the proposal for a great forest reserve in the 

 South to be known as the Appalachian Forest 

 Reserve. It was killed in the committee stage 

 in the last Congress, on account of legal objec- 

 tions, but is very likely to be revived again in a 

 new form. A government forest reserve would 

 be different from a lumber combine. In the 

 former the bee-keepers would stand a chance; in 

 the latter, none at all. It would be the greatest 

 bee-preserve in the worid. 



SUNFLOWERS IN OHIO. 



A goodly number of the farmers in this sec- 

 tion have small patches of sunflowers in connec- 

 tion with their corn. Probably in all cases it is 

 planted for the benefit of the poultry, for it is a 

 splendid feed for that purpose. To a great ex- 

 tent it forms a substitute for meat when fed to 

 chickens and turkeys, on account of its high 

 protein content and oily character. The oil 

 soon shows its value in the beautiful sheen of the 

 poultry fed on it. When preparing birds for ex- 

 hibition I used hemp seed to get a luster; but 

 sunflower seed answers just as well, or perhaps 

 better. It requires rich soil for successful cul- 

 ture; but ;;he chicken-pen will furnish that. In 

 combination with chickens and bees, sunflowers 

 are very valuable, more particularly if alfalfa is 

 also grown for hen feed, which is not often. 

 Some doubt the value of sunflowers for honey; 

 but the nectaries of the flowers are very promi- 

 nent. I should like to keep bees near a few hun- 

 dred acres of sunflowers properly cultivated on 

 rich soil. It looks now as if more would be 

 grown in the future. 



* 



THE HONEY-PALM. 



In the September number of The Guide to Na- 

 ture there is an excellent account of how large 

 trees are successfully moved in California, and 

 in connection therewith are some excellent en- 

 gravings to illustrate the text. These show two 

 very bulky " wine-palms " being moved by spe- 

 cial apparatus. These so-called " wine-palms " 

 are simply our old friend the Chilean " honey- 

 palm " of other days. Its scientific appellation 

 is Jubea spectablis. The trunks of these palms 

 are thick-set, and some in their circumference 

 resemble ho gsheads or large barrels. When 

 cut down, one of these trunks will produce as 

 much as 100 gallons of " honey " or " molasses." 

 I suppose that, if the juice is rightly handled, the 

 product will be termed " honey ; " on the other 

 hand, if rather poorly prepared it is " molasses." 

 The blossoms are said to be rich in nectar, which 

 is very likely, as the bloom of all the other su- 

 gar-producing palms is valuable for bees. Ta- 



