1254 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15 



This is not the case on the hard-nxjood timber- 

 lands, for there it burns but slowly during the 

 day, and at night nearly goes out, only a few old 

 logs serving to hold the fire until the next morn- 

 ing, so that when the sun is up, and the dew dis- 

 appears, it starts anew and burns another day. 

 This is continued until there is a shower, when 

 it will be put out; and since it burns so slowly, 

 no very large territory can be covered before it is 

 put out. This means that there is never a loca- 

 tion wholly burned over, so most of the bee- 

 keepers have both kinds of pasture — the burned 

 and the unburned. 



We have said before that the wild-red-raspber- 

 ry district is variable, and this must be taken into 

 consideration when selecting a location for bees; 

 for, on account of the pasture not being good in 

 all places, it would be almost impossible to select 

 a location where one could establish a series of 

 outyards without going more than the regular 

 distance. There are some such locations to be 

 found, but they have been occupied for a long 

 while; and now if one wishes to find an unoccu- 

 pied location he will have to go back quite a dis- 

 tance, and even then he will quite likely find a 

 location suitable for only one yard. He will 

 then have to hunt some other place for the next 

 yard. It should be stated, furthermore, that 

 even these scattering locations are nearly all 

 taken; for whenever there is a good thing there 

 are always several ready to accept it. Take, for 

 instance, the case of the Hutchinson Brothers. 

 Although W. Z. Hutchinson has traveled exten- 

 sively over the State, they were obliged to accept 

 a location so situated that some of their outyards 

 are eight miles apart. One is often compelled to 

 buy out some one already established, in order 

 to secure a location. 



Another point to be considered is that the level 

 or desirable land for farming purposes will soon 

 be cleared and made into farms. This usually 

 happens soon after the timber is cut, so that the 

 raspberry does not have a chance to grow or pro- 

 duce honey. In view of this, one should locate 

 where the land is so rough and poor that it can 

 never be cultivated. The majority of the best 

 raspberry districts are of this latter description, 

 and they will be valuable for the raspberry honey 

 until new timber grows and smothers the bushes. 

 Mr. S. D. Chapman, of Mancelona, Mich., 

 finds that some of his best raspberry district is 

 where the timber was cut twenty years ago. This 

 particular location must have been burned over 

 several times, for there is a twenty-year-old " chop- 

 ping" near our Kalkaska County bee-yard which 

 has never been burned over, and it is now cover- 

 ed with timber, some of it 40 ft. high. 



Thus we find the raspberry district to be al- 

 ways changing; and when one particular location 

 is not yielding as it should, on account of a fail- 

 ing supply of the nectar-bearing plants, the api- 

 ary must be moved to some more desirable point. 

 Of course, this is quite likely to be the case in 

 other locations besides the raspberry, for the hon- 

 ey-producing flora changes with the country, 

 and during this "era of outyards" it should al- 

 ways be borne in mind that it is better to be put 

 to the inconvenience of going some miles to an 

 outyard than to harvest meager crops at home in 

 the midst of a worn-out pasturage. 



The wild red raspberry begins to produce hon- 



ey some time during the first half of June, de- 

 pending upon the weather. An early spiing with 

 favorable weather causes a rapid growth of the 

 foliage, and consequently an early bloom that 

 may reach maturity as early as June 1. During 

 the last few years, however, or, in fact, during 

 the writer's experience in the raspberry district, 

 cold backward springs so retarded the growth that 

 the honey-flow did not start until nearly the mid- 

 dle of June. 



Remus, Mich. 



[The question naturally arises, ran we intro- 

 duce some plant into Northern Michigan which 

 will supplement the red raspberry.? Sweet clover 

 at once suggests itself, but there may be others. 

 Sweet clover would do no harm, and yet it would 

 in time improve the soil. Some of the poor lands 

 of Michigan have been improved by the growth 

 of mammoth clover. — Ed.] 



FERMENTATION OF UNRIPENED 

 HONEY AND ITS CAUSES. 



BY EDWIN G. BALDWIN. 



Mr. Root:— On page 1055 Prof. Cook tells of 

 the unusual fermentation of honey on the hives, 

 owned by a bee-keeper of Southern California. 

 Prof. Cook attributes the condition to a possible 

 excess of moisture in the air, but admits that this 

 is but a guess. In Central Florida we often have 

 it so damp for weeks that all things in the house 

 will mildew and mold if not aired in the sun very 

 often; and yet I have never noticed any fermen- 

 tation of honey on or off the hives there. 



On page 12 of the United States Department 

 of Agriculture, Bulletin 110, Department of 

 Chemistry, Mr. G. A. Browne has this note on 

 changes wrought in nectar by the bees in their 

 WO) king and storing of the crude product: 



"Another modification produced in the nectar 

 by the bees is the introduction of a minute quanti- 

 ty of formic acid. This acid is wanting in the 

 pollen and nectar of flowers, and is supposed 

 to be introduced into the honey by the bee just 

 previous to capping the cell. x he formic acid 

 thus introduced by the bee is supposed to act as 

 a preservative, and pre^'ent the honey from ferment- 

 ing:' 



In the article already referred to by Prof. Cook, 

 the bee-keeper in California says, "The bees die 

 off very rapidly." May not this mortality be a 

 cause and not a result? May not the fermenting 

 be caused by a lack of the essential formic acid — 

 a lack caused, perhaps, by a pathological condi- 

 tion in the bees themselves.? At least, the coin- 

 cidence is striking; and as the occurrence is a 

 unique one, it seems to me that perhaps the last 

 word on this phenomenon has not yet been utter- 

 ed. I should like to hear further concerning this 

 singular state of affairs in Calexico in particular, 

 and of formic acid and fermentation in general. 



Trevose, Pa. 



[Without knowing any more than has been 

 said in Gleanings, I decidedly agree with Mr. 

 Baldwin. It seems to me the nectar fermented 

 because, for some unknown reason, there were not 

 enough bees on hand to take care of it. Some- 

 thing killed off the bees, and then the thin honey 

 fermented. With plenty of bees on hand, nectar 

 will not ferment— W. K. M.] 



