Gleanings In Bee Culture 



Published by The A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio 



H. H. ROOT, Assistant Editor. 



A. I. ROOT, Editor Home Department 



E. R. ROOT, Editor. 

 Entered at the Postoffice, Medina, Ohio, as Second-class Matter 



A. L. BOYDEN, Advertising Manager. 

 J. T. CALVERT, Business Manager. 



VOL. XXXVII 



JANUARY 1, 1909 



NO. 1 



Editorial 



By E. R. Root. 



Those who live in the Southern States, or 

 where the bees can fly oflt and on during winter, 

 will need to look out for starvation. 



1908 DEVELOPMENTS IN APICULTURE. 



The year 1908 may be said to have proven be- 

 yond any doubt the value of the gasoline motor 

 for driving honey-extractors. Many power out- 

 fits were sold last year. The year also proved 

 that cappings can be melted as f.^st as they fall 

 from the honey-knife, without injuring either the 

 flavor of the honey or the color or quality of the 

 wax. These two improvements reduce the cost 

 of producing extracted honey not a little. 



THE RATIO OF COST IN THE PRODUCTION OF 

 COMB AND EXTRACTED HONEY. 



The reader's attention is drawn to a very in- 

 teresting article by Mr. R. C. Aikin, in this is- 

 sue, on the relative cost of the production of 

 comb and extracted honey. Other practical men 

 have before claimed that bees secrete wax at times 

 involuntarily; that the ratio of cost between comb 

 and extracted honey is not so great as was for- 

 merly stated. Our columns are open for this 

 very interesting matter. If comb honey can be 

 produced at approximarely the cost of extracted, 

 there will probably be more of it sold. 



after DR. WILEY S SCALP. 



It looks now as if Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, the 

 consistent and faithful champion of pure food, 

 might get out of favor with the powers that be. 

 Dr. Wiley 's position — at least so some of the best 

 pure-food men in the United States tell us — is 

 right, and certain whisky-dealers and large man- 

 ufacturers are after Wiley's scalp because he is 

 making them toe the mark. The President and 

 Secretary Wilson should not, and we hope will 

 not, allow the greed of corporations to degrade 

 such a man. It will be a sorry day for pure food 

 if Dr. Wiley is ousted, or his situation made so 

 unbearable that he will have to resign. The ad- 

 ministration had better by far be too strict in its 

 interpretation of what are poisonous preservatives 

 than to be too slack. 



MOVING BEES IN COLD WEATHER. 



We are getting frequent inquiries as to whether 

 bees can be shipped in a box car with household 

 goods in the winter. It all depends. If it is pro- 

 posed to move the bees from a cold to a warm cli- 

 mate, we think no serious results will follow — 



possibly not if shipped from one cold locality to 

 another. But it will be our opinion that the gen- 

 eral stir-up in transit will cause the bees to expand 

 their cluster, consume their stores heavily, result- 

 ing in dysentery. If the bees can not have a 

 cleansing flight at the end of the journey the re- 

 sult might be disastrous. 



During cold weather, probably en trance- screens 

 would afford sufficient ventilation. But if the 

 bees are to arrive in a warm climate, some more 

 adecjuate provision for air should be provided. 

 In that case, entrance and top screens should be 

 furnished, the former covered with the regular 

 hive-lids when passing through the cold part of 

 the journey. 



OUTDOOR OR CELLAR WINTERING;. 



The question is continually coming up, "Shall 

 we winter indoors or out.? " In latitude 40 or 41, 

 outdoor wintering can usually be practiced suc- 

 cessfully, providing a double- walled hive or win- 

 ter case be used. As a rule, we may say that the 

 average beginner will succeed far better by the 

 outdoor plan, latitude 41. Where the winters are 

 very cold, the mercury playing around 10 above 

 zero for weeks at a time we would advise cellar 

 wintering as being more economical of stores, 

 and more likely to bring the bees through in bet- 

 ter condition in spring. Cellars should be dark 

 and dry; and if the temperature goes above 45 at 

 intervals, it should be ventilated. The more the 

 variation of temperature, and the higher it goes, 

 the more ventilation should be provided. 



FOREST-FIRE DESTRUCTION, AND WHAT IT MEANS 

 TO THE HONEY BUSINESS. 



Last fall, forest fires wrought fearful havoc in 

 Northern Michigan, Northern Wisconsin, and 

 Minnesota. Millions of dollars' worth of stand- 

 ing timber was destroyed, and much other prop- 

 erty besides. To bee-keepers the principal loss 

 has been the honey-bearing flora of the devastat- 

 ed area. A vast acreage of raspberry vines was 

 swept away, on which many bee-keepers had ob- 

 tained a livelihood from the honey alone. This 

 will not be renewed for two or three years. The 

 fires came too late in the year to allow the famous 

 willowherb or fireweed to grow in time to pro- 

 duce a crop of nectar for 1909. It will probably 

 cover the whole area in 1910, however, and, to 

 some extent, save the situation Some bee-keep- 

 ers, however, lost their apiaries as well as the 

 flora. 



It is galling to know that these tremendously 

 destructive fires can be largely prevented with a 

 little more care on the part of the lumber-cutters. 



The two illustrations which we present to our 

 readers in this issue will serve to show better than 

 words can describe the terrors of a forest fire. 



