22 



GLEAMNCJS IN BtE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1 



GLEANINGS FROM OUR 

 EXCHANGES 



By W. K. Morrison 



HONEY GRANULATING ON THE HIVE. 



Dr. Miller evidently does not care for the idea 

 that comb honey on the hive should be removed 

 to keep it from granulating. That depends on 

 circumstances. Keeping comb honey on a sin- 

 gle-walled hive in late fall is poor business in my 

 opinion: on a double-walled hive with a chaff 

 cushion on top of it would be a different propo- 

 sition. In the ordinary single-walled hives the 

 bees desert the supers during the chilly nights, 

 and go down into the brood- cluster. The alter- 

 nate chilling and heating hastens granulation, 

 and nothing whatever is gained by keeping it on 

 the hive in any case. It is much better to take 

 it off, put it into moth-proof shipping-cases, and 

 store it where the temperature runs between 80 

 and 90°. That's the safe way. 



MORE HONEY FROM KANSAS. 



At Garden City the United States Reclamation 

 Service has put into successful operation an irri- 

 gation system which depends entirely on steam- 

 pumps which obtain water from wells This has 

 proved a great success But it is proposed to con- 

 struct a much more unique system of irrigation 

 near the same place. In this case it is proposed 

 to use electric pumps, the current to be furnished 

 by dynamos situated 367 miles distant at Canon 

 City, Col. Dams will be constructed in Colo- 

 rado, and the water piped to Canon City where 

 the power-house will be. In addition it is pro- 

 posed to equip an electric railway, and also to 

 furnish current to the settlers for lighting and 

 power. It is needless to say that alfalfa and 

 sweet clover will soon appear in large patches 

 around Garden City, Kansas. 



DISTANCE OF APIARIES FROM HIGHWAYS. 



The agitation in France over the distance api- 

 aries must be from the highway, which was al- 

 luded to in a former article, has induced the Pa- 

 risian Gleanings (V Apiculture Nou'velle) to pub- 

 lish the rules established in the various depart- 

 ments of France where regulations have been pro- 

 vided by law. 



In a few cases no rule has been legally es- 

 tablished. In some the distance is set at 6 feet 

 6 inches, while in other instances it is fifty me- 

 ters (162 feet). The department of the Rhone 

 and the Ile-et-Vilaine have established the longer 

 distance. In some instances there is also a pro- 

 vision for a close fence, usually about six feet. 

 The table of distances is very interesting as show- 

 ing the wide variation in regard to a law which 

 ought to be the same in all cases. I can not un- 

 derstand why the distance is set at 25 meters in 

 the Upper Pyrennes, while in the Lower Pyrennes 

 it is only 10 meters. Does the nature of the hon- 

 ey-bee vary that much in a few miles.'' 



HONEY CIDER. 



Mr. Crane objects to the use of the word "ci- 

 der" in connection with the production of honey 



vinegar; but I can not find a word which suits 

 the case better. We speak of apple cider, peach 

 cider, pear cider, quince cider, etc., and why not 

 honey cider.' A good many bee-keepers would 

 be glad, probably, to make honey vinegar, and 

 the word "cider" gives them the cue. The 

 Orange Judd Co. publish a book on the subject 

 of cider; and if the bee-keeper will bear in mind 

 that, to produce a good quality of vinegar, he 

 has to imitate apple cider, the subject will be 

 greatly simplified. All they have to do is to add 

 honey to water until it reaches the same saccha- 

 rine content as cider. This may be found out 

 by means of a saccharometer. The subsequent 

 treatment is the same as for cider vinegar. As a 

 matter of fact, the honey cider or vinegar is the 

 better of the two. It is not a substitute. 



BEE-KEEPING IN THE OLD NORTH STATF. 



The North Carolina Department of Agricul- 

 ture has recently issued a bulletin on bee- keeping 

 which deserves more than a passing mention. 

 There is probably an impression abroad that 

 North Carolina is a poor country for bees, but 

 such is not the case. In some parts the State 

 offers excellent opportunities for the up-to-date 

 bee-keeper, and the report on the honey-produc- 

 ing flora in this bulletin shows it. The climatic 

 conditions are all right, and in recent years large 

 manufacturing towns have arisen which supply 

 good markets. Some of the nectar-producing 

 trees are extra fine. Sourwood is equal if not su- 

 perior to basswood, both in quantity and quality; 

 and in some localities it is common. Gallberry 

 and blackgum rank high, and are also common 

 in some sections. The tulip-tree is a heavy y ield- 

 er, and comes at a good time. Persimmon is 

 good. Basswoood ranks seventh among the North 

 Carolina honey-plants. Ironwood is a good y ield- 

 er in the mountain districts, and there are many 

 others. 



« 



THE HONEY OF STINCLESS BEES. 



The Associated Press recently gave wide pub- 

 licity to the following: 



STINGLESS BHES' HONEY POOR; PRODUCT OF HARMLESS 

 ONES NOT SO GOOD AS OTHERS. 



New York, Nov. 18. — There is no way to tell the "stingless" 

 bee from the sting variety, according to G. P. Engelhardt, who 

 has just returned to New York after collecting specimens from 

 Guatemala, unless the investigator feels the bee. This is a sure 

 but rather unpleasant method, adds the expert. 



In an address at the Museum of Natural History before the En- 

 tomological Society last night, Mr. Englehardt told of his research 

 work and disclosed the interesting fact that the bee without 

 stinging power produced an inferior quality of honey. 



Mr. Englehardt brought a number of specimens home, but the 

 "stingless bees" nearly all died en routt. 



It all depends. I have seen honey from sting- 

 less bees that was simply vile — little better than 

 sewage. On the other hand, some of it is fine, 

 sweet, aromatic, and clear. It depends on the 

 species you select, the kind of flowers the bees 

 visit, the time of the year, and the degree of ripe- 

 ness. We have only four or five true or good 

 species of Apis, whereas there can not be less than 

 fifty species of Melipona, to say nothing of Tr;'- 

 gona^ hence there is a wide difference in the 

 h0ney collected. In the wet season tropical 

 honey is too thin; but in the dry it is much bet- 

 ter. It will be a long time yet before we know 

 what we ought to know about stingless bees. 



