Gleanings In Bee Culture 



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



H. H. ROOT, Assistint Editor. 



A. 1. ROOT, Editor Home Depaitmeat. 



E. R. ROOT. Editor. 

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



A. L. BOYDEN, Advertising Manager. 

 J. T. CALVERT, Business Manager. 



VOL. XXXVII 



MARCH 1, 1909 



NO. 5 



Editorial 



By E. R. Root. 



There is a possibility and even a probability 

 that vre shall have a late spring, owing to the 

 mildness of the winter. 



The honey-pump is an innovation that is now 

 being introduced by bottlers and large extracted- 

 honey producers. It is connected to a small 

 electric motor or to the gasoline-engine that 

 drives the extractor. With such a pump one can 

 locate his extractor on a level with the yard, and 

 deliver the honey to any reasonable elevation or 

 distance. 



CLOVERS not ALL DEAD. 



Reports continue to show that white clover 

 has not been killed to any great extent by the 

 drouth of last fall. There are some sections, of 

 course, where it has been killed entirely; but we 

 are of the opinion that, in the great majority of 

 cases, the plants will be found in great profusion. 

 The heavy storms that have been raging over 

 the country during the last few days will start 

 these clovers with a rush. 



prospects good for CALIFORNIA. 



Reports from California still indicate bounti- 

 ful rains, and prospects in that State were never 

 better for a good crop of honey. While it is 

 true that there must be spring rains, it is also 

 true that winter rains are likely to be followed 

 up by such spring rains. It is about time now 

 that California had a fair crop of honey, and 

 conditions are exceedingly favorable at this writ- 

 ing, Feb. 20. 



BEE-KEEPING AS A PROFESSION OR AVOCATION. 



The reader will doubtless be much interested 

 in the general discussion in this issue of the sub- 

 ject of bee-keeping as a business or a profession. 

 Over and over again the question is asked by 

 some one outside of the bee-keeping ranks, " Do 

 bees pay? " Let the reader go over carefully what 

 is said on page 138, for we have attempted to 

 give only a conservative, accurate, and honest 

 estimate of the true status of the industry as we 

 find it in the United States. 



CAPPING-MELTERS FOR THIS YEAR. 



A CAPPiNG-MELTER will be placed on the mar- 

 ket this season. This will enable one to have all 

 his cappings while extracting melted up into nice 

 marketable cakes of wax at the end of the day's 

 work, while the honey will be in find condition 

 to bottle. Careful experiment shows that, if one 



works right, neither the quality of the honey nor 

 of the wax will be affected in the least by the op- 

 eration. 



By the old plan, one is likely to have a lot of 

 cappings thrown around in sundry boxes or bar- 

 rels for months at a time. Sometimes the moth- 

 worms will get into them. At other times the 

 honey sours and the cappings mildew. It is al- 

 ways advisable, when possible, to convert a com- 

 modity like cappings into a merchantable product 

 as soon as possible. The capping-melter enables 

 one to do this very easily. 



GOOD WINTERING OF OUTDOOR BEES. 



Reports from all over the country indicate ex- 

 cellent wintering on the part of outdoor bees. 

 The winter has been comparatively mild, with 

 every now and then a breakup in the weather, a 

 cold spell being followed by a warm one, giving 

 the bees a good chance to have a cleansing flight. 



It is probably true that, for this winter at lea-t, 

 many bees that are housed in cellars will not be 

 in as good condition as formerly, owing to the 

 warmer winter. Unless a cellar is well ventilat- 

 ed, bees will probably become uneasy by this 

 time. In all such cases we advise carrying them 

 out of the cellar. 



DANGER OF STARVATION. 



The mildness of the winter thus far will sug- 

 gest the importance of looking over some colo- 

 nies that were short of stores last winter, to dis- 

 cover if they have sufficient to carry them through 

 till spring. Brood-rearing in most cases will 

 have already started, and will continue on through 

 this month to a greater or less extent. This will 

 mean that the stores will go pretty fast. When 

 one finds a colony that is short, and doeo not 

 wish to break up the cluster, he can lay a frame 

 of sealed honey flatwise on the top of the other 

 frames. If he has no sealed stores he might feed 

 sugar syrup; but as this is too stimulative at this 

 time of the year, we would advise giving bee- 

 candy instead. This is made by making pow- 

 dered sugar and honey into a stifle dough. It 

 should then be placed in shallow wooden pie- 

 dishes; for after the moisture of the bees gets on 

 it, it may melt and run all over the frames. We 

 say -vooden pie-dishes because metal or porcelain 

 is too cold to put right over the cluster. 



UNCAPPING with a STEAM-HFATED UNCAPPING- 

 KNIFE. 



In Europe some bee-keepers have for several 

 years back been using a steam-heated uncapping- 

 knife. This is nothing more nor less than a reg- 

 ular knife, the blade of which is hollow. A 

 small rubber tube carries a little jet of steam 



