Gleanings In Bee Culture 



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



H. H. ROOT, Assistant Editor. 



A. I. ROOT, Editor Home Depanment. 



E. R. ROOT, Editor. 



A. L. BOYDEN, Advertising Manager. 

 J. T. CALVERT, Business Manager. 



Entered at the Postofiice, Medina, Ohio, as Second-class Matter. 



VOL. XXXVII 



MAY 15, 1909 



NO. 10 



Editorial 



By E. R. Root. 



Our cellar-wintered colonies were set out the 

 last part of April. They are not so far advanced 

 as the outdoor bees of the same strength last fall. 

 They reared but very little brood, while the out- 

 door bees reared considerable. In most of our 

 hives the force is made up largely of young bees 

 hatched during the last few days. 



SOME SPRING DWINDLING REPORTED. 



The late spring, with its cold backward weath- 

 er clear up into May, has held the bees back 

 somewhat in some sections. At Medina we find 

 ours in fine condition; but a week or ten days 

 ago we were fearful that if this chilly weather 

 continued there might be heavy losses; but the 

 nice weather has come just in the nick of time, 

 and bees are booming on fruit bloom. 



CONTROLLING BEE RANGE IN HAWAII. 



Elsewhere we give a report from a government 

 bulletin showing how the bee-keepers of Hawaii 

 control their bee-ranges. This question has been 

 discussed pro and con, but it seems to be difficult 

 in this country to control the nectar within the 

 range of one's bees so that no one else can occu- 

 py the same territory. But in Hawaii it is an ac- 

 complished fact; but conditions there are pecul- 

 iar, in that it is possible for a bee-owner to buy 

 his range. 



FOUL-BROOD INSPECTORS FOR INDIANA. 



Mr. Geo. S. DeMuth, of Peru, Ind., has been 

 appointed by the State Entomologist, Douglass, 

 as deputy inspector for bee diseases under the new 

 law. Mr. DeMuth has charge of the work in 

 Biology at the Peru High School. He has had 

 quite an extensive experience in bee culture, and 

 last year from two hundred colonies he secured 

 five tons of honey. He is certainly well equipped 

 for the work, and the Indiana bee-keepers are to 

 be congratulated on having such men as Douglass 

 and DeMuth to look after foul brood in their 

 State. We may rest assured that the work will 

 be well done. 



ALEXANDER S BOOK NOW READY FOR DELIVERY. 



We are now filling all back orders. The reg- 

 ular ])rice of the book is .50 cents; but it will not 

 be sold except in connection with a subscription 

 to Gleanings. One dollar in advance, from 



either new or old subscribers, will entitle one to 

 a year's subscription and the Alexander book, 

 provided he asks for it; but in the case of old 

 subscribers all arrearages, if any, must be paid, 

 plus $1. 00 in advance for the next year's subscrip- 

 tion. The book contains 100 pages the size of 

 this. It gives the secrets of Mr. Alexander's 

 great success as a bee-keeper. Every subscriber 

 should have it for handy reference. 



CHEAP GLUCOSE SYRUP. 



The following editorial in the last issue of the 

 Rural Neiv-Torker, edited by H W. CoUing- 

 wood, contains so much truth that we are glad to 

 place it before our readers: 



We often see farmers buying cans of cheap syrup at the stores. 

 Much of this is glucose — a poor sweet, dull and heavy in taste. 

 It costs more than it is worth, and is not to be compared with 

 honey. A few colonies of bees on the farm would, if cared for, 

 provide an abundance of honey with some, surplus to sell. It 

 seems like a shame to buy this cheap and expensive glucose 

 when the country is alive with flowers only waiting for the bees 

 to come and gather honey. The honey crop is about the only 

 one which takes no plant-food away from the farm. There is no 

 more wholesome sweet for children. If there is any argument 

 against bee-keeping except the fear of being stung, we do not 

 know what it is. 



Strange it is that farmers who have plenty of 

 bee- range on their farms will go to the stores and 

 buy some of this glucose when they could just 

 as well raise some of the finest sweet that the 

 world affords, at comparatively little expense. 

 The children and women-folks could easily han- 

 dle half a dozen colonies, and, what is more, have 

 a world of pleasure and a little profit besides. 



those dagos with stilettos. 

 Some of the letters we get through the mails 

 from some people, unsophisticated in the mys- 

 teries of the hive, are exceedingly interesting, not 

 to say funny. Recently we received a letter 

 from an old friend, a cousin, who has got into 

 trouble, and would appreciate some good advice. 

 His letter is too good to keep from the public, 

 and so we give it here without the "advice." 



Friend Ernest; — I have recently become the unwilling owner 

 of four colonies of bees — orphan bees — heartlessly deserted by 

 their owner, a former tenant of my new country home. These 

 bees occupy a commanding position near the barn, and it will be 

 absolutely necessary for me to visit the barn within a few days 

 without waiting until after dark. From what I can see of the 

 bees through an opera-glass, they seem to be well housed, but, 

 from the large numbers on the outside, somewhat discontented. 

 I do not know what nationality they are; but from their industri- 

 ous habits, and the fact that they all carry a stiletto about their 

 person, I take them to be Dagos. Thinking that they might be 

 thirsty, I gave them a pail of water last midnight, but they do 

 not seem to care much for it. 



I remember that, when I was a boy in Medina, bees used to 

 feed on dandelions, clover, and my mother's preserves; but as 

 these are all out of the market at present I tried them on a bale 

 oflhay and a pan of oats; but they do not seem to be satisfied. 



