778 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Dec. 15 



[In the matter of making syrup for feed- 

 ing, mathematical precision is not at all nec- 

 essary. As a general proposition we may 

 say that, for stimulative purposes, a syrup 

 of approximately one-half sugar and one-half 

 water is about right. For feeding outdoors 

 a thinner syrup still is better. For fall feed- 

 ing, to give colonies the necessary stores for 

 winter, two parts of sugar to one of water is 

 about right. For late fall feeding, two and 

 one- half of sugar to one of water is nearer the 

 correct proportion. For feeding in Septem- 

 ber, in this climate, a two-to-one syrup is 

 better, because the bees then have an op- 

 portunity to evaporate it slightly, and that 

 means that they can treat it in their little 

 chemical laboratories; that is, they "invert" 

 it, as the chemist would say. This inversion, 

 if carried far enough, prevents granulation. 

 If, however, the weather is too cool for the 

 bees to evaporate and cap over their stores 

 there will be no inversion, and hence the 

 need of a little honey or acid. Syrup would 

 be a little too thin if made two parts sugar 

 and one of water. For very late feeding, 

 the bees can not do very much about evapo- 

 rating, and we therefore recommend at such 

 times a two-and-one-half-to-one syrup. 



This question of proportion will necessari- 

 ly be modified very materially by locality. 

 One can hardly go by Ihe calendar months 

 for fall or winter feeding. He will, there- 

 fore, have to exercise a little judgment, tak- 

 ing into account the averagje conditions of 

 weather at the time the feeding is practiced. 



Our correspondent calls in question the 

 statement when we say make the propor- 

 tions "by measure or weight." He very 

 properly assumes that this means the rela- 

 tive amounts will be approximately the same 

 in either case. He finds that sugar weighs 

 about 13 '/2 ounces to the pound, and assumes 

 that water will run about 16. We have 

 been doing a little experimenting on our own 

 account, and we find that the sugar that we 

 use runs from Hyi to 15 ounces to the pound. 

 The 15 ounce figure was obtained after fill- 

 an 8-ounce graduate with the gradations 

 molded in the glass. Half a pint of sugar 

 in this graduate, on some delicate scales ca- 

 pable of recording y\j of an ounce, weighed 

 7}/2 ounces, which would make 15 ounces to 

 the pint. We then secured a half-gallon 

 measure and weighed that full of sugar on 

 larger scales. The results upon calculation 

 showed slightly over 14>^ ounces to the pint. 

 According, then, to our own figures, there 

 is a minimum of an ounce or a maximum of 

 lyi ounces between the weight of a pint of 

 sugar and one of water; but if our corres- 

 pondent will dip up a dipperful of sugar and 

 then a dipperful of water he will find that 

 the sugar will be somewhat crowning in the 

 dipper or measure unless he takes a great 

 deal of pains to level it off with a straight- 

 edge, which he would not do. A dipperful 

 of water, owing to spilling and the uneven 

 balance of the dipper while handling, will 

 not be quite level full. So, then, when we 

 proportion sugar and water by measure we 

 shall have almost exactly the same results as 



if we had weighed it out on scales, or so 

 near it that the difference would be negli- 

 gible. 



As Mr. Todd said, it is more convenient to 

 use measure than weight, and we still think, 

 therefore, that our statement in our ABC 

 of Bee Culture, and in other literature, to 

 make the proportions either "by measure or 

 weight," is, to all intents and purposes, cor- 

 rect; but in any event there is no apparent 

 gain in drawing the proportions too close. — 

 Ed.] 



CANADIAN LAW ON SPRAYING. 



Another Objection to the Capping-melter. 



BY J. L. BYER. 



What B. W. Harrington has to say on page 

 611, relative to the law in Canada compelling 

 people who spray trees while in bloom to 

 use crude carbolic acid in the spraying mix- 

 tures is new to me, and I feel quite sure that 

 he is mistaken. So far as I know, Ontario is 

 the only province in the Dominion that has 

 a law against spraying, and that law allows 

 no such compromise as Mr. Harrington states 

 — at least I have never heard of it, and if 

 mistaken I will gladly be corrected. The 

 prohibitive clause in the act reads as follows: 

 "No person, in spraying or sprinkling fruit- 

 trees during the period within which such 

 trees are in full bloom, shall use or cause to 

 be used any mixture containing Paris green 

 or any other poisonous substance injurious 

 to bees." Then follow the penalties for in- 

 fractions of the law. The Ontario govern- 

 ment each spring sends out circulars to the 

 bee keepers and others; and in addition to a 

 copy of the act being printed in these circu- 

 lars, some instructions about spraying are 

 usually included as well. Last spring the 

 following information was appended: "The 

 best fruit-growers consider spraying during 

 the period of full bloom as a useless waste of 

 material, and harmful to the setting of the 

 fruit. It is universally condemned by ento- 

 mologists in every part of America. The 

 recommended formulas as sent out by both 

 the Federal and Provincial Departments of 

 Agriculture distinctly advise spraying apple 

 orchards with Bordeaux and arsenites: (1) 

 Just as leaf-buds are expanding; (2) Just be- 

 fore blossoms open; (3) Just after blossoms 

 fall; (4) Every ten days later if required. 



So far as I know, the law is pretty well ob- 

 served, and a policy of education is mainly 

 responsible for this being the fact. If a man 

 thinks he is being injured by having to obey 

 a law, he is very apt to break said law if he 

 thinks there is no danger of being detected. 

 Just as soon as the same man comes to think 

 that the observance of said law does him no 

 injury, but, on the contrary, does good — 

 well, that's a different proposition altogether. 

 Of course, there are a few isolated cases 

 each year where some one will persist in 

 breaking the law through ignorance or other 

 causes; yet, as we have said, speaking in a 

 general sense, the bee-men of Ontario have 



