780 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Dec. 15 



pose. As the honey was very thick and 

 waxy, just starting to granulate, one can 

 imagine what a time we had. Certainly the 

 experience was not calculated to make us 

 very eager for another one like it. The hon- 

 ey was all strained through very fine cheese- 

 cloth; but the warm stuff would go through 

 with a rush, and doubtless carry through 

 particles that would otherwise be caught if 

 the honey were cold. A lot of our honey 

 was sold for bottling purposes this year, and 

 after this bit of experience we were congrat- 

 ulating ourselves that the honey sold to this 

 f tarty had been extracted at the yard where, 

 or lack of room, the melter was not used. 

 Mr. Fowls, and others who have used the 

 melter, bottle extensively, and it would be 

 interesting to learn from them if a more ex- 

 tended experience with this machine has in 

 any way modified their previous views of it. 



A TWO-TO-ONE SUGAR FOR FEEDING JUST 

 RIGHT. 



I am glad to note in the Oct. 1st Gleanings 

 that Dr. Miller has abandoned the wasteful 

 method of feeding thin syrup to bees in the 

 fall. All things considered, I believe that 

 the two-to-one mixture is the safest and best 

 of all, as then it is so easily prepared. Sim- 

 ply dump a 100-pound sack of sugar into a 

 tank; heat 50 pounds of water to a boil, and 



f)0ur on the sugar. Stir vigorously with a 

 ong stick for a few minutes, and you have 

 150 pounds of bee-feed so good that I don't 

 believe that acid, honey, or any thing else 

 will improve it one iota. I am not saying 

 that honey will necessarily hurt it, but then 

 there is a great big chance that it may, in 

 most "localities." Just at present I'll wager 

 that Dr. Miller is not mixing honey with the 

 feed. All this talk about the two-to-one mix- 

 ture granulating is, in my estimation, just 

 "talk." Last fall, about the middle of Sep- 

 tember, I happened to notice a dead queen 

 in front of a strong colony. A queen was 

 taken from a strong nucleus that we had in- 

 tended to winter over, bees and all being 

 united with the strong colony that had lost 

 the queen. In making the change, two of 

 the combs from the nucleus were not need- 

 ed, and they were set aside in the honey- 

 house and entirely forgotten for the lime. 

 These combs were filled with sugar syrup 

 made as described, and the lower half of the 

 combs were not even sealed over. Well, in 

 the spring these combs were in perfect con- 

 dition with not a sign of granulation, and 

 this after having been exposed to all extremes 

 and changes of temperature for seven 

 months. Druggists use the two-to-one mix- 

 ture altogether. I am informed by Mr. Dead- 

 man that a thinner mixture would ferment, 

 while, if made thicker, rock candy would be 

 the result in time. We personally know 

 good bee-keepers who have fed many thou- 

 sands of pounds of syrup of the two-to-one 

 proportions, and never yet once had trouble 

 with granulation. Surely with all this evi- 

 dence I may be pardoned for thinking that 

 there is nothing whatever in this granulation 

 theory. In conclusion, let me say that there 

 has been a great big change during the past 



few years on this matter of thick or thin 

 syrup; and, if I am not greatly mistaken, 

 there will be very little feeding of thin syr- 

 up in the autumns yet to come; and, more 

 than that, 1 believe it will be considered very 

 risky to mix honey with the syrup, and en- 

 tirely unnecessary to add acids or other in- 

 gredients for the purpose of avoiding gran- 

 ulation. 



Mount Joy, Canada. 



[We quite agree with you that a two-to- 

 one syrup will not granulate, even if nothing 

 in the way of acid or honey be put in it. See 

 our answer to F. Dundas Todd, on page 778 

 in this issue. 



On the subject of honey discoloring in cap- 

 ping-melters, there seems to be a difference 

 of opinion among those who have tried them. 

 For instance, the Hutchinson Bros., as report- 

 ed in the last Review, and Chalon Fowls, who 

 does a large business in bottling, appear to 

 think there is no impairment. May we have 

 reports from others who have tried them? — 

 Ed.] 



DO BEES STEAL EGGS? 



Laying Workers Responsible. 



BY SAMUEL SIMMINS. 



In Gleanings for Aug. 1, p. 477, a corres- 

 pondent asks how eggs in queen-cell cups 

 are to be accounted for, when it is certam 

 there has been no queen in the hive. The 

 editor replied, "Bees in a few cases that 

 seem well authenticated have been known 

 to steal an egg or two from another hive." 



Now, to be well authenticated a case of 

 this kind must be left until a queen may be 

 matured and hatched from those stolen (?) 

 eggs. But this is just the result I have not 

 yet found proved to be the ultimate act. 

 Various writers have stated they have found 

 eggs in queen-cups where there has been no 

 queen in the hive, and they could explain 

 the (to them) mysterious occurrence only by 

 declaring the bees must have stolen the 

 eggs from another colony. 



Most bee-keepers are well aware of the 

 usual way the laying workers have of appar- 

 ently depositing any number of eggs in each 

 of many cells. This does not prove that any 

 one worker deposits more than one egg in a 

 cell; for where a colony encourages them at 

 all, there may be quite a number going 

 around and adding their quota until there 

 may be a dozen or more eggs in a cell. I 

 have myself removed as many as three of 

 these worker pests at one examination, while 

 the late Mr. Frank Cheshire was looking on, 

 and upon dissection he found the usual con- 

 dition of developed ovaries. These were 

 South African bees. 



If no more than one or quite a limited num- 

 ber take to this unpleasant occupation, the 

 eggs may be deposited more regularly, often 

 not more than one to each cell, so that it is 

 difficult for the owner to believe he has not 

 a queen in the hive after all. 



It may be taken for a fact, that, where 



