JANUARY 15, 1913 



41 



SIFTINGS 



J. E. Ceane, Middlebury, Vt. 



In the discussion of cases and carriers. 

 p. 683, Nov. 1, there is this to be said : 

 That honey needs much more careful pack- 

 ing to go safely in cool or cold weather 

 than when the temperature is up to about 



70 degrees. 



* * •* 



The bulletin recently issued by the De- 

 partment of Agxiculture on the manage- 

 ment of bees for the prevention of swarm- 

 ing and securing surplus comb honey is, I 

 believe, one of the best things we have along 

 this line. Every beekeeper should secure a 

 copy. 



Mr. Doolittle's advice, p. {)87, Xov. 1, 

 about selling the year's honey crop, is cer- 

 tainly orthodox, and all right for the bee- 

 keeper without much experience; but the 

 season is longer than formerly, and we 

 have calls now for comb honev from Julv 

 till March. 



The reason why that swarm hung on a 

 limb all the fall without building any com]). 

 p. 743, Xov. 15, is not at all strange. It 

 was, doubtless, because no honey was com- 

 ing in. Bees swarm in some parts of Flor- 

 ida before the flowers yield honey, and I 

 found last spring that it was impossible to 

 get new swarms even to draw out founda- 

 tion unless the bees were fed. 



orado, without any breakage or leakage. 

 The section was as handsome as the honey 

 it held, and was simply enclosed in a cor- 

 rugated paper carton ; but the section was a 

 sjjecial kind as described on page 732, Xov. 

 1."), and well adapted to being shipped in 

 tliis way. 



Mr. Byer's experience with black Italian 

 ])ees in a new yard is of general interest. I 

 used to think that a black colony was hard- 

 ly worth wintering; but of late yeai-s I find 

 I can get almost as much surplus from 

 blacks as from Italians, and I sometimes- 

 wonder whether the blacks have imj^roved 

 or whether the Italians have degenerated. 

 I tliink more difference will be seen between 

 the two kinds in a poor season than in a 

 good one, and this may account for the 

 gi'eat difference experienced by Mr. Byer. 



The house ai^iary shown on the cover 

 page for Nov. 1 certainly looks well. I 

 have run across two or three in inspecting. 

 There are some points in their favor, such 

 as the lessened danger of sting-s and a 

 chance to work in all kinds of weather. 

 But on the other hand, the inconvenience 

 and loss of light more than balance the 

 advantages, to say nothing of the greater 

 expense and loss of queens. 



Mr. Doolittle's advice, page 723, is all 

 right for hives with sealed covers; JKit 

 where there are absorbent cushions that will 

 allow the moisture to escape above, it seems 

 to me quite too much ventilation to give. 

 If we ventilated our sitting-room as much 

 in proportion to its size it would make an 

 opening across one end and four feet high, 

 or about 65 square feet. 

 « » » 



That editorial, page 717. Nov. 15, on the 

 difference between the flavor of comb and 

 extracted honey, is right to the point, and 

 covers very fully the ground of putting uy) 

 extracted lioney. I can only add that every 

 time honey is liquefied it seems to lose more 

 and more of its original flavor, until, if re- 

 peated many times, it becomes only a soggy 

 mass of sweetness. 



* * * 



The parcels post seems likely to prove a 

 blessing to beekeepers as well as to the 

 rest of mankind. This reminds me that I 

 recently received by mail a section of comb 

 honey from Paul Hunten, of Sumerset, Col- 



Major Shallard, p. 701, Xov. 1, gives some 

 facts about bee paralysis that interested 

 me greatly. I had the care of some bees 

 last March where the disease existed, and 

 1 studied it from day to day. My first im- 

 |)ressions were that the disease is caused by 

 some kind of poison, and I found it hard 

 to think otherwise. But why should but 

 two or three colonies in a yard be diseased? 

 ! have found in two or three instances that 

 a single colony of bees would gatlier honey 

 in quite a different manner from any other 

 in the same yard. These bees would either 

 yo fui'ther or would work on sources that 

 other colonies would reject. Major Shal- 

 lard's statements that some localities were 

 much more subject to the disease than oth- 

 ers would seem to confirm the idea of poi- 

 son. Poison, I learned, was being used in 

 the vicinity of the colonies which I just 

 mentioned. The poison, I also learned, was 

 often mixed with honey when used. Very 

 much more studj' of the subject, however,, 

 will be necessaiy before I can assert posi- 

 tively or with much certainty that I am 

 right. 



