FEBRUARY 15, 1913 



109 



SIFTINGS 



J. E. Crane, iliddleLury, Vt. 



On page 755, Dec. 1, Dr. Miller and the 

 editor discuss shipping cases somewhat, and 

 tell how to ship safely. I want to add that 

 it requires much more careful packing to 

 ship honey safely in late autumn and early 

 winter than in warm summer weather. 



powerful narcotic principle of these plants 

 as to be destructive to bees where it grows 

 freely in the grain-fields, as in many places 

 in Europe? How kind of the Author of 

 nature to withhold nectar from the poppies, 

 and give instead a good supply of pollen ! 



" He was an honest man and a good citi- 

 zen " is said of J. S. Harbison, page 679, 

 Nov. 1. Why? Because he believed in the 

 fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of 

 man, and he has left to the world what is 

 worth more than heaps of gold and silver. 



* » » 



"Darn a veil, anj'how!" says Arthur C. 

 Miller, page 809. Thank you. That is about 

 the way I feel. I have submitted to hun- 

 dreds of stings rather than wear a veil. To 

 have that veil everlastingly between your 

 mouth and' a nice tidbit of honey as you 

 open a hive, or a fat strawberry, or a plum, 

 or a cluster of grapes, is provoking. But 

 if you must wear one, there is, nothing bet- 

 ter than the one Mr. Miller describes. 

 « » • 



I am glad Dr. Miller is going to try ex- 

 tracting honey, page 790, Dec. 15, with part 

 of his bees. There are several advantages 

 in doing so. There is lots to learn, and 

 then you will find some customers who will 

 pay a good price for it just because you 

 produced it. And, again, your supply of 

 wax to be worked into foundation will be 

 largely increased. We have between two 

 and three hundred pounds on hand ready 

 to send away to be made into foundation. 

 That makes quite a saving in supplies for 

 the summer of 1913. 



* * * 



In the discussion of flowers Mr. Ryan 

 and Lovell agree on one thing: "that the 

 poppy contains no nectar." Shall we ask 

 why? While in the southern part of the 

 State last summer a gardener showed me a 

 long bed of poppies, and said that bees 

 worked freely on them in the forenoon, but 

 that large numbers of the bees were so over- 

 come by the narcotic element of the plant 

 that it would be hours before they would 

 all be able to return to their hives. Now, 

 we know that honey often, if not always, 

 partakes more or less of the nature of the 

 plant from which it is gathered. Thus the 

 honey from the thoroughwort is quite bit- 

 ter. That from the white daisy tastes as 

 the flowers smell : and maj^ we not readily 

 conclude that, had the poppy produced hon- 

 ey, it would have contained so much of the 



A SUMMARY OX WINTERING. 



The subject of wintering bees in the cold- 

 er parts of the country is not as well un- 

 derstood as it should be. I wonder if I can 

 sift out some of the main facts so a child 

 can understand them. 



If the bees of a given colony have good 

 stores of honey or sugar syi'up there are 

 just two other facts to be remembered — ■ 

 protection from cold, and dampness. 



Why should they be protected from cold? 

 1. Because thej^ consume very* much less 

 honej^, often not more than one-half; 2. 

 Because, if thej* coi same less honej', and 

 have less cold to overcome, tiiey will live 

 much longer, and Avill be sti'onger in the 

 spring; 3. Because, if less honey is con- 

 sumed, less moisture will be generated by 

 the bees, to be gotten rid of in some way. 



How can bees be protected from the 

 cold ? By placing them in cellars or special 

 repositories, or by protecting them out of 

 doors in clamps or by warm packing. 



Why should bees be kept dry? 1. Be- 

 cause if the inside of a hive is damp, the 

 combs and especially the pollen in the combs 

 will mold; 2. Because, if left where it is 

 very cold, the moisture may condense and 

 freeze on the combs so as to starve the bees 

 when there is plenty of honey in their 

 luves; 3. Because, if moisture is allowed 

 to accumulate inside a hive it is likely to be 

 condensed on the combs, and to be absorbed 

 by the honey, making it unfit food for bees, 

 and often producing disease. 



How can tliis moisture be disposed of, 

 and the hives and combs kept dry? 



By giving a large lower entrance as ad- 

 vised by Arthur C. Miller, Allen Latham, 

 and others. By giving a smaller lower en- 

 trance and some upward ventilation, thus 

 producing a draft through the hive, and 

 caiTj-ing off the moisture given off by the 

 bees. By a very small lower entrance and 

 warm packing, and absorbing material 

 around and above the bees that allows tlie 

 moisture to pass thi'ough while it retains 

 the heat. 



Perhaps I should add to this that bees 

 in cellars or special repositories should be 

 kept at such a temperature that they will 

 remain in a semi-torpid condition. 



