130 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



We advise the examination of a few colonies ; then, 

 after making the examination, " heft " the hives so 

 as to make a note of its weight. By thus " hefting ' 

 the other colonies of the yard you will be able to 

 form an idea of their relative amount of stores. If 

 there is danger of your having cold weather in Feb- 

 ruary we would advise, in case it is necessary to 

 feed, a thick syrup about the same as you fed them 

 last fall. If it should be too cold to feed, give them 

 candy, made as directed in the ABC and X Y Z of 

 Bee Culture; but in the kind of weather you have 

 been having, there will be no trouble about feeding a 

 sugar syrup. — Ed.] 



The Warm Winter Weather Causing Bees to Fly 

 and Rear Brood 



Is it dangerous to permit the bees to fly at thig 

 time of the year ? I presume not, from what I have 

 gathered by reading; and, in fact, it is practically 

 impossible to keep them in the hive, inasmuch as we 

 have had spring weather since Christmas. The three 

 first weeks of January have been like April here in 

 Washington. Yesterday, the 19th, I noticed a num- 

 ber of my bees having pollen on their legs. Where 

 they secured it is a mystery to me ; but yet it is a 

 fact that they were gathering, to a small degree. I 

 believe this is a remarkable record for January. 

 Last year we had " bitter " weather at this time of 

 the year; in fact, all of January and part of Febru- 

 ary was such weather as to cause the thermometer 

 to register around zero, or from 10 to 15 degrees 

 above, for nearly two weeks or more. 



Is there any thing you can suggest as to ascer- 

 taining whether the stores are sufficient to carry the 

 bees through to spring? The hives are all closed up, 

 packed, and the packing covered with oilcloth, and 

 hence I can not open them ; but I thought you might 

 have a suggestion to make as to how to ascertain 

 whether the stores are sufficient, or how to save 

 any weak colonies should their stores be low. Perhaps 

 you can advise as to whether there is a method of 

 feeding bees at this time of the year; but inasmuch 

 as the bees are coming in and going out as if they 

 were in a healthy condition, I presume there is noth- 

 ing to do but let matters rest as they are with my 

 colonies until spring. 



Washington, D. C, Jan. 20. E. E. Vrooman. 

 [You can not prevent bees from flying when the 

 weather is suitable; in fact, it is better that they 

 should. We refer you to the reply to J. W. Black, 

 above, for Mr. Black is located in about the same 

 kind of climate. — Ed.] 



Unlawful to Ship Diseased Bees from One Locality 

 to Another 



Please inform me regarding the necessity of hav- 

 ing bees inspected prior to moving them from one 

 State to another. I wish to move mine next spring 

 before the honey-flow will warrant inspection with- 

 out robbing. Do you mean to say in the A B C and 

 X Y Z of Bee Culture that no Isees can be shipped 

 with safety while there is the least bit of foul brood 

 present? It seems to me that, if the few colonies 

 were cleaned up, they would be permitted. 



Idaho. SUBSCEIBEE. 



[Under your foul-brood law you would not be per- 

 mitted to ship bees from one locality to another in 

 your State until they had been inspected by the State 

 foul-brood inspector or his duly authorized agent. 

 They could easily be inspected before the honey-flow; 

 but perhaps you mean you desire to have them mov- 

 ed before warm weather sets in, so that the brood 

 of the colonies could be examined to see whether it 

 contained any diseased matter. There probably wouM 

 be no brood at that time. 



It is not safe nor wise to try to ship colonies of 

 bees that contain infection, be it ever so small an 



amount. If a single cell shows diseased matter we 

 would not ship the colony, because a single cell may 



develop into a rotten condition throughout the entire 



colony. — Ed.] ^B 



A Good Record in Favor of the Danzenbaker Sec- 

 tion as a Globe Trotter 



Early in September I was commissioned by the 

 Provincial Department of Agriculture to prepnie an 

 exhibit of honey, etc., for the agricultural fairs of 

 Victoria, Vancouver Island, and New West.ninster 

 on the mainland of British Columbia and for the 

 dry-farming congress, Lethbridge, Alberta. 



The comb honey was in 4 x 5 x 1 >/^ Danzenbaker 

 sections; and I think, taking into consideration the 

 miles traveled (about 1800), and that the comb* 

 were handled from wharf to railroad depots, from 

 depots to wagons something like thirty times, and 

 yet arrived back to Victoria without a section, comb, 

 or single cell being damaged, is a wonderful record. 



The sections were packed 16 in a glass-fronted 

 crate, 3 M: inches wide, about Vs inch play at sides 

 and ends, one layer of sheet cotton batting on bot- 

 tom and top of sections, and lid nailed on. The 

 crate.s were packed four in a used candy-box, two 

 deep and two wide, glass fronts toward each other, 

 with sheet of corrugated paper between. On the bot- 

 tom of the box were two inches of excelsior. Be- 

 tween the two tiers of crates was one inch of excel- 

 s'or, and two inches of the same packing on top of 

 all. Between the sides and ends of the crates and 

 the sides of the box were three inches of excelsior, 

 all packed as solid as hands could pack it. There 

 was much doubt as to results when the final trip 

 home of 800 miles by freight, which took 21 days on 

 account of an accident on rail, was started; but 

 every thing arrived in good condition — no shake in 

 the big box, not a glass or comb broken, nor a cell 

 of honey leaking. The sections were all selected for 

 exhibition purposes. The combs were well filled, and 

 attached right to the edge of the sections. The;e 

 were displayed in glass-covered trays holding 24 

 sections, presenting one solid slab of snow-white hon- 

 ey 24 X 30 inches, and were the admiration of all 

 who saw them. 



JJow for the secret of success. The combs were 

 one solid mass, with no empty spaces as with bee- 

 way sections, no shake in crate, excelsior packed 

 firm ; just sufficient spring to receive concussion of 

 rough handling, but resiliency to resume its former 

 position before the shock. 



TABLE OF DISTANCES COVERED. 



Comb honey moved from ranch to railroad 



station at Shanrugan Lake by row boat 1 mile 



Shanrugan Lake to Victoria by rail 28 



Depot to house by team 1 " 



House to Victoria exhibition by team. ... 3 " 

 Victoria exhibition to Canadian Pacific rail- 

 way wharf by team 3 " 



Boat to Vancouver 7.5 



Vancouver wharf to depot by team 1% " 



Vancouver to New Westminster by rail. . . 12 



From depot to fairgrounds by team IVi " 



From New Westminster to Lethbridge by 



rail 790 " 



From depot to fairground by team 1 " 



From fairgrounds to depot by team 1 



From Lethbridge to Vancouver by rail. . . . 800 " 



Vancouver to Victoria by boat 75 " 



Wharf to house, by express 1 



Total 1794 miles 



About 30 handlings took place. 



About 100 jars of extracted honey were packed in 

 excelsior ; not one broke. 



It is very different with straw, so frequently used 

 in comb-honey packing. Straw, when once flattened, 

 remains so to a certain extent, and leaves too much 



