138 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Clroton, in which township he made his 

 home all lus life. He was a brother of 

 W. L. Coggshall ; and although the latter 

 has always been known as one of the most 

 extensive beekeepers in the world, his broth- 

 er was also extensively engaged in the busi- 

 ness, having had at one time 800 colonies. 

 Although a quiet beekeeper, our friend 

 was a progressive one, and we feel that 

 the apicultural world has lost another pio- 

 neer. He was not a frequent contributor 

 to the bee journals, and yet he will be 

 missed — missed most by those who knew 

 him best. 



THE KELATIVE FOOD VALUE OF HONEY AND 

 SUGAR-SYRUP STORES FOR BEES. 



Elsewhere in the Canadian Department 

 Mr. Byer makes the assertion that honey is 

 superior to sugar stores, and then puts the 

 proposition up to the editor. 



During the 70's or 80's, we do not remem- 

 ber exactly when, R. L. Taylor, James Hed- 

 don. Prof. A. J. Cook, and, we believe, W. 

 Z. Hutchinson, all of Michigan, each inde- 

 pently of the other, made some tests as to 

 the relative value of sugar syrup and honey 

 for wintering. The testimony of all the 

 men, if our memory serves us correctly, was 

 to the effect that, pound for pound, sugar 

 syrup was much to be prefered to ordinary 

 honey, and very much better than the ordi- 

 nary dark or off-flavored fall honey. We had 

 supposed that the whole beekeeping world 

 had accepted this as a fact. ForTsrood-rear- 

 ing purposes honey has a slight advantage, 

 because practically all honey contains mi- 

 nute quantities of pollen. In fact. Profes- 

 sor Brown, of the United States Bureau of 

 Chemistry, once said that the source of 

 many honeys is recognizable by the pollen 

 grains when viewed under a microscope. 



The primary reason for preferring sugar 

 syrup is that it is less stimulating. A far- 

 inaceous diet on the other hand has a tend- 

 ency to make the bees active when they 

 ought to go into their winter sleep, or, as 

 we say, into a semi-state of hibernation, or 

 what amounts practically to suspended ani- 

 mation. In that condition respiration is 

 low and the consumption of stores light. 

 Sugar syrup of course has no jDollen in it. 

 It was shown in the 80's that the bees would 

 eat anywhere from 10 to 50 per cent less of 

 sugar stores than of natural stores during 

 the winter, the percentage of variation de- 

 pending on the quality of the honey. We 

 do not go so far as to say that the presence 

 or absence of pollen contributes to poor or 

 good wintering. But when we come to draw 

 the line between the two foods, the almost 

 universal verdict has been in favor of sugar 



syrup. On the other hand, it is generally 

 considered that it is not necessary to extract 

 good honey and feed sugar stores unless the 

 difference in price between the two products 

 warrants it. The extracting and feeding 

 have a tendency to stir up a colony. Feed- 

 ing in the fall with sugar or honey, espe- 

 cially if the queen is a young one, has a 

 tendency to induce brood-rearing. Some- 

 times this is desirable, and sometimes not; 

 so when we come to consider the relative 

 food value of sugar and honey there are 

 several factors to take into account. 



Friend Byer, practically in opposition to 

 all the rest of the fraternity, makes the 

 statement, " I now know that at the very 

 least it takes a pound of sugar to have that 

 value." " That value," as we understand it, 

 is a pound of honey. We do not say he is 

 wrong, but we should like to have him pre- 

 sent his proofs. Our correspondent's opin- 

 ions we value; and when he challenges the 

 editor and perhaps all orthodox beedom he 

 is entitled to consideration. 



A TRAMP beekeeper SPREADING BEE DISEASE ; 

 AN AGGRAVATING CASE. 



A MOST exasperating ease has come to 

 our notice of a certain tramp beekeeper, 

 who, it is alleged, is moving bees by the 

 carload from infested districts into local- 

 ities where no disease exists. He seems to 

 have no scruples about squatting an apiary 

 of bees infected with European or Ameri- 

 can foul brood next to a healthy yard be- 

 longing to a permanent resident. When the 

 locality becomes so rotten that even he can 

 not stand it he moves to new teriitoiy, there 

 to repeat his nefarious work. He practices 

 migratory beekeeping on quite an extensive 

 scale; and as he goes from one locality to 

 another, it is said he takes no precaution 

 to eliminate disease from his own bees; is 

 careless about leaving tools and appliances, 

 daubed with honey, after extracting, where 

 all the bees in a locality can get at them, 

 and thus caiTy the infected honey to their 

 own hives. Numerous complaints have come 

 in from beekeepers where he has been op- 

 erating. Evidently nothing can be done, 

 because he violates no law. He squats in 

 localities where there ai'e no foul-brood 

 laws, or else where the laws are so careless- 

 ly drawn that he can not be restrained. It 

 is claimed that he is spreading bee disease 

 right and left: that he even jokes about it, 

 saying that bee disease is his best friend, 

 because he can go into a locality and clean 

 out every beekeeper who may be a natural 

 competitor. How is that for unadulterated 

 meanness? Can you beat it? 



It is liigh time that States in the West 



