GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



weight to the one we endeavor to bring up 

 to standard by feeding syrup. Any one 

 testing this must be sure that they have the 

 amount of honey to start with, as very often 

 about 20 pounds of honey and 10 pounds 

 of pollen pass for 30 pounds of honey. 



As I said at the start, I personally know 

 that many of our heaviest producers now 

 agi-ee with me on this question; and, in- 

 deed, it is not so many years ago that I 

 contended that tliick syrup in a feeder 

 equaled sealed honey pound for pound. Mr. 

 John Newton, of Thamesford, Out., was ar- 

 g-uing with Mr. Sibbald and myself at a 

 convention on this matter, and we both dis- 

 puted his claim vigorously when he claimed 

 that a pound of sugar was necessary to 

 equal a pound of sealed syrup; but much 

 against my will I have been forced to agTee 

 with him ; for in so far as the puree is con- 

 cerned, I certainly wish that such were not 

 the case. But even on the basis of a pound 

 of sugar to equal a i^ound of sealed honey, 

 we still get mighty good value for the 

 change. Just now, if I had good honey to 

 sell I could easily get 12 cts. a pound for it, 

 and I can buy the best granulated sugar 

 wholesale at 41/2 cents a pound. 



In conclusion, then, I certainly advise 

 and practice feeding syrup for our cold 

 winters, both as a matter of security and 

 economy; but I am perfectly satisfied that 

 for " our locality " it takes a pound of su- 

 gar mixed with half a pound of water to 

 equal a pound of good sealed honey. 



Mount Joy, Ont., Canada. 



[When Mr. Byer in his department on 

 page 141, March 1, put out a challenge to 

 the editor in this langaiage, " Surely you do 

 not believe that a pound of syrup will go 

 as f ai- as a pound of good honey ? " and 

 thfen further on in the same item says, 

 " While I have to feed lots of sugar syrup 

 some falls, certainly I do not place that 

 proi^ortionate value on the syrup as com- 

 pared with honey," we naturally concluded 

 he was making the comparison under like 

 conditions. That is to say, we thought he 

 was contending that a pound of sealed hon- 

 ey in the combs was much superior to a 

 pound of sugar syrup sealed in the comb; 

 but in the article above he now makes it 

 very plain that Avhat he meant was that a 

 pound of syrup before it is fed would not 

 equal a pound of honey sealed in the combs. 

 This being his position we nearly agree with 

 him. We do not know, however, that we 

 are quite prepared to believe that it takes a 

 full pound of sugar, when made into a two- 

 to-one syrup in a feeder, to equal a pound 

 of honey sealed in the combs. A good deal 



would depend on what time of the year this 

 syrup is fed. If it were very late in the 

 fall, when it is cold, and were given in one 

 large feederful, say 25 lbs., our opinion is 

 that the loss would not be as great as he 

 estimates. If, however, he fed this two-to- 

 one syrup early in the fall, then we are 

 quite prepared to believe that it would take 

 fully a pound of sugar in the feeder to equal 

 a iDound of honey sealed in the combs. All 

 in all, we doubt if there is any difference of 

 opinion between us, now that we under- 

 stand each other. In all events, we are glad 

 to i3lace in this connection a short item from 

 Mr. R. F. Holtermann, who supports the 

 position taken by Mr, Byer. — Ed.] 



Regarding the value of honey and sugar 

 syrup, I consider that, from experience with 

 honey and syrup side by side, as a winter 

 store the sugar syrup is the safer winter 

 food for bees. If, however, we feed and 

 want a colony to gain, saj'^, 20 lbs. of stores,' 

 I estimate the quantity by the number of 

 pounds of sugar in the syrup rather than 

 the weight of the syrup. For instance, if 

 I want a gain of 20 lbs. I take 20 lbs, of 

 sugar, and make it into a syrup, and feed 

 it to gain the desired weight. The percent- 

 age of waste is greater when a less amount 

 is fed, and in my estimation (and I act on 

 this in practice) I never think it worth 

 while to feed less than 10 lbs. of syrup 

 with the object of securing a gain in weight 

 worth while. Rapid feeding is also desir- 

 able to keep colonies from starting brood- 

 rearing, and to prevent unnecessary waste 

 in storing and ripening the syrup. 



Brantford, Ont. R. F. Holtermann. 



HONEYBEES AND POLLINATION 



The Wind of Little Value in Pollinating Fruit-trees 



BY GEORGE H. WEST 



The conclusions of all eminent horticul- 

 turists agree on the necessity of the honey- 

 bee in orchards for effective eross-poUina- 

 tion, large fruit crops, and perfect fruit. 

 The result of exhaustive experiments and 

 observations, covering over twenty years, 

 shows that most of our tree fruits ai'e self- 

 sterile — that is, they either produce no fruit 

 from the pollen of their own blossoms (or 

 that from the bloom of the same variety), 

 or but a small amount of fruit, and this 

 largely under-sized or defective. Self-pol- 

 lination would be such as the wind might 

 give, while cross-pollination would be bloom 

 fertilized by the pollen from other varieties 

 of the same species, and by insect visitation. 



Waugh, of Massachusetts, demonstrated 



