576 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Stray Straws 



Dr. C. C. MiiiLBE, Marengo, 111. 



That extension wheelbarrow, p. 561, 

 looks like a good thing. Might be^ well, 

 though, to shift the platform a foot or so 

 forward. That would make it lighter to 

 lift. 



Dr. Kramer says, Schweiz. Bztg., 217, 

 that a young queen produces progeny of 

 lighter color than an old one, and that a 

 queen that is old but still vigorous is better 

 1o breed from than a young one. 



Mr. Editor, your objections to having 

 honey stored below the brood-chamber are 

 correct; and if sections are produced, 

 there's another objection, the cappings will 

 be badly darkened. I've tried it, p. 564. 



S. E. Miller, it is true that your method 

 of numbering hives, p. 485, makes it "not 

 necessary to walk around to the side or end 

 of the hive" to see the number; but I'd 

 rather save my head than my heels, and 

 with plain tags I don't have to do any 

 figuring as to v.4iat the number is. Besides, 

 3'ou iDrobably didn't think of my cellaring 

 bees, and your plan would hardly work in 

 the cellar. 



I. Hopkins, p. 480, rightly says that 

 what is called the Dines method of queen- 

 rearing originated in Australia, leaving a 

 little uncertainty as to when it was first 

 published. Prior to any date he gives, it 

 was mentioned in a Straw, April 15, 1909. 

 The fact that little or nothing has been 

 said about it in foreign journals since that 

 time looks a little as if the plan had not 

 panned out well. 



Percy Orton is quite right, p. 334, in 

 saying that European foul brood does not 

 always injure a queen. A light case seems 

 to have no effect on a queen. Ye editor 

 seems to hold that European foul brood 

 never injures a queen. I think E. W. Alex- 

 ander held that it generally does. I believe 

 that a severe case always injures a queen — 

 not that she has the disease, but living in 

 the foul atmosphere lowers her vitality, 

 making her dull and inactive. [If it is true 

 that European foul brood generally injures 

 the queen, we confess our ignorance, and 

 stand con'ected. — Ed.] 



Dr. Hering, Rundschauer of Deutsche 

 Bienenzucht , says, page X., that he agrees 

 with the views of the editor of Gleanings 

 about wintering; but he objects to cellar 

 wintering, for he thinks the free dry out- 

 door air, full of oxygen, the most favorable 

 to the health of bees. Right you are, doc- 

 tor; you can't emphasize too strongly the 

 importance of good air. But our cellars 



with furnaces may be kept so open that the 

 air in them is just as good as outdoors. 

 [The logic of the jDast season (and there is 

 uothing like facts) argues i^retty strongly 

 for cellar wintering for extremely cold win- 

 ters or very cold climates. A gi'eat deal de- 

 IDends on the kind of winter, the sort of ex- 

 posure, whether the bees are wintered out- 

 doors, and the kind of protection. If they 

 are wintered indoors the kind of cellar, the 

 amount of ventilation, and the humidity are 

 factors that must be considered. — Ed.] 



T. B. Terry says. Practical Farmer, 416, 

 that lioney is said to have the same whole- 

 some sugar as in sweet fruits, "but it is in 

 condensed form, so do not eat it clear or in 

 large quantities for best results." He also 

 says, "I consider choice butter a safe form 

 of fat." Bro. Terry, didn't you forget to 

 add the caution, "but the fat in butter is in 

 condensed form, so do not eat it clear or in 

 large quantities for best results""? Isn't 

 there as much danger of eating butter clear 

 as in large quantities of honey? Do you 

 think there's half as much harm done to 

 those Avho eat honey clear or in large quan- 

 tities as the harm done to the thousands of 

 poor ill-nourished children by never getting 

 a taste of it? Long may you live to preach 

 the gospel of keeping well. 



A strange season this. It promised a 

 dead failure, veiy little clover in sight, 

 with feeding till last week in June, then 

 a gTowtli of clover coming from nowhere 

 and increasing to a splendid flow with 

 never a break till the fall flow began the 

 last of August; and at this date, Aug. 29, 

 the bees are piling in the honey from white 

 clover, sweet clover, heatsease, and possibly 

 other things. Others complain that cool 

 and wet days have hindered gathering. 

 Same here. At this very minute, 9 A. M., 

 it is cool and cloudy — wait a minute. . . 

 Just been down to the yard, and hardly a 

 bee flying. But I'm not complaining of 

 the cold rainy days. They're a blessing — 

 prolonged the season by just that much. 

 Already I've taken 96 sections from each 

 of four colonies, with perhaps 75 nearly 

 finished sections on each hive, and more to 

 follow. But with all that, mind you, the 

 crop is short. The bees are not in the 

 country. [Was there ever a year when 

 clover held on so well? If so, we do not 

 remember it. Even now, Sept. 1, it yields 

 a little — almost enough to take care of the 

 daily consumption for brood-rearing. As 

 we have never had a fall flow to speak 

 of, it comes in veiy handy. — Ed.] 



