NOVEMBER 1, 1912 



705 



Is the Fact that the Bees Gather Pollen Proof that 

 they Have a Queen ? 



I have had some success with my bees. A swarm 

 issued Sunday, June 30. Four days later I re- 

 moved two supers fuU of clover honey, but eight 

 of the sections were not thoroufrhly capped. I 

 have just taken a .super from the parent hive. 

 The honey is a bright yellow, which I presume is 

 sunflower, as there i.s quite an abundance of this 

 in this vicinity, and it yields well. Asters and 

 goldenrod are not so plentiful. Ten days after 

 hiving the swarm the bees were working on the 

 eighth frame. Three days later they were filling 

 out the foundation on the tenth frame. I then 

 put on the remaining super. I thought that last 

 super would come off full too, but not so. The 

 best the bees could do was to give me four boxes 

 iairly finished with a little in seven more. 



I have given two-thirds of my honey away to 

 my neighbors. They have all come back wanting 

 to buy more. When I told them there was no 

 more, and that they could get it at the grocery, 

 they all said that they didn't want that kind, as it 

 was manufactured honey I 



When removing the first two supers no honey- 

 board nor bee-escape was used. I had a trouble- 

 some time getting rid of the bees. I smoked, 

 shook, and brushed them until I was tired. With 

 the last two supers I used a Porter bee-escape and 

 toard, which I found much better. I am now 

 preparing for winter. Both hives are completely 

 filled with bees, with the brood-nest full of stores. 



Is it not a sure sign, when pollen is coming in, 

 that the queen is laying without opening the hivo? 



Brooklyn, N. Y., Sept. 25. Dennis Hewitt. 



[When bees are bringing in pollen it is almost 

 a sure sign that they have a queen ; but it can 

 not be regarded as a positive sign, since there are 

 occasional reports of queenless colonies that gath- 

 ered pollen. — Ed.] 



Fermentation of Comb Honey 



Some of the beekeepers in this vicinity have had 

 much trouble this season with fermentation of comb 

 honey. None of us have ever had any difficulty of 

 this kind before. I have found considerable fer- 

 mented in the hive where all of the honey was 

 thoroughly ripened. All of it was of a light-amber 

 color. None of the dark poplar, clover, or sumac 

 fermented. We are at a loss to know the cause. 

 Mine was kept in a warm well-ventilated place as 

 heretofore. 



Helena, Ark., Oct. 7. S. A. Puller. 



[This is a little unusual, although several times 

 before we have heard similar reports from dififerent 

 parts of the South. Who can throw some light on 

 the question? — Ed.] 



" Automatic " Hiving, Etc. 



On page 271 is a photo of a man hiving a swarm 

 automatically, which reminds me of a brakeman on 

 the train from Syracuse to Auburn telling me he 

 set a new hive at Lyons, N. Y., close to the trunk 

 of an apple tree in the morning before leaving, and 

 in the evening, on his return, he learned from his 

 wife that a swarm came out that day, and clustered 

 on the said trunk low down, and gradually crawled 

 into the hive. 



Mrs. Luter, of Beaverton, near Orvillia, left her 

 13-year-old ine.xperienced uninterested daughter 

 home one holiday, July 1, to watch the bees. Of 

 course a swarm came out, and it clustered low down 

 on a currant bush, so she donned a pair of fur 

 mitts and a miserable veil and hat, and set a hive 

 about a yard away. Of course, they did not find it. 



Little Britain, Ontario. Peeguson Whiteside. 



How Much Syrup Must be Fed to Make 20 Lbs. of 

 Sealed Stores ? 



I have several hundred colonies of bees that 

 need feeding more or less, and I should like to ask 

 how many pounds of feed would have to be given to 

 a colony to supply it with 20 lbs. of ripe stores. If it 

 is not too late, how about the foUovring propor- 

 tions ? Boiling water, 1 part ; cane sugar, 2 parts ; 

 one-third as much honey as water. I should like 

 to have vou furnish me with some figures as a 



basis to work on, and hope to hear from you at 

 once. 



Janesville, Minn., Sept. 16. E. L. Hofmann. 



[It would take about 23 or 24 pounds of syrup, 

 made one part water, two parts sugar, and one- 

 third as much honey as water, in order to make 

 20 pounds of ripe stores. A well-evaporated syrup 

 will contain about 20 per cent of water and 80 

 per cent of sugar. But a syrup would not be 

 too thin if it contained 25 per cent water and 75 

 per cent of sugar. In that case you would not 

 need to mix quite so much of the syrup made on 

 the formula mentioned. — Ed. ] 



Second - hand Kerosene - cans Seldom Used for 

 Honey in Australia 



On page 455, July 15, Major Shallard says, 

 "Practically the whole crop of Australian honey is 

 put up in second-hand kerosene-cans." Now, I 

 think Mr. Shallard must be quoting from what was 

 in vogue 12 or 15 years ago, and not at the pres- 

 ent time. I also think it is unfair to the Australian 

 beekeepers to have the idea conveyed that we are 

 slipshod enough to put up with the fussing with 

 second-hand kerosene-tins when we can procure 

 good new tins, made purposely for honey, and the 

 little extra expense would be easily offset by the 

 looks of the package and the extra price procured. 

 I feel certain that, if Major Shallard makes in- 

 quiries of all the large dealers and commission 

 agents who handle the bulk of the Australian honey, 

 he will find that easily 75 per cent of the honey is 

 put up in tins made expressly for honey. I know 

 of one firm in New South ■Wales that turns out 

 thousands upon thousands of lever-top honey-tins 

 every year, made exactly like the kerosene-tins in 

 construction, but without the lettering on top de- 

 noting that they were intended for kerosene. 



Perhaps the major has, on seeing tins of this 

 olass on the market when filled with honey, taken 

 them, in error, to be second-hand kerosene-tins by 

 their looks. 



I have not time for second-hand tins of any kind 

 mvself. 



How do you think it would go under the pure- 

 food act if the beekeepers used tins that contain, 

 we will say, Pratt's motor spirits, with the name of 

 contents stamped in the tin, by filling the same 

 with honey and labeling it to that effect? Don't you 

 think it would be misrepresenting the contents? 



Stroud, Australia. William Baenes. 



A Tribute to R. L. Taylor 



I was profoundly grieved to note the death of 

 our old friend R. L. Taylor. He was a rare man — 

 as a statesman, gifted, alert, incorruptible; as a 

 beekeeper, one of the very best; as a citizen and 

 friend, invaluable. It was my wont to visit him 

 and to receive visits from him. I never parted from 

 him without a feeling of sincere admiration, both 

 for the man's ability and his upright character. 



I wish to express through Gleanings my per- 

 sonal loss, as also my regret that the beekeeping 

 fraternity and the country are henceforth to be 

 without his valuable services. 



Sacramento, Cal., Sept. 26. A. J. Cook. 



State Commissioner of Horticulture. 



" Coffee A " Sugar No Longer Sold 



Referring to page 545, Sept. 1, please tell me 

 what "coffee A" sugar is. Dealers here don't keep 

 anvthing by that name, but they keep "A" sugar 

 and "C" "sugar, both kinds brown. Please let 

 me know soon, as I want to fix up some candy 

 for a few light colonies as soon as possible. 



Sterling, Col., Sept. 30. T. J. Landeum. 



[Coffee A sugar is the old name for the best 

 white sugar that was known years ago. But since 

 granulated sugar has come upon the market it has 

 supplanted the "coffee A" sugar entirely, so that 

 probably you will not be able to buy it of any 

 of the dealers in your locality. Generally speak- 

 ing, you would be able to use granulated sugar in 

 any "place where "coffee A" is called for. "Coffee 

 A" sugar was granular and white, just like granu- 

 lated sugar, only it had more moisture in it. The 

 granulated sugar of to-day is perfectly dry, and 

 remains so. — Ed.] 



