DECEMBER 15, 1912 



of water the ripples will keep going till 

 they reach the shore." I traveled to the south 

 without finding any thing, and then to the 

 west for several miles without success; 

 but when rounding a high mountain I came 

 ui^on it. 



Middlebury, Vt. 



To he continued. 



FEEDING DAMPENED LOAF SUGAR 



If a colony of bees is light in stores and likely 

 to starve, would it do any good to place a oile of 

 loaf sugar on the frames over the cluster, and cover 

 with quilt?" 



Gate City, Va., Nov. 29. H. P. Gkogan. 



[Mr. Alexander fed loaf sugar in large 

 quantities, and with very good results. His 

 plan was as follows : " Make some rims two 

 inches deep, and the size of your hive on 

 top ; then take off whatever covering you 

 have over the tops of the frames of the 

 comb, and put on one of these I'ims. Fill 

 this rim with cut-loaf sugar, the kind that 

 is in cubes about one inch square. Moisten 

 this sugar by sprinkling a veiy little warm 

 water on it; then cover the sugar with cloth 

 mats so as to retain all the heat from the 

 bees below you can, and the bees will soon 

 come up into this rim of sugar, every one 

 that can, and cluster in it and eat it as they 

 require until spring. I have fed a good 

 many colonies in this way, and never lost 

 one. They usually come through the win- 

 ter in fine condition, even though they had 

 only two or three pounds of honey in their 

 hives in the fall. One winter I fed two 

 barrels of sugar in this way with good re- 

 sults." 



For some reason or. other there has been 

 some difficulty connected with the use of 

 this loaf sugar by other beekeepers — per- 

 haps because it was not sufficiently mois- 

 tened, or possibly because it was not plac- 

 ed in a two-inch rim as advised by Mr. 

 Alexander. Making the hard candy with 

 granulated sugar is not at all difficult after 

 the knack has once been learned; but it is 

 true that considerable care must be used to 

 get it just right. If loaf sugar can take 

 the place of it as recommended by Mr. 

 Alexander it would be a help all around. — 

 Ed.] 



BEEKEEPING IN JAMAICA 



BY F. A. HOOPER 



Continued from pane S06. 



It appears they ran out of stores and had 

 to resort to pollen, which killed every bee 

 in the hive; for in these there was also the 

 offensive smell, and the bottom-boards 

 smeared with pollen. In one of these five 



colonies that died I found the queen alive. 



It rained heavily all day, and the strong 

 wind drove the rain into every crack and 

 crevice. The bees ere this had deserted the 

 supers and clustered over the sealed brood; 

 all the unsealed brood was now thrown out; 

 and in colonies which faced the driving 

 wind and rain the bees could not venture 

 to throw the larvae outside, so they lay on 

 the bottom-boards. The super combs were 

 now getting moldy from the damp, and I 

 feared the worst. 



]\Ionday, the 18th, dawned with the same 

 driving rain ; but the wind was lighter. It 

 was now blowing from the southwest with 

 great black clouds scurrying across the 

 sky. One could now easily see a change 

 had taken place in the weather during Sun- 

 day night. A great hurricane was devas- 

 tating the western portion of the island, 

 causing absolute destruction to cultivation, 

 and destroying several small towns. The 

 number of unfortunate victims who perish- 

 ed in this disaster was about forty. 



On Tuesday, the 19th, the sun shone out 

 brightly. A few bees ventured out of each 

 hive, and, after flying about for a little, 

 they returned to their respective hives. I 

 su^jpose they soon discovered that there 

 was no work for them to do that day, as 

 every tree was stripped of the flowers they 

 had on. 



I then visited the two other apiaries 

 which I fed when the rain set in. In one 

 I found four colonies had died, and one in 

 the other. The bees died of the same com- 

 l^lainf, as above mentioned. 



On the whole I do not think beekeepers 

 have lost much, except those in the western 

 part of the island. The much-needed rain, 

 although a quarter which fell would have 

 answered, will do a world of good ; and the 

 loss of a few colonies of bees will not be 

 felt. 



Before closing this article I may saj' that 

 the broomweed bloomed profusely during 

 the months of September and October. This 

 plant yields an abundance of pollen, but 

 little or no honey; hence the colonies were 

 well stocked with pollen, but with very few 

 stores before the heavy rains set in. 



Four Paths, Clarendon, Jamaica, B. W. I. 



Duck Eggs in an Incubator 



I saw in Gleanings for Feb. 15 that you were 

 having trouble with your baby du<-ks (in the incu- 

 bator) dying in the shell. My wife manages her 

 ducks this way. She takes her tray out and sprin- 

 kles the eggs with warm water on the 14th day, and 

 every day from then on till they hatch. You know 

 an old duck goes to the water every day when she 

 is sitting, and comes back to the nest quite damp. 

 We used a liot-water incubator. 



I raised 12,000 lbs. of extracted honey last year 

 from 100 colonies. 0. A. McCakty 



Walla Walla, W&sh., March 3. 



