Jan. 30. ly 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



77 



of my own rearing. .Still, I will buy 

 again when I need tlicni. 



Now in regard U) can<lied honey: I'ur 

 20 years I have produced both comb and 

 extracted. I have never .seen candied 

 honey, and have never had any of niy 

 extracted show even signs of candying, 

 and have kept it for three years in glass 

 and earthen vessels. When I am sliort 

 of extracted and Iniy to fill niiit, I find 

 the honey candied nearly to the top of 

 the can. I wish some of the wise ones 

 wonid tell the reason for this. 



This .Xmerican bottom (St. Clair Co., 

 Ill,), is a good location for honey-pro- 

 duction if free 'from disease, but with- 

 out a State inspector I fear to risk it 

 any more. Some bee-keepers do not 

 know the disease (foul brood), and let 

 weak or dead colonies be robbed out. 

 Others who do not know allow the same 

 thing, and deny having the disease. They 

 go on spreading it by selling to anyone 

 who will purchase. So .the need of a 

 State inspector becomes more apparent 

 everv day. 



What has become of my old com- 

 rade, Hon. Ed. Whitcomb? I do not see 

 him mentioned in the American Bee 

 Journal anv more W,nk.^ him mi. nh^n = - 



If I secure a suitable location you will 

 probably hear from me again. 



C. A. II.MNES. 



St. Clair Co., 111., Dec. 20. 

 [Mr. Whitcomb wjll please consider 

 himself called, and "wake up." — En.] 



Long Tongues and Red Clover. 



In the report of Prof. Gillette, as puli- 

 lished in this journal recently, he ex- 

 presses some doubt as to bees getting 

 nectar from red clover, because the 

 greatest tongue-reach does not e.xceed 

 .23 inch, while red-clover tubes vary 

 from .34 to .37 inch. To this Editor 

 Root replies in Gleanings in Bee-Cul- 

 ture : 



In regard to this last, I feel that Prof. 

 Gillette has gathered a wrong impres- 

 sion, and certainly wrong in supposing 

 that pollen may be the only thing sought 

 by the bees. The red-clover corolla- 

 tubes grown throughout the East, as I 

 have measured them, in hundredths 

 of an inch, vary all the way from .12 

 to .36 or .37 in length, the depth in- 

 creasing from the outside to the center. 

 In the rain-belt, at least, I am sure I 

 am right for these measurements. What 

 they may be in Colorado I am not able to 

 say. As nearly as I can estimate, half 

 of the tubes in an ordinary head of red 

 •clover come within the range of .20 and 

 .22 ; so that the bees that have a tongue 

 reach, no matter what their tongue 

 length may be. will be able to gather 

 from half of the tubes; and probably 

 half of all the nectar in the head, as 

 they get some out of the long tubes. 

 That there is honey in these tubes is 

 well known, a fact which can be easily 

 ■demonstrated. All one has to do is to 

 pull the tubes at the right season of the 

 year, squeeze one bHween the thumb 



SWEET CLOVER 



And Several Other Clover Seeds. 



We have made arraa(fcmedt8 so that we can 

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 the order: 



sm lOD) 2S» son 



Sweet Clover (white) $.75 $1.20 $2.£0 U-SO 



Sweet Clover (yellow) 90 1.70 4.00 7.50 



AlslkeClover 90 1.70 4 ro 7.75 



White Clover 1.00 1.90 4..S0 S.50 



Alfalfa Clover 80 1.40 3.25 6.00 



Prices subject to market changes. 



Single pound 5 cents more than the S-pound 

 rate, and 10 cents extra for postage and sack. 



Add 25 cents to your order, for cartage, if 

 wanted by freight, or 10 cents per pound if 

 wanted by mail. 



GEORGE W. YORK A CO. 

 144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL. 



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 for $ 1 2-80 



Perfect in construction and 



action. IlatchcB every fertile 



epp. Write for catalogue to-day. 



GEO. H. STAHL. Quincy. III. 



45A26t Meniioa lue American Bee Journal. 



BEE-SUPPLIES ! 



Manufacturers' prices. Complete stock. Send 

 for our catalog. 



FRED. W. MUTH & CO. 



S.W. Cor. Front & Walnut Sts. CINCINNATI, 0. 

 Please mention Bee Journal -when writing 



r'alifncnia ( If yon care to know of its 

 C^dlllUrnid. 1 Fruits, Flowers, Climate 

 or Resources, send for a sample copy of Cali- 

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Revised by Dadant— 1900 Edition. 



This is one of the standard books on 

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GEORGE W. YORK & CO. 



144 & 146 Erie Street, - CHICAGO, ILL. 



iind finger, and a good-sized drop of 

 nectar will issue from the end. 



Nay, 1 have gone further. I have 

 walchcd bees jvorking on red clover, 

 ,nid I havi- repeatedly seen them ex- 

 tract all the nectar out of the shallow 

 tulits, and draw it down in the long 

 tuhcs to a |)oint just equal lo their reach. 

 While the bees do, of course, gather 

 sonic pollen from red clover, yet I 

 think the fact is demonstrated beyond 

 doubt that tons and tons of such honey 

 is gathered, because there are times 

 when nothing else is in bloom, and the 

 hccs will store in sections quantities of 

 lioncy that tastes very much like the 

 Ininiblc-hce honey of our boyhood days. 



On all other points I believe the Pro- 

 fessor's conclusions are mainly correct, 

 except that some bees have greater 

 reaching powers, probahly, than actual 

 measurements will show. His tables 

 show a variation in tongue reach in 

 Italians from .15 to .22. It will be no- 

 ticed that he says he had measured the 

 tongues from red-clover bees, and also 

 the tongues of those that were said not 

 to work on that plant, and that he was 

 "unable to find anv diflfcrencc in tongue 

 length in favor of the clover workers." 

 ( Tlie italics in this case are mine.) It 

 would be interesting in this connection 

 to know whether those same bees 

 showed a difference in tongue reach ; 

 for, as the professor has very properly 

 shown, there is a difference in tongue 

 reach and tongue length, and the varia- 

 tion of the former is much greater than 

 the latter. 



It has been shown — indeed. I believe 

 it is generallv admitted — that some bees 

 will gather much more honey from red 

 clover than others. Whether there is 

 a phvsical difference between them has 

 not been proven so far : and, to speak 

 franklv, it looks now as if tongue length 

 certainly has nothing to do with it. 

 Whether tongue reach has or not. will 

 have to be determined by means of much 

 more nerfect glossometers than have vet 

 been devised. I sav glossometers. be- 

 cause I am convinced that the rule plan 

 of measuring (which I have hitherto ad- 

 vocated') ii; not altogether reliable. It 

 gives an idea, but does not show what 

 the bees rci'// or can actually reach when 

 alive. 



" Bee=Fever." 



De.\r Friends :— I have been obliged 

 to delay writing to you. as I have been 

 "laid up for repairs." A tale hangs 

 to this which I can best tell you by 

 conying an extract from a letter that 

 the partner of my joys and sorrows 

 wrote to her sister. It may have in- 

 terest for you. as you will see that you 

 are clearly "accessory before the fact." 

 and must bear vour share of the pen- 

 alty : 



"Oh. good gracious ! I inust tell you 

 of the new ailment that is afflicting 

 Harry. You know- what an enthusiast 

 the dear fellow is in everything he 

 touches, and how his geese are ahvaj-s 

 swans. This time it is the bee-fever, to 

 which typhoid is simple, and even yel- 

 low jack is less virulent. You 'cannot 

 dream of such absolute absorption. 

 Xothing is of interest unless it con- 

 cerns bees. Just think, my sitting-room 

 table is covered with bee books and 

 magazines, which I must not move, as 

 he runs in four hundred times a dav' to 

 consult them and see (I reckon) if his 



