1921 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



m 



pound, the profit and loss account 

 would stand something: like this: 

 • Extracted Honey 



Average 40 lbs. per colony — 



Loss $2,680.38 

 Average 50 lbs. pei- colony — 



Loss $1,981.62 

 Average 70 lbs. per colony — 



Loss $ 482.88 

 Average 100 lbs. per colony — 



Profit $1,502.96 

 Comb Honey 

 Average of 20 lbs. per colony — 



Loss $1,943.08 

 Average of 30 lbs. per colony — 



Loss $733.27 



Average of 40 lbs 

 Average of 48 lbs 



per colony- 

 Profit $478.09 

 per colony — 

 Profit $1,448.15 



In other words, it would take a 

 100-pound per-colony production of 

 extracted honey to net the producer 

 as much as a 48-pound per-colony 

 production of comb honey, figuring 

 all supplies at the prices prevailing 

 when the 1920 crop was harvested. 



Just whether 500 colonies in 8- 

 frame hives would be able to pro- 

 duce 48 pounds or more per colony 

 while 500 colonies in lO-frame hives 

 were producing 100 pounds per col- 

 ony would be a much mooted ques- 

 tion. Likely much would depend 

 upon location, management, and the 

 man. 



It would be interesting if some of 

 our subscribers could give us their 

 figures on costs as actually in opera- 

 tion. It is a question which has been 

 too long neglected by the average 

 beekeeper. 



SCARIFYING SWEET CLOVER 



If unhulled sweet clover seed is 

 planted it is likely to remain in the 

 ground from one to three years be- 

 fore it grows. In the case of a small 

 field sowed by the associate editor, 

 few plants came up the season fol- 

 lowing, but the third spring there ap- 

 peared a good stand. Ever thoug'i 

 the seed is hulled, much of it will 

 •not grow unless it is scarified The 

 object of scarifying is to scrad.h the 

 hard cover so that water can pene- 

 trate and thus start germination. 

 Where large quantities of seed are 

 to be scarified a machine is used for 

 the purpose, but it often happens that 

 one will have a small quantity of the 

 seed which could hardly be put 

 through such a machine, even though 

 one was within reach. 



It is easy to hull and scarify small 

 quantities of seed by wrapping a 

 block of wood with sandpaper and 

 rubbing the seed between the block 

 and a cement floor. No expensive 

 equipment is necessary, as a sheet of 

 sandpaper can be had for a trifle, and 

 a cement floor is nearly always at 

 hand. 



HOW SMALL A COLONY MAY BE 

 WINTERED? 



In the March number of the 

 American Bee Journal you have a 

 statement under the above head. In 

 early May, 1920, I came across a hive 



which in some way had been left in a 

 12-frame hive with only three combs 

 in it, and without a division board. 

 It wintered well and, remember, dur- 

 ing the severe winter of 1919-20. 

 The hive was one of four wintered 

 outside in a quadruple wintering 

 case, and the hives packed in forest 

 leaves. 



The Pan to Settle Swarms 



For twenty or more years, I have 

 had no doubt that a pan, or any 

 other noise that would drown the 

 sound of the queen flying, would 

 bring the bees down. The reason is 

 that they lose the evidence that the 

 queen is still with them. Probably 

 some one will try to shoot this all to 

 pieces — go ahead. 



R. P. Holterman. 



Canada. 



WILD THYME IN NEW YORK 



By J. E. Crane 



No less than seven different names 

 are given this plant, mentioned on 

 page 53 of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal for February, not one of which 

 would seem to be correct. 



I became acquainted with this 

 plant some years ago while inspect- 

 ing bees in the southwest part of 

 Vermont, where the beekeepers 

 called it "horse-mint," still another 

 name for it. I was so much inter- 

 ested in it that I brought some of it 

 home and set in my back yard, where 

 I could watch its behavior and get 



some estimate of its value for bees. 

 The account given it in this article 

 appears to be quite true except the 

 name. It surely grows on the poor- 

 est gravely soils and yields an abund- 

 ance of honey of fine quality, where 

 vei-y little other surplus honey is to 

 be had. Mr. Merwin states that bees 

 do not winter as well on this honey as 

 on clover. I presume this is true, as 

 it appears to be of lighter body. This 

 may be from the fact that it is gath- 

 ered the latter part of summer while 

 clover honey is stored eai'ly and has 

 the entire summer to ripen in. 



The quality of the honey is cer- 

 tainly fine, fully equal, I believe, to 

 clover, but quite distinct in flavor. 



Believing this plant was likely to 

 prove of considerable value, as it 

 spread over waste land and unpro- 

 ductive pastures, I felt that it should 

 be correctly named, and showed 

 some of the dry stalks to a local bot- 

 anist, who thought it wild thyme, and 

 I think I gave it this name in writing 

 to some bee journal ; but I was not 

 satisfied, and later, when I had some 

 of the flowers, I sent some to John H. 

 Lovell, of Maine, and he pronounced 

 it "wild marjoram." I also gave some 

 of the flowers to my neighbor, who is, 

 perhaps, one of the best botanists of 

 this state, and he said the correct 

 common name was "Wild Marjoram," 

 and the botanical name Origanum 

 vulgare. So we conclude it is not 

 wild thyme at all, but wild marjoram. 



Wild marjoram. Origanum vulgare. 



