412 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



October 



placed in a warm, dry room. Honey will be 

 really benefited by evaporation, if the weather 

 is hot. 



2. In this ca.-e, Dr. Miller's reply, "I don't 

 know," is well fitted. Perhaps the answer to 

 this ^juestion has been found. If so, let us 

 have it. Everybody is welcome to a guess. 



Feeding for Winter 



I'kasc tell nie how to pre; tare granulated 

 sugar to feed -my bees so it will not granulate 

 in combs again It has been so very hot and 

 drv here it has burned up all bloom; will have 

 to feed. INDIANA. 



Answer. — Two pounds of granulated sugar 

 for every pound of water, or 16 jiounds of 

 sugar for each gallon of water. Melt it thor- 

 nughly, then add about two pounds of good 

 lioney. This will prevent its crystallization. 

 You may make it as heavy as 20 j.ounds of 

 sugar to a gallon of water. If the bees take 

 it slowly they can invert the sugar in their 

 honey sack's, so there will be no need of honey. 

 But when you feed fast they cannot keep up a 

 sufficient amount of saliva to invert the sugar, 

 hence the need of honey. This may be re- 

 placed by the addition of about a half ounce of 

 tartaric acid to each gallon of liquid, which 

 causes the same effect. 



Honey From Poison Ivy 



There is an impression here among our 

 older residents that honey has at s(»me lime 

 poisoned some member of their families by 

 being gathered from poison ivy. As I am 

 trying to build up an apiary here, I would 

 like to be in i)osition to refute siich state- 

 ments authoritatively. Will you therefore 

 kindly advise me through the American Bee 

 journal as to whether poison ivy yields nec- 

 tar, and, secondly, does such nectar (if any) 

 necessarily poison the honey ? Would poison 

 ivv honey be dark, or light; bitter, or have any 

 other distinctive taste? NEW HAMl'SHIRE. 



Answer. — Poison ivy {Rhus Toxicodendron) 

 is reported in Pellett's "American Honey 

 Plants," page 252, as secrciting nectar. We 

 are inclined to believe that this idea of its 

 ]iroducing poisonous honey is simply an opin- 

 ion which is not based upon facts. Some peo- 

 ple can never eat honey of any kind without 

 l)ecoming sick. Their stomachs apparently 

 du not assimilate it well. Of course, if any 

 bees had been seen on poison ivy the ten- 

 <lency would be to charge it to the plant. 

 Vet, the proportion of such honey in a crop 

 would be so very insignificant that it would 

 not be noticeable. 



Feedings to Finish Sections 



I have sevfii clonics of bees. I have su- 

 pers on some. 1 would like your advice on 

 the following: 



Would it pay me to feed it at night time ? 

 The idea is for my bees to complete filling th. 

 capped sections with said honey. I can buy 

 sweet clover honey fo about Ific per pound, 

 (an sell my capped sections for 'M)c per pound. 

 Would the bees try to force it into brood 

 frames and Leave not enough room for queen 

 to deposit eggs? NEW YORK. 



Answer. — For completing sections which are 

 already partly filled, it may pay you to buy 

 honey at 16 cents, if you can sell stctions at 

 30 cents. But you may count upon the bets 

 using a good portion of that honey to breed, 

 and also to build comb; so that you will not 

 find it very profitable. Juj»t how much is a 

 (juestion which we cannot settle any Ixtte than 

 the (juestion of how much it will pay you to 

 feed a certain amount of corn to finish fatten- 

 ing your hogs. ' The result is not always the 

 same. 



number of supers filled with comb honey? 



3. How often should comb honey be fumi- 

 gated? NEBRASKA. 



Answers. — 1. You may use burning sulphur 

 or bisulphide of carbon. 



2. Prof. Paddock recommends one quarter 

 ounce of sulphur burned unde- a pile o>f su- 

 pers, for every cubic foot of pace. That is 

 plenty. Be sure and have a few empty supers 

 between the burning sulphur and the combs, 

 so the sulphur will not melt the combs. The 

 sulphur is usually sold in "wicks" by drug- 

 gists, and burned in a metal dish. The bi- 

 sulphide of carbon, poured over the combs or 

 soaked into a cloth, may l)e used in quantities 

 of one-eighth ounce per cubic foot. It is in- 

 flammable and a light should not be brought 

 near. As it is heavier than air, it should be 

 put at the top of the pile. 



3. In ordinary circumstances two fumiga- 

 tions, about two weeks apart, should do the 

 work. The second fumigation is f r eggs 

 which are not yet hatched at the ':jme of the 

 frst fumigation. Of course, the combs should 

 l>ie kept in a closed room where the moths can 

 have no further access to them. 



Winter Packing 



How would it do to pack winter cases of bees 

 with pine needles? We have plenty of them 

 and during the winter we frequently have 

 periods of three weeks that it is 25 degrees 

 below zero. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



Answer. — Pine needles would probably be 

 very good, I do not believe that this pack- 

 ing has ever yet been suggested in the Journal. 

 Try them and report how you succeed. 



ODDS AND ENDS 



The Right Spirit 



I wish to add a little towaras the 

 memorial for Doctor C. C. Miller. I 

 deeply regret that I never hfd the 

 opportunity of meeting him person- 

 ally, but yet I think of him as a 

 friend. One seemed to become ac- 

 quainted with him through his writ- 

 ings. 



I am sorry that I cannot do more. 

 I am a boy 19 years of age, attending 

 the University of Wisconsin. 1 find 

 that it is a great deal easier to write 

 out cheeks while at school than it is 

 to make deposits. 



So, with best wishes, I send this re- 

 mittance from a small beekeeper with 

 a large amount of enthusiasm for the 

 remembrance of a large beekeeper 

 with a large amount of enthusiasm. 

 Walter A. Kuenzli, 

 Wauwatosa, Wis. 



Annual Sweet Clover Coming 



Annual white sweet clover, gener- 

 ally known as Hubam sweet clover, 

 will soon be available to everyone. 



News comes of a farmer in Clark 

 County, Ohio, who sowed 80 acres to 

 this crop in the spring on his farm 

 near Springfield. Mr. James Kitchen, 

 the farmer, expects to i-aise the crop 

 for seed. 



Fumigating Comb Honey 



1. What lb the Ijest for funiig.itiiig sccticni 

 honey ? 



2. How much sliouUl l>c used for .1 given 



One Reason Why Honey is Low 



We try to sell our extracted honey 

 too rapidly. It will keep. People 

 eat it the year round and buy it ev- 

 ery week of the 52. We are foolish 

 to try and force its sale all in the 

 six weeks it is produced. Do not be 

 in a hurry lo sell your extracted 



honey. Demand will certainly be 

 much better in the fall and prices 

 need not be lower. In fact, they 

 may be somewhat higher as soon as 

 the timid ones who seem to b'j afraid 

 it will evaporate or fly away, have 

 sold out. 



Remember that extracted honey 

 will keep — and keep it. — Texas 

 Honey Prod\icers' Bulletin. 



An Interesting Experiment 



A letter from C. G. Golding, of 

 Hankow, China, conveys the infor- 

 mation that a queen mailed from 

 California by P. C. Chadwick, 

 reached China alive after spending 

 47 days in the mails. This is per- 

 haps a record for safe arrival after 

 long confinement. In most cases 

 queens mailed from Europe to Amer- 

 ica have been dead on arrival the 

 past summer, although the time spent 

 in the mails has been much shorter. 



Maine Holds Summer Meetings 



Three summer meetings were held 

 in Maine during the month of August. 

 The first was at Portland on the 15th, 

 the next at Lewiston on the ICth, and 

 the last at Bangor on the 17th. The 

 President, Lester W. Longfellow, and 

 Secretary F. L. Mason, and Frank C. 

 Pellett, spoke at all three o' these 

 meetings. At Portland, State Horti- 

 culturist Frank H. Dudley gave an ad- 

 dress outlining the policy of his de- 

 partment to lend all possible aid fn 

 extending the work of the beekeepers' 

 organization. Dr. Talbot gav'i an in- 

 teresting account of his experience 

 with bee-stings as a cure for gout. A 

 local physician then outlined his 

 methods of beekeeping in the city. At 

 Lewiston Mr. Malloon talked on bee- 

 keeping along with farming. 



The Maine Association was only or- 

 ganized last February, and the inter- 

 est in this first series of summer meet- 

 ings augurs well for the future suc- 

 cess of the organization. 



The New York Summer Series 



The beekeepers of New York State 

 held a series of meetings during the 

 summer. The Western New York 

 Honey Producers' picnic at LaSalle, 

 on July 30, was attended by about 

 150 enthusiastic beekeepers. The api- 

 ai-y of Edwin DeVentier furnished an 

 ideal place for the meeting. In addi- 

 tion to the usual progTani of ad- 

 dresses much time was taken up in 

 discussion of the honey crop, prices 

 and markets. 



The State meeting was held at the 

 Alexander apiai-y at Delanson, on 

 August 5. There was a largj attend- 

 ance and an extended program. Al- 

 len Latham, of Connecticut, vas the 

 principal speaker. Much inteiest was 

 manifested in the apiary, which is so 

 well known to beekeepers everywhere. 



The Northern New York Honey 

 Producers met at C^ampbell's Point, 

 near Sacket's Harbor, on August 11. 

 Here again there was an attendance 

 of about 150 persons, with a full pro- 

 gram and a lively discussion. 



In addition to the above piincipal 

 meetings there were a number of 

 county picnics, some of which were 



