1884 



GLEANmGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



in the fact that many are calling for in truction in 

 this line. F w studies at our Atrrieulturrtl Culletfe 

 win more earnest snirly and real entbusiasra than 

 does entom-'lopy. which einbntces quite thori>iiffh 

 instruction in aplculiure. Lnst >enr we had a 

 Student fr.im England, and this year one from T"x- 

 a«, wbn came especially fur the bee cuiturt-. The 

 fact that Messrs. Jones, H'ddon, and Clute, have 

 respectable classes, shuws that there is a call for 

 more knowledge. We cnn but wish G"d-speed to 

 all these gf'ntlemen in their efforts. Special train- 

 ing is most dnsirable to the would-be apiarist. T > 

 be with such etflcient bee-keepers f"r a season will 

 give a VHntHge gr und that cun hardly be appreciat- 

 ed till enjoyed. The practical apiarist will t)e more 

 proflci^■nt if he has hud the science of oni..mc' )sry 

 and physiology, and other cognate studies; but It 

 he can not, because of age or circumstance, take so 

 much time, let him by all means study and work 

 for a season with some good apiarist. Such a course 

 will never be regretted. 



Now just a word about the sugar. I have 

 never yet seen any granulated sugar that was 

 adulterated with grape sugar. It could not 

 be adulterated with glucose, because glucose 

 is a liquid and always a liquid. I presume 

 you know I am at home in this matter, and 

 have always proved my position. There are 

 two kinds of sugar prominently known in 

 chemistry — grape sugar and cane sugar. 

 We get pure cane sugar from sugar-cane, 

 beets, maple-trees, and other sources. It is 

 easily procured chemically pure from any of 

 these sources, by its well-known property of 

 crystallization. If you buy a jug of maple mo- 

 lasses, and keep it any length of time, you 

 will find crystals of pure sugar, or rock 

 candy, on the sides of the jug. J3y washing 

 these crystals you will have sugar chemical- 

 ly pure, without any maple taste about them. 

 The same kind of sugar can be produced 

 from beets, and recently from sorghum su- 

 gar. No matter what the source, it is the 

 same — white, hard, dry, and sweet. Now, 

 if any other substance can be found possess- 

 ing all these properties, it might be used to 

 adulterate pure cane sugar. Giape sugar 

 comes nearest to it, but grape sugar does not 

 crystallize. Cane sugar always crystallizes, 

 or forms rock candy, as it is called. Coffee 

 A sugar may be adulterated with grape su- 

 gar, because it is sometimes more or less 

 moist ; and a fine hard quality of grape, 

 grated into it, might not at once be detected. 

 If mixed together, it is not a very hard mat- 

 ter to separate them. Dissolved in water, 

 cane sugar will form x;rystals, while the 

 grape sugar will get hard, like tallow, as it 

 were. Granulated sugar, at least the kind 

 we buy, is formed of dry hard crystals, or 

 little bits of rock candy. With a magnify- 

 iug-.glass it looks exactly like lumps of rock 

 candy. If grape sugar were grated up and 

 put into it, it would look under the magnify- 

 ing-glass like little lumps of tallow, and it 

 would stick the grains of cane sugar togeth- 

 er, something as lumps of tallow would; so 

 that, instead of running like sand, it would set 

 together in lumps, as coffee sugar and brown 

 sugar do. Now, It may be they have invent- 

 ed something to put into granulated sugar 

 that I have not seen and do not know of ; 

 but if they have, I should be glad to see it. 

 Please excuse me, if I once more suggest that, 

 in writing about sugars, we bear in mind 

 that grape sugar is a solid body, like lard, 

 and is a liquid only when melted, as lard is; 

 ajid that glucose is a liquid and always a 



liquid. It may be made thick, by lowering 

 the temperature, so that a saucer full may be 

 inverted ; but even then it is transparent, 

 and not opaque, like grape sugar. 



KEEPING THE BEES FKOITI SWARITI- 

 ING ON MJNDAV. 



ARE WE AT PRESENT EQUAL TO THE TASK OF MAN- 

 AGING TRR MiVTTEB' 



fjRIEXD ROOT:— Tdh. article in last Gleanings, 

 from L. L. Langstroth, concerning holding 

 back swarms for a day or so, or while at 

 church, is wort h many times the price of Gleanings, 

 if it can only be made to work. I have repeatedly 

 said that I would give quite a sum, if I could only 

 control swarming without so much work, handling 

 over the sections, and cutting out queen-cells, giv- 

 ing brood, extracting from the brood-chamber, etc. 

 Eithei or all of the above remedies, when applied to 

 a hundred swarms, as often as it is necessary to pre- 

 vent swarming, is more than I want to do, especially 

 while running for comb honey; and now I wish to 

 give at least one reason why I am afraid that con- 

 fining the queen will not be a success. The queen 

 by no means leads out the swarm, and is many 

 times among the very last to leave the hive; now, 

 my opinion is, that the bees will swarm, even if the 

 queen is confined. There would be no great harm 

 in this, if they would only return to their own hive; 

 but my experience is, that with hives sitting six feet 

 apart, the bees, after circling in the air, very often 

 return without their queen, to some neighboring 

 hive, and especially might this be the case should 

 two or three swarms issue at the same time. 



Now, friend Root, if there is any thing in the above 

 that you can make use of, do so; 1 do earnestly hope 

 for some such simple remedy or prevention of 

 swarming. 



FUEL FOR SMOKERS. 



Two years ago, if I am not mistaken, I told you to 

 tell the brother bee-keepers to try toad-stools, and 

 they do work remarkably well, and I had not a 

 thought but that bee-keepers could get plenty of 

 them, which it seems they can not do. Now, I have 

 another article to offer, which I know that some of 

 you can get in great abundance. It is the tassel 

 from cat-tail flag. We call them cat-tails; get them 

 before they get too ripe, and dry them thoroughly. 

 Drop a few coals into the smoker; crowd in two or 

 three of them, and you are loaded for a good long 

 job. You would think the downy things would burn 

 out quickly, but they will not, and do not blow 

 sparks. George H. Sprague. 



Haskinvillc, N. Y., Dec. 14, 1883. 



Friend S., I think you are right, or at least 

 partially right. Even if we do control the 

 queen, and keep her. it is a pretty bad thing 

 to have bees rumaging without the queen, 

 and I have sometimes thought I would rath- 

 er take the chance of letting the queen go 

 along with them. The best safe-guard I 

 know of against having swarms on Sunday 

 is to take their honey away with an extrac- 

 tor ; and if they get over-populous, lake 

 away some of their brood, or, what amounts 

 to the same thing, swarm them artiticially. 

 If one wants to raise comb honey, I know it 

 is a little risky ; but giving them an abun- 

 dance of room in tUe sections, and keeping 



