28. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1. 



DK. MILLERS FLAX OF WIXTERING ALL RIGHT. 



Tell Dr. Miller that I have wintered with 

 perfect success in single-walled hives packed 

 with straw, similar to his plan, only I left them 

 where they stood, and put a cushion over the 

 frames and piled straw up around the sides. 

 All mv hives face the south; and unless the 

 winter is severe I do not protect the south side. 

 If you use good long oat straw there is no trou- 

 ble about its wetting in; at least, I have had 

 none in six vears' experience. The only trouble 

 is its untidy looks: but if it is neatly done it 

 doesn't look so bad. It is no more trouble to 

 put on and take off than outside cases, and is 

 decidedly cheaper: and. besides, there is not a 

 lot of loose traps to house. We have to winter 

 outdoors here, as all the cellars are very damp. 

 Do vou remember my speaking of having trou- 

 ble with mv bees going to a neighbor"s well of 

 soft water last summer? Well. I took A. I. R."s 

 advice, and drilled for that vein of soft water, 

 and got it: and since then my bees trouble no- 

 body's well but my own. John Eurk. 



Bracevilie, 111.. Dec. 21. 



THE KAWEAH COLONY A THING OF THE PAST. 



A few months ago I wrote Gleanings a let- 

 ter, denouncing the above colony as a fraud and 

 a swindle (see page .59.5 for July 1.5. 1891). I re- 

 ceived some very sharp replies to said article. 

 As I stated. I had investigated the workings of 

 said colony, and I knew there was dishonesty 

 and rascality in the management to such an ex- 

 tent that it was sure to come to naught. A few 

 rogues were gaining money in handsome sums 

 of the poor, honest, and confiding toilers, by 

 misrepresentations, iics' weie the game. lam 

 happy to infoi'm your readers that Kaweah 

 Colony is a thing of the past. It has gradually 

 sunk into its inevitable fate. It is dead— so 

 recognized by its leaders, and almost if not all 

 of its members here in Tulare County. They 

 have sent out a circular to that effect, and sev- 

 eral leading papers have published long articles 

 on the same. J. G. (Jilstrap. 



Last. Cal., Dec. 25, 1891. 



pure GRANULATED SUGAR FOR BEES. 



Friend Root: — It occurs to me that the sub- 

 ject of pure sugar for food for bees is one of na- 

 tional importance to bee-keepers, and ought to 

 receive the attention due it. Last fall I fed 

 two colonies with syrup made of granulated 

 sugar, with about 3€ extracted honey added. I 

 now find that the sugar is not only granulated, 

 but caked hard in the combs. 



We are having nice warm weather, bees fly- 

 ing, and 1 have taken advantage of this to ex- 

 amine some of my bees, and I fear I shall lose 

 the two fed with sugar. I have seen it stated 

 somewhere that confectioner's " A " sugar is 

 better and purer than granulated: that bees 

 fed the granulated went through the winter in 

 a weakened condition, and would soon die out. 

 I am no chemist: but this seems to me to be 

 very reasonable. Could not Prof. Cook analyze 

 the two grades of sugar, and report through the 

 Ijee- journals? Can't you arrange to have him 

 doit? Would it not be better still to have a 

 pure sugar manufactured especially for bee- 

 keepers—one that would not easily granulate ? 

 It occurs to me that the Bee-keepers' Union 

 could arrange with some reliable manufacturer 

 to have such a sugar made and sold to bee- 

 keepers at wholesale prices for about the same 

 as granulated sugar. It might be furnished to 

 members of the Union at wholesale prices, and 

 charge a small advance to those not members. 

 This might be the means of greatly increasing 

 the membership of the Union. I am going to 

 join the Union myself this coming year, and 

 expect to remain a member of it. If such a 



sugar is made I will take 10 barrels next July 

 and would take 15 to 20 barrels every year 

 thereafter. I would also suggest that it be put 

 up in barrels of a uniform size of 350 lbs. each. 



T. K. Massie. 

 Concord Church. W. Va.. Dec. 23. 



[We have not been able to detect any differ- 

 ence in granulated sugar. We have used a 

 great deal, in feeding, that made from the beet, 

 and some from cane sugar, but we were not 

 aljle to notice any difference in results. We 

 have always regarded granulated sugar as a 

 pure article, and the most uniform and pure of 

 any sweet known. ' It is next thing to impossi- 

 ble to adulterate it with cheaper sweets, and 

 yet have the fact concealed. Still, we may be 

 mistaken, and therefore solicit facts from those 

 who are in a position to know.] 



Notes of Travel 



FROM A. . ROOT. 

 AT COLOR.\DO SPRINGS. 



Dec. I. — I met Prof. Cook, his good wife, and 

 their son. Albert Cook, but we usually call him 

 •■ Bert," for short. 



As I described things fully, thi'ee years ago, 

 along here, I have not thought best to write 

 them up again now. Bert is a fine strong active 

 boy of 18, and bids fair to be his father over 

 again. 



Although we were having very fair summer 

 weather. 1 told my companions that, before we 

 got over the mountain summit, we should have 

 winter, and perhaps sleighing: but they laugh- 

 ed at my prediction; but when a two-horse 

 sleigh at Leadville took us from the station to 

 the hotel they began to have more respect for 

 my knowledge of mountains and altitudes. Bert 

 took occasion, after supper, to have a skate in a 

 city whose altitude is greater than any other of 

 its size in the world. One would suppose, of 

 course, that lead was the principal mineral in 

 and around Lcf(f7ville: but not so. Gold and 

 silver aiv thi- minerals that give the place its 

 celebrity. The grand canyons of the Arkansas 

 and Rio Grande, with their rocks and strata, 

 gave, of course, much food for talk and study; 

 but Prof. Cook tells us that geologists nowadays 

 do not give earthquakes much credit in ac- 

 counting for this wonderful region. The con- 

 traction of the earth in cooling, and the action 

 of water, which has very evidently, at some 

 time, covered much if not all of this region, it 

 is thought, has done most of it. 



The convention at Salt Lake City, Dec. 3 and 

 4. was fairly well attended, and our efforts re- 

 sulted in getting well under way a pennanent 

 organization. This seems much needed for sev- 

 eral reasons. Foul brood has been making 

 great havoc in some localities around here: and 

 for some time back, but little has been done 

 about it. The market price of honey has also 

 been a good deal demoralized. The price has 

 been allowed to go down because no one has 

 gathered up the product and sent it off where it 

 would command a proper price. I am greatly 

 indebted to two bee-friends. Henry Taufer and 

 J. C. Swaner. for making my visit pleasant. 

 Salt Lake has now over .50,000 inhabitants, and 

 over 75 miles of electric street-cars. Three 

 years ago such a thing was unknown here; but 

 now they have runs equal to 12 miles in a single 

 straight line, and they run up the mountain- 

 side, and along the "mesa "* wherever cottages 

 are found, until horses and wagons are almost 



*Mesa is a Spanish word meaning table, or any 

 level spot on the mountain side or summit. 



