880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1. 



And so on indefinitely. All tliese questions, and 

 many more, will be asked by the public in their 

 effort to avoid getting- .something spurious. But 

 suppose we wish to be honest with our trade, and 

 tell the truth at all co.st. We then converse thus: 



"Mr. Smitii. on my next trip I will deliver to any 

 of my customers who desire it .some nice sugar- 

 syrup honev." 



"What is that?" 



"Oh! I liave a new method of making honey now 

 on my farm. I mix up a barrel of nice granulated 

 sugar, Al quality, with water, in a boiler; and, 

 when dissolved and cool, I feed it to my 100 colonies 

 of bees, and they build beautiful white combs, just 

 like this, and fill them with the nice clear sugar 

 syrup, and cap it over nicely, so you could not tell 

 but the bees had gathered it from field flowers " 



"I don't think I should like it to eat on my table, 

 sir; but as I have bought of you for some years, 

 and was alwaj's pleased, I'll try some; what are you 

 going to ask for it ? '" 



"Twenty-four cents a pound, sir, and that is cheap 

 for such pretty white combs in 1-lb. sections." 



"How much a pound did you pay for the sugar 

 you fed your bees ? " 



" Oh ! that has nothing at all to do with it, sir; the 

 time of the bees is very valuable, and tliey really 

 change it into lioney in putting it into the combs. 

 I buy the sugar cheap in large quantities, 4X cts. 

 per lb., but it costs lots to get it into the combs, and 

 it costs lots to deliver it to my customeis." 



" Well, sir, I am sorry; but I will buy me 10 lbs. of 

 granulated sugar in the morning for 50 cts., and 

 add 5 lbs. of water, and make 15 lbs. of honey just 

 as good as yours. By this I shall save the difference 

 between 50 cts. and $;3.60— a saving of $3.10 on 15 lbs. 

 of honey; and my wife can make up enough on 

 Saiurday to last a week." 



Here is another customer. " How d' do, Mr. 

 Jones? Don't you want some of my nice sugar- 

 syrup honey?" 



''Sugar! Syntp! Honey! Get out of my store, 

 you miserable elieat ! " 



" Why, Mr. Jones, didn't I always sell yau nice 

 honey ?" 



"No, sir. That first lot was nice— tiiey always 

 bring the fir.st lot nice; it was white and clear, just 

 like pure lioney, but tliat next lot was brown, and 

 tasted different. You told me there was a differ- 

 ence in honey, and I almost believed, bein's you was 

 a pleasant feller, and spoke fair; but now I'know it 

 was a lie, for I alters knew all honey was alike; and 

 you dare to otter me sugar-.syrup honey ! Tliere's 

 the door, and never come in here again. Git ! " 



There is great objection, in my opinion, to the use 

 of the terms "digested nectar." "Digested " means 

 "separated into nutritive and innutritiovis ele- 

 ments"— Webster. Any other meaning is unusual 

 and rare. The use of this term in relation to honey 

 would seem to indicate that the honey was swal- 

 lowed by the bees, subjected to the action and 



juices of their digestive organs, and then up 



into the wax cells to be used as human food. 



With all respect to our chemists, and in view of 

 the serious mistakes they liave at times made in 

 essential matters, I am of the opinion that evapora- 

 tion is the only chemical change lioney undergoes 

 in the cold or elsewhere. I should be glad to know 

 the result of more searching investigation along 

 this line. 



The question of suppressing discussion and muz- 

 zling the public press is one that comes up at all 

 times and in all lands. In our own free America 

 (the best country on earth) this question has been 

 settled in favor of absolute freedom, without regard 

 to the injury it may do a particular person or class. 

 The only remedy seems to be a suit for damages 

 against the offending party; and, however mucli 

 we as bee-keepers may deprecate any discussion in 

 our bee-journals that may put our business in a bad 

 light before the public, we have no remedy but tliis. 

 Let each one who writes be sincere, and" keep the 

 best interests of bee-keepers at large in view, and 

 deal with the public in a truthful, straightforward 

 manner, not indicating that we have any skeletons 

 to hide in dark closets. To the public'the fact of 

 having a secret is of itself a suspicious circum- 

 stance, for it knows that right and truth need not 

 fear the light. Herman F. Moore. 



Chicago, 111., Nov. 21. 



And another writes, whose name we are also 

 at liberty to give, as follows: 

 Ml-. Root:— Yonv notes on the sugar-honey ques- 



tion, p. 834, are right to the point. It is too bad for 

 such men as Hutchinson, Cook, and others among 

 the headlights, to even speak in favor of sugar hon- 

 ey, even if it were a fact that sucli might be made. 

 East Constable, N. Y. H. P. Langdon. 



As some of the criticisms may seem a little 

 harsh, though not intended to be so. it were no 

 more than fair that Prof. Cook and Mr. Hutch- 

 inson have an opportunity to reply if they so 

 desire; after which we think it would be better 

 to close the discussion.] 



"WINTER PASSAGEWAYS. 



DOOLITTLE BELIEVES THAT WINTER PASSAGE- 

 WAYS ARE OF NO MATERIAL BENEFIT; 

 CAUSE OF BEES DYING AWAY 

 FROM THE CLUSTER. 



A correspondent writes that he thinks that 

 much of the loss of bees in winter comes from 

 '■ chill, or the impression of cold on the bees 

 occupying the outer ranges of comb during sud- 

 den changes from warm to very cold weather. 

 Especially is the loss very considerable from 

 this source where the comb passages are defi- 

 cient, as in such case the detached clusters are 

 unable readily to join the main cluster, and are 

 not in sufficient numbers to maintain the re- 

 quisite degree of heat, hence are lost. What is 

 your opinion in this matter?" 



In the above our cori'espondent brings up a 

 subject which was discussed at length several 

 years ago, when there was a "craze." as it 

 were, for "winter passageways" through the 

 combs. The argument then brought forth was, 

 that, on the first cold spell, the cluster of bees 

 was obliged to contract in order to maintain 

 the necessary heat required: and in doing so, 

 those occupying the outer ranges of comb, be- 

 ing in a sluggish state from the influence of the 

 cold, failed to pass up and around the combs 

 quick enough to keep up with the receding 

 cluster, hence were left to perish with the cold. 

 To obviate this loss, winter passageways were 

 recommended thi'ough the center of the combs, 

 made by boring holes through them, or by hav- 

 ing a curled shaving suspended in each frame 

 when the swarm was hived, so that the bees 

 would of themselves leave such passageways 

 when constructing comb. By this means the 

 outer bees had direct communication with the 

 cluster or main body of bees in the center of 

 the hive, so that, even though partly stiffened 

 with cold, they could easily recede so as to keep 

 up with the main cluster. As the bees would, 

 as a rule, fill up these passageways each sum- 

 mer, it was found to be quite a job to make 

 them each fall, when some one proposed boring 

 a hole in the side of the hive at the proper 

 place, when, with a square stick, pointed at 

 the end, which was to be slowly " wormed " (so 

 as not to kill the bees) through to the opposite 

 side of the hive, and thus make a passage 

 through all the combs at once, thus making 

 quite a saving of labor. Where such passage- 

 ways are desired, probably there is no better 

 way of securing them than this last, as the 

 holes in all of my older hives testify that I used 

 it on a large scale in the past, so I should know 

 something about it. However, it was soon 

 found that the bees would remain and die with- 

 in half an inch of these holes in the combs; 

 and as said holes were quite a damage to the 

 combs (the bees filling them with comb of the 

 drone size the ne.xt sea.son), the practice of 

 making such passageways has been generally 

 given up, I believe. Some who still cling to 

 the idea use what is known as the " Hill de- 

 vice " above the combs, as a sort of compromise, 

 which is better, if any thing must be used; but 

 after careful experiments with the above, the 



