1S'.12 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



SS>7 



Ai.»>.\"«i witli thi' L;iii«sirotli Ivoniiiiiscciiccs 

 w«« prt'Sfiil u fiill-iipiin' vi<>\v of llic " ■^r^iuul old 

 niiui "■ a>< liP iiou appears in his latter days. 

 Till" liaif-tonc is copied liom a piciurr laUcii by 

 a bro-kccpcr and ainal*'iir phototriaplicr. who. 

 si't'iiifi .Mr. I.ansrstroth in a park near his home 

 ill Dayton. ().. took a shot. Tin- artist, if we 

 reinenibtM" correctly, was a Mr. Reynolds, of 

 Dayton, and we hereby acknowledge our 

 thanks. Although tho picture was taken near- 

 ly two years ago. it shows our much respected 

 friend and benefactor exactly as he is to-day. 

 In our next issue wi- will siiow a handsome bust 



fncture. taken when ho, was in the prime of his 

 ife — one large enough to l)e framed. By the 

 way. we hope these Reminiscenct^s and jior- 

 traits will remind some of the friends wlio look 

 on that kindly face, of their forgotten self-as- 

 sumed obligation — that annuity fund. 



FKKinNG bkp:s sugar to make iioxey. 

 Pkku.\1's there is not much need of any thing 

 more being said on this subjeci: but a point 

 occurs to me here which serves to show how 

 incongruous is the whole thing. Bee-keepers 

 all over our land have beiMi feeding sugar syrup 

 for winter stores ever since the first bee-journal 

 was published. If this sugar syrup remains 

 very long in the combs it is almost sure to gran- 

 ulate, and different substances have been used 

 to prevent this granulation; and our veteran 

 friend Doolittle has given us the very best rem- 

 edy for said granulation: namely, adding a 

 small quantity of reitl honey. Now, if sugar 

 syrup, after being fed to bi-es, becomes honey. 

 what an absurdity to think of adding real hon- 

 ey to something that is (dready real honey I 

 Once in a great while there may be trouble 

 from real honey candying in the cells. This is 

 very rare compared with the dilTficulties we 

 have with sugar syruji turning back to dry 

 sugar so it rattles out of the combs. Just one 

 thing more: In that report about the forty 

 students, it is stated that they were unable to 

 detect the sugar syrup from basswood and 

 clover honey. If this Tueets the eye of anv 

 of those forty students. I wish they would stand 

 up and tell us if it were really true that they 

 could not tell /jr».s.sji'oo(7 honey from sugar syrup 

 after it had been fed to the bees. The sti-ong 

 aromatic flavor of basswood is so well known 

 and universally recognized that it floes not 

 seem possible that (iinjlKnlij could taste one; and 

 then the other, and pronounce them ailke in any 

 respect. Isn't there some mistake ? A. I. R. 



ADULTERATING HONEY — IS IT I'RACTICED ? IF 

 SO. W'If.\T SHALL WE DO ABOUT IT? 



In the Aincric(i)i Bee Jouriidl for Nov. IT. 

 Prof. Cook has an able article in which he 

 shows the extent to which honey is adulterated. 

 As chemists are now able to successfully detect 

 all sorts of honey mixtures, he urges that our 

 States adopt good laws, such as. for instanci;. 

 Michigan has. In his opinion, the National 

 Bee-keepers' Union is just the organization to 

 f^nforce them, becau-e good laws will not en- 

 force themselves. Undei- the very able man- 

 agement of Mr. Newman, and with a modified 

 constitution, he thinks the I'nion could nuike 

 things lively. In the ni'xt Amerlcdn Bee Jour- 

 iKil Mr. Newman replif;s. So far. he says, not 

 one of the members of the Union has asked to 

 have the organization reorganized. 



Right here may we suggest that people gen- 

 erally will not express themselves unless given 

 an opportunity to votfe. If the General Man- 

 ager would state, in a circular letter, the desir- 

 ability of having the constitution changed, and 

 submit to them a voting blank, which they 

 could return, we feel sure that every one would 

 ask for the change. 



But to return: The present (ieneral Manager, 

 on accoiintof ill health, feels that he is unable 

 to assume such added resiiousibility. It would 

 need a youtiger man, ln' thinks — one. full of 

 vigor and push. Mr. Newman is ^/k; man, but 

 if he is not available wi' would recomuKMid 

 som(^ bee-keep(>i' who is also a lawyer and legis- 

 lator — such a person, for instance, as K. L. Tay- 

 lor. With a B(!e-keepers' Union of '){M) mem- 

 bers, its chief could be salaried, and yet have 

 necessary funds for carrying on the "work of 

 sei'uring evidence, and aiT(!Sting and prosecut- 

 ing the guilty parti(?s. But how about the 

 membership? We feel that a very large num- 

 ber of our own subscribers (and this will be 

 true of the constituency of other bie-papers) 

 would till a membership blank and planlc (If)wn 

 a dollar if a return envelope were placed before 

 them. 



The reason, we think, why there has not 

 been a more hearty response before is because 

 we have not yet given those who are (^/Y/Zt/ent 

 about writing, an opportunity to express them- 

 selves. At any rate, it would not cost a great 

 deal to try the experi'uent. Out of our over ten 

 thousand paid-up subscribers, to every one of 

 whom we would "submit blanks, we fe(>l pretty 

 sure we could get pretty close on to 2000 who 

 would become members of that organization. 

 The present Union does not offer enough sub- 

 stantial benefits to make the mass of bee-keepers 

 feel the necessity of enrolling their names. 

 But a Union that could not only defend them 

 against disagreeable neighbors, but could also 

 ferret, out and cairy on succe.ssfully prosecu- 

 tions against adulterators — in fact, champion 

 th(> rights of bee-keepers in all things, would 

 offer sutticient inducements to call out a large 

 support from bee-keepers. We should like to 

 hear from our pi'ominent contributors, for next 

 issue, as well as from the General Manager 

 through the Ainericnn Bee Journal. There is 

 yet time enough for us to get the matter in such 

 shape that it can be presented before the nation- 

 al association at Washington. 



THE WIRING OF FRAMES — TO WHAT EXTENT IS 

 IT I'RAf'TICED ? 



There has been considerable discussion of 

 late, particularly in Canada, as to the advisa- 

 bility of wiring frames. Some have gone so far 

 as to hold that very little of it is done now by 

 practical bee-lteepers. It so happens that we 

 supply all the tinned wire used in this country, 

 a large part of it in Canada, and in Australia, 

 the manufacturers of that article not caring to 

 job to more than one house. We find. V)y look- 

 ing over our books, that we sold, last season, 

 over two tons of No. :iO tinned wire, and that 

 during 'a very poor year for bee-keepers. It 

 takes anywhere from <> to 10 ounces of wire for 

 a hundred brood-frames, and this goes to show 

 that anywhere from 700,000 to about 1.(K)0.0(Xi 

 1) rood-frames were ivlred during the last sea- 

 son; and in a fairly good year it will not be un- 

 reasonable to suppose that the number would 

 reach fully L.'iOO.oW). From these figures it is 

 pretty evidcMit that the great majority of intel- 

 ligent be(!- keepers practice wiring, iiolwith- 

 standirg a few prominent bee-keepers argue 

 that it is a useless expense and a waste of time. 

 We have heard this argued soberly in conven- 

 tions : and one or two. we remember, seemed to 

 think it conclusive that wiring was uniKccessa- 

 ry, simply because they never liad a comb break 

 down in moving bees nor in (extracting. It is 

 well to I'emember that "one swallow does not 

 make a summer:" and it should also be remem- 

 bered that colonies on fixed frames, with combs 

 wired, can be handled much more rapidly than 

 colonies on loo.^e frames not wired. Th(! ex- 

 pense of wiring 100 frames, if it is done at odd 



