56 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 15. 



man who can make hives with a hand-saw, 

 hammer, and plane, and have every thing 

 come out right, is a genius. I don't know 

 but that we should do well to get jou to come 

 to Medina and make hives with machinery. 

 It was I who wrote most of the matter on hive- 

 making in the A B C — at least, that portion 

 describing how to make the Dovetailed hive, 

 or modifications of it. I am pleased that you 

 succeeded so admirably. — Ed.] 



The article on foul brood, by J. A. Buchan- 

 an, page 48, will bear careful reading. It 

 seems to show beyond a doubt that a few min- 

 utes' boiling of honey does not necessarily 

 kill the germs in honey from diseased colonies. 



JUST at the last minute I am told the " Roll 

 of Honor " department had to be left over un- 

 til next issue. "Barney" said he didn't 

 know but A. I. R. would be " mad " and so I 

 am, but we will make next issue larger to take 

 in a " good lot " of the big pile of letters on 

 my desk. A. I. R. 



I should like to know, for curiosity, wheth- 

 er our readers would like to have fewer long 

 articles and more short items. I put this 

 question a few years ago, and the general re- 

 sponses seemed to be, " Keep the departments 

 as they are." What is your pleasure, dear 

 readers? 



The temperature of bee-cellars should be 

 watched these days. It should not ordinarily 

 be allowed to go much above 50 nor below 40. 

 Do not be alarmed if there are a lot of dead 

 bees on the floor. The most perfect bee-cellar 

 ever devised will not prevent the old fellows 

 from flying out on the cellar bottom, and dy- 

 ing there. 



Now is the time to put together hives, sec- 

 tions, and every thing else needed for next 

 season's work in the apiary. It is bad policy 

 to put it off. There are days in winter when 

 the farmer or bee-keeper has a good deal of 

 spare time at his disposal, and he ought to 

 make these days save as much labor as possi- 

 ble during the rush. 



Quite an extended dialog between J. E. 

 Crane and myself has been taken down in 

 shorthand. I simply acted as the pump, and 

 Mr. Crane the well of information. The mat- 

 ter is very readable and interesting, and will 

 be supplemented by some half-tones showing 

 Mr. Crane and your humble servant in very 

 warm "Ernest" conversation. We are at 

 present waiting for the pictures. 



We often get inquiries on how to make a 

 bee candy for a winter feed when combs of 

 sealed stores are not to be had. The best 



candy is the Good or Scholz, and is made in 

 this way: Mix sugar and honey into a stiff 

 dough; allow it to stand for a couple of days 

 in a warm place and then knead in more sugar. 

 Granulated sugar may be used; but powdered, 

 or, better still, confectioners', is much better. 



BEES NEAR BY ALMOST A NECESSITY TO 

 SUCCESSFUL FRUIT GROWING. 



WE quote the following from Press Bulletin 

 No. 8 of the Kansas Experiment Station, Man- 

 hattan, Kan. The italics are my own : 



If bees are kept from fruit-blossoms by netting or 

 other artificial means, the amount of fruit set is little 

 or none. It not infrequently happens that inclement 

 weather prevects or hinders the flying of bees during 

 the period when the flowers are receptive. A fruit- 

 tree, half of which was subjected to a continuous 

 spray of water during the flowering period, produced 

 no fruit upon the sprayed portion, but an abundance 

 upon the other. A failure due to the above-mention- 

 ed cause can not well be prevented, but may be mod- 

 ified by having bees near at hand to utilize the short 

 favorable periods which do occur. 



An insufficient supply of bees will hinder the setting 

 of fruit. While other insects may take part in the 

 carrjing of pollen, the fruit-raiser must rely chiefly 

 upon honey-bees. Experience shows that, though 

 hungry bees may fly two or three miles, hives should 

 be within half a" mile of the 'orchard or small-fruit 

 patch. 



I notice similar reports in almost all of our 

 agricultural papers ; and it is not only the 

 fruit-growers, but even growers of melons, 

 etc., that must have bees for the most success- 

 ful crops. I suppose you remember what was 

 said at Omaha in regard to the Rocky Ford 

 cantaloupe-melon growers. — A. I. R. 



THE GENEVA CONVENTION ; OUR APOLOGY. 



An apology is due to the members of the 

 New York Association of Bee-keepers' Socie- 

 ties, which held its last meeting at Geneva, 

 N. Y., Jan. 11. I was invited to be present, 

 and to read a paper on foul brood ; but at the 

 last minute circumstances over which I had 

 no control prevented my leaving. I had my 

 trains picked out, and paper partially prepar- 

 ed, so that my intentions were good. Anoth- 

 er apology is due to these bee-keepers from 

 the fact that we failed to publish a notice of 

 their convention. It reached us from the sec- 

 retary, Harry S. Howe, in time, but it was 

 sidetracked with some other matter, and was 

 overlooked till it was too late for it to appear 

 in Gleanings. 



I have made arrangements so that hereafter 

 all convention notices will go direct to the 

 printers, for one or two other similar notices 

 have been sidetracked in "my pile " awaiting 

 my attention. 



If the York State bee-keepers will give me 

 another chance I will try to redeem myself. 



DEATH OF J. P. ISRAEL ( SKYLARK). 



The following note, just received from J. 

 M. Hambaugh, formerly of Brown, 111., now 

 residing in California, will explain itself : 



Friend Root: — It becomes our painful duty to tell 

 you of the death of our old friend and correspondent 

 J. P. Israel, alias " Skylark," which took place last 

 Sunday, the 1st. I will furnish particulars as soon as 

 I receive them. J. M. Hsmbaugh. 



Escondido, Cat, Jan. 3. 



