1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



87 9 



able. Are we to reconsider feeding glucose ? 

 [A good deal will depend on the grade of glu- 

 cose used. The ordinary commercial article — 

 that which is used in adulterating honey — is 

 pretty rank stuff ; and while it would be pos- 

 sible, no doubt, to get the bees to take it when 

 mixed half and half with sugar syrup, i; 

 would be a gross imposition on them. The 

 ordinary stuff in this country will be almost 

 sure to winter-kill the bees. Any editor of a 

 bee-paper in this country, who would advocate 

 such a doctrine — feeding glucose, even for the 

 purpose of giving it as a feed and nothing else 

 — would subject himself to some pretty strong 

 criticism. I venture the assertion that, if Mr. 

 Bouvier will keep careful account of the cost 

 of the feeding of this mixture, he will find 

 that, dollar for dollar, the sugar syrup, pure 

 and simple, will be just as cheap as the adul- 

 terated stuff; that is to say, I mean that sugar 

 syrup for bees has, for the same money, as 

 much real food value for bees as any other 

 substitute or mixture costing less. In the 

 same way, it does not pay to feed cheap sor- 

 ghum syrup or any other cheap molasses in 

 place of granulated-sugar syrup. — Ed.] 



(PICKIJSTG& 



'£//!0M OUA NEIGHBORS FIELDS. 



December ! let's now all remember 



The work of the fast-going year ; 

 While snow is a-falling and cold is appalling 



We'll get for our labors great cheer. 



\h 



On page 834, just below the middle of the 

 page, occurs "Comb e, given July 3." It 

 should be, " given July 4." And first column, 

 24th line from the bottom, should be " Comb 

 d has its first cell," not " Comb 6." 

 \i> 



Mr. Walter T. Swingle, agricultural explor- 

 er for the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 has, according to the San Francisco Examin- 

 er, obtained in Siberia a new variety of alfalfa 

 which is capable of sustaining a severe drouth. 

 Some of this has been sent to Paso Robles, 

 where it was grown on soil where no other al- 

 falfa would grow. Owing to this being one 

 of California's most important green feeds, 

 Swingle thought its introduction into the 

 State promised great benefits. 



v)/ 

 BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 

 Mr. Hutchinson visited a large number of 

 bee-keepers in Wisconsin last summer, and, 

 with two exceptions, they winter in cellars or 

 special repositories. He gives a beautiful full- 

 page view of one of these cellars. It shows a 

 large mound of earth in the woods, with an 

 opening in the front like a door in an old- 

 fashioned log house. The illustrated feature 

 of the Review is almost overshadowing the 

 rest of the journal. Mr. Hutchinson is a fine 

 photographer, and finds his highest joy in 

 pointing his camera. Keep it up, Mr. H. 



Dr. Mason favors a shorter spelling, but adds : 

 "If I were to try this new-fangld way I'm 

 sure I'd make a failur of it." He calls it 

 "od." But that spells oad. He means aW. 

 On page 335 I see Trifolimn in car nature. Is 

 that the new way for incarnatum ? 



\i> 



Mr. Taylor objects somewhat to the way in 

 which Gleanings compared the new-process 

 foundation with the old. He says : 



In an article, with illustrations, taken from the 

 Canadian Bee Journal, Gleanings, 712, attempts a 

 comparison of the readiness with which bees work 

 the new-process and the old process foundations. The 

 illustrations are somewhat confusing. The labels 

 they contain are abundant, but are made out with 

 some difficulty by poor eyes ; then each of the three 

 illustrations is put upon the page according to a some- 

 what different plan; and in one case either the label 

 or the explanatory figure below is erroneous. But 

 the chief defect lies in the experiment itself. The 

 "ordinary" foundation with which the comparison is 

 made has no pedigree whatever. The maker is not 

 disclosed; and we have no knowledge of his skill or 

 success in the manufacture of fourdation. The new- 

 process foundation may be decidedly preferable to 

 any other made, but it would be ridiculous to claim 

 that the experiment develops any proof of it. 



As to the quality of old foundation used, 

 our friends in Canada will have to say as to 

 that; but doubtless it was as good as could be 

 had. The incredulity expressed reminds me 

 of the Congressman who admitted that a cer- 

 tain lot of sheep were sheared on the near side, 

 but not necessarily on the other. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 

 Under date of Nov. 4 Mr. W. A. Pryal, of 

 San Francisco, Cal., in writing to Mr. York, 

 says : 



" Recently I embraced the opportunity to make a 

 friendly call upon Mr. Thomas G. Newman, and I 

 was surprised to find that he can see with difficulty. 

 He volunteered the statement that his eyesight is get- 

 ting so bad that he is almost blind. He attributes it 

 to nervousness — he having head-troubles very much. 

 I should say that in this latter affliction he is not alto- 

 gether unlike father Langstroth. I am very sorry for 

 Mr. Newman's misfortune, and I trust he will soon 

 recover his sight. He states that he hopes to take a 

 vacation soon, and spend some time in the uioui. tains 

 recuperating." 



Such an affliction, the worst to which man- 

 kind is subject, certainly calls forth our warm- 

 est sympathies. 



vi/ 



THE AUSTRALASIAN BEE-KEEPER. 



The prevailing question in Australia is how 

 to supply the markets of England with honey. 

 One man sent a small lot of comb honey to 

 London with a quantity of extracted in bot- 

 tles. The comb honey sold at 17 cents per 

 section of one pound, which they regard as a 

 good price, while the honey in bottles was 

 ruined by the fragments of broken glass. 



\»/ 



At a meeting of the Hunter's River Bee- 

 keepers' Association it was resolved to get a 

 consignment of 50 to 100 tons of honey for 

 direct shipment to England. It was the opin- 

 ion of the members that it was useless sending 

 the honey to agents, and take what they 

 thought fit to return for it, but to send home a 

 competent and interested man to sell to the 



