896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1. 



as well as the government of rightful postage. 

 I would not take space in a paid for journal 

 for the discussion of supplies except that I 

 know that such a subject is of general inter- 

 est, especially when it relates to changes and 

 improvements. For instance, I take two bicy- 

 cle papers, and there is not a department in 

 these papers that is of more interest to me 

 than the general discussion, from the manu- 

 facturers' standpoint of view, of various im- 

 provements that are introduced from time to 

 time; and the same is true in regard to photo- 

 graphic journals. In bringing up the discus- 

 sion of supplies in a bee-journal, one should 

 have in view the placing of something of gen- 

 eral interest before his readers. By so doing 

 he often gathers suggestions which, if he is a 

 manufacturer, he may be able to incorporate 

 into his supplies, thus benefiting the fraternity 

 at large. I have of late invited criticism on 

 the things we make. The result has been that 

 we slightly changed the construction of sev- 

 eral of the things we manufacture. The dis- 

 cussion in the first place is interesting, and the 

 result in the end is permanent gain for the bee 

 business as a whole. 



portion of it to settle at the bottom, and strain 

 through the cheese-cloth. In the morning we 

 had a bag of dry bits of comb, or almost dry, 

 and a tub of clear extracted honey. 



BEE-KEEPERS' INSTITUTES FOR NEW YORK. 



The following letter from W. F. Marks will 

 explain itself : 



I wish to call attention to the bee-keepers' institutes 

 to be held in this State next month under the auspices 

 of the Bureau of Farmers' Institutes, F. E. Vawley, 

 director. This is a new departure; but if bee-keepers 

 will take hold and show that they appreciate and 

 deserve them, we hope to make them a permanent 

 feature of our work in this State. 



I inclo e a clipping from the Country Gentleman, 

 giving a list of meetings alieady assured, and should 

 be pleased to have you give this mention in your next 

 issue, and also urge the bee-keepers in the several 

 localities to take an active interest in them. 



" By special arrangement with the State Bee-keep- 

 ers' Association, the director will hold bee-keepers' 

 institutes (papers and discussions be ng confined en- 

 tirely to the apiary) at the following places and dates: 

 Batavia, Genesee Co., Dec. 13; Canandaigua, Ontario 

 Co., Dec. 14, 15; Romulus Seneca Co., Dec. 19; Cort- 

 land, Cortland Co., Dec. 20; Auburn, Cayuga Co., Dec. 

 21; Geneva, Ontario Co., Jan. 10." 



Chapinville, N. Y., Nov. 20, 1899. W. F. Marks. 



I should really like to attend some of these 

 institutes, but I fear it will not be possible for 

 me to do so. 



WHAT TO DO WITH BADI/V MASHED COMB 

 HONEY. 

 WE lately received a shipment of comb 

 honey, and in this was a lot that was about as 

 badly smashed as it could be. Some of it was 

 so jammed and mangled, if I may use that 

 word, that it was not even fit to put out for 

 chunk honey. The better part of it we placed 

 in wooden butter-dishes, and sold for chunk 

 honey. The rest we put into a large cheese- 

 cloth bag and then suspended it over a tub. It 

 hung thus over night, and the next morning 

 the liquid portion of the hone}' had all run 

 out, leaving practically nothing but dry combs 

 and pieces of combs in the sack. Of course, 

 if there had been sealed honey it would not 

 have drained ; but that to which I refer was so 

 badly smashed there were no cappings over 

 the cells. The particles of wax floated on the 

 surface of the honey, leaving the clear liquid 



/. .S". B., Ark. — We do not recommend 

 Hoffman frames for Southern climates, or any 

 locality where propolis is deposited very freely. 

 Our staple-spaced frame should be used in 

 places where bee-glue is very plentiful. 



H. E. IV., Cat. — You can not very well rear 

 queens before warm weather sets in. You can 

 do something at it, however, during cool 

 weather, providing the hive is warmly packed 

 in chaff or some other equally good material. 

 Next spring bees should be fed a little daily — 

 preferably with warm feed ; then proceed as 

 described in Queen-rearing in the new edition 

 of our ABC book. 



W. C. B., Midi. — I would not feed sorghum 

 molasses or any other cheap stuff to the bees for 

 winter food. As a general rule it may be said 

 that granulated sugar, for the money, contains 

 more real food or sweetening for the bees than 

 any thing else. For our locality we would 

 feed up along until September or October, for 

 the bees should have a chance to ripen and 

 seal their stores about a month before actual 

 freezing weather comes on. 



R. S., Out. — In estimating the stores that a 

 colony should have, one should always figure 

 that a syrup fed half and half (that is, half 

 water and half sugar) is quite thin, and when 

 thickened down by the bees it will stand in 

 the proportion of about % sugar and % water. 

 In counting on the necessary amount of stores, 

 you will have to take into consideration this 

 shrinkage. If you wanted to put in 20 lbs. of 

 sealed stores I would feed at least 30 lbs. of 

 sugar syrup, half and half. 



F. B. C, Mich. — 1. I would not advise you in 

 November to extract all the honey out and 

 then feed sugar syrup. Indeed, it is the usual 

 practice to leave the honey sealed in the combs 

 rather than extract it and put sugar syrup in 

 its place. Good sealed honey is practically as 

 good as sugar syrup sealed. 2. Bees would 

 be likely to consume or waste some of the 

 syrup during the process of feeding ; that is, 

 for every pound of syrup fed you would be 

 able to realize only about % or ^ of sealed 

 stores by actual weight. 3. Bees would not 

 consume much until actual winter set in. 4. 

 The average amount consumed during the 

 winter for outdoor and indoor wintering varies 

 greatly. The stores may have to include the 

 spring as well as the winter, or till such time 

 as the bees can be fed safely again, providing 

 the honey does not come in in time. I would 

 recommend about 20 lbs. for outdoor winter- 

 ing, and 15 for indoor wintering, of sealed 

 stores. 



