1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



955 



should be boiled in order to make it safe to 

 feed. Some say five minutes, others ten, and 

 it runs from that to six or eight hours, in or- 

 der to kill the spores. For the last six or 

 eight years I have fed considerable foul-broody 

 honey, and have never had any trouble when 

 it was brought to a good bubbling boil. If it 

 took two to four hours boiling to kill the 

 spore, it seems to me it would be more humane 

 to hunt old Spore up and cut his throat, and 

 not scald him for two hours. Such cruelty 

 would hardly do in Colorado, for our ever 

 watchful secretary of the Huniane Society 

 would be after one with a warrant. As to 

 hives and queen-excluders (and I have used 

 them both), I agree with McEvoy that where 

 there is no honey adhering to them — in fact, 

 are clean, having nothing on them that can be 

 fed to the brood — they are perfectly safe to 

 use ; however, I have no objection to boiling 

 the honey a week if one so desires. 

 Harris, Colo. 



[I am glad to introduce to the readers of 

 G1.EANINGS Mr. W. W. Whipple, of Harris, 

 Col. He did much to enliven the proceedings 

 of the Colorado State convention a year ago, 

 which I attended. He never arose to his feet 

 but his eyes fairly twinkled with fun. It is 

 said that a man's countenance betrays his in- 

 ner nature. If he is full of sunshine he shows 

 it. In the picture above, Mr. Whipple shows 

 his practical good nature ; and in the article 

 he illustrates the very qualities I have men- 

 tioned. At the first reading of it I did not 

 recognize my friend Mr. Whipple, and I could 

 not think what he was driving at ; but finally 

 it dawned on me that be was putting up a 

 practical joke on the advocates of dividing. 

 In his second paragraph it appears he is get- 

 ting off a "drive" on the writer; for I have 

 been somewhat prominent in the advocacy of 

 long boiling. I should be quite in favor of 

 catching the spores and cutting their throats, 

 if Mr. Whipple will perform the act. 



But, joking aside, from what I could see 

 and hear in Colorado I am satisfied that much 

 that was called foul brood was not that dis- 

 ease, but something else. What it was I did 

 not then know ; but I have since had reason 

 to suspect that it was pickled brood — a disease 

 that readily yields to mild treatment. I should 

 be inclined to believe that friend Whipple has, 

 in some cases at least, mistaken pickled brood 

 for foul brood, and hence he might draw erro- 

 neous conclusions. The two diseases are very 

 much alike in appearance, and it takes close 

 discrimination to distinguish the one from the 

 more virulent form of disease. — Ed.] 



RED CLOVER AND RED-CLGVER BEES. 



Difference in the Strain. 



BY J. N. ARNOLD. 



In Gleanings for Oct. 15 I see an interest- 

 ing article from S. P. Culley on " Improve- 

 ment of Red Clover and Bees ; " also your ed- 

 itorial on page 813, which I was interested in 



reading. In the past eighteen years I have 

 had some experience with red clover and bees. 

 For eight years I had one apiary, and for three 

 years two in a locality that was a level coun- 

 try with a deep black soil. When the season 

 was wet, grasses grew very large and heavy, 

 especially red clover. The tubes were so deep 

 that none but the Italians were ever seen 

 working on them, and they never stored any 

 surplus honey that I noticed. For nine years 

 I have had my home apiary in a locality that 

 is clay soil. Years ago it was a body of white- 

 oak timber, now farm land, and kept up by 

 small grain and red clover. During these 

 years the most of my surplus honey has come 

 from red clover. On this clay soil the tubes 

 do not grow so deep as on damp black soil. I 

 have observed, also, that when the season was 

 dry the bees would gather more red-clover 

 honey than in a wet season for a while, and 

 give it a rank growth. 



In regard to your editorial, I have noticed 

 the past few years some colonies excelling 

 others very much in storing red-clover honey 

 while all were good Italians, and cared for in 

 the same way, queens all the same age ; some 

 few colonies would give almost double the 

 surplus other colonies would side by side. I 

 have one colony that stored double the amount 

 of any other in the apiary this season, from red 

 clover. 



Kalona, Iowa, Oct. 23. 



CANDIED HONEY FURTHER DISCUSSED. 



Glass all Right for Fancy Trade; Cheap Pack- 

 ages for the Masses ; the Truth About Dis- 

 playing Goods. 



BY R. C. AIKIN. 



Our previous musings discussed cheap hon- 

 ey and the cause thereof — why we have to sell 

 cheap. I acknowledge there is a limited de- 

 mand for honey in fancy packages and at fan- 

 cy prices, but contend that we should not be 

 compelled to depend on selling altogether as 

 a luxury. There is no better sweet for table 

 use for those who like honey, and there is no 

 good reason why we should deny the privilege 

 of honey to the day laborer and the many mil- 

 lions who are dependent upon meager salaries; 

 but expensive packages and frequent han- 

 dlings in melting and exchanging, all the fool- 

 ishness of putting it in glass for people to look 

 through, does put it beyond their reach. 



I think I hear some say that it is just the 

 laborer that will buy honey ; but to all who 

 think so, I ask you to make a close estimate 



