16 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1 



the brood the }'Oung' queen produces, and 

 this brood matures into bees in just the 

 ri^ht time to take advantage of the honey- 

 flow fr<m fall flowers." 



" I think I see now. You think the ad- 

 vantage comes in raising the bees to meet 

 the honey- flows as they come." 



" Yes, that is the point, exactly. A 

 ' weather eye ' sufficiently skilled to secure 

 the maximum of bees just in time for the 

 honey harvest, and as few at all other times 

 as is consistent with this object, is some- 

 thing worth coveting by every practical api- 

 arist. And this can be done only by a 

 thorough understanding of the inside work- 

 ing of a colony of bees, in connection with 

 an equally thorough understanding and 

 knowledge of the location or the locality we 

 are in, bringing both so that they just dove- 

 tail in, just in the 'nick of time.' when the 

 best possible results will accrue to the api- 

 arists who can so bring things together." 



Banks of loose snow around ihe entrances 

 of hives do no harm; but after a warm spell 

 the snow may melt and run into the en- 

 trances, and freez% thus clos-ing them her- 

 meticallj' tight. When it begins to thaw, 

 it may be advisable to look to the entrances. 



FORMALDEHYDE DISTINGUISHED FROM FOR- 



MAI^TN. 



There is some confusion arising from 

 the fact that the new cure for foul brood has 

 apparently several diff"erent names. We 

 hear of formaldehyde and of formalin, pnd 

 we sometimes don't know which is which, 

 so it m ly be well to know the chemistry of 

 this. By oxidizing in alcohol, part of the 

 hydrogen is taken out, leaving a substance 

 called aldehj'de, from alcohol-dehydros;ena- 

 tum. Thus, whe i ordinary wood alcohol 

 is oxidized, the product is a gas known as 

 formic aldehyde, or abbreviated to formal- 

 dehyde. When this gas is dissolved in a 

 liquid the solution is called formalin or 

 formol. 



bees that will not rob; an interesting 

 incidf.nt. 

 When visitirgMr F. H. Farmer, a m^n- 

 ufac urerof high grade candies, of Boston, 

 he showed me a row of hives in the rear of 

 his manufacurint; establishment. In warm 

 weather, during a dearth of honey, the can- 

 dy fumes may be detected several rods away 

 from the buildings, espfcially if the win- 

 dows are open. While, ordinarily, they are 

 screeited, sometimes thev aie not, and the 

 bees could, if they would, go right through 



the windows ^nd help themselves to delicious 

 candy; but Mr. Faimer assured me that 

 they never nosed around nor offered to rob. 

 Indeed, during a dearth of honey he has 

 had nicely filled sections on top of the hives, 

 and he has left them there right wh^re the 

 bees could help themselves if they would. 

 Why don't they rob, then? Simply because 

 the fumes of the ca dy are, as they pass 

 through the windows, so strof^g and abun- 

 dant that the bees have become accustomed 

 to this peculiar aroma — so much accustomed 

 to it, in fact, that they think nothing of or- 

 dinary sweet odors; indeed, I douot if they 

 can di-tintjuit-h them any more han we 

 could distinguish the sweet tones of a lulla- 

 by song when 'he bnnd is playing — the one 

 drowns out the other. They tike it for 

 granted that hey )nust go to the comm ns 

 or to the fields if they would earn their liv- 

 ing, and to the fields they go when 

 there is any honey to be had. When there 

 is none, the same fume- of candy, being so 

 abund int and so cummon in their ev ryday 

 experience, they never think it would be 

 possible to help th mselves, and they don't. 



HONEY CANDIES. 



Mr. Farmer is a very enthusiastic bee- 

 keeper, right in the heart of Boston. He is 

 an expert candy-maker, emp o_\ ing quite a 

 force of hands in making high graOe con- 

 fections. I told him that the bte ke ping 

 fraternit3' in one way or another have ex- 

 pressed a wish that some candymnker would 

 make a special y of making first-class con- 

 fections of h ney. He premised to look into 

 the matter, and I assured him if he would 

 make tht m we would find a market; for I 

 believe there are thousands of bee-keepe s 

 all over the count'^y who would like to en- 

 courage the industry of converting certain 

 grades of honey into candy, and thus de- 

 velop a new outlet. 



A NEW GLUCOSE PREPARATION A COMPETI- 

 TOR OF HONEY. 



I RECENTLY made a trip up and down the 

 Atlantic coast, going from Washington clear 

 up into Maine. 1 was surprised to find a 

 large amount of a cheap syrup on the mar- 

 ket, designated by a catchy name, that is 

 advertised as being sweeter and better than 

 honey. It purports to be made of corn, for 

 it is, in fact, a glucose preparation, and is 

 not, therefore, subject to the laws against 

 adulteration. It is, unfortunately, true that 

 some— yes, many -grocers are buying it as 

 a cheap syrup for pine kes. and it is pos- 

 sibly true that it will affect the sale of hon- 

 ev temporarily in some localities. I feel 

 pretty well satisfied, however, that any 

 glucose product cheap enough for commer- 

 cial competition against the higher grades 

 of swee's will be most injurious to the hu- 

 man stomach; and it may be true that the 

 pure- food commissioners may condemn this. 

 I h^ve tasted some of it, and I do not think 

 I Ci«uld eat very much of it without some 

 bad result.*:. We'l do I remember the tbr<.e 

 or four weeks of severe bilious atiack re- 



