1W4 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



585 



slightlj', the main principle is there shown. 

 If you want to know about it, read our lit- 

 tle book, "Modern Oueen-rearing-," by G. 

 \V. Phillips. By the way, Mr. Titoflf was 

 commissioned by the Kussian government 

 to go to America to study bee-keeping. He 

 has spent something over a year at our 

 plant, and expects to go west soon to work 

 with some of the extensive honey- producers 

 in order to learn modern American meth- 

 ods. He is a young man of exceptional 

 ability, and a tremendous worker. There 

 is no doub' that he will be a large factor in 

 introducing modern American bee-keeping 

 into Russia. I am not sure but some of the 

 other European countries tvould do well to 

 follow Russia's example. 



The name Tiioff \s, pronounced as if the / 

 were an f — Tee-toff, the accent coming on 

 the first syllable. 



There is a bare possibility that he will 

 attend the convention of the National at St. 

 Louis. If so, he will probably be a repre- 

 sentative of the Russian governmerit. He 

 is thoroughly posted in modern methods of 

 queen-rearing, having tested them all at 

 our yards, of which he has had entire 

 charge for several months back. He is per- 

 fectly competent to go into any yard and 

 rear queens, but now desires to learn the 

 practical side of honey- production. — Ed.] 



By 



The Gazette Apicole, a French journal, 

 gives the names of 78 bee-papers; of these 

 15 are in the English language; 23 are in 

 French; 16 German; Italian, 4; Russian, 

 9; Dutch, 4; Spanish, 3; Norwegian, 1; 

 Swedish, 1; Bohemian, 1; Roumanian, 1. 



WESTERN BEE-JOURNAL. 

 Vol. I. No. 1 of this new journal is out, 

 published by P. F. Adelsbach, Hanford, 

 Cal., where the dispute between the pear- 

 groweis and bee-men took place. That's 

 just where we need a representative. The 

 new exchange is very good in every way. 

 I quote a few words from it relative to bees 

 and fruit; for although bee-keepers under- 

 stand the matter very well, others do not, 

 hence we need all the evidence we can get. 

 Mr. G. W. Thrasher, of Gridley, Cal., 

 says that "he had a pear and almond or- 

 chard at his home in Butte, and the last 

 few years he had demonstrated beyond a 

 doubt that the bees assist materially in 

 propagatir g the fruit. 'For years my pear- 

 orchard bore but little,' said Mr. Thrash- 

 er, 'and I had about decided to dig up the 

 trees and plant almonds. By chance I put 



a colony of bees in my orchard, and, to my 

 surprise, from that season to this my pear- 

 trees have borne heavily, the result, un- 

 doubtedly, of the work of the bees.' This 

 is but natural. The honey-bee fills the 

 same position to the flowering fruit-trees 

 that the fig-wjisp dees to that fruit. The 

 Smyrna fig-trees that were planted on the 

 Stanford ranch, at Vina, were barren un- 

 til the wasp was brought out from Smyrna 

 and introduced in the orchards." 

 \t/ 



In speaking of making one's own hives, 

 E. M. Whiting says: 



I sent for a saw table and a few extras to go with 

 it, costing about $Ab. I went to the foundry and gave 

 them $ 5 to cast me a horse-power. I made my own 

 shafting, got some cog wheels from an old mowing- 

 machine, made some wood pulleys, the whole thing, 

 labor and all. costing me about $100. I madt- all my 

 own hives and a good many for my neighbor bee- 

 keepers 1 could cut 11 end-bars for Hoffman frame 

 at one round of the horse. 



In that case Mr. Whiting made it pay as 

 a manufacturer for others; but would it pay 

 alt bee- keepers to attempt what he accom- 

 plished ? 



\v 



In speaking of bees and alfalfa M. G. 

 Crowder says : 



Yuma Valley is a very productive country of some 

 86,000 acres of river-bottom "made" land. The soil is 

 about six feet deep. Our principal ciop is alfalfa, 

 which produces seven crops per stason, or .'omething 

 like ten tons to the acre. 



My two years' experience with bees in this valley is 

 not the best, by reason cf the haying industry. Prices 

 of hay run from $10.00 to $12.50 per ton, so the farmers 

 make good use of all the time they have in cutting 

 the alfalfa for hay. Alfalfa is. cut every 30 days, so it 

 scarcely has time to bloom. Thus there has really 

 been no fair chance for a good test along the line of 

 honey productions. 



IRISH BEE JOURNAL. 



This always interesting journal tells 

 of a Mr. James Mason, aged 47, who was 

 jilted in a love affair 13 years ago in Es- 

 sex, Eng. Instead of committing suicide 

 he has retired within a fortress of thick 

 hedges and barbed fencing, surrounded by 

 a ditch 10 feet deep and 12 wide. He shuns 

 all human creatures, and devotes all his af 

 fection and care to the bees and the flowers 

 which he grows for them. 

 \li 



There has been considerable death of 

 bees through feeding with sugar barley 

 laid on the tops of the frames. The food(?) 

 melted and smothered the bees. 

 \ii 

 BRITISH BEE-JOURNAL. 

 In giving the approximate number of 

 colonies of bees in various countries, the 

 editor says: 



United States, 4,500,000; Germany, 2,000,000; Austria, 

 1 800,000; Spain, 1,700,000; France, 1,000,000; Great Brit- 

 ain, 500.000; Holland, 250 000; Belgium, 200,000; Den- 

 mark, 100,000; Greece. 50 000; Switzerland, :W,000. 



If these figures are correct, the United States may 

 well arrogate to herself the proud title of " the great- 

 est bee country in the world " Just fancy a country 

 producing honey which, loaded on cars, would make 

 a train 25 miles long! Austria is undoubtedly one of 

 the leading honey-producing nations, and excels in 

 organization, for she has a Beekeepers' Association 

 numbering over 8000 members. Their income. 



