742 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



Entomologist, and Entomologist of the Ex- 

 periment Station. From a hasty examina- 

 tion of this bulletin it appears to be one of 

 the best treatises on bees for beginners that 

 have been issued for a long time. Professor 

 Newell is not only an entomologist but a 

 bee-keeper. He has done much to advance 

 the cause of apiculture in his State; and 

 this bulletin, which we suppose is for free 

 distribution to the bee-keepers of Texas, 

 will do much to disseminate useful informa- 

 tion. We i^resume that the bee-keepers of 

 other States can obtain a copy by paying a 

 small price — probably 10 cts. Address Prof. 

 Wilmon Newell, College Station, Texas. 



more"' than their fair share of bees; for the 

 heaviest tlyers — that is, those making the 

 greatest showing in front of any particular 

 entrance, will attract the most bees. 



THE PHOTOS OF W. Z. HUTCHINSON ON THE 

 COVER DURING THE C9MING SEASON. 



It is well known to our readers that Mr. 

 W. Z. Hutchinson was a genius at taking 

 beautiful photos. He took many hundreds 

 of them, but used only a part of them in his 

 journal. A short time ago Mrs. Hutchin- 

 son inquired whether we could use any of 

 these old negatives. We requested her to 

 ship the entire collection, and we would de- 

 cide whether there were any that would be 

 suitable for our work. To make a long sto- 

 ry short, we bought the entire collection, 

 and from the number we expect to use a 

 few photos, some of which have apparently 

 never been used in any publication. These 

 will be used on the cover of Gleanings 

 from time to time. In most cases, as in the 

 cover of this present issue, we shall not be 

 able to identify the i)icture; but most pic- 

 tures will contain a lesson that is worth put- 

 ting before the readers to-day. So here 

 again Mr. Hutchinson's works live after 

 him. 



THIS month's COVER PICTURE. 



The cover for this month's issue shows a 

 photo taken by the late W. Z. Hutchinson, 

 illustrating one of the methods of putting 

 bees up for winter under a shed. We do 

 not know whose bees these are; but no mat- 

 ter; it illustrates a method that is used in 

 some localities. The shed shown is doubt- 

 less arranged to cutoff the prevailing winds. 

 Dry leaves are packed between the hives, 

 which are single-walled, and otherwise the 

 hives are much the same as they are in the 

 summer. The only difficulty with the ar- 

 rangement is getting at the hives and frames 

 in summer. It is possible, however, that 

 the owner uses this shed only in winter. 



A few years ago Mr. G. C. Greiner, of 

 New York State, showed how he packed 

 his bees in this way. It was his prac- 

 tice, however, to move the bees from their 

 several stands in the bee-yard to a new po- 

 sition under the shed. This was done late 

 in the season, and all at once. Contrary to 

 what many would suppose, the bees are not 

 lost. When they find that the old location 

 is entirely changed, they will find their new 

 location under the shed. In doing this they 

 may mingle somewhat, and it is possible 

 that some of the stronger colonies will get 



PRODUCING EXTRACTED RATHER THAN 



COMB honey; a caution. 

 In the Bee-keepers' Review for December, 

 Mr. P. C. Chadwick makes this observation: 



I believe the money lost each year working for 

 comb honey would be sufficient to equip every api- 

 ary in the United States fully for extracting — not 

 money literally lost, but time and supplies, which 

 we all know have a money value, to say nothing of 

 flat failures in comb honey where enough extract- 

 ed could have been secured to pay expenses at least. 



This question of comb or extracted honey 

 depends largely on locality and on the mar- 

 ket. As there is already an exodus from 

 comb to extrt cted honey, it will be well to 

 remind a number of our friends that those 

 who continue to produce comb will probably 

 secure extra good prices for 1912. Just be- 

 fore he died, the late W. Z. Hutchinson, ob- 

 serving that many bee-keejiers were going 

 from comb to extracted, offered a caution, to 

 the effect that he believed many would be 

 making a mistake if they made this change 

 too hastily. There is wisdom in his words. 

 Let the wise consider. One who is already 

 making a success of producing comb honey 

 may not be equally successful in producing 

 extracted, notwithstanding that the produc- 

 tion of the latter is considered simpler. 

 Those who stick to comb honey are going 

 to share in the increased price by reason of 

 the possible reduction in the ranks of the 

 comb- honey produceis. 



A retrospect for 1911. 



The year 1911 will go down in apicultural 

 history as the poorest for honey production 

 of any year we have ever known. While 

 some bee-keepers were fortunate in securing 

 good crops, there seems to have been a light 

 yield or almost an entire failure all over the 

 United States and Canada. The Western 

 part of the country fared better than either 

 the South or East. 



Several additional States have passed 

 foul-brood laws, and great progress has been 

 made in other States looking toward the 

 needed legislation. The following are the 

 States that passed foul-brood laws in 1911: 

 New Jersey, Vermont, Kansas, Pennsyl- 

 • vania, Tennessee, Minnesota, Illinois, and 

 British Columbia for Canada. 



The Bureau of Entomology has secured 

 $5000 additional to carry on apicultural 

 work, or $15,000 in all. Dr. E. F. Phillips 

 and his corps of able assistants have re- 

 cently been doing some splendid work in 

 combating disease. A number of bulletins 

 on bees have been sent out, and Dr. Phillips 

 and his assistants have visited many local- 

 ities. We are greatly indebted to the Bu- 

 reau of Entomology for what it has done for 

 the industry all over the country. 



There has been a marked tendency to favor 

 the ten-frame hive more strongly than ever, 

 and a corresponding inclination to drop not 



