GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



it sell itself in a haphazard way as is so 

 often the ease. 



In a large catalog of the wholesale gro- 

 cers, Acker, Merrall & Condit Company, 

 sent us by one of our subscribers, J. M. 

 Thore, there are articles written by experts 

 along the various lines describing the dif- 

 ferent articles of food, how made, etc. The 

 article on honey is ably written by one who 

 knows not only the science of honey, but 

 how to write of it in an interesting way. 

 Mention is made of the well-known fact 

 that honey may be eaten safely by many 

 persons who dare not eat sugar. The arti- 

 cle ends with several good recipes using 

 honey in making cakes, puddings, etc. 



ALVFAYS SIGN YOUR NAME TO CONTRIBUTIONS. 



Quite a number of our subscribers when 

 asking questions or sending in an article for 

 publication do not sign their names, but sign 

 instead " Subscriber " or " Beekeeper." We 

 are able to answer in Gleanings only a 

 small part of the questions that we receive. 

 We reply to the rest by letter; and if no 

 name is signed we are helpless unless it so 

 happens that there are no other subscribers 

 at the particular postofiice indicated by the 

 postmai'k. Furthermore, we are frequently 

 obliged to write for more particulars before 

 an answer can be given in Gleanings ; and 

 if the name is not given we are put to con- 

 siderable inconvenience, and many times we 

 can simply hold the communication await- 

 ing another letter, possibly a complaint, 

 later on. If for any reason you do not wish 

 your name to appear in case your letter is 

 published, simi^ly mention the fact and your 

 wish will be complied with. 



" Subscriber " at Brooksville, Ky., will 

 find the Miller smoke method of introducing 

 fully described on page 370 of the June 1st 

 issue for 1913. 



THE HARD CANDY SOFTENS AND MELTS IN 

 THE HIVE. 



There have been two reports of the hard 

 candy made according to the directions in 

 our January 1st issue softening when placed 

 over the combs to such an extent that it 

 melted and ran down, killing bees. We have 

 made and used quite a large quantity of this 

 candy, and we have had very little trouble, 

 although this year (see editorial elsewhere) 

 it has seemed softer than usual. It is likely 

 that the conditions within the hive have a 

 great deal to do with the consistency of the 

 candy after it is placed over the combs. If 

 the air is heavily charged with m.oisture the 

 candy absorbs water more easily than in 

 another hive where the air is drier. How- 

 ever, perhaps it may be well to reduce 



slightly the amount of honey used. Instead 

 of one pint of honey to twenty-five pounds 

 of sugar as specified in the January 1st 

 issue, perhaps one pint to thirty-five or 

 forty pounds of sugar would be safer. If 

 no honey is used at all the cake is likely to 

 assume a granular form so that much of it 

 is wasted. 



CONDITIONS FOR CELLAR BREEDING. 



In order to get bees to breeding the tem- 

 perature in the cellar must be warmer than 

 is customary for orthodox wintering. The 

 bees must be disturbed more or less, and 

 fed continually. Candy of the right kind 

 is better than a syrup or sealed stores in the 

 combs. Higher temperature, disturbance, 

 and continuous feeding are necessary for 

 brood-rearing. It is understood, of course, 

 that there should be pollen in the combs. 

 Without a nitrogeneous food there will be 

 no brood-rearing. 



Caution. — The average beekeeper should 

 try out cellar breeding on a small scale. 

 Try a few colonies first. If you succeed 

 with these try more another winter. It has 

 its dangers, and before one can succeed with 

 it he must have experience, and some of it 

 of the kind Josh Billings tells about. 



A NFAV OLD SCHEME FOR GIVING BEES WATER 

 IN MAILING-CAGES. 



We believe that the method of giving bees 

 water when shipping them long distances 

 by mail is going to solve the problem of 

 sending bees across continents, and perhaps 

 around the world. We expect to give our 

 new method a thorough test from Apalachi- 

 cola this winter. Illustrations of the new 

 scheme will be given later. The reason why 

 we feel optimistic is because Mr. A. I. Root, 

 some thirtj' years ago, tried out almost pre- 

 cisely the same thing, and he demonstrated 

 beyond a question that it was a success. But 

 the Good candy he used at the time caused 

 him to abandon the water-bottle scheme for 

 candy. It is rather funny now that we are 

 discovering at this late date that the water- 

 bottle scheme is a practical necessity. 



Our experiments last summer were not 

 entirely satisfactory, in that our water-con- 

 tainers had a fashion of leaking and wetting- 

 down the candy before the bees arrived at 

 their destination. The new containers we 

 have devised make this practicallv impossi- 

 ble. 



ADULTERATION IN GERMANY. 



Our correspondent from Germany, in this 

 issue, page 132, calls attention 1o the im- 

 mense quantity of adulterated honey that is 

 sold in that country. The beekeepers of the 



