GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



j-!L.Byer, I NoTES FMOM Canada ^-tii^ 



Reports from Ibose fortunate enough to 

 visit friend Sibbald's apiary on the 25th of 

 May at the big field meet say that all had a 

 good time. While not there myself, I feel 

 quite sure that a pleasant and profitable 

 time Avould be spent by all present. We 

 started across country — a trip of over 50 

 miles from our place, and when half way 

 there a heavy rain kept us at a friend's 

 home for half a day. As we still had 25 

 miles ahead of us with heavy hills and some 

 clay roads, we thought better to turn back 

 home again. 



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On page 432, June 1, Mr. Buchanan, of 

 Tennessee, in giving a list of plants visited 

 by the bees in his State, credits dandelion 

 with nectar secretion alone. With us it is a 

 great pollen-yielder, and of late years I am 

 inclined to think that not so much nectai' 

 comes from the plant as I formerly believed. 

 Willows yield most of the nectar at that 

 season, the dandelion giving enough to im- 

 part the flavor peculiar to that jDlant. 



He also mentions the aster, as yielding a 

 honey that granulates readily and makes 

 good winter stores for the bees. This is 

 likely down in Tennessee, but aster honey 

 left in the brood-nests in the fall in north- 

 ern locations too often spells death to the 

 colony for many beekeepers to take a chance 

 to winter their bees on this kind of stores. 



In the Feb. 15th issue Dr. Miller says 

 that our hotels have not yet got to the point 

 of advertising for honey, as is the case in 

 Switzerland. He is right, and more's the 

 pitj^ Our hotel men seem to be very loath 

 to serve honey on their tables. Of course, 

 there are exceptions to this, but it is the 

 rule just the same. They will tell you it is 

 a " mussy " thing to serve ; and if one 

 watches people not used to eating honey, 

 but trying to eat it for the first time, surely 

 we shall have to agree with the hotel men. 

 I was reared on the farm in a community 

 where nearly all the people were of German 

 descent. On the tables, abundance of good 

 food was always in evidence; but the rule 

 in most homes was that all " help them- 

 selves." Our home was no exception to 

 this, and often can I remember the looks of 

 mortification on the faces of the many city 

 visitors that used to come to our place when 

 they would try to take a spoonful of good 

 ripe honey from the large dish that would be 

 passed around the table. A spoonful would 

 be dipped out and held for a while with an 



uncei'tainty as to what to do. A sudden 

 movement would be made toward the des- 

 sert-dish, and a long trail of honey would be 

 on the table-cloth between the starting-point 

 and final destination. Possibly we need to 

 do some educational work along the lines of 

 telling jieople how to handle honey if we 

 ever exi>ect to see it served regularly on 

 the tables of our hotels. 



I feel pretty sure that the estimate placed 

 on the value of full-drawn combs for the 

 production of extracted honey is in no way 

 exaggerated, page 330, May 1, and yet how 

 are we to explain the fact that some of our 

 best comb-honey producers claim that they 

 can produce nearly if not quite as much 

 comb honey as they can extracted? Mind 

 you, I am not saying that this is a possibil- 

 ity ; but I know some good producers of 

 comb honey who make the claim, and their 

 results seem to prove they are not far from 

 right. In their case the bees have to draw 

 out all the foundation and work in crowded 

 quarters at that. But I feel pretty sure that 

 the majority of producers with a full set of 

 drawn combs will produce at least twice as 

 much extracted as comb honey, especially 

 if the season is none too good a one. 



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Mr. Hershiser's article on page 331, 

 May 1, is interesting, and much of it con- 

 clusive. His writings generally are of that 

 class. However, I do not agree with him 

 in all he says; but for want of space in this 

 de^iartment it would be unwise for me to 

 iry to take issue with him. And just here 

 I might remark that the writer of these 

 notes is no doubt referred to in a veiled 

 manner by friend Hershiser when he speaks 

 of the "two classes of beekeepers." No doubt 

 Mr. H. will smile when he sees this, and 

 say, " If the shoe fits, put it on," and I 

 hasten to assure him that I gladly do so, 

 and, more than that, there is no " pinch " 

 noticed at all, for it slips on comfortably. 

 Why? Just because I happen to know that 

 I am in mighty good company, as evidenced 

 by the scores of unsolicited letters from the 

 best-known and most representative bee- 

 keepers all over the United States and Can- 

 ada, endorsing the position I have taken in 

 a certain journal devoted to the beekeeping 

 interests. 



In connection with this subject of the 

 value of schools and other educational means 

 of helping beekeepers, please notice that not 

 once have I combated any real work along 



