GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



J. E. Crane 



IFTING 



Middlebury, Vt. 



" To my notion." says P. C. Chadwiek, 

 page 407, June 1, " pollen is the greatest 

 breeding stimulant of all;" and he is right, 

 if, as he says, there is an abundance of 

 honey in the hive. 



* * * 



I have wondered if it would not be a good 

 investment for the State to buy and present 

 beekeepers with spectacles. I find a good 

 many who find it very difficult to see foul 

 brood in their hives. 



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Dr. Miller says, page 405, June 1, that 

 with him " superseding practically always 

 lakes place after swarming is all over." 

 With us superseding takes place at all sea- 

 sons, even in winter, for we often find a 

 young queen has been reared during the cold 

 months, and therefore is worthless in the 

 spring. I believe swarming is often the 

 result of superseding. 

 ^ ^ ^ 



I found a super on the hive of one bee- 

 keeper where each row of* sections alternat- 

 ed with an extracting- frame. Now, the 

 interesting thing about it v?as that the f oun - 

 dation in the extracting-frames had been 

 drawn out and pretty well filled with honey 

 while scarcely any thing had been done in 



the sections. 



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A bran-bag is an excellent thing to bring 

 down bees in. We found a swarm in the 

 top of a pine-tree some thirty feet above the 

 ground. Putting a hoop in the mouth of the 

 bag to hold it open, one of our men went up 

 the tree and shook it into the sack; and, 

 closing the mouth, brought it down with the 

 loss of but few bees. 



* m * 



So much has been written about curing 

 foul brood by introducing an Italian queen 

 that a word of caution may be of use at this 

 time. I find those who have American foul 

 brood are trying to rid their bees by intro- 

 ducing new queens. Now, while it seems 

 certain that good Italian bees will withstand 

 American foul brood, or will last much 

 longer after contracting it than black bees, 

 yet it is doubtful if they can ever rid them- 

 selves of it when once it has been introduced 



into a hive. 



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June 1, page 403, we are told by the 

 editor "where to locate outyards." Any one 

 who has had but little experience along this 

 line would do well to pin this editorial in 

 his hat or put it in some other saf - ] ■ ce 



for reference. What is said of the kind of 

 people to avoid is well worth repeating. 

 " Never locate on the farm of a narrow- 

 minded close-fisted man, and one hard to get 

 along with. ... A narrow-minded, crusty 

 sort of chap will make no end of trouble." 

 True, every word. 



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William Beucus' experience, page 462, 

 June 15, in getting farmers to try sweet 

 clover is certainly interesting. I have been 

 surprised in talking with farmers the pres- 

 ent season to find so many favorably dis- 

 posed to sowing it. I believe its use would 

 add immensely to the value of our dry clay 

 soils if farmers could be persuaded to use 

 it, giving an abundance of feed when other 

 plants with a shallow root system dry up. 

 I wish the Department Bulletin No. 485 

 could be placed in the hands of every farm- 

 er in the land. I should like to distribute 



200. 



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On page 335, May 1, Mr. T. J. Landrum 

 takes issue with Dr. Miller as to the time 

 from the laying of an egg to the emergence 

 of the mature bee. Now, I am inclined to 

 think both may be right — that under some 

 conditions bees may emerge much sooner 

 than 21 days, and under other conditions it 

 may require more than 21 days. We may 

 learn something from the cosmopolitan hen 

 that birds' eggs do not always hatch at ex- 

 actly the same time, some of the chicks com- 

 ing out a day or more ahead of time, while 

 the hatching of others is delayed 24 or more 

 hours behind the average time. 

 * » « « 



It's pretty hard to select or call attention 

 to the best articles in a periodical like 

 Gleanings, where there are so many of 

 great value to an enterprising beekeeper; 

 but that one by E. S. Miles in the April 1st 

 issue, " What is a Good Queen? " took my 

 fancy. When one has been keeping bees 

 for fifty years he becomes quick to recognize 

 differences that those of less experience 

 might overlook. Or where one has been in- 

 specting bees for even a few years he may 

 recognize as much difference as in different 

 herds of cattle or flocks of sheep. I have 

 come across some bees that I would not take 

 as a gift, while others remind me of the 

 command, " Thou shalt not covet." To say 

 that we cannot improve our stock is puerile 

 and foolish. To try to do so intelligently 

 is to put dollars in the pocket of any young 

 person who will follow it up, as Dr. Miller 

 reminds us, page 244, April 1. 



