222 



&LEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



J. E. Crane 



SIFTINGS 



Middlebury, Vt. 



Just fifty years this month since 

 I bought my first colony of bees. 



* * * 



Mr. J. L. Byer, page 95, Feb. 1, 

 says it takes a full pound of sugar 

 fed to bees in syrup to equal a 

 pound of sealed honey for winter 

 stores, and he is right. 



* * » 



We have been using the Rauchfuss foun- 

 dation-cutting bar put out by the G. B. 

 Lewis Co., and find that it works very nice- 

 ly for cutting foundation for sections. One 

 can cut up strips of light foundation very 

 accurately and rapidly. 



* * * 



The foul-brood situation has greatly im- 

 proved in Vermont. A good crop the past 

 year has greatly encouraged beekeepers. 

 The value of sweet clover as a forage crop 

 and for bees is of increasing interest. It 

 was out of the usual order to hear co-oper- 

 ation discussed in an eastern convention. 



The Vermont Beekeepers' Association 

 met in the Addison House parlor. Middle- 

 bury, on Feb. 17. The day was mild, and 

 attendance good, with a good degree of in- 

 terest in discussions. I notice the atten- 

 dance at bee conventions follows quite close- 

 ly the size of the honey crop of the preced- 

 ing season. 



« « * 



I believe the name that A. C. Miller has 

 chosen for his method of introducing 

 queens, namely, " the distress method," de- 

 cidedly good — see page 107, Feb. 1. Doubt- 

 less the distress of the bees is a large factor 

 in the success of the use of smoke. We may 

 introduce queens safely by causing distress 

 by other causes than the use of smoke, as, 

 for instance, making the bees suddenly 

 aware of the loss of their queen or their 

 brood and stores. 



That is a decidedly good article on Euro- 

 pean foul brood by Timberline Riggs, page 

 102, Feb. 1. He has mapped out very 

 closely the plan I had thought out for our 

 own yards the coming season should this 

 disease again appear, as it doubtless will. 

 If but little disease is found in a hive, re- 

 duce the size of the brood-chamber so it 

 will be crowded. If a considerable number 

 of cells of diseased brood are found, remove 

 or cage the queen for ten days and crowd 



them on a few combs. If very bad, unite 

 several and remove or cage the queen and 

 make one strong colony. Better give a 

 young queen. All should have good strains 

 of Italian bees, for best results. Really it 

 is little more than carrying into practice 

 that old command, " Keep all colonies 

 strong." 



* * * 



On page 157, Feb. 15, the short article by 

 H. H. Root is of more than ordinary value. 

 Various experiments have been made in the 

 past to show the value of bees in an apple 

 orchard, but this I believe is the most satis- 

 factory of any I have seen. However, this 

 could be improved upon. Had Mr. Root 

 taken two branches of nearly the same size 

 and carrying the same number of blossom 

 buds as near together as possible on the 

 same side of the tree, and then counted the 

 number of apples maturing on each branch, 

 the one being covered with mosquito-net- 

 ting and the other without protection from 

 insects, we should be able to learn the exact 

 value of the work of the insects in the fer- 

 tilization of the flowers, and just what pro- 

 portion of our crop is to the credit of in- 

 sects, mostly bees. 



This method of experimenting should be 

 made on a large variety of apples, as it 

 seems probable that a great difference will 

 be found to exist in different varieties in 

 their ability to become fertile without the 

 agency of insects. It is also possible that 

 many varieties will show a marked differ- 

 ence in different localities. 



It is significant that of the five apples 

 that appeared to have set under mosquito 

 netting in the experiment by Mr. Root three 

 failed to mature. Had these three been ci;t 

 open it is probable that they would have 

 been found seedless, the result of imperfect 

 fertilization. I was interested last fall in 

 cutting open a small undersized Macintosh 

 red apple when I found it quite seedless 

 from lack of being properly fertilized 

 when in flower. This led me to examine 

 small and imperfect apples of another va- 

 riety. Some were of irregular or abnormal 

 shape, one side developed while the other 

 side had not developed. I found on cutting 

 them open that the very small apples were 

 without seeds, while tlie irregular-shaped 

 ones would have one or two seeds on the 

 side that had developed most, while the 

 dwarfed side contained no seeds. This shows 

 that partial fertilization had caused the 

 fruit to set, and develop in an imperfect 

 way, but did not produce any perfect fruit. 



