MAY 15, 1916 



387 



J. E, Crane 



SIFTINGS 



Middlebury, Vt. 



HOW THE BEES HAVE WINTERED. 



Bees have generally Tvinteied 

 well here in western Vei'mont, al- 

 !io March was the coldest known 

 lor thirty years. I notice that bees 

 almost invariably winter well after 

 a good season. 



T am greatly interested in Mr. Byer's 

 whopper colony of bees he mentions on 

 page 267, April 1. We hope we may hear 

 from it again, and that the capacity of the 

 bees to gather honey will be as great as the 

 fecundity of the queen. 

 » » * 



T am glad Prof. E. G. Baldwin, of De- 

 land, Florida, is to test thoroly the question 

 of bees in fertilizing the flowers of the 

 orange about Deland, and settle, if possible, 

 the value of bees in orange-groves in Flor- 

 ida. I believe that, as we study this whole 

 subject, we shall meet with many surprises. 

 * * * 



Mr. Doolittle gives his opinion on page 

 268, April 1, as to the best bees. He says 

 that queens of one or two generations from 

 imported leather-colored queens crossed or 

 mated to drones in no way related are the 

 best for extracted honey ; while for white 

 comb honey there is nothing better than the 

 golden Italians. How about the wonderful 

 improvements some breeders claim to have 



made? 



* * * 



One is reminded of the siz;e of our coun- 

 try and variety of climate from Mr. 

 SchoU's statements on page 223, March 15, 

 when he informs us that in Texas it is the 

 proper time to clean up beeyards as well as 

 beehives, while here in Vermont the snow 

 was two feet deep on a level, and many of 

 our hives were entirely out of sight under 

 snow-drifts and the mercury playing about 



Mr. P. C. Chadwick's notes on the navel- 

 orange blossoms, page 264, April 1, are of 

 special value in the discussion of the value 

 of bees in the fertilization of fruit-blos- 

 soms. It shows very conclusively that bees 

 are quite unnecessary, and cannot in any 

 way be helpful. The surprising thing about 

 the navel orange is that it should grow so 

 large and be so perfectly developed with- 

 out producing seeds. There are several 

 varieties of seedless grapes, but so far as 

 1 know they are, without exception, all 

 small. 



Mr. Doolittle's experience and experi- 

 ments as given on page 226, -March 15, add 

 to our evidence that European foul brood 

 is not transmitted from hive to hive thru 

 honey. This is a most important matter 

 as bearing on the necessary treatment of 

 diseased colonies. What we want to know 

 further is whether this is always true, or 

 does honey from a colony having European 

 foul brood sometimes transmit disease? 

 What we want is facts, not opinions or 



theories. 



* » * 



Don't forget the postage-stam.ps, says the 

 editor, page 218, March 15. Of course it 

 is for get fulness; but it seems sometimes 

 almost inexcusable wlien a stranger asks 

 you to take time and paper to answer his 

 questions, and then forgets to pay the post- 

 age. I received a letter from a gentleman 

 a few days ago asking for some informa- 

 tion, and he enclosed two stamps, and then 

 wrote me a note thanking me for what I 

 had done for him. We all love to be* ap- 

 preciated. 



On opening hives this spring in early 

 April we found an unusual amount of 

 brood, notwithstanding an unusually cold 

 March, and we almost instinctively ask how 

 this can be. One reason is that most colo- 

 nies went into winter quarters strong in 

 bees. Another is that the excessive cold of 

 March was favorable to brood-rearing. Dr. 

 Phillips tells us that, when the temperature 

 outside of a cluster of bees gets below 57 

 degrees, the temperature inside of the clus- 

 ter rises. I have found a summer tempera- 

 ture inside a cluster with mercury below 

 zero outside the hive. So it would seem 

 that bees have bred freely during the cold 

 month of March. 



* * » 



That picture of Mr. Chadwick's yard, 

 page 184, March 1, took my eye. I have 

 often wished I might visit him, and now I 

 can look on one of his yards. How true 

 and level the hives stand ! and those great 

 hills or mountains in the rear ! How easy 

 to wheel the honey to the house! And then 

 that class of beekeepers at the Ontario 

 Agricultural College ! How we wish we 

 could have been among them, for we are 

 never too old to learn! Again, I see the 

 home and workshop of H. B. Phillips, page 

 204, of Auburn, Me., with whom we have 

 transacted business for many years. He 

 does a large business in selling comb and 

 extracted honey, altho he is totally deaf. 



