GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Published by The A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio. 



E. R. Root, Editor H. H. Root, Managing Editor 



A. I. Root, Editor Home Department J. T. Calvert, Business Manager 



Entered at the Postoffiee, Medina, Ohio, as second-class matter. 



VOL. XLIV. 



OCTOBER 15, 1916 



. NO. 20 



EDITORIAL 



The Cause of Swarming 



In a little discussion between J. E. Hand 

 and J. E. Crane, in this issue, page 969, we 

 believe the majority of oiir best beekeepers 

 would favor Mr. Crane's viewpoint. 



Amount of Stores Necessary to Winter 

 a Colony 



This difficult question is answered very 

 satisfactorily by Mr. Doolittle in this issue 

 in his department, page 972. While he ad- 

 mits that a colony can be wintered on one 

 ])ound of stores a month, this amount is al- 

 together inadequate, because bees, in order 

 to do well in the following spring, must be 

 " rich in stores." He therefore recommends 

 feeding up in the fall with more than will 

 carry them thru. It is pretty well agreed 

 now that fall feeding' is much better than 

 scant feeding, and then feeding- again in 

 the si:»ring to stimulate. 



Late Fall Feeding ; a Precaution 



Mr. W. C. Mollett, in this issue, urges 

 early feeding in the fall. In the main he 

 is correct ; but one precaution should be 

 noted. Feeding in early September may 

 start brood-rearing, with the result that a 

 considerable amount of stores will be con- 

 sumed. While the conversion of syrup into 

 3'oung bees is a splendid thing, the process 

 sometimes leaves the colony short of stores ; 

 and it may have to be followed up by later 

 feeding; and certainly all the colonies 

 should have a careful inspection. If one is 

 obliged to feed after cool weather sets in, 

 lie should make a syrup 'ZY-? parts of sugar 

 to one of water. It should be given hot, 

 and all at one feeding. 



Experiment Station Rears Queens 



The Agricultural Experiment Station of 

 the T^niversity of Wisconsin in Bulletin 

 268, May, 1916, gives a brief rej^ort of a 



new work that they are taking up, recog- 

 nizing that Italian bees are more resistant 

 to European foul brood. Efforts were 

 made during 1915 to develop queen-rearing 

 in connection with the w^ork of the Eco- 

 nomic Entomology Department. Mr. C. A. 

 Aeppler is in charge of this work. One 

 hundred and twenty-six queens were sent 

 out to beekeepers in twelve counties. The 

 queens sold at 50 ets. each. A larger num- 

 ber of queens will be reared this season in 

 order to meet the exj^ected demand. 



Bees Fertilize Cocoanut Blossoms 



In the journal of the -Jamaica Agricul- 

 tural Society for July, 1916, page 273, is 

 an interesting account of the value of bees 

 to cross-pollinate the cocoanut blossoms. 

 The cocoanut bears the two kinds of flowers 

 — the male and the female, altho those on 

 the same stalk do not mature at the same 

 time. Generally, too, there is only one set 

 of flowers open, or ready to fertilize, or to 

 be fertilized, on a cocoanut at one time, this 

 being one of nature's devices to guard 

 against inbreeding or self-fertilization. 



It has been noted that, on cocoanut 

 estates where bees are kept, the yield is 

 phenomenally high. Palms of five and six 

 years bear heavy crops, and the bunches 

 are well filled. 



Beekeeping on the Indian River, Fla. 



In this issue Mr. L. K. Smith gives a 

 rather discouraging view of the out-apiary 

 business on the Indian River in Florida. 

 But if one were going to keep bees for 

 laleasure and profit, putting the main em- 

 phasis on pleasure, we do not know of any 

 place in the United States where one could 

 get more solid enjoyment than operating a 

 series of yards up and down the Indian 

 River. We have been there. In fact, the 

 editor, three years ago, got back his health 

 in making a cruise on that same river, an 



