968 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



J. E, Crane 



SIFTINGS 



Middlebury, Vt. 



A good-looking lot is that class 

 in beekeeping at the Ontario Ag- 

 ricultural College summer school, 

 page 800, Sept. 1. I notice nearly 

 half of them ai'e women. 



Very little surplus honey was gathered 

 here in Vermont in August. Honey crop is 

 ratlier poor except in one county, where it 



is very good. 



* * * 



I have heard, at one time or another, a 

 good deal about the " king-bee," but never 

 expected to see one. But here is the next 

 thing to it, on p. 795, Sept. 1, a real " Bee 

 King." Glad to make his acquaintance. 



* * * 



The method employed by A. E. Ault, of 

 Bradentown, Fla., as given on page 807, 

 Sept. 1, for making increase, is a most 

 excellent one, as it leaves few or no weak 

 colonies to be built up later. It also helps 

 in keeping down swarming. 



* * * 



Dr. Miller, I am interested in the advice 

 you give Wesley Foster, page 677, Sept. 1, 

 in i^egard to the use of honey. You say, " I. 

 would like to have you live longer." Are we 

 to understand that the moderate use of sugar 

 will shorten a man's life, or that the use of 

 honey will lengthen it? 



* * * 



That is an important point made by the 

 editor, page 468, that honey kept at a tem- 

 perature of 130° for two or three days is 

 much less liable to granulate than when 

 raised to 160° for a short time. Is it not 

 also true that honey is much less liable to 

 granulate if it is warmed and bottled before 

 it has first granulated? 



* « * 



Mr. H. H. KoUister's method of securing 

 straight combs by the use of a sharp trian- 

 gular top-bar, page 737, Aug. 15, takes one 

 back thirty-five or forty years, when we 

 used them, and we found it was a great 

 help if the rear of the hive was raised a feAv 

 inches. There was less danger of their 

 jumping from one frame to another. 



Page 719, Aug, 15, Mr. Doolittle says,' 

 " I am sure that every beginner will do well 

 if he removes the largest patches of drone 

 comb in all his hives, replacing them with 

 worker comb except in such colonies as are 

 set apart as breeders." Few persons have 



any very pronounced ideas on this subject. 

 I am often surprised at the large amount of 

 drone comb I find in the hives of those 

 thought to be pretty good beekeepers, and 

 sometimes almost in the center of the brood- 

 chamber. 



We are reminded these days of that 

 beautiful parable of our Lord on prepared- 

 ness. He said that ten virgins went to at- 

 tend a wedding. All took lamps or torches 

 with them, for the wedding was to be at 

 night. Five were thoughtful, and took a 

 supply of oil as well as lamps. The others 

 did not think they would need any oil. 

 " How foolish ! " we say ; but how like a 

 multitude of beekeepers! So we have at 

 this season requests for a little foundation. 

 Another wants a few hundred or a few 

 thousand sections, and perhaps another a 

 hive at once for their one lone colony has 

 just swarmed. How foolish to keep bees, 

 and not be prepared to supply them with 

 what is needful for success ! 

 * * * 



Prof. Baldwin, in his department for July 

 1, relates his experience in introducing 

 queens by that old plan called the "honey 

 method." It seems really surprising that 

 he should be able by this method to remove 

 an old queen and introduce a virgin at once 

 successfully. If this can be done, and not 

 fail more than one time in ten, it will prove 

 of great value in superseding old queens 

 during spring or early summer. If one has 

 the conveniences for introducing in this way 

 it need not be very fussy nor take a gi'eat 

 amount of time. I find in trying to intro- 

 duce again in this way that it is a little 

 difficult to roll a queen in thick honey. Per- 

 haps the temi;)erature of Florida would 

 make it thin enough, but I suspect a little 

 thinning would be better for our climate if 

 we try to work rapidly, 



SUPERS ENOUGH FOR A WHOLE YARD. 



That auto truck as pictured on page 733, 

 Aug. 15, certainly looks pretty good. As 

 we have been using one for six or eight 

 weeks I can give my testimony that it is a 

 good thing for out-apiaries. Where yards 

 are ten or twelve miles away it saves lots of 

 time. How nice to take supei-s enough for 

 a whole yard and all the help needed at one 

 load, and then to get there in a quarter of 

 the time required by a horse ! and then to 

 be able to take off a ton or more of honey 

 and bring it all home the same day ! 



