DECEMBER 1, 1916 



1109 



Dr. C. C. Miller 



STRAY STRAWS I Marengo, m. 



I'm eaii'erly waiting' to see the 

 first number of the new Glean- 

 ings, Jan. 1. 



A. I. Root, in accordance with 

 your wish, p. 1013, I'm doing my 

 i level best to live as long as you, 

 and also to have the best kind of 

 time, with no anxiety for the future, be- 

 ■ cause I am trusting that future to One " who 

 is miglity to save." Yes, indeed, I can sing 

 " The Rock that is higher than I " just as 

 well as when you heard it last. 



A WAY given, p. 1088, to get honey out 

 of combs without an extractor, is to crush 

 them up and strain the honey thru cheese- 

 cloth. An easier, tho not so good a way, 

 is to melt them with gentle heat, allow the 

 mass to cool, and then lift oft" the cake of 

 Avax. 



Sweet clover is getting bouquets from 

 stoek-raisei's nowadays. In Country Gentle- 

 man, 1947, is given a report from Mitchell, 

 S. Dak., where it is pastured on a large 

 scale, and it was the belief " that three head 

 of adult cattle to the acre was about the 

 right quantity for a sweet-clover pasture. 

 Needless to say, this is much more than or- 

 dinary native grasses or any other known 

 pasture plant is capable of carrying." 



J. E. Crane, you ask, p. 968, "Are we to 

 understand the moderate use of sugar will 

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

 ey will lengthen it?" I don't believe the 

 moderate use of sugar will shorten a man's 

 life; but more than 80 pounds, the annual 

 average, is hardly moderate. I think that 

 the substitution of honey for most of the 

 sugar I would use will lengthen my life, or 

 I'd eat less honey and more sugar. If I 

 had used all honey from childhood, I sus- 

 pect I would always prefer it as a matter of 

 taste. 



Bees stopped flying here not long after 

 the first of November. The weather kei)t 

 getting colder, and Nov. 14 it was 8 above 

 zero. A perplexing ques! ion arose : "Shall 

 I cellar the bees before their intestines be- 

 come any more loaded, or sliall I wait for 

 another flight-day?" 1 decided to risk 

 Avaiting; but it was not a pleasant frame 

 of mind to be always thinking, " What if 

 another flight-day never comes?" Finally 

 my heart was rejoiced to see the bees in a 

 glorious flight Nov. 19, with the thermom- 

 eter at 52°." So in they go into the cellar 

 the first day I can get Philo to take them 

 in. [We had the same problem here. It 

 turned steady cool or cold earlier than 



usual. We are hoiking for a wanning-up 

 spell, after which we will put the bees in 

 tlie cellar. We are more likely to get it 

 than you are. — Ed.] 



" Ordinarily it is not practicable for 

 beginners to unite bees of the same yard. . . 

 Wait till cold weather. . ." p. 940. You for- 

 got the newspaper plan of uniting— didn't 

 you ? Any beginner can use it in the same 

 yard, and without waiting for cold weather. 

 Lay a sheet of newspaper on the top-bars 

 of one hive, and set the other hive upon it. 

 The bees will do the rest. [The newspaper 

 scheme is all right and endorsed in our A B 

 C and X Y Z of Bee Culture. During cool 

 weather we have not found it necessary to 

 use it. In hot weather, such as we some- 

 times have in October, the bees above may 

 sutler some for the want of air. — Ed.] 



Some excellent talk about wintering, p. 

 ion. Along with it we can hardly empha- 

 size too much the importance of pure air. 

 That's where outdoor wintering has the 

 cinch. You are right, Mr. Editor, in saying 

 there is tendency toward outdoor wintering 

 in veiy cold climates. But there is another 

 tendency that must not be overlooked. That 

 is tlie tendency toward having furnaces in 

 cellars, in this region I think the number 

 lias quadrupled in the past ten years — per- 

 haps in five. Wherever a furnace is put in 

 a cellar the advisability of cellar wintering 

 is greatly increased, simply because the 

 higher temperature of the cellar allows the 

 introduction of a larger supply of pure air 

 without making it too cold for the bees. 

 Another factor to be considered is the wind. 

 You are dead right in saying, " If w-e had to 

 choose between wiiidbreaks and single-wall- 

 ed hives or double-walled hives out in the 

 open, we would unhesitatingly choose the 

 fonnei'." And before either of tiiem you 

 would ]irobal)ly choose a place so still that 

 u'indbreaks would not be needed. The fact 

 that a man in Canada finds outdoor winter- 

 ing better for him does not convince me that 

 it is better for me, altlio 200 miles further 

 south; for he may be where winds are nei- 

 ther severe nor long-continued, while my 

 winds nearly blow me over, and make a busi- 

 ness of blowing steadily day and night. 



[Perha))s if you were where you could 

 not inspect your cellar daily you would pre- 

 fei- the outdoor ])lan. Certain it is that a 

 funuice witii plenty of ventilation liel])s out 

 a cellar for bees providing, of course, that 

 the climate is cold enough. The new edi- 

 tion (if tlie A B C and X Y Z makes quite a. 

 point of this.-- Ed.] 



