1110 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Grace Allen 



THE DIXIE BEE NashvUIe, Xenn. 



Count us among those who, with 

 the editors, are " looking forward, 

 to a bigger and better Gleanings 

 with enthusiasm." 



ile ^ -:K 



All this part of Dixie has gone 

 into winter quarters with the 

 prettiest of prospects for dover in 1917. 



* * * 



We have used carbolic acid to advantage 

 around hives that are being robbed, but 

 did not know it was of benefit applied to 

 the robbing colony, as outlined on page 

 987. Sometimes more than one colony is 

 in the mischief, and anyway it isn't always 

 easj' to identify the robbing colony, where- 

 as the veriest novice knows who's getting 

 robbed. , , ^s 



. Mr. Scholl, may I please take back my 

 "Whew"? At any rate, I want to change 

 the tone from one of amazement, tinged with 

 protest, to one of downright respect. The 

 explicit article on pages 1031, '32, Nov. 1, 

 shows skill and efficiency developed to a 

 high degree. If the quantity of smoke us- 

 ed doesn't hurt the honey a bit, and I as- 

 sume it doesn't, or you wouldn't use it, 

 you have a method of removing honey that 

 is as excellent as it is rapid. 



* * * 



The editor's warning, page 965, Oct. 15, 

 against extracting unripened honey, is one 

 that can well be repeated many times. We 

 have run upon several customers who have 

 complained about honey purchased other 

 seasons from different producers, who, we 

 know, mean to be careful, but whose honey 

 soured, being extracted too gTeen. One man 

 complained, not about that particular hon- 

 ey, but about honey in general. " What 

 I don't like about honey," he grumbled, 

 " is that you gotta eat it up so quick or it 



goes sour on you." 



« * * 



Today, Nov. 14, we of middle Tennessee 

 are watching our thermometers in shiver- 

 ing amazement, for we have dropped to a 

 freezing temperature and below. Last 

 night Nashville fell to 28 degrees, which 

 is very unusual for Nashville in November, 

 with 15 to 20 promised for tonight. It is, 

 of course, the same cold wave, somewhat 

 penitent and reformed, that left Montana 

 frozen stiff at 28 degrees below zero. Bee- 

 keepers naturally think temperature in 

 terms of bees. I hope the blankets are 

 .tucked in tight around the Montana bees; 

 and I half wish our own had an extra 



quilt or two! I had planned to try out 

 a few four-hive winter cases this fall, but 

 somehow backed down when the time came, 

 merely putting on a few shallow supers of 

 leaves. ^ ^ ^ 



Mr. Foster says, page 1014, Nov. 1, that 

 when the producer retails his own honey he 

 ought to hold the prices up. And so he , 

 should — decidedly. He also says that when 

 he sells to retailers he should let them 

 make a sufficient i^rofit. And so he should. 

 But when the producer sells for 7 cts. in 

 60-lb. cans, and the retailer sells for 16 cts. 

 in 10-lb. cans, doesn't the retailer get the 

 best of that bargain? He makes more for 

 putting the honey in 10-lb. containers, and 

 selling it, than the beekeeper gets for pro- 

 ducing it, and then putting it in 60-lb. con- 

 tainers and selling it, for he gets 9 ets. 

 profit, while the producer giets only 7 cts. 

 gross. Of course, if there is a middleman 

 it is a different story; then the 9 ets. must 

 be divided. 



MOTHS IN EXTRACTING-COMBS. 



We extracted in July, let the bees clean 

 up the supers, then stacked up the extra 

 ones in the supply room, treated them 

 twice with carbon bisulphide, and thought 

 no more about them. They were not touch- 

 ed again till October, when they were dis- 

 arranged and rearranged, and yet not wor- 

 ried about, as it seemed too late in the 

 season for moths, in spite of the warm 

 weather. And then in the lean month of 

 November we discovered them and their 

 name was Legion. Sleek and prosperous- 

 looking, the little white worms were scat- 

 tered all thru our precious combs. But 

 they had not done much damage yet, at 

 that ; and as we promptly dosed them again 

 with the carbon bisulphide, we hope the 

 trouble is over. It is true that the supers, 

 piled one on the other, leave rather wide 

 cracks, thru which I should think a moth 

 might be able to enter, yet the combs must 

 have been free from moths until rather late, 

 probably when we disturbed them in Octo- 

 ber, or there would have been more galler- 

 ies eaten thru the combs, and the larval 

 development would have been greater. Mr. 

 Sidney OlUff, in A B C and X Y Z, says 

 the full-grown larva is about an inch long. 

 I think none of these was more than a 

 quarter of that length. The most interest- 

 ing thing about it was that practically all 

 the worms were in cells containing pollen. 

 Where there was pollen, there was a worm, 

 almost invariably. [Evidently the lesser 

 wax -moth. — Ed. ] 



