1158 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



J. E. Crane 



SIFTINGS I Middlebur,.Vt 



SHE- -^ 



u 



Jt is good news to know that 

 asters yield better after a frost — 

 pao-e 1009, Nov. 1. 



The editor discusses the impor- 

 tance of windbreaks on page 1011, 

 Nov. 1. I for one am glad more 

 and more emphasis is being placed on this 

 point in outdoor wintering of bees. 



* * » 



Page 923, Oct. 1, Mrs. W. T. Lively gives 

 some theories on the color variation in 

 honey. While in Florida a few years ago I 

 was told that the sugar-cane syrup gi'own 

 on high, dry, sandy soil was of much lighter 

 color "than that grown on the rich hammock 



lands. 



* * * 



Except the law had said, " Thou shalt 

 not covet," I feel sure I should covet Mrs. 

 Allen's many acres of crimson clover, 

 page 906, Oct. 1. It must be a comfort 

 to have the gap between fruit-bloom and 

 white clover filled in. The past season 

 we had nearly four weeks after fruit-bloom 

 when bees could gather little. 



* * « 



That announcement in Nov. 1st Glean- 

 ings that Gleanings is to become a month- 

 ly after this year has caused a feeling of 

 pain to many who have been for so many 

 years cheered by its bi-monthly visits. _We 

 expect, somehow, we don't now know just 

 how, to be " disappointed," and to enjoy 

 the new way as well as the old. 



* * * 



That "sousing method," . as Mr. C. D. 

 Cheney calls it, page 986, Oct. 15, of in- 

 troducing queens with dilute honey certain- 

 ly seems an improvement over the use of 

 thick honey. The danger, by use of thick 

 honey, of injuring the queen seems to me 

 vei-y great in our cool climate. I am glad, 

 too, to know of his success by this method. 

 •< * » 



George Shiber, page 853, Sept. 15. esti- 

 mates there is a saving of one-third of the 

 stores by wintering in the cellar. I have 

 found, by actually weighing, it is even more 

 than a third. About 7 lbs. more is requir- 

 ed out of doors than in a cellar, but these 

 figures might vary with the amount of 

 protection given out of doors, the severity 

 of the winter, or the excellence of the cellar. 



One of the interesting Ihings about 

 Gleanings is that we get interesting pic- 



tures of different parts of the beekeeping 

 world. That on the cover, Nov. 1, is espe- 

 cially interesting. The editor tells us that 

 already they have 4,000,000 acres under cul- 

 tivation in Imperial Valley and very soon 

 will have 2,000,000 more — almost as much 

 as the whole state of Vermont, and vastly 



more productive. 



* * * 



I have just returned from the New Eng- 

 land fruit show at Montpelier, Vt. The 

 magnificent display of fruit, especially 

 apples, will go with me as long as I live. 

 Apples, apples, apples! of every kind, 

 color, and flavor. Surely no other fruit 

 can compare with it. It is the king of 

 fruits. If bees had no other claim to our 

 attention than the part they play in the 

 production of this magnificent fruit they 

 would still be worthy of our thought and 



care. 



* * » 



The editor puts up a good argument, 

 page 776, Sept. 1, in favor of the use of 

 comb foundation in sections, and I believe 

 he is right. Still, I cannot help feeling that, 

 while a comb built on light foundation may 

 have less wax than one built without foun- 

 dation, especially if it is drone, as it is apt 

 to be, there is a tenderness or flakiness 

 about the average comb without foundation 

 that the other lacks. But for all that I shall 

 continue to fill my sections with foundation, 

 as the advantages overbalance the objec- 

 tions. 



» * » 



Reference on page 840, Sept. 15, to 

 sweetened spraying solution for destroying 

 insects is of interest to beekeepers. I doubt 

 very much if the formula as given, two 

 gallons of molasses to 50 gallons of water, 

 would attract bees when honey is coming 

 in at all, but it might do so. Would it not 

 be better to substitute glucose or corn syr- 

 up, as it is called now, for the molasses? 

 My apples have been seriously injured for 

 a number of years by the apple-maggot or 

 railroad worm, as it is often called. The 

 eggs are laid by a fly that appears usually 

 early in July in this section. Like other 

 flies they are fond of sweets, and a little 

 spraying on one side of the tree seems to 

 answer the purpose. Last July I sprayed 

 with a solution of arsenate of lead and 

 corn syrup, with the result that this fall 

 my fruit is the finest I have had for many 

 years, showing that the corn syrup answers 

 every purpose, and with no danger to the 

 bees. 



