48 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



January, 1917 



c 



LJr 



ONE hundred 

 earl o a d s 

 of bottled 

 honey already, 

 Dec. 1, 1916^ 

 see page 1106. 

 This may ao- 

 count for the 

 lenglh of time 

 we have had to wait to get ordeis filled for 



glass. 



* * * 



While government reports show a larger 

 crop of honey in 1916 than in the pre- 

 vious year, the sale of both comb and ex- 

 ti'aeted honey, with us, has been better 



than in 1915. 



■* * » 



We waited till Dec. 1 for the bees to 

 get a late flig'ht, and then had to cellar 

 them without a fly. One hundred wen! 

 in Dec. 1, and 30 more a week later. Rut 

 ] never knew bees to be as quiet as they are 



n(!W. 



* * * 



Wesley Foster tells us, page 1014, Nov. 

 1, that cities in the middle West are taking 

 honey in carlots, tho the population is not 

 over 15,000. If all the population of the 

 country were to take honey that way, how 

 much would it take to supply the demand? 



* * * 



" In my opinion," says P. C. Chadwick, 

 page 1112, Dec. 1, " a man cannot afford 

 to feed bees, even at a difference in ]irice 

 of five cents per pound in favor of sugar." 

 Well, now, that seems to ' be putting' it 

 pretty strong; but who can say he is not 



right""? 



«• * * 



" When a beekeeper loses hope it is 

 equivalent to an apiary for sale, or the 

 beginning of a rundown yard that no one 

 would pay much for," says P. C. Chad- 

 wick, page 967, Oct. 15. Well, isn't it the 

 beginning of the end in any kind of busi- 

 ness? 



* # * 



I'roF. Francis Jager, page 1067, Nov. 

 15, gives a sad commentary on beekeeping 

 in the United Slates when he tells us tliat 

 iinly one beekeeper in eight is familiar Avith 

 the literature (if beekeeping in this coun- 

 try. The truth of his statement can be 

 vouched for by a number of inspectors. 



* * ■* 



Mr. Doolittle's experiments in finding 

 the amount of honey indoors and outside 

 are almost exactly the same as our own. 

 My own figures, as I remv^mber them, 

 e:iven in the December nuinbei- of 77-^ 



SIFTINGS 



J. E. Crane 



1 



^'^^^^^^^^ 



Beekeepers' Re- 

 view, were 10'V2 

 lbs. per colony 

 for the cellar, 

 and 17% for 

 t h o se wintered 

 outdoors. The 

 article for the 

 Review was 

 written before I saw Mr. Doolittle's page in 

 the Nov. 15th issue of Gleanings. 



From page 1013, Nov. 1, I gather that 

 Dr. Miller is still in trouble getting out 

 frames or dummies. Say, doctor, why don't 

 you use free hanging frames, just as Lang- 

 stroth made them? It is my experience 

 that it is not half the work to get out the 

 first one that it is a Hoffman or Danzen- 

 baker frame. 



On page 1010, Nov. 1, attention is called 

 to the value of early packing* for bees left 

 on their summer stands. Now I have to 

 confess that we usually have so much to do 

 in early autumn that we often leave our 

 packing till rather late, and often find 

 bunches of dead bees where they have be- 

 come separated from the main cluster by 

 a sudden change of temperature. 



Mx. Holtermann's article, page 1076, 

 Nov. 15, as to ways in which we may find 

 out how European foul brood spreads, is 

 well worth our attention. It is not prob- 

 able any one beekeejier may be so situated 

 as to be able to try them all; but one 

 person may be able to try out one way and 

 another another, and slowly Ave may learn 

 much that is new. 



A. C. Miller thinks I must be a rather 

 slim beekeeper because I feed so much 

 sugar, or at least he hints that way. See 

 page 932, Oct. 1, and then he admits he 

 has had to feed heavily some years when 

 there was little late honey. Well, I will 

 admit that I am not as good at beekeeping 

 as I ought to be; but will our friend tell 

 us wliat one is to do when there is little 

 honey to be gathered after July 20? I 

 have thought of running one or more, or 

 a i^art of several yards for getting brood- 

 combs filled solid with honey for giving to 

 tliose run for section honey. Who can tell 

 if it will pay better than running all for 

 section honey and then feeding sugar for 

 winter stores? 



