March, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



213 



HEADS OF GRAIN I PpeiO TDiFFEREN T FIELDS 



ripe (fully capped over) when extracted. 

 This honey when liquefied has a sparkling 

 amber color, and is so thick it will hardly 

 run at all. When we want to eat it we 

 take a spoon and ' ' wind up ' ' what we 

 want. In the granulated condition it looks 

 like good butter, only it is a little more 

 solid. 



We have honey here that does not graru- 

 late. It comes from a rather small tree 

 called the sourwood. I have never known 

 it to granulate. There is a reason. Who 

 can tell whether this honey has something 

 in it to keep it from granulating or whether 

 there is nothing in it that will granulate? 



New Eichmond, Ohio. Houston Scott. 



[Technically speaking, Mr. Chadwick's 

 proposition and our own are different, and 

 yet the same condition that permits slight 

 granulation also causes the granulation to 

 take place but slowly. 



Briefly speaking, honey is a complex 

 substance. The amount of dextrose de- 

 termines the degree or rapidity of granu- 

 lation. Honeys containing high percentages 

 of levulose or dextrin, which are non-granu- 

 lating, granulate slowly or not at all, de- 

 pending upon the amounts present. If 

 honey were composed of dextrose entirely 

 it would become perfectly solid and dry. 

 The substance that might be obtaiiied by 

 evaporating the moisture in honey would 

 not be honey, and probably could not be 

 sold as such. Certain honeys, like the sage 

 of California and tupelo of Florida, con- 

 taining a high percentage of levulose, do 

 not granulate, because the influence of 

 the levulose is stronger than that of the 

 dextrose. 



Of course agitation and alternate high 

 and low temperatures hasten granulation. 

 Other things being equal, honey that is 

 extracted, because of the agitation and the 

 introduction of bubbles of air, will granu- 

 late more quickly than honey which is 

 not extracted. — Ed.] 



Plenty of Drones Early in the fall of 



as Well as Brood 1916 I purchased a 



in November golden Italian queen 



from J. B. Brockwell, 

 Bariietts, Va., and introduced it to a colony 

 of blacks after destroying the old queen. 

 She commenced laying in due time, and 

 kept it up at a rapid rate until about the 

 middle of November. In the mean time 

 there was no honey to be had from any 

 source. About November 15 it turned 

 very cold — almost zero weather; in a few 

 days the weather began to moderate, so 

 the bees were seen flying from some of 

 the hives, and I noticed a large pile of 

 dead brood in front of this hive — drones 



and workers in all stages, some about 

 ready to hatch out. The brood became 

 chilled and the bees dragged them out. 



Is this a common occurrence when goldens 

 are purchased from the South and shipped 

 North? I have other queens — the three 

 banded from the South, and they all stopped 

 laying early in October, when there was no 

 honey from the field, and the weather be- 

 gan to get cold; but this queen kept right 

 along laying. It is a strong colony now, 

 but I am afraid they will run short of 

 stores. The hive was not very heavy when 

 they were put into winter quarters. 



Eomeo, Mich. C. C. Chamberlin. 



City Beekeepers I live at the outskirts 



in California and of the city, altho it 



a Lot of Them is built up close all 



around us. All the 

 lots are 25 x 100 feet, and there are very 

 few empty ones. In the five or six blocks 

 nearest to me I venture to say there are 

 at least 20 to 25 colonies of bees per block. 



About half a mile away to the east- 

 ward there is a large forest of eucalyptus- 

 trees, also some sandy hills where more 

 or less sage is to be found as well as 

 lupin and numerous wild flowers. There 

 are also a good many acacia-trees growing 

 which bloom heavily in the season. The 

 eucalyptus blooms steadily from March 1 

 to June 15. We get our surplus from this 

 source. 



I have two colonies, one Italian and 

 one black. On Jan. 31, last year, I fed 

 both colonies sugar syrup for three weeks 

 and they built up wonderfully, as they 

 were quite weak after the winter. The 

 hives were just boiling over with bees 

 at the right age to go to the fields by 

 the time the eucalyptus began to bloom 

 well. From the two colonies I secured 

 250 sections of fine light - amber honey, 

 also sixty small individual sections, four 

 of which take the place of one 4x5 sec- 

 tion. I sold all the honey at 20 cts. per 

 section among my friends and acquaint- 

 ances. 



About the middle of June, having just 

 returned from a trip out of town I found 

 that one colony during my absence had 

 swarmed. It was then late in the eve- 

 ning, and I wanted to find out which hive 

 the swarm had come from. I put on my 

 veil and gloves and started to investigate. 

 As it was late and cool, and a fog com- 

 ing on, the bees did not fly much but 

 just crawled around all over my legs, 

 under my coat, and into my veil. I had 

 neglected putting the veil under my vest. 

 In a very few seconds I had my veil full 

 of bees which were stinging to beat the 

 band. I rushed for the bathtub and dived 



