GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



August, 1917 



ONE of the 

 interesting 

 things 

 a b ut reading 

 Gleanings i s 

 the knowledge 

 we acquire of 

 different parts 

 of our broad 



country, until we come to know the climate 

 and conditions north and south, east and 

 west, almost as well as in the little corner 



we occupy. 



* * * 



On page 521, July, J. M. Buchanan 

 speaks of lespedeza, or Japan clover. 

 Will he tell us more about it? Is it hardy 

 north of his state? And does it j-ield honey 



freely ? 



* * « 



I like Prof. E. G. Baldwin's courage in 

 not giving up, page 546, July. Many a 

 poor season, or what appeared to be, has 

 been turned into a good one by the pluck 

 and grit of the beekeeper. 

 » * * 



Some beekeepers appear to reason like 

 a fanner some one was telling me about a 

 few days ago. He said, '' What is the use 

 of raising a new pig every year when you 

 can keep the old one until it is several yeai"s 



old?" 



* * * 



I confess to some disappointment as to 

 the outlook for a good-sized crop of honey 

 in this country this year, as I read over 

 reports from different sections. One thing 

 is certain : If the crop is light, prices must 

 rule high; but I am not yet ready to give 



up. 



* * * 



" We have not done it," is the heading 

 of the last chapter in the mating experi- 

 ment of bees under glass. We can enter 

 into the feelings of those conducting it, for 

 we regarded it as belonging to every bee- 

 keeper, and we had fondly hoped it might 

 prove a success. 



bottoms of sec- 

 tions clean, but 

 for the more im- 

 portant work of 

 keeping the 

 faces of the 

 combs clean. It 

 keeps the bees 

 from carrying 

 up bits of dirty wax from the brood-cham- 

 ber, and mixing with the white wax of the 

 new combs. ^ ^ ^ 



The announcement that there may be dis- 

 ease among the bees is, to many persons, like 

 a clap of thunder out of a clear sky. 

 " I never heard of it. I don't believe it. 

 It is all a notion." is the reply I received 

 from one where I went to inspect the last 



colony. 



* » * 



Dr. Miller inquires, page 532, July, " If 

 eggs are carried on the bees, why not on 

 Italians just as much as on blacks?" Doubt- 

 less they would be if there were as many 

 to carry. But Italians keep the worms so 

 well cleaned out that but few mature into 

 moths to lay eggs to be carried into the hive 



by the bees. 



* * » 



That July cover picture showing the 

 clover is just grand. Of all our northern 

 clovers I believe alsike the most beautiful. 

 I am inclined to think that, acre for acre, 

 it yields the most honey, and I am quite 

 sure it is the most fragrant. Its fragrance 

 reminds us of " the smell of a field that the 

 Lord hath blessed." 



» * * 



Bees appear to have bred u}) well here 

 as in other parts of the country in spite 

 of the cold cloudy April and May, and well 

 we may put .June in too, altho not so bad as 

 the earlier months. I saw the white-clover 

 blossoms first June 18 and now July 3, but 

 little clover honey has been stored. Two 

 years ago very little clover honey had been 

 stored at this time, yet it turned out a good 

 season. 



It was a disappointment to us to learn 

 that the fiber package does not stand ship- 

 ment as was hoped. Would labeling 

 " Glass, handle with care," be misbranding? 

 There are those who claim it would not — 

 that the word " glass " stands for fragile 

 goods — -a class that requires very careful 



handling. 



• * « 



On page 275 is a paragraph describing a 

 honey-board we use, which Mr. Baldwin 

 calls a " kink for keeping bottoms of sec- 

 tions clean." Not at all for keeping the 



Dr. Miller discusses the relative amount 

 of comb and extracted honey a colony will 

 produce — page 273. One difficulty is, we 

 are apt to forget the amount left in hives 

 that have been run for extracted honey. 

 So far as our experience goes, colonies ran 

 for extracted honey are usually found much 

 lighter in autumn than those run for comb 

 honey. If the amount of winter stores were 

 the same I believe the difference in amount 

 of surplus from colonies run for extracted 

 or comb honey would not be as great as 

 generally believed. 



