E 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



3 



NOVEMBER, 1917 



P^^^^ 



EDITORIAL 



SHORTAGE OF 

 SUGAR FOR 

 FEEDING 



AS MENTIONED el&ewhere in the Honey 

 Report columns, page 824, the Government 

 has already comman- 

 deered sugar. No one 

 can buy more than two 

 pounds for a family. 

 Rich and poor are serv- 

 ed alike. While this shortage may be only 

 temporary* many beekeepers who have de- 

 ferred feeding will be up against it. Some 

 will have to buy honey, and tliis is always 

 dangerous on account of bee diseases. 



The temporary shortage of sugar, and 

 possibly of honey stores, emphasizes the 

 great importance of winter protection. 

 Colonies should not be left outdoors in 

 single-walled hives in northern localities. 

 They should either be put in the cellar or be 

 given good warm housing by either of the 

 methods illustrated and described in this 

 issue. 



In a few cases in small towns the bee- 

 keeper's may be able to buy brown sugar in 

 sufiftcient quantities to tide them over. It 

 is nearly the equal of the white, and is ex- 

 cellent for dry feeding in trays placed over 

 the cluster of bees. 



THIRTY YEARS ago one of the bee-jour- 

 nals was filled with what was called the 

 " pollen the ory." 

 POLLEN There wei'e some of 

 FOR the early writers, 



SPRING including the late 



BREEDING James Heddon, who 

 believed that pure 

 sugar stores free from pollen was a giiar- 

 antee to good wintering; and there were 

 manj' wlio believed that pollen was the sole 

 cause of dysentery in tlie spring. 



But it was discovered that while sugar- 

 fed colonies would pass tlii'u the winter in 

 fairly good condition they wei'e unable to 

 raise any brood; and brood-rearing in the 

 spring, to a moderate extent for outdoor 

 wintering, is almost a neciessity to replace 

 tlie old bees dving off. 



In these later days it seems to be the 

 gtenerally accepted opinion that natural 

 stores containing pollen give better results 

 in wintering and springing than the arti- 

 ficial stores. Honey, besides being a more 

 natural food, contains some valuable ele- 

 ments besides pollen; for, appai-ently, pol- 

 len in the combs is a necessary food ele- 

 ment — not for wintering but for springing 

 when bees start brood-rearing. 



At one time it Avas believed that the arti- 

 ficial pollen substitutes such as i-ye meal 

 would supply the deficiency; but the bee- 

 keepers of the United States know that 

 there is nothing equal to natural pollen. A 

 colony cannot build up to good working 

 strength unless it can have natural pollen. 



* It is reported that there will be relief as soon as 

 Cuban and beet sugar gets on the market. 



REFERENCES have been made in late 

 issues to this plan of uniting bees. For the 

 benefit of those who 

 UNITING may not have tlie 

 BY NEWS- former numbers of 

 PAPER Gleanikgs Jiandy, 



METHOD we may say that the 

 plan contemplates 

 a method of uniting two under - strength 

 colonies one on top of tJie other, with a 

 single sheet of newspaper between. In a 

 short rime the bees will gnaw a hole thru 

 the paper and gradually unite without go- 

 ing back to the old stand. Of course it 

 is understood that one of the queens should 

 be removed, and it is important that the 

 other be caged. 



We find it necessai-y, however, to go a 

 little further and put on a queen-excluder iv 

 addition to the newspaper. A queen for 

 the two colonies is put either above or be- 

 low, wherever the strongest cluster is. 



We have also found it necessai-j' to punch 

 a hole thru the paper with a pencil, be- 

 cause we liave learned occasionally tlmt bees 

 in tlie upper hive, on account of a lack of 

 ventilation, worry and die off in bunches. 



We also discovered that the two families 

 will not unite until all the brood is luitehed 

 out in the queenless compartment. By con- 



