G T. E A N I N G S IN BEE CULTURE 



C 



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THE direc- 

 tions f r 

 feeding bees 

 in winter, given 

 on page 770 of 

 December Glean- 

 ing, are very 

 much to the 

 point and very 

 valuable. How- 

 ever, I looked in vain to see if candy suita- 

 ble for feeding bees in winter could be 

 made from a good grade of brown sugar. 

 It has been difficult for some beekeepers to 

 get any other kind this year. 



* « » 



If there are any beekeepers in New Eng- 

 land in need of sugar for bees, they should 

 apjjly for certificates at once to E. S. Brig- 

 ham at Montpelier, Vt., and then send to 

 the Montpelier Grocery Company, enclosing 



the certificate. 



* * * 



' ' Why do labels and advertisements con- 

 tinue to use the hackneyed expression, 

 'Pure Honey?' " asks C. M. Elfer, page 797. 

 Well, I expect it is because we have got into 

 the habit of it and haven 't stopped. We 

 are sometimes told that we can't make a 

 man honest by law; yet it was but a few 

 years ago that enormous quantities of im- 

 pure honey were placed on the markets, while 

 today such a thing is unheard of. 



* * * 



P. Eric Millen says, page 778, that there 

 are quite too many kinds of honey on the 

 market. He would have the honey graded 

 so that all of it from one state or province 

 would be uniform. There is such a constant 

 variation in honey from different sources 

 that this would seem impractical. Clover 

 honey is still clover whether it comes from 

 Vermont or Ohio, and the same with buck- 

 wheat; but, if we blend Ohio buckwheat and 

 clover, who would care to buy it? 

 « * * 



J. L. Byer calls attention on page 795 to 

 alsike clover as one of the most valuable 

 of honey plants. I believe he is right. 

 Where it is grown freely, the number of 

 colonies that can be kept in one location is 

 sur])rising. Prom where I live a line run- 

 ning nearly west for six miles would include 

 four large yards of bees of some six hundred 

 colonies. To the east, north, and south 

 are other large yards, and yet all seem to 

 do well. This would give some 12 or 15 

 colonies to the square mile. 



* * * 



On page 770 the Editor speaks of the 

 use of nullomoline in making candy for 

 feed for bees in winter. Will he tell us what 

 it is made from, how or where it can be ob- 

 tained, and at what price? [Nullomoline 

 is a trade name for invert sugar syrup, 

 having many of the characteristics of honey. 

 It is prepared and sold by the Nullomoline 

 Company of New York City, and usually 

 costs from one to two cents above the mar- 



SIFTINGS 



J. E. Crane 



1 



^^^^^^^^^^ 



TU 



.Tanuary, 1920 



ket price for 

 granulated 

 sugar. We have 

 used it for mak- 

 ing queen - cage 

 candy in prefer- 

 ence to honey as 

 the latter may 

 or may not con- 

 tain bee disease. 

 Nullomoline will answer for making bee- 

 candy when the bees are not on the road 

 over 48 hours. After that the candy is lia- 

 ble to harden so that the bees starve to 

 death. When honey is boiled for making 

 queen-cage candy it nearly ruins it for the 



juirpose. 



it * # 



Those 21 illustrations commencing on page 

 771 are well worth the careful attention of 

 every young beekeeper, for they are true to 

 life and human nature. Selling is one of 

 the great games of life, whether we enjoy 

 it or not; and the one who knows exactly 

 the market value of goods holds the trump 

 card. To know what the buyer thinks is 

 often of much more value to the seller than 

 what the buyer says, and to be able to 

 know is an art well worth cultivating. I 

 used to wonder how those reporting market 

 prices could tell within a cent or a half-cent 

 what certain produce was worth, but after 

 visiting city marlcets and watching whole- 

 sale and retail merchants barter with each 

 other I soon learned how it came about. I 

 nm not sure but it would well repay any 

 young man who has much trading to do, to 

 visit some of our larger city markets and 

 watch the game as it is played by those 

 who know how. Not that I would have any 

 one learn how to get the better of his neigh- 

 bor, but rather that he should, be able to 

 prevent his neighbor from deceiving him. 

 * * « 



There are some pretty good things in that 

 story, ''Anne Lester and Daddy Lowe, Bee- 

 keepers." (See page 779.) The following 

 will bear repeating: Anne says, "I beg to 

 announce that some day I am going to write 

 a book about beginning with bees and every 

 other sentence is going to say that the peo- 

 ple who won't knuckle down to read and 

 study" — "Deserve to be stung," finished 

 Jack. "Be comforted, they quite likely will 

 be." Again, Ahne says, speaking of Dad- 

 dy Lowe: '-'He keeps me busy admiring 

 him. Why, this fall as soon as the bees were 

 ready for winter, he started planning for 

 next season. So much increase, so much 

 foundation, so much this and that — a few 

 new covers, and so on. Then he took a care- 

 ful inventory. Counted up everything he 

 had and ordered everything he didn't have." 

 Jack replies, "No early spring ever yet 

 sneaked in on Dad and found him hollering 

 for sui>plies. " 



If all beekeepers were to follow Daddy 

 Lowe's methods, how it would make the 

 supply manufacturers and dealers hustle 

 thru the winter! 



