AfKii.. 1920 



O L E A N I N a S IN BEE CULT U R E 



215 



c 



ur 



THAT state- 

 incut c o n - 

 cerniug feed- 

 ing both cane 

 and beet sugar 

 in large quanti- 

 ties late in the 

 season, mention- 

 ed on page 87 of 

 February Glean- 

 ings, was comforting to me, to say the least. 

 It would be of value to know under what 

 eouditions sugar had granulated so that 

 large amounts have been removed in the 

 spring. Is it not possible that the feed was 

 granulated honey instead of sugar syrup? 

 We have sometimes had honey granulate 

 badly in the hives during winter. 



* * * 



It begins to look as tho there might be 

 heavy losses again this winter in the North. 

 The Government weather station at Bur- 

 lington, Vt., reports January as being one 

 of the coldest on record, and Feb. 1 as 

 having the lowest temperature ever known 



at that station. 



* » * 



On page 91 Mr. Parks was undoubtedly 

 right in regard to the apple and peach trees 

 blooming in the fall. J. J. Wilder showed 

 me a peach tree on his place that, he said, 

 always bloomed in the fall. I noticed good- 

 sized peaches on this tree early in April, 

 while other trees were, I think, hardly in 



bloom. 



« * * 



There appears to be some discrepancy be- 

 tween the statements of M. C. Eichter of 

 California and H. B. Parks of Texas. Mr. 

 Riehter says on page 92 that Texas dis- 

 poses to outside markets 60 per cent of her 

 crop of honey, while Mr. Parks says on page 

 94 that Texas not only consumes its own 

 crop but imports large amounts from other 

 States. 



SIFTINGS 



J. E. Crane 



1 



lU 



♦ » * 



Mr. Byer tells us on page 95 that he is 

 not satisfied with his hives' winter en- 

 trances, which are narrow and long. He 

 would prefer a higher entrance so as to pre- 

 vent clogging during our long cold winters. 

 On page 87 of Gleanings for January I gave 

 the size of entrance to the winter cases at 

 Somerset as % inch. I learned later that 

 they were 14 inch. In thinking it over 

 since, I have come to the conclusion that I 

 would be unwilling to use in the North a 

 size so small. We have sometimes found 

 them clogged with an entrance % inch in 

 size. Maybe, if I had had larger colonies or 

 more packing, it would have worked better. 

 » » » 



Those methods of wiring, given on pag(^s 

 77, 78, and 79, are certainly of great value 

 where combs sag badly, but we have littl*! 

 troul)le where the upper wire is near the top- 

 bar and the next not far below the first 

 wire. I have been wondering if climate has 

 not something to do with combs sagging. 



and if the trou- 

 ble is not great- 

 er in the exces- 

 sively hot sum- 

 mers of Califor- 

 nia. We also 

 have our foun- 

 dation drawn in 

 supers or be- 

 tween old combs 

 in the brood-chamber. I have had combs 

 drawn from Van Deusen flat foundation in 

 use for 40 years without showing the slight- 

 est tendency to sag. And, again, where a 

 hive had become overheated, this same foun- 

 dation comb would not only sag and settle 

 but go to the bottom of the hive. 



In the everyday language of Virginia, 

 those figures quoted on page 106 by B. F. 

 Kindig from Dr. Merrill are ' ' mighty inter- 

 esting. ' ' A two-story hive in spring has 

 5,000 more bees than a one-story hive, 

 whether protected or not; and a two-story 

 hive protected will have 25,000 more. One 

 can not help wanting to know more about it. 

 Were the bees counted or weighed or only 

 just estimated? 



» * * 



Mr. Blackbourne of Melbourne, Aus., on 

 page 86, says we must remember that ' ' The 

 queen lessens her output of eggs a few days 

 before the swarm leaves so that her body 

 may be lightened to enable her to fly. ' ' This 

 is the way I used to think, but I have 

 come to think differently of late years; for 

 I find many queens let up on laying and 

 their bodies become light where no prepara- 

 tion is being made by worker bees for 

 swarming. 



* * * 



My experience corresponds with that of 

 J. H. Lovell, page 91, that elms yield pollen 

 freely and sometimes honeydew but no hon- 

 ey. This by no means proves that they 

 never do. Some plants yield honey in one 

 section and not in another, and sometimes 

 in one season and not in another. [Yes, but 

 Mr. Lovell is an authority on botany not 

 only in his own locality but thruout the 

 United States. See his article on this sub- 

 ject, page 224. — Editor.] 

 « * * 



I was greatly interested in A. I. Root's 

 account, on page 110, of an annual sweet 

 clover. Now, this may or may not prove of 

 great value; but one thing seems certain, 

 that the plant is variable and capable of be- 

 ing changed by the skillful hand of man. As 

 usually grown, it does not appear wholly 

 satisfactory, since the stalk grows coarse 

 and woody. If a variety could be produced 

 that would throw out many more branches, 

 with more leaves, and not run up so tall and 

 woody, it would be an acquisition of im- 

 mense value, especially where used for hay. 

 (For further discussion of this clover, see 

 page 236 of this issue.) 



