342 



GLEANINGS TN BEE CULTURE 



o 



S 



SIFTINGS 



J. E. Crane 



lur 



N page 265 

 of May 

 Gleanings, 

 mention is made 

 of the losses of 

 tees in many 

 sections during 

 the past winter. 

 This is most cer- 

 tainly true in 



this section, and beekeepers have, I believe, 

 lost more than in any one season in the past 



20 years. 



* * * 



It was a treat to read the very interesting 

 article by E. E. Eoot on the so-called "Long 

 Idea Hive." The evident fairness with 

 v^hich the subject is treated was most en- 

 joyable. After caring for one of Mr. Pop- 

 pleton's yards for a few weeks I quite fell 

 in love with the hive^ that is, for the South, 

 there were so many good points in their 

 favor. However, I fear this article will 

 give a somewhat exaggerated impression of 

 their value as a non-swarming hive. Mr. 

 Poppleton engaged me to look after one of 

 his yards located about 35 miles north of 

 Miami, Fla. All the bees, numbering about 

 70 colonies, were in these long hives. I 

 went to the yard the fore part of March, re- 

 maining about four weeks. There was not 

 much honey coming in during this time, and 

 but few of the hives were full of combs; 

 but there was old honey in the hives, and 

 plenty of fresh pollen to be had. The bees 

 began swarming the day I arrived at the 

 yard and continued to swarm until I left. I 

 presume some 20 to 30 swarms issued during 

 the time I was there. This may be a ques- 

 tion of locality only, rather than of style of 



hive. 



* * * 



About two years ago somebody called me 

 down for advising the use of the scrapings 

 of propolis from sections for fuel, stating 

 that it well repaid treating them for the 

 wax which they contained. I had my doubts 

 about it, but wished to know of how much 

 value they were for this purpose, and so last 

 fall or winter I treated about 30 pounds of 

 scrapings by boiling in a large kettle of 

 water. After stirring freely I got two and 

 one-half pounds of nice wax, which well re- 

 paid me for the extra work. The person 

 who called my attention to my wasteful 

 method has my thanks. Twelve per cent 



was wax. 



» » * 



Jay Smith 's article, page '275 of May 

 Gleanings, is well worth the careful perusal 

 and study of the amateur beekeeper. The 

 rules he lays down are so simple, easily fol- 

 lowed, and satisfactory that they should be 

 put into practice. The swarming box has 

 proved one of the most useful tools in our 

 apiary. If I have a very valuable queen to 

 introduce, I have found no better way than 

 to use a swarming box, shaking a quart or 

 two of bees into an empty box, leaving them 

 for a few hours, and then dropping my new 



U 



June, 1920 



queen among 

 them. Of course, 

 they must be 

 well fed and 

 queenless. For 

 securing or 

 starting queen- 

 cells it is just as 

 useful. The use 

 of a small bottle 

 for storing royal jelly was a new idea to 

 me, and can be made very valuable. I have 

 tried to keep it in the cells, but it soon dries 

 up in a warm room. 



* ■» * 



While the winter loss of colonies has 

 been very large in this section, perhaps the 

 greatest loss will come from the weakened 

 condition of those that remain — small clus- 

 ters of bees that will be unable to gather 

 any suiplus and will require most of the sea- 

 son to build up into respectable colonies. 



* » * 



On page 286 Mr. Byer tells how a colony 

 was wintered on solid combs of honey in a 

 cellar. He does not state whether the 

 combs were solid with sealed honey or open 

 cells, which might make quite a difference. 

 I'or one I rejoice in his success, but still 

 have my doubts about the wisdom of such 

 a condition for outdoor wintering. His ex- 

 perience with aluminum combs is interest- 

 ing; but I need more experiments before I 

 shall be satisfied with them. 



* * * 



Jay Smith calls attention, on page 293, to 

 Mr. Demuth 's method of wintering. In talk- 

 ii;g with Mr. Demuth last winter about his 

 method, he said there was one objection to 

 it. His bees so packed come thru so strong 

 and build up so fast in the spring that they 

 are ready to swarm before he is ready for 

 them. Some of us would call this a good 



fault. 



* * * 



I like that "Advertising Guarantee" 

 printed in March Gleanings. Now that is 

 just what we need, not only in bee journals 

 but in all lines of business. There is no 

 way of telling how many millions of dollars 

 better off our country would be if all ad- 

 vertising was made to come up to the Glean- 

 ings standard. What a stimulus to lousiness 

 it would be. I believe that even tliose that 

 advertise would be far better off, too, in the 



end. 



* * * 



In behalf of all the readers of Gleanings, 

 may I thank Mrs. Stancy Puerden for her 

 vivid account of "An Hour with Luther 

 Burbank"? It seemed almost as good as 

 going to Santa Eosa myself, and a great deal 



easier. 



» * * 



If sections to be used as bait sections arc 

 scraped down one-half, they will when filled 

 look as well as new ones. It makes a clean- 

 er job to use a sharp knife just bent so as 

 to cut the comb down. 



