G \j K A X I N (i S IX B !■: R C U I. T TJ R K 



NoVK.MliKR, ]!)i:() 



s 



LJ 



VERY l.ittk' 

 honey has 

 been gath- 

 ered by bees in 

 th is section 

 since July 20. 

 with the result 

 that a good deal 

 of fee ding o f 

 sugar will be re- 

 quired to carry them thru the winter. We 

 thought them very well supplied the last 

 of July when supers were removed, only to 

 find some of them starving when lool<ed 

 over in September. 



SIFTINGS 



J. E. Crane 



%J 



lion duiiug win- 

 ter. The state- 

 ment is made on 

 page 586 that 

 Government ex- 

 ]>eriments hav e 

 shown that 'the 

 value of venti- 

 lation con sists 

 in CO ntrolling 

 the temperature of the cellar and not in 

 purifying the air. This is an exceedingly 

 important nuitter, and exjylains the differ- 

 ent opinions of various intelligiMit bee- 

 keepers on the subject of ventilation. 



Some of my largest annual sweet clover 

 ]ilants were cut Sept. 1 to show at our 

 county fair. Some of those left standing 

 are today (Oct. 4) six feet tall and in full 

 bloom, less than four months from seed. 



s * « 



It is not often that we have an over- 

 supply of pollen in our hives, but when we 

 do, it may be well to test the plan, given 

 by J. T. Dunn on page 615, for getting rid 

 of it provided the weather is warm and dry. 



Probably no subject occupies so much 

 space in our bee journals as that of winter- 

 ing bees, and perhaps no other subject is 

 so important. When we sum it all up the 

 two most important things appear to be the 

 temperature of the cluster and the amount 

 and quality of the food. There is an al- 

 most endless variety of ways of maintain- 

 ing the temperature, which each beekeeper 

 must work out for himself with his own 

 conveniences or with what he has at his 

 command. 



If it was necessary that there should be 

 another editor for Gleanings in Bee Cul- 

 ture, I know of no one better fitted for 

 the job, or that we should have preferred 

 to Geo. S. Demuth. May abundant success 

 follow his efforts in this new line of work. 



Sweet clover has come to the top as a 

 honey plant in the United States (page 

 586). A little more than 50 years ago M. M. 

 Baldridge, in the American Bee Journal, 

 first called the attention of beekeepers to 

 its good record and value as a producer of 

 honey. What plant comes next? 



It was a nice thing for Dr. Phillips, E. E. 

 Root, Geo. S. Demuth, and H. F. Wilson to 

 visit Dr. C. C. Miller while he was yet able 

 to receive them and enjoy their visit. It 

 Avas a good delegation, and we of the ranks 

 who have so often wished to nmke such a 

 visit may feel that we were well repre- 

 sented, and that the visit was ours as well 

 as theirs. 



The (|iu'sti()ii of the proper temjieratiire 

 of the cellar for bees is quite, fully dis- 

 cussed on page 586. Except in a general 

 way it seems a little difficult for the aver- 

 age beekeejier to gauge his cellar by ther- 

 nioMieters, Init I have thought it a good 

 lule to keep the bee cellar so far as possi- 

 ble at such a temperature that the bees 

 will remain the quietest and with least 

 noise. 



■!? « * 



There has been for many years some 

 disagreement among beekeepers as to the 

 bees' needing fresh air and cellar ventila- 



We are grateful to Stancy Puerden for 

 her conservative statements of the food 

 value of honey, page 607. It is well to 

 know in a scientific way the place of honey 

 in a well-regulated diet. Some have 

 claimed that a pound of honey is equal to 

 a pound of butter — a statement which we 

 know to be false. It is a comfort to know 

 that it may be used with bread with decid- 

 ed advantage, especially by those, like my- 

 self, who use little or no butter. It is well 

 to know that honey contains many of, the 

 elements of nutrition on which our lu>alth 

 and happiness depend. We are glad to 

 know also that comb honey can supply 

 what is so necessary to health — the fat 

 soluble A vitamines found in butter, ;nid 

 that honey, to a considerable extent, cnn 

 t;ike the place of butter in our diet. 

 * ■» * 



J:iy Smith, on page 591, brings out a 

 thought that was new to me and may be 

 to others, that bees compelled to expend 

 their strength the latter part of summer 

 in ventilating their hives waste a good 

 deal of vitality that should be conserved 

 to carry them thru the winter. I believe 

 he is right, and so conclude that it is better 

 to gi\'e bees abundant ventilation until late 

 autumn. This season, the last week in 

 September was one of the warmest of the 

 year, and after nearly all the brood had 

 emerged. Had we reduced the entrances 

 when the supers were removed, there would 

 have been quite a loss of labor in ventilat- 

 ing their hives. Mr. Smith is also quite 

 right in thinking that for early brood-rear- 

 ing theiT is great value in double - walled 

 hives witii abundant jiacking in enrly 

 spring. 



