PEBRUARy, 1921. 



G L fi A N I N G S IN BEE CULTURE 



C 



lur 



IT seems evi- 

 dent from the 

 illustration on 

 page 40, Janu- 

 a r y Gleanings, 

 that Bill Mell- 

 vir has heard of 

 Jay Smith's 

 slogan, ' ' Keep 

 more bees per 



hive, ' ' and put it into practice. No wonder 

 the assembled crowd look on with wonder 

 at results, and it is results that count. 



* * IP 



That illustration, page 37, of a healthy 

 baby brought up by the use of honey from 

 the very gate of death shows that there is 

 something about honey as an article of food 

 that is not yet fully understood. Who can 

 tell the number of children that have died 

 for the lack of honey! 



* * * 



' ' Beekeeping in Foreign Lands, " by E. 

 L. Sechrist, page 20, is of much interest, 

 especially what he calls ' ' spring dwin- 

 dling, " which shows that there, as here, it 

 is the result of exhaustion of old bees; and 

 this again shows very conclusively that the 

 more quiet bees can be kept from the time 

 they stop breeding in the fall until they be- 

 gin in the spring, the better. 



* * * 



That wax press illustrated on page 28 and 

 described by Mr. Holtermann looks good, 

 but I am interested in knowing whether 

 any one has ever melted up one of those 

 cakes that look so dry to find out just the 

 percentage of honey and wax. One of the 

 surprises of my life was to discover the 

 large amount of honey remaining in cap- 

 pings that appeared comparatively dry. 



* * * 



On page 17 Mr. Demuth writes of the 

 difference in the amount of honey in the 

 brood-chamber of a hive run for comb 

 honey and one run for extracted honey. 

 My own experience is that hives run for 

 comb honey will in the fall be found to 

 have on an average two or three times as 

 much honey stored for winter use as those 

 run for extracted honey. For this reason we 

 are apt to overestimate •the amount of sur- 

 plus from colonies run for extracted honey. 

 « # * 



Inquiry is made on page 9 if "beekeep- 

 ers realize how much their prosperity de- 

 pends on the character of the soil in their 

 respective localities." Probably they do 

 not, but we have observed that here in 

 Vermont we get our best yields of clover 

 honey from the heavy clay soils of the 

 Champlain valley of western Vermont. For 

 some years it has seemed to me that we are 

 likely to get our best flow of honey from 

 any particular plant when located in the 

 soil and environment best adapted to its 

 most perfect development. We cannot ex- 



SIFTINGS 



J. E. Crane 



1 



iU 



pect to get blue- 

 berry honey 

 from a limestone 

 soil any more 

 than clover hon- 

 ey from an acid 

 soil. There is an- 

 other way in 

 which soil ap- 

 pears of inter- 

 est to beekeepers. European foul brood is 

 much more virulent on some soils and in 

 some locations than others. In some sections 

 it will disappear of itself, while in others it 

 is almost impossible to eradicate it. 



* * * 



The statements made by H. B. Parks, 

 page 25, on the desirability of "Advertis- 

 ing Backed up by a Constant Supply" of 

 honey, are well worth the careful attention 

 of beekeepers east and west. Extensive ad- 

 vertising can not be expected except by ex- 

 tensive beekeepers ' organizations, which 

 shows the necessity of such organizations. 

 More and more, honey is becoming a staple 

 article in grocery stores in many sections, 

 notwithstanding the lack of organization of 

 beekeepers, for bottlers and large beekeep- 

 ers are working along this line, but there is 

 an immense teri'itory yet to be covered. 



* * * 



That picture of beehives and castor 

 beans, on page 27, looks all right certainly; 

 but here in Vermont, with our cooler sum- 

 mers, the beans would not grow tall enough 

 to be of much value in average years. 

 Where shade is desired it has seemed to 

 me that nothing will so perfectly fill the 

 bill as staghorn sumac. It spreads out even- 

 ly seven to ten feet above the ground, and 

 grows from suckers sufiiciently so one 

 planting will remain for many years. But 

 after all I prefer to keep bees in the open, 

 except for a few small shrubs to assist the 

 bees in finding their hives, since one can 

 see so much better to work. I have often 

 found it difiicult to find queens or eggs or 

 queen-cells where there is much shade. 



* # » 



That is a right good article by E. Wynne 

 Boyden. I was expecting something good 

 from him along this line later. "Honey in 

 the Sweet Family" should be read and -re- 

 read by every young beekeeper and many 

 old ones until this little sugar family is 

 thoroly understood. We cannot become too 

 well acquainted with this interesting family, 

 for we have to do with it every day of our 

 lives. But there is one thing I don 't quite 

 understand. Mr. Boyden tells us that levu- 

 lose is worth some $50 a pound, and I 

 learned long ago that average .honey was 

 40 per cent Icvulose. Now, if I eat five 

 ounces of honey on my griddle cakes of a 

 morning, an average amount, I shall swal- 

 low six dollars worth of levulose. I really 

 didn 't think I was so extravagant, but it 

 must be so if he says so. 



