Fkbriarv. 1921. 



GLEANINGS IN BKE CULTURE 



105 



c 



THE season 

 has opened 

 with us. 

 Maple has been 

 in bloom since 

 Jan. 4, and pol- 

 len and nectar 

 have both been 

 rolling in. '^~~ 



B r d-rearing 

 is well under way. Why not move your 

 bees to a country where there is no win- 

 ter problem, except plenty of stores. As 

 we get a good fall flow we are not troubled 

 in that respect. Unless we have an unusual 

 cold spell brood-rearing will go forward rap- 

 idly. When the poplar and gallberry bloom 

 we will have full hives." — F. M. Baldwin, 

 Montgomery County, Ga. 



"I looked thru a number of colonies last 

 week in the outyards along the Eio Grande 

 Eiver and found one with nine frames con- 

 taining brood, plenty of flying drones, and 

 about 7.5 pounds of honey on them. My 

 queens as a rule down there have been lay- 

 ing all winter. We put out queen-cells clear 

 up to Jan. 1 and can start queen-rearing 

 almost any time now. However, will wait 

 until about Feb. 10 to start grafting." — • 

 E. B. Ault, Nueces County, Tex. 



"We, the beekeepers of Tpowoomba, 

 Queensland, Australia, wish to offer our deep 

 sympathy to the relatives and friends of 

 the late Dr. C. C. Miller, in their sad loss 

 of such a good man. It will be a big loss 

 to the beekeeping world. The beekeepers 

 have lost what might be termed the big 

 three in a very short space of time, Hutchin- 

 son, Doolittle, and Miller. Yours in sorrow." 

 Walter H. Lincoln, Toowoomba, Queens- 

 land, Aus. 



' ' In the January number of Gleanings in 

 Bee Culture, Geo. J. Griesenauer of Cook 

 County, Ills., speaks in regard to the water 

 on the metal tops dropping down in front 

 of the hives. To prevent this I take a % 

 strip, tack it on inside of the cover and 

 when the cover is in place it slants to the 

 back. All water runs to the back of the hive 

 and drops off." — H." M. Hodson, Henry 

 Qounty, Ind. 



"I think the first thing to consider in 

 preserving hives is to have them made from 

 first-grade lumber, and then paint them 

 with a good grade of paint. As soon as this 

 shows signs of peeling or wearing off, apply 

 another coat. I have some hives that I 

 bought 41 years ago this spring. They have 

 had two or three new bottom-boards during 

 tliat time. These hives are in first-class con- 

 dition, and I think they will last as long as 

 I will. There have been several tons of 

 honey taken from them in the las*t 41 

 vears. ' ' — Geo. W. Baker, Wayne County, 

 ind. 



"About one-half of the bees in Henniker 

 wore killed or Avill die from arsenical pois- 

 oning this year. As the bees are killed each 



BEES, MEN AND THINGS 



(You may find it here) 



3 



year beekeepers 

 ■arc not trying 

 to make up 

 their losses, and 

 tlie number of 

 colonies is stead- 

 ily decreasing. 

 The spraying 

 does not seem to 

 accomplish 

 much as the spiaying is largely for the 

 gypsy moth, because in order to' spray the 

 permission of the owner has to be obtained, 

 and many farmers do not feel that they can 

 give up their pastures at that time, so there 

 are only scattered lots that are sprayed. 

 Different kinds of parasites have been lib- 

 erated, which feed on the eggs or larvae of 

 the moth."— S. C. Bennett, Merrimack 

 County, N. H. 



"We are having an 'Eat Florida Honey' 

 week here this week. In Tampa alone 87 

 grocers have honey windows. The news- 

 papers are giving us lots of publicity ex- 

 tolling the virtues of honey as a food with 

 fine results." — Hafford Joiies, Hillsborough 

 County, Fla. 



"In my 50 years as a beekeeper I have 

 never seen bees go into winter so heavy as 

 this fall. Other beekeepers like mj'self ex- 

 pect the extra amount of honey in the hives 

 will be converted into brood next spring 

 and induce swarming. The question is how 

 to get the money to buy supplies if honey 

 and cotton don't move soon. The beemen 

 are in the same condition as the cotton 

 growers with their year 's labor and their 

 •capital tied up in their crop." — B. A. Had- 

 sell, Maricoj^a County, Ariz. 



"The Owl Drug Co. is putting out a fine 

 cough syrup using sage honey which we 

 supply them. They say that it is going well 

 and it must be, for they have had close to 

 1000 pounds of honey for use in compound- 

 ing same. If you see fit to refer to it in one 

 of the issues of Gleanings, it might stir 

 up some other druggist to undertake a simi- 

 lar production and thus make a market for 

 more honey; and the more we can find a 

 market for, the better for our business." — 

 H. J. Bostwick, San Francisco, Cal. 



"A mean temperature of 41.3 degrees for 

 the month of December, with only a single 

 day that the thermometer touched 31 de- 

 grees and then only for two hours, points 

 to an almost needless protection against 

 cold for bees outside here. Daily some ac- 

 tivity is noticeable at the hive entrance, 

 and, if for a short time the sun shines, busy 

 workers are bringing in pollen. The source 

 is unknown, altho grounsel, mustard, and 

 other hardy flowers are yet blossoming. 

 When taking off the cover of winter cases 

 and going down to the brood-nest I find no 

 cluster, but bees evenly distributed over all 

 the brood-frames. As usual, the light-colored 

 bees show greater mortality or loss than the 

 darker leather-colored." — E. J. Ladd, Port- 

 land, Ore. 



