162 



GLEAKINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



March, 1921 



HEADS OF GRM^rTFROMMjTDIFFERENT FIELDS 



Mexican A species of palo-verde (Par- 

 Palo-verde. kinsonia aculeata), of which 

 there are many trees on the 

 university campus, blooms profusely in May 

 and is much worked by bees. It seems cer- 

 tain that a considerable proportion of the 

 first crop from the campus colonies was 

 from this so-called "Mexican palo-verde, " 

 or "bogota;" but the honey was of good 

 quality, in no way inferior to the rest of 

 the mixed light amber honey of that period 

 of the year, and superior to some of the 

 local honey of other apiaries produced at 

 the same time. This tree then appears to be 

 a honey plant of no small importance where 

 abundant, but it is a native of Mexico and 

 extends into Arizona only a little way in 

 the extreme Southwest, its natural range 

 ending about 45-50 miles southwest of Tuc- 

 son. It is doubtful whether any other apiary 

 in America is so located as to be within 

 reach of any number of these trees, and an 

 effort to secure further data on the amount 

 and character of its honey will be made. 

 Tucson, Ariz. Chas. Vorhies. 



The Thirteen- Wanting to try out this un- 

 Frame Hive. lucky 13-f rame 20-inch 

 square hive instead of wait- 

 ing to learn from someone else's experience, 

 I made 30 of these monsters 18 months ago. 

 Last year being a poor year here in south- 

 ern California, I could not give them a 

 good trial, altho even then they gained over 

 the 10-frame colonies in the orange flow. 

 This year, however, I tested them out fairly 

 and squarely. The square shape is one im- 

 provement over the 10-frame hive. Set the 

 hive level on the stand for the summer and 

 set each super on so the frames run cross- 

 ways of each other. This does away with 

 burr comb's being built solid between the 

 supers. The second advantage is that one 

 can space the frames to suit himself. With 

 a 10-frame hive you must have eight thick 

 combs in a super for extracting or nine thin- 

 ner ones; and with nine in the super they 

 are really too thin to uncap well, while with 

 eight they are sometimes too far apart and 

 the bees build too much comb up between 

 them. But, with a 13-frame hive, 11 frames 

 in the super work out well. The third ad- 

 vantage is less swarming, and the queen 

 stays down below better. A 13-frame hive 

 four supers high is better than a ten-frame 

 hive with supers six high. And a hive three 

 supers high or with two supers on the brood- 

 nest is easier than a Ifl-frame four or five 

 high. Fourth, there is also less lumber in 

 a three-story 13-frame hive than in a four- 

 story ten-frame hive, less paint, and the 

 hive doesn't heat up so much. 



Riverside, Cal. Chas. S. Kinzie. 



Selling the The year of 1913 was our 

 Honey Crop, best season for honey produc- 

 tion. Our crop was a trifle 

 over 15,000 pounds, all extracted. About 

 one-half was sold to commission men at a 

 low price. Then I thought out something. I 

 decided to advertise in a live-stock journal, 

 which was a hit. The honey was put up in 

 60-lb. cans, two cans to a case, but most 

 of it unsold in smaller lots. We gave 

 away no samples, but charged 6c each 

 for them. We also sent out an order 

 blank. Since that time we have been selling 

 to the consumer direct, not by advertising 

 but on the city market, until the summer of 

 1920 found us so busy with our farm work 

 (we have 86 acres) we were obliged to ad- 

 vertise in our county newspapers and sell at 

 the apiary. The ad read: "For Sale — Deli- 

 ciovis honey. Clover and fall flower blend, in 

 10-lb. pails, here at the yard 1% miles N. E. 

 of Lakeville, Ind., $2.25"each. C. A. Bunch." 



A small amount, perhaps 10 per cent, was 

 shipped away in 10-lb. pails and 60-lb. 

 square cans. Our honey was nearly all sold 

 by Dec. 20. The cash received for the crop 

 from 70 colonies increased to 86 was $1690. 

 About two tons, or half of our honey, was 

 white honey which we sold the same as the 

 blend, $2.25 per pail of 10 lbs. It is reason- 

 able to believe that many cars of honey 

 could be sold direcT; to farmers and live- 

 stock men at a good price, if the beekeepers 

 would advertise in the farm papers. 



Lakeville, Ind. C. A. Bunch. 



Why Invalids In a recent Gleanings, in 

 Prefer Comb discussing why invalids 

 Honey. should prefer comb honey, 



John Preston True says: 



"Isn't it quite likely that nature knew 

 what she was about, and supplied the indi- 

 gestible wax with the honey to compel 

 chewing, thus giving the needed saliva for 

 its right digestion. That 's my guess. ' ' 



There is no doubt that chewing wax does 

 stimulate the action of the salivary glands 

 and produce an abundant flow of saliva, 

 which may assist to some slight extent; but 

 I am sure this cannot be the reason for the 

 difference in the physiological action. 



I believe a better explanation of the phe- 

 nomenon would be that those particles of 

 indigestible wax, coming in contact with tlie 

 intestinal walls, stimulate peristaltic action, 

 that peculiar worm-like movement of the in- 

 testines by which their contents are forced 

 out. In other words the indigestible wax 

 in the alimentary canal assists in elimina- 

 tion. The extracted honey, with the addi- 

 tion of horn shavings, or any other indigest- 

 ible substance, would get the same results as 

 the wax in the comb honey. 



Illmo, Mo. B,. G. Williams. 



