E 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



1 



AT a meeting of beekeepers in California a 

 few years ago the question was asked if it 



would pay Cali- 



Wlnter Protection f ornia beekeep- 



in California. ers to give the 



bees more pro- 

 tection for winter than that afforded by the 

 single-walled hive. A beekeeper in the back 

 of the room replied laconically, "Yes, wrap 

 them in lots of honey." In the language 

 of the street this man "said a mouthful." 

 One of the prevailing sins among California 

 beekeepers as well as beekeepers elsewhere, 

 is that of failure to have their bees well 

 "wrapped" in honey for winter. With lower 

 prices on honey, no doubt the bees will be 

 better "protected" in this respect than they 

 were when prices were high; but apparently 

 many beekeepers have not yet learned that 

 it pays well to leave "too much honey" in 

 the hives for winter, especially in the South 

 where the bees are more active at this sea- 



WE and our readers extend good wishes to 

 Mrs. lona Fowls Wheeler, for several years 

 past the able and 

 We Extend Our efficient associate 

 Good Wishes. editor of this jour- 

 nal. On Sept. 13 she 

 became the life partner of another beekeep- 

 er, Mr. Clyde Wheeler of Pittsfield, Ohio, 

 whose acquaintance she originally made in 

 her beekeeping activities, and she will now 

 make her new home at Oberlin, Ohio, her first 

 consideration and care. We do not need to 

 speak words of praise of Mrs. Wheeler. The 

 readers of Gleanings in Bee Culture know 

 how well she served this journal. It was 

 three years ago this month that announce- 

 ment was made in these columns of the re- 

 sponsible editorial duties she was to be 

 given as associate editor, and she did not fail 

 in them. To rare faithfulness in the per- 

 formance of duty she added exceptional bee- 

 keeping knowledge and high intelligence. 

 This made her services to this journal valu- 

 able in a marked degree, and until her 

 asked-for leave of absence to tour the South 

 last winter and spring she bore a large part 

 of the editorial burden and did it always 

 with the finest sense of service to American 

 beekeepers. 



In her new field of activity and aspira- 

 tion, we (meaning readers as well as editors 

 of Gleanings) wish her and hers all happi- 

 ness and prosperity. We shall hope still to 

 print occasional contributions from her vir- 

 ile pen, for she will remain a beekeeper as 



long as bees fly and she lives- 

 live long indeed and prosper. 



-and may she 



,c»= 



EEPOETS from most sections of the United 

 States indicate that the bees will go into 

 the winter unusu- 



The Condition of 



Bees for Winter. 



ally well supplied 

 with young bees, 

 and in m a ny 

 places they are also well supplied with 

 stores; but in other places they are short of 

 stores or have stores of inferior quality. 

 The condition of the colonies as to young 

 bees and winter stores in various parts of 

 the country is also indicated on our market 

 page under ' ' Opinions of Producers ' ' where 

 these two items are given in per cent in 

 separate columns. Taking the country as a 

 whole, the bees are in better condition for 

 winter than usual. No doubt thousands of 

 these splendid colonies of young bees will 

 perish this winter from starvation or in the 

 far North because of poor stores, while other 

 thousands will be so greatly weakened from 

 the latter cause that they will be of no value 

 next season. 



It is not too late to feed for winter, and 

 no colonies should be left to perish from 

 starvation or because of poor stores. It is 

 time for beekeepers to quit taking chances 

 on winter losses and provide conditions that 

 will insure safe wintering, preparing each 

 year as for a severe winter. 



a >o ^ c a - iff 



ABOUT a year ago W. H. Lewis of Ed- 

 monds, British Columbia, announced that he 



had a new treat- 

 Use of Drugs in 

 Treating European 

 Foul Brood. 



ment for Euro- 

 pean foul brood. 

 His plan was to 

 shake the bees 

 from the combs, then spray the combs with 

 a proprietary antiseptic preparation con- 

 taining sodium hypochlorite, this being sup- 

 posed to reduce the amount of infection in 

 the combs to such an extent that the bees 

 will clean it up entirely. 



This treatment was tried out this season 

 by the inspectors of British Columbia; and 

 W_ J. Sheppard, chief inspector of apiaries 

 of that province, reports some success with 

 it, in an article in the September issue of 

 the Agricultural Journal (a publication of 

 the Department of Agriculture, Victoria, 

 British Columbia), as well as in an article 

 in the September issue of the Bee World, 

 published in England. Mr. Sheppard also 

 states that at the same time the experi- 



