.Taxiakv, i'.)-2'Z 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



33 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



sowed it in a little plot about the first of 

 May and about the first of June transplant- 

 ed it into the open field in rows 3 feet apart 

 and 18 inches in the rows, and cultivated the 

 same as we do corn. Altho this was the 

 dryest summer in history it made a growth of 

 from 4 to 5 feet and ripened its seed. The 

 ounce gave us plants enough for about one- 

 half acre, and when harvested made a nice 

 little jag on the Ford ton truck. We tried 

 to thrash this out with flails on the barn 

 floor but could not get nearly all the seed 

 off the straw in this manner. However, we 

 succeeded in getting enough unhulled seed 

 and leaves to fill a grain bag, and we are 

 now wondering if we can sow this unhulled 

 seed next spring and have it mature next 

 summer or whether we should sow it this 

 winter to give the elements a chance to rot 

 off the hulls. Who will tell us? We might 

 add that we don't feel so overmuch en- 

 thused about this annual, and cannot see 

 any great advantage that it is going to have 

 over the biennial, which is being grown with 

 increasing acreage and is the only clover 

 seeding that has withstood the past season's 

 drouth in this locality. [Your Hubam seed 

 should be scarified to sow next spring. — Edi- 

 tor.] 



It seems that a good many of our neigh- 

 bors in Ontario are still using the draining 

 method for cappings, having many barrels 

 of cappings candied solid to render during 

 winter. They seem to feel that the capping 

 melters are not a success, being either too 

 slow in operation or else discloring the hon- 

 ey. In our practice we drain the cappings 

 during the day while we are uncapping and 

 at the end of the day run them very rapidly 

 over a Peterson melter, having a three- 

 burner oil stove to furnish the heat. In 

 this way one man will tidy up the honey- 

 house and render all the cappings from a 

 day's extracting in about two hours' time 

 in the evening, leaving everything ready for 

 a clean start next morning. Running the 

 cappings thus rapidly we find but very little 

 discoloring of the honey, and we like it 

 much better than having a lot of barrels of 

 cappings standing around. H. M. Myers. 

 Eansomville, N. Y. 



T f— rcTt^ ^ '^^ ^^^ think that bees in 



into winter quarters in bettor average 

 condition. If we can have the right kind of 

 weather next spring, this means a good lot 

 of bees on hand ready for the early nectar 

 that usually comes, esy)ocially in the Coas- 

 tal Plain region of Georgia and adjoining 

 states. The fall crop has been unusuallv 

 .ibundant. but in this locality has been most- 

 'y left ^'ith the beea. The carlv crop was 

 Hinstly sold Ibau ttga, 90 thtit tliert* ip h^^ 



little upon the market in this vicinitv and 

 prices are irregular. 



In some parts of the state the early crop 

 was fairly good, and is selling fairlv well, 

 considering the cheapness of cane 'svrup[ 

 which is the strongest rival tliat honey has 

 in this part of the countrv. It is only the 

 best grades of honey that "will compete' with 

 it for table use. 



The Southeastern Fair at Atlanta had a 

 very creditable honey exhibit from different 

 parts of this state, Tennessee and Alabama. 

 The Georgia State Fair at Macon had a bet- 

 ter exhibit of honey than was expected, and 

 the large building that was tendered the 

 Georgia Beekeepers' Association was rea- 

 sonably well filled with honey, bees and 

 apiarian supplies, so that those interested 

 could get some idea of the methods of mod- 

 ern apiculture and the magnitude and im- 

 portance of the industry in the state. This 

 makes a good start for the association in 

 the direction of exhibits and was the means 

 of selling a good lot of honey on the spot. 

 Next year it ought to be very much better 

 in every way, and probably will be. 



I was glad to see a good deal of interest 

 taken in improving the bee pasturage in the 

 state, and several encouraging reports were 

 received from those that had scattered seeds 

 of sweet clover. I saw some stalks of it 

 growing where seed had been scattered in 

 Bermuda grass without any sort of cultiva- 

 tion, which encourages the' hope that it can 

 be easily raised in Georgia, especially the 

 Hubam variety. If all beekeepers will'make 

 it a point to start a small patch of it next 

 year and master the problem of raising it 

 and making it pay as a money crop, aside 

 from its value for honey, and show the far- 

 mers how, there is no telling what great 

 things in the agricultural and apicultural 

 lines may result from it. 



There are many thousands of peach trees 

 in the northern half of the Coastal Plain 

 and in the Piedmont region, and I saw at 

 the state fair my first sample of honev that 

 tasted like peaches. If we could produce 

 such honey by the hon we could sell it like 

 hot cakes; but unfortunately it is a rare 

 thing to get any at all — partly, I suppose, 

 because the bees are not strong enough at 

 the time peach trees bloom, but mostly be- 

 cause of unfavorable weather conditions. 

 Norman Park, Ga. T. W. Livingston. 

 * * * 



In Ontario. ^^ montione.l in Decem- 

 ber Gleanings, Novem- 

 ber was ushered in here in Ontario with a 

 real wintry appearance, some six inches of 

 snow falling during the first few days of 

 the month. But the white mantle soon dis- 

 appeared, and up to Dec. D the late fall and 

 early winter have not hoo.n »>nysually cold. 



