—11 i»J«» !<. 



August, 1922 



THE first item 

 in the index 

 of the iuly 

 number of 

 Gleanings is 

 "Honey Mar- 

 kets," in which 

 we are all inter- 

 ested. Tlio mar- 

 kets, of course, 

 at this season are dull; but what especially 

 interested me was that the honey producers 

 in a large majority of cases report a honey 

 flow and a crop of 100 per cent or over, 

 compared with average years. There is 

 something exhilarating in the thought that 

 beekeepers, as a rule, are going to be well 

 repaid for their labor. 



» * * 



Grace Allen says on page 452 that it pays 

 to clip queens. She is right, as a rule; but, 

 under some circumstances, bees can be 

 cared for with little difficulty without this 

 little ceremony, though we prefer clipping. 



* * # 



That certainly is a wonderful story on 

 page 435, by E. R. Eoot, of a single colony 

 of bees giving 550 sections of comb honey. 

 It shows what is possible; and wliile most 

 of us Avill fall far short of securing such re- 

 sults, it shows the path by which we may 

 achieve the greatest success. 



* * * 



Tlie method of making new colonies at 

 the close of the clover season, as described 

 in an editorial on page 433, is all right if 

 you have combs and young queens and a 

 late flow of honey; but, if you lack these 

 essentials, beware. I tried it once, using 

 queen-cells and virgins for queens. It did 

 not prove altogether a success. 

 » « * 



That robber cloth, described by S. E. Mil- 

 ler on page 447, is one of those little ar- 

 ticles of great value while handling bees, 

 especially in early spring or late summer or 

 whenever bees are inclined to rob. These 

 cloths are so simply and cheaply made that 

 anyone capable of keeping bees can make 



them. 



* * * 



That is a right good article on "Migra- 

 tory Beekeeping," by M. C. Eichter, com- 

 mencing on page 436. While Ave here in the 

 East have little occasion for this method of 

 beekeeping, there are some things to learn 

 from those who practice it. Among other 

 things he says, "A journey always seems 

 to stimulate the bees to greater field activ- 

 ity. I was told when T first began keeping 

 bees that moving bees from one place or 

 toAvn to another would increase their pro- 

 ductiveness. T wonder how much there is 



in it. 



* ♦ * 



E. W. Powell illustrates on page 448 a 

 method of preventing a thin top-bar from 

 sngging. r began using %-inch top bars, but 

 found them to sag badly, and of late have 



GLEANINGS IN B K K CULTURE 



SIFTINGS 



J. E. Crane 



1 



TU 



521 



made %-inch 

 bars. As I handle 

 tliese f r a m e s 

 over, the ques- 

 tion conies to me 

 again and again, 

 why take up so 

 much of the best 

 space in the hive, 

 space that is 

 easily kept warm for the rearing of brood 

 or storage of honey, space enough to rear 

 several thousand worker bees? It seems 

 to me that one of the advantages of the 

 wood-base foundation is a thin top-bar that 

 would not sag. 



* * » 



On page 464 Mr. Demuth describes how 

 to tell when the honey flow is closing, one 

 of the most important things for an ex- 

 tensive beekeeper to know, and yet often 

 one of the most difficult things to foretell. 

 If we misjudge and set the time too soon, 

 we may lose considerable honey for lack of 

 room in which to store it. If we set the 

 time too far ahead, we may find ourselves 

 with hundreds or even thousands of unfin- 

 ished sections too light to sell. These must 

 be extracted, the best sorted out and saved 

 for next year, Avhile many will be so glued 

 up and soiled that we prefer to throAv them 

 out and buy new ones for next year. 



We have been told many times that all 

 signs fail in a dry time, and it appears to 

 be true. It may look ever so much like rain, 

 but the clouds break and pass with little or 

 no rain. It is just as true that all signs 

 fail in a wet time. The clouds may break, 

 the Avind change, the sky clear; but before 

 Ave are aAvare, the clouds gather again and 

 it pours. We haA^e had here in Vermont 

 more than three times the normal precipi- 

 tation — in fact, nearly 10 inches of rain in 

 the month of June, more than is recorded 

 for any one" month in the last 100 years. 

 What is true of the Aveather is true of the 

 bees or the "control of SAvarming. " Rules 

 that usually work in a A^ery satisfactory 

 Avay are of little value in other years and 

 under other circumstjinces. The present 

 year is such that Ave cannot depend on rules 

 that Avork Avell in ordinary seasons. We 

 haA-e been accustomed to feel that SAvarming 

 is OA-er when Ave haA-e shaken the bees on 

 to dry combs; but this year manv colonies 

 Avill quickly fill such hives Avith brood and 

 honey, start queen-cells and are ready to 

 sAvarm again. Again, we may remove an old 

 queen, cut out queen-cells and introduce a 

 A'irgin queen, and, as soon as she is laying, 

 Ave expect swarming is OA'er. But this vear 

 a young queen Avill, in many cases, fill all 

 available room Avith brood, and queen-cells 

 are started and again there is swarming. So 

 we find it necessary to clip their AAnngs to 

 keep them at home. Well! It is a swarming 

 year, and oftoi necessary to repeat repres- 

 siA'e measures to keep our bees on their 

 job. 



