Ski'tkmhkr, 19i 



GLEANINGS IN B K K CULT TT R R 



IV i? 



c 



u 



EFERENCF-; 

 made in 

 editorinl 



in August Glenn 



ings to marking 



the net wciglit 



on sections of 



e. o m b hone y. 



Laws m a k i n g 



this necessary-' 



are quite recent, and it ' is not surprising 



that beekeepers do not fully understand 

 either tlie law or the necessity of complying 

 with it. At first it seemed quite an unneces- 

 sary hardship or at least an unnecessary bur- 

 den laid on beekeepers; but, after weigh- 

 ing our sections for a few seasons, I confess 

 I like it, as it enables us to have all the sec- 

 tions in each case of even weight. So bur- 

 densome to many beekeepers did the law at 

 first seem, requiring the weight of sections 

 to be stamped or printed on the section or 

 carton that covered it, that they had print- 

 ed on cartons, "Not less than ten ounces," 

 and then proceeded to pack without weigh 

 ing. throwing out only the lightest. But it 

 is not so hard a task as might at first seem. 

 An active man can weigh out from 5,000 to 

 6,000 sections in a day and place each weight 

 by itself. It can be packed uniform 

 weights in each case, and dealer and con- 

 sumer know just what they are buying. 



* * * 



If 12, 13, 14 and 15 ounce sections are all 

 labeled "Not less than 12 ounces" they 

 would doubtless all be sold for the same 

 l^rice, and whoever buys the light weights 

 would have to pay some 25 per cent more 

 for liis honey than the buyer who drew a 15- 

 ounce section. Is this right? It must be a 

 great satisfaction to any honest retail dealer 

 to know that every comb he sells is full 

 weight and every one wlio buys will be 

 treated equally well. 



* s * 



One of tlie charms of a joui'iial devoted 

 to the interests of beekeepers is to learn how 

 other beekeepers manage their bees, what 

 their pasturage is and how the bees behave 

 under different conditions. M. A. Gill tells 

 on page 515 that "swarming ceases when 

 the main honey flow begins'' — exactly the 

 opposite of our experience here in the East. 

 This vear voung queens will in many cases 

 quickly fill all space available with brood 

 and prepare again to swarm. The abundant 

 flow has seemed to make them swarm-erazy. 



* * * 



On page 527 Ira IX Bartlett informs ns 

 that, when supers have been piled higli at 

 this season, with cool damp nights, fermen- 

 tation is liable to start "if not removed to 

 the honey-house; and even there they must 

 not remain long, but should be extracted 

 and sealed in tin cans or other tight con- 

 tainers within a short time." I can not 

 help wondering if such honey will weigh 12 

 pounds to the gallon, or if extracting and 

 placing in tight containers will altogether 

 prevent fermentation. Mr, Bartlett is quite 



SIFTINGS 



J. E. Crane 



Tl 



TU 



.■585 



too good a bee- 

 keeper to recom 

 mend putting up 

 any but first- 

 class lioney, yet 

 we have bought 

 quite too many 

 tin cans of hon- 

 ey til at liad fer- 

 . . mented enough 



to injure the flavor, to make us shy of any- 

 thing that contained any unripe lioney. 



E. F. Atwater gives a novel way, on page 

 519, of taking honey, by going as soon as it 

 is light in the morning and removing filled 

 combs and returning empty supers and so 

 preventing robbing, a very good way no 

 doubt. But a man living less than a thou- 

 sand miles from here can go him one better 

 or worse, for he went even before it was 

 light to one of our outyards and removed 

 20 or 25 supers and did not stop to shake off 

 the bees. One hundred dollars has been of- 

 fered for information that will lead to liis 

 a])prehension and conviction. 



In M. A. Gill's article on pages 515 and 

 516, he makes one or two statements worth 

 our attention. For one thing he advises 

 stripping off supers before the close of the 

 season. The leaving of supers on until the 

 honey flow is over and then leaving the 

 brood-chamber full of brood and little honey 

 will almost surely injure the colony for the 

 next year, and account for many failures. 

 What he says of wintering on two stories 

 corresponds very closely with our experi- 

 ence. 



* » * 



E. M. Cole, on page 519, says he is able 

 to save combs not in use from wax moths, 

 by the assistance of spiders. I have tried it 

 but have not been so successful, perhaps for 

 lack of a sufficient number of spiders. It is 

 worth testing out. I find a tight box. in 

 Avhicli to pack combs loosely, and a small 

 quantity of carbon disulphide a sure rem- 

 edy. 



* * » 



_ It is said to be only a step from the sub- 

 lime to the ridiculous. However this may 

 be, I am quite sure that wlien Iionev is dis- 

 played at "28c a cake" and soap close bv 

 it at "5c a cake," it places the honev at a 

 very decided disadvantage, as R. K. Rickard 

 observes on page 5.'^2. 



I am al\v;iys fascinated by Mrs. Con- 

 stance Root Eovden's racv letters from 

 southern California. The climate, produc- 

 tions, and wavs of living, so different from 

 the East, makes it seem like a fairyland, 

 wliicli we never weary of hearing about. 

 * * -t^ 



Tee cream cones, says G. H. Buffum, page 

 518. are an excellent way to advertise honev 

 at fairs. It would seem to be especially 

 good for introducing graniilated honev. 



