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GLEANINC4S IN BEE CULTURE 



December, 1922 



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<HAT is a 

 most instruc- 

 tive editorial 

 on page 695 of 

 the November 

 issue, on the 

 amount of 

 "Moisture given 

 off by bees dur- 

 ing winter." 



According to this editorial, when a colony 

 consumes 17 pounds of honey during the 

 winter it would exhale 1/12 of a pint of 

 water a day, or approximately 1% ounces, 

 or 582 grains of water. At average winter 

 temperatures here in the North, one cubic 

 foot of air contains about one grain of 

 water. If, when taken into a hive, the 

 temperature is raised to 50 degrees, it would, 

 if saturated, hold about four grains of wa- 

 ter, a gain of three grains. As a result it 

 would require 182 cubic feet of air to take 

 up all the water given off by the bees in a 

 day, or eight cubic feet of air to be warmed 

 up bv the bees and pass through the hive 

 for each hour of the day. This looks like 

 a rather expensive way to get rid of it. 

 The point T tried to make in the article re- 

 ferred to was that it is more economical 

 to sift the moisture of the hive through 

 warm porous packing than to get rid of it 

 by passing a current of cold air through the 

 hive. In ordinary practice, I believe the 

 moisture generated by the bees leaves the 

 hives in both ways. When we have porous 

 packing above the bees, more or less water 

 passes out at the entrance, as is shown by 

 the frost that collects about it. Also where 

 dependence is upon a circulation of air to 

 rid the hive of moisture, more or less is ab- 

 sorbed by the walls and cracks of the hive 

 and passes off.. (See Editorials.) 

 * * * 



One feels like congratulating Edw. A. 

 Winkler (page 696) on his great crop of 

 clover honey; but, if the production of hon- 

 ey continues to increase in the future as in 

 the past few years, and prices go mueli 

 lower, I hardly see how those of us who live 

 in less favored regions can make the busi- 

 ness pay. However, it does not pay to be 

 pessimistic. If prices go very low a multi- 

 tude of people who now feel they can not 

 afford it, will learn to use it, and the de- 

 mand be greater than the supply. 

 » * * 



Our friend, J. L. Bver, on page 702, dis- 

 cusses the hive question in a sensible way. 

 Mr. Ever is not a large man, but he does 

 some tall thinking. Many beekeepers are 

 like some other folk^ — they like to let others 

 tliink for them. So we have had a good 

 niiinv fads in the past 50 years, only to pass 

 as they came into use. Some prominent bee- 

 keeper makes a statement and the crowd 

 follow, whether it is a Inrge or smnll hivo. 

 reversible frames or what not. While Mr. 



SIFTINGS 



J. E. Crane 



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chambers. There 

 is little doubt 

 but that a large 

 brood - chamber 

 is better for cer- 

 t a i n localities 

 and purposes 

 than a small 

 brood - chamber. 

 The same can be 

 said of a small one. Nothing pays a bee- 

 keeper better than to do his own thinking, 

 and every yard of bees should be, in a small 

 way, an experiment station. 



Mr. Byer, page 725, speaks of different 

 methods of requeening and lack of success 

 in cutting out all queen-cells but one. I, 

 too, have failed in doing this, as I fre- 

 quently found such colonies would swarm 

 out and leave the old colony queenless. 

 » » • 



How it quickens one's pulse and stirs his 

 ambition, to read the account, given on 

 page 703, by E. E. Root, of the operating of 

 10,000 colonies of bees by one family, pro- 

 ducing more than a million pounds of honey 

 in a single season. My, but it is great! But 

 when I think of our short seasons, our un- 

 certain flow of nectar, long cold winters and 

 how difficult it would be to do such a large 

 business in the North, I fall back on the 

 statement of a very wise man nearly two 

 thousand years ago, that "Life consists not 

 in the abundance of the things one pos- 

 sesses." But we will rejoice that some one 

 can do the great things. 



* * * 



A. I. Eoot's reference, on page 735, to 

 artichokes as a farm crop, reminds me of 

 my experience with them many years ago. 

 I planted half an acre and used the roots 

 to feed a cow during the following winter. 

 As the roots do not keep well in an ordinary 

 cellar, I stored as many as I wanted to use 

 during winter in my barn and let them 

 freeze. When I wanted to use them I took 

 enough to the house to thaw out for the 

 next day. Cattle are very fond of them, 

 and I found the artichokes saved me a 

 Jarge bill for meal. 



* * ♦ 



George Harrison, on page 706, gives some 

 pfood points in packing hives for winter. 

 However, when he adA'ises to place the pack- 

 ing in one-half inch trays, inade of half-inch 

 lumber, T can not help thinking that pack- 

 iii£r can be handled much more convenientlv 

 and quicklv if placed in large sacks. We 

 formerlv used travs but have long since dis- 

 carded them for bran sacks. 



* * * 



On page 721, Edw. Hassinger. Jr., says, 

 "We are verv sure that our health in gen- 

 eral suffers from bee-sting poison." While 

 this mav be true in some cases, T believe, as 

 a rule, the poison of bees does no permanent 

 injury to those who care for them, ^t does 



Dadant is todav advising larp'c liives. .1. .1. not appear to be a cumulative poison and 

 Wilder is advising the use of small brood- is quickly removed from the system. 



