300 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15 



ate honey as your people do, there would not 

 be enough to go around, and the price would 

 go a soaring instanter. 



Say, we should like to have a photograph 

 of your family. Of course, we assume that 

 its members are healthy; and if you will go 

 to the photographer and get a group picture 

 I shall be glad to introduce you to the bee- 

 keeping world as a sample of what honey 

 can do when used largely as a diet. — Ed.] 



WINTERING COLONIES BETWEEN SAWDUST 

 WALLS. 



The diagram I am sending you will show 

 you my arrangement for outdoor wintering. 

 Our climatic conditions are generally very 

 damp, as we have a low wet country. You 

 can see how I secured the entrance. I cut 



a square hole, J inch each way, in the slat. 

 Is the ventilation sufficient? Will the saw- 

 dust plan work in a damp climate? 

 Vanduser, Mo., Nov. 4. W. Johnson. 



[Sawdust answers excellently for a pack- 

 ing-material, and the only objection to it is 

 that it is a little too dense; and if moisture 

 should get into it it would not dry out like 

 chaff, straw, or other equally loose material. 

 Ordinarily you will find it more practicable 

 to pack each hive separately, as you will 

 find it will be a big nuisance to unpack next 

 spring, and the bees will be very much con- 

 fused when set on their summer stands. Of 

 course, you could not work them where they 

 are, all summer. 



If you mean an entrance J inch square it 

 is too small. However, J is all right when 

 the other dimensions are eight or ten inch- 

 es.— Ed.] 



POLLEN-GATHERING IN JANUARY. 



For 40° north latitude we have been ex- 

 periencing a remarkable fall and winter. 

 October was moderately cool, but no killing 

 frost occurred till the 18th, and the bees 

 worked freely on the asters up to that time. 

 November was cool, but not cold. Decem- 

 ber, while not literally ' 'as pleasant as May, ' ' 

 was little colder than the average November. 

 January was almost uniformly mild, the low- 

 est temperature recorded being 4 above zero 



on the morning of the 9th. The weather 

 soon moderated, being warm enough on the 

 15th, 18th, and 20 th for the bees to fly. On 

 the 21st and 22d the maximum temperature 

 was 70 and 71 respectively, smashing all 

 previous records of the Weather Bureau for 

 January. The bees flew as freely as in 

 springtime, carrying great loads of pollen 

 from the maples. I opened several hives, 

 and, notwithstanding the fact that no smoke 

 was used, scarcely a bee attempted to rob 

 or sting. The 27th, 29 th, and 30th were 

 likewise warm enough for the bees to fly. 



February gave us a taste of genuine win- 

 ter, starting in cold, the minimum tempera- 

 ture from the 5th to the 11th inclusive rang- 

 ing from 2 above to 9 below zero. On the 

 12th it again moderated, giving us a week 

 of very seasonable winter weather. To-day 

 (20th) is a typical April day, with thunder 

 and showers succeeded by sunshine, a tem- 

 perature of 58, and bees cleaning house and 

 having a general jubilee. So far this win- 

 ter we have had but two snowfalls of any 

 consequence. 



As nearly as I have been able to observe, 

 my bees are in prime condition, having some 

 brood but plenty of stores yet. 



But there's another week of February, 

 with March yet to hear from, which suggests 

 the old darkey's comment, "I have of'enob- 

 sarved that when I libs fru the month ob 

 Ma'ch I alius libs fru de hull yeah." 



Zanesville, Ohio. E. W. Peirce. 



WHY THE HONEY CANDIES. 



I send you a small bottle of honey, ex- 

 tracted last fall, after being thoroughly 

 ripened and capped. This was at the bot- 

 tom of a six-gallon firkin that we have been 

 using from since extracting till now. I have 

 another firkin of the same size, extracted at 

 same time, that I examined to-day, which 

 which was granulated very little. Do you 

 suppose this one granulated most because it 

 was somewhat stirred by dipping out with a 

 spoon to fill a vessel to be used from? This 

 honey was gathered from white or tulip pop- 

 lar, sourwood, persimmon, white clover, 

 goldenrod, and possibly a very small amount 

 of a few others. B. L. Fisher. 



Rocky Mount, Va., Feb. 17. 



[It sometimes happens that honey will 

 candy in one can and not in another. I have 

 investigated this matter not a little, and find 

 it to be a fact that, out of the same extract- 

 ing, one lot will cloud up while the other 

 will remain clear; but investigation usually 

 shows that the one that is solidified has been 

 subjected to the operation of dipping a spoon 

 down into it, or drawing some honey from 

 it. Bee-keepers have shown me two lots of 

 the same extracting, stored in the same 

 room, and subjected to precisely the same 

 treatment, that is, neither had been agitat- 

 ed; yet one would be clear while the other 

 was candied solid. This is yet to be ex- 

 plained. 



Some two years ago we tried the experi- 



