1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



799 



there is no excuse for their not taking ad- 

 vantage of its lessons and profiting by look- 

 ing ahead. It is true that a good many peo- 

 ple do not believe in weather forecasts, and 

 in foretelling what the season will be. Many 

 of the bee-keepers, however, make good use 

 of these privileges. To be able to know, 

 pretty well at least, what the season will 

 mean for the bee-keepers helps much in pre- 

 paring for it. A record kept of preceding 

 years will help much in deciding upon the 

 outcome of a season that opens and continues 

 like one in some former year. Too many of 

 us "wait to see," and are like the Dutch- 

 man who said, " Ich never predigate der vet- 

 ter till der rain he be gumming down al- 

 retty." 



£f 



ANNUAL MEETING OF THE TEXAS BEE-KEEP- 



ERS' ASSOCIATION, COLLEGE STATION, 



TEXAS, JULY 10, 11, 12, 1906. 



The date for the next session of the Texas 

 Farmers' Congress on the Agricultural and 

 Mechanical College grounds has been set as 

 above. The sessions will begin at 9 a.m. on 

 the 10th, and adjourment is provided for at 

 10 p.m., July 12. 



The Texas Farmers' Congress is indeed a 

 unique organization. It comprises some fif- 

 teen State agricultural organizations. The 

 Texas Bee-keepers' Association is one of 

 these. Meetings of the individual sec- 

 tions of the congress that is meeting, of the 

 separate associations, are held in the morn- 

 ing, from 9 A.M. until noon, in different 

 rooms of the institution halls. During the 

 afternoon and night sessions the sections all 

 meet in a body in Assembly Hall. This 

 leaves three independent half- day or morn- 

 ing sessions for each association, the rest of 

 the time being taken up in congress sessions. 

 Inspection of buildings, departments, the 

 farm, apiary, stock, cattle, etc., is provided 

 for in the evenings. 



Much good, indeed, results from thefe 

 gatherings. About 3000 delegates, repre- 

 senting the varied industries of the State, 

 gather here. The bee-keeper's hum is not 

 absent. 



The program of the bee-keapers' section 

 is as follows: 



Opening prayer. 



The annual address by the President. 



Reading of minutes of last meeting. 



Report of the Secretary-Treasurer. 



Business of the Association. 



Discussions. 



" How can this Association be made to be 

 more effective in its work? " 



Arrangements and entertainment of the 

 National Bee-keepers' Association at San 

 Antonio, November 8, 9, and 10. 



The question-box is to be one of the main 

 features of the convention, and all bee- 

 keepers are invited to ask such questions as 

 are of most importance to them. 



Louis H. Scholl, 

 Com. on Program. 



Secretary-Treasurer Texas Bee-keepers' 

 Association. 



IS THIN SUGAR-FED SYRUP, WHEN STOR- 

 ED AND CAPPED BY THE BEES, 

 THE SAME AS HONEY? 



Some Interesting Experiments. 



BY W. A. SELSER. 



There has been considerable discussion in 

 the past few years at different bee conven- 

 tions and in the press, both by chemists and 

 bee-men, whether a very thin syrup, about 

 the consistency of nectar from ths flowers, 

 fed to the bees, after being deposited, evap- 

 orated, and stored by them in the comb, 

 would be practically the same as honey ; and 

 a statement has been made that chemists 

 could not detect the difference between this 

 sugar- fed syrup and the pure article gather- 

 ed from the nectar of plants. In fact, a 

 noted chemist in the West made the state- 

 ment that there would be absolutely no dif- 

 ference, chemically speaking, between the 

 two; that this thin syrup, slowly fed, would 

 undergo in the stomach-pouch of the bee a 

 complete chemical change, and, after the 

 conversion, would be the same as honey, ex- 

 cept that it lacked the essential oils. 



The writer has always taken a very strong 

 stand against this statement, claiming it 

 was absolutely false, and that there is a 

 vast difference, both chemically and other- 

 wise, between the nectar when first produc- 

 ed in the plant and in any other artificially 

 made syrup, basing his opinion largely upon 

 analytical experience, coupled with the idea 

 that God places the nectar in the fiowers to 

 attract the bee for fertilization and the use 

 of man, and that no agency of man is equal 

 to the work of God. 



This has been the first year in many years 

 when atmospheric and climatic conditions 

 have been favorable to test this experiment 

 correctly; i. e., from the 12th day of July to 

 the 5th of September no nectar has been se- 

 creted in any plant in the vicinity. 



In July, 1905, I selected from about 25 

 hives two Danzenbaker hives in exactly the 

 same conditions, composed of a vigorous 

 Italian queen, six frames of bees and brood, 

 comprising about 25,000 bees and two frames 

 of empty comb. I placed these hives within 

 2 ft. of each other, some 300 yards from the 

 main apiary, at a time when there was ab- 

 solutely no nectar coming in from the field. 

 During part of the time of this experiment 

 (lasting six weeks) I had each of these ex- 

 perimental hives covered over separately 

 with a tent during the day; and, aside from 

 any other precautions, the results of the ex- 



