lyuG 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



129'; 



"On what is that knowledge based'.'" 



"Through experiments in giving colonies 

 which I did not care to save, combs of pol- 

 len with a very little honey in them, enough 

 to last a day or two, and' in every case tie 

 bees starved to death as soon as the honey 

 was all consumed." 



"Then you would not believe what some 

 people say, that bees die in winter if they 

 have no pollen to eat with the honey ?" 



"No. There is a little difference between 

 the way of treating pollen by the bees. The 

 larger part of the pollen which comes into 

 the hive is packed in the cells, and the 

 mouths of the cells left open until the pollen 

 is used for brooding purposes, this being 

 nearly always the case during the first half 

 of the breeding season each year. But pol- 

 len intended for rearing the first brood dur- 

 ing Feliruary, March, and April of the next 

 year, in this locality, after being stoi-ed in 

 the cells till they are from half to three- 

 fourths full, is covered Avith honey, and the 

 honey sealed over, the same as if no pollen 

 were undeiiit; and thus this pollen is pre- 

 served in good condition till it is. wanted for 

 early spring use. at which time there is no 

 pollen to l)e had from the fields. This is the 

 • l)ee- bread ' that our fathers and mothers of 

 the forties, fifties, and sixties used to tell us 

 (then children) about." 



"Then you think that I can safely tell my 

 friends that old bees never eat pollen ? " 



"Yes. And yet I am led to believe there 

 are exceptional times during the spring of 

 the year when colonies are kept fi'om starv- 

 ation, for a day or two, by pollen in the 

 chyle form." 



"How is that ? " 



"We have times when the bees gather 

 just enough nectar, after all the old honey 

 in the hive is used up. to keep brood-rearing 

 going on nicely, and yet not enough to store 

 much in the combs. At such a time, after 

 all the honey in the hive (together with pol- 

 len and water (has been taken for chyle, 

 and a few days of storm have occurred, so 

 the bees are just on the vei"ge of starvation, 

 this chyle is fed by the nurse bees to those 

 bees out of the cells, and this, together with 

 the juices that they can obtain out of the 

 brood, will carry the colony a day or two 

 longer, so they do not die of starvation, if 

 a good day comes before the chyle is all 

 used up which is in the stomachs of the nurse 

 bees. If the weather continuesbad too long, 

 then they must all die, as no chyle can Ije 

 prepared from pollen and water, no matter 

 how abundant, without the honey to mix 

 with it." 



"That looks reasonable as you see it, and 

 it may be you ai'e right. I do not know." 



"Thank you. If I am not right, I am will- 

 ing to be set right. But so far as I have 

 talked with learned men, none have been 

 able to give me a better explanation than 

 this on these things. There is very much 

 still to be learned about some of the mvste- 

 ries which our little pets hold very largely 

 locked in their own bosoms." 



DISPOSING OF THE HONEY CROP. 



Sell Early ; Keep the Old Cui^tomers: A(\ 



vertise : How to Utilize the Honey 



in Cfippings. 



BY E. W. ALEXANDER. 



This is a very important part of our busi- 

 ness — one which we should look at from 

 several different points. First, we should 

 take special care in producing either comb 

 or extracted honey so that it will be of the 

 very best quality; and we should put it up 

 in the most convenient and salable package 

 possible. Then we should have it ready for 

 market as soon as the market is ready for it. 



Here is a point that many are very negli- 

 gent about. They have other work to attend 

 to, and think their honey can wait until they 

 can do their odd jobs, and foolishly they try 

 to make themselves believe the price will 

 rise, and they will get more later on. I 

 have never known this to be so. On the 

 contrary, the price is sure to decline until it 

 is hard to sell at any price. Now, donH al- 

 low valuable time to slip by, leaving your 

 honey on your hands, and then complain 

 that there is no money in bees. Just watch 

 a successful manufacturer or merchant and 

 see how he is ever on the alert for any thing 

 that can be turned to advantage; and if you 

 expect to succeed as they do you must also 

 watch these points. 



In regard to sending your honey to com- 

 mission men to sell for you, I must say that 

 many times their returns are far from satis- 

 factory. When you find a square commis- 

 sion man it is a vei'y good way to dispose of 

 your crop. But I pity you if you are caught 

 as I have been by different parties. Before 

 we commenced to sell our honey direct to 

 dealers I thought seriously of going out of 

 the business, as we could not produce ex- 

 tracted honey for the I'eturns these men 

 sometimes made. One lot in particular, of 

 about four tons of as nice clover honey as I 

 ever saw, he claimed to have sold at four 

 cents per pound. Another lot of nearly a 

 carload to another party brought us only 

 three cents net, and I have good reasons for 

 believing that each lot in question was sold 

 for a good price. So from past experience 

 my advice is to be careful where you send 

 your honey. If you are a little short of cus- 

 tomers, just advertise it in our bee journals 

 and you will soon have chances to sell at a 

 fair price: then you will know what you are 

 to have, and when to expect it: and. as a 



