1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1355 



J. W. Shaw inquires on page 1097 as to the 

 value of vetch. It has seemed of little value 

 here in western Vermont. It blooms about 

 the time of clover, but it is rarely you see 

 any bees at work on it, although I have 

 watched it carefully for several years. I 

 found them quite plentiful on it this season 

 for the first time. It is considered by some 

 farmers as a bad plant, or quite difficult to 

 eradicate when once it gets a foothold. 



4 ^ 



It seems to me that the statements made 

 by F. E. Brown, as well as by the editor some 

 time ago in regard to the color of alfalfa 

 honey, are of much value, for one fact is of 

 more' value than many theories. Now, if 

 there are any other plants that produce dif- 

 ferent- coloi'ed honey on diiferent soils or in 

 different localities, let those who know it 

 make it known. If the color of the various 

 kinds of honey most gathered by bees is well 

 known it will be helpful in buying and sell- 

 ing, as well as in other ways. 



ALFALFA HONEY IIST THE EAST. 



Somewhere Dr. Miller inquires whether al- 

 falfa yields honey here in the East. No, sir: 

 it doesn't as a rule. I had to watch for years 

 before I found any bees on it; yet two years 

 ago I found some l>ees at work on it about 

 as lively as on sweet clover. It was on the 

 south side of a hill on dry gravelly soil whei'e 

 conditions were somewhat like those in the 

 arid regions of the West, and I should not 

 be surprised if some seasons, when we are 

 parched with drouth, alfalfa should freely 

 offer its nectar to our hungry bees. 



POLLEN DURING BASSWOOD BLOOM. 



'■There is no pollen pi'oduced by the bass- 

 wood, or linden, as you know." 



"Yes, I know there is not; but the bees 

 gather it from the wild grape and other 

 sources, even gathering it from our common 



"Yes, I know they gather some pollen in 

 the early morning from these sources, but 

 not to the extent that they do either before 

 basswood or after it," page 877. 



Say, Mr. Doolittle, you have some pretty 

 smart bees. I have sometimes thought they 

 would go further for honey, and bring home 

 larger loads of it, than any other bees I ever 

 saw; but when you tell about their gathering 

 pollen from the' wild grape during basswood 

 bloom and after it. I am a little skeptical — 

 just a little — for the wild gi^ape blossoms 

 hereabout early in June, and goes by weeks 



before the basswood thi'ows its dainty blos- 

 soms to the bree/e. 



POLLEN KEEPING. 



The idea you bring out. that only the pol^ 

 len from cl'over will keep through the win- 

 ter, is certainlv new. It is quite ti'ue, also, 

 that localities "differ, and what is true in one 

 place may not be in another: but I can see 

 no good reason why one kind of pollen, when 

 saturated with honey, and all air excluded, 

 should not keep as well as another. Chemi- 

 cally they must be much alike. I should 

 like to agree with you, for I dislike to disa- 

 gree with those whom I consider my supe- 

 riors; but I have watched with considerable 

 interest, the present season, the bees putting 

 their pollen "down" or putting it "up," as 

 good housewives sometimes say, or preserv- 

 ing it for winter use. The pollen was al- 

 ready saturated with honey, and packed solid 

 in the cells, and glistened with honey. It 

 only required covering with honey, and seal- 

 ingi to complete the process; but I noticed 

 that the pollen varied in color in different 

 cells, indicating, to my mind, that it came 

 from different sources, and that bees treat 

 pollen much as they do honey. Take all 

 they want for present use from open cells, 

 and what remains seal up for future reference 

 without much regard to whether it was gath- 

 ered from clover or — cucumbers. 



HAVE THE EFFECTS OF THE COMB-HONEY 

 CANARDS BEEN EXAGGERATED ? 



Some persons, myself among the number, 

 have questioned whether the results of the 

 various stories about the adulteration of 

 honey have not been exaggerated; but recent 

 events show very clearly the results of de- 

 rogatory statements about food products. 

 The eff'ect of making public the report of 

 Pres. Roosevelt's special committee on the 

 meat-packers of Chicago is quickly to reduce 

 the sales of meat in our eastern markets. 

 With heavy headlines the Boston Journal 

 said: 



"BOSTON PLACES BAN ON BEEF-TRUST 

 PRODUCTS. 



' • Bostonians have begun to shy at beef- 

 trust goods. Already wholesale and retail 

 dealers feel the effect's of the sensational ex- 

 posure of packing-house methods as depict- 

 ed in the preliminary report to President 

 Roosevelt, and made ' public by him. Our 

 sales have fallen off amazingly, scores of 

 these dealers told a Journal reporter yester- 

 day. All sorts of the prepared meats are be- 

 ing blacklisted by the consumers; and to say 

 trust sausages or potted ham to a customer 

 now is to bring down a torrent of abuse up- 

 on the trusts, upon us. and upon every thing 

 in general. Most of our customers have re- 

 fused absolutely to buy any of the trust 

 meat, as they call it, declared our dealer." 



Much more might be quoted in the same 

 vein; but I have given enough to show that 

 we can not be too careful of the reputation 

 of the quality of our honey as an article of 

 food. Moi-e' and more thought is given to 



