1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1431 



ways on hand with a hiveful of workers when 

 there was honey to be gathered, and I laid it 

 to their unusual longevity. 



LENGTH OF BEE-FLIGHT. 



On p. 1172 J. E. Crane says that, by mov- 

 ing his apiary two-thirds of a mile, his yield 

 was gi-eatly reduced; Init'that by bi'eeding 

 for bees with stronger flight he was able to 

 overcome largely this handicap. While he 

 may be entirely correct in this, I believe he 

 may be assuming a little too much in both 

 directions. In the first place, does he really 

 know that it was the change of location that 

 reduced his yield temporarily? Locations 

 vary greatiy from year to year. For instance, 

 my home apiary has usually given fair and 

 sometimes very good crops. In the vei'y 

 poor season of 1905 it averaged better than 

 any other apiai'y in this valley that I have 

 any knowledge of. In 1906, with only about 

 half as many colonies on the range as usual, 

 it gave a very poor crop compared with some 

 of my other apiarie*. His reduced yield, fol- 

 lowed in later years Ijy better ones, may have 

 been simply the variation of seasons. How- 

 ever, if he knows the pasturage in his old lo- 

 cation to be better, I will venture to say that 

 the establishment of an out-apiary in that 

 direction would have paid him far better 

 than to attempt to , get along with a poorer 

 location, though only a short distance away. 

 The more I have to do with out-apiaries, the 

 more I am convinced that the most profita- 

 ble work of bees is done within a very short 

 distance, say not over a mile and a half, 

 probably even less than this, from their hives. 



THE ONE-POUND SECTION. 



Mr. G. C. Greiner, in his article on one- 

 pound sections, on page 1238, deserves cred- 

 it for at least one thing. It appears that he 

 has actually tried, with a number of years' 

 experimenting, to find a section that would 

 hold a pound of honey. Let us see with what 

 results. He tells us that his light cases weigh 

 22 lbs. and his heavy ones 26 lbs. There is, 

 then, a difference of 4i or J of a pound be- 

 tween the average weights of sections in the 

 light and heavy cases. But this is not all. 

 It is fair to assume that some of the sections 

 in the 22-lb. cases are lighter than the aver- 

 age of II of a pound each, and that some of 

 the sections in the 26-lb. cases are heavier 

 than the average of ||. It will be readily 

 seen, then, that the difference between his 

 lightest and heaviest sections of marketable 

 honey (for he does not call his light-weight 

 honey culls, nor speak of it except as honey 

 by the case), may easily reach J of a pound 

 or more. And yet he calls them "pound 

 sections"! He applies the name of a fixed, 

 invariable standard to articles the heaviest of 

 which vary more than 25 per cent from the 

 lightest! Further comment on this point 

 would seem unuex^essary. 



Mr. Gi"einer thinks tliat, because his light 

 cases weigh 22 lbs., his medium ones 24 lbs., 

 and his heavy ones 26 lbs., he is entitled to 

 call his sections "pound sections." It may 



appear at first glance that they average 24 

 lbs. to the case: out do they really do that, 

 Mr. Greiner? Are there not some seasons a 

 greater number of the 22-lb. cases or of the 

 26-lb. cases than at other seasons? Further- 

 more, would not some other bee-keepers, us- 

 ing exactly the same sections, get quite dif- 

 ferent weights? Bee-keepers who sell "pound 

 sections" ease their consciences by the 

 thought that they average all right. But they 

 should remember that this average does not 

 extend to the consumer, except in the long 

 run, and does not meet each particular case. 

 As long as no section furnishes the consum- 

 er an exact pound of honey, or can ever do 

 so, and since 99 per cent of the sections in 

 use, or that are likely to be used, do not come 

 anywhere near it, I think it would be only 

 honest, as well as to the advantage of all, to 

 discard entii-ely the expression "pound sec- 

 tion." It is unnecessary to enter into any 

 long-winded explanations with the customer 

 who asks for a pound of honey. I simply 

 say that I sell it at so much a box, but that 

 the boxes do not weigh a pound. It is very 

 seldom that any thing further is necessary. 

 Instead of chasing the impracticable idea of 

 a pound section, devote your energies to the 

 production of sections as iiniform in weight 

 as possible. The four-pound variation in 

 cases that Mr. Greiner admits is quite inex- 

 cusable. About 75 per cent of my honey, 

 just as it comes from the hives, will not vary 

 over a pound to the case, and a two-pound 

 variation will cover the extremes of the re- 

 mainder. 



Chilly blasts in terrific whistle 



Come soaring and a roaring 



Around the eaves of our hives; 

 And hloomins flowers and thistle, 

 Gone and dead, for death, instead, 



Has given flight to these tender lives. 



A season is ended and o'er, 



And toiling and turmoiling 



Give place to days of sleeping, 

 And waxen cups with golden store. 



Gathered with care, are garnered there 



For wintry days that come a creeping. 



Blood will tell if you give good care to the 

 blood. This has shown itself more plainly 

 this past poor season than during any pre- 

 vious seasons of average and good honey- 

 yields. Colonies with "those good queens" 

 yielded from 40 to 100 pounds of comb hon- 

 ey, while the othei's gave little or no surplus. 

 Several yards that were bought in the spring 

 had a great majority of old worn-out queens 

 in them. The result was, very little or no 

 surplus honey except from a few colonies 

 that chanced "to have a young prolific queen. 



