32 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1 



ing an expert analyze all our honey, or change 

 our labels? 

 West Nicholson, Pa., Nov. 28. 



[It is true that a hardship is sometimes 

 put on an innocent person who may unwit- 

 tingly buy honey that has been adulterated 

 by some one else; but if the law were broad 

 enough to allow the seller to escape, the 

 actual adulterator could hide under cover, 

 and keep on with his nefarious business by 

 having a second party dispose of his prod- 

 uct. If that second party could escape the 

 clutches of the law by saying that he did 

 not know the honey was adulterated (and he 

 might swear to that on the witness stand), 

 it would leave a great wide gap for fraud. 

 It were better for the innocent to suffer oc- 

 casionally, in order that the pure-food law 

 should be effective, than to have a law on 

 the statute-books with so wide a loop-hole 

 in it that the intent of it would be entirely 

 nullified. 



We came near being held up during the 

 past summer because some honey we sold to 

 some one else had been adulterated after it 

 left our hands. The party who sold the 

 goods averred that he bought them original- 

 ly of the Root Co. We both received no- 

 tice from the pure-food commissioner not to 

 sell any more of these goods. We insisted 

 that the honey, when it left us was pure, 

 and proved it finally, but not till after along 

 string of correspondence had passed between 

 us and the food commissioner. As the pure- 

 food laws stand in the various States, it is 

 incumbent on the purchaser of any honey to 

 make very sure that such honey is pure 

 when it leaves his hands. This puts a dou- 

 ble check on the aulterator. 



I would not leave out the word "Pure" 

 on labels under any consideration. — Ed.] 



%0^^^ 



SHAKEN SWARMING A SUCCESS, AND WHEN. 



Is "shook " swarming a success in case a 

 man can not be with his bees at swarming? 

 Will the old hive, when removed, stay? and 

 how are the queens fertilized? As I under- 

 stand, they are fertilized in the air. 



Walter S. Bell. 



Mena, Ark.,^ov. 6. 



[As Dr. Miller has had more experience 

 in handling swarms than we have had here 

 at Medina, I turned this inquiry over to 

 him and he replies: — Ed.] 



The plan of shaking swarms, so far as it 

 is at all successful, is especially adapted to 

 meet the wants of those who can not have, 

 or do not wish to have, any one on hand to 



watch for swarms. Indeed, it may be call- 

 ed anticipatory swarming, the bee-keeper 

 taking the matter into his own hands, and 

 putting the bees in the condition of a swarm 

 before they actually take that step them- 

 selves. And yet, having tried it in a num- 

 ber of cases in an out-apiary, I am hardly 

 prepared to say that it is just as easy to get 

 along with in all respects as natural swarm- 

 ing; so if you try it, be on the lookout, for 

 a time, to see whether it exactly fits your 

 case. 



There need be no trouble about the old 

 colony, or stump, staying where put. Of 

 course, if any field bees are left in it they 

 will leave and join the swarm, just as 

 they would if it had been a natural swarm; 

 Ibut enough bees should be left with the 

 brood to make sure against any danger from 

 chilling, and the field bees that leave will be 

 more than made up by the rapidly hatching 

 young bees. 



The stump colony will rear a queen from 

 the brood present, although it is better to 

 give it a queen or a ripe queen-cell, and the 

 young queen will be fertilized just as in all 

 cases by flying out to meet a drone high in 

 air. 



feeding bees IN THE CELLAR, ETC. 



In wintering bees in a cellar, and their 

 stores being rather scarce, would it be ad- 

 visable to try to feed them sugar syrup 

 with a division-board feeder between now 

 and spring? In storing them in the cellar, 

 which would be the better— to leave an emp- 

 ty super on to give them plenty of air, or to 

 take it off and put the cover down, closing 

 the brood-frames, allowing a bee-space be- 

 tween them? A. I. Neff. 



McPherson, Pa., Dec. 12, 1904. 



[Sugar syrup may be given to bees in the 

 cellar with the regular division board feed- 

 er of the Doolittle type. It would be advis- 

 able, as you suggest, to put the feeder in 

 the middle of the brood-nest; but a better 

 way would be to give the bees cakes of hard 

 candy. The candy should be made by boil- 

 ing granulated-sugar syrup, with a little 

 honey in it, so that, when cool, it will form 

 into a hard translucent cake. A two or 

 three pound brick of this when put on top 

 of the brood-frames will be enough to take 

 care of any colony short of stores. 



The question as to whether the empty su- 

 per should be put on top will depend largely 

 on the size of the entrance. If it is one 

 inch by the width of the hive, take off the 

 super and put the cover on top next to the 

 frames. If the entrance is only | inch deep 

 it may be advisable to leave the super on, 

 putting in a chaff cushion. In this case the 

 cover should be left off. In the absence of 

 the cushion any old carpeting may do as 

 well. -Ed.] 



HOW TO WASH OUT SECOND-HAND KEROSENE- 

 CANS SO AS TO BE SUITABLE FOR HONEY. 



Please tell us how to clean coal-oil cans so 

 that we can use them for honey. Most of 



