1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1007 



late by this method that a medium tree of 

 mesquite may produce 2.53 lbs. of honey; a 

 medium bush of catclaw .36 lb., and a large 

 bush of Acaoia constricta, apparently a near 

 relative of the catclaw, .39 lb. An acre of 

 alfalfa in full bloom is estimated to produce 

 55.9 lbs. This, it is stated, corresponds 

 roughly to the "farmer's estimate" of a 

 can of honey (60 lbs.) to the ton of hay. 



A serious flaw in the table is that it does 

 not state definitely whether the estimate is 

 on the amount of honey actually in the blos- 

 soms at the time the calculation was made 

 or whether it is an estimate of the season's 

 yield based thereon. Apparently, though, 

 the former is the case when it becomes evi- 

 dent that the estimate must be much too 

 high, since the amount in the blossoms at 

 any given time is much less than will be se- 

 creted during even the short time that alfal- 

 fa is allowed to remain in bloom. It appears 

 that we are at liberty to guess again. 



The Arizona bulletin contains some other 

 items of interest. The analysis of nectar 

 showed that the proportion of cane sugar 

 ranged from one-twentieth to five-eighths of 

 the invert sugar; while the analysis of a 

 number of samples of honey showed an av- 

 erage of about one-fiftieth as much cane 

 sugar as invert sugar. This confirms what 

 we have been told by other good authority, 

 that nectar does not become honey until it 

 has been transformed by the bee. 



Two of the samples of honey contained an 

 abnormal proportion o f ash. This is account- 

 ed for by the fact that they are desert-flow- 

 er honeys, the bloom of which, growing 

 close to the dusty ground, became charged 

 with dust, which the bees could not entirely 

 remove from the nectar. 



Comparison of Arizona honeys with aver- 

 ages of analyses of Eastern honeys, made 

 by the Department of Agriculture, show 

 that the Arizona honey contains considera- 

 bly less water and a larger percentage (about 

 seven per cent higher (of invert sugar than 

 the Eastern honey. If this would hold true 

 of the Colorado honey, it would, perhaps, 

 account for the unusually solid granulation 

 of our honey. 



It is stated, however, that the alfalfa hon- 

 ey produced in Arizona is darker than that 

 made in more northerly localities. Why 

 this should be is not clear, though it will be 

 remembered that some have claimed that 

 honey produced in very hot weather was 

 darker than that made when it was cooler. 

 Arizona, I believe, is the hottest State in 

 the Union. Experiments were made in lique- 

 fying granulated honey, tests being made 

 with a number of samples heated to different 

 temperatures. The conclusion reached was 

 that any temperature over 130 degrees 

 changed the color and flavor, and that any 

 thing over 160 was injurious. 



j& 



THE NATIONAL NOMINATIONS. 



When I nominated 0. L. Hershiser for 

 President I neglected to state that he has 

 twice been honored with the position of 



Vice-president. Logically, he is not only 

 fitted for the higher office, but, according to- 

 precedent, is deserving of it. I am not go- 

 ing to make any more nominations, but will 

 call attention to several men who would fill 

 the very important office of Manager accep- 

 tably, in my opinion. No one could reason- 

 ably find any fault with the present Manager 

 and the way in which he has conducted the 

 business with an eye to the best interests of 

 the Association; and the only possible reason 

 for electing any other would be that he ha& 

 already been burdened with the somewhat 

 onerous duties of the oflfice for the past twa 

 years. If it came to making a choice else- 

 where, my preference would lie between two 

 men — Mr. C. P. Dadant, the present Vice- 

 president, and Mr. Frank Rauchfuss, who 

 has already been nominated. Both of these 

 are sound, clear-headed business men who 

 have made a success of their own business, 

 and could be depended on to look properly 

 after that of the Association. Besides being 

 a successful business man, Mr. Dadant is 

 clear-sighted and broad-minded, and could 

 be relied on to take that comprehensive view 

 of things so necessary for one in that posi- 

 tion. Ever since coming to this State I have 

 had my eye on Mr. Rauchfuss as a man who 

 was not as well known in the bee-keeping 

 world as his merits warrant. Though mod- 

 est to a degree, he is eminently well fitted 

 for a position like that of Manager of the 

 National. His able management of the Col- 

 orado Honey-producers' Association shows 

 that he has the qualities needed in the busi- 

 ness head of the National. 

 j0 



DIRECTORS FOR THE NATIONAL. 



Although there is nothing in the constitu- 

 tion about it, and though the Association 

 would probably be quite as well governed by 

 men selected without any reference to loca- 

 tion, custom and general sentiment recog- 

 nize the fact that members prefer to be 

 represented on the Board by a man from 

 their own State or locality, and there is a 

 growing tendency to elect a man from the 

 same State as the man he succeeds. Would 

 it not be well to recognize this fact, and make 

 it more systematic by dividing the country 

 into as many districts as there are directors, 

 basing the size of the district on the number 

 of members therein? For instance, if there 

 are 2400 members, each 200 members would 

 be entitled to a director to be selected from 

 their district. If a State contained enough 

 members, it would constitute a district. In 

 the case of States having but few members, 

 several adjoining States could be grouped 

 together to form a district. 



OUTDOOR FEEDING. 



I have done a great deal of outdoor feed- 

 ing for stimulative purposes, and have al- 

 ways considered that, whenever this form of 

 feeding was at all possible, it was much to 

 be preferred to any other method. Not only 

 is it far le^s labor than feeding by ordinary 

 methods, but it does far more good. Feed- 



