1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1121 



that source. But warmth and dryness are 

 not sufficient. There must also be a circu- 

 lation of air, and here I think is where many 

 fail. 



I find that it is the custom among almost 

 all bee-keepers to leave the honey in the su- 

 pers in which it was made until it is put into 

 the shipping-cases. If kept in the supers 

 they are piled up closely together; and if 

 put into shipping- cases they are nailed up 

 tight. In either case there is no chance for 

 any circulation of air, which is necessary 

 for proper ripening. I remove all honey 

 from the supers as soon as I can convenient- 

 ly do so, placing it in what I call storage- 

 crates. These are simply skeleton crates, 

 made by taking two pieces of board, each 

 4,^j wide by 17^ long. These form the sides 

 of the crate. The bottom and ends are 

 made by cutting lath of such length that, 

 when nailed on the sides, the crate is J inch 

 wider inside than six of your sections. Four 

 of these pieces of lath form the bottom; and 

 two more, nailed on the upper corner of the 

 ends of side pieces, make the ends, and it is 

 by these that the crate is lifted and han- 

 dled. 



In these crates the honey is placed as it is 

 removed from the supers, and in these I usu- 

 ally leave it until I am ready to send it to 

 market. These crates of honey can he 

 stacked up as high as you can reach, and 

 there is always a good circulation of air 

 through them. If the honey is to be kept 

 in them very long, especially if they are 

 where it is at all dusty, spread a piece of 

 paper over the top of each crate. This 

 keeps out dust, while still leaving plenty of 

 ventilation. Thes^ crates. I might mention, 

 are just as useful for storing and handling 

 sections before they are filled with honey as 

 they are afterward. 



For heat for ripening the honey you should 

 plan to use the heat of the summer s-un as 

 much as possible. Very often this will be 

 all that is needed to ripen your honey thor- 

 oughly. Generally you will find it profitable 

 to use some artificial heat, especially if you 

 are going to keep your honey into the win- 

 ter. Very often you can find a place in your 

 house where the honey can be ripened with- 

 out using any special source of heat. The 

 waste heat from stovepipe or chimney may 

 often be used. The honey that I kept over 

 was stored in an upper room of our furnace- 

 heated house, where it was always warm, 

 without the expenditure of any extra fuel. 

 In former years^ I have warmed my honey- 

 room with a large lamp, with an oil-stove, 

 and with a small hard-coal stove. I aimed 

 to keep this room up to at least eighty de- 

 grees for several weeks, and after that to 

 warm it up whenever the temperature got 

 much below the freezing-point. 



Honey that has thus been thoroughly 

 ripened is not only improved in quality and 

 made proof against granulation, but it will 

 ship better, on account of there being no 

 leakage, and because it will not break as 

 easily, and it will also stand much better the 

 abuse and neglect that it often meets on its 



way to market, such as when it is stored in 

 a damp and cold place. Such honey will not 

 absorb moisture as readily as that which is 

 thinner. The comb is also much less liable 

 to crack in cold weather. 



CLEANiNCSimTHE Pacific Coast 



iMi^^aSSg^il^nECEagiPWTiT^t^Tw ; 



SWEET CLOVER. 



I was much interested in the note of Mr. 

 J. A. Green, criticising the bulletin from the 

 Kansas station regardmg sweet clover. Ex- 

 cept that I had read the bee journals and 

 noted the controversies on this subject in 

 the past, I should be a decided partisan with 

 the Kansas professor. I grew sweet clover 

 for years, and was always pleased to note 

 its value as a honey-plant. I was eager to 

 demonstrate that it might also be used with 

 profit for forage. Green or dry, it was 

 alike distasteful to both my horse and cow. 

 Indeed, I could not in conscience starve them 

 to eating it. I notice that, in California, 

 other grasses and clovers will be closely 

 cropped while this is left to grow. Either 

 cattle and horses vary in their taste, which 

 is not improbable, or else, perchance, the 

 clover is more or less savory, depending up- 

 on locality. I am free to say that I do not 

 believe that melilotus, either yellow or white, 

 will ever reach any great prominence fcr 

 hay or pasture. 



BEES IN ENGLAND. 



In our progress through the British Isles 

 (and 1 have been in all three) I have been 

 surprised to note the striking .absence of 

 large apiaries. While I have seen the few 

 colonies scattered very widely, I have yet to 

 see a large apiary, such as so frequently 

 gladdens the eye of the traveler along the 

 foot-hills of California. Indeed, I am told 

 that there is but one person in all the Brit- 

 ish Isles who relies upon his bees for his 

 livelihood. Usually the bees are kept sim- 

 ply to help cut. One, if not the largest, bee- 

 keeper, whose honey is put up in very 

 fancy shape, each section glassed on both 

 sides, and the glass bordered with fancy 

 scalloped paper, has a good business aside 

 from his bees Prom my observation I be- 

 lieve bee-keeping here to be a much more pre- 

 carious occupation than in the United States. 

 A bountiful honey crop comes only from 

 abundant nectar secretion; and it has been 

 fully demonstrated that rather dry hot 

 weather not only favors the flight of the 

 bees, but also conduces to a honey flow. 

 The cool moist climate of the British Isles is 

 inimical to both, and thus we may readily 

 believe, as I am assured by bee keepers 

 here, that Britain can never be an idal lo- 



