1230 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1 



hives to protect them against the cold. Sup- 

 pose, doctor, next spring you put a dozen or 

 so cases over a part of your colonies and 

 carefully note the results. If these colonies 

 seem stronger, and go into the supers sooner 

 than those that are not protected, the cost 

 of the winter cases when divided up over a 

 series of years will be more than made up 

 by the saving in the bees over winter. I 

 believe it is always an advantage to set bees 

 out as early as possible to get the advan- 

 tages of early cleansing flights; then if they 

 are warmly protected after that, a cold snap 

 for several days will not do very much 

 harm.— Ed.] 



The question is asked, p. 1180, "If gen- 

 tleness were their only redeeming quality, 

 would that be sufficient reason for introduc- 

 ing into this country Caucasian bees? " I 

 unhesitatingly answer, yes. There are some, 

 of whom Prof. Bigelow is an extreme type, 

 who care little or nothing for the amount of 

 honey secured, but they care much for bees 

 as an interesting study. I hasten to offer a 

 provisional apology to Prof. Bigelow for 

 venturing to use his name in that connec- 

 tion, for it is just possible that for him the 

 sting itself is one of the most interesting 

 subjects of study. Others have such a fear 

 of stings that they are debarred from keep- 

 ing bees, although they would be glad to 

 keep bees that would not sting, even if they 

 secured only half a crop. Still others, who 

 do not care particularly about stings them- 

 selves, are debarred for fear of close neigh- 

 bors being stung. The needs of these three 

 classes are a sufficient reason for introducing 

 bees that will not sting, even if that be 

 their only recommendation. 



The question, however, was no doubt in- 

 tended to have a more general application, 

 asking whether gentleness alone would be a 

 sufficient reason for bee-keepers in general 

 supplanting their present bees with those 

 which had no other recommendation than 

 greater gentleness, ^o, a thousand times 

 no. If we were told, "Here's a bee that 

 will give you a fourth more honey, but it 

 will give you a fourth more stings," I think 

 the majority of bee-keepers would take the 

 extra stings for the sake of the extra yield. 

 A large number would probably not want 

 bees at all that didn't sting. I, for one, 

 wouldn't have them — not that I like stings; 

 but I want bees for whom thieves will have 

 a wholesome respect. [I meant to say the 

 same thing; but you have said it in so much 

 less space, and so much better, that I sim- 

 ply say amen to all you say.— Ed.] 



" Don't we know that, beyond peradven- 

 ture, certain conditions, such as dampness 

 and cold as found in the average refrigera- 

 tor, are detrimental?" says a footnote, page 

 1173. If you will give the matter close at- 

 tention you may be surprised to find that 

 material put into a refrigerator, instead of 

 becoming moister, dries out. That's the 

 way it does "in this locality" at least. I 

 have known section honey that had been 

 roasted in an attic to suffer no harm at all 



from zero weather in the same place the 

 following winter, and have wondered wheth- 

 er that same honey would not just as well 

 stand the temperature of a refrigerator. 

 [Possibly you are right as to the question of 

 moisture; but the constantly melting ice in 

 the same compartment with the food stuff 

 would suggest a damp cold. But granted 

 that the refrigerator was dry inside, the 

 temperature somewhere about 38 or 40 

 would be just right to hasten granulation. 

 Tightly corked extracted honey put on my 

 window-sill, where it is quite dry, will candy, 

 usually, before December. But let me tell 

 you, doctor, honey is not liable to candy in 

 extreme cold, especially when the tempera- 

 ture is below zero. We tried last winter, 

 and the one before, to make different lots of 

 honey candy in zero cold, but failed. When 

 it got warmer it began to " cloud up" very 

 nicely. It will candy a good deal quicker in 

 a temperature of 30 or 40 than below that. 

 It will candy quicker still in a temperature 

 that alternates from moderate cold to warm. 

 Our experiments for the last two winters 

 have shown these facts to us very clearly; 

 so it would appear that honey that will not 

 candy in a garret when down below zero 

 proves nothing in favor of the conditions af- 

 forded by the ordinary refrigerator. — Ed.] 



^J^eighbor^Jieldj 



Continuing the list of foreign bee journals 

 there is but one more to mention that is 

 printed in French— namely, that old stand- 

 by, Revue Eclectique, printed at Sainte So- 

 line, par Lezay, Deux- Sevres, France. It 

 covers a wide range in modern bee-keeping. 



I now come to our pile of German ex- 

 changes. The first I pick up is the Deutsche 

 Imker aus Boehmen, having a circulation of 

 9500. It contains a great amount of read- 

 ing-matter, and is up to the times. It is 

 printed in Prague, the capital city of Bohe- 

 mia, Austria. Our German friends will be 

 pleased with this journal I am sure. 



The Muenchener Bienen-Zeitung is edited 

 by J. Fink, Munich, Bavaria. 



Bienen-Zeitung is in its 20th volume, ed- 

 ited by J. B. Kellen, Limpertsburg, near 

 Luxemburg. Geimany. 



PraktischerWegweiserfuerBienenzuechter 

 is published in Oranienburg- Berlin, Prussia. 



Bienen-Vater has reached the venerable 

 age of 37 years, with a circulation of 10,000. 

 It is a great bee journal, and stands, prob- 

 ably, at the head of German bee literature. 

 It is printed in Vienna, Austria. 



Bienenzucht is published by F. Gerstung, 

 in Ossmannstedt, Prussia. 



lUustrierte Monatshlaetter fuer Bienen- 



