1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



929 



KEEPING EXTRACTED HONEY FROM CANDY- 

 ING. 



I want to ask a question in reg^ard to keep- 

 ing extracted honey from losing- its fresh- 

 ness, or going to sugar. Is it necessary to 

 seal it up air-tight, and to use an air-pump 

 to extract the air from each jar in order to 

 keep it fresh and in a good marketable con- 

 dition? KiRBY Smith. 



Gibsonburg, O., Aug. 18. 



[It is not necessary to use an air-pump. 

 Honey should be heated to a temperature of 

 160 degrees, and kept there for ten or fifteen 

 minutes, then bottled and sealed while hot, 

 just the same as fruit is canned. Such hon- 

 ey, if properl}' put up, the cork covered with 

 wax, paraffine, or beeswax, will remain 

 liquid for nearh' a 3'ear, and longer if the 

 temperature of the room is not changed. 

 For full particulars, see "Bottled Hone}'," 

 in our ABC book.— Ed.] 



SWEET CLOVER IN KANSAS ; AN ESTIMATE 



OF ITS VALUE PER ACRE AS A 



HONEY-PLANT. 



Bees have done very poorlj' for me this 

 season on account of cold wet weather in 

 June, losing a few hives bj' actual starva- 

 tion before I was really aware of it; and if 

 it had not been for a three-acre field of 

 white sweet clover I should have lost more, 

 as this patch kept about SO hives in fair 

 condition. In fact, they went far ahead of 

 the out-apiaries. I have sown this season 

 five acres more, and next spring I intend to 

 put out about 40 acres more, as I can rent 

 land for this purpose at SI. 50 per acre. I 

 intend to put out mostly the yellow varietj', 

 as it comes in just at a time when there is 

 nothing else, and the blooming-period is 

 longer; but the three acres of white, I am 

 satisfied, was worth to me this season S30, 

 and I also have considerable seed from it. 

 R. L. Snodgrass. 



Gordon, Kan., Oct. 2. 



[Friend S., I am glad to get a report to 

 the efifect that an acre of sweet clover is 

 worth even as much as SlO.OO for the honey 

 alone. Let me now suggest that, when j-ou 

 get tired of growing the sweet clover, if you 

 plow it under when it is about two feet 

 high, before it blossoms, it will be of as 

 much benefit to 3'our land, and perhaps 

 more, as if j-ou plowed under a similar 

 growth of common red clover. — A. I. R.] 



AUTOMATIC SELF-HIVING. 



Mr. Root: — The following is an idea in 

 self-hiving: I sold a colony of bees to a 

 neighbor last June. It contained a queen 

 with a clipped wing. They were placed 

 on a stand about 18 inches from the ground. 

 Upx)n delivering this colony I informed the 

 lady of the house that they would be likely 

 to cast a swarm ere long. She hardly ex- 

 pected to hear this. However, an old hive 

 was made ready, and bj' chance it was left 

 on the ground in front of the colony pur- 



chased. They watched the bees for swarm- 

 ing, till tired and indifferent ; so, upon go- 

 ing to the hive later they found that, in- 

 stead of only one colonj', there were two. 

 The queen had rushed out on to the ground, 

 found her way to the hive on the ground, 

 and was hived with nobody to witness the 

 proceedings. G. W. Strangways. 



Elora, Ont., Can., Oct. 5. 



[The plan j'ou describe embodies the 

 principles of the self-hivers that were talk- 

 ed of so much 3'ears ago. But self- hiving 

 as a practical method has gone entirely' out 

 of use, so far as I know. I have made it 

 work, but it is too much trouble. The ap- 

 pliances and the fussing necessarj' to make 

 a swarm go automatically into another com- 

 partment involve more expense and labor 

 than to hive in the old-fashioned way of 

 letting the bees come back to an empty hive 

 placed on the old stand, on the clipped- 

 wing plan. — Ed.] 



bees HATCHING WITHOUT WINGS. 



Can you tell me what ails my j^oung bees? 

 The3' hatch out without wings, then crawl 

 out and die b}' the thousands. B3' winter 

 they will be all gone; and as we have 36 

 hives of bees we should like to know a reme- 

 dy. Sherwin Cooley. 



Calistoga, Cal. 



[When bees hatch without wings the 

 trouble ma3' be due to several causes — 

 chilled or overheated brood, or to poisoning. 

 If the old bees gathered nectar from fruit- 

 trees or sprayed plants, the same might kill 

 some brood and allow other (although de- 

 formed) to mature. — Ed.] 



EFFECT OF STINGS ON HEALTH. 



Is there any such thing as bee-poison 

 ruining a man's health? I have been sick 

 one or two da3's all the spring and sum- 

 mer. The doctors here can't help me. It 

 seems to be a stomach trouble that comes 

 about ever3' six or seven da3's. I have kept 

 bees 30 3'ears on a small scale; have been 

 stung two or more times ever3' da3'. It 

 never seems to hurt me ^ny. I should like to 

 hear from the readers of Gleanings about 

 it. Irving Long. 



Marceline, Mo. 



[As a rule, bee-poison produces no seri- 

 ous effect on the average human system. 

 But one who has kept bees for man 3' years, 

 and who has been stung a great deal, some- 

 times experiences unpleasant sensations 

 when a hive is first opened during the fore 

 part of the season. Langstroth was affect- 

 ed in that wa3% and there have been reports 

 of a similar kind from time to time. — Ed.] 



king-birds an enemy of the bee. 



In Gleanings for Aug. 1 I see that 

 David Wauford thinks he has found some 

 adulterated honey; but I guess all there is 

 of it is a think or a guess-so. Last sum- 

 mer we had some that was the very same 



