336 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1 



expect to find the four colonies strong in the 

 spring. 



There is one feature in the cellar, not ex- 

 isting in the tierce, though the hives are the 

 same, and bottom-boarcTs also; namely, the 

 accumulated warmth of the lower hives con- 

 tributes to the modification of the air' in the 

 hives immediately above them, and so on 

 without loss to as many hives as may be 

 above them. The expanding of the clusters 

 downward, and also the broadening of the 

 cluster, at once apparent and continually ex- 

 isting, seems to justify the conclusion that, 

 by this plan, colonies of bees become more 

 independent of the average temperature of a 

 depository, and, as a consequence, approxi- 

 mate more closely to their normal condition. 



I need not state that this accumulated heat 

 is of great value; in fact, even though the hives 

 are covered with one f pine board and the 

 |-inch box bottom-board, some warmth or 

 heat pervades them, as is apparent by the ex- 

 panding cluster when as above confined and 

 utilized. 



It is well known that bees wintered in box 

 hives, however well protected, if moisture is 

 found in the hives it is at the upper corners 

 or edges of the hives. Especially is this true 

 of long-framed hives. That part of the top 

 against which the bees cluster keeps dry, 

 while the ends of the frames do not. 



My experiment may be verified even this 

 winter by other bee-keepers if they at once 

 make a start and put a few hives in similar 

 positions. In one respect, not many will be 

 able to demonstrate to satisfaction, for the 

 reason that most bees have large empty 

 combs between which to cluster, so they do 

 not occupy the lower edges of the combs, 

 while no spare empty combs are left with my 

 colonies on which to cluster, which fact ne- 

 cessitates the lower clustering. 



Farwell, Mich. 



[Our correspondent, as he says, has de- 

 parted somewhat from the path of accepted 

 orthodoxy in this matter of ventilation of cel- 

 lar-wintered colonies. He does not say what 

 is the temperature of his cellar, although in 

 an article on page 367, April 1, 1905, he speaks 

 of the temperature in this same cellar going 

 as low as "about freezing during the last 

 two weeks of January and the first three in 

 February, and I'm not worried about them." 



With such a low temperature even a part 

 of the time, and a low temperature (though 

 higher) at other times, it would no doubt be 

 advantageous to have the entrances all but 

 closed. But in a cellar where the tempera- 

 ture prevailed around 45 and going as high 

 as 50 or even higher, such an arrangement 

 would, we should fear, bring on disaster 

 with the average bee-keeper. The problem 

 in most cellars is not to keep the bees warm 

 enough, but cool enough to prevent too much 

 activity. It has been our experience that, 

 with the open bottoms, the bees hang down 

 in a large baggy cluster, not to close up the 

 opening, but to get more and better air. A 

 warm cellar with the mercury at 50 degrees 

 will pull the bees down at the openings, and 

 it is then that the open space reduces the tem- 



perature in the hive to a point where quiet 

 is induced. In discussing this question we 

 need to take in all the surrounding condi- 

 tions; and one of these conditions is temper- 

 ature and humidity. Mr. Bingham, by the 

 way, has a dry cellar. We should be glad to 

 hear from others on this point. — Ed.] 



PRICE OF HONEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



BY H. J. O. WALKER, LT. COL. 



As one who for many years has taken a 

 personal and to some extent a commercial 

 interest in bee-keeping, and has striven to 

 advance it in his own country, I can assure 

 you that your estimate of the price of honey 

 in London and the provincial towns of Eng- 

 land, p. 1556, 1906, is quite above the mark. 

 Excellent bottled honey, either from pure 

 clover or from mixed sources — and between 

 these the buying public is not quick to dis- 

 criminate or make a preference — can be 

 bought in the best shops at from 9 d. to 1/. 

 Comb honey is hardly ever offered except in 

 the form of 1-lb. sections, and it can also 

 generally be bought retail at the above 

 prices. A poor season may raise the price a 

 little, but in any case 1/6 would very seldom 

 be reached. I must make an exception in 

 the case of honey that has taken prizes at 

 well-known shows, especially sections which 

 may be bought on their special merits or to 

 show again where the rules of other shows 

 permit it. The ordinary price in bulk ob- 

 tained by a skillful bee-keeper is 6 to 8 d. in 

 bottle, and 7 to 10 d. in sections glazed or 

 otherwise cased. There are men nere and 

 there who have managed to make a name 

 and who get higher prices, generally in a 

 local market or to special customers, but the 

 above prices are almost universal for Eng- 

 lish honey. 



Genuine heather honey from Scotland or 

 the north of England is on a different foot- 

 ing, and commands fancy prices — partly on 

 its merits, partly from sentimental associa- 

 tions, and partly because the season in the 

 north for such late-blooming bee-forage is 

 short and precarious, and supply often falls 

 short of demand. Eighteen pence is not 

 very unusual for section honey gathered 

 from ling ( Calluna vulgaris), the heather of 

 the grouse moors: two shillings would be a 

 fancy price. This honey, although varying 

 according to localities, is generally of a deep 

 reddish-golden color and almost jellylike 

 consistency, so that, when ripened in frames, 

 it can not be extracted mc'-hanically, and 

 the combwork must be sacrificed, and when 

 pressed out and bottled it remains full of 

 bubbles, which spoil its appearance, hence it 

 is usually sold in sections. Earlier in the 

 season, honey is gathered in the south of 

 England from the more showy bell heathers, 

 Erica cinerea and E. tetraJix. It is darker 

 and more fluid, with a less pronounced 

 heather flavor; and, though sometimes sold 

 at north-country prices, it can seldom be 

 gathered pure enough to rank as heather 

 honey. 



