1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



549 



daubed with honey as some of them do when 

 the full set of combs are left in. When I 

 kept the bees engaged cleaning out these 

 combs I could take ofE supers, opeu hives, 

 and examine any colony with the greatest of 

 pleasvire without a bee coming from any col- 

 ony to bother me. I saved these combs for 

 this purpose, and set out only enough from 

 time to time to engage the bees while I was 

 working with the others. 



When the bees cleaned these combs they 

 settled down vei'y nicely and quietly. I had 

 60 feeders, and many of these held 28 lbs. I 

 put these all on, and about sundown filled 

 these with sugar syrup mixed with a little 

 honey. I tilled every feeder the second time, 

 and when the bees had their brood-chaml^ers 

 full, and began building comb in the feeders, 

 I put the bee-escapes under the feeders: and 

 when the bees were out of them I placed 

 these on other colonies. Many of these feed- 

 ers were half full when moved off one hive 

 ■ on to another. 



When I had over three-fourths of my col- 

 onies fed up this way I set out some combs 

 for the bees to clean while I took from two 

 to three capped combs from every colony 

 that I fed up so well, and then, with division- 

 boards, crowded the bees among the remain- 

 ing combs. In the evenings I took all the 

 combs out of the colonies not fed, and placed 

 from five to six all-capped combs in each 

 hive, which I took from those that were fed 

 so much. I then, with the division-boards, 

 crowded the bees on these capped combs and 

 then packed each colony with forest leaves. 

 These colonies being crowded up on a limit- 

 ed number of combs will winter better and 

 brood up much faster in early spring. Where 

 any colony will need help on or before the 

 midd le of March I will place a warmed comb of 

 stores(llat like a board) right over the cluster, 

 with a bee-space under and over, and then 

 pack over it until spring. When the bees 

 need more room in spring I will take out the 

 division-boards (which are boards fitted into 

 frames) and then Ull out the hives with the 

 best of all-worker combs. 



Woodburn, Ont., Jan. 21. 



\yVe have tested the principle in the way 

 of giving a counter-attraction by outdoor feed- 

 ing, and we iind it works just as our corre- 

 spondent says. Our columns during the past 

 two years have contained reports of our ex- 

 periments. See page 955, Sept. 15, 1905. 



Some of our veteran bee-keepers hesitate 

 to try this outdoor-feeding plan; and while 

 we do not recommend it generally for begin- 

 ners, the experienced bee-keeper need not be 

 afraid of it. We have time and again stopped 

 severe robbing by putting out a counter-at- 

 traction of outdoor feeding. 



The plan is particularly usefvil during ex- 

 tracting- time when there is a dearth of hon- 

 ey, and robbing would be severe under ordi- 

 nary conditions; but in order to make it work 

 successfully the bees should Ije fed very di- 

 lute honey a few hundred yards from the 

 apiai'y. This should be continued off and on 

 at certain hours for three or four days just 



prior to the extracting; then, when ready to 

 begin work, commence feeding outdoors, and, 

 presto! there will be no more robbing than 

 there would be during a clover or basswood 

 flow. Keep up the feeding while the extract- 

 ing is going on. But we advise doing the ex- 

 tracting in a screened building, exposing the 

 combs only when going to and from the ex- 

 tracting-house. 



At first, when outdoor feeding is started 

 the bees will start a sort of robbing keynote, 

 and act just as though they were (which they 

 are) trying to find the sweets. When they 

 discover it, they stop their prowling around 

 at the hives; and during the time they are 

 thus engaged we can continue our work of 

 opening the hives. — Ed.] 



ARTICLES AV ANTED BY THE COMMIT- 

 TEE ON ADVERTISING HONEY. 



BY N. E. FRANCE. 



The $1408.37 raised by the Honey-produc- 

 ers' League has been turned over to the Na- 

 tional Association. A committee has been 

 appointed to spend that money in advertis- 

 ing honey and otherwise advancing its sales. 



The first plan to be put into operation will 

 be that of publishing, in the general press, 

 shoi't articles setting forth the healthfulness, 

 deliciousness, purity, and desirability of hon- 

 ey as a food. The purpose for which these 

 articles are written need not appear upon 

 the surface. It is better that it should not 

 appear; but there ought to be something 

 about each article that would unconsciously 

 lead the reader to have a better opinion of 

 honey, to have greater confidence in its pu- 

 rity and healthfulness, or knowledge of its 

 economic value as a food. They should show 

 that honey is not an expensive food, requires 

 no cooking, no sweetening, nor other special 

 preparation, but is the "whole thing" ready 

 for use; that choice bakings sweetened with 

 honey do not dry up as quickly as sugar- 

 sweetened goods. They should also call at- 

 tention to the pure-food laws, and to the fact 

 that no adulterated honey is now sold. These 

 articles should leave the reader with his 

 mouth watering to test the true deliciousness 

 of honey. 



The articles, which must be short, not over 

 300 to 400 words, will be judged with refer- 

 ence to their value — 1. Will this article at- 

 tract attention and interest the general read- 

 er? 2. Will the reader who is not acquainted 

 with the use of honey be likely to investi- 

 gate and use honey? Of course, it would be 

 an easy matter for us to employ one man to 

 write a sei'ies of articles for this purpose; 

 but the committee wishes to secure the very 

 best that the country can produce, and takes 

 this method of inviting everybody to send in 

 articles of this nature — not over 400 words, 

 perhaps less, to include the thought. Mail 

 each article to W. Z. Hutchinson, Flint, Mich., 

 who will read and mark them according to 

 its merits, the best to be marked 10, next 

 best 9, and so on. They will then be sent to 

 R. L. Taylor, who will also read and mark 



