1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1429 



Some of the large grocery firms are still 

 patting on the market a mixture of glucose 

 and cane syrup which they term "Califor- 

 nia Honey Drips." As this mixture has no 

 connection with California honey we re- 

 spectfully call the attention of the National 

 Board of Food and Drug Inspection to this 

 misleading label. In the mean time bee- 

 keepers whose trade is affected by this cheap 

 substitute should protest to the proper au- 

 thorities in each State where it is sold. The 

 public will in time learn that California 

 honey is not a mixture of glucose and cane 

 syrup — the former predominating, w. k. m. 



On the Pacific coast there has been an 

 enormous number of eucalyptus-trees plant- 

 ed during the past year, and one of the 

 nurseries actually asks its patrons not to or- 

 der more than 20,000 trees at a time. Mil- 

 lions have been planted, under the idea that 

 there is money in it. Some are afraid that 

 the honey from this source will be too stx'ong 

 in taste; but these trees have been grown 

 for many years without any complaint. A 

 few varieties may produce a strong-flavored 

 nectar; but these do not seem to be common 

 in California. In any case a strong-flavored 

 honey will suit the baking trade. 



W. K. M. 



Our good friend Herr Emil Schenk, of 

 Taquary, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, has 

 kindly sent us a copy of his book on bee- 

 keeping (Bienenzucht). which has just been 

 published by the Agricultural Department of 

 Rio Grande do Sul. It is written in the 

 German language, because that section of 

 Brazil was largely settled by people from 

 the "fatherland," and hence the principal 

 bee-keepers are German-speaking. The bul- 

 letin is nicely illustrated with some good 

 pictures, and no doubt it will be of consider- 

 able benefit to that country. Mr. Schenk 

 is editor of the Brazilian bee-journal (Bie- 

 nenplege, published at Port Alegre), so that 

 he is quite capable of giving good advice. 

 He gets assistance from Heinemann, the in- 

 ventor of the queen-excluder. w. k m. 



FIGHTING, ROBBING, OR ENTANGLEMENT? 



On page 1154, Sept. 1, Mr. H. W. Doerr, 

 of Beardstown, 111., presented a case which 

 we diagnosed as robbing; but Mr. Doerr 

 comes back at us and insists that we were 

 wrong, and in proof encloses a letter from 

 Mr. Fred H. May, of Meredosia, 111., stating 

 that he has found a similar condition among 

 his bees; and on close examination he found 

 that, while they appeared to be fighting in 

 front of the entrance, they were really en- 

 tangled in the stamens and pollen of certain 

 flowers; that these stamens and pollen were 

 of a sticky nature, and, adhering to the bees, 

 they were met by their fellows at the entrance, 

 when a mutual effort was made to remove 

 the offending substance, and that their ac- 

 tions looked very much like fighting; but, so 

 far from doing that, the bees all belonged to 

 one hive, the one lot trying to free the other 



from the entanglements of the sticky pollen 

 and stamens. 



Milkweed, it is well known, will cause 

 trouble of this nature, and Mr. Fred H. M^ 

 found a similar difficulty from horsemint, or 

 sandmint as it is called in his locality. Mr. 

 Doerr says he is satisfied that Mr. May has 

 given the correct diagnosis, and desires us to 

 correct the statement, which we are pleased 

 to do. 



COLORADO HONEY PRACTICALLY ALL SOLD 

 OUT FROM COLORADO. 



We learn from what we believe to be good 

 authority that practically all of the large 

 lots of Colorado honey have been sold and 

 are now in the Eastern markets. As this 

 honey finds a ready sale almost anywhere 

 we may conclude there will not be much of 

 it left after the holidays. We informed our 

 readers in our last issue that practically all 

 of the California honey was sold out. All 

 that will be available, probably, from now 

 on will be Eastern honey; and as the crop 

 of that was short we may see, instead of a 

 decline in the price of honey along about 

 the holidays, an actual increase. It would 

 not be at all surprising. The national pure- 

 food law, as well as the rigid State laws, 

 has put the glucose concoctions where they 

 can not compete— that is, they can not mas- 

 querade under the name of California, Colo- 

 rado, clover, or farm honey. 



Our own experience shows that we never 

 had so much difficulty in buying a little 

 honey to supply our own local trade as we 

 have had this year. Several times when we 

 thought we had snapped up a fine lot we 

 found that some one had got ahead of us 

 and bought it. 



THE IMPORTATION OF BUMBLE-BEES FROM 



THE UNITED STATES INTO THE 



PHILIPPINES. 



There have been numerous items in the 

 newspapers to the effect that the United 

 States Department of Agriculture was send- 

 ing consignments of bumble-bees to the Phil- 

 ippines. Not daring to trust to newspaper 

 reports we addressed a letter to Dr. E. F. 

 Phillips, of the Bureau of Entomology, re- 

 questing that, if he were unable to give us 

 authentic information on the subject, he turn 

 our letter over to the proper official in the 

 Department. This he did, and the following 

 reply from Mr. Webster, in Charge of Cereal 

 and Forage-plant Insect Investigations gives 

 us the facts. 



United States Department of Agriculture, 



Bureau of Entomologt, 



Washingrton. D. C. 



Gentlemen:— YoMT letter oi October 14, addressed to 

 Dr. E. P. Phillips, has been referred to me for reply. 



The newspaper clipping which you enclose is very 

 much of the same nature as newspaper clippings in 

 general. The facts relative to the exportation of 

 bumble-bees to Manila are simply these: Some months 

 ago, probably during last winter, a request was re- 

 ceived from some agricultural investigators in the 

 Philippines asking the Bureau to endeavor to send 

 them some of our native bumble-bees for the purpose 

 of fertilizing clover in that country. Dr. Phillips last 

 spring undertook to send them some bumble-bees by 

 mail, shipping them in the manner in which queen- 

 bees are usually sent: but, owing to their wild nature, 



