1918 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



95 



of them limits my success in '"keep- 

 ing" them. 



Efficiency in beekeeping, then, 

 falls under two heads : on the one 

 hand a knowledge of bee-nature, 

 with the means of preventing unde- 

 sirable behavior, such as swarming 

 or dying in winter, and of promoting 

 behavior which is to be desired; on 

 the other hand, the simplifying of 

 these "means" so as to obtain the 

 best results with the least expendi- 

 ture of time and energy. 



I have said that methods of bee 

 management cannot be standardized. 

 I will say now that they must be 

 standardized. Before the busy sea- 

 son opens I must have definite plans 

 as to how I am going to proceed to 

 control or prevent every phase of 

 undesirable behavior, and to pro- 

 mote all bee behavior which is to be 

 desired. That every colony may have 

 its fair share of attention the days 

 for visiting each apiary at regular 

 intervals must be arranged by the 

 calendar well in advance. Even in- 

 ternal conditions which may be 

 found in various colonies on differ- 

 ent periodical examinations may be 

 classified and the treatment each 

 shall receive determined. It is true 

 that these conditions will shade off 

 into one another and that their 

 treatment will depend on conditions 

 and trends of the season ; but the 

 previously thought out plans will be 

 a guide, though not a rule, of action. 



Efficiency in a seasonal occupation 

 like beekeeping makes the most of 



each season in turn. In the swarm- 

 ing season, for instance, swarm- 

 prevention has the pre-eminence. I 

 have no time to extract during a 

 northern clover flow. If I spent half 

 my time extracting then I would 

 know that with an adequate supply 

 of supers I might manage almost 

 twice as many bees with a chance of 

 doubling my crop. I would be sure 

 that tiering up would improve my 

 honey, besides distributing the la- 

 bor. A study of the average bee- 

 keeper's season would show that 

 much of the work of his busy time 

 could be done before and after. 



Efficiency seeks definite knowledge 

 and mastery of the situation. I can 

 learn to judge of colony conditions 

 to a limited extent by studying the 

 flight of bees at the entrance. But 

 diagnosis is uncertain, leading to 

 haphazard methods or a wholesale 

 application of radical treatment, both 

 of which are undesirable. A thor- 

 ough examination of each colony at 

 stated intervals gives individual at- 

 tention and provides the occasion 

 for all the manipulations necessary 

 for securing a crop and leaving each 

 in the best condition for winter. 



Hives, buildings and appliances 

 are tools used in the production of 

 honey. They are as important as 

 the tools used in the factory or on 

 the farm. Hives deserve special con- 

 sideration because bees use them as 

 well as men. 



Georgetown, Ontario. 



things are right — you must know 

 they are ! 



JOSEPHINE MORSE, 

 In Country Gentleman. 



Bee-Keeping ^ For Women 



Conducted by Miss Emma M. Wilson, Marengo. 111. 



Racing the Stingers 



While speaking of stings I want to 

 tell an adventure I had several sum- 

 mers ago, no repetition of which is 

 desired. It was at a time when the 

 main honey flows in this vicinity 

 were over and there would be a 

 period of three to four weeks with 

 nothing doing until goldenrod and 

 asters came into bloom. 



So I conceived the idea of taking 

 one hive to a location six miles away 

 beside a large pond surrounded with 

 clethra, commonly known as white 

 alder or pepper bush. 



This bush secretes a large amount 

 of nectar, of which the bees are very 

 fond, and was just starting to bloom. 



So I closed the entrance of a hive 

 tight and secure, as I thought, hoist- 

 ed it into the back of a buggy and 

 started off alone. I had gone about 

 a quarter of a mile when I felt a 

 sting on the back of my neck. Lean- 

 ing back, what was my horror to see 

 the bees tumbling out through a 

 small opening in the entrance, which 

 must have been made by something 

 joggling loose as we drove along. 



I tried my best to throw a light 

 laprobe over the hive, but by that 

 time the bees were beginning to get 

 acquainted with the horse, with the 



result that I had to devote my at- 

 tention to the reins. I couldn't stop 

 to take out the hive because it was 

 only by galloping the horse that the 

 bees could be kept at all at bay. 



Even at that, they hurled them- 

 selves like little javelins at us. Af- 

 terward thirty-eight stings were 

 counted on the back of my neck! 



I knew if I slowed up they were 

 likely to get the upper hand and per- 

 haps sting us both to death. So on 

 we went, finally swinging round a 

 circle in a neighbor's yard and head- 

 ing for home. Luckily a man was be- 

 side the roadside pump in front of 

 the stable, and it took only a jiffy to 

 throw a blanket over the now crazy, 

 plunging horse, unharness and rush 

 him into the stable and shut every- 

 thing up. 



Those bees continued to rage riot- 

 ously all morning, issuing from the 

 hive in streams. 



Later I managed, all bundled up in 

 coats, bloomers and gloves, to get 

 them back to their old stand. 



It was a more fortunate ending 

 than I deserved for such carelessness, 

 but at any rate I learned from that 

 experience that to be a successful 

 beekeeper you must not just think 



Honey Gingerbread 



yi cup sour milk. 



1 cup extracted honey. 



lyi teaspoons soda. 



1 level tablespoonful ginger. 

 yicup lard or fats. 



2 eggs well beaten. 



Flour to make thin batter. Mix 

 soda with sour milk and add rest as 

 listed. Bake in moderate oven 45 to 

 60 minutes, in shallow pan. 



If when making light bread, by 

 omitting lard and sugar and using 

 the same amount of honey, you will 

 find a great improvement in flavor. 

 MRS. MARY KING. 



Nourishment in Honey 



(Mary A. Porter, in "Good Health.") 

 In early times, until cane sugar was 

 introduced from the tropics, honey 

 was the most common sweet sub- 

 stance available for food in the tem- 

 perate zone. Before beekeeping gave 

 a better and more economical supply, 

 the wild honey found in rock crevices 

 and in old trees was highly prized. 

 Wild honey is still gathered in some 

 countries, and in Peru it is an im- 

 portant export. Floral or normal 

 honey is made from nectar, a sweet 

 liquid secreted by flowers. The fla- 

 vor and aroma of the honey depend 

 upon the blossoms from which the 

 bees extract the nectar. Each flower 

 secretes its own combination of oils 

 and substances, which give the blos- 

 soms their special fragrance. This 

 peculiar flavor is detected in the 

 honey — clover, buckwheat, fruit blos- 

 soms, etc. There is a choice variety 

 of French honey from Narbonne 

 which has the flavor of wild thyme 

 and other mints. In districts where 

 oranges grow, we get an orange blos- 

 som honey. 



It is the custom of dealers to mix 

 several honeys in order to produce a 

 blend that is usually more satisfac- 

 tory than an unmixed honey of pro- 

 nounced flavor. 



Honey extracted from the comb is 

 easily adulterated, but the pure food 

 legislation has made such adultera- 

 tion dangerous and unprofitable, and 

 for this reason the strained honey on 

 the market is largely pure. 



Like most foods, honey varies more 

 or less from its average composition. 

 The syrup contains about four parts 

 sugar to one of water. There are 

 several kinds of sugars present in 

 honey, for the most part grape sugar 

 and fruit sugar. 



Honey also contains a small 

 amount of magnesia, lime, phosphoric 

 acid, iron and protein; ;however, the 

 sugar so largely predominates that 

 the food value of the other ingredi- 

 ents need not be considered. 



In choosing honey, too much im- 

 portance should not be attached to 

 lightness of color, for some of the 

 best varieties are dark. 



How to Keep It 

 Honey should be kept in a dry 

 place in the house, otherwise it is 

 Hkely to absorb moisture and spoil. 



