1905

I am not familiar with the practice of Dr. Miller; but in spite of the fact that he is, from his long experience, entitled to be considered an expert, I yet firmly believe his practice to blame for the pollen trouble, for I use a shallower hive than the Danzenbaker, and my locality is one in which every important honey-plant is a composite; but in spite of this I am not troubled in the least. However, I once made some exhaustive experiments to determine the conditions under which bees are disposed to put pollen in sections, and here is the result: A swarm hived on the old stand, and sheets of foundation used in brood-chamber, with no empty comb, and a super with drawn comb in which the colony had been storing put back on the swarm, always puts some pollen in the sections during the first day or two. A swarm, either forced or natural, hived in a shallow hive, on starters, with full sheets in the sections, sometimes stores pollen in the sections, though not often. If a swarm of any kind

CALIFORNIA

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as honey; but if the first work is begun below, all will go right.

Vigo, Texas.

[My travels over the country have shown me very conclusively that overstocking almost invariably cuts down the yield per colony, and I have said so. There are many locations in Colorado, Texas, Idaho, and California where bee-keepers have rushed in and put in more bees, with the result that the yield per colony has been cut down in many cases over a half. I have been in localities, however (but only a few), where more than 200 colonies could be kept to advantage. I was in one place where I saw 500 all in one yard, giving a large annual yield; but in all that I have written on this question I have always cautioned against the danger of getting too many bees in one place; and in nearly every instance I have said the localities were overstocked, and that other bee-keepers going into these places would be liable to get a cold reception.

is hived on solid combs of brood or honey, and a super containing some drawn comb is put on top, pollen is often stored in the sections, with half or full sheets in the broodchamber, and starters in the sections. Bees seldom put pollen in sections. My practice now is to hive on foundation except the two outside and one center comb. These are clean, freshly built combs. Full sheets are always used in the sections. Under such conditions no pollen ever goes into the sections. I do not believe there is a worse mistake in the whole line of bee-keeping than this belief that pollen-storing in sections is due solely to the depth of the hive; for if that were true my sections would have only pollen stored in them, for I use a very shallow hive.

This whole question, I think, hinges on the way in which a colony is started. If the main force of bees rush above at once, the queen is apt to follow, and the first work will be storing in the sections, pollen as well

MRS. H. ACKLIN.

Oth

I do not add a footnote to all communications that appear in GLEANINGS. Some of them are sufficient unto themselves. ers are on topics that are as new to me as they are to our readers. But there is another class of articles that I admit without a footnote, even though they take a position different from what I have frequently taken in these columns. If I should attempt to weaken or nullify by a footnote the statement of every correspondent who differed with me I should be wasting space and make the journal reflect only the opinion of the editor. I allow a good many statements to go unchallenged, for I assume our readers can think for themselves, and in this case it is obviously better for some other correspondent to challenge the statement in question. Primarily this journal is a gleaner. It gleans heads of grain from many fields, and sometimes it gathers chaff and screenings, although we endeavor to give nothing but heads of grain. - ED.]

SELLING PROBLEMS.

Is it Practicable to Get all the Pollen out of the Honey?

BY C. A. HATCH.

Mr. Root:-I send you a copy of a letter which I have lately received, which shows up some of the troubles of a honey-seller, and proves that all is not sunshine and success, even if you do sell your own crop. Allow me to say in self-defense, that in my experience I have received but one other serious complaint.

COPY OF LETTER.

Mr. Hatch:-The last shipment of honey was very slow in making its appearance, and that has been the case with all previous ones except when shipped from Twin Bluff; that one came in nine days; so if it is all the same to you I should much prefer you to ship from there.

You evidently forgot to put wire around the cases in the last shipment, and in the lot (ten cases) there was not one whole one when they got here. Some of them were badly damaged, causing them to leak, and waste the honey when melting, but did not show enough to put in a bill against the railroad. For shipping this distance, each case should have two wires put on, equally distant from the center and ends.

There is another matter I am sorry to have to mention. The quality of the clover honey is not what it should be and has been heretofore. It is darker in color, and the fine flavor is lacking; also some of the cases are full of black specks, and it is a hard job to get them all out. Some are light, and come to the top of the honey, but some stay in the honey in spite of all we can do. The basswood is A No. 1, as the clover always has been heretofore. I have always bragged that the quality was uniformly good in each shipment; but this shipment takes the wind out of me.

Now, mind you, Mr. Hatch, I do not mean to imply that this has been intentional on your part, but I am stating facts just as they are, and the effect is just the same as if you meant it to be so.

I want some more honey if you can guarantee as fine quality as in the three first shipments. C. C. M.

P. S.-Since writing the above I have cut open a can and found it was rusted through so it leaked when melting.

Colby, Kan.

RAILROAD AT FAULT.

You will see that for the two first complaints, 1, slowness of arrival; 2, cases broken, I am not at fault; for Twin Bluffs is a near-by station on the same road, and could possibly make no difference in time of delivery, and the broken cases are entirely owing to the handling of the "gentle" baggagesmashers.

WIRING CASES.

The lack of putting a wire around the case was a matter of forgetfulness on my part. But as he is the only one who ever requested it done, there is some excuse for forgetting it. To do this is a good thing, however, where tin cans in thin wooden cases are to be shipped long distances, and many transfers on the route. Honey is heavy, and freight-handlers are not paid for being careful, but to get the most done in a given time.

KEEPING UP QUALITY.

His next complaint as to quality was a "stumper, " and is yet. I have only two apiaries, ten miles apart, and the honey of the two is as much alike as two peas, and the only explanation I can give is that one lot was overheated in melting, and thus

spoiled. I am sure none but best clover was sent, which shows, that whatever may happen to your product before it gets to the consumer, you are the one blamed.

SPECKS IN HONEY,

This is what he complains of next, and there is where he hits me square in the face, for honey full of black specks is an abomination. But how to get them all out is what I am unable to say-that is, with a reasonable amount of extra work. True, we could be sure all were out if all honey were melted and then run through a fine strainer while yet warm; but who wants to do this just to suit one in ten of his customers? I am not referring to dirt of any kind in honey, for that should be kept out at any cost, but to specks of pollen. My honey is taken from the extractor and run through a cheese-cloth strainer into a large tank holding about one ton; then after standing at least 12 hours it is skimmed and drawn off into new 60-lb. tin cans. If I make my strainer finer, the honey will not go through at all; and yet as it is, enough does go through and remain after skimming to show. I do not think it would show, but I think the small particles unite, one with the other, when the honey is melting, and so make large specks. I have tried gravity strainers, but with no better success. Can some one suggest a cheap, effective, and sure means of taking all pollen out of honey? But will the flavor remain the same if we do? Are not the fine particles of pollen what gives honey its special flavor?

My correspondent complains of a can being rusted through, and leaking when melted. This might come from having used an old can. I have been using some cans the second time when I emptied and cleaned them myself, but I think from this on I will use

the disease; but when I state that Italians and Carniolans are troubled less than black bees I desire it to be understood that they readily dispose of the plague; and when queens are introduced into apiaries of blacks where foul brood is prevalent, they will soon show a clean bill of health.

By a strange oversight my seventh proposition was omitted from the 1904 edition of "A Modern Bee-farm." It will be found in Bee Chat for November, 1899, page 50, as follows:

"Native bees are decidedly more subject to the disease of foul brood than either Čarniolans or Italians; but the latter more readily respond to treatment when affected, and will quite frequently dispose of the malady without aid from the owner."

"Right here I place my hand upon the wavering balance of opinion as to the effect of various medicinal agents applied in combating the disease, as well as regarding the undoubted fact that colonies will at times recover, not only without such agents, but most certainly by treatment which aims at exterminating the complaint by causing the spores to germinate under conditions where they can not be reproduced. The whole matter turns largely upon racial vitality and energy. The different

..

races of bees under treatment by persons making exactly opposite statements will be found to account largely for the apparent contradictions.

"On one occasion I bought a number of stocks from (I then found) an infected source. Half were native, the rest Italian. The former were diseased, but none of the Italians.

"In another instance I bought eight skeps of black bees. At the time, and even for several weeks after transferring, these bees appeared healthy. Presently one after the other showed signs of disease; and, though I gave medicated food, there was no disposing of the scattered foul cells until the queens were superseded by Carniolans and Italians. During the whole time these were the only stocks diseased in an apiary of foreign bees many times their number.

"At a bee-keepers' convention held in Melbourne, black bees were condemned as being subject to disease. I quote from the Australian Bee Bulletin:

Mr. W. Symes said his earlier experience had been with black bees; but he found them subject to foul brood so much that he almost despaired of getting rid of it; but since he has introduced Italian bees the disease has gradually disappeared, and now has ceased to trouble him.'

"Mr. Bennett bore evidence to the superior qualities of the yellow bees in resisting disease, giving the result of some experiences in endeavoring to inoculate Italian bees by feeding them with honey taken from foul-brood colonies.

"It was agreed on all hands that the points of excellence in the matter of resisting disease were with the yellow race of bees, giving them, therefore, a superior place."

It would, of course, be idle to say that

these more prolific races do not and can not have the disease. Carniolans certainly come from a district where foul brood is unknown; not so Italians, for it is well known many Italian apiaries have suffered severely. This may be from degeneration where any particular strain is reared from the same stock year after year; but where Italians are procured from different sources, and recrossed with unrelated strains of the same race, there can be no doubt that this added vigor, together with their prolific qualities, assists them in repelling the plague.

Again, if one deliberately infects a colony of bees, nothing can prevent them from having the disease, no matter what the race; but here is the gist of the whole matter-the blacks do not attempt to subdue it: the others do-so much so that for a long time the inexperienced eye would detect nothing the matter with the combs; while a favorable season, or a little judicious assistance, would enable them to eradicate it entirely.

When bees are under the influence of a rousing activity, as is the case with a heavy honey-flow, disease makes no headway, and is frequently cured without further aid; and consequently, when treatment is to be carried out for curing at other times, the medicated food should be given rapidly, and the combs fed up solid when the honey season is over. This will be found the grand cure, raising as it does that energy and new vitality so necessary in throwing off disease. Here I have found izal the simplest and safest remedy, being non-poisonous, and even liked by the bees. It has been most effectual in ridding many apiaries of foul brood where my instructions have been followed.

Heathfield, Sussex, Eng., Jan. 7.

[Mr. Simmins is the author of "A Modern Bee-farm," an English work of no ordinary merit. I have been trying to find time to give it a review in these columns, and hope to present it soon. The facts presented by Mr. Simmins, who has made foul brood a study, are interesting as well as significant. The other evidence already given, and yet to be presented, showing how the Italians are better able to resist foul brood and other diseases, scores one big point in favor of the yellow race. It is probable that the author of bee books have not made enough of this point.-ED.]

THE HERSHISER COMBINED HIVE-STAND AND BOTTOM-BOARD.

Some Misconceptions Corrected.

BY OREL L. HERSHISER.

Mr. Root:-Feeling certain that you wrote the footnote in reference to the Hershiser combined hive-stand and bottom-board, page 77, without a clear conception of its construction and adjustments, I arise to explain away your erroneous conclusions,

The trifling additional expense will be of

no consequence when the resultant advantages and profits from the use of the bottom-board are considered. The stand needs no expensive foundation. Four bricks or two pieces of scantling will answer. In wintering bees, stronger colonies and more of them in the spring; the convenience in placing the bees in the cellar and removing them therefrom; the ease and rapidity with which bees may be prepared for transportation to and from out-apiaries or for shipment long distances; the control of the bees in robbing; these and the many other considerations of convenience and economy, are the claims upon which this bottom-board and hive-stand is presented to the bee-keeping public.

The floor-board does not bind, nor become tight and immovable, because it is made enough narrower than the stand to allow of free movement. As stated under the description of Fig. 3, page 75, "it rests snugly against the shoulder formed by the upper inside rim F;" that is, it rests against the lower surface of the upper inside rim, and does not press against the sides of the stand. Painting the bottom-board will enable a closer fit, and make it last longer. There is no necessity for the floor-boards to be made with the grain running crosswise.

The edges of the floor-boards being beneath the lower surface of the upper inside rim, nearly half an inch out of reach of the bees, they could not possibly propolize its edges. At the line of contact, along the edges of the upper inside rim, the bees will undoubtedly propolize a little, the same as they do in the angle of the floor and sides of the ordinary bottom-board. But it is not a serious matter there any more than it is between the supers and bodies of hives where we all know how to manage it. When you prepare bees to be placed in the cellar you 'go around with a pry, put it in the entrance, and break the propolis connections " (GLEANINGS, page 3). You need take no more pains than that in loosening the Hershiser bottom-board. If propolis ever gets under the upper inside rim, as it may if the bottom-board should not be returned to its exact former position, the yielding springs will adjust themselves to it, and the constant pressure will flatten it out, leaving the bottom-board in its normal position. There will be no annoyance from propolis as the result of adjusting the bottom-board to an intermediate position, when its sides can be reached by the bees, as it is only at such short times as periods of heavy honey-flow or in hiving swarms-times when little propolis is being gathered that such adjustment is necessary. It is very easy to remove and scrape these bottom-boards if they need it.

My cellar contains 153 colonies of bees, all shut in the hives. There are no dead bees on the cellar floor except a few scattering ones from defective hives. There are very few dead bees on the floor-boards. Bees are in fine condition, and very quiet, and are passing the winter almost "without a murmur. These bees were closed in at the

[I will explain to our readers that, at the time I prepared the footnote, I did not have an actual sample of the bottom-board. My assertions were based on the drawings, which gave the impression that the floor-board reached clear across-came in actual contact with the sides, and would therefore be glued fast. The sample before me shows that such is not the case; in fact, the floor-board may be narrower by or inch, and still not materially interfere with its actual operation. The only objection that remains is that of expense. It may be possible to whittle this down to a point where the beekeeper can afford to use it in connection with his hives. Some, like Mr. Hershiser, would feel that they must have it any way. There can be no denying the fact that, for moving bees and for wintering in the cellar, the device has features that are valuable. How far these would counterbalance the first cost it is hard to say. - ED.]

WINTER FLIGHTS FOR CELLARED BEES.

When Such Flights May be Given to Advantage.

BY C. DAVENPORT.

That Straw on page 12 in regard to midwinter flights for cellar-wintered bees induces me to give some of my experience in the matter again, for I have practiced giving cellared bees a winter flight for a good many years. I wrote about and advocated this practice under certain conditions_nine or ten years ago in the American Bee Journal. What I said in regard to the matter caused some comment at the time; but the general verdict or opinion was that these midwinter flights did more harm than good. Some claimed that, after being put back, the bees would not settle down into a dormant state again, but would remain restless and uneasy until put out in the spring if they lived that long. Others said that these winter flights would cause, or be very apt to cause, broodrearing to be started, which would mean death to the colony before spring; or if brood-rearing was not started it was thought that the great excitement of a winter flight might weaken the vitality of the bees so that spring dwindling would result.

But time moves on, and opinions change; and as this subject has been given some prominence the past two winters or so it may be of interest for me to go over the subject again, for my experience in this