1882 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



309 



sons I fear we shall have to decline orders for odd 

 sizes until the great rush of the season is over. The 

 regular goods we advertise to keep in stock, we must 

 keep on hand. Don't j-ou see? 



If j'our watch stops or the qu3en wc sent you 

 comes dead, do not imagine that it is necessary to 

 write us a long letter about it, dear friends, but just 

 come right to the point, and say it stops, or she was 

 received dead, A postal card will contain all that is 

 necessary to tell about it, and if I think you ask 

 more of me than is right, I will tell j'ou so frankly. 

 In case of the watch, send it back at once, but never 

 send us dead queens unless we ask for them. It is 

 about all wc can do hero to look after the live ones; 

 and besides, dead ones always make us feel dismal. 

 Under no circumstance think of taking several 

 sheets of paper to narrate all the particulars. 



In ordering regulir goods, don't attempt to give 

 dimensions, but just give the name, foi one is very 

 apt to give the flguros ho did not intend. For ex- 

 ample, instead of saying, " Send mo sections iy^xil^, 

 and fdn. Sf'sxlVa," say, "Simplicity sections, and 

 fdn. for wired frames." i'ou won't then make mis- 

 takes, and the clerks won't make mistakes. Several 

 times this season we have, at great expense, changed 

 our machinery to make sections according to order, 

 when the regular (jixids were wanted; but our friend 

 made different figures from what he meant to. Even 

 our careful friend Heddon has, in one place, in his 

 circular, said 4J4x4'/2, where he evidently meant to 

 say, i U x4 li . 



A NEW HONEY-PIjANT. 



One of our girls brought me a flower a few days 

 ago, from what she calls a wax ivj', containing so 

 much honey on its petals that it was literally drip- 

 ping. More than all, the honey was as thick as the 

 best ripened honey in the hive, and of most exquisite 

 flavor. Were it not a greenhouse plant, and a rather 

 shy Moomer, I would at once set about having a 

 plantation of it. As it is, I should like to see a 

 greenhouse full of them, to see what a swarm of 

 bees would do with such a banquet spread out be- 

 fore them. Can any of our florists tell us if the wax 

 ivy always bears honey in such profusion? — I have 

 just been to see the plant, and find it has something 

 like a dozen bunches of flowers on it, and that they 

 remain, perhaps a week in blossom. The oldest 

 ones have the most honey on them, and some of 

 the drops wore almost ready to drop off. 



Somebody says I am uncourteous. Well, I am 

 afraid I am in one sense. If I should stop my type- 

 writer, pull down my vest, and shake hands with 

 every stranger who comes in, I shouldn't get very 

 much written, or many letters read. A gentleman 

 called yestcrdaj', who looked, to my unsophisticated 

 eyes, as if he were editor of a bee journal, or pro- 

 prietor of a thousand colonies; but after I had 

 shaken hands and talked about the weather, etc., I 

 found he had made his way through all the clerks, 

 away up stairs hero to me, to buy five cents' worth 

 of tomato plants! Now, remember our lalch-string 

 is always out, and you are quite welcome to go anj'- 

 where onourgrounds, or in the buildings, and I am 

 always glal to see visitors; but I have had to learn, 

 by sad experience, that I must not take very much 

 time with each one, especially uiv>l I know who you 

 are, and what is wanted. You (fo not wish to see 

 me break down with overwork, do you? 



QUEEN- CAGE. 



STILL ANOTHEK. 



fMAILyou one of my cages that I use in the api- 

 ary. What do you think of it? I have used a 

 — ' great many different styles, and have never yet 

 used one that has given me as much satisfaction as 

 this one. You see that there are no stopples to lose, 

 and if it should get stepped on, there is not much 

 danger of killing the queen, as is the case where 

 they arc entirely of wire. The cage can be taken in 

 the left hand, and the spring pushed back with the 

 foroflnger or thumb, when the queen can be put in, 

 and as many bees as one likes, without bothering 

 with a loose stopple. The cage can be tumbled 

 about without any fear of its coming open and let- 

 ting out its inmates. They can be made very cheap- 

 ly. The spring is taken from an old hoop-skirt, 

 and any one who can cut tin and drive a few small 

 tacks can very quickly make them. In time of 

 swarming, a quantity of such small cages for sur- 

 plus queens should be kept on hand, and in a con- 

 venient place, where they can be got at handily 

 and quickly. I always carry a number in my pock- 

 ets at such times, and have often saved two or three 

 dollars' worth of queens, which would have been lost 

 or killed if I had not been supplied with those little 

 cages. 



I have often been in yards when, at such time, the 

 owners were sorely puzzled to know how to take 

 care of surplus queens; and instead of having 

 a number of these handy little cages to protect and 

 keep the queen from getting lost or killed, would 

 have them under tumblers and other unhandy de- 

 vices. Frank Boomhower. 



Gallupville, N. Y., May, 1883. 



I should object to this cage, because it 

 don't seem to have any place for candy ; but 

 this can easily be 

 provided. The es- 

 pecial feature of 

 it is the door op- 

 erated by a small 

 spring. By catch- 

 ing the linger on 

 the point of the 

 spring, it is easi- 

 ly opened with one hand. No doubt but 

 that this is a convenience ; but the cage is 

 hardly suitable to be used otherwise, as we 

 use cages now, nor could we very well add 

 this feature to the Peet cage without making 

 it more complicated than it is now. When 

 one is used to the Peet cage, he finds little of 

 the difficulties our friend has mentioned. 

 You are right, friend B., in saying that a 

 bee-keeper should have queen-cages handy, 

 and plenty of them too. 



BOOMHO'.VER S QUEEN-CAGi: 



OBITUARY. 



PARSE.— Our friend and brother, Molvin Parse, 

 Pine Bluff", Ark., died on the 13th inst., after a very 

 short illness, and unexpectedly. Friend Parse was a 

 good man and a good bee-keeper. 



Cincinnati, O., May 31, 1883. Chas. P. Muth. 



Mr. Parse has been for many years a 

 valued correspondent and friend, and his 

 death will be lamented by many. lie was 

 one of the formost in introducing into his 

 vicinity the late improvements in modern 

 bee culture. 



