356 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



June 1 



The strongest corner for a liive is shown 

 in Fig. ;>. Here an S or 10 })enny nail can 

 be driven within half an inch of the ujjjier 

 corner, while in Fig. 2A the closest nail to 

 the corner is 1>^ inches. Fig. 1 shows how 

 a dovetailed super-corner should be cut so 

 as to insure strength. Supers are handled 

 on the hives and in the shoj) so much tliat 

 the constant sliding of supers on top of oth- 

 ers breaks the half-inch upper ends fre- 

 quently unless nailed as shown in Fig. 1. 



Fig. 4 shows another corner method of 

 joining that is better than that shown by 

 Fig. 2 A, but inferior to Fig. 8, because the 

 two nails at the top are driven the same 

 way, and do not keep each other in jilace 

 the way crossed nails do. 



Jioulder, Col. 



[Nearly all bee-hive manufacturers now 

 make hives like that shown in Fig. 8. — Ed. J 



BULK COMB HONEY NO COMPETITOR OF 

 SECTION HONEY. 



This Kind of Honey Sells to a Different Class of 

 People. 



BY LOUIS H. SCHOLL. 



The discussions on this subject, started by 

 the writer se\eral months ago, are growing 

 more numerous. They are bringing out 

 many good ])oints. \Yhile a few have offer- 

 ed some severe criticisms, others are show- 

 ing fa^"or toward this kind of comb honey. 

 It is evident from these, and the scores of 

 letters received, that this favor is increasing, 

 and that there will be quite a future for 

 comb honey in cans. 



Bulk comb honey must be understood. 

 Its advantages of cheaper, more economical, 

 labor-saving, and profitable production and 

 marketing must be understood before a fair 

 and square comment or criticism can be 

 made. 



The recent discussions and criticisms are 

 in all respects the same as those we had here 

 in Texas when bulk-comb-honey jiroduetion 

 was first launched, with this exception, that 

 ihty were limited to Texas bee-keepers. 



While it gained favor with only a few at 

 first, and was severely criticised and con- 

 demned by some, it was not long before its 

 advantages in production over section hon- 

 ey were so plain that section honey vanish- 

 ed almost entirely, and this change has 

 made our State famous for its bulk comb 

 honey, and has i)ut Texas bee-keeping on a 

 more profitable basis. 



We do not bespeak such a change for the 

 North. We can say, however, that there 

 would be many advantages gained if our 

 method of comb-honey i)roduction were 

 more generally adoptecl. What would it 

 mean? Not only a more economical meth- 

 od by which larger yields of comb honey 

 could be oVjtained, but even more than this. 

 If, together with its manner of production, 

 some of our methods of marketing were 

 adopted also it would mean a more general 



distribution of honey, an increased demand, 

 and a better price. What more could one 

 wish at this time when the cry of low j^rices 

 of honey is in the air? 



We know that a more general distribution, 

 such as getting honey into homes where 

 none is used now, or getting more in where 

 only a little is used, would mean more for 

 raising honey prices than all the ot her things 

 combined. It is, then, our duty to look 

 toward producing something that the masses 

 can and will buy; and bulk comb honey helps 

 much in this respect. 



It is well known that most people prefer 

 comb honey, not on account of a fear that 

 extracted honey is adulterated, but because 

 comb honey appeals to them most, and it 

 is more like the real thing, esi)ecially if they 

 remember the rich golden comb honey of a 

 bee-tree, or that obtained from box hives at 

 the old home. Section honey can never 

 compare with that; and, besides, the price 

 is out of the reach of the majority; and the 

 honey from the bee-tree, log gum, or box 

 hive, was "chunk" honey. Is it not natu- 

 ral, then, that bulk comb honey can be 

 made to take its place, and profitably too? 

 Of course, we do not claim that bulk comb 

 honey will take the place of section lioneyi 

 It need not, for there is an entirely undevel- 

 ooed field for bulk comb honey among that 

 great mass of people who can not afTord the 

 price of section honey, and who, at the same 

 time, do not want extracted honey. There 

 are thousands of homes where bulk comb 

 honey can be introduced where no honey of 

 any kind is used now. The home market 

 needs only to be studied a bit, and every 

 bee-keeper will agree with me that wonders 

 may be wrought by selling more honey at 

 home, keeping it off the glutted markets, 

 and thus bringing up the prices to a point 

 where they ought to be. Here is where bulk 

 comb honey will find a great future, despite 

 the few objections now raised against it. 



New Braunfels, Texas. 



LARGE ENTRANCE FOR WINTERING. 



Honey-dew for Winter Stores. 



BY A. W. FOREMAN, M. D. 



I>ast year was the worst one for honey I 

 have ever known. My bees got nothing but 

 honey-dew, and in consequence I fed each 

 colony about 15 lbs. of a combination of two 

 partssugarand oneof honey. All entrances 

 were left ojjen full width of hive. I'esult, 

 not a loss out of i;5 colonies. I had a neigh- 

 l)or who had about 75 colonies. He fed none 

 at all, claiming that he could not alford to 

 do so. Result, I am informed he lost about 

 GO colonies. 



About winter entrance, I have never be- 

 lieved in the necessity of greatly diminish- 

 ing it. 



Many years ago I knew a farmer who kei)t 

 bees in oblong box hives made of boards 

 about a foot wide and about two feet long. 



