326 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1.5. 



nine frames, V2^\12% inside measure, you have 

 rather more comb surface ihan ten L. frames 

 with %-in. top-bars. The comb surface of 9 

 frames, 12%xl2% in., is 1463+ in., and the comb 

 surface of 10 frames 8H^i"H i"- (L. size with «8 

 top-bar), is 14.5.5+ in. Is that difference enough 

 to argue about? Really, Bro. B. differs from 

 the ten-frames in favoring closer spacing, not 

 in number of frames. Am I right? 

 Ithaca, Wis. C. A. Hatch. 



Eight extra pages as usual. 



Our revised booklet on Bees and Fruit Is now 

 out. See Special Notices for further particu- 

 lars. 



Reports show that bees are still wintering 

 comparatively well, considering the extremely 

 cold winter that we have just had. We shall 

 be sending out our statistical blanks soon. 



We have just had a delightful visit from the 

 Hon. Geo. E. Hilton, one of our bee-keeper 

 legislators, just from the Michigan State As- 

 sembly at Lansing. He is chairman of the 

 Railroad Committee, and had arranged matters 

 so as to get away a couple of days to make us a 

 call — a pleasure he had promised himself for 

 years back. Mr. Hilton is one of God's noble- 

 men, and I wish more of our legislators had 

 the same honest heart and the same earnest 

 desire to do good to their fellows as he has. 

 Although the opposition at the last election 

 made a tremendous effort to defeat him, even 

 putting up a union ticket combining three 

 parties, he was elected by a handsome majority 

 for the second time. 



THE BEE-ESCAPE FAD AND BEE-ESCAPE IN- 

 VENTORS. 



It seems as if almost every mail was bringing 

 in a bee-escape that some fellow has just in- 

 vented. The ground has been so well gone 

 over that none of them, so far as I know, con- 

 tain any new idea other than that recently ad- 

 vanced by C. W. Dayton— the flood-gate princi- 

 ple combined with the going-toward-the-light 

 idea. This combination, I believe, is new, 

 though the two separate ideas are old. 



Well, how about these fellows who are send- 

 ing in their escapes? I have to write and tell 

 them that their idea belongs to so and so, as 

 described on such a page of Gleanings. One 

 man wrote that he had an escape that would 

 rid supers of bees in two hours' time. I some- 

 what doubted it, and the more so when I came 

 to examine critically his escape. If I am cor- 

 rect, the most we can expect of any escape, on 



the average, is to get the bees out of the super 

 over night; and I am inclined to think that 

 those who thmk they have something that is 

 away ahead of the Porter, the Dayton, or some 

 of the other well-known forms, that will do 

 the work in a half or a sixth of the time, will 

 find, upon further experimenting, their mistake. 

 The bee-escape fad has assumed, within the 

 last six months, or year, something of the na- 

 ture of the reversing-frame fad of a few years 

 ago. Our older readers will remember that al- 

 most every thing conceivable, in that line, was 

 invented. Well, that condition of affairs is 

 pretty nearly true of the escape. The old forms 

 may be improved some, but that is about all we 

 can expect. 



HONEY IN HOTELS. 



I BELIEVE it is a fact that hotels throughout 

 the country seldom put honey on the table. 

 The proprietors may be laboring under tlie im- 

 pression that it is too expensive. But honey is 

 something, a little of which will go a great 

 way; and if only some means could be employ- 

 ed to induce the proprietors to place the article 

 on the table, even if only once a week, it would 

 add greatly to the sale of honey, and at the 

 same time advertise it among a class of people 

 who would use great quantities of it. If bee- 

 keepers, whenever they patronize hotels, espe- 

 cially when in attendance at conventions, would 

 call for honey at the table, it would be put 

 there. Then producers should make an effort 

 to sell to them direct. The following is an ex- 

 tract from a letter, that I take pleasure in giv- 

 ing here: 



The writer was in Grand Kapids last week, and 

 the first time he ever found a hotel that served 

 comb honey to tlie guests was the Morton House. 

 Upon questioning lie found out that they served it 

 every Friday night; and as they gave about H of a 

 pound to each one, you see they are liberal in serv- 

 ing it. You might mention this fact in your paper, 

 as it might assist some of the bee-keepers to inter- 

 est other hotels in using it, thereby making a larger 

 outlet. S. T. Fisn. 



Cliicago, 111., Mar. 7. 



The proprietor of the Morton House ought to 

 be congratulated. We feel sure that their pa- 

 trons will appreciate the favor, even if comes 

 only on Friday. Let more hotels follow the ex- 

 ample. 



GIVEN FOUNDATION MADE ON ROLLER MILLS. 



We have finally turned out a mill that dupli- 

 cates almost exactly, in my estimation, the 

 same article that comes from the Given press. 

 Besides that, it has the advantage of the rolls 

 in making a more regular sheet, and, I hope, a 

 thinner base, and, in a given time, a larger 

 quantity. Here is what Mr. R. L. Taylor says, 

 to whom I sent some samples: 



Fikvd R.:—YouTs of a, late date, as also samples 

 of foundation made on new style of machine, Is re- 

 ceived. The foundation is very mucii like the Giv- 

 en; looks exceedingly well, and, when properly 



