318 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15. 



out, and it does not harm the tree. These hats 

 are very comfortable and durable. 



Palmetto logs are used for building piers, as 

 they resist the ravages of time and corroding 

 worms more than other wood. 



St. Andrew's Bay, Fla. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Atchley, who speaks for it. For her locality— 

 the extreme southern point of Texas— there is 

 no danger; but experience seems to show that, 

 when practiced in the spring, usually more 

 harm is done than good. If the experts are shy 

 of it, the beginner had better let it entirely 

 alone. I have spread brood, however, in early 

 summer, with great advantage; for I was after 

 increase with a vengeance, and got it. I in- 

 creased some fifteen colonies, fair to middling, 

 up to 80 good ones, by the first of September. 

 Of course, to do this I had also to divide. 



Sixteen extra pages this time, instead of 

 eight. 



Advertisers who see fit to patronize us now 

 ought to get good returns. We shall be publish- 

 ing, from now on, until the early part of sum- 

 mer, extra editions. The present issue reaches 

 15,000 copies, and it appears evident that we 

 shall have to print extra copies, for a time at 

 least, to keep pace with the demand. 



In speaking of winter losses in his vicinity, 

 Mr. H. R. Boardman. of East Townsend, O.. at 

 the end of a letter, writes: 



Of all those in my vicinity who have kept bees, 

 and have taken no bee-papers, I can not think of 

 one who has not failed; while those who have taken 

 a journal have nearly all succeeded. I think this 

 needs no comment. H. R. Boardman. 



East Townsend, O., March 37. 



We are giving our readers now a very large 

 amount of reading-matter — perhaps more than 

 many of them will be able to cover; but I ap- 

 preciate the fact that what may be interesting 

 to one may not be to another, and I try, there- 

 fore, to give a wide range in apicultural lore. I 

 am sorry that so many unused manuscripts are 

 now on hand to which I fear I shall never be 

 able to give a place in our columns; but I am 

 striving earnestly to give you the very best we 

 have, properly seasoned and dished up. 



A very tall compliment was paid us by Mr. 

 D. M. McGafhck, who gave us a call, also of the 

 United States mail service, from Pittsburg to 

 Chicago. Said he. " Of the tons and tons of 

 mail matter that I handle, that which comes 

 from the Home of the Honey-bees is the nic- 

 est." 



"Why? "said I. 



"Because your packages are always nicely 

 wrapped, and the county is invariably supplied. 

 If manufacturers only appreciated the impor- 

 tance of this one item they would greatly facil- 

 itate the delivery of their mail matter." Here 

 is a point for our subscribers. 



The question is asked in the Am,ericnn Bee 

 Journal,'' Question-box " departiwent, whether 

 it is advisable to spread brood. Of the 23 who 

 answer, all advise against it excepting Mrs. 



Mr. S. E. Corwin, of Sarasota, Fla., seeing 

 the recent article on candied honey, forwarded 

 the following that he received from one of his 

 old customers who. it appears, purchased hon- 

 ey of him seven or eight years ago: 



Friend Corwin:— Do you remember the case of 

 honey you sent up h^re while my father was sick, 

 some seven or eight years ago ? Well, I have three 

 or four bottles of it now. I opened one night before 

 last, and it was apparently just as good as when 

 fli'st received, and not at all candied. 



Fall River, Mass. Chas. B. Luther. 



I have long known that honey would keep 

 almost indefinitely; but it is very seldom in- 

 deed — in fact, I do not remember to have seen 

 an instance before — that pure honey had kept 

 as long as this without candying. Can any of 

 our subscribers trot out a better? 



adulterated foundation. 

 A FEW weeks ago we sent to Mr. O. O. Popple- 

 ton, of Potsdam, Fla., some small pieces of 

 adulterated foundation, half ceresin and half 

 beeswax. The amount was so small we were 

 afraid that perhaps the experiment might not 

 be satisfactory; but we had only a little of the 

 ceresin wax on hand. Here is what he writes: 



I mail you to-day those tliree pieces of foundation 

 from adulterated wax you sent me to have drawn 

 out by the bees. 1 don't think it will take more 

 than a glance to show you that it's "no good." 

 Had it shown no stretching wlien used in such 

 small pi< ces, I should not have considered that an 

 adequaiL- lest had been made of its value when us- 

 ed ill full sheets; but if such small pieces will 

 stretch, what would full sheets do? You will ob- 

 serve the sample of thick foundation has stretched 

 less than the medium, and the medium less than the 

 thin; but all entirely too much. 



I suppose my extreme southern location, and our 

 having a, usually steady How of honey all winter 

 and spring makes it easier for us here to make any 

 such experiments as this has been than almost any- 

 where else in the United States. 



Potsdam, Fla., Mar. 37. O. O. Poppleton. 



We hope to get a larger quantity, and have 

 the experiment tried by different bee-keepers — 

 not that we have any desire to put such an 

 article on the market, but only to prove more 

 conclusively what our early experiments years 

 ago seemed to demonstrate ; viz., that pure 

 beeswax gives altogether the best results in the 



