1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



705 



ever be taken from the hive till fully sealed 

 over. Is this right? 



Answer.— As a general rule this is good ad- 

 vice; but there are times when the yield of 

 white honey is just over, and the yield from 

 buckwheat or dark honey is about to commence, 

 that a loss in price may be the result if this is 

 strictly adhered to. Mr. (,)iiinby said, and with 

 much truth, too. that all boxes two-thirds seal- 

 ed over, containing white honey, should be ta- 

 ken off before buckwheat honey was stored in 

 them at the beginning of that yield, as partly 

 capped boxes of white hnney would bring more 

 than when finished with dark honey. But I 

 think I hear some one say, " If I take off honey 

 before all the cells are sealed, it is liable to 

 sweat and become sour." This is because the 

 honey is kept in an improper place, such as a 

 cellar or other cool damp place, where the best 

 of honey will deteriorate in time, and become 

 unfit for food. All honey should be stored in a 

 dry airy room, which can be kept at a tempera- 

 ture of about 90° all the time, and in such a 

 place the honey will be growing better all the 

 while, whether sealed or unsealed. In this way 

 it soon becomes so thick that the honey in these 

 unsealed cells will not run out in crating ; and 

 If tipped over, not a drop will be found to daub 

 the rest, which daubing is always spoken of a'' 

 the reason why honey that is unsealed should 

 not be removed from the hives. Thus I would 

 always advise leaving honey on the hives till it 

 is sealed, with the exception of times when oth- 

 er honey of an inferior nature is likely to be 

 stored with it. 



POLICY OF GLEANINGS ON TWO POINTS IN- 

 DORSED. 



Allow me to congratulate Gleanings on 

 adopting two things as I urged. The first is 

 raising queen-cells in full colonies. In the sec- 

 ond, you are all right so far as you go, but you 

 do not go far enough — that is, burning the 

 foul-brood hives, combs, and frames. You ex- 

 cept the bees. No, sir. Burn every thing as 

 you would poison ivy or smallpox rags. Then 

 publish what you did, as a moral influence with 

 others. When you find ii within "7 miles," or 

 10 either, of you, urge the owner to burn the 

 whole business after dark when every bee has 

 been smoked in and fastened in. Don't waste 

 time and brains arguing with us that the 

 queen or bees will not infect other combs. 

 Burn all. 



If the owner lacks pMblic spirit, or is too 

 mean or shiftless to do ii. then trade him a col- 

 ony of equal description and weight from your 

 own yard, then after dark smoke in the bees of 



his infected colony: carry it to one side, and 

 make a bonfire of it. 



The diamond-shape trouble in sections in T 

 super can be avoided by using another set of T 

 tins at the top of the sections — that is, two sets 

 of T tins for each T super. 



Ingram. Pa., July 3. Philo S. Dilworth. 



[Friend D.. I entirely agree with you in your 

 policy regarding foul brood. Ernest might not 

 think exactly as I do. however: but after 

 watching the thing for a good many years, I 

 think I should sleep better to know that every 

 thing pertaining to the business was thorough- 

 ly burned up.— A. I. R.] 



ZINC TAGS. 



We use zinc tags and write on them with a 

 common lead-pencil. When we wish, after us- 

 ing these zinc tags, to clean them so that we can 

 use them again, we use dihited hydrochloric 

 and tfiuriatic acid. The lead-pencil writing on 

 zinc (old zinc is best) appears to be indelible. 



Syracuse, Kan., Aug. 5. Z. T. B. 



NUMBERING HIVES AND LABELING TREES ; 

 CORRODED ZINC TAGS. 



While you are discussing number-tags for 

 hives, perhaps some of your readers would like 

 my way, which is, to paint the numbers in 

 large figures on the hives, using black paint. 

 Sometimes it is quite a convenience to be able 

 to read the number several rods away. Or if a 

 tag is preferred, a good one can be made of a 

 small square of old zinc; if slightly corroded, 

 so much the better. Write what you wish on 

 this with a black lead-pencil. I use a carpen- 

 ter's pencil, which makes a wide mark, though 

 the writing will remain legible for years if done 

 with a fine-pointed pencil. These, tacked to 

 stakes, are used by nurserymen to mark rows of 

 trees. 



By the way, I have used with much satisfac- 

 tion a tree-label of the same material, which I 

 saw illustrated in the American Agriculturist 

 many years ago. The zinc is cut into a long 

 triangle, an inch or more wide at one end, and 

 eight or ten inches long, with the name on it 

 thus: 



The small end is then wound three or four 

 times around a twig. It will not bind the twig 

 so as to injure it, as it unwinds with the 

 growth of the tree, and it retains its place until 

 removed purposely. Burdett Hassett. 



Reliance, Va., Aug. 27. 



BEES IN A COFFIN, IN CHINA. 



After I had seen bees in a table-drawer, in a 

 box bed, under a counter, and under the floor of 

 a Mohammedan mosque which is to be found 

 here in Shaowu, I thought the possibilities had 

 been pretty well nigh exhausted. But one day 



