1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



rt9 



APirULTURAI, NOMENCT.A.TUKE. 



I AM glad to see the disposition on the part of 

 bee-keepers to use shorter terms in designating 

 various articles and operations in the apiary. 

 Dr. Miller, in the American Bee Jonrnnl, in 

 place of the circumlocution of saying '•carry- 

 ing bees into the cellar" would "cHiiar thiMU." 

 He does not say what term he would use when 

 he would take them out; but reasoning from 

 analogy he would probably " uncellar " them. 

 Perhaps this would be carrying matters a little 

 too far. 



So far the new nomenclature includes the 

 word "cellar," as a verb— to put bees into the 

 cellar; ••queen and unqueen " for "supplying 

 a colony with a queen and taking one away;"' 

 "floor" instead of " bottoin-board;" '"queen- 

 bar" instead of queen-excluding honey- board." 

 I am not sure that the substitutes for the 

 two last terms are sufficiently descriptive 

 to be readily understood. I shall be glad to 

 receive a list of short words that are perfectly 

 plain as to their meaning, in place of the longer 

 circumlocutions we are now using. By the 

 way, in York State I heard the bee bee-keepers 

 using the term " boxing a colony," instead of 

 the longer term, '• putting -sections on a colony." 

 They almost invariably used the term "' boxes " 

 instead of "sections." In the West I have 

 heard the expression "supering" for putting 

 on sections or extracting-supers. 



most of the time; and as cows' milk did not 

 seem to agree with our boy, we have given him 

 the Horleck preparation instead, and never 

 with any bad results. 



In a previous letter I had received from Mr. 

 Lang-:troth, he told me he was using it with 

 great benefit. Dr. Miller has also been loud 

 in its praise, and he induced us to biggin using 

 it. At his request the manufacturers sent us a 

 sample package, and wished us to try it after a 

 long bicycle-run, or even to use it as a stimu- 

 lant on those runs. The suggestion was made 

 that a small vial of it be carried in the pocket; 

 and whenever hunger or thirst begin to ap- 

 pear, stop at the first drinking-place and pour a 

 little of the powder in a little water, and drink 

 the mixture. 



Perhaps some might think from the adjec- 

 tive "malted" it contains alcohol. It is no 

 more alcoholic than our yeast breads. 



horleck's milk; the suggestion of lang- 



STROTH. 



Since the publication of the letter from our 

 lamented Langstroth, referring to the similar- 

 ity of milk and hot honey-water to the chyle 

 food give to the larvfe, quite a number sent in 

 inquiries asking what malted milk is and how 

 it is prepared. It is a preparation known as 

 Horleck's malted milk, and can be obtained at 

 any of the drugstores or of the manufacturers, 

 the Horleck Food Co., Racine, Wis. It is a 

 white or cream-colored powder which, on be- 

 ing dissolved in hot water, makes a delicious 

 drink. It is much more easily assimilated tnan 

 cows' milk, and is especially adapted to chil- 

 dren and adults with weak powers of assimila- 

 tion. Mr. Langstroth, seeing the exact similar- 

 ity of honey-water and malted milk to the 

 food given to larvaj, recommended that the 

 former be fed to the bees to see if it would not 

 be a powerful stimulus in brood -rearing. 1 hope 

 the experiment will be tried this coming sum- 

 mer. 



Perhaps I might suggest (this is no paid 

 " write-up ") that Horleck's milk, besides be- 

 ing very easily assimilated, is a powerful food 

 stimulant. Once or twice I have taken this 

 milk after a long bicycle-run, and have felt its 

 reviving eflects almost immediately. Ordinary 

 common cows' milk does not quite " go to the 

 spot "as this does. We keep it in our house 



RELIABILITY OF COMMISSION HOUSES. 



We intend to have only strictly reliable firms 

 quote the price of honey in our Honey Column. 

 If there are any, however, who are not treating 

 our subscribers fairly or with sufficient prompt- 

 ness, we hope they will inform us, giving us 

 the facts. We have "punched up" one old 

 firm lately, and told them that, if they did not 

 answer letters a little more promptly, we should 

 drop them from our list. The point is, we do 

 not wish to have a commission firm, who are 

 careless in their business methods, occupy 

 space in our pages; because, if they are unfair 

 or lacking in promptness with one they will be 

 unfair to new customers who consign them 

 honey for the first time simply because they see 

 their quotations in Gleanings. 



We are getting all the commission houses to 

 send us an affidavit to the effect that they will 

 neither adulterate honey with glucose or any 

 other inferior sweet, nor will they handle any 

 adulterated honey of any sort if they know it. 

 So far, nearly all have subscribed to the state- 

 ment. Three or four have not yet responded, 

 but we suppose they will when they get around 

 to it At all events, the list will be simmered 

 down strictly to those who will agree under 

 affidavit to handle only pure goods. 



This was done, not because we doubted the 

 integrity of the honey-men who furnish the 

 quotations so much as because we desired to 

 weed out any who might hesitate to give us the 

 required affidavit. And then, too, it gives 

 them all notice what we expect of them. If 

 any of them should be discovered dabbling in 

 honey-adulterations after they had given us 

 their sworn statement, don't you see we should 

 then be in a position to learn what their oath 

 meant in court ? 



So far as we know, every one of the firms 

 who quote prices for us is reliable and respon- 

 ible, and deal only in straight goods. I believe 



