338 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



even allowed the word "strained" to follow 

 their extracted to the city. When neighbors 

 call for strained honey, why don't you tell them 

 that you haven't any, but that you have "ex- 

 tracted," which is much better? and explain 

 the difference to them ; invite them to visit 

 your apiary at extracting-time; show them the 

 whole manipulation, from taking the combs 

 from the hive to filling the five-gallon cans and 

 boxing them for shipment. Invite them to eat 

 freely of honey during their stay. This is about 

 the only means of convincing the public that 

 your honey is pure, and that it is extracted in- 

 stead of strained; and whenever a commission 

 man or any other dealer is known to use the 

 term "strained" he should be corrected, and 

 then the word will soon be one of the past; and 

 the sooner this is accomplished, and purity 

 guaranteed to the consumers, the sooner "ex- 

 tracted " honey will find a better demand, and 

 at better prices, remembering that the proof of 

 purity will have as much (or more) weight as 

 the word " extracted." 



S. T. Fish, p. 16, has a first-class article on 

 the importance of having a neat package for 

 comb honey, and this should apply with equal 

 weight to extracted-honey packages. The fact 

 of using old oil cans would be as detrimental to 

 our pursuit as to return to the old system of 

 producing strained honey (bees and pollen). 



I notice a report of J. Z. Rhodes, of Verndale, 

 Minn., in the American Bee Journal for Jan. 3, 

 which states that he began the season of 1895 

 with 39 colonies, and increased to 150, and har- 

 vested 3000 lbs. of comb honey and 3000 of ex- 

 tracted. He claims to be a beginner, and that 

 he knows but little about the business. I ad- 

 vise him to remain in the dark, as he will not 

 meet with such success as this after he is out of 

 the ABC class, especially these drouthy sea- 

 sons. Ei>iAs Fox. 



Hillsboro, Wis. 



FULL SHEETS OF FOUNDATION IN SECTIONS. 



THE MIDRIB OB.TECTIONABLE TO CONSUMERS; 

 A VALUABLE ARTICLE. 



By John Handel. 



Is the too liberal use of wax reducing the con- 

 sumption of honey? This is a matter worth in- 

 quiring into. Wax in comb honey is an adul- 

 teration; and the consumer who has not yet 

 learned how to swallow it is not easily con- 

 vinced of the fact that only a small proportion 

 is artificial. The stack of cuds left after eating 

 a small chunk of comb honey will arouse his 

 suspicions; and upon inquiry he is satisfied that 

 the article has been tampered with; and the 

 small- quantity argument (1 or 1}4 per cent) will 

 not down, any more than the wax itself, even if 

 shown that the adulterant is higher priced than 

 the combination; consequently, consumers, once 

 satisfied that the solid structure, or comb, is doc- 



tored up by us, how can we expect them to have 

 any faith in the filling? All but those who 

 are wilfully blind will notice the so-called " fish- 

 bone," as the knife or teeth pass through this 

 artificial center of comb honey, even if it be 

 "extra thin" foundation. Therefore, while 

 trying to deceive others we may be injuring 

 ourselves. 



NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN. 



After reviewing the ground that bee-journals 

 have gone over in the past year I find very few 

 short cuts and easy methods offered— nothing to 

 encourage us to make an extra effort this year. 

 On the other hand, it appears to me as though 

 every correspondent took a special delight in 

 " knocking the stuffing " out of the most prom- 

 ising new features put forth the year before. 

 Those automatic contrivances, which are watch- 

 ed with anxiety by the sidewalk bee-master, 

 were kicked about until of late I see nothing 

 of them any more. Yet how nice it would be to 

 have a hive built on the principle of the " penny 

 in the slot" machine! We could then "push 

 the button," and the bees would do the rest. 



While dealers and commission men are get- 

 ting a " roasting," some of us might as well look 

 up the other side, and thaw out some of the 

 producers. In the past ten years I have pro- 

 duced, probably, seventeen tons of comb honey. 

 About 80 per cent of it was shipped to a distant 

 market, some to commission men ; but most of 

 it was sold to dealers. Out of this whole amount 

 sent, I had a loss of less than 50 lbs. from break- 

 age ; 19 lbs. was stolen while in transit. My 

 returns (when the price was not agreed upon) 

 were always satisfactory. But my success in 

 this line led me to speculate. I bought a lot of 

 honey from otherwise reliable and honest pro- 

 ducers, and, judging from what I could see 

 through glass, perfectly competent in grading 

 honey. So I shipped it without opening the 

 crates; and for that reason, or some other, that 

 honey broke down, leaked, got wormy, and they 

 said all but the front row (that next to the 

 glass) was dark. I wrote and told them what it 

 cost me, and asked them to try to get that much 

 out of it. The amount was sent me, but they 

 said it was not worth it, and that they did not 

 want any more honey from me. 



DRAWN COMBS IN SECTIONS. 



Dr. Peete, p. 102, expressed it exactly when he 

 said that sections put on a hive a second and 

 third time look like old nest-eggs. I too have 

 learned the value of drawn comb; but the labor 

 of extracting the honey from the partly filled 

 sections is what I dread. And right here I 

 would ask B. Taylor how to overcome this (to 

 me) difficult task. Does he uncap them with 

 his handy comb leveler? 



While extracting those partly filled sections a 

 great many of the combs break out, evidently 

 because I "haven't learned the trade yet" (see 

 page 103). Is there any other advantage claim- 

 ed for that " bottom starter " ? 



