189'' 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTQRE. 



459 



made some slight mistakes, and I will point 

 tht^m out. I have had more experience, doubt- 

 less, in using drawn combs in sections than any 

 other honey- producer, and I know that brother 

 Hutchinson is wrong in saying, "If the flow 

 should open very suddenly, or, at least, become 

 very profuse soon after it opens, sheets of foun- 

 dation may be as good as drawn combs." 

 After years of experience I know there is no 

 time in which drawn combs can be used to 

 such good eflfect as at the rush that comes with 

 the opening of the basswood harvest. This sel- 

 dom lasts more than two weeks — often not 

 more than one. The workers for extracted, 

 with their ready combs, get great yields in these 

 few days, and comb honey producers can secure 

 the same large results by the same means — 

 having ready drawn combs to store the rush of 

 nectar in without delay in building new store- 

 houses. I believe Mr. H., when he stops to 

 think, will agree to this correction. Again, Mr. 

 H. says: 



Two courses are open by which these unfinislied 

 sections may be used to advantage. One is that of 

 "feeding' back" extracted honey to secure tlieir 

 completion, and the other that of using them in the 

 spring as just now indicated. In the latter case 

 they must be e.xtracted in the fall, and the bees al- 

 lowed to clean tiiem up. After this tliey must be 

 kept away from the dirt stud dvist. I prefer to 

 "feed l);ick" and secure the completion of :ill sec- 

 tions that are at Ipast one-half completed. Tliose 

 less than one-half finished 1 would extract and Iteep 

 over to use in the spring. When combs that are 

 nearly completed are kept over and used again, 

 they will not have the smooth, new look of those 

 just built, or of tliose that were not more than half 

 completed the previous season. The remedy is to 

 use the comb-leveler invented Ijy B. Taylor. This 

 very quickly and satisfactorily reduces tlie lengtli 

 of the cells to tti« required depth, wliich results in a 

 smooth surface when the comb is finished. 



Thanks, friend H., for your kindly mention 

 of the "Handy" comb-leveler. I know every 

 comb-honey producer will appreciate it after a 

 fair trial; for with drawn combs, and the level- 

 er to prepare them for use, I can not only have 

 the surface of the finished honey smooth and 

 even, but capping will be as white and clear as 

 combs built on starters, and the white honey 

 can be greatly increased. In the present con- 

 dition of the markets, dark comb honey can 

 not be sold with either pleasure or profit. Gilt- 

 edged white honey is where the profit is to 

 come from in the future. Mr. H. says, "I pre- 

 fer feeding back." With ray present experi- 

 ence I could not be induced to fuss with the 

 uncertain expedient of feeding back, for I can 

 sell the fine extracted honey I get from cured 

 unfinished sections for nearly or quite as much 

 as the same honey would sell for after being 

 finished; in fact, I would not hav^, them finish- 

 ed at any increa'^ed work or expense, for I 

 should thereby lose the opportunity of using 

 them next season with far more profit and less 

 fussy work, and I am quite certain Mr. H. will 

 come to the same c )nclusion whenever he gives 

 the drawn combs a trial in either a big or little 

 honey-flow. I agree that supers entirely filled 



with drawn combs are just the thing at the 

 beginning of the white-honey flow, and I pos- 

 itively know they are equally good near the 

 close, for I have, year after year, given the col- 

 onies cases half filled with drawn combs and 

 half foundation near the end of the basswood, 

 in which the drawn comb was filled and cap- 

 ped; and the foundation, although in the cen- 

 ter of the case, was left entirely untouched. If I 

 had sufficient drawn comb I would use them 

 exclusively during the white-honey season, at 

 the beginning, middle, and end; and by giving 

 the colonies, after the basswood season is end- 

 ed, cases of sections filled with foundation, in 

 the way I have directed in this article, they 

 will draw out thousands of them during the 

 fall flow, which can be extracted, and the 

 combs be used the following season, to get as 

 much white honey as can be got by using 

 starters or full sheets of foundation during the 

 entire season of white and dark honey. The 

 dark honey extracted will, in such case, be that 

 much clear gain. It can be used with great 

 profit to stimulate brood-rearing the same fall 

 or next spring, or it may be sold for manufac- 

 turing or other uses. 

 Forestville, Minn., April 20. 



[If this does savor a little of free advertising 

 of the Handy comb-leveler, it is all right. I be- 

 lieve it is a good thing, and bee-keepers should 

 more generally know of it as a money-getter. — 

 Ed] 



SUPPLYING THE HOME MARKET. 



A CONTINUATION OF THE SUB.7ECT. 



By F. A. Siicll. 



Town designated as No. 3 is distant from my 

 apiary 13 miles, and had at one time within its 

 borders, and near by, fully .500 colonies of bees. 

 Owing to the large number of bees kept, and 

 oversupplying this market, the price of honey 

 ruled low. If some of the honey produced 

 there had been marketed in adjoining towns, 

 paying prices might have been maintained; 

 for the amount of honey produced in or near 

 the other towns was slight. Many times the 

 low prices realized for honey are our own fault, 

 and are caused by the unwise or foolish distri- 

 bution of our honey in marketing, as indicated 

 above. Bee-keepers should consider this mat- 

 ter thoroughly from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

 We see some of our large cities overstocked 

 with honey nearly every year, while other good 

 markets are hardly considered. At present 

 the town mentioned above has within its bor- 

 bers but few bees; but the people have come to 

 think that they should not pay over 10 or 12 

 cents for the finest comb honey in section 

 boxes; or a large portion seem to at least. I 

 never sold or attempted to sell any honey in 

 that town until recent years, for two reasons. 



