826 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15. 



tionable sections are "explained," I think very 

 little change will be found necessary. I might 

 say more, but will reserve further comment, 

 when the criticisms of Mr. Newman are pub- 

 lished in full. 



A NEW UNION AND A NEW GENERAI. MANAGER. 



The indications are that honey adulteration 

 is on the increase in New York and Chicago. 

 Glucose at 1}{ cts. per lb. is being mixed with a 

 little puffe honey, and such stuff is being palmed 

 off in groceries as the pure article from \he 

 hive, at a price far below what the genuine can 

 be sold for. It is such competition that is doing 

 more to reduce the price of extracted honey 

 than any other factor. In the face of this, bee- 

 keepers will not take kindly to the suggestion 

 of General Manager Newman, of the Union, 

 that amalgamation must be delayed still mi- 

 other year, because, in his opinion, the proposed 

 constitution of the Union is " incongruous " and 

 "incomplete." Bee-keepers are clamoringofor 

 amew Union that will take hold of the matter 

 of adulteration, and I should not be surprised if 

 they would clamor for a new General Manager. 

 I^do not wish to disparage the qualifications of 

 Mr. Newman ; but, located as he is, away from 

 the heart of the country and the center of pop- 

 ulation, he can not personally look into and 

 grapple with adulteration in Chicago and cities 

 of the East, where the evils are the greatest, 

 and where, too, the largest consumption of hon- 

 ey — good, bad, and indifferent — takes place. 

 The Union, until recently, had its office in Chi- 

 cago; but now the General Manager is located 

 in California. It appears to me that a Manag- 

 er so situated must necessarily be as much han- 

 dicapped as a general would be who would try 

 to marshal his forces a thousand miles away 

 from the scene of battle. The new Union will 

 have some battles to fight, and its General 

 Manager should be on the spot, in the thick of 

 the fight — not thousands of miles away. 



WHY THE NEW UNION SHOULD BE DISTINCTLY 

 NATIONAL. 



One of the reasons for proposing to make the 

 new Bee-keepers' Union distinctly national was 

 that we might thereby be in better position to 

 receive financial aid from the general govern- 

 ment. When this argument was raised, doubts 

 were expressed as to whether Uncle Sam would 

 ever give us any money. But Mr. York, of the 

 Amei'ican Bee Journal, stated that he had it 

 pretty straight that the authorities at Wash- 

 ington would do something. Mr. O. O. Popple- 

 ton, who has been visiting us, and who, by the 

 way, had given Mr. York the idea, stated to 

 me that it was not a government grant but 

 government assistance in solving problems that 

 are now perplexing bee-keepers. If it should 

 be made international, no such aid could be ex- 

 pected. 



The North American, at its last meeting, in 



the proposed constitution to be submitted to the 

 existing Union, recommended that the new 

 organization be styled the United States Bee- 

 keepers' Union. As such it could ask and re- 

 ceive material aid from the departments of the 

 general government. For instance, a resolu- 

 tion from the national organization of bee- 

 keepers requesting the Department of Agricul- 

 ture to investigate the cause and cure of bee- 

 paralysis would receive attention, and be acted 

 upon by the department. A commission, doubt- 

 less, would be appointed, made up of the best 

 scientists of the country, who would, at govern- 

 ment expense, thoroughly study the disease. 

 The report of their finding would be put in the 

 form of a government bulletin. I am sure the 

 few Canadians who have belonged to the 

 North American will not begrudge the oppor- 

 tunity thus afforded. There are many experi- 

 ments that should and can be conducted under 

 the direction of the Department of Agriculture. 



' NOW-WHITE " SECTIONS, AND THE EFFECT OF 

 CONTRAST. 



Is it not a mistake to have " snow-white "(so- 

 called) sections when the combs themselves, as 

 a general rule, are darker by contrast? A dark- 

 er or cream color for the wood sets off the hon- 

 ey much better; indeed, some bee-keepers, re- 

 alizing this fact, in spite of the " fad " for snow- 

 white sections, are demanding the cream col- 

 ors; and as time goes on I am sure this demand 

 will increase. A house painted white looks 

 snow-white in the summer time, with a fore- 

 ground of green grass; but in the winter, after 

 a fresh fall of snow, that same house looks dark 

 and dingy by contrast. 



It is very well known that the wood of sec- 

 tions that have been on the hive for a time be- 

 comes discolored by— well, a sort of hive yellow 

 that can't be scraped off or otherwise removed. 

 Then there are the stains of propolis and trav- 

 el-stains. While the propolis can be scraped 

 off, the discoloration will remain. All of this 

 soiling appears more glaring on a "snow- 

 white" section than on one of a darker shade. 

 Then, too, the honey will appear whiter in the 

 darker wood. I grant that a genuine fancy 

 white comb is'white; but the No. 1 grade, as a 

 rule, will be darker than the average of white 

 sections on this market. 



FRED L. CRAYCRAFT. 



I AM sure the name above will sound familiar 

 to most of our older readers who were with us 

 when the "Juvenile" Gleanings was pub- 

 lished. As a boy he was a contributor to that 

 paper, grew up with it, and has been ever since 

 an occasional contributor. His articles on bee- 

 keeping in Cuba have been especially interest- 

 ing. We had not heard from him recently 

 until we happened to run across an account of 

 a butchery that took place near the town of 

 San Jose de las Layas, Cuba. Here is the 

 account: 



