88 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



story hive. Fruit and honey jars are $1.00 per gross 

 higher. Enameled cloth is up to 30c. per yard; or 

 for a whole piece of 12 yards, 28c. 



DIPPED FDN. VERSUS ROLLED. 



Every one who has watched the bees closely has 

 probably noticed that before drawing- out the walls 

 of the fdn., they roughen or pick up the whole sur- 

 face until it has a granular .appearance, especially 

 under a good magnifying glass. Well, it is a great 

 deal of labor for the bees to soften up and loosen, as 

 it were, this wax, after we have compressed it with 

 our powerful rolling- machines, as we do in making 

 the fdn. Still further; I am fully satisfied that it is 

 this loosening- up operation which causes the great- 

 er part of the stretching- of the fdn., and this is proba- 

 bly the reason why the fdn. made by dipping- plaster 

 molds into melted wax, on the plan of the editor of 

 the Western Honey Bee, does not sag as the mill 

 fdn. does. That made on the Dunham mill, with its 

 heavy walls of almost soft wax, does not sag-, but 

 we can not stand the expense of so much wax. 



Dipped fdn. is certainly used by the bees more 

 easily and faster, than that made with rolls; but, 

 alas! we can not make dipped fdn. with walls on 

 both sides. I spent much money last summer in ex- 

 periments, aud had metal plates made, as well as 

 plaster, but I finally gave it up. Well, why not let 

 it go, as friend Harrison does, with walls only on one 

 side? Because the bees will often raise the cells and 

 use them on this one side, and leave the other un- 

 touched. They must have some kind of a wall to get 

 hold of. I have partly succeeded by dipping- plates 

 in the wax, and then bringing them together before 

 lifting them out; the great trouble is that the whole 

 machine is coated every time, and it is a dauby job. 

 One more objection; although we can dip bin. as 

 thin as the natural comb, almost, it is very difficult 

 to get large sheets without having thick spots in it, 

 which wastes the wax because it does not cover so 

 great a surface. I think dipped fdn. is eventually 

 to take the place of our rolls entirely, and, for the 

 purpose of setting some of you at work, I will make 

 this offer: To the person, or persons, wht> will suc- 

 ceed in dipping fdn., with walls on both sides, and 

 thin enough to make 8 square feet to the lb., by a 

 process to be given to the people, so easy that it 

 can come into general use, I will pay $100.03. Now 

 look out that I do not do it first. 



I can give you each month what my honey brings, 

 which will give you about the highest range. It is 

 now, and has been for the last 2 months, '22c, and I 

 have no friends who get for me more than the mar- 

 ket price. I never go to Chicago now or I could post 

 you fully. If nothing else comes of it, it will at least 

 do good by letting producers know how matters 

 stand. C. C. Miller. 



Marengo, 111., Jan. 20, 1880. 



diuvQi. 



Under this head will be inserted free of charge, 

 the names of all those having honey to sell, as well 

 as those wanting to buy. Please mention how 

 much, what kind, and prices, as far as possible. 

 As a general thing, 1 would not advise you to send 

 your honey away, to be sold on commission. If 

 near home, where you can look after it, it is often 

 a very good way. By all means, develop your home 

 market. For 25cts., Ave can furnish little boards 

 to hang up in your door yard, with the words "Honey 

 for Sale" neatly painted. If wanted by mail, 10c. 

 extra for postage. Boards saying "Bees and Queens 

 for Sale," ;ame price. 



CITF MARKETS. 



St. Louis. — Honey — We have little change to 

 note in markets of honey here. Warm weather has 

 cut off the local and shipping demand, and prices are 

 a shade lower. Choice Comb, small sections, 14c. to 

 17c; Dark and Fall Honey, 13c. to 15c. Extracted 

 dull, and salable only in small quantities, at 8c. to 

 10c. 

 Bees-ica.r.— Steady, at 22c. to 23c. for prime. 



It. C. Greer & Co. 



St. Louis, No. 117, N. Main St., Jan. 21, 1880. 



Chicago. — Honey — There is not much demand for 

 honey, and with liberal offerings prices are easy and 

 in buyer's favor. For dark-colored honey and large, 

 leaky packages the market was dull and weak at 10® 

 12c.^ lb. Good to choice white comb in small pack- 

 ages is salable at 15@16c. $ lb. 



7J«s-?rn.r — Is in fair demand and steadily held at 

 20(gj22c ^ lb. for good to prime bright yellow and 15® 

 16c. for common and dark^colored lots. 



Thomas G. Newman & Son. 



974 West Madison St., Chicago, 111., Jan. 2(3, 1880. 



I have one barrel of very nice, granulated, linden 

 honey, which I will sell for 10c. per pound, if taken in 

 lots of 200 or 300 pounds. Delivered at Ada Depot. 

 Will send sample of said honey if required. 



J. B. Murray. 



Ada, Hardin Co., O., Jan., 18;0. 



§cnfynUcn§. 



Notices of Conventions, condensed so as to occupy 

 not over two lines, will be inserted free of charge. 



CONVENTION DIRECTORY. 



TIME AND PLACE OF MEETING. 

 1880. 



Feb. 11. -North Eastern, at Utica, N. Y. 

 Feb. 3.— Cortland Union Bee Keepers' Association, 

 Cortland Village, X. Y_ 



OUR CARTOON FOR FEBRUARY. 



¥OU see our friend Merry Banks made a 

 very pretty fountain, where his bees 

 could get water conveniently, and he 

 also planted some Melilotus leucantha ^weet 

 clover), to furnish honey for his bees. Well, 

 some few stalks were so near his fountain 

 that he one day thought he would pull them 

 up, but they did not come very readily. 

 Now M. is a very resolute man, and not 

 easily baffled, and— he was not this time, 

 either. You see he pulled it up, and he will 

 soon l)e ready for the next one. 



