iHHT) 



ciLKANiNGS In nkE cuLtuUe. 



.529 



CABNIOLAN QUEEN FROM FRANK 

 B ENTO N. 



SOME HEASONS Fi)U DELAY. 



@N Feb. lOlh, this year, I sent $7.00 to Frank 

 Benton for a fine selected Carniolan queen, 

 to be delivered during May. In about a 

 month following- 1 received a note from Mi'S. 

 Benton, acknowledging- the receipt cf my 

 ordei', and stating that Mr. Benton had gone to 

 Tunis, Africa, from thence to the Island of Cyprus, 

 to Syria, and Jerusalem, and returning by way of 

 Carniola. Mrs. Benton also stated that she- could 

 not pi'omise the queen before the middle of May. 

 Well, the queen did not arrive until July 13. She 

 was mailed June iJiith, and therefore was on the 

 way IT days (I live 25 miles N. W. of Philadelphia). 

 She was accompanied by 17 workers, of which 15 

 were dead; had consumed two-thirds of their candy. 

 The queen is a fine large one, rather dark iu color. 

 She was successfully introduced, and commenced 

 laying iu two days after her release. The ac- 

 companying workers were of about the si/.e of Ital- 

 ians, and the color (with the exception of a few, of 

 u narrow dark-yellow band), pitch black. At the 

 same time, I received a postal card, stating that it 

 had been impossible to get off sooner any Carniolan 

 queen, as there had been experienced great dif- 

 ficulty this season in getting them. Healsogave 

 me credit ol' one dollar, owing to the delay. Friend 

 Root, I thiiili this to be evidence sullicient to ccn- 

 vince you of the inability of Mr. Benton to supply 

 you sooner witl: Carniolan queens, although ^you 

 had ordered nearly a year ago. I give liim credit 

 for sujiplying his retail trade first. I shouldn't (hink 

 he would hold back your order for fear <f havii'.g 

 your judgment passed upon them, and scattered 

 broadcast among bee-frier.ds while you have not 

 yet seen any Carniolan bees. I will, as soon as some 

 are hatched out, send you a dozen or so. 

 Hatfield, I'a,, .luly :.'<>. IS;.-.. E. K. Bi.anck, M. D. 

 Tliaiiks. In ictjjanl to wliolesale and re- 

 tail, 1 liad no idt'H of s^'tting a (ineen from 

 friend JJcuton any clicaper llian anybody 

 else. 1 oixlereil two for fear some accident 

 might liai)pen to a sinsjjle one. I thou.nht 

 very likely he was unable to liil orders soon- 

 er until notices came from different ones 

 that they had receivtti their ("aiiiiolan 

 queens. It did not seem to me that tluir or- 

 ders were older than mine. 



MOIfE ABOUT THE CAI!NIOEANS. 



On page 4!-3, July Gleanings, W. W. Addison 

 n.akes iiujuiry about Carniolan bees, and whether 

 they hold out to Benton's descripton of them. I'or 

 the benefit <)f those interested, I will state that I 

 have found them to be all that Mr. B. claims for 

 thcni, both as to gentleness and beauty. As for 

 honej- - gathering qualities, I am not so able to 

 testify, for the simple reason that last year, on ac- 

 count of breeding for queens for myself and neigh- 

 bors, and the season being ))oor, 1 did not get to 

 try them. This year the honey crop, on account of 

 drought (which 1 hope is but a local matter), has de- 

 stroyed the prospect of ascertaining the fact; but 

 from the nn\nner in which they have filled their 

 hives with brood, I have reason to think they will 

 hold their own with other good bees, if not, to some 

 extent, excel them. Last fall I took the imported 

 queen and a couple of racks of bees to tlie Elktou, 

 Md., fair. They were not entered in competition, 



{DO not know 

 wax; but pel 

 Gleanings 

 fifo<1 1... ct -.-n 



but merely as a comparison. From those who saw 

 and handled them while there, I should like to hear 

 an opinion. Geo. H. Reess. 



Coatesville, Pa., June 33, 18S'5. 



w I ^ 



"MAKING BEESWAX." 



MRS. IIARHISON TELLS HOAV THEY MANAGE IT AT 

 THEIR HOUSE. 



but I have told how I make bees- 

 perhaps some sister has entered the 

 circle since, who would be bene- 

 fited by a i-epetillon. We keep in the neigh- 

 borhood of one liundred colonies, more or less, 

 and run mostly for comb honey, consequently have 

 but little comb to melt— too small a quantity to war- 

 rant the outlay for a wax-extractor. We have not 

 steam to use, as Mr. Hoot has, but only a stove. I 

 have an all-metal sieve, which fits over a pan; into 

 this sieve I put all bits of comb, and I save all 

 scrapings, every mite. When it is full I put it into 

 the oven when breakfast is being cooked, with wa- 

 ter in the pan; and as it melts it filters into the wa- 

 ter. The stove should not be very hot; if it is, the 

 water and wax might boil over in the oven. Some- 

 times when I take out the sieve the residue is dry, 

 like corn meal, and free from wax. I let the wax 

 cool, and then pour out the water from under it. I 

 never let my comb accumulate, but keep it melted 

 up. I always scrape out the sieve every time into 

 the stove and it burns readily. Saving every mite, 

 of wax is like saving paper-rags -too little business 

 for most people; but it takes no more time than to 

 waste it, and it is disagreeable stufl' to be thrown 

 down in an apiary, to be sticking to the feet, and 

 thereby carrying dirt into the house. 1 think those 

 who waste their scrapings would be surprised at 

 the nice wax that can be obtained from them, even 

 when there is not a piece of good comb. 



After the comb is melted I know it is safe from 

 moths, and so I let it accumulate, when I choose a 

 cool day for re-melting. I choose a pan that will 

 fit one of the iron stove-kettles. One that slips in- 

 side, and is held by the rim is best. In this pan the 

 wax is melted over boiling water, with the pan cov- 

 ered. 1 melt out the- ends of a fruit-can, forming a 

 cylinder, which I use to hold a colfee-strainer. I 

 set this cylinder holding the strainer into a small 

 basin, and pour the wax into it; when the basin is 

 full I take it off and set it into another one, and put 

 it into the oven, to keep hot and drain. Before I 

 use the strainer again I knock out the residue into 

 the stove. I use the little pans that I bought for 

 bee-feeders, and I rather like the wax in that shape. 

 I let the wax settle a little while, and then pour it 

 into a fresli pan, leaving the dregs. I keep all these 

 utensils for wax, as it does not iiay to clean them 

 every time. I know a woman who melts up all her 

 comb in a Ijread-pan in the oven, without any wa- 

 ter, pouring it otl through a hot coffee-strainer as 

 fast as it melts. Mks. L. IIaiiuison. 



Peoria, 111. 



Why, Mrs. II., yon liave simply adopted 

 our ;>5-eent wax-extractor. We sell the dish- 

 pan and all-metal sieve, made so as to Ht just 

 right, for o5 cents. I commend your idea of 

 liaving all the ntensils you need kept togeth- 

 er, and set away without cleaning. AVhen- 

 ever I see any of our girls trying to clean 

 their utensils by scraping the wax off, I al- 

 Avays feel like scolding. 



