220 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15 



The course comprises theory and practice in 

 an apiary having hives of all systems, an ex- 

 perimental field for testing honey-yielding 

 plants, and a laboratory for different kinds of 

 honey and wax. 



Mr. Voirnot, " the most active, the most ar- 

 dent, and the most intelligent propagator of 

 movable-frame apiculture in France or Belgi- 

 un," died recently at Ludie, France. Mr. V. 

 was one of the most voluminous writers on 

 apiculture that ever lived, and his productions 

 were highly esteemed. His death will cause 

 a large vacancy among bee-keepers. 



BRITISH BEE-JOURNAL. 



The discussion as to the size of sections has 

 lately assumed interesting proportions in Eng- 

 land. That a thinner and taller section seems 

 to be demanded there is evident after reading 

 several letters from prominent British bee- 

 keepers. Mr. R. M. Lamb is one of the most 

 active persons in the agitation of this question. 

 In the issue for Feb. 7 he says : 



la the previous article, after noticing how Mr. Co%v- 

 aii supported my view as to the natural thickness of 

 h )ney comb I ought alo to have given the following 

 quotation from The A. '. Root Company's cat < log for 

 1900 fpage 6' : — "A tall section holding approximately 

 a pound weight permits of the use of a thinner comb 

 — a comb more nearly appro iching combs in nature. 

 Thin combs are said to be filled .sooner and are far 

 better filled, and it is also thought that honey ripens 

 better in them." I can hirdly think these sta'enients 

 would have been inserted if they had not the support 

 of some successful bee-keepers. This catalog. I may 

 siv. came into my hands only at the beginning of this 

 winter, and in it I have found several way.s in which 

 m5' experience has been strikingU' similar to those of 

 many of our biethren over the water. 



In the next issue Mr. F. W. L. Sladen, a 

 b2e-keeper well known on both sides of the 

 water, writes : 



I have been following the discussion on the .size of 

 sections started in your pages by the Rev R. M I,amb, 

 with much interest. I see that Mr. Lamb now advo- 

 cates not onlv a thinner comb in the section, but also a 

 /ar?-^>' and ;'a//^r section than our present 4i^ inch by 

 A% inch section 



Having been for some time interested in the ques- 

 tion of V\\\ V. square sections, I last year gave the tall 

 sections a trial, and .selected for this purpose Root's 

 ' Ideal " plain sections, which measure 3' ; in. by 5 in. 

 bv 1'/^ in. These sections have a thin comb, as recom- 

 mended by Mr. Lamb, but when finihed they weigh 

 o ily about 1354 oz. Owing to the bad season I got 

 oilv a few of these sections finished, but every one 

 who saw them thought them much better looking than 

 t'le ordinary 4^:;^ -in. square sections. 



Further down Mr. Sladen savs : 



I agree with Mr. Lamb in his further demand for a 

 taller section. 



For a better presentation of this matter, see 

 page 216, written by the editor. 



SOUTHLAND OUEEN. 

 Dr. Howard Gil more asks : 



I notice Gleanings is making lots of fuss about long- 

 tongued bees. I don't know whether they will beat 

 • thers here or not. We do not have any'red clover 

 fir them to reach Our cotton-hlo ims are Urge, and 

 '■isswood is not very deep. What do you think about 

 ' vat strain, Bro. A. ? Are thev any better for us here 

 1 ' the sunny South th in any other good Italian bees? 

 ' t they are I should like to try them a fall, as I like 

 t ) hive the best. 



Our notion is that, if bees' tongues can be bred a 

 thousandth of an inch longer than nature intended, 

 they can be bred with tongues a foot long. It is our 

 opinion that there is a great big nonsense lurking 

 around long-tongued bees. We do not think there are 

 any better bees in the world than those we have in 

 Texas, and they never saw red clover. . . We think 

 some soils will grow red clover with shallower nectar- 

 cells than others. 



One is inclined to think that the "non- 

 sense" that lurks around long-tongued bees 

 is in the mind of those who do not consider 

 the matter of locality. As for the length of 

 bees' tongues, Nature never had any intention 

 concerning them any more than she did when 

 she made a pig with a snout a foot long, and 

 yet enabled man to breed that snout down to 

 a mere vestige of its original comeliness. But 

 it does net follow that the tongue of a bee can 

 be lengthened a foot simply because a half 

 can be added to its average length, nor would 

 that be desirable. The movement for longer 

 tongues is simply to get the red-clover crop of 

 the North, which now is practically all wast- 

 ed. The bees, no one claims, would be any 

 better except on that account. If anybody 

 can get along with a 14-foot ladder to get on 

 his 14 foot house, all right ; but if others have 

 houses 20 feet high they are entitled to a long- 

 er ladder. A bee with a tongue-reach of ^ 

 inch would, we are morally certain, add great- 

 ly to the yield of honey in the Northern 

 States, and that, too, of a quality so good 

 that all other honeys would have to be com- 

 pared with it for a standard, except that from 

 other clovers. 



BOTTLIXG HONEY. 

 Washing the Jars : Packing for Shipment, etc. 



BY CHALON FOWLS. 



The editor replies 



In my former article on bottling I did not 

 describe the process of washing the jars, so I 

 will do so now. 



We generally run them through water 

 twice, using merely tepid water first and hot- 

 ter water last, so as to avoid breaking the 

 glass by too sudden changes. When there is 

 sand sticking to the inside of the jars, our 

 folks use a swab or rag tied on a stick when 

 washing the first time. Some might like a 

 woven-wire pot-cleaner to shake around in- 

 side and loosen the sand ; but our folks will 

 have none of it. After the jars are rinsed 

 they are turned bottom up on two or more 

 thicknesses of crash toweling for half an hour 

 or more, when they are ready for use. The 

 towels take up the water like a sponge, so 

 that they get dry quicker ; besides, there is 

 no water streaming down on the floor. 



Perhaps it might not be amiss to give my 

 method of packing for shipment Shipping- 

 cases can be bought with some kinds of jars ; 

 but the 1-lb. cans come cheaper by the barrel. 



