1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1?9 



SQUARE VERSUS ROUND PACKAGES FOR 10 LBS. OF 

 EXTRACTED HONEY. 



Last fall, when I was visiting some of the towns 

 of Texas in which so much California honey had 

 been sold two years ago, I found nearly all the 

 merchants pleased with and wanting the California 

 style of packages for extracted honey ; namely, the 

 square tin can holding 10 lbs. of honey, packed 12 

 in a crate, and sold by the dozen. I promised some 

 of them the packages for the coming season; but 

 where can we get them? You don't sell them, as it 

 seems. I called the attention of some of the mer- 

 chants to the fact that there was only 10 lbs., light 

 weight, but they said they didn't care for that. I 

 hope the editor will look well into this matter. 

 Give us these packages at a fair rate, and we can 

 compete with California in extracted honey. 



Bright Star, Ark., Jan. 1, 1889. T. J. Martin. 



We can furnish the one-gallon square 

 cans put up ten in a box, and shipped from 

 St. Louis, Mo., or from Medina, Ohio, in 

 lots of ten boxes, at $1.40 per box ; in lots of 

 one hundred, $1.30 per box. Although we 

 have not heretofore advertised them, the 

 new edition of our price list will contain 

 prices about as above. You will notice that 

 the prices quoted are about the same as for 

 the round cans of the same capacity. For 

 economy of space, convenience in boxing 

 and shipping, the square style of cans is 

 very much superior. These and other con- 

 siderations will make them the favorite 

 shipping package for holding about 10 lbs. 

 of honey. See another column. 



limbs. As many of the swarms were quite large, 

 their weight was more than the tender branches 

 could bear, and many of them were broken off. 



Sarah E. Duncan. 

 Lineville, Iowa, Feb. 12, 1889. 



The fact you mention has been brought 

 up before, a good many times. You will 

 find it spoken of in the ABC book. The 

 subsequent swarm was probably attracted by 

 the scent left by the bees and queen of the 

 preceding swarm. Little particles of wax 

 may sometimes be found attached to the 

 limb, and these particles may be a factor in 

 inducing the bees to seek this point. 



STIMULATING BKOOD-REARING WITH RYE FLOUR. 



Can I start brood-rearing with rye flour, without 

 feeding honey or syrup? When there is plenty of seal 

 ed stores in the hive, about what amount of the rye 

 flour would I need for 55 colonies, to have them in 

 good shape for the honey-flow? White clover and wild 

 raspberry are the staple honey-plants here. There 

 are several good orchards within range, and su 

 mac is plentiful. Basswood is scarce. 



Myrtle, Pa. E. A. Pratt. 



You can start brood-rearing with rye flour, 

 without feeding any honey or syrup, provid- 

 ed the colony has plenty of stores in the hive. 

 If the season is favorable for meal feeding— 

 that is, if natural pollen is slow to make its 

 appearance — you may feed several bushels 

 of rye flour to your bees before the pollen 

 comes ; but we are not quite agreed that 

 there is always a positive advantage in feed- 

 ing rye flour. I have known bees to store 

 so much rye meal in their combs that they 

 did not succeed in getting rid of it, and it re- 

 mained there the season through. Better 

 not overdo it. 



SUCCESSIVE SWARMS OCCUPYING THE SAME PLACE 

 OF CLUSTERING. 



Are swarms attracted by the scent of other 

 swarms, or why do they so often cluster on the 

 same object? During the past summer our 

 swarms, with few exceptions, settled on the same 

 tree (a peach-tree), notwithstanding there were 

 other trees of the same kind in the apiary. I have 

 hived as many as four swarms from the same tree, 

 in a single forenoon. In fact, it became such a 

 common occurrence that, when a swarm issued, it 

 was easy to'guess where it would alight. This state 

 of affairs continued until the poor tree really be- 

 came an object of pity, being almost destitute of 



LARGE OR SMALL HIVES FOR BUSINESS. 



Friend Boot, you have asked me a question in 

 Gleanings, page 61, that I am just prepared to an- 

 swer from actual experience. May 11th I cut a bee- 

 tree, and there was about a quart of bees in it, and 

 about 5 lbs. of honey. I put the bees and honey in 

 a box with 6 frames 9 inches deep, and 17 inches 

 long. I carried them home, set them on a bench by 

 the side of a strong colony in a 10-frame hive. The 

 small colony filled their 6 frames full by July 17th, 

 and I put on top 24 1-lb. boxes, and they filled them. 

 The 10-frame hive swarmed twice, and made just fi 

 1-lb. boxes full, and the first swarm made enough to 

 winter on. The second swarm did not. In this 

 case the small swarm is the better. 



Wistar, Pa. Seth Nelson. 



Friend N., you give us good proof that a 

 small colony may do better than a large one : 

 but we should by no means conclude that 

 this is the case in the majority of instances. 



SOME GOOD NEWS FOR BEE-KEEPERS WHO HAVE 

 TO PAY FREIGHT RATES. 



Friend Root:— The bee-keepers of our country 

 will be gratified to learn that one of the great rail- 

 roads, the Louisville & Nashville (reaching from 

 Cincinnati to New Orleans, to Memphis, St. Louis, 

 and many other important points) issued a new 

 local freight tariff and classification table last 

 month, and a good many changes were made in our 

 favor. The rates are not materially changed, but 

 the new classification of articles in our line is what 

 makes the reduction. For instance, '"Bee-hives, 

 set up," are changed from double 1st class to 1st 

 class; same in the flat, crated, from 3d to 6th class 

 (which is the same class as box material and lum- 

 ber); honey, from 2d class to "honey in glass or 

 tin, boxed," also " comb honey boxed," 3d class, if 

 released, " honey in barrels or kegs," 5th class, re- 

 leased. All honey is 1st class if not released. Hon- 

 ey-extractors, crated, and smokers, boxed, are 1st 

 class; beeswax is changed from 2d to 3d class. A 

 "low tariff " letter from your humble servant to 

 the General Freight Agent, about 3 months ago, 

 may have dropped in opportunely, as the new 

 tariff was being made up; and may or may not 

 have had something to do with the changes. That 

 matters not, though. The result of the revison is 

 gratifying to us bee-people, and we appreciate it 

 enough to "stand by " the "old reliable" L. & N., 

 and give her our traffic whenever we can. 

 Wetumpka, Ala., Feb. t, 1889. J. M. Jenkins. 

 Friend J., this is indeed good news, and 

 we hereby express our hearty thanks to the 

 L. & N. Now, then, can't their tariff rates 

 be submitted to other roads^ as a means of 

 inducing them to go and do likewise? 



