182 



GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



periments that clover is dependent upon bumble- 

 bees for full fertilization and fruitag-e. Dr. Beal, 

 my colleague here at college, has experimented 

 for years in the same line. He finds that clover 

 covered with gauze vvill seed onl3' partially, unless 

 bumble-bees are caught and put inside the gauze. 

 In this last case, the bumble-bees work upon the 

 flowers, and a full yield of seed is secured. Dr. 

 Beal has suggested to me that I experiment to 

 learn how the queen bumble-bees may all be pre- 

 served through even our most severe winters, that 

 our farmers may secure each year the fullest ben- 

 efit from their valuable labors Could we have 

 bumble-bees early in the season, the first crop of 

 our red clover would seed as abundantly as does 

 that of white and alsike clover. These latter do 

 not depend upon the bumble-bees, but attract and 

 are fructified by the more numerous hive-bees, 

 which swarm out in force, even in the early spring. 

 Agricultural College, Mich. A. J. Cook. 



But, friend C, don't the Italian bees, at 

 least in a great measure, take the place of 

 bumble-bees in fertilizing red clover? It 

 seems to me that I find a great many more 

 Italians on red clover than I do of bumble- 

 bees ; but peihaps they do not do the work 

 as effectually. Is that why you speak of en- 

 couraging their propagation? Although you 

 do not say so directly, I infer there is a kind 

 of bumble-bee abroad in the fall of the year, 

 that does not sting. If one could learn to 

 tell which are drones and which are workers, 

 by sight, we could tell when to run and 

 when not to run. I presume, however, the 

 drones would never show fight. 



SEPARATORS. 



FKIKNU HEDDON ON VARIOUS MATTERS. 



fRTEND KOOT:— As I have many topics to 

 write about, and you like short communica- 

 tions, I see no other way than to leave out 

 the whys and wherefores and ask your read- 

 ers to take my word for it when I give you 

 the results of my experiments. 



I have used both wood and tin separators, of va- 

 rious widths, for over ten years, and with sections 

 whose tops and bottoms are ]s thick, and whose 

 bottoms are % narrower than the sides (and I great- 

 ly prefer this % dift'erence). I have found separa- 

 tors 3 !4 inches wide just a little too narrow. lam 

 making them 3'^^ plump, to make sure of no elon- 

 gated cells. I want to say to Dr. Miller, that the 

 most skillful manipulator— one like Hutchinson, 

 who can get beautiful straight combs without any 

 separators— will have an ocean of trouble with sep- 

 arators 2% in. wide. I prefer tin to wood. I have 

 used the tin T super, and it is. with all its objec- 

 tions, about the only practical arrangement for 

 the use of separators without wide frames; but 

 when I use separators (and I shall) I think I pre- 

 fer the one-story, reversible wide frame. 



HALF-POUND SECTIONS. 



I have been reading our editor's talk about Mr. 

 Wright, of Albany, and his half-pound sections. 

 Do you forget that I have been one of the pioneers 

 in using half-pound sections? Allow me to re- 

 fer you to pages 5 and 37 of A. B.J. for 1883. Dur- 

 ing and since that year we have produced many 

 thousand pounds of comb honey in half-pound 



sections. We have tried five or six different 

 widths, lengths, and thicknesses, and also some 

 quarter-pound sections. We can get just as many 

 pounds of honey stored in the smallest as in the 

 largest sections in use. AVe have settled on the 

 following size: 4V4 high x 2 13-16 long x 7 to the 

 foot wide, between separators; si.x of these will 

 fit in the same wide frame that takes four 4^4 x 

 ii^ X 7 to the foot sections. 



For the past four years we have kept these con- 

 stantly at retail in our stores, besides the 4^4 x 4^4- 

 pound sections; and while the latter sells by the 

 pound at 16 cents, the former have always retailed 

 at 10 cents each. ()ur stores sell about three times 

 as many pounds of the large as of the small sec- 

 tions. Our large sections average a little less than 

 1-lb., while the small ones average a little more 

 than half a pound. 



PRICE OF HONEY. 



I want to thank you for your foot-notes at the 

 close of friend Hutchinson's article on page 102; 

 "■\2% cts. per lb. wholesale," and 16 cts. per lb. to 

 the consumer, is where I want to see good bright 

 comb honey rest in the future. Did you ever think 

 that grocers will work hard to hold honey up to " a 

 penny an ounce,'' simply for convenience in sell- 

 ing the varying sections? A section weighing 14 

 ounces sells for 14 cents. If you want to know liow 

 much it is worth, with the price at 14 or 15 cents 

 per lb., you can telephone your schoolteacher. Did 

 you ever think of this? Simply on this ground 

 alone I have held the retail market up 2 cts. at 

 least. I say 16 cts. at retail, leaving 3^/2 cts. for 

 freights and all middlemen. 



Our pound sections should vary from 1 lb. to less, 

 nevermore; 16 oz. should be the maximum. You 

 see the reason. They should be sold for just what 

 they weigh. The m x 4I4 x 7 to the foot, with sep- 

 arators, is just the thing for these weights, and 

 that thickness I find most perfectly adapted to the 

 instincts of the bees. Quick sealing, smooth finish- 

 ing, and more perfect combs, all favor this thick- 

 ness here. 



REPJ.y TO FKiEND D.\DANT. 



Surely all will know that I wrote, or meant to 

 write, 18, and not 38 years. However, the word we 

 does not necessarily nor logically include myself. 

 My argument would be just as true and faithful to 

 the facts had I kept bees but two of the 18 years 

 that my brother bee-keepers have been "introduc- 

 ing" extracted honey to consumers. 



Mr. Kobbins' article on page 94 is true to life, as I 

 hav^e found it, and fully answers Mr. Dadant. If 

 it were possible 1 should like to believe Mr. Da- 

 dant's theory about the introduction of honey, but 

 I should really like to feel that we are going to 

 get it "introduced" before I die of old age. As I 

 am unable to see that he has answered my article, 

 or sustains his point, I will let it drop here. 



REPLY TO FRIEND OREEN. 



Several have written to me, asking what I have 

 to say in reply to friend Green's reported partial 

 failure with my new hive. I have only to say, that 

 he did not get them of mo. and that i believe they 

 were not properly made; that there is no need of 

 any of the failures he mentions; that glue does not 

 bother us as much as with the L. frame; that, when 

 the hives are properly made, the screws will al- 

 ways support the frames when inverted; will al- 

 ways turn at will, and are infinitely superior to 

 any metal screw that can be made. After three 



