400 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1 



cpFCIAb^NOT.iCES BY w 



A NEW WIRE-IMBEDDING OUTFIT. 



We have just gotten out a new wire-imbedding out- 

 fit that makes use of six dry cells. It is connected up 

 with a multiple-point switch in such a way that a 

 power of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 cells can be utilized according 

 to the strength of the battery as a whole. This outfit 

 is in every way superior to the one we have been send- 

 ing ovit It makes use of no liquids; there are no acids 

 to corrode the fingers, and the whole thing is so sim- 

 ply arranged that any one can make it work. The 

 price of the new outfit is $;100 instead of $2.50 for the 

 old one. 



COMB FOUNDATION ADVANCED 



The continued high price of beeswax makes it nec- 

 e!^sary to advance the price of comb foundation. An 

 advance of 3 cents a pound was made April 22. This 

 advance is concurred in by Chas Dadant & Son, Gus 

 Dittmer, G. B. I^ewis Co., \V. T. Falconer Mfg. Co., and 

 the principal dealers and agents. We are paying, and 

 have been for some time. 3 cents per pound more for 

 wax than we paid last fall when the present list price 

 was established. We had hoped that, with the open- 

 ing of spring, supplies would be more plentiful apd 

 prices be easier. From present indications we do not 

 think prices will advance any further, yet the demand 

 for wax is such that the price holds up to its present 

 high level. The advance, which should have been 

 made a month ago, is imperative. The revised list 

 price is as follows, and the wholesale prices are also 

 advanced 3 cents per pound. 



_ Size, and sheets , In lots of- 



Name of Grade. pg^ pound. 1 lb 5 10 25 



Medium brood 7>ixl6% 7 to 8 



Light brood 17^x16% 9 to 10 



Thin super 3%xl5^ 28 



Extra thin 3%xl5J4 32 



BUSINESS BOOMING. 



The demand for supplies this year in many direc- 

 tiot:s is quite phenomenal, and indicates a prosperous 

 condition with bright prospects. The demand for 

 goods in all lines is very heavy, and prices of mate- 

 rials of alni' St every kind are advancing. Food sup- 

 plies of nearU- every kind are well up in price, and 

 labor is better paid than tver before. In fact, money, 

 the medium of exchange and the measure of values, 

 is becoming cheaper when measured by the general 

 average of commodities. During the past \y^ months 

 we have made 85 carload shipments, and are still fif- 

 teen oars behind ; and if we were in shape to take care 

 of it there are other cars which we could ship which 

 are now being turned away because we are not pre- 

 pared to ship promptly. A number of our dealers are 

 sold out of many items for some da5\s and sometimes 

 weeks before their next car reaches them. The fore- 

 handed people buy their supplies in the fall and win- 

 ter, get them ready for the bees at their leisure, and 

 aie ready for business when the season arrives. An 

 experience like the present should teach a much larg- 

 er number the wisdom of this polic\', and find them 

 among these forehanded people in the years to come. 



.Several of onr dealers, especially the managers of 

 our branch houses, are u.sually able to handle their 

 business with very little help, and, in a busy .season 

 like the present one. find it difficult to take care of 

 the orders received, and their correspondence too; 

 and. having no trained help, in many cases they are 

 considerably burdened by additional correspondence 

 in the nature of inquiries as to when goods will be 

 shipned, etc. We trust, therefore, our friends will 

 avoid writing regarding orders any more than neces- 

 sarj', provided you have received an acknowledgment 

 of the order, if you must write about it, kindly .state 

 briefly what datethe order was sent and the amount 

 of money, if any, sent, and give the order number, 

 provided you have received no'.ice stating what it is. 

 Mr. Salisbury, of our Syracuse branch, .states that he 

 is about a week or ten days behind on some of his or- 

 ders, although others are going out with almost no de- 

 lay, and the same situation prevai's in other places, 

 though we hope very soon to be fully up with our or- 

 ders at Medina and our branches with the exception 

 of carload lots. 



BEES .\ND QUEENS. 



In connection with and directly adjoining our large 

 manufacturing plant we have an apiary of GOO colonies; 

 and this is further supplemented by an out-yard of 150 

 more. Nearly all of these 750 are devoted to the rear- 

 ing of high-class honey queens or queens for business. 

 In charge of this department we have a queen-breeder 

 of some :'>0 years' experience, careful and competent, 

 and one who uses the latest and best methods for pro- 

 ducing vigorous healthy stock. None but honey queens 

 are used for breeders (usually imported) — queens 

 whose progeny have excelled every thing else in the 

 yard. Some of them are from our celebrated import- 

 ed red-clover mother, the bees of which will excel any 

 thing else in the yard during the time that red clover 

 is in bloom. Then we have a breeder whose bees stor- 

 ed 100 lbs. of surplus from clover and basswood, in a 

 yard where there are already 650 colonies. A colony 

 that can store as much honey as that in a locality so 

 greatly overstocked is .something remarkable, and 

 hence the queen has been set apart as a breeder. 



On account of the intrinsic merit of breeding stock 

 and the paits we take in rearing our queens, we are 

 compelled (to prevent being swamped with orders) to 

 charge a slight advance over ruling p rices. "" ?""" j$ I 



PRICES OF RED - CLOVER~AND HONEY^UEENS REAR- 

 ED IN THE ROOT CO.'S APIARIES, AT MEDINA, O. 



Untested queen |1 00 



Select untested queen 1 25 



Tested queen 2 00 



Select tested queen 3 00 



Breeding queen 5 00 



Select breeding queens 7 50 



Extra select breeding queens, 1 year old.. 10 00 



Be sure to specifj' whether you desire a " red-clover " 

 or a " honej' '' queen. The first - mentioned stock is 

 bred for red clover ; the last-named, or honey queens, 

 show up well during an ordinary honey flow from clo- 

 ver and basswood. We can not furnish these queens 

 before May 15 (untested before June 1st) nor later than 

 Nov. 15th. We are booking orders, and they will be 

 filled in their season in rotation. 



COMMON ITALIAN QUEENS. 



For those who desire to get pure Italian stock at a 

 moderate price we are prepared to furnish queens di- 

 rect from our breeders in the South, or from our own 

 yards, i hese queens may be just as good as our high- 

 er-priced stock. Some of our Southern breeders use 

 our breeding-queens, and others use some of their own 

 choice breeders. 



Untested queens | 75 



Select untested queens 1 00 



Tested queens 1 50 



Select tested queens 2 50 



If untested queens are ordered before May 15th the 

 price will be 25 cents extra. 



PRICES OF NUCLEI. 



One-frame nucleus, without queen $2 00 



Two-frame nucleus, without queen 3 fO 



Three-frame nucleus, without queen 3 50 



One colony of bees in 8 frame Dovetail- 

 ed hive, without queen 7 50 



We can supply with the nuclei anj' of the queens 

 mentioned in the table of prices of queens. When 

 one bu^s an extra select queen or any high-priced 

 queen he would do well to have her come in a nucleus. 

 This will insure safe arrival, and do away with the 

 hazard of introducing. 



Kind Words from our Customers. 



what seeds we have had of you have been extra 

 fine and very large packets for five cents. I never 

 made a success of getting ripe tomatoes until we tried 

 some of your Ignotum .seed. Quality of fruit the best 

 I ever saw. H. E. Campbell. 



Derby, Vt., Feb. 11. 



I like Gleanings very much. It is the right kind 

 of a journal for a Christian family table, it being op- 

 posed to the filthy tobacco habit, and is anti-saloon; 

 and it advocates good Christian principles and inor- 

 als. It is also a great help in the bee business. God 

 bless the editors and contributors to Gleanings. 



Monroe, Wis. Herman I,. Gloege. 



