1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



745 



C. P. B., Ore. — The condition you find in 

 front of your hives (dead bees) shows that 

 these are simply superannuated bees that 

 have died of old age. We usually find them 

 in front of entrances of all hives in spring-, 

 about the time the bees are cleaning house, 

 preparatory to the work of the season. 



W. 31. J., Ky. — It would be impossible to 

 say just when the bees will supersede their 

 old queen. That will take place when she 

 begins to be too old to perform her regular 

 duties. If, however, through disease or 

 weakness she begins to fail when she is a 

 comparatively young queen they will super- 

 sede her under those circumstances. A 

 queen that can not lay the full quota of 

 eggs at the proper season of the year, 

 whether old or young, will be superseded 

 as a rule. Bees will sometimes attempt to 

 replace a good queen because one leg is 

 crippled. Such a queen is sometimes very 

 valuable if the bees will accept cells and 

 build them out to large ones. We would 

 make an effort to save the queen; and pos- 

 sibly by introducing her to other bees she 

 will be allowed to go in peace. Some of 

 the best queens we ever had, had a crippled 

 leg, and would wabble over the combs. 



G. F. //., Wis. — If you have combs in sec- 

 tions that are discolored, I suggest that j'ou 

 place them in front of a window. Pile one 

 on top the other; and if the sunlight strikes 

 them good and fair, hang a white sheet in 

 front of the window. Allow the combs to 

 stand that way for a few days or even a 

 week. If the side of the comb next to the 

 window is not whiter after the treatment 

 than the side away from the window, then 

 it would be impracticable to bleach by or- 

 dinary sunlight. It would be advisable, 

 also, to try putting some of the sections into 

 a small box and burning a little sulphur in 

 the box with the sections. Try it in a small 

 way; and then if the experiment works sat- 

 isfactorily you will be justified in trying 

 both plans of bleaching on a larger scale. 



Referring to your method of grading, the 

 plan that we advocate and carry out in 

 practicft is given at the head of our Honey 

 Column in every issue. By turning to those 

 rules you will see how we grade our honey, 

 and how, in fact, all the hone}^ in the Unit- 

 ed States east of the Mississippi River is 

 graded. The grading that you refer to in 

 your letter must be very antiquated, and 

 the sooner it is discarded the better, as it 

 will lead to endless confusion. If you were 

 to sell honey by that grading you would 

 lose very heavily; for it is, in fact, if I un- 

 derstand it, the standard system of grad- 

 ing turned wrong end to. 



We can hardly advise you at what price 

 the various grades of honey should be held 

 at now. I suggest that you consult our 

 Honey Column from time to time. But be 

 sure to remember the prices quoted in that 

 column are ivholesale, not retail. If you de- 

 sire to sell in a retail way j'ou will ha\e 

 to add from 3 to 5 cts. per lb. to your honey. 



OUR 



HOMES, 



BY A.I. R OOT. 



And they said tinto me, The remnant th<it are left of 

 the captivity there in the province are ui great afflic- 

 tion and reproach ; the wall of Jerusalem also s 

 broken down, and the gates thereof are burned witli 

 fire.— Nehkmiah 1:3. 



When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the ser- 

 vant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them ex- 

 ceedingly that there was come a man to seek the wel- 

 fare of the children of Israel.— Nehemiah 2: 10. 



What I have in mind, dear friend, ought 

 to make a good Home paper, for I have been 

 visiting the "homes" of this locality moi e 

 or less ever}' day for some time back; and 

 I have been not only visiting but I have been 

 praying for these same homes. 



I have told you several times of the little 

 church oft" through the woods among the 

 hills. Well, although there is a pretiv 

 thriving Sunday-school there every Sunday 

 the membership of the church has gradual- 

 ly gone down until there are now less th;ni 

 a dozen, and these all women. One of the 

 children told me at last communion there 

 were only five who would partake. As a 

 consequence, the building is out of repair, 

 and things seem to be getting at loose end.s 

 all around. The church members are near- 

 ly all old people, and, although there was 

 once a bright and flourishing Endeavor so 

 ciet}' here, it has now all gone to pieces, so 

 to speak. Very likely I am not the one at 

 my age to start the Endeavorers going, but I 

 have felt for some time it would be right 

 and proper for me to do what I could to 

 have the church put in better repair, and 

 also to hunt up and bring back the "lost 

 sheep of the house of Israel." 



At first I thought it would be an easj' 

 task; but, although I have found out some- 

 thing about the schemes of the enemy to all 

 righteousness, I am not yet ready to give 

 up. 



I have often mentioned on these pages my 

 friend of former years (and of all my life 

 more or less), the Rev. A. T. Reed. Friend 

 R. has been, for sixteen 3'ears, in the work 

 of building up churches broken down or 

 run down, and churches that are weak for 

 .any reason. As I have helped him quite a 

 little at difi'erent times, I decided sometime 

 ago he was the one to wake us up, and set 

 us at work in the right direction. As I 

 write, he and I ha%'e been nearlj' a week to- 

 gether, out among the people. The pastor 



