1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Rudolf Hora is clearly wrong in his state- 

 ment when he says that when the frames are 

 at right angles to the entrance the bees will 

 be found clustered in the back of the hive 

 rather than in front. The rule is, in this lo- 

 cality at least, that they will be situated in 

 front directly over the entrance, with occa- 

 sional exceptions. We have talked with 

 prominent bee-keepers who say they have 

 observed the same thing. If we were to call 

 for a show of hands on this point we would 

 venture to state that 99 per cent — yes, we 

 may say all who have observed the matter 

 at all — will say the bees will be clustered in 

 front. If this be true, then Rudolf Hora's 

 catacornered entrance has nothing in it. — 

 Ed] 



The scheme of wrapping up sections of 

 honey in transparent paper is going to prove 

 to be a success. If you did not read the ar- 

 ticle on page 1500, Dec. 1st, you had better 

 do it now. 



So far as we can ascertain, the winter thus 

 far has been comparatively mild in most lo- 

 calities. This will augur well for outdoor- 

 wintered bees, and at the same time give the 

 young clovers a chance to grow. 



Every bee-keeper should read the editorial 

 in this department on the subject of allowing 

 glucose to be called corn syrup. It is very 

 important that every one of our subscribers 

 write at once to Secretary Wilson and to Dr. 

 Harvey W. Wiley, of the Bureau of Chemis- 

 try, Washington, D. C. 



POSTMASTER-GENERALMEYEKrecommends 



the issue of postal notes to the present ses- 

 sion of Congress. A small fee will be charg- 

 ed, and the denominations will be as conven- 

 ient as possible; namely, 10, 20, 25, 30, 40, 

 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 cts., $1.00 and up to $2.50. 

 Notes payable to the bearer will be issued 

 from 1 to 9 cts., and no fee will be charged. 

 The postoffice comes into closer relationship 

 with the people than any other bureau of the 

 government, and these suggested improve- 

 ments will make it more so. 



LoMPOC, Cal., recently shipped 20 car- 

 loads of mustard seed to points in the East. 

 The cars were not small-sized either, for 

 each one held 500 sacks of 80 lbs. each. The 

 trainload represented a value of $35,000; and 

 in honor of the event it was decorated with 

 flags and bunting. Lompoc Valley is said 



to produce about 60,000 sacks a year of both 

 the red and yellow varieties. There are 

 some bee-keepers in that valley who ought 

 to be able to tell us something about the 

 value and production of mustard honey. 



w. K. M. 

 PDRE-FOOD LAW IN CALIFORNIA. 



The pure-food law of California went in- 

 to effect January 1. The enforcement of the 

 law has been entrusted to the State Board of 

 Health, with its headquarters and laboratory 

 at the State University, Berkeley. The work 

 is in charge of Professor M E. Jaffa, a well- 

 known pure-food expert. Under the law the 

 sheriff of each county is the authorized agent 

 of the board for the collection of samples. 

 On complaint the sheriff will collect samples 

 and forward them for examination. Here- 

 tofore it has been possible to "doctor" Cali- 

 fornia honey intended for consumption in 

 that State ; bu''-) the new State and national 

 law will prevent this entirely in the future. 



SUBSCRIPTIONS ROLLING IN FOR GLEANINGS 

 FOR 1908. 



We are gratified to know that, even dur- 

 ing these panicky times, and after two very 

 poor seasons new subscriptions and renew- 

 als, with cash, are rolling in at a pretty good 

 rate. Apparently our efforts to furnish a 

 first-class bee- journal, making an aggregate 

 for the year of 1600 pages for $1.00, are being 

 appreciated. Gleanings for 1908 will be 

 better than ever. It is going in for a cam- 

 paign for higher prices on honey, and to 

 fight unfair competition from so-called corn 

 syrups. 



MAKING LABELS STICK TO TIN. 



At the Harrisburg convention, during the 

 question-box discussion Mr. N. E. France 

 said there would be no trouole about making 

 labels stick to tin providing the oil on the 

 surface of the tin is washed off with soda or 

 vinegar; then when dry apply the paste and 

 the label. 



Some one else, we can not remember who, 

 said there was something in making the flour 

 paste Mix the flour and water cold, and 

 then cook to a paste. Don't mix the flour 

 with warm or hot water, or the labels won't 

 stick, it was said. This seems worth trying. 



THE CRISIS IN THE GLUCOSE BUSINESS; 



"CORN syrup" VERSUS "GLUCOSE;" 



DO IT NOW. 



On page 1557 of our Christmas number we 

 requested our subscribers to register a pro- 

 test against allowing glucose to be called 

 "corn syrup" in trade advertising, as de- 

 manded by the glucose interests. It appears 

 that Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, Chief Chemist of 

 the Department of Agriculture, and Dr. Dun- 

 lap and Solicitor McCabe, of the Pure-food 

 Board, have already ruled against the glu- 

 cose crowd, declaring that it is not permis- 

 sible to use the term " corn syrup " to cover 

 up and conceal something that won't sell un- 



