548 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



MatI 



try of America, not because it was good, but 

 because it was very frequently sold as but- 

 ter. Oleo destroyed our export trade in but- 

 ter. This trade went to Canada, which does 

 not allow oleo to be made there. 



Artificial vanilla destroyed the trade in 

 real vanilla, though it is distinctly an inferi- 

 or product to that made from the vanilla 

 bean, and some say the artificial product is 

 poisonous. 



Artificial indigo destroyed the industry of 

 growing indigo, once a southern industry of 

 importance. The artificial dye fades, and 

 the natural is everlasting ; yet the substitute 

 won the fight. 



Our tine carpets and rugs are made by 

 eastern nations who use no artificial dyes or 

 shoddy. Our Navajo Indians make the best 

 blankets with purely natural dyes. The re- 

 sult is, they get high prices from white men 

 who prefer the real goods ; and it is econo- 

 my to buy the high-priced goods — they last 

 for ever. It looks as if we were too smart 

 in some things. In any event, it will pay 

 the bee-keepers of America to watch the glu- 

 cose industry. w. k. m. 



LIQDEFYING COMB HONEY, AGAIN; THE PLAN 

 A SUCCESS. 



Further experiments in liquefying comb 

 honey in an incubator, as related on pages 

 278 and 414, have been made, and we may 

 state that the machine has been kept going 

 on another lot of honey. We selected some 

 comb honey that was candied solid, so that 

 it was almost hard ; but the cappings were 

 intact. It took nearly a month to dissolve 

 all the granules of the honey. At the end of 

 that time the combs and cappings were in- 

 tact, and the honey entirely liquefied. The 

 honey itself was more waxy, of heavier body, 

 and to this extent was actually improved. 

 We are satisfied now that a comparatively 

 small room, having a sufiicient number of 

 steam or hot-water pipes, could liquefy al- 

 most a carload of honey at a time. If the 

 cappings were intact, such honey would be 

 fully as good as if not better than when it 

 was taken off the hives. 



In the matter of regulation we can not 

 conceive of any thing better now than hav- 

 ing a ventilat ng-pipe connected with out- 

 doors. This should be operated by a valve 

 or door that will lift through the action of a 

 thermostat, allowing the excess of hot air to 

 escape the same as in an ordinary egg- 

 hatching incubator. In addition, for safety, 

 an electric thermostat set between the low 

 and h'gh point would notify the owner, by 

 means of an electric bell, when the temper- 

 ature was going above 105° F. And right 

 here we m^y say that we found the best 

 temperature for liquefying comb honey to 

 be between 103 and 105° F. 



It is well known that many a dealer will 

 get a quantity of alfalfa honey on his hands, 

 partly candied. Such honey usually sells at 

 one-third or one-half price If he can have 

 a suitable hot room he can save this honey 

 at a comparatively small cost. A very small 

 hot-water boiler, with sufficient radiation if 



hot water be used, would keep a room 10X10 

 feet and 8 feet high hot for a month, at an 

 expense, we will say, not exceeding $10.00 

 for fuel. If there be $1500 worth of honey 

 in the room it can be readily seen that the 

 fuel item is practically insignificant. 



OUR POLICY TO^AAKU UNPOPULAR OR UN- 

 ORTHODOX TEACHINGS. 



One of our old correspondents recently 

 made the statement in one of his letters that 

 he supposed that what we published without 

 a footnote reflected our own sentiments, and 

 therefore had our editorial indorsement as if 

 we had written it. In reply we said that, 

 while that may have been true at one time, 

 it was now our policy to publish any fair and 

 reasonable statement, even though such state- 

 ment might be in opposition to the well- 

 known views of the editors of Gleanings. 



Where a correspondent is obviously wrong, 

 and is clearly at variance with the best 

 thought and modern practice, we feel it our 

 duty to put in a footnote of caution to pre- 

 vent the beginner from being led into expen- 

 sive error. But where an unorthodox cor- 

 respondent sets forth a proposition that has 

 a semblance of truth in it, we feel that we 

 should let it go unchallenged. To footnote 

 every statement that seems to be beyond the 

 pale of orthodoxy or our beliefs would make 

 our journal simply a mouthpiece of the views 

 of the editors, and we hope we are fair 

 enough to believe that no editor is infallible. 

 At all events, we do not claim to be. We 

 desire to have Gleanings reflect all shades 

 of opinion and practices, believing that a 

 general discussion will in the end bring out 

 the truth. At the end of that time we may 

 or may not summarize the facts proven or 

 brought out as we did in the plural-queen 

 discussion. 



Lately, when R. L. Taylor, of Michigan, 

 stated that clipped queens were "an unmit- 

 igated nuisance," and that he preferred to 

 restrain his queens with queen-traps instead, 

 he was clearly running counter to the views 

 of most bee-keepers in general. But as 

 those views were clearly and fairly stated, 

 we did not challenge them with a footnote, 

 believing there was an even chance that he 

 might be right. This called forth a rejoin- 

 der from Mr. Halter, and then from Dr. Mil- 

 ler in this issue. If we had made an effort 

 to squelch Mr. Taylor at the start by a vig- 

 orous footnote, other correspondents would 

 never have thought of writing to state their 

 views, and there the matter would have end- 

 ed. But who knows but this discussion, 

 which is free for all, may draw out new facts 

 to an extent that will cause a revision of 

 opinion? 



To exemplify this matter further, any one 

 who would have been bold enough at one 

 time to declare against spring feeding for 

 stimulating brood-rearing, such person would 

 have been branded a heretic; now, apparent- 

 ly, there is a sentiment against it. Suppose, 

 for example, the editor of this journal had 

 suppresed these communications advising 



