284 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1 



second, E2, etc. All of the shipping-cases are 

 lettered and numbered on the lid. In this way 

 there is but little chance of mixing the grades. 



Cases of extracted honey should never be piled 

 more than three tiers higii in a car, and I prefer 

 but two tiers. If there are more than three tiers 

 the danger is greater on account of the rough 

 switching. 



Ventura, Cal. 



Heads of Grain 



From Different Fields 



MOST OF THE SHIPMENTS OF BEESWAX AND 



HONEY ARRIVING IN NEW YORK ARE IN 



TRANSIT FOR EUROPE. 



I take this opportunity to inform you of the 

 arrival in New York of shipments of beeswax 

 and honey for the year 1908, which, by the way, 

 shows the largest imports for many years back. 

 The increase, however, is not in the amount for 

 consumption in the United States, but in goods 

 that are in transit for Europe. 



Beejivax. — The total arrivals at New York 

 for 1908 were 6636 packages, which, at an av- 

 erage weight of 200 lbs. per package, equals 

 1,327,200 lbs. Of this quantity, 4144 packages, 

 or about 828,800 lbs., were in transit for Europe, 

 leaving only 2492 packages, or about 498,400 

 lbs. for consumption in the United States. 



Honey. — The total arrivals at New York for 

 1908 were 16,427 packages, which, at an average 

 of about 60 gallons per package, equals 985,620 

 gallons. Of this quantity, 11,880 packages, or 

 about 712,800 gallons, were in transit for Eu- 

 rope, leaving only 4547 packages, or about 

 272,820 gallons, for consumption in the United 

 States. 



The number of pounds and gallons given 

 above are only estimated, as it would be difficult 

 to state accurately the quantities arriving. Bees- 

 wax comes to this market packed from small 

 cases of about 50 lbs. to large cases and hogs- 

 heads containing from 500 to 1000 lbs. each, 

 while honey comes in half-barrels, from 30 to 35 

 gallons, to large tierces of about 100 to 110 gal- 

 lons. However, you will note from these figures 

 that comparatively little foreign beeswax and 

 honey comes to this market when the consump- 

 tion of these articles in the United States is con- 

 sidered. D. Steengrafe. 



New York, March 26. 



HOW THE HONEY MARKET IS INJURED BYTHE BOT- 

 TLING OF INFERIOR HONEY; A CAUTION IN 

 REGARD TO THE USE OF SMOKE. 



The injury to the honey market by the bot- 

 tling of inferior grades of honey, and the spoil- 

 ing of good honeys by the blending therewith of 

 the inferior grades, is something that should have 

 attention. This truth has been forced upon me 

 by the fact that many grocers can sell so little 

 bottled extracted honey that they think it not 

 worth handling; while on the other hand I have 

 many private family customers that use from 25 

 to over 100 lbs. annually. We have one custom- 

 er who is very fond of our dark natural blend of 



buckwheat, goldenrod, and aster, and will, at the 

 present rate, use up over 250 lbs. during the year. 

 Does not this show that, if the people had con- 

 fidence in what the grocers handle, and were not 

 so often fooled with inferior honey, not to say 

 adulterations, there would be a consumption of 

 honey that would make the selling of it a more 

 remunerative and attractive business by the dis- 

 tributors.? 



One point about capping- melters has not been 

 touched upon. I refer to the care that should be 

 exercised in the smoking of bees. Much good 

 honey has been ruined with smoke. Well-cap- 

 ped honey does not contain a smoky flavor, be- 

 cause the cappingswith the smoky surface are re- 

 moved. If you melt those badly smoked cap- 

 pings and turn the honey into the tank with the 

 extracted and unsmoked honey, you have injured 

 the flavor. Take cappings that have been drain- 

 ed. The first drainings are not badly smoked, 

 but the last tailings are unfit for table use. The 

 remedy is to use the bee-escape with as little 

 smoke as possible. The small amount of smoke, 

 together with the leaving of the super on the hive 

 several hours after the smoking, will add greatly 

 to the lessening of the odor. 



Orel L. Hershiser. 



Kenmore, New York, Feb. 15. 



BEES REFUSING TO BUILD CELLS IN COLONIES 

 WITH CAGED QUEENS. 



I had two colonies built up from nuclei, hav- 

 ing first bought the queens. I wanted to increase 

 them as far as possible by dividing. Some writ- 

 er in Gleanings said, "Cage the queens three 

 days in their own hives, then put them back sev- 

 en days, I think; and at the end of that time 

 divide up, giving two or three frames to each nu- 

 cleus, leaving the old queen on the home stand, 

 and being sure each nucleus had queen-cells," 

 etc. I did this, but the bees refused to start 

 queen-cells at all, so in the next issue Dr. Miller 

 said, " Better way, take the queens away from 

 the hive three days," which I did, and the cells 

 were started all right; but he failed to tell what 

 to do with the queens; so, not knowing any bet- 

 ter, I caged them and put them with several at- 

 tendants above a strong colony with wire screen 

 above and below, thinking they could not be 

 hurt there; but, to my surprise, the second day 

 found them all in the cage, killed by little black 

 ants. The ants had not before nor have they 

 since bothered the colony where I put them. 



Greenville, 111. J. F. Buchanan. 



[Unless it were warm weather, and the bees 

 were flying to the fields, the bees would not be 

 inclined to build cells, and some strains would 

 build none as long as the queen was caged with- 

 in the hive. As a rule, the average colony will 

 do so during the working season. Dr. Miller's 

 suggestion, to take the queens away entirely, was 

 the only thing for you to do under the circum- 

 stances; but now you want to know what to do 

 with the queens that are removed. They can be 

 caged just as you did, and put on top of other 

 colonies that already have queens, and left there 

 for three or four days, or longer if deemed neces- 

 sary. Be sure to put the cage in in such a way 

 that the wire cloth will be face downward. The 

 younger bees of the strange colony will feed the 



