560 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Sept. 15 



SIFTINGS. 



By J. E. Crane, Middlebury, Vt. 



Say! that illustration, p 342, June 1, of the 

 work of the lesser wax-moth, is just perfect. 

 I thought at first I could see some of those 

 little pink larvae; but I guess I was mistaken. 

 If those little scamps would only have the 

 good sense to die in severely cold weather, 

 like the larger moths, we should have little 

 fear of them; but they haven't. 



How often I find single articles in Glean- 

 ings that are well worth (yes, many times 

 over) the price of it for a year! These were 

 my thoughts as I looked over that carefully 

 written and illustrated article on foul brood 

 and black brood by E. R. Root, p. 340, June 

 L Who can tell how much might be saved 

 to the country if all those bee-keepers who 

 think they can not afford a bee-journal could 

 read this article and gain an intelligent idea 

 of these diseases? 



I enjoy those pictures of apiaries from dif- 

 ferent parts of the world. The difference in 

 hives and surroundings is often very strik- 

 ing. In northern yards we almost always 

 find the proprietor at work, while in the 

 one on the cover, June 1, showing the trop- 

 ical climate of Colombia, all the persons that 

 appear are sitting in the shade taking it easy. 

 In the pictures on pages 368 and 369, illus- 

 trating bee-keeping in Holland, we are re- 

 minded of the old straw hives of our child- 

 hood, and somehow they look good too. 

 Few better hives for summer or winter than 

 those old straw skeps. 

 <^ 



That interview between the editor and 

 Mr. Segelken, page 327, is of a good deal of 

 interest — especiafly at this season, when we 

 are busy packing and shipping honey; and I 

 wish especially to call attention to the pack- 

 ing of honey — or, rather, to grading it. 

 Bee-keepers of much experience know that 

 they can rarely have all fancy or No. 1 honey 

 to ship, and they should know that it never 

 adds to the value of No. 2 honey to put it 

 with their best grade, but will, rather, lessen 

 the value of No. 1. So, put all the best in 

 one grade, and that which is off quality in 

 No. 2. Our New England dealers don't like 

 more than two grades; but I sometimes have 

 to make another of mixed honey that is white 

 and dark in the same section. Some dealers 

 are willing to buy such honey for a slightly 

 lower price; but it is better to have it where 

 it can be sold by itself. While but a small 

 amount of dark honey can be sold in our 

 eastern markets (east of New York) , yet we 

 occasionally have calls for just such honey. 



A few words to those who use paper ship- 

 ping-cases. Be sure there is a single-faced 

 corrugated mat in the bottom with unfaced 

 side up. Be sure, also, that there is a space 

 of about X or ^ inch above the sections when 



in place — viz., between the tops of the sec- 

 tions and the tops of the partitions. Last, 

 but not least, be sure the case is so labeled 

 or marked on top that all who handle it will 

 know what it contains, and that it must be 

 handled carefully. 



Perhaps paper shipping- cases had better 

 not be shipped by express, or the results 

 may prove as disastrous as those reported on 

 p. 359, June 15. The fact is, these cases are 

 not constructed to withstand throwing from 

 an express wagon to a city pavement. Mr. 

 Segelken offers some objections to this case. 

 Let me say that we have had, I believe, sev- 

 eral hundred wood cases lined with this cor- 

 rugated paper, and with partitions, but found 

 them unnecessarily expensive, and, so far as 

 we have been able to observe, no better if 

 as good as cases all paper. 



Another objection Mr. Segelken offers is 

 that it takes a lot of cord to tie them, which 

 makes them more difficult to open and close 

 than wooden cases with nailed covers. This 

 may be a valid objection, although we have 

 never had any one who has used them make 

 it. We are, however, this year using paper 

 stickers to fasten cases together to test them, 

 and such can be opened and closed even 

 quicker than a wooden box where nails are 

 used. 



"Somehow the appearance of the glass 

 corrugated shipping-cases does not strike us 

 favorably," says the editor, page 468, Aug. \. 

 Same here; and yet why? I do not expect 

 to use such, and I hope it will not be neces- 

 sary for others to do so, for I consider glass 

 a nuisance from first to last. Its only value 

 is in showing off honey when on sale, or for 

 letting freight-handlers know what they are 

 handlmg. To obviate the last difficulty I be- 

 lieve a bright-colored paper neatly printed 

 and pasted on top of wooden cases will prove 

 quite as satisfactory and much cheaper; 

 while for corrugated-paper cases, some such 

 paper label seems indispensable, and we 

 never ship out a paper case without it. 

 There has been some difference of opinion 

 as to the necessity of using wooden carriers 

 where paper cases are used. While we have 

 not found it necessary here in New England 

 to do so, it may be better for those who are 

 accustomed to using carriers with wooden 

 cases to continue using with paper cases un- 

 til the ability of such cases to stand rough 

 usage has been more fully tested. I do not 

 myself know just how much they will stand; 

 but the fact that those dealing in honey 

 greatly prefer them and are willing to pay 

 more for honey put up in them, shows very 

 conclusively that there is a marked differ- 

 ence in their favor. 



We have had a good deal of trouble in get- 

 ting them made as they should be. This has 

 been so difficult that a few days ago I took a 

 long journey to visit a manufacturer, and 

 explain just what we wanted, and why, and 

 made arrangements to have them packed so 

 as to have them reach in good shape the bee- 

 keepers who order them. 



