GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1 



Gleanings In Bee Culture 



E. R. Root 



Editor 



A. I. Root 



Editor Home Department 



H. H. Root 



Ast't Editor 



Department Editors: — Dr. C. C. Miller, Prof. A. J. Cook, J. E. Crane, " Stknog," Louis H. Scholl, Wesley 

 Foster, G. M. Doolittle, R. F. Holtermann, W. K. Morrison. 



CONTENTS OF FEBRUARY I, 1909 



EDITORIAL 71 



Rains in California 71 



Wiley and his Opponents 71 



Colonies, Outdoor, under Glass Covers 71 



Honey-flow, Prognosticating 71 



Bee-cellars Discussed 72 



Wintering Bees in Warm Room 72 



Honey Shipped in Carloads 72 



Queens, Buying Cheap Ones 73 



STRAY STRAWS : 74 



Honey, Profit in to Producer 74 



Honey Keeping Indefinitely 74 



CONVERSATIONS WITH DOOLITTLE 75 



Clovers, Doolittle on 75 



GLEANINGS FROM OUR EXCHANGES 76 



Spanish Bee Regulations 76 



Levulose in Honey 76 



Ben zoate ol Soda Barred out 76 



Alfalfa Honey 76 



Tariff on Sugar 76 



BEE-KEEPING AMONG THE ROCKIES 77 



Sorting Comb Honey 77 



Cans, Weak, Bursting 77 



Irrigation, Value of 77 



NOTES FROM CANADA 78 



Duty on Wax 78 



Moving Bees 78, 91 



Maritime Association 78 



Botany of Honey-flowers 79 



Pure-food Laws, Effect of 79 



Contra Costa Co., California 80 



Automobile for Bee-keepers 82 



Bees N ear a Street 84 



Winter-killing of Clover 84 



Conditions that Affect Crop 86 



New Zealand, Bee-keeping in 87 



HEADS OF GRAIN 89 



Supers below Brood 89 



Thick Uncapping-knives 89 



Thin Uncapping-knives 89 



Preventing Clogging at Entrance 89 



Drouth and Clovers 90 



Canvas around Hives 91 



Drone Comb for Stores 91 



Spider Plant 91 



POULTRY DEPARTMENT 92 



Chilled Eggs 92 



Secrets, Selling 92, 93 



Sprouted Oats 94 



Drugs for Chickens 94 



Bees in Florida 94 



Drone Comb in Apiary 94 



FROM THE ADVERTISING DESK. 



money in potatoes. 

 The Potato Implement Co., whose advertisement appears 

 on another page, is offering to Gleanings readers an excel- 

 lent booklet on the culture of potatoes which is well worth 

 sending for. The information given therein is certainly valu- 

 able, being the result of many years' experience in the culture 

 of this important crop. Secretary Wilson has recently drawn 

 attention to the fact that this great agricultural nation does not 

 grow enough potatoes to supply its own wants. This certainly 

 ought not to be, and it behooves the more alert and progressive 

 farmer to be up and doing something. You can certainly rely 

 on the information which this booklet contains, and it is so 

 written and worded that any intelligent farmer can understand it. 



A POULTRYMAN'S DIARY. 



The Geo. Ertel Co., of Quincy, 111., is offering to the read- 

 ers of Gleanings a diary book gotten up expressly for the use 

 of poultry-keepers. With it there is no difficulty in keeping an 

 account of your eggs, chicks, and items of expense; and by a 

 simple system of book-keeping one is enabled to know just 

 what the profits have been at the end of the year. We believe 

 this is a good thing, and hope our readers will promptly accept 

 the offer so generously made. Of course, this is done to adver- 

 tise the incubators made by the Ertel Co., of which they make 

 a complete line at very moderate prices; biit it shows a com- 

 mendable spirit of thoughtfulness and enterprise on the part of 

 this company to get out such a book and to distribute the same 

 free to all who send in their address accompanied by a request. 



A famous seed firm. 

 Again we have with us for another campaign the well- 

 known seed-house of D. M. Ferry & Co.. Detroit, Michigan. 

 Probably nearly all of our readers are acquainted with the 

 name of this firm, as it has been doing a seed business for a 

 generation and more. This being the case, it is unnecessary 

 for us to devote any space to an introduction. They are al- 

 ways well to the front with novelties, and they sell a line of 

 good reliable seeds on which their reputation has been bnilt. 

 Their business extends to ^11 parts of the United States. If 

 you are intending to purchase seeds this spring it would be 

 well to keep in touch with Messrs. Ferry by sending for their 

 annual catalog, ready for use when you are making up an order. 



carriages and buggies. 

 As usual the Elkhart Carriage and Harness Co. place' their 

 advertisement in these columns for their usual business cam- 

 paign during the winter and spring months. They have done 

 this for years to the complete satisfaction of hundreds of the 

 readers of Gleanings who have bought their buggies and 

 carriages from this old reliable concern. In fact, they are so 

 well known to our readers generally that we do not feel that 

 we can add to their reputation for fair dealing. We do know, 

 however, that they have been selling buggies to our readers for 

 something like a generation, and always with pleasant and 

 satisfactory results; at least, so far as we can now remember 

 there has never been a complaint of unfairness on their part 

 received by us from any of our readers. They were one of the 

 first concerns of the kind to undertake to sell their goods direct 

 to consumers; and the fact that they have succeeded so well 

 speaks volumes lor their method of doing business. 



THE UNITED FACTORIES CO. 



This is one of the large business institutions of Cleveland, 

 O. It is composed of a number of factories banded together 

 for selling purposes. Their intention is to make a short cut to 

 reach the consumer by selling direct. No two of the facto 

 ties make the same goods. In this issue they advertise iron or 

 metal roofing, felt roofing, and incubators. Evidently they 

 think our readers are interested in these lines, and doubtless 

 they are right. We hope our friends will write for descriptive 

 matter and prices before sending elsewhere. This method of 

 selling factory-made goods has much to recommend it, as the 

 parties to the combination are large well-financed concerns 

 which must sell goods to keep their workmen employed all the 

 time. They are not speculators in any sense of the word, but 

 manufacturers very anxious to deal directly with consumers. 

 They not only save jobbers' and dealers' profits; but they can 

 more quickly build up a reputation for their goods by appealing 

 to the consumer direct. On the other hand, consumers should 

 see to it that firms of this kind are duly encouraged with or- 

 ders, as it is only by cutting out middlemen that the prices of 

 goods can be reduced. Some combinations are decidedly bad; 

 but this is one deserving of encouragement and support. 



