328 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Stray StraAvs 



De. C. C. Miller, Marengo, 111. 



Those brick records, p. 233, are ahead 

 of book records in one way — you can see at 

 a glance the whole apiary without turning 

 leaves. But you must be in the apiary to 

 see the bricks, and you can see the book 

 miles away from the apiary, and plan ac- 

 cordingly. Besides, you often want to con- 

 sult the records weeks or years afterward. 



G. M. DooLTTLE, there's much in what 

 you saj', p. 252. The beekeeper cusses the 

 commission man ; but when the beekeeper 

 gets in a light corner it's might convenient 

 to have the commission man help him out. 

 AUee samee, if some of the middle business 

 can be cut out, it will be just so much to be 

 divided between the producer and consumer. 



A GREAT honor has come to me. I've been 

 notified that I'm eligible to become a mem- 

 ber of the Burbank Society, which admits 

 only choice specimens of humanity like my- 

 self. And it costs only $150. Could one 

 of you kindly loan me $150 ? 



Later. — I've just learned that a man as 

 common as A. I. Root is alloAved to be a 

 member. Also that, instead of $150, it 

 costs $151 — a dollar more than I can afford. 

 I think I'll not " jine." 



You think, Mr. Editor, p. 284, that with 

 immense buckwheat crops one might get 

 more honey by dividing before the early 

 harvest. Exactly what I tried to exj^ress. 

 But when you hint that stimulative feeding 

 might make early division all right for me, 

 we part company. I've some question wheth- 

 er stimulative feeding would make my bees 

 build up sooner; at any rate, you've got to 

 "show me" before I believe that any amount' 

 of stimulative feeding will allow me to di- 

 vide before clover-bloom without cutting 

 down vQ.y honey crop. [We did not mean 

 that stimulation would make early division 

 all right for yon. We really do not see how 

 it could unless you can postpone your hon- 

 ey-flow a month or six weeks.— Ed.] 



Ye editor, p. 284, threatens me with hav- 

 ing the whole fraternity down on me if I 

 insist that " Al honej' is superior, irrespec- 

 tive of quantity, to sugar syrup " for win- 

 tering bees. I don't like to be squashed that 

 way, but I guess I'll have to stand it, for 

 that's exactly what I believe. [That is right, 

 doctor — stand by 3"0ur guns; but we hope 

 you will not be shot to pieces. Joking aside, 

 possibly you are right ; but we believe we are 

 entirely within the truth when we say that 

 it is and has been within the line of ortho- 

 doxy to recommend sugar syrup in place of 

 honey as a winter food; that when either is 



sealed in the combs the syrup is not only 

 cheaper but better. Now, if we are going 

 to be shot to pieces by this bit of orthodoxy, 

 blaze away. Gleanings will furnish the 

 battlefield.— Ed.] 



My reason for not painting hives is econ- 

 omy, according to p. 232. That's a minor 

 reason ; and if it were the only one my 

 hives would all be painted. My first reason 

 was that Doolittle approved it. My main 

 reason is the same as his — it's better for 

 the bees. As one little item tending in that 

 direction, I may say that one winter I had 

 moldy combs in only one hive, and that was 

 the only painted hive. [It is hard for us to 

 believe that the paint on that one hive made 

 all the difference between mold and no mold. 

 •We suspect that if you would ti*y the same 

 experiment on a larger scale you would not 

 be able to detect any difference. Are you 

 sure there is real economy in not using 

 paint? Is it not a fact that an unpainted 

 hive will gap at the joints more quieklj'^ 

 than one that has been painted, and that 

 an unpainted cover will twist and check so 

 that it will not fit? Is it economy to let 

 robbers get through these cracks? If it is 

 economy to let our hives go unpainted, 

 would it not be economy to let our houses 

 go the same way ? Say, doctor, here is such 

 a good chance to " jab " you and Mr. Doo- 

 little that we could not resist. — -Ed.] 



Comb-honey quotations have an unusual 

 aspect. As is usual, the price toward spring 

 dropped perhaps two cents. The unusual 

 thing is that now, before any thought of 

 new honey coming in, the price has gone up 

 again wliere it was. I wonder just why 

 this year should differ from other j'ears, 

 when it stayed dropped, no matter how 

 scarce. [The markets have been more thor- 

 oughly cleaned up of good comb honey than 

 ever before. There is a plenty of odds and 

 ends and No. 2 and candied comb honey, 

 but there is a gTeat scarcity of No. 1 and 

 fancy. Furthermore, intelligent and persis- 

 tent advertising is now being carried on 

 more extensively than ever to push the sale 

 of both comb and extracted honej^ If j-ou 

 will take a trip going through some of the 

 large cities of the United States you will 

 see that both comb and extracted honey are 

 being put up more attractively than ever 

 before. The packages, both of glass and 

 tin, have the same professional appearance 

 as other food products in glass and tin. 

 Heretofore that has not been true. The 

 day of cheap labels on cheap amateur-look- 

 ing packages has gone by. — Ed.] 



