470 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1. 



=*^^i;Si:^55*=^«402 P£B YEARS 



something better to do, are trying to scrub off 

 the paint (or woody fiber, if not painted) at the 

 mouth of the entrance. 



Receive my Instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rath- 

 er than choice gold.— Prov. 8: 10. 



This number seems to be quite footnoty— eh? 



We have just been having some cold rainy 

 weather for four or five days. It is now clear- 

 ing up, and the bright warm weather gives 

 promise of staying with us. 



Mk. Hutchinson, in the last Review, says, 

 " Silence is the wit of fools." We always sup- 

 posed it was the other way; or, as another has 

 said, " Speech is silver, and silence is golden." 



Wax has been exported from the country 

 within the past year in large quantities. So 

 much, indeed, has gone abroad that its scarcity 

 is being felt already in this country. At pres- 

 ent we are well supplied. 



We have been obliged, and are now, to run 

 night and day to keep up on orders, especially 

 for the new polished sections. We are nearly 

 caught up, and are only four or five days be- 

 hind. The orders that are liable to be delayed 

 are the odd-sized goods; ut by the time this 

 journal is out we hope, with our large force, to 

 get every thing off on time. 



A coRKESPONDENT writes that he has experi- 

 enced great trouble from the bees attaching 

 bits of comb to wood separators. As this kind 

 of separators is used almost universally now, 

 we should be glad to hear from our readers on 

 this point. We have suggested some of the 

 causes in the department, "Beginner's Ques- 

 tion-Box," in another column. 



From present indications there is a very poor 

 prospect for California honey this season. 

 There has not, it is said, been sufficient rain- 

 fall to guarantee even a fair crop. There is 

 no great loss without some small gain ; for 

 eastei'ii honey, on account of the scarcity of the 

 western, ought to bring a good price. There is 

 is every reason to believe there will be a large 

 crop of clover and basswood this year. 



A SUBSCRIBER noticing the bees going through 

 a backward and forward motion, or, as some 

 have called it, the wash-board act, at the en- 

 trance, asks what it means. This has been 

 asked several times, but no satisfactory answer 

 has yet been given. Almost every practical 

 bee-keeper has observed this peculiar move- 

 ment, but so far we can only guess. It is gen- 

 erally during a time when no honey is coming 

 in, and, apparently, the bees, for the want of 



We are sorry to announce that Success in 

 Bee Culture, a sprightly little monthly at 50' 

 cts. a year, published at Highwood, Ct., is not a 

 success financially, and is now discontinued. 

 Its publisher, Mr. Burton L. Sage, will return 

 the money on unexpired subscriptions. Mr. 

 Sage, we are glad to know, will continue his 

 interest in bees as formerly. The journal took 

 so much of his time for the small return, and 

 having other interests, he was obliged to give 

 it up. 



A corner in honey, owing to its scarcity, is 

 what the California dealers are now trying to 

 work up, says the American Bee Journal. We 

 are glad if honey is regarded as enough of a 

 staple so that enterprising dealers are trying to 

 get better prices. Never before in the history 

 of the honey business was there ever a general 

 effort, in any one section, if we are correct, to 

 establish "a corner " on our product. We feel 

 safe in saying that bee-keepers will not object 

 very seriously to any thing legitimate that will 

 bring honey up to more like living prices. 



We have before us a sample of glucose that 

 can be bought for less that 3 cts., that has none 

 of that disagreeable brassy taste. Honey adul- 

 terated with that quality never could be detect- 

 ed by the taste ; indeed, it might pass for good 

 honey; but — it would not be honey; and the 

 worst part of it is, consumers might pronounce 

 it first-class honey. We shall have to give up to 

 Bro. York, that glucose can not always be de- 

 tected in honey by the taste. But happily we 

 have chemists who are competent to deal with 

 such stuff, else we should hesitate to write this, 

 for fear a few would make a wrong use of it. 



Of the recent discussion on the size of hives> 

 Mr. Hutchinson has this to say: 



Eight-frame hives versus ten-lrame Lives is being- 

 disrussed in Gr^EANiNGS ia a way that reminds one- 

 of old times. Di-. Miller, R. L. Taylor, C. P. Dadant,. 

 aiid other.';, are taking a hand. It seems to me the 

 point IS just liere: Wlien the flow is early and short, 

 as it usually is in this part of the countrj', the colo- 

 ny in an eight-frame hive gets its combs full of 

 brood, and is ready for sections sooner than is the 

 case witli the ten-frame hive, and better results are- 

 secured. It is impossible to give a resume of the 

 discussions, and they are too lengthy to copy all of 

 them. It seems to be one of those cases in wliich 

 you ought to be a subscriber to Gleanings. 



We have recently been out among some of 

 the farmer bee-keepers on a bicycle tour, in our 

 vicinity; and, even despite the fact that they 

 are almost, as it were, under the shadow of the 

 Home of the Honey-bees, their frames of the 

 loose unspaced type are spaced all the way 

 from 13'8 inches to IX inches; and such combs! 



