()22 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1. 



course, these eggs would produce only drones; 

 but when a few days old I transfer them into 

 drone-cells; and it doesn't take me long to 

 transfer a few hundred. They are then placed 

 in a queenless colony, and perfectly developed 

 drones will come forth. If the virgin queen 

 could be induced to lay in drone-cells, all this 

 would be avoided; but she usually can not. 

 The queenless colony will try to convert some 

 of the drone larvaj into queens, but not many. 



H. L. Jones. 

 Goodna, Queensland, Aus., May 11. 



[The best authorities seem to agree that such 

 drones, if raised in drone-cells, are as good as 

 any; it is possible, also, that those from worker 

 cells are also. No real positive proof has ever 

 been furnished either way.— Ed.] 



DOES NEW COMB HOLD MORE HONEY THAN OI.D ? 



I think old combs become more or less coated 

 with wax and dirt until the cells are made 

 smaller. If that is true, why wouldn't the 

 brood be cramped in its growth? 



Elbert Archibard. 



Stockton, Cal., Jan. 4. 1894. 



[This question has been brought up before. 

 Some hold, as do you. that the cells of old comb 

 are smaller; but others, that the cast-off co- 

 coons are removed from time to time. We have 

 picked out. assisted by a lens, from four to six 

 cocoons in a cell, but never more. It is possible 

 that, when the cells, from age of the comb, show 

 a tendency to become too small, the bees remove 

 a few cocoons. We confess we do not know 

 very much about this question. Authorities 

 seem to be singularly silent.— En.] 



ON the use of the pineapple. 



On p. 47.5, June 1, you ask any of your readers 

 who live In the pineapple regions to give you a 

 little light on the use of the fruit. My lower 

 place on the St. Lucie River is right in the 

 principal pineapple section of the State; and 

 while I am not making any business of growing 

 the fruit for sale, yet I have some 1.300 apples 

 this^'year, and expect to increase the number of 

 plants out each year. 



At present we are exceedingly busy with one 

 of the heaviest flows of honey 1 have ever seen. 

 and I can not take the time to write uj) the sub- 

 ject as you wish, but will try to do so as soon as 

 possible. I have often wondered why our un- 

 dersized and refuse fruit could not be used up in 

 some such way as you suggest; and when we go 

 back below in August I will try some experi- 

 ments with the canned juice. The practical 

 dilliculty will be to so can or bottle the juice 

 that it will keep sweet, and we should be very 

 glad indeed if you could tell us how it can l)e 

 done. O. O. Poppi.kton. 



Hawks Park, Fla., June 1.'). 



galvanized honey-vessels. 

 In the Journal for June 21, p. 244, Mr Wood- 

 ley, in "Notes by the Way," recommends gal- 

 vanized vessels for holding honey. I must 

 caution your readers against them (unless coat- 



ed). Several years ago, during the editorship 

 of the late Mr. Abbott, I found, in packing 

 over forty stocks for the winter, the combs con- 

 tained dead sealed brood (whole combs of it). 

 I forwarded a portion to the Bee Journal 

 of'lice. and Mr. F. R. Cheshire wrote in reply, 

 " Erood healthy, well fed. symptoms of poison- 

 ing; what have you fed the bees with, and in 

 what vessel was it placed?" I answered: The 

 vessel was a galvanized one. The food was a 

 little thin honey standing a month in the ves- 

 sel, to which was added 1 cwt. of sugar made 

 into syrup and fed to the bees. It was after- 

 ward found that the acid in the honey had 

 acted on the zinc and slightly poisoned the 

 syrup— not sufficiently so to kill the bees, but 

 sufficient to kill the whole of the larvtB, and, if 

 so, it must be a bad thing to store honey in. — 

 J. R. Truss. Ufford Heath. Stamford, July 2. 

 — British Bee Journal, July 12. 



APPLE-BLOSSOM HONEY IN ILL REPUTE. 



Apple-blossom honey is, with us, considered 

 very poor; in fact, we dislike it very inuch. We 

 would not eat It, but have given it to those not 

 experienced, or those who seldom eat honey. 

 They pronounced it fine. I told them I could 

 not eat it. They said it was all honey to them 

 — saw no difference. Hodge might like it, the 

 same as some like castor oil and quinine. 



Atherton. Ind. G. F. Ayres. 



APPLE-BLOSSOM HONEY FINELY FLAVORED. 



As you ask for reports concerning apple-blos- 

 som honey. I would say that I consider it one 

 of the finest-flavored honeys we have. I ex- 

 tracted over 100 lbs. from an out apiary, a sam- 

 ple of which I send you. 



The honey season has not been as good as ex- 

 pected, owing to too much rain. Alsike gave 

 us a nice lot of honey notwithstanding, as we 

 have induced the .^^owing of it by a judicious 

 distribution of alsike leaflets. 



Charles Stewart. 



Sammonsville, N. Y.. July 10. 



[The sample was received, and was of a very 

 fine di'licate flavor. Friend Ayres, above, doe's 

 not prize it so highly. Perhaps his was not real 

 apple-blossom honey, for the majority of the 

 reports speak well of it.— Ed.] 



IN favor OF the S FHAME hive ; the IM- 

 PROVED B.\R NOT LIKED. 



In regard to the discussion now current in 

 Gleanings may I say, first, of the two (eight 

 or ten frame hives) I much prefer the former? 

 I think, from luy own (ixperience, and for this 

 part of the Union, the eight-frame hive is 

 correct. 



Now for the second question. I think your 

 Dovetailed hives are very nice. The frames 

 look beautiful, and seemed to be spaced per- 

 fectly (new goods of 1894); but let me say that, 

 just under your top-bar (I mean that improved 



