470 



AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL 



July 24. J 902. 



to sell it out quick, 4J^ to 5 cents might be all that would be 

 realized on it. 



Again, we have had repeated calls from a customer out 

 of town, who saw quotations intended only in a wholesale 

 way, and he thought that was the price at which he could 

 buy a single can of it ; he would send the money, which 

 would have to be returned to him. 



There are a great many things to be considered in 

 quoting prices, and prices vary according to so many differ- 

 ent circumstances. If a car is unloaded at a depot and 

 carted into a store and held from 30 to 60 days, the cost of 

 carting, storage and insurance would have to be added to 

 the price over and above what the car could have been sold 

 at spot cash at the depot and carted away by the pur- 

 chaser. 



The writer would suggest that a possible way out of 

 this difficulty, which is a very serious one, would be to 

 quote three grades of prices. 1st — car-lot prices. 2d— 

 wholesale prices. 3d — retail prices. And then quote only 

 for fancy or best grades of both extracted and comb honey, 

 and let those who are looking for quotations make their 

 own average of the lower grades. 



We repeatedly say at the end of our quotations that we 

 are producers of honey, and not dealers, and do not handle 

 on commission. Wm. A. SelsER. 



Concluded next wesk.l 



Bisulphide of Carbon Its Value to Bee-Keepers. 



BY C. DAVENPOKT. 



The article by Prof. A. J. Cook, entitled, " CS " which 

 appeared on page 390, I read with much interest. Before 

 commencing to use this drug moth-worms were one of the 

 most difficult problems I had to contend with, for they have 

 always been very numerous here. I have had sets of combs, 

 and even hives themselves, almost cut to pieces by moth- 

 worms in cases where the bees deserted their hives, and it 

 was not discovered until some time afterward. When comb 

 honey is removed from the hive a close watch must be kept, 

 for moth-worms are sure to develop on some of it, and if 

 their depredations are not checked a large part of it %vill 

 soon be ruined. 



Some persons seem to think these raoth-wornis appear 

 only on comb honey that contains more or less bee-bread, 

 but I regret to say that this is far from being the case here. 

 They are much more apt to appear on combs that contain a 

 few cells of pollen, but I have had hundreds of sections of 

 comb honey that did not contain a cell of bee-bread badly 

 cut up and damaged by moth-larv;e. 



A number of years ago I sold 2000 pounds of white 

 clover comb honey to a large retail grocery concern in Min- 

 neapolis. The honey was shipped about the middle of 

 August, by express. (I got a special rate, and went along 

 with the shipment, as it had to be transferred twice, and I 

 wanted to see that it was handled as it should be.) It was 

 not crated, simply cased in 24-pound cases, two of which 

 were fastened together. Not a comb was broken en route. 

 The firm was much pleased with the honey, and contracted 

 for more to be delivered later. 



About three weeks after I returned home I received a 

 letter from them, saying the honey was being all cut to 

 pieces by worms, and that they would hold me fully re- 

 sponsible for not only the price of the honey, but for dam- 

 ages to them in loss of time, customers, and numerous other 

 things, for, they said, they could prove the vrorms were in 

 the honey when I delivered it ; they had kept it in a place 

 free from worms, and there were no other worms of that 

 kind in the city. 



I had been afraid the moth-worms might damage it be- 

 fore they were able to sell it all, for it was shipped soon 

 after being removed from the hives, and had not been sul- 

 phured, sulphur being then the only remedy I knew of. It 

 would have done no good, for the honey was free from 

 worms at the time it was shipped, but contained moth-eggs, 

 which developed into larv^ soon afterwards. The fumes of 

 the sulphur have no effect whatever on these eggs, at 

 least not what we can subject them to without discoloring 

 the honey. 



The fumes of bisulphide of carbon not only kill moth- 

 worms, but utterly destroys the vitality of all eggs that the 

 comb maj- contain. A good many seem toquestion whether 

 it does kill the eggs as well as hatched larva?. I know, 

 from a large amount of actual experience, that it does. 



Last year I sold to a large grocery house, in a near-by 

 city, nearly 7000 pounds of honey. This firm had consider- 



able experience with, and loss from, moth-worms develop- 

 ing in honey after they bought it, and on this account would 

 not buy any very large amount at one time, although be- 

 sides a large retail trade they had quite a jobbing trade 

 from the Dakotas. Last season one of the firm was at my 

 place to buy honey ; if it were not for worms they could 

 handle a large amount. He was very skeptical about my 

 assertion, that the worms would not appear on it. In order 

 to get him to buy the amount which he did, I had to get the 

 bank in our town to guarantee him the full amount he paid 

 for the honey, on all that the moth-worms appeared upon. 



The reason I have mentioned this incident is on account 

 of a curious, and possibly important, incident connected 

 with it. This firm expected to need about 2000 pounds or 

 more for their retail trade, and this amount I put up in 

 " T " supers. The honey was all hauled to them by team, 

 and by using supers it saved me the price on shipping- 

 cases for this amount. 



' Last spring I went to that city to gather up a load of 

 empty supers, cases and cans, and found that this firm still 

 had considerable of the honey I sold to them. I helped 

 take out what was left in the supers and pack it in boxes. 

 While one of the firm and I were doing this he spoke about 

 my honey keeping so much better than the other they had. 

 He said that was why they had so much of mine left. They 

 had bought a number of small lots from different bee-keep- 

 ers around there, and towards spring it all commenced to 

 granulate or candy in the comb, and they wanted to get rid 

 of that first. I was unable to find a trace of granulation in 

 any of that I sold them. Now, this honey I sold them was 

 all subjected to the fumes of bisulphide of carbon for 7>Yi 

 hours, or longer. Did this prevent granulation, or have 

 anything to do with its not granulating ? If I live I shall 

 know in a year from now, or less, for this season I shall 

 subject samples of both comb and extracted honey to these 

 fumes and keep them over winter, besides similar lots that 

 have not been treated. 



Some may remember that I described how, last fall, I 

 had subjected the winter stores of a number of colonies to 

 these fumes in order to find out whether honey so treated 

 was affected or rendered unfit for winter food. I have not 

 space here to go over the matter, but in a former article I 

 explained why it was very important for me to know 

 whether honey so treated was safe for winter food, and I 

 am glad to say that it is. The colonies on these stores win- 

 tered in good shape, and this proves, also, I believe, that 

 honey so treated is perfectly wholesome, for if trace 

 enough of these deadly fumes remained in to make it inju- 

 rious to health, it would surely have affected the bees dur- 

 ing the long confinement of winter. 



Before closing I will say a few words about the manner 

 of using this drug. I have described this before, but I still 

 see it recommended by many to pile up hive-bodies contain- 

 ing combs, and treat them by putting some bisulphide in 

 the upper stories. Such a method may kill moth-worms 

 and eggs all right, or it may have no effect on them — it all 

 depends on how tight the bottom cover and hive-bodies fit, 

 how much of the drug is used, and the length of time 

 the combs are exposed to the fumes. I have a tight box 

 made out of matched lumber that is large enough so that a 

 number of supers of section honey or hive-bodies containing 

 combs can be placed in and treated at one time. When this 

 box is closed up it is nearly air-tight, and I know pretty 

 nearly to a minute how long it takes to kill moth-worms in 

 it, but whether the vitality of the eggs are destroyed as 

 soon as the worms themselves, I do not know. For this 

 reason I have always treated the combs much longer than 

 was necessary to kill the worms. Southern Minnesota. 



No. 8— Rearing Long-Lived Qiueens and Bee. 



BY DR. E. GALLUP. 



A few years ago I received a circular and price-list from a 

 queen-breeder " away down South in Dixie," which read 

 something like this ; " We have 300 colonies and our queens 

 are reared in those strong colonies under the swarming or 

 superseding impulse." And this is about the way I wrote 

 to him : 



"Dear Sir : — Enclosed find money order for and untested 

 queen, as I like the ring of your circular." 



In due time I received a queen, and she turned out to be 

 a good one in every respect. I ordered others from him and 

 received satisfaction, that is, they were as good the second 



