18SG 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



695 



him as authority as to the cost of producing' honey, 

 and where is Mrs. Cliaddocli's l)ee culture Koing- to 

 end? Slic is selling at a price l)elow the cost of 

 production, according- to Mr. Doolittle, and 1 tliink 

 liis figures are about right. 



SHALL WE JiXTliACT 1)AHK IIONEV ? 



I say, "Yes." I notice your foot-notes to Mr. 

 Pond's article; but 1 must say that 1 think you are 

 in error. Give mc all light honey in the comb, and 

 all dark extracted, for most i)rottt. 1 do not 

 speak theoretically, nor from a local e.vperience; 

 but after jobbing' and wholesaling: many tons in 

 nearly every Eastern, Middle, and Western State 

 in the Union. 



Ills :.'5,00') Liis. oi' H()Ni;v, a.nu mow to dis- 

 rosn oi'' IT. 

 Since the great loss of three-fourths of my bees 

 during- the sex'ero winter of lS84-'yr), 1 have been 

 compelled to raise extracted honey mostly, and 

 this year we have 35,000 lbs. of as fine thick clover 

 and basswood honey as I ever saw. I am having- 

 no trouble in getting- 8 cts. per lb. for it, at our 

 depot, in 50 and 100 lb. lots, packages thrown in. 

 Perhaps you will remember my articles on the 

 taking- and caring- for extracted honey, on jiages 

 (K5 and twilof Gr,KANiNOS for 188"). i'ou will rec- 

 ollect what I said aliout the results in disijosing- of 

 our crop, if we would only take the pains to pro- 

 duce an article of extracted honey that is in every 

 respect as nice and smooth as the best comb honey. 

 Well, I find the results as there predicted; for my 

 customers will not leave me, even if they can buy 

 extracted honey, from the same blossoms, at 2 cts. 

 less per pound. You recollect the raspberry honey 

 you sent me, at a low price. Well, friend lioot, it 

 is not eatalile, simply becau-^e it was either taken 

 before it was ripe, or else allowed to degenerate 

 after l)eiDg- extracted. I sec a new and grander 

 future for extracted honey, when our producers 

 will supply a choice article; but I sample scarcely 

 any, as I find it on the markets, that is good for 

 table sauce. I am compelled to admit, that most 

 that I have produced has been of inferior quality; 

 but for the past three years I have found the 

 better and far more ])roUtable way. I believe the 

 time is near at hand when 1 can job out .50,000 Ib.s. 

 per year, at prices that will pay for producing-. 

 * "ouii Mcuiuiions." 

 I am sorry if you have made haste to print a lot 

 of circulars after the copy of Mr. Cameron's par- 

 agraphs, as found on page tilO. We know that 

 these statements come frdm a man of good 

 heart,— we believe from a si)lendid man; but we 

 think he has made the common error of misjudg- 

 ing the class he has written them for. If all the 

 readers were living and thinking: on this elevated 

 plane, his statements to them would be of much 

 service to all; but such is not true, I am soi-ry to 

 say, and I believe that such a circular would do 

 more harm than g-ood. 



This article is now long- enough; but if you 

 choose I will point out to you the whys and where- 

 fores, and sug-g-est such subtractions, additions, 

 and alterations, as I think would make it a circular 

 of value. James Hkuuon. 



Dowagiac, Mich., Aug., 1880. 



Frierul II., I think many would clisagir.e 

 with you in regartl to tlie raspberry honey. 

 The "flavor is peculiar, yet I do not think 

 it unpleasant. I shoidd not, however, call 

 it etiual to the sample kegs of houey you 



sent us.— In regard to our neighbors, I am 

 sure the circular referred to will do good 

 among many classes. We should, however, 

 be very glad to hear your corrections, al- 

 terations, and suggestions in regard to said 

 circular. 



"OUR OWN APIARY. 



A GOOD IlKl'OliT KliOM THE HEDDON HIVE; 

 W()r{KIN(i EOH COMB HONEY. 



TN Aug-. 1st No , i)ag-e ()05, IJro. Heddon says Bro. 

 l^[ Hutchinson seems to be carrying thia problem 

 ^l all alone, and that he receives many adverse 

 '*' reports. In all i-eports I have seen of tests of 

 Bi-o. Hutchinson's i)lan of securing- worker- 

 comb without foundalion, the i)arties have violated 

 one or more of the pi-inciiHes as laid down by him. 

 One fails to pvit on the surplus-case at time of 

 hiving swarm; another put in a frame of brood. 

 To succeed in securing all worker-comb with this 

 I)lan you inu!<t he xiirv to put on the surplus-arrange- 

 ment at lime (if liiciiKj, and not next day nor next 

 week, as some report doing, as in that case they 

 will huild (Dtlu ilrtmr-comli, if a prime swarm, and 

 strong enough to be worth any thing for surplus 

 honey. 



I am using the new Heddon hive this season, and 

 have succeeded in getting- as much surpUis honey 

 without foundation in the brood-chamber as with 

 it, and the brood-frames are full of nice worker- 

 comb which cost nothing. I use one section of the 

 hive with foundation starters not over one-half to 

 one inch wide, in the brood frames, with queen-ex- 

 eluding- honey-board above, and put on a case 

 holding sections l)eforo 1 hive the swarm; part of 

 the sections were full of foundation, and part with 

 only starters. Others 1 arranged the same, except 

 1 filled the brood-frames full of Dadant foundation, 

 and the colonies with empty frames have made 

 as much surplus as those with full frames; and in 

 neither case did they build drone-comb in frames 

 or sections. In one experiment I used hybrids 

 with full and with empty frames; in the other, 

 Italians. The swarms hived on full frames in both 

 cases were stronger than those on empty frames, 

 and with this seeming advantage failed to come 

 out ahead. 



QUEENS AND SW.\*f{MING. 



I am convinced, from experiments with several 

 colonies this season, that the young queens do not 

 hatch until a very short time before a second 

 swarm leaves, and that the worker-bees control 

 all swarming themselves. Several years ago I saw 

 queens Hy in less than one minute after coming out 

 of the cell; and several times, on cutting out queen- 

 cells, I have found no queen hatched, even when 

 the queens had been calling one or two days, but 

 with the cap of cell cut nearly off; and as soon as 

 they were taken out of the hive the young queen 

 would come out. I also had a colony of blacks in 

 which the young queen was calling before they 

 swarmed; and by taking the frame containing the 

 yoiuig queen 1 made another colony which has 

 never swarmeil, and this is the fourth season since 

 then. This season 1 have tested it by waiting two 

 days after 1 heard the (|ueens calling, and in no 

 case did 1 find a queen hatched, but the cap cut 

 loose on one cell; and as soon as the frame was 

 taken out of the hive the (fuecn hatched; and by 



