1886 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



891 



sibly blunder on something that will hit the 

 spot? 



^ I ^ 



FRIEND GOULD'S SECTIONS. 



.1. B. MASON GIVES HIS OPINION OF THEM. 



TN looking over Gleanings of Nov. 1, page 8.58, I 

 j^ find a descriptiou aiul also an Illustration of 

 ^i the Huteliins box, as described by Ralph E. 

 "*■ Gould. In these new things that are coming 

 up daily, we want to learn all their good points, 

 also all their had points; and this is what our jour- 

 nals are for, that we may communicate with each 

 other and thereby save others the expense of going 

 over the same ground to try things that have been 

 tested and found faulty. Gleanings has saved me 

 hundreds of dollars in this way. If Gleanings cost 

 $25.00 per year 1 should consider it the best invest- 

 ment I could v'ut $25.00 to, and here are some who 

 can't afford to. pay $1.00 lor it, or, at least, they 

 think they can't. Well, all I can say is, it is poor 

 judgment on their part. But, to return to the 

 Hutchins box. 



In justice to friend Gould I will say I have never 

 used this style of section, so due allowance should 

 be made in any thing I may say of the box. Possi- 

 bly I might like it better after using it. 



At our State Fair was the first time I ever saw the 

 bo.x filled with honey. Friend Gould had quite a 

 large display of honey in this style of section, on 

 exhibit and to sell; also one case holding these 

 boxes, that had been on the hive, and filled, or par- 

 tially filled. This honey was placed alongside of 

 my exhibit. We were allowed to sell honey at 

 wholesale and by the box, also by the plate. And 

 right here I owe you thanks, friend Koot, if not 

 money, for the description of how you sold honey 

 at the fair. I tried it, and it proved a perfect suc- 

 cess. Friend Gould was away most of the time, and 

 I looked after his exhibit. He gave me liberty, if I 

 came short, to sell from his. I offered some of his 

 to those purchasing a box, to carry away; but I 

 found, first, that people wanted to see that hidden 

 side; second, that, in removing the cover as care- 

 fully as one could without extra care, the section 

 was so trail that it would twist enough to crack the 

 cappings of the honey and set it to leaking; third, 

 that the shape of the box with the cover on is such 

 that it is naturally carried on its side, and that the 

 honey was badly broken. I found that pec pie 

 chose the open section, and had it done up in a 

 paper, at the same price, feeling that they were 

 getting more for their money, although that might 

 have been partially the light weight, as I found 

 these sections did not contain nearly a pound. 

 Judging from the feeling, I can hardly see how 

 those sections bring readily 2 cts. per pound more, 

 as friend G. saj'S. The case on exhibition was not 

 very attractive, as it was. These boxes were so 

 thoroughly cemented together with propolis that it 

 looked to be (juite an undertaking to get out the 

 boxes and clean them. Friend Gould says that 

 separators cost $1..50 per 100. He obtains with the 

 box nothing but wood separators, which can be ob- 

 tained tor 75 cts. per hundred. Then he speaks of 

 the boxes coming all put together, as though this 

 were an advantage, which I should consider a de- 

 cided objection on account of their bulk. It might 

 do for one who lived near the manufacturer, as 

 friend Gould does; and as for shipping honey, no 



device that conceals the honey entirely from sight 

 is practicable. I received a lot of comb honey from 

 one of our leading honey-merchants last year, in 

 which the honey was packed in a box entirely from 

 view, and might have been taken for a box of iron 

 or stone, and it got such usage that it was entirely 

 smashed up. Now, if this honey had been shown 

 by glass at the sides it would not have been thrown 

 around by the railroad men as it was. 



Mechanic Falls, Me. J. n. Mason. 



I am very much obliged to you, friend M., 

 not oidy for the kind words you j>ive us in 

 the outset, but for tlie report you make in 

 regard to the practical woiking" of Gcudd's 

 system of getting comb lioney. I did think 

 of the light section, but forgot to mention it. 

 Of course, they could be manufactured of 

 heavier material, without probal)ly increas- 

 ing the expense very much. I also omitted 

 to note the excessive freight charges that 

 purchasers would have to pay on boxes set 

 up. Notwithstanding this, however, we 

 send out a good many sections folded up, 

 with starters put in. We had a little experi- 

 ence some time ago in receiving lioney by 

 rail, that was boxed up tight so no one could 

 get a glimpse of the contents. It turned 

 out about as you mention. 



BUZZING AND HUMMING. 



HOW DO BEES UTTER AUDIBLE SOUNDS? 



"Up S there is some interest just now as to the 

 gll^ sounds made by bees, it may not be out of 

 J^ place to quote from Frank Cheshire's excel- 

 ■*^^ lent book. On page 149, Vol. I., he says: 

 "It would be extremely erroneous to con- 

 clude that the wings alone, or even mainly, give 

 out a note." " Landois recognized three tones in 

 the flight sound. The fii-st produced by the wing- 

 beats; the second, sharper in character, by the 

 vibrations of the abdominal wings; the third, the 

 most acute and intense, from the action of the true 

 vocal apparatus, placed in the stigmatic orifices." 

 He says the wings undoubtedly do the buzzing, 

 but the humming is as clearly the outcome of a 

 special apparatus connected with the breathing- 

 tubes, and that this humming, which may not in- 

 aptly be called the bee's voice, is caused by muscu- 

 lar contractions within the thorax, these contrac- 

 tions being the same that cause the wings to vi- 

 brate. This may sufficiently account for the 

 tremulous motion of the wings spoken of by G. M. 

 Doolittle (Gle.\isings, p. J^i55), without attributing 

 it to the tremor of the body. Indeed, when the 

 queen is piping, no movement of the body can bo 

 seen, as I certainly think would be the case if the 

 tremor of the body were sufficient to cause such 

 plainly visible motions of the wings. 



packing bees in i>ong boxes. 



On page 8t!l, Arthur W. Jewett tells about pack- 

 ing hives in long boxes, letting the bees have 

 winter fiights from these, and then taking out the 

 hives in spring, and setting them en the summer 

 stands. Among my dreams of plans for wintering 

 without hauling home my bees to put in cellar, is 

 one which consists in having a long box, or hive, 

 chaff hive if you please, say ten feet long, and thus 

 having a capacity of perhaps HO combs. In one end 

 of this would be put a colony of bees on 4 or 5 



