!l46 



GLEAK1I4GS JN BEE CULTtJEE. 



Dec, 



frame, cut out the amount a customer may want, 

 be it an ounce, a pound, or five or ten pounds, and 

 set the Irarao right back, and all the drij) fi:oes in 

 the tin tray, and does not need to daub tlio counter 

 or other jroods a bit; and, further, if the weight 

 does not come out even, a spoonful or two from the 

 tray below will make it. A. A. FRADEXnrKfi. 



Port Washing-ton, O., Nov. 11'^, lt>86. 



Friend F., this reminds me th:it almost 

 the first comb honey I ever raised was liy 

 picking ont nice L. frames of wliite sealed 

 honey while we were going over the hives. 

 They were liung upstairs with a dripping- 

 pan under them to catch the drip ; and when 

 we wanted a plate of honey for company, 

 we just cut it out. Sometimes the friends 

 would go up into our honey-room and see 

 our stock, and it was almost sure to give 

 them the bee-keeping fever to take a look at 

 it. I feel sure that more comb honey could 

 be secured in this way than in any other 

 kind of a honey-box. You do not tell how 

 much the merchant received from it, nor 

 how much it netted you. Nowadays it 

 makes a great deal of difference about how 

 niucJi a product sells for. 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS. 



BAGGING GRAPES. 



TN a recent number of Gleanings, the practice 

 ||P of bagging grapes is advised, in order to pro- 

 ill tect the cluster from birds and insects. This is 

 ''*' good advice, as it is about the only method 

 known by which perfect clusters may be se- 

 cured, in sections where the grape-rot is prevalent. 

 The bags are not proof against chickens, or, at least, 

 only partially so ; but they do serve admirably to pre- 

 vent rot, and to keep otT troublesome insects. Any 

 one who has never tried the plan will be surprised 

 and delighted when he sees the perfect and beauti- 

 ful clusters that may be raised with so little outlay 

 of time and money. It is not necessary, however, 

 to use bags or sacks. All that is required is, that 

 the clusters be covered. For this purpose it is just 

 as well to use a bottomless sack, or, to make the 

 matter more simple, take a sheet of some kind of 

 paper that will endure storms; wrap around the 

 cluster; fasten at the top with a pin, and the job 

 is done. The paper may be left open at the l>ottom, 

 but it is doubtless better to gather it in the hand, 

 and give it a twist; but a pin is not required. It 

 may require a little practice to do the work quickly 

 and efficiently, but it is not hard to learn how. 



There is one thing that must not be neglected, 

 and that is, to do the work in time— almost as soon 

 as the grapes form. A few days' delay will often 

 I'cnder the work ineffectual, so far as preventing 

 rot is concerned. Most people prefer grapes thus 

 grown, to those rijtoned in the open air. The differ- 

 ence between them consists, for the most part, in 

 the texture of the skin. The skin of bagged grapes 

 is rather more tender than that of those grown in 

 the open air. This is no disadvantage, e\-cci)t when 

 grapes are to be marketed. Tender-skinned sorts 

 like the Concord can not be grown for market very 

 successfully by this plan, unless the market is (juite 

 near, in which case the grapes will often sell for 

 two oi- three cents more a pound than open-air 



grapes. The difference is often so great that the 

 bagged grapes are the only ones that are marketa- 

 ble at any price. 



Will it pay ? Most assuredly it will pay to grow 

 the home sup])ly in this way, except in localities 

 where good grapes can be grown without the use 

 of bags (that is, if it jiays to grow grapes for 

 home use. It appears that some people think that 

 it pays to grow only such things as can be con- 

 veited into cash; but that it is a lu.\ury not to be 

 thought of, to eat grapes if they can be sold, and a 

 waste of time to raise them to grow them for home 

 use alone). As to the profit in bagging grapes for 

 market purposes, it all depends upon the cost of 

 the work, and the price at which the grapes can be 

 sold. Some who have tried it say that it pays, 

 others that it does not. W. J. Green. 



Ag. Exp. Station, Columbus, O. 



BROOD IN THE UPPER STORY; QUEEN-EXCLUDING 

 IIONEY-BOARDS. 



May T ask you a few questions? 1. In making a 

 two-story hive for extracting, 10 L. frames below, 10 

 above, would you construct it so you could use a 

 queen-excluding honey-board between? 



2. In running 100 colonies for extracted honey, in 

 how many would j'ou expect to find brood in the 

 upper stor.\-, providing you left the lower story in- 

 tact, and no queen-excluding slatted honey-board 

 between? 



3. At the bottom of many lirood-frames there is a 

 space of !4 inch, more or less, not 'filled in with 

 comb; and by putting on an upper story the bees 

 will generally build down the comb solid to the bot- 

 tom in the upper story, without the queen-exclud- 

 ing slatted honey-board; now, would they do the 

 same if the <]ueen-excluding slatted honey-board is 

 used? 



4. Not using the queen-excluding slatted honey- 

 board, which do .you consider the best bee-space — 

 ""a or .5-10 between upper and lower frames? 



Fair Haven, Vt., Nov. 4, 18Sfi. E. L. Wkstcott. 



In tlie first ])lace. friend W.. I would just 

 about as soon the queen would go in the up- 

 per story as not, when we are working hives 

 for extracted honey. You can, however, 

 easily prevent it by using a perforated zinc 

 honey - board. As the slatted ones are 

 thicker than those made of perforated zinc, 

 you would have to increase the depth of your 

 upper story in order to use them ; whereas 

 the Simplicity liives are all right for the 

 plain zinc honey - boards. In running lOU 

 colonies for extracted honey, very likely 

 you would find brood in every one of them 

 without the use of perforated honey-boards ; 

 but, as I said before, this Is no objection to 

 me. I think the bees woidd build the combs 

 down to the bottom of the bars of every 

 frame in the upper story, just the same as if 

 the perforated zinc were used. I consider 

 i in., or o-l<) in., the best bee-space ; I inch 

 would be more likely to result in small 

 combs. 



a note from AUSTRALIA. 



Fiiinnl Root:— I certainly must address you l)y 

 this name, as I look on you as a very good friend 

 to all bee-keepers, and to me in particular. 

 If it had not been for getting your A B C book I 

 should have been groping in darkness for years. 

 The majority of bee-books published don't go into 

 details, and the unfortunate novice gets in a com- 



