586 



GLEANtNGS IN Bi^E CULT^UllE. 



SEPT. 



is begiuning to put in an appearance. Bees usually 

 cast their first swarms in May; and when encour- 

 aged by feeding-, have been known to do so in Avjril. 



In , most apiaries you will hardly tind two hives 

 alike. People are beginning to inquire about the 

 Simplicity hive, and order thorn to some extent, and 

 1 look to very soon sec Ihcm used among- us, super- 

 seding- all others. 



Honey finds a ready homo market, at retail prices 

 from 10 cts. lor extracted, to 25 cts. per pound for 

 choice in one-pound sections. 



Bees are somewhat mixed, like the American citi- 

 zen—German, Italian, Cyprians, Holy-Land, etc. 

 It looks as if the American is the coming bee. None 

 can tell his pedigree. It is liable to be a mixture of 

 all— of composite oi-igin, like all great races. He is 

 larger than either pure breed, as is shown by the 

 fact that, when loaded, he only with great difflcultj', 

 and after many fruitless futile attempts, can pass 

 the drone-guard you sent me, while the pure bloods 

 have no ditticulty in passing. This superioi-ity in 

 size is also very apparent to the eye. He also has a 

 better femprr and better .sctjsc. He knows whenthtf 

 outdoor weather is bad for his health, and stays at 

 home, and devotes his time to the proper instruction 

 of the young bees. He also knows enough to "come 

 in when it rains," which is more than I can say of 

 those domesticated yellow-jackets, the Italians. 

 But, I will confess that I like the Italians better 

 than I did at first, and this year they are behaving 

 quite well. 



The first two years that I had the " pure three- 

 banded Italians," one could not even look straight 

 at them without having about a hatful dash into his 

 face, even in the winter, when the weather was so 

 cold that these bees would freeze and fall to the 

 eai'th before they could return to the hive. 



I think if any bee docs gather honey to any great 

 extent from red clover, he must be an American. 

 The pure breeds can't do it, and don't under ordinary 

 circumstances. 



I think motherwort, LeiDiuriif^, the liest artificial 

 pasture wo can have for bees, as they worked this 

 season steadily upon it when nothing else offered to 

 yield anj- hcncy, nor do they dcs prtitwlienhcney is 

 Ijlentiful. J.\MES H. Winc. 



Malvern, Iowa, Aug. ;.\5, 1884. 



CRATES FOR SHIPPING HONEY, AND 



CRATES FOR HOLDING SECTIONS 



OVER THE HONEY. 



Also SOMETriINO ABOUT CAI.I. INC THlNCi.^ BVTIIEIK 

 RIGHT NA.MES. 



MORE tlian one of the friends have liad 

 vexations and disaitpointnients witli- 

 ' in the past year or two, in ordering 

 the articles ligiired here. When 

 one-pound sections first be-^an to be 

 an article of traffic, we got out a case to hold 

 them conveniently ; and for convenience we 

 made this case in two sizes— one size to hold 

 24, and the other to hold 48 one-pound sec- 

 tions. These cases were also recommended 

 for the grocers to keep on their counters to 

 retail from ; and with this end in view they 

 are made with glass sides, as shown in the 

 cut. Of course, (juite a trade sprung up in 

 them, and we began to manufacture tliem by 

 the hundreds and thousands. A 4.S-lb. case 

 is figured above : 



SHIPriNG AND KETAir.IXG CASE FOR 48 ONE-POUND 

 SECTIONS. 



Well, after a while somebody wanted a 

 crate to hold sections right over the hive, 

 where the bees could get right up and till 

 them, and they wanted them so made that, 

 when filled, this crate could be taken right 

 off and sent to market, honey and all, with- 

 out repacking. Pretty soon a brisk trade 

 sprung up in these, and then there began to 

 be confusion. Some friend wanted a lot of 

 cases, and, forgetting to call the article by 

 the name in the price list, he got crates, and 

 vice vert<a. In order to prevent confusion we 

 changed our price list and our A B C book, 

 where they needed change, so as to always 

 call one a case and the other a crate. But we 

 have the same difficulty still, and I hardly 

 know of a remedy, unless we try to observe 

 this distinction iii speaking of the two arti- 

 cles ; viz., call the painted box for sending 

 honey to market, and to set in a grocery, a 

 case, for it is in reality a small show-case ; 

 and likewise to be sure to say crate when you 

 are talking of the box that holds sections 

 ready to be ]>la('e(l over the hive. For con- 

 venience in seeing when the sections are full, 

 we put a strip of glass about two inches wide 

 along each side of the crate as well as the 

 case. 



COMBINED CRATE, HOLDING SECTIONS ON THE 



HIVE, AND KOR SENDING TO MARKET WITH THE 



HONEY. 



We call it "combined," because it is so 

 made as to answer both purposes. As the 

 sections in the crate are usually taken to 

 market just as tlie bees fill them, there is no 

 necessity for using separators, unless oilie 

 chooses ; but the same sections without sep- 

 arators would hold rather more than one 

 pound, as has been fully explained and dis- 

 cussed elsewhere. 



Now, then, friends, in ordering, please re- 

 member that a case and crate are two dis- 

 tinct and different things. 



