600 



GLEANIN^GS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



occun-ed during a very fog-g-y period when a virgin 

 (jueen hatcheJ out in a liive from which the fli-st 

 swarm with the old queen had issued the day before. 



FOUNDATION IN SUPERS. 



Tt is the experience of Mr. Willjiu (and his 1200 to 

 ]r»00 colonies give him ample scope for observation), 

 that combs of fdn. pulled out in the supers are moi-e 

 liable to be croolced than if pulled out in the brood- 

 chamber. This is especially the case in the height 

 of the honey-yield. The fresh and tender combs are 

 then quiclsly filled with honey, which weights them 

 down and stretches them. The spaces between the 

 fdn. and the bottom-bars are filled with equally ten- 

 der natural comb, and the bottom-bars thus become 

 supports. Stretched downward from above, and 

 supported beneath, the combs bulge between the 

 middle and the bottom, presenting one surface hol- 

 low and the other convex, in an often unsightljand 

 inconvenient degree. In the brood-chamber they 

 are more apt to be filled with brood, and less liable 

 to be built to the bottom-bars at once. 



GRADING HONKY. 



It seems to me that honey should be classified in 

 three grades, to be lettered as are the correspond- 

 ing grades of sugar, that the standard of color and 

 quality of each grade should be maintained invaria- 

 ble, and that all cans, barrels, etc., should be marli- 

 ed (or, rather, lettered) accordingly. The more like 

 a staple our product is rated, the more systematic- 

 ally we look to its marketing, the more rigidly accu- 

 rate we are in our representations and markings, 

 the quicker and more satisfactory will be the sales. 



EXTRACTORS. 



I infer from your criticism of the Stanley extract- 

 or, that you are inclined to be conservative in that 

 direction. California bee-keepei-s are, in this re- 

 spect, perhaps a little ahead of their eastern friends. 

 An extractor whose comb-baskets would not re- 

 verse could hardly be given away to any extensive 

 apiarist in Ventura County. Extractors of less than 

 four frames are seldom seen, while six and even 

 eight frame extractors are very common. The 

 hinging of a comb-basket on a strong rod does not 

 in any way weaken it. I am confident, after seeing 

 them used practically, that the only disadvantage 

 attending a manj' - framed extractor is the longer 

 time required in starting up and stopping. I am 

 equally confident that this is far more than counter- 

 balanced by the advantage of not having to start up 

 and stop so often, and of being able to put all the 

 frames from a super in at once. From an examina- 

 tion of the engra%ing in Gleanings, I am inclined 

 to pronounce the Stanley extractor a practical and 

 desirable machine. 



I had nearly omitted to say, that bees here at 

 home, and in Monterey County, are generally doing 

 as well this season as those in any other part of the 

 State. A. Norton. 



Gonzalez, Cal., Aug. 18, 1884. 



p-iiend X., Mr. Davis, who invented the 

 brush you mention, sent us some with fibers 

 on both sides. We did not figure and offer 

 them for sale, because the department of im- 

 plements for bee culture is getting to be so 

 voluminous that it begins to frighten us. 

 Where will it ever end V If thought desira- 

 ble, however, we can have brushes made with 

 fibers on both sides. The expense ought to 

 be little if any more than if made in the 

 usual M'ay, because the fibers go right through 

 the wires. In regard to using the brush for 



prying the frames loose, it seems to me I 

 should have a different implement for that 

 purpose.— Your description of tlie way bees 

 get sage lioney is <iuite inteiesting. aiid one 

 who studies l>ees and tiowers will tiiid tliat 

 the bees resort to a great variety of ingenious 

 and oftentimes funnj' exi)ed"ients for ob- 

 tauiing the coveted nectar.— \A'e avoid the 

 trouble you mention in putting fdn. in the 

 upper story, by using nothing but wired 

 frames.— It is desirable, no doubt, that hon- 

 ey be graded, as you recommend.— Thanks 

 for your ideas in regard to lai-ger extractors; 

 probably you are right about it— at least, we 

 have one or two reports wliicli seem to indi- 

 cate that an extractor, to hold four combs, 

 or even more, is desirable. You will notice 

 tliat we regularly furnish four-coml) extract- 

 ors. descril)ed in'our price list. I think tliere 

 will !)(' a difference of opinion in regard to the 

 desirability of having extractors so made as 

 to reverse "the combs. 



PERTAINING TO DEE CULTURE. 



We respectfully solicit the aid of our friends in conducting 

 this department, and would consider it a tavor to have them 

 send us all circulars that have a deceptive appearance. The 

 greatest care will be at all times maintained to prevent injus- 

 tice being done any on<". 



§IN(;E our remarks on page ol4, under 

 the head of Humbugs and Swindles, a 

 friend has called our attention to the 

 fact that we put in a coniineiidatory 

 notice of the Golden bee-hive on page 

 128, March No., 1883. Our friends who have 

 Gleanings on file can turn back and see to 

 what subterfuges the Golden bee-hive folks 

 will resort. It is true, that on that page 

 over a ton of honey is reported to have been 

 received in eight days from eighty colonies ; 

 but the Avriter distinctly states afterward, 

 that what he calls the Golden hive had the 

 features entirely dropped on which the pat- 

 ent was granted. These patent - right swin- 

 dlers have put in tlie last part of the letter, 

 and my remarks with it, and now exhibit it 

 as a testimonial for the Golden bee-hive. It 

 seems to me anybody would be very short- 

 sighted who would accept a testimonial in 

 that shape, without reading the whole of the 

 article, or taking the article in a mutilated 

 state. The title itself ought to be a warning, 

 for it is headed, •' The Golden Bee-Hive, 

 With a good Moral on Patent Hives in Gen- 

 eral."' 



We copy the following from the American 

 AgrkuUurist: 



"the golden bee-hive." 



Prof. A. J. Cook, the eminent apiarist of Lansing, 

 Mich., sounds a shrill note of warning in the Detroit 

 Daily Post, which should reach bee-keepers eveiy- 

 where. He wi-ites: " I am told that I use the' Gold- 

 en Bee-Hive;' that he (the patentee) has sold hun- 

 dreds about Lansing; that the hive will surely winter 

 bees, etc. 



" I never used said hive ; I do not know of one used 

 around Lansing, and the hive so far as I know is 

 not used by a single prominent bee-keeper in the 

 LTnited States." Prof. Cook further states, that 

 " any bee-keeper has a perfect right to use all the 

 valuable features claimed for the ' Golden Hive.' 

 The Langstroth is free to all, and would be preferred 

 by every bee-keeper of experience to this so-called 

 patented hive. " Concerning the wintering of bees, 



