654 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



collection of t)7 varieties of hoiiey-iiroducing: plants, 

 pressed and mounted. My own exhibit consisted 

 of a displaj' of 3500 lbs. of comb honey, piled up In a 

 pyramidal form until it reached the roof. At each 

 end of the pyramid, tacked to the wall, and thus 

 forming: a background, was my display of honey- 

 producing plants, 77 in number. My display of ex- 

 tracted honey was very meager, only a small pyra- 

 mid of different-sized pails filled with candied hon- 

 ey. My specimen of ~0 lbs. of comb honey was 

 shown the same as last year, in the glass case letter- 

 ed "Gilt-Edge Honey." My beeswa.x was in the 

 same shape as last year. My collection of literature, 

 79 volumes, was shown in a glass case which was 

 lettered "Apicultural Literature," and below the 

 lettering was a large queen-bee in gilt. Mr. Cutting 

 outnumbered me two volumes. My display of full 

 colonies of different varieties of bees numbered five 

 colonies. Of bee-keeping imijlements I had 80, but 

 I believe Mr. Hunt outnumbered me by about 20. 



The west end of the hall was entirely occupied by 

 a magnificent display of comb honey from the api- 

 ary of R. L.Taylor, Lapeer, Mich. Beginning about 

 two feet from the floor, the honey was jiiled up un- 

 til it reached the peak of the roof, lacfiing about 

 two feet. For a background, Mr. T. used a light-i-ed 

 paper cambric. There were more than 4000 lbs. of 

 honey in this exhibit, and, to my mind, this display 

 was the most striking and grand of any thing in the 

 building. ]\rr. Taylor received the first premium 

 upon this display, also upon the specimens of the 

 best 20 lbs., while I received second premium ujjon 

 the same articles. 



Please allow me to digress long enou>,h to '■a\ 

 that Mr. Taylor's honey, as well as my own w i-s 

 raised without separators. Mr. Taylor also c \hibit 

 ed a colony of Italian bees wlijch was awaidtd hl'^t 

 premium. His Given press made the bi st Idn 

 made on the grounds. His bar-piercer was a>\ xi dt d 

 second premium, while Mr. Hunt was ^i\tn th( 

 first. Mr. M. H. Hunt's display occupied tlic ( iilm 

 north side of the building. Mr. Hunt miKis i 

 specialty, I believe, of extracted honey, and his <lis 

 play in this line was certainly fine. The hone\ was 

 put up in glass bottles of different styles, g lass lai ■s, 

 tin cans, pails, jugs, etc., all of which was aitistical 

 ly arranged upon pyramidal stands. His honey- 

 Cftses were blue, his honey-stands were blue, his ex- 

 hibition hives (and he had some nice ones) were 

 blue, his table, or counter on which he placed his 

 exhibits, was covered with blue cloth, and his 

 background was just the same; but when he sus- 

 pended long strips of bright yellow foundation 

 against the background, between the pyramids of 

 honey, it relieved the monotony wonderfully. Mr. 

 H. had on exhibition one strip of fdn. 50 feet long; 

 but, perhaps, the crowning feature of his exhibit 

 was a monument of wa.Y nearly four feet high. 

 The base was 17'4 inches square, and, upon one side, 

 in raised letters, was the word HUBEK. The whole 

 monument weighed nearly »'00 lbs. Bee-keepers 

 pronounced it the finest piece of waxwork they had 

 ever seen, while people who were not bee-keepers 

 would occasionally call it soop. The table in the cen- 

 ter of the building was occupied by a miscellane- 

 ous collection. A Mr. Quick showed a bee-hive, 

 samples of comb and extracted honey, also a fine 

 display of tho A'an Deusen flat-bottomed fdn. Mr. 

 O. H. Townsend exhibited a bee-hive, a case of 

 comb honey, and made a really nige little display pf 

 i«tracted. 



In all, there were 150 entries, and the goods on ex- 

 hibition were valued at *3000 or thertvibouts. 



One afternoon, in our tent back of the hall, there 

 was held a very UHconventional bee-keepers' con- 

 vention, at which there were present Prof. Cook, 

 James Heddon, T. F. Bingham, M. H. Hunt, Dr. A. 

 B. Mason, R. L. Taylor, H. D. Burrell, Mr. Heddon's 

 foreman, Mr. Stolley, Mr. Drew, Mr. H. D. Cutting, 

 and myself. I think there were a few others pres- 

 ent, but I do not recall their names now. The 

 " pollen theory," and depth of frames, were the 

 principal topics discussed, but I have not time to 

 give the discussion. W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Rogersville, Genesee Co., Mich. 

 Tliank yoti, friend IL, for posting us as to 

 what is going on in your .State, even if we 

 can not be iiresent personally. I am very 

 glad indeed to know you have such zealous 

 and successful workers in Michigan. If I 

 am not much mistaken, some of our readers 

 will feel as 1 do, after reading your descrip- 

 tion, that they are sorry they Were not there 

 too. 



RECENT IMPROVEMENTS IN IMPLE- 

 MENTS FOR THE APIARY. 



ILLUSTKATEI) WITH PICTURES. 



UIIINCt Ernest's vacation, he and Mr. 

 Gray have been busying themselves in 

 remodeling and improving oiu- price 

 list ; and to do this, a good many new 

 cuts had to be made. Below we give 

 I lo( )- It some of tliem 



IMI'UOM MLNT IN THL v^Mss w \\ I \ fit \( fOK 



Our friends will notice that we have 

 adopted the feature of friend .Jones's inven- 

 tion, tliat sends the hot steam up through 

 the center of the melted combs. In fact, it 

 is so nearly a Jones wax-extractor, as tigur- 

 ed above, that we are inclined to think it 

 will answer every purpose, while the price is 

 about $] .00 less. 



C.VGE FOR SHIPIUNG ONE POUND OF BEES. 



Since it has been fully demonstratetl that 

 queens can be sent even across the ocean 

 witlioiit any water-bottles, we now make our 



