1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



47 



FOUNDATION, AS DISCUSSED AT THE 

 CHICAGO CONVENTION. 



PRICES OF HONEY, AND HOW REGULATED. 



TT^DITOR GLEANINGS:— To the large number 

 ^ of 3()ur readers who could not attend the late 

 iPj' Chicago convention, Gleanings for Dec. 1st 

 ■^^ is a treat indeed. 1 never more wished to go 

 to a convention, and all the more regret my 

 inability since reading the meager reports. I had 

 hoped to be able in time for action, to propose the 

 National Capital as the next place of meeting. An 

 active apple campaign has so engaged my attention 

 and enei'gy that I was too late lor 1888. 1 bespeak 

 the consideration of the fraternity in time for 1889. 

 We can have a noble hall in the Agricultural De- 

 partment building for the meetings. Gen. Coleman 

 assured me of this. It is about time that we had a 

 location east, and a visit to our beautiful Capital 

 can be protitablj' made by many of the eastern 

 members. 



One point was happily brought out at the con- 

 vention; that is, the relative value of comb and 

 foundation as starters for sections. It ceitainly is 

 true, that, when bees begin to work, they will draw 

 out shallow combs and foundation, and finish soon- 

 er than they will with fully built combs of the year 

 before, if soft foundation be used, and newly made 

 shallow combs. But why? 



If the old combs arc cleaned out in the fall they 

 get dry and hard, .just as old foundation does, and 

 bees do not act on it as they do upon fresh founda- 

 tion. 



Some years ago Mr. John Vandervort told the 

 writer that it did not pay to use old foundation, nor 

 to put it in the sections long before use. Now, this 

 appears to be a mooted question. For foundation 

 does harden; and until the heat of the hive is great 

 enough to soften it, it appears to be disliked by the 

 bees. Friend Chas. Dadant said, sonic years ago, 

 that the evil could bo corrected by exposing a few 

 minutes to the sun's rays; and that it would then 

 be in good condition. Experience lias shown this 

 to be a great advantage with brood foundation. 



Mr. Vandervort went so far as to say, that, had 

 he a lot of sections with starters put in in the win- 

 ter, he would prefer to cut them all out and put in 

 freshly made foundation. 



The wet appearance so often noticed on old combs 

 refilled and capped, is probably owing to the im- 

 perfect attachment of the cap to the old cells, the 

 edges of which are jagged by the honey-knife, or 

 broken, and is, withal, hard and dry, and the junc- 

 ture is not perfect. A slight leakage is the result, 

 and wet combs. Inasmuch as all nectar is not alike 

 thin, some of it being very thick when gathered, it 

 follows that, under some atmospheric conditions, 

 the ripening objection would not hold as to deep 

 cells. 



PRICES ON HONEY, AS CONSIDERED BY MR. BAL- 

 DRIDGE. 



Mr. Baldridge makes some good points. But, let 

 us suppose that the community of buyers is as well 

 posted as the wide-awake bep-fiecper; could he, in 

 any such wide-awake community, sell for tSJ centg 

 that which was freely sold in the largo markets last 

 year at ti and f pentgV Why, at the Albany conveu: 

 tion last winter a party told the writej- he bought a 

 carload of California white-sage honey (which ranks 

 high, does It not?) at 5 cents per lb., delivered in 

 New yorji. Cftliforpia popib \}onej >va8 genf to ^aj- 



timore, and jobbed out at 10 cents per lb., and even 

 less in eases. The facts are, that in ]88() the mar- 

 kets were glutted. We have no reason to expect 

 a return of old prices for our special com- 

 modity while the general decline in the value of 

 all of the products of industry continues to prevail. 



When we got 20 cents per lb. and upward for 

 comb honey, sugar was about fiO per cent higher 

 than now. I should think, rather, that friend Bal- 

 dridge's idea reflected upon the intelligence of the 

 community he sold to. Surely they did not take the 

 bee-journals, or they would have seen prime honey 

 offered at less than half his price. 



Here in our town some iiroducers started their 

 honey at last year's prices: and the lowest, ISH cts., 

 for comb honey as good as the best. I had no trou- 

 ble in getting 20 cts. for all that I had. The home 

 market should be fully supplied, and at rates that 

 will secure that market to the local producer. 



Charlottesville, Va., Dec. 17, 1887. J. W. Porter. 



It lias been several times suggested, 

 friend P., that old foundation can be made 

 as good as new by dipping it in water, not 

 quite warm enougii to melt it. This, how- 

 ever, would not be practicable with starters 

 already fastened in the sections. 1 believe 

 that most bee-keepers are in the habit of 

 putting starters in the section boxes in the 

 winter time. You and friend Vandervort 

 would seem to imply that this is a bad poli- 

 cy ; but I hardly think the difference is 

 enough to amount to much. If we are oblig- 

 ed to wait until June before we put in our 

 starters, it would be a rather serious matter; 

 for one day in June is often wortli more 

 than a week during the cold weather of 

 winter, or even stormy days in spring. — I 

 think that many of the friends misunder- 

 stand friend Baldridge somewliat, as there 

 have been other criticisms in the line of 

 yours. Friend B. handles nothing but gilt- 

 edge honey. I remember that, several years 

 ago, he offered a very large price for extract- 

 ed honey, providinghe could get some equal 

 to a sample he. had been selling. A good 

 many had very nice honey, but none was 

 equal to his sample. The honey from alsike 

 clover, which we have frequently mentioned, 

 is of this class. We have some of it left, but 

 it is just as transparent now as it was dur^ 

 ing all of last winter. If handled in a cold 

 room you have to cut it with a knife, but it 

 has not candied a particle ; and I tell you. 

 such honey is delicious. It is no trouble to 

 get a half more for this than for the ordina- 

 ry run of exti'acted honey. 



BEES AND SEWING-MACHINES. 



THE TWO OCCUPATIONS ADAPTED TO EACH OTHER. 



§EVERAL of the bee-keeping friends have writ- 

 ten of the bee-business in connection with 

 other work. I believe school-teaching seems 

 to take the lead sp fi^r. For a number of 

 years I have run tlje §cwing-iiiaphine busi- 

 ness in connection with iijy bee?, and, take it all 

 ai'ound, It Is the best combination I kpow of to go 

 with them. With sufficient energy, I think it will 

 pay fully as well, if not better, than the bees. I 

 found it necessary to keep a team to market my 

 honey, and it was just what I wanted for the ma- 

 p>]ine work. Panvasging t'ov machines is lyork that 



