1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



567 



the outer edge of the crate those sections which are 

 nearest completed, but not yet ready to come off. 

 I use the one-pound open top and bottom sections, 

 to prevent the bees from coming out at the top of 

 the sections. I put on an enamel cloth, or any other 

 cover that can be easily rolled back or removed, 

 when necessary to look in at the top of the sections. 



Another r« ason why 1 like this crate best is be- 

 cause I can raise the whitest and cleanest honey in 

 it of any crate 1 ever used, simply for the reason 

 that the honey can and should be removed just as 

 soon as it is fit to do so. 



Another reason is, I have fewer unfinished sec- 

 tions left on hand at the end of the season, for 1 

 take off only the full, or finished ones, till in the 

 fall, when I take my crates and all off. 



Copley, O., June 18, 1888. G. W. Harrison. 



As friend II. says, this case is desig^ned to 

 be used in connection with a lioney-board ; 

 but he says it can be used without one. We 

 hardly think that many of those wlio have 

 had the pleasure of using a honey-board 

 would think of using such a crate placed di- 

 rectly upon tlie brood-combs. The bottoms 

 of the sections, unless otherwise itrotected, 

 would become soiled, and daubed with bits 

 of burr-combs, and this, but few bee-keep- 

 ers would tolerate, especially those who ma- 

 nipulate large apiaries. 



It is true, it can be tiered up, but, we 

 think, not as rapidly as the T super or some 

 sort of arrangement which provides for a 

 bee-space between two tiers of sections. 

 As there is no bee-space in the frame itself, 

 and no projecting sides or ends to raise the 

 second tier f in. above the lower one, one 

 frame of sections would rest directly on and 

 in contact with the one below. The conse- 

 quence would be, that the bees would chink 

 propolis in the interstices formed by tlie up- 

 per and lower tier of sections. The bee- 

 space might, it is true, be provided for by 

 laying quarter-inch strips on top and at 

 each end of the lower tier of sections. In 

 the T super, a bee-space is left on top, and, 

 tier up as liigh as you may, each layer of 

 sections will be a bee-si)ace from the other. 



Friend Harrison mentions the facility with 

 which the finished sections can be removed 

 and empty ones slipped in their place. This 

 is quite an advantage, where one has time 

 enough to examine whether each section is 

 filled out enough to be removed. But in ex- 

 tensive apiaries, where large quantities of 

 honey are being produced, the apiarist could 

 hardly afford the time to take out and re- 

 place individual sections. By means of a 

 follower such as friend Miller has described, 

 we have found that the whole contents of 

 the T super can be emptied en masse almost, 

 as quickly and easily as one individual sec- 

 tion can ije picked out. Friend Harrison, 

 however, does not pretend to be an extensive 

 bee-keeper, and has designed this case more 

 for the convenience of the smaller bee-keep- 

 ers like himself. 



As to the expense of this arrangement, 

 we find, upon a little figuring, that it costs 

 very nearly as much 3S the T super, and 

 that, too, without its attendant advantages. 

 It is true, the pieces composing the frame 

 can be made of culled stuff, odds and ends, 

 that would otherwise be thrown away ; but 



any one who has had experience in the way 

 of handling culled pieces will know that it 

 costs nearly all it is worth to redress them 

 into something else useful. Again, in order 

 to give sufficient rigidity to the frame, the 

 corners should be halved. This in itself 

 likewise increases the expense of construc- 

 tion. It is true, there are no side-pieces,,as 

 in the T super ; but there are loose end- 

 pieces, so that nearly all the difference in 

 the amount of lumber used is, that the T 

 super makes use of the sides while the 

 frame dispenses with it. But the absence 

 of this amoimt of lumber is fully compensat- 

 ed in the extra expense incident upon con- 

 structing the frame. We had hoped to con- 

 struct them cheaper than the T super, and 

 thus nuike them for those who desire some- 

 thing cheaper. 



FALSE STATEMENTS IN REGARD TO THE HON- 

 EY BUSINESS OF OUR COUNTRY. 



As a protection to ourbee-kpeping population, we propose in 

 this department to publish the names of newspapers that per- 

 sist in publishing false statements in regard to the purity of 

 honey which we as bee-keepers put on the market. 



ANOTHER BATTLE TO FIGHT IN THE CAUSE OF 

 JUSTICE AND TRUTH. 



TT really seems as if the prince of dark- 

 M ness himself were massing all his ener- 

 M gies to do us harm. Not only have 

 -*- heedless men enlisted themselves 

 against us, but from the following we 

 judge that a microscopical society has in 

 some way got to blundering in the dark : 



Mr. Boot;— Herewith you will find a slip clipped 

 from the St. Louis Journal of Agriculture, on which 

 I should like to hear your opinion through Gle.an- 



INQS. 



honey. 

 The Microscopists' Society of St. Louis held a 

 very interesting meeting recently. The subject 

 was " Honey," and many specimens were produced 

 by the members. Of the several hundred samples 

 of honey not one was imitation, but the majority of 

 them were adulterated with such stuff as glucose, 

 grape sugar, etc. Pure honey has the greatest 

 amount of pollen, or dust from the flowers, which 

 sticks to the legs of the bees as they gather the 

 honey. The total absence of this pollen, which on- 

 ly shows under the microscope, is proof that the 

 honey is a fraud. The grades are determined by 

 the amount of pollen in each sample. The mem- 

 bers will make further research and report at the 

 next meeting. We trust the good work will go on, 

 and we will help to break up this traffic in adul- 

 terated foods so hurtful to the sale of pure goods - 

 something in which every farmer in the land should 

 be interested. 



The mischief-makers seem to have learned that it 

 is too thin to say that honey is adulterated with 

 cane sugar, as the former frequently sells for less 

 than the latter,therefore they resort to grape sugar 

 and glucose with which to adulterate their scandal- 

 ous reports. Is it possible that the majority of the 

 honey found on the St. Louis market is adulterated? 

 If so, it is no wonder the St. Louis commission men 

 are obliged to ijuote honey as low as 4'2 cts. at 

 times. Is it not possible that the St. Louis Micro- 

 scopists' Society know less about honey and the 

 resources from which it is obtained than they do 

 about microscopes? and might it not bo that one 

 good chemist who knows how to analyze honey, 

 would find less adulteration than a dozen micro- 



