98 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1. 



it is warmer inside tlian a liive with si)ace 

 l)acked. The same is cooler in summer. What 

 has become of the veiitihition theory? I settled 

 this theory in a few words. Why do bees seal 

 down the cover air-tight if they should have 

 ventilation? J. T. Fi.ETrnEH. 



Clarion. Pa.. Dec. 8. 



DO DAKK COMBS AFFECT TIfE COEOK AM) 

 (^TAEITV OF THE HONEY ? 



The question, " Do dark combs affect injuri- 

 ously the color of honey they contain?" was. I 

 believe, answered in tlie negative at the Keo- 

 kuk convention. I believe this answer to be 

 correct, if the honey is allowed to remain in thf 

 combs but a short time. But if allowed to re- 

 main in such combs a few months, its color and 

 flavor are both very perceptibly impaired. 



A year ago last March I warmed up and ex- 

 tracted several gallons of Spanish-needle hon- 

 ey for a neighboi' from combs that he had ta- 

 ken out of upper stoi'ics in the fall and stored 

 away in his hous<^ until he could get some one 

 to extract them, as he had no extractor. The 

 combs were not paiticnlarly dark, yet the hon- 

 ey was decidedly off in flavor and color when 

 compai'ed with my own honey gathered on the 

 same range, but extracted as soon as well ri- 

 pened. T. I'. Anduews. 



Farina. 111., Dec. :Hk 



OUTSIDE SHOW, WITH THE INSIDE NOT IN 

 KEEPING. 



Friend Root: — I have seen a little of the same 

 kind of work you speak of, imtting the best on 

 the outside, or on top. You are doubtless 

 aware that Utah has had a good rei)utation 

 for the quality of j>n^(f((c.s produced, but per- 

 haps you are not aware that her good nanu' 

 has been greatly injured by this outside-show 

 business. Now, I will omit names: but Mr. 1{. 

 being a business man. and in the shlp|)ing busi- 

 ness, and having a reputation foi' square deal- 

 ing, receives numerous applications for those 

 noted potatoes. Mr. B. goes among the (honest) 

 farmers and tells them what he wants, and will 

 pay so much a bushel for them, sacked and 

 loaded on the cars. Now, probably there are 

 half a dozen men loading a couple of cars. A 

 few of the sacks are opened in the hurry, and 

 fine potatoes are seen on top. and very likely 

 five of the six men have been honest, and put 

 just as good ones all the way through: but the 

 sixth one is the Judas; and as the sacks are 

 loaded promiscuously, withotit being marked, 

 all must bear the blame of those small and 

 some frozen and inferior potatoes. The ship- 

 per, of course, is held responsible: and when he 

 has trusted too much to the honesty of the pro- 

 ducer he "gets left."" Can anybody say this 

 is right? I for one am not sorry that friend 

 Root is starting in to let the blame fall on the 

 shoulders where it rightfully belongs, and not 

 on the innocent, notwithstanding it may " cut 

 close."" And I think ninety-nine out of every 

 hundred of your ten thousand subscribers will 

 be willing to stand by you: for when a man oi' 

 woman has labored diligently for a good repu- 

 tation it is not pleasant to have it tarnished by 

 Iscariot. 



I think you are right Avhen you think each 

 package of honey must have its producer"s 

 name on it. Although we arc a brotherhood of 

 bee-keepers, and could, and perhaps should, 

 work more for each other's interest than we do. 

 still, until we become a little more perfect, we 

 shall have to look to oni'selves for a good name. 

 In fact, that same little individual self is one 

 that we must keep watch of, for he is prol)ably 

 as liable to go wrong as any one. 



Taylorsville, Utah, Dec. 9. Homeu Hroavn. 



A KIND WOUD — UOAD-MAKINC, ETC. 



Mr. Root:— I have read with great a])precia- 

 tion your article under the head of" Myself and 

 My Neighbors." in your Dec. 1.5th issue. In this 

 new country I see so much shiftless manage- 

 ment, and hear so much complaining about 

 railroads and banks and monopolies, and big 

 crops and low prices, and big prices and no 

 crops, to all of which your remarks are so pat. 

 that I feel like responding, as I once heard an 

 earnest listener in a Methodist church. He 

 sat close up undei' the pulpit: and as the min- 

 ister clinched ev(>iy argument he was ready 

 with a response, as* is quite usual in tha,t de- 

 nomination. Finally, as a still more profound 

 truth was utter(>d, he shouted out, "A— men I 

 true as preachingi"" 



A])ropos of your illustration about the way 

 road work is done, don't you think that people 

 w'lio work, particularly farmers, need, above 

 every tbing, to learn and act up to the old max- 

 im, •' AVhatever is worth doing at all is worth 

 doing well '"? To use a current slang expres- 

 sion, it makes me "tired:"" yes, very tired, to 

 see the way, when a low ]uece of gi'ound is to 

 be piked, they will go into the very lowest spot 

 and plow deep holes on each side of the road in 

 ord(u- to get dirt out of whicli to make the em- 

 bankment. There is an old saying, " Let well 

 enough alone."" I could n(>ver see any sense in 

 it: but too many interpiet it in this fashion — 

 that, when a thing is done so as to answer for 

 the time being, it is done well enough. As you 

 say. what a vast amount of time, labor, and 

 money is wasted by doing things over year aft- 

 er year! Ev(u-y one seems to be striving, not to 

 do as well as he can, but to do as )niich as he 

 can. The other day a man came to me and 

 asked if I knew of a farni to rent. I suggested a 

 place, a good farm containing eighty acres. No. 

 that wouldn"t do— there wasn't land enough. 

 Just think, of iti only himself, no boys to help 

 him. one team of horses, and eighty acres wasn't 

 enough. He must have one hundred and sixty 

 acres to scurry over. Yes. indeed it does make 

 one " tii'ed."" Hok.'Vce N. Jones. 



Clay Center, Neb., Dec. ;j;J. 



BOARDS or quiets; WHICH ARE BEST TO COVER 

 SUPERS? 



Until the present season I have always used 

 quilts placed directly on top of the sections in 

 the super. jNIore and more I became dissatisfied 

 with tluMu. because of the great masses of pro- 

 polis i)ut iK'tween the sections and quilt. Some- 

 times the quilt was shoved up enough to let the 

 bees pass over the sections, and the whole top 

 of the sections «as smeared with glue. 



This season I handled 12,5 colonies in two 

 apiaries, run for comb honey only, and all in 

 ten-fi-ame Simplicity hives, slatted honey-board, 

 and Miller T super. On about half the colonies 

 we used t he quilt to cover the supers. The rest 

 we covered witli board covers, just a plain ^^ 

 board cleated on top to prevent warping. 



With tiie sui)er holding :.'8 sections we have 

 on top 3:.» openings, every one of which will be 

 lined with propolis, making 16 ft. of line pro|)o- 

 lized: but with the board we have al^out 1:2 ft. 

 of line propolized; viz., the outline of the super. 

 5 lines across between row and row, and row and 

 super, and a little at the corners of the sections, 

 where they touch tbc super on the side of the 

 super. The board being rigid, it is simply glued 

 down: but the quilt, being flexible, is crowded 

 up, consequently receives two to four times as 

 much glue, and is stuck right on top of the 

 sections, which, when scraped off, have a streak- 

 ed, motley appearance, while tliose covered 

 with a board will be somewhat discolored all 

 over the top, and have just a small line of glue 



