332 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. l"). 



saw no living insect. Last week I again no- 

 ticed that some of the leaves on my oleander- 

 tree were a little sticky, and a f(>w of those little 

 red cocoons. I should think they were, under the 

 leaves. 



BKE-FEEDEKS. 



Last fall, when we fed up some colonies foi' 

 winter, we tried several feeders, and none gave 

 better satisfaction than cheap t^in milk-pans. 

 If one buys quite a number they can be bought 

 very cheap; and then we are sure of no loss of 

 the syi'up. We had cotton cloths over the top 

 of the pans, and we tilled them full and set 

 them on top of the frames and covered the rest 

 of the frames up, except large entrances for the 

 bees to go above: and in one night they would 

 take down two quarts or more, and worked vig- 

 orously until all was gone. We had some old 

 wooden feeders we tliouglit wei'e glued and pro- 

 polized so tight they would not leak; but if fill- 

 ed above, where tried. w(> found them leaking 

 in the hive; and one that stood outdoors in th(^ 

 rain several days, out of which we had to pour 

 the water, when put into the hive they let a gal- 

 lon of rich syrup run out, and caused bad rob- 

 bing of that colony the next day ; indeed, it near- 

 ly ruined the colony, as the bees came in and 

 took all the honey they had in the hive before 

 we noticed the robbing was so serious. I men- 

 tion the abov(» fact to warn others to be careful 

 of wooden or leaky feeders. This spring we in- 

 tend to try large deep pie-tins, just shoved 

 under the brood-frames, as we shall have to 

 feed some. As our colonies are all set up an 

 inch higher than in summer, we can take down 

 a side board and shove the pie-tin under, first 

 laying in the pie-tin a cotton cloth to make 

 footholds for bees to walk out and in. A large 

 pie-tin will hold from two-thirds of a quart to a 

 full quait. and can be bought for three cents 

 each, and will last a lifetime. 



Rosevillc. 111. Mks. L. C. Axtei,l. 



[Your suggestion in regard to wliy queens are 

 destroyed after being clipped are, some of them, 

 new to me: but I think you are no doubt right, 

 my good friend. — I am glad to see that you agree 

 so nearly with Dr. Miller and others in this 

 matterof uniting weak colonies in the spring. 

 A weak colony that is making progi'ess. and is 

 pretty surely building up. should be let alone. 

 Two queens (in a very little time at least), will 

 produce more brood than one queen; and if they 

 are doubled up, one (pieen must take tlie place 

 of two. — I wish tocniphasizc t lie danger pointed 

 out, of opening and spreading the brood in 

 chilly weather. It is like taking delicate plants 

 from the greenhouse and putting them out into 

 the frosty air. — Yes, the bee-keeper should plan 

 certain kinds of woi'k to be done when the hon- 

 ey does not happen to come. — Probably Pi'of. 

 Cook can tell you the cause of the honey-dew 

 on your house-plants, fi-om the description you 

 give. — Yes, 1 know that a tin pan can be made 

 to answer the purpose of an expensive feeder; 

 and this is the point I had in view when we 

 made the machinery for making our bread-pan 

 feeder. It is some trouble to fuss with cloths, 

 etc. One day I found the women-folks wash- 

 ing out a lot of cloths that had been used over 

 the tin-pan feedeis. I soon figured up that the 

 labor of washing them was more than the cloth 

 would cost in the first place. Of course, where 

 one has nothing else to do this might not be so 

 bad: but we should be careful about letting 

 hired help do work that costs more than it 

 comes to. If you put your pie-plate feeders 

 under the frames, there is a way to manage 

 without being annoyed by the cloths at all. 

 Have your pie-tins made just as large as the 

 bottom of the hive; then have the sides reach 



high enough so that,when tilled with syru|j, the 

 lower part of th<' frames will dip into it. A bee 

 will never drown in such a tin pan as this, and 

 you can till it up by pouring the syrup on toj) of 

 the frames, so as to run down between them. 

 You want to have the lowest side of your tin in 

 sight, however, so as not to get so much syrup 

 in as to run it over. We have used such feeders 

 very successfully; but it is a little trouble to get 

 them out of the hiv(! when you are through 

 with them, unless your hive has a movable bot- 

 tom-board. In that case, an assistant can lift 

 the hive while you take out the feeders.] 



HONEY FOR EXHIBITION PURPOSES. 



A 8TANDAKI) XEEDED. 



Mr. Root:— At the convention in Albany, the 

 desirability of a standard of comparison iu 

 awarding premiums on bees at fairs and exposi- 

 tions was touched upon. It is a good idea, and 

 I have long thought that a similar standard, oi" 

 scale of points, should be furnished the judges 

 of honey at such exhibitions. Better justice 

 would be done exhibitors, awards being many 

 times made* without intelligent inspection. 

 That is to say, they are made (with the best of 

 intentions on the part of judges) in an oflf-hand 

 manner. A case in point occurred at a State 

 fair. After an award had been made upon a 

 specimen of comb honey, some of the other ex- 

 hibitors decided to examine it. when it was 

 found that the case contained a few sections of" 

 white honey wiiile the remainder was dark and 

 inferior. The case was closed, and nothing, so 

 far as I am aware, was ever said; but certainly 

 the superficial examinafion of the judge result- 

 ed in injtistice to exhibitois of iietter honey. 

 If the idea should meet with approval it is per- 

 haps not too late to induce officials to put it 

 into the premium lists of fairs and expositions- 

 to take place during the coming summer and 

 fall. Brought thus to the notice of bee-keepers 

 it would have an educational value, the effect 

 of wliich would appear in the better grading of 

 honey for market. I submit the following 

 scale for amendments: 



( Color. .5. 

 Honey — - Body. 5. 



( flavor, 5 15. 



i vStraightness. n. 

 Comb—- Color of capping, 5. 



( Completeness of capping. 5. . . 15 



LTniformity 10 



Style 10 



Possible 50 



By ■■ unifoi'mity " is meant the closeness of 

 resemblance in the sections composing the 

 specimen. " Style " includes the attractiveness 

 of section and case, also absence of propolis. 



kecipe fob canning pumpkin, fob MB. 



CIIALON FOWLS. 



stew and sift the pumpkin, as for immediate 

 use. Add sugar, ginger, and cinnamon, to taste. 

 Return to the stove and add water if too dry. It 

 should be .somewhat soft to settle down in the 

 can without air-bubbles, and the water can be 

 evai)orated when wanted for use. When boil- 

 ing hot. pack solid in air-tight cans, and it will 

 keep well. 



HOAV TO KEEP MOLD FBOM CANNED FBUIT. 



Perhaps it will not be amiss to make further 

 comment on canning fruit. I have been very 

 fortunate in exhibiting canned fruit at fairs, 

 where many make inquiry as to my method. I 

 very seldom have mold on my fruit, while many 



