154 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Ma\{. 1. 



fYou have givPii inanv valuablo points, friend 

 N in regard to our modest friend Mr. Hoffman 

 Tiiid his methods of \vorl< in tli<^ ai)iai'y. For the 

 hi ^t fifteen years he has been working quietly 

 in tliis way. while tlie ontside world knew little 

 or nothing of hiin. much less that he had a 

 brood-frame that now seems to be taking the 

 apiarian world by storm. . ., ^ . 



When we visited Mr. Hoffman we failed to 

 observe that he had his hives arranged in 

 pairs- yet manv intelligent bee-keepers are be- 

 o-inning to think it economy lo put hives either 

 fn pairs or groups. In Mr. Hoffman's method 

 of arranging hives, the entrances all point 

 toward each other: and the bees, as it were, in 

 their flight are focused toward one spot; and 

 that spot is in the center of a group of four 

 hives We have never tried exactly this ar- 

 rangement, but something similar to it. At 

 nresent we rather prefer the plan we advocated 

 on page 922. Dec. 1, and 959. Dec. 1.5, of having 

 the bees occupy one alleyway for their flight, 

 while the other would be comparatively tree tor 



the apiarist. Ar;ii„.. 



Mr. Hoffman is a good deal like Dr. Millei — 

 he wants a good substantial cleat with which to 

 nick up his hive. We can readily understand 

 how one who has become thoroughly accus- 

 tomed to the cleats would not readily be satis- 

 fied with handholes made with a wabbling 

 saw We who have always been accustomed to 

 handholes find no particular inconvenience in 

 lifting hives by them to the wagon, or tor any 

 other general handling. 



When we visited INIr. Hoffman we were par- 

 ticularly interested in his kind of entrances. 

 This together with several other things we 

 saw'^about the place, convinced us that he was 

 pre-eminently a bee-keeper who used short 

 (Mifi '■ These entrance - holes can be very 

 uuicklv closed: and they have, besides certain 

 other advantages. If bee-k;eepers could be con- 

 tent to use hives with tight bottoms, perhaps 

 these entrances would be preferable to a 

 Ion" slot: but there are advantages in long 

 narrow entrances not possessed by 114-inch 

 holes The former, the mice can not get 

 thron'o-h- and where frames are shallow, like 

 the Langstroth. the long narrow entrance is 

 better, because it gives more alighting room for 

 the bees when coming in laden with lioney. 



On nage 737. S(>pt. l.''>th issue, last year's vol- 

 ume, you will remcmbrr that two of us pre - 

 naredand loaded 57 hiv(>s m an hour and a halt. 

 At the time, we made, this statement to prove 

 that bees could be handled on Hoffman traraes 

 rapidly, and that hives containing such trames 

 could be quickly loaded on to the wagon for 

 moving. We thought we w(M-e doing pretty big 

 things? and so did' our friend A. .\. Draper, of 

 Upper Alton. 111. On page 4(;H ot th- A>ncnmn 

 Bee Jnurnnl, Oct. S. he cha leng.-d th.- state- 

 ment But it seems that Mr. Hoffman s man 

 prepared and loaded 28 in 30 minutes alone, and 

 this would be .5() hives in one hour. We two 

 loaded only .57 in an hour and a halt, l^rom 

 this it would appear that Mr. Hoffman s man 

 did the work in about two-lhirds the time that 

 tiro of us did. According to the way in which 

 we worked, one of us would have loaded .0. 

 hives in three hours; but Mr. Hoffman s man 

 would have loaded .5(5 hives in one hour. Ihis 

 will be a poser for friend Draper. I our teat 

 seemed difficult of accomplishment, what must 

 he say of the apiarist of Canajoharie.' After 

 all \he credit is not due to him but to his em- 

 oloVer Mr..Iulius Hoffnum. And this shows 

 Suite conclusively how Mr. H.. with his appli- 

 ances, manages his apiaries with the minimum 

 of labor and expense, and how he would make 

 money when others would lose. 

 There are two other points to whicli we 



should call attention: That handling frames or 

 disturbing the brood-nest is liable to increase 

 the desire for swarming. If any of our readers 

 liave made observations on this point we should 

 be glad to hear from them. 



Another point is the use of grass in stopping 

 robbing. Dr. Miller has used the same scheme, 

 especially when working with out-apiaries. 

 The entrances may he plugged tightly with 

 grass, and. in a couple of hoiirs after the rob- 

 bers have given up and (luit their nonsense, the 

 grass will have wilted, and opened the entrances 

 automatically, although the apiarist may be 

 miles away.] 



THE ALBANY GRADING. 



MM. ELWOOD EXPLAINS IT. 



In a recent issue of Gleanings the editor 

 calls attention to the fact that, in the markings 

 for the Italian bee, the numbers do not foot up 

 an even hundred. As I remember, the missing 

 ten should be added to wintering, making it 

 twenty-five, and' the whole scale substantially 

 the same as Mr. Knickerbocker put it in his 

 essay. The only change made was five taken from 

 color and added to honey-gathering and comb- 

 building qualities. In future it may be thought 

 best to divide the last-mentioned points and 

 give each one a separate marking. Bee-keepers 

 do not object to handsome bees, but they do 

 object to having this accomplished by in-and- 

 in breeding to the exclusion of the far more 

 important qualities. The original report was 

 hurriedly corrected in pencil: and although Mr. 

 Hutchinson prides himself on being skillful 

 in decii)heriug hieroglyphics, it is perhaps not 

 strange that he failed on this. Probably for 

 the same reason the report on grading honey 

 was not given correctly. The report says. 

 "Honey shall be graded in two grades,'" and 

 then proceeds to name four regular grades. It 

 should read. ■■ White honey shall be graded in 

 two grades.'" The description of the third 

 grade is also defective. The comph^te report 

 should read as follows: 

 White honey sliall be graded in two g-rades: 

 The first to 1)6 known in the trade as " fancy," or 

 " fancy wliite," and to be marked " A." It sliall be 

 composed of well-flUed sections of ligl it-colored 

 lioiK'ys. Out" f ;ice of eacli section sliall he i)erfect 

 ill ;iii"i)e;ii-:iiice. I'uUy sealed, except tlio line of cells 

 toLicliiiiK the wood. The other side of the section 

 shall eiliiei' be jiei'fect in color and sealing-, or near- 

 ly so. 



Tlie second grade shall be known in the trade as 

 "fair to good white," and be marked "C," and 

 shall be packed to meet tlie requirements of those 

 desbing a good lioney, but who care little for out- 

 side appeiiraiK-e. It shall be composed of honey 

 thrown out of the first grade, irregular and travel- 

 stained combs, sections not perfectly filled, hut yet 

 lia\'ing but little unsealed honey. 



The third grade shall be known as "'mixed 

 honey," and shall be composed of white honey 

 ciiii'tiy, mixed with inferior hone,y, including l)u<-k- 

 wheat and fall Howers, and shall be marked '- M." 

 We advise thatconilis so l)adly stained as In ha\-e 

 tlie color of salfron be thrown into this grade. 



tUickwheat honej' shall be packed by itself and be 

 marked " 15." 



Those bee-keepers sending to market boxes 

 known as "pieces" shall put upon them a private 

 mark of their own. This should also apply to lioney- 

 (lew, and aiij' other kind not falling into regnhir 

 grades. 



This report was made with the knowledge 

 that bee-keepers usually stencil their honey 

 with their full address, thus giving the State 

 and locality in which the honey is produced, 

 whicli is important in judging of quality. 

 While the first and second grades are composed 

 of light-colored honeys it is, of course, expected 

 that the lightest colored will go into the first 



