338* 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aran, 1. 



[Yes. friend R.. I did notice particularly the 

 wooden shoe worn by the Chinese women, and 

 their peculiar walk ; and Mrs. Root and I both 

 admired the Chinese juveniles. They are by all 

 odds the cutest and prettiest members of the 

 Chinese family ; and how in the world these 

 Chinamen can stay here in our country without 

 their liitle ones, to say nothing of their wives, is 

 beyond my comprehension. I saw some little 

 fellows carrying in wood, and doing other chores 

 about the house, and they seemed to be as deft 

 and handy, almost, as the grown-up ones. It 

 seems we went over about the same ground, and 

 we were especially interested in Sutro Park and 

 Sutro Heights, and the seals. You call them 

 •'sea-lions.'' Well, it seemed to me that some 

 of those big fellows were something more than 

 large seals.— It seems to me your machine for 

 making basket-splints is a rather primitive one. 

 Can they not get better tools from some of our 

 Eastern manufacturers? Your investigations in 

 regard to material for making sections just 

 about agree with our own here.— In regard to 

 the Calif oniia Bee-keejjer: I do not know that 

 it is our business to stir up discord ; but it oc- 

 curs to me that Mr. Sty an and his son, when they 

 found that they had too much else to do to 

 keep the Bee-keeper going, should have refund- 

 ed the money for which no equivalent had been 

 rendered. I mention this because I heard con- 

 siderable complaint along this line; and if the 

 matter is not fixed up, people are going to be a 

 little slow hereaftei' in subscribing for new bee- 

 papers.] A. I. R. 



THE PORTEK BEE-ESCAPE. 



A GOOD TESTIMONIAI, FOR IT: BEES' WINGS NOT 

 TOKN BY IT. 



In response to your request concerning the 

 Porter spring bee-escape tearing bees' wings, I 

 wish to say that bees' wings are not injured in 

 the least in passing through the escape. Al- 

 though I have used these escapes ever since 

 their invention, and having no occasion to mis- 

 trust any injury to the bees in any way, upon 

 reading your editorial I made further investiga- 

 tion. Having a few springs, such as are used 

 in the Porter escape, I tried cutting or tearing 

 bees' wings with one of these springs, and 

 found it almost impossible to mutilate the 

 wings, even when holding them between the 

 thumb and finger of one hand, and u<ing the 

 spring as a knife-blade or punch. So tough and 

 flexible are the wings of bees, that they slip 

 aside in spite of any eftort to hold them in posi- 

 tion to tear them. I also caught a bee and 

 brought it to a window, and compelled it to 

 pass through an escape several times, watching 

 it closely while doing so; and should you make 

 an experiment of this nature, you would doubt- 

 less say, " Nonsense ! " I think that no intelli- 

 gent bee-keeper would expose his ignorance by 

 intimating that bees' wings are injured by 

 passing between the springs of the Porter es- 

 cape. Much less would it be likely that an in- 

 telligent gatlicriug of bee-keepers would pass a 

 verdict of cc(nd<'mnation in matters of this kind 

 without thorough investigation; so I think 

 there must be some mistake in this matter. 

 Furthermore, it does seem that, where so nuiny 

 prominent bee - keepers, such as Prof. A. J. 

 Cook, .1. F. Mclntyre. Thoimis Pierce, John S. 

 Reese, .1. H. Martin, and many we can not men- 

 tion, have given such hearty commendations of 

 this useful implement, the matter as mentioned 

 in your editorial could not be very sei'ious, or 

 some one would have discovered it ere this. 



If all the appliances of the apiary wei'e as 

 faultless as the Porter escape, bee-keepers 



would have but little to complain of in the mat- 

 ter of fixtures. S. A. Shuck. 

 Liverpool, 111.. Mar. 10. 



[We have had enough now to prove that the 

 rumor of wing-tearing was founded on mistake 

 If any thing has been called out it is that the 

 Porter is a good thing.] 



THICK VS. THIN FOUNDATION FOR SECTION 

 HONEY. 



THE ONTAIUO AfiKICUI-TURAL AND EXPERI- 

 MENTAL UNION DECLARE IN FAVOR OF THE 

 EXTRA THIN FOR SURPLUS. 



The following pi'inted report came thi-ough 

 the mails: and as it records a valuable experi- 

 ment we take pleasure in copying it: 



The experiment conducted was, "Testing- to wliat 

 extent, if any. the lifes thin out tlie st>i)tuni. oi- base 

 of comb fouiidatidii hrfoi-e sloiin^;- tlic lioncy in the 

 comb, and what effect vaiioiis thicknesses of foun- 

 dation liave upon the tliiclinessof tiase tinally left by 

 the bees." Tlie object of tliis was to see if heavy 

 grades of foundation would leave an undue amount 

 of wax in tlie comb, making it unph'asant to the 

 consumer, and injuritig the sale of comb lioiiey ; or 

 if it might be drawn out into cell walls l)y the liees. 

 The foundation was supplied free of all cliarges to 

 the ones agreeing to conduct tlie experiments. 

 There were three grades sent out, being 6 feet to 

 the pcmnd, 10 feet to the pound, and 12 feet to the 

 pound, known as medium bi'ood, thin surplus, and 

 extra thin surplus. The sections were marked ac- 

 cordingly before (Hitting into the hive, and instruc- 

 tions given to iilace all over center of brood-cham- 

 ber to give all an alike favtnaiile position or other- 

 wise for drawing t)ut and buildirg on the founda- 

 tion. Owing to the very unfavorable honey season 

 generally, some were unable to get the foundation 

 drawn out at all. Tliese we hojie to secure next 

 season. In testing for sections wliich had tlie thin- 

 nest base, the three samples were taken without 

 looking at tlie number of feet per |>ound marked on 

 wood, and by looking through base of section and 

 taking a piece of each comb in moutli, tlie order of 

 tliickne.ss was found, and in almost every instance 

 the order was the same as when the foundation was 

 placed in tlie sections. In no case was tlie least 

 difficulty experienced in discovering that the foun- 

 dation 6 feet to the pound was the heavier— the base 

 and also the wall was heavy; and the feeling, when 

 eaten with honey in the mouth, decidedly unpleas- 

 ant. In No. 8 exiierinient a heavy honey-flow was 

 secured artificially, by putting a feeder on top of 

 the hive, holding about 1.5 pounds, and the bees 

 built the comb out very quickly. In this lot. when 

 the honey was extracted and the wax was cold, the 

 cell wall built on by the bees was broken away, and 

 underneath the foundation was found in almost if 

 not exactlj' the same condition as when put in the 

 sections. Tiie general results tend to show tliat 

 comb foundation in .sections is not thinned by bees 

 as is generall.v supjMised. Twenty-four applied for 

 material, out of which the following number re- 

 ported, as follows: 



BY WHOM CONDUCTED. POSTOFFICE. 



1 Dr. Geo. Duncan* lEiiibro, Ont. Lij<ht. 



•2 E L. Goold & Co.. Brantford. |Me'iium. 



.■? (!cii. K. .\(l:ims Rianlford. Medium. 



4 Will. M.ibrav S.unia. 



.'i i; lie' r'-M Hu^liaiifl I'airntruin. Medium. 



i; Mi-s H F. Bull.-i- C.imp'lford. 



7 Will. (ierniMii Keacliville. 



8 R. V. HoUi rniannt Brantford. Heavy. 



9 Gf (1. Bailiei- Hartford. Light. 



10 S. Rifrhtnieyt-r Wooler. 



11 W. UaiRht Wellington. Medium. 



12Jas. Shaw Kt-nilile. Medium. 



6 ft. 10 ft. I 12 ft. 



*.\ SLvinely iiereeptible difference between 2 and 3. 

 +.V verv marked difference. 



( Edgar M. Husband. 

 Aiiiarian Committee, -, W. Haight. 



( K. F. HOLTERMANN. 



[If we understand the report correctly, the 

 result of the experiment seems to favor ex- 

 tra thin foundation: but a number of bee-keep- 



