L'8-,' 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apkii. 15. 



them into the sun cxtiaelor. That would sim- 

 plify matters a little. On page 22 a writer says 

 that color and flavor should not be considered. 

 The color of the honey is well enough, until it 

 gets too dark, then it becomes sun-extractor 

 grade: but flavor, I tliink, should be considered. 

 The flavor is what sells the honey to the con- 

 sumer. I have seen comb honey that looked as 

 sweet and innocent as a sleeping babe; but one 

 section of it was sufficient to break up the hap- 

 piness of a whole family: the flavor was Ixtd. 

 Some thought the simple statement did not do 

 it justice, and used more words to express them- 

 selves; but it was all in regard to the flavor. 



On page 43 a writer says: "All combs contain- 

 ing much pollen, or that are badly travel - 

 stained, or otherwise objectionable," (can he 

 mean worse?) should be placed in grade M. 

 Now, I think that, instead of having a gi'ade 

 for such honey, we had better have a class foi' 

 such producers. I think that a bee-man who 

 produces such comb honey should either revise 

 his methods or be classed as an '"old sock," and 

 be set back about thirty years, where he could 

 produce that good old-fashioned article called 

 strnmed honey. 



VV. C. Frazier. on page 93, gives us the best 

 plan of all so far. Now, if any one can make 

 that any more simple, oi' shorten it in any way, 

 he will be doing a real service. It comes pretty 

 near the mark. But I should like to see it 

 scaled down to two grades for market and one 

 for the sun exti'actor; for instance, all the combs 

 that were good enough so that the producer can 

 put his name on them and guarantee theni all 

 right, should go as flrst-class: the second class 

 should be honey that is good to eat, but not 

 quite good-looking enough to go into the flrst 

 class; should be sold on its merits for what it 

 was wortli; the rest should go into a nice warm 

 sun extractor. But I want to say "kindei' 

 softly ■' to Bro. Frazier. that California produces 

 considerable honey that would be classed as 

 '"Fancy A." 



Sotne may say, "Oh I you bee-men away out 

 there in great big California can make nice 

 honey without any trouble; but it is difl'erent 

 with us. as our seasons vary so." But. don't you 

 believe it. If you were here you would get a 

 chance every now and then to listen to a tale of 

 woe from the California bee-keeper. If we 

 could get the grading down so that two grades 

 and a good sun extractor would do the business, 

 it would be better for- all hands. 



Now, as I have di'oppcd down rather hard on 

 my friends in regard to pollen in the sections 

 and travel-stained cappings. I want to say that, 

 if your colony has a good queen and a proper 

 hive there should be no pollen in the sections; 

 and, again, if the sections are placed at the side 

 of the brood, the cappings are very likely to be 

 travel-stained: but if placed above the brood, 

 and removed as soon as flnished, they should be 

 free from travel-stain. In working sections at 

 the side of the brood-nest, the bees cluster on 

 the sections nights and dull days, and that is 

 what stains the cappings. A. B. Mkm.f.x. 



Acton, Cal., Feb. 27. 



[We had decided, as announced in (Ji,i:.\x- 

 iNGs. to call the discussion on "grading" at an 

 end; but Dr. Miller protests, on the ground that 

 the subject has not yet been snlflciently digest- 

 <?d; perhaps he is right. W(^ liave coiK-liided to 

 reopen our columns for its further consideration, 

 at least for one or two issues; and, besides, no 

 one, till now. from California, the largest honey 

 State in tlie Union, has taken hold of the sub- 

 ject, and that State should surely have a hear- 

 ing, even at this late date. Yes, we should like 

 to hear from more of 'em. 



In o>ir past discussions we iiave pulled the 



subject to pieces and viewed it piece by piece. 

 Let us now come, as far as practicable, to a 

 focus, and out of the several systems agree on 

 one or at most two systems of grading. If fur- 

 ther discussion will increase the number and 

 variety of systems we had bettei' stoii where we 

 are.] 



THE COST OF PRODUCTION. 



KKE-KSCAl'Ks: 1!V .1. H. I.AKHAHEK. 



As requested, I send you one of the bee- 

 escapes that I have used foi' the past two sea- 

 sons. It is not new in any point. I had seen 

 Dibbern's. Reese's, and the old Porter, and de- 

 cided to make some, as I had previously come 

 to the conclusion that they were a success. You 

 see, I had " tried it in my mind." 1 had ou 

 hand thin lumber of a ceitain width, and two 

 of these widths were not wide enough for a 

 whole board within about two inches; and as I 

 laid the pieces upon an empty hive the idea 

 occurred that this two-inch space was just 

 what I wanted to put the escape in. The points 

 about it that make it more effective than some 

 of the other cone escapes I have seen are: 



I.AKKAHKE's BKK-KSCAl'E. 



1. Till' three large cones are not easily clog- 

 ged: 2. Plenty of ventilation to the super, thus 

 preventing the excitement causing sufl'ocation 

 or gnawing of the cappings. The cost, you see, 

 is almost nothing, and time in making it is 

 about ten minutes. Like the new Porter or 

 Dibbern's Little (Jiant it is a practical success. 

 Brushing and shaking oft' bees is no kmger done 

 in freeing extracting suj)ers; and wh<'n remov- 

 ing crates of sections the young bees are not 

 crawling upon the honey-room floor or spotting 

 the windows. 



There is another subject upon which I wish 

 to say a word. As you stated in your report of 

 the Grand Rapids meeting, I made the asser- 

 tion that I could care for bV) or 300 colonies, al- 

 lowing half a day's labor to each colony, doing 

 every thing fi-om putting together of s<^ctions to 

 crating the honey for market. As there was 

 considerable discussiim upon this point, and 

 some seemed to think I had placed the esti- 

 mate too low. perhaps it would be interesting 

 to know how I would manage l.")0 colonies. 



My bees are wintered out of doors in chatf 

 hives, the brood -chambers of which are pro- 

 tected on top by a tray with cloth bottom, filled 

 with cliaft'. On the first warm days of April I 

 remove this tray, roll back the (luilt, and see 

 that <'ach colony has a queen and stores. It is 

 almost never necessary to remove a frame to 

 ascertain either of these facts. If a queen is 

 lacking I unite at evening, and if stores an- 

 lacking I remove one of the combs near the 

 cluster and insert a frame of honey that I take 

 care to have on hand. I am not stingy of hon- 

 ey, but see that they have enough to last till 



