1892 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



455 



sld»> so that tho soaling oil botli sides taken to- 

 gether shall be as much as tliree-foiirths of the 

 total siirfare of both sides added toj^etlier. 



The dillieiilly of adopliiifX a system of ^radiiiji 

 that shall be satisfaetoiy to all is greatef than 

 at liist antieipated. so that I ilo not wonder that 

 some have little faith that any one system can 

 be agrei'd upon. 1 think that all agree that 

 the gnuiiul of the ditliculty lies in the fact that 

 ditTerent localities raise different kindsof honey. 

 and each locality wants a system of grading 

 that shall throw no discredit upon the honey 

 raised in that locality. If I am rightly inform- 

 ed, the York State men have no dilliculty in* 

 agreeing upon a system that suits them: so can 

 tlie California men: so can the Mississippi Valley 

 men. Now suppose white clover is the only 

 kind of honey raised all over. There would 

 probably be no great difiiculty in settling upon 

 a system acceptable to all. No. 1 white clover 

 would easily be the sam(> in York Stale or in 

 Western Illinois: and then suppos(> that, all 

 over the land, a second crop should be obtained 

 from Sjjanisli needles. Would not all agree 

 that a No. 1 Spanish-needle section should be 

 just the same as a No. 1 white-clover section, 

 except that one was filled with white-clover 

 honey and the other witli Spanish-needle? and 

 the same way if all the different sourcc^s of 

 honey ruled in every location. Now. if I am 

 correct in this then there ought to be no more 

 difficulty in agreeing upon the grades, as things 

 now exist: and then the only thing to add is, to 

 say what kind of honey is contained — light, 

 .'rnber, dark, or mixed. If any one objects that 

 light, amber, etc.. are not distinctive enough, 

 then there need be no difficulty at any time in 

 specifying particularly any one class of honey. 

 Indeed. I should expect that, in time at least, 

 some few particular kinds of honey would come 

 prominently to the front, and that possibly in 

 some markets No. 1 Spanish needle might be 

 quoted higher than No. 1 light. But the great 

 tiling is, to agree upon the grades, to be alike 

 applied to all kinds of honey, and I have some 

 hope that we may reach that. C. C. Millek. 



Marengo, 111. 



[We are heartily in sympathy with the doc- 

 tor in his effort to get a system of grading that 

 will insure some probability of adoption at the 

 North American at Washington. While his 

 plan, as he suggests, is not original with him- 

 self, it embodies the idea of simplicity, and. at 

 the same; time, elasticity for different locations 

 and different kinds of honey, in a way that is 

 better, perhaps, than any thing else that has 

 been proposed. There is possibly one criticism 

 that will be made; and that is, that the differ- 

 ent grades should be lettered rather than inim- 

 hercd. After all. we do not know that we 

 would insist on that point too strongly, because 

 the No. 2 grade is. in reality. No. 2 honey. 



When our forefathers framed the articles of 

 our constitution — an instrument admired the 

 world over — it was by no means satisfactory to 

 every member of the body that framed it. But 

 each one was willing to yield a point for the 

 sake of getting something better than they liad; 

 and what a world of good it has done I Now, 

 we as bee-keepers should be careful to see that 

 we are not prejudiced, but willing to yield a 

 point for the sake of obtaining Nonicthing; and 

 even if all do not use it after it has been for- 

 mally adopted by a national body of bee-keep- 

 ers, a large majority probably would. We need 

 something, and must have a system of grading 

 whereby honey-buyers all the wav from San 

 Francisco to New Y^ork may be able to know 

 iust what is meant bv a certain description of 

 honey. We should like to hear briefly from all 

 those who have proposed systems of grading, as 



to what they think of the one above; and par- 

 ticularly should we like to hear from commis- 

 sion men. J 



DIBBLES LATEST SELF-HIVEE. 



A CO.Vrt.MATloN OK Till-; SI li.lIOCT. 



Gi.p:anings for May 15 contains an article ex- 

 plaining how to hive bees upstairs. My de- 

 vice (see engraving) is an altogether different 

 oiu!, and I will explain to you how I use it. and 

 I know it works. 



I use the .James Ileddon bottom-board and 

 stand, v;-inch rim on bottom-board, except the 

 front, and 2-inch on side corner. The front I 

 use perforated metal to conline the queen on the 

 combs, and allows the bees free access to the 

 hives; and it furnishes no roosting-place for 

 bees to cluster in the shade. The 2-inch space 

 is furnished with a button which closes this 

 space when the trap is not in use. This trap 

 hangs on the bottom-board by tacking a strip 

 of tin 3 inches long on each end. On the trap is 

 a similar tin which shoves b(diind, and firmly 

 holds the trap to its place. I use either trap as 

 a queen-catcher, or to hive bees automatically. 

 As a queen-trap I use it as shown, closing the 

 outlet. As a self-hiver. conn(!ct the outlet of 

 the trap with the adjoining hive: prepare 

 the hive with one dry comb, if convenient. 

 Even though I have worked hard, and have 

 been determined to get an even full-sized 

 swarm every time in the empty hive. I have 

 not accomplished the object. Y'et with this 

 trap, and the man who tells you he can 

 with any trap, it will probably pay you to in- 

 vestigate a little before investing largely. I 

 speak now of hiving on the side. The results I 

 get will vary from one pint to a full-sized 

 swarm going with the queen to the new hive. 

 I don't care which when I use the extra hive. 

 I generally use it for increase: and when I find 

 a stock of bees that has swarmed in my absence 

 (prepared as above) I shake as few or as many 

 bees with the new swarm as desired, and re- 

 move the old hive to a new and permanent lo- 

 cation. 



This work can be done at any time from one 

 hour to four days usually. It must be done be- 

 fore the young queen hatches. If you are a 

 farmer, mechanic, doctor, or preacher, doit any 

 time you have the time to do it. 



This arrangement furnishes me positive proof 

 that my queens are cared for, and not returned 

 to the hive to be killed, whicli will often hap- 

 pen. It furnishes me instant proof that this 

 stock of bees has swarmed and needs attention. 

 Without extra labor I can pass down a row of 

 hives, and each hive tells its own story. You 

 have noticed, probably, that a newly hived 



' . .■.... i ii.»iiii iV . .I ll ffi 



DIBBLE 8 AUTOMATir SW.\KMER. 



swarm of bees works with a will that you will 

 .seldom see at any other time: and if I had the 

 time, and not too many bees. I would hive all 

 of my bees by natural swarming, and use the 

 old hive as a feeder to the new one by setting it 

 on one side, in such shape and form as to cause 

 the field bees to return to the old home. I 



