330 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



give toi few tlian loo many: tmt who can tell, 

 someiiiues!, jiisl what to do';' 

 Belmont, Ont., Can.. March 10. 



fl didn't see it .^o strongly at first; but the 

 more friend Petti t has to say regarding his new 

 system the more I am convinced that he has 

 got hold of a valuable idf^a. It is well worth 

 a trial by practical comb honey producers as it 

 will cost very Utile. The plan is given on page 

 51 of our Jan. 1.5th issue.— Ed J 



J. VAN DEUSEN'S DEATH. 



We have to record the passing fro ii earth to 

 a wider sphere of usefulness the veteran Justus 

 Van Deusen, in the eighty-third year of his 

 life. 



We do not know what heaven is like; but we 

 have a right to assume that thos^e qualities of 

 heart and mind that we are commanded to cul- 

 tivate here will, under perfect liirection, find 

 wider scope and more ample employment in 

 the hereafter. We rejoice that our friend was 

 spared the period of decrepitude that usually 

 falls to the aged. Attendants at our national 

 conventions, no matter how distant, have usu- 

 ally found him present, displaying the vigc^r of 

 body and mind of men a score of years his jun- 

 ior. Ilis presence was delightful, and a visit 

 with him was an incentive to the ways that 

 lead upward. As his nephew, Capt. Ilether- 

 ington, well says, he was a fine example of the 

 Christian gentleman. 



From early manhood to 1848 he was engaged 

 in the jewelry business. In the year following, 

 the Van Deusen family built the woolen facto- 

 ry at Sprout Brook, which he ran for many 

 years until he converted it into a comb-foun- 

 dation factory. He was a fine mechanic, and 

 was satisfied with nothing but the highest 

 grade of material and workmanship. It is but 

 justice to say that every skein of yarn and ev- 

 ery foot of foundation turned out from his fac- 

 tory had worked into it the trademark of his 

 life— the best. From small beginnings, because 

 of the prejudices of bee-keepers against the 

 flat-bottom cell, the trade in this foundation 

 has steadily increased to large proportions; 

 and the greatest tribute ever paid Mr. Van 

 Deusen's good judgment is the recent adop- 

 tion, by the most extensive manufacturers of 

 bee-keepers' supplies in the world, of the flat- 

 bottom cell in their highest grade of improved 

 foundation. 



He was the father of the late C. C. Van Deu- 

 sen, the originator of several valuable inven- 

 tions in bee-keeping, and whose tragic death, 

 together with his wife, on their way to the 

 World's Fair, so shocked the bee-keeping 

 world. P. H. Elavood. 



Starkville, N. Y., April 13. 



[Photo of J. Van Deusen has not come to 

 hand. We will try to give picture in our next. 

 —Ed. 



THE NEW DRAWN FOUNDATION. 



ARGUMENTS IN ITS FAVOK FROM A STRONG 

 MAN 



By P. H. Elwoiid. 



You are to be congratulated on the success of 

 your deep cell foundation. Should you never 

 make it a commercial success it is a great 

 mechanical tiiumph, and calls forth the high- 

 est praise fmrn all fair-minded persons. I 

 showed your first sample to Capt. Hethering- 

 ton. and he pronounced it wontZer/ut- qiiite a 

 cont.ast to the dog-in the manger treatment 

 it receives fro certain sore headed persons. 

 Many of those who have in the past used and 

 sold heavier foundation than your deep cell 

 now find that there is entirely too much " gob " 

 and "fishbone "in yours, where a part of the 

 wax is taken from the septum and put into the 

 side walls. 



Some of us for years have asked bee-keepers 

 and dealers, as a matter of principle, to abstain 

 from the use or sale of thick foundation for 

 surplus. What we have failed in accomplish- 

 ing by appeals to the conscience, you make 

 plain by one little jab at the pocket book. 

 " Great is Diana of the Ephesians." 



One of the chief merits of flat- bottomed comb 

 foun iation for surplus is the fact thai it usually 

 contains less wax than the natural base as 

 built by the bi'es. The greatest objection to it 

 with us is that the bees, during a scarcity of 

 honey, will gnaw it more than the thick foun- 

 dation. Occasionally they will remove the 

 entire side walls, leaving only the plain sheet, 

 after which it is entirely worthless except for 

 remelting. What is needed to prevent this 

 destructive work is a higher side wall, say one 

 of a little less than ^ of an inch in height. 

 Whether a side wall of sufficient height and 

 thinness can be put on with a roller machine I 

 can not say. I would not care for deeper cells 

 than is sufficient to prevent gnawing. A deep- 

 er cell will cost more, of course, and, except for 

 bait comb, is not needed; for with this start 

 the average swarm will complete all the comb 

 necessary to store their honey. Then, again, 

 this depth of cell could be readily transported, 

 while the deeper would be very bulky, and 

 liable to injury. For bait comb and other 

 special purposes there will be a demand for the 

 deeper, if such can be made successfully. 



I had written so far when the April 1st 

 Gleanings came with the editorial on the 

 deep-cell foundation, and I consider it compli- 

 mentary to me that we so completely agree on 

 nearly every point presented in this able ar- 

 ticle. Especially would I emphasize the fact 

 that drone comb is usually thicker than worker. 

 I have also noticed that both drone and worker 

 are much thicker when built in large sheets in 

 the brood apartment than when built in the 

 small surplus-receptacles. It is also a fact that 



