GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1. 



grade, even wth my lax system of grading; I 

 ought to know what I am talking about. 



Right here it occm's to me that the only 

 reason why friend H. did not have a single 

 complaint against the Washington rules was 

 because nobody ever made any practical use 

 of them ; but if anybod}- attempted to do so 

 he evidently thought best to ignore them alto- 

 gether, and keep pei-fedly quiet. 



I can scarceh' agree with Dr. Miller in the 

 view that the even thickness of combs, with 

 reference to the fancy grade, needs no men- 

 tion ; and if he -will try his hand at grading a 

 few tons out of that large portion of the crop 

 which is raised without the use of separators, 

 I think he will find reason to change his 

 mind. The word "comparative "' that he ob- 

 jects to, however, does not suit me either ; 

 but it was used as a concession to brevity. My 

 preference is for more definite terms, even if 

 more space is required. Neither can I see 

 the propriety of inserting the words "outside 

 of wood," etc., with reference to scraping free 

 from propolis. I am aware that it is seldom 

 that the inside of a section requires attention 

 on this account, but occasionally clots of bee- 

 glue on the inside of edges of sections are very 

 noticeable, and should be removed. 



In my faith and practice, not less than four 

 grades are required in order to comprise the 

 great bulk of marketable honey. These I 

 have named as follows : Extra Fancy, Fancy, 

 No. 1, No. 2. 



EXTRA FANCY. 

 All sections to be well filled, combs straight, 

 not varying in weight more than two ounces 

 in any one shipping-case ; the combs of uni- 

 form color, of nearly even thickness, firmly 

 fastened to four sides, and unsoiled by travel- 

 stain or otherwise ; all cells sealed except the 

 row next to the wood ; sections must be new 

 and neat. 



FANCY. 



Like Extra Fancy, except the combs may be 

 slightly fastened to or detached from the bot- 

 tom, and not perfectly straight. The entire 

 comb surface may be very slightly or half of 

 it slightly soiled; not to exceed two cells may 

 contain bee-bread; not to exceed half a dozen 

 may be unsealed, or contain light -amber 

 honey, and the weights vary three ounces in 

 any one shipping-case; sections may be slight- 

 ly stained, but the wood must be reasonably 

 neat. 



NO. 1. 



Like Fancy, only combs ma}' be somewhat 

 but not very crooked; vary in weight four 

 ounces in a shipping-case; one-eighth part of 

 comb contain light amber honey, an equal 

 amount of comb surface soiled or unsealed, or 

 the entire surface slightly soiled; half a dozen 

 cells of bee-bread may be present, and the 

 sections may be somewhat but not much stain- 

 ed or soiled with propolis. 

 NO. 2. 



Like No. 1, but combfe may be more crooked 

 and uneven, and not over three-fourths filled; 

 but any one section must weigh half as much 

 as the heaviest section in the case. Twice as 

 many cells of bee-bread or amber honey are 



permissible; one-fourth part of the comb may 

 contain amber honey, or an equal amount of 

 comb surface may be unsealed or much soiled, 

 or the entire surface con.siderably soiled. 



Supplementary to these rules \ make use of 

 a list of defects somewhat as follows: 



A slight soiling of a small portion of one 

 side of the comb surface; a very slight soiling 

 of one entire comb surface; half a dozen cells 

 of light-amber honey on one side of comb 

 near the wood, or half that number in the 

 body of the comb; a cell of bee-bread; a couple 

 of unsealed cells on one side of the comb 

 inside of the outer row ; comb detached, or 

 not firmly fastened at the bottom; wood 

 slightly stained or soiled; comb not perfectly 

 straight in the absence of separators; a slight 

 crack or marring of the comb surface. 



The presence of any one of the above-men- 

 tioned defects in a section does not exclude it 

 from the extra-fancy grade. In addition to 

 those already mentioned as belonging to these 

 grades, any two of them are to be allowed in 

 the fancy grades, and all of them in the No. 1 

 grade. 



Doubtless this will appear a formidable list 

 of defects to tolerate in the fancy grades; but 

 in actual practice, few of them are present in 

 any one case, and, where present, are notice- 

 able, as a rule, only to the expert. 



Whether this method of grading will meet 

 vdth the approval of bee-keepers, remains to 

 be seen. It is at once evident that, if gener- 

 ally adopted, it will result in placing a large 

 portion of the crop ( that vmder present rules 

 would find a place in No. 1 grade) in the fancy 

 grade, while another portion will stand a 

 show of selling at an extra price by taking 

 rank as extra fancy. 



When I tell you that I have been frequently 

 informed by jobbers that ni}' No. 1 honey 

 averaged better than that they frequently 

 bought for fancy, that my fancy grade has not 

 failed to suit hundreds of particular customers 

 among retail grocers, and that I have never 

 been able to get a sufficient supply of the 

 extra-fancy grade to meet the demands of my 

 most exacting patrons, you will see that I for 

 one at least have no occasion for adopting 

 some other system at present. 



I am aware that these rules will be regarded 

 by many as altogether too prolix. At any 

 rate, you can see that the concise ones that 

 have been in force for four years past have 

 been any thing but a success; and I venture 

 the opinion that any set of rules, no matter 

 how worded, if equally brief, will fail of being 

 of practical use. To my mind, it is a case 

 where mere brevity has no particular merit. 



Even with the lengthy set of rules I pro- 

 pose, unless a 5th grade is made use of, a 

 great deal of marketable honey will have to be 

 thrown out; and even the expert will often be 

 puzzled to find a place for choice honey that 

 has no adequate description in these rules. 

 Of course, a good deal will have to be left to 

 each man's judgment; but where experts dif- 

 fer, it will be of little consequence where cer- 

 tain sections are placed, as no one will kick, 

 and the difference in the outcome to the pro- 

 ducer will be slight. 



