ISO? 



GI.IvANINGS IN KI<:K CULTURE. 



777 



the same year. 1S<):}, 10 colonies increased to 

 28, and gave 98."? sections of surplus. This 

 year five colonics have increased lo l.S, and 

 given ahout lOO sections. I believe there are 

 excellent li>calitics here for the location of 

 apiaries, and will an-;\ver inquiries from any 

 one interested \\lu> will inclose a stamp. 



J. F. Pktrie. 

 Plessis. Jefi. Co., N. Y., Oct. (>. 



GENKR.\L M.\N.\GER SI'X'OR'S ST.\TKIMENT TO 

 THE DEIWRTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Mr. Root : — I noticed in last Gle.vxings 

 that you had written to W'etUlerburn, of the 

 Department of Agriculture, in reference to 

 food adulteration and a remedy therefor. That 

 puts me in mind of a letter that I addre.s.sed to 

 the .same person Oct. 15tli, a copy of which I 

 inclose herewith. 



I learnetl .somehow that the Agricultural 

 Department was taking up this subject of food 

 adulterations, and I adilressed the above-men- 

 tioned letter for the pur])ose of opening corre- 

 spondence, and to learn what we could do as 

 a society in bringing about reforms through 

 the cooperation of the Depirtment. It was 

 my thought that, if the Department is making 

 a chemical study of honeys, we might get 

 specimens analyzed free of cost. I have not 

 3'et received a reply to the inclosed letter; but 

 if I do, and it is favorable, I shall follow it up. 



This is simply to let you know that I am 

 not indifferent to the interests of the Union. 

 Eugene Secor. 



Forest City, Iowa, Oct. 2U. 



A.J. IVedderburn, Chemical Division DepH of Agricul- 



lure. Washington. D. C. 



near Sir:— lam informed that you are making 

 special iiive.-tgations as to tlie extent and character 

 ot the aduiteiatiun of foods in this country. The asso- 

 ciation named at the head of this letter, and which I 

 represent, is especially interested in measures to pre- 

 vent the adulteration of honey — moie specifically, ex- 

 tracted honey. I should be glad to receive your co- 

 operation in "ascertaining to what extent extracted 

 honey is adulterated, as found in the markets of the 

 cities. 



It is our hope to obtain legislation wherever needed 

 in States, or, what we would think much better, by 

 Congress, in the interest of puie food. We fear tha't 

 there is a good deal of adulteration of the honey prod- 

 uct by the admixture of glucose, which is probaV)ly 

 the only adulterant that would make it ijrofitable. 



If, in your investigations, you are authorized to take 

 up the subject of honey, I should be glad to corre.s- 

 pond with 30U further in regard to it. 



Yours truly, Eugene .Secor. 



Forest City, la, Oct. 15. 



L. F. //., Pa. — I can not tell you whether 

 the blossoms of the coffee-tree of commerce 

 yield honey or not. Can any of our subscrib- 

 ers give us any information in regard to this?' 



S. /<., N. Y. — I would advise you to' ad- 

 vertise your bees in some local paper. ' On 

 account of the express charges, and the diffi- 

 culty of transporting to a distance alive, we 



recommend dispo.sing of one's bees in one's 

 own locality if po.ssible. 



/'. /). .v., 0/1 io. — I think you will be able to 

 have your queens fertilized this .sea.son. The 

 drones will be present for sojue little time yet. 

 Queens not fertilized this fall will stand a good 

 chance of mating ne.xt spring. 



E. F. '/:, .I//V//.— Candidly, I doubt very 

 much whether it would pay you to put any 

 ointment or cure for bee-.stings upon the mar- 

 ket. Most bee-keepers care very little for the 

 .stings. The best thing I know of is to re- 

 move the sting and tiien grin and bear it. 

 The more one tries to doctor up the stings the 

 worse he usually makes them. 



C. O., IVi.';. — Replying to yom- inquiry of a 

 late date I would s'tate that I would not 

 pay over |2.00 for a colony of hybrid bees in 

 a box hive. Such colonies have been bought 

 many and many a time for from |;1.00 to J51.50. 

 Nowadays the hive, if of modern construction, 

 should be worth at least as much as the bees. 

 A box hive is worth practically nothing. For 

 transferring, see instructions given on page .32 

 of our catalog. 



//'. /. //., ,S'. C. — By white pine I mean 

 lumber from pine-trees in the North. The 

 pine of the South is apt to be pitchy, and is 

 much heavier per square foot than the pine of 

 the North. I recommend white pine be- 

 cause it is easier to work, easier to handle, and 

 much lighter to lift. Of course, the heart 

 part of these southern or northern pines is 

 better than the lumber on either side of the 

 heart. 



IV. M. P., Ohio. — I should be inclined to 

 think from your letter that the bees had some- 

 thing in the hive which they regarded as a 

 queen. It may be a fertile worker, it may be 

 a virgin queen, or it may be a laying queen 

 which is so small and dark that you would 

 not be able to recognize her. I would not 

 advise you to give this colony to another hive 

 of bees. Give it a frame of eggs and brood if 

 you can find any in your apiary. If they 

 build cells you may know they are queenless. 

 In that event I would advise you to unite 

 them %vith another colony. Cage the queen, 

 before introducing her, in the regular way. 

 The main thing is to make sure the colony is 

 queenless before attempting to unite; and if 

 they build cells before giving them lar\'ae or 

 eggs, then that settles it. 



J. IV. S., A>.— It is so late now (Oct. 14) 

 that I would not advise 3-011 to transfer by 

 the short method described in our catalog. 

 You'd better u.se the old method, or the one 

 that involves cutting out the combs of honey 

 and brood, and fitting them into the brood- 

 frames themselves. Of course, you would 

 need to pull apart the old box hive, or what- 

 ever they happen to be in. For directions in 

 regard to this method of transferring, see any 

 of the text-books, and especially our A B C of 

 Bee Culture. 



Bees will build combs at this time of year— 

 that is, providing you give them frames of 

 foundation wired, and feed them ; but the 

 weather needs to be warm, and j'ou should 

 have had some previous experience in feeding 



