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GI.EANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1. 



The past season's crop, taken in the same 

 watery condition, and ripened in the air, was 

 sold early, in ton lots, at a cent a pound over 

 the highest price I have yet heard of any other 

 California producer getting. I believe that 

 just as good quality can be had in this manner 

 as by allowing it to ripen in the hive, and a 

 greater quantity also, and it is certainly easier 

 work. In this locality, if honey is left in the 

 hive as long as advocated by some of your 

 correspondents, it would be "vile stuff" 

 indeed, owing to the tarweed and other dark 

 and strong honey which follows closely on the 

 white-honey yield. I practiced your process 

 of ripening in the house, for several years in 

 Indiana, without waiting for combs to be 

 sealed, with good results. Dei,os Wood. 



Santa Barbara, Cal. 



[It was the senior editor who cautioned our 

 readers against ripening their own honey. I 

 don't know that / have ever taken a stand on 

 the merits of artificially ripened and bee- 

 ripened honey. But that honey " over at the 

 house," in open vessels, is just fine. We can 

 almost chew it now like so much gum — beats 

 comb honey by considerable, in my estima- 

 tion. But it's no disgrace to change one's 

 mind. I have done it several times. — Ed.] 



DENSITY OF HONEY. 



Mr. White's excellent article on well-ripen- 

 ed extracted honey came up at the meeting 

 of the directors of the California Bee-keepers' 

 Exchange, March 1. The density of the 

 goods must exceed 12 lbs. was the unanimous 

 sentiment as expressed. At that time every 

 one was blue. We have had a good shower 

 since. I now see no good reason why we may 

 not have a honey crop in this part of the State 

 if we have showers occasionall}', if other 

 things are favorable. Bro. White can get 

 honey he can depend upon of the California 

 Bee-keepers' Exchange. H. I. MoRSE. 



Hemet, Cal., March 12. 



[There is no doubt but that the density of 

 California honey is a little greater than that 

 of eastern honey. The dry climate has a good 

 deal to do with it, I suspect. To my notion, 

 honey that is 12 lbs. to the gallon is several 

 notches better than the 11-lb. article. — Ed.] 



PI.AIN SECTIONS vs. SECTIONS OPEN ALI. 

 ROUND ; WHICH WOULD BE CHEAPER ? 



I have been watching the writers in the bee- 

 journals in regard to the fence-supers, and 

 find most of them think the greatest advantage 

 gained by the fence is to give the bees freer 

 access to all parts of the super. Now, I believe 

 it to be a good thing to have your super so ar- 

 ranged that the bees can go east, west, north, 

 south, up, or down. This can be accomplish- 

 ed fully without the fence, and cheaper, with 

 fewer pieces to handle. How? By using sec- 

 tions bee-spaced all round. These I have been 

 using for two years with good results. The 

 bees go to work readily, and I have fewer bulg- 

 ed sections, or sections only partly filled, than 

 from any other sections that I have used. 



As to separators, I threw them away long 

 ago. My sections filled with separators looked 

 lean and gaunt, while those filled without 

 them looked fat and full, yet not so full but 

 they would crate nicely. Now, then, if sec- 

 tions that are spaced all round will give the 

 result desired (better access), why handle a 

 great lot of lumber for nothing? It would 

 seem this was progressing backward. Sim- 

 plicity should be the order of the day, and not 

 complication. I should like to hear from some 

 other bee-keepers who have tried this kind of 

 section. Perhaps, after all, we are not need- 

 ing this kind of extra " fixin'." 



Atwood, 111., Mar. 7. J. W. C. Gray. 



[I do not think there is any doubt at all that 

 better-filled combs can be secured in what is 

 known as the open-all-around sections, or 

 what our English cousins have called four-bee- 

 way sections. While it is true you may be 

 able to dispense with separators, there will be 

 hundreds of others who could not and will not. 



You speak of the cost " of a great lot of 

 lumber for nothing." You overlook the fact 

 that in future, at least, plain sections can be 

 sold much cheaper than the old-style bee-way 

 section ; and that the cost of the plain, includ- 

 ing fences, would be less than the cost of sec- 

 tions open all round with separators. 



But plain sections are especially adapted to 

 be used without fences or separators. See 

 editorials. 



ASHES FOR DAMP MOLDY BEE-CELLARS; A 

 GOOD suggestion; SUB-EARTH VEN- 

 TILATION. 



Do ashes destroy mold and dampness? Last 

 fall, when we put the bees into the cellar the 

 bottom of it was damp. There was water in 

 it in the spring, and it had not dried out yet; 

 and when dead bees began to accumulate on 

 the cellar bottom I discovered mold on them, 

 and, in fact, there was considerable mold on 

 the cellar bottom. My wife read in some 

 paper that wood ashes are good to destroy 

 mold, if sprinkled around in the cellar, or any 

 place, for that matter, where mold is found. 

 So, as our cellar was damp and moldy I 

 sprinkled ashes as evenly all over the floor as 

 I could; and, to my surprise, in a short time I 

 could not discover any mold to speak of in 

 any place in the cellar, and the bottom of the 

 cellar is almost entirely dry; so I am giving 

 the ashes (and my wife) credit for it. 



I wrote Mr. Kretchmer once about our cel- 

 lar causing the combs to mold, and asked if 

 his was so. He said not, as there was a .30-ft. 

 flue to his house, that started on the cellar 

 floor, and that gave good ventilation; hence 

 no moldy combs. We have no flue in our cel- 

 lar, and I should like to know if putting a tile 

 through the cellar wall, and letting it come 

 out and connect with the outdoor air would 

 give the proper ventilation. How far should 

 it go before it opens to the outside? Had I 

 better depend on ashes keeping the cellar dry 

 and sweet? 



One man wrote in Gleanings a short time 

 ago about bees in a 10-frame hive with only 8 



