660 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1. 



honey rather than increase. I do not have 

 time to pay much attention to my bees, but I 

 try to give them an abundance of room to 

 store surplus honey. Very Httle honey here 

 ready for market. O. C. BURCH. 



Fairbury, Neb., Aug. 1. 



[Our experience has been in the line of the 

 foregoing, and yet as good a man as Doolittle 

 can see no advantage in the practice. — Ec] 



THAT ROYAL JELIvV IN WORKER-CELLS. 



Mr. Editor: — Your qtiestion on page 550, 

 July 15, "I wonder how friend Wilkin knew 

 it was royal jelly that he found in worker- 

 cells," is a very proper one. I much dislike 

 the practice of giving one's opinion or guess 

 as a positive fact. I have often observed that, 

 when young queens commence laying both ir- 

 regularly and sparingly, a few of the young 

 larvae will be fed three times the amount ordi- 

 narily fed to worker larvae, probably because 

 they have more food prepared than they have 

 larvae to feed it to. But in the case referred to 

 there were several sheets of young larvae, and 

 the 75 or 100 cells that I spoke of as being half 

 filled with joyal jelly seemed to me to be more 

 opaque than the ordinary larval food. Possi- 

 bly the amount of it together made it appear 

 so'; but this extraordinary lilling-up of cells 

 simultaneously with the drawing- out of queen- 

 cells, a number of them being these same 

 worker-cells widened out all alike, having lar- 

 vae one to one and a half days old, while all 

 around them the great number of larvae were 

 being fed in the ordinary way, seemed to just- 

 ify me in saying it was all the same thing — 

 royal jelly. R. Wilkin. 



Ventura, Cal., July 30. 



FACING HONEY ; DOOLITTLE DEFENDED. 



Some folks seem to think that Doolittle is 

 away off ; but I think that some one else is 

 just as far astray. A few years ago I shipped 

 1500 lbs. of honey to Detroit. It was all faced. 

 I saw the commission man after that, and he 

 said my honey was the best that came to mar- 

 ket — no fault found. Another year I shipped 

 faced honey to another man, and no fault was 

 found. I always face my honey, and have 

 kept bees nine years, and never had any fault 

 found ; but I always put the same grade of 

 honey in the crate. 



Now, I believe in being honest, but I do not 

 think it dishonest to face comb honey. I do 

 not think that facing honey is the same thing 

 as facing apples. A large apple is better than 

 a small one of the same kind ; so if I buy a 

 barrel of apples for No. 1, and two-thirds of 

 them prove to be No. 2 or o, or small apples, I 

 am cheated ; but if I buy a crate of faced hon- 

 ey, and two-thirds of it is a little travel-stain- 

 ed, or is not in quite so straight combs, or is 

 not quite so well filled, who is cheated if it is 

 bought by the pound ? 



Bro. A. I., I do love to read your " Home " 

 talks. I sometimes try to preach — indeed, I 

 did nothing else for four years until my health 

 failed. N. Vandewarker. 



Brown City, Mich. 



Honey crop is good. I shall get 4000 lbs., 

 and mav get more. J F. Teel. 



Elmo'nt, Texas, July 31. 



Poorest springing in 30 years. I lost GO out 

 of 3o0; cause, poor and little honey; fed 1000 

 lbs. ; had bad weather. Crop of white honey 

 is best in 8 years; buckwheat is just com- 

 mencing. James Halleisbeck. 



Altamont, N. Y., Aug. 1. 



This has been a glorious year for the bee- 

 keeper. There seems to be no end to the 

 crop. To date my apiary has averaged, spring 

 count, 120 lbs. extracted honey, and still com- 

 ing in. S. C. CoRWiN. 



Braidentown, Fla., Aug. 5. 



In reply to your honey prospects, I would 

 say I have the best crop I ever took, both as 

 to quality and quantity. Dry weather is just 

 what the saw-palmetto likes, both in bloom 

 and fruit. Nearly all of my crop was gather- 

 ed from the flowers, sealed in the hives, and 

 extracted without any rain during this ;ime. 

 W. J. Drumright. 



Sarasota, Fla., Aug. 8. 



FROM 74 TO 127, and 4.500 lbs. of white 



HONEY. 



I have just commenced casing my honey 

 up. I have got a good crop of white honey 

 from 74 colonies, spring count, and increased 

 to 127 colonies. I have taken, at the lowest 

 figure, 4-500 lbs. of while comb honey. That 

 is the largest crop of honey by half that I 

 have yet heard of in this locality. Bees here 

 are strong and healthy, and no foul brood re- 

 ported to me since spring. 



As foul-brood inspector I had to destroy 

 about 25 colonies; but since then I have found 

 no signs of the disease where it then existed, 

 and their bees have given them fair results. 

 I think our strict attention will entirely erad- 

 icate foul brood. A. H. GUERNSEY. 



Ionia, Mich., Aug. 4. 



REPORTS J^ >^ ^ 

 ^^DIS CO URA GING 



So far as I have been able to find out, the 

 crop of white honey in this section will aver- 

 age not more than two pounds to the colony. 

 No one among my correspondents reports any. 

 The honej'-dealers write me that the crop is 

 very light all through the State. Buckwheat 

 prospects are good. Our bees have just got to 

 work on it. Harry S. Howe. 



West Groton, N. Y., Aug. 6. 



