770 



GLEANINGS IxN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15. 



also taken from an instantaneous plioto. Un- 

 fortunately the kodaker was so badly scared 

 that he ilid not get a very steady picture — at 

 least, not clear enough to answer for a half- 

 tone reproduction; but he succeeded in pro- 

 curing a picture from which our artist could 

 make a pen-drawing. I told him to follow 

 the picture faithfully, even giving the gleam 

 of the eyes of the aboutto-be vanquished 

 bovine. I have seen that same gleam myself, 

 and know how it feels to have the hot breath 

 and a pair of wicked eyes almost, as it were, 

 in one's face. Yes, I have been there exactly, 

 but I did not have the bees to help me do the 

 vanquishing. 



LOCALITY, AND ITS BEARING ON PROPOLIS; 



HOFFMAN FRAMES INTOLERABLE 



AT DR. miller's. 



In my travels over the United States I have 

 paid more or less attention to the matter of 

 propolis and how its character varies in differ- 

 ent localities. In one place it will have a 

 reddish transparent color; in another, a sort 

 of grayish muddy-brown, something like 

 cofTee with milk in it; but instead of being 

 brittle it has more or less of a gummy, sticky 

 consistency. Again, the quantity of either 

 the red or brown article may vary consider- 

 ably. At Dr. Miller's, when I visited him 

 some two weeks ago, I noticed how propolis 

 seemed to be daubed over every thing. It 

 was of a brownish color, and was so sticky, 

 indeed, that it woiild get daubed all over one's 

 fingers like so much half-cooked taffy. At 

 Medina we have a propolis of about the same 

 consistency, but I should say there is less than 

 half as much of it. Here I can usually sepa- 

 rate Hoffman frames with my fingers; but at 

 Dr. Miller's the same operation would be al- 

 most out of the qiieslion. Indeed, I noticed 

 the doctor had to pry as hard on his nail- 

 spaced frames as we on our Hoffmans. 



The doctor has long insisted that Hoffman 

 frames would not be suitable for his locality, 

 and I have always wondered ivhy; but I un- 

 derstand it all now. 



In any locality where propolis is freely 

 smeared over everj' thing as it is at Dr. Mil- 

 ler's, any thing in the nature of a self-spacing 

 frame having wood parts coming in contact 

 would be simply intolerable; but in the State 

 of New York, not only Hoffman frames, but 

 frames with end-bars closed all the way down, 

 are perfectly practicable and feasible. There 

 propolis is scantily used, and what there is 

 has a transparent reddish cast, inclined to 

 brittleness rather than to gumminess. In Ohio 

 we have about the same quantity, but differ- 

 ent in color. 



In any locality, so far as I know, propolis is 

 inclined to be more sticky during the months 

 of September and October than at any other 

 time of the year; but that stickiness for the 

 same time is considerably worse at Dr. Miller's 

 than here at Medina. Why, when I pulled 

 one of the doctor's hive-covers off, the propo- 

 lis would stick to it in strings six or eight 

 inches long. Indeed, these strings reminded 

 me of miniature water- spouts, one end sticking 

 to the frames and one to the cover. 



Well, now, what is the practical conclusion 

 about this whole matter? Simply this: That 

 in a locality like Dr. Miller's a nail-spaced or 

 a staple-spaced frame, or any frame with metal 

 projections or distance keepers, would be pref- 

 erable to one having wood coming in contact. 

 Indeed, I am not sure but the metal-spaced 

 frames would be preferred in an}' localit}'. 



I have been at Dr. Miller's several times be- 

 fore, but 1 had never noticed particularly the 

 amount of propolis on his frames — the waxy, 

 sticky kind that would almost make one feel 

 ugly, even if he did not say any thing naughty. 



Here is the advantage of traveling around 

 and comparing localities; and the editor of a 

 bee-paper is just the man, out of all the fra- 

 ternity, who should go enough among bee- 

 keepers to broaden his mind to a point where 

 he can see reasons why one holds to one 

 opinion and another to an opinion almost the 

 opposite. For instance, one bee-keeper thinks 

 the Hoffman frame an intolerable nuisance, 

 and another regards it as the lie plus ultra of 

 perfection. 



OMAHA CONVENTION NOTES. 



At the Omaha convention various practical 

 questions were propounded and answered by 

 the members present. Among others was the 

 question, 



WHAT IS THE FOOD VALUE OF HONEY ? 



Dr. Miller facetiou^^l}' threw in the reply, 

 " Fifteen cents a pound." 



Mr. Whitcomb, of a more serious turn of 

 mind, thought we often underrated the value 

 of honey as food and medicine. In his opin- 

 ion there was more nutriment in a pound of 

 honey than in two pounds of pork, and more 

 medicine than in fifty cents' worth of drugs 

 In his institute work he took pains to empha- 

 size the value of honey as a food, and said it 

 should be on the table as an every-day diet. 

 Others concurred in this, and made the sug- 

 gestion that Dr. Miller's honey-leaflet, " Food 

 Value of Hone}'," should be thoroughly dis- 

 tributed among consumers. Dr. Mason stated 

 that his family used a large amount of honey; 

 that, during a siege of the grip, those who ate 

 liberally of this best of all sweets escaped the 

 full effects of the malady, and those who did 

 not were stricken down; and then he asked 

 the question, " How much longer should we 

 live if we used honey in our coffee instead of 

 sugar?" 



Another question was asked : 



IS EXTRACTED HONEY MORE HEALTHFUL 

 THAN COMB HONEY? 



Dr. Miller believed that the average sample 

 of comb was better than the average sample 

 of extracted. As to the wax in the former, 

 that was surely indigestible. We might 

 swallow it, and it probably would do us no 

 great harm, nor would it do us any good. The 

 best extracted was surely better than the av- 

 erage of comb. Still another question was 

 this: 



IS IT BETTER TO t'SE WHITE OR CREAM- 

 COLORED SECTIONS? 



This called forth a lively discussion. While 

 a few talked for cream-colored on the ground 

 of economy, the majority preferred to pay 



