1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



845 



The five-banded bee, the Duval strain, is 

 the largest bee I have ever seen, and the space 

 between the combs they build is much wider 

 than the common ItaHan or the black. 



I have never been able to note any differ- 

 ence in the width of space between sections 

 built by Funics or Carniolans or black bees. 

 I believe every man has been honest and ac- 

 curate in his measurement of space between 

 sections as his own bees left the space. 



Ira Barber. 



De Kalb Junction, N. Y., Oct. 12. 



HOW TO UOUEFY HONEY CANDIED IN Gl,ASS. 



I have not as yet seen any thing in Glean- 

 ings aboi:t liquefying honey by placing it in 

 the oven of a common cook-stove. I have 

 done this for the past three years instead of 

 placing it in a basin of water on top of the 

 stove, and I can assure you it is far superior 

 to the latter. Some might think there is 

 more risk of breaking the glass when hone}' is 

 in glass packages; but that is not the case, as 

 I have broken some by placing them in water 

 on top of the stove, but have not as yet brok- 

 en a single one by placing them in the oven. 

 It is not necessary to place them (tumblers I 

 mean ) in water. 



My method is to take a shipping-case and 

 place the tumblers in, or other glass paclcages, 

 whatever the honey may be in. Place them 

 in the oven, close the door, and in ten to 

 thirty minutes your honey is liquid again, and 

 that, too, without even so much as spoiling 

 the labels. The hot air does not seem to act 

 on the glass as does hot water, and still is 

 more rapid. I have liquefied hundreds of 

 tumblers of honey, and know whereof I speak. 



Bellevue, O. H. G. Ouirin. 



[Your method will do nicely in a small 

 way. — Ed.] 



HOW BEES DISI.IKE BI,ACK; CANDIED HONEY 

 in tin pails; HONEY-LEAFLETS FOR 

 SELLING HONEY NOT A SUCCESS. . 

 From what I read in Gleanings you think 

 bees do not object to dark colors. If you will 

 turn a hen with a dozen newly hatched chick- 

 ens, while they are downy, eleven white and 

 one black one in the lot, if the black one does 

 not get more stings than the others, I will pay 

 for the use of the hen to hatch the chickens. 

 My chicks run in my bee-yard. The black 

 ones are screaming from stnigs continually, 

 but a white one is hardly ever stung. The 

 young man who helped me this summer with 

 my bees wore light -colored pants when he 

 commenced work, and got no stings through 

 his pants; but he wore dark pants one day, 

 and the bees punished his legs so he was glad 

 to put on light trousers again. If j'ou want 

 to prove to your own satisfaction that bees 

 don't like black, wear a black or dark-brown 

 cardigan jacket, with the sleeves turned down 

 around your wrists, or tie a strip of dark 

 woolen cloth around your wrists one day 

 while working among your bees, and I think 

 you will get more stings on your wrists at the 

 edge of the dark cloth than you ever did in 



one day before. They serve me that way, and 

 I have Root stock in my yard. 



I have learned that, in peddling honey, I 

 can sell candied honey in tin pails to people 

 who will not touch it if in glass jars. 



I have had of you 2500 of the honey-leaflets, 

 and have handed most of them out to custom- 

 ers and acquaintances and others. I don't 

 think they have sold a pound of honey for 

 me, or helped my trade in any way. I can 

 not learn of a single person who has used any 

 of the recipes for baking or cooking, and only 

 two have said they would try them. I should 

 like to know what the experience of other 

 bee-keepers has been in the use of the leaflets. 

 E. D. Howell. 



New Hampton, N. Y., Sept. 27. 



[On page 661 you will note I acknowledge 

 that, in view of the evidence that has been 

 pouring in, to the effect that bees dislike 

 black. Dr. Miller was right and I wrong, al- 

 though I have received one report from one 

 who says he could not discover that bees have 

 any more antipathy toward one than the other 

 color. 



As to those honey-leaflets, your experience 

 seems to be quite the opposite of that of many 

 others. However, we should like to hear 

 from others. Let us know positively whether 

 the distribution of leaflets of this sort does 

 accomplish the result sought. — Ed.] 



HEARTSEASE honey; CLEATS ON HIVES. 



Heartsease gave us a good yield in this lo- 

 cality during the latter part of August and the 

 whole of September. It has failed us so often 

 in the past few years that few of us were pre- 

 pared, myself among the number, and did not 

 get the surplus arrangements on in time. We 

 put on second stories with brood-frames in 

 them. Some of my best colonies filled their 

 second stories full, and conmienced on a 

 second lot, but did not finish them; in fact, 

 all colonies did that did not swarm. Hearts- 

 ease is the ' ' bacon and beans ' ' of all honey 

 for ni}' family. We can eat it the year round, 

 and never tire of it. When heartsease fails I 

 buy a 60-pound can of extracted, either white 

 clover or alfalfa. It seems " awful nice " at 

 first, but we soon grow tired of it, and long 

 for the old standby, heartsease. I often won- 

 der if this is the way we have been raised, or 

 is it our peculiar tasle ? 



I want no more eight-frame hives. They 

 are too small, and do not give as good results 

 as larger hives in this locality. I want cleats 

 on my hives, by all means, instead of hand- 

 holes. , M. F. TaTman. 



Rossville, Kan., Oct. 6. 



small hives FOR COMB HONEY. 



I notice in Gleanings a series of articles on 

 large hives. I should like to give my experi- 

 ence with them. I believe the Dadants work 

 for extracted honey only ; but for comb honey 

 I want the Simplicity with seven frames and 

 two dummies for the brood-nest. Let me tell 

 you what I have done with this size. I have, 

 in the very poor season just past, secured 80 



