342 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



window destroy the clearness of the glass by 

 means of the gum secreted and brought into 

 use when, and only when, the surface is too 

 smooth for their claws to hold. On the comb, 

 the claws of the feet catch, so no gum is left. 

 "Sticky dirt " is found outside a hive where 

 bees are cleaning the honey out of a hive, it is 

 true; but why should their feet be so extreme- 

 ly dirty at that particular time? I think the 

 feet have nothing to do with it, but that the 

 bees so cram themselves with honey that they 

 drop a small amount of feces on leaving the 

 hive. 



E. E. McCoy and the editor don't agree as 

 to the difficulty of getting wide frames out of 

 a hive, p. 315. It all depends. I once emp- 

 tied a hive in which the wide frames filled the 

 hive Jull, and it pretty nearly beat me. With 

 a space of l / 2 inch beside the frames, it's as 

 easy to take them out as to take out closed- 

 end brood-frames. [Not quite, to my notion. 

 Wide frames filled with sections have many 

 points of contact ; whereas closed- end frames 

 have contact only along the end-bars. The 

 worst sticking with the old wide frames 

 that we had was the sticking of the sections 

 to the separator ; the sections of one wide 

 frame sticking to the separators of the wide 

 frame next to it. But I have no quarrel with 

 those who wish to use those antiquated devices. 

 I know some people who will use coal oil 

 when they could get electricity at the same 

 price for lighting, if they figure tbe time for 

 caring for lamps. The world is full of such 

 people, and they are good people too. — Ed.] 



Don't FEEL too disappointed if " bleaching 

 the surface of travel-s:ained comb honey" 

 doesn't prove an easy task. Remember that 

 " travel-stain " is an utter misnomer, that the 

 feet of the bees have nothing to do in the 

 case, that the discoloring is mainly from par- 

 ticles of old comb from below, and that to get 

 rid of it you must remove part of the capping 

 itself. [That is true ; the discoloration does 

 go clear through the capping of so-called 

 travel-stained honey. But Byron Walker says 

 positively he has a method for making those 

 combs white. How do you know he has not 

 some scheme of whitewashing that covers up 

 those dirty faces just as you would the un- 

 painted boards on the back of your house with 

 white paint ? I am craning my neck to see 

 what Mr. Walker's modus operandi is. Will 

 he please stop just long enough in his rush 

 work to tell us how he does it, and thus 

 relieve us of this curiosity? — Ed.] 



Fresh light seems to be coming on that 

 foul - brood - boiling business all the time. 

 Harry Howe now says, p. 306, that the bacillus 

 can't live in honey, and that the spore can't 

 vegetate in honey. Then the spore's the only 

 thing we have to deal with. But if Mr. Brice 

 is interpreted correctly, no amount of boiling 

 will kill the spore, and, acccording to that, 

 three hours' boiling would not be safe. But 

 it certainly looks as though boiling destroyed 

 spores for Messrs. Mackenzie and Howard. 

 I'm still standing on Taylor's side of the fence, 

 but sending exploring glances toward your 

 side, Ernest. [But, doctor, my side is safer 



until we have more light. Better get over on 

 my side of the fence, and I will give you a 

 quarter of my log to sit on. When Mr. Thos. 

 Wm. Cowan, editor of the British Bee Jour- 

 nal, says fifteen minutes' boiling is sufficient 

 to destroy even the spores, then I will go so 

 far as to get on the fence — perhaps I will get 

 clear over ; but I am not going to do any 

 climbing just yet. — Ed] 



Mrs. A. J. Barber has struck a good plan 

 to get bees to starting in sections, page 309. 

 The basic idea is that bees will start work on 

 comb that is emptied of its honey much more 

 readily than on foundation. And they'll start 

 just as soon on combs in sections as on ex- 

 tracting - combs. Moreover they'll make a 

 prompt start on a single section of comb. 

 Mrs. Barber will find it a decided step in ad- 

 vance, and so will you, Mr. Editor, if you will 

 put a bait section in a super instead of putting 

 on extracting-combs, thus getting all honey 

 in sections. [But, doctor, I have tried both 

 ways. Down here in Medina bees get more 

 into the working spirit after they have worked 

 in a set of half -depth extracting-combs — much 

 more so than if they putter away with one 

 little bait section in a comb-honey super. 

 One bait section starts only a few bees com- 

 paratively. A whole set of half-depth extract- 

 ing combs starts the whole colony. It is not 

 necessary that these combs should be built 

 full ; but after they once get nicely started, 

 take them off and put a comb -honey super on 

 top. But say, doctor, why not produce a little 

 extracted honey ? When comb honey sells at 

 10 cents, and extracted at 6, both of the same 

 quality, is there not just about as much money 

 in one as the other? I am speaking of the 

 prices that ruled a year ago last summer, in a 

 wholesale way — the price that the bee-keeper 

 got for his honey. More extracted can be 

 produ^d than comb; and the cost of packages 

 for 60 v> 120 pounds of extracted honey is 

 much less than the cost of the package, in- 

 cluding tbe sections, for the same weight of 

 comb honey — a good deal less if we include 

 foundation for sections. You may say you 

 have no market for extracted. Are you sure ? 

 You may say, again, that you get more money 

 for your honey than 10 cents. In the same 

 way, you would get more money than 6 cents 

 for extracted. You aim to supply the market 

 early, and thus get a good price ; and you are 

 careful to grade honestly, and always sell of 

 the same quality. As I understand it, your 

 buyer practically contracts for your honey 

 before it is produced, because he knozvs before- 

 hand just what you will give him. There, 

 now, I did not mean to get off the question ; 

 but if, while on the side track, I hit a nail on 

 the head, it is a little item that some of our 

 hard-working producers ought to bear more 

 carefully in mind. 



In the mean time, doctor, suppose you figure 

 up how much it costs you a pound for pack- 

 ages for comb honey, including foundation in 

 lots of 100 to 150 pounds. Include in your 

 figures labor for putting in foundation, fold- 

 ing sections, making shipping-cases, etc. Ex- 

 tracted in 60-lb. cans costs about yt, cent per 

 pound. The point I am trying to get at is 



