1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



569 



N. — After we strike the soft-maple bloom 

 there is nearly always something coming, 

 clear through to the first of September. If 

 the weather is favorable, bees breed very rap- 

 idly because honey comes in constantly. 



R. — Oh ! you are buckwheaters, then, I see. 

 You don't need to have a lot of honey in the 

 combs from springtime till fall. Is that the 

 idea ? 



N. — If we can get a colony through till soft- 

 maple blossom in the spring, it is all we care 

 for. After that they can take care of them- 

 selves. Well, what did you hear about the 

 grading-rules ? 



R. — Your general scheme of grading is pro- 



N. — But is it not possible in some way to 

 get it into your head that this grading has 

 nothing to do with quality or color? 



R. — That was clear enough to me, but per- 

 haps not to others. 



N. — Those three pictures I sent were all 

 alike of buckwheat honey, all of one color. 



R. — What do you think of having an extra 

 fancy, say four grades in all ? 



N. — What is the good of that ? 



R. — Why, there is some honey that is sealed 

 clear out to the wood, clear around, or nearly 

 so ; and now why not have just one notch 

 higher ? 



N. — In one hundred cases, how many cases 



"Is it not passible ill some way to get it into your head that this grading has nothing to do with quality or 

 color f "-S. A. Niver. 



nounced all right, with one exception ; that 

 is, that perhaps you did not allow enough dif- 

 ference between No. 1 and fancy. 



N. — I wrote you, when I sent you the photos, 

 that they did not show the same difference 

 that the sections themselves did. 



R. — Yes, that was apparent from the photos. 



N. — If any one will take the pictures and 

 hold them off at arm's length, he will see that 

 there is difference enough. The fancy is 

 enough heavier to make the difference. 



R. — Then the real distinction between the 

 two was weight, was it not ? 



N.— Yes. 



R. — Fancy was, perhaps, a little darker in 

 cappings, and that was why so many seemed 

 to think No. 1 equal to your fancy. 



of sections would you expect to find of that 

 kind? 



R. — Perhaps one or two. 



N. — Well, doesn't that answer your question 

 — that it does not pay to fuss with such a little 

 amount ? 



R. — I don't know. If I were to get two 

 cents more for those two cases, this would — 



N. — Confuse people with another grade — 

 that's all. 



R. — Well, perhaps you are right. 



N. — Now then. Three grades — fancy, No. 

 1, and No. 2 ; three qualities or colors of each 

 kind — white, mixed, and buckwheat, makes 

 nine grades. I think that is all we can ask 

 people to keep track of — our merchants, com- 

 mission men, or producers. 



