GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15. 



puncture fruit, and that the witnesses for the 

 plaintiff appeared to be prejudiced, and in one 

 instance, at least, incompetent, the justice 

 rendered a verdict of $25 for the plaintiff. 



It seems no evidence was taken down in 

 shorthand, so that the case, when it is tried 

 before the higher court, will have to be 'ried 

 de 710V0. 



It dues not seem possible that the decision 

 of the lower court will be sustained, but still 

 we can not aflford to take any chance ; and 

 the bee-keepers of the land, through the Na- 

 tional Bee-keepers' Association, should con- 

 tribute liberally toward the defense of this 

 case by sending in their dollars as membership 

 fee to General Manager Eugene Secor, Forest 

 City, la. If you are interested in this case, 

 and desire to see justice done, and your own 

 interests preserved, send in a dollar at once. 

 You can not do it any too soon. Remember 

 that an adverse decision in New York will af- 

 fect every bee-keeper in every other State in 

 the Union ; and we must not let prejudice and 

 ignorance blast or blight out the rights of the 

 honest bee-keeper. 



I have since learned that the vicinity where 

 the case will be tried is a great fruit-growing 

 region, and, naturally enough, there will be 

 plenty of fruit-growers who will be willing to 

 render testimony against the bees ; hence it 

 becomes exceedingly necessary that we on our 

 part show that, while bees do attack broken, 

 punctured, or unsound fruit, they never punc- 

 ture a sound peach, never sting trees, and that 

 they are never the original perpetrators of the 

 mischief. In this connection I am pleased to 

 note a valuable article in defense of the bees, 

 by Prof. M. V. Slingerland, of the Agricultu- 

 ral Department, of Aurora, 111., published in 

 the Rural New - Yorker for Nov. 10. Prof. S. 

 completely exonerates the bees, and his testi- 

 mony means much.. 



SINGLE V. DOUBLE TIER 24 LB. SHIPPING- 

 CASES, AND THE PRACTICE OF THE COL- 

 ORADO BEE-KEEPERS ; TABLES TURN- 

 ING. 



Years ago the first comb-honey shipping- 

 cases were double-tier, and held 48 lbs,, but 

 these were too heavy. Later on, similar cases 

 were made holding 24 lbs.; and then finally 

 we had 12 lb. one-story cases. These were so 

 neat, handy, and pretty tbat we next were 

 greeted with the appearance of 24-lb. one-tier 

 cases. As soon as these got fairly started on 

 the market, bee-keepers and commission men 

 alike specified that honey should be put up in 

 such cases. The reason assigned was made 

 that, if honey was leakirg or broken in the 

 upper set of sections, it would run down and 

 smear the sections below. The trade gradual- 

 ly but surely turned to low- down cases, the 

 largest being 24 lbs., and the smallest 12 lb. 

 But the Colorado bee-keepers, for some reason, 

 went back to the old 24-lb. double-tier cases ; 

 but instead of using one large glass, two were 

 used, with a wooden rail between. 



Dr. Miller, during all the time we and all 

 the rest were advocating a single-tier case, 

 maintained that he preferred the 24-lb. two- 

 story affair. We told him that he was " be- 



hind the times ; " but he kept on using the 

 same old thing. Our people — that is, those 

 in the Root Co., like all the rest of the up-to- 

 daters — who buy and handle honey were 

 strong advocates of the flat case — either 12 or 

 24 1b.; but after bu)iag and selling several 

 carloads of Colorado honey put up in double- 

 tier 24 lb. cases, they found that their preju- 

 dice was being removed ; and now our honey- 

 man, Mr Boyden, as well as the freight-han- 

 dlers, say they rather prefer the 24-lb. double- 

 tier to the same capacity flat case. Perhaps 

 it is not possible to give fully the reason ; but 

 the same weight approaching the cubical form 

 is more easily lifted and handled than when 

 spread out in a flat package. Handle a car- 

 load of it and be convinced. And there is no 

 denying the fact that it has a more symmetri- 

 cal appearance for it is more in conformity 

 with other packages holding other staple 

 goods. 



In the modern use of a double-tier case it is 

 the practice now to use drip -papers under the 

 upper set of sections as well as under the low- 

 er one, so that the old objection of honey 

 leaking from the upper to the lower set has 

 been removed. 



Our Mr. Boyden was at first afraid that the 

 eastern trade would not take kindly to the tall 

 case with its two rows of sections, and accord- 

 nigly, in quoting Colorado comb honey, re- 

 terred to it as being put up in 24-lb. cases 

 without specifying ihe number of tiers. But 

 out of several cars of such honey sold, there 

 was not a single objection raised. 



DR. MILLER'S LONG-TONGUED BEES. 



It will be remembered that Dr. Miller had a 

 couple of queens whose bees outstripped all 

 others in their records in getting honey. Be- 

 lieving that there is a strong connection be- 

 tween long tongues and good working bees, 

 and having seen how close this connection 

 was in many specimens examined for tongue- 

 lengehs, I asked him to send me some bees 

 from two of his best queens. The scale meas- 

 urement shows for one qneen i\fo and the oth- 

 er iVo. Both of these measurements are con- 

 siderably above the average. 



When we began this measurement business 

 (for we are measuring the tongues of bees al- 

 most every day from almost all portions of the 

 United States) I supposed that long tongues 

 were necessary only for red clover ; but it is 

 now apparent that long tongues have an ad- 

 vantage with almost any flora ; and I am 

 coming to believe that when bees are good 

 workers it is not because they are not inherent- 

 ly Idzy, but because they are physically capa- 

 ble of doing more than the other bees in the 

 apiary ; that is to say, I believe all bees would 

 work if they could get the honey. Many 

 bees would starve, and it is these bees that 

 show a short tongue. But the bees that gath- 

 er honey when others are starving, if measure- 

 ments and reports mean any thing, are ths.se 

 that have tongues longer than the average. 



Further measurements covering next year 

 may disprove these guesses ; but so far the 

 straws all point one way ; viz., long tongues, 

 good workeis ; short tongues, poor workers. 



