38 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Jan. 15 



My experience in past years has never 

 been quite satisfactory. There Mere always 

 cans without caps, and cans with holes in 

 them. Frequently cases bought as used but 

 once the past season would have old dates 

 stamped by the railroad company, showing 

 conclusively that, in reality, they were two 

 years old instead of one. 



The deterioration of honey-cans occurs in 

 ways unlooked for. To begin with, the acid 

 contained in honey acts on the tin. Honey 

 spilled in the melting-tank forms a sweet- 

 ened solution which tarnishes and eventu- 

 ally injures the tinning of the can. If 

 wiped dry the can will remain bright, but 

 this is seldom done. The bee-keeper then 

 fills it wi I h honey; the varying temperature 

 causes a collection of moisture, which fre- 

 quently rusts the can badly before it is 

 shipped. Can - manufacturers do not tin 

 their cans heavily enough to withstand 

 more than a single season's use. 



Then we have inside deterioration of cans, 

 which some dealers in cans refuse to ac- 

 knowledge. Cans containing thin syrup or 

 honey with caps loosely attached will 

 "breathe air," inhaling during falling and 

 exhaling during rising temperatures. Thus 

 in time oxidation of the tin occurs inside as 

 well as out. If the caps are air-tight the 

 cans will swell and shrink from expansion 

 or contraction of air, causing an audible 

 snapping, which in time cracks little cross- 

 shaped leaks in the can. 



In conclusion 1 would say go slow. It 

 doesn't pay to buy second-hand cans as a 

 rule. Good second-hand cans quickly mar- 

 keted may be all right. Cheaper cans may 

 serve in certain cases in selling to a whole- 

 sale manufacturer where price is a promi- 

 nent feature. To ship hard-looking cans to 

 a mixed trade will certainly cause the loss 

 of customers, no matter how fine the honey 

 inside. 



We all desire a deserved reputation for a 

 neat, cleanly, and securely boxed article as 

 well as one of superior quality. If a "kid " 

 handles the honey-gate and the honey sjull- 

 ed is left on ihe can-tops, what will it look 

 like when marketed even in new cans? 



Fill the cans to weight yourself; don't 

 spill a drop on the can. It isn't necessary. 

 Then box them up, and either remove at 

 once to a separate room or cover with a 

 cloth, I'iling five cases high. Don't let bees 

 crawl over cans and cases if they are to look 

 nice. Lastly, don't be stingy with nails. I 

 have never lost a can of honey in my fifteen 

 years of shipping, and I attribute it largely 

 to care in screwing caps tightly, nailing 

 cases securely, and also to the use of caution- 

 labels. 



Enclosing our product in cheap cans is 

 like dressing in shabby clothes. It gives a 

 bad if not a wrong impression. Good con- 

 tainers appeal to the average user to the ex- 

 tent of the difference in price, and are fully 

 as convincing in suggesting the quality 

 within as are statements made by the pro- 

 ducer. 



Hebron, Ind. 



THE PROPER ARRANGEMENT OF BAIT 

 SECTIONS IN A SUPER. 



How Baits at the Sides of a Super Tend to Dis- 

 courage Swarming. 



BY C. B. PALMER. 



It has been said that a queen will not or- 

 dinarily lay in bait sections if such sections 

 consist of worker comb. The bait sections 

 I use are the unfinished ones saved from the 

 previous season. I asked Dr. Miller where 

 to place bait sections when an excluder is 

 not used; and from his usual answer,* I con- 

 cluded that he used an excluder. When I 

 read the editor's remarks on page 379, June 

 15, 1909, I went directly to my bee-yard to 

 see if I had placed the baits where they 

 would do the most good. I had put supers 

 on fifteen colonies on Monday, the 14th of 

 June, and on the following Friday I raised 

 the covers and listened with my ear close to 

 the honey-board, and heard the bees waxing 

 and making that snapping sound in ten of 

 the fifteen supers. The other five colonies 

 gave forth a roaring sound below the supers, 

 so I knew that ten had commenced to work. 

 (This is my way of finding out without dis- 

 turbing the bees.) Therefore, on Saturday, 

 the 20th, I raised the honey -boards to ex- 

 amine those bait sections. For convenience 



1 will refer to the 

 sections by num- 

 ber as in the fol- 

 lowing chart: 



One super had 

 baits in sections 



2 and 11, the lat- 

 ter being covered 

 with bees that 

 were drawing out 

 the cells, and the 

 former contain- 

 ing a few bees 

 that were doing 

 nothing. The 

 other nine supers 

 had baits in sec- 

 tions 4 and 6, 22 

 and 24, and 11. 

 I found that all 

 of these were full 

 of bees. The 

 end sections 

 seemed to have 



as many bees as any other sections in the 

 super except those with baits, but the most 

 bees were in sections 22, 23, and 24, and in 

 4, 5, and 6; sections 8, 11, and 14 had no 

 more bees than 4, 5, and 6, if as many. 

 The under side of the honey-board showed 

 more bees clinging to the ends than the 

 middle, and more bees were at the ends of 

 the supers than at the sides. My bees 

 seem to boil over more at the ends of the 

 supers than at the sides, so there must be 

 more bees there ready to come out. 



When it came time to put on second su- 

 pers all around, I found that the ends were 



* I don't know. 



