Gleanings in Bee Culture 



had years of experience with his father, 

 A. B. Marchant, in the production of hun- 

 dreds of barrels of honey in Florida, whether 

 their swarms went out a week after the first 

 hatching cells or simultaneously with them. 

 His answer came back instantly, that he 

 and his father figured that a swarm would 

 come forth just about the time the first cells 

 hatch. They might come out a day ahead 

 of time or a day later, as something depend- 

 ed on the weather. We should be glad to 

 get reports from others as to what they have 

 found the prevailing rule is in their locali- 

 ty. — Ed.] 



The guess is made, page 547, that moths 

 might lay eggs in S. D. House's sections 

 after they are taken from the hive. He may 

 have had eggs laid in them while they were 

 on the hive; but I'll venture the guess he 

 never had an egg laid in them after they 

 were taken off — at least that, I think, is the 

 case here. [Possibly you are right, doctor; 

 but on referring this to A. I. R., who has 

 had much experience with black bees and 

 moth-millers, he said he thought you must 

 be wrong. It is generally supposed that 

 freezing or fumigating with sulphur will 

 kill the eggs that may have been laid in 

 combs before they are stored away in a build- 

 ing. Is it not true that, when these combs 

 have been frozen, after a long severe winter, 

 they will develop the moth-worm without 

 ever going back into the hives again if left 

 exposed in a building? One thing w^e have 

 noticed at Medina is that, when combs have 

 passed through a severe winter, if they are 

 thereafter kept away from the bees — in tight 

 hives, so the moth-miller can not get to 

 them, they will remain clean and safe. We 

 also observe that, if these same combs are 

 exposed in a building during summer, the 

 moth-worm develops. 



Why should not the moth-miller visit 

 combs that are away from the bees, and de- 

 posit her eggs as freely as she would in 

 combs covered with bees? If the wax-worm 

 will eat comb not among bees, why should 

 not the instincts of the moth-miller prompt 

 her to put her brood where they can get 

 their natural food, bees or no bees? If your 

 inference is correct, all we need to do is to 

 store combs in a building where they will 

 have a good freeze, then we can from that 

 time on, or until they go into a hive con- 

 taining bees, leave them anywhere. We 

 would like to hear from others. — Ed.] 



Sugar 8 cents a pound, and still climb- 

 ing. One of the reasons always given for 

 the low price of honey is that sugar is so 

 cheap. If there's any thing in that, honey 

 ought now to be on the up grade. Indeed, 

 quotations show that it is, although the 

 short crop has something to say in the mat- 

 ter. What we ought to work for is not so 

 much a high price for honey as to get every 

 one to using it. That would be a great pub- 

 lic good, and, incidentally, it would not 

 hurt the price. [Honey seems to be a law 

 almost unto itself. W'e do not share the 

 feeling that a low-priced inferior glucose or 



a fine article of cane sugar influences the 

 price of honey very much, because honey is 

 bought for its flavor, and because it is easily 

 assimilated. For the reason that people will 

 pay 20, 30, 50 cts., and even $1.00 per lb. for 

 candies, when good cane sugar, more whole- 

 some, can be bought for 5 and 6 cts., those 

 same dear people will buy honey and pay 

 three or four times as much for it as they 

 will for raw cane sugar or karo. Note this 

 fact: The advance in honey this year over 

 last year took place before sugar went up; 

 also notice that when the price of sugar be- 

 gan to soar the price of honey remained 

 practically stationary. Sugar at 8 cents is 

 cheaper than any good table honey. If the 

 reverse were true, the housewife might buy 

 honey to sweeten her coffee and can her 

 fruit, and it would make an excellent sub- 

 stitute if it were cheap enough. No, honey 

 occupies a field all its own. We do not fear 

 the competition of karo that sells for half 

 or a fourth the price, nor of candies that sell 

 for four times as much, any more than we 

 fear the competition of whisky or wheat. — 

 Ed.] 



I CAN UNDERSTAND how One Can think a 

 case with 2-in. glass stronger than with 3- 

 in., as it surely is; but how Messrs. Taylor 

 and Foster can think the narrow glass looks 

 better is beyond me. Mr. Foster says he 

 would prefer the appearance of 2-inch glass 

 to 3-inch, without saying why. If it is 

 merely because it is narrower, so as to show 

 less honey, does that not logically lead to 

 the conclusion that 1-inch glass would be 

 still better, and no glass best of all ? Mr. 

 Taylor gives a hint of his reason by saying, 

 "There may be honey that looks better be- 

 hind a 3-inch glass, taut I have never seen 

 it." That may mean, "To give a case of 

 honey the best appearance, the upper and 

 lower part, where it joins the wood, with its 

 unsealed cells and possibly other deficien- 

 cies, must be hidden, and the part to be 

 hidden is so great that any thing wider than 

 2-inch glass will not hide it. There may be 

 shipments of honey so perfect that all the 

 imperfections will be hidden with 3-inch 

 glass, but I have never seen them." Par- 

 don me, Bro. Taylor, if I misinterpret you. 

 I'm doing the best I can. In reply I may 

 say, "There maybe honey that looks bet- 

 ter behind 2-inch glass, but I have never 

 seen it, unless it was so x^oor as not to be 

 sold as first-class honey." I'd like to ask 

 you this question: " Did you ever see a pile 

 of first-class honey behind 8-inch glass that 

 you thought would look better behind 2- 

 inch ? " I've seen honey in both kinds, and 

 to me the wider glass looks better. The 

 iX-iuch strips have proved strong enough 

 for me; but it may be that glass narrower 

 than three inches might be used — say 1%. 

 That would leave the surface exposed still 

 the same. Finally, brethren, will either of 

 you answer this question? " If 2-in. glass 

 looks better than B-in., why does any one 

 prefer the wider glass in single-tier cases?" 

 [We arise to ask, "Does any one prefer 

 wider glass in single-tier cases?" — Ed.] 



