GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



I shall favor those listing one grade of un- 

 tested queens altho, of course, some of the 

 best breeders list two grades of untested. 

 Antioch, Gal., July 8. Geo. W. Moore. 



[Whether ■ bere is any merit in extra size, 

 it is a fact tl;at most beekeepers favor large 

 queens. Why should not a large fine appear- 

 ing untested queen be marked "select"? 



We agree . hat there is far too much am- 

 biguity in 1i' so-ealled grades of queens. 

 The term "g Iden, " for instance, may mean 

 a bright-yellmv three-banded bee, or it may 

 mean a leather-colored four or five banded 

 bee. Can there not be greater standardiza- 

 tion? We should be glad to hear from our 

 readers. — Ed.] 



How to Disinfect Supers that have been 

 over Hives Containing Foul Brood. 



Please let me know the best thing to do 

 in the matter of about eleven supers which 

 I ijlaced over some hives containing foul 

 brood, and which I removed a short time 

 afterward. Could I dip these supers in 

 salicylic acid or hot water and use them 

 again? or would it be better to burn them 

 up? Claude W. Wilson. 



Bardstown, Ky. 



[The eleven supers which have been placed 

 over hives containing foul brood may or may 

 not have the germs of disease; but it is al- 

 ways wise to err on the safe side, and so we 

 would recommend scorching them out with a 

 common painter's torch. All that is neces- 

 sary is to blacken the inside of the supers. 



Painting the in sides with salicylic acid, or 

 putting them in boiling water, may or may 

 not be effective — probably not; but it is a 

 great deal safer and better to use the actual 

 flame itself. If you have no painter 's torch 

 you can place a little straw in each super, 

 ignite it, and stir it around so that the flame 

 will reach all sides of the super. Then dash 

 on a little water to quench the flame. — Ed.] 



Queens Whose Eggs Fail to Hatch. 



I had a young queen this spring that com- 

 menced laying when 12 days old. I was busy 

 with other work, and dicl not look in that 

 hive again for more than ten days, and at 

 that time there were still eggs, no larvae nor 

 young bees. I thought then that perhaps I 

 was mistaken at first, about the eggs, so I 

 waited three more days and still eggs and 

 no larvae. So I waited three more days, and 

 looked thru all the literature I had, but 

 could not find anything like it. I asked men 

 who had kept bees for twenty years, and 

 they said they never heard of a thing like 

 it, and she was as big and fine looking a 

 queen as any one ever saw. Now, can you 

 tell me why that queen's eggs did not 

 hat(ih? 



Glasgow, Ky. Joel O. Garman. 



[There is, perhaps, one queen in ten thou- 

 sand whose eggs will fail to hatch. We 

 have had one or two in all our experience, 



and we have a number of reports of them, 

 but they are by no means common. The 

 only thing to be done with a queen of that 

 kind is to kill her and replace her with 

 another queen. Wh3^ these queens fail to 

 lay we do not know unless there was some- 

 thing wrong with their development in the 

 first place. There is nothing particularly 

 unusual about the queen laying when twelve 

 days old.— Ed.] 



How to Mark Sections and Cases to Comply 

 with the Federal Law. 



T take the liberty to address you in regard 

 to the net-weight law on honey. In the 

 season of 191.5 I marked each box as the law 

 requires, and then I marked the actual net 

 weight on each case, not including the 

 weight of wood and carton. This made 2% 

 lbs. less weight on each case than I had 

 usually given. I sent to a firm that had 

 done a satisfactor}^ business for me for 20 

 years. I fully described the net-weight law, 

 and told the firm how I had weighed it, etc. 

 They evidently sold the honey b}^ the pound 

 instead of the case, charging the usual price 

 per pound, which left 214 lbs. short on each 

 case. A neighbor of mine marked his sec- 

 tions the same as I, but put the weight on 

 the cases as usual — that is, wood and cartons 

 in. 



It seems to me the weight on the cases 

 should be the net weight of the honey; but 

 that belief made me lose over one hundred 

 dollars on my sales last year. Which is cus- 

 tomary, and which is right? 



Shoreham, Vt. R. H. Holmes. 



[The question of just what is necessary to 

 comply prop>erly with the provisions of the 

 net-weight law is still a matter of vmcer- 

 tainty to a good many beekeejiers, and there 

 are many who, in complying with the re- 

 quirements of the law as understood by them, 

 feel that thej'' have been placed at some dis- 

 advantage like yourself, having neighbors 

 shipping to some market which pays no at- 

 tention to the requirements of the law. Yet 

 ignorance or carelessness will not exempt a 

 person from the penalty. Our advice has 

 been to meet the requirements as nearly as 

 possible. In states not having the net- 

 weight law, it is not necessary to stamp 

 honey in any way unless it is intended for 

 interstate shipments; and under these con- 

 ditions honey sold in the local market is 

 exempt from the requirements of the law in 

 regard to marking; but when sent out of the 

 state, then it comes under the provision of 

 the net-weight law, and a beekeeper selling 

 his honey locally has no assurance of the 

 honey being sold within the limits of his 

 own state. 



We pack the honey in cases containing 

 sections of uniform weight, marking the 

 sections with the minimum weight as "Net 

 weight not less than 12 oz. ' ' The same 

 stamp or mark should appear on the outside 

 of the case. When the law went into effect, 

 and honey was sold by net weight, the price 



