H 



6I>EAN1NGS tN BEE CULTURE 



I'ebruaey, 1920 



of foul brood "at once" and know he was 

 lid of it "at once." It is not a get-rid-of- 

 at-once disease. 



The "code," as twice revised, and signed 

 bj' practically all of the most prominent 

 rearers of queens and bees in the country, is 

 printed in full below. We have told how 

 careful we have been in trying to have this 

 ' ' code ' ' right and just to all parties con- 

 cerned. We wish it remembered that it 

 embodies all the suggestions on which the 

 leading breeders of the whole country are in 

 agreement. It is not likely that it is per- 

 fect — most things human are not. If ex- 

 perience shows that it needs correction or 

 amendment, we shall be glad to make such. 

 But let us try it this year, as generally 

 agreed on, and learn if it does not go far to 

 put the business of rearing, selling and buy- 

 ing queens and bees on a far better and more 

 definite basis. Here, then, is this ' ' code: ' ' 



GI/EANINGS CODE FOB THE SALE OF QUEENS ANE 

 BEES. 



The bees of Italian queens are distinguished from 

 blacks by the three yellow bands on the upper part 

 of the abdomen. Leather-colored Italians, as the 

 name signifies, are those whose stripes on the ab- 

 domen are darker yellow — leather-colored. Golden 

 Italians are those having four or five yellow bands, 

 sometimes called four- or five-banded Italians. 



An untested queien is one which is sold soon after 

 she is found to be laying, not one previously tested 

 and known to be impure. 



A tested leather-colored queen is one whose bees 

 have been examined by the breeder and found to be 

 uniformly marked with at least three dark-yellow 

 bands ; a tested golden, one whose bees have at least 

 three or four bright-yellow bands, this signifying 

 pure mating. 



Select queens of any of the grades are those which 

 show special advantages as to color, size, shape, etc. 



A breeding queen is one which has been kept 

 long enough for the apiarist to test her queens 

 and to prove her bees are good honey-gather- 

 ers. A breeding queen may be a year old when sold. 



All salable queens are to be mated and laying 

 when sold, with the exception of those expressly sold 

 as virgins. 



Those advertising queens in Gleanings guarantee 

 safe arrival of the queens. The breeder agrees to 

 refund the money or to replace the queen if the one 

 first sent arrives dead or is so feeble that she dies 

 before she can be introduced — provided the bee- 

 keeper receiving the dead or unfit queen, returns 

 her at once, and in her own shipping cage. No de- 

 lay in returning the queen can be permitted. 



The breeder agrees, when accepting an order, to 

 send out all queens if possible within five days 

 of shipping date specified in the order, and also 

 agrees, when for any reason a shipment has to be 

 delayed beyond five days, to inform the purchaser 

 at once of such delay and specify another probable 

 date when shipment can be made. And whenever 

 for any reason a shipment has to be delayed from 

 time to time, the breeder agrees to inform the pur- 

 chaser at once of each such necessary delay and to 

 specify in each such case of delay a new probable 

 day of shipment. If the new date is not satisfac- 

 tory to the one sending the order, the breeder agrees, 

 when requested to do so, to return at once any 

 money accompanying a cash order. 



The queen-breeder agrees to make no shipment 

 or sales from an apiary infected with foul brood, un- 

 less the exact condition of the apiary be made 

 known to the customer, satisfying him that there 

 (an be no danger in making shipment from such 

 apiary. 



I The (lueen-breeder must use either honey boiled 

 for 20 minutes in a closed vessel, or invert sugar 

 (nullomoline) in making his candy for mailing-cages 

 and pound cages, as strictly required by the U. S. 

 Postal regulations.] 



When requested to do so, the breeder agrees to 

 give the purchaser notice two days before filling an 

 order, to enable the purchaser to know just when 

 to look for the shipment. 



No cancellation of an order will be binding on 

 the breeder if it is sent without good and sufiicient 

 reason, or if he receives such cancellation two days 

 or less prior to the filling of an order. 



Those advertising bees for sale in combless pack- 

 ages agree to put at least 10 per cent overweight of 

 bees in each package when preparing for shipment, 

 to make up for those that are likely to die before the 

 package reaches its destination. But there is quite 

 likely to be some shrinkage in weight, which in 

 some instances may be as great as 20 per cent, due to 

 the fact that the bees may have been filled with 

 honey when shaken into the cage ; therefore, shrink- 

 age of 10 per cent in weight is not in itself evidence 

 of short weight by the shipper. 



The shipper agrees to use a cage ample in size, 

 provide same with candy sufficient for the journey 

 and take all due precaution by the use of proper 

 address tags and instructions to expressmen, to pre- 

 vent undue delays and careless treatment of the 

 bees en route. The shipper also agrees to have direc- 

 tions for the disposal of the bees on arrival tacked 

 to the package, or enclosed with his acknowledge- 

 ment of the order. 



The shipper agrees to make good the loss of bees 

 in case the shipment reaches its destination in poor 

 condition, provided the buyer obtains a bad-order 

 statement from the express agent, and forwards the 

 same at once to the shipper when making claim for 

 replacement. 



The shipper agrees to supply young bees largely 

 of the stock ordered with very few drones. If pure 

 stock is not expressly specified in the order, the bees 

 are not necessarily to be pure stock, but blacks shall 

 not be sold for Italians. 



The shipper agrees to make no shipment or sale 

 of bees from an apiary infected with foul brood un- 

 less the exact condition of the apiary be made 

 known to the customer, satisfying him that there 

 can be no danger in making shipment from such 

 apiary. 



[The shipper must use either lioney boiled 

 for 20 minutes in a closed vessel, or invert sugar 

 (nullomoline) in making his candy for mailing-cages 

 and pound cages, as strictly required by the U. S. 

 Postal regulations.] 



At the prices quoted on bees, it is to be under 

 stood that queens are not included. But if queens 

 be included in the order, the price of the queens 

 desired will be added to the price of the bees. 



When requested, the shipper agrees to notify the 

 buyer two days in advance of shipment. 



It is impracticable to define the number of bees 

 on the combs when one-, two-, three- or five-frame nu- 

 clei are ordered. It is also impracticable to define 

 the amount of honey in the combs. Especially in hot 

 weather it is not practical to select combs heavy with 

 honey or brood, nor is it good practice to ship too 

 many bees. 



In case a shipment of bees has to be delayed or 

 delayed from time to time, for any reason, thei ship- 

 per must at once inform the purchaser of such de- 

 lay or of such several delays as they occur and speci- 

 fy another date in each case, when shipment can be 

 made. If the new date is not satisfactory to the 

 one sending the order, the breeder agrees, when re- 

 quested to do so, to return at once any money ac- 

 companying a cash order. 



